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“The Triumph of David”
by Nicolas Poussin, 1627-30 |
Readings for Tuesday of the Third Week in Ordinary Time [1]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible [2]
Readings and Commentary:
[3]
2 Samuel 6:12b-15, 17-19
David went to bring up the ark
of God from the house of Obed-edom
into the City of David amid festivities.
As soon as the bearers of the
ark of the Lord had advanced six steps,
he sacrificed an ox and a
fatling.
Then David, girt with a linen
apron,
came dancing before the Lord
with abandon,
as he and all the house of
Israel were bringing up the ark of the Lord
with shouts of joy and to the
sound of the horn.
The ark of the Lord was brought
in and set in its place
within the tent David had
pitched for it.
Then David offered burnt
offerings and peace offerings before the Lord.
When he finished making these
offerings,
he blessed the people in the
name of the Lord of hosts.
He then distributed among all
the people,
to each man and each woman in
the entire multitude of Israel,
a loaf of bread, a cut of roast
meat, and a raisin cake.
With this, all the people left
for their homes.
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Commentary on 2 Sm 6:12b-15, 17-19
From a historical
perspective, King David has now defeated all his rivals and enemies. The civil
war between his forces and those of Saul is over and the Philistines are
finally defeated. Now he assembles the people of Israel and brings the Ark of
the Covenant to celebrate with the people the unity and peace to which God has
led them.
"The [Church] Fathers
have seen the ark as a figure of the Blessed Virgin; so the transfer of the ark
is a symbol of Mary’s journey to visit her relative Elizabeth (cf. Luke
1:39-45), and
David’s dance is a figure of the Baptist, who leaps with joy in the womb of his
mother when Mary arrives with Jesus in her womb."[4]
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Psalm 24:7, 8, 9, 10
R. (8) Who is this king
of glory? It is the Lord!
Lift up, O gates, your lintels;
reach up, you ancient portals,
that the king of glory may come in!
R. Who is this king of
glory? It is the Lord!
Who is this king of glory?
The Lord, strong and mighty,
the Lord, mighty in battle.
R. Who is this king of
glory? It is the Lord!
Lift up, O gates, your lintels;
reach up, you ancient portals,
that the king of glory may come in!
R. Who is this king of
glory? It is the Lord!
Who is this king of glory?
The Lord of hosts; he is the king of glory.
R. Who is this king of
glory? It is the Lord!
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Commentary on Ps 24:7, 8, 9, 10
In Psalm 24 we hear a
longing for the coming of the Lord to his people. The psalmist gives us the
image of the inanimate gates of the new Jerusalem, God’s heavenly kingdom,
welcoming the Lord of Hosts. For Christians, we have God in the person of Jesus
coming into the temple. This second section of the song praises God as
the true King of the people who leads them to victory over their foes. The song
was sung as part of a liturgical procession recalling the transfer of the Ark
of the Covenant to the temple in Jerusalem. Again, for Christians the ark
is analogous to the Blessed Virgin, the new ark who carries the savior of the
world.
CCC: Ps 24:7-10 559; Ps 24:8-10 269; Ps 24:9-10 2628
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Mark 3:31-35
The mother of Jesus and his brothers arrived at the house.
Standing outside, they sent word to Jesus and called him.
A crowd seated around him told him,
“Your mother and your brothers and your sisters
are outside asking for you.”
But he said to them in reply,
“Who are my mother and my brothers?”
And looking around at those seated in the circle he said,
“Here are my mother and my brothers.
For whoever does the will of God
is my brother and sister and mother.”
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Commentary
on Mk
3:31-35
This passage,
while affirming our own adoption as brothers and sisters in Christ, does cause
some confusion among those who take Scripture at face value without
understanding the culture of the time. The first part of this reading from St.
Mark’s Gospel is somewhat controversial in that many of the Protestant and
Evangelical apologists take the term “and his brothers” to mean his familial or
biological brothers. The Church teaches that Mary bore only one child – Jesus.
