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

Scripture Readings

In the first Book of Kings Elijah, a prophet in the northern kingdom of Israel, throws his cloak over Elisha. But Elisha remains free to choose whether or not to follow Elijah. Freely he burns his plough and turns his back on all earthly ties. When Elijah’s life ends Elisha literally inherits the prophet Elijah’s mantle.

For Paul holiness and freedom are closely linked. Holiness is giving ourselves in love in the service of others. Paul tells the Galatians holiness can be developed and exercised only in relationship with others – ie in community. Paul saw that, without faith, the Law given to the Hebrews on Mount Sinai could not bring salvation. The Law was a sort of monitor or tutor to guide and curb God’s people until Jesus came and “set us free”. Now “the whole of the Law is summarised in a single command: Love your neighbour as yourself”. This new freedom is not freedom from restraint, it is freedom for love – the love of service to each other.

Today’s reading from Luke’s Gospel refers first to Elijah, who called down fire from heaven to consume his sacrificial offerings rather than those of idolatrous priests. And then to Elisha who burned his plough and did not look back. Faith in Jesus requires total commitment.

Psalm Response: O Lord, it is you who are my portion.

(1 Kgs 19:16-21; Ps 15:1-11; Gal 5:1, 13-18; Lk 9:51-62)

Scripture Readings

Writing in the 4th century BC, Zechariah promises that the Lord will enable the house of David to lead Judah to defeat its enemies. Jerusalem will mourn “the one whom they have pierced”, as they mourned the good king Josiah, slain at Megiddo. From Jerusalem will come a “fountain to wash away all guilt and uncleanness”, later seen as Christ pouring out God’s grace. Zechariah then promises that “the Lord will become king over all the earth”.
In his letter to the Galatians Paul has explained his claim we heard last week that “if justification were through the Law, then Christ died to no purpose”: Abraham was justified through his belief in God. In this week’s reading Paul concludes: through our faith in Christ we are all adopted as the heirs Abraham was promised long before the Law was given to Moses. The Law was a temporary “tutor” to guide God’s people until Christ brings us to maturity.
In Luke’s gospel, after the Apostles had returned from a preaching mission, Jesus had bolstered their confidence by feeding 5,000 people. In this week’s reading Jesus for the first time confirms who he is, but foretells his own death and the sufferings of his followers, before further revealing himself in the Transfiguration.

Psalm Response: For you my soul is thirsting, O God, my God.

(Zech 12:10-11, 13: 1; Psalm 62(63); Gal 3: 26-29; Luke 9: 18-24)

Scripture Readings

The verses before and after this extract from 2 Samuel help us to understand the enormity of David’s sin. To get Bathsheba for his wife, David had Bathsheba’s husband, Uriah the Hittite, killed by sending him into the fiercest fighting and then withdrawing the other troops from around him. When Nathan told a parable to show David how grievously he had sinned, David admits his sin, and Nathan tells him God forgives him.
The psalm praises this readiness of God to forgive our sins, with all fault and guilt taken away as if the sin had never been. So that we become “at one” with God, “justified”, with all our obligations to God fulfilled. We cannot do this alone – only God justifies.
But Paul tells the Galatians that they are not justified by the works of the Law, ie the rituals of the Law given to Moses. It is the faith of Jesus Christ in His Father, and our faith in Jesus Christ, that justifies or saves us.
In today’s reading from Luke’s Gospel the unnamed woman’s sins are forgiven, as shown by her loving actions, which are more important than the Pharisee’s concern over outward appearances.

Psalm Response: Forgive, Lord, the guilt of my sin.

