{"id":812,"date":"2019-07-17T08:56:12","date_gmt":"2019-07-17T08:56:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/?p=812"},"modified":"2019-07-17T08:56:12","modified_gmt":"2019-07-17T08:56:12","slug":"21-july-2019-c-sixteenth-sunday-of-year-c","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/?p=812","title":{"rendered":"21 July 2019 (C) Sixteenth Sunday of Year (c)."},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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

B. Reflection & Dialogue: <\/strong>Listening\nto and living the mystery of Christ and the Church<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

First Reading <\/em>(Genesis\n18:1-10). Lord, do not pass your servant\nby.<\/em>  An important element in this\nreading is the ending, in which the Lord promises that within a year Abraham\u2019s\nwife Sarah will have borne him a son and heir. The passage is chosen as today\u2019s\nfirst reading to accompany the Gospel which narrates Jesus\u2019 visit to Martha and\nMary. Abraham was seated by the Oaks of Mamre. Mamre was an ancient sacred\nsite, slightly north of Hebron,\nwith sacred oak trees. Abraham had settled by these oaks (Genesis 13:18). We\nare first told that the Lord appeared to Abraham, and then that three men,\npresumably angels (Genesis 19:1), stood before him. The relation of these three\nto the Lord is not clear. All three may represent the Lord, as a single angel\noften does (Genesis 16:7). Only a single person is spoken of later in this\npassage (verses 10, 13). The plurality becomes a single person. The Lord may be\none of three, the other two being his attendants. In any case, at the outset\nAbraham does not recognize the three men as divine beings. In a fine\ndescription of oriental courtesy Abraham bids them welcome, and prepared a good\nmeal for them, which they ate. They have come at the heat of the day and are\ninvited to rest, take a meal and a siesta, before continuing their journey. The\nresponse to Abraham\u2019s generosity is not made by the three, but by the Lord\nhimself, a response in the form of a posterity for Abraham. The Epistle to the\nHebrews (13:1) uses the passage in an exhortation to show hospitality to\nstrangers: some have entertained angels unawares.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Responsorial\nPsalm <\/em>(Psalm\n14[15]). The just will live in the\npresence of the Lord.<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second Reading <\/em>(Colossians 1:24-28).\nA mystery hidden for centuries has now\nbeen revealed to God\u2019s saints.<\/em> Paul, here as often elsewhere, makes mention\nof his sufferings and tribulations which all knew were many. He says he\nrejoices in them because they are connected with Christ. The opening part of\nthis reading presents difficulties, and is often translated in different ways.\nSometimes this is taken to mean that Paul makes up in his body what is lacking\nin Christ\u2019s sufferings or afflictions, or what is still to be undergone by\nChrist for the sake of the Church. There clearly is nothing lacking in Christ\u2019s\nsufferings. What Christ suffered is a thing of the past. A number of understandings\nof the section may be summed up in what some regard as the true translation of\nthe original Greek text: \u201cI complete what is lacking in the\nsufferings-of-Christ-in-my-flesh\u201d. There is no reference to Christ\u2019s own\nsufferings. The sufferings in question are Paul\u2019s. Paul\u2019s sufferings are those\nof Christ because Paul is a member of the body of Christ. Divine grace is\npresent in Paul\u2019s sufferings as it was in those of Christ. Paul rejoices in his\nsufferings since in them, as in the sufferings of Christ, the divine plan of\nGod, the mystery of salvation, continued to be revealed.  When chosen as an apostle Paul became a\nminister of the Church, responsible for making God\u2019s word fully known to the\nChurch. This divine word is none other than the mystery hidden for generations\nbut now made known to believers (\u201csaints\u201d)..This mystery was God\u2019s saving plan\nas revealed in Christ and the Church. Jesus told his apostles that to them the\nsecrets, the mysteries, of the kingdom\n of God had been revealed\n(Matthew 13:11). The eyes and ears of Jesus\u2019 disciples were blessed because\nthey saw and heard what many prophets, holy people and kings, desired to see\nand hear but did not (Matthew 13:16-17). This mystery is now revealed, not just\nto Jews but to pagans, to all, and it is none other than the glorious presence\nof Christ among believers and all the hope that this brings. This is true\nChristian wisdom, and it follows that all attention should be directed to\nChrist, to have each believer reach that perfection to which Christ calls them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Gospel<\/em>\n(Luke 10:38-42). Martha welcomed Jesus\ninto her house. Mary has chosen the better part. <\/em>This is a charming\nnarrative on the hospitality offered to Jesus by Martha, sister of Mary. It\nshould be read as part of the larger context on the narrative of Jesus\u2019 journey\nfrom Caesarea Philippi to Jerusalem,\nwhich is all about discipleship, the requirements for following Jesus. At the\noutset Jesus had spoken of the suffering in store for himself, and stressed\nthat his followers would need to take up their own cross daily and follow him. At\nthe Transfiguration the Father\u2019s voice from heaven had declared Jesus as his\nbeloved Son, adding; \u201cListen to him\u201d. Jesus and his followers had experienced\nsome problems on the way, not being made welcome in some villages or homes. It\nwas the opposite with Martha and her warm welcome. She busied herself with the preparations\nfor a meal, while Mary sat at the Lord\u2019s feet listening to Jesus. We are not\ntold what Jesus was speaking about, but we can presume it concerned the kingdom of God. Martha complained that Mary was not\nhelping her, asking Jesus to tell he do so. Part of Jesus\u2019 reply has appeared\nharsh to many, and has often been altered in texts and translations. What Jesus\nmost probably said is that only one thing is necessary, and Mary has made the\nright and better choice. This saying is the highlight of the narrative. It has\nfor a long time been taken to mean that Jesus was contrasting the contemplative\nlife with the active, pronouncing the former higher and better. This is\nscarcely the message of the passage. Rather is Jesus highlighting the\nimportance above all else of listening to, hearing, word of God, of the Gospel,\nJesus\u2019 word, which the Father stressed at the Transfiguration. Later Peter\n(Acts 6:2) will say that the Apostles should not give up preaching the word to\nserve at tables. Jesus\u2019 words are not a condemnation of activity, of\ninvolvement in worldly affairs, but a reminder that in all activity (and quietness!)\nthe primacy of listening to God\u2019s word, the word of the Gospel, should not be\nforgotten.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

