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| “Saint Peter Claver" Artist and Date are UNKNOWN |
(Alternate Readings may
be taken from either the Common of Pastors or The Common of Holy
Men and Women)
Reading 1: 1 Corinthians 9:16-19,
22b-27
Brothers and sisters:
If I preach the Gospel, this is no
reason for me to boast,
for an obligation has been imposed
on me,
and woe to me if I do not preach
it!
If I do so willingly, I have a
recompense,
but if unwillingly, then I have
been entrusted with a stewardship.
What then is my recompense?
That, when I preach, I offer the
Gospel free of charge
so as not to make full use of my
right in the Gospel.
Although I am free in regard to
all,
I have made myself a slave to all
so as to win over as many as
possible.
I have become all things to all,
to save at least some.
All this I do for the sake of the
Gospel,
so that I too may have a share in
it.
Do you not know that the runners
in the stadium all run in the race,
but only one wins the prize?
Run so as to win.
Every athlete exercises discipline
in every way.
They do it to win a perishable
crown,
but we an imperishable one.
Thus I do not run aimlessly;
I do not fight as if I were
shadowboxing.
No, I drive my body and train it,
for fear that, after having
preached to others,
I myself should be disqualified.
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Commentary on 1
Cor 9:16-19, 22b-27
St. Paul continues to exhort the
church at Corinth to follow his example. He begins this selection with a
restatement of his own imperative call to proclaim the Gospel as a “divine
compulsion.” His reward for responding to that call is that “… [he] too may have a share in it.”
The Apostle then uses the analogy of an athlete in training to describe how he
is compelled to discipline himself to the task of evangelization, stating that,
in his success, he will win an “imperishable” crown of victory.
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Responsorial Psalm:
Psalm 84:3, 4, 5-6, 12
R. (2) How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord,
mighty God!
My soul yearns and pines
for the courts of the LORD.
My heart and my flesh
cry out for the living God.
R. How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord, mighty God!
Even the sparrow finds a home,
and the swallow a nest
in which she puts her young—
Your altars, O LORD of hosts,
my king and my God!
R. How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord, mighty God!
Blessed they who dwell in your
house!
continually they praise you.
Blessed the men whose strength you
are!
their hearts are set upon the
pilgrimage.
R. How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord, mighty God!
For a sun and a shield is the LORD
God;
grace and glory he bestows;
The LORD withholds no good thing
from those who walk in sincerity.
R. How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord, mighty God!
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Commentary on Ps
84:3, 4, 5-6, 12
Psalm 84 is a song of praise and
thanksgiving sung by pilgrims anxious to experience the joy of the divine
presence as they go to meet the Lord. They believe he is most present at their
place of worship (the Temple in Jerusalem). The hope of the prize that awaits
them shares the image of the victorious athlete proposed by St. Paul (1 Corinthians 9:24).
CCC: Ps 84:3 1770
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Gospel: Luke 6:39-42
Jesus told his disciples a
parable:
“Can a blind person guide a blind
person?
Will not both fall into a pit?
No disciple is superior to the
teacher;
but when fully trained,
every disciple will be like his
teacher.
Why do you notice the splinter in
your brother’s eye,
but do not perceive the wooden
beam in your own?
How can you say to your brother,
‘Brother, let me remove that
splinter in your eye,’
when you do not even notice the
wooden beam in your own eye?
You hypocrite! Remove the wooden
beam from your eye first;
then you will see clearly
to remove the splinter in your
brother’s eye.”
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Commentary on Lk
6:39-42
St. Luke continues Jesus’ dialogue
from the “Sermon on the Plain” concerning the judgment of others. Taking his
disciples aside, he tells them that, in time, they will assume his role in
proclaiming the Gospel (“…but when fully trained, every disciple will be
like his teacher”). The exhortation that follows is not intended to say
that they should not notice the failings of others; that would be inconsistent
with Matthew 7:5,6. Rather, be “…against passing judgment in a spirit of
arrogance, forgetful of one's own faults.”[4]
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Reflection:
When we take St. Paul’s discussion about his own call and
place it with Jesus’ exhortation of his disciples about their spiritual growth,
we get a pretty good picture of how we are supposed to take the Lord’s message
of love to others. St. Paul sees clearly that his call is not
some casual pastime intended to give him something to do at his leisure. Rather, it is a divine compulsion, driving
him to reach out to everyone he meets.
In the omitted verses of the reading from the selection presented today,
the Apostle explains how he attempts to meet Jews as a fellow Jew, and gentiles
as a citizen of Rome, so he can establish a rapport with them and bring them to
Christ.
To counterbalance God’s call to proclaim the Gospel with
authority, Jesus reminds the disciples of their own frailty and
imperfections. While they will be given
the authority to bind and loose as a consequence of their selection as
apostles, they must never become arrogant in that role. The Lord even makes it clearer asking them: “How can you say to your brother,
‘Brother, let me remove that splinter in your eye,’ when you do not even notice the wooden beam
in your own eye?” Clearly they (and
we) must never forget that, not only have we sinned, but because we are held to
a higher standard than those who do not know the Lord, our sins have a much greater
weight when we come before Christ when he sits on the judgment seat.
Combining St. Paul’s divine
compulsion with the Lord’s exhortation against arrogance flowing from our
special friendship with Jesus, the model that best describes our evangelical role
is one like the athlete- coach who, at the same time, must train for their own
race while helping others by word and example, train for their races as well.
Our prayer today is that we become effective coaches. We pray that though our words and example we
will effectively serve our own divine compulsion to proclaim the Gospel and in
doing so win the imperishable crown spoken of by St. Paul .
Pax
[1]
The picture is “Saint Peter Claver", Artist 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.
[4]
See NAB footnote on Matthew 7:1
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