25 June 2023: Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary time A

Reading 1	Response	Reading 2	Gospel
Jer 20:10-13	Ps 69:8-10, 14, 17, 33-35	Rom 5:12-15	Mt 10:26-33
RCL: Jer 20:7-13		RCL: Rom 6:1b-11	RCL: Mt 10:24-39

Discipleship: do not be afraid

During Ordinary time the Lectionary presents stories and teachings from Jesus’ everyday ministry. This week’s readings focus on how we live and witness as disciples.

First reading (Jer 20:10-13)

The first reading is from the prophet Jeremiah, whom God called in 626 BC as the Babylonians came to power. The first part of the book of Jeremiah (chapters 1-25) are poetic oracles, and form the heart of his message: commitment to his calling despite persecution and suffering; condemnation of the people’s lax religious and immoral behaviors; and complaints against God.

In today’s pericope, Jeremiah is in the middle of a crisis of faith, and offers a lament to God. In the first part of Jeremiah’s lament, God has asked Jeremiah to proclaim a message to the Jewish people that is so difficult to hear that the people turn against the prophet (“the whisperings of many”). He is worried that even his “friends” want him dead (“take our vengeance on him”). In the second part of his lament, Jeremiah remembers that God is a God of truth and justice (“the LORD is with me, like a mighty champion”) and will protect him from his oppressors (“they will not triumph”). Jeremiah closes by praising God, who protects “the poor” from “the power of the wicked.”

The Lectionary editors chose this reading because Jeremiah articulates the mission and attitude of the prophet, echoed in Jesus’ instructions in today’s gospel.

Second reading (Rom 5:12-15)

The second reading continues the fourteen-week, semi-continuous reading of Paul’s letter to the ekklesiai (multiple communities) in Rome. Romans, written in 56-57 AD, is Paul’s final letter. He has completed his missionary work in Asia and now plans a missionary trip to Spain, with a stop in Rome. He writes to the Roman believing communities to introduce himself and to give an authentic and acceptable account of the gospel he preaches.

In today’s pericope, Paul continues his focus on God gifts (God’s grace and Christ’s self-gift), granted to believers through Christ’s obedience. The pericope has two parts. In the first part, Paul discusses Adam’s choice as the source of sin: Adam disobeys God’s command (“through one man sin entered the world,” Gn 2:16-17); Adam’s disregard for God’s command brings death (“through sin, death,” Wis 2:23-24). Because all humans continue to disregard God’s commands in the same way that Adam did (‘inasmuch all sinned’), the effect of Adam’s sin continues, manifested as human death (“death came to all”). As an aside, Paul notes that sin and death existed before the Law (the time between Adam and Moses), even though, without the Law, God hadn’t qualified sin (as in the Ten Commandments). But the story doesn’t end with Adam. In the second part, Paul discusses Christ’s act as the remedy for sin: God’s “grace” and Christ’s self-gift on the cross (“the gracious gift of the one”) acquit humans and give eternal life to believers (“overflow for the many”).

The Lectionary editors chose this reading as part of Ordinary time’s semi-continuous reading from Romans.

Gospel (Mt 10:26-33)

Matthew presents the second part of Jesus’ missionary discourse. In today’s pericope, Jesus instructs his disciples to proclaim his message without fear, to proclaim to all without fear, and to trust in God’s care and support without fear.

• Boldly proclaim his message. Ancient village life had no privacy; everyone lived in the public eye. Villagers believed quiet or unexpressive people were secretly plotting something against the community. To counter these cultural attitudes, Jesus tells his disciples to proclaim his message boldly and openly (“proclaim it from the housetops”) so nothing is “concealed” and the good news is spoken “in the light.”
• Proclaim his message to all. Jesus’ message of metanoia (change one’s heart/mind) and that “God’s reign draws near” is for everyone. Unlike some ancient religions, Jesus’ good news is neither “secret,” nor esoteric (“concealed,” “revealed”), nor available only to some. However, proclaiming Jesus’ message is dangerous. Not everyone will welcome the good news gladly and without fear. Jesus knows his disciples will be opposed, rejected, and persecuted. He tells his disciples not to fear humans who can kill only the body; rather, to be in awe of God, whose judgement can destroy both the body and the soul.
• Trust in God’s care. Jesus reminds his disciples that the care God has for them never falters. If God pays attention to “sparrows” and to the number of “hairs on your head;” how much more does God care about disciples whom God knows personally and who do God’s work? Jesus acknowledges (literally “is joined with” or “is of one mind with”) every disciple who faithfully witnesses to Jesus’ message (“acknowledges me before others”), and Jesus is joined to (“acknowledges”) those disciples before his Father.

