Monday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time
Readings for Monday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time[1][2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Readings and Commentary:[3]
Reading 1: Romans 8:12-17
Brothers and sisters,
we are not debtors to the flesh,
to live according to the flesh.
For if you live according to the flesh, you will die,
but if by the spirit you put to death the deeds of the body,
you will live.
For those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear,
but you received a spirit of adoption,
through which we cry, “Abba, Father!”
The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit
that we are children of God,
and if children, then heirs,
heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ,
if only we suffer with him
so that we may also be glorified with him.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Rom 8:12-17
St. Paul continues his discourse about the importance of making life in the spirit a priority as opposed to the life of the “unspiritual”. He reminds his Christian audience that when they became Christians they were not made slaves but adopted as children of God. Able, he tells them, to call God the Heavenly Father “Abba” the familial term used by Jesus, emphasizing that they are co-heirs with Christ whose sufferings and glory they share.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 68:2 and 4, 6-7ab, 20-21
R. (21a) Our God is the God of salvation.
God arises; his enemies are scattered,
and those who hate him flee before him.
But the just rejoice and exult before God;
they are glad and rejoice.
R. Our God is the God of salvation.
The father of orphans and the defender of widows
is God in his holy dwelling.
God gives a home to the forsaken;
he leads forth prisoners to prosperity.
R. Our God is the God of salvation.
Blessed day by day be the Lord,
who bears our burdens; God, who is our salvation.
God is a saving God for us;
the LORD, my Lord, controls the passageways of death.
R. Our God is the God of salvation.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Ps 68:2 and 4, 6-7ab, 20-21
This song of thanksgiving exalts the Lord for his salvation of his children with the theme of adoption carried forward, specifically referencing God assuming the fatherly role with widows and orphans (The father of orphans and the defender of widows is God in his holy dwelling). His faithful followers, the singer calls, enjoy his strength, even his power over death.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gospel: Luke 13:10-17
Jesus was teaching in a synagogue on the sabbath.
And a woman was there who for eighteen years
had been crippled by a spirit;
she was bent over, completely incapable of standing erect.
When Jesus saw her, he called to her and said,
“Woman, you are set free of your infirmity.”
He laid his hands on her,
and she at once stood up straight and glorified God.
But the leader of the synagogue,
indignant that Jesus had cured on the sabbath,
said to the crowd in reply,
“There are six days when work should be done.
Come on those days to be cured, not on the sabbath day.”
The Lord said to him in reply, “Hypocrites!
Does not each one of you on the sabbath
untie his ox or his ass from the manger
and lead it out for watering?
This daughter of Abraham,
whom Satan has bound for eighteen years now,
ought she not to have been set free on the sabbath day
from this bondage?”
When he said this, all his adversaries were humiliated;
and the whole crowd rejoiced at all the splendid deeds done by him.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Lk 13:10-17
The story of the cure of the crippled woman is parallel to the story of Jesus curing the man with dropsy on the Sabbath (Luke 14:1-6). He is challenged by the local Jewish leadership for doing “work” on God’s holy day. As before, he uses the need to tend to the necessities of life on the sabbath as parallel to his need to cure the woman.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reflection:
We are forced to look at what it means to be “adopted” by God. St. Paul makes it very clear that those who are baptized into Jesus are adopted and sons and daughters of God. In an earlier era, that adoption was extended to the Hebrews as is made clear in both the Psalm and the Gospel as Jesus refers to the woman he cures specifically as “This daughter of Abraham”.
Abstractly, before our adoption as natural beings we were slaves of the flesh, thinking only in terms of what gratified the flesh. When one takes that view the stark reality of death becomes a finite ending. The body, the flesh will die and all the effort that went into making the flesh happy or strong will have ended with it. Yet, we have chosen to accept adoption by Jesus and in doing so our main concern must now be with our soul or spirit. It is the spirit that animates the flesh and to a great degree controls its appetites.
Becoming adopted children of God carries with it both wealth and obligation. An orphan adopted by a titled family inherits the title of that family, they also inherit the responsibility that goes along with the title, and so do we who are adopted by God inherit the responsibility of the title Christian. If the adopted child of a titled family does not live up to their obligations the family may “disown” that child, making them ineligible to inherit the wealth of the adopting family. Here is where the analogy breaks down a bit since our adoptive Father will never disown us. His hand is always outstretched. It is we who disown him through sin – separating ourselves from his love by our own choice – forfeiting our inheritance in favor of death in the flesh.
Today we pray that we may always be aware of our adoption as children of God and co-heirs to his Kingdom. May we conduct ourselves as is befitting one called a child of God and bring honor to his name in so doing.
Pax
[1] ALTRE
[2] The picture is “The Orphanage” by Jan de Bray, 1663
[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.
