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| “Martyrdom of St. Ignatius of Antioch” Artist and Date are UNKNOWN |
Reading 1: Ephesians
1:11-14
Brothers
and sisters:
In
Christ we were also chosen,
destined
in accord with the purpose of the One
who
accomplishes all things according to the intention of his will,
so
that we might exist for the praise of his glory,
we
who first hoped in Christ.
In
him you also, who have heard the word of truth,
the
Gospel of your salvation, and have believed in him,
were
sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,
which
is the first installment of our inheritance
toward
redemption as God’s possession, to the praise of his glory.
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Commentary on
Eph 1:11-14
This
selection concludes St. Paul St. Paul
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm
33:1-2, 4-5, 12-13
R. (12) Blessed the people
the Lord has chosen to be his own.
Rejoice,
you just, in the LORD;
praise
from the upright is fitting
Give
thanks to the LORD on the harp;
on
the ten-stringed lyre offer praise.
R. Blessed the people the
Lord has chosen to be his own.
For
the LORD'S word is true;
all
his works are trustworthy.
The
LORD loves justice and right
and
fills the earth with goodness..
R. Blessed the people the
Lord has chosen to be his own.
Happy
the nation whose God is the LORD,
the
people chosen as his very own.
From
heaven the LORD looks down
and
observes the whole human race,
R. Blessed the people the
Lord has chosen to be his own.
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Commentary on
Ps 33:1-2, 4-5, 12-13
Psalm
33 is a song of praise and thanksgiving. In this selection the emphasis is on
faithfulness to God who has saving power combined with hope, a central
component of faith in God.
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Gospel: Luke
12:1-7
At
that time:
So
many people were crowding together
that
they were trampling one another underfoot.
Jesus
began to speak, first to his disciples,
“Beware
of the leaven–that is, the hypocrisy–of the Pharisees.
“There
is nothing concealed that will not be revealed,
nor
secret that will not be known.
Therefore
whatever you have said in the darkness
will
be heard in the light,
and
what you have whispered behind closed doors
will
be proclaimed on the housetops.
I
tell you, my friends,
do
not be afraid of those who kill the body
but
after that can do no more.
I
shall show you whom to fear.
Be
afraid of the one who after killing
has
the power to cast into Gehenna;
yes,
I tell you, be afraid of that one.
Are
not five sparrows sold for two small coins?
Yet
not one of them has escaped the notice of God.
Even
the hairs of your head have all been counted.
Do
not be afraid.
You
are worth more than many sparrows.”
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on
Lk 12:1-7
St.
Luke continues to present us with a collection of sayings of Jesus passed on to
his disciples. In this passage he first warns them about adopting the style and
demeanor of the Pharisees whose “holier than thou” attitude was a veneer for
their internal sin. The Lord tells them that there is nothing that can be
hidden from God and that all will be made clear in the final judgment.
The
Lord goes on to encourage his friends, telling them that God will watch over
them. He uses the analogy of the sacrificial animals (“…five sparrows sold for two small coins”) as a metaphor for the attacks they will
encounter from the Jewish leadership and how God will uphold them.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reflection:
Have you ever wondered why
wild animals run away; literally flee for their lives in fright when a human
approachs? What has taught them to be
afraid of us? This instinctive flight
reflex is an inherited trait. It was
developed though the process of natural selection. Animals without the instinct to flee from
larger animals may have been fine for a while but generally fell victim to
predators before they reproduced. The
animals that had a strong flight reflex lived to have offspring that had the
same natural instinct to flee and the flight reflex became the norm.
Human babies are born without
this natural defense. They come into the
world (like most top predators) without the flight reflex, in a sense,
fearless. Parents know this and teach
their children to fear those things, situations, and people that could be
dangerous to them. They are taught not
to reach for things that are hot and they are taught not to talk to or go with
strangers. This process of teaching goes
on even past the time when those children are willing to listen to what the
parent tries to teach (a period known as adolescence).
Because our verbal skills are
so highly developed, many of us forget that at a very deep level our children
learn much like mammalian young – they learn by observing their parents or those
set over them as guardians. They watch
us and observe what we do, accepting our behavior as valid teaching aids. It is for this reason, for instance, if we
are vehement about not smoking, but we ourselves smoke, our children will see
the conflicting message and default to what they see us do rather than what we
say. Similarly with drugs; if we say
don’t do drugs and alcohol but we ourselves take pills and drink – our children
will not fear addiction.
We come, rather obviously,
now to Jesus words in the Gospel. He
tells us and shows us who to fear. He
states clearly “…do not be afraid of those who kill the body but after that can do no
more.” The statement he makes goes against some
basic instincts we have been taught, doesn’t it? Not really.
What it does is gives us a more refined view of what constitutes a
threat to us. We already know that
dangerous situations and physically dangerous people should be avoided (akin to
animal instincts). What the Lord tells
us is we must learn to identify threats that can cause us spiritual death as
well. If a person, like a terrorist, is
intent upon killing us with a gun or bomb, what can we do to protect
ourselves? We can try to be observant
and alert, but we must not live in fear.
Our fear, we are told, should be “…of the one who after killing has the power to cast into Gehenna”; our fear must be of
displeasing or going against God.
Of
all the lessons the Lord teaches, this one is most difficult for us. Even his passionate example provides us with
a teaching aid to that end. The martyrs like
St. Ignatius of Antioch show us emphatically what was meant by his words. They seem to possess supernatural courage in
the face of torture and death. The
teaching of God’s children goes on. We
see we still have much to learn and pray that we have the strength (and time)
to learn what he teaches.
Pax
[1]
The picture is “Martyrdom of St. Ignatius of Antioch” Artist and Date are
UNKNOWN
[2]
ALTRE
[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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