Homily
for the 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Cycle A)
Based
on Mt 13:44-52(Gospel),1
K 3:5, 7-12
(First Reading) and Rm 8:28-30(Second Reading)
From
the Series: “Reflections and Teachings of the Desert”
THINGS
BOTH OLD AND NEW
“Every scribe who becomes a disciple of
the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out from his storeroom
things both new and old” (Mt 13:52)
The Gospel for this
17th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Cycle A) is taken from Mt
13:44-52.
First title is “Parable of
the treasure and the pearlk.”Footnote k says “If
a man discovers the kingdom of heaven he cannot enter unless he leaves all
behind, cf. 19:21.”
Verses 44, 45, and 46 say: ‘The kingdom of heaven
is like a treasure hidden in a field which someone has found; he hides it
again, goes off happy, sells everything he owns and buys the field. ‘Again, the
kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls; when he finds one
of great value he goes and sells everything he owns and buys it.
Parallel texts of verse 44 are:
1.
Pr 2:4…if you look for it as if it were silver,
and search for it as for buried treasure…
2.
Si 51:28 - Buy
instruction with a large sum of silver,n thanks to her you will gain
much gold. Footnote n says “Text probably corrupt”.
3.
Mt 19:21 - Jesus said, ‘If you wish to be
perfect, go and sell what you own and give the money to the poor, and you will
have treasure I heaven; then come, and follow me.’
4.
Pr 4:7 - The
beginning of wisdom? The acquisition of wisdom;a at the cost of all
you have, acquire perception. Footnote a says “i.e.
to win wisdom one must first realize that is is essential to have it and that
it demands self-sacrifice.”
Second title is “Parable of the
dragnet”.
Verses 47, 48 and 49 say: ‘Again, the kingdom of
heaven is like a dragnet cast into the sea that brings a haul of all kinds.
When it is full, the fishermen haul it ashore; then, sitting down, they collect
the good ones into the basket and throw away those that are no use. This is how
it will be at the end of time: the angels will appear and separate the wicked
from the just…
Parallel text of verse 47 is Mt 22:10that says: So
these servants went out on to the roads and collected together everyone they
could find, bad and good alike; and the wedding hall was filled with guests.
Verse 50 says: to throw
them into the blazing furnace where there will be weeping and grinding of
teeth.
Parallel text of verse 50 is Mt 8:12that says: but the subjects of the kingdomd
will be turned out into the dark, where there will be weeping and grinding of
teeth.’e Footnote c says
“Basing their idea on Is 25:6, the Jews
often described the joyous messianic era as a banquet (cf. 22:2-14; 26:19p; Lk
14:15; Rev 3:20; 19:9).”; Footnoted says “Lit ‘the sons of the kingdom’, that is to say the Jews, natural heirs
of the promises. Their place will be taken by the pagans, who prove more
worthy.”; and Footnote e says “Scriptural image for the dismay and frustration of the wicked as seeing
the virtuous rewarded, cf. Ps 35:16; 37:12; 112:10; Jb 16:9. In Mt it is used
as a description of damnation.”
Fourth title is: “Conclusion.”
Verses 51 and 52 are: Have you understood all this?’ They said, ‘Yes’. And he said to them,
‘Well then, every scribe who becomes a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is
like a householder who brings out from his storeroom things both new and old’.l
Footnote lsays “The Jewish teacher who becomes a disciple of
Christ has at his disposal all the wealth of the Old as well as the perfection
of the New, v. 12. This picture of a ‘scribe who becomes a disciple’ sums up
the whole ideal of Matthew the evangelist and may well be a self-portrait.”
Parallel text of verse 51 is Mk 4:13 that says: Jesus said to them, “Do you not understand
this parable? Then how will you understand any of the parables?c Footnote
csays “The apostles’ incomprehension of
Christ’s works and words is a favorite theme of Mk. 6:52; 7:18; 8:17-18,21,33;
9:10,32; 10:38. With the exception of certain parallel places (Mt. 15;16;
16:9,23; 20:22; Lk 9:45) and of Lk 18:34; 24:25,45. Mt and Lk often pass such
remarks over in silence, or even emend them; compare Mt 14:33 with Mk 6:51-52,
and see Mt 13:51, Cf. Jn 14:26+.”
The First Reading is taken from 1 K 3:5, 7-12.
