7 April 2024: Second Sunday of Easter/Divine Mercy Sunday B

Reading 1	Response	Reading 2	Gospel
Acts 4:32-35	Ps 118:2-4, 13-15, 22-24	1 Jn 5:1-6	Jn 20:19-31
		RCL: 1 Jn 1:1-2:2

Eastertime: to see, to experience, to act, to know, to encounter

In the Easter season, Jesus appears to his disciples and explains his resurrection’s meaning; reveals himself as good shepherd, true vine, and one who has laid down his life; and prays for those whom he sends into the world. This week’s readings focus on seeing the risen Jesus in the believing community’s life, shared belief, and personal encounters.

First reading (Acts 4:32-35)

The first reading is the second part of an eight-week, semi-continuous reading from the Acts of the Apostles, written in the late 80s by the same author as Luke’s gospel. Acts continues the story of Jesus and his believing community: the resurrected Jesus returns to the Father and sends the Spirit. Luke’s sequel is the story of the Spirit’s continuing actions in Jesus’ believing community, primarily in the words and actions of Peter and Paul.

In today’s pericope, Luke opens a window into the first community’s inner life. Luke’s description of the believing community as “being of one heart and mind” and holding “everything in common” reflects the Greek ideal of friendship. Luke’s mention that “there was no needy person among them” refers to the Jewish ideal of covenant justice, found in Dt 15:4. Luke shows the apostles coordinating the community’s spontaneous sharing of possessions (community members place money and goods “at the apostles’ feet,” the apostles distribute everything “according to need”). While in this pericope Luke presents the early ekklesia‘s life ideally, he follows this rosy picture with two, real-world examples: Joseph Barnabas’ success story (Ac 4:36-37) and Ananias and Sapphira’s failure (Ac 5:1-10).

The Lectionary editors chose this reading to show how the risen Jesus, through the Spirit, continues to work in the ekklesia.

Second reading (1 Jn 5:1-6)

The second reading is from the First Letter of John. John the Elder wrote his letters (1 John, 2 John, 3 John) between 100-115 AD to various Johannine communities (ekklesiais), a network of house-churches probably centered around Ephesus. He urges the communities to unity by clearly stating teachings on the incarnation, the love command, the Spirit, the nature of sin, and end-time expectations.

In today’s pericope, the Elder restates how believers are “begotten by God:” those who believe Jesus is the Christ, and those who love the Father. Those who love God keep God’s commandments, especially the law of love towards others (“the children of God”). God’s commandments are not difficult for believers (the ones “begotten by God”); through their faith (“believing that Jesus is God’s son”) they conquer the world and share in Jesus’ victory. The Elder then describes Jesus’ three witnesses: water, blood, and the Spirit. “Blood” and “water” point back to John’s gospel and the human witnesses to Jesus’ death on the cross (Jn 19:34-35). “Water” and “blood” also suggest Jesus’ baptism and his earthly ministry. “The Spirit,” the third witness, is the Spirit present in the believing community who continues to “testify” to the water and blood; “the Spirit is truth,” encouraging the community to recognize the truth about God’s love and believing in Jesus.

The Lectionary editors chose this reading for its Easter themes of baptism, service, and discipleship, beginning Eastertime’s semi-continuous reading from 1 John.

Gospel (Jn 20:19-31)

John’s gospel tells two post-resurrection appearance stories, continuing last week’s stories about Mary Magdalene, Peter, and the beloved disciple. These stories, about the disciples in the upper room and about Thomas, also describe different ways of coming to faith.

• The disciples in the locked upper room are afraid because they have not yet seen Jesus. John uses the Greek verb εἴδω/eídō, which means “to see and to recognize physically.” Jesus somehow enters through locked doors and stands among them, addressing his friends with “Shalom,” the traditional Jewish greeting of God’s peace and wholeness. Jesus shows them his wounded body to confirm his identity and his humanity. When the disciples see and recognize (εἴδω/eídō) Jesus, they rejoice.
• Thomas, who has not yet seen Jesus, is skeptical of the disciples’ report. John uses the Greek verb ὁράω/horáō, which means ” to see and to experience.” Thomas demands not only to see but also to poke Jesus’ wounds as a condition of his believing. When Jesus again enters through locked doors and stands among all his disciples, he invites Thomas to see and thoroughly examine his wounds so that Thomas can come to belief. John doesn’t say what Thomas did; he reports only Thomas’ confession of faith: Jesus is Lord and God. Thomas believes because he sees and experiences (ὁράω/horáō) Jesus. How much more blessed are those who come to belief without seeing and physically recognizing (εἴδω/eídō) Jesus? John writes this blessing for his own late-first century believing community (and for us) who never personally saw, knew, and physically encountered the earthly Jesus.

John recounts Jesus’ signs in his gospel so that hearers and readers come to believe Jesus is the messiah and God’s son. Through this belief, they also come to eternal life.

