 |
| " Scene from the Life of St Thomas Aquinas” (detail) by Filippino Lippi, 1489-91 |
Readings and Commentary:[3]
Reading 1: Hebrews 10:11-18
Every priest stands daily at
his ministry,
offering frequently those
same sacrifices
that can never take away
sins.
But this one offered one
sacrifice for sins,
and took his seat forever at
the right hand of God;
now he waits until his
enemies are made his footstool.
For by one offering he has
made perfect forever
those who are being
consecrated.
The Holy Spirit also
testifies to us, for after saying:
“This is the covenant I will establish with them
after those days, says the Lord:
‘I will put my laws in their hearts,
and I will write them upon their minds,’”
he also says:
“Their sins and their evildoing
I will remember no more.”
Where there is forgiveness of
these, there is no longer offering for sin.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Heb 10:11-18
This passage begins with a statement of
how the levitcal priesthood’s sacrifices for the remittance of sin is
ineffective compared to the sacrifice of Jesus whose one sacrifice released us
for all time. Then Hebrews again hammers
the New Covenant home to us. The author
quotes, first Psalm 110 (Psalm 110:1)
and then the book of
the Prophet Jeremiah (Jeremiah
31:31-34). He takes
the prophecy of the New Covenant and shows how it is fulfilled in Christ.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 110:1, 2, 3, 4
R. (4b) You are a priest for ever, in the line of
Melchizedek.
The LORD said to my Lord:
“Sit at my right hand
till I make your enemies your
footstool.”
R. You are a priest for ever, in the line of
Melchizedek.
The scepter of your power the
LORD will stretch forth from Zion:
“Rule in the midst of your
enemies.”
R. You are a priest for ever, in the line of
Melchizedek.
“Yours is princely power in the
day of your birth, in holy splendor;
before the daystar, like the
dew, I have begotten you.”
R. You are a priest for ever, in the line of
Melchizedek.
The LORD has sworn, and he
will not repent:
“You are a priest forever,
according to the order of Melchizedek.”
R. You are a priest for ever, in the line of
Melchizedek.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Ps 110:1, 2, 3, 4
Psalm 110 is one of the Royal Psalms. In these
strophes we find the reference point used in the Hebrews 5:1-10.
The psalmist, David, reflects upon his call as king to serve the people. The
final verse specifically mentions the High Priest Melchizedek.
Melchizedek was the ancient king of Salem (Jerusalem) who blessed Abraham (Genesis 14:18-20);
like other kings of the time he performed priestly functions.
Psalm 110 thanks God for earthly authority,
recognizing that it is only through His strength that authority is exercised.
Using Melchizedek as an arch example, he was a secular king in the time of
Abraham who ruled on the spiritual side as well. Though he was not of the
Hebrew race, he was none the less chosen by God to be priest not of the line of
Aaron. Since the ancient text refers neither to his lineage nor his death, his
office is seen as eternal (“You are a
priest forever…”)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gospel: Mark 4:1-20
On another occasion, Jesus
began to teach by the sea.
A very large crowd gathered
around him
so that he got into a boat on
the sea and sat down.
And the whole crowd was
beside the sea on land.
And he taught them at length
in parables,
and in the course of his
instruction he said to them,
“Hear this! A sower went out to sow.
And as he sowed, some seed
fell on the path,
and the birds came and ate it
up.
Other seed fell on rocky
ground where it had little soil.
It sprang up at once because
the soil was not deep.
And when the sun rose, it was
scorched and it withered for lack of roots.
Some seed fell among thorns,
and the thorns grew up and choked it
and it produced no grain.
And some seed fell on rich
soil and produced fruit.
It came up and grew and
yielded thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.”
He added, “Whoever has ears
to hear ought to hear.”
And when he was alone,
those present along with the
Twelve
questioned him about the
parables.
He answered them,
“The mystery of the Kingdom
of God has been granted to you.
But to those outside everything
comes in parables, so that
they may look and see but not
perceive,
and hear and listen but not
understand,
in order that they may not be
converted and be forgiven.”
Jesus said to them, “Do you
not understand this parable?
Then how will you understand
any of the parables?
The sower sows the word.
These are the ones on the
path where the word is sown.
As soon as they hear, Satan
comes at once
and takes away the word sown
in them.
And these are the ones sown
on rocky ground who,
when they hear the word,
receive it at once with joy.
But they have no roots; they
last only for a time.
Then when tribulation or
persecution comes because of the word,
they quickly fall away.
Those sown among thorns are
another sort.
They are the people who hear
the word,
but worldly anxiety, the lure
of riches,
and the craving for other
things intrude and choke the word,
and it bears no fruit.
But those sown on rich soil
are the ones who hear the word and accept it
and bear fruit thirty and
sixty and a hundredfold.”
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Mk 4:1-20
St. Mark’s Gospel begins a section of teachings on the Kingdom of
God through parables. We note that Jesus is teaching from a boat which would
provide a natural amphitheater with the ground sloping to the shore. Here the
Lord presents the parable of the “Sower”. As in St. Matthew’s Gospel (Matthew 13:1-18) he follows the unvarnished
parable with a deeper explanation to the Disciples.
In the Parable of the Sower from Mark’s Gospel, Jesus uses the
rich analogy of the seed (of faith given in Baptism) to show the various courses
of faith in human endeavor. Because this selection gives not only the parable
but the Lord’s explanation of its meaning the only historical note we will make
is that, at that point in history in that region, when planting a field, the
seed was sown first and then the field was plowed.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reflection:
The Parable of the Sower is a powerful one. It reminds us that we are both the
Sower/Harvester and the seed in the parable.
Initially the sower was Jesus and before him to a lesser extent the
Prophets of the Old Testament. They sought
to reveal God’s will to the people, and much of what they said fell on deaf
ears. That would be, according to the
parable’s legend the seed that fell on the “path “. It had no chance to bear fruit because it was
never planted. Similar fates awaited the seed that landed on “rocky ground” and
among the “thorns”, while they germinated the plants never reached maturity.
The Sower’s task was handed on. It was handed from the Apostles who received
it from Jesus to the Saints and especially the Doctors of the Church. The task
came down through all those millennia to us, the Disciples of Christ in this
age. And here is where the analogy gets
interesting. Today if we looked at the
same agrarian analogy we would wonder why in those early days so much was
wasted. Today, mechanical planters
multitask to plow the fields, plant the grain, and then cover it so the birds
cannot get it. No waste and the labor of
a single person can produce yields that far exceed anything the farmers of
Jesus’ day could have expected.
The sowers of the word today have similar automated
tools that can help spread the word. But
unlike the agricultural counterpart, more is wasted, not less. In the end, words are cheap. Words that are not backed by action are not
only cheap but they could be analogized with sterile seed. As sowers we must first be the seeds that
fall on fertile ground and grow to maturity.
We must make sure our roots go deep to withstand the harsh conditions
that will be faced. We must insure that
that stalk of grain we hope will provide the next generation of grain is well
nourished with food and water that is Word and Sacrament.
Pax
[1]
The picture today is " Scene from the Life of St Thomas Aquinas” (detail)
by Filippino Lippi, 1489-91
[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.
No comments:
Post a Comment