 |
“Banquet at the house of Simon” (detail)
by Bernardo Strozzi, 1630 |
Readings
for Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time [2]
Readings
from the Jerusalem Bible [3]
Readings and Commentary: [4]
Reading 1: Sirach 3:17-18, 20, 28-29
My child, conduct your affairs with humility,
and you will be loved more than a giver of gifts.
Humble yourself the more, the greater you are,
and you will find favor with God.
What is too sublime for you, seek not,
into things beyond your strength search not.
The mind of a sage appreciates proverbs,
and an attentive ear is the joy of the wise.
Water quenches a flaming fire,
and alms atone for sins.
-------------------------------------------Commentary on
Sir
3:17-18, 20, 28-29
Jesus, son of
Eleazar, son of Sirach, the author of this book, provides a list of “wisdom
sayings.” The haughty attitude of unworthy children gives the author a vehicle
to extol the virtue of humility. He points these exhortations specifically at
Hellenistic philosophers (“What is too sublime for you, seek not”) who attempt
to bring God to the level of mankind. The prophet reproaches them for trying to
apply human logic to things of faith. In the final verses, the son of Eleazar
moves into the virtue of almsgiving. He identifies this means of atonement as
giving to the traditional poor of the Old Testament – the orphan, the widow,
and the poor (Deuteronomy 24:14-18).
-------------------------------------------Responsorial
Psalm: Psalm
68:4-5, 6-7, 10-11
R. (cf. 11b) God, in your
goodness, you have made a home for the poor.
The just rejoice and exult before God;
they are glad and rejoice.
Sing to God, chant praise to his name;
whose name is the Lord.
R. God, in your goodness, you have made a home for the poor.
The father of orphans and the defender
of widows
is God in his holy dwelling.
God gives a home to the forsaken;
he leads forth prisoners to prosperity.
R. God, in your goodness, you have made a home for the poor.
A bountiful rain you showered down, O
God, upon your inheritance;
you restored the land when it
languished;
your flock settled in it;
in your goodness, O God, you provided it
for the needy.
R. God, in your goodness, you have made a home for the poor.
-------------------------------------------Commentary on
Ps
68:4-5, 6-7, 10-11
Psalm
68 gives thanks to God for his saving works. In its historical context,
the reference to the homeless and prisoners refers to the Diaspora. Christians
see it as having a broader connotation. The psalmist sings of God’s special
attention to the poor to whom the Lord has provided a home and sustenance.
CCC:
Ps 68:6 238
-------------------------------------------Reading II: Hebrews 12:18-19, 22-24a
Brothers and sisters:
You have not approached that which could be touched
and a blazing fire and gloomy darkness
and storm and a trumpet blast
and a voice speaking words such that those who heard
begged that no message be further addressed to them.
No, you have approached Mount Zion
and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem,
and countless angels in festal gathering,
and the assembly of the firstborn enrolled in heaven,
and God the judge of all,
and the spirits of the just made perfect,
and Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant,
and the sprinkled blood that speaks more eloquently than that of
Abel.
-------------------------------------------Commentary on
Heb
12:18-19, 22-24a
A
stark contrast is portrayed in this passage between the old covenant (Mt. Zion
- the Law of Moses) which is heartless in its judgment, and the new covenant
(Mt. Sinai – the heavenly Jerusalem), made perfect by Jesus.
“This
remarkably beautiful passage contrasts two great assemblies of people: (and
Covenants) that of the Israelites gathered at Mount Sinai for the sealing of
the old covenant and the promulgation of the Mosaic law [taken from Exodus 19:12-14,16-19], and that
of the followers of Jesus gathered at Mount Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem, the
assembly of the new covenant. This latter scene, marked by the presence of
countless angels and of Jesus with his redeeming blood, is reminiscent of the
celestial liturgies of the Book of Revelation.” [5]
“The
last mentioned reality of the heavenly sanctuary is that which has opened it to
the faithful, the sacrifice of Jesus. The Blood of Abel cried out for vengeance
(Genesis 4:10) that of
Jesus brings forgiveness and access to God (Hebrews
10:19).” [6] (See
also Colossians
1:20.)
CCC:
Heb 12:22-23 2188; Heb
12:23 1021
-------------------------------------------Gospel: Luke 14:1, 7-14
On a sabbath Jesus went to dine
at the home of one of the leading Pharisees,
and the people there were observing him carefully.
He told a parable to those who had been invited,
noticing how they were choosing the places of honor at the table.
“When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet,
do not recline at table in the place of honor.
A more distinguished guest than you may have been invited by him,
and the host who invited both of you may approach you and say,
‘Give your place to this man,’
and then you would proceed with embarrassment
to take the lowest place.
Rather, when you are invited,
go and take the lowest place
so that when the host comes to you he may say,
‘My friend, move up to a higher position.’
Then you will enjoy the esteem of your companions at the table.
