Homilies for the Sundays in Ordinary Time Cycle C Part 2

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13th SUNDAYIN ORDINARY TIME- Cycle C YOKE OF CHRIST IN DISCIPLESHIP

“All I can say is that I forget the past and I strain ahead for what is still to come” (Ph 3:13)

Gospel: Lk 9:51-62

TEXT PARALLEL TEXT MAIN VERSE MAIN TEXT FOOTNOTE

Through towns and villages he went teaching making his way to Jerusalem. Now on the way to Jerusalem, he traveled along the border between Samaria and Galileec. Then taking the Twelve aside he said to them, ‘Now we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophetsd about the Son of Man is to come true. When he had said this he went on ahead going up to Jerusalem. Now he blessed them, he withdrew from them and was carried up to heaven.l Jesus had now finished what he wanted to say, he left Galilee and came to the part of Judea which is on the far side of the Jordan. Leaving there,he cameto the district of Judea and the far side of the Jordan. And again crowds gathered round him,and again taught them as his custom was.

Lk 13:22 Lk 2:38 Lk 9:51+

Lk 17:11 Lk 9:51+ Jn 4:9

Lk 18:31

Lk 9:22+; 24:25 Lk 2:38+; 9:51+ Ac 3:18

Lk 19:28 Lk 2:38+; 9:51

Lk 24:51

Lk 9:21+

Mt 19:1 Lk 9:51 Jh 10:40

Mk 10:1 Lk 9:51 Jh 10:40-41

51 Now as the time drew near for him to be taken up to heaven, k he resolutely took the road for Jerusalem

Lk 9:51- k - Lit. ‘for his taking up’. This ‘assumption’ of Jesus, cf. 2 K 2:9-11; Mk 16:19; Ac 1:2,10-11; 1 Tm 3:16, refers to the last days of his suffering life (Passion, death) and the beginning of his glory (resurrection, ascension). Jn, thinking more theologically, uses the word ‘glorify’ in connection with the whole of this period, Jn 7:39; 12:16,23; 13:31f; for him the crucifixion is a ‘lifting up’, Jn 12:32+. Lk 17:11 - c – Making for the Jordan valley down to Jericho, 18:35; from there he goes up to Jerusalem. Lk 18:31 – d- “Lk often remarks that the Passion was foretold by th prophets, Lk. 24:25,27,44; Ac “2:23+; 3:18,24+; 8:32-35; 13:27; 26:22f. Lk 24:51 - l - Om. ‘and was carried up to heaven’.

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52 and sent messengers ahead of him. These set out, and they went into a Samaritan village to make preparations for him,

53 But the people would not receive him because he was making for Jerusalem.l

Lk 9:53- l - The hatred of the Samaritans for the Jews, Jn 4:9+, would show itself particularly towards those on pilgrimage to Jerusalem; hence it was usual to bypass this territory, cf Mt 10:5. Only Lk and Jn (4:1-42) mention Christ’s presence in this schismatic province, cfLk 17:11,16. The early Church was not slow to follow his example, Ac 8:5-25.

Elijah answered the captain, “If I am a man of God, let your fire come down from heaven and destroyboth you and your fifty men.” And fire came down from heaven and destroyed him and his fifty men.

2 K 1:10 Lv 10:2 Si 48:4 Lk 9:54-55 Rv 11:5

54 Seeing this, the disciples James and John said, ‘Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to burn them up?m

Lk 9:54- m–Add ‘as Elijah did’. Allusion to 2 K 1:10-12. James and John are seen here as ‘sons of thunder’ indeed, Mk 3:17.

55 But he turned and rebuked them,n Lk 9:55- n– Add ‘You do not know what spirit you are made of. The Son of Man came not to destroy souls but to save them.’

56 And they went off to another village.

When Jesus saw the great crowd about him, he gave orders to leave to the other sideg (v. 18). One of the scribes then came up and said to him, “Master, I will follow you wherever you go” (v. 19). Jesus replied, ‘Foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Manh has nowhere to lay his head’ (v. 20). Another man, one of his disciples said to him, “Sir, let me go and bury my fatherfirst” (v. 21). But Jesus replied,

=Mt 8:18-22 Mt 11:19 2 Co 8:9

Gn 50:5 Tb 4:3

57 As they travelled along they met a man on the road who said to him, ‘I will follow you wherever you go’.

Mt.8:20 - h- With the exception of Ac 7:56, Rv 1:13; 14:14; this title appears only in the gospels. There is no doubt that Jesus used it of himself, and indeed preferred it to others. At times he uses it to express his lowly state, 8:20; 11:19; 20:28, especially the humiliation of the Passion, 17:22, etc. At others times it is used to proclaim the definitive triumph of his resurrection, 17:9, of his return in glory, 24:30; of his coming in judgment, 25:31.

http://www.usccb.org/bible/matthew/8#48008018-2

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“Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their dead” (V. 22).

Mt 4:18f; 10:37p That this title, Aramaic in flavor, could bring together these seemingly opposed qualities is clear from the following considerations. The phrase originally meant ‘man’, Ezk. 2:1+, and by reason of its unusual and indirect form it underlined the lowliness of man’s state. But the title suggested glory, too. It was used in Dn 7:13+, and later in the Jewish apocalyptic Book of Enoch, to indicate the transcendent figure, heavenly in origin, who was to receive from God’s hand the eschatological kingdom (the kingdom ‘at the end of times’). In this way therefore the title both veiled and hinted at (cf. Mk. 1:34+; Mt. 13:13+) the sort of Messiah Jesus was. Moreover, the explicit avowal in the presence of the Sanhedrin, 26:64+, should have removed all ambiguity.

58 Jesus answered, ‘Foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the son of man has nowhere to lay his head’.

“If a man comes to me without hatingc his father, mother, wife,d children, brothers, sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple (v. 26).So in the same way, none of you can be my disciple unless he give not renounce all his possessions (v. 33).

Lk 14:26,33 Mt 10:37;19:29 =Mt 10:38; 16:24 =Mk 8:34 Lk 9:23 Jn 12:26 Lk 9:59; 12:33+

59 Another to whom he said, ‘Follow me’, replied,o ‘Let me go and bury my father first’.

Lk 9:59- o– Add, ‘Lord’, cf Mt 8:21. Lk 14:26-27- c - Hebraism. Jesus asks, not for hate, but for total detachment now, cf. 9:57-62. d - ‘wife’, peculiar to Lk, illustrating his leaning to ascetism, cf. 1 Co 7, So Lk also, 18:29.

The one who thinks only of pleasure is already dead while she is still alive.

1 Tm 5:6 Rv 3:1

60 But he answered, ‘Leave the dead to bury their dead;p your duty is to go and spread the news of the kingdom of God’.

Lk 9:60 - p– A play on the two meaning of ‘death’; physical and spiritual.

61 Another said, ‘I will follow you, sir, but first

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let me go and say goodbye to my people at home’.

I can assure you, my brothers, I am far from thinking that Ihave already won. All I can say is thatI forget the past and I strainaheadfor what is still to come.

Ph 3:13

62 Jesus said to him, ‘Once the hand is laid on the plow, noonewho looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

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First Reading:1 K 19:16b, 19-21


Leaving there,h he came on Elisha son of Saphat as he was ploughing behind twelve yoke of oxen, he himself being the twelfth. Elisha passed near to him and threw his cloak over to himi (v. 19) Elisha left his oxen and ran after Elijah. ‘Let me kiss my father and mother, then I will follow you’ he said. Elijah answered, ‘Go, go back; for have I done anything to you? (v. 20)’Elisha turned away, took the pair of oxen and slaughtered them. He used the plough for cooking the oxen, then gave it to his men, who ate. He then rose and followed Elijah and became his servant (v. 21). You are to anoint Jehu, son of Nimshi, as king of Israelf, and to anoint Elishag, son of Shaphat of Abel-Meholah, as prophet to succeed you.

1 K 19:19-21

1 K 19:16 1 K 19:19-21 Mt 14:18,22

16b And to anointg Elisha son of Saphat, of Abel Meholah, as prophet to succeed you.

1 K 19:16b- g– Anointing, Ex 30:24+, was reserved for kings, 1 K 1:34; parallelism explains the use of the word here.

1 K 19:16- f – These tasks were I fact later performed by Elisha. g– Anointing, Ex 30:24+, was reserved for kings, 1 K 1:34; parallelism explains the use of the word here.

He picked up the cloak of Elijah which had fallen, went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan

2 K 2:13 1 K 19:19

19 Leaving there,h he came on Elisha son of Saphat as he was ploughing behind twelve yoke of oxen, he himself being the twelfth. Elisha passed near to him and threw his cloak over to him.i

1 K 19:19- h– Vv 19-21 are borrowed from the Elisha cycle. i- The cloak symbolizes the person and rights of its owner. That of Elisha has, moreover, miraculous properties, 2 K 2:8. Elijah acquires an authority over Elisha which the latter cannot resist. By destroying plough and oxen Elisha formally renounces his old way of life.

Another said, “I will follow you, sir, but Lk 9:61 20 Elisha left his oxen and ran after Elijah. ‘Let

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first let me go and say goodbye to my people at home.

1 K 19:19-21 Ph 3:13

me kiss my father and mother, then I will follow you’ he said.Elijah answered, ‘Go, go back; for have I done anything to you?’

‘Bring them here to me’ he said (v. 18). Directly after this, he made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side while he would send the crowds away.

Mt 14:18,22 1 K 19:21

21 Elisha turned away, took the pair of oxen and slaughtered them. He used the plough for cooking the oxen, then gave it to his men, who ate. He then rose and followed Elijah and became his servant.

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Second Reading: Ga 5:1,13-18


1 When Christ freed us, he meant us to remain free.a Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery.

Ga 5:1 – a– Human beings must choose either Christ or the Law as author of salvation. Some witnesses (Vulg.) join these words with the preceding verse ‘with the freedom by which Christ has made us free.’

Does the fact that we are living by grace and not by lawmean that we are free to sin? Of course not! You are slaves of no one except God, so behave like freemen, and never use your freedom as an excuse towickedness. Certain people have infiltrated among you, and they are the ones you had a warning about, in writing long ago, when they were condemned,d for denying all religion, turning the grace of our God into immorality, and rejecting our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christe.

Rm 6:15+ Rm 6:1; 14:1 1 Co 6:12; 17:21

1 P 2:16

Jude 4 Pr 24:21 Mt 22:21p

Jude 4

Ga 5:13 1 P 2:16 1 Jn 4:1 2 Jn 10

13 My brothers, you were called, as you know, to liberty; but be careful, or this liberty will provide an opening for self-indulgence. Serve one another, rather, in works of love,

Jude 4 – d– Lit ‘For certain men have crept in who long ago have been written beforehand for their judgment’; var. ‘for this sin’. e – Var ‘rejecting God, the only Master and our Lord Jesus Christ.’

Avoid getting into debt, except the debt of mutual love. If you love your fellow men you have carried out your obligationsc (v. 8). All the commandments: You shall not commit adultery, you shall not kill, you shall not steal,d you shall not covet, and so on, are summed up in this single command: you shall love your neighbore as yourself (v. 9). Love is the one thing that cannot hurt your neighbor; that is why it is the

Rm 13:8-10+ Mt 22:34-40 Jn 13:34 Col 3:14 Ex 20:13-17 Dt 5:17-21 Lv 19:18 Ga 5:14 1 Co 13:4-7

14 since the whole Law is summarized in a single command: Love your neighbor as yourself.

Rm 13:8 – 10 – c – Lit. ‘fulfilled the law’- apparently law in general, not only the Mosaic Law. d – Add (Vulg.)’you shall not bear false witness’. e – In Lv the ‘neighbor’ was a fellow countryman, here it is any member of the human family which is made one in Christ, Ga. 3:28; Mt 25:40. f – Lit. ‘that is why love is the law in all its fullness’.

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answer to very one of the commandments.f You must not exact vengeance, normust you bear a grudge against the children of your own people. You must love your neighbor as yourself. I am Yahweh.

Lv 19:18 Mt 19:19 Mk 12:31 Lk 10:27 Jn 12:34 ↗Mt 5:43; 22:39p ↗Rm 13:9 ↗Ga 5:14 ↗Jm 2:8

15 If you go snapping at each other and tearing each other to pieces, you had better watch or you will destroy the whole community.

The unspiritual are interested only in what is unspiritual, but the spiritual are interested in spiritual things.

Rm 8:5f Ga 5:16-23 Rm 6:21 Ga 6:8

16 Let me put it this way: if you are guided by the Spirit you will be in no danger of yielding to self-indulgence,

The law of course as we know that is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. Where do these wars and battles betweenyourselvesfirst start? Isn’t it precisely in the desires fighting insideyour own selves?

Rm 7:14f Rm 6:12-14 Tb 14:4+ Ps 51:5 Ws 9:15 Ga 5:17 1 P 4:2

Jm 4:1

17 since self-indulgence is the opposite of the Spirit, the Spirit is totally against such a thing, and it is precisely because the two are so opposed that you do not always carry out your good intentions.

Everyone movedh by the spirit is a son of God.

Rm 8:14

18 If you are led by the Spirit, no law can touch you.

Rm 8:14 - h - ‘led’ seems inadequate: the Holy Spirit is much more than one who inwardly

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admonishes, he is the principle of a life truly divine, cf. Ga. 2:20.

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Homily for the 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Cycle C) Based on Lk 9:51-62 (Gospel), 1 K 19:16b, 19-21 (First Reading) and Ga 5:1,13-18 (Second Reading)

From the Series: “Reflections and Teachings of the Desert”

YOKE OF CHRIST IN DISCIPLESHIP

‘ The Gospel reading for this 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time is from Lk 9:51-62. Verse 51 says: Now as the time drew near for him to be taken up to heaven, k he resolutely took the road for Jerusalem… Footnote k says “Lit. ‘for his taking up’. This ‘assumption’ of Jesus, cf. 2 K 2:9-11; Mk 16:19; Ac 1:2,10-11; 1 Tm 3:16, refers to the last days of his suffering life (Passion, death) and the beginning of his glory (resurrection, ascension). Jn, thinking more theologically, uses the word ‘glorify’ in connection with the whole of this period, Jn 7:39; 12:16,23; 13:31f; for him the crucifixion is a ‘lifting up’, Jn 12:32+.” Parallel texts are:

1. Lk 13:22 - Through towns and villages he went teaching making his way to Jerusalem. 2. Lk 17:11 - Now on the way to Jerusalem, he traveled along the border between Samaria and Galileec. Footnote c says “Making for the Jordan valley down to Jericho,

18:35; from there he goes up to Jerusalem”. 3. Lk 18:31 - Then taking the Twelve aside he said to them, ‘Now we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophetsd about the Son of Man is to

come true. Footnote d says “Lk often remarks that the Passion was foretold by th prophets, Lk. 24:25,27,44; Ac “2:23+; 3:18,24+; 8:32-35; 13:27; 26:22f. 4. Lk 19:28 - When he had said this he went on ahead going up to Jerusalem. 5. Lk 24:51 - Now he blessed them, he withdrew from them and was carried up to heaven.l Footnote l says “Om. ‘and was carried up to heaven’.” 6. Mt 19:1 - Jesus had now finished what he wanted to say, he left Galilee and came to the part of Judea which is on the far side of the Jordan. 7. Mk 10:1 - Leaving there, he came to the district of Judea and the far side of the Jordan. And again crowds gathered round him, and again taught them as his custom

was. Verses 52, 53 and 54 say: and sent messengers ahead of him. These set out, and they went into a Samaritan village to make preparations for him, But the people would not receive him because he was making for Jerusalem.l Seeing this, the disciples James and John said, ‘Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to burn them up?m Footnote l says “The hatred of the Samaritans for the Jews, Jn 4:9+, would show itself particularly towards those on pilgrimage to Jerusalem; hence it was usual to bypass this territory, cf. Mt 10:5. Only Lk and Jn (4:1-42) mention Christ’s presence in this schismatic province, cf Lk 17:11,16. The early Church was not slow to follow his example, Ac 8:5-25”; and Footnote m says “Add ‘as Elijah did’. Allusion to 2 K 1:10-12. James and John are seen here as ‘sons of thunder’ indeed, Mk 3:17.” Parallel text is 2 K 1:10 that says: Elijah answered the captain, “If I am a man of God, let your fire come down from heaven and destroy both you and your fifty men.” And fire came down from heaven and destroyed him and his fifty men.

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Verses 55, 56 and 57 say: But he turned and rebuked them,n And they went off to another village. As they travelled along they met a man on the road who said to him, ‘I will follow you wherever you go’. Footnote n says “Add ‘You do not know what spirit you are made of. The Son of Man came not to destroy souls but to save them.’” Parallel text for verse 27 is Mt 8:18-22 that says: When Jesus saw the great crowd about him, he gave orders to leave to the other sideg (v. 18). One of the scribes then came up and said to him, “Master, I will follow you wherever you go” (v. 19). Jesus replied, ‘Foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Manh has nowhere to lay his head’ (v. 20). Another man, one of his disciples said to him, “Sir, let me go and bury my father first” (v. 21). But Jesus replied, “Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their dead… Footnote h says “With the exception of Ac 7:56, Rv 1:13; 14:14; this title appears only in the gospels. There is no doubt that Jesus used it of himself, and indeed preferred it to others. At times he uses it to express his lowly state, 8:20; 11:19; 20:28, especially the humiliation of the Passion, 17:22, etc. At others times it is used to proclaim the definitive triumph of his resurrection, 17:9, of his return in glory, 24:30; of his coming in judgment, 25:31. That this title, Aramaic in flavor, could bring together these seemingly opposed qualities is clear from the following considerations. The phrase originally meant ‘man’, Ezk. 2:1+, and by reason of its unusual and indirect form it underlined the lowliness of man’s state. But the title suggested glory, too. It was used in Dn 7:13+, and later in the Jewish apocalyptic Book of Enoch, to indicate the transcendent figure, heavenly in origin, who was to receive from God’s hand the eschatological kingdom (the kingdom ‘at the end of times’). In this way therefore the title both veiled and hinted at (cf. Mk. 1:34+; Mt. 13:13+) the sort of Messiah Jesus was. Moreover, the explicit avowal in the presence of the Sanhedrin, 26:64+, should have removed all ambiguity.” Verses 58 and 59 say: Jesus answered, ‘Foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the son of man has nowhere to lay his head’. Another to whom he said, ‘Follow me’, replied,o ‘Let me go and bury my father first’. Footnote o says “Add, ‘Lord’, cf Mt 8:21.” Parallel text for verse 59 is Lk 14:26,33 that says: “If a man comes to me without hatingc his father, mother, wife,d children, brothers, sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple (v. 26).So in the same way, none of you can be my disciple unless he give not renounce all his possessions (v. 33). Footnote c says “Hebraism. Jesus asks, not for hate, but for total detachment now, cf. 9:57-62”; and Footnote d says “‘wife’, peculiar to Lk, illustrating his leaning to ascetism, cf. 1 Co 7, So Lk also, 18:29.” Verse 60 says: But he answered, ‘Leave the dead to bury their dead;p your duty is to go and spread the news of the kingdom of God’. Footnote p says “A play on the two meaning of ‘death’; physical and spiritual.” Parallel text is 1 Tm 5:6 that says: The one who thinks only of pleasure is already dead while she is still alive. Verses 61 and 62 say: Another said, ‘I will follow you, sir, but first let me go and say goodbye to my people at home’. Jesus said to him, ‘Once the hand is laid on the plow, no one who looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” Parallel text is Ph 3:13 that says: I can assure you, my brothers, I am far from thinking that I have already won. All I can say is that I forget the past and I strain ahead for what is still to come.

http://www.usccb.org/bible/matthew/8#48008018-2

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The First Reading is from 1 K 19:16b, 19-21. Verse 16b says: And to anointg Elisha son of Saphat, of Abel Meholah, as prophet to succeed you. Footnote g says “Anointing, Ex 30:24+, was reserved for kings, 1 K 1:34; parallelism explains the use of the word here.” Parallel texts are:

1. 1 K 19:19-21 that says: Leaving there,h he came on Elisha son of Saphat as he was ploughing behind twelve yoke of oxen, he himself being the twelfth. Elisha passed near to him and threw his cloak over to himi (v. 19) Elisha left his oxen and ran after Elijah. ‘Let me kiss my father and mother, then I will follow you’ he said. Elijah answered, ‘Go, go back; for have I done anything to you? (v. 20)’Elisha turned away, took the pair of oxen and slaughtered them. He used the plough for cooking the oxen, then gave it to his men, who ate. He then rose and followed Elijah and became his servant (v. 21). Footnote h says “Vv 19-21 are borrowed from the Elisha cycle”; Footnote i says “The cloak symbolizes the person and rights of its owner. That of Elisha has, moreover, miraculous properties, 2 K 2:8. Elijah acquires an authority over Elisha which the latter cannot resist. By destroying plough and oxen Elisha formally renounces his old way of life.”

2. 1 K 19:16 - You are to anoint Jehu, son of Nimshi, as king of Israelf, and to anoint Elishag, son of Shaphat of Abel-Meholah, as prophet to succeed you. Footnote f says “These tasks were I fact later performed by Elisha.”; and Footnote g says “Anointing, Ex 30:24+, was reserved for kings, 1 K 1:34; parallelism explains the use of the word here.”

Verse 19 says: Leaving there,h he came on Elisha son of Saphat as he was ploughing behind twelve yoke of oxen, he himself being the twelfth. Elisha passed near to him and threw his cloak over to him.i Footnote (See No. 1 parallel text above). Parallel text is 2 K 2:13 that says: He picked up the cloak of Elijah which had fallen, went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. Verse 20 says: Elisha left his oxen and ran after Elijah. ‘Let me kiss my father and mother, then I will follow you’ he said.Elijah answered, ‘Go, go back; for have I done anything to you?’ Parallel text is Lk 9:61 that says: Another said, “I will follow you, sir, but first let me go and say goodbye to my people at home. Verse 21 says: Elisha turned away, took the pair of oxen and slaughtered them. He used the plough for cooking the oxen, then gave it to his men, who ate. He then rose and followed Elijah and became his servant. Parallel text is Mt 14:18,22 that says: ‘Bring them here to me’ he said (v. 18). Directly after this, he made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side while he would send the crowds away.

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The Second Reading is taken from Ga 5:1,13-18. Verses 1 and 13 say: When Christ freed us, he meant us to remain free.a Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery. My brothers, you were called, as you know, to liberty; but be careful, or this liberty will provide an opening for self-indulgence. Serve one another, rather, in works of love… Footnote a says “Human beings must choose either Christ or the Law as author of salvation. Some witnesses (Vulg.) join these words with the preceding verse ‘with the freedom by which Christ has made us free.’” Parallel texts for verse 13 are:

1. Rm 6:15 - Does the fact that we are living by grace and not by law mean that we are free to sin? Of course not! 2. 1 P 2:16 - You are slaves of no one except God, so behave like freemen, and never use your freedom as an excuse to wickedness. 3. Jude 4 Certain people have infiltrated among you, and they are the ones you had a warning about, in writing long ago, when they were condemned,d for denying all

religion, turning the grace of our God into immorality, and rejecting our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christe. Footnote d says “Lit ‘For certain men have crept in who long ago have been written beforehand for their judgment’; var. ‘for this sin’”; and Footnote e says “Var ‘rejecting God, the only Master and our Lord Jesus Christ.’”

Verses 14 and 15 say: since the whole Law is summarized in a single command: Love your neighbor as yourself. If you go snapping at each other and tearing each other to pieces, you had better watch or you will destroy the whole community. Parallel texts are:

1. Rm 13:8-10 - Avoid getting into debt, except the debt of mutual love. If you love your fellow men you have carried out your obligationsc (v. 8). All the commandments: You shall not commit adultery, you shall not kill, you shall not steal,d you shall not covet, and so on, are summed up in this single command: you shall love your neighbore as yourself (v. 9). Love is the one thing that cannot hurt your neighbor; that is why it is the answer to very one of the commandments.f

Footnote c says “Lit. ‘fulfilled the law’- apparently law in general, not only the Mosaic Law”; Footnoted says “Add (Vulg.)’you shall not bear false witness’”; Footnote e says “In Lv the ‘neighbor’ was a fellow countryman, here it is any member of the human family which is made one in Christ, Ga. 3:28; Mt 25:40; and Footnote f says “Lit. ‘that is why love is the law in all its fullness’.”

2. Lv 19:18 - You must not exact vengeance, nor must you bear a grudge against the children of your own people. You must love your neighbor as yourself. I am Yahweh. Verse 16 says: Let me put it this way: if you are guided by the Spirit you will be in no danger of yielding to self-indulgence, Parallel text is Rm 8:5 that says: The unspiritual are interested only in what is unspiritual, but the spiritual are interested in spiritual things. Verse 17 says: since self-indulgence is the opposite of the Spirit, the Spirit is totally against such a thing, and it is precisely because the two are so opposed that you do not always carry out your good intentions. Parallel texts are:

1. Rm 7:14 - The law of course as we know that is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin.

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2. Jm 4:1 - Where do these wars and battles between yourselves first start? Isn’t it precisely in the desires fighting inside your own selves? Verse 18 says: If you are led by the Spirit, no law can touch you. Parallel text is Rm 8:14 that says: Everyone movedh by the spirit is a son of God. Footnote h says ‘led’ seems inadequate: the Holy Spirit is much more than one who inwardly admonishes, he is the principle of a life truly divine, cf. Ga. 2:20.” The yoke of Christ in Discipleship is expressed in the text of Ph 3:13 - “I can assure you, my brothers, I am far from thinking that I have already won. All I can say is that I forget the past and I strain ahead for what is still to come”. The yoke that Elisha burned and made into fuel to cook the two oxen and then to follow Elijah in the today’s Second Reading, is a symbol of the past life that a prospective disciple of Christ must give up and to take up a new yoke of a future, or coming, life of following Christ in discipleship.

What is important is the “now’, according to Jesus Christ in this gospel. According to Zeitgeist, The Movie, do not ‘ borrow from the past” or “invite the future.” The ‘now’ is what matters even if its demands as sometimes hard to accept. This is the liberty that Apostle Paul says in Ga. 1:13. To look for the past, or to summon the future is “slavery’. The evil to fight, according to the apostle is self-indulgence (Gal 1:16), or to indulge the self into fruitless, unspiritual, effort of summoning the dead actions of the past or the magic of the future. If one is ‘led by the Spirit” of the now, then ‘no law can touch you’ (Gal 1: 18).

As Jesus Christ said, ‘Once the hand is laid on the plow, no one who looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” (Lk9:62), Or, as the Apostle Paul had also said: “All I can say is that I forget the past and I strain ahead for what is still to come” (Ph 3:13).

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14th SUNDAY IN ORD. TIME -Cycle C) Big Harvest But Few Laborers

“The harvest is rich but the laborers are few” (Lk 10:2) Gospel: Lk 10:1-9


He summoned the Twelvea and gave them power and authority over all devils and to cure diseases (v.1),and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal. Better two than one by himself: since thus their work is really profitable.

Lk 9:1-2 =Mt 10:5,8,9-14 =Mk 6:7-13 Mt 8:3+; 8:29+

Qo 4:9 Pr 18:19 Si 6:14 Lk 10:1

1 After this the Lord appointed seventy-twoa others and sent them out ahead of him,b in pairs, to all the towns and places he himself was to visit.

Lk 10:1 – a – Var ‘seventy’. b - Not, as in 9:52, to arrange for lodgings etc., but to prepare souls for his coming. Lk 9:1- a- Add ‘apostles’.

Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is rich but the laborers are few (v. 37);so ask the Lord of the harvest to send laborers for his harvest. The reaper is being paid his wages, already he is bringing inthe grains for eternal life, and thussower and reaper rejoice together.

= Mt 9:37-38 =Lk 10:2 Jn 4:35-38

Jn 4:36 Ps 126:5-6

2 He said to them,c ‘The harvest is rich but the laborers are few, so ask the Lord of the harvest to send laborers to his harvest.

Lk 10:2 - c– The collection used by Mt and Lk included a missionary discourse parallel with that of Mk 6:8-11. Lk has made use of both these sources, but separately (9:3-5; 10:2-12), whereas Mt has joined them together 10:7-16. CfLk 11:39+; 17:22+.

Remember, I am sending you out like sheep among wolves; so be cunning as serpents and yet as harmless as doves.

=Mt 10:16 =Lk 10:3 Jude 7 Mt 7:15 1 Co 14:20

3 Start off now, but remember, I am sending you out like lambs among wolves.

He said to them, “Take nothing for the journey neither staff, nor haversack, nor bread, nor money, and let none of you take a spare tunic (v.3).Whatever house you enter, stay there and when you

=Lk 9:3-5 LK 10:7 Ac 9:43; 16:15; 17:7; 18:3 =Mt 14:13-21

4 Carry no purse, no haversack, no sandals. Salute no one on the road.

2 K 4:29 – e–‘do not greet him’; sign that one’s mission is urgent. f – It seems that the staff of Elisha (like that of Moses, Ex. 4:17) is created with magical

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leave let it befrom there (v. 4). And as for those who do not welcome you when you leave their town, shake the dust from your feet as sign to them (v. 5). He said to them, “When I sent you out without purse or haversack or sandals, were you short of anything?” “No, nothing,” they replied. Elisha said to Gehazi, “Tuck up your cloak,take my staff in your hand and go. If you meet anyone, do not greet him, if anyone greets you, do not answer hime. Your are to stretched out my staff over the child. Provide yourselves with no gold or silver, not even with a few coppers for your purses (v. 9) with no haversack for the journey or spare tunic, or footwear, or astaff, for the workman deserves his keep (v.10). Whatever town or village you go into, ask for someone trustworthy, and stay with him until you leave (v.11) As you enter his house, salutee (v.12). And if the house deserves it, let your peace come upon it; if it does not, let your peace come back to you (v.13). And if anyone does not welcome you or listen to what you have to say as you walk out of the house or town, shake the dust from your feet.f(v.14).

=Mk 6:30-44 =Jn 6:1-13 Mk 6:45

Lk 22:35 Lk 10:4

2 K 4:29 Lk 10:4 Ac 20:10-14

Mt 10:9-15 Mk 6:8-9 =Lk 9:3 Ac 13:51; 18:6 -Mt 11:24 Lk 12:48 -Lk 10:3

power, but the sequel will show that no thing can be done without the prophet’s prayer and presence. Mt 10:12, 14 - e– The oriental greeting is a wish of peace. In v. 13 this wish is treated in concrete fashion of an entity which, if it fails to secure its effect, nevertheless remains in being and returns to its original owner. f – The phase is Jewish in origin. The dust of any country other than the Holy Land is reckoned unclean; in this passage the impurity attaches to any place that refuse the word.

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Itell yousolemnly, on the day of judgment it will not go as hardwith the land of Sodom and Gomorrah as with that town. And he instructed them to take nothing for the journey except a staffb—no food, no sack, no money in their belts (v. 8). They were to wear sandals but, he added, ‘Do not a spare tunic (v.9)’.And he said to them, ‘If you enter a house anywhere, stay there until you leave the district (v. 10). And if any place does not welcome you and people refuse to listen to you, as you walk away shake off the dust under your feet as a sign to them (v. 11).’

=Mk 6:8-11

Mk 6:8- b - - In Mt and Lk the staff is forbidden, but the sense is the same, the missionary must be detached.

5 Whatever house you go into, let your first word be, ‘Peace to this house!’

6 And if a man of peaced lives there, your peace will go and rest on him; if not, it will come back to you.

Lk 10:6 - d – Lit. ‘son of peace’, a Hebraism for those who deserve ‘peace’ i.e. all the spiritual and temporal blessings the word implies. Cf. Jn 14:27+.

As scripture says: “You must not muzzle an ox when it is threading out the corn; and again: ‘The worker deserves his pay’.h

1 Tm 5:18 Dt 25:4 Lk 10:7 1 Co 9:9 3 Jn 8

7 Stay in the same house, taking what food and drink they have to offer, for the laborer deserves his wages; do not move from house to house.

1 Tm 5:18 – h–Var. ‘his keep’, cf. Mt 10:10.

8 Whenever you go into a town where they make you welcome, eat what is set before you.

‘Repent’, b for the kingdom of heaven c is close at hand!...

Mt 3:2+ Mt 4:17; 10:7

9 Cure those init who are sick and say, “The kingdom of God is very near to you”.

Mt. 3:2 - b– Metanoia, rendered ‘repentance’,

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And as you go, proclaim that the kingdom of heaven is close at hand. It so happened that Publius’ father was in bed, suffering from feverish attacks and dysentery. Paul went in to see him, and after a prayer he laid his hands on the man and healed him.

Ezk 18:32 Ac 2:38+

=Mt 10:7 Mt 3:2+; 4:17 Lk 10:9,11

Ac 28:8 Lk 10:9p Ac 9:12 Ac 5:5-16; 8:7-8 Lk 4:40 1 Tm 4:14+

inspires a change of heart; ‘conversion’ in the technical sense. c – Instead of ‘Kingdom of God’, cf. 4:17+. The phrase is proper to Mt. and reflects the Jewish scruple which substitutes metaphor for the divine name.

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First Reading:Is 66:10-14c


Happy are those who love you,and happy those who rejoice over your peace,happy thosewho have mourned over all your punishment!For they will soon rejoice within the days to come, witnessing all your blessedness.

Tb 13:14 Ps 122:6 Is 66:10

10 Rejoice, g Jerusalem, be glad for her, all you who love her! Rejoice, rejoice for her, all you who mourned her!

Is 66:10 - g–The verb is in the singular with Greek; Hebr. has plural.

11 That you may be suckled, filled, from her consoling breast, that you may savor with

delight her glorious breast. h

Is 66:11 - h–‘her breasts’ trans. Conj.

12 For thus says Yahweh: Now towards her I send flowing peace, like a river, and like a stream in spate the glory of the nations. At her breast

will her nurslingi be carried and fondled in her

lap.

Is 66:12 - i– ‘her nurslings’ Greek; and you will suck’ Hebr.

13 Like a son comforted by his mother will I comfort you. (And Jerusalem will be comforted).

14c To his servants Yahweh will reveal his hand, but to his enemies his fury.

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Second Reading: Ga 6:14-18


…since in Christ Jesus whether you are circumcised or not counts makes no difference –what matters is faith that makes its power through love.

Ga 5:6+ Ga 6:15 1 Co 13:13+ Jm 2:14

14 As for me, the only thing I can boast about is the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom the world is crucified to me, and I to the world.g

Ga 6:14 - g – This present sinful world, cf. 1:4;4:5;1 Co 1:20;2 Co 4:4; Ep 2:2, etc.; Jn 1:10+.

…because to be circumcisedor uncircumcised means nothing; what does matters is to keepthecommandments of God. So whoever is in Christ is a new creation: the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come.

1 Co 7:19 Rm 2:25-29 Ga 5:6; 6:15

2 Co 5:17+

15 hIt does not matter if a person is circumcised or not; what matters is for him to become an altogether new creature.

h – Add, ‘In Christ Jesus’.

But the perverts, those who follow twisting paths-may Yahweh send them to join the evil-doers! Peace upon Israel!

Ps 125:5 Pr 3:32 Ps 92:9; 128:6 Ga 6:16

16 Peace and mercy to all who follow this rule, who from the Israel of God.

17 I want no more trouble from anybody after this; the marks on my body are those of Jesus.j

j –The marks of ill-treatment suffered for Christ, cf. 2 Co 6:4-5; 11:23f.

18 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, my brothers. Amen.

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Homily for the 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Cycle C) Based on (Gospel), (First Reading) and (Second Reading)


BIG HARVEST, FEW LABORERS “The harvest is rich but the laborers are few” (Lk 10:2)

‘ Gospel: Lk 10:1-9 Verse After this the Lord appointed seventy-twoa others and sent them out ahead of him,b in pairs, to all the towns and places he himself was to visit. Footnote a says “Var ‘seventy’”; and Footnote b says “Not, as in 9:52, to arrange for lodgings etc., but to prepare souls for his coming.”

Parallel texts are: 1. Lk 9:1-2 - He summoned the Twelvea and gave them power and authority over all devils and to cure diseases (v. 1), and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of

God and to heal. Footnote a says “Add ‘apostles’.” 2. Qo 4:9 - Better two than one by himself: since thus their work is really profitable.

Verse 2 says: He said to them,c ‘The harvest is rich but the laborers are few, so ask the Lord of the harvest to send laborers to his harvest. Footnote c says “The collection used by Mt and Lk included a missionary discourse parallel with that of Mk 6:8-11. Lk has made use of both these sources, but separately (9:3-5; 10:2-12), whereas Mt has joined them together 10:7-16. Cf. Lk 11:39+; 17:22+.” Parallel texts are:

1. Mt 9:37-38 - Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is rich but the laborers are few (v. 37); so ask the Lord of the harvest to send laborers for his harvest. 2. Jn 4:36 - The reaper is being paid his wages, already he is bringing in the grains for eternal life, and thus sower and reaper rejoice together.

Verse 3 says: Start off now, but remember, I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. Parallel text is Mt 10:16 that says: Remember, I am sending you out like sheep among wolves; so be cunning as serpents and yet as harmless as doves. Verse 4 says: Carry no purse, no haversack, no sandals. Salute no one on the road. Parallel texts are:

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1. Lk 9:3-5 - He said to them, “Take nothing for the journey neither staff, nor haversack, nor bread, nor money, and let none of you take a spare tunic (v. 3). Whatever house you enter, stay there and when you leave let it be from there (v. 4). And as for those who do not welcome you when you leave their town, shake the dust from your feet as sign to them (v. 5).

2. Lk 22:35 - He said to them, “When I sent you out without purse or haversack or sandals, were you short of anything?” “No, nothing,” they replied. 3. 2 K 4:29 - Elisha said to Gehazi, “Tuck up your cloak, take my staff in your hand and go. If you meet anyone, do not greet him, if anyone greets you, do not answer

hime. Your are to stretched out my staff over the child. Footnote e says "‘do not greet him’; sign that one’s mission is urgent.; and Footnote f says “It seems that the staff of Elisha (like that of Moses, Ex. 4:17) is created with magical power, but the sequel will show that no thing can be done without the prophet’s prayer and presence.”

4. Mt 10:9-15 - Provide yourselves with no gold or silver, not even with a few coppers for your purses (v. 9) with no haversack for the journey or spare tunic, or footwear, or a staff, for the workman deserves his keep (v. 10). Whatever town or village you go into, ask for someone trustworthy, and stay with him until you leave (v. 11) As you enter his house, salutee (v. 12). And if the house deserves it, let your peace come upon it; if it does not, let your peace come back to you (v. 13). And if anyone does not welcome you or listen to what you have to say as you walk out of the house or town, shake the dust from your feet.f (v. 14). I tell you solemnly, on the day of judgment it will not go as hard with the land of Sodom and Gomorrah as with that town . Footnote e says “The oriental greeting is a wish of peace. In v. 13 this wish is treated in concrete fashion of an entity which, if it fails to secure its effect, nevertheless remains in being and returns to its original owner”; Footnote f says “The phase is Jewish in origin. The dust of any country other than the Holy Land is reckoned unclean; in this passage the impurity attaches to any place that refuse the word.”

5. Mk 6:8-11 - And he instructed them to take nothing for the journey except a staffb—no food, no sack, no money in their belts (v. 8). They were to wear sandals but, he added, ‘Do not a spare tunic (v.9)’. And he said to them, ‘If you enter a house anywhere, stay there until you leave the district (v. 10). And if any place does not welcome you and people refuse to listen to you, as you walk away shake off the dust under your feet as a sign to them (v. 11).’ Footnote b says “In Mt and Lk the staff is forbidden, but the sense is the same, the missionary must be detached.”

Verses 5,6 and 7 say: Whatever house you go into, let your first word be, ‘Peace to this house!’ And if a man of peaced lives there, your peace will go and rest on him; if not, it will come back to you. Stay in the same house, taking what food and drink they have to offer, for the laborer deserves his wages; do not move from house to house. Footnote d says “Lit. ‘son of peace’, a Hebraism for those who deserve ‘peace’ i.e. all the spiritual and temporal blessings the word implies. Cf. Jn 14:27+.” Parallel text is 1 Tm 5:18 that says: As scripture says: “You must not muzzle an ox when it is threading out the corn; and again: ‘The worker deserves his pay’.h Footnote h says “Var. ‘his keep’, cf. Mt 10:10.” Verses 8 and 9 say:

1. Mt 3:2 - ‘Repent’, b for the kingdom of heaven c is close at hand!... Footnote b says “Metanoia, rendered ‘repentance’, inspires a change of heart; ‘conversion’ in the technical sense; and Footnote c says “Instead of ‘Kingdom of God’, cf. 4:17+. The phrase is proper to Mt. and reflects the Jewish scruple which substitutes metaphor for the divine name.”

2. Mt 10:7 - And as you go, proclaim that he kingdom of heaven is close at hand. 3. Ac 28:8 - It so happened that Publius’ father was in bed, suffering from feverish attacks and dysentery. Paul went in to see him, and after a prayer he laid his hands on

the man and healed him.

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The First Reading is Is 66:10-14c. Verses 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14c say: Rejoice, g Jerusalem, be glad for her, all you who love her! Rejoice, rejoice for her, all you who mourned her! That you may be suckled, filled, from her consoling breast, that you may savor with delight her glorious breast. h For thus says Yahweh: Now towards her I send flowing peace, like a river, and like a stream in spate the glory of the nations. At her breast will her nursling i be carried and fondled in her lap. Like a son comforted by his mother will I comfort you. (And Jerusalem will be comforted). To his servants Yahweh will reveal his hand, but to his enemies his fury. Footnote g says “The verb is in the singular with Greek; Hebr. has plural”; Footnote h says ‘her breasts’ trans. Conj.”; and Footnote i says “‘her nurslings’ Greek; and you will suck’ Hebr.” Parallel text is Tb 13:14 that says: Happy are those who love you, and happy those who rejoice over your peace, happy those who have mourned over all your punishment! For they will soon rejoice within the days to come, witnessing all your blessedness. The Second Reading is Ga 6:14-18.

Verse 14 says: As for me, the only thing I can boast about is the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom the world is crucified to me, and I to the world.g Footnote g says “This present sinful world, cf. 1:4;4:5;1 Co 1:20;2 Co 4:4; Ep 2:2, etc; Jn 1:10+” Parallel text is Ga 5:6 says: …since in Christ Jesus whether you are circumcised or not counts makes no difference –what matters is faith that makes its power through love. Verse 15 says: hIt does not matter if a person is circumcised or not; what matters is for him to become an altogether new creature. Footnote h says “Add, ‘In Christ Jesus’”. Parallel texts are:

1. 1 Co 7:19 …because to be circumcised or uncircumcised means nothing; what does matters is to keep the commandments of God. 2. 2 Co 5:17 - So whoever is in Christ is a new creation: the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come.

Verses 16, 17 and 18 say: Peace and mercy to all who follow this rule, who from the Israel of God. I want no more trouble from anybody after this; the marks on my body are those of Jesus.j The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, my brothers. Amen. Footnote j says “ The marks of ill-treatment suffered for Christ, cf. 2 Co 6:4-5; 11:23f.” Parallel text for verse 16 is Ps 125:5 that says: But the perverts, those who follow twisting paths-may Yahweh send them to join the evil-doers! Peace upon Israel!

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15th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME Cycle C MY SAMARITANNEIGHBOR

“And who is my neighbor?” (Lk 10:29b) Gospel: Lk 10:25-37


But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they got together (v. 34) and, to disconcert him, one of them put a question (v. 35), “Master, which is the greatest commandment of the Law?” V. 36) Jesus said, “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind (v.37). This is the greatest and the first commandment (v.38). The second resembles it: You must love your neighbor as yourself (v. 39) On these two commandments hang the whole law and the prophets also (v. 40). One of the scribes who had listened to them debating and observed how well Jesus had answered them, now came up and put this question to him, “Which is the first of all the commandments?” (v. 28). Jesus replied, “The first is this: ‘Listen, O Israel, the Lord our God is the one Lord! (v. 29). And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength’ (v. 30). The second is this: You must love your neighbor as yourself. There is no

=Mt 22:34-40 Mk 12:28-31 =Lk 10:25-28 Jn 13:34-35+ 1 Jn 4:21 Dt 6:5+ 1 Jn 2:7 Lv 19;16 Jm 2:8 Rm 13:8-20 Ga 5:14

=Mk 12:28-31

=Mt 22:34-40 =Lk 10:25-28 Dt 6:4-5 Lv 19:18

25 There was a lawyer who,to disconcert him, stood up and said to him, ‘Master, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’

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commandment greater than these (v. 31)’. Men expressly nominated for the purpose saw to the relief of the prisoners. From the booty they clothed all those of them who were naked; they gave them clothing and sandals and provided them with food, drink and shelter. They mounted all those who were infirm on donkeys and took them back to their kinsmen at Jericho, the city of palm trees. Then they returned to Samaria.d Do not refuse a kindness to anyone who begs it, if it is in your power to perform it. And there was a man who came to him and asked, ‘Master,d what good deed must I do to possess eternal life?

2 Ch 28:15

Lk 10:25-37

Pr 3:27 Si 4:3 Mt 7:12 Tb 4:15 Rm 13:8-10

Mt 19:16

=Mk 19:17-22 =Lk 18:18-23

2 Ch 28:15 – d–The Samaritan character rises above their worship and sacrifice. Note the broadmindedness of the Chronicler: the passage anticipates the parable of the Good Samaritan. Mt 19:16 - d - Var. ‘Good master’, cf. Mk and Lk.

You shall love Yahweh your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strengthc

Dt 6:5 Dt 13:4 Dt 10:12 Ne 9:6 Mt 22:37p+

26 He said to him, ‘What is written in the law? What do you read there?’

Dt 6:5 - c - This love, echo God’s love for his people, 4:37; 7:8; 10:15, embraces the fear of God, the duty of service and the observance of precepts, 6:13; 10:12-13; 11:1; cf. 30:2. Outside Dt there is no explicit command to love God but its equivalent is found in 2 K 23:25 and Ho 6:6. Though the command does not spear, the Psalms and the prophetic books, especially Hosea and

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Jeremiah, are full of the love if God. Jesus, quoting Dt 6:5, lays down as the greatest commandment of all, Mt 22:37p; with it goes fear, the fear of a son, not of a salve, 1 Jn 4:18.

You must not exact vengeance, nor must you bear a grudge against the children of your own people. You must love your neighbor as yourself. I am Yahweh. I am Yahweh your God, you must keep my laws and my customs. Whoever complies with them will find lid life in them. I am Yahweh.

Lv 19:18 Mt 19:19 Mk 12:31 Lk 10:27 Jn 12:34 ↗Mt 5:43; 22:39p ↗Rm 13:9 ↗Ga 5:14 ↗Jm 2:8

Lv 18:5

Dt 4:1 Ne 9:29 Ezk 20:11; 20:21 Lk 10:28 Rm 7:10; 10:5 Ga 3:12

27 He replied, ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.’

He who keeps the commandment is keeper of himself, but he who despises the wordb shall die.

Pr 19:16 Si 32:24 Lk 10:28; 11:28

28 You have answered right’ said Jesus, ‘do this and life is yours.’

Pr 19:16 – b - ‘the word’ corr., cf 13:13; ‘his ways’ Hebr.

The Samaritan woman said to him, ‘What? You are a Jew and you ask me, a Samaritan, for a drink?’ Jews, in fact, do not associate with Samaritanse

Jn 4:9 Lk 10:29-37 Lk 17:11-19

29 But the man was anxious to justify himselfg and said to Jesus, ‘And who is my neighbor?

Lk 10:29 - g–For having out the question.

Jn 4:9 - e – Some authorities omit this parenthesis. The Jews hated the Samaritans, Si 50:25-26; Jn 8:48; Lk 9:52-55, cf. Mt 10:5, Lk 10:33; 17:16, and attributed their origin to the

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importation of five pagan groups, 2 K 17:24-41, who retained some of their loyalty to their old gods, these are symbolized by the ‘five husbands of v. 18.

30 Jesus replied, ‘A man was once on his way down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell into the hands of brigands; they took all he had, beat him and then made off, leaving him half dead.

31 Now a priest happened to be travelling down the same road, but when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side.

32 In the same way a Levite who came to the place saw him, and passed by on the other side.

They do not belong to the world, anymore than I belong to the world.

Jn 17:16 1 Jn 2:14+; 5:18 Jn 8:23

33 But a Samaritanh traveler who came upon him was moved with compassion when he saw him.

Lk 10:33 - h – An alien and a heretic, Jn 8:48; cfLk 9:53+, from whom one might expect hostility, as opposed to those of Israel who should have been most sensitive to the

demands of charity. From the sole of the foot to the head, there is not a sound spot,d wounds, bruises, open sores not dressed, nor bandaged, not soothed with oil.

Is 1:6 Jr 30:12-14 Lk 10:34

34 He went up and bandaged his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them. He then lifted him on to his own mount, carried him to the inn and looked after him.

Is 1:6 - d – In their literal sense these verses speak of a Judah punished for its sins. The Liturgy of the Church applies them to the suffering Messiah.

35 Next day, he took out two denarii and handed them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him’, he said ‘and on my way back I will make good any extra expense you have.’

36 Which of these three, do you think, proved himself a neighbor to the man who fell into the brigands’ hands?

37 The one who took pity of him’ he replied,

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Jesus said to him, ‘Go, and do the same yourself’.

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First Reading: Dt 30:10-14


10 If only you obey the voice of Yahweh your God, keeping his commandments and laws of his that are written in the book of this Law, and if you return to Yahweh your God with all your heart and soul.

God alone had traced its path; and found out where it lives (v.23). For he sees to the ends of the earth, and observes all that lies under the heavens (v.24). When he willed to give weight to the wind, and measured out the waters with a gauge (v. 25); When he made a laws and rules for the rain and mapped a route for thunder claps to follow (v. 26). Then he had it in sight, and cast it worth, assessed it, fathomed itj (v. 27).And he said to man, ‘Wisdom? It is fear of the Lord. Understanding? – avoidance of evil (v. 28). I have stretched out my hands to heaven and bewailed my ignorance of her;

Jb 28: 23-28 Pr 2:6; 8:27-30 Ba 3:32 Jb 36:27-33 Ws 11:20 Is 40:12-14 Ps 135:7 Si 1:8-9,19 Dt 4:6 Pr 1:7+; 8:13

Si 51:26

11 For this Law that I enjoin on you today is not beyond your strength or beyond your reach.a

Dt 30:11 - a - A recurring lesson in the Wisdom literature is that wisdom, a fount of joy, is inaccessible; cf. Jb 28 (but contrast Pr. 8:1f). Nevertheless God reveals it through the Law, Si. 24:23-34; Ps 119. Jb 28: 27 – j– ‘reckoned its worth’ corr. ‘assessed’ five Hebr.

