I love it when this happens. This weekend’s readings really fit well with one another as I’m sure the Church intends them to. We tend to forget, I know I do, that our beautiful Mass is made up of two major parts: the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist. Here at our parish the altar servers precariously light the altar candles from the ambo’s single flame demonstrating the subtle change in the liturgy’s focus. It’s a cool ritual. I tend to focus too much on the second part, the Liturgy of the Eucharist.
Our Sunday obligation to attend Mass is centered on the Eucharist, as it should. We need to connect in a deep way with our Lord through communion with Him. We fill the well of grace, in order to give that grace to others throughout the week, then come back and fill it again. Yet, the word of God, if you’re like me, is often forgotten. We may leave Mass saying, “That homily was really powerful” or “I love that song at the offering” or “Wow! I was thinking of mom and dad after Communion.” We rarely leave Church and say, “Oh hun, that psalm, I mean wow” or “How great was it that the universal Church chose Paul’s second letter to Timothy to really tie up the prophet’s words in the beginning?” Am I right or am I right? Of course we don’t! Though I think it is time we spend a little time seeing the readings as a whole liturgy, it helps us understand the Gospel a little better, especially if the Gospel on its own is pretty tough to hear. We should try to hear the entire narrative the Church is offering. After all, a movie’s storyline can be enhanced if you’ve seen the prequels and sequels — the whole story.
So, on this weekend, if we look at the entire offering the Church gifts us, we hear a lot. We begin with the rarely-quoted obscure prophet Habakkuk who, unlike his contemporaries, questions the workings of God. “How long will I cry, and you will not hear?” he writes. Next, the responsorial psalm strengthens us — “Harden not your hearts!” the psalmist sings. Then, the writer of the second letter to Timothy in the voice of Paul encourages us! “For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice but rather of power and love!” Finally, our own Savior, tells us, I know you can be angry like Habakkuk, need encouragement like Timothy and the psalmist, but a life of faith can be simple, all we need is a little faith, as small as a mustard seed, and God will do the rest. Just like he did for the ancients.
That’s a pretty good gift the Church gives, about 4,500 years of history, in ten minutes. Have a great weekend.
I’ll be seeing you,
Elliot Guerra