Saturday of the Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time

(Optional Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary) 

On Saturdays in Ordinary Time when there is no obligatory memorial, an optional memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary is allowed. [1] Mass texts may be taken from the Common of the Blessed Virgin Mary, from a Votive Mass, or from the special collection of Masses for the Blessed Virgin Mary. (USCCB recommends:# 21. The Holy Name of the Blessed Virgin Mary .)

“The House Upon the Rock and
The House Upon the Sand”
by William James Webb, c. 1860

 
Readings for Saturday of the Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time [2]
 
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible [3]
 
Readings and Commentary: [4]
 
Reading 1: 1 Timothy 1:15-17
 
Beloved:
This saying is trustworthy and deserves full acceptance:
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.
Of these I am the foremost.
But for that reason I was mercifully treated,
so that in me, as the foremost,
Christ Jesus might display all his patience as an example
for those who would come to believe in him for everlasting life.
To the king of ages, incorruptible, invisible, the only God,
honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
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Commentary on 1 Tm 1:15-17
 
This pastoral statement from the First Letter to Timothy states the fundamental truth, that Jesus came into the word to save humankind from the death of sin and bring us to everlasting life. The conclusion is another statement of faith that there is only one true God, and he deserves all glory and honor. 
 
CCC: 1 Tm 1:15 545
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 113:1b-2, 3-4, 5 and 6-7
 
R. (2) Blessed be the name of the Lord for ever.
 
Praise, you servants of the LORD,
praise the name of the LORD.
Blessed be the name of the LORD
both now and forever.
R. Blessed be the name of the Lord for ever.
 
From the rising to the setting of the sun
is the name of the LORD to be praised.
High above all nations is the LORD;
above the heavens is his glory.
R. Blessed be the name of the Lord for ever.
 
Who is like the LORD, our God,
and looks upon the heavens and the earth below?
He raises up the lowly from the dust;
from the dunghill he lifts up the poor.
R. Blessed be the name of the Lord for ever.
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Commentary on Ps 113:1b-2, 3-4, 5 and 6-7
 
Psalm 113 is a song of praise. The song is directed to the faithful of Israel (servants of the Lord), likely temple priests. In these strophes, the psalmist rejoices in all of God’s creation, an eternal testament to his power and glory. The psalmist sings of the Lord’s omnipresence (from the heavens above to the earth below), yet God's gaze is loving mercy for the poor.
 
CCC: Ps 113:1-2 2143
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Gospel: Luke 6:43-49
 
Jesus said to his disciples:
“A good tree does not bear rotten fruit,
nor does a rotten tree bear good fruit.
For every tree is known by its own fruit.
For people do not pick figs from thornbushes,
nor do they gather grapes from brambles.
A good person out of the store of goodness in his heart produces good,
but an evil person out of a store of evil produces evil;
for from the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks.
“Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ but not do what I command?
I will show you what someone is like who comes to me,
listens to my words, and acts on them.
That one is like a man building a house,
who dug deeply and laid the foundation on rock;
when the flood came, the river burst against that house
but could not shake it because it had been well built.
But the one who listens and does not act
is like a person who built a house on the ground
without a foundation.
When the river burst against it,
it collapsed at once and was completely destroyed.”
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Commentary on Lk 6:43-49
St. Luke’s Gospel brings us the conclusion of Jesus’ discourse on judgment of others, using the analogy of the fruits borne by a tree, good and bad. The intent of this allegory was to expose false prophets, hypocrites who say one thing but do another. "What matters is not whether or not we wear a religious habit, it is whether we try to practice the virtues, surrender our will to God, and order our lives as His Majesty ordains, and not want to do our will but his" (St. Teresa of Avila, "Interior Castle," II, 6). [5]
 
The second section of this reading is the conclusion of Jesus’ long discourse. He uses the analogy of the house built upon sand and the house built upon rock to indicate that those who have a deep faith and act out of that faith have a strong foundation and can stand against adversity, while those who give the faith lip service for others to see, but do not have that deep faith, will fall.
 
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Reflection:
 
This may seem a bit odd, but the Gospel for today reminds me of the great epic fantasy trilogy, the Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkin.  Without giving too much away for those who have not read it, in the first book, Fellowship of the Ring, the adventuring party must travel through the mines of Moria (Khazad-dûm: it’s dwarvish – I’m a fan) a place where the dwarves had delved too deeply in a search for treasure and uncovered an ancient evil. 
 
Today we explore what our Lord means when he says the one “who dug deeply and laid the foundation on rock.”  On the surface this seems to be saying that those who seek to serve the Lord, to follow him closely, need to have a strong connection between what they hear and understand from Jesus and how they act upon those impulses.  There is more to it than that!
 
A child understands Jesus at the level at which their maturity allows.  If they are being true to their faith, they act upon their understanding of what Jesus commands in a given situation.  An adult with greater life experience may interpret the command of Jesus in a different way and react differently in the same situation.  Even further, one who has intensely reflected upon the words and works of faith may see a deeper meaning and their actions may differ from both the child and the adult.  There are different and deeper levels of faith and understanding to be had, but digging deeply is the key to unlocking those rewards.
 
All of this seems fairly logical and straight forward.  There is, however, a caveat: digging deeper is first of all, work and second, the digger must be aware that they have not reached bedrock.  Using the Lord’s analogy we go a bit further.  Many of us dig down until the ground gets pretty hard. We assume we have hit rock when we have encountered just a stone (that would be like an epiphany – a flash of insight), or we may have hit clay that feels like rock but is really not foundation material.
 
The work part of the caveat is very clear.  We either decide to do the work or not.  We either commit to digging deeper (i.e., taking more advantage of sacramental offerings, delving into Sacred Scripture, reading works of faith to help us understand what others have gleaned from their faith journeys, or intensifying our prayer lives) or we do not, putting it off for later when we have nothing better or more fun to do.

There is one caution.  We must beware of the trap of delving too deeply without the constant guidance of prayer for help from the Holy Spirit.  Many scholars have seen this trap.  They have become so intimately involved with the academic exercise of deciphering language and its historical context that they forgot the spirit of the Word of God, a spirt that informs the student that the Word made flesh places all we read in the light of the Holy Spirit.
 
The good news is this: The Lord gives us a shovel built for our hands and while we may get calluses, it will never dull.  All we need to recognize is that the rock is there, and it is ours to find.  May our prayer be this, that we always have the will and courage to seek that bedrock upon which our faith may sit and our actions be directed.
 
Pax

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[1] General Norms for the Liturgical Year and the Calendar Miscellaneous Notes no. 5: “Outside Advent, Christmas Time, Lent, and Easter Time, on Saturdays which have no commemoration having the rank of Obligatory Memorial or higher, a Mass in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary may be celebrated. This is indicated in the calendar by “BVM.” The readings and prayers may be selected from the Collection of Masses of the Blessed Virgin Mary.”
[2] The art used is “The House Upon the Rock and The House Upon the Sand” by William James Webb, c. 1860.
[3] S.S Commemoratio
[4] 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.
[5] The Navarre Bible, “Gospels and Acts,” Scepter Publishers, Princeton, NJ, © 2002, p. 396.