Saturday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time

(Optional Memorial for Our Lady of Lourdes)
 
Proper readings for the Memorial of Our Lady of Lourdes
 
Additional information about Our Lady of Lourdes
 
OR
 
(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] 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 Suggests #25 The Blessed Virgin Mary, Image and Mother of the Church, I).

“Expulsion of Adam and Eve”
by Aureliano Milani, c. 1700

Readings for Saturday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time [2]
 
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible [3]
 
Readings and Commentary:[4]
 
Reading 1: Genesis 3:9-24
 
The LORD God called to Adam and asked him, "Where are you?"
He answered, "I heard you in the garden;
but I was afraid, because I was naked,
so I hid myself."
Then he asked, "Who told you that you were naked?
You have eaten, then,
from the tree of which I had forbidden you to eat!"
The man replied, "The woman whom you put here with me
she gave me fruit from the tree, and so I ate it."
The LORD God then asked the woman,
"Why did you do such a thing?"
The woman answered, "The serpent tricked me into it, so I ate it."
Then the LORD God said to the serpent:
"Because you have done this, you shall be banned
from all the animals
and from all the wild creatures;
On your belly shall you crawl,
and dirt shall you eat
all the days of your life.
I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and hers;
He will strike at your head,
while you strike at his heel."
 
To the woman he said:
 
"I will intensify the pangs of your childbearing;
in pain shall you bring forth children.
Yet your urge shall be for your husband,
and he shall be your master."
 
To the man he said: "Because you listened to your wife
and ate from the tree of which I had forbidden you to eat,
"Cursed be the ground because of you!
In toil shall you eat its yield
all the days of your life.
Thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to you,
as you eat of the plants of the field.
By the sweat of your face
shall you get bread to eat,
Until you return to the ground,
from which you were taken;
For you are dirt,
and to dirt you shall return."
The man called his wife Eve,
because she became the mother of all the living.
 
For the man and his wife the LORD God made leather garments,
with which he clothed them.
Then the LORD God said: "See! The man has become like one of us,
knowing what is good and what is evil!
Therefore, he must not be allowed to put out his hand
to take fruit from the tree of life also,
and thus eat of it and live forever."
The LORD God therefore banished him from the garden of Eden,
to till the ground from which he had been taken.
When he expelled the man,
he settled him east of the garden of Eden;
and he stationed the cherubim and the fiery revolving sword,
to guard the way to the tree of life.
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Commentary on Gn 3:9-24
 
This passage details the punishment placed upon mankind for violating the law God had given them. It is clear from the text what parts of man’s existence were viewed as harsh by the early authors.
 
God first punished the serpent, placing hostility between humanity and the snake in perpetuity. The snake or serpent in later texts actually became representative of evil, and was ultimately destroyed by the Son of God (Revelation 20: 1-3).
 
God next punished the woman by intensifying the pain of delivering children and made it even more severe by saying that in spite of the pain, woman would still be drawn to have more children (“Yet your urge shall be for your husband”).
 
Finally, God punished the man for his role. No longer could he just reach up and take fruit to eat; rather he was forced to till the land to get food, hard work in uncertain conditions, for all his life. The final punishment was the most difficult to bear: humanity became subject to death. Through sin, death came into the world and humanity was forbidden to eat from the tree of life, so Adam and Eve were cast out of the Garden of Eden.
 
CCC: Gn 3:9-10 399; Gn 3:9 410, 2568; Gn 3:11-13 400; Gn 3:11 2515; Gn 3:12 1607; Gn 3:13 1736, 2568; Gn 3:14-19 2427; Gn 3:15 70, 410, 489; Gn 3:16-19 1607; Gn 3:16 376, 400, 1609; Gn 3:16b 1607; Gn 3:17-19 378; Gn 3:17 400; Gn 3:19 376, 400, 1008, 1609; Gn 3:20 489; Gn 3:21 1608; Gn 3:24 332
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 90:2, 3-4abc, 5-6, 12-13
 
R. (1) In every age, O Lord, you have been our refuge.
 
Before the mountains were begotten
and the earth and the world were brought forth,
from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
R. In every age, O Lord, you have been our refuge.
 
You turn man back to dust,
saying, "Return, O children of men."
For a thousand years in your sight
are as yesterday, now that it is past,
or as a watch of the night.
or as a watch of the night.
R. In every age, O Lord, you have been our refuge.
 
