Readings for the Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time[1][2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Commentary:
Reading 1 1 Kings 3:5, 7-12
King Solomon is in the process of uniting the Kingdom of Israel’s worship in the construction of the Temple. It is still unfinished at the point where this dream occurs. Solomon has just offered a huge holocaust (“…a thousand holocausts”) and in response God offers to grant him a request. Because Solomon, in humility, asks for “understanding” rather than a selfish boon, God grants him an understanding heart.
Responsorial Psalm Psalm 119:57, 72, 76-77, 127-128, 129-130
R. Lord, I love your commands.
Psalm 119, the longest of the psalms, in general is a hymn in praise of the Law. It is not legalism, but rather a love of doing what is right in the sight of God. In these strophes, the psalmist proclaims his faithfulness to the law in the face of his adversaries and waits for final salvation.
Reading II Romans 8:28-30
The Evangelist outlines the Christian vocation as God intended it to be. Because Christ existed eternally those called to him were carefully chosen or elected from the beginning of time to be called to salvation.
Gospel Matthew 13:44-52
The commentary on the three parables is placed below in the “Shorter Form” commentary.
The question Jesus poses to his disciples following the parables requires an understanding of the structure of the Christian community at the time of Matthew. That is will described in the following: “The church of Matthew has leaders among whom are a group designated as "scribes" (Matthew 23:34). Like the scribes of Israel, they are teachers. It is the Twelve and these their later counterparts to whom this verse applies. The scribe . . . instructed in the kingdom of heaven knows both the teaching of Jesus (the new) and the law and prophets (the old) and provides in his own teaching both the new and the old as interpreted and fulfilled by the new. On the translation head of a household (for the same Greek word translated householder in Matthew 13:27), see the note on Matthew 24:45-51.”[3]
Or Shorter Form Matthew 13:44-46
The parable of the Buried Treasure and the parable of the Pearl have the same point. One who understands the Kingdom of Heaven and sees its worth, places obtaining that promise before all else and sees it. It is the primacy of Christ’s teaching that guides the disciple in all things. The third parable in this group speaks of the eschaton, or end times. Those who have remained faithful in their pursuit of the Kingdom of God will be saved. Those who have chosen evil over good will suffer eternal death.
Reflection:
Oh that we all could have been granted the boon given to Solomon. We would always be able to discern the proper action, we would always make the right choices, and we would always be in accord with God’s plan for us. But that is not the case. Even though we may pray for it constantly, God does not wish to take away the freedom he gave us to choose our own course.
The parables we are given today shows us what we should do. The person who finds a buried treasure should do everything in their power to posses it. The same is true with the analogy of the pearl. If we follow the parables; that is state their meaning in clear language God’s desired response to them becomes clear.
Let us look at buried treasure. First we understand that the treasure is our understanding of what it takes to reach God’s Kingdom (both on earth and in the eternal sense). God’s Kingdom on earth is achieved through a harmony with the whole of God’s creation. That harmony is only possible if we put on Christ. His love for all people gave him such peace that God’s expressed hope for his children from the beginning of time was revealed through him. The way for us to achieve God’s Kingdom on earth, therefore, is to emulate the mind and heart of Christ as best we can. Now that we know where the treasure of God’s Kingdom can be found, like the parable says, attaining that stated goal becomes the point, the goal of all we do. The parable says “…out of joy (he) goes and sells all that he has and buys that field”. We understand the object of the parable.
The same basic meaning is true for the Parable of the Pearl. The pearl, like the treasure, drives all of our actions on this earth toward our goal of attaining the Kingdom of Heaven. We do this because striving to achieve it on earth places us on a path to achieve eternal peace in heaven.
We pledge ourselves once more then to do all we can to emulate Christ who places us on the path to the insurmountable joy embodied in the love of God. Through the one who is love we find the peace and contentment possible only by sacrificing hedonistic pursuits for those which build the spirit and build treasure in heaven. We once again wish Solomon’s gift might be ours in some small measure.
