First Reading Commentary
Ezekiel is a prophet and thus one has
to interpret this Reading from a prophetic, mystical view. Otherwise, this Reading is a puzzle if trying
to understand it from the surface only.
The “crest of the cedar” is referring
to the royal stock of David.
The “tender shoot” planted “on a high
and lofty mountain” is Jesus. And what
is this “high and lofty mountain?”
Literally Mount Zion but prophetically it is the Church.
A lofty spiritual life of each and
every one of us is intimated in this Reading as “birds of every kind” does not
mean birds literally. Birds can fly,
therefore this imagery is used to designate the souls of those for whom prayer
is a priority; and through this life of prayer grow closer to Jesus and thus
are able to lift their souls above the desires for temporal goods. That is, those, who like everyone else, must
live and work in this world and labor for the Lord in it but are able to find
that trustful, heavenly peace in all its troubles.
This is why secularism and relativism is
so dangerous. Those ideologies will
never find peace in a troubled world.
Many kingdoms have come and gone in human history, but Christ’s Kingdom
remains forever as will His Church as He has always, in the midst of her
storms, guided her to safety.
Second Reading Commentary
Being “away from the Lord” simply means
that we are pilgrims. Notice the
comparison: We are like those who are on a journey and are far from home. Such an environment can be taxing. Perhaps no one can relate to that journey
more than those who serve in the military, especially those who are in harm’s
way. But Saint Paul calls us to be on a spiritual
journey possessing courage and faith.
We all know how rough the road can be
as no one escapes the journey without suffering. Our faith tells us that all of us at His
appointed time will “leave the body and go home to the Lord,” to “appear before
the judgment seat of Christ.” Until that
time, what is our mission? Saint Paul
answers that for us: “We aspire to please Him, whether we are home or away.”
Anyone who has journeyed to other
nations whose language and culture is different from what they’re accustomed to
knows how uncomfortable that can be at times.
In the spiritual life we are strangers in a foreign land. As Saint Augustine said: “Thou hast formed us
for Thyself, and our hearts are restless until they find rest in Thee” (Confessions of Saint Augustine, Bishop of
Hippo).
Gospel Commentary
The scattering of seed which sprouts and grows is explained by Saint Jerome
as the preaching of the Gospel and knowledge of the Scriptures which makes the
Kingdom of God grow in the heart of man.
Saint Ambrose speaks of the mustard seed as such: “If the Kingdom of heaven
is like to a grain of mustard seed, and faith is like to a grain of mustard
seed, faith is then truly the Kingdom of heaven, and the Kingdom of heaven is
faith. He therefore that has faith
possesses the Kingdom of heaven. And the
Kingdom of heaven is within us, and faith is within us. Now let us, from the nature of the mustard
seed, estimate the force of this comparison.
Its seed is indeed very plain, and of little value; but if bruised or
crushed it shows forth its power. So
faith first seems a simple thing, but if it is bruised by its enemies it gives
forth proof of its power, so as to fill others who hear or read of it with the
odor of its sweetness.”
And we are called to live out this faith as Saint Aphraates teaches us: “It
is not enough to read and to study the Sacred Scriptures; we must fulfill them
also.”
On the parables of Jesus, Nicholas of Lyra, a Franciscan exegete,
writes: “We must observe that parables
have more explanations than one: some more easy while others are more difficult
to understand. In parables, the
multitude understood the more literal interpretation, while Christ explains the
more abstruse and hidden sense to His apostles.”
Interesting
that by Jesus explaining the parables to His disciples in private seems to
delineate inklings of the Magisterium or teaching authority of the Church. Although Jesus no longer walks the earth, the
Magisterium is able to teach the faith by the power of the Holy Spirit.
