(Optional Memorial for Saint
Bruno, Priest)
(Optional Memorial for Blessed
Marie-Rose Durocher, Virgin) United States
Biographical
Information about Blessed Marie-Rose Durocher alternate readings
many be taken from the Common
of Virgins or the Common
of Holy Men and Women
 |
| “The Disciples are Sent, Two by Two” by James Tissont, 1886-96 |
Reading 1: Baruch 1:15-22
During the Babylonian
captivity, the exiles prayed:
“Justice is with the Lord,
our God;
and we today are flushed with
shame,
we men of Judah and citizens of Jerusalem
that we, with our kings and
rulers
and priests and prophets, and
with our ancestors,
have sinned in the Lord’s
sight and disobeyed him.
We have neither heeded the
voice of the Lord, our God,
nor followed the precepts
which the Lord set before us.
From the time the Lord led
our ancestors out of the land
of Egypt
until the present day,
we have been disobedient to
the Lord, our God,
and only too ready to
disregard his voice.
And the evils and the curse
that the Lord enjoined upon Moses, his servant,
at the time he led our
ancestors forth from the land
of Egypt
to give us the land flowing
with milk and honey,
cling to us even today.
For we did not heed the voice
of the Lord, our God,
in all the words of the
prophets whom he sent us,
but each one of us went off
after the devices of his own
wicked heart,
served other gods,
and did evil in the sight of
the Lord, our God.”
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Commentary on Bar 1:15-22
The author of the
Book of Baruch is thought to be a secretary of the Prophet Jeremiah. As such,
the book was written after the Babylonian exile. So, what we hear today, rather
than being a prayer written during that exile, is actually a reflective prayer
(of penitence and atonement) used leading up to the feast of Booths according
to scholars. (Note, the first line in today’s reading is not scriptural but
rather inserted in the Missal as a “sense line” – a summary of the
introduction.)
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 79:1b-2, 3-5, 8, 9
R. (9) For the glory of your name, O Lord, deliver
us.
O God, the nations have come
into your inheritance;
they have defiled your holy
temple,
they have laid Jerusalem
They have given the corpses
of your servants
as food to the birds of
heaven,
the flesh of your faithful
ones to the beasts of the earth.
R. For the glory of your
name, O Lord, deliver us.
They have poured out their
blood like water
round about Jerusalem
and there is no one to bury
them.
We have become the reproach
of our neighbors,
the scorn and derision of
those around us.
O LORD, how long? Will you be
angry forever?
Will your jealousy burn like
fire?
R. For the glory of your
name, O Lord, deliver us.
Remember not against us the
iniquities of the past;
may your compassion quickly
come to us,
for we are brought very low.
R. For the glory of your
name, O Lord, deliver us.
Help us, O God our savior,
because of the glory of your
name;
Deliver us and pardon our
sins
for your name’s sake.
R. For the glory of your
name, O Lord, deliver us.
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Commentary on Ps 79:1b-2, 3-5, 8, 9
Psalm 79 provides a penitential
note similar to what is found in Baruch 1:15. It is a
communal lament in which the assembly reflects upon the punishment endured
because they have sinned against God, and disregarded his law. This lament is
thought to reflect upon the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonian army in
587 BC. The singer asks God how long his anger at them will last, and pleads
for pardon and deliverance. Following this admission, there is a plea for mercy
and a promise of atonement.
CCC: Ps 79:9 431
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Gospel: Luke 10:13-16
Jesus said to
them,
“Woe to you,
Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida
For if the mighty
deeds done in your midst
had been done in Tyre and Sidon
they would long
ago have repented,
sitting in
sackcloth and ashes.
But it will be
more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon
at the judgment
than for you.
And as for you, Capernaum
You will go down
to the netherworld.’
Whoever listens
to you listens to me.
Whoever rejects
you rejects me.
And whoever
rejects me rejects the one who sent me.”
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Commentary on Lk 10:13-16
This selection is a continuation of
the instructions being given to the seventy (two) who are being sent out. The
Lord instructs them to issue a call to repentance to those who reject the
proclamation of the Kingdom of God. The punishment of these unbelieving
communities will be severe, as their rejection of the call to holiness is a
rejection of Christ himself, “and whoever rejects me [Jesus] rejects
the one who sent me."
CCC: Lk 10:16 87,
858
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Reflection:
The common thread through all
of the selections from Holy Scripture given today is one of repentance. Baruch offers a prayer of repentance from the
Jews in exile. Having been enslaved and
exiled, they believed, was a result of their disobedience to God’s law and
their sin in his eyes. That same “cause
and effect,” or “sin and punishment” view of God is shown in the song from
Psalm 79: “O Lord, how long? Will you be
angry forever?”
The Gospel, which is actually
a continuation of the Lord’s instructions to the Seventy (Two), captures that
angry judgment by God when his children go astray. In this case, however, the judgment is
earned, not because the people of the communities identified did not follow
God’s law, but rather because they rejected God in the person of his Son, and
the salvific mission upon which he was sent.
Summarized, the selection of the Gospel we heard today says: God sent
you salvation and you turned your back. Now you must suffer the consequences.
Note the subtle difference in
understanding how God works. The Jews
before the coming of Jesus believed that the ill fortune that befell them was a
direct punishment from God. They
believed that God actually caused bad things to happen because they had
sinned. The Lord, our Savior, changes
that concept. He shows us that it is not
God the loving Father who causes bad things to happen, rather it is the choices
we make that lead us down dark paths.
God, who sent his only Son
into the world that we might have eternal life, is not likely to visit the
punishments of the world on the children he loved so much. But in creating us in his own image, he gave
us free will, the ability to choose the bad and the good. When we turn our backs on the saving hand of
God, we must accept what is “behind door number two.”
Today our prayer is that we
will make the right choices and to accept the loving help he provides. We also pray for our brothers and sisters. Since
we all live together, their choices affect us.
We are called to love one another and whoever is injured because they
make a wrong choice, injures us as well.
Pax
[1]
The picture is “The Disciples are Sent, Two by Two” by James Tissont, 1886-96
[2]
S.S Commemoratio
[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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