Thursday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time

(Optional Memorial for Saint Jane Frances De Chantal, Religious)

Proper readings for the Memorial of St. Jane Frances De Chantal
 
Biographical information about St. Jane Frances De Chantal

“Crossing the Jordan”
by Gerard Hoet and C. Huibertz, Published 1728

Readings for Thursday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time [1]
 
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible [2]
 
Readings and Commentary: [3]
 
Reading 1: Joshua 3:7-10a, 11, 13-17
 
The LORD said to Joshua,
“Today I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel,
that they may know I am with you, as I was with Moses.
Now command the priests carrying the ark of the covenant
to come to a halt in the Jordan
when you reach the edge of the waters.”
 
So Joshua said to the children of Israel,
“Come here and listen to the words of the LORD, your God.
This is how you will know that there is a living God in your midst,
who at your approach will dispossess the Canaanites.
The ark of the covenant of the LORD of the whole earth
will precede you into the Jordan.
When the soles of the feet of the priests carrying the ark of the LORD,
the Lord of the whole earth,
touch the water of the Jordan, it will cease to flow;
for the water flowing down from upstream will halt in a solid bank.”
 
The people struck their tents to cross the Jordan,
with the priests carrying the ark of the covenant ahead of them.
No sooner had these priestly bearers of the ark
waded into the waters at the edge of the Jordan,
which overflows all its banks
during the entire season of the harvest,
than the waters flowing from upstream halted,
backing up in a solid mass for a very great distance indeed,
from Adam, a city in the direction of Zarethan;
while those flowing downstream toward the Salt Sea of the Arabah
disappeared entirely.
Thus the people crossed over opposite Jericho.
While all Israel crossed over on dry ground,
the priests carrying the ark of the covenant of the LORD
remained motionless on dry ground in the bed of the Jordan
until the whole nation had completed the passage.
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Commentary on Jos 3:7-10a, 11, 13-17
 
The leadership of the tribes of Israel has been passed on to Joshua by Moses. This passage begins the next phase in the history of God’s interaction with the descendants of Abraham. Here we find Joshua instructed by God to demonstrate that he (the Lord God) would precede them as he had promised. The ark of the Covenant symbolizes this guiding presence.  The miraculous damming of the Jordan River is the sign chosen to mark this transition; it reprises the crossing of the Red Sea. “Moses in his time ordered the people to sanctify themselves in the presence of God’s revelation on Sinai (cf. Exodus 10:14); now Joshua tells them to do the same; they are going to witness a great manifestation of God’s power – the division of the Jordan waters to let them pass (v. 5)." [4]
 
CCC: Jos 3:10 2112
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 114:1-2, 3-4, 5-6
 
R. Alleluia!
 
When Israel came forth from Egypt,
the house of Jacob from a people of alien tongue,
Judah became his sanctuary,
Israel his domain
R. Alleluia!
 
The sea beheld and fled;
Jordan turned back.
The mountains skipped like rams,
the hills like the lambs of the flock.
R. Alleluia!
 
Why is it, O sea, that you flee?
O Jordan, that you turn back?
You mountains, that you skip like rams?
You hills, like the lambs of the flock?
R. Alleluia!
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Commentary on Ps 114:1-2, 3-4, 5-6
 
The final strophe of this psalm of thanksgiving recalls the miracle of the crossing of the Jordan (Joshua 3:13ff). This event, like other salvific involvement by God, is celebrated in song by King David’s line.
 
