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“St. Francis de Sales”
Artist and date are unknown |
Readings for Wednesday of the Third Week in Ordinary Time [1]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible [2]
Readings and Commentary: [3]
Reading 1: 2 Samuel 7:4-17
That night the LORD spoke to Nathan and said:
“Go, tell my servant David, ‘Thus says the LORD:
Should you build me a house to dwell in?
I have not dwelt in a house
from the day on which I led the children of Israel
out of Egypt to the present,
but I have been going about in a tent under cloth.
In all my wanderings everywhere among the children of Israel,
did I ever utter a word to any one of the judges
whom I charged to tend my people Israel, to ask:
Why have you not built me a house of cedar?’
“Now then, speak thus to my servant David,
‘The LORD of hosts has this to say:
It was I who took you from the pasture
and from the care of the flock
to be commander of my people Israel.
I have been with you wherever you went,
and I have destroyed all your enemies before you.
And I will make you famous like the great ones of the earth.
I will fix a place for my people Israel;
I will plant them so that they may dwell in their place
without further disturbance.
Neither shall the wicked continue to afflict them as they did of old,
since the time I first appointed judges over my people Israel.
I will give you rest from all your enemies.
The LORD also reveals to you that he will establish a house for you.
And when your time comes and you rest with your ancestors,
I will raise up your heir after you, sprung from your loins,
and I will make his Kingdom firm.
It is he who shall build a house for my name.
And I will make his royal throne firm forever.
I will be a father to him,
and he shall be a son to me.
And if he does wrong,
I will correct him with the rod of men
and with human chastisements;
but I will not withdraw my favor from him
as I withdrew it from your predecessor Saul,
whom I removed from my presence.
Your house and your kingdom shall endure forever before me;
your throne shall stand firm forever.’”
Nathan reported all these words and this entire vision to David.
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Commentary on 2 Sm 7:4-17
Following King David’s final battles, when the now-united kingdom was at peace, David consulted Nathan “the prophet.” It is clear that the king wishes to build a permanent structure to house the Ark of the Covenant. Nathan’s first answer is: “Whatever is in your heart, go and do, for the LORD is with you.” (2 Samuel 7:3) But this selection tells the story of his vision that evening.
In addition to providing reassurance to David, the vision is recalled again, in poetic form in the strophes of Psalm 89:4-5, 27-28, 29-30 (below). It is the basis for the Jewish expectation of the Messiah, a son of David. The prophecy was fulfilled in a transcendent way by Jesus.
CCC: 2 Sm 7 709; 2 Sm 7:14 238, 441
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 89:4-5, 27-28, 29-30
R. (29a) For ever I will maintain my love for my servant.
“I have made a covenant with my chosen one;
I have sworn to David my servant:
I will make your dynasty stand forever
and establish your throne through all ages.”
R. For ever I will maintain my love for my servant.
“He shall cry to me, ‘You are my father,
my God, the Rock that brings me victory!’
I myself make him firstborn,
Most High over the kings of the earth.”
R. For ever I will maintain my love for my servant.
“Forever I will maintain my love for him;
my covenant with him stands firm.
I will establish his dynasty forever,
his throne as the days of the heavens.”
R. For ever I will maintain my love for my servant.
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Commentary on Ps 89:4-5, 27-28, 29-30
Psalm 89 is a communal lament sung after the defeat of the Davidic king. It calls into question God’s promise made in the strophes cited in 2 Samuel 7:4ff wherein God promised that David’s throne was to stand forever. The community asks God to remember his promise.
CCC: Ps 89 709
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Gospel: Mark 4:1-20
On another occasion, Jesus began to teach by the sea.
A very large crowd gathered around him
so that he got into a boat on the sea and sat down.
And the whole crowd was beside the sea on land.
And he taught them at length in parables,
and in the course of his instruction he said to them,
“Hear this! A sower went out to sow.
And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path,
and the birds came and ate it up.
Other seed fell on rocky ground where it had little soil.
It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep.
And when the sun rose, it was scorched and it withered for lack of roots.
Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it
and it produced no grain.
And some seed fell on rich soil and produced fruit.
It came up and grew and yielded thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.”
He added, “Whoever has ears to hear ought to hear.”
