2, Scripture Readings – Summaries of the readings of each Sunday Mass (by Chris Oliver)

Isa 55:6-9; Ps 144(146):2-3. 8-9. 17-18 r.18; Phil 1:20-24, 27; Matt 20:1-16a

Earlier in this chapter Isaiah invited us to the joyful banquet the Lord has prepared for us – “the supper of the Lamb”. Today’s reading urges us to “seek the Lord while he may be found”: hidden and unimaginably different from us, yet he is near and wanting to give us his forgiveness.

The Psalm, a hymn of praise to God’s mercy, recalls when the Israelites worshipped the golden calf: the Lord is “slow to anger and abounding in mercy”.

For the next four weeks the second reading is from Paul’s letter to the Philippians, probably written about 57 AD from Ephesus. Paul writes to thank the Philippians for the money they had sent him while he was in prison, and to encourage them to support each other in their pagan surroundings. Paul is very clear about his future life with Christ immediately after death. Sharing in Christ’s suffering means also sharing in the joy of the union with Christ which such suffering brings. Paul is torn between wishing to be gone and so be with Christ, or staying alive suffering in the Lord’s work.

In Matthew’s gospel even those rejected by others are swept up into the Lord’s vineyard. Justice to those hired first is balanced by mercy to the latecomers.

Psalm Response:        The Lord is close to all who call him.

Ezek 33:7-9; Ps 94(95): 1-2. 6-9 r.7-8; Rom 13:8-10; Matt 18:15-20

Ezekiel says religious leaders have authority, but also daunting responsibility. Failing to instruct the people correctly will lead to the same fate as the sinners they have failed to guide wisely. After the fall of Jerusalem in 587 BC, Ezekiel promises hope for a future return to Jerusalem – but only if the people accept individual responsibility for sins and purify themselves of false gods.

The Psalm invites us to praise and worship the Lord daily, for he is our king and shepherd. We must not lose faith in God, as did the Israelites in their desert journey.

Paul’s advice to the Romans on Christian living continues: obey secular authorities, whose authority comes from God, and pay the taxes and respect that is their due. Above all “love your neighbour as yourself”.

The first reading, with the last verse of the Gospel reading, help us to understand the Gospel. “Where two or three meet in Jesus’ name”, Jesus will be in their midst – and by implication he will be guiding their decision-making, so their decisions will be in tune with God’s will. The Church’s awesome authority to include or exclude individuals on God’s behalf is not to be exercised carelessly, but only after due deliberation by the whole Christian community.

Psalm Response: O that today you would listen to his voice! “Harden not your hearts”.

(Ezek 33:7-9; Ps 94(95): 1-2. 6-9 r.7-8; Rom 13:8-10; Matt 18:15-20)

Scripture Readings 23rd August 2020, 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time

Today’s reading from Isaiah helps us to understand the tremendous power Jesus gives to Peter and the Apostles: Eliakim, newly appointed as “master of the palace”, is given complete authority to decide who may enter the House of David – and who may not. And he is to be “a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the House of Judah”.

The Psalmist thanks the Lord for answering his prayer, while calling on all rulers to join in this hymn of thanks for the Lord’s words.

Earlier in his letter to the Romans, Paul suggested that he was sent as the apostle to the pagans “in order to make my fellow Jews jealous, and thus save some of them”. Israel, even while attacking the gospel, is still God’s “beloved”, since God never takes back his promises. Now Paul gasps in awe and wonder at the daring brilliance of God’s plan, which we can never fully comprehend.

This chapter of Matthew’s gospel began with Jesus finally breaking off discussions with the Jewish authorities. Now recognised as divine, Jesus, begins to form his disciples into a community to continue his work after his death. Like Eliakim, Peter, and – in chapter 18 – all the Apostles, are given authority to make eternal decisions, which will be upheld by God.

Psalm Response: Your love, O Lord, is eternal; discard not the work of your hands.

20th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A

Third Isaiah was writing after 515 BC, when the Jews had returned from exile in Babylon and had rebuilt the Temple. But there is idolatry and injustice. Isaiah looks forward to a time when all peoples will be able to worship in the Temple, both foreigners and individuals with imperfect bodies. All that matters is justice and keeping the covenant.