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Gospel: Matthew 18:21–19:1
 
Peter approached Jesus and asked him,
“Lord, if my brother sins against me,
how often must I forgive him?
As many as seven times?”
Jesus answered, “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times.
That is why the Kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king
who decided to settle accounts with his servants.
When he began the accounting,
a debtor was brought before him who owed him a huge amount.
Since he had no way of paying it back,
his master ordered him to be sold,
along with his wife, his children, and all his property,
in payment of the debt.
At that, the servant fell down, did him homage, and said,
‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full.’
Moved with compassion the master of that servant
let him go and forgave him the loan.
When that servant had left, he found one of his fellow servants
who owed him a much smaller amount.
He seized him and started to choke him, demanding,
‘Pay back what you owe.’
Falling to his knees, his fellow servant begged him,
 
‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’
But he refused.
Instead, he had the fellow servant put in prison
until he paid back the debt.
Now when his fellow servants saw what had happened,
they were deeply disturbed,
and went to their master and reported the whole affair.
His master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant!
I forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to.
Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant,
as I had pity on you?’
Then in anger his master handed him over to the torturers
until he should pay back the whole debt.
So will my heavenly Father do to you,
unless each of you forgives his brother from his heart.”
 
When Jesus finished these words, he left Galilee
and went to the district of Judea across the Jordan.
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Commentary on Mt 18:21–19:1
 
This selection from the Gospel from St. Matthew provides a teaching moment, as Jesus explains how his followers must forgive others. Peter asks Jesus how many times a person who sins must be forgiven. Jesus responds that forgiveness must be without limits. Jesus uses Hebrew numerology in this illustration. Seven in Hebrew terms is the perfect or complete number. So when Peter asks “how often must I forgive him? As many as seven times?” he is asking if he must forgive him completely. The metaphor the Lord uses in reply “seventy times seven” would imply an absolute forgiveness. "Jesus contrasts the behavior expected of the apostles with the boundless vengeance of Lamech in Genesis 4:24 (LXX), where the same figures of 'seven' and 'seventy times seven' are contrasted (CCC 982)." [5]
 
Jesus illustrates the requirement for Christian forgiveness with the parable of the unmerciful servant. As in many of the parables, the one who does what is wrong, in this case failing to show mercy and forgiveness even when it was shown to him, suffers a much worse fate in the final judgment.
 
CCC: Mt 18:21-22 982, 2227, 2845; Mt 18:23-35 2843; Mt 19:1-12 2364
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Reflection:
 
The theme of forgiveness is central for us as we hear Jesus telling Peter that absolute and complete forgiveness is required of those who wish to claim discipleship.  The first reading from Joshua has a symbol of God’s forgiveness.  Did you catch it?  Just as God’s people walked through the Red Sea on dry land as a symbol of God’s deliverance from sin, they also follow Joshua across the Jordan, once more on dry land; passing through the waters and being set free (as we have been in baptism, passing through the waters to be set free from sin).
 
Peter’s question is more direct: “Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him?” is answered by Jesus first symbolically (seventy times seven) and then emphatically, using the parable of the unmerciful servant.  The moral of this parable is quite clear to us.  If God will forgive us the sins we have committed against him, how can we hold those (especially our brothers and sisters) accountable for sins we perceive that they have committed against us?
 
As we hear time and time again in the Gospel we profess, forgiveness is the great healer.  When we forgive from the heart as Jesus commands, we are ourselves healed. 
 
The worst hurt in the world is often caused by those we love most dearly.  When we perceive that they have wronged us, because of that close relationship, we hold them accountable for their actions.  If there is no recognition by the other that reconciliation is required of them, that debt of atonement builds.  It grows and develops first into resentment of the debt and then into anger and even hatred which is self-destructive and leads to even greater sin.
 
Forgiveness washes away the gulf that is opened by perceived wrongs.  Again, especially in close relationships, forgiveness by the one wronged often will open the way for reconciliation and a strengthening of the bond of love that exists. 
 
Today we praise the Lord for his gift of forgiveness and ask him to help us as we try to emulate him.
 
Pax

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[1] The picture is “Crossing the Jordan” by Gerard Hoet and C. Huibertz, Published 1728.
[2] S.S. Commemoratio
[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] The Navarre Bible: “Joshua-Kings,” Scepter Publishers, Princeton, NJ, © 2003, p. 38.
[5] Ignatius Catholic Study Bible, © 2010, Ignatius Press, San Francisco, CA. p. 8.