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Thursday – Twenty-eighth Week – OT2
Readings: Eph 1:1, 3-10; Lk 11:47-54.
1/ First Reading: NAB Ephesians 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to the holy ones who are (in Ephesus) faithful in Christ Jesus: 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens, 4 as he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and without blemish before him. In love 5 he destined us for adoption to himself through Jesus Christ, in accord with the favor of his will, 6 for the praise of the glory of his grace that he granted us in the beloved. 7 In him we have redemption by his blood, the forgiveness of transgressions, in accord with the riches of his grace 8 that he lavished upon us. In all wisdom and insight, 9 he has made known to us the mystery of his will in accord with his favor that he set forth in him 10 as a plan for the fullness of times, to sum up all things in Christ, in heaven and on earth.
2/ Gospel: NAB Luke 11:47 “Woe to you! You build the memorials of the prophets whom your ancestors killed. 48 Consequently, you bear witness and give consent to the deeds of your ancestors, for they killed them and you do the building. 49 Therefore, the wisdom of God said, ‘I will send to them prophets and apostles; some of them they will kill and persecute’ 50 in order that this generation might be charged with the blood of all the prophets shed since the foundation of the world, 51 from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah who died between the altar and the temple building. Yes, I tell you, this generation will be charged with their blood! 52 Woe to you, scholars of the law! You have taken away the key of knowledge. You yourselves did not enter and you stopped those trying to enter.” 53 When he left, the scribes and Pharisees began to act with hostility toward him and to interrogate him about many things, 54 for they were plotting to catch him at something he might say.
I. THEME: Human beings are participated in God’s plan of salvation.
God’s plan of salvation was designed from the beginning. According to this plan, Christ is the centerpiece of salvation and human beings are invited to participate in this plan by preaching the plan and by accepting the salvation.
The first reading, Ephesians 1:10, is regarded as a hymn used by the early Christians in worship. In ten concise and continuous verses—there is no point or hyphen in the original Greek, this passage abbreviated all main things in God’s plan of salvation. Although this plan was already existed from the beginning, even before the original sin, but was only revealed to human beings by Christ when he came to the world to fulfill this plan. The purpose of the plan is to save people so that they become God’s children and are worthy to inherit the everlasting life with the Blessed Trinity. In the Gospel, Jesus rebuked the scribes and the Pharisees because of their behaviors to prophets and people. Instead of leading people to God, they led them far away from Him and prevented them to enter the kingdom of heaven.
II. ANALYSIS:
1/ Reading I: God’s plan of salvation was fulfilled through Jesus Christ.
There are many important revelations in this passage; some of them are:
1.1/ The mystery of the Trinity was revealed in the first sentence: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens.” In this plan, God is the One who devises the plan and chooses people to execute the plan. God chooses people, not people choose Him, but they have freedom to respond or not. He chooses people through Christ, His Son. People are created and redeemed through Christ, the centerpiece of God’s plan. The purpose of choosing people is to make them holy. The only reason of this selection is His love for them. The presence of the Holy Spirit is expressed through the expression, “who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual (pneumatikos) blessing in the heavens.” God not only creates and redeems people, but also blesses people with the Holy Spirit’s gifts. All these are achieved through Christ.
1.2/ God predestines people to become His children through Christ: “In love he destined us for adoption to himself through Jesus Christ, in accord with the favor of his will, for the praise of the glory of his grace that he granted us in the beloved.” God chooses people to be His children through adoption and the only condition to be His children is to believe in Christ (Jn 1:12-13). When people became God’s children, they have a right to inherit all God’s inheritances such as graces and the eternal life; at the same time, their sins are forgiven, and they don’t have to die.
1.3/ The blood of Hid Son, Jesus Christ, is the price to fulfill God’s plan of salvation: People can’t do anything to save themselves; therefore, they must completely rely on God. He gave us His Only Beloved Son who must pour out his blood to redeem and to die instead of human beings. Not only that, but God also generously gives us all wisdom (sophia) and prudent or practical wisdom (phronesis). Both these intellectual virtues are necessary for human beings to recognize His plan and to live in a way that they shall achieve the ultimate goal which is the salvation.
1.4/ God revealed this plan through Christ’s revelation: Although God’s plan existed from the beginning, but no one knows about this plan until Christ’s coming. He revealed this loving plan for people and fulfilled this plan through his Passion, Death and Resurrection.
1.5/ People can foresee their future and all creatures in the universe: Christ shall come back and unite all things in the Last Day as the author wrote, “as a plan for the fullness of times, to sum up all things in Christ, in heaven and on earth.”
2/ Gospel: The Pharisees and the scribes destroyed the truth in the name of their laws.
Jesus rebuked the scribes due to the following two sins:
2.1/ They used their law to kill prophets and apostles: Jesus accused the scribes: “Woe to you who build the memorials of the prophets whom your fathers killed. Consequently, you bear witness and give consent to the deeds of your ancestors, for they killed them, and you do the building.”
They only paid respect to prophets when they died; but persecuted them when they were living. God, out of His compassion, always sent His prophets to call people to repent and to come back to Him; but the scribes always opposed, persecuted, and killed them. Jesus said to them: “Therefore, the wisdom of God said, “I will send to them prophets and Apostles; some of them they will kill and persecute,” that this generation might be charged with the blood of all the prophets shed since the foundation of the world, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah who died between the altar and the temple building. Yes, I tell you, this generation will be charged with their blood!”
A particular example for this happened when Jesus is saying these words to them: they are looking to seize Jesus, the Prophet of all prophets, as the Gospel told us: “When Jesus left, the scribes and Pharisees began to act with hostility toward him and to interrogate him about many things, for they were plotting to catch him at something he might say.”
2.2/ The scribes used their law to bend the truth: Jesus accused them, “Woe to you, scholars of the law! You have taken away the key to knowledge. You yourselves did not enter and you stopped those trying to enter.” The law’s purpose is to protect justice to all; they used the law to maltreat people and to take away others’ properties. The law’s purpose is to bring people close to God; they used the law to make people to run away from God. The law’s purpose is to bring happiness to people; the way they explained the law made people to feel irritated and burden.
III. APPLICATION IN LIFE:
– We are existed for a determined purpose which is the happy and eternal life with the Blessed Trinity in heaven, not a undetermined life without any purpose.
– Out of His immense love for us, God devises a plan of salvation in which He sacrificed His only son for us; due to his blood, our sins are forgiven, and we can be saved.
– We can’t hide any of our hypocrisy; therefore, we need to sincerely live according to both inside thoughts and outside acts.