Lectionary 71: God's Communication and Our Response

Key:

What these passages tell us about God

What these passages tell us to do

What these passages tell us not to do

Commentary/observations

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.

1.    God really wants to communicate with us. He has sent prophets and, most importantly, comes to us Himself as Jesus and the Holy Spirit.  Those efforts make sense when one considers how much God wants relationship with us.  Paragraph 1 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church puts it well:

God, infinitely perfect and blessed in himself, in a plan of sheer goodness freely created man to make him share in his own blessed life. For this reason, at every time and in every place, God draws close to man. He calls man to seek him, to know him, to love him with all his strength. He calls together all men, scattered and divided by sin, into the unity of his family, the Church. To accomplish this, when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son as Redeemer and Saviour. In his Son and through him, he invites men to become, in the Holy Spirit, his adopted children and thus heirs of his blessed life.

2.   So how do we respond? Today’s readings give us some of specific directions/examples:

A.   Eliminate distractions, be they pernicious or wholesome.

i.              The statements about false teachings/gods in the first reading deal with pernicious distractions.  There are plenty of those around today, both religious and secular.  One example, religious in nature, is the subordination of scriptural truth to political party/ideology, where people purporting to be Christian leaders support policies/politicians demonstrably at odds with basic principles of Christian ethics.  Other examples, more secular in nature, are consumerism and obsession with media. The effects of those things resemble that attempted by the unclean spirit in today’s gospel: distraction from God’s pure teaching.  We should deal with them the way that Jesus dealt with the unclean spirit—firmly shutting them down as soon as they start distracting us. What God offers us is far, far, better.

ii.            Paul’s statements in the second reading addresses wholesome distractions, albeit in a specific context that most of us do not have to deal with (the vocation of celibacy).  The point most of us can draw from Paul’s statements is that we have to put God first, even in the face of entirely proper demands on our attention. It’s a balancing act, but God will help us strike the proper balance if we sincerely seek His help.  That dynamic is further explored at Digging Through the Dirt.

B.   Come to God expectantly, receptively. Instead of coming skeptically or unenthusiastically (i.e. having a hard heart), come with the attitude that God has something to say to you.  He does, and you will hear it if you truly open yourself to Him.

C.   Actively participate in worship, really “work” the liturgy. That seems to be the dynamic underlying today’s psalm. C.S. Lewis had some interesting insights on that in his discussion about how some folks “use the service”  in letter 1 of  Letters to Malcomb (emphasis in original).

D.  Talk to other believers about what God is showing you, like the folks in today’s gospel apparently did. I bet their conversations resulted in insights that they otherwise would have missed. That is even more likely now that the Holy Spirit dwells within believers.

3.   Shifting focus a bit, it is interesting to note how Moses’ prophecy that God “will put [His] words into” Messiah’s mouth lines up with other scripture. See Isaiah 11:4,  Isaiah 49:2,   John 3:34, John 8:28,   John 12:49-50, John 14:24, John 17:8, John 17:14.   

What We Can Learn From Jesus’ Nativity: Simeon Blesses Mary (Luke 2:25-35)

Luke 2:25-35

Now in Jerusalem there was a man named Simeon. He was an upright and devout man; he looked forward to the restoration of Israel and the Holy Spirit rested on him. ²⁶It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death until he had set eyes on the Christ of the Lord.²⁷Prompted by the Spirit he came to the Temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the Law required, ²⁸he took him into his arms and blessed God; and he said:²⁹“Now, Master, you are letting your servant go in peace as you promised; ³⁰for my eyes have seen the salvation³¹which you have made ready in the sight of the nations;³²a light of revelation for the gentiles and glory for your people Israel.”

³³As the child's father and mother were wondering at the things that were being said about him, ³⁴Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Look, he is destined for the fall and for the rise of many in Israel, destined to be a sign that is opposed-³⁵and a sword will pierce your soul too -- so that the secret thoughts of many may be laid bare.”