I have not spoken in secret in some corner of a darkened land. I have not said to Jacob’s descendants ‘Seek me in chaos’n I Yahweh speak with directness I express myself with clarity.

Is 45:19 Is 48:16 Dt 30:11-14 Jh 18:20 Ac 26:26

12 It is not in heaven, so that you need to wonder, ‘Who will go up to heaven for us and bring it down to us, so that we may hear it and keep it?’

Is 45:19 – n – The universe as it was before God imposed order in it, Gn 1:2. Rm 10:7 – c – The argument is odd at first reading

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But the righteousness that comes from faith says this:c Do not tell yourself you have to bring Christ down – as in the text: Who will go up to heaven? (v. 6), or that to you have to bring Christ back from the dead – as in the text: Who will go down to the underworld?d (v. 7) On the positive side, it says: The word, that is the faith we proclaim, is very near to you, it is on your lips and in your heart (v. 8)

Rm 10:6-8 Dt 9:4; 30:12f Ps 107:26 1 P 3:19+ Dt 30:14

because the passage of Dt is certainly a eulogy to righteousness of the law. But Paul sees in this text, which sums up the whole Law in the precept of love and the ‘circumcision of the heart’, Dt 30:6,16,20, a presentiment of the new Law. The ‘word of faith’ uttered and made effective by the Spirit of Christ, 8:2,14, is deeper in the heart and sweeter in the mouth that the ‘word of the Law’ could be. d - Lit ‘the depths’ – of the sea – Dt 30:13, of Sheol in Paul’s applied sense. IN connection with this text, the Targum had already spoken of the descent of Moses from Sinai and the ascent of Jonah from the depths of the sea.

13 Nor is it beyond the seas, so that you need to wonder, ‘Who will cross the seas for us and bring it bring it back to us, so that we may hear it and keep it?’

You shall repeat them to your children and say them whether at rest in your house, or walking abroad, at your lying down or at your rising. The word was made flesh, m he lived among us, n and we saw his glory,o the glory that is his as the only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth.

Dt 6:7 Dt 11:18-21; 30:14 Jr 31:33

Jn 1:14+ Ex 25:8+ Lv 26:11-12 Dt 4:7+ 1 K 8:27 Ps 85:9 Ba 3:38 Jn 17:5+ 1 Jn 1:1-3

14 No, the Wordb is very near to you, it is in your mouth and in your heart for your observance.

Dt 30:14: b – The theology of the Word of God has its roots in this personification; it ripens in the wisdom books, cf. Pr 8:22+ and Ws 7:22+, and comes to maturity in the prologue of the fourth gospel, cf. Jm 1:1+. St Paul applies this text to ‘the word of faith’, Rm 10:6-8. Jn 1:14+ - m- The ‘flesh’ is man considered as a frail and mortal being, cf. 3:6, 17:2, Gn 6:3, Ps. 56:4, Is 40:6,see Rm 7:5+. n - Lit. ‘pitched his tent among us’. The incarnation of the Word makes God

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But until today Yahweh has not given you no heart to understand, no eye to see, no ears to heara

EX 34:6+ Ho 2:22+

Dt 29:3 Dt 4:29; 30:1,14 Is 29:10 Jr 5:20 ↗Rm 11:8

personally and visibly present to mankind; it is no longer a presence unseen and awe-inspiring as in the Tent and Temple of the old regime, Ex. 25:8+; Cf. Nb. 35:34, nor merely the presence of divine wisdom enshrined in Israel’s Mosaic Law, Si. 4:7-22; Ba. 3:36-4:4. o- The ‘glory’ is the manifestation of God’s presence, Ex. 24:16+. No one could see its brilliance and live, Ex 33:20+, but the human nature of the word now screens this glory as the cloud once did. Yet at times it pierces the veil, as the transfiguration, for instances, cf. Lk. 9:32, 35 (alluded to in Jn 1:14?) and when Jesus works miracles –‘signs’ that God is active in him, 2:11+, 11:40;cf. Ex. 14:24-27 and 15:7, 16:7f. The resurrection will reveal the glory fully, cf. Jn 17:5+. Dt 29:3 – a – The keynote of the third discourse: God must prepare the ‘heart’ before man can understand his ways.

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Second Reading: Col 1:15-29


Christ is the head of all creatione He is the image of the unseen God, and the firstborn of all creation (v. 15). Now the church is his body, he is the head, f As he is the Beginning, he was first to be born from the dead, so that he should be first in every way (v.18). It makes me happy to suffer for you, as I am suffering now, and in my own body to do what I can to make up all that has still to be undergone by Christ for the sake of his body, the Church m (v. 24). In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth (v. 1). Now the earth was a formless void, b there was darkness over the deep, and God’s spirit hoveredc the water. …and I shall make him my first born, the Most Highi for kings on earth.

Col 1:15,18+,24 Col 1:15,18+,24 Gn 1:1-2 Ps 89:27 Ws 7:26 Zc 12:10 Jn 1:3,18 Rm 8:29 Heb 1:3,6 Ep 1:10,21+ Rm 11:36 1 Co 8:6 Col 1:15,24 Ep 1:22-23; 5:23f 1 Co 15:20 Rv 1:5 Rm 8:29

Gn 1:1-2

Gn 4:2-25 Ps 148 Jb 38-39 Heb 11:3 Ps 8:104 Si 24:3 Pr 8:22-31 ↗Jn 1:1-3 Col 1:15-17

Ps 89:27

Col 1:15,48 2 S 7:9

15 Christ is the head of all creatione He is the image of the unseen God, and the firstborn of all creation

Col 1:15, 18, 24 – e - In this poem Paul introduces two ways in which can claim to be the ‘head’ of everything that exists:1. He is the head of creation, of all that exists naturally, vv. 15-17; 2. He is head of the new creation and all that exists supernaturally through having been saved, vv. 18-20. The subject of the poem is the pre-existent Christ, but considered only in so far as he is manifest in the unique historic person that is the Son of God made man, cf. Ph 2:5+. It is as the incarnate God that Jesus is the ‘image of God’, i.e. his human nature was the visible manifestation of God who is invisible, cf.Rm 8:29+, and it is as such, in this concrete human nature, and as part of creation, that Jesus is called the ‘first born of creation’ - not in the temporal sense of having been born first, but in the sense of having been given the first place of honor. f – On the church a Christ’s body, cf. 1 Co. 12:12f, he is called the ‘head’ of his own body both in a temporal sense (v. 18, i.e., he was the first to rise from the dead) and in a spiritual sense (v. 20, i.e. he is the leader of all the saved). m – Lit. ‘all that is lacking from the sufferings of Christ…Church’. Jesus suffered in order to establish the reign of God, and anyone who continues his work must share this suffering. Paul is not saying that he thinks his own sufferings increase the value of his redemption

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She is the reflection of the eternal lightk untarnished mirror of God’s active power, image of his goodness. But over the house of David and the citizens of Jerusalem I will pour a spirit of kindness and prayer. They will look on the one whom they have pierced;e they will mourn for him as for an only son, and weep for him as people weep for a first-born child. Through him all things came to be, not one thing has its being but through him (v. 3). No one has ever seen God; it is the only Son,r who is nearest to the Father’s heart, who has made him known. They are the ones he chose especially long ago and intended to become true images of his Son,q so that the Son might be the eldest of many brothers. He is the radiant light of God’s glory and the perfect copy of his nature,c

sustaining the universe by his powerful command; and now that he has

↗Rv 1:5

Ws 7:26 ↗Jn 1:9 ↗Col 1:15 Heb 1:3

Zc 12:10

Mt. 24:30 Jn. 3:14+; ↗19:37 ↗Rv. 1:7

Jn 1:3,18 Jn 1:9 Col 1:15 Heb 1:3 Jn 6:46 Ex 33:20+ 1 Jn 4:12 Jn 3:11+; 17:6+ Col 1:15

Rm 8:29 Jr 1:5 1 Co 15:49 Ph 3:21 Col 1:18

Heb 1:3,6

Ws 7:22+ 2 Co 4:6,18 Col 1:15+,17

(since that value cannot be increased) but that he shares by his sufferings as a missionary in those that Jesus had undergone in his own mission, cf. 2 Co. 1:15, Ph. 1:20+. These are the sufferings predicted for the messianic era, Mt. 24:8, Ac. 14:22, 1 Tm. 4:1+, and are all part of the way n which God had always intended the Church to develop. Paul feels that, being the messenger Christ has chosen to send to the pagans, he has been especially called on to experience those sufferings. Gn 1:1-2 – b – In Hebrew tohu and bohu, ‘trackless waste and emptiness; these, like the ‘darkness over the deep’ and the ‘waters’, are images that attempt to express in virtue of those negative quality the idea of creation from nothing’ which reaches precise formulation for the first time in 2 M 7:28. c– Like a bird hanging in the air over its young in the nest, Dt 32:11. Ps 89:27 – i – A divine title here applied to God’s anointed king. Ws 7:26 – k – In the OT God is never called ‘light’ cf. 1 Jn 1:5; Jm 1:17, but light accompanied him, Ex. 24:17, cf. Ex 24:16+; Ezk 1:27, Hab 3:4; Ps 50:3; 104:1-2; Is 60:19-20. See Jn 8:12+. Zc.12:10 -

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destroyed the defilement of sin, he has gone to take his place in heaven at the right hand of divine Majesty(v. 3) Again, when he brings the First-born into the worldd, he says: Let all the angels of God worship him.

Ep 1:7 Col 1:14

2 S 7:14

e - ‘the one’ Theodotion, Jn. 19:37; ‘me’ Hebr. The death of the Pierced One occurs in an eschatological context (cf. Rv. 1:7), ch. The raising of the siege of Jerusalem, the national mourning, vv. 10-14, the opening of the fountain of salvation, 13:1. The messianic age thus depends on a passion and a mysterious death comparable to the sufferings of the servant in Is. 52:13-53:12. Jn. 19:37 sees is this passage the figure of the passion of Christ, the ‘only son’ and the ‘first-born’, cf. Jh. 1:18,; Col. 1:15, whose pierced body will be ‘looked on’ with the saving eye of faith, cf. Jn 3:14+; Nb. 21:8-9. And whose opened side is a fountain of salvation, Jn. 19:34; 7:38. Jn 1:18 - r - Var. ‘God, only begotten’. Rm 8:29 - q - Christ, the image of God in the primordial creation, Col 1:15+; cf. Heb. 1:3, has now come, by a new creation, 2 Co 5:17+, to restore to fallen man the splendor of that image which has been darkened by sin, Gn 1:26+, 3:22-24+; Rm 5:12+. He does this by forming man in a still more splendid image of a son of God (Rm 8:29); thus, sound moral judgment is restored to the ‘new man’, Col 3:10+, and also his claim to glory which he had sacrificed by sin, Rm 3:23+. This glory which Christ as the image of God possesses by right, 2 Co 4:4, is progressively communicated to the Christian, 2 Co 3:18, until his body is itself clothed in the image of the

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‘heavenly man, 1 Co 15:49. Heb 1:3 and 6 - c - These two metaphors are borrowed from the Sophia and logos theologies of Alexandria, Ws 7:25-26; they express both the identity of nature between Father and Son, and the distinction of person. The Son is the brightness, the light shining from its source, which is the bright glory, cf. Ex. 24:16+, of the Father (‘Light from Light’). He is also the replica, cf. Col 1:15+, ofthe Father’s substance, like an exact impression made by a seal on clay or wax, cf. Jn 14:9. d – Either at the Parousia or more probably, at the incarnation.

To act upon when the times had run their course to the end;j that he would bring everything together under Christ as head, everything in the heaven and everything on earthk (v. 10)… far above every Sovereignty, Authority, Power or Dominion,t or any other name that can be named, not only in this age but also in the age to come (v. 21). All that exists comes from him; all is by him and for him. To him be glory forever. Amen. Still for us there is one God, the Father, from all things come and for whom we exist; and there is one Lord, Jesus Christ,

Ep 1:10,21+ Mk 1:15 Ga 4:4+ Col. 1:16,20 Ac 2:33+ 1 P 3:22 Col 1:16 Col 2:15 Ph 2:9

Rm 11:36

Jb 41:3 1 Co 8:6 Col 1:16-17 Heb 2:10

1 Co 8:6 Rm 11:36 Ep 4:5-6

16 for him were created all things in heaven and on earth: everything visible and everything invisible, Thrones, Dominations, Sovereignties, Powers - all things were created through him and for him.

Ep 1:10 and 21 – j – Lit. ‘for a dispensation of the times’ fullness’, cf. Ga 4:4f. k - The main theme of this letter is how the whole body of creation, having been cut off from the Creator by sin, is decomposing, and how its rebirth is effected by Christreuniting its parts into an organism with himself as the head, so as to reattach it to God. The human (Jew and pagan) and the angelic worlds are brought together again through the fact that they were saved by a single act, cf. 4:10f. t - Names traditional in Jewish literature for angelic hierarchies.

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though whom all things come through whom we exist.

Jn 1:3 Col 1:16-17 Heb 1:2

17 Before anything was created, he existed, and he holds all things in unity

He is the image of the unseen God, and the firstborn of all creation (v. 15). It makes me happy to suffer for you, as I am suffering now, and in my own body to do what I can to make up all that has still to be undergone by Christ for the sake of his body, the Church m (v. 24). He has put all things under his feet, and made him, as the ruler of everything, the head of the Church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills the whole creation (v. 22), which is his body, the fullness of him who fills the whole creationu. sincee as Christ is head of the Church and saves the whole body, so is a husband the head of his wife. But Christ has in fact been raised from the dead, the first of all who had fallen asleep. and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the Firstborn of the dead, the Ruler of the kings of the earth.i He loves us and washed awayj our sins with his blood,

Col 1:15,24

Ep 1:22-23 Ps 8:6 1 Co 15:24-25 Col. 1:18+,19

Ep 5:23f 1 Co 3:11

1 Co 15:20 Rm 8:11+ Col 1:18 1 Th 4:14

Rv 1:5 Is 5:4 Ex 19:6 1 P 2:9 Rm 16:27

18 Now the church is his body, he is the head, fAs he is the Beginning, he was first to be born from the dead, so that he should be first in every way

Col. 1:18 – f – On the church a Christ’s body, cf. 1 Co. 12:12f, he is called the ‘head’ of his own body both in a temporal sense (v. 18, i.e., he was the first to rise from the dead) and in a spiritual sense (v. 20, i.e. he is the leader of all the saved). Col 1:24 – m – Lit. ‘all that is lacking from the sufferings of Christ…Church’. Jesus suffered in order to establish the reign of God, and anyone who continues his work must share this suffering. Paul is not saying that he thinks his own sufferings increase the value of his redemption (since that value cannot be increased) but that he shares by his sufferings as a missionary in those that Jesus had undergone in his own mission, cf. 2 Co. 1:15, Ph. 1:20+. These are the sufferings predicted for the messianic era, Mt. 24:8, Ac. 14:22, 1 Tm. 4:1+, and are all part of the way n which God had always intended the Church to develop. Paul feels that, being the messenger Christ has chosen to send to the pagans, he has been especially called on to experience those sufferings. Ep. 1:23 – u – Lit. ‘fills all in all’. The Church, as the body of

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They are the ones he chose especially long ago and intended to become true images of his Son,q so that the Son might be the eldest of many brothers.

Rm 8:29

Jr 1:5 1 Co 15:49 Ph 3:21 Col 1:18

Christ, 1 Co. 12:12f, can be called the fullness (pleroma); cf. Infra 3:19, 4:13) in so far as it includes the whole new creation that shares (since it forms the setting of the human race) in the cosmic rebirth under Christ its ruler and head, cf. Col. 1:15-20f. The adverbial phrase ‘all in all’ is used to suggest something of limitless size, cf. 1 Co. 6, 15:28, Col. 3:11. Ep 5:23 - e - By drawing a parallel between human

marriage and the marriage of Christ to the Church, vv. 23-32, Paul makes these two concept illumine each other. Christ is the husband of the Church because he is her head and because he loves the Church as much as a man loves his own body when he loves his wife. Having established this, the comparison naturally suggests an ideal for human marriage. The symbol of Israel as the wife of Yahweh is common in the OT, Ho 1:2+. Rv 1:5- i- The Messiah is the ‘witness’ to the promise that was made to David, 2 S 7:1+; Ps 89, Is 55:3-4; Zc 12:8, both in his person and in his work; as he fulfills this promise he is the efficacious word, God’s yes, Rv 3:14; 19:11,13; 2 Co 1:20. Not only is he heir to David, Rb 5:5, 22:16, but his resurrection he is the ‘First -born’, Col 1:18, who will reign over the universe when his enemies have been destroyed, Dn 7:14; Rv 19:16. j - Var. ‘released us from’.

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Rm 8:29 - q - Christ, the image of God in the primordial creation, Col 1:15+; cf. Heb. 1:3, has now come, by a new creation, 2 Co 5:17+, to restore to fallen man the splendor of that image which has been darkened by sin, Gn 1:26+, 3:22-24+; Rm 5:12+. He does this by forming man in a still more splendid image of a son of God (Rm 8:29); thus, sound moral judgment is restored to the ‘new man’, Col 3:10+, and also his claim to glory which he had sacrificed by sin, Rm 3:23+. This glory which Christ as the image of God possesses by right, 2 Co 4:4, is progressively communicated to the Christian, 2 Co 3:18, until his body is itself clothed in the image of the ‘heavenly man, 1 Co 15:49.

In his body lives the fullness of divinity,e

and in him you too find your own fulfillment… which is his body, the fullness of him who fills the whole creationu.

Col 2:9+ Col 1:19+ Jn 1:16 Ep 1:13; 3:19; 4:12-13

Ep 1:23 (see above)

19 Because God wanted all perfection to be

found in himg Col 1:19 - g- Lit. ‘because (God) wanted the pleroma to dwell in him”. The exact meaning of the word ‘pleroma’ (i.e. the thing that fills up a gap or hole, like a patch, cf. Mt. 9:16) is not certain here. Some writers have thought it must mean the same as in 2:9 (the fullness of divinity that filled Jesus) but since vv. 15-18 have already dealt with the divinity of Jesus, it seems likely that the reference here is to the biblical concept of the entire cosmos as filled with the creative presence of God, cf. Is. 6:3, Jr. 23:24, Ps. 24:1, 50:12, 72:19, Ws. 1:7, Sir. 43:27, etc. The concept was also widespread in the Graeco-Roman world. Paul teaches that the incarnation and resurrection make Christ head not only of the entire human race, but of the

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entire created universe (cosmos), so that everything that was involved in the fall is equally involved in salvation, cf. Rm. 8:19-23, 1 Co. 3:22f, 15:20-28, Ep. 1:10, 4:10, Ph. 2:10f., 3:2f, Heb. 2:5-8, Cf. 2:9+. Col 2:9 - e - The word pleroma here, cf. 1:19+, is defined as the ‘divinity’ that is actually ‘filling’ Christ now in his body: in other words, the risen Christ, through his incarnation and resurrection, unites the divine and the created. The former is what he is by his pre-existence and his present glory; the latter is, as human, what he has assumed directly, and, as cosmic, what he assumed indirectly through being human. In this way he himself is the pleroma of all possible categories of being. Ep 1:23 – u – Lit. ‘fills all in all’. The Church, as the body of Christ, 1 Co. 12:12f, can be called the fullness (pleroma); cf. Infra 3:19, 4:13) in so far as it includes the whole new creation that shares (since it forms the setting of the human race) in the cosmic rebirth under Christ its ruler and head, cf. Col. 1:15-20f. The adverbial phrase ‘all in all’ is used to suggest something of limitless size, cf. 1 Co. 6, 15:28, Col. 3:11.

(See verse 16) All that exists comes from him; all is by him and for him. To him be glory forever. Amen.

Ep 1:10,21+

Rm 11:36 Jb 41:3 1 Co 8:6

20 and all things to be reconciled through him and for him,h everything in heaven and everything on earth,iwhen he made peace by his death on the cross

Col 1:20 - h - i.e. through and for Christ, cf. the parallel ‘though him and for him’ of v. 16. Alternatively, it could read “God wanted everything…to be reconciled to himself, though him who made

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Still for us there is one God, the Father, from all things come and for whom we exist; and there is one Lord, Jesus Christ, though whom all things come through whom we exist.

Col 1:16-17 Heb 2:10

1 Co 8:6

Rm 11:36 Ep 4:5-6 Jn 1:3 Col 1:16-17 Heb 1:2

peace…’ cf. Rm 5:10; 2 Co 5:18f. i - This reconciliation of the whole universe (including angels as well as human beings) means not that every single individual will be saved, but that all who are saved will be saved by their collective return to the right order and peace of perfect submission to God. Any individual who do not join this new creation through grace will be forced to join it, cf. 2:15; 1 Co 15:24-25 (the heavenly spirits) and 2 Th 1:8-9; 1 Co 6:9-10; Ga. 5:21; Rm 2:8; Ep 5:5 (men).

And you were dead through the crimes and the sins. Intellectually they are in the dark, and they are estranged from the life of God, without knowledge because they have shut their hearts to it (v. 18). Their sense of right and wrong once dulledl, they have abandoned themselves to sexuality and eagerly pursue a career of indecency of every kindm(v. 19). You were dead because you were sinners and had not been circumcised: hei has brought youj to life with him, he has forgiven usk all our sins. For he is the peace between us, and has made the two into one and broken down the barrier which used to keep them apart,l actually destroying in his own

Ep 2:1f Col 2:13; 3:7 Heb 6:1+

Ep 4:18-19 Rm 1:18-22 =Col 1:21 1 P 1:18; 4:13

Col 2:13 Col 1:22 = Ep 2:1,5f

Ep 2:14-16 Is 9:5 Ga 3:28 Col 2:14

21 Not long ago, you were foreigners and enemies,j in the way that you used to think and the evil things that you did;

Col 1:22 - J – The context suggests that there is a closer parallel with Ep 4:18f (foreigners to God and therefore God’s enemies) than with Ep 2:12 (foreigners in Israel). Ep 4:19- l–Var. (Vulg) ‘Being devoid of hope’. m – Or ‘sexuality and every kind of indecency and greed.’ Col 2:13 - i - God the Father j - ‘you’; var. ‘us’. k -‘ us’; var. ‘you’. Ep. 2:14 – 16 - l - The wall separating the court of the Jews from the court of the pagans in the Temple, cf. Ac. 21:28f. m- The Mosaic Law gave the Jews a privileged status and separated them from pagans. Jesus

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person the hostility (v. 14). Caused by the rules and decrees of the Law.m This was to create one single New Mann in himself out of the two of them and by restoring peace (v. 15). Through the cross, to unite them both in single Bodyo and reconcile them with God. I his own person he killed the hostility (v. 16).

Col 3:14-15

abolished this Law by fulfilling it once for all on the cross, Col. 2:14+. n – This new man is the prototype of the new humanity that God recreated (2Co. 5:17+) in the person of Christ, the second Adam (1 Co. 15:45) after killing the sinfully corrupt race of the first Adam in the crucifixion (Rm. 5:12f, 8:3, 1 Co. 15:21). This New Adam has been created in the goodness and holiness of the truth, 4:24, and he is unique because in him the boundaries between any one group and the rest of the human race all disappear, Col. 3:10f, Ga. 3:27f). o – This ‘single Body’ is both the physical body of Jesus that was executed by crucifixion, Col 1:22+, and the Church or ‘mystical’ body of Christ in which, once they were reconciled, all the parts function in their own place, 1 Co 12:12+.

And he will keep you steady and without blamed until the last day, the daye of our Lord Jesus Christ. So that when he took her to himself she would be glorious, with no speck or wrinkle or anything like that, but holy and faultless.f

1 Co 1:8+ 1 Co 3:13; 5:5 2 Co 1:14 Ph 1:6; 2:16 Col 1:22 1 Co 10:13

Ep 5:27+ 2 Co 11:2 Col 1:22 Rv 19:7-8 Rv 21:2,9-11

22 but now he has reconciled you, by his death and in that mortal body.k Now you are able to appear before him holy, pure and blameless-

Col 1:22 - k - ‘he’, i.e. the Father. The human, natural body is that of his Son (lit. ‘flesh body’); this provides the locus where the reconciliation takes place. Into the body the entire human race is effectively gathered, cf. Ep 2:14-16, because Christ has assumed its sin, 2 Co 5:21. The ‘flesh’ body is the body as affected by sin, 2 Co 5:21; cf. Rm 8:3; 7:5+; Heb 4:15. 1 Co. 1:8 - d - CfPh 1:10; 2:15f; Ep 1:4; Col 1:22; 1 Th 3:13; 5:23; Jude 24. e - This ‘day of the Lord’, 5:5; 2 Co 1:14; 1 Th 5:2; 2 Th 2:2;

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Ep. 5:27 - f – It was customary in the middle east at the time this letter was written, for the ‘sons of the wedding’ to escort the bride to her husband after she had been bathed and dressed. As applied mystically to the Church, Christ washes his bride himself in the bath of baptism, and makes her immaculate (note the mention of a baptismal formula) and introduces her to himself.

…because of the hope which is stored up for you in heaven. It is only recently that you heard of this, when it was announced in the message of truth. The Good News… And he said to them, ‘Go out to the whole world; proclaim the Good News to all creation… Now there were devout mene living in Jerusalem from every nation under heaven, He is the one who has given usthe qualifications to be the administrators of this new covenant, which is not a covenant of written letter but of the Spirit; the written letters bring death, but the Spirit gives life.

Col 1:5f 1 P 1:3 Col 1:23 =Ep 1:13

Mk 16:15 Mk 13:10 Is 52:7 Mt 28:18-20 Lk 24:47 Jn 20:21 Col 1:23

Ac 2:5

2 Co 3:6 Rm 2:29; 7:5+ Ex 32:16; 34:29-35

23 As long as you persevere and stand firm on the solid base of the faith, never letting yourselves drift away from the hope promised by the Good News, which you have heard, which has been preached to the whole human race, l and of which I, Paul have become the servant.

Col 1:22 - l- Lit ‘to all creation under the sky’. Ac 2:5 - e - ‘devout men’ Sin. Western Text ‘ Now the Jews who were living in Jerusalem were men of every nation under heaven’. The other texts have both ‘devout men’ and ‘Jews’

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I have been made the servant of that gospel by a gift of grace from God who gave it to me by his own power (v. 7). so that Christ may live in your hearts through faith, and then, planted in love and built on love(v. 17).

Ep 3:7,17 2 Co 3:6 Col 1:23 1 Th 2:4 Jn 14:23 Rm 7:22+

Yes, I want you to know that I do have to struggle hard for you, and for those in Laodicea, and for so many others who have never seen me face to face,

Happy are you when people abuse you and persecute you and speak all kinds of calumny against you on my account. This is the Christ we proclaim, this is the wisdom in which we thoroughly train everyone and instruct everyone, to make them all perfect in Christ.

Indeed as the sufferings of Christ overflow to us, so, through Christ, does our consolation overflow.

Col 2:1 Col 1:24 1 Th 2:17

Mt 5:11 Ws 2:16 Ac 5:41

Col 1:28 1 Co 2:6 Ep 4:13

2 Co 1:5 Ph 1:20+ Col 1:24+

24 It makes me happy to suffer for you, as I am suffering now, and in my own body to do what I can to make up all that has still to be undergone by Christ for the sake of his body, the Church. m

Col. 1:24 – m – Lit. ‘all that is lacking from the sufferings of Christ…Church’. Jesus suffered in order to establish the reign of God, and anyone who continues his work must share this suffering. Paul is not saying that he thinks his own sufferings increase the value of his redemption (since that value cannot be increased) but that he shares by his sufferings as a missionary in those that Jesus had undergone in his own mission, cf. 2 Co. 1:15, Ph. 1:20+. These are the sufferings predicted for the messianic era, Mt. 24:8, Ac. 14:22, 1 Tm. 4:1+, and are all part of the way n which God had always intended the Church to develop. Paul feels that, being the messenger Christ has chosen to send to the pagans, he has been especially called on to experience those sufferings.

by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Holy Spirit. Thus all the way along from Jerusalem to Illyricum,f I have preached Christ’s Good News to the utmost of my capacity. He is the one who has given us the

Rm 15:19 Ac 1:8+ Ga 2:7

2 Co 3:6

25 I became the servant of the Church when God made me responsible for delivering God’s message to you,

Rm 15:19 - f – The two extreme of Paul’s missionary journeys at the time of writing; whether he had actually entered Illyricum is disputed.

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qualifications to be the administrators of this new covenant, which is not a covenant of written letter but of the Spirit; the written letters bring death, but the Spirit gives life.

Rm 2:29; 7:5+ Ex 32:16; 34:29-35

Doxologyj Glory to him who is able to give you the strengthk to live according to the Good News I preach, and in which I proclaim Jesus Christ, the revelation of a mysteryl kept secret for endless ages…

Rm 16:25+

26 the message which was a mystery hidden for generations and centuries and has now been revealed to his saints.

Rm 16:25 - j - Most authorities place this doxology here, but in some it appears at the end of ch. 15 or 14; others omit. A solemn presentation, cf. Ef 3:20; Jude 24-25, of the main points of the letter. k - Firmly grounded in doctrine and strong in Christian practice. Cf. 1:11; 1 Th 3:2,13; 2 Th 2:17; 3:3; 1 Co 1:8; 2 Co 1:21; Col 2:7. l - The idea of a ‘mystery’ of wisdom, v. 27; 1 Co 2:7; Ep 3:10; Col 2:2-3, long hidden in God and now revealed, v. 25; 1 Co 2:7,10; Ep 3:5,9f; Col 1:26, is borrowed by Paul from Jewish apocalypse, Dn 2:18-19+, but he enriches the content of the term by applying it to the climax of the history of salvation: the saving cross of Christ, 1 Co 2:8; the call of the pagans, v. 26; Rm 11:25; Col 1:26-27; Ep 3:6, to this salvation preached by Paul, v. 25; Col 1:23; 4:3; Ep 3:3-12; 6:19, and finally the restoration of all things in Christ as their one head, Ep 1:9-10. See also 1 Co 4:1; 13:2; 14:2; 15:51; Ep 5:32; 2 Th 2:7; 1 Tm 3:9,16; 2 Tm 1:9-10; Mt 13:11p+; Rv 1:20; 10:7; 17:5,7.

But when Christ is revealed – and he is your life - you too will be revealed in all your glory with him. b

Col 3:4 Col 1:27 1 P 5:1 1 Jn 3:2 Rm 8:19

27 It was God’s purpose to reveal it to them and to show all the rich glory of this mystery to pagans. The mystery is Christ among you, your hope of glory:n

Col. 1:27 - n - Previously, when it had seemed (to the Jews) that pagans could never be saved, as salvation was restricted to ‘Israel’, pagans had seemed to be without a Messiah and consequently to be

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…do not forget, I say, that you had no Christg and were excluded from membership of Israel, aliens with no part in the covenants with their Promise,h you were immersed in the world, without hopei and without Godj We want you to be quite certain, brothers, about those who have died,g, so make sure that you do not grieve about them, like the other people who have no hope.

Ep 2:12

Col 1:21,27 Rm 9:4-5 Ep 2:17

1 Th 4:13 Ep 2:12 Col 1:27

deprived of all hope, Ep. 2:12. The ‘mystery’ or secret of God that had now been revealed was that the pagans too were, and had been, all called to be saved through union with Christ, and so to reach eternal glory , cf. Ep. 2:13-22; 3:3-6. Col 3:4 - b - Through union with Christ in baptism, 2:12, his followers already live the identical life he lives in heaven, cf. Ep 2:6+, but this spiritual life is not manifest and glorious as it will be in the parousia. Ep 2:12 – g - I.e. ‘you had no Messiah.’ h - The successive covenants made by God with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David etc.; cf. Ex 19:1+; Lv 26:42,45; Si 44-45; Ws 18:22; 2 M 8:15; Rm 9:4. i - The pagans had many gods but not the one true God, 1 Co 8:5f. j - The wall separating the court of the Jews from the court of the pagans in the Temple, cf. Ac 21:28f. 1 Th 4:13 – g– Lit ‘ we do not wish you to be ignorant, brothers, concerning the sleeping’. The euphemism was command in the OT., in the NT, and in Greek literature: the natural concomitant was to call the resurrection (to new life or from death) an ‘awakening’.

But still we have a wisdom to offer those 1 Co 2:6 28 this is the Christ we proclaim, this is the 1 Co 2:6 –

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who have reached maturity;c not a philosophy of our age, it is true, still less of the masters of ourage,d which are coming to their end. In this way we are all to come to unity in our faith and in our knowledge of the Son of God, until we become the perfect Man,j fully mature with the fullness of Christ himself.

Col 1:28 Heb 5:14 Rm 16:25+

Ep 4:13+ Ep 2:21; 4:16 Col 1:23+; 3:11

wisdom I which we thoroughly train everyone and instruct everyone, to make them all perfect I Christ.

c – The ‘mature’ or ‘perfect’ (teleloi) are not an exclusive group of initiates but those who have reached maturity in Christian life and thought. Cf 14:20; Ph 3:15; Col 4:12; Heb 5:14. d – Perhaps human rulers or government; more probably, the evil powers or demons that control the world, cf 1 Co 15:24-25; Ep 6:12. See also Lk 4:6 and Jn 12:31_; but the reference is perhaps to both, the latter using the former as their tools. Ep 4:13 – j– This does not refer primarily to the individual Christian. The sense is collective. It can be taken as referring to Christ himself, the New Man, the archetype of all who are reborn, 2:15+ or else ( and this sense is to be preferred) as referring to the total Christ, i.e., the whole body, 1 Co. 12:12+; made of head, v. 15; 1:22; Col 1:18, and the rest of the body, v. 16; 5:30.

There is nothing I cannot master with the help of the Oned who gives me strength. Knowing this, we pray continually that our God will make you worthy of his call, and by his power fulfill all yourf desires for good ness and complete all that you have been doing through faith…

Ph 4:13 2 Co 12:9-10 Ep 3:8 Col 1:29

2 Th 1:11 Ph 2:13

29 It is for this I struggle wearily on, helped only by his power driving me irresistibly.

Ph 4:13 - d – ‘the One’, var. ‘Christ’. 2 Th 1:11 -

f – Or ‘his’.

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Homily for the 15thSunday in Ordinary Time(Cycle C) Based on Lk 10:25-37 (Gospel), Dt 30:10-14(First Reading) and Col 1:15-29(Second Reading)


MY SAMARITAN NEIGHBOR “And who is my neighbor?” (Lk 10:29b)

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The Gospel reading for this 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Cycle C) is from Lk 10:25-37: Verse 25 says: There was a lawyer who, to disconcert him, stood up and said to him, ‘Master, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ Parallel texts are:

1. Mt 22:34-40 - But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they got together (v. 34) and, to disconcert him, one of them put a question (v. 35), “Master, which is the greatest commandment of the Law?” V. 36) Jesus said, “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind (v.37). This is the greatest and the first commandment (v.38). The second resembles it: You must love your neighbor as yourself (v. 39) On these two commandments hang the whole law and the prophets also (v. 40).

2. Mk 12:28-31 - One of the scribes who had listened to them debating and observed how well Jesus had answered them, now came up and put this question to him, “Which is the first of all the commandments?” (v. 28). Jesus replied, “The first is this: ‘Listen, O Israel, the Lord our God is the one Lord! (v. 29). And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength’ (v. 30). The second is this: You must love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these (v. 31)’.

3. 2 Ch 28:15 - Men expressly nominated for the purpose saw to the relief of the prisoners. From the booty they clothed all those of them who were naked; they gave them clothing and sandals and provided them with food, drink and shelter. They mounted all those who were infirm on donkeys and took them back to their kinsmen at Jericho, the city of palm trees. Then they returned to Samaria.d Footnote d says “The Samaritan character rises above their worship and sacrifice. Note the broadmindedness of the Chronicler: the passage anticipates the parable of the Good Samaritan.”

4. Pr 3:27 - Do not refuse a kindness to anyone who begs it, if it is in your power to perform it. 5. Mt 19:16 - And there was a man who came to him and asked, ‘Master,d what good deed must I do to possess eternal life? Footnote d says “Var. ‘Good master’, cf. Mk

and Lk.” Verse 26 says: He said to him, ‘What is written in the law? What do you read there?’ Parallel text is Dt 6:5 that says:You shall love Yahweh your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strengthc Footnote c says “This love, echo God’s love for his people, 4:37; 7:8; 10:15, embraces the fear of God, the duty of service and the observance of precepts, 6:13; 10:12-13; 11:1; cf. 30:2. Outside Dt there is no

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explicit command to love God but its equivalent is found in 2 K 23:25 and Ho 6:6. Though the command does not spear, the Psalms and the prophetic books, especially Hosea and Jeremiah, are full of the love if God. Jesus, quoting Dt 6:5, lays down as the greatest commandment of all, Mt 22:37p; with it goes fear, the fear of a son, not of a salve, 1 Jn 4:18. Verse 27 says: He replied, ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.’ Parallel texts are:

1. Lv 19:18 - You must not exact vengeance, nor must you bear a grudge against the children of your own people. You must love your neighbor as yourself. I am Yahweh. 2. Lv 18:5 - I am Yahweh your God, you must keep my laws and my customs. Whoever complies with them will find lid life in them. I am Yahweh.

Verse 28 says: You have answered right’ said Jesus, ‘do this and life is yours.’ Parallel text is Pr 19:16 that says: He who keeps the commandment is keeper of himself, but he who despises the wordb shall die. Footnote b says ‘the word’ corr., cf 13:13; ‘his ways’ Hebr.” Verse 29 says: But the man was anxious to justify himselfg and said to Jesus, ‘And who is my neighbor? Footnote g says “For having out the question.” Parallel text is Jn 4:9 that says: The Samaritan woman said to him, ‘What? You are a Jew and you ask me, a Samaritan, for a drink?’ Jews, in fact, do not associate with Samaritanse. Footnote e says “Some authorities omit this parenthesis. The Jews hated the Samaritans, Si 50:25-26; Jn 8:48; Lk 9:52-55, cf. Mt 10:5, Lk 10:33; 17:16, and attributed their origin to the importation of five pagan groups, 2 K 17:24-41, who retained some of their loyalty to their old gods, these are symbolized by the ‘five husbands of v. 18.” Verses 30, 31, 32 and 33 say: Jesus replied, ‘A man was once on his way down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell into the hands of brigands; they took all he had, beat him and then made off, leaving him half dead. Now a priest happened to be travelling down the same road, but when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. In the same way a Levite who came to the place saw him, and passed by on the other side. But a Samaritanh traveler who came upon him was moved with compassion when he saw him. Footnote h says “An alien and a heretic, Jn 8:48; cfLk 9:53+, from whom one might expect hostility, as opposed to those of Israel who should have been most sensitive to the demands of charity.” Parallel text for verse 33 is Jn 17:16 that says: They do not belong to the world, anymore than I belong to the world. Verse 34, 35, 36 and 37 say: He went up and bandaged his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them. He then lifted him on to his own mount, carried him to the inn and looked after him. Next day, he took out two denarii and handed them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him’, he said ‘and on my way back I will make good any extra expense you have.’ Which of these three, do you think, proved himself a neighbor to the man who fell into the brigands’ hands? The one who took pity of him’ he replied, Jesus said to him, ‘Go, and do the same yourself’.

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Parallel text for verse 34 is Is 1:6 that says: From the sole of the foot to the head, there is not a sound spot,d wounds, bruises, open sores not dressed, nor bandaged, not soothed with oil. Footnote d says “In their literal sense these verses speak of a Judah punished for its sins. The Liturgy of the Church applies them to the suffering Messiah.” The First Reading is fromDt 30:10-14. Verses 10 and 11 say: If only you obey the voice of Yahweh your God, keeping his commandments and laws of his that are written in the book of this Law, and if you return to Yahweh your God with all your heart and soul. For this Law that I enjoin on you today is not beyond your strength or beyond your reach.a Footnote a says “A recurring lesson in the Wisdom literature is that wisdom, a fount of joy, is inaccessible; cf. Jb 28 (but contrast Pr. 8:1f). Nevertheless God reveals it through the Law, Si. 24:23-34; Ps 119.” Parallel texts are:

1. Jb 28:23-28 - God alone had traced its path; and found out where it lives (v.23). For he sees to the ends of the earth, and observes all that lies under the heavens (v.24). When he willed to give weight to the wind, and measured out the waters with a gauge (v. 25); When he made a laws and rules for the rain and mapped a route for thunder claps to follow (v. 26). Then he had it in sight, and cast it worth, assessed it, fathomed itj (v. 27).And he said to man, ‘Wisdom? It is fear of the Lord. Understanding? – avoidance of evil (v. 28).Footnote j says “‘reckoned its worth’ corr. ‘assessed’ five Hebr.”

2. Si 51:26 - I have stretched out my hands to heaven and bewailed my ignorance of her; Verses12 and 13 say: It is not in heaven, so that you need to wonder, ‘Who will go up to heaven for us and bring it down to us, so that we may hear it and keep it?’Nor is it beyond the seas, so that you need to wonder, ‘Who will cross the seas for us and bring it bring it back to us, so that we may hear it and keep it?’ Parallel texts for verse 12 are:

1. Is 45:19 - I have not spoken in secret in some corner of a darkened land. I have not said to Jacob’s descendants ‘Seek me in chaos’n I Yahweh speak with directness I express myself with clarity. Footnote n says “The universe as it was before God imposed order in it, Gn 1:2.”

2. Rm 10:6-8 - But the righteousness that comes from faith says this:c Do not tell yourself you have to bring Christ down – as in the text: Who will go up to heaven? (v. 6), or that to you have to bring Christ back from the dead – as in the text: Who will go down to the underworld?d (v. 7) On the positive side, it says: The word, that is the faith we proclaim, is very near to you, it is on your lips and in your heart (v. 8).Footnote c says “The argument is odd at first reading because the passage of Dt is certainly a eulogy to righteousness of the law. But Paul sees in this text, which sums up the whole Law in the precept of love and the ‘circumcision of the heart’, Dt 30:6,16,20, a presentiment of the new Law. The ‘word of faith’ uttered and made effective by the Spirit of Christ, 8:2,14, is deeper in the heart and sweeter in the mouth that the ‘word of the Law’ could be; and Footnote d says “Lit ‘the depths’ – of the sea – Dt 30:13, of Sheol in Paul’s applied sense. IN connection with this text, the Targum had already spoken of the descent of Moses from Sinai and the ascent of Jonah from the depths of the sea.”

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Verse 14 says: No, the Wordb is very near to you, it is in your mouth and in your heart for your observance. Footnote b says “The theology of the Word of God has its roots in this personification; it ripens in the wisdom books, cf. Pr 8:22+ and Ws 7:22+, and comes to maturity in the prologue of the fourth gospel, cf. Jm 1:1+. St Paul applies this text to ‘the word of faith’, Rm 10:6-8.” Parallel texts are:

1. Dt 6:7 - You shall repeat them to your children and say them whether at rest in your house, or walking abroad, at your lying down or at your rising. 2. Jn 1:14 - The word was made flesh, m he lived among us, n and we saw his glory,o the glory that is his as the only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth. Footnote m

says “The ‘flesh’ is man considered as a frail and mortal being, cf. 3:6, 17:2, Gn 6:3, Ps. 56:4, Is 40:6,see Rm 7:5+.; Footnote n says “Lit. ‘pitched his tent among us’. The incarnation of the Word makes God personally and visibly present to mankind; it is no longer a presence unseen and awe-inspiring as in the Tent and Temple of the old regime, Ex. 25:8+; Cf. Nb. 35:34, nor merely the presence of divine wisdom enshrined in Israel’s Mosaic Law, Si. 4:7-22; Ba. 3:36-4:4.; and Footnote o says“The ‘glory’ is the manifestation of God’s presence, Ex. 24:16+. No one could see its brilliance and live, Ex 33:20+, but the human nature of the word now screens this glory as the cloud once did. Yet at times it pierces the veil, as the transfiguration, for instances, cf. Lk. 9:32, 35 (alluded to in Jn 1:14?) and when Jesus works miracles –‘signs’ that God is active in him, 2:11+, 11:40;cf. Ex. 14:24-27 and 15:7, 16:7f. The resurrection will reveal the glory fully, cf. Jn 17:5+.”

3. Dt 29:3 - But until today Yahweh has not given you no heart to understand, no eye to see, no ears to heara. Footnotea says “The keynote of the third discourse: God must prepare the ‘heart’ before man can understand his ways.”

The Second Reading is from Col 1:15-29. Verse 15 says: Christ is the head of all creatione He is the image of the unseen God, and the firstborn of all creation.

Footnote e says “In this poem Paul introduces two ways in which can claim to be the ‘head’ of everything that exists:1. He is the head of creation, of all that exists naturally, vv. 15-17; 2. He is head of the new creation and all that exists supernaturally through having been saved, vv. 18-20. The subject of the poem is the pre-existent Christ, but considered only in so far as he is manifest in the unique historic person that is the Son of God made man, cf. Ph 2:5+. It is as the incarnate God that Jesus is the ‘image of God’, i.e. his human nature was the visible manifestation of God who is invisible, cf. Rm 8:29+, and it is as such, in this concrete human nature, and as part of creation, that Jesus is called the ‘first born of creation’ - not in the temporal sense of having been born first, but in the sense of having been given the first place of honor.” Parallel texts are:

1. Col 1:15,18+,24 - Christ is the head of all creatione He is the image of the unseen God, and the firstborn of all creation (v. 15). Now the church is his body, he is the head, f As he is the Beginning, he was first to be born from the dead, so that he should be first in every way (v.18). It makes me happy to suffer for you, as I am suffering now, and in my own body to do what I can to make up all that has still to be undergone by Christ for the sake of his body, the Church m (v. 24). Footnote e says “In this poem Paul introduces two ways in which can claim to be the ‘head’ of everything that exists:1. He is the head of creation, of all that exists naturally, vv. 15-17; 2. He is head of the new creation and all that exists supernaturally through having been saved, vv. 18-20. The subject of the poem is the pre-existent Christ, but considered only in so far as he is manifest in the unique historic person that is the Son of God made man, cf. Ph 2:5+. It is as the incarnate God that Jesus is the ‘image of God’, i.e. his human nature was the visible manifestation of God who is invisible, cf. Rm 8:29+, and it is as such, in this concrete human nature, and as part of creation,

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that Jesus is called the ‘first born of creation’ - not in the temporal sense of having been born first, but in the sense of having been given the first place of honor.“; Footnote f says “On the church a Christ’s body, cf. 1 Co. 12:12f, he is called the ‘head’ of his own body both in a temporal sense (v. 18, i.e., he was the first to rise from the dead) and in a spiritual sense (v. 20, i.e. he is the leader of all the saved)”; Footnote m says “Lit. ‘all that is lacking from the sufferings of Christ…Church’. Jesus suffered in order to establish the reign of God, and anyone who continues his work must share this suffering. Paul is not saying that he thinks his own sufferings increase the value of his redemption (since that value cannot be increased) but that he shares by his sufferings as a missionary in those that Jesus had undergone in his own mission, cf. 2 Co. 1:15, Ph. 1:20+. These are the sufferings predicted for the messianic era, Mt. 24:8, Ac. 14:22, 1 Tm. 4:1+, and are all part of the way n which God had always intended the Church to develop. Paul feels that, being the messenger Christ has chosen to send to the pagans, he has been especially called on to experience those sufferings.”

2. Gn 1:1-2 - In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth (v. 1). Now the earth was a formless void, b there was darkness over the deep, and God’s spirit hoveredc the water. Footnote b says “In Hebrew tohu and bohu, ‘trackless waste and emptiness; these, like the ‘darkness over the deep’ and the ‘waters’, are images that attempt to express in virtue of those negative quality the idea of creation from nothing’ which reaches precise formulation for the first time in 2 M 7:28.”; Footnote c says “Like a bird hanging in the air over its young in the nest, Dt 32:11.”

3. Ps 89:27…and I shall make him my first born, the Most Highi for kings on earth. Footnote i says “A divine title here applied to God’s anointed king.” 4. Ws 7:26 - She is the reflection of the eternal lightk untarnished mirror of God’s active power, image of his goodness. Footnote k says “In the OT God is never called

‘light’ cf. 1 Jn 1:5; Jm 1:17, but light accompanied him, Ex. 24:17, cf. Ex 24:16+; Ezk 1:27, Hab 3:4; Ps 50:3; 104:1-2; Is 60:19-20. See Jn 8:12+.” 5. Zc 12:10 - But over the house of David and the citizens of Jerusalem I will pour a spirit of kindness and prayer. They will look on the one whom they have pierced;e

they will mourn for him as for an only son, and weep for him as people weep for a first-born child. Footnote e says ‘the one’ Theodotion, Jn. 19:37; ‘me’ Hebr. The death of the Pierced One occurs in an eschatological context (cf. Rv. 1:7), ch. The raising of the siege of Jerusalem, the national mourning, vv. 10-14, the opening of the fountain of salvation, 13:1. The messianic age thus depends on a passion and a mysterious death comparable to the sufferings of the servant in Is. 52:13-53:12. Jn. 19:37 sees is this passage the figure of the passion of Christ, the ‘only son’ and the ‘first-born’, cf. Jh. 1:18,; Col. 1:15, whose pierced body will be ‘looked on’ with the saving eye of faith, cf. Jn 3:14+; Nb. 21:8-9. And whose opened side is a fountain of salvation, Jn. 19:34; 7:38.

6. Jn 1:3,18 - Through him all things came to be, not one thing has its being but through him (v. 3). No one has ever seen God; it is the only Son,r who is nearest to the Father’s heart, who has made him known. Footnote r says “Var. ‘God, only begotten’.”

7. Rm 8:29 - They are the ones he chose especially long ago and intended to become true images of his Son,q so that the Son might be the eldest of many brothers. Footnote q says “Christ, the image of God in the primordial creation, Col 1:15+; cf. Heb. 1:3, has now come, by a new creation, 2 Co 5:17+, to restore to fallen man the splendor of that image which has been darkened by sin, Gn 1:26+, 3:22-24+; Rm 5:12+. He does this by forming man in a still more splendid image of a son of God (Rm 8:29); thus, sound moral judgment is restored to the ‘new man’, Col 3:10+, and also his claim to glory which he had sacrificed by sin, Rm 3:23+. This glory which Christ as the image of God possesses by right, 2 Co 4:4, is progressively communicated to the Christian, 2 Co 3:18, until his body is itself clothed in the image of the ‘heavenly man, 1 Co 15:49.”

