Memorial of Saint Paul Miki and Companions, Martyrs

Proper for the Memorial of St. Paul Miki and Companions [1]

Biographical information about the Martyrs of Nagasaki

“St. Paul Miki and His Companions” Artist and Date are UNKNOWN

Readings for Thursday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time

Readings from the Jerusalem Bible [2]

Readings and Commentary:[3]

Reading I: 1 Kings 2:1-4, 10-12

When the time of David’s death drew near,

he gave these instructions to his son Solomon:

“I am going the way of all flesh.

Take courage and be a man.

Keep the mandate of the Lord, your God, following his ways

and observing his statutes, commands, ordinances, and decrees

as they are written in the law of Moses,

that you may succeed in whatever you do,

wherever you turn, and the Lord may fulfill

the promise he made on my behalf when he said,

‘If your sons so conduct themselves

that they remain faithful to me with their whole heart

and with their whole soul,

you shall always have someone of your line

on the throne of Israel.’”

David rested with his ancestors and was buried in the City of David.

The length of David’s reign over Israel was forty years:

he reigned seven years in Hebron

and thirty-three years in Jerusalem.

Solomon was seated on the throne of his father David,

with his sovereignty firmly established.

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Commentary on 1 Kgs 2:1-4, 10-12

This passage from the Fist Book of Kings provides a description of the succession of the Hebrew Monarchy from David to his son Solomon. We note David’s final instructions to Solomon include the strict stipulation that he keep all of the “statutes, commands, ordinances, and decrees” of the Law of Moses. This statement should not be viewed as a contradiction to the promise that David’s line shall be perpetual (see 1 Samuel 7:14ff).

The concluding verses establish the length of King David’s reign and the validity of the succession of the office to his son. It is clear from the language used that there should be no doubt as to Solomon’s right to assume his father’s position as king. Later, the author describes how those who sought to deny succession within the monarchy  were removed.

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Responsorial Psalm: 1 Chronicles 29:10, 11ab, 11d-12a, 12bcd

R. (12b) Lord, you are exalted over all.

“Blessed may you be, O LORD,

God of Israel our father,

from eternity to eternity.”

R. Lord, you are exalted over all.

“Yours, O LORD, are grandeur and power,

majesty, splendor, and glory.”

R. Lord, you are exalted over all.

“LORD, you are exalted over all.

Yours, O Lord, is the sovereignty;

you are exalted as head over all.

Riches and honor are from you.”

R. Lord, you are exalted over all.

“In your hand are power and might;

it is yours to give grandeur and strength to all.”

R. Lord, you are exalted over all.

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Commentary on 1 Chr 29:10, 11ab, 11d-12a, 12bcd

This great hymn of praise from First Chronicles directs our thoughts toward the power and majesty of God the Father. It rejoices in his omnipotent reign over all the earth. It is called "David's Prayer," and consists of three parts.  This selection is the first part which is a solemn praise for God's sovereignty and power.

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Gospel: Mark 6:7-13

Jesus summoned the Twelve and began to send them out two by two

and gave them authority over unclean spirits.

He instructed them to take nothing for the journey but a walking stick

–no food, no sack, no money in their belts.

They were, however, to wear sandals but not a second tunic.

He said to them,

“Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave from there.

Whatever place does not welcome you or listen to you,

leave there and shake the dust off your feet

in testimony against them.”

So they went off and preached repentance.

The Twelve drove out many demons,

and they anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.

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Commentary on Mk 6:7-13

In this account, the twelve disciples are sent two by two to begin the ministry for which Christ has been preparing them. They have been with him since they were called. Now he sends them into the world to proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom of God as Jesus had done. We note a few differences from the same account in  Matthew 10:5ff and Luke 10:1ff. First, in St. Mark’s account they are allowed to take a staff and sandals (prohibited in the other Gospels). Second, St. Mark does not mention a prohibition against entering “pagan territory,” a reflection of conditions in the region at the time of Mark’s authorship.

The disciples are encouraged to stay in one house as opposed to moving from one place to another (presumably to find greater comfort), so as to avoid giving insult to their host or appearing ungrateful. The instruction to “shake the dust off your feet” to those who were unwelcoming was seen as a testimony against those who rejected repentance.

CCC: Mk 6:7 765, 1673; Mk 6:12-13 1506; Mk 6:13 1511, 1673

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Reflection:

The common thread between the First Book of Kings and the Gospel of Mark is the idea that God’s mission is being passed on.  In the story of King David’s death, he passes on his monarchy to his son Solomon.  He does so with a solemn instruction to carefully keep all of the various elements of Mosaic Law.  Because this chronicle had been passed down through many generations, later authors added bits of language that in 1 Kings 2:1ff might sound contradictory.  God promised that David’s dynasty would be eternal, culminating as we know with Christ, our eternal king.  The instructions given nonetheless make it clear that God’s ongoing rule is primary, coming before all else that a monarch might be expected to do.

