RE: 01.29.15 - Readings

 

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Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 71

Reading 1 Dt 18:15-20

Moses spoke to all the people, saying:
“A prophet like me will the LORD, your God, raise up for you
from among your own kin;
to him you shall listen.
This is exactly what you requested of the LORD, your God, at Horeb
on the day of the assembly, when you said,
‘Let us not again hear the voice of the LORD, our God,
nor see this great fire any more, lest we die.’
And the LORD said to me, ‘This was well said.
I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their kin,
and will put my words into his mouth;
he shall tell them all that I command him.
Whoever will not listen to my words which he speaks in my name,
I myself will make him answer for it.
But if a prophet presumes to speak in my name
an oracle that I have not commanded him to speak,
or speaks in the name of other gods, he shall die.’”

Responsorial Psalm Ps 95:1-2, 6-7, 7-9

R. (8) If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Come, let us sing joyfully to the LORD;
let us acclaim the rock of our salvation.
Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us joyfully sing psalms to him.
R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Come, let us bow down in worship;
let us kneel before the LORD who made us.
For he is our God,
and we are the people he shepherds, the flock he guides.
R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Oh, that today you would hear his voice:
“Harden not your hearts as at Meribah,
as in the day of Massah in the desert,
Where your fathers tempted me;
they tested me though they had seen my works.”
R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.

Reading 2 1 Cor 7:32-35

Brothers and sisters:
I should like you to be free of anxieties.
An unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord,
how he may please the Lord.
But a married man is anxious about the things of the world,
how he may please his wife, and he is divided.
An unmarried woman or a virgin is anxious about the things of the Lord,
so that she may be holy in both body and spirit.
A married woman, on the other hand,
is anxious about the things of the world,
how she may please her husband.
I am telling you this for your own benefit,
not to impose a restraint upon you,
but for the sake of propriety
and adherence to the Lord without distraction.

Alleluia Mt 4:16

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The people who sit in darkness have seen a great light;
on those dwelling in a land overshadowed by death,
light has arisen.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel Mk 1:21-28

Then they came to Capernaum,
and on the sabbath Jesus entered the synagogue and taught.
The people were astonished at his teaching,
for he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes.
In their synagogue was a man with an unclean spirit;
he cried out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?
Have you come to destroy us?
I know who you are—the Holy One of God!”
Jesus rebuked him and said,
“Quiet! Come out of him!”
The unclean spirit convulsed him and with a loud cry came out of him.
All were amazed and asked one another,
“What is this?
A new teaching with authority.
He commands even the unclean spirits and they obey him.”
His fame spread everywhere throughout the whole region of Galilee.

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RE: 01.22.15 ~Commentaries

Commentary – 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B

January 25, 2015

First Reading – Jonah 3.1-5, 5-10
The word of the LORD came to Jonah, saying:
“Set out for the great city of Nineveh,
and announce to it the message that I will tell you.”
So Jonah made ready and went to Nineveh,
according to the LORD’S bidding.
Now Nineveh was an enormously large city;
it took three days to go through it.
Jonah began his journey through the city,
and had gone but a single day’s walk announcing,
“Forty days more and Nineveh shall be destroyed, “
when the people of Nineveh believed God;
they proclaimed a fast
and all of them, great and small, put on sackcloth.

When God saw by their actions how they turned from their evil way,
he repented of the evil that he had threatened to do to them;
he did not carry it out.
Commentary
The book of Jonah is very short, four pages at most. It was written very late, around the fourth or third century BC. It claims to tell the story of a prophet named Jonah, five hundred years earlier; but in reality it is a fable, a humorous tale filled with lessons for the author’s contemporaries and for us as well. As always, we need to read between the lines.

Here is the story: once upon a time, there was in Israel, a rather insignificant but very astute prophet named Jonah. God tells him: you need to do more than to try to convert my people in your tiny country. I will send you on a mission to Nineveh (today's maps show the ruins of Nineveh close to Mosul in northern Iraq). Jonah would have gladly obeyed God, but common sense prevailed: after all, Nineveh was at the time (the eighth century BC) Israel’s sworn enemy, the capital city of the empire that most threatened Israel; it was a large and very powerful city, thirsty for conquests. Since it was a pagan empire a small Jewish prophet would only be risking his life by going there. Considering how hard it already was to try to convert Israel to God’s ways... no really, God was asking too much ... mission impossible. To risk one’s life for one’s own people, that was one thing ... but for those pagans! ... On top of that Nineveh was a very large city. It would take three days just to walk through it. How much more time would it take if one was to preach at every corner!

So Jonah turns a deaf ear and boards a Mediterranean ship in Jaffa (near modern Tel Aviv), a ship bound for Tarshish (in other words, to the other side of the world, heading west, as far away from Nineveh as possible, which itself lies at the eastern end of the Tigris River). Jonah is at peace, but not for long. While he is sleeping in the hold of the boat, a storm arises ... and since he is a man of his time, he thinks that his disobedience has something to do with it; and so, honest man that he is, he confesses to his companions that the heavens are angry because of him. Naturally, the sailors can’t wait to get rid of him to appease the elements and to beg for mercy to this unknown god that Jonah has angered: the prophet is thrown overboard.

