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| “Padre Pio” Photographer and Date are Unknown |
Commentary:
Reading 1: Ezra 9:5-9
Commentary on Ezr 9:5-9
This passage from the Book of Ezra is a prayer of atonement lamenting the situation in Jerusalem . The prophet takes personal responsibility for the sin as he expresses the corporate guilt of all people for the sins of some of its membership. It recalls the unworthiness of the Jews in all of their sinful acts and praises the mercy of God who brought them back to Jerusalem and Judah .
CCC: Ezr 9:6-15 2585
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Responsorial Psalm: Tobit 13:2, 3-4a, 4befghn, 7-8
R. (1b) Blessed be God, who lives for ever.
Commentary on Tb 13:2, 3-4a, 4befghn, 7-8
This psalm and response are taken from the Book of Tobit. It is the response to the Archangel Raphael’s instruction to give thanks to God for his blessings. It is a hymn of praise and thanksgiving to God for his help and salvation. It recalls the Diaspora and the Restoration of Israel. Echoing the prayer of Ezra (Ezra 9:6), it recalls that it was through God’s mercy that these things were accomplished rather than the merit of a sinful people.
CCC: Tb 13:2 269
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Gospel: Luke 9:1-6
Commentary on Lk 9:1-6
St. Luke’s description of the mission of the twelve is also recounted (with some differences) in Mark 6:7-13 and Matthew 10:1-9,11,14. Because of these differences (e.g. Matthew and Luke forbid a staff and sandals but Mark allows them, and assuming that St. Mark’s Gospel was closest to Jesus words, we can assume that Matthew and Luke were spiritualizing Jesus; instructions to a point. Similarly, “because of the necessity of shaking off foreign dust before entering the Jerusalem Temple and the prohibition against bringing profane money into the sacred precincts (John 2:14), the passage can be interpreted metaphorically: in all your undertakings, act as though you are standing in God’s presence; enter the home of each Christian as you would the Temple of God.”[4]
“Armed with the power and authority that Jesus himself has been displaying in the previous episodes, the Twelve are now sent out to continue the work that Jesus has been performing throughout his Galilean ministry:” They are to rely completely on the Lord, being part of the world but set apart from it.[5]
CCC: Lk 9:2 551
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Reflection:
Jesus summoned the Apostles (no longer just disciples) and gave them power and authority and sent them out. That same “summoning and sending” has been taking place ever since the Lord handed the keys to the Kingdom of God to St. Peter. We might ask; “Then why do all Christians not have the same authority the same power over diseases and evil spirits? We are all summoned, we are all sent.”
That is actually a very good question. Why can’t each of us heal with a word, cure with a touch? The answer, we propose, can be likened to making a copy of a document. Not like we do today by placing it into an electronic copier (in the old days a Xerox machine) or scanning it into a computer. No it’s like making a copy the way the monks did sacred manuscripts in the middle ages. Some of the copies turned out were works of art – accurate to the finest detail; exact replicas of the manuscript in its original form. Others suffered small errors and those errors were copied by subsequent copyists etc. We could go into great detail here comparing flaws in the paper used or the ink available. The words could have been transliterated or changed. The results, in many cases, caused meaning to be changed or lost.
The really good copies, those illuminated manuscripts, the real works of art are analogous to the Saints. They captured most clearly the intent of Jesus when he summoned the twelve and sent them. We see in them the authority that he passed on to the twelve, the authority we know was effective because later we will hear in the same Gospel how excited they were at their own success.
This mission is passed on to us. Our ability to be effective in the work of the Apostles – now the broader work of the Holy Church, is limited by our understanding of Jesus and his will for us. Essentially, using the analogy above; how good is our internalized copy of the revealed Son of God? The more perfectly we understand the Lord; the more deeply we delve into his mind and heart, the more effective and powerful we can be in accomplishing the tasks he sets before all of us.
What limits us is our human nature; that which we cannot suppress in spite of our best intentions. As we continue to seek the will of the Lord who calls and sends us, let us pray that God will also strengthen us with his Holy Spirit that we may more perfectly put on the mind of Christ, His Only Begotten Son.
Pax
[1] S.S Commemoratio
[2] The picture is “Padre Pio” Photographer and Date are Unknown
[4] See Jerome Biblical Commentary, Prentice Hall, Inc., © 1968, 44:84 pp.140
[5] See NAB footnote on Luke 9:1-6
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