First Reading Commentary
The horn was a very common vessel; it was
generally used to hold liquor. In this
case the horn was used for oil; and since the horn is a larger vessel than the
vial that was usually used to hold oil, this may be a clue as to the duration
and abundance of what would soon be the kingship of David.
"Surely the Lord's anointed is here
before Him." Samuel's thoughts were
coming from his own spirit as he was judging by appearance only; but God
rejects this eldest son. One of God's
perfections is His ability to read or look into our hearts and whatever was
contained in the hearts of Jesse's other sons apparently was not what the Lord
was looking for in a king.
At the time that Jesse is presenting his
seven sons before Samuel, David is not present.
In the estimation of many scripture scholars, David, the youngest, was
probably about fifteen years old. It's
not likely that Jesse or Samuel had revealed to the other brothers why David
was being anointed with the oil; or if they were told, then great precautions
would have been taken to keep this a secret for fear of the danger they would
be in if Saul, the current king, had found out.
After the anointing, "the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David,"
meaning that the Lord came upon him to make him prosper and gave him all the graces
needed to make David a worthy commander and king. The Spirit of the Lord rushes upon us at
baptism and gives us the graces necessary to fulfill the will of God.
One of the lessons to be learned from this Reading
is that while we don't always understand the ways of God, His ways are the only
way. If the decision to choose a new
king had been left in the hands of mortal human beings, they would have made
the decision based on outward appearance only, and then salvation history as we
know it may have been quite different, as the promised Messiah of David's lineage
may not have come to light. As always, “Thy
will be done!”
As Christians, the Voice of Christ speaks to
us in the opening of this Reading. Jesus
fills our vessels, that is, our souls with His Precious Body and Blood, the
Food needed to sustain us on our journey; and He says to us: "I have
filled you with the Bread of Life, be on your way; I am sending you." The battle is hard but the Real Food and True
Drink along with a viable and vibrant relationship with our Lord through prayer
can help us to see not as man sees but as God sees. Our Lord has given us the blueprint with
Scripture; and His is the Voice to be listened to and not the voice of the
serpent who tells us to always believe what our physical senses perceive and to
trust in our own inclinations to fulfill the desires of the flesh and to commit
sin. Sometimes our own physical senses
become tempters because what we can see, hear and feel could deceive us into
thinking that this must surely be the will of God because it is right there in
front of us; and the seeming obviousness of the physical senses makes it all
too convenient to skip the often grueling task of discernment.
Second Reading Commentary
The darkness that Saint Paul writes about
here is the state of infidelity into which the Ephesians had plunged to worship
false gods and idols and the grievous sins they had committed which Saint Paul writes
were too "shameful even to mention".
Saint Paul instructs us to "live as
children of light". It is the Holy
Spirit that makes us children of light and that light is received at baptism. Baptism is the bath of enlightenment. The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches
that a baptized person has become enlightened and becomes a son/daughter of
light. At Baptism sin is buried in the
water (cf. CCC 1216). When living as children of light the fruitless
works of darkness are exposed, revealing the abomination of these works of
darkness.
This Reading closes
with the words: "Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ
will give you light." The exact
origin of these words is unknown but it is believed to be a very ancient
Christian hymn that was used at baptismal liturgies. It may have been formed from words which are
found in the Book of the Prophet Isaiah: "Rise up in splendor! Your light has come, the glory of the Lord
shines upon you" (Isaiah 60:1).
Gospel Commentary
When Jesus healed the paralytic He told him: "Your
sins are forgiven" (cf. Mark 2:1-12). Because of this the disciples must have
concluded that his infirmity was sent to him in punishment for his previous
sins. Therefore, when they saw the blind
man, they asked Jesus: "Who sinned, this man or his parents?" Jesus explained that "neither he nor his
parents sinned". A belief that
affliction was punishment for sins committed was quite common in Christ's
day. When Jesus explains that the blind
man did not sin, this of course is not to be understood to mean that the blind
man was not a sinner. For both he and
his parents were sinners; but the meaning is that his blindness was not
inflicted as punishment for any sin that he or his parents had committed, but
as we see by Christ's healing, this man's blindness was given for the
manifestation of the glory of God.
Jesus says: "We have to do the works of
the One Who sent Me while it is day."
This is not a reference to the time of day; He's referring to the time
lived in this life as a mortal. This is
a marvelous example of how Scripture gives us the True Reality as opposed to
the perceived reality we tend to live out.
