 |
“St. Alphonsus Liguori,”
artist and date unknown |
Readings for Friday of the
Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time [1]
Readings from the Jerusalem
Bible [2]
Readings and Commentary:[3]
Reading 1: Leviticus 23:1, 4-11, 15-16, 27, 34b-37
The LORD said to Moses,
"These are the festivals
of the LORD which you shall celebrate
at their proper time with a
sacred assembly.
The Passover of the LORD
falls on the fourteenth day of the first month,
at the evening twilight.
The fifteenth day of this
month is the LORD's feast of Unleavened Bread.
For seven days you shall eat
unleavened bread.
On the first of these days
you shall hold a sacred assembly
and do no sort of work.
On each of the seven days you
shall offer an oblation to the LORD.
Then on the seventh day you
shall again hold a sacred assembly
and do no sort of work."
The LORD said to Moses,
"Speak to the children of Israel and tell them:
When you come into the land
which I am giving you,
and reap your harvest,
you shall bring a sheaf of
the first fruits of your harvest
to the priest, who shall wave
the sheaf before the LORD
that it may be acceptable for
you.
On the day after the sabbath
the priest shall do this.
"Beginning with the day
after the sabbath,
the day on which you bring
the wave-offering sheaf,
you shall count seven full
weeks,
and then on the day after the
seventh week, the fiftieth day,
you shall present the new
cereal offering to the LORD.
"The tenth of this
seventh month is the Day of Atonement,
when you shall hold a sacred
assembly and mortify yourselves
and offer an oblation to the
LORD.
"The fifteenth day of
this seventh month is the LORD's feast of Booths,
which shall continue for
seven days.
On the first day there shall
be a sacred assembly,
and you shall do no sort of
work.
For seven days you shall
offer an oblation to the LORD,
and on the eighth day you
shall again hold a sacred assembly
and offer an oblation to the
LORD.
On that solemn closing you
shall do no sort of work.
"These, therefore, are
the festivals of the LORD
on which you shall proclaim a
sacred assembly,
and offer as an oblation to
the LORD burnt offerings and cereal offerings,
sacrifices and libations, as
prescribed for each day."
-------------------------------------------
Commentary on Lv 23:1, 4-11, 15-16, 27, 34b-37
This reading from
the Book of Leviticus comes from the section identified as “Code of Legal
Holiness.” It is a calendar of celebrations paralleled by another calendar from
the priestly tradition, in Numbers 28–29. Non-priestly backgrounds of festal and holy observances are
found in Exodus 23:10–17; 34:18–24 and Deuteronomy 16:1–17. [4] The prescriptions of celebrations
mentioned recall the various saving works of God either generally through his
act of creation and the gift of life, or actively through intervention on
behalf of the faithful.
"It deals
first with the sabbath, which becomes the paradigm for all the other feasts,
especially as far as rest is concerned. Such importance was given to what could
or could not be done on the sabbath that all sorts of absurd and formalistic
exaggerations developed. More than once Jesus criticized the severe
interpretations devised by the scribes
̶ a complicated and intolerable
casuistry (cf. Matthew 15:1-9; 23:41; Acts 15:10)." [5]
-------------------------------------------
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 81:3-4, 5-6, 10-11ab
R.(2a) Sing with joy to God our help.
Take up a melody, and sound
the timbrel,
the pleasant harp and the
lyre.
Blow the trumpet at the new
moon,
at the full moon, on our
solemn feast.
R. Sing with joy to God
our help.
For it is a statute in
Israel,
an ordinance of the God of
Jacob,
Who made it a decree for
Joseph
when he came forth from the
land of Egypt.
R. Sing with joy to God
our help.
There shall be no strange god
among you
nor shall you worship any
alien god.
I, the LORD, am your God
who led you forth from the
land of Egypt.
R. Sing with joy to God
our help.
-------------------------------------------
Commentary on Ps 81:3-4, 5-6, 10-11ab
Psalm 81 is a
song of thanksgiving. These strophes celebrate the gift of the Law of Moses and
its prescriptions, recalling also the salvation brought about by God.
-------------------------------------------
Gospel: Matthew 13:54-58
Jesus came to his native
place and taught the people in their synagogue.
They were astonished and
said,
"Where did this man get
such wisdom and mighty deeds?
Is he not the carpenter's
son?
Is not his mother named Mary
and his brothers James,
Joseph, Simon, and Judas?
Are not his sisters all with
us?
Where did this man get all
this?"
And they took offense at him.
But Jesus said to them,
"A prophet is not
without honor except in his native place
and in his own house."
And he did not work many
mighty deeds there
because of their lack of
faith.
-------------------------------------------
Commentary on Mt 13:54-58
This story from Matthew’s Gospel focuses on the people most
familiar with Jesus, the boy growing up among them. They are seeking the “Royal
Messiah,” one coming with great power and majesty, and are disappointed because
of the Lord’s familiar and humble beginnings. Matthew’s story tells us that
because of their lack of faith, the Lord did not perform any signs in their
midst, ending the passage with the often quoted “A prophet is not without honor
except in his native place and in his own house." (See also John
1:11; those who were overly familiar with
Jesus could not place their faith in him.)
CCC:
Mt 13:55 495,
500
-------------------------------------------
Reflection:
We have heard the lesson from
today’s Gospel many times before in Scripture.
Perhaps the time it was most clearly stated was when Elijah was told to
look for God as he stood on the mountain (1 Kings 19: 9-12). God does not come in the way
or form we expect.
One of the most surprising
things we learn from not only this Gospel story
̶ the lesson behind it ̶ is
that when we fully expect God to manifest his presence in a certain way we
completely miss him as he presents himself genuinely. In this respect, the Gospel story is a
perfect example. Jesus comes to his home
town. He has just finished the Sermon on
the Mount and has fed the multitudes. If
ever there were fingerprints of God left stunningly on the face of the earth,
what the Lord did in the multiplication of the loaves was clearly that
evidence. Yet, the people of Nazareth
don’t see the Messiah who has come to save the world. They were expecting a person of great power to
raise an army, throw off the yoke of the Roman occupiers, and reestablish a
Davidic kingdom.
To us it seems amazing that
they could not recognize Christ for who he was.
But we do the same thing. We miss
God’s involvement in our lives. We are
so intent on him working some miracle, like helping win the lottery or
transforming a bad situation into one we can easily deal with, that we miss his
subtle hand gently pushing here and prodding there. It is not until much later, usually as we
meditate upon our lives, that we can clearly see his purpose or involvement.
It is like the metal worker
who, in order to make some useful tool, must first destroy the impurities by
melting it, taking away its natural form in the smelting furnace, so that it
can be molded into its final useful form.
It’s like the potter who first must pound the clay to remove any air
pockets that might later create unwanted flaws in the vase to be created. Taken apart from the final act of creation,
such actions cannot be understood except as part of the creative process.
This is where our faith must
carry us. Unlike the neighbors of Jesus,
we must be faith-filled and patient so the Lord might work his signs through
us.
Pax
[1]
The picture is “St. Alphonsus Liguori,” artist and date unknown.
[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 Leviticus 23:1ff.
[5]
The Navarre Bible: “Pentateuch” Scepter Publishers, Princeton, NJ, © 2003, p.
495.
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