Wednesday, August 24, 2022

Thursday of the Twenty-first Week in Ordinary Time

“Sacrilegious Robbery”
by Alessandro Magnasco, 1731

Readings for Thursday of the Twenty-First Week in Ordinary Time [1]
 
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible [2]
 
Readings and Commentary: [3]
 
Reading 1: 1 Corinthians 1:1-9
 
Paul, called to be an Apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,
and Sosthenes our brother,
to the Church of God that is in Corinth,
to you who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be holy,
with all those everywhere who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours.
Grace to you and peace from God our Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ.
 
I give thanks to my God always on your account
for the grace of God bestowed on you in Christ Jesus,
that in him you were enriched in every way,
with all discourse and all knowledge,
as the testimony to Christ was confirmed among you,
so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift
as you wait for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ.
He will keep you firm to the end,
irreproachable on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
God is faithful,
and by him you were called to fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
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Commentary on 1 Cor 1:1-9
 
This reading is the beginning of St. Paul’s first letter to the church he founded in Corinth. News has reached him of some issues within the community that must be addressed, as well as some external situations for which guidance must be given.  In typical letter format, he gives thanks to God for the gift of faith given to this community and continues his fervent wish that they (and we) be steadfast in the faith: “He will keep you firm to the end, irreproachable on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.”  His introduction, emphasizing his own call as Apostle, and the call each of the faithful has received, hints at the letter’s purpose.
 
CCC: 1 Cor 1:1-6 401; 1 Cor 1:2 752, 1695
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 145:2-3, 4-5, 6-7
 
R. (1) I will praise your name for ever, Lord.
 
Every day will I bless you,
and I will praise your name forever and ever.
Great is the Lord and highly to be praised;
his greatness is unsearchable.
R. I will praise your name for ever, Lord.
 
Generation after generation praises your works
and proclaims your might.
They speak of the splendor of your glorious majesty
and tell of your wondrous works.
R. I will praise your name for ever, Lord.
 
They discourse of the power of your terrible deeds
and declare your greatness.
They publish the fame of your abundant goodness
and joyfully sing of your justice.
R. I will praise your name for ever, Lord.
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Commentary on Ps 145:2-3, 4-5, 6-7
 
Psalm 145 is a hymn of praise. These strophes (because it is in the acrostic form, each verse begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet) although loosely assembled, praise God for his mercy and compassion and give thanks for his creation and redemption
 
CCC: Ps 145:3 300
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Gospel: Matthew 24:42-51
 
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Stay awake!
For you do not know on which day your Lord will come.
Be sure of this:
if the master of the house
had known the hour of night when the thief was coming,
he would have stayed awake
and not let his house be broken into.
So too, you also must be prepared,
for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.
 
“Who, then, is the faithful and prudent servant,
whom the master has put in charge of his household
to distribute to them their food at the proper time?
Blessed is that servant whom his master on his arrival finds doing so.
Amen, I say to you, he will put him in charge of all his property.
But if that wicked servant says to himself, ‘My master is long delayed,’
and begins to beat his fellow servants,
and eat and drink with drunkards,
the servant’s master will come on an unexpected day
and at an unknown hour and will punish him severely
and assign him a place with the hypocrites,
where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.”
-------------------------------------------
Commentary on Mt 24:42-51
 
This discourse from St. Matthew’s Gospel follows his reflections about the end times, and the need for vigilance.  The Lord speaks to those who follow him, especially the leaders of the community of faithful he leaves behind, telling them they will not know the time when they will be called to the Kingdom of Heaven.
 
In three consecutive verses Jesus tells his disciples he is coming: “Lord will come,” “the thief was coming,” and “the Son of Man will come.” He uses the analogy of a thief (see also 1 Thessalonians 5: 2,4; 2 Peter 3:10; Revelation 3:3; Revelation 16:15) emphasizing the uncertainty of the time (a thief does not announce himself). [4]
 
In the second section he tells his followers that those who are found to be vigilant will be rewarded at the end of all things, while those who have fallen away will be punished. “This verse [v.44] is the beginning of the second part of Jesus’ eschatological sermon.  Now, while the first part dealt with the certainty of the Second Coming and some of its attendant phenomena as well as with the treatment that Christ’s disciples can expect from the world, the second part that begins here exclusively addresses how the disciples themselves ought to live as they await the Parousia and on the basis of what principles they will be judged.” [5]
 
CCC: Mt 24:44 673
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Reflection:
 
Each day when we say our prayers, we pray for those who have not been vigilant, either because they were unwary, or because they chose to ignore Christ’s teachings, and have fallen into sin.  We may even thank God, as we pray, that we have not fallen into that trap.  But there is a danger, even for the most faithful.  That danger is complacency.
 
Think about the soldier standing guard at a well-protected base.  Each day he stands guard and each day he is reassured by the strength of the defenses around him.  He thinks: “What enemy would be foolish enough to attack such a strong fortress?”  As day follows day, he goes about his guard duty and becomes less and less vigilant, even though he is doing his duty faithfully.  Then, when he has come to feel completely safe, the enemy attacks, and he is not ready for that assault and falls.
 
For the faithful, this is an apt analogy, and one to which the Gospel points.  We must never take for granted that, because we love the Lord and do what we think is our best to follow him, the evil one will not find a way around our defenses and cause us to fall.  He does it every day!  He whispers in the ear of the most faithful, tempting them with rewards that on the surface may seem wholesome, but are in fact deadly to the spirit.
 
How do we avoid this complacency?  Each day we must thoroughly inspect our defenses.  We must look at our prayer and see that it is not self-serving, condescending, or rationalizing.  We must measure ourselves against Jesus and the saints he has sent to inspire and guide us. We must always see the room for improvement that exists in all but Jesus himself.  If we are daily striving to achieve that perfect end, we can never be satisfied with our progress, and never take for granted our assumed holiness.
 
Today we pray that we might never lose our vigilance and in doing so, open the door to the thief.
 
Pax
[1] The picture is “Sacrilegious Robbery” by Alessandro Magnasco, 1731.
[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] Fire of Mercy Heart of the Word Volume III, Erasmo Leiva-Merikakis, Ignatius Press, San Francisco, CA, © 2012 p. 742.
[5] Ibid. p. 751.

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