The Word today, W23B
- Admin
- Sep 6, 2024
- 3 min read
Updated: Sep 27, 2024
September 09 - September 14, 2024
St Ciaran of Clonmacnoise, abbot
1 Corinthians 5:1-8 Paul can be shocked by the behaviour of the Corinthians and in this reading he really is taken aback. Of course, he doesn’t hold back either! Paul is motivated by the vision of our new life in Christ, our passover.
Luke 6:6-11 Jesus scandalised his contemporaries because he was so free—free enough in this story to put the well-being of a human being above a rigorous tradition. We can all think of similar situation in our contemporary church, of course!
St Peter Claver, priest and missionary
1 Corinthians 6:1-11 Conflict is normal in communities of faith and was frequent in Corinth. Nevertheless, Paul is shocked that they take each other to court to resolve issues. It should be possible to overcome such difficulties within the community but this is not always the case.
Luke 6:12-19 Luke offers the Sermon on the Plain. Our verses today introduce the Sermon with the appointment of the apostles. The number twelve reminds us of the twelve tribes of Israel and the appointment of the twelve was a symbolic action pointing to the restoration of Israel.
1 Corinthians 7:25-31 In St Paul’s mind, the witness of celibacy is appropriate to the nature of the times and can be practical. In any, case, he is not against getting married and may well have been married himself at an earlier stage of his life.
Luke 6:20-26 Luke offers four Beatitudes with four corresponding Woes. Because of the plain “unspiritalised” meaning, it is likely that the first three in each set closely resemble what Jesus said. Jesus really meant poor and hungry and weeping in a quite literal sense.
The Name of Mary or St Ailbe, bishop
1 Corinthians 8:1-7, 11-13 Food sacrifices to idols may seem remote. The question really is how much may a Christian compromise with the surrounding culture while still being true to Jesus and his teaching.
Luke 6:27-38 Compassion is a great ideal, found in the major religion: Judaism, Islam and Buddhism. Our Gospel portray the peculiarly Christian understanding of compassion.
St John Chrysostom, bishop and doctor
1 Corinthians 9:16-19, 22-27 St Paul does try to answer one question: why did he take no money for himself ? Not taking money did get him into trouble because the communities felt indebted to him and wanted to express their gratitude. Refusing such help shamed them and they felt it. At the end he uses metaphors from athletics, running etc.
Luke 6:39-42 A very energetic series of images all point to the same teaching. Having been a carpenter, Jesus knew all about splinters and planks. There is a possibility that this earnest teaching was offered with a smile on the lips!!
The Exaltation of the Holy Cross
Numbers 21:4-9 This strange, magical story has several layers. One layer is symbolic: snakes stand for life and death; another layer is therapeutic: when we face what harms us we diminish its hold over us. Our Gospel makes us of the same metaphor.
Philippians 2:6-11 You may have wondered where did Paul get all his knowledge and understanding. Partly from already existing traditions. In our reading, he quotes at length an early Christian hymn celebrating Jesus’ death and resurrection, the “great events that gave us new life in Christ.”
John 3:13-17 In our reading, the notion of “lifting up” looks backwards and forwards. Backwards: to the story we had in the first reading. Forwards, to Jesus’ own lifting up in death and into resurrection, so that we might have life in him. By his facing death, we are healed of its power and even of the fear of death itself.
References
-United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. (2024d, September 8). Twenty-third Sunday in ordinary time. USCCB. https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/090824.cfm
-Sunday readings. (n.d.-s). Hearers of the Word. https://www.tarsus.ie/SundayReadings/
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