Dianne Bergant, C.S.A.

Jan 06 2025

Scripture Study for

Although it was the people who anointed David as their king, they believed that it was really God who had chosen him. They acknowledged the intimate bond that they shared with this new king. They were his bone and his flesh, his very kin. As king, David is characterized as a shepherd because shepherds were familiar with and personally concerned about their flocks. He is also seen as a commander or captain, one who leads the people. Both images represent the king as a leader for the people, not one who is removed from them, expecting only to be served by them.

The hymn from Colossians extols the divine character of Christ rather than his human nature. Paul characterizes Christ in several ways, each reference adding a significant dimension to our understanding of him. He is a visible manifestation of the invisible God. He enjoys priority in time and primacy in importance. He is the agent through whom all was created, and he is also the goal of all creation. He holds all things together. He is the agent of reconciliation. The sacrificial death of the human Jesus becomes the means through which the cosmic Christ reconciles all of creation with God.

Jesus claimed to be the chosen one, the Christ of God, the King of the Jews—all messianic titles. In the unsettling fashion that so often characterizes the gospel story, Jesus was ridiculed for being who he really was. What the people did not realize was that he was indeed the Messiah, the one for whom they longed; their error was in their messianic understandings and expectations. The inscription on the cross, “King of the Jews,” is significant. Jesus was indeed the King of the Jews, even though his manner of ruling did not conform to the standard of the day. True to the paradox of the gospel, what was intended as a sign of derision actually became a proclamation of faith.

Jan 06 2025

Scripture Study for

The day of the Lord is the time of the fulfillment. It is the time when justice will be realized, the scales of righteousness will be balanced, the good will be rewarded, and the evil will be punished. Israel believed that that day would be a time of vindication and rejoicing. On that day, the Lord will rise majestically for the upright, like the sun in the eastern sky that shines forth in righteousness. The healing flowing from this experience of God is the total reversal of the flaming destruction in store for the wicked.

Paul instructs the community to seek internal harmony and to strive for a positive reputation before those outside the community. Paul offers his own conduct as an example for them to follow. He reminds them that his own behavior has been beyond reproach. He has not presumed upon the hospitality of others; he is not a financial burden to them. This leads him to comment on a situation that he has been told exists within the community. Some have been acting like busybodies rather than actually being busy. Paul insists that if people want to eat, they must work like everyone else.

The Gospel reading addresses the signs that should alert the people to impending doom. These signs are demonstrations of upheaval. They include political unrest and violence as well as disturbances in the natural world, all experiences that people believed would precede the end of the age. They also portend the persecutions that the followers of Jesus will have to endure at the hands of governments, friends and acquaintances, and even family members. The persecutions they will be called upon to endure will be a witness to the name of Jesus. Though Jesus might be talking about the events that would precede the actual destruction of the glorious temple and the beloved city within which it stood, elements in his discourse suggest an end-of-time dimension to his teaching.

Jan 06 2025

Scripture Study for

The reason given for the murders described in the first reading leaves no doubt in our minds that these are genuine martyrs, faithful Israelites who died for their faith. The real point of this narrative is the faith in resurrection. Early Israel believed that justice would be accomplished in this life, either during the time of those directly involved or in the time of their descendants. The idea of individual reward or punishment after death became a major issue after the experience of the Exile. This reading reflects the shift that took place in Israel’s thinking around the time of the Maccabean revolt (c. 167 B.C.E.).

Paul prays for encouragement and strength for the Thessalonians. Though he asks that they pray for him, he is not concerned with his own personal needs, but with the progress of the gospel that he preaches. When he also asks them to pray for his own deliverance from opposition, he is less concerned with the consequences of the persecution in his life than with how it might set up obstacles for the progress of the gospel. He places his trust in the faithfulness of the Lord. It is Christ who will strengthen the believers, be their protection, and keep them on the path of righteousness.

The Sadducees, who claimed to be descendants of Zadok, the high priest at the time of David, were a conservative, aristocratic group who cooperated with the Romans and enjoyed a certain amount of privilege as a result. Unlike the Pharisees, they did not believe in the resurrection, and they used ridicule to demonstrate that the belief in it was foolish. In response to them, Jesus employs a very traditional Jewish method of argument. He points out that if one is in covenant with God, not even death can sever the bond of that union. His method of interpreting may be unfamiliar to us today, but Jesus employed it effectively to counter the challenge of the Sadducees.

Jan 06 2025

Scripture Study for

The universal love and providence of the Creator are celebrated in this most unusual reading. Unlike earlier traditions that envision creation as a kind of reordering of cosmic debris after the primordial battle, this passage depicts a Creator who is personally involved with every dimension of the natural world. We find here the same cosmic power, but it is coupled with love and mercy. Just as the power of the Creator is matched by the love of the Creator, so is this love manifested through mercy. God is merciful precisely because God is powerful. Finally, the author claims that the imperishable spirit of God is in all things.

Paul assures his people that though he has been the minister of the word, it is God who called them, and it is Paul’s prayer that they remain worthy of that calling. He states that though they are obliged to live ethical lives, it is the prior grace of God and not the ethical behavior that saves them. He further teaches an “already-but-not-yet” form of eschatology (teachings about the end-times). Though the eschatological day of the Lord is imminent, it is not yet present. Believers must continue to live their lives in patient anticipation of Christ’s coming, realizing that they do so in his presence, for he has already come. The story of Zacchaeus demonstrates Jesus’ mission to seek and to save what is lost. Not only did Zacchaeus belong to the hated class of tax collectors, he was chief among them. This means that he probably benefitted both from the taxes paid and from the fees that tax collectors themselves exacted from the people. The narrative draws bold lines of contrast between Jesus’ attitude toward this man and the scorn of some of the bystanders. Jesus insisted that only those who are lost can be found; only those who are perishing can be saved. Those who revere themselves as righteous seldom understand this, and as a result, miss opportunities for their own salvation.

Jan 06 2025

Scripture Study for

The events of the first apocalyptic vision unfold on earth; those of the second take place in heaven. Both visions depict vast assemblies of the righteous. One hundred forty-four thousand is clearly a symbolic number. Twelve is squared and then multiplied by a thousand, resulting in a number that indicates completeness. The multitude gathered around the throne comes from every nation, every race, every people, and every tongue. The universality is complete. The multitude represents those who survived the distress of the end-times because they were purified through the blood of the sacrificial Lamb. This distinction entitles them to participate in the celestial celebrations.

According to the Letter of John, love is generative, transforming. It makes believers children of God. Everything that happens in their lives is a consequence of their having been recreated as God’s children. They are a new reality and consequently they are not accepted by the world, the old reality. The type of behavior they choose is frequently in opposition to society at large. The “now but not yet” of Christian eschatology (teachings about the end-time) is clearly stated. Though believers have already been reborn as children of God, their transformation has not yet been completed, nor has it been fully made known to them.

In form and content, the Beatitudes are wisdom teaching, not Christian law, as is sometimes claimed. Like most wisdom forms, they describe life situations that draw a connection between a particular manner of behavior and consequences that flow from such behavior. Most if not all of the sentiments expressed in the Beatitudes are found somewhere in ancient Jewish teaching. While the teachings of Jesus are all in some way directed toward the establishment of the reign of God, the values that he advocates are frequently the opposite of those espoused by society at large. This fact offers us a way of understanding the challenges set before us in the Beatitudes. They invite us to turn the standards of our world upside down and inside out.