Summary and reflection

Jesus’ resurrection has many meanings and many implications. Throughout the Easter season, the readings invite us to reflect on this cosmos-changing event. In Acts, Luke shows how the community’s Spirit-filled life continues Jesus’ words and actions. John the Elder reminds his community that the love commandment is their witness to God’s love and to believing in Jesus. John the Evangelist again shows how each disciple experiences and understands the mystery of Easter differently.

Discipleship requires that we keep “seeing” Jesus in new ways and in new contexts. Where is Jesus present in our faith communities, social networks, and civil government, ensuring that there is no needy person among us? Do we recognize Jesus in the children of God who depend on our love and our witness to the truth? Is Jesus standing before us, waiting for us to come to faith and to continue his mission?

—Terence Sherlock

3 July 2022: Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary time C

Reading 1	Response	Reading 2	Gospel
Is 66:10-14c	Ps 66:1-3, 4-5, 6-7, 16, 20	Gal 6:14-18	Lk 10:1-12, 17-20 or Lk 10:1-9
RCL: Is 66:10-14		RCL: Gal 6:(1-6,) 7-16	RCL: Lk 10:1-11, 16-20

Disciples: visible signs and messengers of God’s kingdom

During Ordinary time the Lectionary presents stories and teachings from Jesus’ everyday ministry. This week’s readings focus on how we receive God’s kingdom and reflect it to the world.

First reading (Is 66:10-14c)

The first reading is from the prophet Isaiah, specifically Third Isaiah, who prophesied after the exiles’ return and during the rebuilding of Jerusalem (~515-480 BC). In today’s pericope, the author celebrates Jerusalem’s restoration (“Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad”) and the abundance that God will give to the people (“I will spread prosperity over Jerusalem like a river”). Isaiah imagines God as a mother, one who “comforts her charges.” Isaiah’s promise of “the Lord is making known his power” is fulfilled in the disciples’ success in subduing demonic spirits. The Lectionary editors chose this reading to show the promise of Jerusalem’s restoration fulfilled with the arrival of God’s kingdom in today’s gospel.

Second reading (Gal 6:14-18)

The second reading is the conclusion of the semi-continuous reading from Paul’s letter to the Galatia ekklesiais (multiple believing communities in Galatia). Jewish Christian agitators came to Galatia and told gentile Christians that, to be part of the Christian community, the Galatians must follow all Jewish cultural and religious customs. Paul’s letter addresses the “entrance requirements” for gentile Christians. In today’s pericope, the letter’s closing, Paul summarize his key points. First, unlike the agitators who boast in their circumcision, Paul “boasts in the cross” as a sign of God’s power and salvation. Through the cross, Paul is crucified “to the world,” and the “world to Paul.” In choosing the cross, Paul rejects the world, just as the world rejects Paul and his teaching about the cross. Next, Paul reminds his hearers that Christ’s transformative death and resurrection brings about a new creation. Those who are “in Christ” (incorporated into Christ through baptism) are part of this new creation. In the new creation, believers express their faith in Christ by living the law of love; other expressions of faith (circumcision or uncircumcision) no longer mean anything. Those who follow this rule (the new creation and its law of love) are the “Israel of God” (Abraham’s descendants, gentiles and Jews who are “in Christ”). Finally, Paul’s sufferings (see 2 Cor 11:23-29) are signs that he participates in Christ’s cross. Paul has suffered for the gospel, unlike the agitators. Paul closes his letter with a familiar blessing and on a hopeful note that he and the Galatia believing communities will get past the agitators’ disruptions. The Lectionary editors chose this reading to close Ordinary time’s semi-continuous reading from Galatians.

Gospel (Lk 10:1-12, 17-20)

Luke’s gospel continues Jesus’ instructions “on the road” to Jerusalem. In today’s pericope, Jesus commissions and sends disciples ahead of him, and prays for them on their return. When sending out the disciples, Jesus gives specific instructions about their actions and words:

• Travel simply. Jesus sends the disciples on an urgent mission announcing the kingdom. His message is all they need to carry with them.
• Accept hospitality. Jesus reminds his disciples that they depend on hospitality from people they don’t know and who don’t know them. The disciples should accept what strangers offer with grace and thanks.
• Proclaim the kingdom is near. Jesus’ message is “The kingdom of God is at hand.” The disciples proclaim and reveal the kingdom’s presence by bringing peace, by preaching metanoia (change of mind/heart), and by healing.
• Expect rejection. As Jesus has been rejected, the disciples should also expect rejection. Jesus tells the disciples to warn those who reject God’s kingdom and to continue their mission elsewhere. God alone judges those who reject the kingdom.

Summary and reflection

This week’s readings ask us to think about how our words and actions conform to Jesus’ instructions. Isaiah celebrates the signs of God’s restoration: abundance, prosperity, comfort. Paul urges the Galatians to live as the new creation that Christ’s death and resurrection has brought about: the law of love. Jesus instructs his disciples in the words and actions that announce and reveal the kingdom.

