Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
ISAIAH 66:10-14
Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her, all you who love her;
rejoice with her in joy, all you who mourn over her;
that you may nurse and be satisfied from her consoling breast;
that you may drink deeply with delight from her glorious abundance.
For thus says the Lord:
I will extend peace to her like a river, and the wealth of the nations like an overflowing stream;
and you shall nurse, you shall be carried upon her hip, and bounced upon her knees.
As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you; you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.
You shall see, and your heart shall rejoice; your bones shall flourish like the grass;
and the hand of the Lord shall be known to his servants.
This passage is taken from the third and final part of the book, which is quite similar to the second part. This section includes prophetic denunciations against idolatry, in the general style of many prophets, and several apocalyptic poems, some with positive tones, like the one we read today, and others threatening against the enemies of Yahweh. These poems, as a whole, emphasize the privilege of Israel and the rather nationalistic conception of salvation.
In this specific passage, the abundance of comforting images stands out, and, to a certain extent, the appearance of the figure of the mother who nurses her children, in security, abundance, and affection. The text refers this to Jerusalem, but perhaps it is not excessive to see in this image a first announcement of “Abbá,” full of the tenderness of a mother.
GALATIANS 6:14-18
May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is the new creation.
Peace and mercy to all who follow this rule—to the Israel of God. From now on, let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers and sisters. Amen.
This is possibly the most important expression of the entire letter. “The world” looks at Jesus as one looks at a crucified man, with all the contempt deserved by someone who has been publicly discredited, executed as a dangerous criminal.
Let us not limit ourselves to the scene of the cross: the world looks at Jesus, at his criteria and values, as dangerous and despicable. And those who have those same values and criteria will be looked at in the same way, with contempt and fear, as dangerous madmen.
But those who participate in the madness of Jesus look in turn in the same way at the criteria of the world: as dangerous madness.
The approach thus leads to an option: who is mad, who is dangerous? What criteria and values are madness? Those of Jesus? Thus, the ultimate dilemma of believers is posed here. More than that, the definitive dilemma of the human being.
José Enrique Galarreta, S.J