Catholic Caucus: Daily Mass Readings, 9-06-02

Reading I
1 Cor 4:1-5

Brothers and sisters:
Thus should one regard us: as servants of Christ
and stewards of the mysteries of God.
Now it is of course required of stewards
that they be found trustworthy.
It does not concern me in the least
that I be judged by you or any human tribunal;
I do not even pass judgment on myself;
I am not conscious of anything against me,
but I do not thereby stand acquitted;
the one who judges me is the Lord.
Therefore, do not make any judgment before the appointed time,
until the Lord comes,
for he will bring to light what is hidden in darkness
and will manifest the motives of our hearts,
and then everyone will receive praise from God.

Responsorial Psalm
37:3-4, 5-6, 27-28, 39-40

R (39a) The salvation of the just comes from the Lord.
Trust in the Lord and do good,
that you may dwell in the land and be fed in security.
Take delight in the Lord,
and he will grant you your heart's requests.
R The salvation of the just comes from the Lord.
Commit to the Lord your way;
trust in him, and he will act.
He will make justice dawn for you like the light;
bright as the noonday shall be your vindication.
R The salvation of the just comes from the Lord.
Turn from evil and do good,
that you may abide forever;
For the Lord loves what is right,
and forsakes not his faithful ones.
Criminals are destroyed
and the posterity of the wicked is cut off.
R The salvation of the just comes from the Lord.
The salvation of the just is from the Lord;
he is their refuge in time of distress.
And the Lord helps them and delivers them;
he delivers them from the wicked and saves them,
because they take refuge in him.
R The salvation of the just comes from the Lord.

Gospel
Lk 5:33-39

The scribes and Pharisees said to Jesus,
"The disciples of John the Baptist fast often and offer prayers,
and the disciples of the Pharisees do the same;
but yours eat and drink."
Jesus answered them, "Can you make the wedding guests fast
while the bridegroom is with them?
But the days will come, and when the bridegroom is taken away from them,
then they will fast in those days."
And he also told them a parable.
"No one tears a piece from a new cloak to patch an old one.
Otherwise, he will tear the new
and the piece from it will not match the old cloak.
Likewise, no one pours new wine into old wineskins.
Otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins,
and it will be spilled, and the skins will be ruined.
Rather, new wine must be poured into fresh wineskins.
And no one who has been drinking old wine desires new,
for he says, ‘The old is good.'"

From The Word Among Us

Friday, September 06, 2002

Meditation
1 Corinthians 4:1-5

How important status and titles are to most of us! Yet Paul showed himself a true follower of Jesus by his lack of concern for how others viewed him (1 Corinthians 4:3). The kinds of titles he wanted to be known by were quite humble ones by the standards of his day: servant of Christ, steward of the mysteries of God (4:1). Not exactly affirmations of power and self-determination that would make a CEO’s head spin!

How did Paul come to such an indifference about status? It happened as he learned that if we are in Christ, we possess everything worth having, because we have Jesus, and he has us (1 Corinthians 3:21). Paul could have prayed the words of the psalm: “Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you” (Psalm 73:25). Paul entrusted his whole life to the Lord and found such contentment in possessing him that the opinions and judgments of the world lost their importance for him.

Just as Paul did not try to gain public recognition, he also did not fear other people’s negative views of him. He told the Corinthians, “With me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court” (1 Corinthians 4:3). There was one person alone whom Paul sought to please, one person Paul hoped not to disappoint—and that was Jesus. Jesus so filled Paul’s vision that he did not worry about other people’s opinion of him.

With his heart filled with Jesus, Paul was set free to love the Corinthians. Rather than feeling the need to gain their adulation, he simply wanted to serve them. He did not want the messenger to distract them from the message of salvation in Christ that he proclaimed. Paul points the way for us. As we set our hearts on Jesus and devote ourselves to being stewards of the mysteries of God, Jesus will come to fill our vision also. Then we too will have little reason to be concerned about what others may think of us.

“Holy Spirit, fill my heart and mind with the presence of Jesus. May my joy be in knowing that I am redeemed by the blood of the Lamb and that all things are mine in Christ Jesus—and that I am his.”

