(Optional Memorial for Saint Apollinaris, Bishop and Martyr)
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| “Christ Suffering” by Pedro Fernández, 1510s |
Reading 1: Micah 6:1-4, 6-8
Hear what the Lord says:
Arise, present your plea before the mountains,
and let the hills hear your voice!
Hear, O mountains, the plea of the Lord,
pay attention, O foundations of the earth!
For the Lord has a plea against his people,
and he enters into trial with Israel
O my people, what have I done to you,
or how have I wearied you? Answer me!
For I brought you up from the land of Egypt
from the place of slavery I released you;
and I sent before you Moses,
Aaron, and Miriam.
With what shall I come before the Lord,
and bow before God most high?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
with calves a year old?
Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
with myriad streams of oil?
Shall I give my first-born for my crime,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
You have been told, O man, what is good,
and what the Lord requires of you:
Only to do the right and to love goodness,
and to walk humbly with your God.
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Commentary on Mi 6:1-4, 6-8
We hear in these verses, from the Prophet Micah, a lament by God against the impious people of Israel. His complaint (often read as part of the Stations of the Cross) reminds the listener of the great love God has shown in delivering the people from cruel bondage in Egypt. The prophet then switches to the voice of the people who ask what it is that will please the Lord. He lists greater and greater sacrifices, culminating in the sacrifice asked of Abraham, the sacrifice of the supplicant’s first born. The passage ends with God’s response, for the listener to repent from evil and love what is good. He closes with the phrase made popular in song: “and to walk humbly with your God.” This is one of the best expressions of the prophetic teaching on religion, the preparation for such New Testament passages as James 1:27.
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 50:5-6, 8-9, 16bc-17, 21 and 23
R. (23b) To the upright I will show the saving power of God.
“Gather my faithful ones before me,
those who have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.”
And the heavens proclaim his justice;
for God himself is the judge.
R. To the upright I will show the saving power of God.
“Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you,
for your burnt offerings are before me always.
I take from your house no bullock,
no goats out of your fold.”
R. To the upright I will show the saving power of God.
“Why do you recite my statutes,
and profess my covenant with your mouth,
Though you hate discipline
and cast my words behind you?”
R. To the upright I will show the saving power of God.
“When you do these things, shall I be deaf to it?
Or do you think that I am like yourself?
I will correct you by drawing them up before your eyes.
He that offers praise as a sacrifice glorifies me;
and to him that goes the right way I will show the salvation of God.”
R. To the upright I will show the saving power of God.
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Commentary on Ps 50:5-6, 8-9, 16bc-17, 21 and 23
Psalm 50 is a “covenant lawsuit.” It is a lament against those who have violated God’s law, and the covenant made with him upon which the law was based. Echoing the charges leveled against Israel by the prophets, the psalmist condemns empty rituals and sacrifices that are not reflected in external actions and internal faith.
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Gospel: Matthew 12:38-42
Some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Jesus,
“Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.”
He said to them in reply,
“An evil and unfaithful generation seeks a sign,
but no sign will be given it
except the sign of Jonah the prophet.
Just as Jonah was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights,
so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth
three days and three nights.
At the judgment, the men of Nineveh
and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah;
and there is something greater than Jonah here.
At the judgment the queen of the south will arise with this generation
and condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth
to hear the wisdom of Solomon;
and there is something greater than Solomon here.”
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Commentary on Mt 12:38-42
In this passage from St. Matthew’s Gospel, the scribes and Pharisees demand a sign, even though the Lord has been performing cures and exorcisms in front of them. Jesus replies, and tells them in no uncertain terms that no sign will be given to them.
Calling them unfaithful (literally adulterous) in their failure to understand that he is sent by God and his mission, and using a reference first to Jonah, he tells them that just as Jonah “was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights” (Jonah 2:1ff), the Messiah will also be in the tomb of the earth for the same period. In this way, Jonah prefigured Jesus' death on the cross. He tells the Pharisees that, on the last day (the Day of Judgment), the people Jonah was sent to call to repentance would be raised because they had repented (Jonah 3:5ff). The Pharisees, who believed in the resurrection, believed that the “justified” or “just” would be raised on the last day, see Acts 23:6ff). The Lord concludes his comparison saying, in reference to his identity as the Son of God, “there is something greater than Jonah here.”
Jesus uses a second example, comparing the Pharisees' lack of understanding to the faith of the Queen of Sheba in the wisdom of Solomon. She (“the queen of the south“) was queen in Ethiopia (or western Arabia). She traveled a great distance to hear God’s wisdom from Solomon (1 Kings 10:1-10), who himself followed King David, the line that ultimately produced the Savior. Jesus calls them unfaithful in their failure to understand that he is sent by God, again concluding that: “.there is something greater than Solomon here.”
CCC: Mt 12:39 994; Mt 12:40 627, 635, 994; Mt 12:41-42 590, 678
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Reflection:
Heavenly Father, we humbly pray that those suffering from the coronavirus be returned quickly to full health by the power of your Son’s healing presence, and those in fear be calmed through the Holy Spirit.
In Christ’s name we pray. – Amen.
“Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). Jesus challenges the Pharisees whose lack of faith demands a sign, something they can see in order for them to believe his identity. So many times we see this happening in scripture. Even St. Thomas, one of Jesus’ disciples who was present with him when this confrontation took place, would later fall into the same trap as he demanded proof of the Lord’s resurrection (John 20:24-25).
And what of us? What do we believe, and what signs do we demand so that we may accept the Lord? We may say: “I firmly believe and demand no sign from Jesus.” But in our prayers, do we not, in the back of our minds, hope the Lord will answer us miraculously so that our faith may be increased? It is part of our training that we should doubt what we cannot see, touch, or hear. We are conditioned to demand proof, lest we be dubbed as gullible and taken for being foolish.
It is good that we are constantly reminded in scripture that we are not alone in our doubts and secret desires for signs and wonders. It gives us hope that, even with our failings, the mercy of God will ultimately prevail, and we will be rescued from our human frailty. We take today’s reminder as a challenge, a challenge that we will not be like these doubt-ridden Pharisees, who saw Jesus’ acts of healing and could not come to believe. We look to the altar and see there the wonder the Lord left us, and renew our faith in the Only Begotten Son of God.
Today, even as we hear the words, “this is my body,” and “this is my blood,” we reaffirm our love and faith in him who is not seen, but whose hope is realized as he feeds us.
In this strange year where many of us will not be able to receive the Blessed Sacrament or celebrate as a community in our houses of worship, we must be prepared to receive spiritual communion in prayer:
My Jesus,
I believe that You
are present in the Most Holy Sacrament.
I love You above all things,
and I desire to receive You into my soul.
Since I cannot at this moment
receive You sacramentally,
come at least spiritually into my heart. I embrace You as if You were already there and unite myself wholly to You. Never permit me to be separated from You.
Amen.
Pax
[1] The picture is “Christ Suffering” by Pedro Fernández, 1510s.
[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.
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