Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time / Msgr. Owen F. Campion
The Sunday Readings
The Book of Deuteronomy is the source of the first reading for Mass this weekend. Deuteronomy is from the Pentateuch, the collection of five books that appears as a group at the beginning of the present versions of the Bible.
The Pentateuch is special not because it is a grouping of several books, but because these books together contain the law as given by God through Moses.
In this weekend’s reading, Moses submits the law to the people, telling them that they must obey it when they enter their new land. They are not to alter the law or pick or choose from among its pronouncements. If the law carefully is followed, harmony and accord will follow. So will security. The nation will survive.
Since God authors the law, nations observing the Hebrews will realize the awesomeness of the Hebrews’ god.
The Epistle of St. James provides the second reading. James occurs only rarely among the readings at Mass. The author of this epistle is not known for certain, since various men with this name appear in the New Testament.
Several would have had credentials in the early Church, James, the son of Zebedee and brother of John; James, the son of Alphaeus, “the Less”; and James, a kinsman of Jesus. The father of Judas Iscariot was also named James.
Regardless, important in this reading is the revelation that God wills us to live. God never wills death and disaster for us. In the broader Christian context, as after all this is from the New Testament, this means eternal life. Not only does God will that we live, but he has given us the way to life in eternity that infinitely transcends our earthly life.
Also important is James’ reminder that, by serving orphans and widows, we purify ourselves so that we can stand before God.
St. Mark’s Gospel supplies the last reading. Jesus frequently debated the Pharisees and others familiar with the Law of Moses about particulars in the law. Details and specifics often overtook the debate.
At times, people interpreted the Lord’s responses in these discussions as demeaning, or even repudiating, the law of Moses. In reality, the words of Jesus reaffirmed the law. He did not dismiss the law but rather went to the kernel of the law. The essence of the law is wholeheartedly to love God, and in this love to trust in and obey God.
These exchanges revealed the identity of Jesus. Moses was merely the human instrument by which God spoke, so the Law of Moses actually was the law of God. Jesus defined and applied the law because Jesus was God and spoke as the lawgiver.
The Pharisees and other religious scholars of the time hardly overlooked the fact that Jesus spoke and acted in the place of God. As time unfolded, this identification with God by Jesus would lead to the crucifixion.
Reflection
The first reading contains a thought that humans invariably dismiss. The thought simply is that, because of human limitations and shortcomings, people often put themselves in unfortunate situations. They can doom themselves. Unwilling to accept this fact, humans make excuses and blame God for misfortunes.
God truly and lovingly rescues people by drawing them from the quicksand, but also by leading them away from the quicksand. He leads us all away from the quicksand by giving us his law, the roadmap to life.
Obeying God’s law requires exact response. It requires action, not just good intentions, attention to the needs of others, most especially the forgotten, dismissed and scorned. It also calls for respect for and preservation of the environment. This is the world day of prayer for the care of creation, an obligation so emphasized by the Church.†