Summary and reflection

This week’s readings ask us to think about what we fear and how fear constrains our work as disciples. Jeremiah faces public opposition and threats, but remembers that God is a mighty champion who will protect and vindicate him. Paul looks to Jesus’ self-gift and God’s grace as God’s loving response to human sin and death. Jesus tells this disciples that they can be fearless in proclaiming his message because God is “of one mind with them.”

As disciples, Jesus calls us to proclaim and to live his message in not only our personal lives but in our public words and actions as well. Publicly witnessing to personal faith can be scary and can limit what we say and how we live. Do we believe that God is with us as our mighty champion, or are we afraid of being shamed publicly? Do we believe that God’s superabundant grace overflows with kindness and mercy, or are we afraid that God will not forgive us? Do we believe that Jesus’ message must be made known to all, or are we afraid of others’ criticism and social rejection?

—Terence Sherlock

18 June 2023: Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary time A

Reading 1	Response	Reading 2	Gospel
Ex 19:2-6a	Ps 100:1-2, 3, 5	Rom 5:6-11	Mt 9:36-10:8
RCL: Ex 19:2-8a		RCL: Rom 5:1-8	RCL: Mt 9:35-10:8 (9-23)

Discipleship: Jesus commissions his followers

During Ordinary time the Lectionary presents stories and teachings from Jesus’ everyday ministry. This week’s readings focus on our call and mission as disciples.

First reading (Ex 19:2-6a)

The first reading is from Exodus, the second book of Torah. Exodus tells the stories of Moses, Passover, freedom from Egypt’s slavery, the Ten Commandments, and the Israelites’ wilderness wanderings.

In today’s pericope, God reveals the Israelites’ mission: “to be a kingdom of priests, a holy nation.” God begins the conversation with Moses by recalling God’s mighty acts on the people’s behalf. God destroyed the Egyptian’s power, swept up and carried away the Israelites from Egypt’s bondage (“bore you up on eagle wings”), and brought them to Sinai to establish a covenant with them. If the people keep the covenant (“hearken to my voice and keep my covenant”) God will make them God’s “special possession.” They will be a “kingdom of priests” (offering sacrifices to God) and “a holy nation” (apart from other peoples). The difference between God’s desired mission and the people’s actual behavior is the story of the rest of Hebrew scripture.

The Lectionary editors chose this reading because God’s announcement of the Israelites’ mission is echoed in Jesus’ commissioning of the Twelve in the gospel.

Second reading (Rom 5:6-11)

The second reading is part of fourteen-week, semi-continuous reading of Paul’s letter to the ekklesiai (multiple communities) in Rome. Romans, written in 56-57 AD, is Paul’s final letter. He has completed his missionary work in Asia and now plans a missionary trip to Spain, with a stop in Rome. He writes to the Roman believing communities to introduce himself and to give an authentic and acceptable account of the gospel he preaches.

In today’s pericope, Paul reflects on the hope that comes from God’s love. First, looking backward, Paul shows that Christ’s self-gift on the cross proved God’s love. Christ died for all even though humans were not in a right relationship with God and not reconciled with God (“ungodly”). As an aside, Paul compares how humans calculate dying for another: possibly for a “just” person, maybe for a “good” person. Paul points out that Christ gave up his life for all while humans were neither just nor good, but “sinners.” Christ’s self-gift (“justified by his blood”) reconciled humans with God. Then, looking forward (“how much more then”), Paul reveals the hope implicit in Christ’s act: believers are saved from future eschatological judgement (“wrath”). That is, Christ’s death in the past “reconciled” humans to God, and in the future “saves” believers (at a believer’s death Christ’s gift gives the believer eternal life with God). This hope in future salvation allows believers to “boast” of God’s mighty act of love (“reconciliation”).

The Lectionary editors chose this semi-continuous reading for its theme of God’s love as selfless and active.

Gospel (Mt 9:36-10:8)

Matthew presents the first part of Jesus’ missionary discourse, which the Lectionary continues for the next two Sundays. Today’s pericope has three sections: Jesus’ responds to the crowds, he commissions the Twelve, and he gives instructions to those he is sending out.

