Gospel of Sunday
16th Sunday Year A
notes by fr Paul M. Addison OSM
1st Reading: Wisdom 12, 13. 16‑19
God of power and freedom: In the form of a Prayer of Praise, the Wisdom writer describes God in terms of a great power and sovereignty, who yet declines to over‑ride the human power of choice (and repentance from evil). This “benign neglect” by a God who lets us be, is not seen as a negative thing, but is attributed to the fact that God “cares for everything”. Nor does it mean that God postpones all creation to our right‑doing or wrong‑doing until “the end of time” (today's Gospel, Matthew !3, 12‑43): in a mysterious way, not gone into by the Wisdom writer, God “teaches a lesson to His People” and “exposes the insolence of those who question your sovereign power”.
Reponsorial Psalm 85 (Hebr. 86)
The emphasis of the first Reading is on forgiveness. This is taken up by the Responsorial Psalm 85, which calls God “good and forgiving, full of love to all who call; to whom all nations shall come in adoration; great and the worker of marvellous deeds, slow to anger, abounding in love and truth”. The Psalmist asks for “pity
2nd Reading: Romans 8, 26‑27:
We continue the reading of Romans 8. The Liturgical Year is well on it course. And this is a Summertime reading, helping us to look at things well along the road of life’s journey. We are in that Chapter Eight of Romans which speaks of the Life of the Spirit and the Life of Hope ‑ the “eschatalogical reading” which is put before us during the liturgical time for considering spiritual fruitfulness, the fulfilment of the Kingdom... in a word, “where it's all leading”, or “where we stand with regard to the past, the present and the future”. Remember how in the Letter to the Romans St. Paul is anxious to situate the Christians within his 3‑phase picture:
PHASE 1: The need for Justification, Rescue, Christ;
PHASE 2: Christ dies and rises again, and is our present‑tense Justice before the Father. He has already achieved what is presently and gradually coming about in us. And if he has done so much then surely he won't fail to bring it/us to completion (Romans 5, 9 which states, “Having died to make us righteous, is it likely that he would not fail to save us from God's anger?”). Far from it... Paul's teaching goes on to say that this is why we live in Hope (the theme from Romans 5, 5 reiterated in Chapter 8).
PHASE 3: The Fulfillment, Parousia, Completion, of the Word (this completion is called “Salvation” by St. Paul). Notice how he situates the presen age about 2.9 (two‑point‑nine) in the 3‑phase process. Certainly this is the attitude of the Liturgy in the Summer‑time
Weakness: Last week we heard about “all creation longing to be born anew”. Now once more, as in the other two readings, Weakness is examined in this reading from Romans 8, 26‑27. There we are reminded that “The Spirit comes to help us in our weakness when we cannot find any words to pray properly.” Surely this remind us of the promise of Jesus at the Last Supper when he insisted, “I myself will ask the Father and he will give you another Advocate to be with you forever, that Spirit of Truth whom the world can never receive since it neither sees nor knows him; but you know him, because he is with you, he is in you.” (John 15, 16‑17.
The weakness referred to may well be just part of that general condition of becoming referred to earlier by St Paul, that we and the whole of creation are groaning inwardly still in the act of coming to birth as children of God (Romans 8, 20, proclaimed last week on 15th Sunday of Year A). But it wouldn't be wrong to see the word as referring to our constant failing and falling, which requires on‑going repentance. Whether it signifies particular sins or just our sinfulness in general, it still remains full of meaning for any but the “insolent” and “arrogant”.
Mystery language and tongues: Of course, such a text ought to be ever in mind of those of us who pray the Liturgy in “words”, so that we remember always that the relationship withGod is beyond all words, and is expressed spiritually for us by the Holy Spirit. The humility of the Liturgy is easily forgotten, and it can become alienating to the People of God if is made too much reality and not enough “mystery/Sacrament”. I'm sure this explains in part why so many people easily accept “mystery languages”, as when Latin is used. It is not just Magic, but can equally be respect for the inexpressibility of our relationship with God. Is this why people like “praying in tongues”?
Gospel: Matthew 13, 23‑43
Gradual: Once again, as last week, we listen to a Gospel about the Kingdom, described in pastoral terms, complete with an explanation for enquiring disciples. The 3 descriptions given all stress gradualness or steps along the road of faith (“grade” being the Latin for a step !).
- 1. Good Seed and Darnel/Cockle: left until the harvest for sorting, not to be
dealt with “yet”;
- 2. Mustard Seed: small beginnings, but eventually the greatest shrub.
- 3. Yeast for 3 measures of flour, leavening the whole batch.
