(Optional
Memorial for Our Lady of Mount Carmel)
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| “Cross in the Mountains” by Caspar David Friedrich, 1805-06 |
Reading 1: Isaiah 1:10-17
Hear the word of the Lord,
princes of Sodom
Listen to the instruction of our God,
people of Gomorrah
What care I for the number of your sacrifices?
says the Lord.
I have had enough of whole-burnt rams
and fat of fatlings;
In the blood of calves, lambs and goats
I find no pleasure.
When you come in to visit me,
who asks these things of you?
Trample my courts no more!
Bring no more worthless offerings;
your incense is loathsome to me.
New moon and sabbath, calling of assemblies,
octaves with wickedness: these I cannot bear.
Your new moons and festivals I detest;
they weigh me down, I tire of the load.
When you spread out your hands,
I close my eyes to you;
Though you pray the more,
I will not listen.
Your hands are full of blood!
Wash yourselves clean!
Put away your misdeeds from before my eyes;
cease doing evil; learn to do good.
Make justice your aim: redress the wronged,
hear the orphan’s plea, defend the widow.
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Commentary on Is 1:10-17
This is the introductory oracle
(vision) of the Prophet Isaiah (the Book of Judgment, as it is called by
scholars). It is set in time of the defeat of the northern kingdom by Assyria
(722 BC), and the threat to Jerusalem some years later. Having previously
compared the state of religious fidelity of Israel and Judah to Sodom and
Gomorrah, here the prophet continues to use that comparison to express the
Lord’s displeasure over their attempts to appease him through religious acts,
while the people's actions and behaviors are wicked (“Your hands are full of
blood”). He calls the people to repent and return to the values of the Law
of Moses.
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Responsorial Psalm:
Psalm 50:8-9, 16bc-17, 21 and 23
R. (23b) To the upright I will
show the saving power of God.
“Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke
you,
for your burnt offerings are before me
always.
I take from your house no bullock,
no goats out of your fold.”
R. To the upright I will show the saving power of God.
“Why do you recite my statutes,
and profess my covenant with your mouth,
Though you hate discipline
and cast my words behind you?”
R. To the upright I will show the saving power of God.
“When you do these things, shall I be
deaf to it?
Or do you think you that I am like
yourself?
I will correct you by drawing them up
before your eyes.
He that offers praise as a sacrifice
glorifies me;
and to him that goes the right way I
will show the salvation of God.”
R. To the upright I will show the saving power of God.
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Commentary on Ps 50:8-9,
16bc-17, 21 and 23
Psalm 50 has what is known as a “prophetic
liturgy” structure. It was probably used as part of one of the Hebrew feasts
(most likely dealing with the renewal of the covenant, possibly the Feast of
Tabernacles). It is also considered a “covenant lawsuit,” that is a lament
against those who have violated God’s law and the covenant made with the Lord
upon which the law was based. Echoing the charges leveled against Israel by the
Prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 1:10-17), the psalmist condemns empty
ritual and sacrifice not reflective of external actions and internal faith.
The psalm is didactic. Although
sacrifice is mentioned, it is more the sincerity of those offerings in homage
to God that is in question: “Why do you recite my statutes, and profess my
covenant with your mouth, though you hate discipline and cast my words behind
you?” The psalmist calls the people to authentic action that will merit
God’s salvation. God wants genuine obedience and sincere praise. He rebukes the
hypocritical worshiper. Used in conjunction with 1 Samuel
15:16-23, we can see this as a pronouncement against Saul’s
rationalization about the will of God.
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Gospel: Matthew
10:34-11:1
Jesus said to his Apostles:
“Do not think that I have come to bring peace upon the earth.
I have come to bring not peace but the sword.
For I have come to set
a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;
and one’s enemies will be those of his household.
“Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me,
and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of
me;
and whoever does not take up his cross
and follow after me is not worthy of me.
Whoever finds his life will lose it,
and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
“Whoever receives you receives me,
and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.
Whoever receives a prophet because he is a prophet
will receive a prophet’s reward,
and whoever receives a righteous man
because he is righteous
will receive a righteous man’s reward.
And whoever gives only a cup of cold water
to one of these little ones to drink
because he is a disciple–
amen, I say to you, he will surely not lose his reward.”
When Jesus finished giving these commands to his Twelve disciples,
he went away from that place to teach and to preach in their
towns.
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Commentary on Mt 10:34-11:1
The final remarks of Jesus to the
Apostles, as they go out to preach and heal, are given in this passage from St.
Matthew’s Gospel. He reminds them that, even though the word they spread
reflects God’s love, they will be badly received by many, dividing households
and families.
The Lord goes on to tell them that
those who will fully accept him and his word will undergo persecution because
of him. And, even if they lose their lives on his account, they will be saved.
The reward given to those who accept the Word and follow in his way will be
great in heaven.
This discourse, recalled many years
after Christ’s death and resurrection, has the advantage of seeing the
persecution of those who spread the word. It demonstrates a fuller
understanding of the meaning of Christ’s teaching.
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Reflection:
Consider for a moment how
your father or mother might feel if they were non-Christian, and you pointedly
had to tell them that serving Christ was more important than your obligation to
them as their son/daughter. In a non-Christian society, where familial
obligations played hugely important roles, telling one’s parents something like
this would be seen as traitorous.
Likewise, foregoing opportunities to gather personal wealth in favor of
serving God in Christ would be seen as at best frivolous, and at worst insane.
What we must realize is that
the Gospel tells us that Christ must be first in our lives. He must be first in spite of what society
will think of us. He must be first in
spite of the difficulty that priority may present in family, in school, or at
work. And to that point, the Gospel
tells us that it will cause problems for us in our lives. But it is what we are called to be.
Today our fervent prayer is
that we have the faith and grace to put the Lord first, and when necessary make
the difficult choices to place God’s glory above the success admired in the
secular society of which we are a part.
May we always show the face of Christ to a world divided by its own
greed.
Pax
[2]
The picture used today is “Cross in the Mountains” by Caspar David Friedrich,
1805-06.
[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 republication is not authorized by USCCB and is
for private use only.
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