At baptism we became visible signs and messengers of God’s kingdom. How do our daily words and actions measure up? Do we share abundance and give comfort? Do we live the law of love? Do we live and speak the gospel? Are we gracious and grateful? Do we bring peace wherever we go? Are we a gift and a blessing to all we encounter?

—Terence Sherlock

20 February 2022: Seventh Sunday in Ordinary time C

Reading 1	Response	Reading 2	Gospel
1 Sm 26:2, 7-9, 12-13, 22-23	Ps 103:1-2, 3-4, 8, 10, 12-13	1 Cor 15:45-49	Lk 6:27-38
RCL: Gen 45: 3-11, 15		RCL: 1 Cor 15: 35-38, 42-52

Discipleship: love, mercy, and compassion like God

During Ordinary time the Lectionary presents stories and teachings from Jesus’ everyday ministry. This week’s readings focus on mercy, forgiveness, justice, and love.

First reading (1 Sm 26:2, 7-9, 12-13, 22-23)

The first reading is from the first book of the prophet Samuel, which tells the story of the beginnings of Israel’s monarchy, including stories of Saul and David. Saul was Israel’s first king; David, after killing Goliath, became Saul’s second in command. David was more popular with the people, and Saul began to distrust David, expelling him from Israel. In today’s pericope, Saul is hunting David to kill him. In a plot twist, Saul is delivered into David’s hands, asleep and undefended. David’s general, Abishai, wants to seize this chance to kill Saul, but David refuses to harm God’s anointed king (“who can lay hands on the LORD’s anointed and remain unpunished?”). David realizes that only God can judge Saul (“The LORD will reward each man for his justice”). Instead, David takes Saul’s spear as evidence that he has spared Saul’s life (“I would not harm the LORD’s anointed”). The Lectionary editors chose this reading because David’s forgiveness of Saul echoes Jesus’ demand to forgive enemies.

Second reading (1 Cor 15:45-49)

The second reading is a continuation of Ordinary time’s semi-continuous reading from Paul’s letter to the Corinth ekklesia. Paul writes to the Corinthians to urge them toward unity and to correct their misunderstandings and wrong behaviors. In today’s pericope, Paul presents Hebrew scripture’s story of Adam (“the first human, Adam”) and the Christian understanding and meaning of Christ (“the last Adam,” “the second human”). In a series of contrasts, Paul compares Adam and Christ. Adam is given life by God (“became a living creature”); Christ gives life through his transformative death and resurrection. Adam emerges in God’s creation as a “natural” being; the pre-existent Christ is a “spiritual” being. Adam is “from the earth” (Gn 2:7); Christ descends “from heaven” and is made flesh. All humans share Adam’s earthliness and humanness (“we have borne the image of the earthly one”), but believers can also share in Christ’s life and divinity (“bear the image of the heavenly one”). In the present life, God’s grace helps believers align their lives to Christ’s example; at the end-time, resurrected believers will be conformed to Christ. The Lectionary editors chose this reading as part Ordinary time’s semi-continuous reading from First Corinthians.

Gospel (Lk 6:27-38)

Luke’s gospel is a continuation of the “sermon on the plain.” In today’s pericope, Jesus gives his disciples the “laws” of God’s kingdom. Jesus’ laws are not prescriptive rules, but a way of thinking and living that, guided by the Spirit, enable a disciple to do the right thing at the right time.

• The law of love. Jesus demands that disciples go beyond and do more than simple reciprocity. The human golden rule (“Treat others as you wish to be treated”) is a minimum human response; Jesus calls disciples to follow the divine golden rule: “Do as God does.”
• Going beyond reciprocity. In three examples, Jesus identifies the limits of simple reciprocity: “even sinners do that.” Disciples must act as God does, being kind to all, even to those who are unkind or evil. A disciple’s true test of love is honoring a specific person whose words and actions are unlovable. Those who define their own conduct as the measure of love for others (the human golden rule) necessarily limit their love to others. Jesus calls disciples to use God’s actions as the measure of love for others (the divine golden rule), which requires disciples to rise above and go beyond human limitations of love.
• Measuring love. Disciples experience life in the kingdom by their relationship with God. Disciples must not judge others, not because others will judge disciples in return, but because God will judge disciples. Jesus sums up his teaching about the law of love with a warning: whatever measure a disciple uses in doing, loving, or condemning another will become the measure God uses to measure that disciple’s actions and words.

Summary and reflection

This week’s readings ask us to think about judgement, justice, forgiveness, and love. David, often forgiven by God, recognizes that God alone can judge Saul. Paul tells the Corinthians that they come from Adam’s earthiness, but through God’s grace are called to share in Christ’s heavenliness. Jesus calls disciples to love the unlovable, to forgive the unforgivable, to stop judging and comparing, and to be merciful as God is merciful.

Love does not conflict with justice; love always satisfies justice, even when love exceeds justice’s demands. Whom do we forgive and not forgive? Do we accept God’s grace to align our ways of thinking and living with Christ’s? How does God measure our words and actions toward those who hate, judge, and refuse to forgive us?