I suppose some would interpret this as “don't worry about anything now ‑ about the lack of success of the Gospel, the apparently increasing scale of the ‘sin of the world’”. Certainly there is a sense in which “it is not our to know times or dates that the Father has decided by his own authority” (Acts 1, 7 in answer to the query, “Lord, has the time come? Are you going to restore the Kingdom of Israel?”).
But this does not exonerate us from the zeal and urgency of the prayer “Thy kingdom come!” and our obligation to be part of the promotion of its coming.
The advice of St. Augustine comes readily to mind, that we labour as though everything depended on us, and yet think and acknowledge that everything depends on the Lord.
The more I reflect on this day’s Mass readings, the more I can see that it is a “mid-course” celebration, for people in the middle of the Journey of Faith. And the gift of God to guide us in the middle of our journey is the gift of HOPE. Here are some reflections on the gift of Hope:
LIVE IN HOPE This is the message, trusting that the Lord will crown our efforts with fruitfulness when the time is right.
LIVE IN HOPE, which is patient, enthusiastic, long‑suffering, completely trusting, and not put off by appearances of failure.
LIVE IN HOPE, which perseveres to the end and does not lose confidence in Him.
LIVE IN HOPE, which is alert to the signs of the times, not burying heads in the sand or over‑spiritualizing the hard realities of the world and its weakness, suffering and sin.
LIVE IN HOPE, which will be silent and "listening", to interpret all that is going on, or not going on, with the mind of Christ.
Compassion The Gift of Hope will lead us to be compassionate towards our own weaknesses, not giving way to them, but being patient with them, using the wonderful gift from God of time ‑ respecting the ebb and flow of our growth‑times, the invitation times, the response time, the empty times and the full times, ever growing even when it looks like we're going backwards or are ‘back at square one’!
And likewise, by growing in authentic self‑love and self‑compassion, we will be led by the Gift of Hope to be compassionate towards the weaknesses of others ‑ again not indulging in indifference or "laisser‑faire", but so loving others and the world around us that we are respectful of the gift of God's TIME, and not judgmental about where other people have reached in their journey of faith.
How difficult it is to put this into words! And yet how very important it is to live in the Spirit, in such a way that we are truly people of Love, people of Hope, people who resemble our God who is “slow to anger, abounding in love and truth, good and forgiving, full of love to all who call” (Psalm 85). And at the same time People who are enthusiastic for the coming of the Kingdom, and vigilantly restless until it is achieved.
17th Sunday Year A
1st Reading: I Kings 3, 5. 7-12
Wisdom not riches, power, life: “Not long life or riches or the lives of his enemies” – Making an amazing choice to disregard and decline long life, riches or lives of his enemies, Solomon requests a discerning heart. Then, only then, is he offered everything after he requests only a discerning heart. He admits his calling to hold together the People ( = Kingship). He is chosen as specially belonging to the Lord. He has the task of discerning between Good and Evil. His prayer is answered, and the Lord tells him, “I give you wisdom of heart”.
We might note that Solomon eventually fell foul of his weakness in all those other things that should have stayed secondary to his wisdom, and he lost and wrecked the whole kingdom. Everything fell apart.
Youth: Note his youth, too: often it is older people who say that “there’s more to life than power, possessions and love”. But for a youth to say this is a great sign (hence the blessing of youthful vocations!!!).
In conjunction with today’s Gospel reading, note that Solomon wasted and lost his treasured wisdom (through love of his own power), and from a “good fish” he became a bad one, to be thrown out.
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 118 (Hebr. 119)
Love of God’s Law By far the longest psalm in the Psalter, this is a psalm of God’s Law. It corresponds to the theme “Richer than gold is the love of my Lord, better than splendour and wealth” (a new and very popular hymn in Britain). Obedience to God’s Law is more than silver and gold. But it’s not a merely legalistic obedience that is required: the Law of God gives consolation, delight, light and teaching for the lowly. The interplay between Love and Law, expressed in John’s Gospel by “If you love me you will keep my commandments” (John 14, 15), is beautifully unfolded in Psalm 118.
2nd Reading: Roman 8, 28-30 (part 4 of reading Chapter Eight)
God leads the Dance of Life: In the journey of life, God links (cooperates) with those He has called. He called them long ago to be sons and daughters, brethren of Christ; called, then justified, then glorified.