(2 Samuel 12:7-13; Psalm 31(32); Gal 2:16-21; Luke 7:36-8:3)

Scripture Readings

The Books of Kings give the histories of Judah and the northern kingdom Israel between David’s death and the exile of Judah to Babylon in 586 BC. Israel’s kings frequently worshipped false gods, and so God punished them. King Ahab married Jezebel and worshipped Baal. After God sent a drought, he accepted Elijah’s sacrifice. Elijah then killed all Ahab’s priests, and then retreated into the desert for safety. The widow of Zarephath shared her last food with him. She was rewarded: her food stores were continually replenished, and today we hear how her son was brought back to life through Elijah’s prayer to God.
This links to Luke’s Gospel in which Jesus, after healing the centurion’s slave, brings back to life the son of the widow of Nain. Then John the Baptist asks Jesus “Are you he who is to come?”
For the next six weeks our second readings are from Paul’s letter to the Galatians, where visitors from Jerusalem had insisted they must become Jews before becoming Christians. Paul expresses astonishment that they have deserted his teachings, and insists his authority is what he heard directly from Jesus himself on the way to Damascus, when Jesus commissioned him to take the gospel to the Gentiles. And Peter and James had not contradicted Paul.

Psalm Response: I will Praise you, Lord, you have rescued me.

(1 Kings 17:17-24; Psalm 29(30);Gal 1:11-19; Luke 7:11-17)

Scripture Readings

In Eucharistic Prayer I, the Roman canon, just after the Consecration we hear: “the bread and wine offered by your priest Melchizedek”. Melchizedek, the Canaanite priest-king of Salem, later named Jerusalem, offered food and drink to Abram and his 318 retainers as they returned from a victory, and blessed Abram in the name of the one God they both believed in. Abram accepted Melchizedek’s blessing and gave him a tithe. Their shared meal confirmed them both as God’s people.
When David captured Jerusalem he took over this priest-kingship, hence today’s psalm praising David, appointed by God as a “priest for ever of the order of Melchizedek”. The author of Hebrews saw Melchizedek’s priesthood as superior to the Levitical priesthood and saw Jesus, descendent of David, with his gift of bread and wine to his disciples, as succeeding to this ancient priesthood.
Paul had told the Corinthians to stop misbehaving during the Eucharist. He then gave this earliest description we have of its institution during the last meal Christ shared with his disciples before Calvary.
Melchizedek’s offering of food to Abram is echoed in the feeding of the 5,000 in the Gospel, anticipating Christ giving himself to us as heavenly food in the Eucharist.

Psalm Response: You are a priest for ever, a priest like Melchizedek of old.

(Genesis 14:18-20 Psalm 109(110):1-4 1 Cor 11:23-26 Luke 9:11-17)

Scripture Readings 22nd May 2016, Trinity, Year C

Scripture Readings

Written after the return from the exile in Babylon, the Wisdom books contain the practical knowledge of both the Israelites and the peoples around them, accumulated over two thousand years. Wisdom is the art of living a life at peace with God and with other people. It was developed by reflecting on the great questions: life, death, suffering, love, evil, relationships. It was seen to be a universal guide for living, and so given by God. So Wisdom came to be seen as a person – the caring, feminine side of God, existing from all eternity. In today’s reading from Proverbs Wisdom speaks of sharing God’s delight in His work at the beginning of creation. The Psalm expresses our amazement at the place God has given to mankind in his wonderful creation.

In his letter to the Romans Paul insists that being justified, or made “at peace” with God, means that our previous alienation from God is overcome. God’s love “poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit” has brought us into an intimate relationship with God, but we confidently hope in a more glorious intimacy in the future.

No wonder Jesus says in the Gospel “I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now”. The Spirit gives us understanding.

Psalm Response: How great is your name, O Lord our God, through all the earth!

(Proverbs 8: 22-31 Psalm 8:4-9 Romans 5: 1-5 John 16: 12-15)

Scripture Readings

Newsletter – 16/05/2016 Pentecost

The Jewish feast of Pentecost, 50 days after Passover, was less well known than the other two pilgrimage feasts. Nomadic Hebrews sacrificed lambs in the spring to ensure adequate water through the dry season. After they settled into agriculture the barley harvest was celebrated a few days later. These two feasts became linked and associated with Passover. Tabernacles occurs in autumn when everyone slept in tents on the hillsides to protect and harvest the grapes. It was associated with temporary shelters used while wandering in the wilderness. Pentecost was associated with God giving the Covenant on Sinai. So the coming of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles at Pentecost fits neatly with this Covenant feast: the birth of the Church. Acts lists the regions where the Church was to grow.

Paul urges the Romans to live by the Spirit who, with Christ, has made his home in us. We are now Sons of God. If we are led by the Spirit within us to follow God’s laws, we will have confidence that the Father will “give life to our mortal bodies”, just as Jesus was raised.

