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| “The Holy Family” (The Seville Virgin) by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, 1665-70 |
Reading 1: Ezra
6:7-8, 12b, 14-20
King Darius issued an order
to the officials
of West-of-Euphrates:
“Let the governor and the
elders of the Jews
continue the work on that
house of God;
they are to rebuild it on its
former site.
I also issue this decree
concerning your dealing with
these elders of the Jews
in the rebuilding of that
house of God:
From the royal revenue, the
taxes of West-of-Euphrates,
let these men be repaid for
their expenses, in full and without delay.
I, Darius, have issued this
decree;
let it be carefully
executed.”
The elders of the Jews
continued to make progress in the building,
supported by the message of
the prophets,
Haggai and Zechariah, son of
Iddo.
They finished the building
according to the command
of the God of Israel
and the decrees of Cyrus and
Darius
and of Artaxerxes, king of Persia
They completed this house on
the third day of the month Adar,
in the sixth year of the
reign of King Darius.
The children of
Israel–priests, Levites,
and the other returned
exiles–
celebrated the dedication of
this house of God with joy.
For the dedication of this
house of God,
they offered one hundred
bulls,
two hundred rams, and four
hundred lambs,
together with twelve he-goats
as a sin-offering for all Israel
in keeping with the number of
the tribes of Israel
Finally, they set up the
priests in their classes
and the Levites in their
divisions
for the service of God in Jerusalem
as is prescribed in the book
of Moses.
The exiles kept the Passover
on the fourteenth day of the first month.
The Levites, every one of
whom had purified himself for the occasion,
sacrificed the Passover for
the rest of the exiles,
for their brethren the
priests, and for themselves.
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Commentary on Ezr 6:7-8, 12b, 14-20
This passage from
the book of Ezra reports the completion of the great work of rebuilding the Temple in Jerusalem Israel
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm
122:1-2, 3-4ab, 4cd-5
R. (1) Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.
I rejoiced because they said
to me,
“We will go up to the house
of the LORD.”
And now we have set foot
within your gates, O
Jerusalem.
R. Let us go rejoicing to
the house of the Lord.
with compact unity.
To it the tribes go up,
the tribes of the LORD.
R. Let us go rejoicing to
the house of the Lord.
According to the decree for Israel
to give thanks to the name of
the LORD.
In it are set up judgment
seats,
seats for the house of David.
R. Let us go rejoicing to
the house of the Lord.
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Commentary on Ps 122:1-2, 3-4ab, 4cd-5
Psalm 122 is a song of
thanksgiving centered upon returning to the Temple
in Jerusalem
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Gospel: Luke 8:19-21
The mother of Jesus and his
brothers came to him
but were unable to join him
because of the crowd.
He was told, “Your mother and
your brothers are standing outside
and they wish to see you.”
He said to them in reply, “My
mother and my brothers
are those who hear the word
of God and act on it.”
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Commentary on Lk 8:19-21
In this passage
from the Gospel of St. Luke, Jesus identifies his family as the family of faith
as opposed to just his blood relatives. There
are several connotations of the language used that are treated in the parallel
story in Matthew 12:46-50 relating to the broader meaning of the language from the Aramaic
and also the apocryphal documentation regarding St. Joseph’s unnamed widow
(prior to his betrothal to St. Mary). St.
Luke’s treatment of this topic is softer than that found in St. Mark’s Gospel (Mark 3:31-35),
probably because St. Mary had already been introduced as the model of fidelity
to the Lord.
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Reflection:
The short Gospel passage
provided today presents an interesting problem for those who are Catholic and
at the same time are biblical literalists (we differentiate here from those who
are by their confession sola scriptura – that is Bible only folks). A person who reads sacred scripture on the
surface might find this passage contradictory to the Catholic belief that Jesus
had no siblings; that the Blessed Mother bore only one child from her
immaculate womb. (CCC 499-500)
“499 The deepening of faith in the virginal
motherhood led the Church to confess Mary's real and perpetual virginity even
in the act of giving birth to the Son of God made man. In fact, Christ's birth
"did not diminish his mother's virginal integrity but sanctified it."
And so the liturgy of the Church celebrates Mary as Aeiparthenos, the
"Ever-virgin".
500 Against this doctrine the objection is sometimes
raised that the Bible mentions brothers and sisters of Jesus.[4] The
Church has always understood these passages as not referring to other children
of the Virgin Mary. In fact James and Joseph, "brothers of Jesus",
are the sons of another Mary, a disciple of Christ, whom St. Matthew
significantly calls "the other Mary".[5] They
are close relations of Jesus, according to an Old Testament expression.[6]”
But there it is in black and
white “Your mother and your brothers are
standing outside”. Scripture scholars who have looked deeply
into, not just the Aramaic language spoken at the time, but also into the
Semitic usage of the language will tell us that this statement in no way
contradicts the idea that Jesus was the only child born of St. Mary. The term used for Brother refers to all male kinsmen which would include
cousins (such as St. John the Baptist). No other scriptural source mentions other
children from St. Mary and St. Joseph (although there could be confusion over
the first Bishop of Jerusalem over the same linguistic nuance since he is
referred to as “James, the brother of
the Lord” (Galatians
1:19)).
We use this issue to point to
a tremendous difficulty that arises when there is no authority over how the
Holy Bible is interpreted and the riffs that appear between the Christian
brethren as a consequence. Back in the
14th and 15th centuries when the sacred texts became
widely available to the masses, well-meaning individuals thought to contradict
the Church’s teaching authority citing scriptural authority. While the need for reform at that time in Holy Mother Church
Today we continue to see
various factions break off from mainstream denominations. In many cases it is because they have no
respect for a central authority that has prayerfully reflected on the sacred
canon of the Bible and its contents for two millennia. If one looks closer at the motives they are
generally based on the biased view of a person or group that believes they have
a special or unique insight (most commonly attributed to the Holy Spirit). In the early Church this was known as Doceitism or Gnosticism.
This is brought forward not
so we can be condescending or critical but rather as a caution. When we take issue with the Dogmatic
pronouncements of the Church or when we think to challenge the Teaching
Magisterium we treading on dangerous ground.
That does not mean we cannot think.
It simply means we must delve deeper into what the Church has taught;
understand the incredible richness of what is contained, not only in scripture
but also in what has been debated and written while attempting to understand
them for over two thousand years.
Today our great thanks is for
God’s gift of the Church and the wisdom of which she alone is custodian. May we give thanks to Him alone for the truth
that is Jesus.
Pax
[1]
S.S
Commemoratio
[2]
The picture is “The Holy Family” (The Seville Virgin) by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo,
1665-70
[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]
Cf. Mark 3:31-35; 6:3; 1 Corinthians 9:5; Galatians 1:19.
[5]
Matthew 13:55; 28:1; cf. Matthew 27:56.
[6]
Cf. Genesis 13:8; 14:16; 29:15; etc.
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