But God does not abandon Jonah and dispatches a large fish that swallows him and shelters him. In the warmth of the belly of the fish Jonah prays ... and, of course, he begins to see things differently. So much so that when the fish spits him back onto the mainland, three days later, God only needs to say a few words ... and Jonah immediately heads toward Nineveh, this time without argument. And this is when the miracle happens: this huge city, which required three days to cross, well, in less than a day all the Ninevites, from the smallest to the greatest, are converted. Even the animals do penance!

However, there still remained one more person to convert (and therein lies the heart of this little book!) ... It was Jonah himself, who was not at all happy: according to his idea of justice, God should have exercised his anger against those pagans, those sinners. Jonah is disgusted and wanders far from the city. But in the heat of the summer Jonah is suffocating in the sun. So God, who decidedly does not abandon him, causes a shrub to grow to protect him from the sun. Jonah recovers from the heat, but not for long. The next day, God causes the shrub to die. Jonah becomes very angry, but God is ready for him. God says: "What a lot of drama over a bush that barely lived before it died ... But these Ninevites who were going to be lost ... do you not you think that was a much more serious matter? They are my children after all!”

This seemingly light hearted tale is actually full of lessons: First, and this is why it is proposed for this Sunday, is that "God loves all human beings" and that God is always willing to forgive, waiting only for a gesture from them; this is the meaning of the last sentence in today’s reading: "When God saw by their actions how they turned from their evil way, he repented of the evil that he had threatened to do to them.” That’s all God was waiting for. As to the prophet’s threats "Forty days more and Nineveh shall be destroyed,” they were meant to sound the alarm; when this story was written, the people of the Bible knew very well that we are never unequivocally condemned, that God always forgives. Still, our ears and our hearts must be open to God’s word of forgiveness.

Second lesson: God is the God of the universe; you can call on God from anywhere, well beyond Israel’s borders: from a ship at sea and even from the belly of a fish. God's presence is not limited to a place, a country or a religion.

Third Lesson: those we consider as pagans or sinners are often more willing to listen to God’s Word than we are; later, Jesus will even say that the tax collectors and the prostitutes will enter the kingdom of heaven ahead the religious authorities.  The author of the book of Jonah amplified this theme: on the boat we see the foreign sailors praying fervently to the Lord and offering a sacrifice of thanksgiving. As for the people of Nineveh, their complete and instantaneous conversion is more than could be hoped for. They turned to God on the first day that Jonah called them to repentance. When Jesus later spoke of the "sign of Jonah" he was recalling Jonah’s three day stay in the belly of the fish, but above all he was challenging his contemporaries to see in the Son of Man the "sign" from God that the Ninevites so readily saw in Jonah.

Fourth Lesson: this fable was created after the Babylonian Exile, at a time when the prophets wanted to remind their contemporaries that God wants to save all humanity, not just the chosen people; the challenge was akin to trying to make the eldest son understand that he is not the only child.

Fifth Lesson: the story of the bush is good pedagogy; it was a way to help Jonah understand that he could not be a good prophet without loving all human beings as God does. God is greater than our heart!
----------------
Addendum
The conversion of Nineveh contrasts with the inhabitants of Jerusalem’s refusal to convert, in the time of Jeremiah: "Yet neither the king, nor any of his servants who heard all these words, was alarmed, nor did they rent their garments" (Jer 36.24 ).

Responsorial Psalm – 25.4-5, 6-7, 8-9
R. Teach me your ways, O Lord.
Your ways, O LORD, make known to me;
teach me your paths,
Guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my savior.
R. Teach me your ways, O Lord.
Remember that your compassion, O LORD,
and your love are from of old.
In your kindness remember me,
because of your goodness, O LORD.
R. Teach me your ways, O Lord.
Good and upright is the LORD;
thus he shows sinners the way.
He guides the humble to justice
and teaches the humble his way.
R. Teach me your ways, O Lord.

Second Reading – 1 Corinthians 7.29-31
I tell you, brothers and sisters, the time is running out.
From now on, let those having wives act as not having them,
those weeping as not weeping,
those rejoicing as not rejoicing,
those buying as not owning,
those using the world as not using it fully.
For the world in its present form is passing away.
Commentary
A few lines prior to this passage, Saint Paul spoke of the greatness of our bodies that have become temples of the Holy Spirit through Baptism; this was from our reading for last Sunday. Therefore it would be a contradiction to read in today’s passage a devaluation of marriage: "let those having wives act as not having them." To understand this sentence, we must look for another explanation.

Today's passage is framed by two similar assertions: first, "the time is running out," and secondly, "For the world in its present form is passing away." In the Greek text “the time is running out” is actually a phrase from the world of navigation: "time has furled its sails" - an image that suggests a ship arriving in port at the end of its journey, furling its sails to enter the harbor. For Paul, humanity is like a ship at the end of its journey: the port of arrival is imminent, that is to say, both near and certain - we are on the home stretch. Consequently, if humanity has reached the end of its course, then obviously, "the world in its present form is passing away", as the last sentence says.  We are on the threshold of a new world, the one promised by Isaiah: "See, I am creating new heavens and a new earth" (Is 65.17).