8. Heb 1:3,6 - He is the radiant light of God’s glory and the perfect copy of his nature,c sustaining the universe by his powerful command; and now that he has destroyed the defilement of sin, he has gone to take his place in heaven at the right hand of divine Majesty(v. 3) Again, when he brings the First-born into the worldd, he says: Let all the angels of God worship him. Footnote c says “These two metaphors are borrowed from the Sophia and logos theologies of Alexandria, Ws 7:25-26; they express both the identity of nature between Father and Son, and the distinction of person. The Son is the brightness, the light shining from its source, which is the bright glory, cf. Ex. 24:16+, of the Father (‘Light from Light’). He is also the replica, cf. Col 1:15+, of the Father’s substance, like an exact impression made by a seal on clay or wax, cf. Jn 14:9”; Footnote d says “Either at the Parousia or more probably, at the incarnation.”

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Verse 16 says: for him were created all things in heaven and on earth: everything visible and everything invisible, Thrones, Dominations, Sovereignties, Powers - all things were created through him and for him. Parallel texts are:

1. Ep 1:10,21 - To act upon when the times had run their course to the end;j that he would bring everything together under Christ as head, everything in the heaven and everything on earthk (v. 10)… far above every Sovereignty, Authority, Power or Dominion,t or any other name that can be named, not only in this age but also in the age to come (v. 21). Footnote j says “Lit. ‘for a dispensation of the times’ fullness’, cf. Ga 4:4f.”; Footnote k says “The main theme of this letter is how the whole body of creation, having been cut off from the Creator by sin, is decomposing, and how its rebirth is effected by Christ reuniting its parts into an organism with himself as the head, so as to reattach it to God. The human (Jew and pagan) and the angelic worlds are brought together again through the fact that they were saved by a single act, cf. 4:10f.”; Footnote t says “Names traditional in Jewish literature for angelic hierarchies.”

2. Rm 11:36 - All that exists comes from him; all is by him and for him. To him be glory forever. Amen. 3. 1 Co 8:6 - Still for us there is one God, the Father, from all things come and for whom we exist; and there is one Lord, Jesus Christ, though whom all things come through

whom we exist. Verses 17 and 18 say: Before anything was created, he existed, and he holds all things in unity. Now the church is his body, he is the head, f As he is the Beginning, he was first to be born from the dead, so that he should be first in every way. Footnote f says “On the church a Christ’s body, cf. 1 Co. 12:12f, he is called the ‘head’ of his own body both in a temporal sense (v. 18, i.e., he was the first to rise from the dead) and in a spiritual sense (v. 20, i.e. he is the leader of all the saved).” Parallel texts are:

1. Col 1:15,24 - He is the image of the unseen God, and the firstborn of all creation (v. 15). It makes me happy to suffer for you, as I am suffering now, and in my own body to do what I can to make up all that has still to be undergone by Christ for the sake of his body, the Church m (v. 24). Footnote m says “Lit. ‘all that is lacking from the sufferings of Christ…Church’. Jesus suffered in order to establish the reign of God, and anyone who continues his work must share this suffering. Paul is not saying that he thinks his own sufferings increase the value of his redemption (since that value cannot be increased) but that he shares by his sufferings as a missionary in those that Jesus had undergone in his own mission, cf. 2 Co. 1:15, Ph. 1:20+. These are the sufferings predicted for the messianic era, Mt. 24:8, Ac. 14:22, 1 Tm. 4:1+, and are all part of the way n which God had always intended the Church to develop. Paul feels that, being the messenger Christ has chosen to send to the pagans, he has been especially called on to experience those sufferings.”

2. Ep 1:22-23 - He has put all things under his feet, and made him, as the ruler of everything, the head of the Church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills the whole creation (v. 22), which is his body, the fullness of him who fills the whole creationu. Footnote u says “Lit. ‘fills all in all’. The Church, as the body of Christ, 1 Co. 12:12f, can be called the fullness (pleroma); cf. Infra 3:19, 4:13) in so far as it includes the whole new creation that shares (since it forms the setting of the human race) in the cosmic rebirth under Christ its ruler and head, cf. Col. 1:15-20f. The adverbial phrase ‘all in all’ is used to suggest something of limitless size, cf. 1 Co. 6, 15:28, Col. 3:11.”

3. Ep 5:23f - sincee as Christ is head of the Church and saves the whole body, so is a husband the head of his wife. Footnote e says “By drawing a parallel between human

marriage and the marriage of Christ to the Church, vv. 23-32, Paul makes these two concept illumine each other. Christ is the husband of the Church because he is her

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head and because he loves the Church as much as a man loves his own body when he loves his wife. Having established this, the comparison naturally suggests an ideal for human marriage. The symbol of Israel as the wife of Yahweh is common in the OT, Ho 1:2+.”

4. 1 Co 15:20 - But Christ has in fact been raised from the dead, the first of all who had fallen asleep. 5. Rv 1:5 - and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the Firstborn of the dead, the Ruler of the kings of the earth.i He loves us and washed awayj our sins with his

blood…, Footnote i says “The Messiah is the ‘witness’ to the promise that was made to David, 2 S 7:1+; Ps 89, Is 55:3-4; Zc 12:8, both in his person and in his work; as he fulfills this promise he is the efficacious word, God’s yes, Rv 3:14; 19:11,13; 2 Co 1:20. Not only is he heir to David, Rb 5:5, 22:16, but his resurrection he is the ‘First -born’, Col 1:18, who will reign over the universe when his enemies have been destroyed, Dn 7:14; Rv 19:16”; and Footnote j says “Var. ‘released us from’”.

6. Rm 8:29 - They are the ones he chose especially long ago and intended to become true images of his Son,q so that the Son might be the eldest of many brothers. Footnote q says “Christ, the image of God in the primordial creation, Col 1:15+; cf. Heb. 1:3, has now come, by a new creation, 2 Co 5:17+, to restore to fallen man the splendor of that image which has been darkened by sin, Gn 1:26+, 3:22-24+; Rm 5:12+. He does this by forming man in a still more splendid image of a son of God (Rm 8:29); thus, sound moral judgment is restored to the ‘new man’, Col 3:10+, and also his claim to glory which he had sacrificed by sin, Rm 3:23+. This glory which Christ as the image of God possesses by right, 2 Co 4:4, is progressively communicated to the Christian, 2 Co 3:18, until his body is itself clothed in the image of the ‘heavenly man, 1 Co 15:49.

Verse 19 says: Because God wanted all perfection to be found in himg. Footnote g says “Lit. ‘because (God) wanted the pleroma to dwell in him”. The exact meaning of the word ‘pleroma’ (i.e. the thing that fills up a gap or hole, like a patch, cf. Mt. 9:16) is not certain here. Some writers have thought it must mean the same as in 2:9 (the fullness of divinity that filled Jesus) but since vv. 15-18 have already dealt with the divinity of Jesus, it seems likely that the reference here is to the biblical concept of the entire cosmos as filled with the creative presence of God, cf. Is. 6:3, Jr. 23:24, Ps. 24:1, 50:12, 72:19, Ws. 1:7, Sir. 43:27, etc. The concept was also widespread in the Graeco-Roman world. Paul teaches that the incarnation and resurrection make Christ head not only of the entire human race, but of the entire created universe (cosmos), so that everything that was involved in the fall is equally involved in salvation, cf. Rm. 8:19-23, 1 Co. 3:22f, 15:20-28, Ep. 1:10, 4:10, Ph. 2:10f., 3:2f, Heb. 2:5-8, Cf. 2:9+.” Parallel texts are:

1. Col 2:9 - In his body lives the fullness of divinity,e and in him you too find your own fulfillment… Footnote e says “The word pleroma here, cf. 1:19+, is defined as the ‘divinity’ that is actually ‘filling’ Christ now in his body: in other words, the risen Christ, through his incarnation and resurrection, unites the divine and the created. The former is what he is by his pre-existence and his present glory; the latter is, as human, what he has assumed directly, and, as cosmic, what he assumed indirectly through being human. In this way he himself is the pleroma of all possible categories of being.”

2. Ep 1:23 - which is his body, the fullness of him who fills the whole creationu. Footnote u says “Lit. ‘fills all in all’. The Church, as the body of Christ, 1 Co. 12:12f, can be

called the fullness (pleroma); cf. Infra 3:19, 4:13) in so far as it includes the whole new creation that shares (since it forms the setting of the human race) in the cosmic rebirth under Christ its ruler and head, cf. Col. 1:15-20f. The adverbial phrase ‘all in all’ is used to suggest something of limitless size, cf. 1 Co. 6, 15:28, Col. 3:11.”

Verse 20 says: and all things to be reconciled through him and for him,h everything in heaven and everything on earth,i when he made peace by his death on the cross… Footnote h says “i.e. through and for Christ, cf. the parallel ‘though him and for him’ of v. 16. Alternatively, it could read “God wanted everything…to be reconciled to himself,

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though him who made peace…’ cf. Rm 5:10; 2 Co 5:18f.; Footnote i says “This reconciliation of the whole universe (including angels as well as human beings) means not that every single individual will be saved, but that all who are saved will be saved by their collective return to the right order and peace of perfect submission to God. Any individual who do not join this new creation through grace will be forced to join it, cf. 2:15; 1 Co 15:24-25 (the heavenly spirits) and 2 Th 1:8-9; 1 Co 6:9-10; Ga. 5:21; Rm 2:8; Ep 5:5 (men).” Parallel texts are:

1. Rm 11:6 - All that exists comes from him; all is by him and for him. To him be glory forever. Amen. 2. 1 Co 8:6 - Still for us there is one God, the Father, from all things come and for whom we exist; and there is one Lord, Jesus Christ, though whom all things come through

whom we exist. Verse 21 says: Not long ago, you were foreigners and enemies,j in the way that you used to think and the evil things that you did; Footnote j says “The context suggests that there is a closer parallel with Ep 4:18f (foreigners to God and therefore God’s enemies) than with Ep 2:12 (foreigners in Israel).” Parallel texts are:

1. Ep 2:1 - And you were dead through the crimes and the sins. 2. Ep 4:18-19 - Intellectually they are in the dark, and they are estranged from the life of God, without knowledge because they have shut their hearts to it (v. 18). Their

sense of right and wrong once dulledl, they have abandoned themselves to sexuality and eagerly pursue a career of indecency of every kindm (v. 19). Footnote l says “Var. (Vulg) ‘Being devoid of hope’”; and Footnote m says “Or ‘sexuality and every kind of indecency and greed.’”

3. Col 2:13 - You were dead because you were sinners and had not been circumcised: he i has brought youj to life with him, he has forgiven usk all our sins. Footnote i says “God the Father”; Footnote j says “‘you’; var. ‘us’; and Footnote k says “‘us’; var. ‘you’.”

4. Ep 2:14-16 - For he is the peace between us, and has made the two into one and broken down the barrier which used to keep them apart, l actually destroying in his own person the hostility (v. 14). Caused by the rules and decrees of the Law.m This was to create one single New Mann in himself out of the two of them and by restoring peace (v. 15). Through the cross, to unite them both in single Bodyo and reconcile them with God. I his own person he killed the hostility (v. 16). Footnote l says “The wall separating the court of the Jews from the court of the pagans in the Temple, cf. Ac. 21:28f.”; Footnote m says “The Mosaic Law gave the Jews a privileged status and separated them from pagans. Jesus abolished this Law by fulfilling it once for all on the cross, Col. 2:14+.”; Footnote n says “This new man is the prototype of the new humanity that God recreated (2Co. 5:17+) in the person of Christ, the second Adam (1 Co. 15:45) after killing the sinfully corrupt race of the first Adam in the crucifixion (Rm. 5:12f, 8:3, 1 Co. 15:21). This New Adam has been created in the goodness and holiness of the truth, 4:24, and he is unique because in him the boundaries between any one group and the rest of the human race all disappear, Col. 3:10f, Ga. 3:27f)”; and Footnote o says “This ‘single Body’ is both the physical body of Jesus that was executed by crucifixion, Col 1:22+, and the Church or ‘mystical’ body of Christ in which, once they were reconciled, all the parts function in their own place, 1 Co 12:12+.”

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Verse 22 says: but now he has reconciled you, by his death and in that mortal body.k Now you are able to appear before him holy, pure and blameless- Footnote k says “‘he’, i.e. the Father. The human, natural body is that of his Son (lit. ‘flesh body’); this provides the locus where the reconciliation takes place. Into the body the entire human race is effectively gathered, cf. Ep 2:14-16, because Christ has assumed its sin, 2 Co 5:21. The ‘flesh’ body is the body as affected by sin, 2 Co 5:21; cf. Rm 8:3; 7:5+; Heb 4:15.” Parallel texts are:

1. 1 Co 1:8 - And he will keep you steady and without blamed until the last day, the daye of our Lord Jesus Christ. Footnote d says “Cf. Ph 1:10; 2:15f; Ep 1:4; Col 1:22; 1 Th 3:13; 5:23; Jude 24.”; and Footnote e says “This ‘day of the Lord’, 5:5; 2 Co 1:14; 1 Th 5:2; 2 Th 2:2”.

2. Ep 5:27 - So that when he took her to himself she would be glorious, with no speck or wrinkle or anything like that, but holy and faultless. f Footnote f says “It was customary in the middle east at the time this letter was written, for the ‘sons of the wedding’ to escort the bride to her husband after she had been bathed and dressed. As applied mystically to the Church, Christ washes his bride himself in the bath of baptism, and makes her immaculate (note the mention of a baptismal formula) and introduces her to himself.”

Verse 23 says: As long as you persevere and stand firm on the solid base of the faith, never letting yourselves drift away from the hope promised by the Good News, which you have heard, which has been preached to the whole human race, l and of which I, Paul have become the servant. Footnote l says “Lit ‘to all creation under the sky’.” Parallel texts are:

1. Col 1:5 …because of the hope which is stored up for you in heaven. It is only recently that you heard of this, when it was announced in the message of truth. The Good News…

2. Mk 16:15 - And he said to them, ‘Go out to the whole world; proclaim the Good News to all creation… 3. Ac 2:5 - Now there were devout mene living in Jerusalem from every nation under heaven, Footnote e says “‘devout men’ Sin. Western Text ‘ Now the Jews who were

living in Jerusalem were men of every nation under heaven’. The other texts have both ‘devout men’ and ‘Jews’”. 4. 2 Co 3:6 - He is the one who has given us the qualifications to be the administrators of this new covenant, which is not a covenant of written letter but of the Spirit; the

written letters bring death, but the Spirit gives life. 5. Ep 3:7,17 - I have been made the servant of that gospel by a gift of grace from God who gave it to me by his own power (v. 7). so that Christ may live in your hearts

through faith, and then, planted in love and built on love(v. 17). Verse 24 says: It makes me happy to suffer for you, as I am suffering now, and in my own body to do what I can to make up all that has still to be undergone by Christ for the sake of his body, the Church. m. Footnote m says “Lit. ‘all that is lacking from the sufferings of Christ…Church’. Jesus suffered in order to establish the reign of God, and anyone who continues his work must share this suffering. Paul is not saying that he thinks his own sufferings increase the value of his redemption (since that value cannot be increased) but that he shares by his sufferings as a missionary in those that Jesus had undergone in his own mission, cf. 2 Co. 1:15, Ph. 1:20+. These are the sufferings predicted for the messianic era, Mt. 24:8, Ac. 14:22, 1 Tm. 4:1+, and are all part of the way n which God had always intended the Church to develop. Paul feels that, being the messenger Christ has chosen to send to the pagans, he has been especially called on to experience those sufferings.” Parallel texts are:

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1. Col 2:1 - Yes, I want you to know that I do have to struggle hard for you, and for those in Laodicea, and for so many others who have never seen me face to face, 2. Mt 5:11 - Happy are you when people abuse you and persecute you and speak all kinds of calumny against you on my account. 3. Col 1:28 - This is the Christ we proclaim, this is the wisdom in which we thoroughly train everyone and instruct everyone, to make them all perfect in Christ. 4. 2 Co 1:5 - Indeed as the sufferings of Christ overflow to us, so, through Christ, does our consolation overflow.

Verse 25 says: I became the servant of the Church when God made me responsible for delivering God’s message to you… Parallel texts are:

1. Rm 15:16 - by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Holy Spirit. Thus all the way along from Jerusalem to Illyricum, f I have preached Christ’s Good News to the utmost of my capacity. Footnote f says “The two extreme of Paul’s missionary journeys at the time of writing; whether he had actually entered Illyricum is disputed.”

2. 2 Co 3:6 - He is the one who has given us the qualifications to be the administrators of this new covenant, which is not a covenant of written letter but of the Spirit; the written letters bring death, but the Spirit gives life.

Verse 26 says: the message which was a mystery hidden for generations and centuries and has now been revealed to his saints. Parallel text is Rm 16:25 that says: Doxologyj Glory to him who is able to give you the strengthk to live according to the Good News I preach, and in which I proclaim Jesus Christ, the revelation of a mysteryl kept secret for endless ages… Footnote j says “Most authorities place this doxology here, but in some it appears at the end of ch. 15 or 14; others omit. A solemn presentation, cf. Ef 3:20; Jude 24-25, of the main points of the letter; Footnote k says “Firmly grounded in doctrine and strong in Christian practice. Cf. 1:11; 1 Th 3:2,13; 2 Th 2:17; 3:3; 1 Co 1:8; 2 Co 1:21; Col 2:7”; and Footnote l says “The idea of a ‘mystery’ of wisdom, v. 27; 1 Co 2:7; Ep 3:10; Col 2:2-3, long hidden in God and now revealed, v. 25; 1 Co 2:7,10; Ep 3:5,9f; Col 1:26, is borrowed by Paul from Jewish apocalypse, Dn 2:18-19+, but he enriches the content of the term by applying it to the climax of the history of salvation: the saving cross of Christ, 1 Co 2:8; the call of the pagans, v. 26; Rm 11:25; Col 1:26-27; Ep 3:6, to this salvation preached by Paul, v. 25; Col 1:23; 4:3; Ep 3:3-12; 6:19, and finally the restoration of all things in Christ as their one head, Ep 1:9-10. See also 1 Co 4:1; 13:2; 14:2; 15:51; Ep 5:32; 2 Th 2:7; 1 Tm 3:9,16; 2 Tm 1:9-10; Mt 13:11p+; Rv 1:20; 10:7; 17:5,7.” Verse 27 says: It was God’s purpose to reveal it to them and to show all the rich glory of this mystery to pagans. The mystery is Christ among you, your hope of glory:n Footnote n says “Previously, when it had seemed (to the Jews) that pagans could never be saved, as salvation was restricted to ‘Israel’, pagans had seemed to be without a Messiah and consequently to be deprived of all hope, Ep. 2:12. The ‘mystery’ or secret of God that had now been revealed was that the pagans too were, and had been, all called to be saved through union with Christ, and so to reach eternal glory , cf. Ep. 2:13-22; 3:3-6.” Parallel texts are:

1. Col 3:4 - But when Christ is revealed – and he is your life - you too will be revealed in all your glory with him. b Footnote b says “Through union with Christ in baptism, 2:12, his followers already live the identical life he lives in heaven, cf. Ep 2:6+, but this spiritual life is not manifest and glorious as it will be in the parousia.”

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2. Ep 2:12…do not forget, I say, that you had no Christg and were excluded from membership of Israel, aliens with no part in the covenants with their Promise,h you were immersed in the world, without hopei and without Godj Footnote g says “I.e. ‘you had no Messiah.’; Footnote h says “The successive covenants madeby God with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David etc.; cf. Ex 19:1+; Lv 26:42,45; Si 44-45; Ws 18:22; 2 M 8:15; Rm 9:4”; Footnote i says “The pagans had many gods but not the one true God, 1 Co 8:5f.”; and Footnote j says “The wall separating the court of the Jews from the court of the pagans in the Temple, cf. Ac 21:28f.”

3. 1 Th 4:13 - We want you to be quite certain, brothers, about those who have died,g, so make sure that you do not grieve about them, like the other people who have no hope. Footnote g says “Lit ‘ we do not wish you to be ignorant, brothers, concerning the sleeping’. The euphemism was command in the OT., in the NT, and in Greek literature: the natural concomitant was to call the resurrection (to new life or from death) an ‘awakening’.”

Verse 28 says: this is the Christ we proclaim, this is the wisdom I which we thoroughly train everyone and instruct everyone, to make them all perfect I Christ. Parallel texts are:

1. 1 Co 2:6 - But still we have a wisdom to offer those who have reached maturity;c not a philosophy of our age, it is true, still less of the masters of ourage,d which are coming to their end. Footnote c says “The ‘mature’ or ‘perfect’ (teleloi) are not an exclusive group of initiates but those who have reached maturity in Christian life and thought. Cf 14:20; Ph 3:15; Col 4:12; Heb 5:14.”; Footnote d says “Perhaps human rulers or government; more probably, the evil powers or demons that control the world, cf 1 Co 15:24-25; Ep 6:12. See also Lk 4:6 and Jn 12:31; but the reference is perhaps to both, the latter using the former as their tools.”

2. Ep 4:13 - In this way we are all to come to unity in our faith and in our knowledge of the Son of God, until we become the perfect Man, j fully mature with the fullness of Christ himself. Footnote j says “This does not refer primarily to the individual Christian. The sense is collective. It can be taken as referring to Christ himself, the New Man, the archetype of all who are reborn, 2:15+ or else ( and this sense is to be preferred) as referring to the total Christ, i.e., the whole body, 1 Co. 12:12+; made of head, v. 15; 1:22; Col 1:18, and the rest of the body, v. 16; 5:30.

Verse 29 says: It is for this I struggle wearily on, helped only by his power driving me irresistibly. Parallel texts are:

1. Ph 4:13 - There is nothing I cannot master with the help of the One who gives me strength. Footnote d says “‘the One’, var. ‘Christ’.” 2. 2 Th 1:11 - Knowing this, we pray continually that our God will make you worthy of his call, and by his power fulfill all yourf desires for goodness and complete all

that you have been doing through faith… Footnote f says “Or ‘his’.”

Doctrine: Pr 3:27 – Do not refuse to help anyone who asks for it if it is in your power to perform it.

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16th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME Cycle C BETHANY WOMEN

‘Martha, Martha,’ he said ‘you worry and fret about so many things’ (Lk 10:41) Gospel: Lk 10:38-42


Martha and Maryi Lk 10:38-42 - i- These two sisters reappear, with the same individual characteristics, in the story of the raising of Lazarus, Jn 11:1-44.

There was a man named Lazarus who lived in a village of Bethany with the two sisters, Mary and Martha, and he was ill (v. 1). It was the same Mary, the sister of the sick man Lazarus, who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair.a (v. 2).

Jn 11:1-2 Jn 12:1-8 Lk 10:38f

38 In the course of their journey he came to a village, and a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house.

Jn 11:1 – a – It is unlikely that this is ‘the woman who was a sinner’ of Lk 7:37.

And the people went out to see what had happened. When they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the devils had gone out sitting at the feet of Jesus,d clothed and in his full senses; and they were afraid.

Lk 8:35+ Lk 10:39

39 She had a sister named Mary who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to him speaking.

Lk 8:35 – d – As a disciple sits, 8:38; cf. 10:39; Ac 22:3. Lk alone adds this detail.

I say this only to help you, not to put a halter round your necks, but simply to make sure that everything is as it should be, and that you give your undivided attention to the Lord.

1 Co 7:35 Lk 10:40

40 Now Martha who was distracted with all the serving said, ‘Lord, do you not care that my sister is leaving me to do the serving all by myself? Please tell her to help me.’

Joanna, the wife of Herod’s steward Chuza, Susanna, and many others who provided for them out of their own resources. Set your hearts on his kingdom first, and on his righteousness, and all these other

Lk 8:3 Lk 23:49; 24:10 Jn 19:25

Mt 6:33 1 K 3:13

41 But the Lord answered: ‘Martha, Martha,’ he said ‘you worry and fret about so many things,

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things will be given you as well. 2 Ch 1:12 Ws 1:1; 7:11 Is 51:1 Jm 4:3

Do not work for food that cannot last, but work for the food that endures to eternal life, the kind of food the Son of Man is offeringf you, for on him the Father, God himself, has set his seal.g

Jn 6:27 Is 55:2 Lk 10:42 Mt 8:20+

42 and yet few are needed, indeed only one.j It is Mary who has chosen the better part; it is not to be taken from her.’

Lk 10: 42 - j– Var. ‘but only one thing is needed’, ‘but only a few things are needed’, readings which make free with the text and deform the sense. In his remark Jesus rises from the material plane (“few things are needed”, i.e. for the meal) to the one thing necessary’, which is to listen to the word of God. Jn 6:27 - f – Var ‘will offer’. g - The ‘seal’ that Jesus received at his baptism, namely the spirit, Mt 3:16+, who is the power of God operative in Christ’s ‘signs’. Cf Ac 10:38; Mt 12:28; Ep 1:13; 4:30; 2 Co 1:22.

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First Reading: Gn 18:1-10a


An angel of Yahwehb appeared to this woman and said to her: ‘You are barren and have no child.c

Jg 13:3 Gn 11:30; 18 1 S 1 2 Ch 2:53 Lk 1:5-25Heb 13:1f

The apparition at Memrea Gn 18:1-10 - a – In its definitive form this ‘Yahwistic’ narrative recounts an apparition of Yahweh (vv. 1,3,10f,13,22) accompanied by two ‘men’ who, according to 19:1, are angels. As the variants of the Greek and Sam. prove, the text is frequently uncertain in its choice of singular plural. It would seem that the primitive tradition spoke only of three ‘men’ and was content to leave their identity mysterious. IN these three to whom Abraham addressed a single act of homage, many of the Fathers saw a foreshadowing of the doctrine of the Trinity, a doctrine that was revealed only in the NT. Jg 13:3- b – Cf 2:1; 6:11 and Gn 16:7+. In v. 22 the angel is identified with Yahweh as in 6:22-23. c – The text adds ‘you will conceive, and bear a son’, a doublet of v. 5a.

1 Yahweh appeared to him in the Oak of Mamre while he was sitting by the entrance of the tent during the hottest part of the day.

And remember always to welcome strangers, for by doing this, some people have entertained angels without knowing it.

↗Heb 13:2 Gn 18:2f; 19:1f Jg 6:11-24; 13:3-23 Tb 5:4f

2 He looked up, and there he saw three men standing near him. As soon as he saw them he ran from the entrance of the tent to meet them, and he bowed to the ground.b

Gn 18:1-10 - b – Not a religious act of adoration but simply a mark of respect. At first, Abraham sees his guests as mere human beings and welcomes them warmly; their superhuman character is only gradually revealed, vv. 2,9,13,14.

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3 ‘My Lord’ he said ‘I beg you, if I find favor with you, kindly do not pass your servant by.

4 A little water shall be brought; you shall wash your feet and lie down under the tree.

5 Let me fetch a little bread and you shall refresh yourselves before going further. That is why you have come in your servant’s direction.’ They replied, ‘Do as you say’.

6 Abraham hastened to the tent to find Sarah. ‘Hurry,’ he said ‘knead three bushels of flour and make loaves.’

7 The running to the cattle Abraham took a fine and tender calf and gave it to the servant, who hurried to prepare it.

8 Then taking cream, milk and the calf he had prepared, he laid all of them before them, and they ate while he remained standing near them under the tree.

“My Lord Yahweh’, Abram replied ‘what do you intend to give me? I go childless…’b (v. 2) The Abram said, “See, you have given me no descendants; some man of my household will be my heir (v. 3)” And then this word of Yahweh was spoken to him, He shall not be your heir; your heir shall be your own flesh and blood. God said to Abraham: As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her Sarai; but Sarah f (v.15). I will bless her, and moreover give you a son by her. I will bless her and nations shall come out of

=Gn 15:2-4 Gn 17:9-10 Ac 7:5

=Gn 17:15-21 Gn 18:9-5 Ga 4:23

9 ‘Where is your wife Sarah?’ they asked him. ‘She is in the tent’ he replied.

Gn 15:2- b - The original text is irrecoverably corrupt: ‘and the son of…(unintelligible word) of my house is Damascus Eliezer.” V. 3 gives the general sense. For the first time Abraham expresses misgiving. Gn 17:15- f – Sarah and Sarai are two forms of the same name, which means ‘princess’: Sarah is to be the mother of kings, v. 16. g – Abraham’s laughter is to be echoed by Sarah’s 18:12, and Ishmael’s 21:9 (See also 21:6); each is an allusion to the name Isaac, abbreviated form of Yshq-El which means ‘May God smile, be kind’ or ‘has smiled, has

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her, kings of peoples will descend from her (v. 16) Abraham bowed to ground, and he laughed,g thinking to himself, “Is a child to be born to a man who is one hundred years old, and will Sarah have a child at the age of ninety?” (v. 17). Abraham said to God, “Oh, let Ishmael live in your presence!” (v. 18). But God replied: ‘No, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son whom you are to name Isaac. With him I will establish my Covenant, a Covenant in perpetuity, to be his God and the God of his descendants after him (v. 19) For Ishmael too I grant you your request: I bless him. I will make him fruitful and greatly increased in numbers. He shall be the father of twelve princes, and I will make of him into a great nation (v. 20). But my Covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear you at this time next year (v. 21).

Gen 18:12; 21:6-9 Jn 8:56+ Rm 4:19 Gn 11:30 Si 44:42 Heb 11:11 Gn 25 25:13-16 Gn 18:14

been kind’. Abraham’s laughter is a sign not so much of unbelief as of surprise at the extraordinary announcement; his mention of Ishmael, present heir-apparent to the Promise, is an implicit request for reassurance.

The actual words in which the promise was made were: I shall visit you at such and such a time and Sarah will have a son. “This time next year’ he said ‘you will hold a son in your arms.” But she said, “No, my lord, do not deceive your servant.

↗Rm 9:9 Gn 18:10

2 K 4:16 Gn 18:10

10a Then his guest said, ‘I shall visit you again next year without fail, and your wife will then have a son.’

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Yes, I want you to know that I do have to struggle hard for you, and for those in Laodicea, and for so many others who have never seen me face to face, Happy are you when people abuse you and persecute you and speak all kinds of calumny against you on my account. This is the Christ we proclaim, this is the wisdom in which we thoroughly train everyone and instruct everyone, to make them all perfect in Christ. Indeed as the sufferings of Christ overflow to us, so, through Christ, does our consolation overflow.

Col 2:1 Col 1:24 1 Th 2:17

Mt 5:11 Ws 2:16 Ac 5:41

Col 1:28 1 Co 2:6 Ep 4:13

2 Co 1:5 Ph 1:20+ Col 1:24+

24 It makes me happy to suffer for you, as I am suffering now, and in my own body to do what I can to make up all that has still to be undergone by Christ for the sake of his body, the Church. m

Col. 1:24 – m – Lit. ‘all that is lacking from the sufferings of Christ…Church’. Jesus suffered in order to establish the reign of God, and anyone who continues his work must share this suffering. Paul is not saying that he thinks his own sufferings increase the value of his redemption (since that value cannot be increased) but that he shares by his sufferings as a missionary in those that Jesus had undergone in his own mission, cf. 2 Co. 1:15, Ph. 1:20+. These are the sufferings predicted for the messianic era, Mt. 24:8, Ac. 14:22, 1 Tm. 4:1+, and are all part of the way n which God had always intended the Church to develop. Paul feels that, being the messenger Christ has chosen to send to the pagans, he has been especially called on to experience those sufferings.

by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Holy Spirit. Thus all the way along from Jerusalem to Illyricum,f I have preached Christ’s Good News to the utmost of my capacity. He is the one who has given us the qualifications to be the administrators of this new covenant, which is not a covenant of written letter but of the Spirit; the written letters bring death, but the Spirit gives life.

Rm 15:19 Ac 1:8+ Ga 2:7

2 Co 3:6 Rm 2:29; 7:5+ Ex 32:16; 34:29-35

25 I became the servant of the Church when God made me responsible for delivering God’s message to you,

Rm 15:19 - f – The two extreme of Paul’s missionary journeys at the time of writing; whether he had actually entered Illyricum is disputed.

Doxologyj Glory to him who is able to give you the

Rm 16:25+ Jude 25

26 the message which was a mystery hidden for generations and centuries and has now

Rm 16:25 - j - Most authorities place this doxology here,

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strengthk to live according to the Good News I preach, and in which I proclaim Jesus Christ, the revelation of a mysteryl kept secret for endless ages…

Rm 11:25 1 Co 2:7 Ep 1:9; 3:3 Col 1:26 1 Tm 3:9

been revealed to his saints. but in some it appears at the end of ch. 15 or 14; others omit. A solemn presentation, cf. Ef 3:20; Jude 24-25, of the main points of the letter. k - Firmly grounded in doctrine and strong in Christian practice. Cf. 1:11; 1 Th 3:2,13; 2 Th 2:17; 3:3; 1 Co 1:8; 2 Co 1:21; Col 2:7. l - The idea of a ‘mystery’ of wisdom, v. 27; 1 Co 2:7; Ep 3:10; Col 2:2-3, long hidden in God and now revealed, v. 25; 1 Co 2:7,10; Ep 3:5,9f; Col 1:26, is borrowed by Paul from Jewish apocalypse, Dn 2:18-19+, but he enriches the content of the term by applying it to the climax of the history of salvation: the saving cross of Christ, 1 Co 2:8; the call of the pagans, v. 26; Rm 11:25; Col 1:26-27; Ep 3:6, to this salvation preached by Paul, v. 25; Col 1:23; 4:3; Ep 3:3-12; 6:19, and finally the restoration of all things in Christ as their one head, Ep 1:9-10. See also 1 Co 4:1; 13:2; 14:2; 15:51; Ep 5:32; 2 Th 2:7; 1 Tm 3:9,16; 2 Tm 1:9-10; Mt 13:11p+; Rv 1:20; 10:7; 17:5,7.

But when Christ is revealed – and he is your life - you too will be revealed in all your glory with him. b

…do not forget, I say, that you had no Christg and were excluded from membership of Israel, aliens with no part in the covenants with their Promise,h you were immersed in the world, without hopei and without Godj

Col 3:4 Col 1:27 1 P 5:1 1 Jn 3:2 Rm 8:19

Ep 2:12 Col 1:21,27 Rm 9:4-5 Ep 2:17

27 It was God’s purpose to reveal it to them and to show all the rich glory of this mystery to pagans. The mystery is Christ among you, your hope of glory:n

Col. 1:27 - n - Previously, when it had seemed (to the Jews) that pagans could never be saved, as salvation was restricted to ‘Israel’, pagans had seemed to be without a Messiah and consequently to be deprived of all hope, Ep. 2:12. The ‘mystery’ or secret of God that had now been revealed was that the pagans too were, and had been, all called to be saved through union with Christ, and so to reach eternal glory , cf. Ep. 2:13-22; 3:3-6.

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We want you to be quite certain, brothers, about those who have died,g, so make sure that you do not grieve about them, like the other people who have no hope.

1 Th 4:13

Ep 2:12 Col 1:27

Col 3:4 - b - Through union with Christ in baptism, 2:12, his followers already live the identical life he lives in heaven, cf. Ep 2:6+, but this spiritual life is not manifest and glorious as it will be in the parousia.

Ep 2:12 – g - I.e. ‘you had no Messiah.’ h - The successive covenants madeby God with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David etc.; cf. Ex 19:1+; Lv 26:42,45; Si 44-45; Ws 18:22; 2 M 8:15; Rm 9:4. i - The pagans had many gods but not the one true God, 1 Co 8:5f. j - The wall separating the court of the Jews from the court of the pagans in the Temple, cf. Ac 21:28f. 1 Th 4:13 – g – Lit ‘ we do not wish you to be ignorant, brothers, concerning the sleeping’. The euphemism was command in the OT., in the NT, and in Greek literature: the natural concomitant was to call the resurrection (to new life or from death) an ‘awakening’.

But still we have a wisdom to offer those who have reached maturity;c not a philosophy of our age, it is true, still less of the masters of our age,d which are coming to their end. In this way we are all to come to unity in our faith and in our knowledge of the

1 Co 2:6 Col 1:28 Heb 5:14 Rm 16:25+

Ep 4:13+ Ep 2:21; 4:16

28 this is the Christ we proclaim, this is the wisdom I which we thoroughly train everyone and instruct everyone, to make them all perfect I Christ.

1 Co 2:6 – c – The ‘mature’ or ‘perfect’ (teleloi) are not an exclusive group of initiates but those who have reached maturity in Christian life and thought. Cf 14:20; Ph 3:15; Col 4:12; Heb 5:14. d – Perhaps human rulers or government; more probably, the evil powers or demons that control the world, cf 1 Co 15:24-25; Ep 6:12.

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Son of God, until we become the perfect Man,j fully mature with the fullness of Christ himself.

Col 1:23+; 3:11 See also Lk 4:6 and Jn 12:31_; but the reference is perhaps to both, the latter using the former as their tools. Ep 4:13 – j – This does not refer primarily to the individual Christian. The sense is collective. It can be taken as referring to Christ himself, the New Man, the archetype of all who are reborn, 2:15+ or else ( and this sense is to be preferred) as referring to the total Christ, i.e., the whole body, 1 Co. 12:12+; made of head, v. 15; 1:22; Col 1:18, and the rest of the body, v. 16; 5:30.

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Homily for the 16thSunday in Ordinary Time (Cycle C)

Based on Lk 10:38-42 (Gospel), (First Reading) and (Second Reading)


BETHANY WOMEN ‘Martha, Martha,’ he said ‘you worry and fret about so many things’ (Lk 10:41)

The Gospel Reading for this 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Cycle C) is taken from Lk 10:38-42. It is the story about Martha and Maryi. Foonote i says “These two sisters reappear, with the same individual characteristics, in the story of the raising of Lazarus, Jn 11:1-44”. Verse 38 of Lk 10 says: In the course of their journey he came to a village, and a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. Parallel text is from Jn 11:1-2 that says: There was a man named Lazarus who lived in a village of Bethany with the two sisters, Mary and Martha, and he was ill (v. 1). It was the same Mary, the sister of the sick man Lazarus, who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair.a (v. 2). Footnote a says “It is unlikely that this is ‘the woman who was a sinner’ of Lk 7:37”.

Verse 39 says: She had a sister named Mary who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to him speaking. Parallel text is from Lk 8:35 that says: And the people went out to see what had happened. When they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the devils had gone out sitting at the feet of Jesus,d clothed and in his full senses; and they were afraid. Footnote d says “As a disciple sits, 8:38; cf. 10:39; Ac 22:3. Lk alone adds this detail”. Verse 40 says: Now Martha who was distracted with all the serving said, ‘Lord, do you not care that my sister is leaving me to do the serving all by myself? Please tell her to help me.’ Parallel text is from 1 Co 7:35 that says: I say this only to help you, not to put a halter round your necks, but simply to make sure that everything is as it should be, and that you

give your undivided attention to the Lord. Verse 41 says: But the Lord answered: ‘Martha, Martha,’ he said ‘you worry and fret about so many things. Parallel texts are:

1. Lk 8:3 - Joanna, the wife of Herod’s steward Chuza, Susanna, and many others who provided for them out of their own resources.

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2. Mt 6:33 - Set your hearts on his kingdom first, and on his righteousness, and all these other things will be given you as well. Verse 42 says: and yet few are needed, indeed only one.j It is Mary who has chosen the better part; it is not to be taken from her.’ Footnote j says “Var. ‘but only one thing is needed’, ‘but only a few things are needed’, readings which make free with the text and deform the sense. In his remark Jesus rises from the material plane (“few things are needed”, i.e. for the meal) to the one thing necessary’, which is to listen to the word of God”. Parallel text is from Jn 6:27 that says: Do not work for food that cannot last, but work for the food that endures to eternal life, the kind of food the Son of Man is offeringf you, for on him the Father, God himself, has set his seal.g Footnote f says “Var ‘will offer’’; and Footnote g says “The ‘seal’ that Jesus received at his baptism, namely the spirit, Mt 3:16+, who is the power of God operative in Christ’s ‘signs’. Cf Ac 10:38; Mt 12:28; Ep 1:13; 4:30; 2 Co 1:22.” The First Reading is from Gn 18:1-10a. It is titled: The apparition at Memrea. Footnote a says “In its definitive form this ‘Yahwistic’ narrative recounts an apparition of Yahweh (vv. 1,3,10f,13,22) accompanied by two ‘men’ who, according to 19:1, are angels. As the variants of the Greek and Sam. prove, the text is frequently uncertain in its choice of singular plural. It would seem that the primitive tradition spoke only of three ‘men’ and was content to leave their identity mysterious. IN these three to whom Abraham addressed a single act of homage, many of the Fathers saw a foreshadowing of the doctrine of the Trinity, a doctrine that was revealed only in the NT”. Parallel text is Jg 13:3 that says: An angel of Yahwehb appeared to this woman and said to her: ‘You are barren and have no child.c Footnote b says “Cf 2:1; 6:11 and Gn 16:7+. In v. 22 the angel is identified with Yahweh as in 6:22-23” and Footnote c says “The text adds ‘you will conceive, and bear a son’, a doublet of v. 5a”.

Verses 1 and 2 say: Yahweh appeared to him in the Oak of Mamre while he was sitting by the entrance of the tent during the hottest part of the day. He looked up, and there he saw three men standing near him. As soon as he saw them he ran from the entrance of the tent to meet them, and he bowed to the ground.b Footnote b says “Not a religious act of adoration but simply a mark of respect. At first, Abraham sees his guests as mere human beings and welcomes them warmly; their superhuman character is only gradually revealed, vv. 2,9,13,14”.

Parallel text is from Heb 13:2 that says: And remember always to welcome strangers, for by doing this, some people have entertained angels without knowing it. Verses 3 to 9 say: ‘My Lord’ he said ‘I beg you, if I find favor with you, kindly do not pass your servant by. A little water shall be brought; you shall wash your feet and lie down under the tree. Let me fetch a little bread and you shall refresh yourselves before going further. That is why you have come in your servant’s direction.’ They replied, ‘Do as you say’. Abraham hastened to the tent to find Sarah. ‘Hurry,’ he said ‘knead three bushels of flour and make loaves.’ The running to the cattle Abraham took a fine and tender calf and gave it to the servant, who hurried to prepare it. Then taking cream, milk and the calf he had prepared, he laid all of them before them, and they ate while he remained standing near them under the tree. ‘Where is your wife Sarah?’ they asked him. ‘She is in the tent’ he replied.

Parallel text for verse 9 are:

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1. Gn 15:2-4 - “My Lord Yahweh’, Abram replied ‘what do you intend to give me? I go childless…’b (v. 2) The Abram said, “See, you have given me no descendants; some man of my household will be my heir (v. 3)” And then this word of Yahweh was spoken to him, He shall not be your heir; your heir shall be your own flesh and blood . Footnote b says “The original text is irrecoverably corrupt: ‘and the son of…(unintelligible word) of my house is Damascus Eliezer.” V. 3 gives the general sense. For the first time Abraham expresses misgiving”.

2. Gn 17:15-21 - God said to Abraham: As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her Sarai; but Sarah f (v.15). I will bless her, and moreover give you a son by her. I will bless her and nations shall come out of her, kings of peoples will descend from her (v. 16) Abraham bowed to ground, and he laughed,g thinking to himself, “Is a child to be born to a man who is one hundred years old, and will Sarah have a child at the age of ninety?” (v. 17). Abraham said to God, “Oh, let Ishmael live in your presence!” (v. 18). But God replied: ‘No, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son whom you are to name Isaac. With him I will establish my Covenant, a Covenant in perpetuity, to be his God and the God of his descendants after him (v. 19) For Ishmael too I grant you your request: I bless him. I will make him fruitful and greatly increased in numbers. He shall be the father of twelve princes, and I will make of him into a great nation (v. 20). But my Covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear you at this time next year (v. 21). Footnote f says “Sarah and Sarai are two forms of the same name, which means ‘princess’: Sarah is to be the mother of kings, v. 16”; and Footnote g says “Abraham’s laughter is to be echoed by Sarah’s 18:12, and Ishmael’s 21:9 (See also 21:6); each is an allusion to the name Isaac, abbreviated form of Yshq-El which means ‘May God smile, be kind’ or ‘has smiled, has been kind’. Abraham’s laughter is a sign not so much of unbelief as of surprise at the extraordinary announcement; his mention of Ishmael, present heir-apparent to the Promise, is an implicit request for reassurance”.

Verse 10a says: Then his guest said, ‘I shall visit you again next year without fail, and your wife will then have a son.’

Parallel texts are:

1. Rm 9:9 - The actual words in which the promise was made were: I shall visit you at such and such a time and Sarah will have a son. 2. 2 K 4:16 - “This time next year’ he said ‘you will hold a son in your arms.” But she said, “No, my lord, do not deceive your servant.

The Second Reading is from Col 1:24-28. Verse 24 says: It makes me happy to suffer for you, as I am suffering now, and in my own body to do what I can to make up all that has still to be undergone by Christ for the sake of his body, the Church. m Footnote m says “Lit. ‘all that is lacking from the sufferings of Christ…Church’. Jesus suffered in order to establish the reign of God, and anyone who continues his work must share this suffering. Paul is not saying that he thinks his own sufferings increase the value of his redemption (since that value cannot be increased) but that he shares by his sufferings as a missionary in those that Jesus had undergone in his own mission, cf. 2 Co. 1:15, Ph. 1:20+. These are the sufferings predicted for the messianic era, Mt. 24:8, Ac. 14:22, 1 Tm. 4:1+, and are all part of the way n which God had always intended the Church to develop. Paul feels that, being the messenger Christ has chosen to send to the pagans, he has been especially called on to experience those sufferings”.

Parallel texts are:

1. Col 2:1 - Yes, I want you to know that I do have to struggle hard for you, and for those in Laodicea, and for so many others who have never seen me face to face, 2. Mt 5:11 - Happy are you when people abuse you and persecute you and speak all kinds of calumny against you on my account. 3. Col 1:28 - This is the Christ we proclaim, this is the wisdom in which we thoroughly train everyone and instruct everyone, to make them all perfect in Christ. 4. 2 Co 1:5 - Indeed as the sufferings of Christ overflow to us, so, through Christ, does our consolation overflow.

Verse 25 says: I became the servant of the Church when God made me responsible for delivering God’s message to you

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Parallel texts are: 1. Rm 15:19 - by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Holy Spirit. Thus all the way along from Jerusalem to Illyricum,f I have preached Christ’s Good News

to the utmost of my capacity. Footnote f says “The two extreme of Paul’s missionary journeys at the time of writing; whether he had actually entered Illyricum is disputed”.

2. 2 Co 3:6 - He is the one who has given us the qualifications to be the administrators of this new covenant, which is not a covenant of written letter but of the Spirit; the written letters bring death, but the Spirit gives life.

Verse 26 says: the message which was a mystery hidden for generations and centuries and has now been revealed to his saints.

Parallel text is Rm 16:25 that says: Doxologyj Glory to him who is able to give you the strengthk to live according to the Good News I preach, and in which I proclaim Jesus Christ, the revelation of a mysteryl kept secret for endless ages… Footnote j says “Most authorities place this doxology here, but in some it appears at the end of ch. 15 or 14; others omit. A solemn presentation, cf. Ef 3:20; Jude 24-25, of the main points of the letter; Footnote k - Firmly grounded in doctrine and strong in Christian practice. Cf. 1:11; 1 Th 3:2,13; 2 Th 2:17; 3:3; 1 Co 1:8; 2 Co 1:21; Col 2:7; and Footnote l says “The idea of a ‘mystery’ of wisdom, v. 27; 1 Co 2:7; Ep 3:10; Col 2:2-3, long hidden in God and now revealed, v. 25; 1 Co 2:7,10; Ep 3:5,9f; Col 1:26, is borrowed by Paul from Jewish apocalypse, Dn 2:18-19+, but he enriches the content of the term by applying it to the climax of the history of salvation: the saving cross of Christ, 1 Co 2:8; the call of the pagans, v. 26; Rm 11:25; Col 1:26-27; Ep 3:6, to this salvation preached by Paul, v. 25; Col 1:23; 4:3; Ep 3:3-12; 6:19, and finally the restoration of all things in Christ as their one head, Ep 1:9-10. See also 1 Co 4:1; 13:2; 14:2; 15:51; Ep 5:32; 2 Th 2:7; 1 Tm 3:9,16; 2 Tm 1:9-10; Mt 13:11p+; Rv 1:20; 10:7; 17:5,7”.

Verse 27 says: It was God’s purpose to reveal it to them and to show all the rich glory of this mystery to pagans. The mystery is Christ among you, your hope of glory:n

Footnote n says “Previously, when it had seemed (to the Jews) that pagans could never be saved, as salvation was restricted to ‘Israel’, pagans had seemed to be without a

Messiah and consequently to be deprived of all hope, Ep. 2:12. The ‘mystery’ or secret of God that had now been revealed was that the pagans too were, and had been, all called

to be saved through union with Christ, and so to reach eternal glory , cf. Ep. 2:13-22; 3:3-6”.

Parallel texts are:

1. Col 3:4 - But when Christ is revealed – and he is your life - you too will be revealed in all your glory with him. b Footnote b says “Through union with Christ in baptism,

2:12, his followers already live the identical life he lives in heaven, cf. Ep 2:6+, but this spiritual life is not manifest and glorious as it will be in the parousia”. 2. Ep 2:12…do not forget, I say, that you had no Christg and were excluded from membership of Israel, aliens with no part in the covenants with their Promise,h you

were immersed in the world, without hopei and without Godj Footnote g says “I.e. ‘you had no Messiah’; Footnote h says “The successive covenants madeby God with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David etc.; cf. Ex 19:1+; Lv 26:42,45; Si 44-45; Ws 18:22; 2 M 8:15; Rm 9:4’; Footnote i says “The pagans had many gods but not the one true God, 1 Co 8:5f”; and Footnote j says “The wall separating the court of the Jews from the court of the pagans in the Temple, cf. Ac 21:28f”.

3. 1 Th 4:13 - We want you to be quite certain, brothers, about those who have died,g so make sure that you do not grieve about them, like the other people who have no hope. Footnote g says “Lit ‘ we do not wish you to be ignorant, brothers, concerning the sleeping’. The euphemism was command in the OT., in the NT, and in Greek literature: the natural concomitant was to call the resurrection (to new life or from death) an ‘awakening’”.

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Verse 28 says: this is the Christ we proclaim, this is the wisdom I which we thoroughly train everyone and instruct everyone, to make them all perfect I Christ. Parallel texts are:

1. 1 Co 2:6 - But still we have a wisdom to offer those who have reached maturity;c not a philosophy of our age, it is true, still less of the masters of our age,d which are coming to their end. Footnote c says “The ‘mature’ or ‘perfect’ (teleloi) are not an exclusive group of initiates but those who have reached maturity in Christian life and thought. Cf 14:20; Ph 3:15; Col 4:12; Heb 5:14”; Footnote d says “Perhaps human rulers or government; more probably, the evil powers or demons that control the world, cf 1 Co 15:24-25; Ep 6:12. See also Lk 4:6 and Jn 12:31_; but the reference is perhaps to both, the latter using the former as their tools”.