In John’s Gospel Jesus repeats his promise that his Father would send another Advocate, through whom he and the Father would be with his church for all time.

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

(Acts 2: 1-11; Psalm 103(104); Romans 8: 8-17; John 14: 15-16, 23-26)

Scripture Readings

Twice today we hear about the ascension of Jesus into heaven, where the letter to the Hebrews tells us that as “the supreme high priest” he gives us “the right to enter the sanctuary” where “he appears before God on our behalf”, after shedding his own blood in a sacrifice that need never be repeated.

Luke’s Gospel opens in the Temple in Jerusalem with the angel appearing to Zechariah. On Easter Sunday, after Jesus walked with two disciples to Emmaus and then appeared to the Eleven, he ascended to heaven. The gospel ends with the disciples joyfully praising God in the Temple, in Jerusalem. Acts starts in Jerusalem with Jesus’ ascension after appearances over 40 days but finishes in Rome. Jesus’ earthly ministry was “to go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel”. His ministry started and finished in Israel. But gradually the Apostles, guided by the Holy Spirit, came to realise that they were to preach “repentance for the forgiveness of sins” “to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem”. Acts tells us how Jesus Christ continues his presence through the Church, spreading the gospel worldwide. Christianity could not be contained within Judaism, it had to break away from the Temple, with its daily sacrifices. “No one puts new wine into old wineskins”.

Psalm Response: God goes up with shouts of joy; the Lord goes up with trumpet blast

(Acts 1:1-11; Psalm 46(47); Heb 9:24-28, 10: 19-23; Luke 24:46-53)

Scripture Readings

In Acts, after the success of the first mission of Paul and Barnabas in setting up Gentile churches, Jewish Christian visitors from Jerusalem came to Antioch saying Gentiles must be circumcised to be saved. So Barnabas and Paul went up to Jerusalem for what is called the First Council of the church. Underneath the apparently simple question of circumcision were two other issues: whether Paul’s new Gentile Christian communities could remain in communion with the rest of the church; and whether Christianity could remain within Judaism. No-one claimed Jesus’ sayings in support. The Holy Spirit leads to a decision through discernment and discussion.

Revelation gives us two brief excerpts from John’s beautifully detailed vision of the new Jerusalem, the church, founded on the apostles. There is no temple because Christ is present throughout his church.

In today’s gospel, Jesus’ Last Supper discourse helps us to feel the joy Jesus has that he will soon return to his Father. He promises to send “another” Advocate who will make Jesus present in his church for the rest of time. The name “Advocate” captures the several roles the Holy Spirit plays in the church and for us. He both consoles and advises or counsels us, while also representing us to God in the heavenly court.

Psalm Response: Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you.

(Acts 15:1-2, 22-29; Psalm 66(67); Rev 21:10-14, 22-23; John 14:23-29)

Scripture Readings

Last week we heard in Acts the start of the first mission of Paul and Barnabas, preaching in synagogues, with mixed receptions. Many Jews became Christians. But many stirred up hatred and violence against the Apostles, leaving Paul for dead. Barnabas and Paul then preached to the Gentiles, showing how they could recognise God’s activity in nature. Today we hear how this first mission ends, with religious leaders appointed in each church, and a report of “what God had done”.

In Revelation the promise of salvation described last week is now accomplished. The new Jerusalem, symbol of the church, comes adorned as a bride for her marriage with the Lamb, the union of the Messiah with the community of the elect. God dwells with men on earth in the continuing church, after the “former heaven and the former earth” are replaced by a “new heaven and a new earth”, separate no longer. God’s ancient covenant is fulfilled.
In John’s Gospel we hear the beginning of Jesus’ long farewell discourse at the Last Supper. Jesus, like Paul, is sad to leave his followers. After washing the disciples’ feet, Jesus draws out the meaning of this action. He predicts his coming death and gives a stronger commandment: to have as great a love for one another as Jesus has for us.

Psalm Response: I will bless your name for ever, O God my King.

(Acts 14:21-27; Psalm144:8-13; Rev 21:1-5; John 13:32-35)