Daily Readings September 6, 2012

Thursday of the Twenty-second Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 434

Reading 1 from the First letter of Paul to the Corinthians
1 Cor 3:18-23

St. Paul calls us to humble ourselves before God.

Brothers and sisters:Let no one deceive himself.If anyone among you considers himself wise in this age,let him become a fool, so as to become wise.

He says, "Don't hold to high an opinion of yourself."

For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in the eyes of God,for it is written:

He continues, "Because even the wise are fools when compared to God."

God catches the wise in their own ruses,

As it says in Scripture, "God is not tricked."  This reminds me of Haman:

Esther 6
King James Version (KJV)
⁵ And the king's servants said unto him, Behold, Haman standeth in the court. And the king said, Let him come in.⁶ So Haman came in. And the king said unto him, What shall be done unto the man whom the king delighteth to honour? Now Haman thought in his heart, To whom would the king delight to do honour more than to myself?⁷ And Haman answered the king, For the man whom the king delighteth to honour,⁸ Let the royal apparel be brought which the king useth to wear, and the horse that the king rideth upon, and the crown royal which is set upon his head:⁹ And let this apparel and horse be delivered to the hand of one of the king's most noble princes, that they may array the man withal whom the king delighteth to honour, and bring him on horseback through the street of the city, and proclaim before him, Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delighteth to honour.¹⁰ Then the king said to Haman, Make haste, and take the apparel and the horse, as thou hast said, and do even so to Mordecai the Jew, that sitteth at the king's gate: let nothing fail of all that thou hast spoken.

and again:
The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.

I think this means that there is really no one who is wise.  People who think they are wise are simply vain.

So let no one boast about human beings, for everything belongs to you,Paul or Apollos or Cephas,or the world or life or death,or the present or the future:all belong to you, and you to Christ, and Christ to God.

I'm not really certain what this means, "all belongs to you".  I assume it is a reference to "Mea culpa".  We, bear the responsibility of our own salvation.  If, we give ourselves over completely to God, we will be saved.  If we do not, we can't blame Paul, Apollos or Cephas.  We can only blame ourselves.

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 24:1Bc-2, 3-4Ab, 5-6

Response. (1) To the Lord belongs the earth and all that fills it.

The LORD's are the earth and its fullness;
the world and those who dwell in it.
For he founded it upon the seas
and established it upon the rivers.

R. To the Lord belongs the earth and all that fills it.

Who can ascend the mountain of the LORD?
or who may stand in his holy place?
He whose hands are sinless, whose heart is clean,
who desires not what is vain.

R. To the Lord belongs the earth and all that fills it.

He shall receive a blessing from the LORD,
a reward from God his savior.
Such is the race that seeks for him,
that seeks the face of the God of Jacob.

R. To the Lord belongs the earth and all that fills it.

This Psalm is a synopsis of justification.  It begins describing God's complete sovereignty.  Then asks the question, "who can ascend "the mountain of the Lord"?  Which, to me, means, who can come near to God?  Then, in response, it describes a humble and honest man.  To me, one who keeps the Commandments of God fits that description.  They, it says, will receive God's blessing.  Romans 2:13 is a summary of that idea:

Romans 2:13
King James Version (KJV)
¹³ (For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.

Gospel
Lk 5:1-11

While the crowd was pressing in on Jesus and listening to the word of God,he was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret.He saw two boats there alongside the lake;the fishermen had disembarked and were washing their nets.Getting into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon,he asked him to put out a short distance from the shore.

What a beautiful illustration!  Have you ever heard of the "Barque of Peter"?  It means, "Peter's boat" (i.e. Simon).  And it is a euphemism for the Catholic Church.  It is from the Catholic Church that Jesus speaks to His people.

Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat.After he had finished speaking, he said to Simon,"Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch."Simon said in reply,  "Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing,  but at your command I will lower the nets." When they had done this, they caught a great number of fish and their nets were tearing.

Another beautiful illustration!  I can hardly put into words what this verse says about the importance of the Catholic Church.

Put out into deep water.  To me the deep water represents the Holy Spirit.  Water represents Baptism and the Seven Sacraments from which Living Water is poured into the Church.  The nets represent the preaching of the Church and the our good works which we do before men that they may glorify God.

It is from the Barque of Peter that Christ casts His net.  It is into Peter's boat that Christ bring His people (represented by the fish).  And the number of those which will be brought into the Church will swell until the nets are breaking.

How important is the Barque of Peter?  Immeasurably.

They signaled to their partners in the other boatto come to help them.They came and filled both boatsso that the boats were in danger of sinking.

To me, this other represents the Orthodox Christians or maybe also the Jews, whom I believe will begin to flock back to the Church when they see the wonders which Jesus Christ will work through the Catholic Church in the final days.

When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at the knees of Jesus and said,"Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man."For astonishment at the catch of fish they had made seized himand all those with him,and likewise James and John, the sons of Zebedee,who were partners of Simon.Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid;from now on you will be catching men."

And the Apostles were all astonished at the number of fish which were caught.  But Jesus told them not to be afraid and let them know that this was just a sign of what they would be doing in the future with reference to the men to whom they would be preaching the Good News:

Matthew 28:19-20
King James Version (KJV)
¹⁹ Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:²⁰ Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

When they brought their boats to the shore,they left everything and followed him.

And when they brought their boats to the shore, the Apostles left everything.  Presumably, including the fish, and followed Jesus.

Sincerely,

De Maria