DAILY READING and REFLECTIONS For Friday, October 03, 2014 26th Week in Ordinary Time - Psalter 2 (Green) Readings: Job 38:1-21, 40:3-5; Ps 139:1-14; Lk 10:13-16 Response: Guide us, Lord, along the everlasting way Rosary: Sorrowful Mysteries Verse Highlight: Those who reject me reject the one who sent me. SAINT OF THE DAY: Saint Ewald & Ewald Martyred Northumbrian brothers, one called the Fair and one called the Dark , companions of St. Willibrord. From Northumbria, they were educated in Ireland. These priests of the Benedictine Order went with Willibrord to Frisia, Netherlands. They were martyred together at Aplerbeke, near Dortmund, Germany, by local pagans. READINGS FROM THE NEW AMERICAN BIBLE: READING 1, Job 38:1, 12-21; 40:3-5 1 Then from the heart of the tempest Yahweh gave Job his answer. He said: 12 Have you ever in your life given orders to the morning or sent the dawn to its post, 13 to grasp the earth by its edges and shake the wicked out of it? 14 She turns it as red as a clay seal, she tints it as though it were a dress, 15 stealing the light from evil-doers and breaking the arm raised to strike. 16 Have you been right down to the sources of the sea and walked about at the bottom of the Abyss? 17 Have you been shown the gates of Death, have you seen the janitors of the Shadow dark as death? 18 Have you an inkling of the extent of the earth? Tell me all about it if you have! 19 Which is the way to the home of the Light, and where does darkness live? - 20 You could then show them the way to their proper places, you could put them on the path home again! 21 If you do know, you must have been born when they were, you must be very old by now! 3 Job replied to Yahweh: 4 My words have been frivolous: what can I reply? I had better lay my hand over my mouth. 5 I have spoken once, I shall not speak again; I have spoken twice, I have nothing more to say. RESPONSORIAL PSLM, Psalms 139:1-3, 7-8, 9-10, 13-14 1 [For the choirmaster Of David Psalm] Yahweh, you examine me and know me, 2 you know when I sit, when I rise, you understand my thoughts from afar. 3 You watch when I walk or lie down, you know every detail of my conduct. 7 Where shall I go to escape your spirit? Where shall I flee from your presence? 8 If I scale the heavens you are there, if I lie flat in Sheol, there you are. 9 If I speed away on the wings of the dawn, if I dwell beyond the ocean, 10 even there your hand will be guiding me, your right hand holding me fast. 13 You created my inmost self, knit me together in my mothers womb. 14 For so many marvels I thank you; a wonder am I, and all your works are wonders. You knew me through and through, GOSPEL, Luke 10:13-16 13 Alas for you, Chorazin! Alas for you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. 14 And still, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon at the Judgement than for you. 15 And as for you, Capernaum, did you want to be raised high as heaven? You shall be flung down to hell. 16 Anyone who listens to you listens to me; anyone who rejects you rejects me, and those who reject me reject the one who sent me. REFLECTIONS: Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam (To the Greater Glory of God) OPENING PRAYER: Father, you show your almighty power in your mercy and forgiveness. Continue to fill us with your gifts of love. Help us to hurry towards the eternal life your promise and come to share in the joys of your kingdom. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. ON READING 1: Job 38:1, 12-21; 40:3-5 (The Lord Speaks to Job, Job bows before God) The theophany and the Lords discourse that follow it form the climax of the book: after each of the friends and the impertinent Elihu have opined on Jobs attitude and on the meaning of suffering, and after Job himself has repeatedly called on God to pronounce judgment, Gods intervention gives a perfect finish to the whole debate. The Lord upbraids the friends for rejecting the very idea that he would appear in person to reply to Job, and he commends Job for his desire to meet with Him. The content of the Lords speeches are along the lines of the previous Ones as regards created beings reflecting the power and wisdom of their Maker; but the tone is very different. The Lord does not take issue with Jobs views or lament his misfortune, or even respond directly to Jobs demand that his innocence be recognized; what he wants him to do is to watch a film documentary, as it were, recording the wonders of creation; to discover the beauty and endowments