(Optional Memorial for Saint Bruno, Priest)
(Optional Memorial for Blessed Marie-Rose Durocher, Virgin) United States
Biographical Information about Blessed Marie-Rose Durocher alternate readings many be taken from the Common of Virgins or the Common of Holy Men and Women
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| “The Disciples are Sent, Two by Two” by James Tissont, 1886-96 |
Commentary:
Reading 1: Baruch 1:15-22
Commentary on Bar 1:15-22
The author of the Book of Baruch is thought to be a secretary of the Prophet Jeremiah. As such, the book was written after the Babylonian exile. So, what we hear today, rather than being a prayer written during that exile, is actually a reflective prayer (of penitence and atonement) used leading up to the feast of Booths according to scholars. (Note, the first line in today’s reading is not scriptural but rather inserted in the Missal as a “sense line” – a summary of the introduction.)
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 79:1b-2, 3-5, 8, 9
R. (9) For the glory of your name, O Lord, deliver us.
Commentary on Ps 79:1b-2, 3-5, 8, 9
Psalm 79 provides a penitential note similar to what is found in Baruch 1:15. It is a communal lament in which the assembly reflects upon the punishment endured because they have sinned against God, and disregarded his law. This lament is thought to reflect upon the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonian army in 587 BC. The singer asks God how long his anger at them will last, and pleads for pardon and deliverance. Following this admission, there is a plea for mercy and a promise of atonement.
CCC: Ps 79:9 431
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Gospel: Luke 10:13-16
Commentary on Lk 10:13-16
This selection is a continuation of the instructions being given to the seventy (two) who are being sent out. The Lord instructs them to issue a call to repentance to those who reject the proclamation of the Kingdom of God. The punishment of these unbelieving communities will be severe, as their rejection of the call to holiness is a rejection of Christ himself, “and whoever rejects me [Jesus] rejects the one who sent me."
CCC: Lk 10:16 87, 858
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Reflection:
The common thread through all of the selections from Holy Scripture given today is one of repentance. Baruch offers a prayer of repentance from the Jews in exile. Having been enslaved and exiled, they believed, was a result of their disobedience to God’s law and their sin in his eyes. That same “cause and effect,” or “sin and punishment” view of God is shown in the song from Psalm 79: “O Lord, how long? Will you be angry forever?”
The Gospel, which is actually a continuation of the Lord’s instructions to the Seventy (Two), captures that angry judgment by God when his children go astray. In this case, however, the judgment is earned, not because the people of the communities identified did not follow God’s law, but rather because they rejected God in the person of his Son, and the salvific mission upon which he was sent. Summarized, the selection of the Gospel we heard today says: God sent you salvation and you turned your back. Now you must suffer the consequences.
Note the subtle difference in understanding how God works. The Jews before the coming of Jesus believed that the ill fortune that befell them was a direct punishment from God. They believed that God actually caused bad things to happen because they had sinned. The Lord, our Savior, changes that concept. He shows us that it is not God the loving Father who causes bad things to happen, rather it is the choices we make that lead us down dark paths.
God, who sent his only Son into the world that we might have eternal life, is not likely to visit the punishments of the world on the children he loved so much. But in creating us in his own image, he gave us free will, the ability to choose the bad and the good. When we turn our backs on the saving hand of God, we must accept what is “behind door number two.”
Today our prayer is that we will make the right choices and to accept the loving help he provides. We also pray for our brothers and sisters. Since we all live together, their choices affect us. We are called to love one another and whoever is injured because they make a wrong choice, injures us as well.
Pax
[1] The picture is “The Disciples are Sent, Two by Two” by James Tissont, 1886-96
[2] S.S Commemoratio
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