{"id":1458,"date":"2017-09-03T05:59:57","date_gmt":"2017-09-03T05:59:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/batkol.info\/?p=1458"},"modified":"2017-09-03T05:59:57","modified_gmt":"2017-09-03T05:59:57","slug":"twenty-second-sunday-in-ordinary-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/2017\/09\/03\/twenty-second-sunday-in-ordinary-time\/","title":{"rendered":"Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Alternatice Commentary<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time\u00a0(Sept 3, 2017)<\/p>\n

\u00a0Lectionary Readings:\u00a0\u00a0Jer 20:7-9; Ps 63; Rom 12:1-2; Matt 16:21-27<\/p>\n

Theme: \u201che . . . must . . . undergo great suffering\u201d\u00a0(v. 21).<\/p>\n

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Download<\/a><\/p>\n

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The liturgy for the Twenty-Second Sunday juxtaposes two prophetic figures who exemplify the pain and suffering that seems to be the burden of prophetic ministry. In intense pain, the prophet Jeremiah cries out that he has been overpowered by God to such a point that he has tried to escape his preaching ministry. But God\u2019s hold on him is so great, he cannot escape.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cIf I say, \u2018I will not mention him, or speak any more in\u00a0his name,\u2019 then within me there is something like a burning fire shut up in my bones; I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot\u201d\u00a0(v 9).<\/p>\n

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Jesus, we hear, \u201cbegan to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering. . .\u201d In the wake of Peter\u2019s strong rebuke, Jesus warned those wishing to follow him that they must also be prepared to suffer.\u00a0\u00a0“If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. . .\u201d\u00a0(v 25).\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Earlier in the same chapter we read Matthew\u2019s account of Jesus\u2019 question on the way: \u201cWho do people say the Son of Man is?\u201d\u00a0(v 13).\u00a0Matthew, however, makes a significant change in the Markan list\u00a0(Mk\u00a08:28)\u00a0by including Jeremiah as one of the responses. As Dan Harrington has pointed out, this is \u201cconsistent with Matthew\u2019s general interest in Jeremiah as a figure of Jesus\u201d\u00a0(247).\u00a0Matthew quotes Jeremiah three times\u00a0(2:17;\u00a016:14; 27:9)\u00a0and alludes to him also three times\u00a0(7:15-23; 11:28-30; 23:37-39) (Ibid.).<\/p>\n

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Already in Deuteronomy we read that God will raise up a prophet like Moses and that God will put God\u2019s word in the mouth of that prophet\u00a0(Deut\u00a018:15, 18).\u00a0Later, in the call narrative of Jeremiah, when we read,\u00a0\u201cthen the LORD put out his hand and touched my mouth; and the LORD said to me, \u2018Now I have put my words in your mouth\u2019\u201d\u00a0(Jer 1:9),\u00a0we remember the words of Deuteronomy. Jeremiah is that prophet like Moses. So Matthew\u2019s addition of Jeremiah to Mark\u2019s list links Jesus to this long history of prophetic activity.<\/p>\n

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Jeremiah preaches on the eve of the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem and the First Temple, while Jesus\u2019 ministry takes place four decades before the Roman destruction of Jerusalem and the Second Temple.\u00a0\u00a0But both the Shared Scripture and the Christian Testament were written, as Jim Sanders used to say, \u201cout of the ashes of two temples,\u201d and in response to the profound crisis brought about by those destructions.<\/p>\n

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The responsorial psalm is a fitting response to both readings. The psalmist cries out \u201cO God, my God, for you I search. My throat (nefesh\u00a0in Hebrew)\u00a0thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You in a land waste and parched, with no water\u201d\u00a0(Rbt Alter trans).\u00a0As Robert Alter comments,\u00a0\u201cthe speaker\u2019s longing for God is so overwhelmingly intense that he feels it as a somatic experience, like the thirsty throat of a man in the desert, like yearning flesh\u201d\u00a0(116). Several of Jeremiah\u2019s prayers are recorded.\u00a0\u00a0Jesus prays three times in the garden of Gethsemane to have the cup removed, but eventually submits to whatever God wills.<\/p>\n

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\u00a0For Reflection and Discussion:<\/p>\n

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(1) Religious folk, sisters especially, are fond of describing themselves as called to be prophets. But given Jesus\u2019 warning in today\u2019s Gospel reading, it would seem that such a claim is probably more demanding than we tend to realize. Today\u2019s readings give us pause for reflection on the prophetic ministry and its \u201ccostly\u201d consequences\u00a0(to cite Bonheoffer). Even Peter, in the Gospel, was not willing to accept that Jesus was to \u201cundergo great suffering.\u201d Take time for some \u201creality\u201d thinking on the call to prophetic ministry. (2) I finished this July 21st and as I prepared for the feast of Mary Magdala I noticed that Psalm 63 was also the response to the reading from the Song of Songs\u00a0(3:1-5). It was as if the intense pain of Jeremiah and the \u201cgreat suffering\u201d anticipated by Jesus was somehow connected to the pain of the beloved searching for the lover \u00a0\u201cin the streets and\u00a0in the squares. . .\u201d Does this strike a chord within you?<\/p>\n

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\u00a0Bibliography:\u00a0Rbt. Alter,\u00a0The Book of Psalms\u00a0(New York: 2007); D. J. Harrington,\u00a0The Gospel of Matthew\u00a0(Collegeville: 1991).<\/p>\n

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This week\u2019s Sunday Gospel Commentary was prepared by<\/p>\n

Helen R. Graham, M.M., PhD., Quezon City, Philippines, Bat Kol Alumna 2002, 2005, 2006, 2009.\u00a0
Email address:\u00a0helengraham522@gmail.com<\/p>\n

[Copyright \u00a9 2017]<\/p>\n

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\u2026\u2026….\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026..\u2026\u2026.\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026<\/p>\n

PLEASE NOTE: The weekly Gospel commentaries represent the research and creative thought of their authors, and are meant to stimulate deeper thinking about the meaning of the Sunday Scriptures. While they draw upon the study methods and sources employed by the Bat Kol Institute, the views and conclusions expressed in these commentaries are solely those of their authors, and do not necessarily represent the views of Bat Kol. \u00a0Questions, comments and feedback are always welcome.<\/p>\n

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\u00a0~~1983-2017~~<\/p>\n

Bat Kol Institute for Jewish Studies, Jerusalem<\/p>\n

\u201cChristians Studying the Bible within its Jewish milieu, using Jewish Sources.\u201d<\/p>\n

Website: www.batkol.info; \u00a0\u00a0gill@batkol.info<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Alternatice Commentary \u00a0Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time\u00a0(Sept 3, 2017) \u00a0Lectionary Readings:\u00a0\u00a0Jer 20:7-9; Ps 63; Rom 12:1-2; Matt 16:21-27 Theme: \u201che . . . must . . . undergo great suffering\u201d\u00a0(v. 21). \u00a0 Download \u00a0 The liturgy for the Twenty-Second Sunday juxtaposes two prophetic figures who exemplify the pain and suffering that seems to be the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":1405,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ghostkit_customizer_options":"","ghostkit_custom_css":"","ghostkit_custom_js_head":"","ghostkit_custom_js_foot":"","ghostkit_typography":"","_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1458"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/46"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1458"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1458\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1405"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1458"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1458"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1458"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}