Friday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time

“Christ at Simon the Pharisee”
by Pieter Pauwel Rubens, 1618-20

Readings for Friday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time [1]
 
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible [2]
 
Readings and Commentary: [3]
 
Reading 1: Romans 9:1-5
 
Brothers and sisters:
I speak the truth in Christ, I do not lie;
my conscience joins with the Holy Spirit in bearing me witness
that I have great sorrow and constant anguish in my heart.
For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ
for the sake of my own people,
my kindred according to the flesh.
They are children of Israel;
theirs the adoption, the glory, the covenants,
the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises;
theirs the patriarchs, and from them,
according to the flesh, is the Christ,
who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen.
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Commentary on Rom 9:1-5
 
In previous chapters, St. Paul has proclaimed the Gospel to the Jews in Rome and his success has been spotty.  He continues to drive home the benefits of fidelity in Christ Jesus, having already explained his own faithfulness. Indeed, he appears in this passage to contradict an earlier statement (cf. Romans 8:31ff). However, the two statements actually form a whole and here he expresses his sorrow for those who have rejected Christ as the fulfillment of God’s promised Savior.
 
In this passage St. Paul borrows from the passion of Moses for the people of God in Exodus 32:32 when Moses says: "Now if you would only forgive their sin! But if you will not, then blot me out of the book that you have written.” The apostle is using oratorical exaggeration and contradicting himself (see Romans cf. 8:31ff) when he wishes himself accursed.  He is once more expressing his love of the mission God has given him in converting all non-believers to Christ. [4]
 
“The apostle speaks in strong terms of the depth of his grief over the unbelief of his own people. He would willingly undergo a curse himself for the sake of their coming to the knowledge of Christ (Romans 9:3; cf. Leviticus 27:28-29). His love for them derives from God's continuing choice of them and from the spiritual benefits that God bestows on them and through them on all of humanity.” [5]
 
CCC: Rom 9:4-5 839; Rom 9:5 449
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 147:12-13, 14-15, 19-20
 
R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
 
Glorify the LORD, O Jerusalem;
praise your God, O Zion.
For he has strengthened the bars of your gates;
he has blessed your children within you.
R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
 
He has granted peace in your borders;
with the best of wheat he fills you.
He sends forth his command to the earth;
swiftly runs his word!
R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
 
He has proclaimed his word to Jacob,
his statutes and his ordinances to Israel.
He has not done thus for any other nation;
his ordinances he has not made known to them. Alleluia.
R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
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Commentary on Ps 147:12-13, 14-15, 19-20
 
Psalm 147 is a hymn of praise. In these strophes the singer celebrates God’s gifts to his people, the gift of faith to the patriarch Jacob, and the gift of his presence in the Holy City Jerusalem. These strophes are from the third section (each section offering praise for a different gift from God to his special people). This section focuses on the gift of the Promised Land with Jerusalem as its spiritual center. We see the call to praise Jerusalem, the Holy City, because in it was revealed the Word of God and a call to holiness. The Lord is praised for sending food that sustains the people. The final strophe also rejoices that the law was handed on to them through Jacob.
 
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Gospel: Luke 14:1-6
 
On a sabbath Jesus went to dine
at the home of one of the leading Pharisees,
and the people there were observing him carefully.
In front of him there was a man suffering from dropsy.
Jesus spoke to the scholars of the law and Pharisees in reply, asking,
“Is it lawful to cure on the sabbath or not?”
But they kept silent; so he took the man and,
after he had healed him, dismissed him.
Then he said to them
“Who among you, if your son or ox falls into a cistern,
would not immediately pull him out on the sabbath day?”
But they were unable to answer his question.
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Commentary on Lk 14:1-6
 
The miracle of the cure of the man with dropsy (a condition in which there is severe swelling caused by the retention of water) is unique to St. Luke’s Gospel. The issue he addresses at the banquet, however, is also taken up in a different context in Mark 3:1-6 and Matthew 12:9-14. The point (logion) expounded upon here is that fanatical observance of Mosaic Law is not serving God. Rather, the spirit of God’s law is love and compassion which he demonstrates by curing the man.
 
There is also a pun used in the language Jesus uses. When he says “if your son or ox falls into a well,” the words in Aramaic are be’îrā (“ox”) and berā (“son”) followed by bērā (“well”) giving us insight into Jesus' sense of humor.
 
CCC: Lk 14:1 575, 588; Lk 14:3-4 582
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Reflection:
 
Sacred Scripture gives us a look at the complexity of issues associated with the coming of the Messiah to the Jewish people. St. Paul becomes emotional over the problem his people have with this issue in his letter to the Romans. He is almost crying out to God to make them understand that Jesus came to fulfill all that had been promised by the historical relationship with God. He cites the gifts given by God (fulfilled in Jesus): “the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises; theirs the patriarchs, and from them, according to the flesh, is the Christ.” Yet even though they had been prepared as the chosen people, they could not recognize the Christ when he came in the person of Jesus, and St. Paul grieves for them – for their loss.
 
We follow St. Paul’s diagnosis of the Jewish problem with a typical example of that same issue. Jesus, in the story from St. Luke’s Gospel, goes to the house of a well-known Pharisee. An obvious test or trap for the Lord has been set up (the people there were observing him carefully). They have invited a man with dropsy, a chronic and painful condition, and seated him directly across from the Lord. Jesus understands their motives at which we can only speculate. They may have simply been curious (most likely, since he concluded his conversation with them with a pun) or it may indeed have been a more sinister motive, to see if he would violate the laws of the Sabbath and perform “work” on the day of rest.
 
Regardless of their motive, Jesus cures the man. His statement following the cure, in spite of the play on words, is instructive. His use of the statement: “if your son or ox falls into a cistern,” would seem to imply both his love for the many he cured (son) and his feeling of responsibility for their well-being (ox). The larger lesson is the fundamental example Jesus always provides - love one another.
 
The situation remains complex for the Jewish people. Even with his physical presence, faced with the fact that Jesus fulfills the covenants of God, the Law of Moses, and the oracular predictions of the prophets, they cannot come to believe he is the Christ. While this seems, on the surface, to be less of an issue for us as modern-day disciples, it is also complex but in a different way. We have the benefit of Scripture and the two thousand years of historical faithfulness passed down to us through the Church. Yet, we live in a world that is constantly trying to “spin” the Jesus story in a different way.
 
We pray today for the faith and courage to see the absolute love Jesus has for all peoples, whether they believe in him or not. We have faith that the Holy Spirit, which he left us as guide and advocate, will provide us with the help we need in our day's labors and activities. And above all, we seek the peace that comes from knowing that Jesus loves us and offers himself to us this and every day in his Body and Blood.
 
Pax

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[1] The picture is “Christ at Simon the Pharisee” by Pieter Pauwel Rubens, 1618-20.
[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] The Navarre Bible: “Letters of St. Paul” (Scepter Publishers, Princeton, NJ, © 2003), 106.
[5] NAB footnote on Romans 9:1-5.