 |
| “Sodom and Gomorrah “ by Gillis Mostaert, 1597. |
Reading 1: Isaiah 7:1-9
In the days of Ahaz, king of Judah
Rezin, king of Aram
and Pekah, king of Israel
went up to attack Jerusalem
but they were not able to conquer it.
When word came to the house of David that Aram
was encamped in Ephraim,
the heart of the king and the heart of the people trembled,
as the trees of the forest tremble in the wind.
Then the Lord said to Isaiah: Go out to meet Ahaz,
you and your son Shear-jashub,
at the end of the conduit of the upper pool,
on the highway of the fuller’s field, and say to him:
Take care you remain tranquil and do not fear;
let not your courage fail
before these two stumps of smoldering brands
the blazing anger of Rezin and the Arameans,
and of the son Remaliah,
because of the mischief that
plots against you, saying,
“Let us go up and tear Judah
and appoint the son of Tabeel king there.”
Thus says the Lord:
This shall not stand, it shall not be!
and Rezin is the head of Damascus
and Remaliah’s son the head of Samaria
But within sixty years and five,
Ephraim shall be crushed, no longer a nation.
Unless your faith is firm
you shall not be firm!
----------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Is 7:1-9
This selection from the book of the
Prophet Isaiah describes a national crisis under the rule of King Ahaz. The situation
is concisely as described in 2 Kings 16:5-9. An
alliance had been formed between Aram and Israel (initially formed against
Assyria), which threatens Jerusalem and throws the country into a crisis. The
meeting between Isaiah and his son Shear-jashub with Ahaz has subtle
significance. The son’s name translated means "a remnant will return,"
which implies that destruction will fall on the people, but some will be saved.
God’s message to King Ahaz through
Isaiah’s oracle is to remain calm; it is only through complete faith in God
that salvation can occur. (“This shall not stand, it shall not be!”) The
final instruction, to stand firm placing absolute faith in God’s saving power,
is problematic because the dates are probably not translated accurately.
Scholars agree that the passage: “But within sixty years and five…” was
more likely intended to be “Yet six, nay five more years,” [4] a time
frame which would have given Ahaz comfort. This summons is believed to be a
pointed reminder of the oracle of Nathan in 2 Samuel 7:
12-17.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Responsorial
Psalm: Psalm 48:2-3a, 3b-4, 5-6, 7-8
R. (see 9d) God upholds his city
for ever.
Great is the Lord and wholly to be
praised
in the city of our God.
His holy mountain, fairest of heights,
is the joy of all the earth.
R. God upholds his city for ever.
Mount Zion
is the city of the great King.
God is with her castles;
renowned is he as a stronghold.
R. God upholds his city for ever.
For lo! the kings assemble,
they come on together;
They also see, and at once are stunned,
terrified, routed.
R. God upholds his city for ever.
Quaking seizes them there;
anguish, like a woman’s in labor,
As though a wind from the east
were shattering ships of Tarshish.
R. God upholds his city for ever.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Ps 48:2-3a, 3b-4, 5-6, 7-8
Psalm 48 is a Zion hymn, praising the holy city as the invincible
dwelling place of God. Unconquerable, it is an apt symbol of God who has
defeated all enemies. The psalm describes the victory by the Divine Warrior
over hostile kings.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Gospel: Matthew
11:20-24
Jesus began to reproach the towns
where most of his mighty deeds had been done,
since they had not repented.
“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 in sackcloth and ashes.
But I tell you, it will be more tolerable
for Tyre and Sidon
And as for you, Capernaum
Will you be exalted to heaven?
You will go down to the nether world.
For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Sodom
it would have remained until this day.
But I tell you, it will be more tolerable
for the land
of Sodom
----------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Mt 11:20-24
This passage follows the parable of
the “Children in the Marketplace,” in which Jesus addresses those who have
heard the words of both John the Baptist and himself. He accuses them of not
being willing to hear that they must turn away from sin and repent.
In this passage he goes further,
chastising the towns in which he has performed great signs. As in the parable
that preceded it, this selection speaks of the punishment reserved for those
who refuse to hear the word he has spoken. In addition to ignoring the Lord’s
revelation, they also continue to ignore the law and prophets. Their fate, he
tells them, will be worse than that of Sodom.
CCC: Mt 11:20-24 678
----------------------------------------------------------------
Reflection:
As happens so many times in
the truth of scripture, this situation occurs all the time. Even with the most devout Christian,
conversion must take place every day.
What greater sign can be performed than the sacrifice of the Mass? Yet we walk out of Mass forgetting the
promises we made, ignoring the lingering grace dispensed with the sacrament,
and continue as if nothing had changed.
Each day we are called to
repentance. Each day we are called to
place our complete faith in God. It is
something we must never forget.
Practicing our faith means we engage in a daily struggle to overcome our
natural tendencies to think of our own personal comfort, our secular
goals. We must constantly weigh those
goals against what must be our first and overriding concern, our faith in the
Lord and the achievement of his desires for us.
From the beginning of God’s
relationship with mankind, prophets and teachers have called us to repentance,
to change our lives and to live as God intended. We hear that message once more today, and ask
for God’s grace and strength that will allow us to respond.
Pax
[1]
The picture is “Sodom and Gomorrah “ by Gillis Mostaert, 1597.
[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.
[4]
Jerome Biblical
Commentary, Prentice Hall, Inc., © 1968, 16:18, p. 270
No comments:
Post a Comment