The Lectionary and Scripture Interpretation for Ordinary Time
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Zephaniah 2:3; 3:12-13
We only hear from this minor prophet twice in the Sunday liturgy cycle, probably because he is one of those fire and brimstone sort of prophets. But there are some passages, like today’s, that are more uplifting.
It’s a time of religious and social degradation. Idols are in fashion and alliances with enemies are approved. This was as much Zephaniah’s world as it seems to be our own.
In troubled times, the humble prevail. Think of someone you know who is humble. What do you most admire about them, and how might you imitate that in your own journey towards humility?
2:3 says that perhaps God will respond. This is not a doubt about God’s ability or even willingness. Rather, it’s about the audience: will they seek God through humility and observance of the law? Jeremiah 29:13-14 says, “When you look for me, you will find me. Yes, when you seek me with all your heart, I will let you find me.” It’s never a matter of wondering whether we can find God or whether he will love us or if he might perhaps respond. But it is up to us to take that first step of turning to God.
1 Corinthians 1:26-31
For this bit of Ordinary Time, we’ll be in Part I of this letter: Divisions in the Community 1:10-4:21. This particular passage is “God has different standards” 1:18-31.
In this passage, Paul suggests that most of his audience were uneducated, plebeian and socially uninfluential. We might be a little offended to have any of these labels applied to us. But Paul says that it’s these very people whom God chose. This is one of those instances where all three readings seem to line up: God has different standards, the kingdom uses different measurements if you will.
Paul often structures his writing very poetically. You can see the symmetry of this reading:
Not many of you were wise by human standards,
not many were powerful,
not many were of noble birth.
Rather,
God chose the foolish of the world to shame the wise, and
God chose the weak of the world to shame the strong, and
God chose the lowly and despised of the world, those who count for nothing, to reduce to nothing those who are something,
Matthew 5:1-12a
This week we move into the section of Matthew’s gospel called “Blessings, Entering the Kingdom.” This is a section where Jesus expands on the Law (you have heard it said…. But I say….). We’ll spend four weeks in chapter 5 alone, which will see us through to Lent this year.
Last week, we read of the call of some of the disciples. For the next 4 weeks, we will read instructions on how to be disciples. And that begins with rearranging our notions of what it means to be blessed by God. Culturally, the ancients believed that wealth and financial security were outward signs of God’s blessings, and this is no less true in our American culture today. Jesus challenges that notion again and again throughout his ministry.
We have to reach a certain maturity before we can call “blessed” those who are not cool, who abjure power, who deflate their own arrogance, who don’t call attention to their piety, to those who know they are dunderheads but forge on cheerfully anyway (adapted from Brian Doyle, “The Inarguable Assignment,” January 2017 Give Us This Day). Basically those who turn away from being important, famous, powerful to being weak, and merciful.
Pope Francis’ Exhortation Gaudete et Exsultate centers on the Beatitudes. Of them he says,
The Beatitudes are like a Christian’s identity card. So if anyone asks: “What must one do to be a good Christian?”, the answer is clear. We have to do, each in our own way, what Jesus told us in the Sermon on the Mount. In the Beatitudes, we find a portrait of the Master, which we are called to reflect in our daily lives. The word “happy” or “blessed” thus becomes a synonym for “holy”. It expresses the fact that those faithful to God and his word, by their self-giving, gain true happiness.
GAUDETE ET EXSULTATE no. 64-65
Verses 3 and 10 have the same result: “the kingdom of heaven is theirs” – the kingdom of heaven brackets all.
The poor, etc are happy (blessed) not because they are morally better than others but because of God’s special care for them.
All these beatitudes were rooted in Jewish teaching. Matthew wants, above all, to show that Jesus is a continuation of the work God began with Israel. It makes sense, then, that Jesus’ primary teachings would be in continuity with what God had already revealed.
In a sense, this is poetry, and it follows the form of much of Old Testament poetry: one line will make a statement; the next line will expand on that or repeat in a different way. For example,
Verse 3 the notion of power
Verse 4 inner turmoil
Verse 5 the notion of power
Verse 6 inner turmoil
Laying it out this way helps us see that poor in spirit and meekness are related as are mourning, hungering and thirsting.
Verses 3 and 5 also link the kingdom of heaven with the land here and now.
If we were writing these, we might be tempted say something more like “if you are poor in spirit, you will be blessed with the kingdom of heaven.” But Jesus says you are blessed right here and now in your poverty of spirit – that is where the blessing is. The reward is not delayed – it is in the very identification of poverty of spirit.
Who is our supreme model for being poor in spirit, meek, mourning, hungering and thirsting for righteousness, merciful, pure of heart, peacemaker? Jesus.
Don’t make the mistake of separating these beatitudes into nine distinct groups of people. Don’t picture one group over there poor in spirit, and another group over here who are merciful. Think instead of this as the picture of one person with many attributes – like Jesus.
It’s often fascinating what the lectionary leaves out. Sometimes it’s easy to rationalize; other times, like this passage, I can only scratch my head and wonder. The lectionary stops at the first half of verse 12: “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven.” What we miss is this jolting sentence: “Thus they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” We live on the shoulders of giants – those saints who showed us the way. And so many of them were openly persecuted for the way they lived; sometimes by society, but all too often by the Church. I think of just one example in St. Ignatius of Loyola, who was imprisoned three times by the Spanish Inquisition because he had the audacity to have public discussions about spiritual matters without possessing a formal theology degree. His core message was that God can be encountered and experienced by all people with an immediacy and intimacy that can bring us to our knees if we let it.
Pick one of the beatitudes to focus on this week. Look for ways it manifests in your life already. Look for ways you manifest the opposite sometimes. Look for ways in which its fulfillment is evident in your life.
Pray imaginatively with this passage. Put yourself in the crowd on the hill. See Jesus sit down and experience the excitement to hear what he will say. Listen to his preaching. How do you feel? What would you like to say to Jesus in response?
Scripture texts in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C. and are used by permission of the copyright owner. All Rights Reserved. No part of the New American Bible may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the copyright owner.
© 2023 Kelly Sollinger