• Shepherd-less sheep and needed harvest workers. Jesus “pities” the crowds because they lack leadership. Hebrew scripture is full of images of Israel as a shepherded flock; sometimes the shepherd is God (Ps 23), other times the shepherd is the king or religious leaders (Nm 27:17, 1 Kgs 22:17, 2 Chr 18:36). Jesus is moved to action, telling his disciples to ask God (“the harvest master”) to send out workers for God’s coming harvest. The “harvest” is a symbol for the end of the age, a time of gathering and judgement; the “workers” help prepare the people for the end-times.
• Authority to heal and to save. Jesus gives the Twelve his own power and authority, which he demonstrated through his own exorcisms and healings in Mt 8 and Mt 9. The phrase “heal every disease and every infirmity” points back to Matthew’s summary of Jesus’ mighty works in Galilee (Mt 9:35). Jesus commissions his disciples to teach only after the resurrection, after Jesus has fully instructed them (Mt 28:20).
• Announcing God’s kingdom to Israel. In sending out the Twelve, Jesus repeats his own mission: to call hearers to metanoia and to proclaim that “the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Mt 4:17), the same message as the Baptizer (Mt 3:2). Matthew’s repetition shows continuity between the Baptizer, Jesus, and the Twelve. At this point, Jesus limits the Twelve’s mission to the Jewish people alone, just as Jesus has been sent “only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Mt 15:24). Jesus commands his disciples to “make disciples of all nations” only after the resurrection, after Jesus has fully instructed them (Mt 28:19).

Summary and reflection

This week’s readings ask us to think about our own baptismal commissioning as disciples. God calls and commissions the Israelites to priesthood and holiness. Paul calls the believing community to boast about the God who has reconciled and saved them. Jesus calls and commissions the Twelve to shepherd, to proclaim God’s kingdom, to heal, and to save.

How do we understand our commissioning as disciples? Do we think of our commission to priesthood and to holiness as personal and private work, or do we recognize service, worship, and holiness as communal actions? Do we experience God’s reconciliation and salvation as a singular gift and encounter, or do we share reconciliation and salvation among our communities and the world? Do we take seriously Jesus’ call as shepherds and workers commissioned to heal and to announce the presence of God’s kingdom to all?

—Terence Sherlock

11 June 2023: Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ A

Reading 1	Response	Reading 2	Gospel
Dt 8:2-3, 14b-16a	Ps 147:12-13, 14-15, 19-20	1 Cor 10:16-17	Jn 6:51-58

Body and Blood of Christ: food, teaching, eternal life, abiding presence

The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (or Corpus Christi [= “Body of Christ”]), celebrates the Eucharist’s many aspects as meal, memorial, sign of unity, and eschatological banquet. This week’s readings connect the Eucharist to the Israelites’ manna in the wilderness, the twice-blessed cup, and Jesus’ Jewish roots, and invite us to consider the Eucharist’s many meanings.

First reading (Dt 8:2-3, 14b-16a)

The first reading is from Deuteronomy (“second law”), the fifth and final book of Torah. The book takes the form of four sermons or exhortations by Moses to the Israelites before they enter Canaan. Moses’ instructions provide a panoramic view of Israel’s saga: from slavery to freedom, to covenant, and to Canaan. Deuteronomy addresses the community as well as the individual, and calls everyone to respond to God’s laws today.

In today’s pericope, Moses reminds Israel to remember God’s mighty deeds in saving God’s people, especially in God’s wilderness testing (“test you by affliction”) and in God’s miraculous feeding (“fed you with manna”). Moses warns the people about the temptation that the Promised land holds: prosperity. To counter this temptation, Hebrew scripture (“the word that comes from the LORD’s mouth”) reminds the people of their times of need (“slavery in Egypt,” “vast and terrible wilderness”) and their complete dependence on God (“brought you out,” “guided you,” “brought forth water,” “fed you with manna“).

The Lectionary editors chose this reading for its mention of manna, which prefigures Jesus as the living bread coming down from heaven in the gospel.

Second reading (1 Cor 10:16-17)

The second reading is from Paul’s first letter to the Corinth ekklesia. Paul writes to real flesh-and-blood people working out how best to live their faith. Paul teaches disciples to reject any words, actions, or distinctions that disrupt the community’s unity and holiness. Love is the basis and context for community life.

