 |
“The Last Supper” (detail)
by Jacopo Bassano, c. 1546 |
Readings for Friday of the
Second Week in Ordinary Time [1]
Readings from the Jerusalem
Bible [2]
Readings and Commentary:[3]
Reading 1: Hebrews 8:6-13
Brothers and
sisters:
Now our high priest has obtained so much more excellent a ministry
as he is mediator of a better covenant,
enacted on better promises.
For if that first
covenant had been faultless,
no place would have been sought for a second one.
But he finds fault with them and says:
Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord,
when I will conclude a new covenant with the house of
Israel and the house of Judah.
It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers
the day I took them by the hand to lead
them forth from the land of Egypt;
for they did not stand by my covenant
and I ignored them, says the Lord.
But this is the covenant I will establish with the house of Israel
after those days, says the Lord:
I will put my laws in their minds
and I will write them upon their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they shall be my people.
And they shall not teach, each one his fellow citizen and kin, saying,
“Know the Lord,”
for all shall know me, from least to greatest.
For I will forgive their evildoing
and remember their sins no more.
When he speaks of
a “new” covenant,
he declares the first one obsolete.
And what has become obsolete
and has grown old is close to disappearing.
-------------------------------------------
Commentary on Heb 8:6-13
In the prior verses (Hebrews
7:25—8:6) there was a reminder that Jesus came as the
new covenant, replacing the covenant and promises of Moses. Here, the Letter to
the Hebrews continues this theme, explaining why the new covenant forged by
Jesus was required. In language taken from the Old Testament prophets (Jeremiah
31:31-34), the fact that a new covenant was needed
showed the old covenant to be flawed.
CCC: Heb
8:6 1070; Heb
8:8-10 1965
-------------------------------------------
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 85:8 and 10, 11-12,
13-14
R. (11a) Kindness and truth shall meet.
Show us, O LORD,
your mercy,
and grant us your salvation.
Near indeed is his salvation to those who fear him,
glory dwelling in our land.
R. Kindness and truth shall meet.
Kindness and
truth shall meet;
justice and peace shall kiss.
Truth shall spring out of the earth,
and justice shall look down from heaven.
R. Kindness and truth shall meet.
The LORD himself
will give his benefits;
our land shall yield its increase.
Justice shall walk before him,
and salvation, along the way of his steps.
R. Kindness and truth shall meet.
-------------------------------------------
Commentary on Ps 85:8 and 10, 11-12,
13-14
Psalm 85 is intended as a “national
lament," a plea of the people, “reminding God of past favors and forgiveness
and begging for forgiveness and grace. A speaker represents the people who wait
humbly with open hearts: God will be active on their behalf. The situation
suggests the conditions of Judea during the early post-exilic period, the fifth
century B.C.; the thoughts are similar to those of post-exilic prophets (Haggai
1:5-11; 2:6-9).” [4] This selection begins as a plea for mercy
and salvation. It continues in expectation of God’s saving justice.
CCC: Ps
85:11 214; Ps 85:12 2795
-------------------------------------------
Gospel: Mark 3:13-19
Jesus went up the
mountain and summoned those whom he wanted
and they came to him.
He appointed Twelve, whom he also named Apostles,
that they might be with him
and he might send them forth to preach
and to have authority to drive out demons:
He appointed the Twelve:
Simon, whom he named Peter;
James, son of Zebedee,
and John the brother of James, whom he named Boanerges,
that is, sons of thunder;
Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew,
Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus;
Thaddeus, Simon the Cananean,
and Judas Iscariot who betrayed him.
-------------------------------------------
Commentary on Mk 3:13-19
The setting for this event is placed on a “mountain”
depicting the solemnity of the occasion, as is done in other places in St.
Mark’s Gospel (see also Mark
6:46; 9:2-8; 13:3). Having called certain
people to himself (unlike St. Matthew, in which the group is assumed to have
been known Matthew 10:1-15), Mark’s Gospel
now names the apostles. He also defines the faculties that Jesus gives them,
essentially giving them purpose: ”that they might be with him and he might
send them forth to preach and to have authority to drive out demons.”
CCC: Mk
3:13-19 551, 787; Mk
3:13-14 858; Mk
3:14-19 1577; Mk
3:14-15 765; Mk 3:15 1673; Mk 3:16 552
-------------------------------------------
Reflection:
If we take the time to look
at the statistics provided by various sources about religious affiliations
around the world, we see that those who identify as Christian is decreasing
steadily. In the United States, where
just a decade ago, Christianity was identified as the faith held by a majority
of its citizens, today the majority cites no affiliation – the “nones.” Those
of us who have not forgotten our family connection with Christ are reminded
today that we are called to take up the Lord’s mission and bring the family
back together.
Sacred Scripture describes
some of the complex ways in which Jesus reveals the love of God. First, we hear from the Letter to the Hebrews
why Christ’s coming was so necessary: that the old covenants were flawed and
the salvation of the people was incomplete.
We are told that, in order for the prophet’s testimony to be fulfilled,
a new covenant must be forged so that the forgiveness of God might be
realized. Jesus not only made the
promise that fulfilled Jeremiah’s oracle, he was also the sacrifice that sealed
it according to Mosaic Law.
Jesus knew his time among us
would be very limited. It was necessary, since the Lord himself was preordained
to be the sacrifice of atonement, that he must leave the treasury of his
teaching with persons of faith. He selected
the Twelve to accomplish this task. He
even selected his betrayer as part of this group of students, friends, and
heirs to his authority.
This event is of extreme
importance to us, since it is through the selection of the Twelve that the apostles
were consecrated to the great work that continues to this day, the propagation
of the faith, taking the Good News to the whole world. It was necessary for Jesus to do as he
did. There would be no other way the
faith could spread because God made his creation, endowing humanity with free
will. He created us in his own image,
not as a race of slaves, not forcing upon his cherished people faith and
adoration for himself. Instead, his Only
Begotten Son selected twelve very human disciples. He gave them the authority to cast out
demons, to refute the evil one who would bar the Kingdom of God on earth from
coming forth.
One in particular, Peter,
Jesus chose as the leader of this group. Peter, in his turn and when his
formation was completed, would be tested, fail, and be empowered with the Holy
Spirit. He would pass on his task and authority to his own successors. Since that time, the papacy has been handed
down. And with that transmission of
faith, the faith has been handed down to us, the adoption that makes us
co-heirs with the Twelve.
We pray that our own call
might be clearly heard, and that we might find the strength to express God’s
love in a way worthy of that call. We
thank God for this eloquent reminder that we too are called, and we too are
sent.
Pax
[1]
The picture used today is “The Last Supper” (detail) by Jacopo Bassano, c. 1546.
[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]
NAB footnote on Psalm 85.
No comments:
Post a Comment