2. Ep 4:13 - In this way we are all to come to unity in our faith and in our knowledge of the Son of God, until we become the perfect Man, j fully mature with the fullness of Christ himself. Footnote j says “This does not refer primarily to the individual Christian. The sense is collective. It can be taken as referring to Christ himself, the New Man, the archetype of all who are reborn, 2:15+ or else ( and this sense is to be preferred) as referring to the total Christ, i.e., the whole body, 1 Co. 12:12+; made of head, v. 15; 1:22; Col 1:18, and the rest of the body, v. 16; 5:30”.

The episode of Martha and Mary (called here as the Bethany Women) in the gospel narrative for this 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Cycle C) recalls the episode of Abraham and

Sarah during the apparition of the three angels at Mamre as narrated in today’s First Reading.

Martha complains to the Lord Jesus Christ about Mary not helping her out with the kitchen works, while Mary sits all the while at the feet of the Lord listening to his words. In

the First Reading, Sarah is being portrayed as a woman who is busy with the food preparation at the kitchen, while Abraham all the while converses with his three visitors at the

entrance of his tents, leaving Sarah with all the food preparation. When the time came for the three men to give rewards for the couple’s generosity and hospitality, Sarah, who

remained hidden at the kitchen, received most of the good blessings from the visitors even if she did not even shown herself to the visitors.

This incident convinces us that the fruit of serving the Lord by listening to his teachings can in like manner be benefited by those who are preparing food and busy with kitchen work or serving at table also.

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17th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME- Cycle C LORD’SPRAYER II

“Lord, teach us to pray” (Lk 11:1) Gospel: Lk 11:1-13


Now when all the people had been baptized and while Jesus after his own baptism was at prayer,j heaven opened.

Lk 3:21+ 1 Now once he was in a certain place praying, and when he had finished one of his disciples said, ‘Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his diciples’.

Lk. 3:21 - j - Jesus at prayer is a favorite theme of Lk., cf. 5:16; 6:12; 9:18,28-29; 11:1; 22:41.

So you should pray like this;b ‘Our Father in heaven, may your name be held holy (v. 9), your kingdom come, your will be done , on earth as in heaven (v. 10.) Give us today our dailyc bread (v. 11). And forgive us our debts, as we have forgiven those who are in debt to us (v. 12). And do not put us into the test, but save us from the evil oned (v. 13).

=Mt 6:9-13 Tb 13:4 =Lk 11:2-4 Jn 17:6,26 Mt 26:39,42p Ps 30:8-9 Mt 26:41p Jn 17:11,15 2 Th 3:3 1 Jn 2:14+

2 He said to them, ‘Say this when you pray:a Father, may your name be held holy, your kingdom come;

Lk 11:2 – a–Matthew’s text has seven petitions, Luke’s five. There were therefore two traditions of the Lord’s Prayer. Mathew’s forms seems the more ancient. Mt 6:9 - b - The Lord’s Prayer in its Matthean form has 7 petitions. The number is a favorite of Matthew’s; 2x7 generations in the genealogy (1:17), 7 Beatitudes (5:4+), 7 parables (13:3+), forgiveness not 7 but 77 times (18;22), 7 ‘alas’ for the Pharisees (23:13+), 7 sections into which the gospel is divided (cf. Introduction to the Synoptic Gospels). c - The Greek word is obscure: this traditional rendering is a probable one. Other possibilities: ‘necessary for subsistence’ or ‘for tomorrow’. Whatever the exact translation the sense is that we must ask God for the sustenance we need in this life but for no more-not for wealth or luxury. The Fathers applied this text to the bread of the Holy Eucharist.

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d – Or ‘from evil’. Add ‘For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. (a reading introduced into the text through liturgical influence).

3 Give us each day our daily bread,band forgive us our sins,c

Lk 11:3 b – Var. (borrowed, perhaps, from a baptismal liturgy) ‘may your Holy Spirit come down on us and cleanse us’. c – ‘Debts’ in Mt, here correctly interpreted by Lk who, however, does not suppress this juridical aspect (cf. his following line ‘each one who is in debt to us’).

4 For we ourselves forgive each one who is in debt to us. And do not put us to the test.

The he told them a parable about the need to pray continually and never lose hearta (v. 1).“There was a judge in a certain town’ he said‘whohad neither fear of God nor respect forman (v. 2). In thesame town there wasa widow who kept on coming to him and say, ‘I want justice from youagainst my enemy (v.3) For a long time he refused, but at last he said tohimself, Maybe I had neither fear God nor respect for man (v. 4), but since she keeps pestering me I must give this widowher just rights, or she will persist in coming and worry me to death(v.5). And the Lord said, “You notice what the unjust judge has to say (v. 6). Now will not God see justice done to his chosen who cryto him day and night even when he delays tohelp them? (v. 7) I promise you, he will see

Lk 18:1-8 Lk 11:9+ Pr 25:15 Lk 11:5-8 Rv 6:9-11

The importunate friend Lk. 18:1 - a - Pauline in though and expression: cf. Rm. 1:10; 12:12; Ep. 6:18; Col. 1:3; 1 Th. 5:17; 2 Th. 1:11, etc. and 2 Co. 4:1,16; Ga. 6:9; Ep. 3:13; 2 Th. 3:13.

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justice done to them and done speedily. But when the Son of Man comes, will he find any faith on earth?

Mt 8:10+; 24:12

5 He also said to them, ‘Suppose one of you has a friend and goes to him in the middle of the night to say, ‘My friend, let me three loaves,

6 Because a friend of mine on his travels has just arrived at my house and I have nothing to offer him’,

7 And the man answers from inside the house, ‘Do not bother me. The door is bolted now, and my children and I are in bed; I cannot get up to give it to you’.

She wept on his neckfor seven days their feast lasted. She was so persistent that on the seventh day, he told her the answer, and she in turn told her fellow countrymen what the answer to the riddle was. But he answered her not a word. And his disciples went and pleaded with him, “Give her what she wants”h, they said, “because she is shouting after us.

Jg 14:17 Lk 11:8

Mt 15:23 Lk 11:8

8 I tell you, if the man does not get up and give it to him for friendship’s sake, persistence will be enough to make him get up and give his friend all he wants.

Mt 15:23 – h – Not ‘send her away’ simply: the Greek verb here means ‘let her go with her request granted’ as in 18:27; 27:15.

Ask, and it will be given to you; search and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you(v.7). For theone who asks, always receives; and the one who searches, always finds; the one who knocks will always have the door opened to him (v. 8).Is there aman among you who would hand his son a stone when he asked for bread (v9) or

=Mt 7:7-11 =Lk 11:9-13 Mt 18:19 Dt 4:30+ Pr 8:17 Mk 11:24 Lk 18:1-8 Jn 14:13 Jm 1:5+

Effective Prayer

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would hand him a snake when he asked for a fish? Whatever you ask for in my name, I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son(v.13) If you ask anything in my name, I will do it (v. 14).

Jn 14:13-14+ Jn 15:7,16; 16:24,26 Mt 7:7-11 Ac 3:16+ 1 Jn 3:22

9 ‘So I say to you: Ask, and it will be given you ; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.

10 For the one who asks always receives; te one who searches always finds; the one who knocks will always have the door opened to him.

11 What father among you would hand his son a stone when he asked for bread? Or hand him a snake instead of a fish?

12 Or hand him a scorpion if he asked for an egg?

Whatever you ask for in my name, I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son(v. 13) If you ask anything in my name, I will do it (v. 14).“If you love me, you will keep my commandmentsh (v. 15). I shall ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocatei to be with you forever.

Jn 14:13-16 Dt 6:4-9; 7:11; 11:1 Ws 6:18 1 Jn 2:3; 4:21; 5:3

13 If you, then, who are evil, know how to give your children what is good, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spiritd to those who ask him!’

Lk 11:13 - d – Instead the ‘good things’ of Mt 7:11. The Holy Spirit is the best of all ‘good things.’ Jn 14:16 - h – Var. ‘keep my commandment’, Jesus, like God himself, asserts his right to love and obedience. i - The Greek word ‘parakletos’ is here translated ‘Advocate’, but it si difficult to choose between the possible meanings: ‘advocate’, ‘intercessor’, ‘protector’, ‘counselor’, ‘support’. The parallel between

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the Spirit’s work for the disciples and Christ’s bring out powerfully the personal character of the Spirit, cf. 14:26+, 1 Jn 2:1.

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First Reading:Gn 18:20-32


Their insolent airs bears witness against them;they parade their sin like Sodom. To their own undoing, they do not hide it.They are preparing their own downfall. Her sins have reached up to the heavens,and God has her crimes in mind.

Is 3:9 Gn 18:20-21; 19:4-11

Rv 18:5 Jr 50:8; 51:6 Jr 51:9 Gn 18:20 Jr 50:15 Jr 16:18

20 Then Yahweh said, ‘How great an outcry there is against Sodom and Gomorrah! How grievous is their sins!

‘What have you done? Yahweh asked, ‘Listen to the sound of your brother’s blood, crying out to me from the ground!’

Gn 4:10 Gn 18:21; 37:26 Mt 23:35 Heb 11:4; 12:24 Jb 16:18

21 I propose to go down and see whether or not they have done all that is alleged in the outcry against them that has come up to me. I am determined to know’

22 The mend left there and went to Sodom while

Abraham remained standing before Yahweh.

Gn 18:22- d– i.e. the ‘two men’, as opposed to Yahweh who stays with Abraham. We shall be told later, 19:1, that they are angels.

23 Approaching him he said, ‘Are you really going to destroy the just man with the sinner?

24 Perhaps there are fifty just men in the town. Will you really overwhelm them, will you not

spare the place for the fifty just men in it?e

Gn 18:23- e – A perennial problem: must the good suffer along with, and because of, the wicked? The conviction of collective responsibility was so strong in ancient Israel that the question does not here arise whether the just may be spared individually. God will, in fact, save Lot and his family,

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19:15-16; Jr 31:29-30; Ezk 14:12f &ch.18,see notes. Abraham, therefore, supposing that all are to share a common destiny, asks that a few just men may win pardon for the many wicked. Yahweh’s answers approve the part the saints have to play in saving the world. But Abraham’s bid for mercy does not venture below the number ten. According to Jr 5:1 and Ezk 22:30, God would pardon Jerusalem even if only one just man could be found there. Finally, in Is 53, it is the suffering of the one servant that is to save the whole race, but this prophecy was destined to remain unintelligible until its was fulfilled in Christ.

I for my part have committed no sin against you, rather you for your part are wronging me by making war on me. Let Yahweh the judge give judgment today between the sons of Israel and the king of the Ammonites!’”

But just yourself, you order all things justly;holding it unworthy of your powerto condemna man who has notdeserved to be punished.

Jg 11:27 Gn 18:25

Ws 12:15 Gn 18:25

25 Do not think of doing such a thing: to kill the just man with the sinner, treating just and sinner alike! Do not think of it! Will the judge

of the whole earth not administer justice?f

Gn 18:22- f– Cf. Rm 3:6. It would be unjust to condemn the innocent, however few in comparison with the many sinners.

26 Yahweh replied, ‘If at Sodom I find fifty just men in the town, I will spare the whole place because of them’.

What dust and ashes to pride itself on? Even in life itsguts are repellente. He surveys the armies of the lofty skyo,

Si 10:9 Si 17:32 Gn 2:7; 18:27

Si 17:32

27 Abraham replied, ‘I am bold indeed to speak like this to my Lord, I who am dust and ashes.

Si 10:9 - e – Following several quotations. Gk ‘it casts its guts’; Hebr. ‘its guts are full of worms’. Si 17:32 –

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while all men are no more than dust and ashes.

Si 10:9 Gn 18:27

o–Probably the stars, cf. 16:28; Is. 24:21-23.

28 But perhaps the fifty men lack five: will you destroy the whole city for five? ‘No’ he replied ‘I will not destroy it if I find forty-five just men there’.

29 Abraham said to him, ‘Perhaps there are only forty there’. ‘I will not do it’ he replied’ for the sake of the forty’.

30 Abraham said, ‘I trust my Lord will not be angry, but give me leave to speak: perhaps there will only be thirty there’. I will not do it’ he replied’ if I find thirty there.’

31 He said, ‘I am bold indeed to speak like this, but perhaps there will only be twenty there’. ‘I will not destroy it’ he replied ‘for the sake of the twenty.’

Rove to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, look now, and learn, search her squares if you can find a man, one manwho does right and seekthetruth, then I will pardon her! I have been looking for someone among them to build a wall andman the breach in front of me, to defendthe country and prevent me from destroying it; but I have not found anyone.

Jr 5:1 Ps 14:1-3 Mi 7:2 Gn 18:16-33 Ezk 14:12+

Ezk22:30 Gn 18:32 Ps 106:23 Is 59:15-16

32 He said, ‘I trust my Lord will not be angry if I speak once more: perhaps there will only be ten’. ‘I will not destroy it’ he replied ‘for the sake of the ten’.

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It is about Jesus Christ our Lord who is the order of the spirit, the spirit of holiness that is in him, was proclaimedc Son of God in all his power through his resurrection from the dead.d And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead will give life to your own mortal bodies through his Spirit living in youg. and how infinitely great isthe power that he has exercised for us believers.This you can tell from the strength of his power … And raised us up with him and gave us a place with him in heaven, in Christ Jesus. e

Rm 1:4+ Rm 9:5+; 10:9 1 Co 6:14

Rm 8:11+ Rm 6:4+ Ezk 37:10 1:4+; 6:8-11

Ep 1:19f

Ep 2:6+ Rm 8:11+ Col 2:12 Ep 3:1-4

12 You have been buried with him, when you were baptized: and by baptism, too, you have been raised up with him through your belief in the power of God who raised him from the dead.

Rm 1:4 – c - Vulg. ‘predestined’. d - For Paul Christ rose only because God raised him, 1 Th. 1:10; 1 Co. 6:14; 15:15; 2 Co. 4:14; Ga. 1:1; Rm. 4:24; 10:9; Ac. 2:24+; cf. 1 P. 1:21, thus displaying his ‘power’, 2 Cor. 13:4; Rm. 6:4; Ph. 3:10; Col. 2:12; Ep. 1:19f; Heb. 7:16; and because God raised him to life through the Holy Spirit, Rm. 8:11. Christ is established in glory as Kyrios, Ph 2:9-11+; Ac 2:36; Rm 14:9, deserving anew, this time in virtue of his messianic work, the name he had from eternity, ‘son of God’, Ac 13:33, Heb 1:5; %:5. Cf. Rm 8:11+; 9:5+. Rm. 8:11+ - g – The resurrection of the Christian is intimately dependent on that of Christ, 1 Th 4:14; 1 Co 6:14; 15:20f; 2 Co 4:14; 13:4; Rm 6:5; Ep 2:6; Col 1:18; 2:12f; 2 Tm 2:11. It is by the same power and the same gift if the Spirit, cf. Rm 1:4+, that the Father will raise them to life their turn. This operation is already being prepared: a new life is making the Christians into sons (v.14) in the likeness of the Son himself, 8:29+, and they are being incorporated into the risen Christ by faith, 1:16+, and baptism, 6:4+. Ep. 2:6 – e – Here as in Col. 2:12, 3:1-4, the use of the past tense shows that the resurrection and

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triumph of Christians in heaven is considered as actually existing whereas the future tense in Rom. 6:3-11, 8:11,17f treats it as something that has still to take place. Treating the eschatological reality as already existing is a characteristic of Paul’s letters written from prison.

…but now he has reconciled you, by his death and in that mortal body.k Now you are able to appear before him holy, pure and blameless- And you were dead through the crimes and the sins (v. 1). even when we were dead in our transgressions, brought us to life with Christ(by grace you have been saved) (v. 5)

Col 1:22 Col 2:13 Ep 2:14-16 1 Co 1:8+ Ep 5:27+

= Ep 2:1,5f

=Col 2:13; 3:7 Heb 6:1+

13 You were dead because you were sinners and had not been circumcised: hei has brought youj to life with him, he has forgiven usk all our sins.

Col 2:13 - i - God the Father j - ‘you’; var. ‘us’. k -‘ us’; var. ‘you’. Col 1:22 - k - ‘he’, i.e. the Father. The human, natural body is that of his Son (lit. ‘flesh body’); this provides the locus where the reconciliation takes place. Into the body the entire human race is effectively gathered, cf. Ep 2:14-16, because Christ has assumed its sin, 2 Co 5:21. The ‘flesh’ body is the body as affected by sin, 2 Co 5:21; cf. Rm 8:3; 7:5+; Heb 4:15.

Caused by the rules and decrees of the Law. m This was to create one single New Man n in himself out of the two of them and by restoring peace (v. 15) through the cross, to unite them both in a single Body o and reconciled them with God. In his own person he killed the hostility (v. 16).

Ep 2:15-16 Col 3:14-15

14 He has overridden the Law, and cancelled every record of the debt that we had to pay; he has done away with it by nailing it to the cross…l

Col 2:14 - l - The Law was able to do nothing about a sinner except condemn him to death, Rm 7:7+; this death sentence is what God carried out on his own Son in order to suppress it for the rest of the world, and it was for this reason that God’s Son was ‘made sin’, 2 Co 5:21, ‘subject to the Law’, Ga. 4:4, and ‘cursed’ by the Law, Ga 3:13. In the person of the Son, whom he allowed to be executed, God nailed up and destroyed our death warrant, as well as the charges it made against us.

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Ep. 2:15+ m- The Mosaic Law gave the Jews a privileged status and separated them from pagans. Jesus abolished this Law by fulfilling it once for all on the cross, Col. 2:14+. n– This new man is the prototype of the new humanity that God recreated (2Co. 5:17+) in the person of Christ, the second Adam (1 Co. 15:45) after killing the sinfully corrupt race of the first Adam in the crucifixion (Rm. 5:12f, 8:3, 1 Co. 15:21). This New Adam has been created in the goodness and holiness of the truth, 4:24, and he is unique because in him the boundaries between any one group and the rest of the human race all disappear, Col. 3:10f, Ga. 3:27f). o – This ‘single Body’ is both the physical body of Jesus that was executed by crucifixion, Col 1:22+, and the Church or ‘mystical’ body of Christ in which, once they were reconciled, all the parts function in their own place, 1 Co 12:12+.

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Homily for the 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Cycle C) Based on (Gospel), (First Reading) and (Second Reading)


LORD’SPRAYER II “Lord, teach us to pray” (Lk 11:1)

‘ The Gospel reading for this 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Cycle C) is from Lk 11:1-13. Verse 1 says: Now once he was in a certain place praying, and when he had finished one of his disciples said, ‘Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his diciples’. Parallel text is Lk 3:21 that says: Now when all the people had been baptized and while Jesus after his own baptism was at prayer, j heaven opened. Footnote j says “Jesus at prayer is a favorite theme of Lk., cf. 5:16; 6:12; 9:18,28-29; 11:1; 22:41.” Verse 2 says: He said to them, ‘Say this when you pray:a Father, may your name be held holy, your kingdom come… Footnote a says “Matthew’s text has seven petitions, Luke’s five. There were therefore two traditions of the Lord’s Prayer. Mathew’s forms seems the more ancient.” Parallel text is Mt 6:9-13 that says: So you should pray like this;b ‘Our Father in heaven, may your name be held holy (v. 9), your kingdom come, your will be done , on earth as in heaven (v. 10.) Give us today our dailyc bread (v. 11). And forgive us our debts, as we have forgiven those who are in debt to us (v. 12). And do not put us into the test, but save us from the evil oned (v. 13). Footnote b says “The Lord’s Prayer in its Matthean form has 7 petitions. The number is a favorite of Matthew’s; 2x7 generations in the genealogy (1:17), 7 Beatitudes (5:4+), 7 parables (13:3+), forgiveness not 7 but 77 times (18;22), 7 ‘alas’ for the Pharisees (23:13+), 7 sections into which the gospel is divided (cf. Introduction to the Synoptic Gospels)”; Footnote c says “The Greek word is obscure: this traditional rendering is a probable one. Other possibilities: ‘necessary for subsistence’ or ‘for tomorrow’. Whatever the exact translation the sense is that we must ask God for the sustenance we need in this life but for no more-not for wealth or luxury. The Fathers applied this text to the bread of the Holy Eucharist”; and Footnote d says “Or ‘from evil’. Add ‘For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. (a reading introduced into the text through liturgical influence).” Verses 3 and 4 say: Give us each day our daily bread,b and forgive us our sins,c For we ourselves forgive each one who is in debt to us. And do not put us to the test. Footnote b says “Var. (borrowed, perhaps, from a baptismal liturgy) ‘may your Holy Spirit come down on us and cleanse us’”; and Footnote c says “‘Debts’ in Mt, here correctly interpreted by Lk who, however, does not suppress this juridical aspect (cf. his following line ‘each one who is in debt to us’).” Title: The importunate friend.

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Parallel text is Lk 18:1-8 that says: The he told them a parable about the need to pray continually and never lose hearta (v. 1).“There was a judge in a certain town’ he said‘whohad neither fear of God nor respect forman (v. 2). In thesame town there wasa widow who kept on coming to him and say, ‘I want justice from youagainst my enemy (v.3) For a long time he refused, but at last he said tohimself, Maybe I had neither fear God nor respect for man (v. 4), but since she keeps pestering me I must give this widowher just rights, or she will persist in coming and worry me to death(v.5). And the Lord said, “You notice what the unjust judge has to say (v. 6). Now will not God see justice done to his chosen who cryto him day and night even when he delays tohelp them? (v. 7) I promise you, he will see justice done to them and done speedily. But when the Son of Man comes, will he find any faith on earth? Footnote a says “Pauline in though and expression: cf. Rm. 1:10; 12:12; Ep. 6:18; Col. 1:3; 1 Th. 5:17; 2 Th. 1:11, etc. and 2 Co. 4:1,16; Ga. 6:9; Ep. 3:13; 2 Th. 3:13.” Verses 5, 6, 7 and 8 say: He also said to them, ‘Suppose one of you has a friend and goes to him in the middle of the night to say, ‘My friend, let me three loaves, Because a friend of mine on his travels has just arrived at my house and I have nothing to offer him’, And the man answers from inside the house, ‘Do not bother me. The door is bolted now, and my children and I are in bed; I cannot get up to give it to you’. I tell you, if the man does not get up and give it to him for friendship’s sake, persistence will be enough to make him get up and give his friend all he wants. Parallel texts for verse 8 are:

1. Jg 14:17 - She wept on his neckfor seven days their feast lasted. She was so persistent that on the seventh day, he told her the answer, and she in turn told her fellow countrymen what the answer to the riddle was.

2. Mt 15:23 - But he answered her not a word. And his disciples went and pleaded with him, “Give her what she wants”h, they said, “because she is shouting after us. Footnote h says “Not ‘send her away’ simply: the Greek verb here means ‘let her go with her request granted’ as in 18:27; 27:15.”

Title is “Effective Prayer.” Parallel texts aare:

1. Mt 7:7-11 - Ask, and it will be given to you; search and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you(v.7). For theone who asks, always receives; and the one who searches, always finds; the one who knocks will always have the door opened to him (v. 8). Is there a man among you who would hand his son a stone when he asked for bread (v9) or would hand him a snake when he asked for a fish?

2. Jn 14:13-14 - Whatever you ask for in my name, I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son(v.13) If you ask anything in my name, I will do it (v. 14). Verses 9 to 13 say: ‘So I say to you: Ask, and it will be given you ; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. For the one who asks always receives; te one who searches always finds; the one who knocks will always have the door opened to him. What father among you would hand his son a stone when he asked for bread? Or hand him a snake instead of a fish? Or hand him a scorpion if he asked for an egg? If you, then, who are evil, know how to give your children what is good, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spiritd to those who ask him!’ Footnote d says “Instead the ‘good things’ of Mt 7:11. The Holy Spirit is the best of all ‘good things.’” Parallel text is Jn 14: 13-14 that says: Whatever you ask for in my name, I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son(v. 13) If you ask anything in my name, I will do it (v. 14).“If you love me, you will keep my commandmentsh (v. 15). I shall ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocatei to be with you forever. Footnote h says “Var. ‘keep my commandment’, Jesus, like God himself, asserts his right to love and obedience”; and Footnote i says “The Greek word ‘parakletos’ is here translated ‘Advocate’,

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but it si difficult to choose between the possible meanings: ‘advocate’, ‘intercessor’, ‘protector’, ‘counselor’, ‘support’. The parallel between the Spirit’s work for the disciples and Christ’s bring out powerfully the personal character of the Spirit, cf. 14:26+, 1 Jn 2:1.” The First Reading is from Gn 18:20-32. Verse20 says: Then Yahweh said, ‘How great an outcry there is against Sodom and Gomorrah! How grievous is their sins! Parallel texts are:

1. Is 3:9 - Their insolent airs bears witness against them;they parade their sin like Sodom. To their own undoing, they do not hide it.They are preparing their own downfall.

2. Rv 18:5 - Her sins have reached up to the heavens,and God has her crimes in mind. Verses 21, 22, 23 nd 24 say: I propose to go down and see whether or not they have done all that is alleged in the outcry against them that has come up to me. I am determined to know’. The mend left there and went to Sodom while Abraham remained standing before Yahweh. Approaching him he said, ‘Are you really going to destroy the just man with the sinner? Perhaps there are fifty just men in the town. Will you really overwhelm them, will you not spare the place for the fifty just men in it?e Footnote d says “i.e. the ‘two men’, as opposed to Yahweh who stays with Abraham. We shall be told later, 19:1, that they are angels.”; and Footnote e says “A perennial problem: must the good suffer along with, and because of, the wicked? The conviction of collective responsibility was so strong in ancient Israel that the question does not here arise whether the just may be spared individually. God will, in fact, save Lot and his family, 19:15-16; Jr 31:29-30; Ezk 14:12f &ch.18,see notes. Abraham, therefore, supposing that all are to share a common destiny, asks that a few just men may win pardon for the many wicked. Yahweh’s answers approve the part the saints have to play in saving the world. But Abraham’s bid for mercy does not venture below the number ten. According to Jr 5:1 and Ezk 22:30, God would pardon Jerusalem even if only one just man could be found there. Finally, in Is 53, it is the suffering of the one servant that is to save the whole race, but this prophecy was destined to remain unintelligible until its was fulfilled in Christ.” Parallel text for verse 21 is Gn 4:10 that says: ‘What have you done? Yahweh asked, ‘Listen to the sound of your brother’s blood, crying out to me from the ground!’ Verse 25 says: Do not think of doing such a thing: to kill the just man with the sinner, treating just and sinner alike! Do not think of it! Will the judge of the whole earth not administer justice?f Footnote f says “Cf. Rm 3:6. It would be unjust to condemn the innocent, however few in comparison with the many sinners.” Parallel texts are:

1. Jg 11:27 - I for my part have committed no sin against you, rather you for your part are wronging me by making war on me. Let Yahweh the judge give judgment today between the sons of Israel and the king of the Ammonites!’”

2. Ws 12:15 - But just yourself, you order all things justly;holding it unworthy of your powerto condemna man who has notdeserved to be punished. Verses 26 and 27 say: Yahweh replied, ‘If at Sodom I find fifty just men in the town, I will spare the whole place because of them’. Abraham replied, ‘I am bold indeed to speak like this to my Lord, I who am dust and ashes. Parallel texts are:

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1. Si 10:9 - What dust and ashes to pride itself on? Even in life itsguts are repellente. Footnote e says “Following several quotations. Gk ‘it casts its guts’; Hebr. ‘its guts are full of worms’.”

2. Si 17:32 - He surveys the armies of the lofty skyo, while all men are no more than dust and ashes. Footnote o says “Probably the stars, cf. 16:28; Is. 24:21-23 Verses 28, 29, 30, 31 and 32 says: But perhaps the fifty men lack five: will you destroy the whole city for five? ‘No’ he replied ‘I will not destroy it if I find forty-five just men there’. Abraham said to him, ‘Perhaps there are only forty there’. ‘I will not do it’ he replied’ for the sake of the forty’. Abraham said, ‘I trust my Lord will not be angry, but give me leave to speak: perhaps there will only be thirty there’. I will not do it’ he replied’ if I find thirty there.’ He said, ‘I am bold indeed to speak like this, but perhaps there will only be twenty there’. ‘I will not destroy it’ he replied ‘for the sake of the twenty.’ He said, ‘I trust my Lord will not be angry if I speak once more: perhaps there will only be ten’. ‘I will not destroy it’ he replied ‘for the sake of the ten’. Parallel texts are:

1. Jr 5:1 - Rove to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, look now, and learn, search her squares if you can find a man, one manwho does right and seekthetruth, then I

will pardon her!

2. Ezk 22:30 - I have been looking for someone among them to build a wall andman the breach in front of me, to defendthe country and prevent me from destroying it; but I have not found anyone.

The Second Reading is from Col 2:12-14:

Verse 12 says: You have been buried with him, when you were baptized: and by baptism, too, you have been raised up with him through your belief in the power of God who raised him from the dead. Parallel texts are:

1. Rm 1:4 - It is about Jesus Christ our Lord who is the order of the spirit, the spirit of holiness that is in him, was proclaimedc Son of God in all his power through his resurrection from the dead.d Footnote c says “Vulg. ‘predestined’.”; and Footnote d says “For Paul Christ rose only because God raised him, 1 Th. 1:10; 1 Co. 6:14; 15:15; 2 Co. 4:14; Ga. 1:1; Rm. 4:24; 10:9; Ac. 2:24+; cf. 1 P. 1:21, thus displaying his ‘power’, 2 Cor. 13:4; Rm. 6:4; Ph. 3:10; Col. 2:12; Ep. 1:19f; Heb. 7:16; and because God raised him to life through the Holy Spirit, Rm. 8:11. Christ is established in glory as Kyrios, Ph 2:9-11+; Ac 2:36; Rm 14:9, deserving anew, this time in virtue of his messianic work, the name he had from eternity, ‘son of God’, Ac 13:33, Heb 1:5; %:5. Cf. Rm 8:11+; 9:5+.”

2. Rm 8:11 - And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead will give life to your own mortal bodies through his Spirit living in youg. Footnote g says “The

resurrection of the Christian is intimately dependent on that of Christ, 1 Th 4:14; 1 Co 6:14; 15:20f; 2 Co 4:14; 13:4; Rm 6:5; Ep 2:6; Col 1:18; 2:12f; 2 Tm 2:11. It is by the

same power and the same gift if the Spirit, cf. Rm 1:4+, that the Father will raise them to life their turn. This operation is already being prepared: a new life is making the

Christians into sons (v.14) in the likeness of the Son himself, 8:29+, and they are being incorporated into the risen Christ by faith, 1:16+, and baptism, 6:4+.”

3. Ep 1:19 - and how infinitely great is the power that he has exercised for us believers. This you can tell from the strength of his power …

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4. Ep 2:6 - And raised us up with him and gave us a place with him in heaven, in Christ Jesus.e Footnote e says “Here as in Col. 2:12, 3:1-4, the use of the past tense shows that the resurrection and triumph of Christians in heaven is considered as actually existing whereas the future tense in Rom. 6:3-11, 8:11,17f treats it as something that has still to take place. Treating the eschatological reality as already existing is a characteristic of Paul’s letters written from prison.”

Verse 13 says: You were dead because you were sinners and had not been circumcised: hei has brought youj to life with him, he has forgiven usk all our sins. Footnote i says “God the Father”; Footnote j says “‘you’; var. ‘us’; and Footnote k says “‘us’; var. ‘you’.” Parallel texts are:

1. Col 1:22 - …but now he has reconciled you, by his death and in that mortal body.k Now you are able to appear before him holy, pure and blameless- Footnote k says “‘he’, i.e. the Father. The human, natural body is that of his Son (lit. ‘flesh body’); this provides the locus where the reconciliation takes place. Into the body the entire human race is effectively gathered, cf. Ep 2:14-16, because Christ has assumed its sin, 2 Co 5:21. The ‘flesh’ body is the body as affected by sin, 2 Co 5:21; cf. Rm 8:3; 7:5+; Heb 4:15.

2. Ep 2:1,5 - And you were dead through the crimes and the sins (v. 1). even when we were dead in our transgressions, brought us to life with Christ(by grace you have been saved) (v. 5)

Verse 14 says: He has overridden the Law, and cancelled every record of the debt that we had to pay; he has done away with it by nailing it to the cross… l Footnote l says “The Law was able to do nothing about a sinner except condemn him to death, Rm 7:7+; this death sentence is what God carried out on his own Son in order to suppress it for the rest of the world, and it was for this reason that God’s Son was ‘made sin’, 2 Co 5:21, ‘subject to the Law’, Ga. 4:4, and ‘cursed’ by the Law, Ga 3:13. In the person of the Son, whom he allowed to be executed, God nailed up and destroyed our death warrant, as well as the charges it made against us.” Parallel text is Ep 2:15-16 that says: Caused by the rules and decrees of the Law. m This was to create one single New Man n in himself out of the two of them and by restoring peace (v. 15) through the cross, to unite them both in a single Body o and reconciled them with God. In his own person he killed the hostility (v. 16). Footnote m says “The Mosaic Law gave the Jews a privileged status and separated them from pagans. Jesus abolished this Law by fulfilling it once for all on the cross, Col. 2:14+”; Footnote n says “ This new man is the prototype of the new humanity that God recreated (2Co. 5:17+) in the person of Christ, the second Adam (1 Co. 15:45) after killing the sinfully corrupt race of the first Adam in the crucifixion (Rm. 5:12f, 8:3, 1 Co. 15:21). This New Adam has been created in the goodness and holiness of the truth, 4:24, and he is unique because in him the boundaries between any one group and the rest of the human race all disappear, Col. 3:10f, Ga. 3:27f).; and Footnote o says “This ‘single Body’ is both the physical body of Jesus that was executed by crucifixion, Col 1:22+, and the Church or ‘mystical’ body of Christ in which, once they were reconciled, all the parts function in their own place, 1 Co 12:12+.

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18th SUNDAY in ORDINARY TIME- Cycle C RICH IN GOD’S SIGHT

‘Making himself rich in the sight of God.’ (Lk 12:21) Gospel: Lk 12:13-21


13 A man in the crowd said to him, ‘Master, tell my brother to give me a share in our inheritance’.

Do not give your heart to your money, or say, “With this I am self-sufficient’.

Si 5:1f Si 11:24f Lk 12:15-21

14 ‘My friend’ he replied ‘who appointed me your judge, or arbitrator of your claims?

15 Then he said to them, ‘Watch, and be on your guard against avarice of any kind, for man’s life is not made secure by what he owns, even when he has more than he needs’.

And do not say: “I am self-supporting, what losses can I suffer in future?” A man hoards by stinting himself is hoarding for others,and others will live sumptuously on his riches. “How rich I have become”, Ephraim says“I have amassed a fortune!”But he willkeep nothing of all his profits, because of the guilt that he has brought on himselfm.

Si 11:24 Si 5:1 Lk 12:16-21

Si 14:4 Jb 27:16-17 Lk 12:16-21

Ho 12:9 Rv 3:17-18

16 Then he told them a parable: ‘There was once a rich man who, having had a good harvest from his land,

Ho 12:9 - m - The translation follows the Greek.

Warn those who are rich in this world that they are not to look down on other peoples and not to set their hopes on money, which is untrustworthyg but on God, who, out of his riches, gives all that we need for our happiness.

1 Tm 6:17 Lk 12:17-21 Jm 1:10

17 thought to himself, “What am I to do? I have not enough room to store my crops.”

1 Tm 6:17 g – Var (Vuilg) ‘the living God’.

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18 Then he said, “This is what I will do: I will pull down my barns and build bigger ones, and store all my grains and my goods in them,

Do not boast about tomorrow, since you do not know what today will bring forth. Here is the answer for those of you who talk like this, “Today or tomorrow we are off to this or that town;we are going to spend a year there,trading and make some money”(v. 13) you never know what will happen tomorrow: you are no more than a mist that is there for a little while and then disappears (v.14). The most you should ever say “If it is the Lord’s will, we shall still be alive to do this or that (v. 15).

Pr 27:1 Lk 12:17-20 Jm 4:13-14

Jm 4:13-15 Pr 27:1 Mt 6:24 Lk 12:19-20 Jb 14:2+ Ac 18:21 Rm 1:10

19 And I will say to my soul: My soul, you have plenty of good things laid by for many years to come; take things easy, eat, drink, have a good time”.

He says: “I have found rest and now I enjoy my goods,”but he does not know how long this will lastghe will leave his goodsfor others and die. You say: ‘let us eat and drink today. You must stop being led astray: “Bad friends ruin the noblest people.”

Si 11:19

1 Co 15:33

20 But God said to him, “Fool! This very night the demand will be made for your soul; and this hoard of yours, whose will it be then?’

Si 11:19 – g – ‘how long this will last’ Greek; ‘what awaits him’ Hebr.

“Do not store up treasures for yourselves on earth, where moth and woodworms destroy them, and thieves can break in and steal (v. 19) But store up treasures for yourselves in heaven, where neither moth nor woodworms destroy them and thieves cannot break in and steal (v.20) For where your

Mt 6:19-21 Jb 22:24-26 =Lk 12:33-34 Mt 19:21 Ps 62:10 Si 29:8-12 Jm 5:2-3

21 So it is when a man stores up treasure for himself in place of making himself rich in the sight of God.’

Rev 3:17 – j – Unlike Smyrna, Laodicea was rich in worldly goods, but spiritually poor. k – The true riches that are of the spirit. l – The clothing and the eye ointment are, of course, needed to repair the ‘blindness and nakedness’ of v. 17; but there may be a special point in this as an allusion to the

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treasure is, there will your heart be also (v. 21). You say to yourself, ‘I am rich, I have made a fortune and have everything I want,’ never realizing that you are wretchedly and pitiably poor blind, and naked tooj (v.17) I warn you buy from me the gold that had been tested in the firek to make you really rich, and white robes to cloth you and cover your shameful nakedness, and eye ointment to put on your eyes so that you are able to seel (v. 18).

Tb 4:9

Rv 3:17-18 Pr 13:7 Ho 7:9; 12:9 Lk 12:21

local products for which Laodicea was known.

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First Reading:Eccl 1:2; 2:21-23


Vanity of vanities, Qohelethsays, all things are vanity!f Ordinary men are only a puff of wind, important menc delusion put in the scales and up they go, lighter than a puff of wind. …knows exactly how men think;how their thoughts are apuff of wind. It was not for any fault on the part of creationthat it was made unableto attain its purpose, it was made so by God;Ibut creation still retains the hope…

Ec 12:8

Ps 62:9 Ps 39:5-6; 116:11 Qo 1:2 Is 39:6-7, 40:17 Is 40:15

Ps 94:11

1 Co 3:20 Ps 39:6 Ec 1:2

Rm 8:20

Gn 3:17; 6:20+ Ho 4:3+ 2 P 3:12-13

1:2 Vanity of vanities,cQoheleth says. Vanity of vanities. All is vanity!

Eccl 1:2 – c – The traditional ‘vanity’ is retained here; the Hebr. term means primarily ‘mist’, ‘breath’, one of the traditional group of images (water, shadow, smoke, etc.) use din Hebr. poetry to describe the transitory nature of man. But in Qo the word has lost this sense and signifies only the illusory nature of things and hence the delusions to which they subject mankind. Ec 12:8 – f – The book ends as it began but has covered mush ground in between. It has taught man his wickedness but also his greatness by showing that this world is not worthy of him. It incites the reader to disinterested religion and to that kind of prayer in which a creature, aware of its nothingness, adores the mystery of God. Cf. Ps 39. Ps 62:9 – c - Lit ‘ sons of Adam’, ‘sons of men’, ordinary people and men of rank respectively, as in 49:2. Rm 8:20 - I – Lit ‘creation was subjected to futility: this was not its own fault, but the work of him who so subjected it’ – i.e. of God who punished man’s sin in this way, or of man

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whose sin was responsible.

A man grows rich by his sharpness and grabbing, here is the reward that he receives for it:

Si 11:18f Jb 27:16-23 Ps 49:10,17-18 Qo 2:21-23 Lk 12:16-21

2:21 For so it is that a man who has labored wisely, skillfully and successfully must leave what is his own to someone who has not toiled for it all. This too is vanity and great injustice;

Every man that walks, only a shadow, and the wealth that he amasses is only a puff of wind – he does not know who will take it next.

Ps 39:6 Ps 62:9; 94:11 Qo 2:22; 6:2,12 Ws 2:5 Is 4:7

22 For what does he gain for all the toil and strain he has undergone under the sun?

Like the slave who sighing for the shade, or the workman with no thought but his wages,

Even at night while he rests on his bed his sleep only gives a new twist to his worriesd(v. 5); scarcely than he lain down to rest than in his sleep, as if in broad daylight,e he is shaken by horrible sights like a man running away from a battle (v. 6).

Jb 7:2 Si 40:1f Qo 2:23

Si 40:5-6

Dt 28:65-67 Jb 7:4 Qo 2:23; 8:16

23 What of all his laborious days, his cares of office, his restless nights? This, too, is vanity.

Si 40:5 - d – The Hebr. And the context suggests that sleep brings thoughts no less painful. Cf. Qo 2:22,23. e – ‘as is in broad daylight’ corr: ‘as if in the day of watching’ Greek.

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Second Reading: Col 3:1-5, 9-11


…and raised us up with him and gave us a place with him in heaven, in Christ Jesus.e For us, our homeland is in heaven, and from heaven comes the savior we are waiting for, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Ep 2:6+ Rm 8:11+ Col 2:12 Ep 3:1-4

Ph 3:20 Heb 11:13-16 1 Tm 1:1+ Ac 3:20-21 Rm 8:23 1 Co 15:23+,28,47-49 Col 3:1-4

1 Since you have been brought back to the true life with Christ, you must look for the things that are in heaven, where Christ is sitting at God’s right hand.

Ep. 2:6 – e – Here as in Col. 2:12, 3:1-4, the use of the past tense shows that the resurrection and triumph of Christians in heaven is considered as actually existing whereas the future tense in Rom. 6:3-11, 8:11,17f treats it as something that has still to take place. Treating the eschatological reality as already existing is a characteristic of Paul’s letters written from prison.

Now raised to the heights by God’s right hand,s he has received from the father the Holy Spirit, who was promised,t and what you see and hear is the outpouring of that Spirit.

Ac 2:33+ Ac 1:4-5 Ezk 36:27

2 Let your thoughts be on heavenly things, not on the things that are on the earth,

Ac 2:33+ s- Words borrowed from Ps. 118 (v.16 LXX ‘The right hand of the Lord has raised me up’) used in their preaching by the apostles who took it to be messianic: Ac 4:11, 1 P 2:7, Mt 21:9p,42p, 23:39, Lk 13:35, Jn 12:13, Heb 13:6. But it is possible to translate. ‘ Having raised up to the right hand of God’ and to see in this an introduction to the quotation (v.34) of Ps. 110); which is another name of Apostolic preaching: Mt. 22:44p,26:64p, Mk 16:19, Ac 7:55,56, Rm 8:34, 1Co. 15:25, Ep. 1:20 Col. 3:1, Heb. 1:3,13, 8:1, 10:12, 12:2, 1 P.3:22. t – According to the prophets, the gif of the Spirit would characterize the messianic era, Ex. 36:27+. Peter explains the miracle his bearers have witnessed as the ‘pouring out’ of this spirit, foretold in Jl 3:1-2 by the risen Christ.

You have been buried with him, when Col 2:12 3 because you have died, and now the life

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you were baptized: and by baptism, too, you have been raised up with him through your belief in the power of God who raised him from the dead. Life to me, of course, is Christ, but then death would bring me something more.

Rm 1:4+ Rm 8:11+ Ep 1:19f Ep 2:6+

Ph 1:21 Ga 2:20 Col 3:3f 2 Co 5:6-9

you have is hidden with Christ in God.

Avoid anything in your everyday livesl that would be unworthy of the gospel of Christ, so that, whether I come to you and see for myself, or stay at a distance and only hear about you, I shall know that you are unanimous in meeting the attack with firm resistance, united by your love for the faith of the gospel. Now I have something to tell you elders:a I am an elder myself, and a witnessb to the sufferings of Christ. and with you I have a share in the glory that is to be revealed. My dear people, we are already the children ofGod but what we are to be in the future has not yet been revealed;all we know is, that when it is revealed we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he really is. The whole creation is eagerly waiting for God to reveal his sons.k

Ph 1:27 Ep 4:1 Col 1:10 1 Th 2:12

1 P 5:1 Ac 11:30+ Ac 20:28 Col 3:4

1 Jn 3:2 Rm 8:29 Ph 3:21 Col 3:4

Rm 8:19

4 But when Christ is revealed – and he is you’re a life – you too will be revealed in all your glory with himb

Col 3:1-4 – a – Var. ‘our’. b – Through union with Christ in baptism, 2:12, his followers already live the identical life he lives in heaven, cf. Ep 2:6+, but this spiritual life is not manifest and glorious as it will be in the parousia. Phil. 1:27 l - Lit. “Live your city-life (i.e. your ordinary social life) worthily of the gospel’. The New City of God’s kingdom has Christ for its ruler, the gospel for its law, and the Christians as its free citizens, cf. 3:20; Ep. 2:19. Rm. 8:19 - k- Lit. ‘ waiting for the revelation of the sons of God’. The material world, created for man, shares his destiny. It was cursed for man’s sin, Gen. 3:17, and is therefore now deformed: impotent and decadent, vv. 19-22. But like man’s body, destined to be glorified, it too is to be redeemed, vv. 21-23; it will share the glorious liberty of the children of God, v. 21. For the Greek philosopher matter was evil and the

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spirit must be delivered from it; Christianity regards matter as itself enslaved and to be set free. In other texts also salvation is extended to creatures (especially angels) other than men, cf. Col. 1:20; Ep. 1:10; 2 P. 3:13; Rv. 21:1-5.

And in that way, you too must consider yourselves to be dead to sin but alive for God in Christ Jesus.f Youcannot belong to Christ Jesus unless you crucifyall self-indulgent passions and desires. You must give up your old way of life; you must put away your old self which gets corrupted by following illusory desires,

Rm 6:11f

Ga 5:24 Rm 6:6 Col 3:5Rm 8:14 Ph 2:3

Ep 4:22

Col 3:5

5 That is why you must kill everything in you that belongs only to earthly life:c fornication, impurity, guilty passion, evil desires and especially greed, which is the same thing as worshipping a false god…

Col 3:5 - c - At the mystical level of union with Christ in heaven, participation in his death and resurrection through baptism is instantaneous and total, 2:12f,20; 3:1-4; Rm 6:4+, but at the practical level of life on earth, this union has to be grown gradually. Already ‘dead’ in theory, the Christian must experience death and rebirth daily constantly, by ‘killing’ the old and sinful self. Rm 6:11 – f – Text. Rec and Vulg. ‘Christ Jesus our Lord’.

From now on there must be no more lies: you must speak the truth to one another since we are all parts of one of another. You must realize that our former selves had been crucified with him, to destroy this sinful body and to free us from the slavery to sin. that you should put away the old self of your former way of life, corrupted through deceitful desires (v. 22). Your mind must be renewed by a spiritual

Ep 4:25 Zc 8:16 Col 3:9 1 Co 12:12+

Rm 6:6 Rm 8:11+ Ep 2:6+ Col 3:9-10+ Ga 5:24; 6:14

=Ep 4:22-24

9 And never tell each other lies. You have stripped off your old behavior with your old self

Ep 4:24 - n - Each human being should ‘put on the New Man’, Ep 2:15+, (here, as in v. 22, translates ‘self’), so as to be re-created in him, cf. Ga 3:27; Rm 13:14. In some places Paul talks in the same way about the ‘new creature’, 2 Co 5:17+.

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revolution (v. 23), so that you can put on the new self that has been created in God’s way, in the goodness and holiness of the truthn (v. 24).

God said, ‘Let ush make mani in our own image, in the likenessj of ourselves, and let them be masters of the fish of the sea, the birds of heaven, the cattle, all the wild beastsk and all the reptiles that crawl upon the earth (v. 26). God created man in the image of himself; in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them...( v. 27).

Gn 1:26-27 ↗1 Co 11:7 Ep 4:24 Col 3:10

10 and you have put a new self which will progress towards true knowledge the more it is renewed in the image of its creatore

Col. 3:10 – e – The human race that was to have been the ‘image of god’, Gn. 1:2b+, lost its way trying to locate the ‘knowledge of good and evil’ outside and apart from the will of God, Gn. 2:17+, and became the slave of sin and sinful urges, Rm. 5:12. Gn 1:26 – h –It is possible that this plural form implies a discussion between God and his heavenly court (the angels, cf. 3:5,22); our text was thus understood by the Greek version (followed by Vulg.) of Ps 8:5 (quoted in Heb 2:7). Alternatively, the plural expresses the majesty and fullness of God’s being: the common name for God in Hebrew is Elohim, a plural form. Thus the way is prepared for the interpretation of the Fathers who saw in the text a hint of the Trinity. i –Collective noun, hence the plural “Be masters of’. j – ‘Likeness’, by excluding the idea of equality, weakens the force of ‘image’, a realistic term (‘something carved’) that implies a physical resemblance like that between Adam and his sons, 5:3. This relationship with God marks man off from the animals: moreover, it involves a general similarity of nature: intellect, will, authority - man is a person. It paves the way for

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a higher revelation: man’s share in the divine nature by virtue of grace.

Throughout the earth men spoke the same language with the same vocabulary. In the one Spirit we were all baptized Jews as well as Greeks, slaves as well as citizens, and one Spirit was given to us all to drink. And when everything is subjected to him, then the Son himself will be subjected in his turn to the One who subjected all things to him, so that God may be all in all. All baptized in Christ,o you have all clothed yourselves in Christ (v. 27), and there are no more distinctions between Jews and Greek, slave and free, male and female, but all of you are one in Christ Jesus p. (v. 28) In this way we are all to come to unity in our faith and in our knowledge of the Son of God, until we become the perfect

Gn 11:1 ↗Ws 10:5 ↗Ac 2:5-12 ↗Rv 7:9-10

1 Co 12:13 Ga 3:28 Ep 4:4-6 Col 3:11

1 Co 15:28

1 Th 4:16 Rm 9:5+ Ep 4:6 Col 3:11

Ga 3:27-28 Ga 4:5-7 Jn 1:12 Rm 8:14f,29 Rm 6:4+; 13:14 Ep 4:24 Rm 10:12 1 Co 12:13 Col 3:11 Jn 17:21f Heb 6:12 Jm 2:5

Ep 4:13 Ep 2:21; 4:16 Col 1:23+; 3:11

11 And in that image there is no room for distinction between Greek and Jew, between the circumcised or the uncircumcised, or between barbarian and Scythian, slave and free men. There is only Christ: he is everything and he is in everything.f

Col 3:11 - f - The new creation will not be divided into races and religions and cultures and social classes in the way the present creation has been since the Fall: the whole world will be reunited in Christ. Ep 4:13 – j – This does not refer primarily to the individual Christian. The sense is collective. It can be taken as referring to Christ himself, the New Man, the archetype of all who are reborn, 2:15+ or else ( and this sense is to be preferred) as referring to the total Christ, i.e., the whole

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Man,j fully mature with the fullness of Christ himself.

body, 1 Co. 12:12+; made of head, v. 15; 1:22; Col 1:18, and the rest of the body, v. 16; 5:30.

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Homily for the 18thSunday in Ordinary Time(Cycle C)

Based on Lk 12:13-21(Gospel),Eccl 1:2; 2:21-23 (First Reading) and Col 3:1-5, 9-11(Second Reading)


RICH IN GOD’S SIGHT ‘Making himself rich in the sight of God.’ (Lk 12:21)‘

The Gospel reading for this 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time is taken from Lk 12:13-21. Verses 13 and 14 say: A man in the crowd said to him, ‘Master, tell my brother to give me a share in our inheritance’.‘My friend’ he replied ‘who appointed me your judge, or arbitrator of your claims? Parallel text for verse 14 is Si 5:1 that says: Do not give your heart to your money, or say, “With this I am self-sufficient’. Verses 15 and 16 say: Then he said to them, ‘Watch, and be on your guard against avarice of any kind, for man’s life is not made secure by what he owns, even when he has more than he needs’. Then he told them a parable: ‘There was once a rich man who, having had a good harvest from his land… Parallel texts are:

1. Si 11:24 - And do not say: “I am self-supporting, what losses can I suffer in future?” 2. Si 14:4 - A man hoards by stinting himself is hoarding for others, and others will live sumptuously on his riches. 3. Ho 12:9 - “How rich I have become”, Ephraim says “I have amassed a fortune! ”But he will keep nothing of all his profits, because of the guilt that he has brought on

himselfm. Footnote m says “The translation follows the Greek.” Verse 17, 18 and 19 say: thought to himself, “What am I to do? I have not enough room to store my crops.” Then he said, “This is what I will do: I will pull down my barns and build bigger ones, and store all my grains and my goods in them, And I will say to my soul: My soul, you have plenty of good things laid by for many years to come; take things easy, eat, drink, have a good time”. Parallel text for verse 17 is 1 Tm 6:17 that says: Warn those who are rich in this world that they are not to look down on other peoples and not to set their hopes on money, which is untrustworthyg but on God, who, out of his riches, gives all that we need for our happiness. Footnoteg says “Var (Vuilg) ‘the living God’.” Parallel text for verse 19 are:

1. Pr 27:1 - Do not boast about tomorrow, since you do not know what today will bring forth.

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2. Jm 4:13-15 - Here is the answer for those of you who talk like this, “Today or tomorrow we are off to this or that town; we are going to spend a year there, trading and make some money”(v. 13) you never know what will happen tomorrow: you are no more than a mist that is there for a little while and then disappears (v.14). The most you should ever say “If it is the Lord’s will, we shall still be alive to do this or that (v. 15).

Verse 20 says: But God said to him, “Fool! This very night the demand will be made for your soul; and this hoard of yours, whose will it be then?’ Parallel texts are:

1. Si 11:19 - He says: “I have found rest and now I enjoy my goods,” but he does not know how long this will lastg he will leave his goods for others and die. Footnote g says “‘how long this will last’ Greek; ‘what awaits him’ Hebr.”

2. 1 Co 15:33 - You say: ‘let us eat and drink today. You must stop being led astray: “Bad friends ruin the noblest people.” Verse 21 says: So it is when a man stores up treasure for himself in place of making himself rich in the sight of God.’ Parallel texts are:

1. Mt 6:19-21 - “Do not store up treasures for yourselves on earth, where moth and woodworms destroy them, and thieves can break in and steal (v. 19) But store up treasures for yourselves in heaven, where neither moth nor woodworms destroy them and thieves cannot break in and steal (v.20) For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also (v. 21).

2. Rv 3:17-18 - You say to yourself, ‘I am rich, I have made a fortune and have everything I want,’ never realizing that you are wretchedly and pitiably poor blind, and naked tooj (v.17) I warn you buy from me the gold that had been tested in the firek to make you really rich, and white robes to cloth you and cover your shameful nakedness, and eye ointment to put on your eyes so that you are able to seel (v. 18). Footnotej says “Unlike Smyrna, Laodicea was rich in worldly goods, but spiritually poor”; Footnotek says “The true riches that are of the spirit”; and Footnotel says “The clothing and the eye ointment are, of course, needed to repair the ‘blindness and nakedness’ of v. 17; but there may be a special point in this as an allusion to the local products for which Laodicea was known.”

The First Reading is Eccl 1:2; 2:21-23. Chapter 1, verse 2 says: Vanity of vanities,c Qoheleth says. Vanity of vanities. All is vanity! Footnotec says “The traditional ‘vanity’ is retained here; the Hebr. term means primarily ‘mist’, ‘breath’, one of the traditional group of images (water, shadow, smoke, etc.) use din Hebr. poetry to describe the transitory nature of man. But in Qo the word has lost this sense and signifies only the illusory nature of things and hence the delusions to which they subject mankind.” Parallel texts are:

1. Ec 12:8 - Vanity of vanities, Qoheleth says, all things are vanity!f Footnotef says “The book ends as it began but has covered mush ground in between. It has taught man his wickedness but also his greatness by showing that this world is not worthy of him. It incites the reader to disinterested religion and to that kind of prayer in which a creature, aware of its nothingness, adores the mystery of God. Cf. Ps 39.”

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2. Ps 62:9 - Ordinary men are only a puff of wind, important menc delusion put in the scales and up they go, lighter than a puff of wind. Footnotec says “Lit ‘ sons of Adam’, ‘sons of men’, ordinary people and men of rank respectively, as in 49:2.”

3. Ps 94:11 - …knows exactly how men think; how their thoughts are a puff of wind.

4. Rm 8:20 -It was not for any fault on the part of creation that it was made unable to attain its purpose, it was made so by God;I but creation still retains the hope…FootnoteI says “Lit ‘creation was subjected to futility: this was not its own fault, but the work of him who so subjected it’ – i.e. of God who punished man’s sin in this way, or of man whose sin was responsible.”

Chapter 2, verse 21 says: For so it is that a man who has labored wisely, skillfully and successfully must leave what is his own to someone who has not toiled for it all. This too is vanity and great injustice; Parallel text is Si 11:21 that says: A man grows rich by his sharpness and grabbing, here is the reward that he receives for it. Verse 22 says: For what does he gain for all the toil and strain he has undergone under the sun? Parallel text is Ps 39:6that says: Every man that walks, only a shadow, and the wealth that he amasses is only a puff of wind – he does not know who will take it next. Verse 23 says: What of all his laborious days, his cares of office, his restless nights? This, too, is vanity. Parallel texts are:

1. Jb 7:2 - Like the slave who sighing for the shade, or the workman with no thought but his wages,

2. Si 40:5-6 - Even at night while he rests on his bed his sleep only gives a new twist to his worriesd(v. 5); scarcely than he lain down to rest than in his sleep, as if in broad daylight,e he is shaken by horrible sights like a man running away from a battle (v. 6).Footnoted says “The Hebr. And the context suggests that sleep brings thoughts no less painful. Cf. Qo 2:22,23”; and Footnotee says “‘as is in broad daylight’ corr: ‘as if in the day of watching’ Greek.”

The Second Reading is from Col 3:1-5, 9-11.

Verse 1 says: Since you have been brought back to the true life with Christ, you must look for the things that are in heaven, where Christ is sitting at God’s right hand. Parallel texts are:

1. Ep 2:6 - …and raised us up with him and gave us a place with him in heaven, in Christ Jesus.e Footnotee says “Here as in Col. 2:12, 3:1-4, the use of the past tense shows that the resurrection and triumph of Christians in heaven is considered as actually existing whereas the future tense in Rom. 6:3-11, 8:11,17f treats it as something that has still to take place. Treating the eschatological reality as already existing is a characteristic of Paul’s letters written from prison.”

2. Ph 3:20 - For us, our homeland is in heaven, and from heaven comes the savior we are waiting for, the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 2 says: Let your thoughts be on heavenly things, not on the things that are on the earth…

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Parallel text is Ac 2:33 that says: Now raised to the heights by God’s right hand,s he has received from the father the Holy Spirit, who was promised,t and what you see and hear is the outpouring of that Spirit. Footnotes says “Words borrowed from Ps. 118 (v.16 LXX ‘The right hand of the Lord has raised me up’) used in their preaching by the apostles who took it to be messianic: Ac 4:11, 1 P 2:7, Mt 21:9p,42p, 23:39, Lk 13:35, Jn 12:13, Heb 13:6. But it is possible to translate. ‘ Having raised up to the right hand of God’ and to see in this an introduction to the quotation (v.34) of Ps. 110); which is another name of Apostolic preaching: Mt. 22:44p,26:64p, Mk 16:19, Ac 7:55,56, Rm 8:34, 1Co. 15:25, Ep. 1:20 Col. 3:1, Heb. 1:3,13, 8:1, 10:12, 12:2, 1 P.3:22; andFootnotet says “According to the prophets, the gif of the Spirit would characterize the messianic era, Ex. 36:27+. Peter explains the miracle his bearers have witnessed as the ‘pouring out’ of this spirit, foretold in Jl 3:1-2 by the risen Christ.” Verse 3 says: because you have died and now the life you have is hidden with Christ in God. Parallel texts are:

1. Col 2:12 - You have been buried with him, when you were baptized: and by baptism, too, you have been raised up with him through your belief in the power of God who raised him from the dead.

2. Ph 1:21 - Life to me, of course, is Christ, but then death would bring me something more. Verse 4 says: But when Christ is revealed – and he is you’re a life – you too will be revealed in all your glory with himb. Footnotea says “Var. ‘our’”; and Footnoteb says “Through union with Christ in baptism, 2:12, his followers already live the identical life he lives in heaven, cf. Ep 2:6+, but this spiritual life is not manifest and glorious as it will be in the parousia.” Parallel texts are:

1. Ph 1:27 - Avoid anything in your everyday livesl that would be unworthy of the gospel of Christ, so that, whether I come to you and see for myself, or stay at a distance and only hear about you, I shall know that you are unanimous in meeting the attack with firm resistance, united by your love for the faith of the gospel. Footnotel says “Lit. “Live your city-life (i.e. your ordinary social life) worthily of the gospel’. The New City of God’s kingdom has Christ for its ruler, the gospel for its law, and the Christians as its free citizens, cf. 3:20; Ep. 2:19.

2. 1 P 5:1 - Now I have something to tell you elders:a I am an elder myself, and a witnessb to the sufferings of Christ. and with you I have a share in the glory that is to be revealed. Footnote a says “These elders are to be identified with the ‘presbyters’ of Tt. 1:5+; cf. note on 5:5 where ‘elders’ means older people”; and Footnote b says “This can mean either that as an apostle, 1:1, he witnessed the Passion of Jesus, or that through his own sufferings he is a witness to Christ.”

3. 1 Jn 3:2 - My dear people, we are already the children of God but what we are to be in the future has not yet been revealed; all we know is, that when it is revealed we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he really is.

4. Rm 8:9 - The whole creation is eagerly waiting for God to reveal his sons.k Footnotek says “Lit. ‘ waiting for the revelation of the sons of God’. The material world, created for man, shares his destiny. It was cursed for man’s sin, Gen. 3:17, and is therefore now deformed: impotent and decadent, vv. 19-22. But like man’s body, destined to be glorified, it too is to be redeemed, vv. 21-23; it will share the glorious liberty of the children of God, v. 21. For the Greek philosopher matter was evil and the spirit must be delivered from it; Christianity regards matter as itself enslaved and to be set free. In other texts also salvation is extended to creatures (especially angels) other than men, cf. Col. 1:20; Ep. 1:10; 2 P. 3:13; Rv. 21:1-5.”

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Verse 5 says: That is why you must kill everything in you that belongs only to earthly life:c fornication, impurity, guilty passion, evil desires and especially greed, which is the same thing as worshipping a false god…Footnotec says “At the mystical level of union with Christ in heaven, participation in his death and resurrection through baptism is instantaneous and total, 2:12f,20; 3:1-4; Rm 6:4+, but at the practical level of life on earth, this union has to be grown gradually. Already ‘dead’ in theory, the Christian must experience death and rebirth daily constantly, by ‘killing’ the old and sinful self.” Parallel texts are:

1. Rm 6:11- And in that way, you too must consider yourselves to be dead to sin but alive for God in Christ Jesus. f Footnotef says “Text. Rec and Vulg. ‘Christ Jesus our Lord’.”

2. Ga 5:24 – You cannot belong to Christ Jesus unless you crucify all self-indulgent passions and desires. 3. Ep 4:22 - You must give up your old way of life; you must put away your old self which gets corrupted by following illusory desires,

Verse 9 says: And never tell each other lies. You have stripped off your old behavior with your old self… Parallel texts are:

1. Ep 4:25 - From now on there must be no more lies: you must speak the truth to one another since we are all parts of one of another. 2. Rm 6:6 - You must realize that our former selves had been crucified with him, to destroy this sinful body and to free us from the slavery to sin. 3. Ep 4:22-24 - that you should put away the old self of your former way of life, corrupted through deceitful desires (v. 22). Your mind must be renewed by a spiritual

revolution (v. 23),so that you can put on the new self that has been created in God’s way, in the goodness and holiness of the truthn (v. 24). Footnoten says “Each human being should ‘put on the New Man’, Ep 2:15+, (here, as in v. 22, translates ‘self’), so as to be re-created in him, cf. Ga 3:27; Rm 13:14. In some places Paul talks in the same way about the ‘new creature’, 2 Co 5:17+.”

Verse 10 says: and you have put a new self which will progress towards true knowledge the more it is renewed in the image of its creator.e Footnotee says “The human race that was to have been the ‘image of god’, Gn. 1:2b+, lost its way trying to locate the ‘knowledge of good and evil’ outside and apart from the will of God, Gn. 2:17+, and became the slave of sin and sinful urges, Rm. 5:12.” Parallel text is Gn 1:26-27 that says: God said, ‘Let ush make mani in our own image, in the likenessj of ourselves, and let them be masters of the fish of the sea, the birds of heaven, the cattle, all the wild beastsk and all the reptiles that crawl upon the earth (v. 26). God created man in the image of himself; in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them...( v. 27).Footnoteh says “It is possible that this plural form implies a discussion between God and his heavenly court (the angels, cf. 3:5,22); our text was thus understood by the Greek version (followed by Vulg.) of Ps 8:5 (quoted in Heb 2:7). Alternatively, the plural expresses the majesty and fullness of God’s being: the common name for God in Hebrew is Elohim, a plural form. Thus the way is prepared for the interpretation of the Fathers who saw in the text a hint of the Trinity”; Footnotei says “Collective noun, hence the plural “Be masters of’; and Footnotej says “‘Likeness’, by excluding the idea of equality, weakens the force of ‘image’, a realistic term (‘something

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carved’) that implies a physical resemblance like that between Adam and his sons, 5:3. This relationship with God marks man off from the animals: moreover, it involves a general similarity of nature: intellect, will, authority - man is a person. It paves the way for a higher revelation: man’s share in the divine nature by virtue of grace.” Verse 11 says: And in that image there is no room for distinction between Greek and Jew, between the circumcised or the uncircumcised, or between barbarian and Scythian, slave and free men. There is only Christ: he is everything and he is in everything.f Footnotef says “The new creation will not be divided into races and religions and cultures and social classes in the way the present creation has been since the Fall: the whole world will be reunited in Christ.”

Parallel texts are:

1. Gn 11:1 - Throughout the earth men spoke the same language with the same vocabulary. 2. 1 Co 12:13 - In the one Spirit we were all baptized Jews as well as Greeks, slaves as well as citizens, and one Spirit was given to us all to drink. 3. 1 Co 15:28 - And when everything is subjected to him, then the Son himself will be subjected in his turn to the One who subjected all things to him, so that God may be

all in all. 4. Ga 3:27-28 - All baptized in Christ,o you have all clothed yourselves in Christ (v. 27), and there are no more distinctions between Jews and Greek, slave and free, male and

female, but all of you are one in Christ Jesus p (v. 28). Footnoteo says “Faith and baptism are not being contrasted, one involves the other, cf. Rm. 6:4+.”; and Footnotep says “Var. ‘you are all of Christ Jesus’.”

5. Ep 4:13 - In this way we are all to come to unity in our faith and in our knowledge of the Son of God, until we become the perfect Man, j fully mature with the fullness of Christ himself. Footnotej says “This does not refer primarily to the individual Christian. The sense is collective. It can be taken as referring to Christ himself, the New Man, the archetype of all who are reborn, 2:15+ or else ( and this sense is to be preferred) as referring to the total Christ, i.e., the whole body, 1 Co. 12:12+; made of head, v. 15; 1:22; Col 1:18, and the rest of the body, v. 16; 5:30.”

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19th SUNDAY OF YEAR Cycle C LITTLE FLOCK

“There is no need to be afraid, little flock” (Lk. 12:32)

Gospel: Lk 12:32-48


The Good Shepherd. I tell you most solemnly, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold through the gate, but gets in some other way is a thief and a brigand (v. 1). The one who enters through the gate is the shepherd of the flock (v.2); The gatekeeper lets him in, the sheep hear his voice, one by onea he calls his own sheep and leads them out (v. 3). When he has brought out his flock, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow because they know his

voice (v. 4). They never follow a

stranger but run away from him: they do not recognize the voice of strangers (v.5). Jesus told themb this parable but they failed to understand what he meant by telling it to them (v. 6). So Jesus spoke to them again: I tell you solemnly, I am the gate of the sheepfoldc(v. 7) All others who had comedare thieves and brigands; but the sheep took no notice of them (v. 8). I am the gate. Anyone who enters through me will be safe: he will go freely in and out and be sure of finding pasture (v. 9). A thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came so that they may have lifee and have it to the full (v. 10)I am the good shepherd:f the good

Jn 10 Jr 23:1-3 Ezk 34:1-31 Jn 10:26-27 Ex 13:22 Mi 2:13 Mt 7:14 Jn 3:17 Ps 23:1-3 Is 49:9-10 Ezk 34:14 Jn 10:28

32 There is no need to be afraid, little flock, for it has pleased your Father to give you the kingdom.

Jn 10:1 – 42 - a – Or possibly ‘each by its name’. b – I.e. to the Pharisees, willfully blind, 9:40. They fail to realize that the parable refers to them. c – The gate that gives access to the sheep. Only those who ‘go in’ by Jesus have authority to guide the flock, 21:15-17. d – Add, ‘before me’. The reference is probably to the Pharisees, cf. Mt 23:1-36; Lk 11:39-52 and Mt 9:36; Mk 6:34. e – Life eternal. Jesus gives it, 3:16,36; 5:40; 6:33,35,48,51; 14:6; 20:31, with abounding generosity. Cf. Rv 7:17; Mk 25:29; Lk 6:38. f – God, himself the shepherd of his people, was to choose a shepherd for them in the messianic age, cf. Ezk 34:1+. Christ’s assertion that he is the good shepherd is a claim to messiaship. g- In biblical language, cf. Ho. 2:22, ‘knowledge’ is not merely the conclusion of an intellectual process, but the fruit of an ‘experience’, a personal contact (cf. John 10:14-15 and 14:20; 17:21-22; cf. 14:17, 17:3; 2 Jn 1-2); when it matures, it is love, cf. Ho. 6:6 and 1 Jn 1:3+. h -Not to take them into the Jewish fold but to gather them into the flock that Jesus ‘leads’ to eternal life.

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shepherd is one who lays down his life for his sheep (v. 11). The hired man, since he is not the shepherd and the sheep do not belong to him, abandons the sheep and runs away as soon as he sees a wolf coming, and then the wolf attacks and scatters the sheep (v. 12); this is because he is only a hired man and has no concern for the sheep (v.13). I am the good shepherd; I know my own and my own know me,g (v. 14) just as the Father know me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for my sheep (v. 15). And there are other sheep I have that are not of this fold, and these I have to lead as well.h They too will listen to my voice, and there will only be one flock,i and one shepherd (v.16)The Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again (v. 17). No one takes it from me; I lay it down of my own free will,j and as it is in my power to lay it down, so it is in my power to take it up again; and this is the command I have been given by my Father (v. 18). These words caused disagreementk among the Jews (v. 19).Many said, ‘He is possessed, he is raving; why bother to listen to him? (v. 20)”Others said, “These are not the words of a man possessed by a devil; could a devil open the eyes of the blind? (v. 21)”Feast of the Dedication.It was the time when the feast of the Dedication

Ezk 34:1+ Heb 13:20 Jr 23:1f Ezk 34:3-8 Zc 11:17 Jn 10:26-27 1 Jn 2:4 Jn 15:9 Mt 11:25-27 Gn 11:9 Jr 23:3 Ezk 37:24 Ep 2:14f; 4:4f Jn 5:25; 11:52; 18:37 Jn 3:35; 8:29 Ezk. 34:23 Ezk37:22 Ph 2:8-9 Heb 10:10 Jn 13:1 Jn 14:30 Jn 17:19 Jn19:11,30 Jn 3:11+; 7:20 Ho 9:7 Jn 3:2; 9:30-32

i- Var. ‘one fold’. j - Jesus has life in himself, 3:35+, and no one can rob him of it, 7:30,44; 8:20; 10:39; he surrenders it of his own will, 10:18; 14:30; 19:11; hence his perfect control and majestic calm in the face of death, 12:27; 13:1-3; 17:19; 18:4-6; 19:28. k – Add. ‘again’. l- Not, as hitherto, in the enigmatic language of parable, cf. v. 6; 16:25,29. More urgently than before, 2:18; 5:16; 6:30; 8:25, the Jews press Jesus to say if he is the Messiah. In the Synoptics, the question is put by the high priest before the Passion, Mt 26:63p. m- Christ’s previous statements had made it sufficiently clear that he spoke as God’s envoy, cf. 2:19; 5:17f,39; 6:32f; 8:24,28f,56f; 9:37. m – Christ’s previous statements had made it sufficiently clear that he spoke as God’s envoy, cf. 2:19; 5:17d,39; 6:32f; 8:24,28f,56f; 9:37. n- Faith in Jesus implies an inner sympathy with him: man must be ‘from above’’ 8:23, ‘of God’, 8:47. ‘of the truth’, 18:37, of his flock, 10:14. Faith presupposes a mind open to truth, 3:17-21; Cf. Ac 13:48+; Rm 8:29f. o – Var. ‘As for my Father, that which he has given me is greater than all.’ p - Var. ‘steal them.’ q – The Son’s power is not other than the Father’s The context shows that this is the primary meaning, but the statement is deliberately undefined and hints at a more

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was being celebrated in Jerusalem. It was winter (v. 22), and Jesus was in the Temple walking up and downin the Portico of Solomon (v. 23).The Jews gathered round him and said, “How much longer are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly”l (v. 24). Jesus replied, “I have told you,mbut you do not believe me. The works I do in my Father’s name are my witness; (v.25).But you do not believe, because you are no sheep of mine.n(v. 26). The sheep that belongs to me listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me (v. 27). I give them eternal life; they will never be lost and no one will ever steal them from me (v. 28) The Father who gave them to me is greater than anyone,o and no one can stealp them from the Father (v. 29) The Father and I are oneq (v. 30).The Jews again pitched stones to stone him (v. 31),so Jesus said to them, “I have done many good works from my Father; for which of these are you stoning me? (v. 32)”The Jews answered him, “We are not stoning you for doing a good work but for blasphemy;you are a man and you claim to be God (v. 33).Jesus answered: “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, “You are gods”’?r (v. 34). So the Law uses the word gods to whom the word of God was addressed, and scripture cannot be rejected (v. 35).Yet

1 M 4:36+ Ac 3:11+ Lk 22:67 Jn 8:25 Jn 2:11+; 5:36 Pr 28:5 1 Co. 2:14 Jn 10:3-4,14 Jn 10:10 Rm 8:33-39 Dt 33:3 Ws 3:1 Jn 3:35+ Dt 32:39 Is 43:13; 51:16 Jn 1:1+; 8:59 Lk 22:71 Jn 5:18; 19:7 Mt 9:3 Rm 3:19 Ps 82:6 Jn 11:4,27; 12:34; 15:25

comprehensive and a profounder unity. The Jews do not miss the implication; they sense a claim to godhead, v. 33. Cf. 1;1; 8:24,29; 10:38; 14:9-10; 17:11,21 and 2:11+. r – The words were addressed to magistrates whose function made them, in a sense, ‘gods’ because ‘judgment is God’s, Dt 1:17; 19:17; Ex 21:6; Ps 58. Christ’s argument is a rabbinic a fortiori, the conclusion being that blasphemy is a surprising charge to bring when it is God’s consecrated envoy who calls himself Son of God. On this title, ‘Son of God’, v. 36, cf. 5:25; 11:4,27; 20:17,31. Christ’s fate is henceforth to turn, cf. 19:7. See Mt 4:3. s – Add. ‘again’

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you say to someone the Father has consecrated and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming”, because he says,

“I am the son of God” (v. 36). If I am not doing my Father’s work, there is no need to believe me (v. 37); but if I am doing it, then even if you refuse to believe in me, at least believe in the work I do; then you will knowfor sure that the Father is in me and I am in the Father (v. 38). They wanteds to arrest him then, but he eluded them (v. 39). He went back again to the far side of the Jordan to stay in the district where John had oncebeen baptizing (v. 40) Many people who came to him there said, ‘John gave no signs, but all he said about this man was true’ (v. 41); and many of them believed in him (v. 42).

After the meal Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me more than these others do?’ He answered, “Yes Lord, you know that I love you.’Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs (v.15).” A second time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” He replied, ‘Yes, Lord, you know I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Look after my sheep (v. 16).’ Then he said to him a third time, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love me?’ Peter was upset that he asked him the third time, ‘Do you love me?’ and said, “Lord, you know everything;

Heb 1:2 Jn 1:12 Jn 1:1+; 17:18 Jr 1:5 Jn 6:67-69 Jn 2:11+; 14:11; 17:21 Jn 8:59

Jn 21:15-17 Lk 5:10; 22:52 Ac 20:28 Jn 13:37,38; 18:17,25-27 Jn 1:48+ Jn 6:68f Mt 16:17-19

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you know I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Feed my sheep (v.17)

Lk 22:31-32

He answered, “If anyone has two tunics hemust share with the man who has none,and the onewith something to eat must do thesame.” Give to everyone who asks you, and do not ask for your property back from the man who robs you. Treat others as you would like them to treat you. …’because he is friendly towards ourpeople;bin fact he is the one who built the synagogue.’ Instead, give alms from what you havek, andthen indeed everything will be clean for you.

Lk 3:11 Lk 12:33+ Mt 5:46+

Lk 6:30 Pr 21:26 =Mt 5:42 Lk 12:33+

Lk 7:5

Ac 10:1,22 Ac 12:33+

Lk 11:41 Lk 12:33+ =Mt 23:27

On almsgivingd Lk 12:33- d - That riches are a danger and should be given away in alms is characteristic teaching of Lk: cf. 3:11; 6:30; 7:5; 11:41; 12:33-34; 14:14; 16:9; 18:22; 19:8; Ac 9:36; Ac 10:2,4,31. Lk 7:5 – b – Evidently a pagan in sympathy with Judaism, like Cornelius, Ac 10:1-2+. Lk 11:41 – k – Interpretation difficult. Others translate ‘what is within’.

There are somewho, onnothing, pretend to berich; some, with great wealth,pretend to be poor. For she is an inexhaustible treasure to men; and those who acquireit God’s friendship,commendedas they are to him by the benefitsof her teaching. But store up treasures for yourselves in heaven, where neither moth nor woodworms destroy them and thieves cannot break in and steal (v.20) For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also (v. 21).

Pr 13:7 Qo 6:8 Lk 12:21,33 Rv 3:17

Ws 7:14 Si 6:19 Lk 12:33

Mt 6:20-21 Tb 4:9

33 Sell you possessions and give alms. Get yourselves purses that do not wear out, treasure that will not fail you, in heaven where no thief can reach it and no moth destroy it.

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34 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

On being ready for the Master’s return

Do not delay your return to the LORD, do not put it off day after day; for suddenly his wrath will blaze out, and at the time of vengeance, you will be utterly destroyed. Free your minds, then, of encumbrances, control them, and put your trust in nothingbut the grace that will be givenyou when Jesus Christ is revealed. Then the kingdom of heaven will be like this: Ten bridesmaids took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom (v. 1) Five of them were foolish and five were sensible (v.2): the foolish ones did take their lamps, but brought no oil… (v. 3)

Si 5:7 Si 7:16-17 Is 55:6-7 Lk 12:35-40

1 P 1:13 Lk 12:35-40 1 Th 5:6

Mt 25:1-3 Ezk 16:1+

35 ‘See that you are dressed for action and have your lamps lit.

For who is greater: the one at table or the one who serves? The one at table, surely? Yet here I am among you as the one who serves. …and he got up from table, remove his outer garment and, and taking a towel, wrapped it round his waist (v.4); he then poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feetf and to wipe them with the towel he was wearing (v. 5)

Lk 22:27 Lk 12:37 Jn 13:4-15

Jn 13:4-5 Lk 12:37; 17:7-10

36 Be like men waiting for their master to return from the wedding feast, ready to open the door as soon as he comes and knocks.

Jn 13:4-5 f- The dress and duty are those of a slave, cf1 S 25:41.

37 Happy those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. I tell you solemnly, he

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will put on an apron, sit them down at table and wait on them.

So stay awake, because you do not know when the master of the house is coming, evening, midnight, cockcrow, dawn;

=Mk 13:35 Lk 12:38

38 It may be in the second watch he comes, or in the third, but happy those servants if he finds them ready.

You may be quite sure of this that if the householder had known at whattime of night the burglar would come, he would have stayed awake and would not have allowedanyone to break through the wall of his house (v.43). Therefore, you toomust stand ready because the Son of Man is comingat an hour you do not expect.

=Mt 24:43-44 Lk 12:39-40 1 Th 5:1-6 2 P 3:10

39 You may be quite sure of this, that if the householder had known at what hour the burglar would come, he would not have let anyone break though the wall of his house.

40 You too must stand ready, because the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.’

41 Peter said, Lord, do you mean this parable for us, or for everyone?

Parable of the conscientious stewardw What sort of servant, then, is faithful and wise enough for the master to place him over his household to give them their food at the proper time?(v. 45) Happy that servant if his master’s arrival finds at his employment (v.46). I tell you solemnly, he will place him over everything he owns (v.47). But as for thedishonest servant who says to himself, ‘My master is taking his time’ (v. 48), and begins about beating his fellow servants and eating and drinking with drunkards (v. 49), his master will come on an day he does not expectand at an hour he does not know (v. 50). The

=Mt 24:45-51 =Lk 12:42-46 Pr 14:35 Mt 19:28; 25:21

42 The Lord replied, ‘What sort of steward,e then, is faithful and wise enough for the master to place him over his household to give them their allowance of food at the proper time?

Lk 12:42 - e – A steward with authority over other servants; Jesus, therefore, is peaking of the apostles (the ‘us’ of Peter’s question). Mt 24:45-51 – w – After the discourse foretelling the destruction of Jerusalem and the visible coming of the messianic reign in the Church, Matthew adds three parables dealing with the ultimate fate of individuals. The first presents one of Christ’s servants who, like the apostles, is given a task to perform in the Church; he is judged on the way he performs it. x – A word of uncertain meaning: probably

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master will cut him offx and send him to the same fateas the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth. People must think of us as Christ‘sservants, stewards entrusted with the mysteries of God.

Mt 8:12+

1 Co 4:1 Lk 12:42-44

to be taken metaphorically: ‘he will cut him off’, a sort of ‘excommunication’, cf. 18:17.

43 Happy that servant if his master’s arrival finds him at his employment.

44 I tell you truly, he will place him over everything he owns.

45 But as for the servant who says to himself, “My master is taking his time coming”, and sets about beating the menservants and the maids, and eating and drinking and getting drunk,

46 His master will come on a day he does not expect and at an hour he does not know. The master will cut him off and send him to the same fate as the unfaithful.

47 ‘The servant who knows what his master wants, but has not even started to carry out those wishes, will receive very many strokes of the lash.

I tell you solemnly, on the day of Judgment it will be not go as hardwith the land of Sodom and Gomorrah aswith that town.

Mt 10:15 =Mt 11:24 Lk 12:48

48 The one who did not know, but deserves to be beaten for what he has done, will receive fewer strokes. When a man has had a great deal given him, a great deal will be demanded of him; when a man has had a great deal given him on trust, even more will be expected of him.

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First Reading: Ws 18:6-9


6 That night had been foretold to our ancestors,e so that, once they saw what kind of oaths they had put their trust in, they would joyfully take courage.

Ws 18:6- e – Either the Israelites at the time of the Exodus, Ex 11:4-7, or more probably the patriarchs to whom God had promised that he would free their descendants from slavery in Egypt, Gn 15:13-14; 46:3-4.

7 This was the expectation of your people, the saving of the virtuous and the ruin of their enemies;

8 For the same act with which you took vengeance on our foes you made us glorious by calling us to you.f

Ws 18:8- f– The destruction of the firstborn of Egypt, the celebration of the Passover, the Exodus itself, identified Israel once and for all as the people of God, cf. Dt 7:6+.

9 The devout children of worthy men offered sacrificeg in secret and this divineh pact they struck with one accord: that the saints would share the same blessings and dangers alike; and forthwith they had begun to chant the hymns of the fathers.i

Ws 18:6- g–The Passover is called a sacrifice; Ex 12:27; Nb 9:7; Dt 16:5. This sacrifice is called ‘secret’ since it is celebrated inside the house, Ex. 12:46. h – ‘ divine’; var. ‘holy’. i- The author represents the first Passover in terms of later Passovers at which the Hallel was chanted, Ps 113-118.

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Second Reading: Heb 11:1-2, 8-19


Happy the man who has not sinneda in speech, and need not feel remorse for sins (v. 1).Happy the man whose own soul does not accuse him, and who has nevergiven up hope (v. 2). Wealth is not the right thing for the niggardly man, and what use are possessions to a covetous one? (v. 3) A man who hoards by stinting himself is hoarding for others, and others will live sumptuously on his riches (v. 4). If a man is mean to himself, to whom will h be good? He does not even enjoy what is his own (v.5). No one is meaner than the man who ismean to himself, and this is how his wickedness pays him back (v. 6).If hedoesgood at all, he does it without intending to, and in the end he himself reveal himself reveals his wickedness (v. 7). Evil is the man who has an grudging eye,averting his face,b and careless of others’ lives (v. 8). The eye of the grasping man is not content with his portion, greedc shrivels up his soul(v. 9). The miser is grudging of bread,d there is famine at his table (v. 10). My son, treat yourself as well as you can afford, and bring worthy offerings to the Lord (v. 11). Remember that death will not delay, and that the covenant of Sheole has not been revealed to your (v. 12). Be kind to your friends before you die, treat him as

Si 14 Si 19:16; 25:8 Jm 3:2 Qo 5:9, 6:2 Jb 27:16-17 Lk 12:16-21 Pr 13:22 Pr 11:17 Ws 6:23 Nb 16:33+ Ws 1:16 Is 28:15

Exemplary faith of our ancestors Si 14 – a – Lit. ‘has not slipped’. Many Psalms similarly celebrate the happiness of the pure in heart, Ps 1; 32; 119; of the wise, Ps 41, of the devout, Ps 128, as opposed to those who are ‘happy’ by this world’s standards. b – From those who need his help. c – ‘Greed’ corr. (lit. ‘the evil eye’); ‘wicked injustice’ Greek. d – Hebr. ‘the miser falls (avidly) on bread’. e – Probably the decree assigning the date of death. Cf. Is 28:15,18. f – Hebr. ‘All men’s deeds are destined to perish and the works of his hands will follow him’, i.e. into corruption. Rv 14:13 transforms this notion; man’s works follow him into the glory of a new life. g –Cf Ps 119, especially vv. 15, 23, 148, on the happiness deprived from meditating on the Law. Here the object of study is wisdom, which is to be found notably in the proverbs and maxims of the sages. h – To pitch his tent there. i – Hebr. ‘he makes his nest in her branches’. j – The ‘glory’ (Hebr. ‘refuge’) possibly refers to the cloud which used to manifest the presence of Yahweh, cf. Ex 16:10; 24:16+, the shekinah (‘presence’) of the rabbinical writings.

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generously as you can afford (v. 13). Do not refuse yourself the good things of today, do not let your share of what is awfully desired pass you by (v.14). Will you not leave your fortune to another, and the fruit of your labor to be divided by lot? (v. 15). The give and receive, and take your ease, for in Sheol you cannot look for pleasure (v. 16). Every living thing grows old like a garment, an age-old law is “Death must be’ (v. 17). Like foliage growing on a bushy tree (v. 18), some leaves falling, other growing, so are the generations of flesh and blood:one dies and another is born (v.19). Every achievement rots away and perishes, and with it goes the author.f

Happy the man who meditates on wisdom, and reason with good sense (v. 20), who studies her ways in his heart, And ponders her secretsg (v. 21). He pursues her like a hunter,and lies in wait by her path (v. 22); who peep in ather windows,and listens at her doors (v. 23); who lodges close toher house, and fixes his pegs next in her wallsh (v. 24);he pitches his tent at her side,and lodges in an excellent lodging (v. 25); he sets his children in her shade,i and camps beneath her branches (v. 26); he is sheltered by her from the heat and in her gloryj he makes his home (v. 27)

Qo 2:24 Pr 8:32-35

For I am not ashamed of the Good News; it is the power of God saving all who

Rm 1:16+ Ac 13:38

1 Only faith can guarantee the blessings that we hope for, or prove the existence of the

Heb. 11:1 – a – Var. ‘Faith is the assurance of things hoped

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faithj - Jew first,k butGreek as well. Since God has promise it, Abraham either refused to deny it or even to doubt it but drew strength from faithj and gave glory to God For we must be content to hope that we shall be savedn - our salvation is not in sight, we should not have to be hoping for it if it were – (v. 24) but, as I say, we must hope to be saved since we are not saved yet, it is something we wait for with patience (v. 25). And so we have no eyes for things that are visible, but only for things that are invisible, and the invisible things are eternal.

1 Co. 1:18-25; 1 Co 2:1-5 2 Co 2:9f

Rm 4:20

Mk 9:23 Heb 11:1f

Rm 8:24-25 Rm 3:24+; 5:2+; 7:24+ 2 Co 5:7 Heb 11:1

2 Co 4:18 Rm 8:24-25 Heb 11:1,3

realities that at present remain unseen. a

for (heaven) and the conviction of things unwanted (hell)’. The Jewish christians to whom he is writing have been discouraged by persecution, so the author emphasizes that it is only what is invisible that concerns hope. This verse was adopted as a theological definition of faith, i.e., the anticipated and assured possession of heavenly realities, cf. 6:5, Rm. 5:2, Ep. 1:13f. The examples taken from the lives of OT saints are meant to illustrate how faith is the source of patience and strength. Rm 1:16 - j- Faith, which is the response of a human being to God as truth and goodness and so the one source of salvation, relies on the truth of God’s promises and on God’s faithfulness to them (Rm 3:3f; 1 Th 5:24; 2 Tm 2;13; Heb 10:23; 11:11) and on his power to implement them (Rm 4:17-21; Heb 11:19). After the long O.T. period of preparation (Heb 11) God has spoken through his Son (Heb 1:1). We must believe the Son (cf. Mt 8:10+; Jn 3:11+) and the kerygma or proclamation (Rm 10:8-17; 1 Co 1:21; 15:11, 14; cf. Ac 2:22+) of the Good News (Rm 1:16; 1 Co 15:1-2; Phl: 27; Ep 1:13) made by the apostles (Rm 1:5; 1 Co 3:5; cf. Jn 17:20). The kerygma proclaims that God raised Jesus from the dead, made him Kyrios (Rm 4:24f; 10:9; Ac 17:31; 1 P 1:21; cf. 1 Co 15:14, 17), and thorough him offers life to all who believe in him (Rm 6:8-11; 2 Co 4:13f; Ep 1:19f; Col 2;12; 1 Th 4:14). Faith in the name, or person, of Jesus (Rm 3:26; 10:13; cf. Jn 1:12; Ac 3:16; 1

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Jn3;23) who is the Messiah (Ga 2:16; cf. Ac 24;24; 1 jn 5:1), the Lord (Rm 10:9; 1 Co 12:3; Ph 2:11; cf. Ac 16;31) and Son of God (Ga 2:20; cf. jn 20:31; 1 jn 5:5; Ac 8;37; 9:20) is thus the necessary condition of salvation (Rm 10:9-13; 1 Co 1:21; Ga 3:22; cf. Is 7:9+; Ac 4:12; 16:31; Heb 11:6; Jn 3:15-18). Faith is not only intellectual assent, it is to trust and obey (Rm 1:5; 6:17; 10:16; 16:26; cf. Ac 6:7) the life giving truth (2 Th 2:12f). Faith which thus unites a person with Christ (2 Co 13:5; Ga 2:16, 20; Ep 3:17) also confers the Spirit on him (Ga 3:2,5,14;cf. Jn 7:38f; Ac 11:17), the Spirit of the sons of God (Ga 3:26; cf. Jn 1:12). Faith is reliance on God and not on self (Rm 3:27; Ep 2:9) and thus contrasts with the old order of the Law (Rm 7:7+) with its vain search (Rm 10;3; Ph 3:9) for holiness by works (Rm 3;20,28; 9:31f; Ga 2:16; 3:11f): only faith can effect rue holiness, the saving holiness of God himself (Rm 1:17+; 3:21-26), received as a free gift from him (Rm 3:24; 4:16; 5:17; Ep 2:8;cf. Ac 15:11). Faith relates to the promise made to Abraham (Rm 4; Ga 3:6-18) and so makes salvation accessible to everyone, pagans included (Rm 1:5,16; 3:29f; 9:30; 10:11f; 16:26; Ga 3:8). It is coupled with baptism (Rm 6:4+), calls for public profession (Rm 10:10; 1 Tm 6:12), and expresses itself in charity (Ga 5:6;cf. Jm 2:14+). Faith is obscure (2 Co 5:7; Heb 11:1; cf. Jn 20:29), and involves hope as its concomitant (Rm 5:2+). It must be allowed to grow (2 Co 10:15; 1Th 3:10; 2 Th 1:3) amid struggles and sufferings (Ph 1:29; Ep 6:16; 1

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Th3:2-8; 2 Th 1:4; Heb 12:2; 1 P 5:9), demanding fortitude (1 Co 16:13; Col 1:23;) and tenacity 2 Tm 4:7;cf. 1:14; 1 Tm 6:20) right up to the vision and possession of God (1 Co 13:12;cf. 1Jn 3:2). k– In the actual development of salvation history, the Jews come first; ‘salvation comes from the Jews’ (Jn. 4:22). Cf. Rm. 2:9-10, Mt. 10:5f, 15:24, Mk. 7:27, Ac. 13:5+. But abuse of this privilege could condemn them. Rm 4:20 - j –Faith is all-powerful, Mk 9:23. It shares in the divine omnipotence itself, cf 2 Co 12:9-10. Rm 8:24 – n - Lit ‘It is through hope that we are saved’. The salvation is eschatological, cf. 5:1-11.

2 It was for faith that our ancestors were commended.

The call of Abrahama Yahweh said to Abram: “Leave your country, your family and your father’s house forthe land I will show you (v. 1). I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name so famous that it will be used asb a blessing(v.2). ‘I will bless those who bless you;I will curse those who slight you. All the tribes of the earth shallbless themselves by you’ (v. 3)cSo Abram went as Yahweh told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran (v. 4)

Gn 12:1-4 ↗Ws 10:5 ↗Ac 7:2-3 ↗Heb 11:8f Gn 15:1; 26:2 Ps 45:10 Ex 32:10 Gn 27:17 24:1 Nb. 10:29; 14:12 Ps. 21:6 Gn 22:18 Nb 24:9 Ps 72:17 ↗Si 44:21 ↗Jr 4:2 Zc 8:13

8 It was by faith that Abraham obeyed the call to set out for a country that was the inheritance given to him and his descendants, and that he set out without knowing where he was going.

Gn. 12:2 – a– Ch. 12-13 are a Yahwistic narrative with some ‘Priestly’ or editorial EDITIONS. As a result of God’s call and promise of posterity Abraham cuts off all earthly ties and with his childless wife, 11:30, sets out for an unknown land. It is Abraham’s first act of faith; it will be renewed when the promise is repeated, 15:5-6+, and put to the test when God asks for the surrender of Isaac who was the fruit of that promise, ch. 22+. To Abraham’s unquestioning act of faith the chosen people owes its existence and destiny, Heb 11:8-19. Not only Abraham’s physical descendants but all who, in virtue of

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Through him we received grace and our apostolic mission to preach the obedience of faithe to all pagan nations in honor of his name.

Lk 1:5 ↗Ac 3:25 ↗Ga 3:8 Gn 33:18-20; 35:4 Jos 24:26

Rm 1:5+ Heb 11:5

this same faith, become his sons will have theirshare in that destiny as Paul shows, Rm 4; Ga 3:7. b - ‘that it will be used as’ corr.; ‘and may you be’ Hebr. c – The formula is repeated in 18:18; 22:18; 26:4; 28:14. Itsprecise meaning is: ‘the nations shall say to each other: May you be blessed as Abraham was’ (cf. v. 2 and 48:20; Jr 29:22); but Si 44:21, the LXX translation and the NT take it to mean ‘In you all the nations shall be blessed.’ Rm 1:5 – e -Subjective genitive: the obedience implicit in the virtue of faith. Cf. Ac. 6:7, Rm. 6:16-17, 10:16, 15:18, 16:19,26, 2 Co. 10:5-6, 2 Th. 1:8, 1 P. 1:22, Heb. 5:9, 11:8.

“I am a stranger and a settler among you’ he said.‘Let me own a burial-plot among you, so that I may take my dead wife and bury her.” Remain for the present here in this land, and I will be with you and bless you.For it is to you and your descendants that I will give all these lands, and I will fulfill the oath I swore to your father Abraham. ‘I will give you this land,the land I gave to Abraham and toIsaac; and I will give this landto your descendants after you.’

Gn 23:4 Gn 33:19 2 S 24:18f Heb 11:9, 13

Gn 26:3 Gn 31:3 Dt 1:8 Ps 105:9 Si 44:22 Heb 11:9

Gn 35:12 Gn 12:7 Heb 11:9

9 By faith he arrived, as a foreigner, in the Promised Land, and lived there as if in a strange country, with Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him on the same promise.

For there is no eternal city for us in this Heb 13:14 10 He lived there in tents while he looked Rev 21:10, 22 –

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life but we look forone in the life to come. In the spirit he took me to the top of an enormous mountain and showed me Jerusalem, the holy city, coming down from God out of heaven.j (v. 10) It had all the radiant glory of God and glittered like some precious jewel, diamond, crystal clear (v. 11). The walls of it were of a great height, with twelve gates; at each of the twelve gates there was an angel and over the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel(v. 12).On the east there were three gates on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates (v. 13).The city walls stood on twelve foundation stones, each one of which bore the names of one of the twelve apostles of the Lamb(v. 14).I saw there was no temple in the city,m since the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb were themselves temple(v. 22).and the city did not need the sun or the moon for light, since it was lit by the radiant glory of God, and the Lamb was a lighted torch for it(v. 23).

Heb 11:19,14-16,26 1 Co 7:29-31 Ph 3:20 Rv 21:10-14, 22-23

Ezk 40:2 Heb 11:10 Rv 21:2 Is 60:1-2 Rv 7:1-8 Ezk 48:31-35 Ep 2:20

forward to the city founded, designed and built by God.

j – This is Jerusalem on earth during the last or messianic days since the pagan nations have not yet been destroyed, 21:24, and have a chance of conversion, 22:2; but it foreshadows the heavenly the heavenly Jerusalem that develops from it. The details of the description are most from Ezk 40-47. m – The destruction of Jerusalem Temple symbolizes the end of the old covenant; there is now a new Temple, the Body of Christ, cf. Jh 2:19-21.

Let us keep firm in the hope we profess, because theone who made the promise is faithful.

Heb 10:23 Heb 3:2; 4:14; 11:11 1 Co 1:9+

11 It was equally by faith that Sarah, in spite of being past the age, was made able to conceive, because she believed that he who made the promise would be faithful to it.

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But God replied: ‘No, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son whom you are to name Isaac. With him I will establish my Covenant, a Covenant in perpetuity, to be his God and the God of his descendants after him So Sarah conceived and bore a son to Abrahamin his old age, at the time God had promised. Even the thought that his body was past fatherhood- he was about a hundred years old- andSarahtoo old to become a mother, did not shake his belief (v. 19)i. Since God has promise it, Abraham either refused to deny it or even to doubt it but drew strength from faithj and gave glory to God (v. 20), convinced that God had power to do what he had promised (v. 21).

Gn 17:19 Gn 11:30 Si 44:42 Heb 11:11

Gn 21:2 Ga 4:22 Heb 11:11

Rm 4:19-21 Gn 15:5 Gn 17:1,17 Heb 11:11 Mk 9:23 Heb 11:1f Jr 32:17 Lk 1:37

Rm 4:20 –21 - i– Lit. ‘Though he considered his own body dead (and that Sarah’s womb was dead) it was with unshaken faith’.Text. Rec. and Vulg. ‘His faith was not shaken, nor did he give a thought to his own body that was dead already’. j –Faith is all-powerful, Mk 9:23. It shares in the divine omnipotence itself, cf 2 Co 12:9-10.

12 Because of this there came from one man, and one who was already as good as deadhimself, more descendants that could be counted as many as the stars of heaven or the grains of sand on the seashore.

Your father Abraham rejoiced to think that he would see my Day;q he saw it and was glad.r

Jn 8:56 Jn 5:39+ Gn 17:7+ Mt 13:17f Lk 17:22

13 All these died in faith, before receiving any of the things that had been promised, but they saw them in the far distance and welcomed them, recognizing them that they were only strangers and nomads on earth.

