Readings: Ezekiel 33, 7-9; Psalm 95, If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts; Romans 13, 8-10; Matthew 18, 15-20.
23rd Sunday - Intro to Readings , Fr. Tony
I would like to say a few words, not about the three readings today, but about the part of the Mass they occupy, the Liturgy of the Word.
As I have mentioned previously, each of the sacraments has a pattern, Scripture Readings followed by an Action. It is reminiscent of the creation story, God said and something happened. Let there be light, and there was light! And so in our Mass, we have a Liturgy of the Word, when we listen to God speaking to us through the Sacred Scriptures and then our response to that word is the Liturgy of the Eucharist, when we offer our gifts of bread and wine in Thanksgiving.
Last Sunday we heard a bit about the celebration in Detroit of the 50th anniversary of Vatican 2. One of the major changes, which came out of the council, was a reemphasis on the Scriptures. Recall that prior to this time, Catholics were pretty much discouraged from reading the Bible. Its purpose in most catholic homes was as a place to record baptisms, first communions etc. Remember that before Vatican 2 you could miss the entire liturgy of the Word and still be on time for mass!! Of course they were read in Latin, so it didn’t really matter anyway, you had no idea what was being read unless you had your own missal and were diligently following in it.
The reason Vatican 2 was able to move so quickly with the refocus on the Scriptures was because of a new encouragement on Catholic scripture scholarship, which was started by Leo XIII and continued, by Pope Pius X, XI and the XII when he issued his encyclical in 1943 on Biblical Studies.
It may be helpful for us to understand how a Jewish person would hear God’s word – not as a message to be analyzed but as listening to God speaking directly to them. Here is what Isaiah had to say about it
“Yet just as from the heavens, the rain and snow come down And do not return there till they have watered the earth, making it fertile and fruitful, Giving seed to the one who sows and bread to the one who eats. So shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; It shall not return to me empty, but shall do what pleases me, achieving the end for which I sent it.” (Is 55: 10-11)
So, when we celebrate the Liturgy of the Word, and hear God’s Word proclaimed, we need to remember that it is God speaking directly to us.
Homily
Today’s gospel reading from St. Matthew would appear at first glance to be a simple lesson on conflict resolution. But I think there is much more to this reading. If we step back a little and take a broader view of the reading in its setting in the gospel we will see that it follows a very short but powerful account of the good shepherd leaving the 99 sheep to go and find the lost sheep. Then following our reading, which you will hear next Sunday is the story about the importance of forgiveness, not just 7 times as Peter suggests but 70 times 7!! So I think this little reading today isn’t as simple as it first appears. Plus I believe that the Church wants us to consider all of our readings today, I see them all connected, for a change!
The first reading from Ezekiel puts forth an interesting concept. If the prophet, or in this case us, have heard God’s Word, and do nothing about it, in other words if we don’t try to reach out with God’s Word, then we are responsible for those around us!! In other words, we can’t keep it to ourselves! Paul, in the second reading tells us what that message is: “love one another”. I feel that the Responsorial Psalm repeats this message with its response “if today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts”. It is so easy at times to simply say “forget it” I am done trying, I am done with whatever, they have gone too far. And yet we must remember, 70 times 7.
So, this stuff isn’t easy! But back to today’s gospel, and the closing lines, “where two or three are gathered”. That’s us! Our liturgy of the Word has been us, listening to God speaking to us. We are two or three gathered, listening to God and now we will respond with our gifts of bread and wine. And I believe that we can also ask for God’s help in living lives of love and forgiveness. Remember again Matthew’s comment “anything for which you pray shall be granted”!
Picture 1: Tony beginning
Picture 2: Kevin with his parents, Connie & John
Picture 3: Communion helpers, Nancy, Jan, Patricia, & Sandra
Picture 4: Ryan
Picture 5: Leo with Alison
Recent Comments