Tuesday – Twenty-ninth Week – OT2

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Tuesday – Twenty-ninth Week – OT2

Readings: Eph 2:12-22; Lk 12:35-38.

Reading 1 (Eph 2:12-22): 

Brothers and sisters:
You were at that time without Christ,
alienated from the community of Israel
and strangers to the covenants of promise,
without hope and without God in the world.
But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off
have become near by the Blood of Christ.

For he is our peace, he made both one
and broke down the dividing wall of enmity, through his Flesh,
abolishing the law with its commandments and legal claims,
that he might create in himself one new person in place of the two,
thus establishing peace,
and might reconcile both with God,
in one Body, through the cross,
putting that enmity to death by it.
He came and preached peace to you who were far off
and peace to those who were near,
for through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.

So then you are no longer strangers and sojourners,
but you are fellow citizens with the holy ones
and members of the household of God,
built upon the foundation of the Apostles and prophets,
with Christ Jesus himself as the capstone.
Through him the whole structure is held together
and grows into a temple sacred in the Lord;
in him you also are being built together
into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. 

Gospel (Lk 12:35-38): 

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Gird your loins and light your lamps
and be like servants who await their master’s return from a wedding,
ready to open immediately when he comes and knocks.
Blessed are those servants
whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival.
Amen, I say to you, he will gird himself,
have them recline at table, and proceed to wait on them.
And should he come in the second or third watch
and find them prepared in this way,
blessed are those servants.”


Written by: Fr. Anthony Tien M. Dinh, O.P.

I. THEME: Christ sets for us an example how to serve others.

            Today readings pay a special attention to serving others and the consequent rewards. In the first reading, Paul gave a list of all rewards Christ accomplished through his Passion and Death. In the Gospel, Jesus promised that he shall serve all those who are loyal to fulfill the duty he gives to them.    

II. ANALYSIS:

1/ Reading I: Christ reconciles people with each other and with God.

1.1/ The differences between the Jews and the Gentiles: The Jews are very proud because they are God’s own people; God gave them the law and lead them by Himself. These priviledges cause them to despise other nations and don’t want to live together with the Gentiles. St. Paul, though he is the apostle to the Gentiles, recognized four differences between the Jews and the Gentiles. Before Christ came, the Gentiles:

            (1) Don’t have Christ: God’s promise to give the Messiah was made with the Israelites. The title “Christ” in Greek means “the Anointed One.”

            (2) Don’t have the rights as the Israelites: All other people are classified as the Gentiles; therefore, they can’t enjoy priviledges as Jewish citizens.

            (3) They are strangers with God’s promises through the covenants: God promised many things with the Israelites through their ancestors. These promises are totally strange to the Gentiles.

            (4) Don’t have the hope as well as God: When they don’t have God, they have no hope to live for ever. To the Gentiles, death is the end.

1.2/ The results of Christ’s works: He did five things for both the Jews and the Gentiles as following:

            (1) Bring both of them together: “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have become near by the blood of Christ.” The Gentiles are those who were far off, now by Christ’s blood, they are gathered together with the Jews who were near.

            (2) Sacrifice himself to wipe out the hatred and to make both becoming one: “For he is our peace, he who made both one and broke down the dividing wall of enmity, through his flesh.” The physical wall could be seen in the Jerusalem temple; any Gentile crosses over this wall they shall be condemned to death by the Jews.

            (3) Abolish the law: He “abolished the law with its commandments and legal claims, that he might create in himself one new person in place of the two, thus establishing peace.” In order to be justified before God, people need only to put their daith in Christ and keep what he commands them to do.

            (4) Reconcile people with God: He “might reconcile both with God, in one body, through the cross, putting that enmity to death by it.” People must reconcile with each other before they can reconcile with God. Christ not only helps people to reconcile with each other but also to reconcile with God by his death on the cross.

            (5) Bring peace: “He came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near.” This event was foreseen by the prophet Isaiah 57:19. The Gentiles become those who were near which are the Jews by Christ’s reconciliation, “For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.”

1.3/ The results of Christ’s reconciliation: Paul used two images to describe the two priviledges people have after being reconciled by Christ:

            (1) They become the members of God’s household: “So then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the holy ones and members of the household of God.” In a nation, foreigners can’t enjoy priviledges of permanent residents and the latter can’t be treated as the citizens. Similarly to the Gentiles, before Christ came, they are foreigners to God’s people, the Israelites; but when Christ came, he makes them to be fellow citizens with the holy ones and members of the household of God. Therefore, they can enjoy all the rights of citizens.

            (2) They become the bricks of God’s temple: This temple was “built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the capstone. Through him the whole structure is held together and grows into a temple sacred in the Lord; in him you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.”

2/ Gospel: Christ shall serve loyal servants.           

2.1/ Readiness is evaluated by fulfillinging one’s duty: To evaluate a person to see if he is loyal to God or not, Jesus used a parable of a master who gave his servants a duty to take care his house when he is attending a wedding. Jesus said to his disciples, “Gird your loins and light your lamps and be like servants who await their master’s return from a wedding, ready to open immediately when he comes and knocks… And should he come in the second or third watch and find them prepared in this way, blessed are those servants.”

            Since Jewish weddings used to happen at night time and have no fixed hour; therefore, all responsible people need to be prepared and especially, to have a lamp in their hands. Night time is the moment which people are least to prepare for; therefore, to evaluation his servants’ preparation, the master suddenly came back at night.

2.2/ The great reward for loyal servants: Jesus declared, “Blessed are those servants whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival. Amen, I say to you, he will gird himself, have them recline at table, and proceed to wait on them.”

            Jesus’ promise is strange because serving belongs to servants; their duty is to serve their master at all times. Jesus wanted to say that if we, as his servants, are loyal in our duty to serve others; he shall serve us in his kingdom as a reward for us. This is a great reward because there isn’t any master who wants to serve his servants. In order to receive this reward, we must fulfill our duty which is to serve others as he exemplified: “The Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mt 20:28).

           

III. APPLICATION IN LIFE:                

            – People’s differences cause discrimination, hatred and war between people and people, nation and nation, etc. Christ’s presence in us must wipe out all differences.

            – Christ promises to serve all those who are loyal to him; we should be loyal to our duty of serving others. 

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