Jn 8:56 – q– I.e. Christ’s coming. Another example of an expression reserved for God in the OT (the ‘day of Yahweh’, cf. Am 5:18+) but adopted for himself by Christ. r– Abraham saw Christ’s ‘day’ (as Isaiah ‘saw his

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glory’, Jn 12:41), but ‘from a distance’, cf. Heb 11:13; Nb 24:17, because he saw it in the birth of the promised Isaac (at which Abraham ‘laughed’, Gn 17:17+) which was an event prophetic of Christ. Jesus claims to be the ultimate fulfillment of this promise made to Abraham; he is Isaac according to the spirit.

“I am a stranger and a settler among you’ he said.‘Let me own a burial-plot among you, so that I may take my dead wife and bury her.” Yahweh, hear my prayer, listen to my cry for help, do not stay deaf to my crying. I am your guest, and only for a time, a nomad like all my ancestors. Exile though I am on earth, do not hide your commandments from me.

Gn 23:4 Gn 33:19 2 S 24:18f Heb 11:9, 13

Ps 39:12 Ps 119:19 Ex 12:48+ Lv 25:23 ↗1 P 2:11

Ps 119:19

Ps 39:12

14 People who use such terms about themselves make it quite plain that they are in search of their homeland

15 They can hardly have meant country they came from, since they had the opportunity to go back to it

For there is no eternal city for us in this life but we look for one in the life to come.

That is why all you who are holy brothers, and have had the same heavenly call should turn your mind to Jesus, the apostle and high priesta of our religion.

For us, our homeland is in heaven, and

Heb 13:14 Heb 11:19,14-16,26 1 Co 7:29-31 Ph 3:20

Heb3:1 Heb 2:17; 7:26; 8:1; 10:21; 11:16; 12:22 Ep 1:18 Ph 3:14

Ph 3:20

16 but in fact they were longing for a better homeland, their heavenly homeland. That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, since he has founded the city for them

Heb 3:1 - a – Christ is both apostle, i.e. someone ‘sent’ by God to the human race, cf. Jn 3:17,34; 5:36; 9:7; Rm 1:1+; 8:3; Ga 4:4; and high priest representing the human race before God, cf. 2:17; 4:14; 5:5,10; 6:20; 7:26; 8:1; 9:11; 10:21.

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from heaven comes the savior we are waiting for, the Lord Jesus Christ. I saw the holy city, and the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of the heaven, as beautiful as a bride all dressed for her husbandd

Heb 11:13-16

Rv 21:2 Rm 8:19-23 Rv 19:7-8

Rv 21:2 - d - The new and joyful wedding of Jerusalem and her God has taken place, cf. Is 65:18; 61:10; 62:4-6; the Exodus ideal has at last been achieved, cf. Ho 2:16+.

The sacrifice of Isaaca It happened some time later that God put Abraham to the test. ‘Abraham, Abraham’ he called. ‘Here I am’ he replied (v. 1)‘Take your son’ God said ‘your only child Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah.b There you shall offer him as a burnt offering, on a mountain I will point out to you (v.2).’ Rising early next morning Abraham saddled his ass, and took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac.He chopped wood for the burnt offering and started his journey to the place God pointed out to him (v. 3).On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in thedistance(v.4)Then Abraham said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey.The boy and I will go over there;we will worship and come back to you” (v. 5).Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering, loaded it on Isaac, and carried in his own hands the fire and the knife. Then the two of them set out together (v. 6).Isaac spoke to his father Abraham. ‘Father’ he said. “Yes, my son’, he replied. ‘Look’ he said, “here

Gn 22:1-14 Ex 13:11 ↗Ws 10:5 ↗Si 44:20 ↗Heb 11:17f ↗Jm 2:21-22 Gen 31:11; 46:2 Ex 3:4 1 S 3:4f 2 Ch 3:1 Ac 9:10 Jn 19:17

17 It was by faith that Abraham, when put to the test, offered Isaac. He offered to sacrifice his only son even though the promises had been made to him

Gn. 22:1-2, 9a-13, 15-18 - a - The narrative is commonly credited to the ‘Elohistic’ stream of tradition but it includes ‘Yahwistic’ elements; vv. 11:14,15,18 and the name Moriah in v. 2. It is the basis of the ritual prescription for the redemption of the first-born of Israel: like all ‘first fruits’ these belong to God; they are not, however, to be sacrificed but bought back, ‘redeemed’. Ex. 13:11. Lying behind the story, therefore, is the condemnation of child-sacrifice, See Lv. 18:21, so often denounced by the prophets. In this incident, Abraham’s faith reaches its climax - the story’s second lesson, more profound than the first. In the sacrifice of Isaac, the Fathers saw the prefiguring of the Passion of Jesus, the only-begotten Son. b - 2 Ch. 3:1 identifies Moriah with the hill on which the Jerusalem temple was later built. Subsequent tradition accepted the identification. c–Translated according to the Greek. The text at the end of the verse is uncertain. Hebr. has ‘On the mountain of Yahweh he appears’.

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are the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” (v. 7) Abraham answered, ‘My son, God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering.” Then the two of them walked on together (v.8). When they arrived at the place God has pointed out to him, Abraham built an altar there, and arranged the wood. Then he bound his son Isaac and put him on the altar on top of the wood (v.9).Abraham stretched out his hand and seized the knife to kill his son (v. 10).But the angel of Yahweh called to him from heaven. ‘Abraham, Abraham’ he said. ‘I am here’ he replied (v. 11). ‘Do not raise your hand against the boy’ the angel said. ‘Do not harm him, for now I know you fear God. You have not refused me your son (v. 12).’Then looking up. Abraham saw a ram caught by its horn in a bush. Abraham took the ram and offered it as a burnt offering in place of his son (v. 13).Abraham called this place Yahweh-yireh (God provides), and hence the saying today, “On the mountain Yahweh providesc (v. 14). He observed the Law of the Most High,

and entered into a covenant with him

(v. 20). He confirmed the covenant in his

own flesh, and proved himself faithful

Jn 3:16 Rm 8:32 Heb 11:17 1 Jn 4:6

Si 44:20-21 Gn 17:10+; 22:1-19 1 M 2:52 Heb 11:17

Si 44:21- p- On the faith of Abraham, cf. Gn 12:1+; 15:6+; 22:1; Ga 3:6-14; Rm 4:1-25.

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under ordeal (v. 21).p

You surely know that Abraham our Father was justified by his deed, because he offered his sons Isaac on the altar? There you see it: faith and deeds are working together; his faith became perfect by what he did.j

Jm 2:21-22

Rm 4:1+ Gn 22:9 Heb 11:17

Jm. 2:22 - j - Unlike most Jews, James does not consider Abraham’s faith (trust in God) as constituting a ‘good deed’ in itself: however closely he relates the two things, James makes a clear distinction between having faith and doing something as a result of that faith.

But God said to him: Do not distress yourselfon account of the boy and your slave girl. Grant Sarahall she asks of you, for it is through Isaac that your name will be carried on.

Gn 21:12 ↗Rm 9:7 ↗Heb 11:18

18 And he had been told: it is through Isaac your name will be carried on.

As scripture says, “I have made you theancestorof many nations-Abraham is our father in the eyes of God, in whom he put his faith, and who brings the dead to life and calls into being what does not exist (v. 17) Though it seemed Abraham’s hope could not be fulfilled, hehoped and believed, and throughdoing so he did become the father of many nations exactly as he had been promised:Your descendants will be as many as the stars (v. 18). Even the thought that his body was past fatherhood- he was about a hundred years old- and Sarah too old to become a mother, did not shake his belief (v. 19)i. Since God has promise it, Abraham either refused to deny it or even to doubt it but drew strength from faithj and gave glory to God (v. 20), convinced that God had power to do what he had

Rm 4:17-21 Gn 17:5 Dt 17:19+ Is 48:13 2 Co 1:9 Heb 11:19 Rv 4:11 Gn 15:5 Gn 17:1,17 Heb 11:11 Mk 9:23 Heb 11:1f Jr 32:17 Lk 1:37

19 He was confident that God had the power even to raise the dead; and so, figuratively speaking,e he was given back Isaac from the dead.

Heb 11:19 – e – Lit ‘by a parable’. The saving of Isaac from death prefigures the resurrection of all humans and, according to traditional exegesis, the death and resurrection of Christ. Rm 4:20 –21 - i – Lit. ‘Though he considered his own body dead (and that Sarah’s womb was dead) it was with unshaken faith’.Text. Rec. and Vulg. ‘His faith was not shaken, nor did he give a thought to his own body that was dead already’. j –Faith is all-powerful, Mk 9:23. It shares in the divine omnipotence itself, cf 2 Co 12:9-10. 1 Co. 10:6+ - e – Lit. ‘types’ (tupoi). The purpose in the events intended by God, was to prefigure in the

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promised (v. 21). These things all happened as warning e

for us, not to have the wicked lusts for forbidden things that they had.

1 Co 10:6 Nb 11:4,34 Rm 4:23 Heb 9:9,24

history of Israel, the spiritual realities of the messianic age (which are known as ‘anti-types’, 1 P. 3:21, but cf. Heb. 9:24). These ‘typological’ (or less accurately, ‘allegorical’, Ga.4:24) meanings in the OT narrative though.

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Homily for the 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Cycle C) Based on Lk 12:32-48 (Gospel), Ws 18:6-9 (First Reading) and Heb 11:1-2, 8-19 (Second Reading)


LITTLE FLOCK

“There is no need to be afraid, little flock” (Lk. 12:32)

The Gospel for this Sunday is from Lk 12:32-48. Verse 32 says: There is no need to be afraid, little flock, for it has pleased your Father to give you the kingdom. Parallel texts are:

1. Jn 10 that says: The Good Shepherd. I tell you most solemnly, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold through the gate, but gets in some other way is a thief and a brigand (v. 1). The one who enters through the gate is the shepherd of the flock (v.2); The gatekeeper lets him in, the sheep hear his voice, one by onea he calls his own sheep and leads them out (v. 3). When he has brought out his flock, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow because they know his voice (v. 4). They never follow a stranger but run away from him: they do not recognize the voice of strangers (v.5). Jesus told themb this parable but they failed to understand what he meant by telling it to them (v. 6). So Jesus spoke to them again: I tell you solemnly, I am the gate of the sheepfoldc (v. 7) All others who had comed are thieves and brigands; but the sheep took no notice of them (v. 8). I am the gate. Anyone who enters through me will be safe: he will go freely in and out and be sure of finding pasture (v. 9). A thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came so that they may have lifee and have it to the full (v. 10)I am the good shepherd:f the good shepherd is one who lays down his life for his sheep (v. 11). The hired man, since he is not the shepherd and the sheep do not belong to him, abandons the sheep and runs away as soon as he sees a wolf coming, and then the wolf attacks and scatters the sheep (v. 12); this is because he is only a hired man and has no concern for the sheep (v.13). I am the good shepherd; I know my own and my own know me,g(v. 14) just as the Father know me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for my sheep (v. 15). And there are other sheep I have that are not of this fold, and these I have to lead as well.h They too will listen to my voice, and there will only be one flock,i and one shepherd (v.16)The Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again (v. 17). No one takes it from me; I lay it down of my own free will,j and as it is in my power to lay it down, so it is in my power to take it up again; and this is the command I have been given by my Father (v. 18). These words caused disagreementk among the Jews (v. 19).Many said, ‘He is possessed, he is raving; why bother to listen to him? (v. 20)”Others said, “These are not the words of a man possessed by a devil; could a devil open the eyes of the blind? (v. 21)” Feast of the Dedication. It was the time when the feast of the Dedication was being celebrated in Jerusalem. It was winter (v. 22), and Jesus was in the Temple walking up and down in the Portico of Solomon (v. 23).The Jews gathered round him and said, “How much longer are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly”l (v. 24). Jesus replied, “I have told you,m but you do not believe me. The works I do in my Father’s name are my witness; (v.25).But you do not believe, because you are no sheep of mine.n (v. 26). The sheep that belongs to me listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me (v. 27). I give them eternal life; they will never be lost and no one will ever steal them from me (v. 28) The Father who gave them to me is greater than anyone,o and no one can stealp them from the Father (v. 29) The Father and I are oneq (v. 30).The Jews again pitched stones to stone him (v. 31),so Jesus said to them, “I have done many good works from my Father; for which of these are you stoning me? (v. 32)”The Jews answered him, “We are not stoning you for doing a good work but for blasphemy; you are a man and you claim to be God (v. 33).Jesus answered: “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, “You are gods”’?r (v. 34). So the Law uses the word gods to whom the word of God was addressed, and scripture cannot be rejected (v. 35).Yet you say to someone the Father has consecrated and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming”, because he says, “I am the son of God” (v. 36). If I am

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not doing my Father’s work, there is no need to believe me (v. 37); but if I am doing it, then even if you refuse to believe in me, at least believe in the work I do; then you will know for sure that the Father is in me and I am in the Father (v. 38). They wanteds to arrest him then, but he eluded them (v. 39). He went back again to the far side of the Jordan to stay in the district where John had once been baptizing (v. 40) Many people who came to him there said, ‘John gave no signs, but all he said about this man was true’ (v. 41); and many of them believed in him (v. 42). Footnote a says “Or possibly ‘each by its name’’; Footnote b says “I.e. to the Pharisees, willfully blind, 9:40. They fail to realize that the parable refers to them’; Footnote c says “The gate that gives access to the sheep. Only those who ‘go in’ by Jesus have authority to guide the flock, 21:15-17”; Footnote d – says “Add, ‘before me’. The reference is probably to the Pharisees, cf. Mt 23:1-36; Lk 11:39-52 and Mt 9:36; Mk 6:34”; Footnote e says “Life eternal. Jesus gives it, 3:16,36; 5:40; 6:33,35,48,51; 14:6; 20:31, with abounding generosity. Cf. Rv 7:17; Mk 25:29; Lk 6:38’; Footnote f says “God, himself the shepherd of his people, was to choose a shepherd for them in the messianic age, cf. Ezk 34:1+. Christ’s assertion that he is the good shepherd is a claim to messiaship”; Footnote g says “In biblical language, cf. Ho. 2:22, ‘knowledge’ is not merely the conclusion of an intellectual process, but the fruit of an ‘experience’, a personal contact (cf. John 10:14-15 and 14:20; 17:21-22; cf. 14:17, 17:3; 2 Jn 1-2); when it matures, it is love, cf. Ho. 6:6 and 1 Jn 1:3+”; Footnote h says “Not to take them into the Jewish fold but to gather them into the flock that Jesus ‘leads’ to eternal life”; Footnote I says “Var. ‘one fold’”; Footnote j says “Jesus has life in himself, 3:35+, and no one can rob him of it, 7:30,44; 8:20; 10:39; he surrenders it of his own will, 10:18; 14:30; 19:11; hence his perfect control and majestic calm in the face of death, 12:27; 13:1-3; 17:19; 18:4-6; 19:28”; Footnote k says “Add. ‘again’”; Footnote l says “Not, as hitherto, in the enigmatic language of parable, cf. v. 6; 16:25,29. More urgently than before, 2:18; 5:16; 6:30; 8:25, the Jews press Jesus to say if he is the Messiah. In the Synoptics, the question is put by the high priest before the Passion, Mt 26:63p; Footnote m says “Christ’s previous statements had made it sufficiently clear that he spoke as God’s envoy, cf. 2:19; 5:17f,39; 6:32f; 8:24,28f,56f; 9:37”; Footnote m says “Christ’s previous statements had made it sufficiently clear that he spoke as God’s envoy, cf. 2:19; 5:17f,39; 6:32f; 8:24,28f,56f; 9:37; Footnote n says “Faith in Jesus implies an inner sympathy with him: man must be ‘from above’’ 8:23, ‘of God’, 8:47. ‘of the truth’, 18:37, of his flock, 10:14. Faith presupposes a mind open to truth, 3:17-21; Cf. Ac 13:48+; Rm 8:29f”; Footnote o says “Var. ‘As for my Father, that which he has given me is greater than all.’”; Footnote p says “Var. ‘steal them.’; Footnote q says “The Son’s power is not other than the Father’s The context shows that this is the primary meaning, but the statement is deliberately undefined and hints at a more comprehensive and a profounder unity. The Jews do not miss the implication; they sense a claim to godhead, v. 33. Cf. 1;1; 8:24,29; 10:38; 14:9-10; 17:11,21 and 2:11+; Footnote r says “The words were addressed to magistrates whose function made them, in a sense, ‘gods’ because ‘judgment is God’s, Dt 1:17; 19:17; Ex 21:6; Ps 58. Christ’s argument is a rabbinic a fortiori, the conclusion being that blasphemy is a surprising charge to bring when it is God’s consecrated envoy who calls himself Son of God. On this title, ‘Son of God’, v. 36, cf. 5:25; 11:4,27; 20:17,31. Christ’s fate is henceforth to turn, cf. 19:7. See Mt 4:3; and Footnote s says “Add. ‘again’”

2. Jn 21:15-17 - After the meal Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me more than these others do?’ He answered, “Yes Lord, you know that I love you.’ Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs (v.15).” A second time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” He replied, ‘Yes, Lord, you know I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Look after my sheep (v. 16).’ Then he said to him a third time, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love me?’ Peter was upset that he asked him the third time, ‘Do you love me?’ and said, “Lord, you know everything; you know I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Feed my sheep (v.17)

Verse 33 and 34 has a title “On almsgivingd”. Footnote d says “That riches are a danger and should be given away in alms is characteristic teaching of Lk: cf. 3:11; 6:30; 7:5; 11:41; 12:33-34; 14:14; 16:9; 18:22; 19:8; Ac 9:36; Ac 10:2,4,31”.

Parallel texts are: 1. Lk 3:11 - He answered, “If anyone has two tunics he must share with the man who has none, and the one with something to eat must do the same.”

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2. Lk 6:30 - Give to everyone who asks you, and do not ask for your property back from the man who robs you. Treat others as you would like them to treat you. 3. Lk 7:5…’because he is friendly towards our people;b in fact he is the one who built the synagogue.’ Footnote b says “Evidently a pagan in sympathy with Judaism, like

Cornelius, Ac 10:1-2+”. 4. Lk 11:41 - Instead, give alms from what you havek, and then indeed everything will be clean for you. Footnote k says “Interpretation difficult. Others translate ‘what is

within’.

Verses 33 and 34 say: Sell you possessions and give alms. Get yourselves purses that do not wear out, treasure that will not fail you, in heaven where no thief can reach it and no moth destroy it. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Parallel texts for verse 33 are: 1. Pr 13:7 - There are some who, on nothing, pretend to be rich; some, with great wealth, pretend to be poor. 2. Ws 7:14 - For she is an inexhaustible treasure to men; and those who acquire it God’s friendship, commended as they are to him by the benefits of her teaching. 3. Mt 6:20-21 - But store up treasures for yourselves in heaven, where neither moth nor woodworms destroy them and thieves cannot break in and steal (v.20). For where

your treasure is, there will your heart be also (v. 21).

Verses 35 to 48 has a title “On being ready for the Master’s return”. Verse 35 says: ‘See that you are dressed for action and have your lamps lit.

Parallel texts are:

1. Si 5:7 - Do not delay your return to the LORD, do not put it off day after day; for suddenly his wrath will blaze out, and at the time of vengeance, you will be utterly destroyed.

2. 1 P 1:13 - Free your minds, then, of encumbrances, control them, and put your trust in nothing but the grace that will be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. 3. Mt 25:1-3 - Then the kingdom of heaven will be like this: Ten bridesmaids took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom (v. 1). Five of them were foolish and five

were sensible (v.2): the foolish ones did take their lamps, but brought no oil… (v. 3)

Verse 36 and 37 says: Be like men waiting for their master to return from the wedding feast, ready to open the door as soon as he comes and knocks. Happy those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. I tell you solemnly, he will put on an apron, sit them down at table and wait on them. Parallel texts are:

1. Lk 22:27 - For who is greater: the one at table or the one who serves? The one at table, surely? Yet here I am among you as the one who serves. 2. Jn 13:4-5…and he got up from table, remove his outer garment and, and taking a towel, wrapped it round his waist (v.4); he then poured water into a basin and began

to wash the disciples’ feetf and to wipe them with the towel he was wearing (v. 5). Footnote f says “The dress and duty are those of a slave, cf1 S 25:41.” Verse 38 says: It may be in the second watch he comes, or in the third, but happy those servants if he finds them ready.

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Parallel text is Mk 13:35 that says: So stay awake, because you do not know when the master of the house is coming, evening, midnight, cockcrow, dawn. Verses 39, 40 and 41 says: You may be quite sure of this, that if the householder had known at what hour the burglar would come, he would not have let anyone break though the wall of his house. You too must stand ready, because the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.’ Peter said, Lord, do you mean this parable for us, or for everyone? Parallel text is Mt 24:43-44 that says: You may be quite sure of this that if the householder had known at what time of night the burglar would come, he would have stayed awake and would not have allowed anyone to break through the wall of his house (v.43). Therefore, you too must stand ready because the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

Verses 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, and 47 say: The Lord replied, ‘What sort of steward,e then, is faithful and wise enough for the master to place him over his household to give them their allowance of food at the proper time? Happy that servant if his master’s arrival finds him at his employment. I tell you truly, he will place him over everything he owns. But as for the servant who says to himself, “My master is taking his time coming”, and sets about beating the menservants and the maids, and eating and drinking and getting drunk, His master will come on a day he does not expect and at an hour he does not know. The master will cut him off and send him to the same fate as the unfaithful. ‘The servant who knows what his master wants, but has not even started to carry out those wishes, will receive very many strokes of the lash. Footnote e says “A steward with authority over other servants; Jesus, therefore, is peaking of the apostles (the ‘us’ of Peter’s question).”

Parallel text of verse 42 are: 1. Mt 24:45-51 - Parable of the conscientious stewardw What sort of servant, then, is faithful and wise enough for the master to place him over his household to give them

their food at the proper time?(v. 45) Happy that servant if his master’s arrival finds at his employment (v.46). I tell you solemnly, he will place him over everything he owns (v.47). But as for the dishonest servant who says to himself, ‘My master is taking his time’ (v. 48), and begins about beating his fellow servants and eating and drinking with drunkards (v. 49), his master will come on an day he does not expectand at an hour he does not know (v. 50). The master will cut him offx and send him to the same fate as the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth. Footnote w says “After the discourse foretelling the destruction of Jerusalem and the visible coming of the messianic reign in the Church, Matthew adds three parables dealing with the ultimate fate of individuals. The first presents one of Christ’s servants who, like the apostles, is given a task to perform in the Church; he is judged on the way he performs it”; and Footnote x says “A word of uncertain meaning: probably to be taken metaphorically: ‘he will cut him off’, a sort of ‘excommunication’, cf. 18:17.”

2. 1 Co 4:1 - People must think of us as Christ‘s servants, stewards entrusted with the mysteries of God.

Verse 48 says: The one who did not know, but deserves to be beaten for what he has done, will receive fewer strokes. When a man has had a great deal given him, a great deal

will be demanded of him; when a man has had a great deal given him on trust, even more will be expected of him.

Parallel text is Mt 10:15 that says: I tell you solemnly, on the day of Judgment it will be not go as hard with the land of Sodom and Gomorrah as with that town.

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The First Reading is taken from Ws 18:6-9. Verse 6, 7, 8 and 9 say: That night had been foretold to our ancestors,e so that, once they saw what kind of oaths they had put their trust in, they would joyfully take courage. This was the expectation of your people, the saving of the virtuous and the ruin of their enemies; For the same act with which you took vengeance on our foes you made us glorious by calling us to you.f The devout children of worthy men offered sacrificeg in secret and this divineh pact they struck with one accord: that the saints would share the same blessings and dangers alike; and forthwith they had begun to chant the hymns of the fathers.i Footnote e – Either the Israelites at the time of the Exodus, Ex 11:4-7, or more probably the patriarchs to whom God had promised that he would free their descendants from slavery in Egypt, Gn 15:13-14; 46:3-4; Footnote f says “The destruction of the firstborn of Egypt, the celebration of the Passover, the Exodus itself, identified Israel once and for all as the people of God, cf. Dt 7:6+.; Footnote g says “The Passover is called a sacrifice; Ex 12:27; Nb 9:7; Dt 16:5. This sacrifice is called ‘secret’ since it is celebrated inside the house, Ex. 12:46; Footnote h says ‘divine’; var. ‘holy’; and Footnote I says “The author represents the first Passover in terms of later Passovers at which the Hallel was chanted, Ps 113-118.”

The Second Reading is taken from Heb 11:1-2, 8-19, under the title “Exemplary faith of our ancestors.” Parallel text is Sir 14 that says: Happy the man who has not sinneda in speech, and need not feel remorse for sins (v. 1).Happy the man whose own soul does not accuse him, and who has never given up hope (v. 2). Wealth is not the right thing for the niggardly man, and what use are possessions to a covetous one? (v. 3) A man who hoards by stinting himself is hoarding for others, and others will live sumptuously on his riches (v. 4). If a man is mean to himself, to whom will h be good? He does not even enjoy what is his own (v.5). No one is meaner than the man who is mean to himself, and this is how his wickedness pays him back (v. 6).If he does good at all, he does it without intending to, and in the end he himself reveal himself reveals his wickedness (v. 7). Evil is the man who has an grudging eye, averting his face,b and careless of others’ lives (v. 8). The eye of the grasping man is not content with his portion, greedc shrivels up his soul(v. 9). The miser is grudging of bread, there is famine at his table (v. 10). My son, treat yourself as well as you can afford, and bring worthy offerings to the Lord (v. 11). Remember that death will not delay, and that the covenant of Sheole has not been revealed to your (v. 12). Be kind to your friends before you die, treat him as generously as you can afford (v. 13). Do not refuse yourself the good things of today, do not let your share of what is awfully desired pass you by (v.14). Will you not leave your fortune to another, and the fruit of your labor to be divided by lot? (v. 15). The give and receive, and take your ease, for in Sheol you cannot look for pleasure (v. 16). Every living thing grows old like a garment, an age-old law is “Death must be’ (v. 17). Like foliage growing on a bushy tree (v. 18), some leaves falling, other growing, so are the generations of flesh and blood: one dies and another is born (v.19). Every achievement rots away and perishes, and with it goes the author.f Happy the man who meditates on wisdom, and reason with good sense (v. 20), who studies her ways in his heart, And ponders her secretsg (v. 21). He pursues her like a hunter, and lies in wait by her path (v. 22); who peep in at her windows, and listens at her doors (v. 23); who lodges close toher house, and fixes his pegs next in her wallsh (v. 24); he pitches his tent at her side, and lodges in an excellent lodging (v. 25); he sets his children in her shade,I and camps beneath her branches (v. 26); he is sheltered by her from the heat and in her gloryj he makes his home (v. 27).

Verses 1 and 2 say: Only faith can guarantee the blessings that we hope for, or prove the existence of the realities that at present remain unseen.a It was for faith that our ancestors were commended. Footnote a says “Var. ‘Faith is the assurance of things hoped for (heaven) and the conviction of things unwanted (hell)’. The Jewish christians to whom he is writing have been discouraged by persecution, so the author emphasizes that it is only what is invisible that concerns hope. This verse was adopted as a theological definition of faith, i.e., the anticipated and assured possession of heavenly realities, cf. 6:5, Rm. 5:2, Ep. 1:13f. The examples taken from the lives of OT saints are meant to illustrate how faith is the source of patience and strength.”

Parallel texts are:

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1. Rm 1:16 - For I am not ashamed of the Good News; it is the power of God saving all who faith j - Jew first,k but Greek as well. Footnote j says “Faith, which is the response of a human being to God as truth and goodness and so the one source of salvation, relies on the truth of God’s promises and on God’s faithfulness to them (Rm 3:3f; 1 Th 5:24; 2 Tm 2;13; Heb 10:23; 11:11) and on his power to implement them (Rm 4:17-21; Heb 11:19). After the long O.T. period of preparation (Heb 11) God has spoken through his Son (Heb 1:1). We must believe the Son (cf. Mt 8:10+; Jn 3:11+) and the kerygma or proclamation (Rm 10:8-17; 1 Co 1:21; 15:11, 14; cf. Ac 2:22+) of the Good News (Rm 1:16; 1 Co 15:1-2; Phl: 27; Ep 1:13) made by the apostles (Rm 1:5; 1 Co 3:5; cf. Jn 17:20). The kerygma proclaims that God raised Jesus from the dead, made him Kyrios (Rm 4:24f; 10:9; Ac 17:31; 1 P 1:21; cf. 1 Co 15:14, 17), and thorough him offers life to all who believe in him (Rm 6:8-11; 2 Co 4:13f; Ep 1:19f; Col 2;12; 1 Th 4:14). Faith in the name, or person, of Jesus (Rm 3:26; 10:13; cf. Jn 1:12; Ac 3:16; 1 Jn3;23) who is the Messiah (Ga 2:16; cf. Ac 24;24; 1 jn 5:1), the Lord (Rm 10:9; 1 Co 12:3; Ph 2:11; cf. Ac 16;31) and Son of God (Ga 2:20; cf. jn 20:31; 1 jn 5:5; Ac 8;37; 9:20) is thus the necessary condition of salvation (Rm 10:9-13; 1 Co 1:21; Ga 3:22; cf. Is 7:9+; Ac 4:12; 16:31; Heb 11:6; Jn 3:15-18). Faith is not only intellectual assent, it is to trust and obey (Rm 1:5; 6:17; 10:16; 16:26; cf. Ac 6:7) the life giving truth (2 Th 2:12f). Faith which thus unites a person with Christ (2 Co 13:5; Ga 2:16, 20; Ep 3:17) also confers the Spirit on him (Ga 3:2,5,14;cf. Jn 7:38f; Ac 11:17), the Spirit of the sons of God (Ga 3:26; cf. Jn 1:12). Faith is reliance on God and not on self (Rm 3:27; Ep 2:9) and thus contrasts with the old order of the Law (Rm 7:7+) with its vain search (Rm 10;3; Ph 3:9) for holiness by works (Rm 3;20,28; 9:31f; Ga 2:16; 3:11f): only faith can effect rue holiness, the saving holiness of God himself (Rm 1:17+; 3:21-26), received as a free gift from him (Rm 3:24; 4:16; 5:17; Ep 2:8;cf. Ac 15:11). Faith relates to the promise made to Abraham (Rm 4; Ga 3:6-18) and so makes salvation accessible to everyone, pagans included (Rm 1:5,16; 3:29f; 9:30; 10:11f; 16:26; Ga 3:8). It is coupled with baptism (Rm 6:4+), calls for public profession (Rm 10:10; 1 Tm 6:12), and expresses itself in charity (Ga 5:6;cf. Jm 2:14+). Faith is obscure (2 Co 5:7; Heb 11:1; cf. Jn 20:29), and involves hope as its concomitant (Rm 5:2+). It must be allowed to grow (2 Co 10:15; 1Th 3:10; 2 Th 1:3) amid struggles and sufferings (Ph 1:29; Ep 6:16; 1 Th3:2-8; 2 Th 1:4; Heb 12:2; 1 P 5:9), demanding fortitude (1 Co 16:13; Col 1:23;) and tenacity 2 Tm 4:7;cf. 1:14; 1 Tm 6:20) right up to the vision and possession of God (1 Co 13:12;cf. 1Jn 3:2)”; and Footnote k says “In the actual development of salvation history, the Jews come first; ‘salvation comes from the Jews’ (Jn. 4:22). Cf. Rm. 2:9-10, Mt. 10:5f, 15:24, Mk. 7:27, Ac. 13:5+. But abuse of this privilege could condemn them”.

2. Rm 4:20 - Since God has promise it, Abraham either refused to deny it or even to doubt it but drew strength from faithj and gave glory to God. Footnote j says “Faith is all-powerful, Mk 9:23. It shares in the divine omnipotence itself, cf 2 Co 12:9-10.”

3. Rm 8:24-25 - For we must be content to hope that we shall be savedn - our salvation is not in sight, we should not have to be hoping for it if it were – (v. 24) but, as I say, we must hope to be saved since we are not saved yet, it is something we wait for with patience (v. 25). Footnote n says “Lit ‘It is through hope that we are saved’. The salvation is eschatological, cf. 5:1-11.”

4. 2 Co 4:18 - And so we have no eyes for things that are visible, but only for things that are invisible, and the invisible things are eternal.

Verse 8 say: It was by faith that Abraham obeyed the call to set out for a country that was the inheritance given to him and his descendants, and that he set out without knowing where he was going. Parallel texts are:

1. Gn 12:1-4 that says: The call of Abrahama Yahweh said to Abram: “Leave your country, your family and your father’s house for the land I will show you (v. 1). I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name so famous that it will be used asb a blessing(v.2). ‘I will bless those who bless you; I will curse those who slight you. All the tribes of the earth shall bless themselves by you’ (v. 3)c So Abram went as Yahweh told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five

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years old when he left Haran (v. 4). Footnote a says “Ch. 12-13 are a Yahwistic narrative with some ‘Priestly’ or editorial EDITIONS. As a result of God’s call and promise of posterity Abraham cuts off all earthly ties and with his childless wife, 11:30, sets out for an unknown land. It is Abraham’s first act of faith; it will be renewed when the promise is repeated, 15:5-6+, and put to the test when God asks for the surrender of Isaac who was the fruit of that promise, ch. 22+. To Abraham’s unquestioning act of faith the chosen people owes its existence and destiny, Heb 11:8-19. Not only Abraham’s physical descendants but all who, in virtue of this same faith, become his sons will have their share in that destiny as Paul shows, Rm 4; Ga 3:7; Footnote b says ‘that it will be used as’ corr.; ‘and may you be’ Hebr; and Footnote c says “The formula is repeated in 18:18; 22:18; 26:4; 28:14. Its precise meaning is: ‘the nations shall say to each other: May you be blessed as Abraham was’ (cf. v. 2 and 48:20; Jr 29:22); but Si 44:21, the LXX translation and the NT take it to mean ‘In you all the nations shall be blessed.’”

2. Rm 1:5 - Through him we received grace and our apostolic mission to preach the obedience of faithe to all pagan nations in honor of his name. Footnote e says “Subjective genitive: the obedience implicit in the virtue of faith. Cf. Ac. 6:7, Rm. 6:16-17, 10:16, 15:18, 16:19,26, 2 Co. 10:5-6, 2 Th. 1:8, 1 P. 1:22, Heb. 5:9, 11:8.”

Verse 9 says: By faith he arrived, as a foreigner, in the Promised Land, and lived there as if in a strange country, with Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him on the same promise. Parallel texts are:

1. Gn 23:4 - “I am a stranger and a settler among you’ he said. ‘Let me own a burial-plot among you, so that I may take my dead wife and bury her.” 2. Gn 26:3 - Remain for the present here in this land, and I will be with you and bless you. For it is to you and your descendants that I will give all these lands, and I will fulfill

the oath I swore to your father Abraham. 3. Gn 35:12 - ‘I will give you this land, the land I gave to Abraham and to Isaac; and I will give this land to your descendants after you.’

Verse 10 says: He lived there in tents while he looked forward to the city founded, designed and built by God. Parallel texts are:

1. Heb 13:14 - For there is no eternal city for us in this life but we look for one in the life to come. 2. Rv 21:10-14, 22-23 - In the spirit he took me to the top of an enormous mountain and showed me Jerusalem, the holy city, coming down from God out of heaven.j

(v. 10) It had all the radiant glory of God and glittered like some precious jewel, diamond, crystal clear (v. 11). The walls of it were of a great height, with twelve gates; at each of the twelve gates there was an angel and over the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel(v. 12).On the east there were three gates on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates (v. 13).The city walls stood on twelve foundation stones, each one of which bore the names of one of the twelve apostles of the Lamb(v. 14).I saw there was no temple in the city,m since the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb were themselves temple(v. 22).and the city did not need the sun or the moon for light, since it was lit by the radiant glory of God, and the Lamb was a lighted torch for it(v. 23). Footnote j –says “This is Jerusalem on earth during the last or messianic days since the pagan nations have not yet been destroyed, 21:24, and have a chance of conversion, 22:2; but it foreshadows the heavenly the heavenly Jerusalem that develops from it. The details of the description are most from Ezk 40-47” and Footnote m says “The destruction of Jerusalem Temple symbolizes the end of the old covenant; there is now a new Temple, the Body of Christ, cf. Jh 2:19-21.”

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Verse 11 says: It was equally by faith that Sarah, in spite of being past the age, was made able to conceive, because she believed that he who made the promise would be faithful to it. Parallel texts are:

1. Heb 10:23 - Let us keep firm in the hope we profess, because the one who made the promise is faithful. 2. Gn 17:19 - But God replied: ‘No, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son whom you are to name Isaac. With him I will establish my Covenant, a Covenant in perpetuity,

to be his God and the God of his descendants after him

3. Gn 21:2 - So Sarah conceived and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the time God had promised. 4. Rm 4:19-21 - Even the thought that his body was past fatherhood- he was about a hundred years old- and Sarah too old to become a mother, did not shake his belief (v.

19)i. Since God has promise it, Abraham either refused to deny it or even to doubt it but drew strength from faith j and gave glory to God (v. 20), convinced that God had power to do what he had promised (v. 21). Footnote isays “Lit. ‘Though he considered his own body dead (and that Sarah’s womb was dead) it was with unshaken faith’.Text. Rec. and Vulg. ‘His faith was not shaken, nor did he give a thought to his own body that was dead already’”; Footnote j says “Faith is all-powerful, Mk 9:23. It shares in the divine omnipotence itself, cf 2 Co 12:9-10.”

Verses 12 and 13 say: Because of this there came from one man, and one who was already as good as dead himself, more descendants that could be counted as many as the stars of heaven or the grains of sand on the seashore. All these died in faith, before receiving any of the things that had been promised, but they saw them in the far distance and welcomed them, recognizing them that they were only strangers and nomads on earth. Parallel text for verse 13 is Jn 8:56 that says: Your father Abraham rejoiced to think that he would see my Day;q he saw it and was glad.r Footnote q says “i.e. Christ’s coming. Another example of an expression reserved for God in the OT (the ‘day of Yahweh’, cf. Am 5:18+) but adopted for himself by Christ”; and Footnote r says “Abraham saw Christ’s ‘day’ (as Isaiah ‘saw his glory’, Jn 12:41), but ‘from a distance’, cf. Heb 11:13; Nb 24:17, because he saw it in the birth of the promised Isaac (at which Abraham ‘laughed’, Gn 17:17+) which was an event prophetic of Christ. Jesus claims to be the ultimate fulfillment of this promise made to Abraham; he is Isaac according to the spirit.” Verse 14 says: People who use such terms about themselves make it quite plain that they are in search of their homeland. Parallel texts are:

1. Gn 23:4 - “I am a stranger and a settler among you’ he said. ‘Let me own a burial-plot among you, so that I may take my dead wife and bury her.” 2. Ps 39:12 - Yahweh, hear my prayer, listen to my cry for help, do not stay deaf to my crying. I am your guest, and only for a time, a nomad like all my ancestors. 3. Ps 119:19 - Exile though I am on earth, do not hide your commandments from me.

Verse 15 and 16 say: They can hardly have meant country they came from, since they had the opportunity to go back to it but in fact they were longing for a better homeland, their heavenly homeland. That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, since he has founded the city for them.

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Parallel texts for verse 16 are: 1. Heb 13:14 - For there is no eternal city for us in this life but we look for one in the life to come. 2. Heb3:1 - That is why all you who are holy brothers, and have had the same heavenly call should turn your mind to Jesus, the apostle and high priesta of our religion.

Footnote a says “Christ is both apostle, i.e. someone ‘sent’ by God to the human race, cf. Jn 3:17,34; 5:36; 9:7; Rm 1:1+; 8:3; Ga 4:4; and high priest representing the human race before God, cf. 2:17; 4:14; 5:5,10; 6:20; 7:26; 8:1; 9:11; 10:21.”

3. Ph 3:20 - For us, our homeland is in heaven, and from heaven comes the savior we are waiting for, the Lord Jesus Christ. 4. Rv 21:2 - I saw the holy city, and the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of the heaven, as beautiful as a bride all dressed for her husbandd Footnote d says

“The new and joyful wedding of Jerusalem and her God has taken place, cf. Is 65:18; 61:10; 62:4-6; the Exodus ideal has at last been achieved, cf. Ho 2:16+.” Verse 17 says: It was by faith that Abraham, when put to the test, offered Isaac. He offered to sacrifice his only son even though the promises had been made to him Parallel texts are:

1. Gn 22:1-14 - The sacrifice of Isaaca It happened some time later that God put Abraham to the test. ‘Abraham, Abraham’ he called. ‘Here I am’ he replied (v. 1)‘Take your son’ God said ‘your only child Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah.b There you shall offer him as a burnt offering, on a mountain I will point out to you (v.2).’ Rising early next morning Abraham saddled his ass, and took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. He chopped wood for the burnt offering and started his journey to the place God pointed out to him (v. 3).On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in thedistance (v.4)Then Abraham said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I will go over there; we will worship and come back to you” (v. 5).Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering, loaded it on Isaac, and carried in his own hands the fire and the knife. Then the two of them set out together (v. 6).Isaac spoke to his father Abraham. ‘Father’ he said. “Yes, my son’, he replied. ‘Look’ he said, “here are the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” (v. 7) Abraham answered, ‘My son, God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering.” Then the two of them walked on together (v.8). When they arrived at the place God has pointed out to him, Abraham built an altar there, and arranged the wood. Then he bound his son Isaac and put him on the altar on top of the wood (v.9).Abraham stretched out his hand and seized the knife to kill his son (v. 10).But the angel of Yahweh called to him from heaven. ‘Abraham, Abraham’ he said. ‘I am here’ he replied (v. 11). ‘Do not raise your hand against the boy’ the angel said. ‘Do not harm him, for now I know you fear God. You have not refused me your son (v. 12).’Then looking up. Abraham saw a ram caught by its horn in a bush. Abraham took the ram and offered it as a burnt offering in place of his son (v. 13).Abraham called this place Yahweh-yireh (God provides), and hence the saying today, “On the mountain Yahweh providesc (v. 14). Footnote a says “The narrative is commonly credited to the ‘Elohistic’ stream of tradition but it includes ‘Yahwistic’ elements; vv. 11:14,15,18 and the name Moriah in v. 2. It is the basis of the ritual prescription for the redemption of the first-born of Israel: like all ‘first fruits’ these belong to God; they are not, however, to be sacrificed but bought back, ‘redeemed’. Ex. 13:11. Lying behind the story, therefore, is the condemnation of child-sacrifice, See Lv. 18:21, so often denounced by the prophets. In this incident, Abraham’s faith reaches its climax - the story’s second lesson, more profound than the first. In the sacrifice of Isaac, the Fathers saw the prefiguring of the Passion of Jesus, the only-begotten Son; Footnoteb says “2 Ch. 3:1 identifies Moriah with the hill on which the Jerusalem temple was later built. Subsequent tradition accepted the identification; and Footnote c says “Translated according to the Greek. The text at the end of the verse is uncertain. Hebr. has ‘On the mountain of Yahweh he appears’.”

2. Si 44:20-21 - He observed the Law of the Most High, and entered into a covenant with him (v. 20). He confirmed the covenant in his own flesh, and proved himself faithful under ordeal (v. 21).p Footnote p says “On the faith of Abraham, cf. Gn 12:1+; 15:6+; 22:1; Ga 3:6-14; Rm 4:1-25.”

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3. Jm 2:21-22 - You surely know that Abraham our Father was justified by his deed, because he offered his sons Isaac on the altar? There you see it: faith and deeds are working together; his faith became perfect by what he did.j Footnote j says “Unlike most Jews, James does not consider Abraham’s faith (trust in God) as constituting a ‘good deed’ in itself: however closely he relates the two things, James makes a clear distinction between having faith and doing something as a result of that faith.”

Verse 18 says: And he had been told: it is through Isaac your name will be carried on. Parallel text is Gn 21:12 that says: But God said to him: Do not distress yourself on account of the boy and your slave girl. Grant Sarah all she asks of you, for it is through Isaac that your name will be carried on. Verse 19 says: He was confident that God had the power even to raise the dead; and so, figuratively speaking,e he was given back Isaac from the dead. Footnote e says “Lit ‘by a parable’. The saving of Isaac from death prefigures the resurrection of all humans and, according to traditional exegesis, the death and resurrection of Christ.” Parallel texts are:

1. Rm 4:17-21 - As scripture says, “I have made you the ancestor of many nations-Abraham is our father in the eyes of God, in whom he put his faith, and who brings the dead to life and calls into being what does not exist (v. 17) Though it seemed Abraham’s hope could not be fulfilled, he hoped and believed, and through doing so he did become the father of many nations exactly as he had been promised: Your descendants will be as many as the stars (v. 18). Even the thought that his body was past fatherhood- he was about a hundred years old- and Sarah too old to become a mother, did not shake his belief (v. 19)i. Since God has promise it, Abraham either refused to deny it or even to doubt it but drew strength from faithj and gave glory to God (v. 20), convinced that God had power to do what he had promised (v. 21). Footnote i says “Lit. ‘Though he considered his own body dead (and that Sarah’s womb was dead) it was with unshaken faith’.Text. Rec. and Vulg. ‘His faith was not shaken, nor did he give a thought to his own body that was dead already’”; and Footnote j says “Faith is all-powerful, Mk 9:23. It shares in the divine omnipotence itself, cf 2 Co 12:9-10.”

2. 1 Co 10:6 - These things all happened as warning e for us, not to have the wicked lusts for forbidden things that they had. Footnote e says “Lit. ‘types’ (tupoi). The purpose in the events intended by God, was to prefigure in the history of Israel, the spiritual realities of the messianic age (which are known as ‘anti-types’, 1 P. 3:21, but cf. Heb. 9:24). These ‘typological’ (or less accurately, ‘allegorical’, Ga.4:24) meanings in the OT narrative though.”

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20th SUNDAY OF YEAR Cycle C FIRE UPON THE EARTH

‘I have come to bring fire to the earth’ (Lk 12:49) Gospel: Lk 12:49-53


49 ‘I have come to bring firef to the earth, and how I wish it were blazing already!

Lk 12:49- f- This fire symbolizes neither the spiritual struggle that the coming of Jesus provokes nor, strictly speaking, the Holy Spirit. It is the fire that is to purify and inflame men’s hearts, the fire lit on the cross. Jn 12:32 has the same thought in different words.

First prophecy of the Passiond “The Son of Man’ he said, is destined to suffer grievously, to be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and to be put to death and to be raised up on the third day. When the hour came he took his place at table, and the apostles with him. ‘You do not know what you are asking’ Jesus said to them. ‘Can you drink the cup I must drink, or be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?”d

Lk 9:22 =Mt 16:21 =Mk 8:31 Lk 9:44; 12:50; 17:25; 18:31; 24:7,26,44

Lk 22:14

Mk 10:38+ Mk 4:13+ Lk 12:50

50 There is a baptism I must still receive, and how great is my distress till it is over!

Lk 9:22 - d - This prophecy is to b followed by several others, 9:44; 12:50; 17:25; 18:31-33. Cf. 24:7,25-27. Lk omits Peter’s protest and his rebuke by Jesus, Mk 8:32f. Mk 10:38 – d – The drink the cup, cf. 14:36, and to be baprized are symbols of the approaching Passion: Jesus is to be ‘immersed’ (Greek: baptizen, ”to dip”, “to tint”, or “to die”) in suffering.

Jesus, the cause of dissensionm Do you suppose that I have come to bring peace on the earth: it is not peace I have come to bring but a sword (v. 34). For I have come to set a man ‘against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law (v. 35). And man’s

=Mt 10:34-36 =Lk 12:51-53 Lk 2:34 Lk 22:36 Mi 7:6

Jesus the cause of dissension Mt 10:34 – m – Christ is a ‘sign that is rejected’, Lk 2:34; his aim is not to provoke dissension, but this becomes inevitable as a result of the strict alternative he offers.

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enemies will be those of his own household (v. 36).

Because I tell you these words of scripture have to be fulfilled in me; ‘He let himself be taken for a criminal. Yes, what scripture says about me is even reaching to fulfillment.’

Lk 22:37 Lk 12:51; 23:32 Is 53:12 Mt 10:34; 27:38

51 ‘Do you suppose that I am here to bring peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division.

Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “You see this child: he is destined for the fall and the rising of many in Israel, destined to be a sign that is rejected-

Lk 2:34 Lk 7:23; 12:51-53 Jr 15:10

52 For from now on a household of five will be divided: three against two and two against three;

For son insults father, daughter defies mother, daughter-in-law defies mother-in-law; a man’s enemies are those of his own household.

Mi 7:6 ↗Lk 12:53 ↗Mt 10:35-36p

53 The father divided against the son, son against father, mother against daughter, daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-n-law, daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.’

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First Reading: Jer 38:4-6, 8-10


4 These leading men accordingly spoke to the king. ‘Let this man be put to death: he is unquestionably disheartening the remaining soldiers in the city, and all the people too, by talking like this. This fellow does not have the welfare of this people at heart so much as its ruin.’

5 He is in your hands as you know,’ King Zedekiah answered ‘for the king is powerless against you.’b

Jer 38:5- b - Lit. ‘with you’ corr.

He has pulled me out of the horrible pit, out of the slough of the marsh, has settled my feet on a rock and steadied my steps.

Ps 40:2 Ps 119:19 Ex 12:48+ Lv 25:23 ↗1 P 2:11

6 So they took Jeremiah and threw him into the well of Prince Malchiah in the Court of the Guard, letting him down with ropes. There was no water in the well, only mud, and into the mud Jeremiah sank.

8 Ebed-melech came to the palace and spoke to the king,

9 ‘My lord king,’ he said ‘these men have a done a wicked thing by treating the prophet Jeremiah like this: they have thrown him into a well where he will die.’c

Jer 38:9- c - Lit. ‘he will die’ corr.; ‘and he has died’ Hebr. The Hebr. Adds ‘of hunger: for there was no more bread in the city’, a gloss suggested by 37:21.

10 At this the king gave Ebed-melech the Cushite the following order: ‘Take threed men with you from here and pull the prophet Jeremiah out of the well before he dies’.

Jer 38:10- d - ‘three’ one MS; ‘thirty’ Hebr.

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Second Reading: Heb 12:1-4


1 With so many witnesses in a great cloud on every side of us, we too, then, should throw off everything that hinders us, especially the sin that clings so easily, and keep running steadily in the race we have started.

You begun your race well;c who made you anxious to obey the truth? As it was his purpose to bring a great many of his sons into glory, it was appropriate that God, for whom everything exists and through whom everything exist, in bringing many children to glory, should perfect, through suffering, the leader who would take them to their salvation.f and the tempter came and said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God,c tell these stones to turn into loaves’ (v. 3). But he replied, “Scripture says: Man does not live by bread alone, but on every word that comes forth from the mouth of God’ (v 4). The devil then took him to the holy city and made him stand on the parapet of the Temple (v. 5). ‘If you are the Son of God’ he said ‘throw yourself down for scripture says: ‘He will put you in his angels’ charge, and ‘ they will support you on their hands in case you hurt your foot against a stone.’(v. 6).

