Proper 4 C
First Reading: 1 Kings 8:22-23, 41-43
22 Then
Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the assembly
of Israel, and spread out his hands to heaven.
23He said, ‘O Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like
you in heaven above or on earth beneath, keeping covenant and steadfast love
for your servants who walk before you with all their heart,
41 ‘Likewise
when a foreigner, who is not of your people Israel, comes from a distant land
because of your name 42—for they shall hear of your great name, your
mighty hand, and your outstretched arm—when a foreigner comes and prays towards
this house, 43then hear in heaven your dwelling-place, and do
according to all that the foreigner calls to you, so that all the peoples of
the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your people Israel, and so
that they may know that your name has been invoked on this house that I have
built.
Notes
As part of
the Temple dedication ceremony, Solomon prays that God will welcome even
foreigners and answer their prayers. This
is to fulfill the dream that all will come to know the Lord.
Notes from the New American Bible
* [8:1–66] The account of the Temple’s dedication ceremony is organized
concentrically: Solomon gathers the assembly (vv. 1–13), blesses it (vv.
14–21), utters a long dedicatory prayer (vv. 22–53), blesses the assembly again
(vv. 54–61), and dismisses it (vv. 62–66).
To this account is appended an appearance of the Lord to Solomon (9:2–9)
that balances the divine word to Solomon in the account of the Temple’s
construction (6:11–13).
Second Reading: Galatians 1:1-12
1Paul an
apostle—sent neither by human commission nor from human authorities, but
through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead— 2and all
the members of God’s family* who are with me,
To the
churches of Galatia:
3 Grace to
you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, 4who gave himself
for our sins to set us free from the present evil age, according to the will of
our God and Father, 5to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
6 I am
astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you in the
grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7not that there is
another gospel, but there are some who are confusing you and want to pervert
the gospel of Christ. 8But even if we or
an angel* from heaven should proclaim to you a gospel contrary to what we
proclaimed to you, let that one be accursed!
9As we have said before, so now I repeat, if anyone proclaims to you a
gospel contrary to what you received, let that one be accursed!
10 Am I
now seeking human approval, or God’s approval?
Or am I trying to please people? If
I were still pleasing people, I would not be a servant* of Christ.
11 For I
want you to know, brothers and sisters,* that the gospel that was proclaimed by
me is not of human origin; 12for I did not receive it from a human source, nor
was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.
Notes
Paul
strives to establish his credentials as superior two that of his detractors. That is, those who are preaching the
“different gospel.” Paul sees the
Galatians as being led astray by false teachers.
Notes
from the Diocese of Montreal
Paul structures this letter like many letters of his time
with an opening formula (the names of the sender, that of his addressees, and a
short greeting), the message (the body of the letter), and a final greeting. His other letters have a thanksgiving before
the message, but not this one.
There is another difference, which scholars see as
significant: while in other letters Paul introduces himself simply as “a
servant of Christ” (in Romans, and Philippians is similar) and/or as “an
apostle” (in Romans and in 1 and 2 Corinthians), here he is keen to point out,
from the start, what he is not: his authority is not from humans, but from God. We need to figure out what causes Paul to be
so emphatic.
We don’t know where
Paul was when he wrote this letter, nor who “all the members of God's family
who are with me” (v. 2) are.
(Philippians tells us that Timothy is with him; in 1 Thessalonians,
Silvanus is also named.) “The churches
of Galatia” were in north central Asia Minor (modern Turkey). His greeting (“Grace ... and peace”, v. 3) is
both Jewish and Greek. “The present evil
age” (v. 4) contrasts with the age to be inaugurated when Christ comes again.
The lack of a thanksgiving suggests that there are serious problems in the churches. He is “astonished” (v. 6) or amazed that
Christians in Galatia have turned from the good news of God, as taught by Paul
(“the one who called you”), and are accepting a “different gospel”, not
that there is one! They are being led
astray by false teachers who are twisting the good news. As vv. 8-9 show, Paul is distinctly upset: “let that one be
accursed!” (The Greek implies cut
off from God for ever). V. 10 suggests
that some think that he makes practicing the faith too easy, but in v. 11 he
insists that what he teaches is the real thing.
In 6:12-13, Paul rebuts the deviant teachers head-on: they “try to
compel” male Gentile Christians to be circumcised, in accord with Mosaic Law. This, they say, will increase oneness with
God. Paul disagrees.
Gospel:
Luke 7:1-10
7After
Jesus* had finished all his sayings in the hearing of the people, he entered
Capernaum. 2A centurion there had a
slave whom he valued highly, and who was ill and close to death. 3When he heard about Jesus, he sent some
Jewish elders to him, asking him to come and heal his slave. 4When they came to Jesus, they appealed to
him earnestly, saying, ‘He is worthy of having you do this for him, 5for he
loves our people, and it is he who built our synagogue for us.’ 6And Jesus went with them, but when he was
not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to say to him, ‘Lord, do not
trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof;
7therefore I did not presume to come to you.
But only speak the word, and let my servant be healed. 8For I also am a man set under authority,
with soldiers under me; and I say to one, “Go”, and he goes, and to another,
“Come”, and he comes, and to my slave, “Do this”, and the slave does it.’ 9When Jesus heard this he was amazed at him,
and turning to the crowd that followed him, he said, ‘I tell you, not even in
Israel have I found such faith.’ 10When
those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave in good
health.
Notes
Jesus
heals the centurion's servant. His
amazed at the faith and trust of the centurion!
He becomes an example to all of us who should have such faith.
Notes from the Diocese of Montreal
After choosing his apostles, Jesus has descended to the
north-western shore of the Sea of Galilee, where he has taught many. Now he enters the town of Capernaum.
An unusual
“centurion” (v. 2), an officer in the Roman army of occupation, has a slave who
is gravely ill. So loved by the Jewish
community is he, that, he can send emissaries to Jesus; they ask Jesus to bend
the rules, to treat him as he would a Jew (vv. 3-6). (They think that Jesus came to bless Jews,
not Gentiles.)
As Jesus walks towards his house, the officer sends others
to him: don’t enter my house because, being Gentile, entering it would make you
ritually unclean (v. 6). All the
centurion asks is that Jesus command the disease to leave his slave (v. 7). He believes that Jesus can order diseases
around much as he does soldiers (v. 8). In
v. 9, Jesus tells the crowd that he has more faith than Jews (“in Israel”), who
were expected to believe. The slave is
found to have been healed (v. 10).
Central Idea: We are called to share the love of God with the stranger, welcoming
all whom God calls into his family.
Brain Storming
Solomon
recognizes that his people carry the responsibility of bringing all other
peoples to know Yahweh. Jesus
exemplifies this in embracing the centurion and fulfilling his request for
healing.
I'm sure
we have all experienced being the outsider.
It's that awkward feeling, when you're new to a group and don't know who
to talk to or even what is going on.
Sometimes an individual steps forward, introduces themselves and helps
us feel at home. Sometimes we assert
ourselves and make introductions. But even
then we can still feel awkward not knowing if or how we are being received.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment