(Optional Memorial for Saint
Margaret of Scotland)
(Optional Memorial for Saint
Gertrude, Virgin)
 |
| “St John the Evangelist” by Alonso Cano, 1636 |
Readings and Commentary:[3]
Reading 1: 2 John 4-9
[Chosen
Lady:]
I
rejoiced greatly to find some of your children walking in the truth
just
as we were commanded by the Father.
But
now, Lady, I ask you,
not as
though I were writing a new commandment
but
the one we have had from the beginning:
let us
love one another.
For
this is love, that we walk according to his commandments;
this
is the commandment, as you heard from the beginning,
in
which you should walk.
Many
deceivers have gone out into the world,
those
who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh;
such
is the deceitful one and the antichrist.
Look
to yourselves that you do not lose what we worked for
but
may receive a full recompense.
Anyone
who is so “progressive”
as not
to remain in the teaching of the Christ does not have God;
whoever
remains in the teaching has the Father and the Son.
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Commentary
on 2 Jn 4-9
This short letter (contained on one
sheet of papyrus) is a rather intimate product of the Johannine community
addressed to “the chosen lady and her children.” It addresses problems
within the community. In this selection, the evangelist speaks to a problem of
false teachers, individuals who have fallen into a heretical view that Christ
did not walk the earth as man (“those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as
coming in the flesh”). These “deceivers” are to be rejected, and the
proper view of Jesus Christ, true God and true man, which gives us both Father
and Son, is to be embraced.
CCC: 2 Jn 7 465, 675
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 119:1, 2, 10, 11, 17, 18
R. (1b) Blessed are they who follow the
law of the Lord!
Blessed
are they whose way is blameless,
who
walk in the law of the LORD.
R. Blessed are they who follow the law of
the Lord!
Blessed
are they who observe his decrees,
who
seek him with all their heart.
R. Blessed are they who follow the law of
the Lord!
With
all my heart I seek you;
let me
not stray from your commands.
R. Blessed are they who follow the law of
the Lord!
Within
my heart I treasure your promise,
that I
may not sin against you.
R. Blessed are they who follow the law of
the Lord!
Be
good to your servant, that I may live
and
keep your words.
R. Blessed are they who follow the law of
the Lord!
Open
my eyes, that I may consider
the
wonders of your law.
R. Blessed are they who follow the law of
the Lord!
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Commentary
on Ps 119:1, 2, 10, 11, 17, 18
An acrostic poem; each of the eight
verses of the first strophe begins with the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet
(aleph). Each verse of the second strophe begins with the second letter (beth)
and so on for all 22 letters of the alphabet.
The entire work is in praise of the
Law, and the joys to be found in keeping it. It is not "legalism" but
a love and desire for the word of God in Israel's Law, which is the expression
of the Lord's revelation of himself and his will for man.
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Gospel: Luke 17:26-37
Jesus
said to his disciples:
“As it
was in the days of Noah,
so it
will be in the days of the Son of Man;
they
were eating and drinking,
marrying
and giving in marriage up to the day
that
Noah entered the ark,
and
the flood came and destroyed them all.
Similarly,
as it was in the days of Lot:
they
were eating, drinking, buying,
selling,
planting, building;
on the
day when Lot left Sodom,
fire
and brimstone rained from the sky to destroy them all.
So it
will be on the day the Son of Man is revealed.
On
that day, someone who is on the housetop
and
whose belongings are in the house
must
not go down to get them,
and
likewise one in the field
must
not return to what was left behind.
Remember
the wife of Lot.
Whoever
seeks to preserve his life will lose it,
but
whoever loses it will save it.
I tell
you, on that night there will be two people in one bed;
one
will be taken, the other left.
And
there will be two women grinding meal together;
one
will be taken, the other left.”
They
said to him in reply, “Where, Lord?”
He
said to them, “Where the body is,
there
also the vultures will gather.”
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Commentary
on Lk 17:26-37
In this section of his discourse,
Jesus speaks of the Eschaton (the end times). Relating the coming of the Son of
Man (the Parousia) to the purges of evil and disbelief of the Great Flood (Genesis 6:5-8, 7:6-24) and the
destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis
18:16-19:28), he tells his disciples that, in that time, the things of this
world (including the physical body) do not matter. Using the example of Lot’s
wife (cf. Genesis 19:26), he
explains that any attempt to preserve physical reality will be disastrous. It
is only important that one believes and has faith in Christ, for the soul is
eternal, and the body must die. (“Where the body is, there also the vultures
will gather.”)
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Reflection:
As
this season draws close to its end (the end of this liturgical year is only a
few weeks away), we feel Jesus in the Gospel more focused on life in the world
that is to come. We get the clear picture
that this earthly life we lead is important because it prepares us for what may
follow. We might struggle with this at
times. Living for each day seems so
shortsighted, and looking forward to life in Heaven seems so fatalistic.
The
question we pose today is this: what does our Triune God want from us in this
life? That sounds much like the eternal question: What is the meaning of
life? But in reality it is quite
different. The Lord has told us his yoke is light, as he guides us through
life. He has given us very basic
underlying moral principles, and basic spiritual principles to guide us. St. John, in his Second Letter, makes clear
reference to the main guiding commandment for our lives: “love one another.” We know
how to interpret that word “love” because it was demonstrated by the life of
Jesus. That pragmatic command should guide all our interpersonal actions, how
we interact with others.
The
spiritual guidance is simple as well: “Love God.” If we love God, then we respect his creation,
we honor his foremost place in our lives by offering him glory in all of our
efforts. Using the gifts we are given,
we demonstrate to all we meet how gracious the Lord is; how merciful his love
for us.
It
sounds so simple; all we need to do is love God and love one another. Yet it is so complex because God gave us
something that makes all of this difficult – he gave us free will coupled with
an intellect that allows us to understand that God made us in his image. This in turn allows us to aspire to be like
God, with unlimited power. So we
struggle to use what God gives us without abusing it. We constantly fight the urges to redefine
love, to reverse it and direct it at ourselves.
We
come back to the initial question posed: What does our Triune God want from us
in this life? We answer: “Love God and
love one another.” Considering this “light yoke,” we continue to try to
submit to it, knowing our baser selves fight it all the way.
Pax
[1]
The picture is “St John the Evangelist” by Alonso Cano, 1636.
[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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