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| “Martyrdom of St. Ignatius of Antioch” Artist and Date are UNKNOWN |
Commentary:
Reading 1: Romans 1:16-25
Commentary on Rom 1:16-25
St. Paul, after his opening introduction and prayer, takes up the major theme of his letter to the Romans, salvation through faith. The critical and unbelieving reception he received is acknowledged in the opening lines: “I am not ashamed of the gospel.”
This passage goes on to point out the purposely disrespectful attitude of “those who suppress the truth,” since God’s presence is made clear in his creation. In spite of this evidence, they have made graven images of people (and animals) to worship. These amoral people have degraded themselves with their excesses. And God, whom they have abandoned for creatures, has handed them over to this degradation of body and mind.
CCC: Rom 1:17 1814; Rom 1:18-32 401, 2087; Rom 1:18-25 57; Rom 1:18 2125; Rom 1:19-20 32, 287, 1147; Rom 1:24-27 2357
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 19:2-3, 4-5
R. (2a) The heavens proclaim the glory of God.
Commentary on Ps 19:2-3, 4-5
Psalm 19 is a hymn of praise. In these opening strophes, the psalmist rejoices in God’s visible hand, revealed in all creation. It is the first of two themes expressed in the psalm (the other is in praise of the Law). While no word of God announces his presence, his glory is revealed in the creation of all things.
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Gospel: Luke 11:37-41
Commentary on Lk 11:37-41
St. Luke regularly associates Jesus with the Pharisees. In this case, Jesus is again dining with a member of that group. The Lord is challenged for his failure to observe the strict ritual cleansing required by pharisaic law. In response, he chastises the Pharisee for mistaking external hygiene for purity of spirit, saying that it is more important to demonstrate spiritual purity, especially through giving alms for the poor, than acts of religiosity for the sake of appearance (see also Matthew 23 and Mark 12:38).
As in Matthew 23:26ff, the final part of this section is concerned with “....a metaphor illustrating a concern for appearances while inner purity is ignored (see also Mark 7:4).” [4] There is a strong reference here to the lack of self-control shown by these leaders.
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Reflection:
We are taken today by St. Paul’s criticism of the Romans who remain pagan. His arguments are appropriate for our own apologies to the world in which we live. Day by day we go into a world that is strikingly parallel to the hedonistic and pagan society of ancient Rome. Of course, we don’t see temples dedicated to pagan gods in which formal worship takes place (although we could draw some analogies), but the values against which St. Paul fought are all there.
What is idol worship? It is placing at the center of one’s existence a material or physical object, taking an anthropomorphic attitude toward it (that is giving an object an animated character). For example, the person who prizes a car, a boat, or other object will often refer to that object with a pronoun implying humanity. Of a car, a person might say “She’s a beauty.” Or of a boat; “She’s happy in the water today.” The mere reference could not be called idolatry but an attitude that places that “thing” above all else transforms the object into an idol.
Essentially, what a person values most, whether that is an object, a state of being (e.g. inebriation, or another form of hedonistic pleasure – like pornography), or a material goal being pursued, takes on the characteristics of idol worship. When we look at what secular society values and encourages we can see the images described by St. Paul as people have “exchanged the glory of the immortal God for the likeness of an image of mortal man or of birds or of four-legged animals or of snakes.”
The Gospel of St. Luke points out that there is a more subtle kind of danger hidden for us even as we turn away from the pagan world. We must also be on guard against focusing so much on our ritual celebrations that we forget the need to first become spiritually clean. Our attitudes must be completely reflected in our worship of the One True God. Our focus must be to join spirit and action in an act of pure love of God.
Today we are cautioned against falling into the trap of idol worship. We are also told that our salvation depends not just on following the precepts of the faith but having a spiritual life that is reflected by the discipline of worship. Our prayer today is that we place Jesus first in our lives and worship him in all sincerity.
Pax
[1] The picture is “Martyrdom of St. Ignatius of Antioch” Artist and Date are UNKNOWN
[4] See NAB footnote on Matthew 23:26
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