 |
“Supper in the House of Simon Pharisee”
by Moretto da Brescia, 1550-54 |
Readings
for Thursday of the Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time [1]
Readings
from the Jerusalem Bible [2]
Readings and
Commentary:[3]
1
Corinthians 15:1-11
I am reminding
you, brothers and sisters,
of the Gospel I preached to you,
which you indeed received and in which you also stand.
Through it you are also being saved,
if you hold fast to the word I preached to you,
unless you believed in vain.
For I handed on to you as of first importance what I also received:
that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures;
that he was buried;
that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures;
that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve.
After that, he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at once,
most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.
After that he appeared to James,
then to all the Apostles.
Last of all, as to one born abnormally,
he appeared to me.
For I am the least of the Apostles,
not fit to be called an Apostle,
because I persecuted the Church of God.
But by the grace of God I am what I am,
and his grace to me has not been ineffective.
Indeed, I have toiled harder than all of them;
not I, however, but the grace of God that is with me.
Therefore, whether it be I or they,
so we preach and so you believed.
-------------------------------------------
Commentary on
1 Cor
15:1-11
St Paul delivers an apologia (a defense) on the basic tenet of the
faith: Christ died for our sins and following his death there was a physical
resurrection. He goes on to offer proofs that Jesus was raised from the dead by
giving what amounts to a chronology of his post-resurrection appearances, in
which he includes his own vision on the road to Damascus.
St. Paul concludes this selection as he professes his own witness,
marking himself as least among the apostles (because of his earlier role as
emissary of the Sanhedrin, persecutor of the Church). It is supposed that this
chapter is directed at refuting those who believe there was no physical
resurrection.
CCC: 1 Cor 15:3-5 186; 1 Cor
15:3-4 639, 652; 1 Cor
15:3 519, 601, 619, 624; 1 Cor
15:4-8 642; 1 Cor
15:4 627; 1 Cor
15:5 552, 641; 1 Cor
15:7-8 857; 1 Cor
15:8 659; 1
Cor 15:9 752
-------------------------------------------
Psalm 118:1b-2, 16ab-17, 28
R. (1) Give thanks to the Lord, for he is
good.
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
for his mercy endures forever.
Let the house of Israel say,
“His mercy endures forever.”
R. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.
“The right hand of the Lord is exalted;
the right hand of the Lord has struck with power.”
I shall not die, but live,
and declare the works of the Lord.
R. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.
You are my God, and I give thanks to you;
O my God, I extol you.
R. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
for his mercy endures forever.
Let the house of Israel say,
“His mercy endures forever.”
R. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.
“The right hand of the Lord is exalted;
the right hand of the Lord has struck with power.”
I shall not die, but live,
and declare the works of the Lord.
R. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.
You are my God, and I give thanks to you;
O my God, I extol you.
R. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.
-------------------------------------------
Commentary on
Ps
118:1b-2, 16ab-17, 28
Psalm 118 is a song of thanksgiving emphasizing the fidelity of
God. These strophes focus on God’s infinite mercy and his saving grace. All are
invited to give thanks for his saving hand.
-------------------------------------------
Luke 7:36-50
A certain
Pharisee invited Jesus to dine with him,
and he entered the Pharisee’s house and reclined at table.
Now there was a sinful woman in the city
who learned that he was at table in the house of the Pharisee.
Bringing an alabaster flask of ointment,
she stood behind him at his feet weeping
and began to bathe his feet with her tears.
Then she wiped them with her hair,
kissed them, and anointed them with the ointment.
When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this he said to himself,
“If this man were a prophet,
he would know who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him,
that she is a sinner.”
Jesus said to him in reply,
“Simon, I have something to say to you.”
“Tell me, teacher,” he said.
“Two people were in debt to a certain creditor;
one owed five hundred days’ wages and the other owed fifty.
Since they were unable to repay the debt, he forgave it for both.
Which of them will love him more?”
Simon said in reply,
“The one, I suppose, whose larger debt was forgiven.”