The body of this text is then an invitation to look beyond our present horizon to God’s horizon, and perceive the new world being born. The body of this text is not primarily a moral lesson, but rather an invitation to rejoice: the good news of the approaching reign of God is the same for everyone, rich or poor, married or not. Paul also wants to reassure his readers about their way of life: for the married, it is not a matter of leaving one’s spouse, but of living all the realities of daily life in the perspective of the new world being born - a perspective both near and certain. It is a matter of changing how one sees the world and consequently our whole way of living. The present world and the new world are not two distinct phases of history, but rather two ways of living the same realities, a pagan way and a Christian way - the way of Adam and the way of Christ.

Under Paul’s pen it is a language of freedom, a way of saying, "let nothing hinder you, let nothing hold you back, not your state of life, nor your wealth or your worries, nor the happy or unhappy events of your life.” Only one thing matters: the new world; and from this perspective we will be able to see the grandeur of the daily realities of our lives, for they are the raw material of the kingdom.

It seems that the leaders of the Church of Corinth had consulted Paul on some very concrete and practical issues of everyday life, especially on marriage: is sexual life compatible with holiness? Should we marry? And if we are already married, how should we live together? Rather than focusing on specific advice, Paul gives them the key to Christian behavior: whatever your present state of life, live with your eyes fixed on the kingdom, like a runner who does not look at his feet but at the finish line!

Paul addresses different categories of Christians: married and unmarried, happy and unhappy, rich and poor, and he says, "All of you ought to have the same goal - the reign of God." Those who have a wife and those who have no wife, those who weep and those who do not, those who are happy and those who are not, those who can afford to buy things and those who have nothing, those who gain from the world and those who receive none of its benefits ... All must live in the present world in the way of Christ.

To Christians of Jewish origin (thus circumcised) and to those of pagan origin (uncircumcised) Paul gives the same advice: "everyone should live as the Lord has assigned, just as God called each one… Was someone called after he had been circumcised? He should not try to undo his circumcision. Was an uncircumcised person called? He should not be circumcised. Circumcision means nothing, and uncircumcision means nothing; what matters is keeping God’s commandments " (1 Cor 7.17-19).

Our Baptism does not call us to change our state of life, whether we be married or celibate, for example; it calls us to change how we live: “what matters is keeping God’s commandments.” And this is possible in all states of life. Paul insists on this: "Everyone should remain in the state in which he was called. Were you a slave when you were called? Do not be concerned but, even if you can gain your freedom, make the most of it" (1 Cor 7.20-21). In the words of Monsignor Coffy, "Christians do not live a life different from the ordinary life, they live the ordinary life differently.”

All this makes sense: since we are the leaven in the dough, we must remain in the dough in which we have been placed. Every situation, even that of a slave, can reveal the kingdom of God, to us and to others. It is through the daily realities of our present world, happy or not, that the Holy Spirit brings to perfection its work in the world, so as to sanctify creation to the full, as our Fourth Eucharistic Prayer says. This work of the Spirit transfigures reality, causing it to bear good fruit, fruit that Paul describes in his letter to the Galatians as "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control" (Gal 5.22-23).

The best commentary on this passage is from Paul himself in the same letter to the Corinthians (1 Cor 10.31): "whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God."

Gospel – Mark 1.14-20
After John had been arrested,
Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God:
“This is the time of fulfillment.
The kingdom of God is at hand.
Repent, and believe in the gospel.”

As he passed by the Sea of Galilee,
he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting their nets into the sea;
they were fishermen.
Jesus said to them,
“Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
Then they abandoned their nets and followed him.
He walked along a little farther
and saw James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John.
They too were in a boat mending their nets.
Then he called them.
So they left their father Zebedee in the boat
along with the hired men and followed him.
Commentary
Mark tells us that this scene takes place "After John had been arrested."  John the Baptist’s brutal arrest by Herod’s police put an end to the precursor’s mission. The Greek text reads: “after John had been ‘handed over’”, an expression that Mark uses frequently in reference to Jesus (eg, “The Son of Man is to be handed over to men.” – 9.31) and to the apostles ("they will hand you over to the courts” – 13.9). This is Mark’s way of telling us that John the Baptist’s fate prefigures that of Jesus and of the apostles: theirs is the common lot of the prophets, as described by Isaiah in the Servant Songs (Isaiah 50 and 52-53); or in the Book of Wisdom: "Let us lie in wait for the righteous one, because he is annoying to us; he opposes our actions," (Wisdom 2.12).

Like the prophets before them, John the Baptist and now Jesus proclaim repentance and conversion: Mark uses the same words for both John and Jesus: "proclaim, repent". This is certainly not a coincidence: a few verses before this passage, Mark tells us that "John the Baptist appeared in the desert proclaiming a baptism of repentance…" and in this passage, that "Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God... Repent." The content of the preaching is the same; however, the decor has changed. After his baptism at the Jordan (Mk 1. 9-11) and his time in the desert (1. 12) Jesus returns to Galilee, and this is where he begins preaching the Good News of the Kingdom of God. In other words, the Good News comes from Galilee, that suspect country, the one of which it was said, "can anything good come out of it?"

