·
6 Leonard, Hermit, 6th century
is a Frankish saint closely
associated with the town and abbey of Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat, in Haute-Vienne, in the Limousin (region) of France.
·
6 William Temple, Archbishop of Canterbury, Teacher of the Faith, 1944
·
7 Willibrord
of York, Bishop,
Apostle of Frisia, 739 was a Northumbrian missionary
saint, known as the "Apostle to the Frisians" in the
modern Netherlands. He became the
first Bishop of Utrecht
·
9 Margery
Kempe, Mystic,
c.1440
·
10 Leo
the Great, Bishop of Rome,
Teacher of the Faith, 461
11 Martin, Bishop of Tours, c.397 was the third bishop of Tours.[1] He has become one of the
most familiar and recognizable Christian saints in Western tradition.
A
native of Pannonia, he converted to Christianity at a
young age. He served in the Roman cavalry in Gaul, but left military service at some point
prior to 361, when he embraced Trinitarianism and became a disciple
of Hilary of Poitiers,
establishing the monastery at Ligugé. He
was consecrated as Bishop of Caesarodunum (Tours) in 371.
·
OLD TESTAMENT: Ruth 1: 1 - 18 (RCL)
Ruth 1:1 (NRSV) In
the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land, and a certain
man of Bethlehem in Judah went to live in the country of Mo'ab, he and his wife
and two sons. 2 The name of the man was Elim'elech and the name of his wife
Na'omi, and the names of his two sons were Mah'lon and Chil'ion; they were
Eph'rathites from Bethlehem in Judah. They went into the country of Mo'ab and
remained there. 3 But Elim'elech, the husband of Na'omi, died, and she was left
with her two sons. 4 These took Mo'abite wives; the name of the one was Or'pah
and the name of the other Ruth. When they had lived there about ten years, 5
both Mah'lon and Chil'ion also died, so that the woman was left without her two
sons and her husband.
6 Then she started
to return with her daughters-in-law from the country of Mo'ab, for she had
heard in the country of Mo'ab that the LORD had considered his people and given
them food. 7 So she set out from the place where she had been living, she and
her two daughters-in-law, and they went on their way to go back to the land of
Judah. 8 But Na'omi said to her two daughters-in-law, "Go back each of you
to your mother's house. May the LORD deal kindly with you, as you have dealt
with the dead and with me. 9 The LORD grant that you may find security, each of
you in the house of your husband." Then she kissed them, and they wept
aloud. 10 They said to her, "No, we will return with you to your
people." 11 But Na'omi said, "Turn back, my daughters, why will you
go with me? Do I still have sons in my womb that they may become your husbands?
12 Turn back, my daughters, go your way, for I am too old to have a husband.
Even if I thought there was hope for me, even if I should have a husband
tonight and bear sons, 13 would you then wait until they were grown? Would you
then refrain from marrying? No, my daughters, it has been far more bitter for
me than for you, because the hand of the LORD has turned against me." 14
Then they wept aloud again. Or'pah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to
her.
15 So she said,
"See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods;
return after your sister-in-law." 16 But Ruth said,
"Do not press
me to leave you
or to turn back
from following you!
Where you go, I
will go;
where you lodge, I
will lodge;
your people shall
be my people,
and your God my
God.
17 Where you die,
I will die--
there will I be
buried.
May the LORD do
thus and so to me,
and more as well,
if even death
parts me from you!"
18 When Na'omi saw
that she was determined to go with her, she said no more to her.
Deuteronomy 6: 1 -
9 (alt. for RCL)
Deuteronomy 6: 2 -
6 (Roman Catholic)
Deut 6:1 (NRSV)
Now this is the commandment--the statutes and the ordinances--that the LORD
your God charged me to teach you to observe in the land that you are about to
cross into and occupy, 2 so that you and your children and your children's
children may fear the LORD your God all the days of your life, and keep all his
decrees and his commandments that I am commanding you, so that your days may be
long. 3 Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe them diligently, so that it may
go well with you, and so that you may multiply greatly in a land flowing with
milk and honey, as the LORD, the God of your ancestors, has promised you.
