(Optional
Memorial for Saint Pontian, Pope and Martyr
and Saint Hippolytus, Priest and Martyr)
(Optional Memorial
of the Blessed Virgin Mary)
On Saturdays in Ordinary Time
when there is no obligatory memorial, an optional memorial of the Blessed
Virgin Mary is allowed. [1]
Mass texts may be taken from the Common of the Blessed Virgin Mary, from a Votive Mass,
or from the special collection of Masses for the Blessed Virgin Mary.
 |
| “Crucifixion” by Pierre-Paul Prud'hon, 1822 |
Reading I: Ezekiel
18:1-10, 13b, 30-32
The word of the Lord came to
me:
Son of man, what is the
meaning of this proverb
that you recite in the land of Israel
“Fathers
have eaten green grapes,
thus their children’s
teeth are on edge”?
As I live, says the Lord God:
I swear that there shall no
longer be anyone among you
who will repeat this proverb
in Israel
For all lives are mine;
the life of the father is
like the life of the son, both are mine;
only the one who sins shall
die.
If a man is virtuous—if he
does what is right and just,
if he does not eat on the
mountains,
nor raise his eyes to the
idols of the house of Israel
if he does not defile his
neighbor’s wife,
nor have relations with a
woman in her menstrual period;
if he oppresses no one,
gives back the pledge
received for a debt,
commits no robbery;
if he gives food to the
hungry and clothes the naked;
if he does not lend at
interest nor exact usury;
if he holds off from
evildoing,
judges fairly between a man
and his opponent;
if he lives by my statutes
and is careful to observe my ordinances,
that man is virtuous—he shall
surely live, says the Lord God.
But if he begets a son who is
a thief, a murderer,
or lends at interest and
exacts usury–
this son certainly shall not
live.
Because he practiced all
these abominations, he shall surely die;
his death shall be his own
fault.
Therefore I will judge you,
house of Israel
each one according to his
ways, says the Lord God.
Turn and be converted from
all your crimes,
that they may be no cause of
guilt for you.
Cast away from you all the
crimes you have committed,
and make for yourselves a new
heart and a new spirit.
Why should you die, O house
of Israel
For I have no pleasure in the
death of anyone who dies,
says the Lord God. Return and
live!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Ez 18:1-10, 13b, 30-32
Although the idea of individual
responsibility for sins did not originate with Ezekiel (see 2 Kings 14:6, Jeremiah 31:29 and Deuteronomy 24:16), he
gives the most detailed and explicit meaning to the concept. The proverb he
quotes is believed, by some scholars, to be a rather cynical formulation of Exodus 20:5 (see Exodus 34:7). His statement refutes
the interpretation of other parts of the Law of Moses (specifically Exodus 20:5, Leviticus 26:39-40, and Deuteronomy 5:9) that
indicate that God would hold a son accountable for the father’s sins. The new
hope of personal accountability is exhorted by the final call to conversion in
the final verse of the selection – “Return and live!”
CCC: Ez 18:5-9 2056
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 51:12-15, 18-19
R. (12a) Create a clean heart in me, O God
A clean heart create for me,
O God;
and a steadfast spirit renew
within me.
Cast me not out from your
presence,
and your Holy Spirit take not
from me.
R. Create a clean heart in me, O God.
Give me back the joy of your
salvation,
and a willing spirit sustain
in me.
I will teach transgressors your
ways,
and sinners shall return to
you.
R. Create a clean heart in me, O God.
For you are not pleased with
sacrifices;
should I offer a burnt
offering, you would not accept it.
My sacrifice, O God, is a
contrite spirit;
a heart contrite and humbled,
O God, you will not spurn.
R. Create a clean heart in me, O God.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Ps 51:12-15, 18-19
Psalm 51 is the fourth and most
famous of the penitential psalms. The psalmist sings, in these verses, that
only God can reverse the awful effects of sin. Through this action, taken by
the Holy Spirit, God’s salvation is made manifest in the repentant and contrite
heart.
CCC: Ps 51:12 298, 431; Ps
51:19 1428, 2100
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gospel: Matthew
19:13-15
Children were brought to
Jesus
that he might lay his hands
on them and pray.
The disciples rebuked them,
but Jesus said,
“Let the children come to me,
and do not prevent them;
for the Kingdom of heaven
belongs to such as these.”
After he placed his hands on
them, he went away.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Mt 19:13-15
In this passage
from St. Matthew’s Gospel we see Jesus inviting everyone to come to him, this
time including the children. There are two important lessons here. First we
remember that the Lord said earlier in the Gospel that the Kingdom of God
belonged to those who possessed the faith of a child. The Lord continues to
teach his disciples, in this case combining the reality and the metaphor of
little children. Second, this account is understood by some as justification
for the practice of infant baptism. That interpretation is based principally on
the command not to prevent the children from coming, since that word sometimes
has a baptismal connotation in the New Testament (see Acts
8:36ff). The children are
claimed for Christ in that sacrament.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reflection:
The two great poles of our
lives in faith are sin and forgiveness.
Sin pulls us away from God who is at our spiritual center, and
forgiveness leads us toward him. It
sounds so very easy when put into those simplistic terms. If forgiveness leads us to the Father, then
we should always choose to forgive, and allow ourselves to be forgiven.
If the forces of sin and
forgiveness were static, if they always had the same value and presented
themselves in the same way, it would be easy.
But that is not the case. Sin and
forgiveness are dynamic. They find
avenues of resistance and acceptance that are as different as life’s changing
circumstances. No matter how much we
detest sin and choose to avoid it (and its near occasion), sin seems to find
us. Even though our hereditary
association with man’s fallen nature was destroyed in Baptism, the expression
of sin in the world impacts us, tempts us, derails our choices to love, and
substitutes hatred, vanity, envy, lust, and sloth.
We look at these failings and
see our human frailty, repulsed by it, even as our baser instincts are
attracted to those hedonistic impulses. In
our hearts we know Jesus forgives us, and has opened the doors to paradise for
us through his sacrifice. Yet there is a
barrier to his forgiveness: that is of course, our own inability to forgive
ourselves. Even as we struggle to accept
Christ’s forgiveness, in the recesses of our logical mind, we think – I will
sin again.
What then is our
solution? We must not give up. The founder of the Oblates
of the Virgin Mary, Venerable Bruno
Lanteri, is famously quoted as saying “Saints are sinners who refused to give
up.” His motto, “Nunc Chapi” or “Now I begin,” refers to this recognition, that we
will never be perfect. We will fall, but it is our opportunity to begin again,
washed clean in the Blood of the Lamb.
Today our prayer is
simple. We ask for the prayers of all
the saints, those who always got up after a fall, that they may lend us their
strength and grace so we too may say, “Nunc
chapi,” now I begin, again.
Pax
[1]
General
Norms for the Liturgical Year and the Calendar Miscellaneous Notes no. 5
[2]
The picture is “Crucifixion” by Pierre-Paul Prud'hon, 1822
[4]
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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