{"id":870,"date":"2019-08-29T09:18:18","date_gmt":"2019-08-29T09:18:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/?p=870"},"modified":"2019-08-29T09:18:18","modified_gmt":"2019-08-29T09:18:18","slug":"1-september-2019-c-twenty-second-sunday-of-the-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/?p=870","title":{"rendered":"1 september 2019 (C) Twenty-second sunday of the Year"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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

B.\nReflection & Dialogue: The Values of\nthe Kingdom<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

First Reading <\/em>(Ecclesiasticus 3:19-21, 30-31). Behave humbly and then you will find favour\nwith the Lord. <\/em>Today\u2019s first reading is taken from the Book of\nEcclesiasticus. Exceptionally for a biblical work, we know who the author of\nthis was. He was Jesus ben Sira, who wrote this work in Hebrew about the year\n180 BC. He is named, and his person described, by his grandson in the preface\nhe added to his translation his grandfather\u2019s work into Greek. His grandson\ntells us that Ben Sira had reflected deeply on the Law, the Prophets and the\nother writings of the canon and had decided to share his thoughts with his\nstudents and readers. Ben Sira belonged to the learned Hebrew wisdom tradition.\nHe has a school in Jerusalem for the upper class, or middle class, in which he\nshared his vast learning with his students, and then with readers of his work,\nencouraging all to reflection. This is clear from the ending of today\u2019s reading:\n\u201cThe heart of a sensible man will reflect on parables, an attentive ear is the\nsage\u2019s dream\u201d. His learning did not lead to pride, and in this reading he\nreflects on the importance of gentleness and humility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Responsorial Psalm <\/em>(Psalm 67[68]). In your goodness, O God, you prepared a home\nfor the poor.<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second Reading <\/em>(Hebrews 12:18-19, 22-24). You<\/em> have\ncome to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God. <\/em>In\nkeeping with the aim the author had throughout this letter, namely to convince\nhis readers and their audiences, not to turn from belief in Christ to Judaism\nand its liturgy, he stresses again that the Jewish liturgy is but a shadow of\nthe true liturgy in heaven, where Christ the true High Priest now is. God\u2019s\npeople have no lasting city here on earth, but seek the heavenly Jerusalem.  Today\u2019s passage, which comes at the end of\nthe letter (the chapter which follows is really an appendix), contrasts the\ngiving of the Old Law to Moses on Sinai, and as such the ratification of the\nold covenant, with the New. The Lord\u2019s people\u2019s encounter with God at the\nfoundation of the first covenant was an awesome event, described in this\nreading as recounted in the book of Exodus (Exodus 19:16, 18) and Deuteronomy\n(4:11). While the author is writing to believers still on earth, he addresses\nthem as if they could imagine themselves already in heaven, in the communion of\nsaints and angels. One is reminded of a medieval Irish belief and expression of\nan encounter on certain occasions (for instance Easter Sunday) of believers on\nearth with the citizens of haven (meeting of the people of heaven and earth).\nThat is the belief we have in today\u2019s reading. Believers are already united\nwith Christ in Mount Zion, that is, the heavenly Jerusalem, with the angels,\nand the \u201cassembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven\u201d, that is\nChristians, coheirs with Christ, the first-born from the dead, and with \u201cthe\nspirits of the righteous\/just made perfect\u201d, probably the saints of the Old\nTestament, and with God himself and with Jesus the mediator of a new covenant.\nThis is a tremendous statement of the communion of saints, and it was towards\nthis goal, the heavenly Jerusalem,\nthat all the author had to say in this letter was directed. This goal would be\nthe end of the race run and all the trials endured by Christ\u2019s followers on\nearth. Contemplation of this vision of heaven should have served as a joy and\nan encouragement for the first readers of the letter and for those of\nsucceeding generations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Gospel<\/em> (Luke 14:1, 7-24). All who exalts themselves will be humbled, and those who humble\nthemselves will be exalted. <\/em>The Pharisees are central to this reading, as\nthey also are in the section omitted (verses 2-6). The omitted section concerns\na healing worked by Jesus on the Sabbath, at which he asks the lawyers\n(scribes) and Pharisees whether it was lawful to cure people on the  Sabbath or not. They remained silent,\nprobably because they agreed that it was. Ordinarily in the gospels the\nPharisees are presented in an unfavourable light, something not quite true of\nLuke\u2019s gospel. (See Luke 7:16 and the note on it for the 11th<\/sup> Sunday\nof this year.) Apparently Jesus got an invitation to a meal in his house from\nthe Pharisee, and a meal stands as background to this passage and that which\nfollows it. For the meal in question, it appears that the invited guests could\ntake the position of their choice, but that the person who invited them could\ninvite a guest to take a higher position. Every meal, lunch, great dinner or\nwedding feast could bring the image of the great messianic feast to the mind of\na pious Jew, Pharisee or other. This is clear from the end of this section,\nserving as an introduction to that which follows, in which a person, on hearing\nJesus\u2019 words says: \u201cBlessed is the one who eats bread in the kingdom of God\u201d.\nIn the first part of today\u2019s reading Jesus gives advice on taking the lowest\nplace at a wedding feast, with the saying \u201cthe first shall be last\u201d at the end.\nThis \u201cparable\u201d, or wisdom teaching, spoken by Jesus in today\u2019s reading may have\na connection with the kingdom\n of God, in which God is\nhost and can allot places.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            In\nthe second section of this reading Jesus refers to the invitation he received,\nand speaks to his host, not by way of censure but availing of the situation to\ngive his view on his own and God\u2019s concern for the poor and marginalized.  In the culture of Jesus\u2019 day, and indeed of\nevery age, the expected response to an invitation to a meal or feast would be a\nreturn invitation to a meal of the same level. Jesus presents a different view.\nThe invitation would not be for friends or others who could repay in kind, but\nrather to the poor and marginalized of different sorts \u2013 a theme beloved of\nJesus and one stressed by Luke in his gospel. It would be an invitation not\nrepaid in kind in this world, but on the last day, at the resurrection of the\njust\/righteous. Bodily resurrection at the end of time was a belief dear to the\nPharisees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            While\nJesus\u2019 suggestion, or teaching, on invitation to lunch or dinner may not prove\nacceptable by society standards, it is central to the gospel message, and calls\nfor response at different levels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

