Other Sunday and Holy Day Readings
THE MEMORIAL OF THE IMMACULATE HEART OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY Cycle A
Readings:
2 Corinthians 5:14-21
Psalm 103:1-4, 9-12
Luke 2:41-51
Abbreviations: NJB (New Jerusalem Bible), IBHE (Interlinear Bible Hebrew-English), IBGE (Interlinear Bible Greek-English), or LXX (Greek Septuagint Old Testament translation). CCC designates a citation from the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The word LORD or GOD rendered in all capital letters is, in the Hebrew text, God's Divine Name, YHWH (Yahweh).
God reveals His divine plan for humanity in the two Testaments, which is why we read and relive the events of salvation history contained in the Old and New Testaments in the Church's Liturgy. The Catechism teaches that the Liturgy reveals the unfolding mystery of God's plan as we read the Old Testament in light of the New and the New Testament in light of the Old (CCC 1094-1095).
The Theme of the Readings: Finding God
The Church celebrates the Memorial
of the Immaculate Heart of Mary on the Saturday after the Solemnity of the
Sacred Heart of Jesus. The Memorial of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the
Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus are family celebrations of God's
generous love for His covenant children. The First Letter of St. John tells us
that "God is Love" (1 Jn 4:8). God is the author of life, and His deep and
abiding love gives value and purpose to every human life. St. Louis Grignion de
Montfort spread the devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary in France in the 18th
century to encourage Catholics to turn to the love of the Mother of Christ, who
is also the mother of all Christians (Rev 12:17). He called all Christians to
accept her comfort and her son's promise that salvation is a gift of God open
to all members of the human family. Mary of Nazareth opened her heart to God
and fulfilled His divine plan to bring the Redeemer-Messiah to humanity. Now
you must find Jesus, give Him a place in your heart, and let Him lead you on
the path to eternal salvation.
In the First Reading, St. Paul wrote that Christ died so that all who believe in Him might live for Him with the promise that they, too, will rise up from death like Him. We no longer judge anyone's worth according to the standards of wealth or social rank; even in Jesus's case, it does not matter that He was a poor Jewish carpenter from Galilee. All Christians are equals in Christ.
In the Responsorial Psalm, the psalmist reflects on God's mercy in forgiving the sins of those who are faithful and fear offending God. He compares God to a father who shows loving compassion to his children. The psalmist's description of God reveals his understanding of God's intense love for humanity.
In the Gospel Reading, after a visit to Jerusalem, Joseph and Mary discovered Jesus was missing from the returning caravan. They immediately returned to Jerusalem and found Him at the Temple, conversing with the teachers of the Law. This event was Jesus's first public teaching. His last public teaching occurred the last week of His life in the same location, teaching in the Jerusalem Temple.
The First Reading 2 Corinthians 5:14-21 ~ Impelled by
the Love of Christ We Become A New Creation in Christ in the Ministry of
Reconciliation
14 For the love of Christ impels us, once we have come
to the conviction that one died for all; therefore, all have died. 15 He indeed
died for all, so that those who live might no longer live for themselves but
for him who for their sake died and was raised. 16 Consequently, from
now on we regard no one according to the flesh; even if we once knew Christ
according to the flesh, yet now we know him so no longer. 17 So whoever is in
Christ is a new creation: the old things have passed away; behold, new things
have come. 18 And all this is from God, who has reconciled us to himself
through Christ and gives us the ministry of reconciliation, 19 namely, God was
reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting their trespasses
against them and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20 So we are
ambassadors for Christ, as if God were appealing through us. We implore you on
behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake he made him to be sin
who did not know sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him.
13 For if we are out of our minds, it is for
God; if we are rational, it is for you.
Behaving as though they are out of their minds may refer
to the gift of speaking in tongues, a charism the Holy Spirit gave Paul and
members of his missionary team. He defended tongues as a legitimate charismatic
gift but one that must not be abused. In his first letter to the Corinthians,
he wrote about the use and abuse of the gift, in which he ordered the community
not to publicly display speaking in tongues (see 1 Cor Chapters 13-14). Or
perhaps it refers to the nomadic existence of Paul and his missionary team
traveling from place to place, teaching the Gospel of salvation while facing
persecution and even death. When Paul mentioned being rational, he used the
Greek word sophrosyne which implies moderation, reasonableness, self-control,
and good judgment. He writes that this is how he and his missionary team
behaved with them.
14 For the love of Christ impels us, once we
have come to the conviction that one died for all; therefore, all have died.
15 He indeed died for all, so that those who live might no longer live
for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.
What Paul wrote in verse 14 echoed 4:14 and summed up
what he wrote concerning "life despite death" in 4:7-5:10.
Christ died so that all who believe in Him might live for
Him with the promise that they too will rise up from death like Him.
Paul's point in verse 16 is that since the coming of Christ, we no longer judge anyone's worth according to the standards of wealth or social rank. Even in Jesus's case, it does not matter that He was a poor Jewish carpenter from Galilee. All Christians are equals in Christ.
17 So whoever is in Christ is a new creation: the old
things have passed away; behold, new things have come.
In the first Creation event, God created all things, the
cosmos and everything in it, including humanity, through Christ (Jn 1:3;
Col 1:16). Also, through Christ, God has restored the work of Creation that was
distorted by sin (Gal 6:15;
2 Pt 1:4; Rev 21:5). He did this by creating a new
humanity, reborn in Christ through the Sacrament of Baptism.
20 So we are ambassadors for Christ as if God were
appealing through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
In the ancient world, as today, an ambassador of a king
or a national leader carried the king or leader's authoritative message to
whomever the king or ruler sent him. In the same way, Jesus Christ, the King of
kings, sends forth all Baptized Christians as His ambassadors with His message
of salvation to the world (Mt 28:19-20;
Acts 1:8). The duty of every Christian is
to carry on the work of Christ in the world, doing works of mercy and sharing
the Gospel of salvation.
21 For our sake he made him to be sin who did not know
sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him.
The "he" refers to God, and the "him" to Christ. This
verse is another of Paul's statements often misunderstood to mean that Jesus
took the world's sins on Himself on the altar of the Cross. Such an
interpretation is called "penal substitution" and is a Protestant Calvinistic
doctrine of atonement. That theory suggests that God made Jesus guilty of
humanity's sins and punished Him in our place.
St. Paul does not mean that Jesus took on all the sinful guilt of humanity. There are two reasons why the Church refutes that interpretation:
Jesus was born without original sin and remained the sinless and unblemished Lamb of God. Catechism 603 states: "Jesus did not experience reprobation as if he himself had sinned. But in the redeeming love that always united him to the Father, he assumed us in the state of our waywardness of sin, to the point that he could say in our name from the cross: 'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?' Having thus established him in solidarity with us sinners, God 'did not spare his own son but gave him up for us all,' so that we might be 'reconciled to God by the death of his Son'" (quoting from Jn 8:46; Mk 15:34/Ps 22:1; Rom 8:32; 5:10).
Jesus is our eternal High Priest who continuously offers an infinitely meritorious sacrifice to God on behalf of humanity in the heavenly Sanctuary (Rev 5:6). That sacrifice is Christ's life, His sufferings, His love for the Father, and humanity. His unblemished offering satisfied the demand for God's divine justice. In His willing sacrifice, according to the will of the Father, Christ merits the gift of salvation for all human beings who, in His name, accept His gift of eternal life. Jesus could not remain the "unblemished Lamb of God," presenting Himself to God in the heavenly Sanctuary if He bore the stains of our sins; He could not have even entered Heaven. It was the punishment we deserved for our sins that He took upon Himself.
Responsorial Psalm 103:1-4, 9-12 ~ God's Mercy
The response is: "The Lord is kind and merciful."
1 Bless the LORD, O my soul; and all my being, bless his
holy name. 2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.
Response:
3 He pardons all your iniquities; he heals all your ills.
4 He redeems your life from destruction; he crowns you with kindness and
compassion.
Response:
9 Not according to our sins does he deal with us, 10 nor
does he requite us according to our crimes.
Response:
11 For as the heavens are high above the earth, so
surpassing is his kindness toward those who fear him. 12 As far as the east is
from the west, so far has he put our transgressions from us. 13 As a father
has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear
him.
Response:
In the previous Psalm, at the point of death, the psalmist pleaded with God for help (Ps 102:11, 24). Now he blesses God (an expression of gratitude) in verses 1-2 and thanks Him for restoring his health (103:3-4). In verses 9-10, he gives his reasons for his praise by summarizing what God has done for His covenant people. In verses 12-13, he reflects on God's mercy in forgiving the sins of those who are faithful and fear offending God. He compares God to a father who shows loving compassion to his children (verse 13). The psalmist's description of God reveals his understanding of God's intense love for humanity. St. Thomas Aquinas also reflected on God's passionate love for humanity. He wrote: "So splendid is the grace of God and his love for us that he has done much more for us than we can ever comprehend" (Expositio in Credum, 61).
The Gospel of Luke 2:41-51 ~ Finding the Boy Jesus
Teaching in the Temple
41 Each year his parents went to Jerusalem for the feast
of Passover, 42 and when he was twelve years old, they went up according to
festival custom. 43 After they had completed its days, as they were returning,
the boy Jesus remained behind in Jerusalem, but his parents did not know it. 44
Thinking that he was in the caravan, they journeyed for a day and looked for
him among their relatives and acquaintances, 45 but not finding him, they
returned to Jerusalem to look for him. 46 After three days they found him in
the Temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, listening to them and asking
them questions, 47 and all who heard him were astounded at his understanding
and his answers. 48 When his parents saw him, they were astonished, and his
mother said to him, "Son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have
been looking for you with great anxiety." 49 And he said to them, "Why were you
looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?" 50 But
they did not understand what he said to them. 51 He went down with them and
came to Nazareth and was obedient to them; and his mother kept all these things
in her heart.
The God-ordained feasts of Passover and Unleavened Bread occurred in the early spring. The feasts were a memorial of the Exodus redemption that the covenant faithful relived every year, remembering God's mighty works on behalf of the children of Israel (Ex Chapter 12; Lev 23:4-14; Num 28:16-25). The Feast of Unleavened Bread (Nisan 15-21st) began at sundown on the day of the Passover sacrifice, which became the next day for the Jews (the days began and ended at sunset). It was one of the three "pilgrim feasts" in which every man of the covenant who was thirteen years and older was required to appear before God's altar with his sacrifices (Ex 23:14-17; 34:18-23; Dt 16:16-17; 2 Chron 8:13). In the first century AD, the Jews celebrated the two feasts as though they were one 8-day feast, referring them as either "the Passover" or "Unleavened Bread" (Mk 14:12; Lk 22:7). It was a joyous time, and even though only male members of the covenant were required to attend, it was not uncommon for entire families to make the journey to Jerusalem, like the Holy Family on this occasion.
The Jewish Talmud defines thirteen years of age for a male covenant member as the borderline for fulfilling the law, but it was common for parents to bring twelve-year-old sons on the pilgrimage to familiarize them with what would become a duty the following year. At the end of the eight days, when his parents left with the caravan to return to Galilee, they discovered that Jesus was missing. He was missing for three days in Jerusalem (verse 46), just as He will be missing on the three days between His crucifixion and Resurrection twenty-one years later (as the ancients counted). "Finding" Jesus on the third day prefigures Jesus's resurrection appearance and His continued visitations with His disciples for 40 days between Resurrection Sunday and His Ascension.
When Joseph and Mary discovered Jesus was missing, they immediately returned to Jerusalem and found Him at the Temple, conversing with the teachers of the Law. This event was Jesus's first public teaching. His last public teaching would occur the last week of His life in the same location, teaching in the Jerusalem Temple.
As time passed and Jesus grew, His parents may have begun to take for granted His divine mission that an angel from God revealed to them before He was born (Lk 1:26-33; Mt 1:18-21). This episode reminded them that their son was the Son of God, He knew His divine identity, and He understood His divinely ordained destiny. Jesus's response to Joseph and Mary in verse 49, "Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?" is the first evidence in Scripture that Jesus was conscious of being "the Son of God," as He confirmed in Joseph's presence that God is His Father. This acknowledgment in no way diminishes Joseph's important role in Jesus's life as His foster father and protector.
51 He went
down with them and came to Nazareth and was obedient to them; and his mother
kept all these things in her heart.
Jesus traveled down from the mountains of Judea and returned
home to Galilee with his parents. He obeyed the commandment to honor His
parents according to the Law (Ex 20:12; Dt 5:16). That Mary "kept all these things
in her heart" means that she contemplated the significance of these events. She
meditated on her role in salvation history that the angel Gabriel revealed to
her at the Annunciation (Lk 1:26-38). She also must have considered the
suffering she and her son must endure that St. Simeon prophesized at baby
Jesus's Temple presentation (Lk 2:25-35). And, she must have contemplated what
was likely to unfold in the future, according to the teachings of the prophets
with which she was familiar (Is 52:13-53:12; Jer 23:5-7; Ezek 34:23-25). Her
thoughtful contemplation shows her appreciation for God's divine plan and her
continuing part in that plan as the Messiah's mother. Mary would have
understood that she was the fulfillment of prophecy:
This was the destiny for which Mary had been conceived without sin as the mother of the sinless Redeemer-Messiah. Mary fulfilled God's divine plan to bring the Redeemer-Messiah to humanity. She gave her sinless heart to God, so you could give your heart to God the Son and receive forgiveness for your sins. Now you must find Jesus, give Him your heart, and allow Him to be a continuing presence in your life.
Michal E. Hunt Copyright © 2018; revised 2023, www.AgapeBibleStudy.com
Catechism References (* indicates Scripture either
quoted or paraphrased in the citation):
2 Corinthians 5:14 (CCC 616*, 851*);
5:15 (CCC 605*, 655*, 1269*);
5:17 (CCC 1214*, 1265*);
5:17-18 (CCC 1999*);
5:18-21 (CCC 2844*;
5:18 (CCC 981*, 1422, 1461*);
5:19 (CCC 433*, 620*);
5:20 (CCC 859, 1424, 1442);
5:21 (CCC 602)
Luke 2:41-51 (CCC 534*); 2:41 (CCC 583*); 2:46-49 (CCC 583*); 2:48-49 (CCC 503*); 2:49 (CCC 2599); 2:51 (CCC 517*, 531, 2196, 2599*)
Christ is the expiation for our sins (CCC 621*)
He gave His life as a ransom for our sins (CCC 622*)
Jesus fulfills the atoning mission of Isaiah's suffering Servant (CCC 623*)
Michal E Hunt, Copyright © 2023; Agape Bible Study. Permissions All Rights Reserved.