A Discussion on Fasting

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Commentary:

33-35. In the Old Testament God established certain days as days of fasting--the main one being the "day of atonement" (Numbers 29:7; Acts 27:9). Fasting implied total or partial abstinence from food or drink. Moses and Elijah fasted (Exodus 34:28; 1 Kings 19:8) and our Lord Himself fasted in the desert for forty days before beginning His public ministry. In the present passage Jesus gives a deeper meaning to the word "fasting"--the deprivation of His physical presence which His Apostles would experience after His death. All through His public life Jesus is trying to prepare His disciples for the final parting. At first the Apostles were not very robust and Christ's physical presence did them more good than the practice of fasting.

Christians should sometimes abstain from food. "Fast and abstain from flesh meat when Holy Mother Church so ordains" ("St. Pius X Catechism", 495). That is the purpose of the fourth commandment of the Church, but it has a deeper meaning, as St. Leo the Great tells us: "The merit of our fasts does not consist only in abstinence from food; there is no use depriving the body of nourishment if the soul does not cut itself off from iniquity and if the tongue does not cease to speak evil" ("Sermo IV in Quadragesima").
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Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland.

Servant of Christ

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Commentary:

1-2. The features of every apostle, as outlined here by St Paul-- "servants of Christ", "stewards of God's mysteries"--put this ministry beyond the reach of grudges and petty squabbles. "Servants of Christ", that is, ministers of Christ, are people to whom he has entrusted his property--his teaching and his sacraments--for them to protect it faithfully and, acting as his agents, to manage it, pass it on and "disperse" it to others (cf. "Commentary on 1 Cor, ad loc."). As Paul stresses, a basic qualification for being a servant or steward is trustworthiness: "Those are untrustworthy stewards who when it comes to dispensing the divine mysteries do not seek the welfare of the people, the honor of Christ or the advantage of his members [...]. Trustworthy stewards are those who always seek the honor of God and the welfare of his members" ("ibid., ad loc.").

The Magisterium of the Church has often applied these words to the Christian priesthood: "The Apostle of the Gentiles thus perfectly sums up what may be said of the greatness, the dignity and the duty of the Christian priesthood: 'This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God' (1 Cor 4:1). The priest is the minister of Christ, an instrument, that is to say, in the hands of the divine Redeemer. He continues the work of the redemption in all its universality and divine efficacy, that work that wrought so marvelous a transformation in the world. Thus the priest, as is said with good reason, is indeed 'another Christ', for, in some way, he is himself a continuation of Christ: 'As the Father has sent me, even so I send you' (Jn 20:21), is spoken to the priest, and hence the priest, like Christ, continues to give 'glory to God in the highest; and on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased' (Lk 2:14). A priest is appointed 'steward of the mysteries of God' (cf. 1 Cor 4:1 ) for the benefit of the members of the mystical body of Christ, since he is the ordinary minister of nearly all the sacraments--those channels through which the grace of the Savior flows for the good of humanity. The Christian, at almost every important stage of his mortal career, finds at his side the priest with power received from God, for the purpose of communicating or increasing that grace which is the supernatural life of his soul" (Pius XI, "Ad Catholici Sacerdotii").

3-5. A servant, an employee, is obviously answerable for his actions-- but he is answerable only to his master; only his master can judge him. Therefore, referring to the minister of Christ, St Paul declares that only our Lord can be his judge, because it is to him his service is owed. This teaching applies in the first place to Church ministers; but it also applies to all the faithful, for all should serve God by putting their talents to good use. Therefore, it is not for us to judge others, unless we have some special position which obliges us to do so. And certainly any judgment we do make is valid only if it accords with the will of God; any type of rash judgment would lead to very unfortunate results. Even that judgment we make about ourselves--examination of conscience, which St Paul seems to be hinting at when he says that he is not aware of anything against himself-- should be made with the help of grace. It is not a matter of subjective introspection, but rather a sincere review made in the presence of God. It is not meant to be a reply to the question, What do I think of my behavior?; but rather to a different question, What does God think of it? Thus, a Christian should not be trying to meticulously measure his conduct, but to have recourse to God, who is rich in mercy. If so, the end-product of his examination will never be like that of the Pharisee, "God, I thank thee that I am not like other men", but instead, like the publican's "God, be merciful to me, a sinner" (Lk 18:11, 13).

The Apostle, as we can see, is speaking of his own experience, and speaking from a heart full of pastoral solicitude: he is not merely giving advice or taking people to task.
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Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland.

Emphasis on part about the priesthood is mine. Very good, in my estimation.

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