Jesus began to proclaim: "This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.” 
‘The time of fulfillment’: The people of Israel have a particular notion of history; for them, history is not cyclical, perpetually renewing itself; it has a SENSE; it has both a meaning and a direction. Human history has a beginning and an end, within which God reveals God’s covenantal project with humanity. To say, "the time is fulfilled," is to say that the goal has been reached. As Paul says, "time has furled its sails", like a ship arriving at harbor. The goal is the Day when the Spirit will be poured out upon all flesh, according to the promise of the prophet Joel (Joel 3.1).  John the Baptist saw the fulfillment of this promise in Jesus, and he says: "I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” That's the good news - that the Day of the Lord is coming.

"The kingdom of God is at hand" (literally, in the Greek text, "The kingdom of God is near") 1. This means two things: first, the kingdom comes to us and we have only to receive it; the gratuity of God’s gift is immeasurable more than we imagine. Secondly, the kingdom is already a reality: "The kingdom of God is (already) at hand". Recall how the heavens are torn apart as Jesus comes out of the waters of the Jordan: heaven and earth are now reunited.

Perhaps the conversion to which Jesus invites us is simply to believe that this gift of God is present to us and that it is free. As the prophet Isaiah announced: "All you who are thirsty, come to the water! You who have no money, come, buy grain and eat; Come, buy grain without money, wine and milk without cost!" (Isaiah 55.1-2). This helps us understand the phrase: "Repent, and believe in the gospel” (the Good News). In French and in English the word AND means ‘as well as’, ‘in addition to’; but in Greek, the word can sometimes mean "that is to say"; we should read the above phrase as: "Repent, that is to say, believe the Good News". To repent is to believe in the Good News, or to put it another way it is to believe that the news is good, that God is love and forgiveness, that God’s love is for everyone.

This is probably why the first reading proposed to us for this Sunday is from the book of Jonah, with its message that not only does God will the salvation of all, and not just the privileged few, but also as was the case with the Ninevites, God waits only for a gesture from us. Repent and God’s forgiveness is yours.

In the same vein, Paul says in his second letter to the Corinthians: "Be reconciled to God", meaning, "believe that God’s purpose is benevolent" and stop being like Adam who believed that God was ill intended! Repentance involves turning around and seeing God as God is, that is to say, the God of love and forgiveness. This is what the prodigal son discovered.

A few words on the call of the first disciples, Simon and Andrew, James and John: As in any vocation, there are two phases, the call and the response. Jesus passes by, sees them and calls them; he takes the initiative, which for the disciples is an invitation into the reign of God. As to their response, Mark says, "They abandoned their nets and followed him." Their response is reminiscent of Abraham’s in the book of Genesis: "Abraham went, as the Lord had told him" (Gen 12.4).

Jesus tells these fisherman, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
He does not offer them something for themselves, but for others; he integrates them into his undertaking. In doing this he reveals to them something of his own mission: to rescue human beings; in the words of John’s Gospel: "I have come that they may have life and have it abundantly” (Jn 10. 10).
---------------
Note
1 – In Jesus’ day the word "gospel" was used to signal the King’s arrival (either his birth or his entry into a city). It is therefore one and the same thing to say, "The kingdom of God is at hand" and "believe the gospel." In Jesus, the kingdom of God is near.

Translated with permission by Simone Baryliuk, from: Commentaires de Marie Noëlle Thabut, 25 janvier, 2015
http://www.eglise.catholique.fr/foi-et-vie-chretienne/commentaires-de-marie-noelle-thabut.html

RE: 01.15.15 - Readings for Sunday, January 18, 2015

USCCB »  Bible »  Daily Readings

 

January 18, 2015

 

« January 17  |  January 19 »

Second Sunday of Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 65

Reading 1 1 Sm 3:3b-10, 19

Samuel was sleeping in the temple of the LORD
where the ark of God was.
The LORD called to Samuel, who answered, “Here I am.”
Samuel ran to Eli and said, “Here I am. You called me.”
“I did not call you, “ Eli said. “Go back to sleep.”
So he went back to sleep.
Again the LORD called Samuel, who rose and went to Eli.
“Here I am, “ he said. “You called me.”
But Eli answered, “I did not call you, my son. Go back to sleep.”

At that time Samuel was not familiar with the LORD,
because the LORD had not revealed anything to him as yet.
The LORD called Samuel again, for the third time.
Getting up and going to Eli, he said, “Here I am. You called me.”
Then Eli understood that the LORD was calling the youth.
So he said to Samuel, “Go to sleep, and if you are called, reply,
Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.”
When Samuel went to sleep in his place,
the LORD came and revealed his presence,
calling out as before, “Samuel, Samuel!”
Samuel answered, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”

Samuel grew up, and the LORD was with him,
not permitting any word of his to be without effect.

Responsorial Psalm Ps 40:2, 4, 7-8, 8-9, 10

R. (8a and 9a) Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will.
I have waited, waited for the LORD,
and he stooped toward me and heard my cry.
And he put a new song into my mouth,
a hymn to our God.
R. Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will.
Sacrifice or offering you wished not,
but ears open to obedience you gave me.
Holocausts or sin-offerings you sought not;
then said I, “Behold I come.”
R. Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.
“In the written scroll it is prescribed for me,
to do your will, O my God, is my delight,
and your law is within my heart!”
R. Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will.
I announced your justice in the vast assembly;
I did not restrain my lips, as you, O LORD, know.
R. Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will.

