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Commentary:
Reading 1: 1 Corinthians 2:10b-16
Commentary on 1 Cor 2:10b-16
St. Paul continues his discourse on Christian Wisdom and perfection in the spirit. In this passage he talks about the discernment of things of the spirit, and how Christian Wisdom allows the faithful to discern the will of God ("…no one knows what pertains to God except the Spirit of God”). The “will of God” seems foolish to human wisdom (“…to him it is foolishness”). The Christian, however, has access to the Wisdom of God and is guided by it. (“But we have the mind of Christ.”)
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 145:8-9, 10-11, 12-13ab, 13cd-14
R. (17) The Lord is just in all his ways.
Commentary on Ps 145:8-9, 10-11, 12-13ab, 13cd-14
Psalm 145 is a hymn of praise. These strophes call on the faithful to give thanks to God for opening the gates of his Heavenly Kingdom. The psalmist sings his praise to God who is faithful to his people and who saves those who are in need. The selection gives praise God for his mercy and compassion, and thanks for his creation and redemption. There is also a subtle link to "Christian Wisdom" that comes with putting on the mind of Christ. The entire song is in the acrostic form (although loosely assembled), each verse beginning with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet.
CCC: Ps 145:9 295, 342
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Gospel: Luke 4:31-37
Commentary on Lk 4:31-37
This passage from St. Luke’s Gospel begins a series of events around Capernaum that expand Jesus' public image from prophet to teacher, exorcist, healer, and proclaimer of God’s kingdom. Here, he expels an evil spirit that asks him if he has come to destroy evil. “How does your concern affect me?" Literally, ‘What is this to me and to you?’ This is a Hebrew expression of either hostility (Judges 11:12; 2 Chronicles 35:21; 1 Kings 17:18), or denial of common interest (Hosea 14:9; 2 Kings 3:13; cf Mark 1:24; 5:7) used by demons to Jesus.”[4] It is interesting that the Spirit uses the Lord’s full name, perhaps in an attempt to control him. Instead the Lord commands the evil spirit and it leaves, amazing the crowd and spreading his fame in the region.
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Reflection:
Those of you who are fortunate enough to have fluency in a second language or specialized training in a field of employment are going to have an easier time with St. Paul’s letter today than those of us who only speak a single language. Paul says today;
We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand the things freely given us by God. And we speak about them not with words taught by human wisdom, but with words taught by the Spirit, describing spiritual realities in spiritual terms.
There is a second language that we must learn to speak when discussing the things of God. It is “The Language of God.” The language of God is different than the language of logic or even philosophy used in describing the things of man. Let’s look at a few examples.
If we observe a person who is making a living wage, not wealthy, not highly paid, but a living wage, and see that person giving a large piece of that wage, say 10%, to a charity, thereby depriving that person of any luxury items, and some things we might even classify as necessities, using the language of logic, that is the language of the secular world, we would call that person foolish, or even stupid.
Using the language of the Holy Spirit in the same situation, we instantly are reminded of the scripture from the Gospel of Mark:
He sat down opposite the treasury and observed how the crowd put money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. A poor widow also came and put in two small coins worth a few cents. Calling his disciples to himself, he said to them, "Amen, I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the other contributors to the treasury. For they have all contributed from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had, her whole livelihood." (Mk 12 42-44)
We would say, using the language of the Holy Spirit, how blessed that person is, and what a wonderful example of faith. We would praise that person as an example to be followed. It’s a different language.
Let’s look at another situation. A person is at work and sees the boss doing something very wrong and unjust; let’s say doctoring time cards of other employees so he can make his labor budget. The person goes to that boss, and tells the boss that what he is doing is wrong and illegal, and must be corrected. Because the boss wants to keep looking good so he can make more money, he has the employee fired under false pretenses. Using secular logic, the person that confronted the boss would, again, be considered foolish or stupid. After all, it was someone else’s time card not theirs and the rule is: “Look out for number one.”
Again looking at the same situation using the language of the Holy Spirit, the person in our example would have done exactly the right thing. That person Imitated our Lord, Jesus Christ, who came to bring justice; attacking the act (notice in our story, the sin was what was attacked not the sinner) was a noble action. It was made even more admirable because the personal consequences were ignored. The person in our story clearly knew a better rule: “Love one another.” It is after all a different language.
The lesson from St. Paul
Pax
[1] The picture used today is “St. Paul ” by Domenico Beccafumi, 1515
[4] See NAB footnote on John 2:4
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