There are echoes here of the detailed description of the Divine Plan stated at the beginning of the Letter to the Ephesians. Paul re-states his wonderment at how God wants everyone to belong as beloved sons and daughters, brothers and sisters (previously stated in Rom. 8, 14-17 “Everyone moved by the Spirit is a son of God. The spirit you received is not the spirit of slaves bringing fear into your lives again; it is the spirit of sons, and it makes us cry out, ‘Abba, Father!’ The Spirit himself and our spirit bear united witness that we are children of God. And it we are children we are heirs as well: heirs of God and coheirs with Christ, sharing his sufferings so as to share his glory.”) This “Divine Plan” unfolds in these 3 lovely verses of today’s reading.
This passage takes up the theme that is now popularised in the hymn, “For to those who love God, who are called in his plan, everything works out for good”. The work of the Spirit is to re-fashion us in the likeness of God’s Son.
While the other readings, like last week’s call to “bear fruit”, insist that we must do our part in God’s plan, this passage stresses the goodness and power and fidelity of God. This makes today’s Liturgy a real dance of loving partners. I can best describe it as a joyful dance between a Dad and his little daughter like you see at weddings.
Gospel Reading: Matthew 13, 44-52
More Kingdom parables: Today we hear the parables of the Hidden Treasure, the Precious Pearl, the Dragnet
In other verses the Gospel has presented images of the Kingdom under
- The Sower (= many receptions for the Word);
- The Darnel-Tares (= gradual growth, good alongside evil and enemies);
- The Mustard Seed (= growth, in a hidden way);
- The Yeast (= growth, in a hidden way);
- The Treasure (= leave all, submit all to the Kingdom);
- The Pearl (= leave all, submit all)
- Dragnet (= gradual growth, good alongside evil and enemies).
The Precious Pearl, the Hidden Treasure: today’s Gospel simply notes the reality of total commitment, with its implication of leaving everything else, or submitting everything else to the One Great Treasure. In their relationships, people know and recognise very easily the paramount necessity of total commitment - “all or nothing”. This was put before us on Sunday 13 of Year A with the starker, “unless you prefer me to father, mother… you cannot be worthy of me”, Matthew 10, 37-42.
Accompanying qualities of total commitment are
- Enthusiasm: you actually believe in it, and it won’t leave you alone. It burns you up! You are truly passionate about it;
- Endurance: you stay with it through all sorts of trials and adventures;
- Conviction and Coherence: you can explain it, when necessary, and you don’t have to have a Rule-book or Guidance-manual to explain yourself; your answers hold together comfortably;
- Sacrifice: you show clearly that you will leave aside all sorts of other treasures, activities, situations, relationships... submitting them all to the urging priority of your commitment; you are prepared to suffer many hardships as you hold on to your commitment.
No doubt there are many more descriptions of the yearning, burning drive of which Jesus is speaking when he compares the Kingdom of Heaven to someone who finds a hidden treasure or a priceless pearl.
Pretence: But may God spare us from pretence: there is no use putting on an act, just pretending to be passionate about the Kingdom of Heaven, or whipping up a merely emotional enthusiasm in people to create the illusion of total commitment. The point of this Gospel reading is this. If you have that passion, follow it. If you identify it in others, do not stifle it. If you get hints of it in yourself, develop it. If it is not there, ask yourself some serious questions about what really matters in your life!
18th Sunday Year A
Notes by fr Paul M. Addison OSM
Abundant Nourishment- Harvest Last week was Real Treasure to describe the Kingdom of God, and the week before was the Fruitful Word/Seed. Now we have another celebration of Nourishment, whereby in the Kingdom or Way of Christ there is more than enough of what people need. After Easter we celebrated the Bread of Life, through Chapter 6 of John's Gospel and through Corpus Christi Feastday. Now, in Matthew Chapter 14, we are given the theme of abundant nourishment as one of the hall‑marks or signs of the Kingdom of God.
The Miracle of the Loaves itself (Matthew 14, 13‑21) is the fulfilment of what Elisha (II Kings 4) and Moses (Exodus 16, Numbers 11) brought to the people, reliable nourishment from God. It is directed towards the Eucharist (John 6, and Synoptic Gospels Last Supper account, plus the "raising eyes to heaven, saying the blessing, breaking the bread" in Mt.14, 19).
1st Reading: Isaiah 55, 1‑3
Fruitfulness God’s gift: This 'Bread of the Covenant' is beautifully foretold and celebrated in the passage from Deutero‑Isaiah 55, 1‑3, which promises and assures food, corn, water, milk and wine, at no cost; food, moreover, that will satisfy ("why waste your wages on what fails to satisfy?" v.2). The way to obtain this food is the Way of Listening, ("Pay attention, come to me, listen and your soul will live" v.3). Also, of course, the Prophet requires us to "turn back to God" (v.7), "to abandon wicked ways" (v.7), and "to seek out God while he is still to be found" (v.6), ...all part of the Way of Life. Yes, an effort is required and a response is called for, but the fruitfulness and abundant free nourishment is beyond all proportion to the effort ‑ it is a Gift, a priceless gift!