1.     This text makes it clear that Simeon was a Godly man.

A.   That comes through very clearly in the Greek words translated here as “upright” and “devout.” The word translated as “upright,” “dikaios,” means one “whose way of thinking, feeling, and acting is wholly conformed to the will of God.” The word translated as “devout” is “eulabēs;” it describes “reverencing God” and being “pious.”

B.   Simeon’s Godliness is also shown by his relationship with the Holy Spirit. Verse 25’s statement that “the Holy Spirit rested on him” suggests an ongoing, longstanding, relationship, something that was unusual before Pentecost. Verse 26 tells us that the events described here were preceded by a specific prompt from the Spirit, which he obeyed.  It seems likely that his statements in vv. 29-31 were inspired by the Spirit, sort of an understandable instance of speaking in tongues.

C.    Simeon’s intimate relationship with God is reflected in the statement captured in v. 29. Simeon’s reverent, obedient, relationship to God is reflected in his describing himself as “servant” and God as “master.” His references to what is happening “now” and what had been “promised” reflect the preexisting, ongoing, nature of the relationship. His statements about “letting” him “go in peace” reflect the gracious nature of that relationship and the One he had that relationship with.

2.    Simeon’s deep, ongoing, relationship with God raises an interesting question: what other good works had he done, what other blessings had he bestowed on others?  Probably a lot. We know from experience that Godly folks do a lot of discrete, individualized, acts of good; that’s how we discern their Godly nature. Further, repeated virtuous acts are an important part of how they develop their virtuous nature. See Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraphs. 1804 & 1810. We also see that dynamic in scripture. For example, both Tobit and Job habitually did good works before they became involved in the particular situations we remember them for. See Tobit 1:16-18 and Job 29:12-17.  The same was true of the centurions discussed Luke 7:1-10 and Acts 10; both had histories of good works before they undertook the particular acts memorialized in scripture. So, it’s a safe bet that Simeon did a lot of good before the events described here.

3.    Simeon’s obedience to the Spirit’s prompting here resulted in multiple levels of blessing: he was blessed, Mary and Joseph were blessed, and all who have read of this occurrence over the years have been blessed. That is another example of God using things on multiple levels, as discussed in point 1(B) of What We Can Learn from Jesus’ Nativity: Jesus’ Circumcision and Presentation; Mary’s Purification (Luke 2:21-24) and point 8 of What We Can Learn from Jesus' Nativity: The Visitation (Luke 1:39-45).  

4.    Simeon’s statements in Luke 2:34-35 are worth noting in several respects:

A.   The great, universal, goodness that comes from Jesus’ incarnation, as described in Luke 2:30-32, will come at great cost.  Moreover, Jesus is not the only one who will pay that cost; Mary will pay part of it too.

B.   The substance of what Simeon says here tracks what Jesus said in Luke 12:51-53,  John 15:18-21, and John 16:20-22: Jesus will expose divisions and conflict in the world.

C.    Relatedly, they reflect the reality that following God sometimes involves real effort and hard things. It could not have been easy for Simeon to deliver these hard truths to Mary, and it certainly must have been hard for Mary to live through the things Simeon described. This is yet another way in which the events surrounding Jesus’ nativity reflect the dynamics described in Sirach 2.  

5.    There are other parallels between what we see here and what we see elsewhere in the gospels and scripture generally:

A.   The fact that Simeon, a man who had an intimate relationship with God, recognized Jesus for who He is exemplifies the dynamic behind Jesus’ statements about those who know the Father recognizing Jesus’ true nature. See John 14:7. See also John 8:19, John 12:44.

B.   Simeon’s statements in Luke 2:30-32 about Jesus’ universal impact tracks Isaiah 42:6, Isaiah 49:1 & 6, and Isaiah 52:10.

Other meditations on Jesus’ nativity are collected at What We Can Learn from Jesus' Nativity: The Annunciation through Simeon & Anna