Virgin and Doctor of the Church
Biographical Information about St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus[1]
Readings for Wednesday of the Twenty-sixth Week in Ordinary Time[2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Commentary:
Reading 1: Job 9:1-12, 14-16
This reading picks up Job’s second response to his friends (although they are for the most part ignored in his response). He focuses his response not on Bildad (Job 8) but on a comment by Eliphaz on the justice of man before God "Can a man be righteous as against God? Can a mortal be blameless against his Maker?” (Job 4:17)
Job reflects upon God’s omnipotence and omnipresence – he is almighty and everywhere. God created all things and has power over them. Mankind has no options but to endure God’s judgment, even if that judgment seems unjust (“Even though I were right, I could not answer him, but should rather beg for what was due me.”). He concludes in humility that even in his situation he would be surprised if God noticed his plea.
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 88:10bc-11, 12-13, 14-15
R. Let my prayer come before you, Lord.
Reminiscent of Job, Psalm 88 is an individual lament. The psalmist cries out at having been afflicted and deserted by his friends. The song implores the Lord to hear the living (feeling the hand of death the singer urgently prays) asking why God has seemingly rejected him.
Gospel: Luke 9:57-62
This passage from St. Luke’s Gospel gives us three sayings of Jesus about the requirement to place the values of Christian discipleship above all other requirements of life. Proclaiming the Kingdom of God must come before even family obligations.
In the first, “Foxes have dens…” Jesus does not deceive anyone – he lives in poverty, dedicated to his mission.
The second; “Let the dead bury their dead” is a play on words; let the spiritually dead bury the physically dead; Jesus message is the message of life. This saying was never intended to be taken literally as filial piety is deeply ingrained in Jewish life.
The third saying; “No one who…looks to what was left behind” Jesus demands more than Elisha (see 1 Kings 19:19-21). “Ploughing for the Kingdom demands sacrifice.”[3]
Reflection:
The shear weight of the day (the scripture readings and the young saint we memorialize) demands we think about our obedience to God’s will and to the mission in which we have been called to participate. It starts with Job whose remarkable faith allows him to have a relationship with God that is at once submissive and at the same time familiar. He speaks in the 9th chapter of God’s power over all things and how mankind is powerless to stand against the will of God. Job’s only answer is to depend upon God’s mercy and accept God’s answer to his prayer. (We later see the familiarity as Job begs God to just leave him alone.)
In front of the backdrop of God’s majesty, His Son comes apparently trying to dissuade potential followers from accepting the call to follow him. The Lord makes it very clear that what he asks is difficult. He himself has no place to call home (recall he has already been rejected by the members of his hometown and just recently by the Samaritans). To others he makes it clear that the proclamation of the Kingdom of God must be their life’s priority, above family and friends.
From a spiritual perspective, this same prioritization comes to us. If we are to be obedient go Christ as his followers, our efforts must always proclaim that message. Quoting St. Francis of Assisi, we are to “proclaim the Gospel always, and use words when you must.”
Pax
[1] The picture used today is “Saint Therese of Lisieux” artist and date are UNKNOWN
[2] ALTRE
[3] See Jerome Biblical Commentary, Prentice Hall, Inc., © 1968, 44:97.
Biographical Information about St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus[1]
Readings for Wednesday of the Twenty-sixth Week in Ordinary Time[2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Commentary:
Reading 1: Job 9:1-12, 14-16
This reading picks up Job’s second response to his friends (although they are for the most part ignored in his response). He focuses his response not on Bildad (Job 8) but on a comment by Eliphaz on the justice of man before God "Can a man be righteous as against God? Can a mortal be blameless against his Maker?” (Job 4:17)
Job reflects upon God’s omnipotence and omnipresence – he is almighty and everywhere. God created all things and has power over them. Mankind has no options but to endure God’s judgment, even if that judgment seems unjust (“Even though I were right, I could not answer him, but should rather beg for what was due me.”). He concludes in humility that even in his situation he would be surprised if God noticed his plea.
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 88:10bc-11, 12-13, 14-15
R. Let my prayer come before you, Lord.
Reminiscent of Job, Psalm 88 is an individual lament. The psalmist cries out at having been afflicted and deserted by his friends. The song implores the Lord to hear the living (feeling the hand of death the singer urgently prays) asking why God has seemingly rejected him.
Gospel: Luke 9:57-62
This passage from St. Luke’s Gospel gives us three sayings of Jesus about the requirement to place the values of Christian discipleship above all other requirements of life. Proclaiming the Kingdom of God must come before even family obligations.
In the first, “Foxes have dens…” Jesus does not deceive anyone – he lives in poverty, dedicated to his mission.
The second; “Let the dead bury their dead” is a play on words; let the spiritually dead bury the physically dead; Jesus message is the message of life. This saying was never intended to be taken literally as filial piety is deeply ingrained in Jewish life.
The third saying; “No one who…looks to what was left behind” Jesus demands more than Elisha (see 1 Kings 19:19-21). “Ploughing for the Kingdom demands sacrifice.”[3]
Reflection:
The shear weight of the day (the scripture readings and the young saint we memorialize) demands we think about our obedience to God’s will and to the mission in which we have been called to participate. It starts with Job whose remarkable faith allows him to have a relationship with God that is at once submissive and at the same time familiar. He speaks in the 9th chapter of God’s power over all things and how mankind is powerless to stand against the will of God. Job’s only answer is to depend upon God’s mercy and accept God’s answer to his prayer. (We later see the familiarity as Job begs God to just leave him alone.)
In front of the backdrop of God’s majesty, His Son comes apparently trying to dissuade potential followers from accepting the call to follow him. The Lord makes it very clear that what he asks is difficult. He himself has no place to call home (recall he has already been rejected by the members of his hometown and just recently by the Samaritans). To others he makes it clear that the proclamation of the Kingdom of God must be their life’s priority, above family and friends.
From a spiritual perspective, this same prioritization comes to us. If we are to be obedient go Christ as his followers, our efforts must always proclaim that message. Quoting St. Francis of Assisi, we are to “proclaim the Gospel always, and use words when you must.”
Pax
[1] The picture used today is “Saint Therese of Lisieux” artist and date are UNKNOWN
[2] ALTRE
[3] See Jerome Biblical Commentary, Prentice Hall, Inc., © 1968, 44:97.
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