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| “The Triumph of David” by Nicolas Poussin, 1627-30 |
Readings and Commentary:[3]
Reading
1:
2 Samuel 6:12b-15, 17-19
David went to bring up the ark
of God from the house of Obed-edom
into the City of David amid festivities.
As soon as the bearers of the
ark of the Lord had advanced six steps,
he sacrificed an ox and a
fatling.
Then David, girt with a linen
apron,
came dancing before the Lord
with abandon,
as he and all the house of
Israel were bringing up the ark of the Lord
with shouts of joy and to the
sound of the horn.
The ark of the Lord was brought
in and set in its place
within the tent David had
pitched for it.
Then David offered burnt
offerings and peace offerings before the Lord.
When he finished making these
offerings,
he blessed the people in the
name of the Lord of hosts.
He then distributed among all
the people,
to each man and each woman in
the entire multitude of Israel,
a loaf of bread, a cut of roast
meat, and a raisin cake.
With this, all the people left
for their homes.
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Commentary on 2 Sm 6:12b-15, 17-19
From a
historical perspective, King David has now defeated all his rivals and enemies.
The civil war between his forces and those of Saul is over and the Philistines
are finally defeated. Now he assembles the people of Israel and brings the Ark
of the Covenant to celebrate with the people the unity and peace to which God
has led them.
"The
[Church] Fathers have seen the ark as a figure of the Blessed Virgin; so the
transfer of the ark is a symbol of Mary’s journey to visit her relative
Elizabeth (cf. Luke 1:39-45), and David’s dance is a figure of the Baptist, who leaps with
joy in the womb of his mother when Mary arrives with Jesus in her womb."[4]
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Responsorial
Psalm: Psalm 24:7, 8, 9, 10
R. (8) Who is this king
of glory? It is the Lord!
Lift up, O gates, your
lintels;
reach up, you ancient
portals,
that the king of glory
may come in!
R. Who is this king of
glory? It is the Lord!
Who is this king of
glory?
The Lord, strong and
mighty,
the Lord, mighty in
battle.
R. Who is this king of
glory? It is the Lord!
Lift up, O gates, your
lintels;
reach up, you ancient
portals,
that the king of glory
may come in!
R. Who is this king of
glory? It is the Lord!
Who is this king of
glory?
The Lord of hosts; he
is the king of glory.
R. Who is this king of
glory? It is the Lord!
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Commentary on Ps 24:7, 8, 9, 10
In Psalm 24
we hear a longing for the coming of the Lord to his people. The psalmist gives
us the image of the inanimate gates of the New Jerusalem, God’s Heavenly
Kingdom, welcoming the Lord of Hosts. For Christians, we have God in the person
of Jesus coming into the Temple. This second section of the song praises
God as the true King of the people who leads them to victory over their foes.
The song was sung as part of a liturgical procession recalling the transfer of
the ark of the Covenant to the temple in Jerusalem. Again, for Christians
the ark is analogous to the Blessed Virgin, the new ark who carries the savior
of the world.
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Gospel:
Mark 3:31-35
The mother of Jesus and his brothers arrived at the house.
Standing outside, they sent word to Jesus and called him.
A crowd seated around him told him,
“Your mother and your brothers and your sisters
are outside asking for you.”
But he said to them in reply,
“Who are my mother and my brothers?”
And looking around at those seated in the circle he said,
“Here are my mother and my brothers.
For whoever does the will of God
is my brother and sister and mother.”
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Commentary
on Mk
3:31-35
This passage,
while affirming our own adoption as brothers and sisters in Christ, does cause
some confusion among those who take scripture at face value without
understanding the culture of the time. The first part of this reading from St.
Mark’s Gospel is somewhat controversial in that many of the Protestant and
Evangelical apologists take the term “and his brothers” to mean his familial or
biological brothers. The Church teaches that Mary bore only one child – Jesus.
