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| “Jews in the Desert” by Tintoretto, 1592-94 |
Readings for Thursday of the Sixteenth Week
in Ordinary Time [1]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible [2]
Readings and Commentary: [3]
Reading 1: Jeremiah
2:1-3, 7-8, 12-13
This word of the Lord came to me:
Go, cry out this message for Jerusalem to hear!
I remember the devotion of your youth,
how you loved me as a bride,
Following me in the desert,
in a land unsown.
Sacred to the Lord was Israel,
the first fruits of his harvest;
Should any presume to partake of them,
evil would befall them, says the Lord.
When I brought you into the garden land
to eat its goodly fruits,
You entered and defiled my land,
you made my heritage loathsome.
The priests asked not,
“Where is the Lord?”
Those who dealt with the law knew me not:
the shepherds rebelled against me.
The prophets prophesied by Baal,
and went after useless idols.
Be amazed at this, O heavens,
and shudder with sheer horror, says the Lord.
Two evils have my people done:
they have forsaken me, the source of living
waters;
They have dug themselves cisterns,
broken cisterns, that hold no water.
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Commentary on Jer 2:1-3, 7-8, 12-13
The oracle of Jeremiah recalls the how the chosen people were
saved. “Following me in the desert” is a reference to the exodus and
subsequent sojourn by the Hebrews in the desert as they fled Egypt. But once
they arrived in the land promised by God through Moses, they turned away from
God, even adopting the pagan practices of the indigenous peoples (“The
prophets prophesied by Baal”).
This part of the oracle concludes by saying the people have
rejected the living water that is God’s favor (“they have forsaken me, the
source of living waters”), and they have turned to false gods (“They
have dug themselves cisterns, broken cisterns, that hold no water”).
CCC: Jer 2-3 1611; Jer
2 762; Jer
2:13 2561
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Responsorial
Psalm: Psalm 36:6-7ab, 8-9, 10-11
R. (10a) With you is
the fountain of life, O Lord.
O Lord, your mercy
reaches to heaven;
your faithfulness, to
the clouds.
Your justice is like
the mountains of God;
your judgments, like
the mighty deep.
R. With you is the fountain of life, O Lord.
How precious is your
mercy, O God!
The children of men
take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
They have their fill
of the prime gifts of your house;
from your delightful
stream you give them to drink.
R. With you is the fountain of life, O Lord.
For with you is the
fountain of life,
and in your light we
see light.
Keep up your mercy
toward your friends,
your just defense of
the upright of heart.
R. With you is the fountain of life, O Lord.
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Commentary on Ps 36:6-7ab, 8-9, 10-11
Psalm
36 is of mixed genre, having elements of wisdom and lament. In these strophes
we hear the psalmist thanking God for his infinite mercy. The metaphor of God
as the source of living water is captured in the second and third strophes
supporting Jeremiah’s oracle in Jeremiah 2:1-3, 7-8, 12-13.
-------------------------------------------
Gospel: Matthew 13:10-17
The disciples approached Jesus
and said,
"Why do you speak to the
crowd in parables?"
He said to them in reply,
"Because knowledge of the
mysteries of the Kingdom of heaven
has been granted to you, but to
them it has not been granted.
To anyone who has, more will be
given and he will grow rich;
from anyone who has not, even
what he has will be taken away.
This is why I speak to them in
parables, because
they look but do not see and hear
but do not listen or understand.
Isaiah’s prophecy is fulfilled in
them, which says:
You shall indeed hear but not
understand,
you shall indeed look but never
see.
Gross is the heart of this
people,
they will hardly hear with their
ears,
they have closed their eyes,
lest they see with their eyes
and hear with their ears
and understand with their hearts
and be converted
and I heal them.
"But blessed are your eyes,
because they see,
and your ears, because they hear.
Amen, I say to you, many prophets
and righteous people
longed to see what you see but
did not see it,
and to hear what you hear but did
not hear it."
-------------------------------------------------
Commentary
on Mt 13:10-17
Following the “Parable of the Sower,” the disciples approach Jesus
to ask him why he does not speak more clearly to the people instead of using
the parables that some find confusing. His response, recorded in the Gospel of
Matthew, is much softer than the same story related in Mark 4:11ff.
“Since a parable is figurative speech that demands reflection for
understanding, only those who are prepared to explore its meaning can come to
know it. To understand is a gift of God, granted to the disciples but not to
the crowds. In Semitic fashion, both the disciples' understanding and the
crowd's obtuseness are attributed to God.” [4]
Concluding, Jesus reflects upon Isaiah 6:9-10 in a
lament that the people will not understand what he reveals because their hearts
are hardened.
CCC: Mt 13:3-23 1724; Mt
13:10-17 787; Mt
13:10-15 546; Mt
13:11 546
-------------------------------------------------
Reflection:
Today the oracle of Jeremiah
coupled with St. Matthew’s Gospel reminds us of our own fallibility as we once
more grapple with our attempt to follow Jesus, and the realization of how often
we simply forget that mission and only later realize our failure.
Jeremiah, speaking with God’s
voice, laments about how his precious possession, the people of Israel who
faithfully followed him in their desert wanderings, turned away from him once
they reached the Promised Land. It is like children who were promised a reward
if they would only behave during a family gathering. When the parents gave them
their reward early because they were doing such a great job, the children
immediately forgot about their promise and misbehaved.
God laments, through Jeremiah,
because the people he loves, in turning to false gods, have reached out for an
empty cup, a broken cistern that holds no water. They have turned from life to
death, and God, the loving parent, weeps for their choice.
In the Gospel, Jesus tells his
disciples how blessed they are because God has made the offer of life to them,
and they perceive it properly. It is because of his love for all God’s children
that Christ asks us to reach out with the same message to others.
Think again of the parent who
sees their children going in directions that will harm them. With older
children (those who have learned everything there is to know) many times all we
can do is tell them, plead with them to take another path. When they do not
listen, all we can do is pray for God’s mercy, and that, when they find the
cistern empty, they will return to the living water.
We pray for ourselves as well.
How often do we turn away from the life-giving fountain that is God’s love to
follow that which seems fairer but is not wholesome? Blessed indeed are we who
see and hear God’s voice and follow. His loving mercy has saved us once more.
Pax
[1]
The picture is “Jews in the Desert” by Tintoretto, 1592-94.
[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 Matthew 13: 10-17.
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