Thursday of the First Week in Ordinary Time
Readings for Thursday of the First Week in Ordinary Time[1][2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Readings and Commentary:[3]
Reading I: 1 Samuel 4:1-11
The Philistines gathered for an attack on Israel.
Israel went out to engage them in battle and camped at Ebenezer,
while the Philistines camped at Aphek.
The Philistines then drew up in battle formation against Israel.
After a fierce struggle Israel was defeated by the Philistines,
who slew about four thousand men on the battlefield.
When the troops retired to the camp, the elders of Israel said,
“Why has the LORD permitted us to be defeated today
by the Philistines?
Let us fetch the ark of the Lord from Shiloh
that it may go into battle among us
and save us from the grasp of our enemies.”
So the people sent to Shiloh and brought from there
the ark of the LORD of hosts, who is enthroned upon the cherubim.
The two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were with the ark of God.
When the ark of the LORD arrived in the camp,
all Israel shouted so loudly that the earth resounded.
The Philistines, hearing the noise of shouting, asked,
“What can this loud shouting in the camp of the Hebrews mean?”
On learning that the ark of the LORD had come into the camp,
the Philistines were frightened.
They said, “Gods have come to their camp.”
They said also, “Woe to us! This has never happened before. Woe to us!
Who can deliver us from the power of these mighty gods?
These are the gods that struck the Egyptians
with various plagues and with pestilence.
Take courage and be manly, Philistines;
otherwise you will become slaves to the Hebrews,
as they were your slaves.
So fight manfully!”
The Philistines fought and Israel was defeated;
every man fled to his own tent.
It was a disastrous defeat,
in which Israel lost thirty thousand foot soldiers.
The ark of God was captured,
and Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were among the dead.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on 1 Sm 4:1-11
The chronicle of Samuel continues with the story of the defeat of the Hebrews by the Philistines. The story, in addition to providing an historical reference, also fulfills the first prophecy of Samuel that God would punish the blasphemy of the sons of Eli (see 1 Samuel 2:12ff and 1 Samuel 3:11-14). Their death in the battle in which the Ark of the Covenant was captured is the underlying lesson of this historical text and may have been interpreted as the reason for the defeat of the army of Israel. We note the Philistines, when speaking of the arrival of the Ark in the camp of the army of Israel; refer to the arrival of “gods”. This plural address reflects the polytheistic views of the Philistines who assumed Israel also worshiped many gods.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 44:10-11, 14-15, 24-25
R. (27b) Redeem us, Lord, because of your mercy.
Yet now you have cast us off and put us in disgrace,
and you go not forth with our armies.
You have let us be driven back by our foes;
those who hated us plundered us at will.
R. Redeem us, Lord, because of your mercy.
You made us the reproach of our neighbors,
the mockery and the scorn of those around us.
You made us a byword among the nations,
a laughingstock among the peoples.
R. Redeem us, Lord, because of your mercy.
Why do you hide your face,
forgetting our woe and our oppression?
For our souls are bowed down to the dust,
our bodies are pressed to the earth.
R. Redeem us, Lord, because of your mercy.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Ps 44:10-11, 14-15, 24-25
Psalm 44 is a lament. The song calls to the Lord for help, asking God why he has allowed his faithful to be defeated. The singer pleads with God to come to the aid of his people for they are in great need.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gospel: Mark 1:40-45
A leper came to him and kneeling down begged him and said,
“If you wish, you can make me clean.”
Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand,
touched the leper, and said to him,
“I do will it. Be made clean.”
The leprosy left him immediately, and he was made clean.
Then, warning him sternly, he dismissed him at once.
Then he said to him, “See that you tell no one anything,
but go, show yourself to the priest
and offer for your cleansing what Moses prescribed;
that will be proof for them.”
The man went away and began to publicize the whole matter.
He spread the report abroad
so that it was impossible for Jesus to enter a town openly.