4 Hear, O Israel:
The LORD is our God, the LORD alone. 5 You shall love the LORD your God with
all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. 6 Keep these
words that I am commanding you today in your heart. 7 Recite them to your
children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when
you lie down and when you rise. 8 Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as
an emblem on your forehead, 9 and write them on the doorposts of your house and
on your gates.
PSALM 146 (RCL)
Psal 146:1 (NRSV)
Praise the LORD!
Praise the LORD, O
my soul!
2 I will praise
the LORD as long as I live;
I will sing
praises to my God all my life long.
3 Do not put your
trust in princes,
in mortals, in
whom there is no help.
4 When their breath
departs, they return to the earth;
on that very day
their plans perish.
5 Happy are those
whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in
the LORD their God,
6 who made heaven
and earth,
the sea, and all
that is in them;
who keeps faith
forever;
7 who executes
justice for the oppressed;
who gives food to
the hungry.
The LORD sets the
prisoners free;
8 the LORD opens
the eyes of the blind.
The LORD lifts up
those who are bowed down;
the LORD loves the
righteous.
9 The LORD watches
over the strangers;
he upholds the
orphan and the widow,
but the way of the
wicked he brings to ruin.
10 The LORD will
reign forever,
your God, O Zion,
for all generations.
Praise the LORD!
146 Lauda, anima mea (ECUSA BCP)
1 Hallelujah!
Praise the Lord, O my soul! *
I
will praise the Lord as long as I
live;
I
will sing praises to my God while I have my being.
2 Put
not your trust in rulers, nor in any child of earth, *
for
there is no help in them.
3 When
they breathe their last, they return to earth, *
and
in that day their thoughts perish.
4 Happy
are they who have the God of Jacob for their help! *
whose
hope is in the Lord their God;
5 Who
made heaven and earth, the seas, and all that is in them; *
who
keeps his promise for ever;
6 Who
gives justice to those who are oppressed, *
and
food to those who hunger.
7 The
Lord sets the prisoners free;
the Lord opens the eyes of the blind; *
the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down;
8 The
Lord loves the righteous;
the Lord cares for the stranger; *
he
sustains the orphan and widow,
but
frustrates the way of the wicked.
9 The
Lord shall reign for ever, *
your
God, O Zion, throughout all generations.
Hallelujah!
Paslm 119: 1 - 8 (alt. for RCL)
Psal 119:1 (NRSV)
Happy are those whose way is blameless,
who walk in the
law of the LORD.
2 Happy are those
who keep his decrees,
who seek him with
their whole heart,
3 who also do no
wrong,
but walk in his
ways.
4 You have
commanded your precepts
to be kept
diligently.
5 O that my ways
may be steadfast
in keeping your
statutes!
6 Then I shall not
be put to shame,
having my eyes
fixed on all your commandments.
7 I will praise
you with an upright heart,
when I learn your
righteous ordinances.
8 I will observe
your statutes;
do not utterly
forsake me.
119 (ECUSA BCP)
Aleph Beati immaculati
1 Happy
are they whose way is blameless, *
who walk in the law of the Lord!
2 Happy
are they who observe his decrees *
and seek him with all their hearts!
3 Who
never do any wrong, *
but always walk in his ways.
4 You
laid down your commandments, *
that we should fully keep them.
5 Oh,
that my ways were made so direct *
that I might keep your statutes!
6 Then I
should not be put to shame, *
when I regard all your commandments.
7 I will
thank you with an unfeigned heart, *
when I have learned your righteous judgments.
8 I will
keep your statutes; *
do not utterly forsake me.
Psalm 18: 1 - 3, 46,
50 (Roman Catholic)
Psal 18:1 (NRSV) I
love you, O LORD, my strength.
2 The LORD is my
rock, my fortress, and my deliverer,
my God, my rock in
whom I take refuge,
my shield, and the
horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
3 I call upon the
LORD, who is worthy to be praised,
so I shall be
saved from my enemies.
46 The LORD lives!
Blessed be my rock,
and exalted be the
God of my salvation,
50 Great triumphs
he gives to his king,
and shows
steadfast love to his anointed,
to David and his
descendants forever.
