Lectionary 465, 466

465.doc

Scripture: lectionary 465. Joel 1:13-15; 2:1-2. Psalm 9:2-3.6.16.8-9. Luke 11:15-26:

Parables are ways in which Jesus makes us think. The fact that over fifty of them have been preserved in the Scriptures especially by Luke and Matthew is a sign that we are listening to the living voice of Jesus through them. One Protestant Minister reminded me that he thinks that is what is missing in most homilies and sermons. We hear the voice of the preacher, minister, priest or deacon rather than the living voice of Jesus!

With the parables from Matthew that emphasize the Kingdom present now and in the time to come and those of Luke which stress the compassion and mercy of God we do hear the living voice of the Lord and our interpretation of these parable should make it clear to the listeners that they must receive the living voice through the transparent text speaking more than the preacher.

We have some parable in Mark but they are few. John uses other symbolic ways of presenting the voice of Jesus—especially through the “I AM” sayings and through the imagery of vines and shepherds.

In the selection from Luke today Jesus is confronting the demon and also those who do not accept his tremendous power over all demons including Beelzebub (the Prince of demons, the Devil or Satan). The thoughts and judgments against Jesus are coming from his enemies who are not demons but hardnosed people and leaders who point their finger at Jesus as being in cooperation with Beelzebub the Prince of demons! It is blasphemous on their part. Jesus confronts both demons and such unbelievers who are listening the biggest liar of them all, Satan. To help them understand the seriousness of their rash judgments about Jesus, he gives them several parable like examples and wisdom sayings that corroborate what the parables bring out in our pericope (passage). Comparison and contrasts are displayed in his examples and also the parable about the strong man over against weaker people. Jesus tells the listeners, “The one who is not with me is against me, and the one who does not gather with me scatters.”

G.W.H.Lampe, one of the greatest of Greek studies in the Bible and the Fathers of the Church has said this about our passage for today’s liturgy from Luke: …”the miracles of Jesus were a sign, to refuse to recognize which is bad as to ascribe them to Beelzebub (Satan or the Lord of the flies). The demand for a sign is to try Jesus. The coming of the Kingdom means the defeat of the devil as ruler of this world. One either receives the Kingdom or is repossessed by the evil spirit, returning to the house from which the stronger had expelled it, and introducing seven other spirits.” “Lord, deliver us from the Evil One.” Amen.

Scripture: Lectionary 466: Joel 4:12-21. Psalm 97: 1-2.5-6.11-12. Luke 11:27-28:

“Blest are they who hear the word of God and keep it.” The person who is the antecedent of these words said by an unnamed woman in the crowd is the very mother of Jesus. She is the focus of the woman’s blessing and Jesus is agreeing with her and deepening it with his own blessing extended to others but above all to his mother Mary. Jesus statement calls all of us to bless the Virgin-Mother of Jesus while realizing that we have to do God’s will in order to receive a similar blessing from him.

Luke has from the beginning of his gospel presented the person of Mary as Jesus’ first and most faithful disciple. At the Annunciation narrative Mary responds immediately to the call God presents to her through Gabriel, the archangel of important messages from God. Mary says “yes” to the invitation to be open to give God a human being, a child who will be named the Son of God, the Savior, the Son of Mary.

As the Gospel of Luke moves on in its story about Jesus, Mary will continue to be there as one who says “yes” to God in order for us to have a mother disciple, a woman disciple and a virginal disciple who shows us how to say “yes” to God and to do something about that “yes” in what is asked for her in her daily life.

Luke has her fulfill the criteria of a disciple in the multiple examples of her presence in the Gospel he wrote. He does this more than Matthew, Mark, or John. We see her as saying “yes” at her first appearance at the Annunciation (Luke 1:26-38) and at her last appearance in the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 1:12-14 and chapter 2 by inference at who is present in the upper room when the Spirit descends upon them). Mary had already experienced the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit in her earliest mention in Luke.

Jesus has a different set of requirements than others who have disciples. Mary lived up to them in every dimension of her life as we learn from Luke. The risks of saying “yes” to God are overwhelming; her courage enables her to say “yes” because she believes and trusts in God. Fidelity to God and to her Son Jesus continues and she sings about who God is for her in her Magnificat which is an echo and a mirror of her “yes.” She is the only disciple who does this from the moment of Jesus conception to his birth and through his ministry and his death. No wonder she is both mother and model for all disciples as the Spirit descends upon her while she is at prayer in the upper room at the origin and birth of the Church the Body of Christ.

Luke will tell us that the Christians were of one heart and one soul as the Church began. It was Mary who gave them the model for knowing how to be this heart and mind in harmony through a “yes.” Amen.