He remained outside in deserted places,
and people kept coming to him from everywhere.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Mk 1:40-45
St. Mark’s account of this incident is almost identical to that of St. Luke (see Luke 5:12-16) In this account of Jesus curing the leper, we see two remarkable details. First, it was the Hebrew law that those designated as “unclean” could not approach anyone closer than about ten feet. This leper was clearly much closer. He was close enough to Jesus who “stretched out his hand, touched him”. Not just with a word was this leper made clean. The Lord touched him which by Hebrew law as taboo. In one action the Lord demonstrates his power over the disease and his authority over the law.
Unlike the account in St. Luke, Jesus does not embrace the notoriety but withdraws to deserted places. None the less, people seek him out, coming to him form “everywhere.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reflection:
Oh, the happy leper touched by Christ. The one completely without sin taking away the sin of one punished and outcast; untouchable by ordinary people was made clean. This gesture by Jesus toward the leper sums up the Lord’s mission to us. Though we did not know it we were unclean, like the leper. Our lesions did not show they were for the most part in the inside. We were dying of a disease that had afflicted us since Adam and Eve first allowed sin and death to come into the world. And then God’s Son stretched out his hand and touched us.
If our sins were manifested like the sores of leprosy, the lines to get into the confessional would be endless. A vane people would flock to the one who could heal them on a daily basis, for in the confessional he stretches out his hand and touches us. But it does not work that way. Sin hides in the flesh and is not exposed for all to see.
When Jesus touched the leper and healed him, that happy soul was reconciled to Jesus, to God and to his community. If our sins were manifested like the sores of leprosy, those who are relatively clean would avoid them would see them as outcast and there would be one more motivating factor beyond simple vanity to be reconciled with God and allowed to come to his table so he could stretch out his hand in the Eucharist.
We who seek God know that while our sins do not show, the one who sees in secret knows what we have done. The one who knows each hair on our heads knows our hearts as well. We rejoice in this knowledge because we are aware that like the leper of the Gospel, Jesus, even now, stretches out his hand to us and makes us clean. He invites us to his heavenly banquet foreshadowed on earth in the sacrifice of the Mass. He blesses us with his touch and makes us holy.
Pax
[1] ALTRE
[2] The picture is “The Leper” by Alexandre Bida, 1850s
[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 Thursday of the First Week in Ordinary Time[1][2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Readings and Commentary:[3]
Reading I: 1 Samuel 4:1-11
The Philistines gathered for an attack on Israel.
Israel went out to engage them in battle and camped at Ebenezer,
while the Philistines camped at Aphek.
The Philistines then drew up in battle formation against Israel.
After a fierce struggle Israel was defeated by the Philistines,
who slew about four thousand men on the battlefield.
When the troops retired to the camp, the elders of Israel said,
“Why has the LORD permitted us to be defeated today
by the Philistines?
Let us fetch the ark of the Lord from Shiloh
that it may go into battle among us
and save us from the grasp of our enemies.”
So the people sent to Shiloh and brought from there
the ark of the LORD of hosts, who is enthroned upon the cherubim.
The two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were with the ark of God.
When the ark of the LORD arrived in the camp,
all Israel shouted so loudly that the earth resounded.
The Philistines, hearing the noise of shouting, asked,
“What can this loud shouting in the camp of the Hebrews mean?”
On learning that the ark of the LORD had come into the camp,
the Philistines were frightened.
They said, “Gods have come to their camp.”
They said also, “Woe to us! This has never happened before. Woe to us!
Who can deliver us from the power of these mighty gods?
These are the gods that struck the Egyptians
with various plagues and with pestilence.
Take courage and be manly, Philistines;
otherwise you will become slaves to the Hebrews,
as they were your slaves.
So fight manfully!”
The Philistines fought and Israel was defeated;
every man fled to his own tent.
It was a disastrous defeat,
in which Israel lost thirty thousand foot soldiers.
