For I am a great King, says the Lord of hosts, and my Name is feared among the nations! And now, O priests, this command is for you: If you will not listen, or take it to heart, to give glory to my Name, says the Lord of hosts, then I will send the curse upon you…
31st Sunday in Ordinary Time
MALACHI 1:14 and 2:8-10
For I am a great King, says the Lord of hosts, and my Name is feared among the nations!
And now, O priests, this command is for you:
If you will not listen, or take it to heart, to give glory to my Name, says the Lord of hosts, then I will send the curse upon you.
You have turned aside from the way; you have caused many to stumble by your instruction; you have corrupted the covenant of Levi, says the Lord of hosts.
Therefore I make you despised and abased before all the people, inasmuch as you do not keep my ways but show partiality in your instruction. Have we not all one father? Has not one God created us? Why then are we faithless to one another, profaning the covenant of our fathers?
Malachi exercised his ministry in the mid-5th century B.C., at a time of very low religious fervor among the people. They had returned from exile, but life was miserable, and there was no sign of God’s protection anywhere.
In this context, Malachi tries to lift the morale of the people. By his very words, it is clear that even worship had been neglected, the Law was not being fulfilled, and general religiosity was at a low ebb. Consequently, Malachi reprimands the priests, holding them responsible for the situation.
The text has been chosen for this Sunday because of its distant resemblance to Jesus’ words against the scribes and Pharisees.
1 THESSALONIANS 2:7-13
For you yourselves know, brothers, that our coming to you was not in vain. But though we had already suffered and been shamefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we had boldness in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in the midst of much conflict. For our appeal does not spring from error or impurity or any attempt to deceive, but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts.
For you know how, like a father with his children, we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory.
And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.
As in all these Sundays, it is not related to the other texts. It shows Paul’s deep affection for the Christians of Thessalonica, (which is perhaps the first Christian community in Europe, at least by Paul’s preaching).
There is the interesting detail that Paul earned his living with his work “so as not to be a burden to anyone”. From other texts we know that Paul was a weaver, and no doubt he spent the day working and dedicated the last hours of the afternoon, or those of the night, to preaching.
José Enrique Galarreta, S.J.