Perceived reality might, for example, ignore someone in need because our
precious schedule dictates that we must be someplace else or there simply isn't
enough time in the day for an inconvenience while at the same time trying to
get all these other things done. But
Jesus says, no, "we have to do the works of the One Who sent Me". Not, "we should do" but "we
have to do"; and if you're curious about the ancient text, the Greek
translates as "it is binding".
That's strong language!
Jesus follows this up with, "Night is
coming when no one can work," meaning that in death we can no longer do
the works of the Lord in mortal life; but only be rewarded for our labors in
this life.
Jesus used clay and saliva to heal the blind
man not because clay and saliva were necessary to make the miracle work but
instead to make the miracle more visible.
The Church follows this example when administering the sacraments. Jesus is present in all the sacraments even
though we can't see Him or the works He performs in them. For this reason, the Church, for visibility,
administers the sacraments in religious ceremonies. The Catechism of the Catholic Church puts
forth a very comforting reminder that in the sacraments Christ continues to touch
us in order to heal us (cf. CCC 1504).
The Pool of Siloam was at the foot of the
walls of Jerusalem where its waters were collected in a reservoir for the
benefit of the city. The word "Siloam,"
which means "Sent," was a figure of Christ, Who was sent by His
eternal Father into the world to enlighten God's people. The Pool of Siloam is a representation of the
Sacrament of Baptism, by which we are sanctified. Its waters signify divine grace and light
which is given to us through Jesus Christ, Who was sent by the Father.
When the blind man was questioned about Who
Jesus was, the man replied by saying, "He is a Prophet." The title of "prophet" was given to
anyone who seemed to possess one or more extraordinary gifts. The blind man honored Jesus when he thought Him
to be a prophet; but when it was revealed to him that Jesus was the Son of God,
the man worshipped Jesus. Worship is an
act reserved for God alone. The
Catechism teaches: "If any one is a worshipper of God and does His will,
God listens to him. Such is the power of
the Church's prayer in the Name of her Lord, above all in the Eucharist. Her prayer is also a communion of intercession
with the all-holy Mother of God and all the saints who have been pleasing to
the Lord because they willed His will alone" (CCC 2827).
Those questioning the blind man proclaimed, "We
know that God does not listen to sinners."
We are all sinners, and so, this statement does not mean that God doesn't
listen to our prayers; it pretty much is singling out those who have no
intention of repenting.
The Pharisees said, "This Man is not
from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath." This seems to be a popular complaint about
Jesus throughout the Gospels. In Saint Mark's
Gospel, Jesus answers this complaint with a question: "Is it lawful to do
good on the Sabbath rather than to do evil, to save life rather than to destroy
it?" After this question the
complainers were silent (cf. Mark 3:4).
Jesus says, "I came into this world for
judgment" but in this same Gospel (12:47)
Jesus says, "I did not come to condemn the world but to save the world." On the surface, these two statements seem contradictory. The meaning, however, is that He has not come
to exercise the office of Judge, but He tells them what will be the
consequences of His coming, and their refusing to believe in Him and thus
remain in their willful blindness. Jesus
did not come so that some should remain in darkness while others receive the
light of faith. Those who are in
darkness or blindness are there under their own free will and not by any acts
or words of Christ. The Pharisees ask
Jesus, "Surely we are not also blind, are we?" If the Pharisees were blind by reason of
never having heard of or about Jesus and His teachings, this kind of blindness
might be excused. But they saw Him and
knew of the miracles He performed, therefore, it is for this reason that Jesus
says to them, "Your sin remains." Thanks be to God for His love and
mercy; if we exercise enough humility to acknowledge our blindness and
ignorance, and seriously seek a remedy, namely the Sacrament of Reconciliation,
we would soon be delivered from our sin.
The Pharisees, however, remained in blindness voluntarily. The Catechism makes the point that sin is
universal; therefore, those who pretend not to need salvation are blind to
themselves (cf. CCC
588).
The Pharisees knew
the Mosaic Law. In early Christian
history, it was said that many of the desert Fathers knew all the words of the
Psalms by heart. The similarities end
there. While the Pharisees knew the
letter of the Law, they failed to grasp the spirit of the Law. The desert Fathers, however, knew the Psalms
but those ancient hymns were breathed by them.
We need to examine these distinctions in our own lives. First, are we familiar with the words
contained in the pages of Scripture; next, and more importantly, is Scripture a
very real part of our lives and not just a Book that is filled with great
stories?
