TWENTY-EIGHTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

Thursday

Year I

Readings

First Reading
Rom 3:21–30

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 130:1b–2, 3–4, 5–6ab

Gospel
Lk 11:47–54

Meditation on Today’s Readings

Taken from the Vatican II Sunday and Weekday Missal
Written by Celia Sirois

Today’s readings must be understood in light of their respective literary forms: a diatribe in Romans, a Jewish prayer form in Ephesians, and polemic in the Gospel. A diatribe is a sustained scholarly discussion with an imaginary opponent. In today’s text from Romans, Paul wants to persuade a Jewish opponent that if justification is by faith and not by the works of the law, then it is open to all, and Jews no longer have grounds for boasting. Polemic is a verbal attack on one’s opponents who are routinely depicted with gross exaggeration. In today’s Gospel, Jesus’ prophetic criticism of certain Pharisees and lawyers has been exaggerated by the bitter rivalry that raged between the early Church and the Jewish community.

The letter to the Ephesians is happily free of the hostility that tore Christianity from its Jewish roots. It opens with a prayer modeled on the Jewish blessing (berakah). This positive appropriation of a Jewish prayer form is echoed in the new Catechism. It describes blessing as the human response to God’s gifts. “Because God blesses, the human heart can in return bless the One who is the source of every blessing” (n. 2626).

The copyright for the Sunday Missal Introductions is:
Copyright (c) 2001, Daughters of St. Paul
The copyright for the Weekday Missal Introduction is:
Copyright (c) 2002, Daughters of St. Paul