Zacchaeus in the Sycamore Awaiting the Passage of Jesus,
James Tissot, 1886-1896, Brooklyn Museum

Fr. Smith’s Commentary on the Second Reading
Thirty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time
2 Thessalonians 1:11–2:2
October 30, 2022

We shall be reading the second letter to the Thessalonians for the next three weeks. It presents considerable technical problems. Scholars are uncertain who wrote it, from where, to whom, and indeed when. Some of these issues are interesting but examining them too closely may obscure that the letter reveals a consensus on the meaning of Jesus’ return for all time and fake news for ours.

The letter is called of “Second Letter to the Thessalonians.” It may not have been written by Paul nor to the Thessalonians, but it does examine the major theme of the letter, the return of Jesus.

Continue reading “31st Sunday in Ordinary Time – Faith Revealing Truth” →

The Pharisee and the Publican,
James Tissot, c. 1886-1894, Brooklyn Museum

“Two people went up to the temple area to pray;
one was a Pharisee and the other was a tax collector.
The Pharisee took up his position and spoke this prayer to himself,
‘O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity —
greedy, dishonest, adulterous — or even like this tax collector.
I fast twice a week, and I pay tithes on my whole income.’
But the tax collector stood off at a distance
and would not even raise his eyes to heaven
but beat his breast and prayed,
‘O God, be merciful to me a sinner.’
I tell you, the latter went home justified, not the former;
for whoever exalts himself will be humbled,
and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
(Luke 18:10–14)

Fr. Smith’s Commentary on the Second Reading
Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time
2 Timothy 4:6–8, 16–18
October 23, 2022

We will complete our reading of 2^nd Timothy this week. We have suggested that it was written by an associate of St. Paul soon after the apostle’s death. The author mentions many people who we can presume were real and that they and their stories were known to the Pauline community. We have approached the letter as a novel in the form of a letter. This does not mean that the incidents related did not happen to Paul and the original readers were not unaware of them.

This is also the end of the letter, and the author will bring the many themes that he has examined throughout the letter together. The chapter begins with Paul commissioning Timothy as a church leader:
Continue reading “30th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Living as a Christian Leader” →

Old Woman Praying, Arent de Gelder, c. 1700

Jesus told his disciples a parable
about the necessity for them to pray always without becoming weary.
He said, “There was a judge in a certain town
who neither feared God nor respected any human being.
And a widow in that town used to come to him and say,
‘Render a just decision for me against my adversary.’
For a long time the judge was unwilling, but eventually he thought,
‘While it is true that I neither fear God nor respect any human being,
because this widow keeps bothering me
I shall deliver a just decision for her
lest she finally come and strike me.'”
(Luke 18:1–5)

Fr. Smith’s Commentary on the Second Reading
Twenty-Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Timothy 3:14-4:2
October 16, 2022

We continue today with our reading of the 2^nd letter of St. Paul to Timothy. We are approaching it as an epistolary novel. Although the author is not St. Paul, he is writing not long after Paul’s death to people known by Paul and the community. His overall aim is to show that Paul’s gospel can continue without Paul but not without the ideas that Paul believed and the virtues he lived. One of the advantages of this novel approach is that it shows us the importance of a personal relationship with those with whom we wish to share the good news.

Continue reading “29th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Being Formed in His Word” →

Healing of the Ten Lepers, Jesus Mafa, 1973
from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN.
Original source: http://www.librairie-emmanuel.fr.
(About this Image)

Jesus said in reply,
“Ten were cleansed, were they not?
Where are the other nine?
Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?”
Then he said to him, “Stand up and go;
your faith has saved you.”
(Luke 17:17–19)

Fr. Smith’s Commentary on the Second Reading
Twenty-Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time
2 Timothy 2:8–13
October 9, 2022

Last week we began examining the second letter of Paul to St Timothy
and I suggested that we read it as an epistolary novel. That is a novel
written in the form of a letter or letters. We will assume that the
author knew both Paul and Timothy as would many of those who read the
letter. The people are most likely real, and the situations would be
authentic. We will once more for convenience refer to the author as
Paul.

The instructions that Paul gave to Timothy on building the church are
less directed to its administrative structure than the attitudes and
virtues needed to lead a church. This week he will emphasize that no
matter who becomes Christian, the gospel requires a lively recognition
that Jesus was a Jew and that following him will not be easy.

Continue reading “28th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Remembering Jesus Is Risen” →

Photo by Joshua Lanzarini on Unsplash

The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.”
The Lord replied,
“If you have faith the size of a mustard seed,
you would say to this mulberry tree,
‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.
(Luke 17:5–6)

Fr. Smith’s Commentary on the Second Reading
Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
2 Timothy 1:6–8, 13–14
October 2, 2022

We begin today our readings from the second letter to Timothy. There is much that we do not know about this letter. As with the other pastoral epistles we are not certain if it was written by St. Paul, nor do we know if it was written before or after what we have come to call the 1^st letter to Timothy. They share some of the same details but do not refer to each other. They also are different in tone. This letter is much more personal. The author is not principally concerned about the structure of the churches after the death of the first generation of Apostles. Rather, he expresses his pleasure in the spiritual development of Timothy. Whether or not this was written by St. Paul, the virtues it expresses are clear and as valuable today as in the first century. We will also suggest below that the form in which they are expressed is particularly effective.

Continue reading “27th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Being the Presence of Jesus in the World” →

Rich Man and the Poor Lazarus, Hendrik Terbrugghen,
1625, Centraal Museum (Utrecht)
(About this Image)

Fr. Smith’s Commentary on the Second Reading
Twenty-Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time
1 Tim 6:11–16
September 25, 2022

We have been reading from the first letter of Paul to Timothy for the past two weeks. We will conclude our examination this week with Paul’s final remarks and encouragement to his disciple and protégé. Again, we are unsure if Paul wrote the letter himself or if it was written by the leadership of the Pauline community. This is an interesting question but not the essential one and indeed can obscure the reality of the situation. The first generation of Christians was dying off and they had to examine not only who will replace them but also what kind of structure will be needed and most importantly what skills and virtues will be required.

Paul has seen and taught clearly that doctrine and living go together. If a Christian is taught a gospel that is not true, which meant for Paul getting who Jesus is wrong, it will be seen in his or her actions. We have seen this many times before in Paul writings and indeed in 1 Timothy. As he is concluding, he reviews this again in the passage immediately before today’s reading”

Continue reading “26th Sunday in Ordinary Time – How We Live Each Day” →

Parable of the Unjust Servant, Andrey Mironov, 2021
Used with Permission: CC BY-SA 4.0

Fr. Smith’s Commentary on the Second Reading
Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
1 Timothy 2:1–8
September 18, 2022

Last week, we began to read the first letter of St Paul to Timothy. The letter presumes that this is the same Timothy that Paul met in Lystra (Ac. 16:1-2) and is now his legate in Ephesus. It was a major city in the empire and was a fertile place for the gospel to grow. It was also a place where other religious concepts had taken root. Paul is instructing, perhaps better mentoring, Timothy on how to approach this wonderful opportunity but one fraught with danger as well.

We saw last week that there were false teachers who were leading some of the Christians away from what Paul had taught. They were most likely born Jews who were baptized Christian but now used Greek techniques of Bible interpretation and had many Greco-Roman assumptions. We will see some of these reflected in today’s reading but mostly Paul will concentrate on how the Christians should interact with the wider society.

Continue reading “25th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Asking God for What We Need” →