You make an end of them in their sleep;
the next morning they are like the changing grass,
Which at dawn springs up anew,
but by evening wilts and fades.
R. In every age, O Lord, you have been our refuge.
 
Teach us to number our days aright,
that we may gain wisdom of heart.
Return, O LORD! How long?
Have pity on your servants!
R. In every age, O Lord, you have been our refuge.
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Commentary on Ps 90:2, 3-4abc, 5-6, 12-13
 
The song of lament in Psalm 90 reminds us of the dust to which we must return. The psalmist calls us back to God’s law and grace. Most interesting in this passage is the recognition that God’s time and our time are different (“For a thousand years in your sight are as yesterday, now that it is past, or as a watch of the night.”) This psalm flies in the face of those who believe God created earth in seven 24-hour days. (“Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain wisdom of heart.”)
 
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Gospel: Mark 8:1-10
 
In those days when there again was a great crowd without anything to eat,
Jesus summoned the disciples and said,
"My heart is moved with pity for the crowd,
because they have been with me now for three days
and have nothing to eat.
If I send them away hungry to their homes,
they will collapse on the way,
and some of them have come a great distance."
His disciples answered him, "Where can anyone get enough bread
to satisfy them here in this deserted place?"
Still he asked them, "How many loaves do you have?"
They replied, "Seven."
He ordered the crowd to sit down on the ground.
Then, taking the seven loaves he gave thanks, broke them,
and gave them to his disciples to distribute,
and they distributed them to the crowd.
They also had a few fish.
He said the blessing over them
and ordered them distributed also.
They ate and were satisfied.
They picked up the fragments left over—seven baskets.
There were about four thousand people.
He dismissed the crowd and got into the boat with his disciples
and came to the region of Dalmanutha.
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Commentary on Mk 8:1-10
 
This selection describes one of the major miracles, the multiplication of loaves and fishes. There are actually two accounts, (Mark 8:1-10 above and Mark 6:31-44). It is proposed by some scholars that this is actually the same event told from two different traditions, but regardless, the implication is Eucharistic.
 
Much can be speculated about this event. The number of the loaves being seven would seem to indicate, through Hebrew numerology, the fullness of loaves was present. The fact that they all ate until they were satisfied (spiritually?) would indicate that the meal was complete. The fragments left over filled seven baskets; again that perfect number is used.
 
CCC: Mk 8:6 1329
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Reflection:
 
The readings from Genesis and the Gospel from Mark clash today.  In the Genesis story we hear of the Hebrew experience of a God of Justice.  He hands out punishment to mankind for violating his command not to eat of the fruit of one tree, thereby condemning mankind and beast to lives of enmity, pain, and toil.  This punishment was applied in God’s time, as the psalmist reminds us (Psalm 90:4), not man’s time.
 
Juxtaposed with the God of Justice is the Lord Jesus Christ, who comes in the Gospel as the God of mercy and compassion.  He sees the multitude looking to him for salvation through his words, and gives them nourishment for the flesh as well.
 
We wonder. Which is the true face of God?  Then we remember that before the coming of the Messiah man was wandering without a shepherd.  He looked at the physical world and saw there what he supposed was the punishment for sins against God.  The people of the Old Testament knew the Law of Moses.  It was a strict and detailed law, and violation of it merited punishment like that given to Adam and Eve.  Even if they did not recall what sin they had committed, if misfortune befell them, it must be punishment from the God of Justice, omnipotent and omnipresent.
 
Then Jesus came in fulfillment of the recorded prophecy of God’s intent.  His only Son revealed to us the true face of the Father, a loving God who was not vindictive, a merciful Father who does not punish out of some whim.  Yes, he created man in his own image and likeness.  But his creation was given God’s own free will, a free will that led Eve to accept the apple from the serpent. Through disobedience to God they fell and led mankind to death through sin.
 
The Lord, our merciful God, comes freeing us from that same death through his own sacrifice.  Today we give thanks to God who, through his infinite love for us, gave us his Only Begotten Son so we might know his will for us and give us food for the journey he has planned for us.
 
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 picture is “Expulsion of Adam and Eve” by Aureliano Milani, c. 1700.
[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.