B.\nReflection & Dialogue<\/strong>: The\nValues of the Kingdom<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck\n(19th<\/sup> century) is often accredited with the saying that no nation\ncould run its foreign policy in accord with the Sermon Mount. On the other hand\nWinston Churchill is reported to have said on one occasion: “What a happy\nworld this would be if we all lived according to the Sermon on the Mount!”\nReports also have it that in reply to a question, after the sad state of the\nworld after World War II, as to where to begin reconstruction, a noted\nstatesman said: \u201cWe begin with the Sermon on the Mount\u201d. Echoes from this\nSermon, and from Gospel values, have been felt down through two thousand years\nof history. Today\u2019s Gospel reading presents us with an opportunity and\nincentive to reflect on all this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            It\nis clear, I believe, that neither a nation state or religious order could\nimplement what Jesus has said in today\u2019s Gospel reading on whom should be\ninvited to lunch or dinner. But the lesson to be drawn from Jesus\u2019 words will\nalways remain. Blessed are the poor, the poor and marginalized in so many ways,\nfor the kingdom of heaven is theirs. They are God\u2019s friends, and if God\u2019s\nfriends a central message of the Gospel is that their needs and persons should\nbe attended to. Throughout history the Holy Spirit has inspired certain persons\nto give new life to what Jesus has said on poverty and care for the poor, such\nas St Francis of Assisi\nand Popes of our own day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            And\nwith regard to humility and Gospel simplicity — the values of the kingdom have\ngreatly influenced New Testament teaching (Gospels and Epistles) and Church\nteaching as well. Gospel values inspire social equality. As Paul reminds the\nChristians of the early Church in Rome\n(Romans 12:16) \u201cDo not be haughty (or: high-minded), but associate with the\nlowly\u201d. Paul\u2019s letters, and other New Testament writings, are full of such\nteaching, which has behind it the person of Jesus as an example and a teacher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            These\nGospel values have had a great influence on western thought, and in part practice.\nThey have become part of Christian doctrine. \nAnd in our own day, when many want no mention of a Christian\ninheritance, they remain as values, described as ethics rather than Christian\nvalues, even by humanists, unbelievers and atheists.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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