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| “St. Mary Crowned” (detail) from The Ghent Altarpiece by Jan van Eyck, 1432 |
Reading 1: Ruth 2:1-3, 8-11; 4:13-17
Naomi had a prominent kinsman
named Boaz,
of the clan of her husband
Elimelech.
Ruth the Moabite said to
Naomi,
“Let me go and glean ears of
grain in the field
of anyone who will allow me
that favor.”
Naomi said to her, “Go, my
daughter,” and she went.
The field she entered to
glean after the harvesters
happened to be the section
belonging to Boaz
of the clan of Elimelech.
Boaz said to Ruth, “Listen,
my daughter!
Do not go to glean in anyone
else’s field;
you are not to leave here.
Stay here with my women
servants.
Watch to see which field is
to be harvested, and follow them;
I have commanded the young
men to do you no harm.
When you are thirsty, you may
go and drink from the vessels
the young men have filled.”
Casting herself prostrate
upon the ground, Ruth said to him,
“Why should I, a foreigner,
be favored with your notice?”
Boaz answered her:
“I have had a complete
account of what you have done
for your mother-in-law after
your husband’s death;
you have left your father and
your mother and the land of your birth,
and have come to a people
whom you did not know previously.”
Boaz took Ruth.
When they came together as
man and wife,
the LORD enabled her to
conceive and she bore a son.
Then the women said to Naomi,
“Blessed is the LORD who has
not failed
to provide you today with an
heir!
May he become famous in Israel
He will be your comfort and
the support of your old age,
for his mother is the
daughter-in-law who loves you.
She is worth more to you than
seven sons!”
Naomi took the child, placed
him on her lap, and became his nurse.
And the neighbor women gave
him his name,
at the news that a grandson
had been born to Naomi.
They called him Obed.
He was the father of Jesse,
the father of David.
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Commentary on Ru
2:1-3, 8-11; 4:13-17
The story of Ruth
is continued as she and her mother-in-law return to the Hebrew lands around Bethlehem Israel Bethlehem
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 128:1b-2, 3, 4, 5
R. (4) See how the Lord blesses those who fear him.
Blessed are you who fear the
LORD,
who walk in his ways!
For you shall eat the fruit
of your handiwork;
blessed shall you be, and
favored.
R. See how the Lord
blesses those who fear him.
You wife shall be like a
fruitful vine
in the recesses of your home;
Your children like olive
plants
around your table.
R. See how the Lord
blesses those who fear him.
Behold, thus is the man
blessed
who fears the LORD.
R. See how the Lord
blesses those who fear him.
The LORD bless you from Zion
may you see the prosperity of
Jerusalem
all the days of your life.
R. See how the Lord
blesses those who fear him.
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Commentary on Ps
128:1b-2, 3, 4, 5
Psalm 128 is a song of
thanksgiving. It begins here with the typical blessings for following and
having faith in the Lord. This selection features the blessing a family brings
to the faithful using the symbolism of vines and olives so favored by even the
Lord.
It also supports the creation of
woman and the marriage theme in Genesis 2:18-25. It is the
logical extension of the two becoming one flesh and the children flowing from
that union.
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Gospel: Matthew 23:1-12
Jesus spoke to the crowds and
to his disciples, saying,
“The scribes and the
Pharisees
have taken their seat on the
chair of Moses.
Therefore, do and observe all
things whatsoever they tell you,
but do not follow their
example.
For they preach but they do
not practice.
They tie up heavy burdens
hard to carry
and lay them on people’s
shoulders,
but they will not lift a
finger to move them.
All their works are performed
to be seen.
They widen their phylacteries
and lengthen their tassels.
They love places of honor at
banquets, seats of honor in synagogues,
greetings in marketplaces,
and the salutation ‘Rabbi.’
As for you, do not be called
‘Rabbi.’
You have but one teacher, and
you are all brothers.
Call no one on earth your
father;
you have but one Father in
heaven.
Do not be called ‘Master’;
you have but one master, the
Christ.
The greatest among you must
be your servant.
Whoever exalts himself will
be humbled;
but whoever humbles himself
will be exalted.”
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Commentary on Mt
23:1-12
This passage is the introduction
to the invective against the Scribes and Pharisees. The reading sets the stage
for the “Seven Woes” which follow in the chapter. St. Matthew uses Jesus'
teaching about the leaders of the Jewish faith as counter-examples of what the
leaders of the Christian faith must be like. The scribes and Pharisees, lead
from the authority given by the Temple. According to the Gospel, they did not
practice what they taught and performed their worship for others to see rather
than out of true faith and worship of God.
The Gospel continues the theme of authentic worship (that is
worship that changes the actions of the faithful). Matthew gives us Jesus
discourse that upholds the Law of Moses and at the same time chastises those
who misuse it. He describes in detail how the scribes burden the people with
ritual but do not practice that same law. The complaint is twofold, fist is the
rigor with which the law is interpreted (“They tie up heavy burdens hard to
carry and lay them on people’s shoulders”) and second is hypocrisy of the
scribes and Pharisees (“All their works are performed to be seen.”) (see also Matthew 6:1-8).
The selection promotes an interpretation of Christian leadership
which is one of humility and compassion rather than one of prideful
superiority. “These verses, warning against the use of various titles, are
addressed to the disciples alone. While only the title "Rabbi' has been
said to be used in addressing the scribes and Pharisees (Matthew 23:7), the
implication is that Father and "Master' also were. The prohibition of
these titles to the disciples suggests that their use was present in Matthew's
church. The Matthean Jesus forbids not only the titles but the spirit of
superiority and pride that is shown by their acceptance. Whoever exalts . . .
will be exalted: cf Luke 14:11.”[4]
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Reflection:
Why should children be forced
to learn arithmetic in school? Why
should they be forced to learn adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing
skills? Anyone today can afford
electronic calculators that do these functions (and many more) faster and more
accurately than even the greatest mathematicians; so why should they suffer the
constant repletion necessary for learning their times tables? There is so much more to learn for children
today than there was even fifty years ago.
Shouldn’t the teachers just skip that part of the curriculum, take a day
or so to teach them to use the calculator and move on to something more
important like learning to use the internet for research (inserted dry irony).
It is an interesting question
but fundamentally the answer is children need to use their own “organic
computer” before they are given access to one that does things for them. There was a line in the novel Jurassic Park
In the Gospel, Jesus pronounces
a “Woe” to the Pharisees because they likewise “stood on the shoulders of
giants”. They took the Law of Moses and
the prophecies of Elijah and created complex rules for following their words
but without the faith or understanding of God’s intent. They focused so much on their ritual that
they forgot the basics. Like a child (or
in some cases the local cashier) who only knows how to use a calculator, the
underlying spiritual process is lost on them.
In his criticism of the
Pharisees Jesus calls us to be sure we understand why we do what we do for
God. We don’t just say grace before
meals to see how quickly we can get through it.
We don’t go to Mass just because it’s a requirement. We pray so that we might hear God as well as
having our petitions heard. We go to
Mass so that God can touch us with his sacramental grace, not just to impress
others or to satisfy a guilty conscience.
Christ asks us today to
practice what we preach – to be the people commanded by love that he calls us
to be, not simply going through the motions.
Our prayer today is that we might, with the help of the Holy Spirit and
the example of the Blessed Virgin Mary – Queen of Heaven, become what God calls
us to be, a light to the world.
Pax
[1]
The picture is “St. Mary Crowned” (detail) from The Ghent Altarpiece by Jan van
Eyck, 1432
[2]
S.S
Commemoratio
[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]
See NAB footnote on Matthew
23:8-12
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