Readings for Friday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time[1][2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Commentary:
Reading 1 Isaiah 38:1-6, 21-22, 7-8
The story of Hezekiah serves as an example of God’s care for those who are faithful. Hezekiah is dying but God hears his prayer and sees his faithfulness and grants him an additional 15 years of life. (Since the death of Hezekiah is recorded in 687 B.C. this must have been in 702 B.C.).
Responsorial Psalm Isaiah 38:10, 11, 12abcd, 16
R. You saved my life, O Lord; I shall not die.
This selection coincides with the first reading and is called the “Canticle of Hezekiah”. Hezekiah, embassy of Merodach-baladan, sings of his fatal illness (“To the gates of the nether world I shall be consigned for the rest of my years.”) and his gratitude to the Lord for his miraculous cure.
Gospel Matthew 12:1-8
Following the comment by Jesus in yesterday’s Gospel about having those burdened by the Law come to him, we find a practical example as the Pharisees attack the disciples because they picked some grain to eat on the sabbath. In Pharisaic Law that act is considered work and is forbidden on the Lord’s Day. The Lord reinterprets their Law, sighting the First Book of Samuel (1 Sam 21:2-7) and Leviticus (Lev 24:8). The implication of his final statement in this passage is clear to us. “The ultimate justification for the disciples' violation of the sabbath rest is that Jesus, the Son of Man, has supreme authority over the law.” (NAB)
Reflection:
When ever we hear about Jesus reinterpreting the Law of Moses or Pharisaic Law we are forced to recall that in the Church today, similar laws, rituals and traditions exist. Our natural tendency is to apply this same rationale when these restrictions on our behavior become too inconvenient,
Let’s say, for example, that we are on a trip or family vacation and we are in an unknown town on Sunday. We could look around our vicinity and if we see not immediate signs of a Catholic Church we could make the argument that we tried but were unable to attend Mass thus granting ourselves at least rational absolution from the requirement that we attend Mass on Sunday.
In this example, of course, our logic is flawed. We did not make an earnest attempt to locate a Church and if we had known we were going to be in this place on a Sunday earlier, we could have made inquiries and gotten appropriate directions. The Laws that Jesus reinterpreted were so restrictive that reasonable activity was prohibited. Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath and his work was permitted.
No we must be very careful when we decide to play “Jesus” with the Laws and Precepts of the Church. They contain provisions for most situations that would require practical accommodation. The key for us is to remember that it is the Lord we serve on a daily basis and that if we follow his Law scrupulously we cannot go wrong.
Pax
[1] After Links to Readings Expire
[2] The picture used today is “The Disciples Pluck Corn” by Edward Armitage, c. 1865
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Commentary:
Reading 1 Isaiah 38:1-6, 21-22, 7-8
The story of Hezekiah serves as an example of God’s care for those who are faithful. Hezekiah is dying but God hears his prayer and sees his faithfulness and grants him an additional 15 years of life. (Since the death of Hezekiah is recorded in 687 B.C. this must have been in 702 B.C.).
Responsorial Psalm Isaiah 38:10, 11, 12abcd, 16
R. You saved my life, O Lord; I shall not die.
This selection coincides with the first reading and is called the “Canticle of Hezekiah”. Hezekiah, embassy of Merodach-baladan, sings of his fatal illness (“To the gates of the nether world I shall be consigned for the rest of my years.”) and his gratitude to the Lord for his miraculous cure.
Gospel Matthew 12:1-8
Following the comment by Jesus in yesterday’s Gospel about having those burdened by the Law come to him, we find a practical example as the Pharisees attack the disciples because they picked some grain to eat on the sabbath. In Pharisaic Law that act is considered work and is forbidden on the Lord’s Day. The Lord reinterprets their Law, sighting the First Book of Samuel (1 Sam 21:2-7) and Leviticus (Lev 24:8). The implication of his final statement in this passage is clear to us. “The ultimate justification for the disciples' violation of the sabbath rest is that Jesus, the Son of Man, has supreme authority over the law.” (NAB)
Reflection:
When ever we hear about Jesus reinterpreting the Law of Moses or Pharisaic Law we are forced to recall that in the Church today, similar laws, rituals and traditions exist. Our natural tendency is to apply this same rationale when these restrictions on our behavior become too inconvenient,
Let’s say, for example, that we are on a trip or family vacation and we are in an unknown town on Sunday. We could look around our vicinity and if we see not immediate signs of a Catholic Church we could make the argument that we tried but were unable to attend Mass thus granting ourselves at least rational absolution from the requirement that we attend Mass on Sunday.
In this example, of course, our logic is flawed. We did not make an earnest attempt to locate a Church and if we had known we were going to be in this place on a Sunday earlier, we could have made inquiries and gotten appropriate directions. The Laws that Jesus reinterpreted were so restrictive that reasonable activity was prohibited. Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath and his work was permitted.
No we must be very careful when we decide to play “Jesus” with the Laws and Precepts of the Church. They contain provisions for most situations that would require practical accommodation. The key for us is to remember that it is the Lord we serve on a daily basis and that if we follow his Law scrupulously we cannot go wrong.
Pax
[1] After Links to Readings Expire
[2] The picture used today is “The Disciples Pluck Corn” by Edward Armitage, c. 1865
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