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| "St. Irenaeus" iconifer and date are UNKNOWN |
Readings and Commentary: [3]
Reading 1: Amos 3:1-8; 4:11-12
Hear this word, O children of
Israel, that the Lord pronounces over you,
over the whole family that I
brought up from the land of Egypt:
You alone have I favored,
more than all the families of the
earth;
Therefore I will punish you
for all your crimes.
Do two walk together
unless they have agreed?
Does a lion roar in the forest
when it has no prey?
Does a young lion cry out from
its den
unless it has seized something?
Is a bird brought to earth by a
snare
when there is no lure for it?
Does a snare spring up from the
ground
without catching anything?
If the trumpet sounds in a city,
will the people not be frightened?
If evil befalls a city,
has not the Lord caused it?
Indeed, the Lord God does nothing
without revealing his plan
to his servants, the prophets.
The lion roars—
who will not be afraid!
The Lord God speaks—
who will not prophesy!
I brought upon you such upheaval
as when God overthrew Sodom and
Gomorrah:
you were like a brand plucked
from the fire;
Yet you returned not to me,
says the Lord.
So now I will deal with you in my
own way, O Israel!
and since I will deal thus with
you,
prepare to meet your God, O
Israel.
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Commentary on Am 3:1-8; 4:11-12
The Prophet Amos issues a warning
to Israel (the Northern Kingdom). He begins his address by explaining that,
because the people of Israel are God’s chosen ones, the Lord will hold them to
a higher standard of behavior (under the Law of Moses). Then he starts with his
own divinely inspired compulsion to exhort them with his prophetic vision using
a series of everyday events with which his listeners would have been familiar.
(“Do two walk together unless they have agreed?” Agreement goes before
harmony. “Does a lion roar in the forest when it has no prey?” The answer
would be understood as no, etc.) The prophet therefore must also speak: “The
Lord God speaks—who will not prophesy!” The concluding remarks in this
selection indicate the Lord’s judgment is at hand.
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 5:4b-6a, 6b-7, 8
R. (9a) Lead me in your
justice, Lord.
At dawn I bring my plea
expectantly before you.
For you, O God, delight not in
wickedness;
no evil man remains with you;
the arrogant may not stand in
your sight.
R. Lead me in your justice, Lord.
You hate all evildoers;
you destroy all who speak
falsehood;
The bloodthirsty and the
deceitful
the Lord abhors.
R. Lead me in your justice, Lord.
But I, because of your abundant
mercy,
will enter your house;
I will worship at your holy
temple
in fear of you, O Lord.
R. Lead me in your justice, Lord.
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Commentary on Ps 5:4b-6a, 6b-7, 8
Psalm 5 is a lament, pleading for
rescue from those who are evil and do not follow the statutes of God. The love
of God is for his faithful people, and those who do not follow his law “the Lord
abhors.”
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Gospel: Matthew 8:23-27
As Jesus got into a boat, his
disciples followed him.
Suddenly a violent storm came up
on the sea,
so that the boat was being
swamped by waves;
but he was asleep.
They came and woke him, saying,
"Lord, save us! We are
perishing!"
He said to them, "Why are
you terrified, O you of little faith?"
Then he got up, rebuked the winds
and the sea,
and there was great calm.
The men were amazed and said,
"What sort of man is this,
whom even the winds and the sea
obey?"
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Commentary on Mt 8:23-27
Jesus calming the sea is the first of this set of miracles recorded in St. Matthew’s Gospel. There are notable differences between St. Matthew’s account and that of St. Mark (Mark 4:35-41). First we note that Jesus leads the disciples into the boat, rather than the disciples taking him there. We also see a more reverent attitude on the part of the twelve as they wake him, contrasted with the accusatory tone in St. Mark. (“…do you not care that we are perishing?") This account of the disciples’ experience, in both cases, points directly at the identity of Jesus as the Son of God, and serves as a proof for the reader.
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Reflection:
Beyond
the obvious proof of Jesus’ identity as the Messiah, the Only Begotten Son of
God, the story of Jesus calming the sea has another important lesson for us,
his modern-day followers. Simply stated,
the story is: Jesus beckons, and the disciples are compelled to follow. A storm threatens them, and Jesus calms both
the storm and their fears. The story
encapsulates one of the many gifts Christ offers those who trust in him: the
Lord’s peace and consolation.
The
peace of Christ is something so valuable, so cherished by his faithful, that we
should thank God for it daily. It is the
peace of Christ that gave the early martyrs, like St. Irenaeus whose memorial
we celebrate today, the courage to stand up under torture. It is the peace of Christ which opened the
hearts of many of the saints to the guidance of the Holy Spirit. When the storm rages around us and all seems
to be chaotic, our natural emotional state tends to imitate the chaos in which
we find ourselves and cloud our vision.
But the peace of Christ calms those turbulent waters, and allows us to
see clearly into the very depths of the sea, as is so beautifully stated by Diadochus
of Photice in his Treatise on Spiritual
Perfection.
The
peace of Christ requires something of the believer. To attain serenity in the face of calamity,
it is necessary to place our trust, our complete trust, in the Lord our
Savior. We are reminded of an old movie
called “The Court Jester” with Danny
Kaye. In one scene Danny, a bumbling
minstrel, was hypnotized by a minion of the beguiling princess (Angela
Lansbury) and was transformed into a champion fencer. While he was under the influence of the
suggestion, he fought bravely and with skill against the evil Sir Ravenhurst
(Basil Rathbone). But when the trance
was broken he became the terrified jester flailing wildly. Without trust and faith in Christ, our human
emotions betray us and, like horses fleeing fire, we can be led to do exactly
the wrong thing.
When
we are faced with crises, it is so important that we pause and place our trust
in Christ. Allow Him to take on the
fearful situation, as he did with the storm in the Gospel, and he will calm our
fears, bring us peace, and show us the way.
Does that mean he will intervene and change our physical reality? No, but he can change our mental state,
providing the comfort, consolation, and peace that will make all the difference
in how we react and how others perceive God acting through us.
Our
prayer today is that God will strengthen us and give us his peace, calming the
storms that rage about us, that we might boldly proclaim his name to all we
meet this day.
Pax
[2]
The picture used is "St. Irenaeus" iconifer and date are UNKNOWN
[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.
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