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Scripture In Depth
14th Sunday of Ordinary Time C
July 7, 2013
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Reading I: Isaiah 66:10-14c
Originally this prophecy from Third Isaiah spoke of the
joy following the restoration of Gods people from exile.
The returning exiles are received back by the holy city
as a mother who consoles them at her breasts and dandies
them on her lap.
The metaphor is mixed, for it also speaks of YHWH
sending his “prosperity” (shalom,
which the caption inadequately renders as peace
presumably to establish a link with the Gospel) like a
river. (Note the reference to peace in the second
reading also; otherwise there seems to be very little
connection between the three readings.)
This reading, however, is appropriate for the
post-Pentecost season, in which the Church enjoys the
fruits of redemption, particularly the gift of the
Spirit.
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Responsorial Psalm: 66:1-3, 4-5, 6-7, 16, 20
This is a psalm of thanksgiving for a national
deliverance, pictured in imagery derived from the
original Exodus: “He turned the sea into dry land:
men passed through the river on foot.”
The prophecies of Second Isaiah spoke of the return from
exile in these terms, so the psalm forms a good response
to the first reading. It is a thanksgiving for all the
blessings of redemption and, for us particularly, for
the gift of the Spirit.
The latter verses of the psalm (here represented by
verses 16 and 20) take a surprisingly individualistic
turn. It is reasonable to suppose that at some juncture
two originally distinct psalms were combined.
The Christian sees a personal religious experience as
part of the experience of the entire body, while the
experience of the entire body is reflected in the
experience of the individual.
The gift of the Holy Spirit is at once corporate and
individual. At times in the history of the Church one
aspect has been emphasized at the expense of the other.
Both must be held in balance.
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Reading II: Galatians 6:14-18
It was Paul’s custom to dictate his letters to an
amanuensis, and then to take the pen himself and add a
few concluding words. In these words he summarized and
drove home the message of the whole letter.
The purpose of Galatians is to dissuade his Gentile
readers from lapsing into syncretism. They are probably
not Judaizing in the strict sense, for Paul has to
remind them that anyone who gets circumcised is
obligated to keep the whole law, which would have been
self-evident to a genuine Judaizer.
Paul “glories,” not in circumcision as his
opponents do, but in the cross. What matters for him is
that the believers have been re-created into a new
existence, and in this new existence it is not the marks
of circumcision but the marks of his apostolic
sufferings, in which Christ crucified is manifested,
that are important.
Finally, the Apostle gives his readers his blessing in a
style that suggests (as the conclusion of other letters,
especially 1 Corinthians, suggest even more clearly)
that his letters were written to lead into the
celebration of the Lord’s Supper.
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Gospel: Luke 10:1-12, 17-20 (long form); 10:1-9
(short form)
All three synoptic Gospels record a mission of the
Twelve during Jesus’ earthly ministry. The mission
of the Seventy (some texts have seventy-two) is peculiar
to Luke.
In chapter 9 Luke has already followed his Marcan source
for the mission of the Twelve. Here he follows Q and his
special material for the mission of the Seventy.
The Q material is also used by Matthew in his mission
charge to the Twelve. So it is clear that the idea of a
mission of the Seventy was created, not by Q or Mark,
but by Luke or his special material.
There can he little doubt that the number seventy is
symbolic. The mission of the Twelve represents the
Church’s mission to Israel (twelve tribes); and
the mission of the Seventy, its mission to the nations
of the world (which according to Jewish tradition,
numbered seventy or seventy- two).
Some critics maintain that the whole idea of missions
during the earthly ministry is a retrojection of the
post-Easter mission into the earthly life of Jesus. But
it is noteworthy that the disciples are charged to
proclaim Jesus’ own message: “The kingdom of
God has come near to you,” not the Christological
kerygma of the post-Easter Church.
The mission is to be characterized by urgency and
detachment. The exact expression of this urgency and
detachment is conditioned by the circumstances of the
time. But in some form or other, urgency and detachment
must always characterize the Church’s mission.
Two other features are worthy of note. First, it is not
the disciples (and therefore not the Church) that
initiate the mission. The initiative comes from the Lord
of the harvest in response to the Church’s
prayer.
The disciples return from their mission elated by their
success, but Jesus at once dampens their elation:
“Do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are
subject to you; but rejoice that your names are written
in heaven.”
There is an even more significant joy for the
missionary: prior to their mission, they had been
admitted to the privilege of partaking in the
eschatological salvation. When they forget that, they
are tempted to think that the mission is their own cause
and that the success is their own achievement.
Even an apostle or an evangelist is a justified
sinner.
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Copyright © 1984 by The Order of St. Benedict, Inc.,
Collegeville, Minnesota. All rights reserved. Used by
permission from The Liturgical Press,
Collegeville, Minnesota 56321
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Preaching the Lectionary:
The Word of God for the Church Today
Reginald H. Fuller. The Liturgical Press. 1984 (Revised
Edition),
pp. 482-484.
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Thank you to Liturgical Press who makes this
page possible
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For more information about the 3rd edition (2006)
of
Preaching the Lectionary
click picture above.
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Art by Martin Erspamer, O.S.B.
from
Religious Clip Art for the Liturgical
Year
(A, B, and C).
Used by permission of Liturgy Training
Publications. This art may be reproduced
only by parishes who purchase the
collection in book or CD-ROM form. For
more information go to:
http://www.ltp.org/
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