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| “St. John of the Cross” by Cesare Gennari, c. 1680’s |
Commentary:
Reading 1: Isaiah 48:17-19
Commentary on Is 48:17-19
This reading from the Book of Isaiah (in Deutero-Isaiah) is part of what is known as the recapitulation of the Hymns to the Lord Redeemer (Isaiah 40:12 – 48:22). [4] In these verses we see the oracle predict God’s leadership of the faithful into salvation (salvation that flows from and becomes an actual part of God’s act of creation). Hearkening back to Abraham, whose descendants he promised would “be like sand,” God promises to be the salvation of the faithful.
Isaiah proposes the words of a holy covenant: If you follow the commandments of God, he will give you prosperity, justification or forgiveness, and your line of descendants will be many and always have God’s help.
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 1:1-2, 3, 4 and 6
R. (see John 8:12) Those who follow you, Lord, will have the light of life.
Commentary on Ps 1:1-2, 3, 4 and 6
Psalm 1 serves as a preface to the whole book of the psalms. The psalmist here exalts those who follow the Lord’s commands, and reflects upon the blessings they will receive. As in Romans 6:19ff, this selection emphasizes the contrast between the salvation of the just and the punishment of the wicked.
This wisdom psalm begins by extolling the virtue of those who follow the law. The focus is to look to God for guidance, and not to trust only in the counsel of men. Those who reject the law will be blown away like “chaff,” an image used in the Gospel as well (Matthew 3:12).
This portion of the psalm is later echoed in Isaiah 48:17-19, like an overlapped formula of covenant. Blessed is the man who “delights in the law day and night,” but “the way of the wicked vanishes.” It also takes up the theme of following right paths and staying true to the teachings of God: “Blessed the man who follows not the counsel of the wicked nor walks in the way of sinners, nor sits in the company of the insolent, but delights in the law of the Lord and meditates on his law day and night.”
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Gospel: Matthew 11:16-19
Commentary on Mt 11:16-19
St. Matthew recalls the Lord’s lament that many of the people he has come to save have behaved like children. Jesus compares those he has encountered with the wicked in the psalms because they do not follow the prophet, John the Baptist: “John came neither eating nor drinking, and they said, ‘He is possessed by a demon.'” Nor do they hear the words of the Messiah: “The Son of Man came eating and drinking and they said, ‘Look, he is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’" Then he implies the truth will become known, based upon the impact of John the Baptist and Jesus on the world: “But wisdom is vindicated by her works.”
The people of that time expected teachers to play the roles they were assigned in their religious roles according to what was generally accepted. St. John the Baptist and Jesus did not do that. As a prophet, St. John was not respected but called “possessed.” And Jesus himself, though he came as the salvation of the poor, is called “glutton and a drunkard” for having reached out to “tax collectors and sinners."
While this passage is perhaps more accurately translated in Luke 7:35 as “wisdom is vindicated by all her children,” it is clear, in either case, that the Lord expects future generations to see the salvific role of the Messiah and his forerunner, St. John the Baptist.
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Reflection:
We can sense the Lord’s frustration with the crowds that had been following him. It is made clear that they have their own ideas about how the Messiah will return. They know from prophecy that Elijah must come, announcing the arrival of the Messiah, but, in spite of the facts that point to St. John the Baptist meeting all the criteria, the people see him instead as eccentric at best and at the worst, crazy.
Likewise, they expect the Messiah to come like King David of a previous age, summoning the military might of the region, charismatically galvanizing the Jews into a military force that will throw off the Roman yoke. Instead they see this carpenter’s son who became a rabbi and now sits down with the worst sort of people. He even ignores the rich and powerful who could play a role in a Davidic uprising.
Ah, we feel for the Lord who in his frustration with their lack of understanding says, “But wisdom is vindicated by her works.” In other words, he invites them to see what events will flow from his actions, works of mercy and words of hope. Many of those present will not understand what he is saying in Jesus’ life time. In fact, we know that a fair number will probably be standing outside the praetorium crying, “Crucify him!”
We shake our heads and feel sorry for our Hebrew forebears. They could not see the signs, and trusted instead to their own wisdom. But we must pause and ask ourselves, do we not fall into the same trap? Are we not, in our prayers, asking God to do what we want in the way we want it? The Jews of Jesus’ time were not necessarily evil but rather they were not open to seeing God outside of the box they put him in.
This, indeed, is the real lesson we take from the Gospel today. We must be open to God’s will and not be demanding that God operate according to ours. We must, in our prayer, ask that God open our eyes so that we can see how he comes to us, loving us as only he can. Our prayer today is that God might open our minds and hearts to see more clearly his fingerprints in our lives and in doing so, understand how we can build his kingdom on earth.
Pax.
[1] The picture is “St. John of the Cross” by Cesare Gennari, c. 1680’s
[4] Jerome Biblical Commentary, Prentice Hall, Inc., © 1968, 22:31-32, pp. 374-75
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