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“St. Francis de Sales”
Artist and date are unknown |
Readings for Wednesday of the
Third Week in Ordinary Time [1]
Readings from the Jerusalem
Bible [2]
Readings and Commentary: [3]
Reading 1: 2 Samuel 7:4-17
That night the LORD spoke to
Nathan and said:
“Go, tell my servant David,
‘Thus says the LORD:
Should you build me a house
to dwell in?
I have not dwelt in a house
from the day on which I led
the children of Israel
out of Egypt to the present,
but I have been going about
in a tent under cloth.
In all my wanderings
everywhere among the children of Israel,
did I ever utter a word to
any one of the judges
whom I charged to tend my
people Israel,
to ask:
Why have you not built me a
house of cedar?’
“Now then, speak thus to my
servant David,
‘The LORD of hosts has this
to say:
It was I who took you from
the pasture
and from the care of the
flock
to be commander of my people Israel.
I have been with you wherever
you went,
and I have destroyed all your
enemies before you.
And I will make you famous
like the great ones of the earth.
I will fix a place for my
people Israel;
I will plant them so that
they may dwell in their place
without further disturbance.
Neither shall the wicked
continue to afflict them as they did of old,
since the time I first
appointed judges over my people Israel.
I will give you rest from all
your enemies.
The LORD also reveals to you
that he will establish a house for you.
And when your time comes and
you rest with your ancestors,
I will raise up your heir
after you, sprung from your loins,
and I will make his Kingdom
firm.
It is he who shall build a
house for my name.
And I will make his royal
throne firm forever.
I will be a father to him,
and he shall be a son to me.
And if he does wrong,
I will correct him with the
rod of men
and with human chastisements;
but I will not withdraw my
favor from him
as I withdrew it from your
predecessor Saul,
whom I removed from my
presence.
Your house and your kingdom
shall endure forever before me;
your throne shall stand firm
forever.’”
Nathan reported all these
words and this entire vision to David.
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Commentary on 2 Sm 7:4-17
Following King David’s final battles, when the now-united kingdom
was at peace, David consulted Nathan “the prophet.” It is clear that the
king wishes to build a permanent structure to house the Ark of the Covenant.
Nathan’s first answer is: “Whatever is in your heart, go and do, for the
LORD is with you.” (2
Samuel 7:3) But this selection tells the story of his vision that evening.
In addition to providing reassurance to David, the vision is
recalled again, in poetic form in the strophes of Psalm 89:4-5, 27-28,
29-30 (below). It is the basis for the Jewish expectation of the
Messiah, a son of David. The prophecy was fulfilled in a transcendent way by
Jesus.
CCC: 2 Sm 7 709; 2 Sm 7:14 238,
441
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 89:4-5, 27-28, 29-30
R. (29a) For ever I will maintain my love for my
servant.
“I have made a covenant with
my chosen one;
I have sworn to David my
servant:
I will make your dynasty
stand forever
and establish your throne
through all ages.”
R. For ever I will
maintain my love for my servant.
“He shall cry to me, ‘You are
my father,
my God, the Rock that brings
me victory!’
I myself make him firstborn,
Most High over the kings of
the earth.”
R. For ever I will
maintain my love for my servant.
“Forever I will maintain my
love for him;
my covenant with him stands
firm.
I will establish his dynasty
forever,
his throne as the days of the
heavens.”
R. For ever I will
maintain my love for my servant.
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Commentary on Ps 89:4-5, 27-28, 29-30
Psalm 89 is a communal lament sung after the defeat of the Davidic
king. It calls into question God’s promise made in the strophes cited in 2 Samuel 7:4ff wherein
God promised that David’s throne was to stand forever. The community asks God
to remember his promise.
CCC: Ps 89 709
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Gospel: Mark 4:1-20
On another occasion, Jesus
began to teach by the sea.
A very large crowd gathered
around him
so that he got into a boat on
the sea and sat down.
And the whole crowd was
beside the sea on land.
And he taught them at length
in parables,
and in the course of his
instruction he said to them,
“Hear this! A sower went out
to sow.
And as he sowed, some seed
fell on the path,
and the birds came and ate it
up.
Other seed fell on rocky
ground where it had little soil.
It sprang up at once because
the soil was not deep.
And when the sun rose, it was
scorched and it withered for lack of roots.
Some seed fell among thorns,
and the thorns grew up and choked it
and it produced no grain.
And some seed fell on rich
soil and produced fruit.
It came up and grew and
yielded thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.”
