First Reading Commentary (Sirach)
The Book of Sirach was formerly known as
the Book of Ecclesiasticus; and before that in the early Greek and Syriac
versions, it was known as the Wisdom-Book of Ben Sirach. The Old Latin version came from North Africa
in the third century which was left virtually untouched by Saint Jerome when he
did the pious work of writing the Latin Vulgate.
Although the Latin and the English versions
of this book both came from Greek sources, there are some noteworthy
translational differences. In this
Reading, for example, the verse: "Whoever honors his father atones for
sins" in the Latin Vulgate translates as: "He that loves God shall
obtain pardon for his sins." It's
an interesting difference when examining this prophetically because Jesus came
to do the will of His heavenly Father but grew up in society as the Son of
Joseph. In the year 1979, however, the Nova Vulgata (New Vulgate) was
promulgated and published by Libreria Editrice
Vaticana; and this new edition of the Latin Vulgate is more in line with
the biological father rendering.
These contradictions are not anything to be
concerned about when understanding that "father" in every sense of
Christian usage is ordained by God, our heavenly Father. It is God Who forgives sins and it is also
God Who gave us the Commandment: "Honor your father". It is a spiritual Father and/or priest, who,
acting in Persona Christi, is able to
absolve sins. The father we honor today,
Saint Joseph, was not God the Father, a Catholic priest, or Christ's biological
father. Imagine how humble this saintly
man must have been to be given the heavenly assignment of living under the same
roof with a sinless wife and her sinless Son.
This Reading is perhaps a more detailed
explanation of the Commandment: "Honor your father and your
mother". It offers wise
instructions to children on how to esteem their parents. It also lists the rewards for obedience to
these instructions. If you have an appreciation
for sacred music this Reading is God's composition for family life. When followed according to His plan, it
produces a beautiful harmony.
OR:
First Reading Commentary (1 Samuel)
Samuel is offered to God as a perpetual
nazirite. A nazirite was a Jew bound by
a vow to leave their hair uncut, abstain from wine and strong drink, and to
practice extraordinary purity of life and devotion. Sometimes the vow was for a period of time or
as in the case of Samuel the vow can be perpetual. Other examples of nazirites in the bible are
Samson in the Old Testament and John the Baptist in the New Testament. The vow is to offer oneself or to be offered
by another as belonging solely to the Lord.
We get a sense of the Sacrament of Baptism
in this. Through baptism we become children
of God. Baptism says yes to God. Yes I want to be Your child. Yes I entrust my life to Your care. Yes I will live my life for Your glory. For most of us, our parents made that
decision for us; and thank God they did.
Our parents, however, could not guarantee extraordinary sanctity from
us. That decision, with the help of
God’s grace, is ours alone; but we have the best example we could ever want in
the God-man Jesus Christ.
In this Reading
Hannah, Samuel’s mother vows, “As long as he lives, he shall be dedicated to
the Lord.” In acceptance of the
incredible gift of being children of God, or every time we renew our baptismal
promises, Hannah’s vow also becomes our vow to the Lord. Yes Lord, we dedicate ourselves to You!
Second Reading Commentary (Colossians)
Saint John Chrysostom takes notice that in
Saint Paul's wisdom he writes that love is the bond of perfection. Commenting on this he adds: "The apostle
says not 'love is the crown', but something greater, 'the bond of perfection',
the latter being more necessary than the former; for a crown is a heightening
of perfection, but a bond is a holding together of the components of
perfection." And certainly all
those qualities listed by Paul in the preceding verses are landmarks on the
road to perfection.
The Peace of Christ is the final Authority
of our hearts. If His Peace truly reigns
in our hearts, then all that is deemed unsuitable of our calling as Christians
will be quickly evicted from our hearts.
The word of Christ is His teachings; and if
those teachings richly dwell in us, then the richness or abundance of them will
flow into teaching and admonishing one another as our worship and love of the
Almighty will rise up in our hearts.
Singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs
can be translated to mean "liturgy", in both the Mass and the Liturgy
of the Hours.
The advice to do everything in the Name of
the Lord Jesus could greatly help our personal examination of conscience, for
to do anything in His Name requires first discernment to determine if the task
or deed would be pleasing to Him.
The remainder of this Reading is optional
and therefore may or may not be proclaimed at the Mass you attend; and
sometimes it can raise a few eyebrows.
But it really doesn't have the dictatorial tone that some may give
it. After reading through the duties of
wives, husbands and children, sadly what has been excluded here is the end
result which is: "Knowing that you shall receive of the Lord the reward of
inheritance" (Colossians 3:24). In order to understand this more fully, it's
best to go to Ephesians where Saint Paul writes similar words. He writes: "Husbands, love your wives,
as Christ also loved the Church, and delivered Himself up for it" (Ephesians 5:25). Men, this is a tall order. In the Sacrament of Matrimony a husband must
understand that he has been called to love, care, honor, sacrifice and, if
necessary, even die for his wife. In
other words, since marriage is a sacrament a husband is called to do the things
that Christ willingly did and continues to do for His Bride, the Church.