B. Reflection & Dialogue: Listening to\nand living the mystery of Christ and the Church<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today\u2019s readings\ninvite us to reflect on the dignity that is ours in living in the age of the\nfulfilment of the promises and the joy that this should bring, joy even in the\nsufferings that go with Christian living. Paul is happy, joyful, in his mission\nto preach the word of the Gospel the good news that the mystery has been revealed.\nJesus rejoiced that the secrets, the mystery, hidden for past ages had been\nrevealed by the Father through him, to the \u201clittle ones\u201d rather than to the\nwise and understanding (Matthew 11:25-30). For this, Jesus rejoiced in the Holy\nSpirit (Luke 10:21-22), just as Paul later would. The mystery was God\u2019s saving\nplan through Christ, which could be variously expressed. For the epistle to the\nEphesians it was God\u2019s plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in\nChrist, things in heaven and things on earth (Ephesians 1:9-10). For Paul to\nthe Colossians it was: \u201cChrist is with you, the hope of glory\u201d. With Christ in\nthe Church there is the glory of God\u2019s presence, and the hope that it brings\nfor here and eternity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            The Church continues to use this term\n\u201cmystery\u201d and its riches of meaning to express her belief in her own nature and\nin the sacraments. The first chapter\nof the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church is headed: \u201cThe mystery of the Church\u201d.\nAs Pope Paul VI explained in his opening address at the second session of the\nVatican Council (1961); \u201cThe Church is a mystery. It is a reality imbued with\nthe hidden presence of God. It lies, therefore, within the very nature of the\nChurch to be open to new and greater exploration.\u201d The sacraments can be called\nmysteries, since the power of God is present in them, continuing the initial\nmystery of Christ and the foundation of the Church. St Ambrose composed\ndiscourses on sacraments which he described as \u201cOn the Mysteries.\u201d The\nEucharist is the mystery par excellence<\/em>\nand in the Roman Missal (visible in particular in the revised English\ntranslation) mention is made of \u201cthese mysteries\u201d in relation to it. The\nmystery of Christ is thus being continually proclaimed by word and sacrament.  In the words of Christ addressed to Martha,\n\u201conly one thing is needful\u201d, attention to the word of God brought to us by\nJesus, attention to this whether we are reflective like Mary, Martha\u2019s sister,\nor busy like Martha herself.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A. The Bible as Guide in Life and Liturgy (Sunday Readings) B. Reflection & Dialogue: Listening to and living the mystery of Christ and the Church A. The Bible as … <\/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-812","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sunday-readings"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/812","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=812"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/812\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":813,"href":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/812\/revisions\/813"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=812"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=812"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=812"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}