Readings for Friday of the Thirty-second Week in Ordinary Time[1][2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Readings and Commentary:[3]
Reading 1: 2 John 4-9
[The Presbyter to the chosen Lady and to her children]
I rejoiced greatly to find some of your children walking in the truth
just as we were commanded by the Father.
But now, Lady, I ask you,
not as though I were writing a new commandment
but the one we have had from the beginning:
let us love one another.
For this is love, that we walk according to his commandments;
this is the commandment, as you heard from the beginning,
in which you should walk.
Many deceivers have gone out into the world,
those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh;
such is the deceitful one and the antichrist.
Look to yourselves that you do not lose what we worked for
but may receive a full recompense.
Anyone who is so “progressive”
as not to remain in the teaching of the Christ does not have God;
whoever remains in the teaching has the Father and the Son.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on 2 Jn 4-9
This short letter (constrained in length by the space on one sheet of papyrus) is a rather intimate product of the Johannine community addressed to “the chosen lady and her children” addressing problems within the community. In this selection the evangelist speaks to a problem of false teachers; individuals who have fallen into a heretical view that Christ did not walk the earth as man (“…those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh”). These “deceivers” are to be rejected and proper view of Jesus Christ – true God and true man, which gives us both Father and Son, is to be embraced.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Responsorial Psalm:[4] Psalm 119:1, 2, 10, 11, 17, 18
R. (1b) Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
Blessed are they whose way is blameless,
who walk in the law of the LORD.
R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
Blessed are they who observe his decrees,
who seek him with all their heart.
R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
With all my heart I seek you;
let me not stray from your commands.
R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
Within my heart I treasure your promise,
that I may not sin against you.
R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
Be good to your servant, that I may live
and keep your words.
R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
Open my eyes, that I may consider
the wonders of your law.
R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Ps 119:1, 2, 10, 11, 17, 18
An acrostic poem; each of the eight verses of the first strophe (aleph) begins with the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet; each verse of the second strophe (beth) begins with the second letter; and so on for all 22 letters of the alphabet.
The entire work is in praise of the Law, and the joys to be found in keeping it. It is not "legalism" but a love and desire for the word of God in Israel's Law, which is the expression of the Lord's revelation of himself and his will for man.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gospel: Luke 17:26-37
“As it was in the days of Noah,
so it will be in the days of the Son of Man;
they were eating and drinking,
marrying and giving in marriage up to the day
that Noah entered the ark,
and the flood came and destroyed them all.
Similarly, as it was in the days of Lot:
they were eating, drinking, buying,
selling, planting, building;
on the day when Lot left Sodom,
fire and brimstone rained from the sky to destroy them all.
So it will be on the day the Son of Man is revealed.
On that day, someone who is on the housetop
and whose belongings are in the house
must not go down to get them,
and likewise one in the field
must not return to what was left behind.
Remember the wife of Lot.
Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it,
but whoever loses it will save it.
I tell you, on that night there will be two people in one bed;
one will be taken, the other left.
And there will be two women grinding meal together;
one will be taken, the other left.”
They said to him in reply, “Where, Lord?”
He said to them, “Where the body is,
there also the vultures will gather.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Lk 17:26-37
In this section of his discourse, Jesus speaks of the Eschaton (the end times). Relating the coming of the Son of Man (the Parousia) to the purges of evil and disbelief of the Great Flood (Genesis 6:5-8, 7:6-24) and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 18: 16-19:28), he tells his disciples that in that time, the things of this world (including the physical body) do not matter. Using the example of Lot’s wife (cf. Genesis19: 26), he explains that any attempt to preserve the physical reality will be disastrous. It is only important that one believes and has faith in Christ.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reflection:
What do we believe about Jesus? It sounds like a very simple question but in fact it is the most difficult thing we have ever been asked to do.
We profess that He is the Only Son of God, Mary gave birth to him and she conceived him in her womb, not through man, but through the Holy Spirit-incarnated as a human being Jesus walked the earth as a man. After three years of public ministry, the Jewish leadership in Jerusalem had the Roman Governor, Pilate, put him to death by crucifixion. We believe that though his physical body died a human death, he was raised up from the dead after three days. We believe his body was transformed into a glorious form which ascended with him to the heavenly kingdom where he resumed his place with God the Father.
