Oct. 12 and Oct 13 Scripture meditations Lectionary 468, 469
Lectionary # 468
"Faith expresses itself through love." Paul always returns to and often
starts with the gift of love. He is showing us that faith in Jesus Christ
results in our having total religious freedom through the grace of Jesus'
redemptive love. We are the adopted children of God. John will tell us we
are the real children of God; adoption is not mentioned in the Fourth
Evangelist who even moves discipleship to intimate friendship through love
which can accomplish all things related to the mission of Christ.
In a very recent excellent commentary and comprehensive work done during
the year of Paul, Vincent Branick, a doctor in philosophy and scripture,
clarifies the passage we have before us in the lectionary for today: "He
(Paul) urges the Galatians to hold on to the freedom God calls them, a
freedom that is inseparable from love and the Spirit." (Understanding Paul
and his Letters, Paulist Press, 2009).
In our Gospel excerpt Jesus is invited to the home of a Pharisee to dine.
We may wish to understand in such an invitation there is genuine friendship
and hospitality offered to Jesus. He continues to share his message freely
among them and stays at table with them for their responding and sharing as
well. It does not mean that these Pharisees are the ones he is referring
to while he continues his teaching on the way up to Jerusalem with a break
in the action by joining them in a meal. The conversation is about the
meaning of ritual laws and ablutions surrounding hospitality. Jesus is not
against these rituals and washings, rather he is insisting on what they
should symbolize what is supposed to be going on in one's heart as one
performs them. There, in the heart is where true cleansing takes place.
This then results in the gift of hospitality given to Jesus by a friend, a
Pharisee. Something beyond the warm feelings of the atmosphere of a dinner
probably in Jesus' honor, there is a lesson to be imparted in the table
talk.
The other guests are made to think about those who need help or those who
are so ritualistic that they forget the world about them. The main point
is given at the end of the passage: "If you give what you have as alms, all
will be wiped clean from you." The founder of the Marianist congregation
had this as one of his saying and it fits our pericope (passage of
Scripture): "The essential is the interior." (Blessed William Joseph
Chaminade who was beatified on the same day with Pope John XXIII, September
3, 2002).
Scripture: Lectionary for Oct. 13, 2010. # 469. Galatians 5:18-25. Psalm
1:1-2.3.4.6. Luke 11:42-46:
Today we finish our continuous reading of Paul's letter to the Galatians in
the liturgical presentation for
today's first reading. Again the message we hear is all about love--a
golden theme that appears throughout all of Paul's writings. Dr. Vincent
Branick tells us, "In Galatians Paul associates the human heart with the
very mission of the Spirit." The fruit of the Spirit working within us is
love and the other virtues that have love as their source: peace, joy,
patient endurance, etc. The grace of God's love is our sharing in the love
of the Spirit for the Father and the Son. Vitality, energy, creativity are
offshoots of love. All of what Paul is saying is summed up in the symbol
of the human heart and in the one word "love." Agape is the word Paul has
here followed by Chara and Eirene (grace/joy and peace). Agape is the
essence of the love that emanates from the participation we have in the
Eucharist which originally was associated with a meal called the Agape.
Paul likes to list virtues under the priority of love. Love is always
first and is the greatest of the gifts even surpassing faith and hope. It
will remain forever as we learn from Paul in I Corinthians. In our daily
lives we strive then as Christians to place love above all else; the other
virtues then follow with great freedom and joy.In our daily lives it is
best manifested by friendship, by the intimate love in marriage, and by our
love for our family members. In the spiritual realm, which builds on our
human nature love the love of God, neighbor, and one's self our love is a
sharing in the love of the Father for the Son through the Holy Spirit.
The Psalm chosen to complete Paul's message is Psalm 1, a wisdom psalm. It
shows us that we are truly happy when we have our priorities together and
supported by the top priority love. Wisdom psalms lead us to appreciate
what love is all about and gives us its greatest framework in creation and
redemption of the human race. Perhaps, this day, we can take one of the
virtues under love and put it into an act of love for others or praise of
God's gifts to us, or simply by not demeaning ourselves or being ashamed of
who we really are--a child of God created by love both human and divine.
Jesus gave us the example in his being born as we are of the Virgin Mary.
Amen.
posted by Fr. Bert SM at 8:34 AM
<< Home