(Saint Eusebius of Vercelli, Bishop)
(Saint Peter Julian Eymard, Priest)
 |
| "Christ Preaching" by Rembrant Harmenszoon van Rijn, 1643-49 |
Reading 1: Leviticus 23:1, 4-11, 15-16,
27, 34b-37
The LORD said to Moses,
"These are the festivals
of the LORD which you shall celebrate
at their proper time with a
sacred assembly.
The Passover of the LORD
falls on the fourteenth day of the first month,
at the evening twilight.
The fifteenth day of this
month is the LORD's feast of Unleavened Bread.
For seven days you shall eat
unleavened bread.
On the first of these days
you shall hold a sacred assembly
and do no sort of work.
On each of the seven days you
shall offer an oblation to the LORD.
Then on the seventh day you
shall again hold a sacred assembly
and do no sort of work."
The LORD said to Moses,
"Speak to the children of Israel
When you come into the land
which I am giving you,
and reap your harvest,
you shall bring a sheaf of
the first fruits of your harvest
to the priest, who shall wave
the sheaf before the LORD
that it may be acceptable for
you.
On the day after the sabbath
the priest shall do this.
"Beginning with the day
after the sabbath,
the day on which you bring
the wave-offering sheaf,
you shall count seven full
weeks,
and then on the day after the
seventh week, the fiftieth day,
you shall present the new
cereal offering to the LORD.
"The tenth of this
seventh month is the Day of Atonement,
when you shall hold a sacred
assembly and mortify yourselves
and offer an oblation to the
LORD.
"The fifteenth day of
this seventh month is the LORD's feast of Booths,
which shall continue for
seven days.
On the first day there shall
be a sacred assembly,
and you shall do no sort of
work.
For seven days you shall
offer an oblation to the LORD,
and on the eighth day you
shall again hold a sacred assembly
and offer an oblation to the
LORD.
On that solemn closing you
shall do no sort of work.
"These, therefore, are
the festivals of the LORD
on which you shall proclaim a
sacred assembly,
and offer as an oblation to
the LORD burnt offerings and cereal offerings,
sacrifices and libations, as
prescribed for each day."
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Commentary on Lv
23:1, 4-11, 15-16, 27, 34b-37
This reading from
the Book of Leviticus comes from the section identified as “Code of Legal
Holiness.” The prescriptions of
celebrations mentioned recall the various saving works of God either generally
through His act of creation and the gift of life or actively through
intervention on behalf of the faithful.
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 81:3-4, 5-6, 10-11ab
R.(2a) Sing with joy to God our help.
Take up a melody, and sound
the timbrel,
the pleasant harp and the
lyre.
Blow the trumpet at the new
moon,
at the full moon, on our
solemn feast.
R. Sing with joy to God
our help.
For it is a statute in Israel
an ordinance of the God of
Jacob,
Who made it a decree for
Joseph
when he came forth from the land of Egypt
R. Sing with joy to God
our help.
There shall be no strange god
among you
nor shall you worship any
alien god.
I, the LORD, am your God
who led you forth from the land of Egypt
R. Sing with joy to God
our help.
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Commentary on Ps 81:3-4,
5-6, 10-11ab
Psalm 81 is a
song of thanksgiving. These strophes
support the gift of the Law and its prescriptions, recalling also the salvation
brought about by God.
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Gospel: Matthew 13:54-58
Jesus came to his native
place and taught the people in their synagogue.
They were astonished and
said,
"Where did this man get
such wisdom and mighty deeds?
Is he not the carpenter's
son?
Is not his mother named Mary
and his brothers James,
Joseph, Simon, and Judas?
Are not his sisters all with
us?
Where did this man get all
this?"
And they took offense at him.
But Jesus said to them,
"A prophet is not
without honor except in his native place
and in his own house."
And he did not work many
mighty deeds there
because of their lack of
faith.
Commentary on Mt 13:54-58
This story from
Matthew’s Gospel focuses on the people most familiar with Jesus the boy growing
up among them. They are seeking the “Royal Messiah”, one coming with great
power and majesty and are disappointed because of the Lord’s familiar and
humble beginnings. Matthew’s story tells us that because of their lack of
faith, the Lord did not perform any signs in their midst, ending the passage
with the often quoted “A prophet is not without honor except in his native
place and in his own house." (See also John 1:11, those who were
overly familiar with Jesus could not place their faith in him.)
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Reflection:
We have heard the lesson from
today’s Gospel many times before in scripture.
Perhaps the time it was most clearly stated was when Elijah was told to
look for God as he stood on the mountain (1 Kings 19: 9-12). God does not come in the way or form we
expect.
One of the most surprising
things we learn from, not only this Gospel story, but the lesson behind it, is
that when we fully expect God to manifest his presence in a certain way we
completely miss Him as he presents himself genuinely. In this respect, the Gospel story is a
perfect example. Jesus comes to his home
town. He has just finished the Sermon on
the Mount and has fed the multitudes. If
ever there were finger prints of God left stunningly on the face of the earth,
what the Lord did in the multiplication of the loaves was clearly that
evidence. Yet, the people of Nazareth Davidic Kingdom
To us it seems amazing that
they could not recognize Christ for who he was.
But we do the same thing. We miss
God’s involvement in our lives. We are
so intent on Him working some miracle and helping win the lottery or transform
a bad situation into one we can easily deal with, that we miss his subtle hand
gently pushing here and prodding there.
It is not until much later, usually as we meditate upon our lives that
we can clearly see His purpose or involvement.
It is like the metal worker
who, in order to make some useful tool, must first destroy the impurities by
melting it, taking away its natural form in the smelting furnace, so that it
can be molded into its final useful form.
It’s like the potter who first must pound the clay to remove any air
pockets that might later create unwanted flaws in the vase to be created. Taken apart from the final act of creation,
such actions cannot be understood as part of the creative process.
This is where our faith must
carry us. Unlike the neighbors of Jesus,
we must be faith filled and patient so the Lord might work his signs through
us.
Pax
[2]
The picture is “Christ Preaching” by Rembrant Harmenszoon van Rijn, 1643-49
[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.
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