Friday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time

(Optional Memorial for Saint Lawrence of Brindisi, Priest and Doctor of the Church)

 
Proper readings for the Memorial for St. Lawrence of Brindisi
 
Additional information about St. Lawrence of Brindisi

“The Disciples Pluck Corn”
by Edward Armitage, c. 1865

 
Readings for Friday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time [1]
 
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible [2]
 
Readings and Commentary:[3]
 
Reading 1: Exodus 11:10—12:14
 
Although Moses and Aaron performed various wonders
in Pharaoh's presence,
the LORD made Pharaoh obstinate,
and he would not let the children of Israel leave his land.
 
The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt,
"This month shall stand at the head of your calendar;
you shall reckon it the first month of the year.
Tell the whole community of Israel:  On the tenth of this month
every one of your families must procure for itself a lamb,
one apiece for each household.
If a family is too small for a whole lamb,
it shall join the nearest household in procuring one
and shall share in the lamb
in proportion to the number of persons who partake of it.
The lamb must be a year-old male and without blemish.
You may take it from either the sheep or the goats.
You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, and then,
with the whole assembly of Israel present,
it shall be slaughtered during the evening twilight.
They shall take some of its blood
and apply it to the two doorposts and the lintel
of every house in which they partake of the lamb.
That same night they shall eat its roasted flesh
with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.
It shall not be eaten raw or boiled, but roasted whole,
with its head and shanks and inner organs.
None of it must be kept beyond the next morning;
whatever is left over in the morning shall be burned up.
 
"This is how you are to eat it:
with your loins girt, sandals on your feet and your staff in hand,
you shall eat like those who are in flight.
It is the Passover of the LORD.
For on this same night I will go through Egypt,
striking down every first born of the land, both man and beast,
and executing judgment on all the gods of Egypt—I, the LORD!
But the blood will mark the houses where you are.
Seeing the blood, I will pass over you;
thus, when I strike the land of Egypt,
no destructive blow will come upon you.
 
"This day shall be a memorial feast for you,
which all your generations shall celebrate
with pilgrimage to the LORD, as a perpetual institution."
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Commentary on Ex 11:10—12:14
 
In this reading from Exodus we have jumped forward to the end of Moses’ contest of wills with Pharaoh. The first nine plagues have been visited upon Egypt, and still the Pharaoh will not allow the people of Israel to leave. Now God gives instructions to Moses and Aaron about what later will be called the Passover Feast. This is done in preparation for the repercussions from the slaughter of the firstborn of Egypt.
 
CCC: Ex 12:3-14 608
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 116:12-13, 15 and 16bc, 17-18
 
R. (13) I will take the cup of salvation, and call on the name of the Lord.
 
How shall I make a return to the LORD
for all the good he has done for me?
The cup of salvation I will take up,
and I will call upon the name of the LORD.
R. I will take the cup of salvation, and call on the name of the Lord.
 
Precious in the eyes of the LORD
is the death of his faithful ones.
I am your servant, the son of your handmaid;
you have loosed my bonds.
R. I will take the cup of salvation, and call on the name of the Lord.
 
To you will I offer sacrifice of thanksgiving,
and I will call upon the name of the LORD.
My vows to the LORD I will pay
in the presence of all his people.
R. I will take the cup of salvation, and call on the name of the Lord.
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Commentary on Ps 116:12-13, 15 and 16bc, 17-18
 
This selection from Psalm 116 recalls the Passover ritual referring to the “cup of salvation.”  The psalm rejoices in God’s saving works in releasing the people from their bondage. It gives us the image of the “Cup of Blessing” used in the Passover celebration. It is this cup that the Lord first blessed and used as our communion cup. 
 
CCC: Ps 116:12 224; Ps 116:13 1330; Ps 116:17 1330
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Gospel: Matthew 12:1-8
 
Jesus was going through a field of grain on the sabbath.
His disciples were hungry
and began to pick the heads of grain and eat them.
When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him,
"See, your disciples are doing what is unlawful to do on the sabbath."
He said to the them, "Have you not read what David did
when he and his companions were hungry,
how he went into the house of God and ate the bread of offering,
which neither he nor his companions
but only the priests could lawfully eat?
Or have you not read in the law that on the sabbath
the priests serving in the temple violate the sabbath
and are innocent?
I say to you, something greater than the temple is here.
If you knew what this meant, I desire mercy, not sacrifice,
you would not have condemned these innocent men.
For the Son of Man is Lord of the sabbath."
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Commentary on Mt 12:1-8
 
Following the comment by Jesus in Matthew 11:28-30 about asking those burdened by strict Pharisaic interpretation of the Law of Moses to come to him, we find a practical example as the Pharisees attack the disciples because they picked some grain to eat on the sabbath. In Pharisaic law, that act is considered work, and is forbidden on the Lord’s Day. Jesus reinterprets the law, citing the First Book of Samuel (1 Samuel 21:2-7) and Leviticus (Leviticus 24:8). The implication of his final statement in this passage is clear to us. “The ultimate justification for the disciples' violation of the sabbath rest is that Jesus, the Son of Man, has supreme authority over the law.” [4]
 
CCC: Mt 12:5 581, 582, 2173; Mt 12:6 586, 590; Mt 12:7 2100
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Reflection:
 
What is most important about what we believe?  What is important about our faith lived and practiced?  Is it that we attend Mass each Sunday as we are obligated to do?  Is it that we scrupulously observe the rituals, fasts, and abstinence rules?  In fact, some have challenged our practices based upon the Gospel passage from St. Matthew. They have asked: do we need rules and laws, or even the precepts of our faith at all?  In point of fact, many of the various Christian denominations developed out of a “sola scriptura (Bible only)” idea.
                                                                                                      
Their argument is that Jesus’ disciples were not confined to the religious rituals and laws of the Pharisees and chief priests of the temple.  In fact, on many occasions, as in the passage given today, Jesus challenged them on their practice of the faith.  Even when he reached out to the poor and downtrodden offering a lighter burden and an easier yoke, he was speaking at least in part about the strict regulations of the Pharisees. 
 
As is generally the case, when one takes the Lord’s demands based on only one aspect of his teaching, we can justify almost any action in the name of being faithful to the Bible.  The Church, in her wisdom, has looked for millennia at the whole of Christ’s teaching, understanding in the broader sense the Lord’s will for God’s people.  This broad and foundational view, long studied and reflected upon, lets us see beyond the “face value” of such readings.
 
When Jesus challenges the Pharisees he first testifies (by example) that he has come, not to destroy the “law,” but to fulfill the Law and the Prophets (Matthew 5:17ff). He tells us that he has the authority to allow his disciples, because of the vital role they are playing in God’s plan, to be exempted or dispensed from the strict rules regarding “work” on the Sabbath.  He did not say that those rules regarding work were wrong or that they should not be followed.  He simply dispensed his disciples from this obligation, just as those having authority in the Church may dispense one of the faithful from a specific obligation based upon need.
 
Jesus, in this instance, used this point of contention as a teaching moment, trying to point out to the Pharisees that what they had long hoped for, the coming of a Messiah, was realized in the person of Jesus. (“I say to you, something greater than the temple is here.”)
 
As in Jesus’ day, there are those who would argue this point and lobby for an easier discipline, a more flexible set of rules governing the practice of the faith.  We submit to you today that, as difficult as it is to adhere to the Precepts of the Church, it is those very ideals that define us as Christian and Catholic.
 
Pax

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[1] The picture is “The Disciples Pluck Corn” by Edward Armitage, c. 1865.
[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] NAB footnote on Matthew 12:1-8.