{"id":850,"date":"2019-08-07T13:23:52","date_gmt":"2019-08-07T13:23:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/?p=850"},"modified":"2019-08-07T13:23:52","modified_gmt":"2019-08-07T13:23:52","slug":"11-august-2019-c-nineteenth-sunday-of-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/?p=850","title":{"rendered":"11 August 2019 (C) nineteenth Sunday of Year"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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

B. Reflection & Dialogue: <\/em><\/strong>The theological\nvirtue of faith<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

First Reading <\/em>(Book of Wisdom 18:6-9). By the same act with which you took\nvengeance on our foes you made us glorious by calling us to you. <\/em>The Book\nof Wisdom (or to give it its full title The Wisdom of Solomon) is the latest of\nthe wisdom books of the canon. It was composed in Greek, in Egypt, probably in\nAlexandria about 30 B.C. The first section (1:1-11:1) is on wisdom proper, and is\nin good part a representative of Israel\u2019s older wisdom tradition for the new\nsituation, intended to strengthen Israel\u2019s faith in her God and her pride in\nher wisdom tradition in face of temptations and attacks from a sophisticated\nEgyptian culture. The second part (11:2-19:22) is on God\u2019s fidelity to his\npeople in the exodus. The culmination of this was the first Passover night,\nwith the death of the first-born of the Egyptians and the saving (passing over)\nof the first-born of Israel. This Passover night remained central to the Jewish\nreligion and, in a new form, to Christianity. This present reading speaks\npoetically of this night, and is witness to Jewish concepts that already appear\nto have crystallized around it. The fathers (ancestors), most likely the\npatriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob), are presented as having foreseen this night\nso that they might rejoice in the knowledge of the fulfilment of promises made\nto them (see Genesis 15:13-14; 46:3-4, etc.). The destruction of the Egyptians\n(enemies, foes) was the expectation of the Israelites, what God\u2019s people (the\nvirtuous), were waiting for. The Israelites in Egypt, \u201cdevout children\u201d of\nworthy men (the patriarchs), sacrificed and offered the paschal lamb in every\nhousehold. This paschal sacrifice was possibly the divine pact, mentioned in\nthis reading, binding Israel together in good times and bad. In the ending of\nthe passage the author has anachronistically the Israelites of the first\nPassover recite the Hallel (Psalms 113-118 [112-117]), as regularly done in\nlater Passovers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nPassover, of which this reading treats, is about watching, vigil, which makes\nthis reading apt to accompany the Gospel reading, which has the same theme.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Responsorial Psalm <\/em>(Psalm 32[33]). Happy the people the Lord has chosen as his\nown.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second Reading <\/em>(Hebrews 11:1-2, 8-19). Abraham looked forward to a city founded,\ndesigned by God.<\/em> During the next four Sundays the second readings at Mass\nwill be from the Epistle to the Hebrews, from the second part of the Epistle,\nfrom chapter 11 onwards. The first part was read as second readings last year\n(Year 2 of the three-year Sunday cycle) for Sundays 27 to 33. This present\nreading, and chapter 11 from which it is drawn, is an extremely important one\nin the message of the letter. The author has been addressing converts from\nJudaism who were tempted to return to their former religion and its liturgy.\nThe author has been stressing that the Jewish liturgy is but a shadow of the\nreal heavenly one, the true tent or temple into which Jesus, our true high\npriest, has passed. In the passage immediately preceding this one he reminds\nthem that perseverance and endurance are necessary, citing the words of the\nprophet Habakkuk (2:3-4): \u201c\u2018My righteous person shall live by faith, and if he\nshrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him\u2019. But we are not of those who\nshrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and keep their\nsouls\u201d. He then goes on in the present chapter to instance \u201ca great cloud of\nwitnesses\u201d of those who had faith. He retells the history of these men of faith\nfrom his own angle, emphasizing at the end (11:39-40) that they did not receive\nwhat was promised. That was to come with Christ. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

            The text begins by a well-known definition\nof faith, which I give in the NRSV version: \u201cFaith is the assurance of things\nhoped for, the conviction of things not seen\u201d, rendered in the Jerusalem Bible\nas: \u201cOnly faith can guarantee the blessings that we hope for, or prove the\nexistence of realities that are unseen\u201d. The present reading concentrates on\nthe patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, in particular Abraham, the model of\nfaith. Faith means obedience to God\u2019s call. Abraham at God\u2019s call left his\nhomeland. The reading stresses that it was an unknown land, but the land of\ninheritance for him and his descendants. The Promised Land would later be\nidentified as Canaan. The patriarchs lived there in tents, as pilgrims,\npresented as looking forward to city founded by God. It is the heavenly\nJerusalem. They were longing for a homeland, their heavenly homeland, for which\nreason God is not ashamed to be called their God. In the desert God identified\nhimself to Moses (Exodus 3:15) as: \u201cThe God of your fathers, the God of Abraham,\nof Isaac and of Jacob\u201d. He was the God whose promise of a Promised Land was not\njust Canaan, but a city, the heavenly Jerusalem. Abraham\u2019s faith in God is\nshown in many ways, in his belief against apparent evidence, and in his obedience\nto God, even to the readiness to sacrifice his only son Isaac. It is all\nintended is a model for readers of the letter and for believers of all ages, in\nany doubts and trials. Essential elements in faith are assurance and\nconviction, both gifts from God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Gospel<\/em> (Luke 12:32-48). You too must stand ready.<\/em> Reflection on this Gospel reading, and some of its hidden\nmeanings and messages, invites us first of all to appreciate the distance in\ntime and social culture between our day and that of Jesus, of Luke and the\nearly Church. There are a number of different sections in this reading, some apparently\naddressed to different audiences. One message right through it is Jesus\u2019\nwarning against the attachment to riches that endangers one\u2019s human dignity and\nopenness to God\u2019s kingdom. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

