Comments on the liturgy of the day taken from the “Sulla Tua Parola” missal for July/August 2020.
22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time (A)
2nd wk. psalter
FIRST READING
From the book of the prophet Jeremiah (Jer 20:7-9)
You seduced me, Lord, and I let myself be seduced; you were too strong for me, and you prevailed. I have become a laughingstock all day long; everyone mocks me. Whenever I speak, I must cry out, I must shout: “Violence! Oppression!” Thus the word of the Lord has become for me a reproach and derision all day long. I said to myself: “I will not think of him anymore, I will not speak in his name again!” But then there seemed to be a fire burning in my heart, imprisoned in my bones; I tried to contain it, but I could not. The word of God.
Commentary on the first reading
Everything begins with a divine seduction. God calls the prophet, drawing him with bonds of goodness and tenderness, even when the content of the message can and must be harsh and uncomfortable. There is a brief composition by Father David Maria Turoldo entitled Not Even Death: “Fire may indeed die / within the earth’s bosom / and the sea grow calm; / spring may fail to bloom, / but it is impossible / for this heart not to hope again.” The illusion that the world will change is not a magical fire, nor a simple and superficial feeling of naive goodness, the poet tells us in a distillation of Christian faith-hope-charity. Indeed, not even death, the final obstacle, will be able to extinguish the prophet’s sacred fervor. A very beautiful and elaborate prayer was entitled: Lord, remember the priests. Today I would adapt it by invoking: Lord, remember the prophets. Especially those who are challenging, yet proclaim, perhaps in a stark way, the truth of Christ incarnate, dead, and risen, particularly in those aspects we tend or would like to forget, in everything that shakes us out of our mediocrity and inconsistency.
SECOND READING
From the letter of Saint Paul the Apostle to the Romans (Rom 12:1-2)
Brothers and sisters, I urge you, by the mercy of God, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your spiritual worship. Do not conform yourselves to this world, but let yourselves be transformed by the renewal of your minds, so that you may discern the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect. The word of God.
Commentary on the second reading
“Do not conform yourselves to this world, but let yourselves be transformed by the renewal of your minds, so that you may discern the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect.” “Do not conform.” Enough sleeping! Enough saying: “Everyone does it!” Are you Christian? Are you Catholic? Live accordingly and do not chase honors, but think about the true brightness in your eyes (do you still have the courage to look at them in the morning, even half-asleep, in the mirror?) and decisively change your life, until you can ask yourself, for example: how do I manage my money (whether I have a lot or very little) and my family’s? “Let yourselves be transformed.” How much money, but above all how much energy, is wasted simply by settling for “accepting myself just as I am.” It is not enough. And it is only the Spirit of God who transforms, who changes you, who restores to you the original beauty that was “in the beginning.” “Renew yourselves” first of all in your mindset, then in your feelings and actions. “Discern.” Am I capable of distinguishing good from evil, and do I let myself be helped to do so? Good in the vague sense, from what is better? Best wishes for a new life!
GOSPEL OF THE DAY
From the Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 16:21-27)
At that time, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly from the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised. Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying: “God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you.” But he turned and said to Peter: “Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me, because you do not think as God does, but as human beings do!” Then Jesus said to his disciples: “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? Or what can one give in exchange for his life? For the Son of Man will come with his angels in his Father’s glory, and then he will repay each one according to his conduct.” The Gospel of the Lord.
Commentary on the Gospel of the day
“Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying: ‘God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you.’” Peter the impulsive, Peter, the disciple who rebukes the Master. I hope that even in today’s mindset the contradiction he is facing is truly clear: the Master is the one who teaches, and the disciple learns. Peter, an enemy of the cross, gives Jesus the opportunity to confirm more deeply the wisdom of the cross. A wholly divine wisdom, to which the disciple responds: “God forbid.” In Jesus’ reply, the ancient “Vade retro” (“Get behind me”) has been replaced by a deeper and more meaningful “Get behind me”: a dramatic “Follow me,” come and follow me. Peter seems to love his Lord and Master, trying to protect him from an abhorrent death, but that is not what God wants. Peter is willing to recognize Jesus as the Messiah, but only according to the characteristics he would like him to have. Perhaps I, too, have created an image of God from which I do not want anyone to dislodge me? What is the first step, the one for today, toward following the Master again in spirit and truth?