Ga 5:7+ 1 Co 9:24 Ph 2:16

Heb 2:10 Rm 11:36 1 Co 8:6; 12:2 Is 53:4 Heb 5:9+

Mt 4:3-11p Heb 12:2 Dt 8:3 Ps 91:11-12

2 Let us not lose sight of Jesus, who leads us in our faith and brings it to perfection: for the sake of the joy which was still in the future, he endured the cross, disregarding the shamefulness of it, and from now on has taken his place at the right hand of God’s throne.

Ga 5:7 – c – One of Paul’s favorite theme, cf. 2:2; 1 Co 9:24-26; Ph 2:16; 3:12-14; 2 Tm 4:7; Heb 12:1. Heb 2:10 – f – By dying and fulfilling the will of God, Christ becomes the one perfect savior, responsible for the entry of human beings into the glory of God. Mt 4:3 – c –The biblical title ‘Son of God’ does not necessarily mean natural sonship but may imply a sonship which is merely adoptive, i.e., which as a result of God’s deliberate choice sets up a very intimate relationship between God and his creature. In this sense the title is given to angels (Jb. 1:6), to the Chosen People (Ex. 4:22, Ws. 18:13), to individual Israelites (Dt. 14:1, Ho. 2:1, cf. Mt. 5:9,48, etc.), to their leaders (Ps. 82:6). Were therefore it is attributed to the royal Messiah (1 Ch. 17:13, Ps. 2:7, 89:26) it does not necessarily imply that he is more than man; nor need we suppose that it has any deeper significance when used by Satan (Mt. 4:3,6) or by the possessed (Mk. 3:11,

http://www.usccb.org/bible/galatians/5#56005007-2

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Jesus said to him, “Scripture also says: ‘You must not put the Lord your God to the test’ (v. 7). Next, taking him to a very high mountain the devil showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor (v. 8), ‘I will give you all these’ he said ‘if you fall at my feet and worship me’ (v. 9).Then Jesus replied, “Be off, Satan! For scripture says: ‘You must worship the Lord your God, and serve him alone.’ (v. 10). Then the devil left him and angels appeared and looked after him (v. 11) Jesus, who could see they were about to come and take him by force and make him king, escapedb back to the hills by himself. Remember how generous the Lord Jesus was:b he was rich, but he became poor for your sake, to make you rich out of his poverty. His state was divine, e yet he did not cling to his equality with Godf (v. 6) but emptied himselfg to assume the condition of a slave,h and became as men arei; (v. 7)and being as all men are,j he was humbler yet, even to accepting death, death on a cross (v. 8).

Dt 6:16 Mt 16:23 Heb 1:14

Jn 6:15 Jn 1:49; 12:13; 18:36 Heb 12:2 Mk 1:34+

2 Co 8:9

Mt 5:3+; 8:20 Ph 2:6-7

Ph 2:6-8 Jn 1:1f; 17:5 Col 1:15-20 Heb 1:3 2 Co 8:9 Rv 5:12 Mt 20:28 Is 49:40

5:7, Lk. 4:41), still less when used by the centurion (Mk. 15:39, cf. Lk. 23:47). By itself the sentence at baptism (Mt. 3:17) and at the transfiguration (17:5) suggests no more than the divine predilection for the Messiah-servant, and all probability the High priest’s question (26:63) concerns messiahship only. Nevertheless the title ‘Son of God’ can bear a further, more profound meaning of sonship in the full sense of the word. Jesus clearly insinuated this meaning when he spoke of himself as ‘the Son’ (2:37), ranked above the angels (24:36), having God for his ‘Father’ in a way others had not (Jn. 20:17 and cf. ‘my Father’ in Mt. 7:21, etc.), enjoying with the Father an altogether singular relationship of knowledge and love (Mt. 11:27). These assertions, coupled with others that speak of the Messiah’s divine rank (22:42-46), of the heavenly origin of the ‘son of man’ (8:20+), assertions finally confirmed by the triumph of the resurrection, have endowed the expression ‘son of God’ with the strictly divine significance which will later be found, e.g. in Paul (Rm. 9:5+). During the lifetime of Christ, it is true his disciples had no clear conception of his divinity – the texts of Mt. 14:33 and 16:16 which add the title ‘Son of God’ to the more primitive text of Mk reflect, in all probability, a later stage in the faith’s development. But it is equally true that Jesus expressed with his own lips and with as much clarity as his audience could support, his own consciousness of being Son of the Father in the fullest sense. On these historical

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The Messiah: king and priesta Yahweh’s oracle to you, my Lord, ‘Sit at my right handb and I will make your enemies a footstoolc for you. Now raised to the heights by God’s right hand,s he has received from the father the Holy Spirit, who was promised,t and what you see and hear is the outpouring of that Spirit. Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “You see this child: he is destined for the fall and the rising of many in Israel, destined to be a sign that is rejected-

1 P 5:6 Mt 26:39f Rm 5:19 Heb 5:8; 12:2

Ps 110:1

Mt 22:44p Ac 2:34-35+ Heb 8:1 Heb 1:13; 10:12-13 1 P 3:22

Ac 2:33+ Ac 1:4-5 Ezk 36:27

Lk 2:34 Lk 7:23; 12:51-53 Jr 15:10

utterances the faith of the disciples rested, a faith that reached its perfection after the resurrection with the help of the Holy Spirit. Jn 6:15 - b - Var. ‘withdrew’. 2 Co 8:9 - b - Lit. ‘the generosity (or perhaps ‘grace’) of the Lord Jesus’. Ph 2:6-7 - e - Lit. ‘Who subsisting in the form of God’: here ‘form’ means all the attributes that express and reveal the essential ‘nature’ of God; Christ, being God, had all the divine prerogatives by right. f - Lit. ‘did not deem being on an equality with God as something to grasp’ or ‘hold on to’. This refers not to his equality by nature ‘subsisting in the form of God’, and which Christ could not have surrendered, but to his being publicly treated and honored as equal to God which was a thing that Jesus (unlike Adam, Gn 3:5,22, who wanted to be seen to be like God) could and did give up in his human life. g - ‘He emptied himself’; this is not so much a reference to the fact of the incarnation, as to the way it took place. What Jesus freely gave up was not his divine nature, but the glory to which his divine nature entitled him, and which had been his before the incarnation, Jn 17:5, and, which ‘normally’ speaking would have been observable in his human body (cf. the

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transfiguration, Mt 17:1-8). He voluntarily deprived himself of this so that it could be returned to him by the Father, cf. Jn 8:50,54, after his sacrifice, vv.9-11. h - ‘slave’ as opposed to ‘Kyrios’ v. 11, cf. Ga 4:1; Col 3:22f. Christ as man led a life of submission and humble obedience, v. 8. This is probably a reference to the ‘servant’ of Is 52:13-53:12, cf. Is 42:1. i - Not just ‘a human being’ but a human being ‘like others’; sharing all the weaknesses of the human condition apart from sin. j - Lit. ‘And in fashion found as man’. Ps 110:1 - a - The prerogatives of the Messiah, worldwide sovereignty and perpetual priesthood, cf. 2 S 7:1+; Zc 6:12-13, are no more conferred by earthly investiture than were those of the mysterious Melchizedek (Gn 14:18+. V. 1 is accepted in the NT epistles and elsewhere as a prophecy of the ascension of Christ to the right hand of the Father. b- The risen Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father, Rm 8:34, Heb 10:12, 1 P 3:22. c - Cf. Jos 10:24; Dn 7:14. Ac 2:33+ s- Words borrowed from Ps. 118 (v.16 LXX ‘The right hand of the Lord has raised me up’) used in their preaching by the apostles who took it to be messianic: Ac 4:11, 1 P 2:7, Mt 21:9p,42p, 23:39, Lk 13:35, Jn 12:13, Heb 13:6. But it is possible to translate. ‘ Having raised up to the

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right hand of God’ and to se in this an introduction to the quotation (v.34) of Ps. 110); which is another name of Apostolic preaching: Mt. 22:44p,26:64p, Mk 16:19, Ac 7:55,56, Rm 8:34, 1Co. 15:25, Ep. 1:20 Col. 3:1, Heb. 1:3,13, 8:1, 10:12, 12:2, 1 P.3:22. t – According to the prophets, the gif of the Spirit would characterize the messianic era, Ex. 36:27+. Peter explains the miracle his bearers have witnessed as the ‘pouring out’ of this spirit, foretold in Jl 3:1-2 by the risen Christ

3 Think of the way he stood such opposition from sinnersa and then you will not give up for want of courage.

Heb 12:3 – a- Lit. ‘endured contradictions of sinners

against himself’; var. ‘…against themselves’.

Remember all the sufferings that you had to meet after you had received the light,d in earlier days.

Heb 10:32f

4 In the fight against sin, you have not yet had to keep fighting to the point of death.

Heb 10:32 – d – ‘Enlightenment’ or ‘illumination’ in NT as in patristic writers always refers to baptism, 6:4; Ep 5:14 (cf Rm 6:4+).

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Homily for the 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Cycle C)

Based on Lk 12:49-53 (Gospel), Jer 38:4-6, 8-10 (First Reading) and Heb 12:1-4 (Second Reading) From the Series: “Reflections and Teachings of the Desert”

FIRE UPON THE EARTH

‘I have come to bring fire to the earth’ (Lk 12:49)

The Gospel for this 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Cycle C) is taken from Lk 12:49-53. Verse 49 and 50 says: ‘I have come to bring firef to the earth, and how I wish it were

blazing already! There is a baptism I must still receive, and how great is my distress till it is over!” Footnote f says “This fire symbolizes neither the spiritual struggle that the

coming of Jesus provokes nor, strictly speaking, the Holy Spirit. It is the fire that is to purify and inflame men’s hearts, the fire lit on the cross. Jn 12:32 has the same thought in different words.” Parallel texts of verse 50 are:

1. Lk 9:22 - First prophecy of the Passiond “The Son of Man’ he said, is destined to suffer grievously, to be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and to be put to death and to be raised up on the third day. Footnote d says “This prophecy is to b followed by several others, 9:44; 12:50; 17:25; 18:31-33. Cf. 24:7,25-27. Lk omits Peter’s protest and his rebuke by Jesus, Mk 8:32f.”

2. Lk 22:14 - When the hour came he took his place at table, and the apostles with him. 3. Mk 10:38 - ‘You do not know what you are asking’ Jesus said to them. ‘Can you drink the cup I must drink, or be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?”d

Footnote d says “The drink the cup, cf. 14:36, and to be baprized are symbols of the approaching Passion: Jesus is to be ‘immersed’ (Greek: baptizen, ”to dip”, “to tint”, or “to die”) in suffering.”

The title “Jesus the cause of dissension”, of verse 51 and following has a parallel text in Mt 10:34-36 that says: Jesus, the cause of dissensionm Do you suppose that I have come to bring peace on the earth: it is not peace I have come to bring but a sword (v. 34). For I have come to set a man ‘against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law (v. 35). And man’s enemies will be those of his own household (v. 36). Footnote m says “Christ is a ‘sign that is rejected’, Lk 2:34; his aim is not to provoke dissension, but this becomes inevitable as a result of the strict alternative he offers.” Verse 51 says: ‘Do you suppose that I am here to bring peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. Parallel text for verse 51 is Lk 22:37 that says: Because I tell you these words of scripture have to be fulfilled in me; ‘He let himself be taken for a criminal. Yes, what scripture says about me is even reaching to fulfillment.’ Verse 52 says: For from now on a household of five will be divided: three against two and two against three…

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Parallel text for verse 52 is Lk 2:34 that says: Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “You see this child: he is destined for the fall and the rising of many in Israel, destined to be a sign that is rejected. Verse 52 says: The father divided against the son, son against father, mother against daughter, daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-n-law, daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.’ Parallel text for verse 52 is Mi 7:6 that says: For son insults father, daughter defies mother, daughter-in-law defies mother-in-law; a man’s enemies are those of his own household. The First Reading is taken from Jer 38:4-6, 8-10. Verses 4, 5 and 6 say: These leading men accordingly spoke to the king. ‘Let this man be put to death: he is unquestionably disheartening the remaining soldiers in the city, and all the people too, by talking like this. This fellow does not have the welfare of this people at heart so much as its ruin.’ He is in your hands as you know,’ King Zedekiah answered ‘for the king is powerless against you.’b So they took Jeremiah and threw him into the well of Prince Malchiah in the Court of the Guard, letting him down with ropes. There was no water in the well, only mud, and into the mud Jeremiah sank. Footnote b says “Lit. ‘with you’ corr.” Parallel text of verse 6 is Ps 40:2 that says: He has pulled me out of the horrible pit, out of the slough of the marsh, has settled my feet on a rock and steadied my steps. Verses 8, 9 and 10 say: Ebed-melech came to the palace and spoke to the king, ‘My lord king,’ he said ‘these men have a done a wicked thing by treating the prophet Jeremiah like this: they have thrown him into a well where he will die.’c At this the king gave Ebed-melech the Cushite the following order: ‘Take threed men with you from here and pull the prophet Jeremiah out of the well before he dies’. Footnote c says “Lit. ‘he will die’ corr.; ‘and he has died’ Hebr. The Hebr. Adds ‘of hunger: for there was no more bread in the city’, a gloss suggested by 37:21’; and Footnote d says “‘three’ one MS; ‘thirty’ Hebr..” The Second Reading is taken from Heb 12:1-4. Verses 1 and 2 say: With so many witnesses in a great cloud on every side of us, we too, then, should throw off everything that hinders us, especially the sin that clings so easily, and keep running steadily in the race we have started. Let us not lose sight of Jesus, who leads us in our faith and brings it to perfection: for the sake of the joy which was still in the future, he endured the cross, disregarding the shamefulness of it, and from now on has taken his place at the right hand of God’s throne. Parallel text for verse 2 are:

1. Ga 5:7 - You begun your race well;c who made you anxious to obey the truth? Footnote c says “One of Paul’s favorite theme, cf. 2:2; 1 Co 9:24-26; Ph 2:16; 3:12-14; 2 Tm 4:7; Heb 12:1.”

http://www.usccb.org/bible/galatians/5#56005007-2

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2. Heb 2:10 - As it was his purpose to bring a great many of his sons into glory, it was appropriate that God, for whom everything exists and through whom everything exist, in bringing many children to glory, should perfect, through suffering, the leader who would take them to their salvation. f Footnote f says “By dying and fulfilling the will of God, Christ becomes the one perfect savior, responsible for the entry of human beings into the glory of God.”

3. Mt 4:3-11 - and the tempter came and said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God,c tell these stones to turn into loaves’ (v. 3). But he replied, “Scripture says: Man does not live by bread alone, but on every word that comes forth from the mouth of God’ (v 4). The devil then took him to the holy city and made him stand on the parapet of the Temple (v. 5). ‘If you are the Son of God’ he said ‘throw yourself down for scripture says: ‘He will put you in his angels’ charge, and ‘ they will support you on their hands in case you hurt your foot against a stone.’(v. 6). Jesus said to him, “Scripture also says: ‘You must not put the Lord your God to the test’ (v. 7). Next, taking him to a very high mountain the devil showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor (v. 8), ‘I will give you all these’ he said ‘if you fall at my feet and worship me’ (v. 9).Then Jesus replied, “Be off, Satan! For scripture says: ‘You must worship the Lord your God, and serve him alone.’ (v. 10) . Then the devil left him and angels appeared and looked after him (v. 11) Footnote c says “The biblical title ‘Son of God’ does not necessarily mean natural sonship but may imply a sonship which is merely adoptive, i.e., which as a result of God’s deliberate choice sets up a very intimate relationship between God and his creature. In this sense the title is given to angels (Jb. 1:6), to the Chosen People (Ex. 4:22, Ws. 18:13), to individual Israelites (Dt. 14:1, Ho. 2:1, cf. Mt. 5:9,48, etc.), to their leaders (Ps. 82:6). Were therefore it is attributed to the royal Messiah (1 Ch. 17:13, Ps. 2:7, 89:26) it does not necessarily imply that he is more than man; nor need we suppose that it has any deeper significance when used by Satan (Mt. 4:3,6) or by the possessed (Mk. 3:11, 5:7, Lk. 4:41), still less when used by the centurion (Mk. 15:39, cf. Lk. 23:47). By itself the sentence at baptism (Mt. 3:17) and at the transfiguration (17:5) suggests no more than the divine predilection for the Messiah-servant, and all probability the High priest’s question (26:63) concerns messiahship only. Nevertheless the title ‘Son of God’ can bear a further, more profound meaning of sonship in the full sense of the word. Jesus clearly insinuated this meaning when he spoke of himself as ‘the Son’ (2:37), ranked above the angels (24:36), having God for his ‘Father’ in a way others had not (Jn. 20:17 and cf. ‘my Father’ in Mt. 7:21, etc.), enjoying with the Father an altogether singular relationship of knowledge and love (Mt. 11:27). These assertions, coupled with others that speak of the Messiah’s divine rank (22:42-46), of the heavenly origin of the ‘son of man’ (8:20+), assertions finally confirmed by the triumph of the resurrection, have endowed the expression ‘son of God’ with the strictly divine significance which will later be found, e.g. in Paul (Rm. 9:5+). During the lifetime of Christ, it is true his disciples had no clear conception of his divinity – the texts of Mt. 14:33 and 16:16 which add the title ‘Son of God’ to the more primitive text of Mk reflect, in all probability, a later stage in the faith’s development. But it is equally true that Jesus expressed with his own lips and with as much clarity as his audience could support, his own consciousness of being Son of the Father in the fullest sense. On these historical utterances the faith of the disciples rested, a faith that reached its perfection after the resurrection with the help of the Holy Spirit.”

4. Jn 6:15 - Jesus, who could see they were about to come and take him by force and make him king, escapedb back to the hills by himself. Footnote b says “Var. ‘withdrew’.”

5. 2 Co 8:9 - Remember how generous the Lord Jesus was:b he was rich, but he became poor for your sake, to make you rich out of his poverty. Footnote b says “Lit. ‘the generosity (or perhaps ‘grace’) of the Lord Jesus’.

6. Ph 2:6-8 - His state was divine, e yet he did not cling to his equality with Godf (v. 6) but emptied himselfg to assume the condition of a slave,h and became as men arei; (v. 7)and being as all men are,j he was humbler yet, even to accepting death, death on a cross (v. 8). Footnote e - Lit. ‘Who subsisting in the form of God’: here ‘form’ means all the attributes that express and reveal the essential ‘nature’ of God; Christ, being God, had all the divine prerogatives by right. Footnote f says “Lit. ‘did not deem being on an equality with God as something to grasp’ or ‘hold on to’. This refers not to his equality by nature ‘subsisting in the form of God’, and which Christ could not have surrendered, but to his being publicly treated and honored as equal to God which was a thing that Jesus (unlike Adam, Gn 3:5,22, who wanted to be seen to be like God) could and did give up in his human life; Footnote g says ‘He emptied himself’; this is not so much a reference to the fact of the incarnation, as to the way it took place.

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What Jesus freely gave up was not his divine nature, but the glory to which his divine nature entitled him, and which had been his before the incarnation, Jn 17:5, and, which ‘normally’ speaking would have been observable in his human body (cf. the transfiguration, Mt 17:1-8). He voluntarily deprived himself of this so that it could be returned to him by the Father, cf. Jn 8:50,54, after his sacrifice, vv.9-11; Footnote h says ‘slave’ as opposed to ‘Kyrios’ v. 11, cf. Ga 4:1; Col 3:22f. Christ as man led a life of submission and humble obedience, v. 8. This is probably a reference to the ‘servant’ of Is 52:13-53:12, cf. Is 42:1; Footnote i says “Not just ‘a human being’ but a human being ‘like others’; sharing all the weaknesses of the human condition apart from sin”; and Footnote j says “Lit. ‘And in fashion found as man’.”

7. Ps 110:1 - The Messiah: king and priesta Yahweh’s oracle to you, my Lord, ‘Sit at my right handb and I will make your enemies a footstoolc for you. Footnote a says “The prerogatives of the Messiah, worldwide sovereignty and perpetual priesthood, cf. 2 S 7:1+; Zc 6:12-13, are no more conferred by earthly investiture than were those of the mysterious Melchizedek (Gn 14:18+. V. 1 is accepted in the NT epistles and elsewhere as a prophecy of the ascension of Christ to the right hand of the Father; Footnote b says “The risen Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father, Rm 8:34, Heb 10:12, 1 P 3:22”; and Footnote c says “Cf. Jos 10:24; Dn 7:14.”

8. Ac 2:33 - Now raised to the heights by God’s right hand,s he has received from the father the Holy Spirit, who was promised,t and what you see and hear is the outpouring of that Spirit. Footnote s says “Words borrowed from Ps. 118 (v.16 LXX ‘The right hand of the Lord has raised me up’) used in their preaching by the apostles who took it to be messianic: Ac 4:11, 1 P 2:7, Mt 21:9p,42p, 23:39, Lk 13:35, Jn 12:13, Heb 13:6. But it is possible to trans late. ‘ Having raised up to the right hand of God’ and to se in this an introduction to the quotation (v.34) of Ps. 110); which is another name of Apostolic preaching: Mt. 22:44p,26:64p, Mk 16:19, Ac 7:55,56, Rm 8:34, 1Co. 15:25, Ep. 1:20 Col. 3:1, Heb. 1:3,13, 8:1, 10:12, 12:2, 1 P.3:22”; and Footnote t says “According to the prophets, the gif of the Spirit would characterize the messianic era, Ex. 36:27+. Peter explains the miracle his bearers have witnessed as the ‘pouring out’ of this spirit, foretold in Jl 3:1-2 by the risen Christ”.

9. Lk 2:34 - Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “You see this child: he is destined for the fall and the rising of many in Israel, destined to be a sign that is rejected-

Verse 3 and 4 say: Think of the way he stood such opposition from sinnersa and then you will not give up for want of courage. In the fight against sin, you have not yet had to

keep fighting to the point of death. Footnote a

says “Lit. ‘endured contradictions of sinners against himself’; var. ‘…against themselves’”. Parallel text is from Heb 10:32 that says: Remember all the sufferings that you had to meet after you had received the light,d in earlier days. Footnote d says “‘Enlightenment’ or ‘illumination’ in NT as in patristic writers always refers to baptism, 6:4; Ep 5:14 (cf Rm 6:4+).” “Fire upon the earth” that Jesus Christ mentioned I today’s gospel narrative, refers to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, as said by internet sources (viz.): (Paste here all online sources) An article by Pastor Richard P. Bucher, Th. D, "Casting Fire Upon the Earth" from www.orlutheran.com:

“He was talking about the baptism of his death and resurrection. For truly baptism is a death and resurrection. But once Jesus underwent his “baptism,” then he could, and did, cast fire on the earth, that is, gave the Spirit to his church. From that day until this the fire of the Spirit has fallen on the Church, and through it, has set the unbelieving world ablaze; this raging fire has spread, bringing not destruction, but salvation to an uncountable number. But the events of Pentecost happened only once. So how has Jesus continued to cast the Spirit of fire to the earth? Through the Ministry of the Word of God and those two visible words of God, the Baptism and the Lord’s Supper.

http://www.orlutheran.com/

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Where do we get the idea that the Word of God brings with it the fire of the Spirit? In Jeremiah 23:29: “Is not my word like fire, declares the LORD, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?” The Word of God, when it is preached or taught or read brings with it the Holy Spirit of fire. And when this fire comes to people through the Ministry of the Word, it accomplishes three different things. 1. It Ignites a Fire of Cleansing - Fire burns and kills and destroys. But it also cleanses and purifies, as when a forest fire removes what is already dead, or as when steel is purified of its impurities through fire. The same thing happens when the fire of the Spirit comes to sinful people: it cleanses them from sin. 2. It Ignites a Fire of Passion and Zeal - When Isaiah’s guilt was atoned for by means of the burning coal and the spoken Gospel, he immediately was filled with passion and zeal. A Fire of Zeal for the Lord and willingness to serve was ignited in his heart, which he then devoted his entire life to. 3. It Ignites a Fire of Division and Opposition - Yes the Holy Spirit of fire ignites the fire of cleansing of sin and the fire of passion and zeal. But on this occasion, Jesus was thinking especially of a third kind of fire which the Spirit of fire ignites: a fire of division and opposition. In the very next verse of our text, the Lord says, Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. For from now on in one house there will be five divided, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law." Jesus knew that whenever the Holy Spirit of fire came to people through the Ministry of the Word, it would ignite division. Why? What about God’s Word brings about division and opposition? People don’t like to be told that they are wrong. Far worse when they are told that even the good things they are evil in God’s sight apart from Christ. It burns them up. They react to the Spirit of fire working through the Law with anger, opposition, and ultimately division. They want nothing to do with those confront them with their sin. Yet it is not only the Law which accuses which breeds opposition. It is also, perhaps especially the Gospel. What about the sweet Gospel brings opposition, hatred and division? The fact that it is so exclusive; that fact that it says that only through faith Jesus Christ is salvation, forgiveness, and eternal life given. Because this message excludes those who refuse to turn to Jesus, it offends them, angers them, and often opposition and division result.”

An FIRE ON EARTH from http://www.ccel.org:

“If I might use such an incongruous figure, the fire that is to flash and flame through the world emerges from the dark waters of that baptism. Our Lord goes on still further to dwell upon the consequence of His mission and of His sufferings. And that, too, shadows the first triumphant thought of the fire that He was to

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send on earth. For, the baptism being accomplished, and the fire therefore being set at liberty to flame through the world, what follows? Glad reception? Yes, and angry rejection. Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, nay! but rather division.’ The fire, the baptism, and the sword; these three may sum up our Lord’s vision of the purpose, means, and mingled result of His mission.”

An article “Consequences of Christ's Coming (Luke 12:49-59)” by Robert L. (Bob) Deffinbaugh at https://bible.org: “On the basis of these premises, one can only conclude that the “fire” of which Jesus spoke is the same fire about which the prophets, including John the Baptist, spoke—the fire of divine wrath. When Jesus said that He had come to “kindle a fire” He is therefore saying that He has come to bring about the outpouring of God’s wrath on sinful Israel. How can this be? Elsewhere Jesus has clearly stated that He did not come to judge, but to save (cf. John 3:16-17; 8:11)? The answer is that Jesus did come the first time to save men, but for all who reject Him there is no other means of salvation. When He comes again, He will come to judge, especially those who have rejected His salvation. How can our Lord be so zealous for this “fire” to be kindled, as His words indicate? If He is going to bring about the judgment of God upon sinners, and if this is not a work in which He takes pleasure, why is He eager for the “fire” to be kindled? I think the answer is simple—this painful and unpleasant (for both God and men, I believe) outpouring of wrath is a prerequisite of and preliminary to the establishment of the kingdom of God. In order for the kingdom of God to be established, sinners must be punished and sin eliminated. The means by which God has determined to bring about His kingdom (“fire”—the judgment of sinners) is not just painful to sinful men. It is exceedingly painful to God, not only because men will suffer for their sins, but because Jesus Christ, God’s Son will suffer His wrath as a payment for man’s sins. Jesus said that before He cast fire on the earth He had a baptism with which to be baptized. This baptism is clearly the death which He would die on the cross of Calvary. His death on the cross would set in motion a series of events, which will eventuate in the pouring forth of God’s divine wrath on sinners. The sad reality is that it is not really necessary, because Jesus experienced the full extent of God’s wrath on the cross…”

Crucifixion, or death on a cross, in Christianity is symbolized by baptism, which means “to immerse”, “to dip”, “to tint” or “to die in a coloring vat” (See Robinson’s history of Baptism). The Sacrament of Christian Baptism therefore is the tinting or dying of a person in the color of a Christian with the hue of salvation, which is the mystical color of “orange” symbolizing the color of God that makes him a child of God. The goal of baptism is, of course, to share into the resurrection of Christ, that is why, a person has to die first and experience the crucifixion that is symbolized by the immersion or dipping into the water of baptism in order to rise again a ‘new man’ into the image of the resurrected Christ. The end of resurrection is to achieve the end of, and relief from, all the miseries of life, which is liberation from the world and salvation in this life.

https://bible.org/

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21st SUNDAY OF YEAR Cycle C NARROW DOOR (Law of Hierarchy)

“Try your best to enter by the narrow door” (Lk 13:24a) Gospel: Lk 13:22-30


She came by just at that moment began to praise God; and she spoke of the child to all who looked forward the deliverance of Jerusalem.k Now as the time drew near for him to be taken up to heaven, k he resolutely took the road for Jerusalem…

Lk 2:38+ Lk 9:3251; 13:22,33

Lk 9:51+ Lk 13:22 Lk 17:11 Lk 18:31 Lk 19:28 Lk 24:51 Mt 19:1 Mk 10:1

22 Through towns and villages he went teaching, making his way to Jerusalem.

Lk 2:38 - k - The messianic deliverance of the Chosen People, 1:68; 24:21, primarily affected their capital city; cf Is 40:5; 52:9 (and see 2 S 5:9+). FrLk, Jerusalem is God’s chosen centre from which will spread his salvation: 9:31,51,53; 13:22,33; 17:11; 18:31; 19:11; 24:47-49,52; Ac 1:8+.

Lk 9:51- k - Lit. ‘for his taking up’. This ‘assumption’ of Jesus, cf. 2 K 2:9-11; Mk 16:19; Ac 1:2,10-11; 1 Tm 3:16, refers to the last days of his suffering life (Passion, death) and the beginning of his glory (resurrection, ascension). Jn, thinking more theologically, uses the word ‘glorify’ in connection with the whole of this period, Jn 7:39; 12:16,23; 13:31f; for him the crucifixion is a ‘lifting up’, Jn 12:32+.

23 Someone said to him, ‘Sir, will there be only a few saved?’ He said to them,

Enter by the narrow gate, since the road broad that leads to perdition is wide andspacious,c and many take it (v.13); but it is a narrow the gate and a hard road that leads to life,and only afew find it (v. 14).

=Mt 7:13-14 Dt 30:15f Ps 1:1f =Lk 13:24 Si 21:10; 4:17 Jn 10:9-10

24 Try your best to enter by the narrow door, because, I tell you, many will try to enter and will not succeed.

Mt 7:13 – c – Var. ‘the gate that leads to perdition is wide, and the road spacious’.

They had gone off to buy it when the =Mt 25:10-12 25 ‘Once the master of the house has got up and

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bridegroom arrived. Those who were ready went in with him to the wedding hall and the door was closed (v.10). The other bridesmaids arrivedlater. “Lord, Lord,” theysaid “open the door for us” (v. 11). But he replied, ‘Amen, I tell you solemnly, I do not know you (v. 12).

Mt 7:22 Lk 13:25 Mt 24:42 Mk 13:33

locked the door, you may find yourself knocking on the door, saying, “Lord, open to us” but he will answer, “ I do not know where you come from”.

When the day comesemany will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, cast out demons in your name, work many miracles in your name? (v. 22). Then I will tell them to their faces: I have never known you; away from me, you evil men (v. 23)!’

=Mt 7:22-23 Mt 25:11-12 =Lk 13:26-27 Ps 5:5; 6:8

26 Then you will find yourself saying, “We once ate and drank in your company; you taught in our streets”

Mt 7:22 - e- The day of the final Judgment.

Away from me, all you evil men! For Yahweh has heard the sound of my weeping…

Ps 6:8 Ps 119:115 ↗Mt 7:23

27 But he will reply, “I do not know where you come from. Away from me, all you wicked men!”

And I tell you that many will come from east and west to take their places with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob at the feastc in the kingdom of heaven (v. 11); but the subjects of the kingdomd will be turned out into the dark, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth (v. 12).’e

=Mt 8:11-12 Is 25:6+ =Lk 13:28-29 Rm 11:12 Mt 13:42,50; 22:13; 24:51; 25:30 Jn 8:12

28 Then there will be weeping and grinding of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and yourselves turned outside.

Mt 8:11-12 – c - Basing their idea on Is 25:6, the Jews often described the joyous messianic era as a banquet (cf. 22:2-14; 26:19p; Lk 14:15; Rev 3:20; 19:9). d - Lit ‘the sons of the kingdom’, that is to say the Jews, natural heirs of the promises. Their place will be taken by the pagans, who prove more worthy. e– Scriptural image for the dismay and frustration of the wicked as seeing the virtuous rewarded, cf Ps 35:16; 37:12; 112:10; Jb 16:9. In Mt it is used as a description of damnation.

29 And men from the east and west, from north and south, will come to take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God.

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Many who are first will be last, and the last, first. Thus the last will be first, and the first, last.’b Many who are first will be last, and the last first.’

=Mt 19:30+ Mt 20:16 =Lk 13:30

Mt 20:16

Mt 19:30 =Lk 13:30

=Mk 10:31

=Lk 13:30

30 ‘Yes, there are those now last who will be first, and those now first who will be last.’

Mt 20:16 – b -Add. ‘For many are called, but few are chosen’, probably borrowed from 22:14.

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First Reading:Is 66:18-21


18 I am coming to gather the nations of every language. They shall come to witness my glory.

Your righteousness repays us with marvels, God our savior, hope of all the ends of the earth and the distant island.d

Ps 65:5 Is 66:19

19 I will give them a sign and send some of their survivorsm to the nations: to Tarshish, Put, Lud, Moshech, Rosh, Tubal and Javan, to the distant islandsn that have never heard of me or seen my glory. They will proclaim my glory to the nations.

Is 66:18 - m – i.e. of the nations conquered by Yahweh. Ps 65:5 – d–‘islands’ Targum; ‘sea’ Hebr.

20 As an offering to Yahweh they will bring all your brothers, on horses, in chariots, in litters, on mules, on dromedaries, from all the nations to my holy mountain in Jerusalem, says Yahweh, like Israelites bringing oblations in clean vessels to the Temple of Yahweh.

And there will be princes dancing there.fAll findtheir home in you.g

Ps 87:7+ Ps 149:3 Is 66:21

21 And some of them I will make priests and Levites, says Yahweh.

Ps 87:7 – f – ‘princes’ MSS and versions; ‘singers’ Text. Rec. ‘dancing there’, lit. ‘as dancers’. The nations are made freemen of the city and their princes are allowed to sing and dance in her sacred liturgy, 149:3; 150:4; cf. 2 S 6:5. g – Following Greek. Hebr. ‘all my water-sources are in you’.

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Second Reading: Heb 12:5-7, 11-13


My son, do not spurn correction fromYahweh, do not resent his rebuke (v. 11); for Yahwehreproves the man he loves,as a father checks a well-loved son (v. 12).

Pr 3:11-12LXX ↗Heb 12:5-6 Jb 5:17 Pr 26:12 Dt 8:5 ↗Rv 3:19

5 Have you forgotten that encouraging text in which you are addressed as sons? My son, when the Lord corrects you, do not treat it lightly; but do not get discouraged when he reprimands you.

I am the one who reproves and disciplines all those he loves: so repent in real earnest.

Rv 3:19 Pr 3:12 1 Co 11:32 Heb 12:4-11

6 For the Lord trains the ones that he loves and he punishes all those that he acknowledges as his sons.

7 Suffering is part of your training;b God is treating you as his sons.

Heb 12: 7 - b- To the eyes of faith, the various trials of life are all part of the way God is bringing us up. The argument depends on the biblical concept of education, mÚsar, paedeia, mean ‘teaching through hitting, punishing’, cf. Jb 5:17; 33:19; Ps 94:12; Si 1:27; 4:17; 23:4.

I tell you most solemnly, you will be weeping and wailing while the world rejoice; but your sorrow will turn tojoy.i But to tell the truth, even if I distressed you by my letter,b I do not regret it; I did regret it before, and I see that that letter diddistress you, at least for a time (v. 8); but I am happy now - not because I made you suffer, but because your sufferingled to your repentance. Yours had been a kind of sufferingthatGodapproves, and so you have come to no kind ofharm from us (v. 9). To suffer inGod’swaymeans changing

Jn 16:20

2 Co 7:8-11 Heb 12:11

11 Of course, any punishment is most painful at the time, and far from pleasant; but, later, in those on whom it has been used, it bears fruit in peace and goodness.

Jn 16:20 – i – The happiness of seeing the risen Christ after the sad days of his Passion, cf. 20:20. 2 Co 7:8 – b – The ‘severe letter’, cf. 2:3+. c – i.e. to the guilty man. Paul is enumerating the effects his ‘severe letter’ had on the Corinthians, cf. 2:5-8.

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for the better and leaves no regrets, but to suffer as the worldly knows suffering brings death (v.10). Just look at what suffering in God’sway has brought you: whatkeenness, what explanations, what indignation, what alarm! Yes, and whataching to seeme, what concern for me, and what justice done (v. 11)!c This is a cause of great joy for you, even though you may for a short time have to bearbeing plagued by all sort of trials (v. 6); so that, when Jesus Christ is revealed, your faith will have been testedand provedlike gold –only more precious than gold, which is corruptible even though it bears testing by fire – and then you willhave praise and glory and honor (v. 7). My brothers, you will always have your trials but when they come, try to treat them as a happy privilege (v. 2); you understand that your faith is only put to the test to make you patient (v. 3), but patience too is to have its practical resultsc so that you will become fully developed, complete, with nothing missing (v. 4).

1 P 1:6-7 Jn 16:20 Jm 1:2-3 Heb 12:11

Jm 1:2-4 Mt 5:11+ 1 P 4:13-14 Heb 12:11 1 P 1:6-7 Rm 5:3-5

Jm 1:2- c – James, in the tradition of the Jews, believes the essence of religion is its practical value in actions, cf. 2:14+.

12 So hold up your limp arms and steady your trembling knees

…a thing despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and familiar with suffering, a man to make people screen

Is 53:3 Ps 22:6-7

13 Andsmooth out the path you tread; then the injured limb will not be wrenched, it will grow strong again.

Is 53:3 – c - The expression was used of lepers.

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their facesc; he was despised and we took no account of him Let the path you tread be level,and all your ways made firm.

Pr 4:26LXX

Heb 12:13

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Homily for the 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time (Cycle C)

Based on Lk 13:22-30 (Gospel), Is 66:18-21 (First Reading) and Heb 12:5-7, 11-13 (Second Reading)


NARROW DOOR

“Try your best to enter by the narrow door” (Lk 13:24a)

The Gospel reading for this Sunday is taken from Lk 13:22-30. Verse 22 and 23 say: Through towns and villages he went teaching, making his way to Jerusalem. Someone said to him, ‘Sir, will there be only a few saved?’ He said to them… Parallel texts are:

1. Lk 2:38 - She came by just at that moment began to praise God; and she spoke of the child to all who looked forward the deliverance of Jerusalem.k Footnote k says “The messianic deliverance of the Chosen People, 1:68; 24:21, primarily affected their capital city; cf Is 40:5; 52:9 (and see 2 S 5:9+). FrLk, Jerusalem is God’s chosen centre from which will spread his salvation: 9:31,51,53; 13:22,33; 17:11; 18:31; 19:11; 24:47-49,52; Ac 1:8+”.

2. Lk 9:51 - Now as the time drew near for him to be taken up to heaven, k he resolutely took the road for Jerusalem… Footnote k says “Lit. ‘for his taking up’. This ‘assumption’ of Jesus, cf. 2 K 2:9-11; Mk 16:19; Ac 1:2,10-11; 1 Tm 3:16, refers to the last days of his suffering life (Passion, death) and the beginning of his glory (resurrection, ascension). Jn, thinking more theologically, uses the word ‘glorify’ in connection with the whole of this period, Jn 7:39; 12:16,23; 13:31f; for him the crucifixion is a ‘lifting up’, Jn 12:32+.”

Verse 24 says: Try your best to enter by the narrow door, because, I tell you, many will try to enter and will not succeed.

Parallel text is Mt 7:13-14 that says: Enter by the narrow gate, since the road broad that leads to perdition is wide and spacious,c and many take it (v. 13); but it is a narrow the gate and a hard road that leads to life, and only a few find it (v. 14). Footnote c says “Var. ‘the gate that leads to perdition is wide, and the road spacious’.” Verse 25 says: Once the master of the house has got up and locked the door, you may find yourself knocking on the door, saying, “Lord, open to us” but he will answer, “ I do not know where you come from”. Parallel text is Mt 25:10-12 that says: They had gone off to buy it when the bridegroom arrived. Those who were ready went in with him to the wedding hall and the door was closed (v. 10). The other bridesmaids arrived later. “Lord, Lord,” they said “open the door for us” (v. 11). But he replied, ‘Amen, I tell you solemnly, I do not know you (v. 12). Verse 26 says: Then you will find yourself saying, “We once ate and drank in your company; you taught in our streets” Parallel text is Mt 7:22-23 that says: When the day comese many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, cast out demons in your name, work many miracles in your name? (v. 22). Then I will tell them to their faces: I have never known you; away from me, you evil men (v. 23)! Footnote e says “The day of the final Judgment.”

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Verse 27 says: But he will reply, “I do not know where you come from. Away from me, all you wicked men!” Parallel text is Ps 6:8 that says: Away from me, all you evil men! For Yahweh has heard the sound of my weeping… Verse 28 and 29 say: Then there will be weeping and grinding of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and yourselves turned outside. And men from the east and west, from north and south, will come to take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God. Parallel text is Mt 8:11-12 that says: And I tell you that many will come from east and west to take their places with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob at the feastc in the kingdom of heaven (v. 11); but the subjects of the kingdomd will be turned out into the dark, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.’e Footnote c says “Basing their idea on Is 25:6, the Jews often described the joyous messianic era as a banquet (cf. 22:2-14; 26:19p; Lk 14:15; Rev 3:20; 19:9)”; Footnote d says “Lit ‘the sons of the kingdom’, that is to say the Jews, natural heirs of the promises. Their place will be taken by the pagans, who prove more worthy”; and Footnote e

says “Scriptural image for the dismay and frustration of the wicked as seeing the virtuous rewarded, cf Ps 35:16; 37:12; 112:10; Jb 16:9. In Mt it is used as a description of damnation.” Verse 30 says: ‘Yes, there are those now last who will be first, and those now first who will be last.’ Parallel texts are:

1. Mt 19:30 - Many who are first will be last, and the last, first. 2. Mt 20:16 - Thus the last will be first, and the first, last.’b Footnote b says “Add. ‘For many are called, but few are chosen’, probably borrowed from 22:14.” 3. Mk 10:31 - Many who are first will be last, and the last first.’

The First Reading is taken from Is 66:18-21. Verses 18 and 19 says: I am coming to gather the nations of every language. They shall come to witness my glory. I will give them a sign and send some of their survivorsm to the nations: to Tarshish, Put, Lud, Moshech, Rosh, Tubal and Javan, to the distant islandsn that have never heard of me or seen my glory. They will proclaim my glory to the nations. Footnote m says “i.e. of the nations conquered by Yahweh.”

Verses 20 and 21 says: As an offering to Yahweh they will bring all your brothers, on horses, in chariots, in litters, on mules, on dromedaries, from all the nations to my holy mountain in Jerusalem, says Yahweh, like Israelites bringing oblations in clean vessels to the Temple of Yahweh. And some of them I will make priests and Levites, says Yahweh. Parallel text is Ps 87:7 that says: And there will be princes dancing there.f All find their home in you.g Footnote f says “‘princes’ MSS and versions; ‘singers’ Text. Rec. ‘dancing there’, lit. ‘as dancers’. The nations are made freemen of the city and their princes are allowed to sing and dance in her sacred liturgy, 149:3; 150:4; cf. 2 S 6:5; and Footnote g says “Following Greek. Hebr. ‘all my water-sources are in you’.” The Second Reading is from Heb 12:5-7, 11-13. Verse 5 says: Have you forgotten that encouraging text in which you are addressed as sons? My son, when the Lord corrects you, do not treat it lightly; but do not get discouraged when he reprimands you.

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Parallel text is Pr 3:11-12 that says: My son, do not spurn correction from Yahweh, do not resent his rebuke (v. 11); for Yahweh reproves the man he loves, as a father checks a well-loved son (v. 12).

Verses 6 and 7 say: For the Lord trains the ones that he loves and he punishes all those that he acknowledges as his sons. Suffering is part of your training;b God is treating you as his sons. Footnote b says “To the eyes of faith, the various trials of life are all part of the way God is bringing us up. The argument depends on the biblical concept of education, mÚsar, paedeia, mean ‘teaching through hitting, punishing’, cf. Jb 5:17; 33:19; Ps 94:12; Si 1:27; 4:17; 23:4.”

Parallel text for verse 6 is Rv 3:19 that says: I am the one who reproves and disciplines all those he loves: so repent in real earnest.

Verse 11 says: Of course, any punishment is most painful at the time, and far from pleasant; but, later, in those on whom it has been used, it bears fruit in peace and goodness.

Parallel texts are:

1. Jn 16:20 - I tell you most solemnly, you will be weeping and wailing while the world rejoice; but your sorrow will turn to joy. i Footnote i says “The happiness of seeing the risen Christ after the sad days of his Passion, cf. 20:20.”

2. 2 Co 7:8-11 - But to tell the truth, even if I distressed you by my letter,b I do not regret it; I did regret it before, and I see that that letter did distress you, at least for a time (v. 8); but I am happy now - not because I made you suffer, but because your suffering led to your repentance. Yours had been a kind of suffering that God approves, and so you have come to no kind of harm from us (v. 9). To suffer in God’s way means changing for the better and leaves no regrets, but to suffer as the worldly knows suffering brings death (v. 10). Just look at what suffering in God’s way has brought you: what keenness, what explanations, what indignation, what alarm! Yes, and what aching to see me, what concern for me, and what justice done (v. 11)!c Footnote b says “The ‘severe letter’, cf. 2:3+”; and Footnote c says “i.e. to the guilty man. Paul is enumerating the effects his ‘severe letter’ had on the Corinthians, cf. 2:5-8.”

3. 1 P 1:6-7 - This is a cause of great joy for you, even though you may for a short time have to bear being plagued by all sort of trials (v. 6); so that, when Jesus Christ is revealed, your faith will have been tested and proved like gold – only more precious than gold, which is corruptible even though it bears testing by fire – and then you will have praise and glory and honor (v. 7).

4. Jm 1:2-4 - My brothers, you will always have your trials but when they come, try to treat them as a happy privilege (v. 2); you understand that your faith is only put to the test to make you patient (v. 3), but patience too is to have its practical resultsc so that you will become fully developed, complete, with nothing missing (v. 4). Footnote c says “James, in the tradition of the Jews, believes the essence of religion is its practical value in actions, cf. 2:14+.”

Verse 12 and 13 say: So hold up your limp arms and steady your trembling knees and smooth out the path you tread; then the injured limb will not be wrenched, it will grow strong again.

Parallel text of verse 13 are:

1. Is 53:3 …a thing despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and familiar with suffering, a man to make people screen their facesc; he was despised and we took

no account of him. Footnote c says “The expression was used of lepers.

2. Pr 4:26 - Let the path you tread be level, and all your ways made firm.

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The narrow door of life is the way of disciple and correction. Footnote b of Heb 12:7 says “To the eyes of faith, the various trials of life are all part of the way God is bringing us

up. The argument depends on the biblical concept of education, mÚsar, paedeia, mean ‘teaching through hitting, punishing’, cf. Jb 5:17; 33:19; Ps 94:12; Si 1:27; 4:17; 23:4.

For the poor and miserable people, “pain and suffering are the condiments of life”.

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22nd SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME Cycle C LOWEST PLACE

“Make your way to the lowest place” (Lk 14:10) Gospel: Lk 14:1,7-14


It had been a Sabbath day when Jesus made the pastef and opened the man’s eyes.

Jn 9:14+

1 On a Sabbath day he had gone for a meal dine to the house of one of the leading Pharisees; and they watched him closely.

Jn 9:14 – f – Such work was forbidden on the Sabbath.

7 He then told the guests a parable, because he had noticed how they picked the places of honor. He said this,

Pr 25:6-7 Mt 23:6

8 ‘When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take your seat in the place of honor. A more distinguished person than you may have been invited,

9 And the person who invited you both may come and say, ‘Give up your place to this man”. And then to your embarrassment, you would have to go and take the lowest place.

10 No; when you are a guest, make your way to the lowest place and sit there, so that, when your host comes, he may say to you, “My friend, move up higher”. In that way, everyone with you at the table will see you honored.

This man, I tell you, went home again at rights with God; the other did not. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the man who humbles himself will be exalted. Anyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and anyone who humbles himself will be exalted.

=Lk 18:14 =Mt 23:12 Lk 14:11

=Mt 23:12 =Mt 20:26 Mt 18:4

11 For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the man who humbles himself will be exalted.’

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…and said to them, “Anyone who welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. For the least one among you all is the one who is great.”

Lk 1:52-53 =Mt 14:11; 18:14

Lk 9:48

=Lk 10:16 =Mt 10:40 =Jn 13:20 Lk 25:26 Mt 18:5∆ Lk 14:11

If you love those who love you, what thankscan you expect? Even sinners love those who love them (v.32). And if you do good to those who do good to you, what thankscan you expect? For even sinners do that much(v. 33). And if you lend to those from whom you hopeto receive, what thankscan you expect? Even sinners lend to sinners to get back the same amount (v. 34). Instead, love your enemies and do good, and lend without any hope of return.eYouwill have great reward, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked (v. 35). If you do a good turn, know for whom you are doing it, and your good deeds will not go to waste (v. 1). Do good to a devouta man and you will receivea reward,if not from him, then certainly from the Most High (v. 2). No good will come to a manwho persists in evil, or who refuses to give alms.b (v.3). Give to

Lk 6:32-35

Mt 7:12 =Mt 5:46

Lk 14:12-14 Pr 21:26 Si 4:10; 12:6 =Mt 5:45

Si 12:1-5 Mt 5:43-48 Lk 14:12-14 Dt 14:29

12 The he said to his host, ‘When you give a lunch or a dinner, do not ask your friends, brothers, relations or rich neighbors, for fear they repay your courtesy by inviting you in return.b

Lk 14:12 – b–Or ‘for fear they invite you in return and that be your repayment’. Lk 6:35 – e- The text is difficult and the translation conj. Var. ‘driving no one to despair’ or ‘despairing no one’ or ‘not at all despairing.’ Si 12:2 - a– ‘devout’ Greek; ‘virtuous’ Hebr. b – Hebr. ‘It is no use a man’s doing good to the wicked; he does not even perform a good work’. c–Contrast the words of Jesus, Mt 5:43-47 d - The Hebr. Of vv. 4-5 differs considerably.