Verses 5 and 7 say: At Gibeon Yahweh appeared in a dreamb to Solomon during the
night. Now, Yahweh my God, you have made your servant king in succession to
David my father. But I am a very young man, unskilled in leadership. Footnote bsays “Before
the prophetic period, dreams were one of God’s main channels of communication
with man, cf. Gn 20:3;28; 31:11,24; Nb 12:6.
Parallel text of verse 5 are:
1.
1 K 9:2 - Yahweh appeared to Solomon a second
time, as he had appeared to him at Gibeon.
2.
Ws 7:7 - So I prayed, and understanding was
given me; I entreated and the spirit of Wisdom came to me.
3.
Ws 9:12…and in your wisdom have fitted man to
rule the creatures that have come from you…
Verse 8 says: Your servant finds himself in the
midst of this people of yours that you have chosen, a people so many its number
cannot be counted or reckoned.
Parallel texts are:
1.
Ws 8:10 - Through her, I thought, I shall be
acclaimed where people gather and honored, while still a youth, among the
elders.
2.
Jm 1:5 - If
there is any one of you who needs wisdom, he must ask God, who gives to all
freelyd and ungrudgingly; it will be given to him. Footnoted
says “Lit. ‘uncompoundedly’ i.e. simply,
or unreservedly.”
3.
1 K 4:20 - Judah and Israel were like the sand
by the sea for number; they ate and drank and lived happily.
Verses 9 and 10 say: Give your servant a heart to
understandc how to discern between good and evil for who could
govern this people of yours that is so great? It pleased Yahweh that Solomon
should have asked for this. Footnote c says “The text adds ‘to govern your people’. Solomon prays for wisdom in
practical affairs, not in his own interest but in those of the nation. Cf 5:13+
and Ex 31:3+.”
Parallel texts of verse 9 are:
1. Pr
2:6-9 - For Yahweh himself is giver of wisdom, from his mouth issue knowledge
and discernment (v. 6). He keeps his help for honest men, he is the shield of
those whose ways re honorable (v.7); he stand guard over the paths of justice,
he keeps watch on the way of his devoted ones(v. 8). Then you will understand
what virtue is, justice, and fair dealing, all paths that lead to happiness (v.
9).
2.
Nb 11:14…in the vanguard was the standard of the
camp of Judah, in battle array. In command of Judah’s force was Nahshon son of
Aminadab…
3.
Is 7:16 - For before this child knows how to
refuse evil and choose good, in the land whose two kings terrify you will be
deserted.
Verse 11 says: ‘Since you have asked for this’ Yahweh said ‘and not
asked for long life for yourself or riches or the lives or your enemies, but
have asked for a discerning judgment for yourself,
Parallel text of verse 11 are:
1.
1 K 5:9 – Yahwehg
gave Solomon immense wisdom and understanding, and a heart as vast as the sand
on the seashore. Footnote g says “‘Yahweh’
following versions.”
2.
Ws 7:7 - So I prayed, and understanding was
given me; I entreated and the spirit of Wisdom came to me.
Verse 12 says: here and now I do
what you ask. I give you a heart wise and shrewd as none before had and none
will have after you.
Parallel texts are:
1.
Qo 1:16 - I thought to myself, ‘I have acquired
a greater stock of wisdom than any of my predecessors in Jerusalem. I have
great experience of wisdom and learning’.
2.
Si 47:14 - How wise you were in your youth,
brimming over with understanding like a river!
The Second Reading is taken from Rm 8:28-30.
Verse 28 says: We
know that by turning everything to their good God cooperates with all those who
love him, with all those that he has called according to his purpose.p Footnote p says “Var (Vulg.) We know that for those who love God everything conspires
for good, for all those that he has called…’”
Parallel text of verse is that says:
1.
Gn 50:20 - The evil you planned to do me has by
God’s design been turned to good, that he might bring about, as indeed he has,
the deliverance of a numerous people.
2. Jm
1:12 - Happy the man who stand firm when
trials come. He has proved himself, and will win the prize of life, the
crown that the Lordg has promised to those who love him. Footnoteg says “Om. ‘the Lord’. Vulg. reads
‘God’.”
