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| “Saint Scholastica” by Giovanni Battista Salvi da Sassoferrato, c. 1650’s |
Readings and Commentary:[3]
Reading 1: 1 Kings 8:1-7, 9-13
The elders of Israel and all the leaders of the tribes,
the princes in the ancestral houses of the children of Israel,
came to King Solomon in Jerusalem,
to bring up the ark of the LORD’s covenant
from the City of David, which is Zion.
All the people of Israel assembled before King Solomon
during the festival in the month of Ethanim (the seventh month).
When all the elders of Israel had arrived,
the priests took up the ark;
they carried the ark of the LORD
and the meeting tent with all the sacred vessels
that were in the tent.
(The priests and Levites carried them.)
King Solomon and the entire community of Israel
present for the occasion
sacrificed before the ark sheep and oxen
too many to number or count.
The priests brought the ark of the covenant of the LORD
to its place beneath the wings of the cherubim in the sanctuary,
the holy of holies of the temple.
The cherubim had their wings spread out over the place of the ark,
sheltering the ark and its poles from above.
There was nothing in the ark but the two stone tablets
which Moses had put there at Horeb,
when the LORD made a covenant with the children of Israel
at their departure from the land of Egypt.
When the priests left the holy place,
the cloud filled the temple of the LORD
so that the priests could no longer minister because of the cloud,
since the LORD’s glory had filled the temple of the LORD.
Then Solomon said, “The LORD intends to dwell in the dark cloud;
I have truly built you a princely house,
a dwelling where you may abide forever.”
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Commentary on 1 Kgs 8:1-7, 9-13
In the previous two chapters of the First Book of Kings (6 & 7) Solomon constructs his great temple to the Lord. “The transfer of the ark of the covenant into the newly constructed temple building, and the oracle of God's acceptance, and his act of possession, constituted the temple's solemn dedication, and made of it the abiding dwelling of God among his people for which David had hoped (2 Samuel 6:12-15; 2 Samuel 7:1-3). The concurrence of the feast of Booths marks an appropriate transition of God's dwelling among nomadic tribes to his permanent abode among a settled people.”[4]
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 132:6-7, 8-10
R. (8a) Lord, go up to the place of your rest!
Behold, we heard of it in Ephrathah;
we found it in the fields of Jaar.
Let us enter into his dwelling,
let us worship at his footstool.
R. Lord, go up to the place of your rest!
Advance, O LORD, to your resting place,
you and the ark of your majesty.
May your priests be clothed with justice;
let your faithful ones shout merrily for joy.
For the sake of David your servant,
reject not the plea of your anointed.
R. Lord, go up to the place of your rest!
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Commentary on Ps 132:6-7, 8-10
Psalm 132 is a song of thanksgiving sung by the community as they remember the establishment of God’s salvation expressed in the Davidic dynasty. The second strophe envisions the great temple built by Solomon and the installation of the Ark of the Covenant in its permanent home.
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Gospel: Mark 6:53-56
After making the crossing to the other side of the sea,
Jesus and his disciples came to land at Gennesaret
and tied up there.
As they were leaving the boat, people immediately recognized him.
They scurried about the surrounding country
and began to bring in the sick on mats
to wherever they heard he was.
Whatever villages or towns or countryside he entered,
they laid the sick in the marketplaces
and begged him that they might touch only the tassel on his cloak;
and as many as touched it were healed.
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Commentary on Mk 6:53-56
This selection takes up the account of Jesus' healing ministry immediately following the account of the feeding of the multitudes (Mark 6:35-44), and his encounter with the disciples as he walked upon the waters (Mark 6:45-52). Jesus continues his journey, and cures many people who come to him. This is the same location in which Peter, Andrew, James, and John had lived and was, in fact, the location where Jesus had called them. It is for this reason he was so quickly recognized.
“The benefactors plead that their sick friends might 'only touch the fringe of his garment'. Is this plea a beautiful confession of humility, or, rather, does it betray a superstitious belief? Perhaps it would be unfair to force the answer one way of the other. Let us say the needy crowd sees in Jesus of Nazareth an embodiment of power and goodness of God and that consequently they simply rush at him, wanting to come into contact with God incarnate, to touch the flesh of God with their own flesh." [5]
CCC: Mk 6:56 1504
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Reflection
Today we once again marvel at the great plan for our salvation the Father was pleased to decree, culminating in the sacrifice of his Son. Consider the beginnings of this plan. God selected Abraham to father a nation of nomadic peoples that roamed the deserts between modern Egypt and Lebanon. They hired themselves out to the Egyptians and became enslaved by them. With his mighty hand, God sent Moses, who survived infanticide only through the Lord’s mercy, to bring the Hebrew people out of bondage and deliver them into the land he promised.
For long years they fought the pagan inhabitants of the land, seeking always the home promised by God. Finally, after subduing the last of their foes, the heir of King David, his son Solomon, builds a temple. To this temple he brings the ark bearing the stone tablets of the covenant made between Moses and God on Mount Sinai. The first reading paints a picture of, not just the joy of the grand temple’s dedication, but also the expectation that God chose this place as his abode on earth. It was a place where the people could come to worship him, and offer their sacrifices, assured that he heard their prayers for forgiveness and intercession.
The nomads were nomads no more. They had established themselves, and invited their Most High God to have a place among them, and Solomon’s temple was to be his footstool. But the temple would not be permanent. Four hundred years later, in 586 BC, the Babylonians would destroy this temple and enslave the people. It would be rebuilt fifty years later, but as Jesus predicts, it would be destroyed again in 70 AD by the Romans.
The chosen people, as the Hebrews identified themselves, rejected the Messiah, that same wandering teacher who lands for a second time in Gennesaret (the first time he was there, he recruited Peter, Andrew, James and John to be his disciples). He comes now fulfilling the Law and the Prophets, taking the Good News of God’s Kingdom, not just to the Jews, but to all peoples of all nations. It is a great work that he has passed on through his disciples, later to be called Apostles, and through them to us.
We recall this great plan today, and hope with all our hearts that we will be true to the part we are called upon to play in it. We also hope for the reward promised to all God’s faithful eternal life in that heavenly kingdom.
Pax
[1] The picture is “Saint Scholastica” by Giovanni Battista Salvi da Sassoferrato, c. 1650’s.
[3] The readings are taken from the New American Bible, with the exception of the psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for English in Liturgy (ICEL). This republication is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.
[4] NAB footnote on 1 Kings 8:6-9.
[5] Fire of Mercy Heart of the Word Volume II, Erasmo Leiva-Merikakis, Ignatius Press, San Francisco, CA, © 2003 p.395.
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