 |
| “Noah's Ark Cycle: 5. Noah's Sacrifice of Thanksgiving” by Kaspar Memberger the Elder, 1588 |
Reading 1: Genesis
8:6-13, 20-22
At the end of forty days Noah
opened the hatch he had made in the ark,
and he sent out a raven,
to see if the waters had
lessened on the earth.
It flew back and forth until
the waters dried off from the earth.
Then he sent out a dove,
to see if the waters had
lessened on the earth.
But the dove could find no
place to alight and perch,
and it returned to him in the
ark,
for there was water all over
the earth.
Putting out his hand, he
caught the dove
and drew it back to him
inside the ark.
He waited seven days more and
again sent the dove out from the ark.
In the evening the dove came
back to him,
and there in its bill was a
plucked-off olive leaf!
So Noah knew that the waters
had lessened on the earth.
He waited still another seven
days
and then released the dove
once more;
and this time it did not come
back.
In the six hundred and first
year of Noah’s life,
in the first month, on the
first day of the month,
the water began to dry up on
the earth.
Noah then removed the
covering of the ark
and saw that the surface of
the ground was drying up.
Noah built an altar to the
LORD,
and choosing from every clean
animal and every clean bird,
he offered burnt offerings on
the altar.
When the LORD smelled the
sweet odor, he said to himself:
“Never again will I doom the
earth because of man
since the desires of man(s
heart are evil from the start;
nor will I ever again strike
down all living beings, as I have done.
As long as the earth lasts,
seedtime and harvest,
cold and heat,
Summer and winter,
and day and night
shall not cease.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Gn 8:6-13, 20-22
This selection is the conclusion
of the flood story. Hebrew numerology plays a big part in the symbolism of the
story. Forty days represents the fullness of the Flood, and the seven day
periods waiting for the dove, the perfect number.
This passage provides another
important symbol, an efficacious sign in the form of a dove. The dove is sent
out three times which would represent the completeness of its mission. It
returns finally with an olive branch which has come to symbolize peace; in this
case man’s peace with God. The return of the dove at last may represent to some
the return of the Holy Spirit, coming back to mankind after our being lost to
sin, which was washed away in the waters of the great flood, an image of
baptism making an end to sin and a new beginning.
Noah completes the test by
building an altar and offering a sacrifice to God that seems to appease his
just anger at mankind. The “sweet odor” rising up to God from the sacrifice of
Noah provides the Church with the image that later translated into the use of
incense, the smoke rising to the Lord as sacrifice is offered at our earthly
altar.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Responsorial Psalm: Ps
116:12-13, 14-15, 18-19
R. (17a) To you, Lord, I will offer a sacrifice of
praise.
or:
R. Alleluia.
How shall I make a return to
the LORD
for all the good he has done
for me?
The cup of salvation I will
take up,
and I will call upon the name
of the LORD.
R. To you, Lord, I will
offer a sacrifice of praise.
or:
R. Alleluia.
My vows to the LORD I will
pay
in the presence of all his
people.
Precious in the eyes of the
LORD
is the death of his faithful
ones.
R. To you, Lord, I will
offer a sacrifice of praise.
or:
R. Alleluia.
My vows to the LORD I will
pay
in the presence of all his
people,
In the courts of the house of
the LORD,
in your midst, O Jerusalem
R. To you, Lord, I will
offer a sacrifice of praise.
or:
R. Alleluia.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Ps 116:12-13, 14-15, 18-19
Psalm 116 is a song of
thanksgiving. This selection is an individual prayer and promise to God. The
singer understands that the Lord is his salvation. A little confusing is “Precious
in the eyes of the Lord is the death of his faithful ones.” The meaning is
that the death of God's faithful is grievous to God, not that God is pleased
with the death.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gospel: Mark
8:22-26
When Jesus and his disciples
arrived at Bethsaida
people brought to him a blind
man and begged Jesus to touch him.
He took the blind man by the
hand and led him outside the village.
Putting spittle on his eyes
he laid his hands on the man and asked,
“Do you see anything?”
Looking up the man replied,
“I see people looking like trees and walking.”
Then he laid hands on the
man’s eyes a second time and he saw clearly;
his sight was restored and he
could see everything distinctly.
Then he sent him home and
said, “Do not even go into the village.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Mk 8:22-26
“Jesus' actions and the
gradual cure of the blind man probably have the same purpose as in the case of
the deaf man (Mark 7:31-37). Some commentators regard
the cure as an intended symbol of the gradual enlightenment of the disciples
concerning Jesus' messiahship.”[4]
"Allegorically (St. Bede, In Marcum): Jesus heals the blind man to
announce the mystery of redemption. As God Incarnate, Jesus heals man through
the sacrament of his human nature, here signified by his hands and spittle.
This grace cures our spiritual blindness gradually, and, as with the blind man,
progress is measured in proportion to our faith. Allegorically (St. Jerome, Homily 79), the restoration of the blind
man signifies our gradual increase in wisdom, from the darkness of ignorance to
the light of truth. Christ's spittle is the perfect doctrine that proceeds from
his mouth; it enhances our vision and brings us progressively to the knowledge
of God."[5]
CCC: Mk 8:22-25 1151, 1504; Mk 8:23 699
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reflection:
The blind man who was cured
by Jesus in the Gospel story is the only recorded instance in which Jesus’
touch is not described as fully curing the person whom he intended to cure all
at once. In this instance, he imposes
his hands twice.
After the first time the
afflicted man is asked: “Do you see
anything?” The man sees, but in a
distorted way, not having received the full measure of the healing touch. A second time Jesus touches him and he “…could see everything distinctly.”
While we do not wish to read
anything into the Gospel that is not there, St. Mark recounted this story where
the blind man recovered his sight gradually for a reason. The fact that the blind man, after Christ’s
first touch, did not see clearly could easily be an allusion to our own
perception of the reality and person of Jesus.
As children we are introduced to him. We develop an understanding of who
he is and what Jesus wants of us. It is
like those first pictures we draw in our early elementary years, they are stick
figures, representations of what we perceive around us. Our understanding of the Lord and our
relationship to him is at the same level of detail, very sketchy.
Like the person who drops out
of school at a very young age, many of us never really grow beyond those early
stick figures. If we do not really study
the Lord and his Word, we may never grow beyond stick figures, “…like trees and walking." Our goal is to work constantly to understand
the will of Christ, and in doing so, see everything distinctly, understanding
what Christ wants of us. That process is
almost always a gradual one. Even if
today we think: “Ah, I understand what the Lord wants of me.” Tomorrow, that perception may change. Ours is an on- going conversion process, one
that will take our entire lives.
Today we pray for sight. We ask God in Christ to give us the ability
to see all things distinctly through the lens of faith, and so draw closer to
him and his will for us.
Pax
[1]
The picture used is “Noah's Ark Cycle: 5. Noah's Sacrifice of Thanksgiving”
by Kaspar Memberger the Elder, 1588
[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 Mark 8:22-26
[5]
Ignatius Catholic Study Bible, © 2010, Ignatius Press, San Francisco, CA. pp.
79-80
No comments:
Post a Comment