First reading |
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| Ecclesiastes 1:2-11 |
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Vanity of vanities, the Preacher says. Vanity of vanities. Vanity of vanities. All is vanity! For all his toil, his toil under the sun, what does man gain by it?
A generation goes, a generation comes, yet the earth stands firm for ever. The sun rises, the sun sets; then to its place it speeds and there it rises. Southward goes the wind, then turns to the north; it turns and turns again; back then to its circling goes the wind. Into the sea all the rivers go, and yet the sea is never filled, and still to their goal the rivers go. All things are wearisome. No man can say that eyes have not had enough of seeing, ears their fill of hearing. What was will be again; what has been done will be done again; and there is nothing new under the sun. Take anything of which it may be said, ‘Look now, this is new.’ Already, long before our time, it existed. Only no memory remains of earlier times, just as in times to come next year itself will not be remembered.
| Psalm |
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| Psalm 89:3-6,12-14,17 |
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O Lord, you have been our refuge from one generation to the next.
You turn men back to dust
and say: ‘Go back, sons of men.’
To your eyes a thousand years
are like yesterday, come and gone,
no more than a watch in the night.
O Lord, you have been our refuge from one generation to the next.
You sweep men away like a dream,
like the grass which springs up in the morning.
In the morning it springs up and flowers:
by evening it withers and fades.
O Lord, you have been our refuge from one generation to the next.
Make us know the shortness of our life
that we may gain wisdom of heart.
Lord, relent! Is your anger for ever?
Show pity to your servants.
O Lord, you have been our refuge from one generation to the next.
In the morning, fill us with your love;
we shall exult and rejoice all our days.
Let the favour of the Lord be upon us:
give success to the work of our hands.
O Lord, you have been our refuge from one generation to the next.
| Gospel Acclamation Jn 14:6 | |
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Alleluia, alleluia!
I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, says the Lord;
No one can come to the Father except through me.
Alleluia!
Herod the tetrarch had heard about all that was being done by Jesus; and he was puzzled, because some people were saying that John had risen from the dead, others that Elijah had reappeared, still others that one of the ancient prophets had come back to life. But Herod said, ‘John? I beheaded him. So who is this I hear such reports about?’ And he was anxious to see Jesus.
Lk 9:7-9 -- Herod perplexed - Erodi mħasseb
THURSDAY GOSPEL OF WEEK 25 IN ORDINARY TIME
Evanġelju
Lil Ġwanni qtajtlu rasu; mela min hu dan li fuqu qiegħed nisma’ dan
kollu?
Lq 9, 7-9
Qari mill-Evanġelju skont San Luqa
F’dak iż-żmien, [Lq:9:7] dawn il-ġrajja kollha waslu f'widnejn Erodi
t-tetrarka u beda jitħasseb, għaliex xi wħud kienu qegħdin jgħidu li
Ġwanni qam mill-imwiet, [Lq:9:8] waqt li oħrajn qalu li deher Elija, u
oħrajn li qam wieħed mill-profeti ta' l-imgħoddi. [Lq:9:9] Iżda Erodi
qal: "Lil Ġwanni qtajtlu rasu; mela min hu dan li fuqu qiegħed nisma'
dan kollu?" U beda jfittex li jarah.
Il-Kelma tal-Mulej
R/. Tifħir lilek Kristu
Pope: Vain Christians are like bubbles. They may look nice, but they're bound to pop - Published on 25 Sep 2014
Lectio Divina on Luke 9:7-9
Order of the Brothers of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel
http://ocarm.org/en/content/lectio/lectio-divina-luke-97-9
Lectio Divina:
Thursday, September 28, 2017
Ordinary Time
1) Opening prayer
Father,
guide us, as you guide creation
according to your law of love.
May we love one another
and come to perfection
in the eternal life prepared for us.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
2) Gospel Reading - Luke 9,7-9
Herod the tetrarch had heard about all
that was going on; and he was puzzled, because some people were saying
that John had risen from the dead, others that Elijah had reappeared,
still others that one of the ancient prophets had come back to life.
But Herod said, ‘John? I beheaded him. So who is this I hear such reports about?’ And he was anxious to see him.
3) Reflection
• Today’s Gospel presents a reaction
from Herod listening to the preaching of Jesus. Herod does not know how
to place himself before Jesus He had killed John the Baptist and now he
wants to see Jesus close to him. It is always threatening.
• Luke 9,
7-8: Who is Jesus? The text begins with the exposition of the opinion of
the people and of Herod on Jesus. Some associated Jesus to John the
Baptist and to Elijah. Others identified him with a Prophet, that is,
with a person who speaks in the name of God, who has the courage to
denounce injustices of those in power and who knows how to give hope to
the little ones. He is the Prophet announced in the Old Testament like a
new Moses (Dt 18, 15). These are the same opinions that Jesus received
from the disciples when he asked them: “Who do people say I am?” (Lk 9,
18). Persons tried to understand Jesus starting from things that they
knew, thought and expected. They tried to set him against the background
of the familiar criteria of the Old Testament with its prophecies and
hopes, and of the Tradition of the Ancients with their laws. But these
were insufficient criteria; Jesus could not enter into them, he was much
bigger!
• Luke 9, 9: Herod wants to see Jesus. But Herod said:
“John, I beheaded him; so who is this of whom I hear such things?” “And
he was anxious to see him”. Herod, a superstitious man without scruples,
recognizes that he was the murderer of John the Baptist. Now, he wants
to see Jesus. Luke suggests thus that the threats begin to appear on the
horizon of the preaching of Jesus. Herod had no fear to kill John. He
will not be afraid to kill Jesus. On the other side, Jesus does no fear
Herod. When they tell him that Herod wanted to take him to kill him, he
sent someone to tell him: “You may go and give that fox this message:
Look, today and tomorrow I drive out devils and heal, and on the third
day I attain my end.” (Lk 13, 32). Herod has no power over Jesus. When
at the hour of the passion, Pilate sends Jesus to be judged by Herod,
Jesus does not respond anything (Lk 23, 9). Herod does not deserve a
response.
• From father to son. Some times the three Herods, who
lived during that time are confused, then the three appear in the New
Testament with the same name: a) Herod, called the Great, governed over
the whole of Palestine from 37 before Christ. He appears at the birth of
Jesus (Mt 2, 1). He kills the new-born babies of Bethlehem (Mt 2, 16).
b) Herod, called Antipas, governed in Galilee from the year 4 to 39
after Christ. He appears at the death of Jesus (Lk 23, 7). He killed
John the Baptist (Mk 6, 14-29). c) Herod, called Agrippa, governed all
over Palestine from the year 41 to 44 after Christ. He appears in the
Acts of the Apostles (Ac 12, 1.20). He killed the Apostle James (Ac 12,
2).
When Jesus was about four years old, King Herod, the one who
killed the new-born babies of Bethlehem died (Mt 2, 16). His territory
was divided among his sons, Archelaus, would govern Judea. He was less
intelligent than his father, but more violent. When he assumed the
power, approximately 3000 persons were massacred on the square of the
Temple! The Gospel of Matthew says that Mary and Joseph, when they
learnt that Archelaus had taken over the government of Galilee, were
afraid and returned on the road and went to Nazareth, in Galilee, which
was governed by another son of Herod, called Herod Antipas (Lk 3, 1).
This Antipas governed over 40 years. During the thirty-three years of
Jesus there was no change of government in Galilee.
Herod, the Great,
the father of Herod Antipas, had constructed the city of Caesarea
Maritime, inaugurated in the year 15 before Christ. It was the new port
to get out the products of the region. They had to compete with the
large port of Tyron in the North and, thus, help to develop trade and
business in Samaria and in Galilee. Because of this, from the time of
Herod the Great, the agricultural production in Galilee began to
orientate itself no longer according to the needs of the families, as
before, but according to the demands of the market. This process of
change in the economy continued during all the time of the government of
Herod Antipas, another forty years, and found in him an efficient
organizer. All these governors were ‘servants of power’. In fact, the
one who commanded in Palestine, from the year 63 before Christ, was
Rome, the Empire.
4) Personal questions
• It is well always to ask ourselves: Who is Jesus for me?
•
Herod wants to see Jesus. His was a superstitious and morbid curiosity.
Others want to see Jesus because they seek a sense for their life. And
I, what motivation do I have which moves me to see and encounter Jesus?
5) Concluding Prayer
Each morning fill us with your faithful love,
we shall sing and be happy all our days;
let our joy be as long as the time that you afflicted us,
the years when we experienced disaster. (Ps 90,14-15)
.
