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| “Calling St. Peter” by Hans Süss von Kulmbach, 1514-16 |
Readings and Commentary:[3]
Reading 1: Isaiah 8:23-9:3
First the Lord degraded the land of Zebulun
and the land of Naphtali;
but in the end he has glorified the seaward road,
the land west of the Jordan,
the District of the Gentiles.
Anguish has taken wing, dispelled is darkness:
for there is no gloom where but now there was distress.
The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom
a light has shone.
You have brought them abundant joy
and great rejoicing,
as they rejoice before you as at the harvest,
as people make merry when dividing spoils.
For the yoke that burdened them,
the pole on their shoulder,
and the rod of their taskmaster
you have smashed, as on the day of Midian.
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Commentary on Is 8:23-9:3
This prophetic selection is quoted in St. Matthew’s Gospel (Matthew 4:15-16) by
Jesus. It is part of the section of the
Book of the Prophet Isaiah known as the “Immanuel Prophecies” in which the
oracle of Isaiah addresses the coming of Christ, the Messiah. In this instance it deals with redemption of
the pagan territory near the road to Damascus.
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 27:1, 4, 13-14
R. (1a) The Lord is my light and my salvation.
The Lord is my light
and my salvation;
whom should I fear?
The Lord is my life’s
refuge;
of whom should I be
afraid?
R. The Lord is my light and my salvation.
One thing I ask of
the Lord;
this I seek:
To dwell in the house
of the Lord
all the days of my
life,
That I may gaze on
the loveliness of the Lord
and contemplate his
temple.
R. The Lord is my light and my salvation.
I believe that I
shall see the bounty of the Lord
in the land of the
living.
Wait for the Lord
with courage;
be stouthearted, and
wait for the Lord.
R. The Lord is my light and my salvation.
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Commentary on Ps 27:1, 4, 13-14
Psalm 27 is an individual lament. Here the signer expresses faith
in God who is the refuge of the faithful, longing to find the ultimate safety
and bounty of God’s heavenly kingdom. This passage from the psalm captures the
two major themes of the song, hope in God’s mercy and complete trust in his
goodness.
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Reading II: 1 Corinthians 1:10-13, 17
I urge you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ,
that all of you agree in what you say,
and that there be no divisions among you,
but that you be united in the same mind and in the same purpose.
For it has been reported to me about you, my brothers and sisters,
by Chloe’s people, that there are rivalries among you.
I mean that each of you is saying,
“I belong to Paul,” or “I belong to Apollos,”
or “I belong to Cephas,” or “I belong to Christ.”
Is Christ divided?
Was Paul crucified for you?
Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?
For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel,
and not with the wisdom of human eloquence,
so that the cross of Christ might not be emptied of its meaning.
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Commentary on 1 Cor 1:10-13, 17
This selection follows the introduction to the First Letter of St.
Paul to the Corinthians. St. Paul
address the first problem in his list, that of the community being divided in
loyalties. Although modern scholarship
has not been able to completely reconstruct the situation in Corinth, it is
clear that some of the members of the faith communities had developed
allegiances to the various teachers who helped found the community (e.g. Paul,
Apollos, and Cephas (Peter, “the Rock” apparently passed through)). The statement “I am for Christ” was probably used ironically since
his intent is to remind the community that it is in Christ they are all
baptized.
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Gospel: Matthew 4:12-23
When Jesus heard that John had been arrested,
he withdrew to Galilee.
He left Nazareth and went to live in Capernaum by the sea,
in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali,
that what had been said through Isaiah the prophet
might be fulfilled:
Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali,
the way to the sea, beyond the Jordan,
Galilee of the Gentiles,
the people who sit in darkness have seen a great light,
on those dwelling in a land overshadowed by death
light has arisen.
From that time on, Jesus began to preach and say,
“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
As he was walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers,
Simon who is called Peter, and his brother Andrew,
casting a net into the sea; they were fishermen.
He said to them,
“Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
At once they left their nets and followed him.
He walked along from there and saw two other brothers,
James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John.
They were in a boat, with their father Zebedee, mending their
nets.
He called them, and immediately they left their boat and their
father
and followed him.
He went around all of Galilee,
teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the gospel of the
kingdom,
and curing every disease and illness among the people.
