Saint Cyril of Alexandria, Bishop, Doctor
Biographical Information about St. Cyril of Alexandria
Readings for Friday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time[1][2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Commentary:
Reading 1 2 Kings 25:1-12
This reading from 2 Kings details the final destruction of the temple and Jerusalem in 587 B.C.. This occurred after the city had been besieged and invested for three years. All of the major buildings in the city were destroyed, its walls torn down, and the people killed or taken into captivity. Much of what is documented here is predicted by the Prophet Jeremiah (see Jeremiah 38: 2-3ff)
Responsorial Psalm Psalm 137:1-2, 3, 4-5, 6
R. Let my tongue be silenced, if I ever forget you!
The sadness that drove Nehemiah to return to Jerusalem to rebuild is reflected in this communal lament. The people of God dispersed throughout the region recall the joys of being in God’s presence in Zion (Jerusalem). We feel in this hymn our own anticipation of being together in God’s presence as a community of faith.
Gospel Matthew 8:1-4
Following the first great discourse from St. Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus has attracted a large crowd. In the following chapters we see nine miracles. The cure of the Leper is the first of these. This action on the part of Jesus is proof of his identity as the Messiah; hence the usual formula “Your faith has cured you” is missing.
The final instruction by Jesus to the cured leper is in accordance with Mosaic Law (see Lev 14:2-9) His instruction to tell no one about this was probably to insure the priest who had to examine him would not reject the cure and the man.
Reflection:
The parallel stories from the Old Testament and the New Testament once again point out the stark contrast in God’s revelation portrayed at different times in the history of mankind’s encounter with Him. Nearly half a millennia before Jesus was born, the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem was utterly destroyed. The people of that city, the city where God’s permanent house was built, were either killed or taken into slavery by the King of Babylon. The complete destruction of the city and the removal by force of all its inhabitants should have been the end of the nation. But the faith of the once nomadic people was not destroyed. Psalm 137 reminds us of that and the promised renewal.
While the destruction of Jerusalem was the end of one chapter in God’s plan, the event stands in counter point to the Gospel. The Messiah, God’s Son, now sent to reveal God’s love to the people who still mourned the Diaspora is in the land, fulfilling prophecy as he heals the sick. With a force of will he tells the leper “I will do it. Be made clean.” It is this image of God’s power and love the Christ came for.
What Jesus does in this almost casual gesture is symbolic of his mission to us. The leper did not beg; he did not have to plead and follow the Lord from place to place. We are told he simply “did him homage”. He acknowledged Jesus for who he was and had faith that what the Lord wished to happen would happen. This leper was outcast. By Mosaic Law he could not enter the community until a priest could attest that his disease had left him. The Lord opened the gates of community to this poor soul with his will, his intense love.
Today we give grateful thanks for Christ’s love and kindness. We see in his cure of the leper, the condensed image of his mission to invite all of us who are “unclean” to be once more made whole and be brought home to God’s family. We also pray especially for all those who are ill or infirmed, that they might have the same attitude as the leper who said “Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean.” Knowing this in their hearts, may the healing love of Christ enter them and bring them back to full health, if not in body, in spirit.
Pax
[1] After Links to Readings Expire
[2] The picture used today is “The Leper” by Alexandre Bida, c. 1875
Biographical Information about St. Cyril of Alexandria
Readings for Friday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time[1][2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Commentary:
Reading 1 2 Kings 25:1-12
This reading from 2 Kings details the final destruction of the temple and Jerusalem in 587 B.C.. This occurred after the city had been besieged and invested for three years. All of the major buildings in the city were destroyed, its walls torn down, and the people killed or taken into captivity. Much of what is documented here is predicted by the Prophet Jeremiah (see Jeremiah 38: 2-3ff)
Responsorial Psalm Psalm 137:1-2, 3, 4-5, 6
R. Let my tongue be silenced, if I ever forget you!
The sadness that drove Nehemiah to return to Jerusalem to rebuild is reflected in this communal lament. The people of God dispersed throughout the region recall the joys of being in God’s presence in Zion (Jerusalem). We feel in this hymn our own anticipation of being together in God’s presence as a community of faith.
Gospel Matthew 8:1-4
Following the first great discourse from St. Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus has attracted a large crowd. In the following chapters we see nine miracles. The cure of the Leper is the first of these. This action on the part of Jesus is proof of his identity as the Messiah; hence the usual formula “Your faith has cured you” is missing.
The final instruction by Jesus to the cured leper is in accordance with Mosaic Law (see Lev 14:2-9) His instruction to tell no one about this was probably to insure the priest who had to examine him would not reject the cure and the man.
Reflection:
The parallel stories from the Old Testament and the New Testament once again point out the stark contrast in God’s revelation portrayed at different times in the history of mankind’s encounter with Him. Nearly half a millennia before Jesus was born, the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem was utterly destroyed. The people of that city, the city where God’s permanent house was built, were either killed or taken into slavery by the King of Babylon. The complete destruction of the city and the removal by force of all its inhabitants should have been the end of the nation. But the faith of the once nomadic people was not destroyed. Psalm 137 reminds us of that and the promised renewal.
While the destruction of Jerusalem was the end of one chapter in God’s plan, the event stands in counter point to the Gospel. The Messiah, God’s Son, now sent to reveal God’s love to the people who still mourned the Diaspora is in the land, fulfilling prophecy as he heals the sick. With a force of will he tells the leper “I will do it. Be made clean.” It is this image of God’s power and love the Christ came for.
What Jesus does in this almost casual gesture is symbolic of his mission to us. The leper did not beg; he did not have to plead and follow the Lord from place to place. We are told he simply “did him homage”. He acknowledged Jesus for who he was and had faith that what the Lord wished to happen would happen. This leper was outcast. By Mosaic Law he could not enter the community until a priest could attest that his disease had left him. The Lord opened the gates of community to this poor soul with his will, his intense love.
Today we give grateful thanks for Christ’s love and kindness. We see in his cure of the leper, the condensed image of his mission to invite all of us who are “unclean” to be once more made whole and be brought home to God’s family. We also pray especially for all those who are ill or infirmed, that they might have the same attitude as the leper who said “Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean.” Knowing this in their hearts, may the healing love of Christ enter them and bring them back to full health, if not in body, in spirit.
Pax
[1] After Links to Readings Expire
[2] The picture used today is “The Leper” by Alexandre Bida, c. 1875
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