of created beings; and to acknowledge, in all simplicity, the sovereignty and wisdom of the Creator. From a literary point of view, the Lords discourses contain typical descriptions of all kinds of creatures, such as the ostrich ( 39:13-18 ), the warhorse (39:19-25), and Behemoth and Leviathan (40:15-41:26). These animals are depicted so expertly, with a mixture of realism and fantasy, that we dont know whether they belong to the world of reality or that of mythology. But they are all creatures of the Lord. The theophany consists of two lengthy speeches by God (38 :4-39:30; 40:15-41: 26), each preceded by an appeal to Job (38 :1-3; 40:6-14) and each followed by a grateful and humble response from Job (40:3-5; 42:1-6). 38:1-39:30. The Lords first speech is very rich in language and very skillfully constructed, but the message is quite simple: God is present in places where Job or no one else has ever been; he has acted and does act where no human being ever could or can: he arranges things most wisely and takes the greatest care of created beings (stars, birds, animals) far beyond mans reach. In other words, God is infinitely more powerful than Job; yet here he is, inviting him to engage in conversation and join him in contemplating the wonders of the cosmos and of the animal world. This speech cannot be described as a class in Creation Theology; and in fact in few places does it overlap with creation accounts in Genesis or in the book of Wisdom; it is rather, a sapiential description of the entire universe and of the way created beings operate; no account is taken of secondary causes or of the usefulness these beings may have for man. The speech consists of an introduction (38:1-3) and two lengthy sections. The first of these focuses on the inanimate world (38:4-38), and the second on the animal world (38 : 39-39:30). The first has a certain logical order to it, ranging out from the better known to the more remote phenomena -- earth, sea, light, the ends of the earth, and the abyss, the elements, stars … But the animal section seems to have no particular order to it; instead, the writer uses devices found in wisdom literature: his list of animals runs to ten (ten being a number symbolizing completeness) – lion, raven, goat, deer, wild ass, wild ox, ostrich, horse, lark, eagle; by choosing undomesticated animals, he accentuates the power of God. 38:1-3. The introduction to these speeches provides keys to their meaning. It uses the proper name of the God of Israel, the Lord (YHWH), as does the prologue (2:1-7) and epilogue (42:7-17) of the book itself, whereas in the preceding debate, as we have seen, the generic Greek name appears (El, Eloah, Elohim, Shaddai). This serves to underline that genuine wisdom belongs to the God of Israel, and he communicates it to his people. The text keeps repeating that it is God who is speaking: And the Lord said …, the Lord answered. The theophany out of the whirlwind would alone have made this plain; it was a whirlwind that took Elijah up to heaven (2 Kings 2:1,11) and it figures in the eschatological appearances of the Lord (cf. Ezek 1:1-3; 15; Zech 9:14); even if God had made himself silently present, Job would have had his desire fulfilled: he would have met the Lord. But by responding to Job with words, God is bestowing on him the same sign of favour as he gave to the patriarchs and to Moses, with whom he spoke face to face. In this way the sacred writer shows how very worthy a person Job is. Who is this that darkens counsel (v. 2): the Hebrew word translated as counsel(esah) means Gods plan, his purposes, which stay unchanged for all eternity (cf. Is 25:1) and are irrevocable (Is 14:24, 26). What the word primarily means here is governance of the universe, that is, divine providence: Since human reason on its own cannot comprehend the truth of divine providence, the argument between Job and his friends needed to he resolved by divine authority. So the Lord, as arbitrator of the dispute, criticizes the friends whose words do not judge Job fairly, and Elihu for his mistaken assumptions (St Thomas Aquinas, Expositio super lob, 38, 2). But, given that in the Old Testament this word is always connected with divine intervention in the lives of nations and individuals (Jer 32:19), here it also applies to Gods part in making Jobs life so miserable. Job has raised objections to this. The Lord himself now invites him to view this counsel, these plans, from the point of view of God, not man. Mans perspective is narrow