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a devout man, do not go to the help of a sinner (v. 4) Do good to a humble man, give nothing to a godless one. Refuse him bread, do not give him any, It will make them stronger than you are; then you will be repaid twice evil over for allthe good deed you had done him.d On almsgivingd Sell you possessions and give alms. Get yourselves purses that do not wear out, treasure that will not fail you, in heaven where no thief can reach it and no moth destroy it.

Lk 12:33+ Lk 3:11 Lk 6:30 Lk 7:5 Lk 11:41 Pr 13:7 Ws 7:14 Mt 6:20-21

Lk 12:33- d - That riches are a danger and should be given away in alms is characteristic teaching of Lk: cf. 3:11; 6:30; 7:5; 11:41; 12:33-34; 14:14; 16:9; 18:22; 19:8; Ac 9:36; Ac 10:2,4,31

A blessing awaits the man who is kindly, since he shares his bread with the poor.

Pr 22:9 Pr 19:17; 28:27 Ps 112:9 Lk 14:13-14

13 No; when you have a party, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind;

Instead, love your enemies and do good, and lend without any hope of return.e

Youwill have great reward, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.

Lk 6:35 Si 4:10; 12:6 =Mt 5:45

14 That they cannot pay you back means that you are fortunate, because repayment will be made to you when the virtuous rise again.’

Lk 6:35 – e - The text is difficult and the translation conj. Var. ‘driving no one to despair’ or ‘despairing no one’ or ‘not at all despairing.’

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First Reading: Sir 3:17-18,20,28-29


17 My son, be gentle in carrying out your business, and you will be better loved than a lavish giver.f

Sir 3:17- f–‘lavish’ Hebr.; ‘beloved’ Greek.

He mocks those who mocks, but accords his favor to the humble. This is not to happen among you. No; anyone who wants to be great among you must be your servant (v. 26); and anyone who wants to be first among you must be your slave(v. 27), just as the Son of Man come not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransomg for many.’h (v. 28). In your minds you must be the same as Christ Jesus:d (v. 5) His state was divine, e yet he did not cling to his equality with Godf (v. 6), but emptied himselfg to assume the condition of a slave,h and became as men arei; and being as all men are,j (v. 7), he was humbler yet, even to accepting death, death on a cross (v. 8).

Pr 3:34 Ps 18:27 Si 3:18,20 ↗Jm 4:6 ↗1 P 5:5

Mt 20:26-28 =Lk 22:25-27 Si 3:18 Mk 9:35; Jn 13:4-15 Mt 8:20+ Mt 26:28 Rm 5:6-21 1 Tm 2:6

Ph 2:5-8 Jn 13:15 Jn 1:1f; 17:5 Col 1:15-20 Heb 1:3 2 Co 8:9 Rv 5:12 Mt 20:28 Is 49:40 1 P 5:6 Mt 26:39f Rm 5:19 Heb 5:8; 12:2

18 The greater you are, the more you should behave humbly, and then you will find favor with the Lord; g

Sir 3:18- g – Add v. 19 ‘Many are the arrogant and renowned, but the humble are those to whom he reveals his secrets’. Mt. 20:28 - g- By sin man incurs, as a debt to the divine justice, the punishment of death demanded by the Law, cf. 1 Co. 15:56; 2 Co. 3:7,9; Ga. 3:13; Rm. 8:3-4, with notes. To ransom them from this slavery of sin and death, Rm. 3:24+. Christ is to pay the ransom and discharge the debt with the price of his blood, 1 Co. 6:20; 7:23; Ga. 3:13; 4:5, with notes, By thus dying in place of the guilty, he fulfills the prophesied function of the ‘servant of Yahweh’ (Is. 53). The Hebr. word translated ‘many’, Is. 53:11f, contrast the enormous crowd of the redeemed with the one Redeemer: it does not imply that the number of redeemed is limited, Rm. 5:6-21. Cf. Mt. 26:28+. h - At this point some authorities insert the following passage, derived probably from some apocryphal gospel ‘But as for you, from littleness you seek to grow great and from greatness you make yourselves small. When you are invited to a banquet do not take one of the places of honor, because

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someone more important than you may arrive and then the steward will have to say, “Move down lower”, and you would be covered with confusion. Take the lowest place, and then if someone less important than you comes in, the steward will say to you, “Move up higher”, and that will be to your advantage.’ Cf. Lk. 14:8-10. Ph 2:5-8 – d - Vv 6-11 are a hymn, though whether composed or only quoted by Paul is uncertain. Each stanza deals with one stage of the mystery of Christ: divine pre-existence, kenosis in the Incarnation, his further kenosis in death, his glorification, adoration by the cosmos, new title of Lord. This hymn is concerned solely with the historical Christ in whose personality godhead and manhood are not divided; Paul nowhere divorces the humanity and divinity of Jesus Christ, though he does distinguish his various stages of existence, cf. Col 1:13f. e - Lit. ‘Who subsisting in the form of God’: here ‘form’ means all the attributes that express and reveal the essential ‘nature’ of God; Christ, being God, had all the divine prerogatives by right. f - Lit. ‘did not deem being on an equality with God as something to grasp’ or ‘hold on to’. This refers not to his equality by nature ‘subsisting in the form of God’, and which Christ could not have surrendered, but to his being publicly treated and honored as equal

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to God which was a thing that Jesus (unlike Adam, Gn 3:5,22, who wanted to be seen to be like God) could and did give up in his human life. g - ‘He emptied himself’; this is not so much a reference to the fact of the incarnation, as to the way it took place. What Jesus freely gave up was not his divine nature, but the glory to which his divine nature entitled him, and which had been his before the incarnation, Jn 17:5, and, which ‘normally’ speaking would have been observable in his human body (cf. the transfiguration, Mt 17:1-8). He voluntarily deprived himself of this so that it could be returned to him by the Father, cf. Jn 8:50,54, after his sacrifice, vv.9-11. h - ‘slave’ as opposed to ‘Kyrios’ v. 11, cf. Ga 4:1; Col 3:22f. Christ as man led a life of submission and humble obedience, v. 8. This is probably a reference to the ‘servant’ of Is 52:13-53:12, cf. Is 42:1. i - Not just ‘a human being’ but a human being ‘like others’; sharing all the weaknesses of the human condition apart from sin. j - Lit. ‘And in fashion found as man’.

He mocks those who mocks, but accords his favor to the humble.

Seek Yahweh,

Pr 3:34 Ps 18:27 Si 3:18,20 ↗Jm 4:6 ↗1 P 5:5

Zp 2:3+

20 For though the power of the Lord is, he accepts the homage of the humble.h

Sir 3:20- h – The verse calls attention to God’s condescension in welcoming the homage of the lowly. Hebr. ‘for great is the mercy of God; he makes his secrets known to the humble’, cf Pr. 3:32; Ps 25:14.

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all you, the humble of the earth,e who obey his commands. Seek integrity, seek humility; you may perhaps find shelter on the day of the anger of Yahweh.

Am 5:4-6 Est 1:1k Ps 72:3-4 Si 3:20; 11:12 Dn 3:87 Jm 2:5 Is 57:15

Zp 2:3 - e - The ‘humble’ or ‘poor’, anawim in Hebr. These play a large part in the Bible. Though wisdom literature looks on poverty, resh, as the result of idleness, Pr 10:4, the prophets are aware that the poor usually the oppressed, aniyyim; they demand justice for the weak and lowly, dallim, and for those in need, ebionim, Am 2:6f; Is 10:2; cf. Jb 34:28f; Si 4:1f; Jm 2:2f. The humane legislation of Dt. Shows the same attitude of mind, Dt 24:10f. With Zephaniah’s poverty assumes a moral and eschatological significance, 3:11f, cf Is 49:13; 66:5; Ps 22:26; 34:2f; 37:11f; 69:33; 74:19; 149:4; and see Mt 5:3+; Lk 1:52; 6:20; 7:22. In short, the anawim are those Israelites who submit to the will of God. In LXX period , the word anaw (or ani) has the added meaning of thoughtfulness for others, Zc 9:9, cf. Si 1:27. It is to the ‘poor’ that the Messiah will be sent, Is 61:1, cfLk 4:18. He himself will be humble and gentle, Zc 9:9, cf Mt 21:5, and the victim of oppression, Is 53:4; Ps 22:24.

28 There is no cure for the proud man’s malady, since an evil growth has taken root in him.

29 The heart of a sensible man will reflect on parables, an attentive ear is the sage’s dream.

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Second Reading: Heb 12:18-19,22-24a


Now as daybreak on the third day there were peals of thunder on the mountain and lightning flashes, a dense cloud, and a loud trumpet blast, and inside the camp all the people trembled (v. 16). The mountain of Sinai was entirely wrapped in smoke, because Yahweh had descended on it in the form of fire. Like smoke from a furnace the smoke went up, and the whole mountain shookk violently (v. 18).

Ex 19:16,18 Dt 4:10-12; 15:2-5;25-31 2 S 22:8 1 K 19:11 Ps 18:7 Is 6:4; 29:6 Mt 17:5 Heb 12:18-19 Ezk 1:13 Ps 18:7 Heb 12:18-19 Rv 9:2

18 What you have come to is nothing known to the senses:d not a blazing fire, or a gloom turning to total darkness, or a storm;

Heb 12:18- d– Lit. ‘You have not approached something that can be touched’, var. ‘a mountain that can be touched’, cf v. 22. Ex 19:18 – k – ‘The mountain shook’ Hebr.; ‘the people trembled’ Hebr. and Greek MSS.

So you came and stood at the foot of the mountain, and the mountain flamed to the very sky, a sky darkened by cloud, murky and thunderous.b. “Speak to us yourself’ they said to Moses ‘and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, or we shall die.” For I was afraid of this anger, of the fury which so roused Yahweh against you that he was ready to destroy you. And once more Yahweh heard my prayer.

Dt 4:11 Si 17:13 Ps 18:11

Ex 20:19 Heb 12:19 Ex 33:20+

Dt 9:19 Heb 12:21

19 Or trumpeting thunder or the great voice speaking which made everyone that heard it beg that no more should be said to them.e

Heb 12:18- e – As at the theophany on Sinai, when the old covenant was made. The new covenant replaces fear with peace. Dt 4:11 – b – ‘thunderous’ Greek.

Next in my vision I saw Mount Zion and standing on it a Lambb who he had with him a hundred and forty-four thousand people, all with his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads.

Rv 14:1 2 K 19:30-31 Jl 3:5 Ob 17 Zp 3:12-13 Ac 2:21+

22 But what you come to is Mount Zion and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem where the millions of angels have gathered for the festival,

Rv 14:1 - b – Var ‘the Lamb’. Rev 21:10 –

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In the spirit he took me to the top of an enormous mountain and showed me Jerusalem, the holy city, coming down from God out of heaven.j

Rv 21:10 Ezk 40:2 Heb 11:10

j – This is Jerusalem on earth during the last or messianic days since the pagan nations have not yet been destroyed, 21:24, and have a chance of conversion, 22:2; but it foreshadows the heavenly the heavenly Jerusalem that develops from it. The details of the description are most from Ezk 40-47.

He will repay each one as his works deservesb : …since God had made provision for us to have something better, and they were not to reach perfection except with us.i

Rm 2:6+ Ps 62:12 Heb 11:6p

Heb 11:40+

Heb 7:19; 9:9; 10:1,14; 12:23+ 1 P 3:19+

23 With the whole Church in which everyone is a ‘first-born son’ and a citizen of heaven. You have come to God himself, the supreme Judge, and been placed with the spirits of the saints who have been made perfect;

Heb 11:40 - i - The eschatological epoch of ‘perfection’ was inaugurated by Christ, 2:10; 5:9; 7:28; 10:14; and access to the divine life has been made available only by him, 9:11f; 10:19f;. The OT saints, who could not be ‘perfected’ by the Law, 7:19; 9:9; 10:1; had thus to wait till the resurrection of Christ before they could enter the perfect life of heaven, 12:23, cf. Mt 27:52f; 1 P 3:19+. Rm 2:6 – b – The prophecy of a ‘day of Yahweh’ which will be a day of anbger and salvation, Am 5:18+, will be fulfilled eschatologically in the ‘day of the Lord’, when Christ returns in glory, 1 Co 1:8+. On this ‘day of judgment’ (cf. Mt 10:15; 11:22,24; 12:36, 1 P 2:9; 3:7; 1 Jn 4:17) the dead will rise again, 1 Th 4:13-18; 1 Co 15:12-23,51f, and the whole human race will be judged in God’s court, Rm 14:10, and in Christ’s, 2 Co 5:10; cf. Mt 25:31f. This trial is inescapable, Rm 2:3; Ga 5:10; 1 Th 5:3, and impartial, v. 11; Col 3:25; cf. 1 P 1:17; it is conducted by God, Rm 12:19; 14:10; 1 Co 4:5; cf. Mt 7:1p. Through Christ, v. 16; 2 Tm 4:1; cf. Jn 5:22; Ac 17:31, God will judge ‘the living and

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the dead’, 2 Tm 4:1; cf. Ac 10:2\42; 1 P 4:5. He examines the heart, v. 16;1 Co 4:5; cf. Rv 2:23, and his trial is by fire, 1 Co 3:13-15; he will treat everyone according to his works, 1 Co 3:8; 2 Co 5:10; 11:15; Ep 6:8; cf. Mt 16:27; 1 P 1:17; Rv 2:23, 20:12; 22:12. What has been sown will be reaped, Ga. 6:7-9; cf. Mt 13:39; Rv 14:15. Angrily he will destroy, Rm 9:22, evil powers, 1 Co 15:24-26; 2 Th 2:8, and evil people, 2 Th 1:7-10; cf. Mt 13:41; Ep 5:6; 2 P 3:7; Rv 6:17; 11:18. But for the chosen, i.e. those who have done good, there will be freedom, Ep 4:30; cf. Rm 8:23, rest, Ac 3:20; cf 1 Th 1:7; Heb 4:5-11, reward, cf. Mt 5:12; Rv 11:18, salvation, 1 P 1:5, honor, 1 P 5:6, praise, 1 Co 4:5, and glory, Rm 8:18f; 1 Co 15:43; Col 3:4; cf. Mt 13:43.

24a and to Jesus…

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Homily for the 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time (Cycle C) Based on Lk 14:1,7-14 (Gospel), Sir 3:17-18,20,28-29 (First Reading) and Heb 12:18-19,22-24a (Second Reading)


LOWEST PLACE “Make your way to the lowest place” (Lk 14:10)

The Gospel narrative for this 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time (Cycle C) is from Lk 14:1,7-14. Verses 1, 7, 8, 9 and 10 say: On a Sabbath day he had gone for a meal dine to the house of one of the leading Pharisees; and they watched him closely. He then told the guests a parable, because he had noticed how they picked the places of honor. He said this, ‘When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take your seat in the place of honor. A more distinguished person than you may have been invited, And the person who invited you both may come and say, ‘Give up your place to this man”. And then to your embarrassment, you would have to go and take the lowest place. No; when you are a guest, make your way to the lowest place and sit there, so that, when your host comes, he may say to you, “My friend, move up higher”. In that way, everyone with you at the table will see you honored. Parallel text for verse 1 is Jn 9:14 that says: It had been a Sabbath day when Jesus made the pastef and opened the man’s eyes. Footnote f says “Such work was forbidden on the Sabbath”.

Verse 11 says: For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the man who humbles himself will be exalted.’

Parallel texts are: 1. Lk 18:14 - This man, I tell you, went home again at rights with God; the other did not. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the man who humbles

himself will be exalted. 2. Mt 23:12 - Anyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and anyone who humbles himself will be exalted. 3. Lk 9:48 …and said to them, “Anyone who welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. For the

least one among you all is the one who is great.”

Verse 12 says: The he said to his host, ‘When you give a lunch or a dinner, do not ask your friends, brothers, relations or rich neighbors, for fear they repay your courtesy by inviting you in return. Footnote b says “Or ‘for fear they invite you in return and that be your repayment’”.

Parallel texts are: 1. Lk 6:32-35 - If you love those who love you, what thanks can you expect? Even sinners love those who love them (v.32). And if you do good to those who do good to

you, what thanks can you expect? For even sinners do that much(v. 33). And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what thanks can you expect? Even sinners lend to sinners to get back the same amount (v. 34). Instead, love your enemies and do good, and lend without any hope of return.e You will have great reward,

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and you will be sons of the Most High, for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked (v. 35). Footnote e says “The text is difficult and the translation conj. Var. ‘driving no one to despair’ or ‘despairing no one’ or ‘not at all despairing.’”

2. Si 12:1-5 - If you do a good turn, know for whom you are doing it, and your good deeds will not go to waste (v. 1). Do good to a devouta man and you will receive a reward, if not from him, then certainly from the Most High (v. 2). No good will come to a man who persists in evil, or who refuses to give alms.b (v.3). Give to a devout man, do not go to the help of a sinner (v. 4) Do good to a humble man, give nothing to a godless one. Refuse him bread, do not give him any, It will make them stronger than you are; then you will be repaid twice evil over for allthe good deed you had done him. d Footnote a says “‘devout’ Greek; ‘virtuous’ Hebr. ; Footnote b says “Hebr. ‘It is no use a man’s doing good to the wicked; he does not even perform a good work’”; Footnote c says “Contrast the words of Jesus, Mt 5:43-47; and Footnote d says “The Hebr. Of vv. 4-5 differs considerably.”

3. Lk 12:33+ - On almsgivingd Sell you possessions and give alms. Get yourselves purses that do not wear out, treasure that will not fail you, in heaven where no thief can reach it and no moth destroy it. Footnote d says “That riches are a danger and should be given away in alms is characteristic teaching of Lk: cf. 3:11; 6:30; 7:5; 11:41; 12:33-34; 14:14; 16:9; 18:22; 19:8; Ac 9:36; Ac 10:2,4,31.”

Verse 13 says: No; when you have a party, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind;

Parallel text is Pr 22:9 that says: A blessing awaits the man who is kindly, since he shares his bread with the poor.

Verse 14 says: That they cannot pay you back means that you are fortunate, because repayment will be made to you when the virtuous rise again.’ Parallel text is Lk 6:35 that says: Instead, love your enemies and do good, and lend without any hope of return.e You will have great reward, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.

Footnote e says “The text is difficult and the translation conj. Var. ‘driving no one to despair’ or ‘despairing no one’ or ‘not at all despairing.’”

The First Reading is from Sir 3:17-18,20,28-29. Verses 17 and 18 say: My son, be gentle in carrying out your business, and you will be better loved than a lavish giver.f The greater you are, the more you should behave humbly, and then you will find favor with the Lord; g Footnote f says “‘lavish’ Hebr.; ‘beloved’ Greek”; and Footnote g says “Add v. 19 ‘Many are the arrogant and renowned, but the humble are those to whom he reveals his secrets’.”

Parallel texts for verse 18 are:

1. Pr 3:34 - He mocks those who mocks, but accords his favor to the humble. 2. Mt 20:26-28 - This is not to happen among you. No; anyone who wants to be great among you must be your servant (v. 26); and anyone who wants to be first among

you must be your slave(v. 27), just as the Son of Man come not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransomg for many.’h (v. 28). Footnote g says “By sin man incurs, as a debt to the divine justice, the punishment of death demanded by the Law, cf. 1 Co. 15:56; 2 Co. 3:7,9; Ga. 3:13; Rm. 8:3-4, with notes. To ransom them from this slavery of sin and death, Rm. 3:24+. Christ is to pay the ransom and discharge the debt with the price of his blood, 1 Co. 6:20; 7:23; Ga. 3:13; 4:5, with notes, By

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thus dying in place of the guilty, he fulfills the prophesied function of the ‘servant of Yahweh’ (Is. 53). The Hebr. word translated ‘many’, Is. 53:11f, contrast the enormous crowd of the redeemed with the one Redeemer: it does not imply that the number of redeemed is limited, Rm. 5:6-21. Cf. Mt. 26:28+.; Footnote h says “At this point some authorities insert the following passage, derived probably from some apocryphal gospel ‘But as for you, from littleness you seek to grow great and from greatness you make yourselves small. When you are invited to a banquet do not take one of the places of honor, because someone more important than you may arrive and then the steward will have to say, “Move down lower”, and you would be covered with confusion. Take the lowest place, and then if someone less important than you comes in, the steward will say to you, “Move up higher”, and that will be to your advantage.’ Cf. Lk. 14:8-10”.

3. Ph 2:5-8 - In your minds you must be the same as Christ Jesus:d (v. 5) His state was divine, e yet he did not cling to his equality with Godf (v. 6), but emptied himselfg to assume the condition of a slave,h and became as men arei; and being as all men are,j (v. 7), he was humbler yet, even to accepting death, death on a cross (v. 8). Footnote d says “Vv 6-11 are a hymn, though whether composed or only quoted by Paul is uncertain. Each stanza deals with one stage of the mystery of Christ: divine pre-existence, kenosis in the Incarnation, his further kenosis in death, his glorification, adoration by the cosmos, new title of Lord. This hymn is concerned solely with the historical Christ in whose personality godhead and manhood are not divided; Paul nowhere divorces the humanity and divinity of Jesus Christ, though he does distinguish his various stages of existence, cf. Col 1:13f”; Footnote e says “Lit. ‘Who subsisting in the form of God’: here ‘form’ means all the attributes that express and reveal the essential ‘nature’ of God; Christ, being God, had all the divine prerogatives by right.” Footnote f says “Lit. ‘did not deem being on an equality with God as something to grasp’ or ‘hold on to’. This refers not to his equality by nature ‘subsisting in the form of God’, and which Christ could not have surrendered, but to his being publicly treated and honored as equal to God which was a thing that Jesus (unlike Adam, Gn 3:5,22, who wanted to be seen to be like God) could and did give up in his human life”; Footnote g says “‘He emptied himself’; this is not so much a reference to the fact of the incarnation, as to the way it took place. What Jesus freely gave up was not his divine nature, but the glory to which his divine nature entitled him, and which had been his before the incarnation, Jn 17:5, and, which ‘normally’ speaking would have been observable in his human body (cf. the transfiguration, Mt 17:1-8). He voluntarily deprived himself of this so that it could be returned to him by the Father, cf. Jn 8:50,54, after his sacrifice, vv.9-11”; Footnote h says “‘slave’ as opposed to ‘Kyrios’ v. 11, cf. Ga 4:1; Col 3:22f. Christ as man led a life of submission and humble obedience, v. 8. This is probably a reference to the ‘servant’ of Is 52:13-53:12, cf. Is 42:1”; Footnote i says “Not just ‘a human being’ but a human being ‘like others’; sharing all the weaknesses of the human condition apart from sin; and Footnote j says “Lit. ‘And in fashion found as man’.

Verse 20 says: For though the power of the Lord is, he accepts the homage of the humble.h Footnote h says “The verse calls attention to God’s condescension in welcoming the homage of the lowly. Hebr. ‘for great is the mercy of God; he makes his secrets known to the humble’, cf Pr. 3:32; Ps 25:14”.

Parallel texts are:

1. Pr 3:34 - He mocks those who mocks, but accords his favor to the humble.

2. Zp 2:3 - Seek Yahweh, all you, the humble of the earth,e who obey his commands. Seek integrity, seek humility; you may perhaps find shelter on the day of the anger of Yahweh. Footnote e says “The ‘humble’ or ‘poor’, anawim in Hebr. These play a large part in the Bible. Though wisdom literature looks on poverty, resh, as the result of idleness, Pr 10:4, the prophets are aware that the poor usually the oppressed, aniyyim; they demand justice for the weak and lowly, dallim, and for those in need, ebionim, Am 2:6f; Is 10:2; cf. Jb 34:28f; Si 4:1f; Jm 2:2f. The humane legislation of Dt. Shows the same attitude of mind, Dt 24:10f. With Zephaniah’s poverty assumes a moral and eschatological significance, 3:11f, cf Is 49:13; 66:5; Ps 22:26; 34:2f; 37:11f; 69:33; 74:19; 149:4; and see Mt 5:3+; Lk 1:52; 6:20; 7:22. In short, the anawim are those Israelites who submit to the will of God. In LXX period , the word anaw (or ani) has the added meaning of thoughtfulness for others, Zc 9:9, cf. Si 1:27. It is to the ‘poor’ that the Messiah will be sent, Is 61:1, cfLk 4:18. He himself will be humble and gentle, Zc 9:9, cf Mt 21:5, and the victim of oppression, Is 53:4; Ps 22:24.”

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Verses 28 and 29 say: There is no cure for the proud man’s malady, since an evil growth has taken root in him. The heart of a sensible man will reflect on parables, an attentive ear is the sage’s dream.

The Second Reading is from Heb 12:18-19,22-24a. Verse 18 says: What you have come to is nothing known to the senses:d not a blazing fire, or a gloom turning to total darkness, or a storm… Footnote d says “Lit. ‘You have not approached something that can be touched’, var. ‘a mountain that can be touched’, cf. v. 22.”

Parallel text is Ex 19:16,18 that says: Now as daybreak on the third day there were peals of thunder on the mountain and lightning flashes, a dense cloud, and a loud trumpet blast, and inside the camp all the people trembled (v. 16). The mountain of Sinai was entirely wrapped in smoke, because Yahweh had descended on it in the form of fire. Like smoke from a furnace the smoke went up, and the whole mountain shookk violently (v. 18). Footnote k says “‘The mountain shook’ Hebr.; ‘the people trembled’ Hebr. and Greek MSS.”

Verse 19 says: Or trumpeting thunder or the great voice speaking which made everyone that heard it beg that no more should be said to them.e Footnote e says “As at the theophany on Sinai, when the old covenant was made. The new covenant replaces fear with peace.”

Parallel texts are: 1. Dt 4:11 - So you came and stood at the foot of the mountain, and the mountain flamed to the very sky, a sky darkened by cloud, murky and thunderous.b. Footnote b

says “‘thunderous’ Greek.” 2. Ex 20:19 - “Speak to us yourself’ they said to Moses ‘and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, or we shall die.” 3. Dt 9:19 - For I was afraid of this anger, of the fury which so roused Yahweh against you that he was ready to destroy you. And once more Yahweh heard my prayer.

Verse 22 But what you come to is Mount Zion and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem where the millions of angels have gathered for the festival,

Parallel texts are: 1. Rv 14:1 - Next in my vision I saw Mount Zion and standing on it a Lambb who he had with him a hundred and forty-four thousand people, all with his name and his

Father’s name written on their foreheads. Footnote b says “Var ‘the Lamb’. 2. In the spirit he took me to the top of an enormous mountain and showed me Jerusalem, the holy city, coming down from God out of heaven.j Footnote j says “This is

Jerusalem on earth during the last or messianic days since the pagan nations have not yet been destroyed, 21:24, and have a chance of conversion, 22:2; but it foreshadows the heavenly the heavenly Jerusalem that develops from it. The details of the description are most from Ezk 40-47”.

Parallel texts are: 1. Rm 2:6 - He will repay each one as his works deservesb : Footnote 2. Heb 11:40…since God had made provision for us to have something better, and they were not to reach perfection except with us.i Footnote i says “The eschatological

epoch of ‘perfection’ was inaugurated by Christ, 2:10; 5:9; 7:28; 10:14; and access to the divine life has been made available only by him, 9:11f; 10:19f;. The OT saints,

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who could not be ‘perfected’ by the Law, 7:19; 9:9; 10:1; had thus to wait till the resurrection of Christ before they could enter the perfect life of heaven, 12:23, cf. Mt 27:52f; 1 P 3:19+.

Verses 23 and 24 say: With the whole Church in which everyone is a ‘first-born son’ and a citizen of heaven. You have come to God himself, the supreme Judge, and been placed with the spirits of the saints who have been made perfect; and to Jesus…

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23rd SUNDAY OF YEAR Cycle C COST OF DICIPLESHIP

“None of you can be my disciple unless he gives up all his possessions” (Lk 14:33) Gospel: Lk 14:25-33


25 Great crowds accompanied him on his way and he turned and spoke to them.

“Anyone who prefers father or mother to me is not worthy of me. Anyone who prefers son or daughter to me is not worthy of me; Everyone who has left houses, brothers, sisters, father, mother, childreni or land for the sake of my name will be repaid a hundred times over, and also inherit eternal life. Anyone who does not take up his cross and follow in my footsteps is not worthy of me. Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. He called the people and his disciples to him and said, “If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross, and follow me.

Mt 10:37 Ex 32:27 Mt 8:22 =Lk 14:26-27

Mt 19:29

Lk 14:26 Mt 5:3

=Mt 10:38 Dt 33:9 =Mt 16:24-25

Mt 16:24 =Mk 8:24-9:1 =Lk 9:23-27 =Mt. 10:38-39 =Lk. 14:27

=Mk 8:34

Mt 10:38-39; 16:24-28 =Lk 9:23-27; 14:26-27

26 If any man comes to me without hatingc his father, mother, wife,d children, brothers, sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.

Lk 14:26 - c - Hebraism. Jesus asks, not for hate, but for total detachment now, cf. 9:57-62. d - ‘wife’, peculiar to Lk, illustrating his leaning to ascetism, cf. 1 Co 7, So Lk also, 18:29. Mt 19:29 – i – Add, ‘wife’.

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Then to all he said, ‘If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross every day and follow me. If a man serves, he must follow me, whenever I am,e my servant will be there too. If anyone serves me, my Father will honor him.

Lk 9:23 Lk 14:27 Jn 12:26

Jn 12:26 Jn1:10 Mt. 16:24 Jn7:34;14:3 Jn 17:24

27 Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.

Jn 12:26- e - In the glory of the Father, cf. 14:3; 17:24.

28 ‘An indeed, which of you here, intending to build a tower, would not first sit down and work out the cost to see if he had enough to complete it?

29 Otherwise, if he laid the foundation and then found himself unable to finish the work, the onlookers would all start making fun of him and saying,

30 Here is a man who started to build and was unable to finish”.

For war is won by sound thinking and victory rests in having many counsellors.

Pr 24:6 Lk 14:31 =Pr 11:14

31 Or again, what king marching to war against another king would not first sit down and consider whether with ten thousand men he could stand up to the other who advanced against him with twenty thousand?

32 If not, then while the other king was still a long way off, he would send envoy to sue for peace.

Another to whom he said, ‘Follow me’, replied,o ‘Let me go and bury my father first’. On almsgivingd Sell you possessions and give alms. Get

Lk 9:59 Lk 14:26,33

Lk 12:33+ Lk 3:11

33 So in the same way, none of you can be my disciple unless he gives up all his possessions.e

Lk 14:33 – e– Applicable to all disciples – Lk seems to make no distinction.

Lk 9:59 - o – Add, ‘Lord’, cf Mt 8:21.

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yourselves purses that do not wear out, treasure that will not fail you, in heaven where no thief can reach it and no moth destroy it.

Lk 6:30 Lk 7:5 Lk 11:41 Pr 13:7 Ws 7:14 Mt 6:20-21

Lk 12:33- d - That riches are a danger and should be given away in alms is characteristic teaching of Lk: cf. 3:11; 6:30; 7:5; 11:41; 12:33-34; 14:14; 16:9; 18:22; 19:8; Ac 9:36; Ac 10:2,4,31.

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First Reading: Ws 9:13-18b


Who can ever know the mind of the Lord? Who could ever be his counsellor?” As scripture says: Who can know the mind of the Lord, so can teach him?” But we are those who have the mind of Christ.j

Rm 11:34 Is 40:13 1 Co 2:11

1 Co 2:16

Is 40:13 Rm 11:34 Ws 9:13 1 Co 7:40

13 What man indeed can know the intentions of God? Who can divine the will of the Lord?

1 Co 2:16 – j – Var. ‘of the Lord’.

14 The reasoning of mortals are unsure and our intentions unstable;

What then of those who live in houses of clay, who are founded on dust? They are crushed as easily as moth!

My tent is pulled up and thrown away like a tent of a shepherd; like a weaver you roll upf my life, to cut it from the loom. From dawn to night you are compassing my end.

The law of course as we know that is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin (v. 14), Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord. In short, it is I who with my reasonn serve the Law of God and no less I who serve in my unspiritual self the law of sin. o (v. 25).

I am sure it is my duty, as long as I am in this tent, to keep stirring you up with

Jb 4:19 Jb 15:15-16 Ws 9:15

Is 38:12

Ws 9:15 2 Co 5:1-4 2 P 1:13-14 Jb 7:6; 4:20

Rm 7:14, 25+

Rm 6:12-14 Tb 14:4+ Ps 51:5 Ws 9:15 Ga 5:17 1 P 4:2 Rm 5:21; 6:23

2 P 1:13

Ws 9:15

15 For a perishable body presses down the soul, and this tent of clay weighs down the teeming mind.h

Ws 9:15 – h – The term are reminiscent of Plato but the metaphor is no less biblical, see Jb 4:19 (cf. 2 Co 4:7) and Is 38:12 (cf. 2 Co 5:1,4). The antithesis between body and spirit is elaborated later by Apostle Paul, Ga. 5:17; Rm 7:14-25. Is 38:12 – f – ‘you roll up’ corr.; ‘he rolls up’ Hebr. Rm 7:25 – n - The nous, human reason or mind, is a Greek idea very different from the pneuma or supernatural Spirit, 5:5+, and even from the spirit in the biblical sense of man’s higher self, 1:9+. It is the principle of understanding, 1 Co 14:14, 15, 19; Ph 4:7; 2 Th 2:2; cf. Lk 24:45; Rv 13:18; 17:9, and of moral judgment, Rm 14:5; 1 Co 1:10. Usually it is reliable, Rm 7:23,25, but is at times

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reminders… Is 38:12 2 Co 5:1

perverted, 1:28; Ep 4:17; 1 Tm 6:5; 2 Tm 3:8; Tt 1:15, by the ‘flesh’, Col 2:18; cf. Rm 7:5+, and has to be renewed, Rm 12:2, within man’s own spirit by the Spirit of God, Ep 4:23f; cf. 3:10. o – This sentence, which would come more naturally before verse 24, seems to have been added – perhaps by Paul himself.

Yes, the heavens are as high above the earth as my ways are above your ways, my thoughts above your thoughts.

If you do not believe me when I speak about things in this world, how are you going to believe me when I speak to you about heavenly things?

Is 55:9 Ps 103:11 Qo 3:11

Jn 3:12

Jn 6:60-62 Ws 9:16-17 Ph 3:19f

16 It is hard enough for us to work out what is on earth, laborious to know what lies within our reach; and who, then, can discover what is in the heavens?

Everything has been entrusted to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, just as no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.j

Be my saviour again, renew my joy, keep my spirit steady and willing….

Mt 11:27 Mt 4:3+; 16:17 Ws 9:17 Jn 1:18; 3:35+ 10:15 Ws 2:13 Jn 3:11+

Ps 51:12

Is 57:15f

17 As for your intention, who could have learnt it, had you not granted Wisdom and sent your holy spirit from above?

Mt 11:27 – j – v. 27 has a Johannine flavor: awareness of Christ’s divine sonship exists in the deepest stratum of the synoptic tradition as well as in Jn.

Israel, blessed are we: what pleases God has been revealed to us.

Ba 4:4 Dt 4:8, 32-37 Ws 9:18

18b …and men been taught what pleases you…

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Second Reading: Phlm 9-10, 12-17


So I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you pagans... I, prisoner in the Lord, implore you therefore to lead a life worthy of your vocation... Here is a greeting in my own handwriting-Paul. Remember the chains I wear. Grace be with you.f

Ep 3:1 =Col 1:24-29 Ep 4:1 Ph 1:13 Col 4:18 2 Tm 2:9

Ep 4:1

=Col 3:12-14

Col 4:18 1 Co 16:21 Ga 6:11 Ep 3:1+ 2 Th 3:17 Phm 19 Phm 9

9 I am appealing to your love instead, reminding you that this is Paul writing, an old man now and, what is more, still a prisoner of Christ Jesus.

Col 4:18 - f - Add. (Vulg.) ‘Amen’, cf. Ph 4:2.

That is why I beg you to copy me. my children! I must go through the pain of giving birth to you all over again, until Christ is formed in you. With him I am sending Onesimus, that dear and faithful brother who is a citizen of yours. They will tell you everything that is happening here. You can remember how we treated

1 Co 4:16 2 Th 3:7+

Ga 4:19

1 Co 4:14-15 2 Co 6:13 1 Th 2:7-8 Phm 10

Col 4:9

Phm 10f

1 Th 2:11

10 I am appealing to you for a child of mine, whose father I becamec while wearing these chains: I mean Onesimus.

Phlm 10 c – He became his father by converting him, cf 1 Co 4:15; Ga 4:19.

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every one of you as a father treats his children,

1 Co 4:15 Phm 10

12 I am sending him back to you, and with him-I could say-a part of my own self.e

Phlm 12 e– ‘And with him…’; var. (Vulg.) ‘and I ask you to welcome him as though he were myself’, cf. v. 17.

13 I should have liked to keep him with me; he could have been a substitute for you, to help me while I am in the chains that the Good News has brought me.

14 However, I did not want to do anything without your consent; it would have been forcing your act of kindness, which should be spontaneous.

15 I know you have been deprived of Onesimus for a time,f but it was only so that you could have him back for ever,

Phlm 15 f – ‘Deprived” of him by God who allowed the slave to escape only so that everyone might subsequently benefit.

Does the fact that we are living by grace and not by law mean that we are free to sin? Of course not! Slaves, be obedient to the men who are called your masters in the world, with deep respectb and sincere loyalty, as you are obedient to Christ (v. 5); not only when you are under their eye, as if you had only to please men, but because you are slaves of Christ and wholeheartedly do the will of God (v. 6). Work hard and willingly, but do it for the sake of the Lord and not for the sake of men (v. 7). You can be sure that everyone, whether

Rm 6:15+ Rm 6:1; 14:1 1 Co 6:12; 17:21

Ep 6:5-9 Col 3:22-4:1 Tt 2:0-10 Rm 6:15+ 1 P 2:18

16 not as a slave anymore, but something much better than a slave, a dear brother; especially dear to me, but how much more to you, as a blood-brother as well as a brother in the Lord.g

Phlm 12 g – Lit. ‘as a brother both in the flesh and in the Lord’. Ep 6: 1-6 – b – Lit. ‘Fear and trembling’, cf. 1 Co 2:3+.

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a slave or a free man, will be properly rewarded by the Lord for whatever work he has done well (v. 8). And those of you who are employers, treat yourselves in the same spirit; do without threats, remembering that they and you have the same Master in heaven and he is not impressed by one person more than by another (v. 9). Slaves, be obedient to the men who are called your masters in this world; not only when you are under their eye, as is you have to please men, but wholeheartedly, out of respect for the Master.j (v. 22). Whatever your work is, put your heart to it as if it were for the Lord and not for men (v. 23), knowing that the Lord will repay youby making you his heirs.k It is Christ the Lord that you are serving (v. 24); for any one who does wrong will be repaid in kind and he does not favor one person more than another (v. 25). 4:1 Masters, make sure that your slaves are given what is just and fair, knowing that you too have a Master in heaven.

Col 3:22 - 4:1 Rm 6:15+ 1 Co 7:21-23 Ep 6:5 1 Tm 6:1 Tt 2:9-10 Phm 16 1 P 2:18 Jb 31:15 Ep 6:5 Phm 16

Col 3:22 – j – ‘your master…the Master’; Paul uses the same word each time, i.e. Christ is the master equally of both slave and slave-owner. k – That a master should name a slave as his heir, cf. Mt 21:35-8; Lk 15:19; Ga. 4:1-2, is one of the most impressive proofs of how different the new creation ‘in Christ’ is, cf. Rm 8:15-1; Ga 4:3-7; Phm 16.

17 So if all that we have in common means anything to you, welcome him as you would me.

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Homily for the 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time (Cycle C) Based on Lk 14:25-33 (Gospel), Ws 9:13-18b (First Reading) and Phlm 9-10, 12-17 (Second Reading) From the Series: “Reflections and Teachings of the Desert”

COST OF DISCIPLESHIP “None of you can be my disciple unless he gives up all his possessions” (Lk 14:33)

The Gospel narrative for this Sunday is taken from Lk 14:25-33. Verses 25 and 26 say: Great crowds accompanied him on his way and he turned and spoke to them. If any man comes to me without hatingc his father, mother, wife,d children, brothers, sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Footnote c says “Hebraism. Jesus asks, not for hate, but for total detachment now, cf. 9:57-62”; and Footnote d says “‘wife’, peculiar to Lk, illustrating his leaning to ascetism, cf. 1 Co 7, So Lk also, 18:29”. Parallel texts are:

1. Mt 10:37 -“Anyone who prefers father or mother to me is not worthy of me. Anyone who prefers son or daughter to me is not worthy of me; 2. Mt 19:29 - Everyone who has left houses, brothers, sisters, father, mother, children i or land for the sake of my name will be repaid a hundred times over, and also

inherit eternal life. Footnote i says “Add, ‘wife’”. 3. Mt 10:38 - Anyone who does not take up his cross and follow in my footsteps is not worthy of me. 4. Mt 16:24 - Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. 5. Mk 8:34 - He called the people and his disciples to him and said, “If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross, and follow

me. Verse 27 says: Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. Parallel texts are:

1. Lk 9:23 - Then to all he said, ‘If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross every day and follow me. 2. Jn 12:26 - If a man serves, he must follow me, whenever I am,e my servant will be there too. If anyone serves me, my Father will honor him. Footnote e says “In the

glory of the Father, cf. 14:3; 17:24”.

Verses 28, 29, 30 and 31 says: ‘An indeed, which of you here, intending to build a tower, would not first sit down and work out the cost to see if he had enough to complete it? Otherwise, if he laid the foundation and then found himself unable to finish the work, the onlookers would all start making fun of him and saying, Here is a man who started to build and was unable to finish”. Or again, what king marching to war against another king would not first sit down and consider whether with ten thousand men he could stand up to the other who advanced against him with twenty thousand? Parallel text for verse 31 is Pr 24:6 that says: For war is won by sound thinking and victory rests in having many counsellors.

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Verses 32 and 33 say: If not, then while the other king was still a long way off, he would send envoy to sue for peace. So in the same way, none of you can be my disciple unless he gives up all his possessions.e Footnote e says “Applicable to all disciples – Lk seems to make no distinction.” Parallel texts for verse 33 are:

1. Lk 9:59 – “Another to whom he said, ‘Follow me’, replied,o ‘Let me go and bury my father first’.” Footnote o says “Add, ‘Lord’, cf Mt 8:21”. 2. Lk 12:33 - On almsgivingd Sell you possessions and give alms. Get yourselves purses that do not wear out, treasure that will not fail you, in heaven where no thief can

reach it and no moth destroy it. Footnote d says “That riches are a danger and should be given away in alms is characteristic teaching of Lk: cf. 3:11; 6:30; 7:5; 11:41; 12:33-34; 14:14; 16:9; 18:22; 19:8; Ac 9:36; Ac 10:2,4,31.”

The First Reading is from Ws 9:13-18b. Verse 13 and 14 say: What man indeed can know the intentions of God? Who can divine the will of the Lord? The reasoning of mortals are unsure and our intentions unstable;

Parallel texts for verse 13 are:

1. Rm 11:34 - “Who can ever know the mind of the Lord? Who could ever be his counsellor?”

2. 1 Co 2:16 - As scripture says: Who can know the mind of the Lord, so can teach him?” But we are those who have the mind of Christ. j. Footnote j says “Var. ‘of the Lord’.”

Verse 15 says: For a perishable body presses down the soul, and this tent of clay weighs down the teeming mind.h Footnote h says “The term are reminiscent of Plato but the metaphor is no less biblical, see Jb 4:19 (cf. 2 Co 4:7) and Is 38:12 (cf. 2 Co 5:1,4). The antithesis between body and spirit is elaborated later by Apostle Paul, Ga. 5:17; Rm 7:14-25.” Parallel texts are:

1. Jb 4:19 - What then of those who live in houses of clay, who are founded on dust? They are crushed as easily as moth! 2. Is 38:12 - My tent is pulled up and thrown away like a tent of a shepherd; like a weaver you roll upf my life, to cut it from the loom. From dawn to night you are

compassing my end. Footnote f says “‘you roll up’ corr.; ‘he rolls up’ Hebr.” 3. Rm 7:14, 25 - The law of course as we know that is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin (v. 14), Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord. In

short, it is I who with my reasonn serve the Law of God and no less I who serve in my unspiritual self the law of sin. o (v. 25). Footnote n says “The nous, human reason or mind, is a Greek idea very different from the pneuma or supernatural Spirit, 5:5+, and even from the spirit in the biblical sense of man’s higher self, 1:9+. It is the principle of understanding, 1 Co 14:14, 15, 19; Ph 4:7; 2 Th 2:2; cf. Lk 24:45; Rv 13:18; 17:9, and of moral judgment, Rm 14:5; 1 Co 1:10. Usually it is reliable, Rm 7:23,25, but is at times perverted, 1:28; Ep 4:17; 1 Tm 6:5; 2 Tm 3:8; Tt 1:15, by the ‘flesh’, Col 2:18; cf. Rm 7:5+, and has to be renewed, Rm 12:2, within man’s own spirit by the Spirit of God, Ep 4:23f; cf. 3:10”; and Footnote o says “This sentence, which would come more naturally before verse 24, seems to have been added – perhaps by Paul himself.”

4. 2 P 1:13 - I am sure it is my duty, as long as I am in this tent, to keep stirring you up with reminders …

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Verse 16 says: It is hard enough for us to work out what is on earth, laborious to know what lies within our reach; and who, then, can discover what is in the heavens?

Parallel texts are: 1. Is 55:9 - Yes, the heavens are as high above the earth as my ways are above your ways, my thoughts above your thoughts. 2. Jn 3:12 - If you do not believe me when I speak about things in this world, how are you going to believe me when I speak to you about heavenly things?

Verse 17 says: As for your intention, who could have learnt it, had you not granted Wisdom and sent your holy spirit from above? Parallel texts are:

1. Mt 11:27 - Everything has been entrusted to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, just as no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.j Footnote j says “v. 27 has a Johannine flavor: awareness of Christ’s divine sonship exists in the deepest stratum of the synoptic tradition as well as in Jn.”

2. Ps 51:12 - Be my saviour again, renew my joy, keep my spirit steady and willing….

Verse 18b says: and men been taught what pleases you… Parallel text is Ba 4:4 that says: Israel, blessed are we: what pleases God has been revealed to us.

The Second Reading is from Phlm 9-10, 12-17. Verse 9 says: I am appealing to your love instead, reminding you that this is Paul writing, an old man now and, what is more, still a prisoner of Christ Jesus. Parallel texts are:

1. Ep 3:1 - So I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you pagans... 2. Ep 4:1 - I, prisoner in the Lord, implore you therefore to lead a life worthy of your vocation. 3. Col 4:18 - Here is a greeting in my own handwriting-Paul. Remember the chains I wear. Grace be with you.f Footnote f says “Add. (Vulg.) ‘Amen’, cf. Ph 4:2.”

Verse 10 says: I am appealing to you for a child of mine, whose father I becamec while wearing these chains: I mean Onesimus. Footnote c says “He became his father by converting him, cf 1 Co 4:15; Ga 4:19.

Parallel texts are: 1. 1 Co 4:16 - That is why I beg you to copy me. 2. Ga 4:19 - my children! I must go through the pain of giving birth to you all over again, until Christ is formed in you. 3. Col 4:9 - With him I am sending Onesimus, that dear and faithful brother who is a citizen of yours. They will tell you everything that is happening here. 4. 1 Th 2:11 - You can remember how we treated every one of you as a father treats his children,

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Verse 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17 say: I am sending him back to you, and with him-I could say-a part of my own self.e I should have liked to keep him with me; he could have been a substitute for you, to help me while I am in the chains that the Good News has brought me. However, I did not want to do anything without your consent; it would have been forcing your act of kindness, which should be spontaneous. I know you have been deprived of Onesimus for a time, f but it was only so that you could have him back for ever, not as a slave anymore, but something much better than a slave, a dear brother; especially dear to me, but how much more to you, as a blood-brother as well as a brother in the Lord.g So if all that we have in common means anything to you, welcome him as you would me. Footnote e says “‘And with him…’; var. (Vulg.) ‘and I ask you to welcome him as though he were myself’, cf. v. 17”; Footnote f says “‘Deprived” of him by God who allowed the slave to escape only so that everyone might subsequently benefit”; and Footnote g says “Lit. ‘as a brother both in the flesh and in the Lord’.“ Parallel texts for verse 16 are:

1. Rm 6:15 - Does the fact that we are living by grace and not by law mean that we are free to sin? Of course not! 2. Ep 6:5-9 - Slaves, be obedient to the men who are called your masters in the world, with deep respectb and sincere loyalty, as you are obedient to Christ (v. 5); not

only when you are under their eye, as if you had only to please men, but because you are slaves of Christ and wholeheartedly do the will of God (v. 6). Work hard and willingly, but do it for the sake of the Lord and not for the sake of men (v. 7). You can be sure that everyone, whether a slave or a free man, will be properly rewarded by the Lord for whatever work he has done well (v. 8). And those of you who are employers, treat yourselves in the same spirit; do without threats, remembering that they and you have the same Master in heaven and he is not impressed by one person more than by another (v. 9). Footnote b says “Lit. ‘Fear and trembling’, cf. 1 Co 2:3+”.

3. Col 3:22 - 4:1 - Slaves, be obedient to the men who are called your masters in this world; not only when you are under their eye, as is you have to please men, but wholeheartedly, out of respect for the Master.j (v. 22). Whatever your work is, put your heart to it as if it were for the Lord and not for men (v. 23), knowing that the Lord will repay youby making you his heirs.k It is Christ the Lord that you are serving (v. 24); for any one who does wrong will be repaid in kind and he does not favor one person more than another (v. 25). 4:1 Masters, make sure that your slaves are given what is just and fair, knowing that you too have a Master in heaven. Footnote j says “‘your master…the Master’; Paul uses the same word each time, i.e. Christ is the master equally of both slave and slave-owner; and Footnote k says That a master should name a slave as his heir, cf. Mt 21:35-8; Lk 15:19; Ga. 4:1-2, is one of the most impressive proofs of how different the new creation ‘in Christ’ is, cf. Rm 8:15-1; Ga 4:3-7; Phm 16.

When we talk of “cost”, we talk about an amount or sum of money which we have to spend for something.

When we talk about the cost of discipleship of Christ, we talk about the amount or sum of something which we have to spend to follow Jesus Christ. The gospel narrative for this Sunday says that the cost which Jesus Christ demands in following him as his disciple is to renounce, or give up, everything. The end purpose of renunciation is so that the disciple of Christ will be detach from all worldly concerns so that nothing distracts him from following Jesus Christ. This, of course, is not a permanent detachment; it will only last as long as he is in a stage of discipleship. After that stage, we can return to his attachments to the world.

Homilies for the Sundays in Ordinary Time Cycle C Part 2

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