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Commentary on Mt 4:12-23
The events in this Gospel passage take place just following Jesus’
trial in the desert. St. John the Baptist has accomplished his mission in
Baptizing Jesus and has been arrested. Jesus now takes up his mission,
proclaiming the Kingdom of God. He begins by quoting Isaiah
8:22-9:1.The key elements
of the mission are laid out as he reveals God’s love.
Following the statement of the Mission, the Gospel takes up the
call of Peter, Andrew, James and John, all fishermen. Three of these four are considered to be very
close to the Lord throughout his ministry.
Their response is instructive in that they must give up family and their
former way of live to follow the Lord. They go forward from the call teaching,
proclaiming the gospel, and healing. The summary provided serves as an
introduction to the Sermon on the Mount which follows in the next section.
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Or
Shorter Form: Matthew 4:12-17
When Jesus heard that John had been arrested,
he withdrew to Galilee.
He left Nazareth and went to live in Capernaum by the sea,
in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali,
that what had been said through Isaiah the prophet
might be fulfilled:
Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali,
the way to the sea, beyond the Jordan,
Galilee of the Gentiles,
the people who sit in darkness have seen a great light,
on those dwelling in a land overshadowed by death
light has arisen.
From that time on, Jesus began to preach and say,
“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
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Commentary on Mt 4:12-17
This shorter version of the Gospel omits the call of the first
four disciples, Peter, Andrew, James and John (Zebedee’s sons). With this
omission, the focus of the Gospel is tightened from one of call and response to
call to repentance based upon the prophetic Isaiah 8:22-9:1 quoted here.
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Reflection:
We are invited once more to turn away from the things of this
world that demand our attention and look once more to Christ’s mission of
proclaiming the Kingdom of God. We are
reminded once more that this singular calling must take precedence over the
other tasks we are called to fulfill – this is more important. We are shown today that in this call, we are
all equal, called from our Baptism to the same Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
We imagine what the Kingdom of God, established on earth, would be
like. If we all behaved as Christ taught
us, if we all practiced completely and perfectly what we profess to believe,
the commandments of God and Jesus, what would the world be like?
First we think of our personal relationships. Those of us who are single would have close
friends in the community of faith and those friends could be trusted
completely. Because they have that
filial love for us, they would share completely in our joys and sorrows and our
joy would be amplified, it would become praise for God who is the author of our
joy. Our sorrows would be remarkably
softened as the consolation of Christ’s mercy was expressed through our friends
as well. For those of us called to share the Sacrament of Matrimony, this
sharing would be even more complete as two become constantly one in
Christ. They would truly be beacons of
love as they exemplify to everyone the love Christ has for His bride, the
Church.
We think what it would be like to have a vocation, a job in such a
community where each day all our efforts whether menial or intellectual would
be accomplished for the greater glory of God and that the greatest satisfaction
we could derive from our day’s work would be, not a paycheck, but that the Lord
was praised as what he accomplished through us was celebrated. We would rejoice, especially in those menial
tasks, because our minds and lips would be free to give praise and glory
constantly.
Our lives would be stress free because all the obstacles we
encounter would be immediately given over to the Lord and while we used the
gifts he gave us to overcome them, we would know that he was with us,
supporting us, and guiding us through his Holy Spirit.
Finally we think about what our time of solitude would be
like. It would be a continuation of the
praise that had been on our lips all day but more intense as we opened our
silence to hear God’s voice. And there
we would hear echoed the love we had been experiencing from our brothers and
sisters through their words and actions throughout our day.
Yes, the place described is utopian, the dream of an
idealist. But is that not what all
Christ’s disciples should be, idealists?
Is not the kind of world, the Kingdom of God on earth, exactly what we
should be working toward each day?
Today we marvel once more at the great love God has for us in his
Son. We hear in his call to Peter,
Andrew, James, and John the Lord’s voice calling us to become “fishers of
men.” We pray for the strength to answer
that call and the discipline to work toward the Kingdom of God on earth.
Pax
In Other Years: Memorial
of Saints Timothy and Titus, Bishops
[1]
ALTRE
[2]
The Picture used today is “Calling St. Peter” by Hans Süss von Kulmbach, 1514-16
[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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