The larger setting of today’s reading is Paul correcting the Corinthians’ lax attitude about attending banquets at local polytheistic temples. In today’s pericope, Paul begins by first finding common ground with the Corinthians: the meaning of the Lord’s supper. This ritual meal is an actual sharing (“participation in”) of Christ’s blood and body (“cup”/”blood;” “bread”/”body”) that unites believers (“we, though many, are one”) to each other and to Christ. Paul doubles the cup’s blessing (“the cup of blessing that we bless“), to show the cup is twice-blessed: once by God and once by the celebrating community. In Jewish tradition, every meal included the “cup of your [God’s] blessing,” a blessing and remembering offered by the meal’s host. At the start of his letter, Paul reminds the Corinthians that God has called them to fellowship with Christ (1 Cor1:9). Their participation in Christ’s blood and body makes real and makes visible this community fellowship in their shared meal.

The Lectionary editors chose this reading because it describes the early believing community’s celebration of a Eucharistic meal.

Gospel (Jn 6:51-58)

John’s gospel is from Jesus’ “bread of life” discourse, which focuses on how Jesus will give his self-gift (when he is “lifted up” and “glorified” on the cross) to give life to and to nourish the world. Jesus’ self-gift has a Eucharistic dimension, but includes other meanings as well. The act of consuming Jesus suggests the following ideas:

• Real food. Jesus says, “my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.” That is, those who physically consume the living bread will have Jesus as a physical part of their human bodies.
• New Torah. Jesus gives his bread of life discourse near the feast of Passover. In Jesus’ time, Passover commemorated not only God giving the Israelites’ freedom from Egyptian slavery, but also God giving Torah at Sinai. Hebrew scripture and Jewish interpreters describe Torah study as eating or consuming God’s gift of life as food. Jesus says, “whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life.” Jesus is the living Torah, whose teachings, when consumed, give spiritual life.
• Greater manna. Jesus says, “your ancestors ate [manna] and still died.” That is, God gave the Israelites manna to keep them physically alive in their wilderness travels, but manna did not overcome physical death. Jesus’ gift is a greater manna coming down from heaven, which gives those who eat it not simply physical life, but eternal life.
• Participation in divine life. Jesus says, “the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father.” That is, Jesus is living bread who embodies the living Father. Through their mutual indwelling, Jesus gives the Father’s eternal life and abiding presence (“remains in me and I in him”) to those who receive him.

Summary and reflection

The Body and Blood of Christ readings invite us to see the Eucharist as more than a Last Supper recreation. Moses recalls God’s gift of manna in the wilderness to remind the people of their total dependence on God. Paul teaches the Corinthians that the Lord’s supper is a sharing in Christ’s self-gift that unites them physically and spiritually in fellowship. John’s gospel is a kaleidoscope of images and meanings of the living bread come down from heaven: food, teaching, eternal life, abiding presence.

The Eucharistic sacrament intimately unites us with Jesus and challenges us to look beyond ourselves to understand Eucharistic implications and to act. Do we see in the greater manna our total dependence on God? Do we taste in the angelic bread hunger for unity and fellowship? Do we celebrate in the messianic meal God’s eternal indwelling and presence within us?

—Terence Sherlock

4 June 2023: Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity A

Reading 1	Response	Reading 2	Gospel
Ex 34:4b-6, 8-9	Dn 3:52, 53, 54, 55, 56	2 Cor 13:11-13	Jn 3:16-18
RCL: Gn 1:1-2:4a			RCL: Mt 28:16-20

Trinity: Love as unending revelation and mystery

Unlike other liturgical feasts that celebrate events, Trinity Sunday celebrates the mystery of God’s own inner life: a single being who loves and lives in community. The Trinity is implicit rather than explicit in Hebrew and Christian scriptures. This week’s readings invite us to encounter the mystery of God’s love and life.

First reading (Ex 34:4b-6, 8-9)

The first reading is from Exodus, the second book of Torah. Exodus tells the stories of Moses, Passover, freedom from Egypt’s slavery, the Ten Commandments, and the Israelites’ wilderness wanderings.