Pax
[1] After Links to Readings Expire
[2] The picture used today is “Hell” (detail view) by Hieronymus Bosch, 1500-04
[3] See footnote from the NAB on Matthew 13:52
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Commentary:
Reading 1 1 Kings 3:5, 7-12
King Solomon is in the process of uniting the Kingdom of Israel’s worship in the construction of the Temple. It is still unfinished at the point where this dream occurs. Solomon has just offered a huge holocaust (“…a thousand holocausts”) and in response God offers to grant him a request. Because Solomon, in humility, asks for “understanding” rather than a selfish boon, God grants him an understanding heart.
Responsorial Psalm Psalm 119:57, 72, 76-77, 127-128, 129-130
R. Lord, I love your commands.
Psalm 119, the longest of the psalms, in general is a hymn in praise of the Law. It is not legalism, but rather a love of doing what is right in the sight of God. In these strophes, the psalmist proclaims his faithfulness to the law in the face of his adversaries and waits for final salvation.
Reading II Romans 8:28-30
The Evangelist outlines the Christian vocation as God intended it to be. Because Christ existed eternally those called to him were carefully chosen or elected from the beginning of time to be called to salvation.
Gospel Matthew 13:44-52
The commentary on the three parables is placed below in the “Shorter Form” commentary.
The question Jesus poses to his disciples following the parables requires an understanding of the structure of the Christian community at the time of Matthew. That is will described in the following: “The church of Matthew has leaders among whom are a group designated as "scribes" (Matthew 23:34). Like the scribes of Israel, they are teachers. It is the Twelve and these their later counterparts to whom this verse applies. The scribe . . . instructed in the kingdom of heaven knows both the teaching of Jesus (the new) and the law and prophets (the old) and provides in his own teaching both the new and the old as interpreted and fulfilled by the new. On the translation head of a household (for the same Greek word translated householder in Matthew 13:27), see the note on Matthew 24:45-51.”[3]
Or Shorter Form Matthew 13:44-46
The parable of the Buried Treasure and the parable of the Pearl have the same point. One who understands the Kingdom of Heaven and sees its worth, places obtaining that promise before all else and sees it. It is the primacy of Christ’s teaching that guides the disciple in all things. The third parable in this group speaks of the eschaton, or end times. Those who have remained faithful in their pursuit of the Kingdom of God will be saved. Those who have chosen evil over good will suffer eternal death.
Reflection:
Oh that we all could have been granted the boon given to Solomon. We would always be able to discern the proper action, we would always make the right choices, and we would always be in accord with God’s plan for us. But that is not the case. Even though we may pray for it constantly, God does not wish to take away the freedom he gave us to choose our own course.
The parables we are given today shows us what we should do. The person who finds a buried treasure should do everything in their power to posses it. The same is true with the analogy of the pearl. If we follow the parables; that is state their meaning in clear language God’s desired response to them becomes clear.
Let us look at buried treasure. First we understand that the treasure is our understanding of what it takes to reach God’s Kingdom (both on earth and in the eternal sense). God’s Kingdom on earth is achieved through a harmony with the whole of God’s creation. That harmony is only possible if we put on Christ. His love for all people gave him such peace that God’s expressed hope for his children from the beginning of time was revealed through him. The way for us to achieve God’s Kingdom on earth, therefore, is to emulate the mind and heart of Christ as best we can. Now that we know where the treasure of God’s Kingdom can be found, like the parable says, attaining that stated goal becomes the point, the goal of all we do. The parable says “…out of joy (he) goes and sells all that he has and buys that field”. We understand the object of the parable.
The same basic meaning is true for the Parable of the Pearl. The pearl, like the treasure, drives all of our actions on this earth toward our goal of attaining the Kingdom of Heaven. We do this because striving to achieve it on earth places us on a path to achieve eternal peace in heaven.
We pledge ourselves once more then to do all we can to emulate Christ who places us on the path to the insurmountable joy embodied in the love of God. Through the one who is love we find the peace and contentment possible only by sacrificing hedonistic pursuits for those which build the spirit and build treasure in heaven. We once again wish Solomon’s gift might be ours in some small measure.
Pax
[1] After Links to Readings Expire
[2] The picture used today is “Hell” (detail view) by Hieronymus Bosch, 1500-04
[3] See footnote from the NAB on Matthew 13:52
No comments:
Post a Comment