Daily Readings September 16, 2012

Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 131

First Reading from the holy book of Isaiah

 Is 50:5-9a

The Lord GOD opens my ear that I may hear;
and I have not rebelled,
have not turned back.

God has opened my mind to understand His commands and I have obeyed.

I gave my back to those who beat me,
my cheeks to those who plucked my beard;
my face I did not shield
from buffets and spitting.

Even in the face of adversity, when I was beaten and hated because of Him, I did not turn back.

The Lord GOD is my help,
therefore I am not disgraced;
I have set my face like flint,
knowing that I shall not be put to shame.

Because of my faith in Him, He will saved me and I will not be put to shame.

He is near who upholds my right;
if anyone wishes to oppose me,
let us appear together.

Does anyone wish to argue with me?  Let us appear before Our God together.  

Who disputes my right?
Let that man confront me.
See, the Lord GOD is my help;
who will prove me wrong?

God is my witness on my behalf.  With God on my side, who can prove me wrong?

Responsorial Psalm Ps 114:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 8-9

Response. (9) I will walk before the Lord, in the land of the living.
or:
R. Alleluia.

I love the LORD because he has heard
my voice in supplication,
Because he has inclined his ear to me
the day I called.

R. I will walk before the Lord, in the land of the living.
or:
R. Alleluia.

The cords of death encompassed me;
the snares of the netherworld seized upon me;
I fell into distress and sorrow,
And I called upon the name of the LORD,
"O LORD, save my life!"

R. I will walk before the Lord, in the land of the living.
or:
R. Alleluia.

Gracious is the LORD and just;
yes, our God is merciful.
The LORD keeps the little ones;
I was brought low, and he saved me.

R. I will walk before the Lord, in the land of the living.
or:
R. Alleluia.

For he has freed my soul from death,
my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling.
I shall walk before the Lord
in the land of the living.

R. I will walk before the Lord, in the land of the living.
or:
R. Alleluia.

The Psalm speaks of our gratitude before God who saves us.  I especially understand this because I converted back to Christianity from atheism.  And I know that it is because of God's initiative that I turned to Him and was saved.

Second Reading from the Epistle of St. James

 Jas 2:14-18

What good is it, my brothers and sisters,
if someone says he has faith but does not have works?
Can that faith save him?

Is there a more straightforward condemnation of the Protestant doctrine of faith alone anywhere?  St. James is asking, "What good is it to have faith alone?  Can faith alone save anyone?" Of course not!

If a brother or sister has nothing to wear
and has no food for the day,
and one of you says to them,
"Go in peace, keep warm, and eat well, "
but you do not give them the necessities of the body,
what good is it?

He gives an example.  If you have met someone who needs something which you can give, but you don't give it, but you simply wish them well, what good have you done for them?  Nothing!  

So also faith of itself,
if it does not have works, is dead.

In the same way,  he says, faith alone is dead.  It does not good to claim to believe in Christ if you have not changed your life in accordance with that faith.

Indeed someone might say,
"You have faith and I have works."
Demonstrate your faith to me without works,
and I will demonstrate my faith to you from my works.

And he says, "Do you want to prove to me your faith by your words?  Save it.  Talk is cheap.  I will prove to you my faith by my works."  This takes me back to Romans 4:

Romans 4:18-20
King James Version (KJV)
¹⁸ Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be.  ¹⁹ And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb:  ²⁰ He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God;

Romans 4 is one of the chapters Protestants use to defend their doctrine of faith alone.  But they never quote this part of that chapter.  Note what it says, Abraham gave glory to God by acting upon his faith. Not by professing to have faith.

Gospel Mk 8:27-35

Jesus and his disciples set out
for the villages of Caesarea Philippi.
Along the way he asked his disciples,
"Who do people say that I am?"
They said in reply,
"John the Baptist, others Elijah,
still others one of the prophets."
And he asked them,
"But who do you say that I am?"
Peter said to him in reply,
"You are the Christ."
Then he warned them not to tell anyone about him.

Mark recounts the famous episode in Caesarea Philippi where St. Peter first revealed the knowledge that Jesus is the Christ.  You might like to compare this version with the version in Matthew 16.  I suspect that St. Peter  instructed St. Mark to leave out the part where Jesus said, "You are Peter", because of his modesty.  St. Mark is regarded as having been St. Peter's secretary.  And St. Mark's Gospel is actually the Gospel according to St. Peter as written by St. Mark.

He began to teach them
that the Son of Man must suffer greatly
and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes,
and be killed, and rise after three days.
He spoke this openly.
Then Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.
At this he turned around and, looking at his disciples,
rebuked Peter and said, "Get behind me, Satan.
You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do."

St. Peter, responding out of horror that any such thing would happen to His Beloved Master wanted to alleviate this situtation.  But Christ told him that he was saying this because of Satan's influence.  Jesus knew that He must give up His life for our salvation.

He summoned the crowd with his disciples and said to them,
"Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself,
take up his cross, and follow me.

The doctrine of suffering with and for Christ is summarily dismissed by the Protestants.  But it is a strong message continually repeated in the New Testament:

Romans 8:17
King James Version (KJV)
¹⁷ And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.

1 Peter 2:21
King James Version (KJV)
²¹ For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:

For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for my sake
and that of the gospel will save it."

Many people view this as a call to martyrdom.  And it is.  But it is also much closer to home.  We don't have to await a great persecution whereby we are lined up to be shot or thrown into a lion's den.  No.  We can give up our life a little bit at a time by doing something for someone.  A child, for instance, who lets his younger sibling play on his game box.  Or a Dad who gives up fishing to be with his wife and kids.  A wife who gives up her tv show to help a neighbor.  This is how we ordinary folk are called to give up our life and save it.

Sincerely,

De Maria