October 27, 2012

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Saturday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 478

Reading 1 Eph 4:7-16

Brothers and sisters:
Grace was given to each of us
according to the measure of Christ"s gift.
Therefore, it says:
He ascended on high and took prisoners captive;he gave gifts to men.

Brothers and Sisters, Christ gave us all gifts in accordance with our faith.

I don't think the verse in italics is found anywhere else in Scripture.  Therefore, it must be something else to which St. Paul is referring.  Or perhaps he is summarizing a teaching from one of the Gospels or Epistles.  The only one that comes close to this is St. Peter's

What does "he ascended" mean except that he also descended
into the lower regions of the earth?
The one who descended is also the one who ascended
far above all the heavens,
that he might fill all things.

As I mentioned above, I think this is a reference to St. Peter's epistle:

1 Peter 3:18-20
King James Version (KJV)
18 For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:
19 By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison;
20 Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.

But I don't understand the reference.

And he gave some as Apostles, others as prophets,others as evangelists, others as pastors and teachers,to equip the holy ones for the work of ministry,for building up the Body of Christ,

Remember that he started by saying that Christ gave us all grace through gifts.  Then, at this point, he begins to enumerate the gifts.  And he says that the purpose of these gifts is to build up the Church, the Body of Christ.

until we all attain to the unity of faith
and knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood
to the extent of the full stature of Christ,

Until all of us become one in Christ to the fullest extent.

so that we may no longer be infants,
tossed by waves and swept along by every wind of teaching
arising from human trickery,
from their cunning in the interests of deceitful scheming.

And because we are more knowledgeable and mature, we will be more stable and confident in the knowledge of our faith.  Being able to withstand temptation and the tricks of those who would turn us around.

Rather, living the truth in love,
we should grow in every way into him who is the head, Christ,
from whom the whole Body,
joined and held together by every supporting ligament,
with the proper functioning of each part,
brings about the Body's growth and builds itself up in love.

And live our lives in accordance with truth and love.  Becoming everyday more like our Saviour and growing closer to our fellow man, uniting the Church and building it up in love.

Responsorial Psalm Ps 122:1-2, 3-4ab, 4cd-5

R. (1) Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.I rejoiced because they said to me,
"We will go up to the house of the LORD."
And now we have set foot
within your gates, O Jerusalem.
R. Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.Jerusalem, built as a city
with compact unity.
To it the tribes go up,
the tribes of the LORD.
R. Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.According to the decree for Israel,
to give thanks to the name of the LORD.
In it are set up judgment seats,
seats for the house of David.
R. Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.

Jerusalem is in Zion.  The Mountain of God.  And that is what this Psalm is about.  It is about the heavenly Jerusalem, where those who merit to live with God will abide after the Final Judgment.

A reading from the Holy Gospel according to St. Luke 

Lk 13:1-9

Some people told Jesus about the Galileans
whose blood Pilate had mingled with the blood of their sacrifices.

People were asking Jesus about the reason for suffering in the world.  Some people had died making sacrifices to God.  And they wanted to know why this had happened?

He said to them in reply,
"Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way
they were greater sinners than all other Galileans?
By no means!
But I tell you, if you do not repent,
you will all perish as they did!

And Jesus said that it wasn't because of their sin that these people had died in that manner.  But, He warned that if they did not repent of their sins, they certainly would die in that manner.

This is puzzling to me.  The only thing I can figger is that Jesus was referring to the death of their soul.  If they did not repent of their sins, Jesus says, their souls will certainly die.

Or those eighteen people who were killed
when the tower at Siloam fell on them?
do you think they were more guilty
than everyone else who lived in Jerusalem?
By no means!
But I tell you, if you do not repent,
you will all perish as they did!"

He repeated the same lesson.  Unless they repent, they will go to hell, where their souls will be as dead, because they are separated from the source of life, God.

And he told them this parable:
"There once was a person who had a fig tree planted in his orchard,
and when he came in search of fruit on it but found none,
he said to the gardener,
'For three years now I have come in search of fruit on this fig tree
but have found none.
So cut it down.

So, Jesus told them a fable.  A story with a moral.  In this story, God is the person who planted the fig tree.  The Jews are the fig tree.  Jesus is the gardner.

God came to the garden and said to His Son, Jesus, that the Jews had not produced any good fruits.  It is time to call them up for judgment.

Why should it exhaust the soil?'
He said to him in reply,
'Sir, leave it for this year also,
and I shall cultivate the ground around it and fertilize it;
it may bear fruit in the future.
If not you can cut it down.'"

Jesus replied, "have mercy Father.  I will give them more grace and love, if they produce no fruit after that, certainly bring them to justice."

Sincerely,

De Maria