And when he was alone,
those present along with the Twelve
questioned him about the parables.
He answered them,
“The mystery of the Kingdom of God has been granted to you.
But to those outside everything comes in parables, so that
they may look and see but not perceive,
and hear and listen but not understand,
in order that they may not be converted and be forgiven.”
Jesus said to them, “Do you not understand this parable?
Then how will you understand any of the parables?
The sower sows the word.
These are the ones on the path where the word is sown.
As soon as they hear, Satan comes at once
and takes away the word sown in them.
And these are the ones sown on rocky ground who,
when they hear the word, receive it at once with joy.
But they have no roots; they last only for a time.
Then when tribulation or persecution comes because of the word,
they quickly fall away.
Those sown among thorns are another sort.
They are the people who hear the word,
but worldly anxiety, the lure of riches,
and the craving for other things intrude and choke the word,
and it bears no fruit.
But those sown on rich soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it
and bear fruit thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.”
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Commentary on Mark 4:1-20
St. Mark’s Gospel begins a section of teachings on the Kingdom of God through parables. We note that Jesus is teaching from a boat, which would provide a natural amphitheater with the ground sloping to the shore. Here the Lord presents the parable of the “Sower.” As in St. Matthew’s Gospel (Matthew 13:1-18) he follows the unvarnished parable with a deeper explanation to the disciples.
In the Parable of the Sower from Mark’s Gospel, Jesus uses the rich analogy of the seed (of faith given in baptism) to show the various courses of faith in human endeavor. Because this selection gives not only the parable, but the Lord’s explanation of its meaning, the only historical note we will make is that, at that point in history in that region, when planting a field, the seed was sown first and then the field was plowed.
CCC: Mk 4:4-7 2707; Mk 4:11 546; Mk 4:15-19 2707
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Reflection:
“[T]o those outside everything comes in parables.”
When Jesus says these words to the disciples, he does so just before he has one of those wonderful teaching sessions with them. We envision them sitting around an open fire later that evening when the crowds have faded away and they finally have time to be alone. St. Mark’s portrait of the disciples makes them very human for us. They don’t instantly grasp everything the Lord tells them, and in this way we, who are also very human, get the benefit of the Lord’s more intimate contact with them.
What catches our eye today is the statement with which this reflection began: “to those outside everything comes in parables.” Who are those “outside” and what is meant by the statement “everything comes in parables?”
There is the quote in the Gospel immediately following this phrase that gives us an idea about whom the Lord is speaking when he says “those outside:” “[T]hey may look and see but not perceive, and hear and listen but not understand, in order that they may not be converted and be forgiven.” The Lord is quoting part of the Old Testament. Here are the words of Isaiah: “And he replied: Go and say to this people: Listen carefully, but you shall not understand! Look intently, but you shall know nothing!” (Isaiah 6:9ff) If we take the time to look at this particular passage we note that just before it is the verse remembered in song: “Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?’ ‘Here I am,’ I said; ‘send me!’"
We must gather from the context of what Jesus is saying that those on the “outside” are those who will not or cannot listen to the promise, to the offer of salvation. As difficult as it is for us to understand, there are those who cannot understand that God’s love is so intense that he gave us His Only Son so that we might be saved. Instead, as they look at the proofs of that very promise, all they see is the surface, as a person looking at a lake on a sunny day. They see only a reflection of the sky above and perhaps a piece of the shore with its trees and rocks. They cannot see into the depths and to the wonders of God’s creation that lie beneath the surface.
When we encounter people like these, on the “outside,” we frequently think of them as having heard and rejected the invitation. We generally think they do not want to embrace the Son of God because they would have to turn from the lives they lead and follow a more difficult and disciplined path. We must revise our thoughts, mustn’t we? They do not understand or cannot understand the meaning of what they see; “everything comes in parables.”
Today we thank God that he has provided us with a faith that allows us to see the promise and understand. Today we feel, as the disciples did, sitting by the fire with the Lord, that there is an immense job for us to do, reaching out to the world so that they might finally see, understand, and find salvation in Christ.
Pax
[1] S.S. Commemoratio[2] The picture is “St. Francis de Sales” Artist and date are unknown.
[3] The readings are taken from the New American Bible, except for 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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