and blurred. I will question you, and you shall declare to me (v. 3). In keeping with the tone of irony that surfaces elsewhere in the speech (38:4, 18, 21), the Lord grants Job the status of interlocutor and implies that he is capable of answering all the great questions and of supplying the sort of sapiential argument he will use in his speech. At no point does God try to humiliate Job; he is simply encouraging him to accept with a good grace the teaching he is going to offer him. 38:4-15. The description of the earth (vv. 4-7), the sea (vv. 8-11) and the sunlight (vv. 12-15) contains a lot of symbolism. For example, the earth is depicted as an impressive building which the stars find awesome. St Gregory the Great does well to apply this description to the Church, Gods beloved, built on the foundation of the apostles and with Christ as its cornerstone; earth and Church are a source of amazement to the angels (cf. Moralia in lob, 6:28, 5-7, 14-35). The ocean, which was full of bluster in the high seas, becomes all mild when it reaches the shore, just as a restless baby becomes quiet when it is held and clothed. The gates of the Holy Church, St Gregory explains, may he battered by the waves of persecution, but they cannot he destroyed; the wave of persecution may rock the gates from without, but it cannot break through to the heart of the Church (Moralia in lob, 6, 28, 18, 38). The light of dawn dispels the darkness (vv. 12-13), which is an accomplice of evildoers, as Job previously acknowledged (cf. 24:13-17): Evildoers love the dark of night, and flee in despair at the dawning of the day. For this reason he adds: And you shook out the wicked, that is, you forced them to flee into hiding when the light of day stripped away their cover of darkness (Fray Luis de Leon, Expositio lob, 38, 13). 38:16-38. The elements mentioned in this section were things that ancient man found difficult to fathom, so much so that they were often mythologized. First come earthly phenomena -- sea, the deeps, death, light-and-darkness (vv. 16- 21); then weather phenomena -- snow, hail, ice, floods, lightning; and finally the constellations and heavenly bodies (vv. 31-38). But God knows them to perfection and controls them. In other words, all these things manifest his omnipotence; he has created them with wisdom and love; (cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 268). The lesson is clear. We should believe in the sovereignty of God and in his kindly providence, even though we cannot fully grasp that human suffering and evil in general fit into the divine plan: We firmly believe that God is master of the world and of its history. But the ways of his providence are often unknown to us. Only at the end, when our partial knowledge ceases, when we see Gods face to face(1 Cor 13:12) will we fully know the ways by which -- even through the dramas of evil and sin -- God has guided his creation to that definitive sabbath rest (cf. Gen 2:2) for which he created heaven and earth (CCC, 314). 40:1-5. The Lords speech is interrupted at this point by a short but significant exchange between God and Job. The style of sapiential dispute is employed again, and the author uses this literary device to retain the readers attention at this decisive moment in the encounter between God and Job. ON THE GOSPEL: Luke 10:13-16 (Jesus Condemns Cities For Their Unbelief) The Gospel today continues speaking about the sending out of the seventy-two disciples (Lk 10,1-12). At the end, after sending them out, Jesus speaks about shaking off the dust from the shoes, if the missionaries are not welcomed or accepted (Lk 10,10-12). Todays Gospel stressed and extends the threats upon those who refuse to receive the Good News. Luke 10, 13-14: Alas for you, Corazin! Alas for you, Bethsaida! The place which Jesus travelled or covered in the three years of his missionary life was small. It measured only a few square kilometres along the Sea of Galilee around the cities of Capernaum, Bethsaida, and Corazin. Precisely in this very small space Jesus works the majority of his miracles and presents his discourses. He has come to save the whole of humanity, and he hardly went out of the limited space of his land. But, tragically, Jesus had to see that the people of those cities do not want to accept the message of the Kingdom and are not converted. The cities fixed themselves in the rigidity of their beliefs, traditions and customs and they do not accept the invitation of Jesus to change life. Alas for