—Terence Sherlock

25 October 2020: Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary time

Reading 1	Response	Reading 2	Gospel
Ex 22:20-26 RCL: Lv 19:1-2, 15-18	Ps 18:2-3, 3-4, 47, 51	1 Thes 1:5c-10 RCL: 1 Thes 2:1-8	Mt 22:34-40 RCL: Mt 22:34-46

God’s law and a disciple’s actions

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

The first reading is from the book of Exodus, specifically the section that defines social conduct. Hebrew scripture, and especially the prophets, demands protection of powerless society members vulnerable to being exploited: widows, orphans, the resident alien, and the poor. God promises to “surely hear their cry.” Today’s pericope includes a command about right treatment of the neighbor: “If you take your neighbor’s cloak as a pledge, you shall return it to him before sunset.” Honoring God and creating personal holiness require concrete actions. The Torah’s laws, presented in a social context (the widow, orphan, the alien, the poor, the neighbor), inculcate a social ethic based on compassion. The Lectionary editors chose this reading because the laws about social responsibilities toward the neighbor corresponds to the gospel’s greatest commandments.

The second reading is part of Ordinary time’s continuous reading from Paul’s letter to the Thessalonian ekklesia. In this pericope, Paul says his mutual relationship with the Thessalonians (“you know what sort of people we were among you”), is joyful, because, in imitating the missionaries and the Lord, the Thessalonians have become an example for others (“a model for all the believers”). Paul has heard from those others “in Macedonia and in Achaia” how the Thessalonians’ faith and metanoia (“turned to God and away from idols”) has influenced them. The “coming wrath” inserts a note of eschatological deliverance, a theme Paul takes up later in the letter. The Lectionary editors chose this reading as the start of Ordinary time’s continuous reading from Thessalonians.

In Matthew’s gospel, Jesus continues to confront the religious leaders in Jerusalem. A Pharisee tests Jesus by asking him to choose one law that sums up the Torah’s teachings.

• The challenge. The Torah, the revelation of God’s will for Israel, contained 613 precepts that were difficult to remember and sometimes conflicting. To help observant Jews, rabbis distinguished between heavy or serious commandments (like the Decalogue) and light commandments (like responsibilities for a bird’s nest, Dt 22:6-7), and offered “summary statements” of the Torah. The Pharisees test Jesus’ orthodoxy through the commandment he chooses.
• Jesus’ answer. Jesus’ teaching is in line with other Torah summaries. The first command he cites, “Love God,” is from the Shema prayer (Dt 6:5), prayed every day by every devout Jew. The second command, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” is from Lv 19:18. Jesus emphasizes that the second command is equal in gravity or importance to the first. In his Good Samaritan parable, Jesus extends the definition of neighbor from “another Israelite” to “everyone.”
• The consequences. Neither Jesus nor Matthew considered Jesus’ answer as a ruling to disregard the Torah’s other 314 precepts. Jesus statement that “on these two commandments hang the whole Law and the Prophets” assumes that the whole Law remains in effect. Jesus’ law of love summary provides an organizing principle to appreciate and to observe the other commandments. In Matthew’s time, the conflict between the Pharisees and Matthew’s ekklesia continued. Jesus’ traditional and orthodox answer allowed the Jewish Christian believing community to respond to continuing accusations that Jesus and his followers rejected God’s law.

This week’s readings ask us to think about God’s laws and how we live them out. In the Exodus reading, God makes clear that we must act to protect society’s powerless and voiceless. Paul praises the Thessalonians for actively turning to God from idols to serve the true God. Jesus summarizes all God’s laws into the law of love. As disciples, how to we enact God’s law? Do we adhere to a law’s literal reading, or do we act on the law’s deeper meaning? Do we fulfill the minimum of what’s asked of us, or do we act in love? Do we simply check the box to comply, or do we seek out and actively serve those in need?

—Terence Sherlock

6 September 2020: Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary time

Reading 1	Response	Reading 2	Gospel
Ez 33:7-9 RCL: Ez 33:7-11	Ps 95:1-2, 6-7, 8-9	Rom 13:8-10 RCL: Rom 13:8-14	Mt 18:15-20

Discipleship: keeping and restoring community relationships

 During Ordinary time the Lectionary presents stories and teachings from Jesus’ everyday ministry. This week’s readings focus on maintaining and restoring relationships within the believing community.

The first reading is from Ezekiel, a prophet in the early Babylonian exile (598 to 751BC). Ezekiel compares the prophet to a lookout who warns the people of approaching danger (“watchman for the house of Israel”). He is concerned with individuals, warning them about following God’s law. Ezekiel clearly defines the prophet’s role (“warn the wicked, trying to turn him from his way”) and the hearer’s responsibility (if “he refuses, … he shall die for his guilt”). The Lectionary editors chose this reading because the prophet’s role of caring for the community and its members is echoed in the gospel.

