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“St Francis of Assisi”
by Jusepe de Ribera, 1643 |
Readings for Saturday of the
Twenty-sixth Week in Ordinary Time [1]
Readings from the Jerusalem
Bible [2]
Readings and
Commentary: [3]
Reading 1: Baruch 4:5-12, 27-29
Fear not, my people!
Remember, Israel,
You were sold to the nations
not for your destruction;
It was because you angered
God
that you were handed over to
your foes.
For you provoked your Maker
with sacrifices to demons, to
no-gods;
You forsook the Eternal God
who nourished you,
and you grieved Jerusalem who fostered
you.
She indeed saw coming upon
you
the anger of God; and she
said:
“Hear, you neighbors of Zion!
God has brought great
mourning upon me,
For I have seen the captivity
that the Eternal God has
brought
upon my sons and daughters.
With joy I fostered them;
but with mourning and lament
I let them go.
Let no one gloat over me, a
widow,
bereft of many:
For the sins of my children I
am left desolate,
because they turned from the
law of God.
Fear not, my children; call
out to God!
He who brought this upon you
will remember you.
As your hearts have been
disposed to stray from God,
turn now ten times the more
to seek him;
For he who has brought
disaster upon you
will, in saving you, bring
you back enduring joy.”
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Commentary on Bar 4:5-12, 27-29
This passage
marks a change in the Book of Baruch from the lessons taught to the people
through their exile to a representation of Jerusalem. In his first prophetic
discourse, the holy city is given voice as it laments the sin of the people who
have turned away from God and will be carried away as a punishment. She
(Jerusalem) cries to the returnees to come back to the Lord who is their
salvation. God's mercy is expressed through the prophet, reminiscent
of last part of the book of Isaiah (cf. Isaiah 60:1-4; 63:7-9; 66:10-11) and some of Jeremiah's oracles (cf. Jeremiah 30:18-22). The passage is both a song of consolation and an
exhortation to turn to the Lord. [4]
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm
69:33-35, 36-37
R. (34) The Lord listens to the poor.
“See, you lowly ones, and be
glad;
you who seek God, may your
hearts revive!
For the LORD hears the poor,
and his own who are in bonds
he spurns not.
Let the heavens and the earth
praise him,
the seas and whatever moves
in them!”
R. The Lord listens to the poor
For God will save Zion
and rebuild the cities of Judah.
They shall dwell in the land
and own it,
and the descendants of his
servants shall inherit it,
and those who love his name
shall inhabit it.
R. The Lord listens to the poor.
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Commentary on Ps 69:33-35, 36-37
As if responding
to the cry of Zion (Jerusalem) lamenting the sins of her people, the singer of
this passage from Psalm 69 pleads for salvation and hope, that the Lord will
provide help for those faithful to him.
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Gospel: Luke
10:17-24
The seventy-two disciples
returned rejoicing and said to Jesus,
“Lord, even the demons are
subject to us because of your name.”
Jesus said, “I have observed
Satan fall like lightning from the sky.
Behold, I have given you the
power
‘to tread upon serpents’ and
scorpions
and upon the full force of
the enemy
and nothing will harm you.
Nevertheless, do not rejoice
because the spirits are subject to you,
but rejoice because your
names are written in heaven.”
At that very moment he
rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said,
“I give you praise, Father,
Lord of heaven and earth,
for although you have hidden
these things
from the wise and the learned
you have revealed them to the
childlike.
Yes, Father, such has been
your gracious will.
All things have been handed
over to me by my Father.
No one knows who the Son is
except the Father,
and who the Father is except
the Son
and anyone to whom the Son
wishes to reveal him.”
Turning to the disciples in
private he said,
“Blessed are the eyes that
see what you see.
For I say to you,
many prophets and kings
desired to see what you see,
but did not see it,
and to hear what you hear,
but did not hear it.”
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Commentary on Lk 10:17-24
The return of the seventy (two) gives rise to the prayer of Jesus
(expanding Mark
6:30), who turns the victory of the disciples into a means to glorify
the Father. The Lord gives thanks that God has seen fit to reveal his identity,
and pass on his power to these disciples of his. Jesus tells them of the
positive effect of their mission saying: “I have observed Satan fall like
lightning from the sky.” This is reminiscent of Isaiah 14:12; the
evil one is defeated.
The thought is concluded: “do not rejoice because the spirits
are subject to you, but rejoice because your names are written in heaven.”
This warning is a caution against becoming fixed on external signs, but exhorts
the Christian to look to the positive effect on the spirit (cf. 1 Corinthians 12).
The Gospel follows this with Jesus’ hymn of praise, also found in Matthew 11:25-27, and
concludes the passage by telling the disciples that they are given a privilege
beyond prophets and kings (see also Matthew 13:16-17). They are
seeing God’s plan fulfilled in Jesus.
CCC: Lk 10:17-20 787; Lk 10:21-23 2603; Lk 10:21 1083
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Reflection:
The Gospel tells us the hard
part of God’s plan is already done! The
Lord has come, fulfilling all that was written in the Law and the
Prophets. He has defeated the evil one: “I have observed Satan fall
like lightning from the sky.” (Note –
that’s past tense) Death and sin have been conquered and the gates of heaven
flung open. Through the apostles, led by
St. Peter, the authority of the Lord is passed to us. All we are asked to do is wield that
authority in Jesus’ name.
Ok, so it’s not that
simple. Even though the authority was
given, not all of us have accepted the fact that we can cast the defeated enemy
down. We are not confident that our spiritual
strength is sufficient to overcome the effects of Satan (even though beaten) in
the world. But all is not lost; we can
rise to the challenge. It is within our grasp to do so.
We submit that it is like a
child who is learning to ride a bike. As
long as the child is sure the parent is there beside them holding them steady,
they are fine. But as soon as they look
back and see that mom or dad’s hand is no longer on the bike holding them up,
they fall. We need to be confident,
confident that even though invisible, the hand of the Holy Spirit is there
holding us up. We need to recall that
the Lord has assigned heavenly messengers to keep us safe, giving us God’s own
armor against evil. Our continued conversation with God in prayer helps us in
this regard, constantly reminding us of his presence.
Today we pray for
confidence. We ask God to give us
strength to do his will and the wisdom of the disciples, who saw and heard what
the ancients did not, and recognize Jesus as Lord.
Pax
[1]
The picture used is “St Francis of Assisi” by Jusepe de Ribera, 1643.
[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]
The Navarre Bible: “Major Prophets” (Scepter Publishers, Princeton, NJ, © 2002),
574.
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