Author: Fr. William Smith

Scriptual Commentary

5th Sunday of Ordinary Time – Transforming Our Hearts

| Fr. William Smith

Jesus Wept, James Tissot, 1886-1896, Brooklyn Museum.

Fr. Smith’s Commentary on the First Reading
Fifth Sunday of Lent
Jeremiah 31:31-34
March 21, 2021

This week we once more have a choice of readings. Jeremiah will be read at the 9 AM Mass and Ezekiel at the 11:15 AM Mass. We will examine Jeremiah today and call attention to the commentary on Ezekiel from last year.

Jeremiah was a most fascinating and complex person. We can find his background in the commentary for Oct. 28, 2018. He was cursed to live in interesting times and in an interesting place. The kingdom of Judah with Jerusalem as its capital found herself between two great empires. Egypt was always at the south and the north passed between several powers in Judah’s 400-year history. Judah was able to maintain at least formal independence by playing one power off against the other. This required that the kings of Judah be nimble and lucky. As a young man, Jeremiah saw a political and religious renaissance but he lived to see the end of the Kingdom. This was death in slow motion from a fatal misjudgment of who really had power in 611 to the final destruction of Jerusalem in 586.

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Scriptual Commentary

Second Sunday of Lent – God’s Power and Love

| Fr. William Smith

Sacrifice of Isaac, Caravaggio, c. 1603, Piasecka-Johnson Collection (Princeton)
(About this Image)

Fr. Smith’s Commentary on the First Reading
Second Sunday of Lent
Genesis 22:1–2, 9a, 10–13, 15–18
February 28, 2021

Our reading today from the book of Genesis is usually called the “sacrifice of Isaac.” It is important to the three great monotheistic religions. The Jews call it the Aqedah (the binding) and it is important for liturgy, especially Rosh Hashanah and mysticism. Christians see it as forerunner of the sacrifice of Jesus. For Muslims Isaac is the perfect Muslim as, for them, he willingly submits to being sacrificed. These developments are important, but not as important or as immediately meaningful, as the original intent. We need first however look at two aspects of the story.

This is the dramatic center of the four stages of the relationship between Abraham and God.

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Scriptual Commentary

1st Sunday of Lent – God’s Radical Invitation

| Fr. William Smith

Noah’s Thanksoffering, Joseph Anton Koch, c. 1803

Fr. Smith’s Commentary on the First Reading
First Sunday of Lent
Genesis 9:8–15
February 21, 2021

The story of Noah and the Ark has been the source of so many movies, children’s toys and stories, and memorable New Yorker cartoons that we can forget that it addresses many serious issues. As we look at this in Lent, we should remember that it is the first time that “covenant” is mentioned in the Bible. A covenant then as now is the way that the LORD wishes to express the kind of relationship he wants with us.

Christian and Jewish scholars agree that covenant is the legal means by which kinship is established between another individual or group. This is not a contract, a mere sharing of goods and services, but a sharing of life.  It usually consists of the stipulation of what this sharing will mean, a sacrifice of an animal, and the swearing of oaths of one or both parties. There is often a visible sign of the covenant and a common meal.

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Scriptual Commentary

6th Sunday of Ordinary – Appreciating the Power of God’s Love

| Fr. William Smith

Healing of the Lepers at Capernaum, James Tissot, 1886–1894, Brooklyn Museum

Fr. Smith’s Commentary on the First Reading
Sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time
Leviticus 13:1–2, 44–46
February 14, 2021
 

Today’s first reading from Leviticus might seem to have little to teach us other than the primitive nature of ancient medicine. It does reflect this but much more as well. Before looking at the passage itself we need to examine three issues: the role of the tribe of Levi, the nature of holiness and what ailments were considered skin diseases.

Although counted among the twelve tribes of Israel, the tribe of Levi was not given land of its own after the conquest of Canaan. This was not a punishment but a reward for their faithfulness and zeal for the Lord and his Law. They earned this honor when Moses had returned to the Hebrews camp to find the people worshipping a golden calf.

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Bulletin

Update from Fr. Smith on Ash Wednesday

| Fr. William Smith
Wed. Feb. 17
12:10 PM – Mass (will be streamed live and posted online for later viewing)
5 PM – Service

Ash Wednesday will look different this year. To protect everyone, we will distribute ashes the “Roman Way.” In the city of Rome and most of Europe, a cross is not drawn on the head with ashes but rather sprinkled on the head (see above illustration by parishioner Eduardo Crespo). While there is great witness value of making a visible cross, the “Roman Way’ will help to keep us all safe during the pandemic. At both our Ash Wednesday Mass and Service, the distribution of blessed ashes will be at the dismissal. We will follow the same procedure as the reception of Holy Communion to maintain social distancing.

Please remember that you can attend Mass on Ash Wednesday and not receive ashes. It is what is in your heart that matters. I will remain in the Church after the Mass for about 30 minutes after Mass. Ashes will not be distributed on an individual basis at any other time; however, the church will remain open for private prayer until 2 PM.

Please help us spread the word about our Ash Wednesday schedule and the distribution of ashes as we don’t want people trudging over in the cold to find a locked door. Ash Wednesday is usually a busy day where people come throughout the day to receive ashes. However, we will not be able to accommodate that this year due to the pandemic.

In Christ,
Fr. Bill Smith

Bulletin

5th Sunday of Ordinary Time – A Joyous Yes to the Living God

| Fr. William Smith

Job and His Friends, Ilya Repin, 1869, Russian Museum

Fr. Smith’s Commentary on the First Reading
Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Job 7:1–4, 6–7
February 7, 2021

The great miracle of the Old Testament is the end of the Babylonian exile. We have examined this and its effects many times in these commentaries. For centuries, the Jewish leaders maneuvered between the major players in the Mid-East with varying success. By 598-96 BC, they had exhausted their options, Jerusalem and its temple were destroyed, and the elite sent off to exile in Babylon. This should have been the end of Judaism both as a religion and a people. Yet Ezekiel and Jeremiah prophesied that both would be reborn. Most memorable was Ezekiel testifying that the dry bones of the people would come back to life. Indeed, this came to pass when the Assyrian leader Cyrus allowed Jews to volunteer to return and rebuild their capital. Enough did that Jerusalem and its Temple rose again. This was a miracle and prophets, poets and scholars attempted to interpret it properly. The book of Job is one attempt to understand and one that has much to offer us today.

The returning Jews collected and edited their sacred writings that now form the basis of the Old Testament. One of the themes they used to give coherence to this material was that the life of Jews—social, religious, and political to the extent that they were separate—was good when they obeyed the law of the Lord and bad when they did not. This became known as Deuteronomic history. It was remarkably useful and explained much. Yet what of the good person whose life has not gone well? Indeed, one who has seen the wicked prosper at his expense. This is the predicament of Job.

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