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“Saint Peter Claver"
Artist and Date are unknown.
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Readings for Thursday of the Twenty-third Week in
Ordinary Time [1]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible [2]
Readings and Commentary: [3]
Reading 1: Colossians 3:12-17
Brothers and sisters:
Put on, as God’s chosen ones,
holy and beloved,
heartfelt compassion,
kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience,
bearing with one another and
forgiving one another,
if one has a grievance
against another;
as the Lord has forgiven you,
so must you also do.
And over all these put on
love,
that is, the bond of
perfection.
And let the peace of Christ
control your hearts,
the peace into which you were
also called in one Body.
And be thankful.
Let the word of Christ dwell
in you richly,
as in all wisdom you teach and
admonish one another,
singing psalms, hymns, and
spiritual songs
with gratitude in your hearts
to God.
And whatever you do, in word
or in deed,
do everything in the name of
the Lord Jesus,
giving thanks to God the
Father through him.
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Commentary on Col 3:12-17
St. Paul exhorts the Colossians with a litany of positive
attitudes that culminate in the cardinal axiom of the faith: “love one another.”
He goes on to implore them to let the peace of Christ control their every
action and to praise God constantly through Jesus, God’s only Son.
This is the introduction to the family hierarchy of the era
described by St. Paul. This entire section of the letter is a discourse on
harmony within the family of Christ. It is important to note the instruction
given in the first part of this reading. Paul describes the Christian rules for
relationships; “Put on, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, heartfelt
compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one
another and forgiving one another.” The consistent focus of the passage
brings home the Pauline ideals of harmony and unity within the Christian family.
CCC: Col 3:14 815,
1827, 1844; Col 3:16-17 1156,
2633; Col 3:16 2641
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Responsorial Psalm: Ps 150:1b-2, 3-4, 5-6
R. (6) Let everything that breathes praise the Lord!
Praise the LORD in his
sanctuary,
praise him in the firmament
of his strength.
Praise him for his mighty
deeds,
praise him for his sovereign
majesty.
R. Let everything that
breathes praise the Lord!
Praise him with the blast of
the trumpet,
praise him with lyre and
harp,
Praise him with timbrel and
dance,
praise him with strings and
pipe.
R. Let everything that
breathes praise the Lord!
Praise him with sounding
cymbals,
praise him with clanging
cymbals.
Let everything that has
breath
praise the LORD! Alleluia.
R. Let everything that
breathes praise the Lord!
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Commentary on Ps 150:1b-2, 3-4, 5-6
Psalm 150
contains a litany of praise, first praising God for what he is. In the
strophes that follow, it offers praise with various media, instruments, dance,
and song. The refrain, “holy, holy, holy Lord, mighty God,” has its
roots in the ancient Hebrew, in that there was no word for “holier” or
“holiest.” When that thought was to be expressed, the word was repeated the
appropriate number of times. The psalm serves a doxology for the fifth book of
Psalms. The sound of clashing cymbals in this case reminds us of the rumblings
and peals of thunder in Revelation, God’s work and presence on earth.
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Gospel: Luke 6:27-38
Jesus said to his disciples:
“To you who hear I say, love
your enemies,
do good to those who hate
you, bless those who curse you,
pray for those who mistreat
you.
To the person who strikes you
on one cheek,
offer the other one as well,
and from the person who takes
your cloak,
do not withhold even your
tunic.
Give to everyone who asks of
you,
and from the one who takes
what is yours do not demand it back.
Do to others as you would
have them do to you.
For if you love those who
love you,
what credit is that to you?
Even sinners love those who
love them.
And if you do good to those
who do good to you,
what credit is that to you?
Even sinners do the same.
If you lend money to those
from whom you expect repayment,
what credit is that to you?
Even sinners lend to sinners,
and get back the same amount.
But rather, love your enemies
and do good to them,
and lend expecting nothing
back;
then your reward will be
great
and you will be children of
the Most High,
for he himself is kind to the
ungrateful and the wicked.
Be merciful, just as also your
Father is merciful.
“Stop judging and you will
not be judged.
Stop condemning and you will
not be condemned.
Forgive and you will be
forgiven.
Give and gifts will be given
to you;
a good measure, packed
together, shaken down, and overflowing,
will be poured into your lap.
For the measure with which
you measure
will in return be measured
out to you.”
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Commentary on Lk 6:27-38
This passage from St. Luke’s Gospel continues the Sermon on the
Plain. In this section, Jesus extends the commandment to love one’s neighbor to
include one’s enemy, breaking new ground in the interpretation of Mosaic Law. Jesus
turns from our relationship with God in prayer to how we interact with our
neighbor in the world. The “Golden Rule”
is proclaimed and with it the two paths that are presented to the Christian
believer; the path that leads to life, and the path that leads to death (Cf. Deuteronomy 30:15-20). [4]
What follows is an extension of each of the laws governing hospitality and
continues by extending even the judicial laws that govern dispute resolution.
In the conclusion of this section, the Lord exhorts the disciples to embrace
forgiveness, saying, “For the measure with which you measure will in return
be measured out to you.”
CCC: Lk
6:28 1669; Lk
6:31 1789,
1970; Lk 6:36 1458,
2842
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Reflection:
Have you ever wondered what
you would say to someone about what it means to be a disciple of Jesus? If you were placed in a situation where you
didn’t have much time and the person you were talking to did not have even a
clue about who Jesus was and is, what would you say? Say, for instance, you found yourself in a
remote village where Jesus’ was a name not heard before, and one of the
villagers approached you and asked, “Who is this ‘Jesus’ you pray to and why is
he important to you?”
The answer to that question
is given today. If we had to summarize
what the Lord taught in just a few phrases we could say what Paul wrote to the
Colossians in the first reading and punctuate it with that part of the sermon
on the plain we were given from St. Luke’s Gospel.
Love God first and love one
another second. If we had just one short
sentence that communicated how we are commanded to live our faith, that would
be it. Yes, there is a huge body of work
that provides a framework for how that love should be expressed, but when it is
all distilled, when all of the embellishments and flowery words are taken away,
we are left with one clear and concise message: love God first and love one
another.
St. Paul tells the Colossians
that in love they can embrace the peace of Christ which will buoy them up and
allow them to face the most difficult times.
Jesus extends the idea of loving our neighbors, not just to the “nice”
neighbors, but to those who consider themselves to be our enemies. Again, the message echoes: “Love God and love
one another!”
Pax
[1]
The picture used today is “Saint Peter Claver" Artist and Date are unknown.[2]
S.S Commemoratio[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]
Fire of Mercy Heart of the Word Volume I, Erasmo Leiva-Merikakis, Ignatius
Press, San Francisco, CA, © 1996 p. 301-06.
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