Responding to this scripture, Catholic scripture scholars teach that “…in
Semitic usage, the terms 'brother,' 'sister' are applied not only to children
of the same parents, but to nephews, nieces, cousins, half-brothers, and
half-sisters; cf. Genesis 14:16; Genesis 29:15; Leviticus 10:4.” [5]
Another possible explanation,
although it comes from an apocryphal source from the 2nd or 3rd centuries A.D.,
is that the Lord’s foster father, St. Joseph, had been previously married (and
widowed). According to “The History of Joseph
the Carpenter” from this first marriage, “[2.]… he begot for himself sons
and daughters, four sons, namely, and two daughters. Now these are their names—
Judas, Justus, James, and Simon. The names of the two daughters were Assia and
Lydia.” These would have been the half-brothers and sisters of the Lord.
Because of this, when Mary comes
looking for Jesus in this selection, she is, as would be expected, joined by
members of the extended family. Jesus extends the family even further though
his adoption of those “seated in the circle” who listen to his word and
believe, telling those gathered that “…whoever does the will of God is my
brother and sister and mother.”
CCC: Mk 3:31-35 500
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Reflection:
“…whoever does the will of God is my
brother and sister and mother.”
With
these words the Lord, who has called us to follow him, pronounces our adoption
as long as we follow the will of God.
But that is the hard part isn’t it!
Just exactly what is the will of God for us and how do we know if we are
doing it?
Having
given this some thought, we find that the question posed is one of the most
difficult ones we will ever be forced to answer for ourselves. In another part of Holy Scripture Jesus is
quoted as saying “No one can know the
Father except the Son and to whomever the Son chooses to reveal Him.” (Matthew 11:27) So ultimately the only real way we can hope
to understand if we are doing God’s will is if Jesus himself leads us. OK, so how do we know if we are truly
following Jesus? There is a test for that as well. His greatest commandment provides the key.
Christ
told the Scribes, when asked which of God’s Commandments is the greatest, that
the first was “'Hear O Israel
This
is our litmus test. When we want to make
sure that we are doing “God’s will” and not our own (even unconsciously or
rationalized), we need to ask ourselves just two short questions. First, am I following the course of action
that expresses God’s love for those involved?
This is not an easy question in some cases because God does have rules
and even though those rules were meant to be applied with mercy, they are none
the less, straightforward. God’s Law,
like any good parent’s rules, are meant to keep His children safe from
harm. That means the basic law, the
Decalogue or the Ten Commandments, are applied without any varnish. Those laws have been interpreted and applied
by the Teaching Magisterium of the Church, so once we’re pretty sure God’s Law
is satisfied with our actions, we make sure that we are also doing as Church
Law requires. (Oh, and make sure that it is Church Law not a local tradition
that is being applied.)
Having
done this diligent reflection on our purpose and intent, insuring it is for
God’s benefit that we do what we do, we must ask ourselves the second question,
again with no rationalization or spin, as they call it these days. Am I doing this out of love for those
involved? Just so we are all on the same
page, love does not always mean making the other person happy. Sometimes loving someone can be the most
difficult thing for one person to do for another. Look at Christ’s example: he loved us to his
death. His example is our
benchmark. The old adage “WWJD” or “What
would Jesus do?” is not enough. Better
is, how would Jesus love?
If
we prayerfully take the time to ask these two questions will we always be doing
God’s will? Probably not – our human
nature can trick us into believing that what we do is in accordance with God’s
will, but in the darkest recesses of our minds there is still selfishness,
greed, envy, and all of the ignoble impulses that make up a human being. But, we will be doing better than those who
do not ask those questions at all but instead give full reign to those human
feelings.
Our
prayer today is an obvious one. Today we
pray that God gives us the strength and understanding to do his will. Our desire is to become what Jesus has
offered when he said; “…whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister
and mother.” We depend on the Holy
Spirit to guide as we attempt to do so.
Pax
[1]
The picture used s “The Triumph of David” by Nicolas Poussin, 1627-30
[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]
The Navarre Bible: “Joshua-Kings”, Scepter Publishers, Princeton, NJ, © 2003,
pp. 333
[5]
From the reference note on Mark 6; 3 in the NAB
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