Saint John Chrysostom appeals to husbands
when he says: "You have seen the measure of obedience; hear also the
measure of love. Would you have your
wife obedient to you, as the Church is to Christ? Take then yourself the same provident care
for her, as Christ takes for the Church."
In Genesis we read: "Wherefore a man
shall leave father and mother and shall cleave to his wife; and they shall be
two in one flesh" (Genesis 2:24). This was reiterated by Saint Paul in
Ephesians 5:31. This verse indicates
equality and should soften the imperious tone that one is tempted to see in
this passage. And certainly the
Sacrament of Baptism confers equality.
Children are to obey their parents as this
is pleasing to the Lord. And finally,
Christian parents should raise their children in a Christocentric environment
because our children will surely face challenges that could easily discourage
them; and they will need to know and experience the Peace that only Jesus can
give. Of course, our model for married
life and family life is the Holy Family, the honorees of this coming weekend's
liturgy.
OR:
Second Reading Commentary (1 John)
This Reading allows us to look beyond our
usual limited view of the Holy Family consisting only of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. Saint John reveals to us that we are all
children of God because our heavenly Father’s love has been charitably bestowed
upon us, making us all one Holy Family of God.
Saint John certainly understood this as indicated by the way he
addresses us as “Beloved”. He continues
by saying that we are God’s children now, what we shall be has not yet been
revealed.
Perhaps our purgative existence will give
us the opportunity to see how connected we really are in our humanity and how
we are truly one in the Body of Christ.
Beyond that journey of the soul, whatever is the most perfect existence
our imaginations can concoct, it will severely pale in comparison to the
reality of eternal life in heaven. Saint
John tells us that we shall be like God for we shall see Him as He is. This is heaven, to behold the Face of God for
all eternity. Since this reality is
beyond our total comprehension, it should give us at least some appreciation of
Christ’s humility and love. He willingly
came to a fallen world, a broken people, so that He could become like us. And not only assume our existence, but
willingly take upon Himself all that is damaging to us. Reflecting upon that and really letting it
sink in, demands that we abide by Saint John’s plea to love one another, keep
God’s commandments and do what pleases Him.
And we’re not alone in this tall order; this Reading assures us that God
remains in us.
Gospel Commentary
In the opening verse the Holy Family
teaches us the importance of holding fast to the teachings and traditions of
our faith.
Setting aside the obvious anxiety that Mary
and Joseph must have felt from not knowing the whereabouts of their Son, and
those of us who are parents would certainly be horrified if we were in that
same predicament, instead let’s approach this on a spiritual level.
With all the turmoil and sufferings that
occur in today’s world, how often the question is asked, “Where is God?” Certainly that question was asked often after
the tragedy of September 11, 2001. It’s
a question we ask ourselves when life just doesn’t seem to make sense. Certainly the fairly recent horror which
occurred at Sandy Hook Elementary School will plague our hearts and minds for
years to come.
As we all know, Christ dwells within us,
the interior house of the Father; but at times when we are tortured by tension,
worries and stress, it becomes extremely difficult to find Him within us
because our troubles seem larger than life.
In this Gospel, Jesus, even in His
childhood, gives us the solution: “Why were you looking for Me? Did you not know that I must be in My
Father's house?” As Catholics, we have
the faith to know that Jesus waits for us in the Tabernacles and/or the
Monstrance of Catholic parishes throughout the world. Like Mary and Joseph, we too can find Jesus
at His Father’s house. The relief that
must have been felt by Mary and Joseph when they found Him can also be felt by
us when we pour out our hearts to His Eucharistic Presence.
A few other items worth mentioning: First,
our faith encourages us to seek Mary’s intercession. This Gospel implicitly teaches us about the
treasures that are stored in her heart.
Secondly, we can learn from Saint Joseph
about the necessity of trusting in God.
Not in this Gospel, and for that matter, nowhere else in Scripture will
you find a single word that came from the mouth of Saint Joseph. Other Gospel stories give us an inkling of
the stress that surely existed in Joseph’s life. His silence, however, should speak volumes to
us about the faith and trust he had in God.
Finally, the last verse in this Gospel
tells us that Jesus advanced in wisdom and age and favor before God and
man. This verse in ancient history led
to some heretical views as some thought this verse showed that Jesus was not
God because God cannot advance in wisdom.
The true meaning, as Saint Gregory explains, is not that He was wiser at
any future period of His life than He was at the moment of conception, but this
is said because He chose to manifest increasing signs of wisdom as He increased
in years.
This time of
advancement in the life of Jesus is virtually unknown to us. Very little of the
childhood, teenage, and early adult years of Jesus has been recorded. In the spiritual life we might call this: the
hidden life. For us, the hidden life can
be when we physically go into a room, shut the door, and pray. It can also be when we are physically
visible, but are having an inner conversation with our Lord, and everyone else
present has no idea that you are engaged in prayer. As with all prayer, however, adoration is a
key ingredient. We know little of the
hidden life of the Holy Family but we do know this: Jesus, at every moment was
in communion with the Father; and Mary and Joseph were living a life of
adoration. How could they not? They raised and watched a Baby grow, knowing
that at every stage of His life, in a great mystery, He was the Creator of all.