Reading 2 1 Cor 6:13c-15a, 17-20

Brothers and sisters:
The body is not for immorality, but for the Lord,
and the Lord is for the body;
God raised the Lord and will also raise us by his power.

Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ?
But whoever is joined to the Lord becomes one Spirit with him.
Avoid immorality.
Every other sin a person commits is outside the body,
but the immoral person sins against his own body.
Do you not know that your body
is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you,
whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?
For you have been purchased at a price.
Therefore glorify God in your body.

Alleluia Jn 1:41, 17b

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
We have found the Messiah:
Jesus Christ, who brings us truth and grace.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel Jn 1:35-42

John was standing with two of his disciples,
and as he watched Jesus walk by, he said,
“Behold, the Lamb of God.”
The two disciples heard what he said and followed Jesus.
Jesus turned and saw them following him and said to them,
“What are you looking for?”
They said to him, “Rabbi” — which translated means Teacher —,
“where are you staying?”
He said to them, “Come, and you will see.”
So they went and saw where Jesus was staying,
and they stayed with him that day.
It was about four in the afternoon.
Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter,
was one of the two who heard John and followed Jesus.
He first found his own brother Simon and told him,
“We have found the Messiah” — which is translated Christ —.
Then he brought him to Jesus.
Jesus looked at him and said,
“You are Simon the son of John;
you will be called Cephas” — which is translated Peter.

RE: 01.08.15 - Readings for Sunday, January 11, 2015

Commentary – The Baptism of the Lord Year B
January 11, 2015

First Reading – Isaiah 42.1-4, 6-7
Thus says the LORD:
Here is my servant whom I uphold,
my chosen one with whom I am pleased,
upon whom I have put my spirit;
he shall bring forth justice to the nations,
not crying out, not shouting,
not making his voice heard in the street.
a bruised reed he shall not break,
and a smoldering wick he shall not quench,
until he establishes justice on the earth;
the coastlands will wait for his teaching.

I, the LORD, have called you for the victory of justice,
I have grasped you by the hand;
I formed you, and set you
as a covenant of the people,
a light for the nations,
to open the eyes of the blind,
to bring out prisoners from confinement,
and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness.
Commentary
The difficulty of this text lies in its richness! Like much of prophetic writing, it is very dense: many things are said in a few sentences. I'll try to break down the text.

To begin with, obviously, it has two parts: it is God who speaks from one end to the other, but in the first part, God talks about the one God calls his "servant" ("Here is my servant whom I uphold ... "), while in the second, God speaks directly to his servant (" I, the Lord, have called you for the victory of justice, I have grasped you by the hand").

I will begin by focusing on the first part.  To begin with, the surprising repetition of the word "justice" which appears three times: "My servant shall bring forth justice to the nations;” “he will faithfully bring forth justice;” “He will not grow faint and be crushed until he establishes justice on the earth " There is nothing harsh about the establishment of this justice; it is full of gentleness and respect for all that is fragile: "bruised reed", "smoldering wick”, "not crying out, not shouting, not making his voice heard in the street…a bruised reed he a shall not break, and a smoldering wick he shall not quench.”

Another feature of this justice is that it concerns the whole of humanity: two statements about the nations (i.e. the whole of humanity) frame all that is said here about justice. The first is: "he shall bring forth justice to the nations," and the second: "He will not grow faint and be crushed until he establishes justice on the earth; the coastlands will wait for his teaching.”

There is no better way to say that God's will is for salvation, for liberation, and that it concerns all humanity.  This means that when this text was written two things were already understood: first, that God’s justice is not to be feared for it is a word of salvation, of liberation (God is the "judge from whom we have nothing to fear" as our funeral liturgy says); and secondly, that God’s will for salvation concerns all of humanity.  A last but very important point in the context of the mission given to the servant - he is assured of God’s support: "Here is my servant, whom I uphold... upon whom I have put my spirit."

The second part of the text expands on these themes: it is God himself who explains to his servant the mission that he is given: “to open the eyes of the blind, to bring out prisoners from confinement, and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness.” Here, not only is the mission not one of condemnation, it is a true release from prison, from the darkness of the dungeon: the prison cells of the time had no windows, so that when one came out of the darkness of the jail cell into the light of day, the experience was blinding.

The universal nature of the servant’s mission is also very clear. God says that the servant will be “a light to the nations." And there is a reminder of God’s support: "I, the Lord, have called you ... I grasped you by the hand. "

The question naturally arises: of whom is Isaiah speaking? The description given here - of a servant of God invested with a mission of salvation for God’s people and for all humanity, and upon whom rested God’s spirit – fit perfectly the definition of the Messiah that Israel was expecting. It was he who would build the kingdom of God on earth and bring happiness and freedom to all. However, Isaiah does not specify his identity. Who is the servant invested with such a mission? We find the answer in the translation that the Jews themselves made of this passage a few centuries after this text was written, when, around 250 BC  they translated the Bible into Greek from Hebrew (we call this translation the Septuagint). Here is the beginning of our text in the Septuagint: "Thus says the Lord: Behold my servant, Jacob, whom I uphold, my chosen, Israel, in whom I put all my joy." From this we can better understand the intention of the prophet when he preached these words to his contemporaries: the author (called Second Isaiah) lived and preached at the time of the Babylonian Exile in the sixth century BC. It was a particularly dramatic period and the people of Israel believed that they were doomed to disappear and no longer have a role to play in history. Therefore the prophet Isaiah has devoted all of his energies to restoring courage in his contemporaries, so much so that his work is called "The Book of the Consolation of Israel." A good way to boost the morale of the troops is to say: do not despair, God is still counting on you; you may be a small group, but as such you are called to be a privileged servant in God’s work of salvation in the world. Already the prophet Micah, in the eighth century had the intuition that the Messiah was not an individual but a collective being; and with the words of Isaiah in today’s text, the idea of a collective Messiah asserts itself once more.

