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| "St. Martin Sharing His Coat" St. Gatien Cathedral, Artist not cited |
Reading 1: 2 John
4-9
[Chosen
Lady:]
I rejoiced greatly to find
some of your children walking in the truth
just as we were commanded by
the Father.
But now, Lady, I ask you,
not as though I were writing
a new commandment
but the one we have had from
the beginning:
let us love one another.
For this is love, that we
walk according to his commandments;
this is the commandment, as
you heard from the beginning,
in which you should walk.
Many deceivers have gone out
into the world,
those who do not acknowledge
Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh;
such is the deceitful one and
the antichrist.
Look to yourselves that you
do not lose what we worked for
but may receive a full
recompense.
Anyone who is so
“progressive”
as not to remain in the
teaching of the Christ does not have God;
whoever remains in the
teaching has the Father and the Son.
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Commentary on 2 Jn 4-9
This short letter (contained on
one sheet of papyrus) is a rather intimate product of the Johannine community
addressed to “the chosen lady and her children.” It addresses problems
within the community. In this selection, the evangelist speaks to a problem of
false teachers, individuals who have fallen into a heretical view that Christ
did not walk the earth as man (“…those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ
as coming in the flesh”). These “deceivers” are to be rejected, and
the proper view of Jesus Christ, true God and true man, which gives us both
Father and Son, is to be embraced.
CCC: 2 Jn 7 465, 675
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm
119:1, 2, 10, 11, 17, 18
R. (1b) Blessed are they who follow the law of the
Lord!
Blessed are they whose way is
blameless,
who walk in the law of the
LORD.
R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
Blessed are they who observe
his decrees,
who seek him with all their
heart.
R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
With all my heart I seek you;
let me not stray from your
commands.
R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
Within my heart I treasure
your promise,
that I may not sin against
you.
R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
Be good to your servant, that
I may live
and keep your words.
R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
Open my eyes, that I may
consider
the wonders of your law.
R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
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Commentary on Ps 119:1, 2, 10, 11, 17, 18
An acrostic poem; each of the
eight verses of the first strophe begins with the first letter of the Hebrew
alphabet (aleph). Each verse of the
second strophe begins with the second letter (beth) and so on for all 22 letters of the alphabet.
The entire work is in praise of
the Law, and the joys to be found in keeping it. It is not "legalism"
but a love and desire for the word of God in Israel's Law, which is the
expression of the Lord's revelation of himself and his will for man.
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Gospel: Luke
17:26-37
Jesus said to his disciples:
“As it was in the days of
Noah,
so it will be in the days of
the Son of Man;
they were eating and
drinking,
marrying and giving in
marriage up to the day
that Noah entered the ark,
and the flood came and
destroyed them all.
Similarly, as it was in the
days of Lot :
they were eating, drinking,
buying,
selling, planting, building;
on the day when Lot left Sodom
fire and brimstone rained
from the sky to destroy them all.
So it will be on the day the
Son of Man is revealed.
On that day, someone who is
on the housetop
and whose belongings are in
the house
must not go down to get them,
and likewise one in the field
must not return to what was
left behind.
Remember the wife of Lot .
Whoever seeks to preserve his
life will lose it,
but whoever loses it will
save it.
I tell you, on that night
there will be two people in one bed;
one will be taken, the other
left.
And there will be two women
grinding meal together;
one will be taken, the other
left.”
They said to him in reply,
“Where, Lord?”
He said to them, “Where the
body is,
there also the vultures will
gather.”
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Commentary on Lk 17:26-37
In this section of his discourse,
Jesus speaks of the Eschaton (the end times). Relating the coming of the Son of
Man (the Parousia) to the purges of evil and disbelief of the Great Flood (Genesis 6:5-8, 7:6-24) and the destruction of Sodom
and Gomorrah (Genesis 18:16-19:28), he
tells his disciples that, in that time, the things of this world (including the
physical body) do not matter. Using the example of Lot’s wife (cf. Genesis 19:26), he
explains that any attempt to preserve physical reality will be disastrous. It
is only important that one believes and has faith in Christ, for the soul is
eternal, and the body must die. (“Where the body is, there also the vultures
will gather.”)
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Reflection:
As this season draws close to
its end (the end of this liturgical year is only a few weeks away), we feel
Jesus in the Gospel more focused on life in the world that is to come. We get the clear picture that this earthly
life we lead is important because it prepares us for what may follow. We might struggle with this at times. Living for each day seems so shortsighted,
and looking forward to life in Heaven seems so fatalistic.
The question we pose today is
this: what does our Triune God want from us in this life? That sounds much like
the eternal question: What is the meaning of life? But in reality it is quite different. The Lord has told us his yoke is light, as he guides us through life. He has given us very basic underlying moral
principles, and basic spiritual principles to guide us. St. John, in his Second Letter, makes clear
reference to the main guiding commandment for our lives: “love one another.” We know how to interpret that word “love” because it
was demonstrated by the life of Jesus. That pragmatic command should guide all
our interpersonal actions, how we interact with others.
The spiritual guidance is
simple as well: “Love God.” If we love
God, then we respect his creation, we honor his foremost place in our lives by
offering him glory in all of our efforts.
Using the gifts we are given, we demonstrate to all we meet how gracious
the Lord is; how merciful his love for us.
It sounds so simple; all we
need to do is love God and love one another.
Yet it is so complex because God gave us something that makes all of
this difficult – he gave us free will coupled with an intellect that allows us
to understand that God made us in his image.
This in turn allows us to aspire to be like God, with unlimited
power. So we struggle to use what God
gives us without abusing it. We
constantly fight the urges to redefine love, to reverse it and direct it at
ourselves.
We come back to the initial
question posed: What does our Triune God want from us in this life? We answer: “Love God and love one
another.” Considering this “light yoke,” we continue to try to
submit to it, knowing our baser selves fight it all the way.
Pax
[1]
The picture used today is "St. Martin Sharing His Coat" St. Gatien
Cathedral, Artist not cited
[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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