{"id":1024,"date":"2020-02-21T14:54:40","date_gmt":"2020-02-21T14:54:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/?p=1024"},"modified":"2020-02-21T14:54:40","modified_gmt":"2020-02-21T14:54:40","slug":"23-february-2020-a-seventh-sunday-of-the-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/?p=1024","title":{"rendered":"23 February 2020 (A) Seventh Sunday of the Year"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A. The bible<\/em> as Guide in Life and Liturgy (Sunday Readings)<\/em><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

B.\nReflection & Dialogue:<\/em><\/strong> Christ and the mystery of the Church<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

 The Bible as\nGuide in Life and Liturgy (Sunday Readings).\n<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

 First Reading<\/em> (Leviticus\n19:1-2, 17-18). You must love your\nneighbour as yourself.<\/em> Chapter 19 of the Book of\nLeviticus, from which this reading is taken, is a collection of texts without\nmuch unity between them apart from the reference to the holiness of God and of\nhis will made manifest in the Ten Commandments. The aim of the chapter is to\nindicate the way of life pronper to the people of God, and is in contrast to\nthe many prohibitions on matters relating to sexual morality spoken of in the\npreceding chapter 18. To go with today\u2019s gospel reading on the call to\nholiness, the texts for this first reading are chosen because they speak of\nGod\u2019s call to holiness, and the command to love one\u2019s neighbour as oneself, without\nhatred for one\u2019s fellows, without exacting vengeance or bearing a grudge \u2013 all\nin imitation of God himself. We may note that in the Old Testament and in\nIsraelite tradition, by \u201cneighbour\u201d a member of the Israelite community was\nmeant. Jesus will give the term a broader meaning in the parable of the Good\nSamaritan,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Responsorial\nPsalm <\/em>(Psalm 102[103]).\nThe Lord is compassion and love<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second\nReading <\/em>(1 Corinthians 3:16-23). All are your servants, but you belong to\nChrist and Christ belongs to God. <\/em>In this reading Paul is still discussing\nproblems that occupied him in the first chapter of this letter, read in the\nThird Sunday of the Year. The problem concerned the divisions that had arisen\nin Corinth\nshowing allegiance or respect to stated persons: Paul, Cephas (Peter), Apollos.\nSuch concerns with individuals took from attention to Christ and his central\nposition in the Church. Paul stressed the dangers in using human wisdom and human\nstandards in Church affairs, without due respect for the divine wisdom revealed\nthrough the death on the cross and the resurrection of Christ. He returns to\nthe same theme in this reading. The Church belongs to the mystery of God\u2019s\nholiness. She is the temple\n of God and the basic\nliturgy and sacrifice offered in this temple is a Christian life, made possible\nand guided by the grace of the Holy Spirit. Lack of respect for, or offences\nagainst, the Church, the Temple\n of God would be an\noffence against God himself. That was being done, or in danger of being done,\nin Corinth by\nthe undue respect shown to those stated individuals, in an activity guided by\nworldly, not divine, wisdom. Such human wisdom Paul says is foolishness to God.\nHe uses two Old Testament texts (Job 5:13 and Ps 94[95]:11) to indicate God\u2019s\nlack of respect for such human wisdom. In Corinth\nthe groups in question (1 Corinthians 1:12) were saying: I belong to (follow)\nPaul, Cephas or Apollos. Paul corrects this. It is not that they belong to\nthese persons, but that the persons, and much more, belong to them, to the\nChristian community, and that they all belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to\nGod. They are all united in the mystery, in the wisdom, of God. Such is the\ndivine mystery that is the Church. It is not any merely human foundation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nGospel <\/em>(Matthew\n5:38-48). Love your enemies. <\/em>There\nare two sections to this reading, each in the theme \u201cYou have learnt\u201d,\ncontrasting earlier Jewish or Old Testament teaching with Jesus\u2019 new\ninterpretation. The first is on \u201cEye for eye, tooth for tooth\u201d. This is taken\nfrom an Old Testament law code (Exodus 21:24; Leviticus 24:20; Deuteronomy\n19:21). In the original in these law codes the question was not uncontrolled\nrevenge, but rather the opposite, parity between offence and penalty \u2013 a single\neye etc., not two for an eye, etc. The saying may later have been used for\nrevenge, and it is in that sense that it appears in the present text. Jesus\nteaches that there is no place for such behaviour among his followers. Quite\nthe opposite, as the reading makes clear. One might think that Jesus indulges\nin the language of exaggeration. His words have had quite an influence and\neffect in popular language and even in political discussion, as for instance\n\u201ctwo miles\u201d, or \u201cthe extra mile\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second section on\n\u201cYou have learnt\u201d instances \u201cYour must love your neighbour and hate your\nenemy\u201d. The command to love one\u2019s neighbour is from Leviticus 19:18, in the\npassage assigned as today\u2019s first reading. There is no explicit command to hate\none\u2019s enemy in the Old Testament, although attitudes of various groups to\noutsiders may have been regarded as this. The monks of Jewish monastic\ncommunity at Qumran, who regarded themselves\nas \u201cthe sons of light\u201d, expressed hatred of another group they named as \u201csons\nof darkness\u201d. The attitude of Sirach 12:4-7 practically amounts to hatred: \u201cFor\nthe Most High also hates sinners\u201d. Sometimes in the Bible, including the New Testament,\n\u201cto hate\u201d can mean \u201cto love less\u201d, but scarcely in this text, where \u201chate\u201d\nprobably represents the attitude towards those who are not regarded as among\nneighbours. In any event, Jesus\u2019 words are in keeping with his earlier saying:\n\u201cBlessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God\u201d, the God and Father of\nour Lord Jesus Christ, the loving and merciful Father in heaven who loves the\nhuman race without any distinction, without any outsiders. To be \u201cperfect\u201d,\ncomplete in one\u2019s humanity and mercy, the model is set: perfect as the heavenly\nFather is perfect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

B.\nReflection & Dialogue:<\/em><\/strong> Christ and the mystery of the Church<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The world of Paul and the young\nChristian community at Corinth\nmay seem far removed from today\u2019s Church and the problems confronting it. And\nyet, despite the differences from the political and social points of view\nPaul\u2019s words continue to address us today, since divine mysteries know no\ndifference in time. And the Church today is a divine mystery, just as it was in\nPaul\u2019s day. She is properly understood not through human wisdom, but through\nfaith. For some time now the Church has attracted media attention by reason of\nthe many scandals within it. Sometimes the Church is spoken of as if it were\ncorrupt. In such discussion the Church is regarded only as if it were a merely\nhuman institution, the \u201cinstitutional\u201d Church. It is criticized at time by\nmembers of the clergy, among other groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            It\nis understandable and indicated that that weaknesses and scandals within the\nChurch be criticized. But believers should realize that these are part of the\nhuman side of the Church. One should not forget that the Church remains God\u2019s\nholy Church, the temple of the Holy Spirit and part of the divine mystery. As\nsuch she is not, and cannot be, corrupt. She continues to preach the good news\nof salvation to God\u2019s holy people, who under the guidance of the Holy Spirit\nlive in accordance with God\u2019s word. Any criticism by believers should bear\nthese truths in mind. Paul\u2019s words to the Corinthians, read in the second\nreading today, still merit reflection: the Church, as the Temple of God,\nis holy. It is a serious matter to damage it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A. The bible as Guide in Life and Liturgy (Sunday Readings) B. Reflection & Dialogue: Christ and the mystery of the Church  The Bible as Guide in Life and Liturgy … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1024","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sunday-readings"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1024","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1024"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1024\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1025,"href":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1024\/revisions\/1025"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1024"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1024"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1024"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}