For every one who exalts himself will be humbled,
but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Then he said to the host who invited him,
“When you hold a lunch or a dinner,
do not invite your friends or your brothers
or your relatives or your wealthy neighbors,
in case they may invite you back and you have repayment.
Rather, when you hold a banquet,
invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind;
blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay
you.
For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”
-------------------------------------------Commentary on
Lk 14:1, 7-14
In
this passage from Luke’s Gospel (see also Matthew 22:1-10) the
virtue of humility is exhorted in an allegorical parable that depicts the
messianic banquet. He first speaks of the charism of humility using the
example of a feast (just like the one to which he was invited) saying that one
should assume the lowly station and be invited up, rather than assuming the
higher station and being dismissed (Proverbs 25:6-7). He then
turns his attention to the gathering itself, telling the Pharisee who had
invited him that his efforts should not be to the rich who might repay him in
kind, but for the poor, the crippled and the lame who needed his service.
In this way God’s purpose would be satisfied.
The
entire story places emphasis on God's first invitation of the Hebrew people and
then the broadened invitation expressed by Jesus in the story. When those first
invited (the Hebrews) rejected Christ’s invitation to revelation, his message
was expanded to include all peoples. The joined imagery of the banquet and the
invitation recall that similar invitation extended in Isaiah 25:6-10a.
CCC: Lk
14:1 575,
588
-------------------------------------------Reflection:
How
easy living the life God intends for us would be if all of the rules by which
we, as Christians, were required to conduct ourselves were as simple as the Ten
Commandments. That list of ten cardinal
laws is nicely black and white. Love God
(keep him first) is a bit tough at times, but once we get beyond the rules about
the Sabbath, there is simply a list of things we may not do. Sure, sometimes in our daily lives, it is
difficult not to lie, but we can generally rationalize little white lies, and
telling a whopper lands us in the confessional with a clear-cut violation of
our most direct set of behavioral requirements.
We are also given the Lord’s new laws.
Where the Ten Commandments tells us what we must not do, the Lord tells
us, in nine blessings what we should do in his Beatitudes (Matthew 5:1-12).
What
Jesus throws us today (supported by Sirach) is one of those very difficult
“gray requirements.” We call them gray
because there is a scale when it comes to measuring humility. On one end of the scale there is complete
lack of humility, easily identified as pride or arrogance. It is obvious to the observer that a person
exhibiting these traits has fallen into the sin of pride. At the other end of that spectrum is the one
who is completely self-effacing. The
person with no sense of self-worth, self-esteem or appreciation for God’s gifts
poured out abundantly on all of us likely suffers from what psychologists would
call clinical depression, and possibly even suicidal tendencies, again may, depending
upon the circumstances, be identified as sin. (Recall, my working simple
definition of sin is a conscious failure to love; love God, love one’s self,
love others, and love what God has created for us.)
Most
of us sit somewhere in between these two extremes, struggling valiantly to
appreciate the great love God has for us, and at the same time, not feeling
prideful over our great good fortune in having discovered the love of God and
Christ in our faith. We fight against
the secular message of the New Age philosophers who would have us so filled
with pride that Dives (the rich man
who wanted a drink from Lazarus in Luke 16:19ff) would see us as
arrogant. We are told that our children
need to be self-confident and have high self-esteem and we ask ourselves: how
much is good?
How
do we measure ourselves on that scale?
Clearly the Lord values humility, but at what point does humility become
servile to the point of allowing sin out of timidity? We must balance our humility with a single
measure, love. We ask ourselves: at what
point am I called to love myself as much as I love the poor? At what point am I to honor God’s creation
of me as much as offering myself to the person who would destroy me as
sacrifice? The Church, after all, calls
those who seek martyrdom sinners. Even those religious who practice
extreme asceticism are cautioned by the Church to moderation. We must, through our love of God and love of
others, find a balance in ourselves so that we please God with our humility, our
praise and our thanksgiving for his gifts.
Alas,
all of God’s commandments are not easy, and today we are reminded of our need
for humility and the difficulty we face in finding balance along that
scale. May we always err on the side of
loving the Lord too much, and, in doing so, be invited forward, not pushed
back.
Pax
In
other years on August 28th: Memorial
of Saint Augustine, Bishop and Doctor of the Church
[1]
Catechism links are taken from the
Homiletic Directory, published by the Congregation for
Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, 29 June 2014.
[2]
The picture is “Banquet at the house of Simon” (detail), by Bernardo Strozzi,
1630.
[3]
S.S. Commemoratio[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.
[5]
The Navarre Bible: “Revelation and Hebrews and Catholic Letters”, Scepter
Publishers, Princeton, NJ, © 2003, p. 249.
[6]
Jerome Biblical Commentary, Prentice Hall, Inc., © 1968, 61:68, p. 402.
No comments:
Post a Comment