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| "Saint Clare" by Simone Martini, 1317 |
Reading 1: Deuteronomy 4:32-40
Moses said to the people:
“Ask now of the days of old,
before your time,
ever since God created man
upon the earth;
ask from one end of the sky
to the other:
Did anything so great ever
happen before?
Was it ever heard of?
Did a people ever hear the
voice of God
speaking from the midst of
fire, as you did, and live?
Or did any god venture to go
and take a nation for himself
from the midst of another
nation,
by testings, by signs and
wonders, by war,
with his strong hand and
outstretched arm, and by great terrors,
all of which the LORD, your
God,
did for you in Egypt
All this you were allowed to see
that you might know the LORD
is God and there is no other.
Out of the heavens he let you
hear his voice to discipline you;
on earth he let you see his
great fire,
and you heard him speaking
out of the fire.
For love of your fathers he
chose their descendants
and personally led you out of
Egypt
driving out of your way
nations greater and mightier than you,
so as to bring you in
and to make their land your
heritage, as it is today.
This is why you must now
know, and fix in your heart,
that the LORD is God in the
heavens above and on earth below,
and that there is no other.
You must keep his statutes
and commandments which I enjoin on you today,
that you and your children
after you may prosper,
and that you may have long
life on the land
which the LORD, your God, is
giving you forever.”
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Commentary on Dt 4:32-40
In this selection from Deuteronomy,
Moses begins to describe the unique participation of the Hebrew people, the
Chosen People, in God’s covenant. Moses actually presents a homily on the
election of Israel, how God has shown his omnipotence through the salvific acts
and signs (e.g. plagues in Egypt, saving miracles that facilitated the exodus).
These proofs, Moses explains, are
the reason they must be faithful to God, and instruct their children to do the
same. In doing so they receive the reward for their fidelity: “…that you and
your children after you may prosper." This section acts as a prologue
to the introduction to the Law.
CCC: Dt 4:37 218
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 77:12-13, 14-15, 16 and 21
R. (12a) I remember the deeds of the Lord.
I remember the deeds of the
LORD;
yes, I remember your wonders
of old.
And I meditate on your works;
your exploits I ponder.
R. I remember the deeds of
the Lord.
O God, your way is holy;
what great god is there like
our God?
You are the God who works
wonders;
among the peoples you have
made known your power.
R. I remember the deeds of
the Lord.
With your strong arm you
redeemed your people,
the sons of Jacob and Joseph.
You led your people like a
flock
under the care of Moses and
Aaron.
R. I remember the deeds of
the Lord.
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Commentary on Ps 77:12-13, 14-15, 16 and 21
Psalm 77 is a
communal lament. The first section of the psalm pleads for God not to abandon
the people as they are in dire straits. The strophes used here reflect the
promise on the part of the psalmist, that the people will remember the great
saving works of the Lord (as required by Moses’ instruction in Deuteronomy).
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Gospel: Matthew 16:24-28
Jesus said to his disciples,
“Whoever wishes to come after
me must deny himself,
take up his cross, and follow
me.
For whoever wishes to save
his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life
for my sake will find it.
What profit would there be
for one to gain the whole world
and forfeit his life?
Or what can one give in
exchange for his life?
For the Son of Man will come
with his angels in his Father’s glory,
and then he will repay each
according to his conduct.
Amen, I say to you, there are
some standing here
who will not taste death
until they see the Son of Man
coming in his Kingdom.”
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Commentary on Mt 16:24-28
This is the second time, within the
Gospel of St. Matthew, the Lord instructs the disciples that if they wish to
follow him, they must take up the cross (the first time is in Matthew 10:38). This
passage focuses the followers of Christ on the idea that serving the Lord must
come before any other purposes in life, since it is through following Jesus
that eternal life is gained. It is also explicit that bringing the Word of God,
the message of the Kingdom of God, to the world will lead to persecution, and
even the possibility of death.
CCC: Mt 16:24-26 736; Mt
16:24 226,
618, 2029; Mt 16:25-26 363; Mt
16:25 2232; Mt
16:26 1021
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Reflection:
Ben Stein, the comedian (also
a graduate of Columbia and valedictorian of his
class at Yale Law School
As a side note, one of the
effects of adopting the attitude of “Controlled Evolution” pointed out in the
film was a program called “Eugenics” in the United States. South Carolina recently agreed to pay
reparations to the victims of that program in their state who were sterilized
to prevent them from reproducing “sub-optimal offspring.”
Without spoiling it for you,
there is one segment in which Ben (who by the way is brilliant) is interviewing
Richard Dawkins, the highly publicize atheist from the UK. In a series of questions, Ben finally gets to
the point of challenging Dawkins on the origin of life, first having allowed
him to deny any possibility of God’s existence throughout their discussion of
evolutionary history. To our amazement,
obviously finding no other logical or scientific explanation, the atheist
suggests that it was likely that it was aliens (that is space aliens) who
brought life to earth.
This film represents an
exclamation point to Moses' instruction to the Hebrews in the reading from
Deuteronomy. The history of God’s
creation stands around us every day. The
gifts God has given us are obvious in every breath we take. Moses asks the question of that ancient
audience that we should remember today: “Did
anything so great ever happen before?”
Jesus revealed a gift when he
pointed to his cross and told his disciples: “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross,
and follow me.” The gift is that,
before one takes up the Cross of Christ, that person needs to have underlying
faith: faith that the omnipotent Father,
who created all that exists, will provide for them spiritually in the face of
any difficulty or crisis. Before we
accept the Son, we must accept the Father who is one in him.
With the question still
ringing in our ears: “Did anything so
great ever happen before?” We pause to look around us. We give thanks for all the marvels God has
provided, proving beyond any questioning that he not only exists, but is active
still in our world through the Divine Advocate he left us. We give thanks and then take up the cross to
bring God’s Heavenly Kingdom to earth.
Pax
[1]
The picture is "Saint Clare" by Simone Martini, 1317
[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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