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“Moses with the Ten Commandments”
by Philippe de Champaigne,1648 |
Readings for the Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time [2]
Readings from the Jerusalem bible [3]
Readings and Commentary: [4]
Reading 1: Deuteronomy 6:2-6
Moses spoke to the people, saying:
"Fear the LORD, your God,
and keep, throughout the days of your lives,
all his statutes and commandments which I enjoin on you,
and thus have long life.
Hear then, Israel, and be careful to observe them,
that you may grow and prosper the more,
in keeping with the promise of the LORD, the God of your fathers,
to give you a land flowing with milk and honey.
"Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone!
Therefore, you shall love the LORD, your God,
with all your heart,
and with all your soul,
and with all your strength.
Take to heart these words which I enjoin on you today."
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Commentary on Dt 6:2-6
This passage is taken from Moses’ second address, introducing the “law” to the people of God. Here he speaks of the covenantal responsibility the faithful have to keep the law of God. The people are entering the land of Canaan, a fertile area (“a land flowing with milk and honey”), much different from the desert they have wandered. Moses points to this gift as God’s offering in return for their faithful adherence to the law.
The selection continues with an iteration of the “Shema” (hear). It is prayer offered each day by religious Jews. It is basically an expansion of the First Commandment, exhorting the people to reject all other gods (in the historical context of the reading, this would apply especially to the Baal of Canaan). The clear intent is to place the love of God first in all things, making the need to offer all things to God foremost in all circumstances and endeavors.
"When someone asks him, 'Which commandment in the law is the greatest?' (Matthew 22:36) Jesus replies: 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.' (Matthew 22:37-40; cf. Deuteronomy 6:5; Leviticus 19:18) The Decalogue must be interpreted in light of this twofold yet single commandment of love, the fullness of the law." (CCC 2055)
CCC: Dt 6:4-5 201, 459, 2093; Dt 6:4 228, 2083; Dt 6:5 368, 2055, 2133
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 18:2-3, 3-4, 47, 51
R. (2) I love you, Lord, my strength.
I love you, O LORD, my strength,
O LORD, my rock, my fortress, my deliverer.
R. I love you, Lord, my strength.
My God, my rock of refuge,
my shield, the horn of my salvation, my stronghold!
Praised be the LORD, I exclaim,
and I am safe from my enemies.
R. I love you, Lord, my strength.
The LORD lives! And blessed be my rock!
Extolled be God my savior.
You who gave great victories to your king
and showed kindness to your anointed.
R. I love you, Lord, my strength.
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Commentary on Ps 18:2-3, 3-4, 47, 51
The first strophes of this selection announce that Psalm 18 is a song of thanksgiving and praise. God is seen as a protector in battle, and a sure fortress against all foes. David gives personal thanks in the final strophes for the victory God has given, and the kindness he shows to his faithful.
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Reading 2: Hebrews 7:23-28
Brothers and sisters:
The levitical priests were many
because they were prevented by death from remaining in office,
but Jesus, because he remains forever,
has a priesthood that does not pass away.
Therefore, he is always able to save those who approach God through him,
since he lives forever to make intercession for them.
It was fitting that we should have such a high priest:
holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners,
higher than the heavens.
He has no need, as did the high priests,
to offer sacrifice day after day,
first for his own sins and then for those of the people;
he did that once for all when he offered himself.
For the law appoints men subject to weakness to be high priests,
but the word of the oath, which was taken after the law,
appoints a son,
who has been made perfect forever.
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Commentary on Heb 7:23-28
In this selection, the author continues to compare the priesthood of Christ to the Levitical priesthood. He launches into the third reason Christ’s priesthood supersedes the priesthood of the Levites. The Levitical priests, because they were mortal, died, and it was necessary to replace them so the people would continue to have intercessors, while Jesus, who is eternal, is eternally present. As we see in Romans 6:9-10: “We know that Christ, raised from the dead, dies no more; death no longer has power over him. As to his death, he died to sin once and for all; as to his life, he lives for God.” Jesus is the eternal intercessor.
The second part of this reading (v. 26-28) constitutes a hymn of praise to Christ the High Priest, summing up all that has gone before. When Jesus ascended his throne and assumed his High Priesthood, he made the one final sacrifice that frees all people from their sins, the sacrifice of atonement that never needs to be repeated. He sacrificed himself once and for all. In doing so God appointed his Only Begotten Son as Eternal High Priest, “perfect forever.”
CCC: Heb 7:24 1366, 1564; Heb 7:25-27 1364; Heb 7:25 519, 662, 2634, 2741; Heb 7:26 1544; Heb 7:27 1085, 1366, 1540
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Gospel: Mark 12:28b-34
One of the scribes came to Jesus and asked him,
"Which is the first of all the commandments?"
Jesus replied, "The first is this:
Hear, O Israel!
The Lord our God is Lord alone!
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,
with all your soul,
with all your mind,
and with all your strength.
The second is this:
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
There is no other commandment greater than these."
The scribe said to him, "Well said, teacher.
You are right in saying,
'He is One and there is no other than he.'
And 'to love him with all your heart,
with all your understanding,
with all your strength,
and to love your neighbor as yourself'
is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices."
And when Jesus saw that he answered with understanding,
he said to him,
"You are not far from the kingdom of God."
And no one dared to ask him any more questions.
