October 8, 2012

Monday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 461

 A Reading from St. Paul's epistle to the G Gal 1:6-12

Brothers and sisters:
I am amazed that you are so quickly forsaking
the one who called you by the grace of Christ
for a different gospel (not that there is another).

 St. Paul is being coy here.  He is reprimanding the Galatians for abandoning HIM.  He is the one who taught them the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

But there are some who are disturbing you
and wish to pervert the Gospel of Christ.

 Some people are coming to Galatian and teaching a different Gospel than that which the Apostles teach.

But even if we or an angel from heaven
should preach to you a gospel
other than the one that we preached to you,
let that one be accursed!

 St. Paul says that if anyone teaches them a different Gospel, that person is condemned.

As we have said before, and now I say again,
if anyone preaches to you a gospel
other than the one that you received,
let that one be accursed!

For emphasis, in order to make a point of how important this is, he repeats it.

Am I now currying favor with human beings or God?
Or am I seeking to please people?
If I were still trying to please people,
I would not be a slave of Christ.

He says he is not trying to please anyone but Christ.

Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters,
that the Gospel preached by me is not of human origin.
For I did not receive it from a human being, nor was I taught it,
but it came through a revelation of Jesus Christ.

And then he reveals that he received his knowledge of the Gospel from Jesus Christ, in a vision.  He also says this in another place:

1 Corinthians 11:23-26

²³ For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread:²⁴ And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.²⁵ After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, this cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.²⁶ For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come.

Responsorial Psalm Ps 111:1b-2, 7-8, 9 And 10c

Response. (5) The Lord will remember his covenant for ever.
or:
R. Alleluia.

I will give thanks to the LORD with all my heart
in the company and assembly of the just.
Great are the works of the LORD,
exquisite in all their delights.

R. The Lord will remember his covenant for ever.
or:
R. Alleluia.

The works of his hands are faithful and just;
sure are all his precepts,
Reliable forever and ever,
wrought in truth and equity.

R. The Lord will remember his covenant for ever.
or:
R. Alleluia.

He has sent deliverance to his people;
he has ratified his covenant forever;
holy and awesome is his name.
His praise endures forever.

R. The Lord will remember his covenant for ever.
or:
R. Alleluia.

 For me, the first stanza in this Psalm is very meaningful.

I will give thanks to the LORD with all my heart

in the company and assembly of the just.

Great are the works of the LORD,

exquisite in all their delights.

The Jews probably understood this as being in the company of their brethren in the Synagogue or Temple.  But those of us who submit to the Sacraments of the Catholic Church and live in a state of grace, we give thanks in the company of the Saints who souls were made perfect.  We exist on Mt. Sion, even in our walk in this life:

Hebrews 12:22-24

King James Version (KJV)

²² But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,
²³ To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,
²⁴ And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.

This is why the Sacraments are so important.  It is in the Sacraments that we are washed, sanctified and justified in the Blood of Christ. 

A reading from the Holy Gospel according to St. Luke

 Lk 10:25-37

There was a scholar of the law who stood up to test Jesus and said,
"Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"

A young student wanted to test Jesus.  He asked Jesus, "what must I do to go to heaven?"

Jesus said to him, "What is written in the law?
How do you read it?"

Jesus answered the question with His own, "What is written in the Commandments?"

He said in reply,
"You shall love the Lord, your God,
with all your heart,
with all your being,
with all your strength,
and with all your mind,
and your neighbor as yourself."

The young man recited the Commandments in summary form.

He replied to him, "You have answered correctly;
do this and you will live."

Jesus approved of his answer and confirmed that in order to receive eternal life in heaven, one must keep the Commandments.

But because he wished to justify himself, he said to Jesus,
"And who is my neighbor?"

But the young man was not satisfied.  Apparently, he wanted somehow to confuse Jesus or to make himself appear smarter.  So he asked, "who is my neighbor whom I must love as I love myself?"

In response, Jesus recited the parable of the Good Samaritan.

Jesus replied,
"A man fell victim to robbers
as he went down from Jerusalem to Jericho.

A man was attacked by robbers as he traveled between Jerusalem and Jericho.

They stripped and beat him and went off leaving him half-dead.

The robbers took all his possessions and left him for dead.

A priest happened to be going down that road,
but when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side.

A priest happened upon him and left him laying there.

Jesus is making a point by using a priest as an example here.  Priests have always been considered holier and closer to God than the general population.  At the very least, more learned about what is God expects of each of us in our dealings with our fellow man.  And yet, he passes the injured man by.

The priest is probably on the way to the temple.  Or to synagogue.  That is the Jewish Church.  And according to the ordinances of the Law of Moses, if he touches blood or if he touches a dead body, he becomes ritually unclean and must spend a certain amount of days purifying himself.  This, of course, would be a great inconvenience.

Now, ask yourself, if the person lying there had been his mother or his brother, would he have suffered that inconvenience?  Probably.  But not for a stranger.

Likewise a Levite came to the place,
and when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side.

A Levite also passed the injured man by.   Levite is simply another word for priest.   All priests were from the tribe of Levi.

But a Samaritan traveler who came upon him
was moved with compassion at the sight.

He approached the victim,
poured oil and wine over his wounds and bandaged them.
Then he lifted him up on his own animal,
took him to an inn, and cared for him.
The next day he took out two silver coins
and gave them to the innkeeper with the instruction,
'Take care of him.
If you spend more than what I have given you,
I shall repay you on my way back.'

A Samaritan is an Israelite which follows a heretical form of the Jewish faith.  They did not worship in the temple of Jerusalem but in their own land.  They were despised by the Jews and treated as heathen.  The unclean.  But, the Samaritan stopped to help the fallen Jew.

Which of these three, in your opinion,
was neighbor to the robbers' victim?"

So, Jesus asked, which of these three acted like this fallen man's neighbor.  Who showed the love  that God commands towards him?

He answered, "The one who treated him with mercy."

The young man admitted that it was the Samaritan who had done so.

Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise."

 And Jesus said, go and do the same.  This is consistent with what Jesus has said elsewhere:

Luke 6:35
King James Version (KJV)
³⁵ But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.

Sincerely,

De Maria