In St. Mark’s Gospel, Jesus passes on a different legacy, a different kind of monarchy.  He instructs his adopted heirs, the Apostles, to take the news of God’s Kingdom into the world.  He also has instructions for his friends.  He tells them what to take and how they should deport themselves as they take the Good News into the world.  He tells them that they should keep all of his statutes and laws.  As King David instructed Solomon about Mosaic Law, this is implicit in his charge to them.

For us, we hear that charge to take up God’s mission and move it forward.  We know that the legacy that is our faith has been faithfully handed down by those who have gone before us.  It is now our turn to take the Good News of the Kingdom of God into the world, and our instructions, while slightly different, have many of the same elements.  We are to take the Word to the world in humility, offering not demanding.  We are to offer it freely, expecting nothing, for it was a free gift to us, purchased at a great price of pain.  And when the word is rejected, we are to walk away sad for their loss.

Today we pray for the strength to carry the Good News to the world in all we do.  May the grace given by our Savior allow us to be the best of examples to those we meet.

Pax

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[1] The picture is “St. Paul Miki and His Companions” Artist and Date are UNKNOWN.

[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.

Memorial of Saint Agatha, Virgin and Martyr

Proper for the Memorial of St. Agatha [1]

Biographical Information about St. Agatha

“The Martyrdom of St Agatha” 
by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, c. 1756

Readings for Wednesday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time

Readings from the Jerusalem Bible [2]

Readings and Commentary:[3]

Reading I: 2 Samuel 24:2, 9-17

King David said to Joab and the leaders of the army who were with him,

“Tour all the tribes in Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba

and register the people, that I may know their number.”

Joab then reported to the king the number of people registered:

in Israel, eight hundred thousand men fit for military service;

in Judah, five hundred thousand.

Afterward, however, David regretted having numbered the people,

and said to the LORD:

“I have sinned grievously in what I have done.

But now, LORD, forgive the guilt of your servant,

for I have been very foolish.”

When David rose in the morning,

the LORD had spoken to the prophet Gad, David’s seer, saying:

“Go and say to David, ‘This is what the LORD says:

I offer you three alternatives;

choose one of them, and I will inflict it on you.’”

Gad then went to David to inform him.

He asked: “Do you want a three years’ famine to come upon your land,

or to flee from your enemy three months while he pursues you,

or to have a three days’ pestilence in your land?

Now consider and decide what I must reply to him who sent me.”

David answered Gad: “I am in very serious difficulty.

Let us fall by the hand of God, for he is most merciful;

but let me not fall by the hand of man.”

Thus David chose the pestilence.

Now it was the time of the wheat harvest

when the plague broke out among the people.

The LORD then sent a pestilence over Israel

from morning until the time appointed,

and seventy thousand of the people from Dan to Beer-sheba died.

But when the angel stretched forth his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it,

the LORD regretted the calamity

and said to the angel causing the destruction among the people,

“Enough now! Stay your hand.”

The angel of the LORD was then standing

at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.

When David saw the angel who was striking the people,

he said to the LORD: “It is I who have sinned;

it is I, the shepherd, who have done wrong.

But these are sheep; what have they done?

Punish me and my kindred.”

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Commentary on 2 Sm 24:2, 9-17

Completing the Second Book of Samuel is this encounter between the pride of King David and God. The king seeks to measure his strength in terms of numbers of people who can serve in his army, thinking that this strength will bring him victory. Once he has completed the census, the Prophet Gad comes and he sees the sin he has committed in trusting in the strength of his arms instead of the Lord God.

Gad offers punishment options, the first of which is similar to that imposed because of Saul’s misdeeds (2 Samuel 21:1ff). The two other options each contain the number three, a number significant in that it represents the most intense representation of the event (three days of pestilence would imply the most intense pestilence). Just as the punishment is to strike Jerusalem, the king pleads with God, recognizing his power.  King David accepts the guilt for his deeds and attitude. Hearing David's contrition,  God holds his angel back, similar to the way he withheld the hand of Abraham from striking down Isaac.

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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 32:1-2, 5, 6, 7

R. (see 5c) Lord, forgive the wrong I have done.

Blessed is he whose fault is taken away,

whose sin is covered.

Blessed the man to whom the LORD imputes not guilt,

in whose spirit there is no guile.

R. Lord, forgive the wrong I have done.

Then I acknowledged my sin to you,

my guilt I covered not.

I said, “I confess my faults to the LORD,”

and you took away the guilt of my sin.

