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Jul 28: Friday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Our first reading today creates some numerical confusion, due to historical reasons, while the Gospel shows Jesus clearing up any confusion about his parable.
Reading I
Ex 20:1-17
In those days:
God delivered all these commandments:“I, the LORD, am your God,
who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that place of slavery.
You shall not have other gods besides me.
You shall not carve idols for yourselves
in the shape of anything in the sky above
or on the earth below or in the waters beneath the earth;
you shall not bow down before them or worship them.
For I, the LORD, your God, am a jealous God,
inflicting punishment for their fathers’ wickedness
on the children of those who hate me,
down to the third and fourth generation;
but bestowing mercy down to the thousandth generation
on the children of those who love me and keep my commandments.“You shall not take the name of the LORD, your God, in vain.
For the LORD will not leave unpunished
him who takes his name in vain.“Remember to keep holy the sabbath day.
Six days you may labor and do all your work,
but the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD, your God.
No work may be done then either by you, or your son or daughter,
or your male or female slave, or your beast,
or by the alien who lives with you.
In six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth,
the sea and all that is in them;
but on the seventh day he rested.
That is why the LORD has blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.“Honor your father and your mother,
that you may have a long life in the land
which the LORD, your God, is giving you.“You shall not kill.
“You shall not commit adultery.
“You shall not steal.
“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house.
You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife,
nor his male or female slave, nor his ox or ass,
nor anything else that belongs to him.”
Interesting thing about the “Ten” Commandments—it’s not really clear how these commandments are divided into ten from the text. Catholics consider verses 2-6 (no other gods and no idols) as a single command, but verse 17 (coveting your neighbor’s house and your neighbor’s wife) as two. Orthodox and some protestants reverse that.
If you count the “you shall nots” along with the two positive commandments of keeping holy the Sabbath and honoring father and mother, you end up with thirteen commandments. The number 10 comes from later in Exodus,1 “he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the ten words.” Other than being the first commandments, it’s not really clear why these ten have historically been set apart and highlighted. All of God’s commands, the 613 mitzvot, are equally applicable to all Jews.
However you count them, everyone recognizes there are two basic parts—laws about respecting God, and laws about respecting others. Even though a list of ten isn’t particularly long, when Jesus was asked which commandment is the greatest,2 he simplifies it even further:
He said to him, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it:* You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”
The rest is just details.3
Responsorial Psalm
19:8, 9, 10, 11
R. Lord, you have the words of everlasting life.
The law of the LORD is perfect,
refreshing the soul;
The decree of the LORD is trustworthy,
giving wisdom to the simple.
R. Lord, you have the words of everlasting life.
The precepts of the LORD are right,
rejoicing the heart;
The command of the LORD is clear,
enlightening the eye.
R. Lord, you have the words of everlasting life.
The fear of the LORD is pure,
enduring forever;
The ordinances of the LORD are true,
all of them just.
R. Lord, you have the words of everlasting life.
They are more precious than gold,
than a heap of purest gold;
Sweeter also than syrup
or honey from the comb.
R. Lord, you have the words of everlasting life.
Details are important however. How do we love God with our whole heart, soul, and mind? What does it mean to love our neighbor in particular circumstance?
The word of God and the magisterium of the Church help us with that.
Alleluia
See Lk 8:15
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Blessed are they who have kept the word with a generous heart
and yield a harvest through perseverance.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
We are not the fruit, but the soil!
Gospel
Mt 13:18-23
Jesus said to his disciples: “Hear the parable of the sower. The seed sown on the path is the one who hears the word of the Kingdom without understanding it, and the Evil One comes and steals away what was sown in his heart. The seed sown on rocky ground is the one who hears the word and receives it at once with joy. But he has no root and lasts only for a time. When some tribulation or persecution comes because of the word, he immediately falls away. The seed sown among thorns is the one who hears the word, but then worldly anxiety and the lure of riches choke the word and it bears no fruit. But the seed sown on rich soil is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.”
And here we wrap up the recap of the Gospel passage from two Sundays ago.
We are like soil, in that we receive the Word of God (such as the Ten Commandments). It’s not something we can create on our own. But what we do with what we’ve received matters. Do we reject it? Ignore it? Focus on worldly concerns? We can be the rich soil, if only we chose to be.
To be fair to other rabbis of the time, this “which commandment is the greatest” question was a common philosophical and religious debate. Jesus wasn’t the only one who pointed to Deuteronomy 6:5—”You shall love the LORD, your God, with your whole heart, and with your whole being, and with your whole strength.”