Readings for Thursday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time[1][2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Commentary:
Reading 1 Isaiah 26:7-9, 12, 16-19
This reading is part of the Apocalypse of Isaiah. The oracle envisions the coming devastation of Israel and the salvation of the remnant. The prophet’s vision, in this selection, see Yahweh the vindicator, he comes to the faithful and lifts them up. Yet those who are far from him suffer from the pain of judgment expressed in metaphor of the labor of childbirth – yet childbirth that does not yield life (“We conceived and writhed in pain, giving birth to wind”.)
Responsorial Psalm Psalm 102:13-14ab and 15, 16-18, 19-21
R. From heaven the Lord looks down on the earth.
Psalm 102 is an individual lament. In this selection we find the cry of the people in the desert once more being directed to the Lord. The psalmist, expressing trust in the mercy of God asks for release from suffering and bondage for the people (“The Lord looked down from his holy height, from heaven he beheld the earth, To hear the groaning of the prisoners, to release those doomed to die.”)
Gospel Matthew 11:28-30
In this passage, unique to St. Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus invites those burdened by the yoke of Pharisaic Law to believe in Him. Obedience to the word of Christ is much easier than the complex rules of the Law under scribal interpretation.
Homily:
O Lord, you mete out peace to us, for it is you who have accomplished all we have done.
Isaiah is rapped in a vision of the end-time to come. He sees clearly the loving hand of God who offers those who labor for his kingdom “peace”. He calls us to recognize the invitation offered in the Gospel as Jesus tells those who struggle, trying to carry out their daily tasks and still fulfill their obligations to the Scribes and Pharisees who have placed a huge body of requirements upon them.
We recognize God’s call to place our faith in him from both the Prophet Isaiah and Jesus God’s own Son. The invitation comes with the key to finding peace. If we labor intensely, without hope, feeling that in spite of our best efforts we still fall short of what we are called to be, two things will happen. First we will find we have indeed fallen short with the crushing feeling that we have failed. Second we will feel the frustration that comes from feeling we have done our best but are thwarted from reaching our goal. This feeling of failure and frustration comes if we believe that we alone can accomplish what is set before us.
If, however, we place our hope and trust in God, we have already assured our own success. First because if our intent is that what we do is for God’s greater glory and not ours, what we accomplish becomes an offering, pleasing to God and we find comfort having offered up our effort to the Lord. Second, if we rely on God’s help in our efforts, we will find strength we did not suspect and peace in the knowledge that we share our toil with a loving Father.
It is best summed up in a short phrase from Ignatius of Loyola who said “We must work as if it is all up to us and pray as if it is all up to God.” The challenge we face today is to let go of our own possessive pride and join with Christ though whom all things are possible. Today our prayer is the phrase from the Prophet Isaiah –
O Lord, you mete out peace to us, for it is you who have accomplished all we have done.
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Commentary:
Reading 1 Isaiah 26:7-9, 12, 16-19
This reading is part of the Apocalypse of Isaiah. The oracle envisions the coming devastation of Israel and the salvation of the remnant. The prophet’s vision, in this selection, see Yahweh the vindicator, he comes to the faithful and lifts them up. Yet those who are far from him suffer from the pain of judgment expressed in metaphor of the labor of childbirth – yet childbirth that does not yield life (“We conceived and writhed in pain, giving birth to wind”.)
Responsorial Psalm Psalm 102:13-14ab and 15, 16-18, 19-21
R. From heaven the Lord looks down on the earth.
Psalm 102 is an individual lament. In this selection we find the cry of the people in the desert once more being directed to the Lord. The psalmist, expressing trust in the mercy of God asks for release from suffering and bondage for the people (“The Lord looked down from his holy height, from heaven he beheld the earth, To hear the groaning of the prisoners, to release those doomed to die.”)
Gospel Matthew 11:28-30
In this passage, unique to St. Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus invites those burdened by the yoke of Pharisaic Law to believe in Him. Obedience to the word of Christ is much easier than the complex rules of the Law under scribal interpretation.
Homily:
O Lord, you mete out peace to us, for it is you who have accomplished all we have done.
Isaiah is rapped in a vision of the end-time to come. He sees clearly the loving hand of God who offers those who labor for his kingdom “peace”. He calls us to recognize the invitation offered in the Gospel as Jesus tells those who struggle, trying to carry out their daily tasks and still fulfill their obligations to the Scribes and Pharisees who have placed a huge body of requirements upon them.
We recognize God’s call to place our faith in him from both the Prophet Isaiah and Jesus God’s own Son. The invitation comes with the key to finding peace. If we labor intensely, without hope, feeling that in spite of our best efforts we still fall short of what we are called to be, two things will happen. First we will find we have indeed fallen short with the crushing feeling that we have failed. Second we will feel the frustration that comes from feeling we have done our best but are thwarted from reaching our goal. This feeling of failure and frustration comes if we believe that we alone can accomplish what is set before us.
If, however, we place our hope and trust in God, we have already assured our own success. First because if our intent is that what we do is for God’s greater glory and not ours, what we accomplish becomes an offering, pleasing to God and we find comfort having offered up our effort to the Lord. Second, if we rely on God’s help in our efforts, we will find strength we did not suspect and peace in the knowledge that we share our toil with a loving Father.
It is best summed up in a short phrase from Ignatius of Loyola who said “We must work as if it is all up to us and pray as if it is all up to God.” The challenge we face today is to let go of our own possessive pride and join with Christ though whom all things are possible. Today our prayer is the phrase from the Prophet Isaiah –
O Lord, you mete out peace to us, for it is you who have accomplished all we have done.
Pax
[1] After Links to Readings Expire
[2] The picture used today is “Christ the Consoler” by Ary Scheffer, 1837
[1] After Links to Readings Expire
[2] The picture used today is “Christ the Consoler” by Ary Scheffer, 1837
No comments:
Post a Comment