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“Sodom and Gomorrah”
by Benjamin West, c.1800 |
Readings for Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time [2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible [3]
Readings and Commentary: [4]
Genesis 18:20-32
In those days, the Lord said: “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great,
and their sin so grave,
that I must go down and see whether or not their actions
fully correspond to the cry against them that comes to me.
I mean to find out.”
While Abraham’s visitors walked on farther toward Sodom,
the Lord remained standing before Abraham.
Then Abraham drew nearer and said:
“Will you sweep away the innocent with the guilty?
Suppose there were fifty innocent people in the city;
would you wipe out the place, rather than spare it
for the sake of the fifty innocent people within it?
Far be it from you to do such a thing,
to make the innocent die with the guilty
so that the innocent and the guilty would be treated alike!
Should not the judge of all the world act with justice?”
The Lord replied,
“If I find fifty innocent people in the city of Sodom,
I will spare the whole place for their sake.”
Abraham spoke up again:
“See how I am presuming to speak to my Lord,
though I am but dust and ashes!
What if there are five less than fifty innocent people?
Will you destroy the whole city because of those five?”
He answered, “I will not destroy it, if I find forty-five there.”
But Abraham persisted, saying “What if only forty are found there?”
He replied, “I will forbear doing it for the sake of the forty.”
Then Abraham said, “Let not my Lord grow impatient if I go on.
What if only thirty are found there?”
He replied, “I will forbear doing it if I can find but thirty there.”
Still Abraham went on,
“Since I have thus dared to speak to my Lord,
what if there are no more than twenty?”
The Lord answered, “I will not destroy it, for the sake of the twenty.”
But he still persisted:
“Please, let not my Lord grow angry if I speak up this last time.
What if there are at least ten there?”
He replied, “For the sake of those ten, I will not destroy it.”
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Commentary on Gn 18:20-32
This selection continues the story of Abraham’s encounter with the Lord at the terebinth of Mamre. The Lord and two messengers have already predicted the birth of a son to Abraham and Sarah. They now have departed for Sodom and Gomorrah joined by Abraham “to see them on their way.” The text envisions God coming down to see what punishment must come to the cities. The sin of Sodom and Gomorrah is not specifically known (the account from Genesis says homosexuality (Genesis 19:4-5), Isaiah indicates the lack of social justice (Isaiah 1:9-10; 3:9), Ezekiel says disregard for the poor (Ezekiel 16:46-51), and Jeremiah identifies general immorality (Jeremiah 23:14)).
“Will you sweep away the innocent with the guilty?” In early Israel it was common for the innocent to be punished along with the guilty (see Joshua 7:16-26). We find Moses challenging this idea, interceding for the innocent who reside in those cities. The Lord agrees to spare them if there are ten innocent people from those towns.
CCC: Gn 18:16-33 2571; Gn 18:20 1867
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Psalm 138:1-2, 2-3, 6-7, 7-8
R. (3a) Lord, on the day I called for help, you answered me.
I will give thanks to you, O Lord, with all my heart,
for you have heard the words of my mouth;
in the presence of the angels I will sing your praise;
I will worship at your holy temple
and give thanks to your name.
R. Lord, on the day I called for help, you answered me.
Because of your kindness and your truth;
for you have made great above all things
your name and your promise.
When I called you answered me;
you built up strength within me.
R. Lord, on the day I called for help, you answered me.
The Lord is exalted, yet the lowly he sees,
and the proud he knows from afar.
Though I walk amid distress, you preserve me;
against the anger of my enemies you raise your hand.
R. Lord, on the day I called for help, you answered me.
Your right hand saves me.
The Lord will complete what he has done for me;
your kindness, O Lord, endures forever;
forsake not the work of your hands.
R. Lord, on the day I called for help, you answered me.
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Commentary on Ps 138:1-2, 2-3, 6-7, 7-8
Psalm 138 is a song of thanksgiving. In this selection we find an individual hymn thanking God for salvation. We note the belief in angels, messengers of God, who join the song of praise in the holy temple. The psalmist sees God’s protection and mercy as being eternal, “your kindness, O Lord, endures forever,” and expresses a profound faith that God, creator of mankind, should not forsake what he has created and adopted, "the work of your hands.”
CCC: Ps 138 304; Ps 138:2 214
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Colossians 2:12-14
Brothers and sisters:
You were buried with him in baptism,
in which you were also raised with him
through faith in the power of God,
who raised him from the dead.
And even when you were dead
in transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh,
he brought you to life along with him,
having forgiven us all our transgressions;
obliterating the bond against us, with its legal claims,
which was opposed to us,
he also removed it from our midst, nailing it to the cross.
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Commentary on Col 2:12-14
St. Paul refers to the “death of baptism” (see also Romans 6:1-11). He is referring to the process whereby the baptized die to their sins and rise as new creations. He places this effect in the present, that is, the risen Christ has already transformed them through his adoption. Paul also talks about “obliterating the bond against us, with its legal claims.” We have been relieved of the yoke of Mosaic Law, with the prescribed punishments for its violations.
CCC: Col 2:11-13 527; Col 2:12 628, 1002, 1214, 1227, 1694
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Luke 11:1-13
Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he had finished,
one of his disciples said to him,
“Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples.”