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Addendum
- In our liturgical reading the first sentence says: "Thus says the Lord", probably to compensate for the removal of verse 5 in the middle of the text.
- Here is verse 5: "Thus says God, the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people upon it and spirit to those who walk in it." The second part of the book of Isaiah (the one called "The Book of the Consolation of Israel”) is rich in beautiful images of creation: it was under times of duress that the theme of God’s creative power and love for his creatures was developed; it is the best argument for holding on to hope: God’s creative power and loving faithfulness are the best guarantee of our liberation.

Responsorial Psalm – 29.1-2, 3-4, 9-10
R. The Lord will bless his people with peace.
Give to the LORD, you sons of God,
give to the LORD glory and praise,
Give to the LORD the glory due his name;
adore the LORD in holy attire.
R. The Lord will bless his people with peace.
The voice of the LORD is over the waters,
the LORD, over vast waters.
The voice of the LORD is mighty;
the voice of the LORD is majestic.
R. The Lord will bless his people with peace.
The God of glory thunders,
and in his temple all say, “Glory!”
The LORD is enthroned above the flood;
the LORD is enthroned as king forever.
R. The Lord will bless his people with peace.
Commentary
In order to hear this psalm in full force, one must imagine the violence of a storm: the raging winds sweeping all of Palestine, Lebanon and Mt. Hermon in the north all the way down to the desert of Kadesh in the south. We already hear an echo of this image in the words, "The God of glory thunders;" however, this theme is found mainly in the middle verses of this psalm, which are not included here: "The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars; the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon. He makes Lebanon skip like a calf, and Sirion like a young wild ox (Sirion is another name for Mt. Hermon)... The voice of the Lord flashes forth flames of fire… The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.... The voice of the Lord causes the deer to calf, and strips the forests bare... " (verses 5-8).

Where has God’s voice resounded in such dramatic fashion? At Sinai, of course. Remember the description in the book of Exodus when God offers his Covenant to Moses: "On the morning of the third day, there was thunder and lightning, as well as a thick cloud on the mountain, and a blast of trumpet so loud that all the people who were in the camp trembled. Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God. They took their stand at the foot of the mountain. Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke, because the Lord had descended upon it in fire; the smoke went up like the smoke of a kiln, while the whole mountain shook violently. As the blast of the trumpet grew louder and louder Moses would speak and God would answer him in thunder. "(Ex 19: 16-19). As you may know, the Targum on Exodus compares the voice of God to flames of fire: each time God gave Moses one of the articles of the Commandments (Decalogue) it was like fire coming from the mouth of God. I will read a passage from the Targum: "The first commandment, when it left the mouth of the Saint - Blessed be His name! - it was like sparks, lightning and flaming torches, a lamp of fire on his right and a lamp of fire on his left. It flew and flew through the heavens ... Then it returned and was engraved on the tablets of the Covenant ... "

We note, in passing, the repeated use (I'm tempted to say "litany") of the name of God revealed at Sinai: the word "LORD" (the famous name made up of the four letters YHVH) appears in almost all the verses of this psalm (eighteen times in the entire psalm!)

Another parallel with Sinai in this psalm is the phrase "voice of the Lord"; here, it is repeated three times, but throughout the psalm, it is repeated seven times, which is not an insignificant number: we immediately think of the seven days of creation in the first chapter of Genesis with its seven-fold "God said ... and it was. " This is a way of saying that God’s Word is effective, and it alone; in other words, unlike God, idols are incapable of speaking or acting.

This brings us to another theme of this psalm: the kingdom of God. If I had to summarize this psalm, I would say that its main message is that God alone is king; all other kingships are usurped; God alone deserves homage and adoration. Soon all will recognize the One God and worship God alone: first God’s people, of course, but more importantly, so will the usurpers who dared to claim the glory that belongs to God alone." The anti-idolatrous message is clear: the image of the storm is often used in the Bible to describe the coming of the kingdom of God, the final judgment of God upon the world when the powers of evil will finally disappear and God’s universal dominion will finally be manifested, just as it was manifested over the raging waters of the Flood: "The voice of the LORD is over the waters, the Lord, over vast waters. The voice of the Lord is mighty…"

Where else, other than in the first Creation account and in the story of the Flood did God dominate bodies of water? During the Exodus from Egypt, of course, at the crossing of the Sea, when the people fled from Egypt, "the house of bondage."  This is their greatest claim to fame; now, the chosen people, freely liberated by God, are a witness before other nations, calling them to join in giving glory to God. Notice the emphasis on the word "glory" which comes up four times in the entire psalm.