The ark of God was captured,
and Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were among the dead.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on 1 Sm 4:1-11
The chronicle of Samuel continues with the story of the defeat of the Hebrews by the Philistines. The story, in addition to providing an historical reference, also fulfills the first prophecy of Samuel that God would punish the blasphemy of the sons of Eli (see 1 Samuel 2:12ff and 1 Samuel 3:11-14). Their death in the battle in which the Ark of the Covenant was captured is the underlying lesson of this historical text and may have been interpreted as the reason for the defeat of the army of Israel. We note the Philistines, when speaking of the arrival of the Ark in the camp of the army of Israel; refer to the arrival of “gods”. This plural address reflects the polytheistic views of the Philistines who assumed Israel also worshiped many gods.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 44:10-11, 14-15, 24-25
R. (27b) Redeem us, Lord, because of your mercy.
Yet now you have cast us off and put us in disgrace,
and you go not forth with our armies.
You have let us be driven back by our foes;
those who hated us plundered us at will.
R. Redeem us, Lord, because of your mercy.
You made us the reproach of our neighbors,
the mockery and the scorn of those around us.
You made us a byword among the nations,
a laughingstock among the peoples.
R. Redeem us, Lord, because of your mercy.
Why do you hide your face,
forgetting our woe and our oppression?
For our souls are bowed down to the dust,
our bodies are pressed to the earth.
R. Redeem us, Lord, because of your mercy.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Ps 44:10-11, 14-15, 24-25
Psalm 44 is a lament. The song calls to the Lord for help, asking God why he has allowed his faithful to be defeated. The singer pleads with God to come to the aid of his people for they are in great need.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gospel: Mark 1:40-45
A leper came to him and kneeling down begged him and said,
“If you wish, you can make me clean.”
Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand,
touched the leper, and said to him,
“I do will it. Be made clean.”
The leprosy left him immediately, and he was made clean.
Then, warning him sternly, he dismissed him at once.
Then he said to him, “See that you tell no one anything,
but go, show yourself to the priest
and offer for your cleansing what Moses prescribed;
that will be proof for them.”
The man went away and began to publicize the whole matter.
He spread the report abroad
so that it was impossible for Jesus to enter a town openly.
He remained outside in deserted places,
and people kept coming to him from everywhere.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Mk 1:40-45
St. Mark’s account of this incident is almost identical to that of St. Luke (see Luke 5:12-16) In this account of Jesus curing the leper, we see two remarkable details. First, it was the Hebrew law that those designated as “unclean” could not approach anyone closer than about ten feet. This leper was clearly much closer. He was close enough to Jesus who “stretched out his hand, touched him”. Not just with a word was this leper made clean. The Lord touched him which by Hebrew law as taboo. In one action the Lord demonstrates his power over the disease and his authority over the law.
Unlike the account in St. Luke, Jesus does not embrace the notoriety but withdraws to deserted places. None the less, people seek him out, coming to him form “everywhere.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reflection:
Oh, the happy leper touched by Christ. The one completely without sin taking away the sin of one punished and outcast; untouchable by ordinary people was made clean. This gesture by Jesus toward the leper sums up the Lord’s mission to us. Though we did not know it we were unclean, like the leper. Our lesions did not show they were for the most part in the inside. We were dying of a disease that had afflicted us since Adam and Eve first allowed sin and death to come into the world. And then God’s Son stretched out his hand and touched us.
If our sins were manifested like the sores of leprosy, the lines to get into the confessional would be endless. A vane people would flock to the one who could heal them on a daily basis, for in the confessional he stretches out his hand and touches us. But it does not work that way. Sin hides in the flesh and is not exposed for all to see.
When Jesus touched the leper and healed him, that happy soul was reconciled to Jesus, to God and to his community. If our sins were manifested like the sores of leprosy, those who are relatively clean would avoid them would see them as outcast and there would be one more motivating factor beyond simple vanity to be reconciled with God and allowed to come to his table so he could stretch out his hand in the Eucharist.
We who seek God know that while our sins do not show, the one who sees in secret knows what we have done. The one who knows each hair on our heads knows our hearts as well. We rejoice in this knowledge because we are aware that like the leper of the Gospel, Jesus, even now, stretches out his hand to us and makes us clean. He invites us to his heavenly banquet foreshadowed on earth in the sacrifice of the Mass. He blesses us with his touch and makes us holy.
Pax
[1] ALTRE
[2] The picture is “The Leper” by Alexandre Bida, 1850s
[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.
No comments:
Post a Comment