Readings for Monday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time[1][2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Readings and Commentary:[3]
Reading 1: Romans 8:12-17
Brothers and sisters,
we are not debtors to the flesh,
to live according to the flesh.
For if you live according to the flesh, you will die,
but if by the spirit you put to death the deeds of the body,
you will live.
For those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear,
but you received a spirit of adoption,
through which we cry, “Abba, Father!”
The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit
that we are children of God,
and if children, then heirs,
heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ,
if only we suffer with him
so that we may also be glorified with him.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Rom 8:12-17
St. Paul continues his discourse about the importance of making life in the spirit a priority as opposed to the life of the “unspiritual”. He reminds his Christian audience that when they became Christians they were not made slaves but adopted as children of God. Able, he tells them, to call God the Heavenly Father “Abba” the familial term used by Jesus, emphasizing that they are co-heirs with Christ whose sufferings and glory they share.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 68:2 and 4, 6-7ab, 20-21
R. (21a) Our God is the God of salvation.
God arises; his enemies are scattered,
and those who hate him flee before him.
But the just rejoice and exult before God;
they are glad and rejoice.
R. Our God is the God of salvation.
The father of orphans and the defender of widows
is God in his holy dwelling.
God gives a home to the forsaken;
he leads forth prisoners to prosperity.
R. Our God is the God of salvation.
Blessed day by day be the Lord,
who bears our burdens; God, who is our salvation.
God is a saving God for us;
the LORD, my Lord, controls the passageways of death.
R. Our God is the God of salvation.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Ps 68:2 and 4, 6-7ab, 20-21
This song of thanksgiving exalts the Lord for his salvation of his children with the theme of adoption carried forward, specifically referencing God assuming the fatherly role with widows and orphans (The father of orphans and the defender of widows is God in his holy dwelling). His faithful followers, the singer calls, enjoy his strength, even his power over death.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gospel: Luke 13:10-17
Jesus was teaching in a synagogue on the sabbath.
And a woman was there who for eighteen years
had been crippled by a spirit;
she was bent over, completely incapable of standing erect.
When Jesus saw her, he called to her and said,
“Woman, you are set free of your infirmity.”
He laid his hands on her,
and she at once stood up straight and glorified God.
But the leader of the synagogue,
indignant that Jesus had cured on the sabbath,
said to the crowd in reply,
“There are six days when work should be done.
Come on those days to be cured, not on the sabbath day.”
The Lord said to him in reply, “Hypocrites!
Does not each one of you on the sabbath
untie his ox or his ass from the manger
and lead it out for watering?
This daughter of Abraham,
whom Satan has bound for eighteen years now,
ought she not to have been set free on the sabbath day
from this bondage?”
When he said this, all his adversaries were humiliated;
and the whole crowd rejoiced at all the splendid deeds done by him.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Lk 13:10-17
The story of the cure of the crippled woman is parallel to the story of Jesus curing the man with dropsy on the Sabbath (Luke 14:1-6). He is challenged by the local Jewish leadership for doing “work” on God’s holy day. As before, he uses the need to tend to the necessities of life on the sabbath as parallel to his need to cure the woman.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reflection:
We are forced to look at what it means to be “adopted” by God. St. Paul makes it very clear that those who are baptized into Jesus are adopted and sons and daughters of God. In an earlier era, that adoption was extended to the Hebrews as is made clear in both the Psalm and the Gospel as Jesus refers to the woman he cures specifically as “This daughter of Abraham”.
Abstractly, before our adoption as natural beings we were slaves of the flesh, thinking only in terms of what gratified the flesh. When one takes that view the stark reality of death becomes a finite ending. The body, the flesh will die and all the effort that went into making the flesh happy or strong will have ended with it. Yet, we have chosen to accept adoption by Jesus and in doing so our main concern must now be with our soul or spirit. It is the spirit that animates the flesh and to a great degree controls its appetites.
Becoming adopted children of God carries with it both wealth and obligation. An orphan adopted by a titled family inherits the title of that family, they also inherit the responsibility that goes along with the title, and so do we who are adopted by God inherit the responsibility of the title Christian. If the adopted child of a titled family does not live up to their obligations the family may “disown” that child, making them ineligible to inherit the wealth of the adopting family. Here is where the analogy breaks down a bit since our adoptive Father will never disown us. His hand is always outstretched. It is we who disown him through sin – separating ourselves from his love by our own choice – forfeiting our inheritance in favor of death in the flesh.
Today we pray that we may always be aware of our adoption as children of God and co-heirs to his Kingdom. May we conduct ourselves as is befitting one called a child of God and bring honor to his name in so doing.
Pax
[1] ALTRE
[2] The picture is “The Orphanage” by Jan de Bray, 1663
[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.
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