I remember seeing a tragic film about drugs‑trading called "Traffik", (UK Channel 4 1993) involving weakness, worldliness, wickedness, real people in trouble claiming desperately ‑ like aroline in the film ‑ "but I'm not a bad person!", and a lot of human reality. The rehabilitation centre towards the end of the film showed a scene very reminiscent of what goes on every day beneath our church [Fulham Road Servite Church, SHARP Project] and in our parish hall [Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, Cocaine Anonymous], as people help each other to come back to life, away from "wasting wages on what fails to satisfy". I delight in God's name to represent those people at the altar of God (since they frequently cannot find adequate personal support and freedom in organised religion, and do not easily come to the altar of God themselves). I know, and so do you, that the Spirit of God is at work in all the self‑help groups that are presently "feeding the five thousand", and I pray for them, on their behalf that is, with all my heart.
However, it is perhaps easier to identify wrong and bad things that "fail to satisfy". But the whole message of the Gospel and Way of Christ goes much further than that: it takes us to the point of saying, “In God alone is my satisfaction!” (Cf. Psalm 15 (Hebr 16), the Priests’ Psalm, “The Lord is my lot and my cup”. Yes, it must be said: the human spirit has a yearning within it that may show profound love for every aspect of human life, but yet goes even beyond all known love, family and friends, even beyond all work and possessions, even beyond all good health, good feelings and even beyond life and death! The expression needs of necessity to be almost wordless, as I dare to whisper “In God alone is my satisfaction!”
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 144 (Hebr. 145)
A psalm celebrating the kindness, generosity of God; God’s providence for all who call on God from their hearts.
2nd Reading: Romans 8, 35. 37‑39
No thing can separate us… And so we can recall our 2nd reading, which has been going on for 5 weeks now. Today is the conclusion of Chapter 8 of St. Paul to the Romans, that magnificent charter and poem about the Life of the Spirit and the Life of Christian Hope. And what is put before us today? Simply that nothing whatever can separate us from the Love of God – “no‑thing”, whether bad or good. The union between God and ourselves is guaranteed by the love of Christ for us, a love so great that there is no outside force whatever (only our own conscious choosing) that can come between us and the love of Christ.
You'd wonder sometimes how reliable such confidence can afford to be, wouldn't you, when you're troubled about money or food or work, or love or health or world peace or political upheavals? Or evil spirits or false gods...
Yet the encouraging response of God through the Prophet and through the Church is quite clear: “Listen carefully to me (says the Lord), pay attention, come to me; listen and your soul will live. Seek out God while he is still to be found. Call to God while he is still near. Abandon wicked ways and wicked thoughts. Turn back to God” (Isaiah 55, 2‑7).
And God, for God's part, guarantees that such a relationship is an enduring, reliable Covenant, which is full of good, priceless gifts, and supremely nourishing and satisfying.
Gospel: Matthew 14, 13-21
Feeding of the 5000 Here is the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand, continuing the harvest theme of abundance in the fruitful life of the Kingdom of God. Is much commentary needed? Probably not. Reflection, yes…
19th Sunday Year A
1st Reading: I Kings 19, 9; 11-13
God in the storm or the calm: Elijah’s great vision of God in the cave. Elijah finds the Lord in the gentle breeze rather than the usual theophanies (manifestations of God) of earthquake, thunders, wind and fire.
On the one hand, Elijah was looking for potent manifestations of God to combat the separatist, murderous Jezabel and her breakaway tribes and her idolatry. We are in the middle of Elijah’s Vocation as a Prophet. He has experienced the most devastating failure (comparable to the devastating sense of failure expressed by Jeremiah in Jer. 15, 16-20), with all his companions killed; prior to this vision, he had wished he were dead, but was fortified by an Angel and led for 40 days through the wilderness. On the other hand, Elijah was looking for nothing at all, since everything had collapsed. Rather, it was a case of God looking for him, driving him into the desert and showing him a new, completely new face of God.
Why are we reading this story? Well, it is linked with the Gospel reading about Peter walking on the water. In the midst of our Journey of Faith we are being challenged and dared not to lose heart. Our encounter with God, and God’s encounter with us, will come in unexpected ways, so long as we abandon our false security and allow God to work in us. Even more: we are being challenged to recognise the limits of all the usual ways of finding or meeting God. It’s not that they are failures, despite our sense of disappointment in them. They are not enough. God will meet us in a surprising way. What a comfort this is for the poor, the devastated, the betrayed, the failures! How truly this fulfils that terrible experience that we all know only too well, that God is revealed when we are utterly helpless, on our backs!