He added, “Whoever has ears
to hear ought to hear.”
And when he was alone,
those present along with the
Twelve
questioned him about the
parables.
He answered them,
“The mystery of the Kingdom of God has been granted to you.
But to those outside
everything comes in parables, so that
they may look and see but not
perceive,
and hear and listen but not
understand,
in order that they may not be
converted and be forgiven.”
Jesus said to them, “Do you
not understand this parable?
Then how will you understand
any of the parables?
The sower sows the word.
These are the ones on the
path where the word is sown.
As soon as they hear, Satan
comes at once
and takes away the word sown
in them.
And these are the ones sown
on rocky ground who,
when they hear the word,
receive it at once with joy.
But they have no roots; they
last only for a time.
Then when tribulation or
persecution comes because of the word,
they quickly fall away.
Those sown among thorns are
another sort.
They are the people who hear
the word,
but worldly anxiety, the lure
of riches,
and the craving for other
things intrude and choke the word,
and it bears no fruit.
But those sown on rich soil
are the ones who hear the word and accept it
and bear fruit thirty and
sixty and a hundredfold.”
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Commentary on Mark 4:1-20
St. Mark’s Gospel begins a section of teachings on the Kingdom of
God through parables. We note that Jesus is teaching from a boat, which would
provide a natural amphitheater with the ground sloping to the shore. Here the
Lord presents the parable of the “Sower.” As in St. Matthew’s Gospel (Matthew 13:1-18) he
follows the unvarnished parable with a deeper explanation to the disciples.
In the Parable of the Sower from Mark’s Gospel, Jesus uses the
rich analogy of the seed (of faith given in baptism) to show the various
courses of faith in human endeavor. Because this selection gives not only the
parable, but the Lord’s explanation of its meaning, the only historical note we
will make is that, at that point in history in that region, when planting a
field, the seed was sown first and then the field was plowed.
CCC: Mk 4:4-7 2707; Mk 4:11 546; Mk 4:15-19 2707
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Reflection:
“[T]o those outside everything comes in parables.”
When Jesus says these words
to the disciples, he does so just before he has one of those wonderful teaching
sessions with them. We envision them
sitting around an open fire later that evening when the crowds have faded away
and they finally have time to be alone. St. Mark’s portrait of the disciples makes them very
human for us. They don’t instantly grasp
everything the Lord tells them, and in this way we, who are also very human,
get the benefit of the Lord’s more intimate contact with them.
What catches our eye today is
the statement with which this reflection began: “to those outside everything comes in parables.” Who are those “outside” and what is meant by
the statement “everything comes in
parables?”
There is the quote in the
Gospel immediately following this phrase that gives us an idea about whom the
Lord is speaking when he says “those
outside:” “[T]hey may look and see
but not perceive, and hear and listen but not understand, in order that they
may not be converted and be forgiven.”
The Lord is quoting part of the Old Testament. Here are the words of Isaiah: “And he replied: Go and say to this people:
Listen carefully, but you shall not understand! Look intently, but you shall
know nothing!” (Isaiah 6:9ff) If we take
the time to look at this particular passage we note that just before it is the
verse remembered in song: “Then I heard
the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?’ ‘Here I
am,’ I said; ‘send me!’"
We must gather from the
context of what Jesus is saying that those on the “outside” are those who will not or cannot listen to the promise, to
the offer of salvation. As difficult as
it is for us to understand, there are those who cannot understand that
God’s love is so intense that he gave us His Only Son so that we might be
saved. Instead, as they look at the
proofs of that very promise, all they see is the surface, as a person looking
at a lake on a sunny day. They see only
a reflection of the sky above and perhaps a piece of the shore with its trees
and rocks. They cannot see into the
depths and to the wonders of God’s creation that lie beneath the surface.
When we encounter people like
these, on the “outside,” we
frequently think of them as having heard and rejected the invitation. We generally think they do not want to
embrace the Son of God because they would have to turn from the lives they lead
and follow a more difficult and disciplined path. We must revise our thoughts, mustn’t we? They
do not understand or cannot understand the meaning of what they see; “everything comes in parables.”
Today we thank God that he
has provided us with a faith that allows us to see the promise and
understand. Today we feel, as the disciples
did, sitting by the fire with the Lord, that there is an immense job for us to
do, reaching out to the world so that they might finally see, understand, and
find salvation in Christ.
Pax
[1]
S.S. Commemoratio[2]
The picture is “St. Francis de Sales” Artist and date are unknown.
[3]
The readings are taken from the New American Bible, except for 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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