He said to them, “When you pray, say:
Father, hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come.
Give us each day our daily bread
and forgive us our sins
for we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us,
and do not subject us to the final test.”
And he said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend
to whom he goes at midnight and says,
‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread,
for a friend of mine has arrived at my house from a journey
and I have nothing to offer him,’
and he says in reply from within,
‘Do not bother me; the door has already been locked
and my children and I are already in bed.
I cannot get up to give you anything.’
I tell you,
if he does not get up to give the visitor the loaves
because of their friendship,
he will get up to give him whatever he needs
because of his persistence.
“And I tell you, ask and you will receive;
seek and you will find;
knock and the door will be opened to you.
For everyone who asks, receives;
and the one who seeks, finds;
and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
What father among you would hand his son a snake
when he asks for a fish?
Or hand him a scorpion when he asks for an egg?
If you then, who are wicked,
know how to give good gifts to your children,
how much more will the Father in heaven
give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?”
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Commentary on Lk 11:1-13
The focus of this passage from the Gospel of Luke is prayer. First, we are given the Lord’s Prayer from Luke’s Gospel, which differs somewhat from the same prayer offered in Matthew’s Gospel (Matthew 6:9-15). We are taken further, in this case, to be reminded that God answers prayers. He does this as a parable, and then in a litany of assurances.
Notes on the meaning of the various parts of the prayer are numerous. The short message in the Gospel is: “This is an appropriate way to speak to God.” It begins with an acknowledgement of God’s existence and omnipotence, praising his holiness. It continues with our further desire that the “will of God,” which creates his Heavenly Kingdom, may also rule on earth.
Next follows three petitions. The first is a petition to the Father that we be given nourishment: food for the body and (Eucharistic) food for the spirit, "our daily bread.” This petition is followed by a plea for forgiveness, a tacit admission that we have all sinned and all need God’s salvation. The second part of this petition is a promise on the part of the petitioner to attempt to follow Christ’s example, forgiving others as they have been forgiven. The prayer concludes with a final petition not to be tested as our Lord was tested by the evil one, who encouraged Jesus to forego his own passion and thus condemn the world to sin and death.
Next, Jesus uses the story of one friend asking another for bread (a strong Eucharistic reference) in the middle of the night. The parable is used as an instrument to tell them that God will always answer prayers, but in his own time (“I tell you, if he does not get up to give him the loaves because of their friendship, he will get up to give him whatever he needs because of his persistence”). He makes his message clear in the verses that follow, “ask and you will receive.”
CCC: Lk 11:1 520, 2601, 2759, 2773; Lk 11:2-4 2759; Lk 11:2 2632; Lk 11:4 1425, 2845; Lk 11:5-13 2613; Lk 11:9 2761; Lk 11:13 443, 728, 2623, 2671
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Reflection:
The readings today speak of the efficacy of prayer and our call to be a people of prayer. This call starts, as we hear in St. Paul’s Letter to the Colossians, with our baptism in Christ and the resulting death to sin, rebirth to innocence in the Holy Spirit, and the grace provided in that resurrection. As a new creation, Christ tells us in the Gospel of St. Luke, we are called to be people of prayer.
Do we ask “Lord teach us to pray?” No, because that question is already answered. In Scripture today it is answered three times! First, we hear Moses in what is perhaps one of the first intercessory prayers as he talks to God’s messengers who are sent to investigate the prayerful cries against Sodom and Gomorrah. He pleads with God to spare the innocent, and his prayers are answered. (Note, his prayer is not answered in the way he thought it would be. Moses thought that if there were innocent people in those cities the Lord would spare the city. Instead, he told Lot and his family to leave and destroyed the cities nonetheless.)
The second prayer Scripture gives us today is in song. Psalm 138 is a beautiful example of how we praise God in song. For those in holy orders and in vowed religious life, the psalms are sung (said) at least twice a day in the prayer of the Church, the Liturgy of the Hours. This prayer form offers up, in a very real way, the words of our ancestors, echoed through all the ages of the Church, a song of praise and thanksgiving, constantly floating up to our Heavenly Father as each successive region takes up the chant.
Finally, in the Gospel, the Lord offers us the Lord’s Prayer. We note it starts with a blessing of praise to the Father, Holy is his Name. We pray that the Kingdom of God might come to us, here on earth, so we may live in the purity and joy of the Heavenly Kingdom. We then ask God for our needs, both spiritual and physical as we reference bread for our bodies and bread for our souls in the Eucharist. Finally, we ask for forgiveness, and the strength to forgive others as Christ has done. Finally, we pray most fervently that we are not required to face the same test as our savior.
This compact prayer that we utter most frequently (and in many cases without thinking) is the template upon which the Lord tells us to speak with God. Most important in the Gospel passage is the assurance from God’s only Son that our prayers will be answered. That promise is our great hope and the hope of all the faithful. Today, may our prayers rise to God and his grace flow back to us. As a people of prayer may we always have faith in the gentle Father who hears our call and answers.
Pax
In other years on this date: Optional Memorial for Saint Sharbel Makhluf, Priest
[1] Catechism links are taken from the
Homiletic Directory, published by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, 29 June 2014.
[2] The picture today is “Sodom and Gomorrah” by Benjamin West, c.1800.
[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.
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