Last remark: in the temple, the gathered believers already sing the glory of God, but for the rest of humanity, this is not yet the case! When the psalm says: "the Lord is enthroned as king forever," it is still in anticipation. But there is no doubt that the day will come when God will finally be recognized as king by all of God’s children.

We can now better understand the choice of this psalm for the feast of the Baptism of the Lord:  with Jesus, "the Reign of God has come near, it is already in our midst."

Second Reading – Acts 10.34-38
Peter proceeded to speak to those gathered
in the house of Cornelius, saying:
“In truth, I see that God shows no partiality.
Rather, in every nation whoever fears him and acts uprightly
is acceptable to him.
You know the word that he sent to the Israelites
as he proclaimed peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all,
what has happened all over Judea,
beginning in Galilee after the baptism
that John preached,
how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth
with the Holy Spirit and power.
He went about doing good
and healing all those oppressed by the devil,
for God was with him.”
Commentary
It is unheard of: Peter is violating all decency, entering the home of the pagan Roman centurion, Cornelius. I must add that the Holy Spirit has forced Peter’s hand!
Let me remind you of the events that led up to the speech that Peter gives here: Imagine two houses 31 miles apart, one being the house of Cornelius in Caesarea, the other, that of Simon the tanner in Joppa (today, Jaffa or Tel Aviv). It is in Simon’s house that Peter, who has temporarily left Jerusalem for a missionary tour, is staying.

In both houses, strange and quite unexpected things are happening - it begins in Caesarea. Cornelius is an officer of the Roman Empire (today we would say that he is Italian) stationed at Caesarea Maritima, that is to say, on the Mediterranean coast of the country of the Jews. To the Jews, Cornelius is a worthy man - pious, one of the so-called "God-fearing". This means that he has almost converted to Judaism, or at least he is very sympathetic towards Judaism, but without having been circumcised. He is also known for his generosity and gives alms to the synagogue of Caesarea.

Cornelius is in his house. One day, about three o'clock in the afternoon, he has a vision. He sees an angel of God coming to him and saying, "Cornelius!" He answers, trembling, "What is it, Lord?" The angel says to him, " Your prayers and your alms have ascended as a memorial before God. Now send men to Joppa for a certain Simon who is called Peter; he is lodging with Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the sea" (Acts 10, 4-6). Barely had the angel left, that Cornelius chooses two trusted men and sends them to Joppa, a good day’s walk, escorted by a soldier.

The next day, shortly before they arrive at their destination, strange things happen in Joppa: around noon, Peter climbs up to the roof top terrace to pray. Being almost lunchtime he becomes hungry, and now he too has a vision: from the sky falls a kind of sheet filled with all kinds of animals, and a voice says, "Get up, Peter, kill and eat! " It is impossible for a good Jew to obey such a command! First, he would have to carefully distinguish which of these animals are pure and which are not; so Peter instinctively answers, "By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is profane or unclean." But the voice says to him again," What God has made clean, you must not call profane! " (see Acts 10, 9-16)

In other words, who is he to decide what is pure or impure? Later, Paul, in the letter to the Romans, says, "I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself" (Rom 14: 14).

Peter certainly has difficulty coming to that same conclusion, since Luke states that this same scene was repeated three times. And he adds that Peter still did not understand, even after the vision disappeared. As you might suspect, it is precisely at this moment that Cornelius’ messengers knock at the door, on the ground floor, while upstairs on the terrace, the Holy Spirit says to Peter, "Now get up, go down, and go with them without hesitation, for I have sent them" (10, 19). You can guess the rest of the story: Peter comes down, meets Cornelius’s messengers, asks why they have come, and then offers them hospitality; the next day, he goes to Joppa. I note in passing that he does not go alone, he takes some Christians with him; he suspects that something important is at hand because the Holy Spirit is involved, and if there are decisions to be made, it is always wiser to consult with others. Another day’s journey takes place, this time in the opposite direction - to Caesarea where they arrive the next day.

The arrival at Cornelius’s house is splendid. Cornelius has called family and friends to join him, and when Peter arrives, Cornelius falls at his feet; but Peter responds with the wonderful words: "Arise, I too am only a man." Then, in front of everyone, he gives the meaning of the vision at Joppa, as he has now come to understand it: "God has shown me that I should not call anyone profane or unclean."  In other words, I, Peter, a Jew, had believed until now that I was being faithful to God's covenant by avoiding all contact with Gentiles. But I now understand that, in the eyes of God, no one is to be avoided. And that is why, for the first time in my life, I authorize myself, a Jew, to cross the threshold of the house of a Gentile. Then Cornelius explains why he asked for Peter, following the command of the angel of God. It is at this time that Peter begins the speech that we read: "In truth, I see that God shows no partiality.
Rather, in every nation whoever fears him and acts uprightly is acceptable to him.”
Israel’s election is not in question: "You know the word that he (God) sent to the Israelites, " but now all have access to faith in Jesus Christ.