The second reading from Paul’s letter to the Rome ekklesia is part of a continuous reading in Ordinary time. The pericope opens with the theme of debt (“owe nothing to anyone”). Paul then considers the debt of love. Disciples are indebted to God, whose infinite love reconciled us through Jesus’ transformative death, while still God’s enemies (Rom 5:10). Disciples owe a corresponding debt of love, flowing from God’s inexhaustible love for them, to all other humans, even the difficult and unlovable (“love one another”). Paul then quotes the Decalogue’s second group of commands that define conduct toward others to show that the law of love fulfills all commandments, “whatever there may be.” The command to “love your neighbor as yourself ” (Lv 19:18) invites a disciple to put her- or himself in the neighbor’s position and to act from the question, “What would I want to happen to me?” rather than “What should I do or not do for this person?” This is why “love is the fulfillment of the law.” The Lectionary editors chose this reading as part of Ordinary time’s continuous reading from Romans.

Matthew’s gospel is from Chapter 18, Jesus’ “sermon on the church.” Jesus addresses the believing community’s responsibility to care for its members, even those who offend or hurt the community. This week, Jesus teaches about restoring relationships to preserve the ekklesia‘s unity.

• Human process in community reconciliation. Living in relationship with others is hard work, whether in a biological family or in a socially constructed family. An offense, real or imagined, disrupts family life. Jesus recognizes that sin is an interpersonal offense and presents a three-step process (first, private reconciliation; second, multiple witnesses negotiation; third, community intervention) for reconciling conflicts. The process helps an offender objectify and “own” his or her sin, and calls the offender to restore his or her community relationship through metanoia (change of mind/heart). This process probably reflects Matthew’s community’s practice; the same or similar processes existed in the Qumran community and in Jewish synagogues.

• God’s role in community reconciliation. Jesus’ sayings about binding/loosing (Mt 18:18) and two or three gathered in his name (Mt 18:19-20) provide a theological foundation for community decisions: God stands behind the decisions, and Jesus remains-in-relationship within the community gathered in his name. In Jewish law, binding and abolishing/loosing describes the elders’ or a rabbi’s authority to teach or to give or withhold forgiveness. In Christian thought, the community itself can choose to accept or to exclude an offending member from participating in community life.

This week’s readings ask us to think about relationships within our communities. God charges Ezekiel with warning each person to keep God’s law. Paul reminds disciples that their debt to God also requires them to love one another. Jesus teaches that a community member’s sinful words or actions require the community’s corrective response. As disciples, how to we respond to damaged community relationships? Do we treat it as “not my problem,” or do we act privately and personally to understand the hurt? Do we speculate with others about causes, or are we ready to act to broker a solution? Do we walk away from damaged relationships, or do we choose to reconcile?

—Terence Sherlock

23 February 2020: Seventh Sunday in Ordinary time

Reading 1	Response	Reading 2	Gospel
Lv 19:1-2, 17-18 RCL: Lv 19:1-2,9-18	Ps 103:1-2, 3-4, 8, 10, 12-13	1 Cor 3:16-23 RCL: 1 Cor 3:10-11, 16-23	Mt 5:38-48

Perfect discipleship

 During Ordinary time the Lectionary presents stories and teachings from Jesus’ everyday ministry. This week’s readings again ask us how our discipleship fulfills God’s Law of holiness.

The first reading is from Leviticus, the third book of the Torah. God instructs the Israelites to “be holy, because I, your God, am holy.” In the Torah and through the Torah’s commandments, God reveals and articulates the way to holiness. The Israelites follow the Law (Torah) to become and to remain holy. The pericope includes one of Judaism’s and Christianity’s central commands: love of neighbor. The Lectionary editors chose this reading because the second reading and the gospel both call disciples to God’s perfect holiness.

The second reading continues Paul’s first letter to the Corinth ekklesia. In this section, Paul metaphorically compares the Corinthian believing community to God’s Temple. Just as the Jerusalem Temple is holy because God’s Spirit dwells there, the Corinthian ekklesia is holy because God’s Spirit dwells within their living Temple. The ekklesia remains holy by following Jesus’ teachings. Paul warns that some members who seek God in “human wisdom” are deceiving themselves and dividing the ekklesia (“destroying God’s Temple”). Paul corrects the Corinthians who divide themselves into apostolic factions (“Paul, Apollos, Kephas”) by reminding them that they belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God. Paul reiterates that God is the source of the Corinthians’ holiness (you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God”).

Matthew’s gospel continues Jesus’ teachings from the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus gives additional examples of how a disciple must go beyond mere conformity to the Law.

• Rejecting retaliation. Ancient peoples in honor/shame cultures created the law of talion (retaliation) to prevent escalating violence: punishment must be proportional to the crime. Under Jewish law, a person had a legal right to retribution. Jesus tells his disciples to give up this legal right and break the retaliation cycle. In three examples (an insulting slap, an insulting lawsuit, demeaning service), Jesus asks disciples to do more than the legal system’s minimum or the Torah requires to fulfill the Law’s deeper intention and meaning.

