Wednesday of the Ninth Week in Ordinary Time

(Saint Norbert, Bishop)

Alternate Proper for the Memorial of St. Norbert

Readings for Wednesday of the Ninth Week in Ordinary Time[1][2]

Readings from the Jerusalem Bible

Readings and Commentary:[3]

Reading 1:2 Timothy 1:1-3, 6-12

Paul, an Apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God
for the promise of life in Christ Jesus,
to Timothy, my dear child:
grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father
and Christ Jesus our Lord.

I am grateful to God,
whom I worship with a clear conscience as my ancestors did,
as I remember you constantly in my prayers, night and day.

For this reason, I remind you to stir into flame
the gift of God that you have through the imposition of my hands.
For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice
but rather of power and love and self-control.
So do not be ashamed of your testimony to our Lord,
nor of me, a prisoner for his sake;
but bear your share of hardship for the Gospel
with the strength that comes from God.

He saved us and called us to a holy life,
not according to our works
but according to his own design
and the grace bestowed on us in Christ Jesus before time began,
but now made manifest
through the appearance of our savior Christ Jesus,
who destroyed death and brought life and immortality
to light through the Gospel,
for which I was appointed preacher and Apostle and teacher.
On this account I am suffering these things;
but I am not ashamed,
for I know him in whom I have believed
and am confident that he is able to guard
what has been entrusted to me until that day.
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Commentary on 2 Tm 1:1-3, 6-12

This selection contains the formal beginning of the Second Letter of St. Paul to St. Timothy. Following the formula address, the Apostle exhorts his former student and traveling companion to be forthright, even outspoken in proclaiming the faith (“For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice but rather of power and love and self-control”)

There is a clear reference that St. Timothy was ordained for this task by St. Paul as is shown in “…the gift of God that you have through the imposition of my hands.” This passage also is foundational to the understanding that there is an indelible change affected in Holy Orders. The Apostle concludes his introduction summarizing the call they have both received and his faith in salvation through Christ (important here because he (St. Paul) is in prison and his physical well-being is in question.

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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 123:1b-2ab, 2cdef

R. (1b) To you, O Lord, I lift up my eyes.

To you I lift up my eyes
who are enthroned in heaven.
Behold, as the eyes of servants
are on the hands of their masters.
R. To you, O Lord, I lift up my eyes.

As the eyes of a maid
are on the hands of her mistress,
So are our eyes on the Lord, our God,
till he have pity on us.
R. To you, O Lord, I lift up my eyes.

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Commentary on Ps 123:1b-2ab, 2cdef

Psalm 123 is an individual lament. In these strophes we hear the prayer of the psalmist who expresses faith in God’s love and compassion.

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Gospel: Mark 12:18-27

Some Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection,
came to Jesus and put this question to him, saying,
“Teacher, Moses wrote for us,
If someone’s brother dies, leaving a wife but no child,
his brother must take the wife
and raise up descendants for his brother.
Now there were seven brothers.
The first married a woman and died, leaving no descendants.
So the second brother married her and died, leaving no descendants,
and the third likewise.
And the seven left no descendants.
Last of all the woman also died.
At the resurrection when they arise whose wife will she be?
For all seven had been married to her.”
Jesus said to them, “Are you not misled
because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God?
When they rise from the dead,
they neither marry nor are given in marriage,
but they are like the angels in heaven.
As for the dead being raised,
have you not read in the Book of Moses,
in the passage about the bush, how God told him,
I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac,
and the God of Jacob?
He is not God of the dead but of the living.
You are greatly misled.”
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Commentary on Mk 12:18-27

The Sadducees are approaching Jesus in this passage with a two fold attack against his teaching on the resurrection (Sadducees, as a group, do not hold with the theology of resurrection of the dead). First they ask Jesus to solve the puzzle of who the widow of seven husbands would be married to in heaven. (It is likely this example was taken from Tobit 3:8) Jesus chides them for their lack of understanding telling them that life in the Kingdom of Heaven transcends life in the body. He then goes further attacking their disbelief in the resurrection by quoting Exodus 3; 6 telling them the Father is the God of the living not the dead.

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Reflection:

St. Paul challenges us as he addresses his second letter to St. Timothy. Notice in the language used he twice us the word “ashamed”. The first time when he tells St. Timothy directly “…do not be ashamed of your testimony to our Lord” and a second time, using himself as an example “On this account I am suffering these things; but I am not ashamed…”. It is clear that he feels it is necessary to tell his student and disciple that the proper social view of him (Timothy) consorting with one who is arrested and in jail (Paul) must not be a source of shame. He is to remember that it is Christ they both serve and it is His work they must continue.

This message, although it should not, in any way, be considered an analogy, could be addressed to the Religious Sisters whose leaderships are members of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) . They are currently under a cloud because of the social positions adopted by this body which were opposed to the Church’s teaching and this has caused great scandal in the Church. The Church has seen fit to apply new oversight to this group and now the message of St. Paul must shine on them. Their mission, like that of St. Timothy, is to throw off shame and proclaim Christ in the world.

This example was used intentionally to surface some thoughts in some that might be uncharitable. Some might believe that what was done in Christ’s Name by a small group should have evoked more drastic action. It is the same with how the world generally sees the actions of Church leaders who have exercised poor judgment in the handling of sexual abuse issues, also causing great scandal and even more pain. Whether for good or ill, Christ’s message of forgiveness tempers all decisions made by his servants who tend to err on the side of love rather than on the side of mistrust and hatred.

For us too, the shame of these scandals can cause us to pull back from proclaiming our identities in the world. Have these very public secular events caused us to shrink from a very public witness to our faith? Have we said to ourselves; “Perhaps it will be better if I just withdraw from the public spotlight for a while until these issues are forgotten by the public at large”? Now is the time, as the Apostle says, to “stir into flame the gift of God…” Let the call of the pious and un-churched for justice be met with our assent and our call for forgiveness as well. Christ is our banner and we must not forget.

Our friend, St. Paul, has good words of encouragement for us today. It is a difficult world we face and we pray for the strength to carry the word to it through our voices and our actions. We need all the prayers of the saints today as we take the call of Christ forward.

Pax


[1] ALTRE
[2] The picture today “St. Paul Imposes Hands Upon St. Timothy” Artist and Date UNKNOWN
[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 re-publication is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.