 |
“St. Mary Crowned” (detail)
from The Ghent Altarpiece by Jan van Eyck, 1432 |
Readings for Friday of the
Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time [1]
Readings from the Jerusalem
Bible [2]
Readings and Commentary: [3]
Reading 1: Ruth 1:1, 3-6, 14b-16, 22
Once in the time of the
judges there was a famine in the land;
so a man from Bethlehem of
Judah
departed with his wife and
two sons
to reside on the plateau of
Moab.
Elimelech, the husband of
Naomi, died,
and she was left with her two
sons, who married Moabite women,
one named Orpah, the other
Ruth.
When they had lived there
about ten years,
both Mahlon and Chilion died
also,
and the woman was left with
neither her two sons nor her husband.
She then made ready to go
back from the plateau of Moab
because word reached her
there
that the LORD had visited his
people and given them food.
Orpah kissed her
mother-in-law good-bye, but Ruth stayed with her.
Naomi said, “See now!
Your sister-in-law has gone
back to her people and her god.
Go back after your
sister-in-law!”
But Ruth said, “Do not ask me
to abandon or forsake you!
For wherever you go, I will
go, wherever you lodge I will lodge,
your people shall be my
people, and your God my God.”
Thus it was that Naomi
returned
with the Moabite
daughter-in-law, Ruth,
who accompanied her back from
the plateau of Moab.
They arrived in Bethlehem at the
beginning of the barley harvest.
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Commentary on Ru 1:1, 3-6, 14b-16, 22
The Old Testament readings continue to trace God’s relationship
with the Hebrew people. We are given a selection from the Book of Ruth that
occurred around the same time as the Book of Judges (just concluded). These
verses from the beginning of the book establish the geography of the story. The
Bethlehem identified specifically (of Judah) distinguishes it from the
Bethlehem of Zebulun (Joshua
19:15). The Bethlehem spoken of in this passage is also the birthplace
of Jesus a thousand years in their future.
The loyalty of Ruth is also established in this passage as Ruth
commits to stay with her mother-in-law despite the hardships and the fact that
she is of a different faith. She commits herself to the God of Isaac and Jacob
(“and your God my God”).
-------------------------------------------
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 146:5-6ab, 6c-7, 8-9a, 9bc-10
R. (1b) Praise the Lord, my soul!
Blessed is he whose help is
the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the LORD,
his God,
Who made heaven and earth,
the sea and all that is in
them.
R. Praise the Lord, my
soul!
The LORD keeps faith forever,
secures justice for the
oppressed,
gives food to the hungry.
The LORD sets captives free.
R. Praise the Lord, my
soul!
The LORD gives sight to the
blind.
The LORD raises up those who
were bowed down;
The LORD loves the just.
The LORD protects strangers.
R. Praise the Lord, my
soul!
The fatherless and the widow
he sustains,
but the way of the wicked he
thwarts.
The LORD shall reign forever;
your God, O Zion, through all
generations. Alleluia.
R. Praise the Lord, my
soul!
-------------------------------------------
Commentary on Ps 146:5-6ab, 6c-7, 8-9a, 9bc-10
Psalm 146 is a hymn of
praise. The psalmist provides a litany of attributes showing how God provides
salvation. This psalm is often quoted, and the litany it contains is assigned
also to the Messiah who comes, fulfilling the Prophets and the Law. Used in
that sense the psalm itself is prophetic, establishing the divine relationship
between Christ and the God of Isaac and Jacob.
"The psalm is a vigorous
reaffirmation of traditions intimately connected with the temple. It proclaims
old truths to a new generation of God’s people who stand in need of them. In a
period of low morale, they are urged to rededicate themselves to the God who
has been their help in ages past, in fact to 'entrust themselves to a faithful
creator' (1 Pet 4:19)."
[4]
-------------------------------------------
Gospel: Matthew 22:34-40
When the Pharisees heard that
Jesus had silenced the Sadducees,
they gathered together, and
one of them,
a scholar of the law, tested
him by asking,
“Teacher, which commandment
in the law is the greatest?”
He said to him,
“You shall love the Lord,
your God, with all your heart,
with all your soul, and with
all your mind.
This is the greatest and the
first commandment.
The second is like it:
You shall love your neighbor
as yourself.
The whole law and the
prophets depend on these two commandments.”