Paul kept hoping his people would accept Jesus as the Christ. In his letter to the Jewish Christians in Rome he insists that God has not rejected his people: the Gentiles are a branch grafted onto the tree of Israel. In today’s reading he sees the Gentile mission as trying to make Jews envious and so also come to accept God’s mercy, as he has. But the Gentile branch can be broken off if they lose their faith.

In Matthew’s Gospel Jesus has criticised the Jewish leaders for insisting on external purity while disobeying God’s commandments. Nothing entering one’s mouth defiles, only what comes out. In Phoenicia, the only scene outside Israel in this gospel, Jesus heals the Canaanite child. But first he utters the memorable insult that “it is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs”.

Psalm Response: Let the Peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you.
20th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A

Isa 56: 1, 6-7; Ps 66(67); Rom 11: 13-15, 29-32; Mt 15:21-28

Third Isaiah was writing after 515 BC, when the Jews had returned from exile in Babylon and had rebuilt the Temple. But there is idolatry and injustice. Isaiah looks forward to a time when all peoples will be able to worship in the Temple, both foreigners and individuals with imperfect bodies. All that matters is justice and keeping the covenant.

Paul kept hoping his people would accept Jesus as the Christ. In his letter to the Jewish Christians in Rome he insists that God has not rejected his people: the Gentiles are a branch grafted onto the tree of Israel. In today’s reading he sees the Gentile mission as trying to make Jews envious and so also come to accept God’s mercy, as he has. But the Gentile branch can be broken off if they lose their faith.

In Matthew’s Gospel Jesus has criticised the Jewish leaders for insisting on external purity while disobeying God’s commandments. Nothing entering one’s mouth defiles, only what comes out. In Phoenicia, the only scene outside Israel in this gospel, Jesus heals the Canaanite child. But first he utters the memorable insult that “it is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs”.

Psalm Response: Let the Peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you.
(Isa 56: 1, 6-7; Ps 66(67); Rom 11: 13-15, 29-32; Mt 15:21-28)

2 Kings 4: 8-11, 14-16; Psalm 88(89): 2-3. 16-19; Romans 6: 3-4, 8-11; Matthew 10: 37-42

Today we hear only the beginning of this story from the Second Book of the Kings. Recognising this frequent passer-by as a holy man, the Shunammite woman hospitably offers him a place to stay each time he passes. Elisha promises she will have a child. Some years later the child became ill and died, and the woman urgently travels the twenty miles to Carmel, confident that Elisha will heal her son, and Elisha brings her son back to life.

The long psalm, written during or after the exile, reminds God of his promise to David of an everlasting dynasty, and expresses confidence that God keeps his promises.

Paul’s meditation on redemption leads him to ask “Shall we persist in sin that grace may abound?” No, he says, God’s grace is not prompted by sin but is the expression of God’s love. “We were buried with Christ through baptism into death”. After our ritual death in baptism we must unite ourselves with Christ to share in his bodily resurrection.

In Matthew’s gospel Jesus concludes his teachings on the requirements and rewards of discipleship. Disciples must accept the trials that it entails, burying ourselves completely in Christ. But acts of charity and hospitality will be rewarded, just as the Shunammite woman found.

Psalm Response: I will sing for ever of your love, O Lord.

Jer 20: 10-13; Ps 68(69): 8-10.14.17.33-35; Romans 5: 12-15; Matthew 10: 26-33

About 600 BC Jeremiah counselled King Zedekiah to be conciliatory towards Babylon, ruled by Nebuchadnezzar. Jeremiah expresses his internal doubts but concludes that the Lord is indeed on his side, and asks that he will see his persecutors punished. Against Jeremiah’s advice, Zedekiah revolted, Jerusalem was destroyed and the people led into exile.

The psalm implores God to save him from unmerited suffering. The reference in an omitted verse to “vinegar to drink” and the expectation that “God will save Zion” led Christians to think of Messiah Christ.

In his letter to the Romans Paul reflects on the redemptive mystery of Christ. Sin, the dreadful power that has gripped humanity from the beginning, causes both bodily and spiritual death. Like Adam, all people pursue their own desires in opposition to God’s will. But God’s free gift of grace makes life available to all.

In Matthew’s gospel Jesus has described the trials the newly commissioned Apostles will face in their mission. They will be persecuted and even betrayed by members of their families. But they should “not worry about how they are to speak” in front of judges. They “will be given at that moment” what they are to say. Today’s reading insists they can have complete confidence in God and must not be afraid.