• Rejecting hate. In the ancient Jewish world, hating evil persons was considered just, especially when these persons are state enemies or religious enemies. Jesus tells his disciples they must love enemies and pray for persecutors. In two examples of loving acts by “disreputable” people (tax collectors, non-Jews), Jesus asks disciples to do more than the Torah requires. They must act to reveal God and come to the deeper intention and meaning of God’s Law.

• Becoming as perfect as the Father. Jesus teaches that the Father, who cares and loves all (the “just and unjust”), is the model for disciples. Hebrew scripture calls the Jewish people “to be holy, because God is holy.” Jesus tells his disciples to be perfect “as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Disciples imitate the Father by living the beatitudes and following the six antitheses: replace anger with love and forgiveness; replace selfish desire with love; replace honor/shame with forgiveness and love; replace deceit with plain-spoken truth, replace retaliation with generosity, replace hate with love.

This week’s readings ask us to think about discipleship, perfection, and holiness. Leviticus calls the chosen people to emulate God’s holiness. Paul tells the Corinthians they are holy because God’s Spirit dwells within their community. Jesus invites disciples to become as perfect as the Father. Do we care for the selfish? Do we minister to the ungrateful? Do we serve our oppressors? Do we love those whom we consider unholy?

—Terence Sherlock

19 May 2019: Fifth Sunday of Easter

Reading 1	Response	Reading 2	Gospel
Acts 14:21-27 RCL: Acts 11:1-18	Ps 145:8-9, 10-11, 12-13	Rev 21:1-5a RCL: Rev 21:1-6	Jn 13:31-33a, 34-35 RCL: Jn 13:31-35

Our place in history: honor, glory, love

 The Easter season readings ask us, the believing community, to examine the meaning of the resurrection. This week’s readings explore how we, as disciples, act in honor and with love in the present time.

The first reading from Luke’s Acts of the Apostles recounts the first mission of Barnabas, John Mark, and Paul to cities in Asia Minor (modern Turkey). Returning to Antioch, Paul and Barnabas report to the believing community who commissioned them that their mission to the gentiles was a success. God, always the main character in Luke’s writings, acts through prophetic representatives, such as Barnabas and Paul. The Lectionary editors chose this reading to show how the post-resurrection believing community continued to grow.

The second reading from Revelation describes God’s creating a new heaven and a new earth to replace the world destroyed during the great battle between Christ and the satanic beasts (Rev 19: 11–22: 5). God also creates a new Jerusalem, a symbol of the ekklesia or believing community. The Lectionary editors chose this reading to emphasize Christ’s ultimate victory and the end of history. Jesus’ resurrection began God’s “new things” and our life in the ekklesia anticipates the future new Jerusalem. In our time, God dwells with us in veiled form, in Word and sacraments.

John’s gospel is from Jesus’ farewell discourse at the Last Supper. Jesus’ central concern is the disciples’ life after his resurrection and ascension. Jesus invites his disciples to honor (“glory”) and to love one another:

• Jesus’ glorification. In Middle East cultures, honor (or “glory”) is a person’s public claim to worth and a public acknowledgement of a person’s claim. Jesus’ claim to worth is his honorable and glorifying life of service and obedience to God’s saving plan, including his transformative death. God publicly acknowledges Jesus’ claim by raising Jesus from the dead. God honors and glorifies Jesus by enthroning Jesus with God and will further honor and glorify Jesus at his parousia (Jesus’ second coming or “return in glory”). Honor reveals who Jesus and God are. In western cultures, and especially the United States, personal power is more important than honor; dishonored and dishonorable people can restore honor through money or litigation.

• Love one another as I have loved you. Jesus gives his disciples both an example (a sign) of love and a command to love. Jesus’ example is washing his disciples’ feet (Jn 13:5-15), which they must do as Jesus did for them. In his new commandment, Jesus makes the example explicit: that they love one another as Jesus loved them. Jesus’ unique, unconditional love also identifies Jesus’ followers. In Jesus’ absence the disciples are to repeat Jesus’ unconditional love, making Jesus present by their actions. In western cultures, and especially the United States, love is conditional: we decide who is worthy of love, such as the “deserving poor” and “undeserving poor.”

Jesus’ resurrection has many meanings and many implications. The Easter season lasts six weeks, allowing us time to reflect on this cosmos-changing event. This week’s readings ask us to think about our place and role in God’s unfolding of history. The first reading tells the beginning of the ekklesia‘s history; the second reading tells the end of history. The gospel gives us Jesus’ teaching for how we live in the in-between times. In a culture that doesn’t value honor, how do we live honorably? How do we glorify God? In a culture that rations love, how do we love as Jesus loves?

