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| “Pilgrimage at Sunset (Sunrise)” by Caspar David Friedrich, 1805 |
Reading 1: Ephesians
4:32–5:8
Brothers and sisters:
Be kind to one another,
compassionate,
forgiving one another as God
has forgiven you in Christ.
Be imitators of God, as
beloved children, and live in love,
as Christ loved us and handed
himself over for us
as a sacrificial offering to
God for a fragrant aroma.
Immorality or any impurity or
greed must not even be mentioned among you,
as is fitting among holy
ones,
no obscenity or silly or
suggestive talk, which is out of place,
but instead, thanksgiving.
Be sure of this, that no
immoral or impure or greedy person,
that is, an idolater,
has any inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ
Let no one deceive you with
empty arguments,
for because of these things
the wrath of God is coming
upon the disobedient.
So do not be associated with
them.
For you were once darkness,
but now you are light in the
Lord.
Live as children of light.
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Commentary on Eph
4:32–5:8
He concludes this
section with a strong statement warning that those who turn away for God and
embrace the darkness with receive God’s wrath.
He then calls them to “Live as
children of the light.”
(This passage is quoted during the Sacrament of Baptism as the newly baptized
are presented with a candle lighted off the Easter Candle, the light of Christ;
the gift of the Holy Spirit).
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 1:1-2, 3, 4 and 6
R. (see Eph. 5:1) Behave like God as his very dear
children.
Happy those who do not follow
the counsel of the wicked,
Nor go the way of sinners,
nor sit in company with
scoffers.
Rather, the law of the LORD
is their joy;
God's law they study day and
night.
R. Behave like God as his very dear children.
They are like a tree
planted near streams of
water,
that yields its fruit in
season;
Its leaves never wither;
whatever they do prospers.
R. Behave like God as his very dear children.
But not the wicked!
They are like chaff driven by
the wind.
Therefore the wicked will not
survive judgment,
nor will sinners in the
assembly of the just.
R. Behave like God as his very dear children.
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Commentary on Ps 1:1-2, 3, 4 and 6
Psalm 1 serves as a preface to
the whole book of the psalms. The psalmist here exalts those who follow the
Lord’s commands and reflects upon the blessings they will receive. As in Romans 6:19ff, this
selection emphasizes the contrast between the salvation of the just and the
punishment of the wicked.
This wisdom psalm begins by
extolling the virtue of those who follow the law. The focus is to look to God
for guidance and not to trust only in the counsel of men. Those who reject the
law will be blown away like “chaff” an image used in the Gospel as well (Matthew 3:12).
This portion of the psalm is
later echoed in Isaiah 48:17-19 like an overlapped formula of covenant. Blessed is
the man who “delights in the Law day and night” but; “the way of the wicked
vanishes.”
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Gospel: Luke
13:10-17
Jesus was teaching in a
synagogue on the sabbath.
And a woman was there who for
eighteen years
had been crippled by a
spirit;
she was bent over, completely
incapable of standing erect.
When Jesus saw her, he called
to her and said,
“Woman, you are set free of
your infirmity.”
He laid his hands on her,
and she at once stood up
straight and glorified God.
But the leader of the
synagogue,
indignant that Jesus had
cured on the sabbath,
said to the crowd in reply,
“There are six days when work
should be done.
Come on those days to be
cured, not on the sabbath day.”
The Lord said to him in
reply, “Hypocrites!
Does not each one of you on
the sabbath
untie his ox or his ass from
the manger
and lead it out for watering?
This daughter of Abraham,
whom Satan has bound for
eighteen years now,
ought she not to have been
set free on the sabbath day
from this bondage?”
When he said this, all his
adversaries were humiliated;
and the whole crowd rejoiced
at all the splendid deeds done by him.
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Commentary on Lk
13:10-17
The story of the cure of the crippled
woman is parallel to the story of Jesus curing the man with dropsy on the
Sabbath (see Luke 14:1-6). He is challenged by the local
Jewish leadership for doing “work” on God’s holy day (cf. Exodus 20:8; 31:14; Leviticus
19:3-30). As before, he uses the need to
tend to the necessities of life on the sabbath as parallel to his need to cure
the woman. He re-interprets the Law establishing the need to please God through
acts of mercy and kindness (cf. Hosea 6:6; James 2:13).
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Reflection:
“Live as children of the
light.” We are all called to that
reality and images of light and darkness fill our culture and myth. So ingrained has this analogy of good and
evil become that we use it without thinking.
Many see those who embrace the “Goth” look (dressing in black, striving
for a dark appearance) as seeking a persona that is intimidating because of its
embrace of darkness. When we think of a
“dark” place we automatically associate it with fear (afraid of the dark) and
evil deeds (most crime is conducted at night- in the darkness).
On the other side we are
called as “children of the light”, the antithesis of darkness. Our actions are to represent the goodness of
one to another. St.
Paul defines this understanding of children of the light with his
exhortation to the church at Ephesus
This last example is
subtle. We might think that, even in
polite company, friendly or suggestive banter is acceptable. What harm does it do? It generally injects humor into a
conversation and that is a happy thing.
We take St. Paul
In essence, St. Paul
Being “children of the light”
is a call we dare not refuse; but it is difficult. We pray today for the strength and wisdom to
find the lighted path and to always choose that way. And when we fail, we ask God and His Son to
forgive us and show us the light once more.
Pax
[1]
ALTRE
[2]
The picture used today is “Pilgrimage at Sunset (Sunrise )” by Caspar David Friedrich, 1805
[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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