            In last\nSunday\u2019s Gospel, in the Bible immediately before today\u2019s reading, Jesus\naddressed a parable to a man from the multitude of non-believers on the\nfoolishness of selling one\u2019s soul to riches, an example of one who lays up\ntreasure for himself, and is not rich towards God. This, in last Sunday\u2019s\nGospel reading, is followed by a section, addressed to his disciples, to be\ndetached from material things, after which the nations of this world seek. The\nlisteners are invited to seek first the kingdom of God, and other matters will\nfall into line. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

            After this,\ntoday\u2019s reading follows, addressed to \u201cthe little flock\u201d, given in the\nlectionary, but not in the biblical text itself, as addressed to the disciples.\nIt is not clear whether by \u201clittle flock\u201d all the disciples are intended, or\njust the closer group of the Twelve and possibly some others, more probably the\nformer. To them is promised, or already given in the person of Jesus, the\nkingdom. Stress is laid, here as elsewhere, on the giving of alms.There follows a parable exhorting\nreadiness for action, \u201cloins girded\u201d (bottom of long cloak tucked within the\nbelt), and lamps lit awaiting the return of the master of the wedding feast. If\nthe servants, or slaves, are found in readiness, the master is presented as\nacting in an unexpected manner, serving at table and waiting on the servants or\nslaves. It is more reminiscent of Jesus at the last supper, and of the visit of\nthe risen Jesus in Apocalypse 3:20: \u201cListen, I am standing at the door and\nknocking; if you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in and eat with\nyou, and you with me\u201d. The supper intended in the parable may be the messianic\nbanquet, and the parable intended as addressed to the Church.The Lord does not answer Peter\u2019s\nquestion as to whether the parable is intended for them (the disciples) or for\neveryone. Instead he gives another parable which seems clearly to be concerned\nwith governance within the Christian community, with the special responsibility\nof the \u201csteward\u201d. Paul regards the apostles as \u201cservants of Christ and stewards\nof God\u2019s mysteries\u201d (1 Corinthians 4:1-2). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

            There are\nat least two major thoughts for reflection from this Gospel reading: the danger\nof losing one\u2019s soul to riches and the serious responsibility of bishops and\nchurch leaders, stewards of God\u2019s mysteries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

B. Reflection & Dialogue<\/em><\/strong>: The theological\nvirtue of faith<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today\u2019s second reading from the Epistle to the Hebrews which\nreminds us that \u201cfaith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction\nof things not seen\u201d, invites us to reflect on how\nthis text leads to dialogue with an active humanistic, atheistic movement in\nour own day. This question of the current clash between faith and\nhumanism is so large that only bare essentials can be\ntouched on here. Pope Benedict XVI had almost completed an encyclical letter on\nfaith before his retirement. It was published (under the title Lumen fidei\u00b8 <\/em>\u201cthe light of faith\u201d)in June 2013 by his successor Pope\nFrancis. An English translation under this title is available on Google. The\nPope notes (paragraph 2) that in speaking of the light of faith we can hear the\nobjections of many of our contemporaries. According to them, in the view of modernity,\nthat light might have been considered sufficient for societies of old, but was\nfelt to be of no use for our times, for a humanity come of age, proud of its\nrationality and anxious to explore the future in novel ways. Faith thus appears\nto some as an illusory light, preventing mankind from boldly setting out in\nquest of knowledge. Faith was thus understood either as a leap in the dark, to\nbe taken in the absence of light, driven by blind emotion or as a subjective\nlight, capable perhaps of warming the heart and bringing personal consolation,\nbut not something which could be proposed to others as an objective and shared\nlight which points the way. The Pope goes on to say that there is need, then,\nto see once again that faith is a light, for once the flame of faith goes out,\nall other lights begin to dim. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

            It will be\nfor future discussion to return to points arising from this. For the moment, in\nkeeping with the second reading, we may say that faith is not just a human\nopinion or human conviction. It is a divine gift, a theological virtue, giving\nassurance and conviction of things unseen. The certainty it gives comes from\nthe divine light of God\u2019s gift, which no human arguments can undo.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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