A Commentary and Reflection on the Readings for the 16th Sunday of Ordinary Time – Year B. The Liturgical Sense of the Scriptures Podcast, by Catholic Author and Theologian David L. Gray. READINGS: Jeremiah 23:1-6, Ephesians 2:13-18, Mark 6:30-34.
The Three Fatal Errors that Christ and the Liturgy of the Catholic Mass Are Protecting Us From
The perfect desire of God is for us, His human creations, to be nearer to Him than our parents were in the Garden of Eden, which was an unfulfilled image of dwelling in the presence of God and resting in His divine nature. In His dialogue on the vine and the branches, Christ Jesus takes up this call for us to be near to Him and rest in Him, saying, “Remain in me, as I remain in you. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me.”[1] In the Divine Symphony of the Mass, the Sursum Corda prayer beckons our commitment to remain near to God and rest in Him when the priest commands us to lift up our hearts to God, and in response, we confess that we have lifted them up to the Lord.
We remain in and near the Lord when we listen to Him, obey Him, and place our hearts to rest in His Sacred Heart. There are a host of sins and distractions (e.g., vanity and abuse of time) that one might fall into through the moments of the day that will tempt us away from this desire of God. In one such instance, Adam and Eve in the Garden voluntarily distanced themselves from God by choosing to listen, obey, and go with the serpent.[2] In better instance, in the face of opposition and distraction, Simon Peter chose to listen, obey, and remain in Christ Jesus, affirming, “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”[3]
The apparent paradox lies in the fact that God is immutable and impassible, signifying that He has an unchanging nature in His essence, character, desires, and feelings while also being omnipresent, indicating that God’s presence is everywhere. Therefore, if we ever feel a change in our proximity to God, we should ask ourselves, ‘Who moved’? In other words, when we feel either more distant or closer than before, we must recognize that the shift did not originate with God, as His nature remains constant. Indeed, the responsibility for either bridging or widening the gap between ourselves and God falls under the realm of our own volition.
However, the apparent paradox has a resolution in the immutability of God, whose covenantal desire is to shepherd us home. Inasmuch as we have the freedom to remain far off and at a perpetual distance from God,[4] it is also true that in His mercy, God is relentless in His omnipresent pursuit of His lost sheep. Moreover, today’s Readings at Mass for the 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year B point to the three fatal errors man may be protected from if he yields to God’s relentless pursuit of him.
The First Fatal Error that distances us from God is Heeding the Teachings of False Shepherds: There have been and will always be false shepherds who steal from God and attempt to deceive and mislead His flock, and there will always be sheep who follow after their deceptions. The promise from God in today’s First Reading from Jeremiah 23:1-6 is not that He will stop false shepherds from lying, but that He will punish their “evil deeds” and that He will gather the remnant of His flock, bringing “them back to their meadow,” where they shall increase and multiply, appoint them good shepherds by His own hand so that no sheep will go missing, and will one day will “raise up a righteous shoot to David as king,” who will “reign and govern wisely.” The liturgy of the Catholic Mass imbues this promise of God when the appointed priest teaches in union with the Church and does not fall into the vanity of choosing his own words over those given to him by Christ and His Church in the missal. Likewise, the laity can always identify a false shepherd by their propensity to offer a liturgy of fluidity over static continuity with the whole Church. Indeed, a priest who fails to speak in union with the Church speaks of only himself rather than Christ Jesus.
The Second Fatal Error that distances us from God is Enmity: According to today’s Second Reading from Ephesians 2:13-18, the demonic spirit of division, strife, conflict, and perpetual resistance does nothing but keep us far off from the peace of Christ Jesus. The peace of Jesus, His nature, is antithetical to any walls of division, enmity, and laws that put us in opposition to love. Rather, peace is the teaching Christ brings “to you who were far off and peace to those who were near, for through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.” For this reason, the liturgy herself, which is planted in the nature of God, repeatedly prays that peace be with us. For, when we have peace, we abide Christ, but when we have enmity, we abide in Satan.
The Third Fatal Error that distances us from God is Burdened Self-Reliance: In the context of today’s Gospel Reading from Mark 6:30-34, Burderend Self-Reliance is the predisposition of feeling overworked and as though the work belongs to oneself, not Jesus. Our Lord never wants us to believe we are responsible for His and the Holy Spirit’s joint mission. We do not own the mission of God; instead, we merely cooperate with it. Nevertheless, it is easy to fall into the error of overworking ourselves because we do not see or want to sustain the progress we desire as if we can progress God. However, our Lord’s message to the Twelve after they returned from being sent out to preach, teach, and heal was, “Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” We need to believe that the work God desires to accomplish will be done on earth, whether by us or someone else. Jesus wants us to be ready for battle but not too tired to fight well. Therefore, it is essential that we prioritize rest, engage in spiritual renewal, maintain a healthy balance between work and rest, and be attentive to our needs and the needs of others while taking the time to address them without being overwhelmed. Indeed, the Divine Symphony of the Mass is our place of true rest, refreshment, and renewal between the battle. Therefore, do not be in a hurry for the liturgy of the Mass or Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament to end too soon; instead, use it well as your time to rest in the peace of the Lord.
This is just one way the readings at Mass this Sunday connect to the liturgy and how the liturgy is forming us on how to live our lives in the world. Be in the world what you have received through the liturgy.
[1] John 15:4.
[2] Cf. Genesis 3.
[3] John 6:8.
[4] Cf. Ephesians 2:12-13; Isaiah 59:2.
