Monday , Sept. 6. Lectionary 437: I will be out of office till Sept. 14, Please, check http:scripmed.blogspot.com

Scripture: Mon. Sept.6,2006. Use http:scripmed.blogspot.com for next week.
I will be in Pgh and hope to use my brother's computer for Scripture
reflections. Thank you.

Lectionary # 437. I Cor.5:1-8. Psalm 5:5-6.7.12. Luke 6:6-11:

Paul is giving us a typical midrash ending to his mandate to oust the
man who is living in incest that is hurting the rest of the community. They
are not confronting the person, so Paul has to tell them to do so before he
can come to visit them. He has turned the Jewish commemoration of the
Passover into a Christian midrash on how Jesus, like the Passover lambs, is
sacrificed. It shows us the earliest reference to Jesus in such a
comparison and helps us to understand our use of the phrase, Lamb of God,
you take away the sins of the world. Leaven is not permitted during the
Passover and everything that has something connected with fermenting is
taken out of the homes of the Israelites. Paul uses this saving symbol to
speak of Jesus' supreme sacrifice as the Lamb who was sacrificed at the
same time the lambs were being led to be sacrificed for the Temple. We are
speaking of a reference that precedes in writing that of the four Gospels,
namely, Paul's letter to the Corinthians in 57 A.D. This will offset the
presence of any evil leaven in the community and gives the members the
strength to do something about the unlawful union mentioned in the opening
of chapter five of First Corinthians.

Jesus is healing again on a sabbath and creates a controversy over whether
this is allowed on the sabbath. He using Halakic reasoning shows the
objectors that they do not interpret the Torah correctly nor with any
spiritual depth. Certainly, it is permitted to heal and bring someone to
full health on the sabbath. The sabbath was made for man not man for the
sabbath. The goodness of God's wholesome creation is behind this healing of
Jesus. Jesus not only has the supreme gift of wisdom, he is wisdom itself
and uses this gift of the Holy Spirit to do good and create anew the health
of a human being. Rules are left aside when they are unreasonable and
simply human made. Reason and faith are not opposed to each other. Reason
helps us to solve some of our perplexing dilemmas about what is best in a
given circumstance or whether somethin is sinful or not. Some older folks
put this in a practical phrase, "Use your common sense!"

Jesus is always led by the Holy Spirit. Our Psalm 5 and its response shows
us how to have reverence and awe in the presence of God ( a gift of the
Holy Spirit called "fear of the Lord." God is not a power or force or
simply a lawmaking judge. God is a person who loves us as a friend and
wants us to love Him as a friend. The Psalm helps us to form our own
prayers and make them intimate and personal with a loving God of peace and
calm. Amen.

Note: The term "Halakic" is used by Fr. John Meir in third volume on the
historical Jesus. Halacha is the vast body of Jewish law--covering
everythin from prayer to child custody--laid down in the Torah and by
subsequent generations of rabbis. The Halacha is not at all concerned with
a transcendent world. The world to come is a tranquil, quiet world that is
wholly good, wholly everlasting, and wholly eternal, wherein a man will
receive the reward for the commandments he performed in this world.
However, the receiving of a reward is not a religious act; therefore,
halachic man prefers the real world to a transcendent existence because
here , in this world, a man is given the opportunity to create, act,
accomplish...Joseph B. Soloveeitchik. This selection is taken from "The
Joys of Hebrew" by Lewis Glinert.