-------------------------------------------
Commentary on Mt 22:34-40
The story of Jesus delivering the Great Commandment is the
fourth of the “Controversy Stories” in St. Matthew’s Gospel (stories in which
Jesus argues with the Jewish leadership). Jesus has just refuted those
Sadducees who did not believe in the resurrection (v. 23-33) and now is
challenged by the Pharisees. The question posed by the “scholar of the law”
(probably a scribe; see also Luke 10:25-28) “which commandment in the law is the greatest?”
is asked in a rabbinical sense, meaning which of the 613 distinct statutes was
considered greatest. Within this body of law, 248 of these precepts were
positive and 365 were prohibitions. In addition, these precepts were further
divided into “light” and “heavy.” This was a fairly typical exchange for a
rabbinical debate.
“’Test him’: the text has πειοαξων, a word that may
also be translated as ‘to tempt’ and ‘to submit to trial’. Matthew uses the
term six times altogether from one end of his Gospel to the other (4:1,3; 16:1; 19:3; 22:18; 22:35), and two things are significant about
this use. The first time the term appears the tempter is Satan himself, and
this fact lends to every other occasion a satanic whiff; and secondly, the
object of the tempting or testing in every case is Jesus himself.” [5]
In answering, Jesus quotes two texts of the law that now form
the foundation for a new morality in the Gospel. He first quotes Deuteronomy 6:5 “Therefore, you shall love the
Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your
strength.” This text forms part of the Shema, the Jewish profession of
faith. This first quote would not be surprising. What makes this exchange novel
and important is that Jesus adds the quote from Leviticus 19:18b “You shall love your neighbor
as yourself.” This juxtaposition of quotes makes them equally “heavy” and
there is no parallel In Jewish literature.
CCC: Mat 22:23-34 575; Mat
22:34-36 581; Mat
22:36 2055; Mat
22:37-40 2055; Mat
22:37 2083; Mat
22:40 1824
-------------------------------------------
Reflection:
The Great Commandment, as
Jesus tells us, provides a foundational morality by which we can evaluate all
of our thoughts and actions. We are given two absolutes with which we can
conduct our self-evaluation.
Let’s think of an example to
see how we might apply this foundational belief. Let’s say we are at work and
we have just completed a difficult task. As is customary, the entire team gets
together and celebrates that event. Your boss calls you up and congratulates
you specifically for your hard work and you notice that one of your co-workers
is obviously not thrilled with the attention you are getting (probably thinking
they worked as hard as you did).
In this situation how do we
live the Great Commandment? First, on the inside, we must hold our success up
to God. It was only through his gifts that we accomplish anything worthwhile.
If we do this sincerely, our attitude in success must necessarily be one of
humility. After all, it was not through our effort alone that this task was
accomplished and certainly not in our control to make it successful. In
addition to being constantly thankful to God, our praise at times of joy is the
hallmark of the Christian living the Great Commandment.
Next we must deal with our
disgruntled co-worker. We are called to “love our
neighbor as our self.” How do we do
that in this situation? If we are quick, we might ask to share the accolade in
the moment. Perhaps, in keeping with our humility before the Lord, we invite
that person to join us “up front” or at least acknowledge, in sincerity, that
what was done was a team effort, pointing out other members of the team.
Praising our neighbor is on the same level of need as praising God. Jesus made
it so with his pronouncement.
We see from this example how
difficult and complex living the Great Commandment can be. We must constantly
keep God (and Christ) in the fore as we go about our daily lives. When we
encounter others, the Lord invites us to see in them the God-given spirit they have
been given and pay them the same respect.
Love the Lord – that is so
hard for our selfish hearts. It is so easy to forget him completely and focus
only on our own petty needs and problems. Today our prayer must be that we find
in our hearts the love of God and are able to live that love, along with love
of neighbor, well and fully.
Pax
[1]
The picture is “St. Mary Crowned” (detail) from The Ghent Altarpiece by Jan van
Eyck, 1432.
[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]
Leslie C. Allen, Psalms 101–150 (Revised), vol. 21, Word Biblical Commentary
(Dallas: Word, Incorporated, 2002), 379.
[5]
Erasmo Leiva-Merikakis, Fire of Mercy Heart of the Word Volume III (Ignatius
Press, San Francisco, CA, © 2012), 576.
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