you, Corazin; Alas for you Bethsaida! For if the miracle done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. Jesus compares the two cities with Tyre and Sidon which in the past were unyielding enemies of Israel, ill-treating the people of God. For this reason they were cursed by the Prophets: (Is 23, 1; Jr 25, 22; 47, 4; Ez 26, 3; 27, 2; 28, 2; Jl 4, 4; Am 1, 10). And now Jesus says that these same cities, symbols of all the evil done to the people in the past, would have already converted if so many miracles would have been worked in them as in Corazin and in Bethsaida. Luke 10, 15: And you Capernaum. Did you want to be raised high as Heaven? You shall be flung down to hell. Jesus recalls the condemnation which Isaiah, the Prophet launched against Babylonia. Proud and arrogant, Babylonia thought: I shall scale the heavens; higher than the stars of God I shall set my throne. I shall sit on the Mount of the Assembly far away to the north. I shall climb high above the clouds, I shall rival the Most High (Is 14, 13-14). That is what it thought! But it completely deceived itself! The contrary happened. The Prophet says: Now you have been flung down to Sheol, into the depths of the abyss! (Is 14, 15). Jesus compares Capernaum with that terrible Babylonia which destroyed the monarchy and the temple and took the people as slaves, from which it never succeeded to recover. Like Babylonia, Capernaum thought it was something important, but it fell into the most profound hell. The Gospel of Matthew compares Capernaum with the city of Sodom, the symbol of the worse perversion, which was destroyed by Gods anger (Gen 18, 16 to 19, 29). Sodom would have converted if it had seen the miracles which Jesus worked in Capernaum (Mt 11, 23-24). Today, the same paradox continues to exist. Many of us, Catholics since we were children, have such consolidated convictions that nobody is capable to convert us. And in some places, Christianity, instead of being a source of change and of conversion, has become the refuge of the most reactionary forces of politics of the country. Luke 10, 16: Anyone who listens to you listens to me; anyone who rejects you rejects me. And those who reject me reject the one who has sent me. This phrase places the accent on the identification of the disciples with Jesus, in so far as he is despised by the authority. In Matthew the same phrase of Jesus, placed in another context, underlines the identification of the disciples with Jesus accepted by the people (Mt 10, 40). In both cases, the disciples identify themselves with Jesus in the total gift and in this gift is realized their encounter with God, and God allows himself to be found by those who seek him. On the evening of the day of His resurrection, our Lord entrusts His Apostles with the mission received from the Father, endowing them with powers similar to His own (John 20:21). Some days later He will confer on Peter the primacy He had already promised him (John 21:15-17). The Pope is the successor of Peter, and the bishops the successor of the Apostles (cf. Lumen Gentium, 20). There fore, Bishops who teach in communion with the Roman Pontiff are to be revered by all as witnesses of divine and Catholic truth [...]. This loyal submission of the will and intellect must be given, in a special way, to the authentic teaching authority of the Roman Pontiff, even when he does not speak ex cathedra (Vatican II, Lumen Gentium, 25). FINAL PRAYERS: Protect me, O God, in you is my refuge. To Yahweh I say, You are my Lord, my happiness is in none. My birthright, my cup is Yahweh; you, you alone, hold my lot secure. (Ps 16,1-2,5) May today there be peace within. May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be. May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith. May you use those gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you. May you be content knowing you are a child of God. Let this presence settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise, and love. It is there for each and every one of us. -- St. Thérèse of Lisieux It is by God’s mercy that we are saved. May we never tire of spreading this joyful message to the world. -- Pope Francis Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ. -- St. Jerome The Father uttered one Word; that Word is His Son, and He utters Him forever in everlasting silence; and in silence the soul has to hear it. -- St. John of the Cross
Posted on: Fri, 03 Oct 2014 06:44:55 +0000
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