Psalm Response: In your great love, answer me, O God.

(Jer 20: 10-13; Ps 68(69): 8-10.14.17.33-35; Romans 5: 12-15; Matthew 10: 26-33)

Deut 8:2-3,14-16; Ps 147; 1 Cor 10:16-17; Jn 6:51-58

Deuteronomy, the “second” book of the law, collected and organised the whole Jewish law from the previous four books. It emphasises that Israel must remember how they had been tested in the wilderness so that they would not again neglect their God. God provided manna and land for their needs, but warned them not to think their success was due to their own efforts.

The psalm gratefully praises the Lord for his many gifts, both rain on the earth and laws for his people.

Paul recalls the wanderings of the Jews in the desert to warn the Corinthians to avoid idols. Worship, more than words and actions, implies the spiritual reality of becoming partners. We cannot share in Christ’s body and blood while also seeking demons such as money and power. Belonging to Christ must be total.

Chapter six of John’s gospel describes Jesus feeding the five thousand before saying that the manna came not from Moses but it is the Father who now offers “the true bread from heaven”, which “gives life to the world” – ie Jesus himself. Jesus’ teaching is stark. Many could not accept it then, or now. But Jesus insists: we must show we are united with him body and soul by our physical communion with him – and so be united with all his followers. Faith must always be shown by action.

Psalm Response: O praise the Lord, Jerusalem!

(Deut 8:2-3,14-16; Ps 147; 1 Cor 10:16-17; Jn 6:51-58)

Chris

Ex 34:4-6,8-9; Dan 3:52-56; 2 Cor 13:11-13; Jn 3:16-18

Seeing the Israelites dancing round the golden calf, Moses was angry and had thrown down and broken the tablets on which the Lord had written his covenant. The agreement with God was literally broken!

Now the Lord, a God of compassion, tells Moses to prepare two more tablets. After “passing before” Moses, the Lord declares that He is “a God merciful, … forgiving iniquity”. Moses asks the Lord to forgive his people, and the Lord re-affirms his covenant and again writes the Commandments on stone tablets.

Today’s psalm comes from the hymn of thanks in the story of Daniel, set in the 6th century BC but probably written about 165 BC. Daniel’s three companions refused to worship King Nebuchadnezzar’s statue and so were thrown into a furnace so hot their guards were killed. But God protected the three men, who walked about inside the furnace with their clothes intact but their rope bindings burned off.

After Paul’s stern instructions to his beloved Corinthians, his second letter ends with this fond farewell, including the Trinitarian grace used widely by Christians.

At the beginning of John’s Gospel, after the wedding at Cana and the cleansing of the Temple, Jesus tells Nicodemus he must be “born again”. Nicodemus cannot understand this, but Jesus insists that those who refuse to believe and trust in Jesus condemn themselves.

Psalm Response: To you glory and praise for evermore.

(Ex 34:4-6,8-9; Dan 3:52-56; 2 Cor 13:11-13; Jn 3:16-18)

Acts 2:1-11; Psalm 103(104); 1 Corinthians 12:3-7,12-13; John 20:19-23

Pentecost was less understood by Christians than the other two Jewish pilgrimage feasts of Passover and Tabernacles. Then the Dead Sea Scrolls showed that Pentecost was associated with God giving the Covenant on Sinai, and enrolling new community members. The coming of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles fits neatly with this Covenant feast.

The Psalm calls us to praise God’s creative wisdom. Filled with wonder at the details of God’s glorious works, this psalm is well worth reading in full.

Acts tells us that they “had all met”, including Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers. Wind and fire remind us of Sinai. The list of peoples who hear is effectively the programme for the mission now starting.

After rebuking the Corinthians for their factions and giving us the earliest description of the Eucharist, Paul shows how Christians together make up the one body of Christ on earth. It is the one Spirit who gives the gifts each of us needs for the particular task God has given us.

In the first ending of John’s Gospel, Jesus appears to Mary Magdalen after his resurrection, and then to the disciples together in a closed room “for fear of the Jews”. Jesus breathes the Holy Spirit on them, sending them on mission with power to forgive sins.

Psalm Response: Send forth your Spirit, O Lord, and renew the face of the earth.