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| “Saint Lucy” by Domenico Beccafumi, 1521 |
Reading 1: Isaiah 48:17-19
Thus says the LORD, your
redeemer,
the Holy One of Israel
I, the LORD, your God,
teach you what is for your
good,
and lead you on the way you
should go.
If you would hearken to my
commandments,
your prosperity would be like
a river,
and your vindication like the
waves of the sea;
Your descendants would be
like the sand,
and those born of your stock
like its grains,
Their name never cut off
or blotted out from my
presence.
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Commentary on Is 48:17-19
This reading from the Book of
Isaiah (in Deutero-Isaiah) is part of what is known as the recapitulation of
the Hymns to the Lord Redeemer (Isaiah 40:12 – 48:22). [4]
In these verses we see the oracle predict God’s leadership of the faithful into
salvation (salvation that flows from and becomes an actual part of God’s act of
creation). Hearkening back to Abraham, whose descendants he promised would “be
like sand,” God promises to be the salvation of the faithful.
Isaiah proposes the words of a holy
covenant: If you follow the commandments of God, he will give you prosperity,
justification or forgiveness, and your line of descendants will be many and
always have God’s help.
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 1:1-2, 3, 4 and 6
R. (see John 8:12) Those who follow you, Lord, will
have the light of life.
Blessed the man who follows
not
the counsel of the wicked
Nor walks in the way of
sinners,
nor sits in the company of
the insolent,
But delights in the law of
the LORD
and meditates on his law day
and night.
R. Those who follow you,
Lord, will have the light of life.
He is like a tree
planted near running water,
That yields its fruit in due
season,
and whose leaves never fade.
Whatever he does, prospers.
R. Those who follow you,
Lord, will have the light of life.
Not so the wicked, not so;
they are like chaff which the
wind drives away.
For the LORD watches over the
way of the just,
but the way of the wicked
vanishes.
R. Those who follow you,
Lord, will have the light of life.
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Commentary on Ps 1:1-2, 3, 4 and 6
Psalm 1 serves as a preface to the
whole book of the psalms. The psalmist here exalts those who follow the Lord’s
commands, and reflects upon the blessings they will receive. As in Romans 6:19ff, this
selection emphasizes the contrast between the salvation of the just and the
punishment of the wicked.
This wisdom psalm begins by
extolling the virtue of those who follow the law. The focus is to look to God
for guidance, and not to trust only in the counsel of men. Those who reject the
law will be blown away like “chaff,” an image used in the Gospel as well (Matthew 3:12).
This portion of the psalm is later
echoed in Isaiah
48:17-19, like an overlapped formula of covenant. Blessed is the man
who “delights in the law day and night,” but “the way of the wicked vanishes.”
It also takes up the theme of following right paths and staying true to the
teachings of God: “Blessed the man who follows not the counsel of the wicked
nor walks in the way of sinners, nor sits in the company of the insolent, but
delights in the law of the Lord and meditates on his law day and night.”
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Gospel: Matthew 11:16-19
Jesus said to the crowds:
“To what shall I compare this
generation?
It is like children who sit
in marketplaces and call to one another,
‘We played the flute for you,
but you did not dance,
we sang a dirge but you did
not mourn.’
For John came neither eating
nor drinking, and they said,
‘He is possessed by a demon.’
The Son of Man came eating
and drinking and they said,
‘Look, he is a glutton and a
drunkard,
a friend of tax collectors
and sinners.’
But wisdom is vindicated by
her works.”
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Commentary on Mt 11:16-19
St. Matthew recalls the Lord’s
lament that many of the people he has come to save have behaved like children.
Jesus compares those he has encountered with the wicked in the psalms because
they do not follow the prophet, John the Baptist: “John came neither eating
nor drinking, and they said, ‘He is possessed by a demon.'” Nor do they
hear the words of the Messiah: “The Son of Man came eating and drinking and
they said, ‘Look, he is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors
and sinners.’" Then he implies the truth will become known, based upon
the impact of John the Baptist and Jesus on the world: “But wisdom is
vindicated by her works.”
The people of that time expected
teachers to play the roles they were assigned according to what was generally
accepted. St. John the Baptist and Jesus did not do that. As a prophet, St.
John was not respected but called “possessed.” And Jesus himself, though he
came as the salvation of the poor, is called “glutton and a drunkard” for
having reached out to “tax collectors and sinners."
While this passage is perhaps more
accurately translated in Luke 7:35 as “wisdom
is vindicated by all her children,” it is clear, in either case, that the
Lord expects future generations to see the salvific role of the Messiah and his
forerunner, St. John the Baptist.
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Reflection:
We can sense the Lord’s
frustration with the crowds that had been following him. It is made clear that they have their own
ideas about how the messiah will return.
They know from prophecy that Elijah must come, announcing the arrival of
the messiah, but, in spite of the facts that point to St. John the Baptist
meeting all the criteria, the people see him instead as eccentric at best and
at the worst, crazy.
Likewise, they expect the messiah
to come like King David of a previous age, summoning the military might of the
region, charismatically galvanizing the Jews into a military force that will
throw off the Roman yoke. Instead they
see this carpenter’s son who became a rabbi and now sits down with the worst
sort of people. He even ignores the rich and powerful who could play a role in
a Davidic uprising.
Ah, we feel for the Lord who
in his frustration with their lack of understanding says, “But wisdom is vindicated by her works.” In other words, he invites them to see what events
will flow from his actions, works of mercy and words of hope. Many of those present will not understand
what he is saying in Jesus’ life time.
In fact, we know that a fair number will probably be standing outside
the praetorium crying, “Crucify him!”
We shake our heads and feel
sorry for our Hebrew forebears. They
could not see the signs, and trusted instead to their own wisdom. But we must pause and ask ourselves, do we
not fall into the same trap? Are we not,
in our prayers, asking God to do what we want in the way we want it? The Jews of Jesus’ time were not necessarily
evil but rather they were not open to seeing God outside of the box they put
him in.
This, indeed, is the real
lesson we take from the Gospel today. We
must be open to God’s will and not be demanding that God operate according to
ours. We must, in our prayer, ask that
God open our eyes so that we can see how he comes to us, loving us as only he
can. Our prayer today is that God might
open our minds and hearts to see more clearly his fingerprints in our lives and
in doing so, understand how we can build his kingdom on earth.
Pax.
[1]
The picture is “Saint Lucy” by Domenico Beccafumi, 1521.
[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]
Jerome Biblical Commentary, Prentice Hall, Inc., ©
1968, 22:31-32, pp. 374-75.
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