3. Ac
13:48 - It made the pagans very happy to
hear this and they thank the Lord for his message; gg all who were
destined for eternal life became believers…hh Footnote gg says “Var. ‘ the word of God’.”; and Footnote hh says “‘eternal life’, cf. v. 46, i.e. the life of
the world to come, cf. 3:15+; only those achieve it whose names are ‘written in
heaven’, Lk 10:20, in ‘the book of life’, Ph 4:3 ; Rv 20:12+. ‘Destined for the
life of the world to come’ was a common rabbinic expression. In Christian
teaching the first prerequisite of this predestination to glory is faith in
Christ. See Jn 10:26+; Rm 8:28-30, and earlier in Ac 2:39.”
Verses 29 and 30 say: They are the ones he chose especially long ago and intended to become
true images of his Son,q so that the Son might be the eldest of many
brothers. He called those he intended for this; those he called he justified,
and with those he justified he shared his glory.r Footnote q
says “Christ, the image of God in
the primordial creation, Col 1:15+; cf. Heb. 1:3, has now come, by a new
creation, 2 Co 5:17+, to restore to fallen man
the splendor of that image which has been darkened by sin, Gn 1:26+,
3:22-24+; Rm 5:12+. He does this by forming man in a still more splendid image
of a son of God (Rm 8:29); thus, sound moral judgment is restored to the ‘new
man’, Col 3:10+, and also his claim to glory which he had sacrificed by sin, Rm
3:23+. This glory which Christ as the image of God possesses by right, 2 Co
4:4, is progressively communicated to the Christian, 2 Co 3:18, until his body
is itself clothed in the image of the ‘heavenly man, 1 Co 15:49.”; and Footnote r says “Everything has been directed by God to the glory of his elect: it was
for this they were called to the faith and justified by baptism; with this, it
can be said by anticipation, they are already clothed.”
Parallel texts for verse 29 are:
1. Jr
1:5 - Before I formed you in the womb I
knew you;e before you came to birth I consecrated you; I have
appointed you as prophet to the nations. Footnote e says “To ‘know’ means for God, to choose and
predestine, cf. Am 3:2; Rm 8:29. On man’s ‘knowledge’ of God, cf. Ho 2:22.”
2. 1
Co 15:49 - And we, who have been modeled on the earthly man, will be modeled on
the heavenly man.
3.
Ph 3:21- and he will transfigure these wretched
bodies of ours into copies of his glorious body. He will do that by the same
power with which he can subdue the whole universe.
4. Col
1:18 - Now the church is his body, he is
the head, fAs he is the Beginning, he was first to be born from the
dead, so that he should be first in every way. Footnote f says “On the
church a Christ’s body, cf. 1 Co. 12:12f, he is called the ‘head’ of his own
body both in a temporal sense (v. 18, i.e., he was the first to rise from the
dead) and in a spiritual sense (v. 20, i.e. he is the leader of all the saved).”
Homily:
The gospel, all related to each
other, talks about three things:
1.
Discovery
of something precious, a teaching perhaps or an enlightenment about one’s true
spiritual nature, which, when he finds
it, one is ready to give up everything in order to possess it – the message of
the first Parable of the treasure and the pearl;
2.
At first, he is
like the person referred to in Parable of the dragnet, who cast out
his net to catch all sorts of haul but sits down to sort it and keeps the good
ones after throwing away all things that are useless;
3.
The topic
selected for this discussion, keeping in his storehouse things both old and
new.
A student of the word who is a
candidate should keep all three messages of this gospel.
In the sense
of the pastoral (= a system of caring for
the flock of animals) of evangelization, ‘to take out from the storehouse
things both old and new” is explained very well by the footnote for the theme
we have chosen for this piece of homily, which says: “Every scribe who becomes a disciple of the
kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out from his storeroom
things both new and old” (Mt 13:52). The footnote l says “The
Jewish teacher who becomes a disciple of Christ has at his disposal all the
wealth of the Old as well as the perfection of the New, v. 12. This picture of
a ‘scribe who becomes a disciple’ sums up the whole ideal of Matthew the
evangelist and may well be a self-portrait.”
Likewise for a wise Christian, this gospel theme
means that he cannot throw away the Old Testament in preference for the New
Testament; and vice versa, i.e. to throw away the new for the old. A wise
person knows how to combine the old wisdom with the new learnings and
discoveries in search for the truth. He must take into consideration and weigh
everything, and be circumspect and not be selective or get stuck with one, or
two, opinion or idea only.
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