R. Lord, forgive the wrong I have done.

For this shall every faithful man pray to you

in time of stress.

Though deep waters overflow,

they shall not reach him.

R. Lord, forgive the wrong I have done.

You are my shelter; from distress you will preserve me;

with glad cries of freedom you will ring me round.

R. Lord, forgive the wrong I have done.

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Commentary on Ps 32:1-2, 5, 6, 7

Psalm 32 is an individual hymn of thanksgiving. The psalmist (presumably King David) sings a song of gratitude that the Almighty Father has pardoned his sins (which were freely confessed). In spite of these blemishes, salvation is heaped upon the repentant person.

Providing hope for mankind following the story of “The Fall,” the psalmist is rejoicing for the one whose sins are forgiven. Then he gives thanks for God’s saving work, emphasizing that only the Lord can deliver man from sin.

CCC: Ps 32 304; Ps 32:5 1502

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Gospel: Mark 6:1-6

Jesus departed from there and came to his native place,

accompanied by his disciples.

When the sabbath came he began to teach in the synagogue,

and many who heard him were astonished.

They said, “Where did this man get all this?

What kind of wisdom has been given him?

What mighty deeds are wrought by his hands!

Is he not the carpenter, the son of Mary,

and the brother of James and Joseph and Judas and Simon?

And are not his sisters here with us?”

And they took offense at him.

Jesus said to them,

“A prophet is not without honor except in his native place

and among his own kin and in his own house.”

So he was not able to perform any mighty deed there,

apart from curing a few sick people by laying his hands on them.

He was amazed at their lack of faith.

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Commentary on Mk 6:1-6

This passage is St. Mark’s account of the Lord returning to his home town. As is his custom, he goes to speak in the synagogue and amazes the people he grew up with. The Lord encounters intense skepticism, born out of the fact that the people knew him before he took up his mission. In St. Luke's version (Luke 4:28ff), reference is made to the feeling that Jesus, in assuming the role of the Messiah, had blasphemed. The resulting attempt on his life is omitted in St. Mark's Gospel, but we still see the Lord’s response to their lack of faith. Non-canonical documents of the early Church Fathers (c. 400) refer to the relationships of the brothers and sisters of Jesus.  See The History of Joseph the Carpenter.

CCC: Mk 6:3 500; Mk 6:5 699; Mk 6:6 2610

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Reflection:

We are given a unique glimpse into the Lord’s early years in this account of Jesus returning home.  There is a reference to the period between age twelve when Jesus was presented at the temple the second time (Luke 2:41-50) and his baptism in the Jordan by St. John the Baptist (Matthew 3:13-17). The last we were told following his first presentation was: “The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him.” (Luke 2:40) That does not tell us much about his interaction with the community in which he grew up. This exchange, however, hints at what the young Jesus must have been like in those years.

When he came to teach in the synagogue that sabbath, we are told that those who heard him were “astonished.” They asked themselves where he had come by the knowledge and wisdom he displayed. In order for them to react the way they did, we can only assume that as a young man, Jesus was humble and unassuming. He did not presume to instruct his elders or even his peers. He was growing into what he must become, a humble and compassionate man who could weep for those who mourned at the death of his friend Lazarus (John 11:35).

The people of his community would have certainly seen the young Jesus, unassuming, learning the carpenter’s trade at the side of his foster father, St. Joseph. He would not have stood out among his peers with the exception that he never seemed to get into mischief. He could not take the lead in these early years except by example; his ultimate role was much larger.

Is it any wonder then that when he came home after his remarkable transformation at the Jordan, after going into the desert and confronting his nemesis, the people who knew him before he assumed his Father’s mission would be amazed and then angered? They were not with him to see the Holy Spirit descending upon him (Luke 3:22), they were not there when he returned from the desert (“in the power of the Spirit, and news of him spread throughout the whole region. He taught in their synagogues and was praised by all” (Luke 4:14-15)).

Now, robed as he was in his Father’s mighty mission, we can feel the Lord’s disappointment as the great lack of faith displayed by those friends with whom he had grown up was shown in their petty attacks on him. Such lack of faith would naturally prevent the full impact of his healing power from being effective with those people. We are told: “he was not able to perform any mighty deed there.”

And what message do we take away from this encounter? Do we think our friends and families will be kinder to us as we go through our ongoing conversion? We should expect to be received as Christ was, especially if we are away for a while and come home with great zeal for our faith. Human nature has not changed. Our hope remains in the Lord. When we do encounter this kind of response, we rejoice, for the trials we face for the faith are a blessing from God our Father. In this case, we know we are doing something right.

Pax

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[1] The picture is “The Martyrdom of St Agatha” by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, c. 1756.

[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.