Oct. 10 and 11

467.doc

Scripture: Lectionary 467: Romans 1:1-7. Psalm 98:1.2-3.3-4. Luke 11:29-32:

Paying attention to who surrounds Jesus or to which group or persons he is speaking helps us to enter into listening to the living voice of Jesus that is also addressed to us. We sometimes are similar to the one or ones addressed who heard his voice two thousand years ago. In the spiritual realm time is not a factor and in the Communion of Saints we are joined to all of God’s faithful people past and present. Today the “crowd” presses close to Jesus to listen to his teachings. All of them are potential disciples of the Lord if they listen and accept. They are to read the signs of their times just as we should read the signs of today’s world and with its amazing diversity of cultures. We have seen how Jonah’s preaching led to the conversion of the Ninevites despite Jonah not wanting this to happen. Today we listen to a greater than Jonah. We listen to greater wisdom than that of Solomon. The Queen of the South (Egypt or Ethiopia) sought out wisdom from Solomon. Imagine how much more she would have loved to have heard Jesus and follow his wisdom!

What about us? Shall we not listen while reading the signs of these times in which we live? How do we cope with violence, wars, materialism, individualism and the bombardment of something new in technology each day? We are surrounded by noise from without and from within ourselves. Is it possible to listen to Jesus in the short time we have at our disposal; in the less than an hour that we may be present participating in a Eucharist. Is this enough to really hear the living voice of Jesus while discerning what is of value in the cultural onslaught of the signs of our times?

We hear Paul concerned with this in his time. We begin reading and listening to selections from the last and most developed letter of Paul. In the first chapter we have the theme he wishes to help us understand—that of absolute faith and trust in Jesus who is humanly among us through the messianic line of David and divinely present in the world through his resurrected and glorified state as Son of God. We listen with the ears of our hearts; we learn from one who experienced Jesus through a conversion of his own heart and mind yet lost nothing that was of value from his own culture and his former religion. He speaks directly to us as the ancestors of the Romans but like Matthew he includes and is aware of his Jewish brothers and sisters. Paul proclaims the Gospel of Jesus Christ who is the Anointed One promised by the prophets. We listen to the wisdom words of Paul that lead us to hearing the living voice of Jesus in his heart and in our ears. Faith is what opens us up to do this listening and following up what we learn.

We sing a new song to the Lord each day we open up the Scriptures and ponder them over in the light of our own experiences of what is happening around us. They help us not only to cope but to witness to the faith we have so generously received from God through Jesus. Matthew does this journey of faith through his orderly Gospel; while Paul gives us the authentic interpretation of Jesus by his words. Our new song helps us to be united throughout the world not only by the internet but by the more powerful media of God’s good news through the Gospels and the inspired Scriptures. As the new song tells us, “All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of God. Sing joyfully to God all you lands; break into song. Sing praise! (Psalm 98:4). Amen.

Scripture: Lectionary # 468 Tuesday. Romans 1:16-25. Psalm 19:2-3.4-5. Luke 11:37-41:

Paul continues to open up the world of faith through his inspired Epistle. He has spent years on meditating upon what he has learned after his conversion and now in his most mature years he gives us the best insights that are possible about the realm of the Spirit and that of faith. We touch upon the major theme of Romans today in our first reading. It may be summed up in what he has chosen from the prophetic words of Habakkuk 2:4: “For the upright person shall live by faith.”

This faith is handed on to us through those who preach the Gospel and those who receive their message with a listening heart. The Benedictine Rule contains this idea in its introductory pages by reminding the monks to let the ears of their heart listen to the Gospel. Paul is certainly telling us that faith is a generous gift of God given to us and is the gift that develops within us our holiness, our wholesomeness, and our uprightness. Paul develops this especially in chapter ten of Romans where he is clearly speaking of “faith of the heart.”

Habakkuk 2:4 is translated from the Hebrew in the following way: “But the righteous shall live by his faith.” It is worthwhile adding the following commentary on this verse which Paul alters from the original Hebrew and the Septuagint showing us the variety of translating and understanding the texts which are inspired. Even the inspired writers have nuances that differ from one another! Holy Scripture is far from being a field of literalism; it is an unfathomable sea of wonderful divine meanings for life which even the Scriptures attest to through the different authors. Now back to the Hebrew interpreter: “The Hebrew word (for “faith” is emunah from Amen) does not signify faith in the Bible but ‘steadfastness, faithfulness.’ It is used of Moses’ uplifted hands which were steady (Exodus 12:16), and of men in charge of money who dealt faithfully (II Kings 12:16). What is here intended is : the righteous Israelite, who remains unswervingly loyal to the moral precepts, will endure, although he has to suffer for his principles; whereas the wicked, who enjoy a temporary ascendancy through their violation of right, are in the end overthrown and humbled. The Talmud records the famous remark of Rabbi Simmlai (Makkot 23b),’Moses gave Israel 613 commandments. David reduced them to 10, Isaiah to 2, but Habakkuk to one: the righteous shall live by his faith.”(A.Cohen).

Psalm 19 is perfectly in harmony with what Paul is saying about proclaiming the Gospel and listening to it with our hearts rather than with just our ears and mind. The Psalm is used on feasts dedicated to the Apostles and Paul is among the greatest of them.

The excerpt from Luke’s Gospel shows that there is no pride in a faithful and steadfast person who has a listening heart of faith. We learn we are to clean not only the outside but also the inside by being sincere and transparent to what is happening within when we listen with our dedicated hearts. We are to make the interior the essential but it has to be a purified interior so that our hearts really hear the living voice of Jesus and the Father and the Holy Spirit. We, therefore, pray as Isaiah did, “Lord, cleanse my heart and my lips.” Amen.