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Commentary on Mk 12:28b-34
In the continuing dialogue with the Sadducees from the Gospel of St. Mark, we find the scribe is impressed with the way Jesus handled the challenge by the Sadducees (found in the previous verses). The Lord answers his question about the law with the Great Commandment, the opening of the Shema, the great Jewish prayer, and then he follows that statement with the commandment to love your neighbor as yourself (see also Leviticus 19:18). When the scholar clearly understands what Jesus is saying, the Lord tells him he is "not far from the kingdom of God" (see also the commentary on Matthew 22:34ff).
CCC: Mk 12:28-34 575; Mk 12:29-31 129, 2196; Mk 12:29-30 202; Mk 12:29 228
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Homily:
Receive the Gospel of Christ, whose herald you now are
Believe what you read
Teach what you believe
Practice what you teach
Those words are familiar to deacons. They are the words spoken by our bishop at our ordination as the Gospel was passed on to us. They embody the mission we are called to fulfill by the Church and are intended to color our every action.
Forty years ago, my brothers of the class of 1984 and I heard these words delivered by the Bishop of Lansing, the Most Reverend Kenneth Povish. They were delivered at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Lansing in front of our families and friends and most importantly our wives. I say “most importantly” because our wives were also instructed by our bishop to keep us grounded and remind us of our vocation not just to the diaconate but to family as well. In celebrating this milestone anniversary, I would be remiss in not saying that it is not just us deacons who have walked the walk of service to the Lord, but our wives and families as well. Our wives humbled us if we became arrogant or too full of ourselves and buoyed us up if we became despondent or disheartened. We may have been seen by our parishes as pillars our faith communities, but our wives were the base of that pillar and without them we would not be here.
The diaconate, of all the Holy Orders, is perhaps the most diverse in its response to the Mosaic call we heard in the first reading from Deuteronomy:
"Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone!
Therefore, you shall love the LORD, your God,
with all your heart,
and with all your soul,
and with all your strength.
While this passage, called the Shema, is the ancient Jewish Prayer said even today, it is central to the first commandment and in our Catechism of the Catholic Church it is enjoined upon us this way:
Jesus summed up man's duties toward God in this saying: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind." This immediately echoes the solemn call: "Hear, O Israel: the LORD our God is one LORD."
God has loved us first. The love of the One God is recalled in the first of the "ten words." The commandments then make explicit the response of love that man is called to give to his God.
(CCC 2083)
Each of us in the diaconate has responded to this call of loving Jesus and putting the Lord our God first in our lives. That call asks us to serve the Lord in his Church, but also carry the Gospel into the varied facets of our lives. Permanent Deacons are almost always married and therefore must take the Gospel into their homes, making them true domestic churches. Because, with few exceptions they also work in the secular world to support their families, they must take the Gospel there as well. In all the varied professions in which deacons are engaged, there too must go the Gospel, and, in many cases, this is the most challenging task. Finally, deacons are called to a ministry of charity, following Jesus’ example of service to the poor and disenfranchised. In all this service, there must be balance between ministry, family, and work.
In my forty years, as I am sure it was with my brothers here with me, that balancing act has been the most difficult part of living the life of service to God and his Church. While not trying to make any analogy to their physical attributes, our wives act as gyroscopes, acting as a stabilizing influence to keep us on track.
When we were ordained back in 1984 the permanent diaconate was only 20 years old. I think at that time there were only about 35 deacons in the Diocese of Lansing, and we were something of a novelty. I can remember being at a gathering here at St. Thomas and being asked by a very conservative member of our parish if, once I was ordained, could I hear confessions. Those of you who know me would not be surprised that I responded, “Only second hand.” Which totally scandalized the questioner, but I could not help it.
After ordination, my classmate and brother deacon Gwen MacPeek (may he rest in peace) had to endure a good deal of push-back, especially from the vowed religious members of our parish staff who felt we were newcomers and not really professional ministers and certainly did not deserve a place in the liturgy. I can remember telling them that our service at table, as we had had it drummed into us during formation, was only to validate our service to the people outside of Mass, the service of charity and to the people of God in the community at large. I don’t know if that sunk in but thank God, we had pastors who appreciated having us starting back with Monsignor Lundsford and for the five pastors I have been fortunate to serve with, not to mention the 12 associate pastors (including a very young Fr. Bill Ashbaugh) my current pastor and boss.
You may ask the question, as many have over the years, why does the Church have deacons? The easiest way to answer that question is to compare the other members of the Holy Orders. Bishops are our shepherds; they guide the diocesan churches and teach the Gospel from authority handed down from Christ to St. Peter. Priests are delegated by the bishops to administer the sacraments to the parishes, the faith communities within the diocesan churches. Deacons are to be the image of Christ’s service to the people, ministering to the sick, the imprisoned and the unchurched.
You can probably understand that as we were all going through formation, we asked this question of ourselves. Why should we be ordained to do this work? And I can remember clearly what our Director of Deacons, Fr. Doug Osborn, told our class. He said, “The formation process does not make deacons. It finds deacons operating in parishes, puts them through a period of discernment and training, then gives them sacramental grace in ordination and sends them back to those parishes with the strength of the Holy Spirt to do the work Christ calls us to.”
As we recognize our forty years of service to the church of Lansing and the people of St. Thomas whom I have been blessed to have served, I, on behalf of my brother deacons, thank you for your love and support and ask that you continue to pray for me and all of the diaconate that we may be faithful to that invocation received at ordination:
Receive the Gospel of Christ, whose herald you now are
Believe what you read
Teach what you believe
Practice what you teach
Pax
In other years on November 3rd: Optional Memorial for Saint Martin De Porres, Religious
[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 is “Moses with the Ten Commandments” by Philippe de Champaigne,1648.
[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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