What he left for us in his teachings was a revelation of God’s intent. In his person he revealed God’s will and interpreted the Law handed on to Moses. He brought good news; that while sin entered the world through the fall of Adam and Eve in their original sin, Jesus came, as a perfect sacrifice, under Jewish tradition and Law, to atone for the sin of all mankind. It was Jesus’ teaching that through our faith and belief in the Only Son of God, mankind would find eternal life with the Father. Through His act of love, the gates of heaven are opened and mankind is perfectly reconciled to God.
We also believe we must take much of what has been seen and said on faith since it is beyond human ability to grasp the complete reality of God and his plan. We call this reality beyond our understanding the mystery of faith which we must accept without understanding. This “leap of faith” is too much for many to accept. They respond “How could Mary get pregnant without having a man? How could she give birth to Jesus and remain a virgin? How could Jesus die and come back to life? How could he take his body with him to heaven? How could he perform all the miracles; making the blind see, the lame walk? How could he cast out demons; feed five thousand with just a few loaves of bread and a couple of fish? How could he walk on water? How could he raise the dead?” All of these things we must accept on faith because our logical minds must reject them as impossible.
All of this we believe about Jesus and accept because to reject it would be to reject life itself. It is so much easier to believe that much of what was transmitted through the Bible is nothing more than myth and that its only value is as a moral code. That is what millions, many identifying themselves as Christians believe. We are called to embrace this mystical faith that goes beyond understanding. More than that, we are asked to bring others to this truth as well.
Today we look inwardly and recall what it means to have faith. We accept without understanding that; “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.”
Pax
[1] ALTRE
[2] The picture used today is “John II” by Johann Christoph Weigel, 1695
[3] Text of Readings is taken from the New American Bible, Copyright © Libreria Editrice Vaticana
[4] Excerpts from the English translation of The Roman Missal © 1973, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved.
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Readings and Commentary:[3]
Reading 1: 2 John 4-9
[The Presbyter to the chosen Lady and to her children]
I rejoiced greatly to find some of your children walking in the truth
just as we were commanded by the Father.
But now, Lady, I ask you,
not as though I were writing a new commandment
but the one we have had from the beginning:
let us love one another.
For this is love, that we walk according to his commandments;
this is the commandment, as you heard from the beginning,
in which you should walk.
Many deceivers have gone out into the world,
those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh;
such is the deceitful one and the antichrist.
Look to yourselves that you do not lose what we worked for
but may receive a full recompense.
Anyone who is so “progressive”
as not to remain in the teaching of the Christ does not have God;
whoever remains in the teaching has the Father and the Son.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on 2 Jn 4-9
This short letter (constrained in length by the space on one sheet of papyrus) is a rather intimate product of the Johannine community addressed to “the chosen lady and her children” addressing problems within the community. In this selection the evangelist speaks to a problem of false teachers; individuals who have fallen into a heretical view that Christ did not walk the earth as man (“…those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh”). These “deceivers” are to be rejected and proper view of Jesus Christ – true God and true man, which gives us both Father and Son, is to be embraced.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Responsorial Psalm:[4] Psalm 119:1, 2, 10, 11, 17, 18
R. (1b) Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
Blessed are they whose way is blameless,
who walk in the law of the LORD.
R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
Blessed are they who observe his decrees,
who seek him with all their heart.
R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
With all my heart I seek you;
let me not stray from your commands.
R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
Within my heart I treasure your promise,
that I may not sin against you.
R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
Be good to your servant, that I may live
and keep your words.
R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
Open my eyes, that I may consider
the wonders of your law.
R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Ps 119:1, 2, 10, 11, 17, 18
An acrostic poem; each of the eight verses of the first strophe (aleph) begins with the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet; each verse of the second strophe (beth) begins with the second letter; and so on for all 22 letters of the alphabet.