NEW TESTAMENT: Hebrews 9: 11 - 14 (RCL)
Hebr 9:11 (NRSV)
But when Christ came as a high priest of the good things that have come, then
through the greater and perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this
creation), 12 he entered once for all into the Holy Place, not with the blood
of goats and calves, but with his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption.
13 For if the blood of goats and bulls, with the sprinkling of the ashes of a
heifer, sanctifies those who have been defiled so that their flesh is purified,
14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit
offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works
to worship the living God!
Vv. 1-7 tell of
temple practice in ancient Israel. The forerunner of the Temple was a “tent”
(v. 2), called the “Holy Place”. Within this “tent” was a second one, called
the “Holy of Holies” (v. 3), where God dwelt. On the Day of Atonement (Yom
Kippur), only the high priest went into “the second” tent (v. 7), to offer a
sacrifice of animal blood for the redemption of unintentional sins. Annual
repetition of this ritual shows that redemption from sin was of limited
duration; that there were two tents shows that sacrifices could not remove the
inner guilt (“perfect the conscience”, v. 9) of the faithful.
In somewhat like
manner, when Christ came the first time, to redeem us of our sin, he passed
through his risen body (the equivalent of the outer tent) into “the Holy Place”
(v. 12, which must be the Holy of Holies, i.e. heaven). The blood in his saving
act was his own (in crucifixion), not animal blood; therefore the redemption it
achieved is forever. In the Temple, “ashes of a heifer” (v. 13) were mixed with
water and used to purify the flesh, i.e. restore the ritual purity, of those
who had touched the dead. If the high priest was able to achieve this, how much
greater will be the effect of Jesus’ “blood” (v. 14), his sacrifice of his
sinless self, in removing all traces of guilt for our past ungodly (“dead”)
deeds enabling us to “worship the living God”. (His “eternal Spirit” is
probably his spirit of self-offering.)
Verses 2-3: Strangely, Hebrews speaks of two tents while Exodus speaks of
one tent divided into two parts. [ NJBC]
Verse 2:
“tent”: The forerunner of the Temple was the tent of meeting: see Exodus 25-26 and
Numbers 9:15-23.
[ CAB]
Verse 3:
Exodus 26:31-33 prescribes
the curtain separating “the holy place from the most holy”. [ NOAB]
Verse 3:
“second curtain”: This is the second one because there was also one at the
entrance: see Exodus 26:36.
[ NJBC]
Verse 4:
“the golden altar of incense”: In Hebrews, it is said to be in the “Holy of
Holies”; however, in Exodus 30:6 it
is in the “Holy Place”. NJBC believes
that the author made a mistake here, misinterpreting the Exodus text.
Similarly, the Old Testament does not say that the “golden urn” and “Aaron’s
rod” were in the ark: see Deuteronomy 10:5.
Verse 4:
“the ark of the covenant”: The specifications for this chest containing the
tablets of the Law are given in Exodus 25:10-22.
[ NOAB]
Verse 4:
“a golden urn holding the manna”: Moses tells of Yahweh’s command that manna be
preserved, and specifies how it shall be kept, in Exodus 16:32-24.
[NOAB]
Verse 4:
“Aaron’s rod that budded”: Numbers 17:1-10 tells
of the budding of Aaron’s rod, a sign that his tribe, Levi, has special status.
[ NOAB]
Verse 5:
“mercy seat”: It was so called because the blood of the sacrifices of the Day
of Atonement were sprinkled on it. The word is also translated as place
of expiation (of sins). [ NJBC]
Verse 6:
“the priests go continually into the first tent”: i.e. to take care of the
lamps on the lampstand (see Exodus 30:7),
to burn incense on the incense altar morning and evening (see Exodus 30:7),
and to replace every week the loaves on the table of showbread (see Leviticus 24:5-8).
[ NJBC]
Verse 7:
For the law concerning the Day of Atonement, see Leviticus 16:1-34,
especially v. 14:
“He [the high priest] shall take some of the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it
with his finger on the front of the mercy seat, and before the mercy seat he
shall sprinkle the blood with his finger seven times”. [ CAB]
Verse 7:
“blood”: It was seen as the element in which life resided. Insofar as it is
life, the blood is the peculiarly divine element in the human person, so
sprinkling it on the mercy seat was an effective symbol of the purification of
sin and of re-establishment of union between God and the offerer. [ NJBC]
Verse 8:
“the way into the sanctuary has not yet been disclosed”: NJBC offers revealed.