Responding to this Scripture, Catholic Scripture scholars teach that “in
Semitic usage, the terms 'brother,' 'sister' are applied not only to children
of the same parents, but to nephews, nieces, cousins, half-brothers, and
half-sisters; cf. Genesis 14:16; Genesis 29:15; Leviticus 10:4.” [5]
Another
possible explanation, although it comes from an apocryphal source from the
second or third centuries A.D., is that the Lord’s foster father, St. Joseph,
had been previously married (and widowed). According to “The History of Joseph
the Carpenter”
from this first marriage, “[2.]… he begot for himself sons and daughters,
four sons, namely, and two daughters. Now these are their names— Judas, Justus,
James, and Simon. The names of the two daughters were Assia and Lydia.” These
would have been the half-brothers and sisters of the Lord.
Because
of this, when Mary comes looking for Jesus in this selection, she is, as would
be expected, joined by members of the extended family. Jesus extends the family
even further though his adoption of those “seated in the circle” who listen to
his word and believe, telling those gathered that “whoever does the will of
God is my brother and sister and mother.”
CCC: Mk 3:31-35 500
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Reflection:
“[W]hoever does the will of God is my
brother and sister and mother.”
With
these words the Lord, who has called us to follow him, pronounces our adoption
as long as we follow the will of God.
But that is the hard part isn’t it!
Just exactly what is the will of God for us and how do we know if we are
doing it?
The
question posed is one of the most difficult ones we will ever be forced to
answer for ourselves. In another part of
Holy Scripture Jesus is quoted as saying “No
one can know the Father except the Son and to whomever the Son chooses to
reveal Him.” (Matthew
11:27) So ultimately the only real way we can hope
to understand if we are doing God’s will is if Jesus himself leads us. OK, so how do we know if we are truly
following Jesus? There is a test for that as well. His greatest commandment provides the key.
Christ
told the scribes, when asked which of God’s Commandments is the greatest, that
the first was “'Hear O Israel! The Lord
our God is Lord alone! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,
with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.' The second
is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' “(Mark 12:29-31)
This
is our litmus test. When we want to make
sure that we are doing “God’s will” and not our own (even unconsciously or
rationalized), we need to ask ourselves just two short questions. First, am I following the course of action
that expresses God’s love for those involved?
This is not an easy question in some cases because God does have rules
and even though those rules were meant to be applied with mercy, they are none
the less, straightforward. God’s law,
like any good parent’s rules, are meant to keep his children safe from
harm. That means the basic law, the
Decalogue or the Ten Commandments, are applied without any varnish. Those laws have been interpreted and applied
by the teaching magisterium of the Church, so once we’re pretty sure God’s law
is satisfied with our actions, we make sure that we are also doing as Church law
requires. (Oh, and make sure that it is Church law not a local tradition that
is being applied.)
Having
done this diligent reflection on our purpose and intent, insuring it is for
God’s benefit that we do what we do, we must ask ourselves the second question,
again with no rationalization or spin, as they call it these days. Am I doing this out of love for those
involved? Just so we are all on the same
page, love does not always mean making the other person happy. Sometimes loving someone can be the most
difficult thing for one person to do for another. Look at Christ’s example: he loved us to his
death. His example is our
benchmark. The old motto “WWJD” or “What
would Jesus do?” is not enough. Better
is, how would Jesus love?
If
we prayerfully take the time to ask these two questions will we always be doing
God’s will? Probably not – our human
nature can trick us into believing that what we do is in accordance with God’s
will, but in the darkest recesses of our minds there is still selfishness,
greed, envy, and all of the ignoble impulses that make up a human being. But, we will be doing better than those who
do not ask those questions at all but instead give full reign to those human
feelings.
Our
prayer today is an obvious one. Today we
pray that God gives us the strength and understanding to do his will. Our desire is to become what Jesus has
offered when he said; “whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister
and mother.” We depend on the Holy
Spirit to guide us as we attempt to do so.
Pax
[1]
The picture used “The Triumph of David” by Nicolas Poussin, 1627-30.
[2]
S.S. Commemoratio[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.
[4]
The Navarre Bible: “Joshua-Kings,” Scepter Publishers, Princeton, NJ, © 2003, p.
333.
[5]
From the reference note on Mark 6; 3 in the NAB.
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