June 27, 2013

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Thursday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time 
Lectionary: 374

Reading 1GN 16:1-12, 15-16

Abram’s wife Sarai had borne him no children.

She had, however, an Egyptian maidservant named Hagar.

Sarai said to Abram:

“The LORD has kept me from bearing children.

Have intercourse, then, with my maid;

perhaps I shall have sons through her.”

Abram heeded Sarai’s request.

Sarai had become impatient.  Although God had promised her children, she could no longer wait.  So she asked Abram, her husband, to lie with her servant and produce a child which she would call her own.

Thus, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan,

his wife Sarai took her maid, Hagar the Egyptian,

and gave her to her husband Abram to be his concubine.

He had intercourse with her, and she became pregnant.

Then Abram and the servant, Hagar, did as Sarai instructed and Hagar became pregnant.

When she became aware of her pregnancy,

she looked on her mistress with disdain.

But when Hagar became pregnant, she looked down upon her mistress, Sarai, the wife of Abram.

So Sarai said to Abram:

“You are responsible for this outrage against me.

I myself gave my maid to your embrace;

but ever since she became aware of her pregnancy,

she has been looking on me with disdain.

May the LORD decide between you and me!”

So, Sarai blamed Abram for having caused this problem.

Abram told Sarai: “Your maid is in your power.

Do to her whatever you please.”

Sarai then abused her so much that Hagar ran away from her.

But Abram assured Sarai that her servant remained in her power to do as she wanted.

The LORD’s messenger found her by a spring in the wilderness,

the spring on the road to Shur, and he asked,

“Hagar, maid of Sarai, where have you come from

and where are you going?”

She answered, “I am running away from my mistress, Sarai.”

But the LORD’s messenger told her:

“Go back to your mistress and submit to her abusive treatment.

I will make your descendants so numerous,” added the LORD’s messenger,

“that they will be too many to count.

Besides,” the LORD’s messenger said to her:

So, Sarai punished Hagar and Hagar ran away.  But the Angel of the Lord found her and told her to return to Sarai and she and her son would be saved.

“You are now pregnant and shall bear a son;

you shall name him Ishmael,

For the LORD has heard you,

God has answered you.

This one shall be a wild ass of a man,

his hand against everyone,

and everyone’s hand against him;

In opposition to all his kin

shall he encamp.”

The Angel prophecied that Ismael would be born of her and that he would lead a nation which would always fight against his brothers.  Abraham's other child, Isaac, was the Patriarch of the Jews.  And the Jews and Philistines, the nation which proceeded from Ishmael are enemies to this day.

Hagar bore Abram a son,

and Abram named the son whom Hagar bore him Ishmael.

Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore him Ishmael.

And Ishmael was born as the Angel prophecied.  But we are not descendants of the slave woman.  We are descendants of the free woman. Not of Sarai, but of Mary, the mother of all who keep the Commandments and hold the Gospel of Jesus Christ:

Revelation 12:17

17 And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

 

Or the alternate reading, which is merely a sub section of the primary, so I will leave it without comment.

GN 16:6B-12, 15-16

Abram told Sarai: “Your maid is in your power.
Do to her whatever you please.”
Sarai then abused her so much that Hagar ran away from her.

The LORD’s messenger found her by a spring in the wilderness,
the spring on the road to Shur, and he asked,
“Hagar, maid of Sarai, where have you come from
and where are you going?”
She answered, “I am running away from my mistress, Sarai.”
But the LORD’s messenger told her:
“Go back to your mistress and submit to her abusive treatment.
I will make your descendants so numerous,” added the LORD’s messenger,
“that they will be too many to count.
Besides,” the LORD’s messenger said to her:

“You are now pregnant and shall bear a son;
you shall name him Ishmael,
For the LORD has heard you,
God has answered you.

This one shall be a wild ass of a man,
his hand against everyone,
and everyone’s hand against him;
In opposition to all his kin
shall he encamp.”

Hagar bore Abram a son,
and Abram named the son whom Hagar bore him Ishmael.
Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore him Ishmael.

Responsorial PsalmPS 106:1B-2, 3-4A, 4B-5

R. (1b) Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good,
for his mercy endures forever.
Who can tell the mighty deeds of the LORD,
or proclaim all his praises?
R. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Blessed are they who observe what is right,
who do always what is just.
Remember us, O LORD, as you favor your people.
R. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Visit me with your saving help,
that I may see the prosperity of your chosen ones,
rejoice in the joy of your people,
and glory with your inheritance.
R. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.
or:
R. Alleluia.

It is because of God's mercy and love that we can be saved.  Salvation does not come from us.  Jesus Christ, our salvation, did not die on the cross because of anything good which we did.  It is because of our sins that He died upon the Cross.  We did not earn His salvation.  We did not merit His salvation.  But because of His love, God became man and died on the Cross in order to save those who love and obey Him.

GospelMT 7:21-29

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’
will enter the Kingdom of heaven,
but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.

Claims of faith are not enough to receive the gift of salvation.  The gift of salvation is only given to those who obey the Father through the Son.

Many will say to me on that day,
‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name?
Did we not drive out demons in your name?
Did we not do mighty deeds in your name?’
Then I will declare to them solemnly,
‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you evildoers.’

People who claim faith but do not obey the Father will not be saved.

“Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them
will be like a wise man who built his house on rock.
The rain fell, the floods came,
and the winds blew and buffeted the house.
But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock.

Those who hear God's word and obey it will be saved.

And everyone who listens to these words of mine
but does not act on them
will be like a fool who built his house on sand.
The rain fell, the floods came,
and the winds blew and buffeted the house.
And it collapsed and was completely ruined.”

Those who hear God's word and do not obey, will be lost.

When Jesus finished these words,
the crowds were astonished at his teaching,
for he taught them as one having authority,
and not as their scribes.

The Jews were astounded at Jesus.  Because He taught with authority.  Not as a human teacher, but as the Son of God.