The entire work is in praise of the Law, and the joys to be found in keeping it. It is not "legalism" but a love and desire for the word of God in Israel's Law, which is the expression of the Lord's revelation of himself and his will for man.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gospel: Luke 17:26-37
“As it was in the days of Noah,
so it will be in the days of the Son of Man;
they were eating and drinking,
marrying and giving in marriage up to the day
that Noah entered the ark,
and the flood came and destroyed them all.
Similarly, as it was in the days of Lot:
they were eating, drinking, buying,
selling, planting, building;
on the day when Lot left Sodom,
fire and brimstone rained from the sky to destroy them all.
So it will be on the day the Son of Man is revealed.
On that day, someone who is on the housetop
and whose belongings are in the house
must not go down to get them,
and likewise one in the field
must not return to what was left behind.
Remember the wife of Lot.
Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it,
but whoever loses it will save it.
I tell you, on that night there will be two people in one bed;
one will be taken, the other left.
And there will be two women grinding meal together;
one will be taken, the other left.”
They said to him in reply, “Where, Lord?”
He said to them, “Where the body is,
there also the vultures will gather.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Lk 17:26-37
In this section of his discourse, Jesus speaks of the Eschaton (the end times). Relating the coming of the Son of Man (the Parousia) to the purges of evil and disbelief of the Great Flood (Genesis 6:5-8, 7:6-24) and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 18: 16-19:28), he tells his disciples that in that time, the things of this world (including the physical body) do not matter. Using the example of Lot’s wife (cf. Genesis19: 26), he explains that any attempt to preserve the physical reality will be disastrous. It is only important that one believes and has faith in Christ.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reflection:
What do we believe about Jesus? It sounds like a very simple question but in fact it is the most difficult thing we have ever been asked to do.
We profess that He is the Only Son of God, Mary gave birth to him and she conceived him in her womb, not through man, but through the Holy Spirit-incarnated as a human being Jesus walked the earth as a man. After three years of public ministry, the Jewish leadership in Jerusalem had the Roman Governor, Pilate, put him to death by crucifixion. We believe that though his physical body died a human death, he was raised up from the dead after three days. We believe his body was transformed into a glorious form which ascended with him to the heavenly kingdom where he resumed his place with God the Father.
What he left for us in his teachings was a revelation of God’s intent. In his person he revealed God’s will and interpreted the Law handed on to Moses. He brought good news; that while sin entered the world through the fall of Adam and Eve in their original sin, Jesus came, as a perfect sacrifice, under Jewish tradition and Law, to atone for the sin of all mankind. It was Jesus’ teaching that through our faith and belief in the Only Son of God, mankind would find eternal life with the Father. Through His act of love, the gates of heaven are opened and mankind is perfectly reconciled to God.
We also believe we must take much of what has been seen and said on faith since it is beyond human ability to grasp the complete reality of God and his plan. We call this reality beyond our understanding the mystery of faith which we must accept without understanding. This “leap of faith” is too much for many to accept. They respond “How could Mary get pregnant without having a man? How could she give birth to Jesus and remain a virgin? How could Jesus die and come back to life? How could he take his body with him to heaven? How could he perform all the miracles; making the blind see, the lame walk? How could he cast out demons; feed five thousand with just a few loaves of bread and a couple of fish? How could he walk on water? How could he raise the dead?” All of these things we must accept on faith because our logical minds must reject them as impossible.
All of this we believe about Jesus and accept because to reject it would be to reject life itself. It is so much easier to believe that much of what was transmitted through the Bible is nothing more than myth and that its only value is as a moral code. That is what millions, many identifying themselves as Christians believe. We are called to embrace this mystical faith that goes beyond understanding. More than that, we are asked to bring others to this truth as well.
Today we look inwardly and recall what it means to have faith. We accept without understanding that; “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.”
Pax
[1] ALTRE
[2] The picture used today is “John II” by Johann Christoph Weigel, 1695
[3] Text of Readings is taken from the New American Bible, Copyright © Libreria Editrice Vaticana
[4] Excerpts from the English translation of The Roman Missal © 1973, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved.
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