(Optional Memorial for Saint
Jerome Emiliani, Priest)
(Optional Memorial for Saint
Josephine Bakhita, Virgin)
Readings for the Memorial of St.
Josephine Bakhita
may be taken from the Common
of Virgins
 |
| “Transportation of the Ark of the Covenant Containing the Tablets of the Law” by Luigi Ademollo, 1816 |
Readings and Commentary:[3]
Reading 1: 1 Kings
8:1-7, 9-13
The elders of Israel and all
the leaders of the tribes,
the princes in the ancestral
houses of the children of Israel,
came to King Solomon in
Jerusalem,
to bring up the ark of the
LORD’s covenant
from the City of David, which
is Zion.
All the people of Israel
assembled before King Solomon
during the festival in the
month of Ethanim (the seventh month).
When all the elders of Israel
had arrived,
the priests took up the ark;
they carried the ark of the
LORD
and the meeting tent with all
the sacred vessels
that were in the tent.
(The priests and Levites
carried them.)
King Solomon and the entire
community of Israel
present for the occasion
sacrificed before the ark
sheep and oxen
too many to number or count.
The priests brought the ark
of the covenant of the LORD
to its place beneath the
wings of the cherubim in the sanctuary,
the holy of holies of the
temple.
The cherubim had their wings
spread out over the place of the ark,
sheltering the ark and its
poles from above.
There was nothing in the ark
but the two stone tablets
which Moses had put there at
Horeb,
when the LORD made a covenant
with the children of Israel
at their departure from the
land of Egypt.
When the priests left the
holy place,
the cloud filled the temple
of the LORD
so that the priests could no
longer minister because of the cloud,
since the LORD’s glory had
filled the temple of the LORD.
Then Solomon said, “The LORD
intends to dwell in the dark cloud;
I have truly built you a
princely house,
a dwelling where you may
abide forever.”
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Commentary on 1 Kgs 8:1-7, 9-13
In the previous two chapters
of the First Book of Kings (6 & 7) Solomon constructs his great temple to
the Lord. “The transfer of the ark of the covenant into the newly constructed
temple building, and the oracle of God's acceptance, and his act of possession,
constituted the temple's solemn dedication, and made of it the abiding dwelling
of God among his people for which David had hoped (2
Samuel 6:12-15; 2
Samuel 7:1-3). The concurrence of the
feast of Booths marks an appropriate transition of God's dwelling among nomadic
tribes to his permanent abode among a settled people.”[4]
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm
132:6-7, 8-10
R. (8a) Lord, go up to the place of your rest!
Behold, we heard of it in
Ephrathah;
we found it in the fields of
Jaar.
Let us enter into his
dwelling,
let us worship at his
footstool.
R. Lord, go up to the place of your rest!
Advance, O LORD, to your
resting place,
you and the ark of your
majesty.
May your priests be clothed
with justice;
let your faithful ones shout
merrily for joy.
For the sake of David your
servant,
reject not the plea of your
anointed.
R. Lord, go up to the place of your rest!
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Commentary on Ps 132:6-7, 8-10
Psalm 132 is a song of thanksgiving sung by the community
as they remember the establishment of God’s salvation expressed in the Davidic
dynasty. The second strophe envisions the great temple built by Solomon and the
installation of the Ark of the Covenant in its permanent home.
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Gospel: Mark 6:53-56
After making the crossing to
the other side of the sea,
Jesus and his disciples came
to land at Gennesaret
and tied up there.
As they were leaving the
boat, people immediately recognized him.
They scurried about the
surrounding country
and began to bring in the
sick on mats
to wherever they heard he
was.
Whatever villages or towns or
countryside he entered,
they laid the sick in the
marketplaces
and begged him that they
might touch only the tassel on his cloak;
and as many as touched it
were healed.
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Commentary on Mk 6:53-56
This selection takes up the
account of Jesus' healing ministry immediately following the account of the
feeding of the multitudes (Mark
6:35-44), and his encounter with the disciples as he walked upon the waters
(Mark 6:45-52). Jesus
continues his journey, and cures many people who come to him. This is the same
location in which Peter, Andrew, James, and John had lived and, was, in fact,
the location where Jesus had called them. It is for this reason he was so
quickly recognized.
CCC: Mk 6:56 1504
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Reflection
Today we once again marvel at
the great plan for our salvation the Father was pleased to decree, culminating
in the sacrifice of His Son. Consider
the beginnings of this plan. God
selected Abraham to father a nation of nomadic peoples that roamed the deserts
between modern Egypt and Lebanon. They
hired themselves out to the Egyptians and became enslaved by them. With his mighty hand, God sent Moses, who
only survived infanticide through the Lord’s mercy, to bring the Hebrew people
out of bondage and deliver them into the land he promised.
For long years they fought
the pagan inhabitants of the land, seeking always the home promised by
God. Finally, after subduing the last of
their foes, the heir of King David, his son Solomon, builds a temple. To
this temple he brings the ark bearing the stone tablets of the covenant made
between Moses and God on Mount Sinai.
The first reading paints a picture of, not just the joy of the grand
temple’s dedication, but also the expectation that God chose this place as his
abode on earth. It was a place where the
people could come to worship him, and offer their sacrifices, assured that he
heard their prayers for forgiveness and intercession.
The nomads were nomads no
more. They had established themselves,
and invited their Most High God to have a place among them, and Solomon’s
temple was to be his footstool. But the
temple would not be permanent. Four
hundred years later, in 586 BC, the Babylonians would destroy this temple and
enslave the people. It would be rebuilt
fifty years later, but as Jesus predicts, it would be destroyed again in 70 AD
by the Romans.
The chosen people, as the
Hebrews identified themselves, rejected the Messiah, that same wandering
teacher who lands for a second time in Gennesaret (the first time he was there,
he recruited Peter, Andrew, James and John to be his disciples). He comes now fulfilling the Law and the
Prophets, taking the Good News of God’s Kingdom, not just to the Jews, but to
all peoples of all nations. It is a
great work that he has passed on through his disciples, later to be called
Apostles, and through them to us.
We recall this great plan
today, and hope with all our hearts that we will be true to the part we are
called upon to play in it. We also hope
for the reward promised to all God’s faithful; eternal life in that heavenly
kingdom.
Pax
[2]
The picture is “Transportation of the
Ark of the Covenant Containing the Tablets of the Law” by Luigi Ademollo, 1816
[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 1 Kings 8:6-9
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