—Terence Sherlock

24 February 2019: Seventh Sunday in Ordinary time

Reading 1	Response	Reading 2	Gospel
1 Sm 26:2, 7-9, 12-13, 22-23 RCL: Gen 45: 3-11, 15	Ps 103:1-2, 3-4, 8, 10, 12-13	1 Cor 15:45-49 RCL: 1 Cor 15: 35-38, 42-52	Lk 6:27-38

Discipleship: God-like love and mercy

 During Ordinary time the Lectionary readings present stories and teachings from Jesus’ everyday ministry. This week’s readings demand that disciples reexamine how we love others.

The first reading, from the book of Samuel, tells how and why the future king David spares the current king Saul’s life. As the young David won honor and fame leading Israel’s army, king Saul began to view David as a competitor, a threat, and a traitor. Saul banishes David from his kingdom, and hunts him throughout Palestine. Although David has the chance (and the legal right) to kill his enemy Saul, David holds himself to a higher standard. The Lectionary editors chose this reading to match Jesus’ teaching of forgiveness in today’s gospel.

The second reading continues Paul’s first letter to the Corinthian ekklesia. Over the last five weeks, Paul has corrected the Corinthians’ ideas about spiritual gifts, community, what divides them, and the resurrection. This week Paul continues to correct the Corinthians’ understanding of resurrection. In 1 Cor 15, Paul addresses the manner of resurrection and the qualities of the resurrected body. In today’s reading, Paul focuses on the qualities of the resurrected body, using an analogy of the first earthly Adam and the new heavenly Adam (Christ). Paul emphasizes the Christian tension between the “now” and the eschatological “not yet.” Now we have the earthly Adam’s image, at our not yet resurrection we will have the heavenly Adam’s (Christ’s) image. Through baptism, God has already started to overlay the heavenly one’s image on us; as disciples, our task is to continue to grow into Christ’s image.

Luke’s gospel continues Jesus’ “sermon on the plain.” Having comforted those who chose discipleship and warned those who trust only in themselves, Jesus again speaks to the ones following him:

• To the ones who hear. This phrase is a turning point in Jesus’ teaching. In last week’s beatitudes, Jesus invited the disciples (the poor, the hungry, the grieving, the outcasts) into the kingdom. In this week’s discourse, Jesus exhorts the disciples who have turned their hearts and minds to God (metanoia) to heed his prophetic call (“the ones hearing”). Jesus asks those committed to the good news to live to a higher standard.

• Even sinners do that. Three times Jesus contrasts “sinners'” behaviors with disciples’ expected actions: love your enemies; do good to them; lend without expecting to be repaid. If you limit your morality (loving, doing good, lending) only to those who reciprocate, you are not a disciple. Those who do not love their enemies remain on the same moral level as their enemies. Reciprocity alone is insufficient for discipleship.

• Give and God will give to you. Jesus uses the metaphor of a “measure” of grain to suggest God’s abundant gifts to disciples. The measurer (God) first presses down the measure of grain to make more room, and then shakes the measure to make the grain settle and make more room, and still fills the measure to overflowing. This is how God responds to those who give and forgive. In a truly radical idea, Jesus says that God adopts as the judgement for humans the very standards that humans use in their relationships with each other. God will treat disciples who are not merciful, who judge, condemn, or do not forgive in the same way.

Today’s readings provide a blueprint of discipleship to the believing community. While it’s easy to love “our own” or to love reciprocally, such limited love cannot advance the human spirit or change the world. Jesus tells his disciples to love the selfish, the unlovable, and even the ones who hate them. To love, to be merciful, or to be as compassionate as God is raises the disciple and the believing community above static, human reciprocity and enters the perfection of God’s kingdom. Do we love those who reject our help? Are we merciful to those who condemn our good-faith work? Are we compassionate to those who want to break every human and divine gift?

—Terence Sherlock

4 November 2018: Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary time

Reading 1	Response	Reading 2	Gospel
Dt 6:2-6	Ps 18:2-3, 3-4, 47, 51	Heb 7:23-28	Mk 12:28b-34

Actively loving God and neighbor

 During Ordinary time the Lectionary readings present stories and teachings from Jesus’ everyday ministry. This week’s readings give RCIA participants and the believing community a teaching about the greatest commandment.

In the first reading from the book of Deuteronomy, Moses makes his second address to the Israelites before they enter the Promised Land. He stresses the people’s responsibility to keep the Sinai covenant. The “great commandment” sums up the basic principle of the entire Mosaic law: because the Lord alone is God, Israel must love God with an undivided heart. The Lectionary editors chose this reading because Jesus cites these words as “the greatest and the first commandment” in today’s gospel.

The second reading continues the continuous reading from the Letter to the Hebrews. Today’s reading again contrasts the Jewish high priests with Jesus. The author argues Jesus’ superiority as follows: Jesus is holy and sinless (Heb 7:26); rather than needing to offer sacrifice every day, he instead makes a once-for-all offering of himself (Heb 7:27); and he fulfills Melchizedek’s permanent priesthood as sworn by God (see Ps 110:4) (Heb 7:28).

