(Optional Memorial of the Blessed Virgin
Mary)
On
Saturdays in Ordinary Time when there is no obligatory memorial, an optional
memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary is allowed. [1] Mass texts may
be taken from the Common of the Blessed Virgin Mary, from a Votive Mass, or from the special collection of Masses for the Blessed Virgin Mary. (USCCB recommends: #42. The Blessed Virgin Mary, Help of
Christians)
 |
| "Jeroboam Offering Sacrifice for the Idol” by Jean-Honoré Fragonard, 1752 |
Reading I: 1 Kings 12:26-32; 13:33-34
Jeroboam thought to himself:
“The kingdom will return to
David’s house.
If now this people go up to
offer sacrifices
in the temple of the LORD in Jerusalem
the hearts of this people
will return to their master,
Rehoboam, king of Judah
and they will kill me.”
After taking counsel, the
king made two calves of gold
and said to the people:
“You have been going up to Jerusalem
Here is your God, O Israel,
who brought you up from the land
of Egypt
And he put one in Bethel
This led to sin, because the
people frequented those calves
in Bethel
He also built temples on the
high places
and made priests from among
the people who were not Levites.
Jeroboam established a feast
in the eighth month
on the fifteenth day of the
month
to duplicate in Bethel the pilgrimage feast of Judah
with sacrifices to the calves
he had made;
and he stationed in Bethel
Jeroboam did not give up his
evil ways after this,
but again made priests for
the high places
from among the common people.
Whoever desired it was
consecrated
and became a priest of the
high places.
This was a sin on the part of
the house of Jeroboam
for which it was to be cut
off and destroyed from the earth.
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Commentary on 1 Kgs 12:26-32; 13:33-34
Following the breakup of the
Davidic kingdom under Solomon’s rule, Jeroboam, fearing for his own life, tries
to insure that the kingdom will not be reunited. To insure the people do not reunite, he
creates graven images and temples other than the temple in Jerusalem. He violates Mosaic Law on numerous points. Because
he is unrepentant and has led many to sin against God, he and his line are
doomed to be wiped out.
-------------------------------------------
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 106:6-7ab, 19-20, 21-22
R. (4a) Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your
people.
We have sinned, we and our
fathers;
we have committed crimes; we
have done wrong.
Our fathers in Egypt
considered not your wonders.
R. Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.
They made a calf in Horeb
and adored a molten image;
They exchanged their glory
for the image of a
grass-eating bullock.
R. Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.
They forgot the God who had
saved them,
who had done great deeds in Egypt
Wondrous deeds in the land of Ham
terrible things at the Red Sea .
R. Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.
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Commentary on Ps 106:6-7ab, 19-20, 21-22
Psalm 106 is a national lament. The psalmist recalls the times
the chosen people failed to follow the Law of Moses. Instead they were seduced
by foreign religions and barbaric practices. The flight of the Hebrews from
Egypt is remembered and how the people lost faith and sinned – creating graven
images even though they had been rescued by God’s mighty hand at the Red Sea.
-------------------------------------------
Gospel: Mark 8:1-10
In those days when there
again was a great crowd without anything to eat,
Jesus summoned the disciples
and said,
“My heart is moved with pity
for the crowd,
because they have been with
me now for three days
and have nothing to eat.
If I send them away hungry to
their homes,
they will collapse on the
way,
and some of them have come a
great distance.”
His disciples answered him,
“Where can anyone get enough bread
to satisfy them here in this
deserted place?”
Still he asked them, “How
many loaves do you have?”
They replied, “Seven.”
He ordered the crowd to sit down
on the ground.
Then, taking the seven loaves
he gave thanks, broke them,
and gave them to his
disciples to distribute,
and they distributed them to
the crowd.
They also had a few fish.
He said the blessing over
them
and ordered them distributed
also.
They ate and were satisfied.
They picked up the fragments
left over–seven baskets.
There were about four
thousand people.
He dismissed the crowd and
got into the boat with his disciples
and came to the region of
Dalmanutha.
-------------------------------------------
Commentary on Mk 8:1-10
This selection describes one of the
major miracles, the multiplication of loaves and fishes. There are actually two
accounts; (Mark 8:1-10 above
and Mark 6:31-44). It is
proposed by some scholars that this is actually the same event told from two
different traditions, but regardless, the implication is Eucharistic.
Much can be speculated about this
event. The number of the loaves being seven would seem to indicate, through
Hebrew numerology, the fullness of loaves was present. The fact that they all
ate until they were satisfied (spiritually?) would indicate that the meal was
complete. The fragments left over filled seven baskets; again that perfect
number is used.
CCC: Mk 8:6 1329
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Reflection
It is said that those who
ignore the mistakes of history are doomed to repeat them. This is a wise saying, and one we take to
heart as we examine the fall of Solomon and the subsequent machinations of
Jeroboam. We step back today because we
have been watching this saga unfold for the past weeks. We saw the rise of King David, and how God
anointed him. With the exception of the
one big mistake with Bathsheba, he was faithful to what God asked of him and
even in sin he was repentant. The people
saw this and followed him.
Next came his son Solomon, a
good and wise young man, filled with dedication to the people. His prayer brought him wisdom and wealth,
power over the whole domain and even as the power of leadership came to him,
like his father he abused it. In Solomon’s case, he married foreign women and
adopted pagan religious practices which caused his fall from grace. He fell not just because of his excesses, but
because he failed to provide an example of faith to those who looked to him.
Jeroboam seized upon this
weakness and, because there was no credible central leader (Solomon having
betrayed the Law of Moses), he was able to widen the gulf between the people
and God’s Law. He committed the sin of
Aaron (Exodus 32:1-6),
building not one but two golden calves.
He told the people they did not have to go to the temple in Jerusalem as
the Law required (see Exodus 23:14ff) (that was a difficult journey and he offered an
easier alternative). Because it was easier,
and because it was more in line with their baser instincts, the people followed
Jeroboam into sin.
Does this sound
familiar? Do the elements ring of more
recent failures? When civic leaders
offer more comfortable alternatives, when they tell us our God is not a Just
God, but his rules are too harsh and they offer us more pleasant alternatives,
are we not on the same path? When our
leaders tell us that God would not want us to have children we did not plan for,
or when they tell us the potential for human life should be sacrificed in the
name of science so others might live more pleasant lives, are we not walking
the same path as those who followed Jeroboam so eagerly?
Moral leadership is something
we need at all levels, not just in the federal government. We need it locally and we need it in our
schools, our workplaces, and in our homes – the domestic church. Ultimately it is our responsibility to lead
based upon Christ’s law of love. It is
our responsibility to challenge those who offer an easier way that leads to
death. The life of the Christian may
never be an easy one, but if we are faithful, it will last an eternity.
Pax
[1]
General Norms for the Liturgical Year and the Calendar Miscellaneous
Notes no. 5: “Outside Advent, Christmas Time, Lent, and Easter Time, on
Saturdays which have no commemoration having the rank of Obligatory Memorial or
higher, a Mass in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary may be celebrated. This is
indicated in the calendar by “BVM.” The readings and prayers may be selected
from the Collection of
Masses of the Blessed Virgin Mary.”
[2]
The picture is “Jeroboam Offering Sacrifice for the Idol” by
Jean-Honoré Fragonard, 1752.
[4]
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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