(Optional
Memorial for Saint Angela Merici, Virgin)
 |
| “Mary Seeks Her Son” by Max Fürst, c. 1890 |
Readings and Commentary:[3]
Reading 1: Hebrews 10:1-10
Since the law has only a
shadow of the good things to come,
and not the very image of
them, it can never make perfect
those who come to worship by
the same sacrifices
that they offer continually
each year.
Otherwise, would not the
sacrifices have ceased to be offered,
since the worshipers, once
cleansed, would no longer
have had any consciousness of
sins?
But in those sacrifices there
is only a yearly remembrance of sins,
for it is impossible that the
blood of bulls and goats
take away sins.
For this reason, when he came
into the world, he said:
“Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,
but a body you prepared for me;
in burnt offerings and sin offerings you took no
delight.
Then I said, ‘As is written of me in the scroll,
Behold, I come to do your will, O God.’”
First he says, “Sacrifices
and offerings,
burnt offerings and sin
offerings,
you neither desired nor
delighted in.”
These are offered according
to the law.
Then he says, “Behold, I come
to do your will.”
He takes away the first to
establish the second.
By this “will,” we have been
consecrated
through the offering of the
Body of Jesus Christ once for all.
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Commentary on Heb 10:1-10
The author (and we are not sure if it is Paul) continues his
apologetic by comparing the Law to the fulfillment of the Law in Christ. In vs. 5-7 a passage from Psalm 40:7-9
is placed in the mouth of the Son at his incarnation. This again refutes the
need of Christians to follow the Hebrew Law of Sin offerings (or guilt
offerings see Leviticus 5:14-19) since the Lord offered his own body “once for
all” as the sacrifice that atones for
sin and justifies (makes just as if no sin had been committed) the faithful.
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 40:2 and 4ab, 7-8a, 10, 11
R. (8a and
9a) Here am I Lord; I come to do your
will.
I have waited, waited for the
LORD,
and he stooped toward me.
And he put a new song into my
mouth,
a hymn to our God.
R. Here am I Lord; I come to do your will.
Sacrifice or oblation you
wished not,
but ears open to obedience
you gave me.
Burnt offerings or
sin-offerings you sought not;
then said I, “Behold I come.”
R. Here am I Lord; I come to do your will.
I announced your justice in
the vast assembly;
I did not restrain my lips,
as you, O LORD, know.
R. Here am I Lord; I come to do your will.
Your justice I kept not hid
within my heart;
your faithfulness and your
salvation I have spoken of;
I have made no secret of your
kindness and your truth
in the vast assembly.
R. Here am I Lord; I come to do your will.
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Commentary on Ps 40:2 and 4ab, 7-8a, 10, 11
We
are given, in support of the reading from Hebrews, the very Psalm that was
quoted in today’s selection, Hebrews
10:5-7 (although the translation quoted in Hebrews is from the Septuagint
translation). The intent and action God
wants from us is not burnt offerings but our own faithfulness.
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Gospel: Mark 3:31-35
His (Jesus’) mother and
brothers arrived.
Standing outside, they sent
word to Jesus and called him.
A crowd seated around him
told him,
“Your mother and your
brothers (and your sisters)
are outside asking for you.”
But he said to them in reply,
“Who are my mother and (my)
brothers?”
And looking around at those
seated in the circle he said,
“Here are my mother and my
brothers.
(For) whoever does the will
of God
is my brother and sister and
mother.”
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Commentary on Mk 3:31-35
This passage, while affirming our own adoption as brothers and
sisters in Christ, does cause some confusion among those who take scripture at
face value without understanding the culture of the time. “The first part of this reading from St. Mark’s Gospel is somewhat
controversial in that many of the Protestant and Evangelical apologists take
the term “and his brothers” to mean his familial or biological brothers. The
Church teaches that Mary bore only one child – Jesus. Responding to this
scripture, Catholic scripture scholars teach that “…in Semitic usage, the terms
"brother," "sister" are applied not only to children of the
same parents, but to nephews, nieces, cousins, half-brothers, and half-sisters;
cf Genesis
14:16; Genesis
29:15; Leviticus
10:4.”[4]
Another possible explanation, although it comes from an apocryphal
source from the 2nd or 3rd
centuries AD, is that the Lord’s foster father, St. Joseph, had been
previously married (and widowed).
According to “The History of Joseph the
Carpenter” from this first marriage - [2.] “… he begot for himself sons and
daughters, four sons, namely, and two daughters. Now these are their names—
Judas, Justus, James, and Simon. The names of the two daughters were Assia and
Lydia.” These would have been the half-brothers and sisters of the Lord.
Because of this, when Mary comes looking for Jesus in this
selection, she is, as would be expected, joined by members of the extended
family. Jesus extends the family even
further though his adoption of those who, as those “seated in
the circle” who listen to his word
and believe.
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Reflection:
Today we can pause and thank God for his great gift that brought
us into a new relationship with him. If
Christ had not come as the perfect offering for our sins, we would still be
obliged to offer sacrifices as our Hebrew predecessors did. We would be one step removed from the
relationship we have in Christ who at once saved us and adopted us as children
of God; “For
whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”
The sense of adoption contrasted with the former relationship of
the Hebrew people can be analogized by examining the relationship between
ourselves and family and ourselves and a guest.
While we treat a guest with courtesy and respect, we do not have the
same love for the guest as we would for our close family member.
A guest would be welcomed to our home. A family member lives with us sharing not
just our food, but all that we have. A
guest comes and stays a while and leaves, but a family member is with us and
shares our lives with us, the good and the bad.
A guest does not share our pain or our joy to the extent a member of our
own family does. The guest is held at arm’s
length, never quite achieving that place of familial intimacy that is part of
the family’s members.
Jesus changed that relationship for us. He came making God, His Father, our
Father. He brought not a guest to the
table but a bride. He himself, out of
his great love for us provided the sacrificial meal. He did this so we would have the intimate
access to him and through that access find life eternal with the Father.
Because of this, we should take as our prayer today the family
prayer of the Church, the Lord’s Prayer.
As we say; “Our Father…”, let us embrace the Father who has adopted us,
and through his great mercy has given us life with him.
Pax.
[1]
ALTRE
[2]
The picture used is “Mary Seeks Her Son” by Max Fürst, c. 1890
[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.
[4]
From the reference note on Mark 6; 3 in the NAB
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