Mark’s gospel finds Jesus in Jerusalem, teaching in the temple area. After handling a few trick questions from the Pharisees, Herodians, and Sadducees, Jesus is addressed by a sincere scribe who asks about “the first of all the commandments.” Jewish teachers often debated what commandment was “first” or most important (out of the Torah’s 613). Jesus’ answer includes two commandments (Dt 6:5 and Lv 19:18), suggesting that a single commandment cannot answer the scribe completely. The two love commandments together constitute the one great commandment.

• How Jesus’ culture understood “love.” In our modern, introspective, individualistic world, “love” describes an internal, psychological state that always includes affection, emotion, and feelings. However in the ancient, non-introspective, group-centered world, “love” involved external, concrete expressions that may or may not have included affection, emotion, or feelings. That is, we understand love as an emotional feeling, but Jesus’ hearers knew love as visible actions and behaviors within a family or tribal group.

• Love God. In Jesus’ time “to love God” meant to be attached exclusively to YHWH, excluding all other gods. It also meant attaching oneself to the group that associated itself with YHWH. The kinship group, the village, or the tribe mattered above all.

• Love your neighbor as yourself. In Jesus’ time, “to love the neighbor” meant to honor and to protect family, village, and tribal relationships. Honor and protection did not extend to those outside the people of Israel (see Ln 19:18). Jesus extends the limited Semitic meaning of “neighbor” when he teaches the good Samaritan parable (Lk 10:29-37). Maybe Jesus tells the scribe he is “not far from” the kingdom because the scribe needs to expand his neighborhood.

Today’s readings challenge us to examine our own understanding of the greatest commandment. We need to reflect deeply about the command to love. The Father and the Son call us to love actively, not simply “think nice things” about God and neighbor. The Father and the Son show us how to love in their words and actions; they are the models for our own lives. How do we love actively? How are we attached to God? How are we actively honoring and protecting those outside our family and tribe?

—Terence Sherlock

24 July 2016: Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary time

Reading 1	Response	Reading 2	Gospel
Gn 18:20-32	Ps 138:1-2, 2-3, 6-7, 7-8	Col 2:12-14	Lk 11:1-13

 

Loving God: how a disciple prays

During Ordinary time the Lectionary invites RCIA participants and the believing community to hear and to reflect on Jesus’ stories and teachings from his everyday ministry. This week’s readings continue to examine the command to love God and how prayer fulfills that command.

The first reading from Genesis continues the Abraham story. Abraham and his guests travel to Sodom. God (one of Abraham’s guests) discusses his intention to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham’s conversation with God is a form of petitioning prayer. The Lectionary editors chose this passage to parallel Jesus’ teaching about prayer in today’s gospel.

The second reading continues the letter to the ekklesia at Colossus. The author contrasts the OT rite of entering the community (circumcision) with the new order’s rite of entry (baptism). To emphasize God’s forgiveness, the author reverses the usual image of humans nailing Christ to the cross. Instead, God nails the charges against us (“the bond”)–which God has forgiven–to the cross.

Luke’s gospel concludes Jesus’ teachings about the law of love (which began with Lk 10:25) with a lesson on love of God through prayer. In Jesus’ time, prayer was often formal (such as the recitation of Psalms) and in Hebrew (the language of God in Torah). In contrast, Jesus’ prayers are conversational (expressing personal concerns) and in Aramaic (the language spoken around the dinner table). Jesus gives his disciples a simple model for prayer, and supports it with a parable and two sayings.

• Prayer: Why would the disciples ask “Teach us to pray”? They see that God answers Jesus’ prayers and they want that same effectiveness with God. Jesus teaches them that prayer is:

1. 1. Conversation with someone we know: “Father.”
   2. Worship: “Let your name be glorified. Let your kingdom draw near.”
   3. Asking: “Give us what we need. Forgive us as we forgive each other. Save us from the final trial.”

• Parable: The Greek word ἀναίδεια (an-AH-ee-die-ah), translated here as “persistence,” actually means “not-shame.” Middle Eastern culture seeks to avoid shame and to gain honor. The man in the house answers his needy friend because the man is honorable (he will not-shame himself, his family, or his community). The parable is not about our persistence in asking, but rather about God’s goodness and honor in answering our requests.
• Sayings: Jesus concludes his teaching about prayer with two sayings that support the parable. In the first saying (Lk 11:9-10), Jesus’ instructions to “ask,” “seek,” and “knock” confirm that God wants to hear and to answer our requests. In the second saying (Lk 11:11-13), the human father’s own good intentions (despite his “wickedness”) cause him to give “good things” to his son. God the Father, who is completely good, wants to give the Spirit to the ones who ask.

As the first reading suggests and the gospel shows, God wants to be in relationship with us and wants to give us what we request. Sometimes we may think persistence in asking is most important in prayer. Really, it’s our persistence in prayer–to create the relationship with God–that Jesus teaches. How often do we pray? What do we want?

–Terence Sherlock