You know the rest: Peter was perhaps ready to make a long speech, as on the morning of Pentecost, but the Holy Spirit, once again, is ahead of him: "While Peter was still speaking, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who heard the word. The circumcised believers who had accompanied Peter (that is, the Jews who had become Christians) were astounded that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles, for they heard them speaking in tongues and extolling God" (10, 44-46). Then Peter draws the obvious conclusion and does what he would never have thought to do without the Holy Spirit’s many interventions - he baptizes them. "Can anyone withhold the water for baptizing these people who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” (10, 47)

That which Jesus assigned to his apostles on the day of his Ascension is being fulfilled. He had told them: "You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1: 8). 

Translated with permission by Simone Baryliuk, from: Commentaires de Marie Noëlle Thabut, dimanche 12 janvier, 2014
http://www.eglise.catholique.fr/foi-et-vie-chretienne/commentaires-de-marie-noelle-thabut.html

Gospel- Mark 1.7-11
This is what John the Baptist proclaimed:
“One mightier than I is coming after me.
I am not worthy to stoop and loosen the thongs of his sandals.
I have baptized you with water;
he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

It happened in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee
and was baptized in the Jordan by John.
On coming up out of the water he saw the heavens being torn open
and the Spirit, like a dove, descending upon him.
And a voice came from the heavens,
“You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”
Commentary
THE SPIRIT DESCENDED LIKE A DOVE
Jesus’ baptism is his first public appearance, and it serves as the occasion for the revelation of his identity. It seems that John the Baptist is himself unsure of whom he is dealing with; when he speaks of the coming Messiah to the crowds, he uses language familiar to everyone but he is not yet aware that it applies to Jesus of Nazareth. He says: "I have baptized you with water; he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit"; which means: "I have immersed you in water; he will immerse you in the Holy Spirit" (“to baptize" means "to immerse").  Everyone understood that he was speaking of the Messiah because everyone knew the promise of the prophet Joel: "In those days, (i.e. when the Messiah comes), I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh" (Joel 3.1). The prophet Isaiah had also spoken several times of the Messiah on whom the Spirit would rest: "The spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him: a spirit of wisdom and of understanding, a spirit of counsel and of strength, a spirit of knowledge and of fear of the LORD"(Is 11.2). Isaiah goes on to describe the Messiah’s vocation: "The spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me; He has sent me to bring good news to the afflicted, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, release to the prisoners... "(Is 61.1).

The rest of the scene is familiar to us: "On coming up out of the water he (Jesus) saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit, like a dove, descending upon him. And a voice came from the heavens, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” "You are my Son" is a messianic title; it was the title conferred on each new king in Jerusalem on the day of his coronation; Jesus is the Messiah-King; this means that his baptism is truly a royal investiture. However, the formula used for kings did not include the word "beloved" (“You are my beloved son”). Perhaps this is an allusion to Abraham’s dearly beloved son Isaac, freely offered ... As for the final formula, "with you I am well pleased", it is also taken from Isaiah in reference to the Messiah:" Here is my servant whom I uphold, my chosen one with whom I am pleased. Upon him I have put my spirit"(Is 42.1).

JESUS’ SOLIDARITY WITH US
Much later, after Jesus’ Passion and Resurrection, this baptismal scene was contemplated and its depth better understood. For example, the question arose: "Why did Jesus ask for baptism although he was not a sinner?" The first possible answer was that he wanted to be part of his people’s journey and therefore chose to show solidarity with sinners. What is striking is that it is precisely at this moment that he is declared "Son"! A second possible answer is that it proves that the true focus of baptism is not sin ... it is a story of love; no wonder that baptism is an immersion in the Holy Spirit! It places the baptized person in a filial position vis-à-vis the Father and in solidarity with one’s sisters and brothers. We tend to see baptism in terms of purification, but it seems that for God it is about filial and fraternal love! When baptism immerses us in the Holy Spirit it immerses us in God’s love; when God says to Jesus, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased," through him God is proposing this to all humankind; we simply need to accept that God’s love dwells in us.

THE HEAVENS ARE TORN OPEN
Now we understand why the heavens are torn open, as was Isaiah’s wish: "Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down, with the mountains quaking before you as when brushwood is set ablaze, or fire makes the water boil. Then your name would be made known... "(Isaiah 63.19). To rend the heavens open signifies that there is no more separation between heaven and earth: the universe is no longer the prison in which humanity has locked itself in hiding ever since it became afraid of God, ever since the suspicion that overcame it in Eden; communication between God and God’s children is finally restored; humanity can finally know God as God is and not according to the caricatures it has invented over time.

Jesus has taken the helm of this new humanity, the one that lives by the Spirit of God; as St Paul says, “Jesus is the firstborn amongst many brothers and sisters"(Rom 8.29). Now the image of the dove makes sense: "(Jesus) saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit, like a dove, descending upon him." Just like the breath of God hovered over the waters at the first creation, so too God’s Spirit hovers over this man who is the first of the new creation. Jesus’ baptism is the first manifestation of the Trinity.

Note that this is happening at the Jordan, the same river that the chosen people had passed through on dry ground under the leadership of Joshua in order to enter the Promised Land; now, like Joshua, Jesus emerges from the Jordan, leading the new people of God towards the true Promised Land, the one where all will be brothers and sisters.

Translated with permission by Simone Baryliuk, from: Commentaires de Marie Noëlle Thabut, 11 janvier, 2015
http://www.eglise.catholique.fr/foi-et-vie-chretienne/commentaires-de-marie-noelle-thabut.html