The goal of worship was access to God. That only the high priest could enter
that part of the tabernacle (the earthly counterpart of God’s heavenly abode),
showed that Old Testament worship did not attain that goal.
Verse 9:
“the present time”: This is not merely a chronological indication. The Greek
also means present age, in contrast to the age to come.
Even now the age to come is present, in an anticipatory way,
and Christians have experienced its powers: see 6:4-5.
[ NJBC]
Verse 10: “deal only with food and drink and various baptisms”: NJBC offers only [to
cleanse] in respect of food and drink and various kinds of ritual washings.
He says that the author limits the efficacy of Old Testament sacrifices to a
cleansing from defilements caused by the violation of ritual laws, i.e. the
dietary prescriptions of Leviticus 11 and
Numbers 6:1-4 and
ritual washings: see Leviticus 14:8 and
Numbers 19:11-21.
This low estimate of their efficacy would hardly have been accepted by any
Hebrew. [ NJBC]
Verse 10: “the time comes to set things right”: i.e. the period of the new
covenant, inaugurated by the death of Christ. [ NOAB]
Verses 11-12: The author seems to be stretching the metaphor of Christ as high
priest beyond understandable limits. A scholar devotes several pages to
interpreting these ways without reaching a definitive interpretation.
Verse 11: “high priest of the good things that have come”: Perhaps a
reference to Christ’s saving act of sacrificing himself on the cross, or an
oblique reference to the Gospel (good news), but many manuscripts have good
things to come. [ NJBC]
Verse 11: “the greater and perfect tent”: This may be a reference to
John 2:19-21:
“But he was speaking of the temple of his body.” On the other hand, the “tent”
may be the heavenly regions, the heavenly counterpart of the outer tabernacle,
through which Jesus passed ( 4:14)
into the highest heaven (“heaven itself”), the abode of God ( 9:24).
[ NJBC]
Verse 12: “not with the blood of goats and calves”: The high priest gained
access to the Holy of Holies because he bore the blood of the sacrificial
animals; Jesus’ life offered in sacrifice gives him access to the heavenly
sanctuary. Jesus’ entrance into the sanctuary is part of his sacrifice begun on
earth and completed in heaven. [ NJBC]
Verse 12: “obtaining eternal redemption”: The Greek word translated as
“redemption” must be understood in the light of its usage in the Septuagint translation of the
Old Testament. In Daniel 4:34,
it expresses the notion of deliverance. It is frequently used with reference to
deliverance from Egypt (see Exodus 6:6 and
Deuteronomy 7:8),
from captivity in Babylon (see Isaiah 41:14; 44:22, 24),
and from sin (see Psalm 130:7-8).
In none of these cases is there a notion of ransom. [NJBC]
Verse 13: “the ashes of a heifer”: The ashes were mixed with water and
used to cleanse those who had become “defiled” by contact with corpses, human
bones, or graves. See Leviticus 16:6, 16;
Numbers 19:9, 14-21.
[ NJBC] [ NOAB]
Verse 14: “eternal Spirit”: 7:16 speaks
of Christ having become a priest “through the power of an indestructible life”.
So it is likely that this is what is meant by “eternal Spirit” here. Christ’s
priesthood differs from that of the Old Testament priesthood in that it will
never end; his sacrifice is once and for all future time. [NJBC]
Verse 14: “without blemish”: This recalls the Old Testament requirement
that a sacrificial animal be physically unblemished: see Exodus 29:1.
Here the phrase is used in a moral sense, as it is in 1 Peter 1:19.
[ NJBC]
Verse 14: “to worship the living God!”: This is primarily sharing in
Jesus’ sacrificial worship, through which Christians have access to God: see
also 4:16; 7:25; 10:19-22.
The author also thinks of the way Christians live being a cultic action. Paul
shares this view: in Romans 12:1,
he writes: “I appeal to you ... brothers and sisters ... to present your bodies
as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual
worship”. [ NJBC]
GOSPEL: Mark 12: 28 - 34 (all)
Mark 12:28 (NRSV)
One of the scribes came near and heard them disputing with one another, and
seeing that he answered them well, he asked him, "Which commandment is the
first of all?" 29 Jesus answered, "The first is, "Hear, O
Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; 30 you shall love the Lord your God
with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with
all your strength.' 31 The second is this, "You shall love your neighbor
as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these." 32 Then
the scribe said to him, "You are right, Teacher; you have truly said that
"he is one, and besides him there is no other'; 33 and "to love him
with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength,'
and "to love one's neighbor as oneself,'--this is much more important than
all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices." 34 When Jesus saw that he
answered wisely, he said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of
God." After that no one dared to ask him any question.
·
Will he state publicly that his authority is from God?
·
Should a Jew pay poll taxes to Caesar?
Now, in Mark, a scribe asks a question to learn rather than to
entrap. There were 613 precepts in Jewish law. Which is the most important?
Jesus offers two, not one; the first is the shema (“Hear,
...”, v. 29),
recited twice daily by pious Jews. He links a second to the first: love your
neighbour, whoever he is, as you do yourself (v. 31).
Jesus combines these two precepts into a moral principle, linked by love. The
scribe agrees and elaborates (vv. 32-33):
there being only one God, we should love him undividedly, with all our
faculties. Both precepts are “much more important” than temple-based religion.
Jesus tells him that he is now almost ready for the coming kingdom of God.
The parallels are Matthew 22:34-40 and
Luke 10:25-28.
The setting is probably the outer court of the Temple: 11:27 says:
“Again they came to Jerusalem. As he was walking in the temple, the chief
priests, the scribes, and the elders came to him”.
Early Christians understood this passage as permission to
disregard the commandments pertaining to ritual.
First paragraph of Comments: The references are (1) 11:27-33 and
(2) 12:13-17.
Jesus has handled the questions as follows:
- le="text-align: justify; text-indent:
-0.35in; margin-left: 0.35in">1.He has avoided a charge of
blasphemy by posing a counter-question, which silenced his opponents: what
was the origin of John the Baptist’s authority?
- le="text-align: justify; text-indent:
-0.35in; margin-left: 0.35in">2.Jesus has answered: give to the
emperor what is his, and to God what is God’s.
Verses 29-31: The quotations are from Deuteronomy 6:4-5 (the
introduction to the Ten Commandments and the first commandment) and
Leviticus 19:18.
[ CAB] Jesus’ quotation of
the Pentateuch underlines
his orthodoxy as a Jewish teacher and illustrates his fondness for going to the
root of things.
Verse 29: The three texts which pious Jews recited daily were Deuteronomy 6:4-9; 11:13-21;
Numbers 15:37-41.
Verses 30-31: This summary of the Law need not have been original with Jesus.
Note that in Luke 10:25-28 it
is a lawyer who utters it. Rabbi Akiba (martyred about 135 AD) said that
Leviticus 19:18 (“you
shall love your neighbour as yourself”) was a great principle of the Law.
The golden rule (“do to others as you would have them do to
you”, Matthew 7:12)
is another summary of the Law attributed to Jesus. [ BlkMk]
Verse 30: The quotation is similar to the Septuagint translation of
Deuteronomy 6:5 but
differs from it: there mind appears rather than “heart”, “with
all your mind” is missing, and the word translated “strength” is different. So
Jesus’ words may be from a tradition of what he actually said, rather than
being a quotation from the then-current translation of the Old Testament. [ BlkMk]
Verse 31: Hillel, the great Jewish teacher of Jesus’ time, gave a famous
answer to the question put to Jesus: “What you hate for yourself, do not do to
your neighbour. This is the whole law; the rest is commentary. Go and learn.” ( Babylonian Talmud,
Shabbat 31a) To him, this summarized the law and gives the 613
precepts a coherent principle.
Verse 33: The scribe’s statement merely echoes Hosea 6:6 and
1 Samuel 15:22;
[ NOAB] it is not necessarily a
condemnation of the sacrificial system. See also Micah 6:6-8 and
Matthew 9:13.
Verse 33: Loving God and one’s neighbour is done everywhere while “burnt
offerings and sacrifices” were only made in the Temple in Jerusalem. [ NOAB]
© 1996-2018
Chris Haslam
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