In today’s pericope, God appears in person to Moses. God pronounces the divine name (“the LORD”) and God’s own attributes (“gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in love and fidelity,” Ex 34:6). Moses’ encounter with God has liturgical overtones of the Jewish Day of Atonement (pronouncing God’s name) and of worship prayers and psalms that enumerate God’s compassion and justice. These phrases reveal who God is and describe God’s relationship with the covenant people. Moses responds to God’s presence in a liturgical manner: he bows down in worship and again prayerfully petitions God to accompany the people on their journey. God’s continuing presence with the people depends on the people keeping the covenant (“receive us as your own”). The Hebrew scripture uses a triadic pattern in this divine encounter: God moves toward humans (“passes before”), reveals the Godself (“the LORD, the LORD”), and creates a response within humans (“Moses bowed down in worship”).

The Lectionary editors chose this reading because the Hebrew triadic pattern foreshadows the Christian understanding of the Trinity.

Second reading (2 Cor 13:11-13)

The second reading is from the conclusion of Paul’s second letter to the Corinth ekklesia. Paul writes this letter (or a series of letters) to continue the Corinthians’ instruction, sharing his own apostolic work as an example. Written throughout 57 AD, Paul’s letter describes how God reveals God’s power and authority by empowering believers to overcome human weaknesses and trials.

In today’s pericope, Paul closing thought to the Corinth community is that each believer bears the responsibility to create and to maintain community fellowship and unity (koinonia), to renew their lives, and to work for reconciliation (“mend, encourage, agree, live”). Only when they become a community of peace and love can the God of love and peace be present in them (“will be with you”). Paul asks the Corinthians to exchange a kiss of peace (“holy kiss”) as a sign of each member’s willingness to work toward unity and reconciliation. Paul closes his letter by invoking the blessing of Christ’s grace, through which a believer comes to know God’s love, and to live in the Spirit’s koinonia (“fellowship”), whose indwelling allows them to live in unity.

The Lectionary editors chose this reading because of the closing verse’s Trinitarian overtones.

Gospel (Jn 3:16-18)

The larger context of John’s gospel is Jesus’ meeting with Nicodemus about a new birth from above. In today’s pericope, Jesus begins a discourse about God’s love and its impact on the world. The author uses a circular (or spiral) form to introduce and to link several ideas: God’s love, the Son, belief, salvation/eternal life, and condemnation/perish.

• How God loves the world. Hearers and readers often misunderstand the meaning of “God so loved the world.” The English translation and phrasing sounds as if “God loved the world so much.” A clearer translation of the Greek text οὕτως γὰρ ἠγάπησεν ὁ θεὸς τὸν κόσμον is “God loved the world in this way.” The text’s emphasis is not that God simply loves the world in an abstract way, but that God’s love is an action: God gives his Son so believers will experience God’s own love as eternal life.
• The choice to believe or to not believe. John presents a realized eschatology that includes self-judgement. In traditional eschatology, God judges everyone at the end of time. In John’s realized eschatology, each person judges himself or herself now, based on acceptance or rejection of God’s revelation in Jesus, and on personal actions that flow from one’s choice.
• The consequences of belief and unbelief. In John’s realized eschatology, a person who accepts the witness of God and believes in “the name” (the reality of Jesus as the Son of God and life with God) remains in relationship with God forever (has eternal life). A person who refuses Jesus’ revelation of God condemns himself or herself and perishes (rejects God’s eternal life).

Summary and reflection

The Trinity Sunday readings invite us to consider our own personal experience of the Father, Son, and Spirit, a God who reveals an ever-deepening mystery of God-in-relationship. God reveals the Godself to Moses as “merciful and gracious, slow to anger, rich in kindness and fidelity.” Paul preaches a loving God in relationship with believers only when believers create a loving and peace-filled community. Jesus reveals a loving God who sends the Son to show God’s eternal love for the world.

Too often theology focuses on the “mystery of the Trinity” as something that is humanly unknowable. The real mystery of the Trinity is that, no matter how much we humans explore the Trinity’s meaning and possibilities, God’s life and love continues to surprise us. The Trinity is about God’s abundance, not human limits. As today’s readings show, God’s nature is to love and to be in relationship with the Godself and with humans. Love is at the center of the Trinity’s mystery. As human parents, children, siblings, spouses, friends, and neighbors, we can, and do, understand something of love’s mystery, even though we never experience it fully or live it completely. Our human experience of love in all forms and expressions is how we begin to recognize and to experience the Trinity’s ongoing love and self-revelation.

—Terence Sherlock