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 84 (Hebr. 85)
An impossible encounter: This is a Messianic Psalm that is particularly and frequently used at Christmas-time. The psalm celebrates the impossible meeting of mercy and faithfulness (since mere earthly thinking would say that it’s either one or the other, you can’t have both!); justice and peace embrace. Faithfulness and justice come together. Heaven and earth are encoupled. This impossible meeting is life-generating, truly a coupling of heaven and earth: “our earth shall bear its fruit”. It is equally productive of peace. This is probably the dominant theme of the day, the calm that comes from Jesus amid the storm on the lake, the still small voice of calm in the gentle breeze of Elijah where God is made manifest; and the voice that speaks of peace in Psalm 84. But it would be quite wrong to focus on the peace without recognising the turmoil, searching and sense of drowning that precedes it.
2nd Reading: Romans 9, 1-9
How do you mean, Chosen People? So we have completed our several weeks of Romans Chapter 8. The Letter moves on now to a completely new theme, that of the Jewish People and their place in God’s plan after being the Chosen People for so long. We hear the sorrow of St. Paul for the apparent rejection of the Jewish nation as the Chosen People. They were the receivers of sonship and adoption, Law and ritual and Promises; they were the ones who produced the Patriarch and the Saviour.
Ethnicity, Culture, Factions: Christian-Jewish relations are a significant feature of the call
to reconciliation at the end of the 20th Century, provoking people to rise above narrow
nationalisms and denominationalisms. The location of the Christian mystery within real human history and real human culture presents a ongoing problem, and ongoing challenge. Faith and the Life of the Spirit have to be found, shared, expressed and extended within real communities and cultures. Yet they are more than any particular limited community or culture. The tension is never-ending, and has produced many failures, many ethnic-religious wars, as well as the continuing evolution and development of the Human Race. It is obviously tempting to adopt a “John Lennon solution” (in his One-World song “Imagine” - imagine no boundaries, nationalities, no religion too), by dissolving and removing all the things that people feel strongly about and believe in... And to be honest, many people are doing just that, abandoning their confidence in churches, politicians, organised care services, financiers, employers. It’s interesting that they equally give their approval to ecology, Friends of the Earth, alternative medicine, spiritualism and so forth. Today’s Mass finds us at the cutting edge of this tension: God is found and shared in human ways and human situations, but God is vaster than any of it! Both of these two poles are true, and they seem impossible to bring together. Here we go back to our Psalm 84, because they are brought together only in Christ Jesus, and only at the heart of the emptiness suffered by Elijah, drowning-Peter and the crucified Lord himself.
Gospel Reading: Matthew 14, 22-33
Walking on the waters! This is the dramatic episode of the storm on the lake, with Jesus absent (in an earlier storm he was asleep on the boat while the others were struggling - Matthew 8, 24 “And behold, there arose a great storm in the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves; but He Himself was asleep”). Jesus is praying alone, then walks on the water in the night, calls Peter to faith in him, calms the storm. In the calm the disciples call him ‘Son of God’.
Peter’s complete recklessness gives a new dimension to the expression “stepping out in faith”!!! His wavering is recognisable to us all, and is curiously comforting. Our need to be held by the hand of Jesus is so real, and we are glad that Peter was given that hand. Equally, we are glad to hear the voice of Jesus when we are terrified both by the storm and the darkness, and then by the ghostly presence of Jesus. We are caught in the middle - life is terrifying, and so is the revelation of God. But in the midst of it all is the call the faith, “Courage! It is I! Do not be afraid”.
Bread and Safety The earlier account of this event, in Mark’s Gospel chapter 6, 51 makes a very sharp point, which has a bearing on today’s liturgy. Mark states of the disciples that “they were dumfounded, because they had not seen what the miracle of the loaves meant. Their minds were closed”. Mark connects the call to “walk on water with Jesus amid the storm” with the feeding of the multitudes. In Mark 8, 14-21 Jesus goes into detail about this, asking them to remember the miracles of feeding the multitudes, but without giving his usual explanations and interpretations. “Are you still without perception?”, he says at the end of the episode. “Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you not yet understand? Have you no perception? Are your minds closed?” They, and we, must find the answer ourselves... probably connected to the storms of life, our earthly fixation on food, shelter and security, and the call of Jesus to step out in faith and not be afraid, because he is with us.
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