Saturday of the Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time

Saturday of the Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time
The Most Holy Name of Mary

Information about the Feast of the Holy Name of Mary

Readings for Saturday of the Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time[1][2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible

Readings and Commentary:[3]

Reading 1: 1 Timothy 1:15-17

Beloved:
This saying is trustworthy and deserves full acceptance:
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.
Of these I am the foremost.
But for that reason I was mercifully treated,
so that in me, as the foremost,
Christ Jesus might display all his patience as an example
for those who would come to believe in him for everlasting life.
To the king of ages, incorruptible, invisible, the only God,
honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
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Commentary on 1 Tm 1:15-17

This pastoral statement from the First Letter of Timothy states the fundamental truth that Jesus came into the word to save humankind from the death of sin and bring us to everlasting life. The conclusion is another statement of faith there is only one true God and he deserves all glory and honor. Presented on this memorial, the statement clearly points, as does his Blessed Mother, to the primacy of Christ.

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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 113:1b-2, 3-4, 5 and 6-7

R. (2) Blessed be the name of the Lord for ever.

Praise, you servants of the LORD,
praise the name of the LORD.
Blessed be the name of the LORD
both now and forever.
R. Blessed be the name of the Lord for ever.

From the rising to the setting of the sun
is the name of the LORD to be praised.
High above all nations is the LORD;
above the heavens is his glory.
R. Blessed be the name of the Lord for ever.

Who is like the LORD, our God,
and looks upon the heavens and the earth below?
He raises up the lowly from the dust;
from the dunghill he lifts up the poor.
R. Blessed be the name of the Lord for ever.
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Commentary on Ps 113:1b-2, 3-4, 5 and 6-7

Psalm 113 is a song of praise. In these strophes we rejoice in all of God’s creation and his loving mercy for the poor.

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Gospel: Luke 6:43-49

Jesus said to his disciples:
“A good tree does not bear rotten fruit,
nor does a rotten tree bear good fruit.
For every tree is known by its own fruit.
For people do not pick figs from thornbushes,
nor do they gather grapes from brambles.
A good person out of the store of goodness in his heart produces good,
but an evil person out of a store of evil produces evil;
for from the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks.
“Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ but not do what I command?
I will show you what someone is like who comes to me,
listens to my words, and acts on them.
That one is like a man building a house,
who dug deeply and laid the foundation on rock;
when the flood came, the river burst against that house
but could not shake it because it had been well built.
But the one who listens and does not act
is like a person who built a house on the ground
without a foundation.
When the river burst against it,
it collapsed at once and was completely destroyed.”
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Commentary on Lk 6:43-49

St. Luke’s Gospel brings us the conclusion of Jesus’ discourse on judgment of others using the analogy of the fruits born by a tree – good and bad. The intent of this allegory was to expose false prophets – hypocrites who say one thing but do another. He makes it clear that one can discern if the teacher is authentic or not by the very thing being taught. In this case, those who contradict the Lord are false and should be avoided.

The second section of this reading is the conclusion of Jesus’ long discourse. He uses the analogy of the house built upon sand and the house built upon rock to indicate that those how have a deep faith and act out of that faith have a strong foundation and can stand against adversity; while those who give the faith lip service and for others to see but do not have that deep faith will fall.

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Reflection:

We explore what the Lord means when he says the one “…who dug deeply and laid the foundation on rock.” On the surface this seems to by saying that those who seek to serve the Lord, to follow him closely, need to have a strong connection between what they hear and understand from Jesus and how they act upon those impulses. They is more to it than that!.

A child understands Jesus at the level at which their maturity allows. If they are being true to their faith, they act upon their understanding of what Jesus commands in a given situation. An adult with greater life experience may interpret the command of Jesus in a different way and react differently in the same situation. Even further, one who has intensely reflected upon the words and works of faith may see a deeper meaning and their actions may differ from both the child and the adult. There are different and deeper levels of faith and understand to be had, but digging deeply is the key to unlocking those rewards.

All of this seems fairly logical and straight forward. There is, however, a caveat – digging deeper is, first of all work and second the digger must be aware that they have not reached bed rock. Using the Lord’s analogy and going a bit further. Many of us dig down until the ground gets pretty hard and assume we have hit rock when we either hit just a stone (that would be like and epiphany – a flash of insight) or we may have hit clay that fells like rock but is really not foundation material.

The work part of the caveat is very clear. We either decide to do the work or not. We either commit to digging deeper (ie. taking more advantage of sacramental offerings, delving into Sacred Scripture, reading works of faith to help us understand what others have gleaned from their faith journeys, or intensifying our prayer lives.) or we do not – putting it off for later when we have nothing better or more fun to do.

The good news is this, the Lord gives us a shovel built for our hands and while we may get calluses, it will never dull. All we need to recognize is that the rock is there and is ours to find. May our prayer be this, that we always have the will and courage to seek that bed rock upon which our faith may sit and our actions be directed.

Pax

[1] ALTRE
[2] The picture is “The House Upon the Rock and The House Upon the Sand” by William James Webb, c. 1860
[3] Text of Readings is taken from the New American Bible, Copyright © Libreria Editrice Vaticana, Excerpts from the English translation of The Roman Missal © 1973, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved.