AMEN TO THE PRAISE OF GOD - 7th Sunday in Ordinary Time Cycle B

Homily for the Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time (Cycle B)

Based on Mk. 2:1-12(Gospel), Is. 43: 18-19, 21-22, 24-25(1^stRdng.), and  2 Cor. 1:18-22(2^ndRdng.)

From the series “Reflections and Teachings from the Desert”

AMEN TO THE PRAISE OF GOD

There are three important concepts that we findin the three readings for this 7^thSunday.These are, first, the praise of God (common to the 1^st, 2^nd and Gospel readings); secondly, the way in the desert (First reading); and, thirdly, the Exodusevent(First reading).Both concepts of the way in the desert and the Exodus event are two related concepts. But, obviously, the most common among the three readings is the praise of God. It is therefore used as the title of this piece.

1.       “Praise of God”:

The term “praise of God” surfaced towards the end of today’s gospel, merely as a conclusion to the narrative of the cure of the paralytic incident. These are the texts of Mk. 1, verses 11 and 12: “He said to the paralytic- ‘I order you: get up, pick up your stretcher, and go off home.’ And the man got up, pick up his stretcher at once and walked out in front of everyone, so that they were all astonished and praised God saying, ‘We have never seen anything like this’.” This termrefers to the praise that the people gave to God, the crowd who were bewildered with the miracle that Jesus Christ performed on the cure of the paralytic.

This term is furthermore found in the following verses, as the parallel texts of Mk. 1: 1-12:

Mt. 9:8 - A feeling of awe came over the crowd when they saw this and they praised God for giving such power to men.

Lk. 5:25-26 - And immediately before their very eyes he got up, picked up what he had been lying on and went home praising God.They were all astounded and praised God, and were filled with awe, saying, ‘We have seen strange things today’.

Mk. 1:12 - And the man got up, pick up his stretcher at once and walked out in front of everyone, so that they were all astonished and praised God saying, ‘We have never seen anything like this’.

Is. 43:21 - The people I have formed for myself will sing my praises.

Dn. 6:10 - Three times each day he continued to fall on his knees praying and giving praise to God as he had always done.

2 Cor. 1:20 - And however many were the promises God made, the Yes to them all is in him. That is why it is ‘through him’ that we answer Amen to the praise of God.

1 Co. 14:16 - Any uninitiated person will never be able to say Amen to your thanksgiving, if you only bless God with the spirit, for he will have no idea what you are saying.

Incidentally, praising and thanksgiving, or giving thanks, are one and the same act. Therefore, saying “Amen to your thanksgiving” as mentioned in 1 Co. 14:16 is the same as saying “Amen to the Praise of God” (the title of this homily), as found in verse 20 of 2 Cor. 1, today’s Second Reading.

2.       Way in the Desert:

The “way in the desert”, found only in the first reading (Is. 43: 18-19, 21-22, 24-25), is also found in the following parallel texts:

Is. 43: 19 - See, I am doing a new deed, even now it comes to light; can you not see it? Yes, I am making a road in the wilderness, paths in the wilds.

Is. 35:8 - And through it all will run a highway undefiled which shall be called the sacred Way;

Psalm 107:7 - Guiding by a route leading to an inhabited town.

Is. 40:3 - A voice cries, ‘Prepare in the wilderness a way for Yahweh. Make a straight highway for our God across the desert.

These verses, with their footnotes, are mentioned in relation to the Exodus event stated below.Incidentally, making a way (a road or route) in the desert (wilderness) refers to the memory of the Exodus that liberated the chosen people from the slavery of Egypt. The OT people had prayed and waited for a new exodus to happen with the coming of the hoped-for Messiah. 

3.       Exodus Event:

References to the “Exodus event”,alsofound only in the first reading (Is. 43: 18-19, 21-22, 24-25), is located in the following texts and footnotes:

Is. 43: 18 - No need to recall the past, no need to think about what was what was done before.

Footnote g of Is. 43:18 - The miracles of the first Exodus, which will be surpassed by the second.

Rv. 14:3 - There in front of the throne they were singing a new hymn in the presence of the four animals and the elders, a hymn that could only be learnt by the hundred and forty-four thousand who had been redeemed from the world.

Footnote c of Rev. 14: 3 -   Moses had celebrated the deliverance from Egypt, Ex. 15:1-21; cf. Rv. 15:3-5; the new hymn celebrates the deliverance of God’s people and of the new order introduced by the Lamb that wassacrificed.

Ps. 107:7 - Guiding by a route leading to an inhabited town.

 Footnote c of Psalm 107: 7 - Probably reference to Canaan. The Exodus and the installation of the Promised Land had already, in Is. 40f, served as prototype of the return from exile.

Is. 40:3 - A voice cries, ‘Prepare in the wilderness a way for Yahweh. Make a straight highway for our God across the desert.

Footnote d of Is. 40:3 - The Exodus is to be repeated; Yahweh will lead his people back to Palestine. The wonders of the Exodus have already been recalled by Isaiah, 10:25-27, as an earnest of God’s protection. The prophets of the Exile elaborate this theme. As of old, God will come to save his people, Jr. 16:14-15; 31:2; Is. 46:3-4;  and 63:9 (repeating Ex. 19:4) The miracles of the first Exodus, Mi. 7:14-15, the crossing of the Red Sea, Is. 11:15-16; 43:16-21; 51:10; 63:11-13; the water from the rock, 48:21; the bright cloud, 52:12;  cf. 4:5-6, the desert march, 40:3f; cf. Ba. 5:7-9; become both type and guarantee of the second, from Babylon to Jerusalem. On the theme of the Exodus see also Ho. 2:16+.

The new Exodus is what the First reading taken from Is. 43:18-19 is talking about:  “No need to recall the past, no need to think about what was what was done before. See, I am doing a new deed, even now it comes to light; can you not see it? Yes, I am making a road in the wilderness, paths in the wilds.”

Footnote p of Ep. 1:13, a cited text of 2 Cor. 1:22, refers to this new, or second, Exodus when it saysthat,“the setting free of the (enslaved people) which has been acquired’, i.e. by God, and at the cost of the life of his Son. This is one of the occasions when Paul widens an OT concept (like ‘blessing’, ‘saint’, ‘choice’, ‘adoption’, ‘redemption’, ‘share’, ‘promise’) by applying it to the Church as the new Israel and the body of the saved.”

The miracle of the cure of the paralytic, in today’s Gospel, is indeed a sure proof, or evidence, that Jesus Christ is the hoped for Messiah who has fulfilled and realized this new, or second, Exodus that was long-awaited and prayed for in Israel during Jesus Christ’s time.

4.       Importance of Praising, or giving thanks to,  God:

What is the importance of praising, or giving thanks to, God?

According to the gospel, praising and glorifying God is the response of man to the wondrous miracles that Jesus Christ performs and for giving such power to men.

For the First Reading (Is. 43),the people whom God has formed for himself will sing His praises. As for Daniel, “Three times each day he continued to fall on his knees praying and giving praise to God as he had always done.”

For the Second Reading (2 Cor. 1:18-22), people should “answer Amen to the praise of God.”It is important that people are initiated into the Christian Mysteries because “Any uninitiated person will never be able to say Amen to your thanksgiving. if you only bless God with the spirit, for he will have no idea what you are saying.”