He said to him, “You have judged rightly.”
Then he turned to the woman and said to Simon,
“Do you see this woman?
When I entered your house, you did not give me water for my feet,
but she has bathed them with her tears
and wiped them with her hair.
You did not give me a kiss,
but she has not ceased kissing my feet since the time I entered.
You did not anoint my head with oil,
but she anointed my feet with ointment.
So I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven;
hence, she has shown great love.
But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little.”
He said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”
The others at table said to themselves,
“Who is this who even forgives sins?”
But he said to the woman,
“Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
-------------------------------------------
Commentary on
Lk
7:36-50
This passage from St. Luke’s Gospel gives us an excellent example
of the relation between forgiveness and love. Jesus uses the radical actions of
the sinful woman to demonstrate the extreme pardon the Lord will bestow on
those who love him. He contrasts this with the lukewarm acts of love
demonstrated by the Pharisee who should expect even less in return.
In the story, the strong moral point is made about the depth of
the love of God and its relation to all peoples, for none are free of sin. The
Pharisee clearly does not believe he is a sinful person and looks with disdain
on the woman who humbly washes the Lord’s feet with her tears and dries them
with her hair. The Lord tells the story of the two debtors to illustrate his
point that the magnitude of sin forgiven stimulates a corresponding level of
gratitude and love in return.
CCC: Lk 7:36 575, 588; Lk
7:37-38 2616; Lk
7:48 1441
-------------------------------------------
Reflection:
Who
do we suppose ourselves to be in the scene painted by St. Luke’s words about
the supper in the house of Simon the Pharisee?
I ask you to pause for a moment and picture this scene. Where are you among those in attendance?
Are
you taking the place of the “sinful woman who stands behind Jesus bathing his
feet with tears and wiping and anointing them?
Do you accept this role, the role of a slave? It was, after all a slave who performed these
actions in biblical times. If you were
in her place, you would have completely humbled yourself before the Lord. In doing so, you would have received his
forgiveness. But – what of the
others? What do Simon and his friends
think of you, prominent members of the community in which you live? You may have humbled yourself in front of
Jesus, but you humiliated yourself in front of the others. Can you accept this role?
Are
you taking the role of Simon who clearly respects Jesus as Rabbi? – Teacher, he
calls him. He has invited Jesus into his
home and in fact thrown a banquet in his honor.
In Simon’s place you might even think you have taken a more positive
stand for Jesus than the woman. That
banquet cost money – the food and wine; and not just for Jesus but the others
in attendance as well. Yet, what do you
receive from Jesus for your effort?
Thanks for the meal; appreciation for the hospitality and
reception? No, Jesus uses you in
contrast with the woman. He points out
your failures – you failed to offer him comfort, you failed to give him a kiss
in welcome. He reminds you that you are
a sinner as well with his story. Do you
want this role?
Do
you see yourself as one of the guests; invited to sit with this teacher, break
bread with him? Are you seated next to
him or further down the table? Ah, being
one of the guests is a safe place to be.
To sit at the table and feel embarrassment for Jesus who has this sinful
woman fawning over him. To sit and feel
the discomfort of Simon who for all his generosity receives only criticism from
Jesus. Did you come out of curiosity; to
see what you could get out of it? Did
you come for the free meal? Did you come
because you wanted to be associated with Jesus?
The
meal at the house of Simon becomes for us an analogy of our life of faith seen
in microcosm. When we consider the
dynamic of the banquet, we discover that there is no completely safe place to
be unless we do not come at all, in which case we have missed everything
including salvation itself. Today we ask
for the grace of Christ. We pray that we
can be humble without being humiliated and inviting without being pompous or
condescending and that we can be grateful guests at the Lord’s Table,
participating in the meal he offers and invited to the heavenly banquet that
follows.
Pax
[1]
The picture used is “Supper in the House of Simon Pharisee” by Moretto da
Brescia, 1550-54.
[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.
No comments:
Post a Comment