CCC Cross Reference:
Ps 135:6 269
Back to Deacon's Bench '09
Back to SOW II '11
Back to SOW II '13
Back to SOW II '15
Back to SOW II '17
Back to SOW II '19
Back to SOW II '23
Gospel
Reading 1
Gn 27:1-5, 15-29
When Isaac was so old that his eyesight had failed him,
he called his older son Esau and said to him, “Son!”
“Yes father!” he replied.
Isaac then said, “As you can see, I am so old
that I may now die at any time.
Take your gear, therefore–your quiver and bow–
and go out into the country to hunt some game for me.
With your catch prepare an appetizing dish for me, such as I like,
and bring it to me to eat,
so that I may give you my special blessing before I die.”
Rebekah had been listening
while Isaac was speaking to his son Esau.
So, when Esau went out into the country
to hunt some game for his father,
Rebekah [then] took the best clothes of her older son Esau
that she had in the house,
and gave them to her younger son Jacob to wear;
and with the skins of the kids she covered up his hands
and the hairless parts of his neck.
Then she handed her son Jacob the appetizing dish
and the bread she had prepared.
Bringing them to his father, Jacob said, “Father!”
“Yes?” replied Isaac. “Which of my sons are you?”
Jacob answered his father: “I am Esau, your first-born.
I did as you told me.
Please sit up and eat some of my game,
so that you may give me your special blessing.”
But Isaac asked, “How did you succeed so quickly, son?”
He answered,
“The Lord, your God, let things turn out well with me.”
Isaac then said to Jacob,
“Come closer, son, that I may feel you,
to learn whether you really are my son Esau or not.”
So Jacob moved up closer to his father.
When Isaac felt him, he said,
“Although the voice is Jacob’s, the hands are Esau’s.”
(He failed to identify him because his hands were hairy,
like those of his brother Esau;
so in the end he gave him his blessing.)
Again he asked Jacob, “Are you really my son Esau?”
“Certainly,” Jacob replied.
Then Isaac said, “Serve me your game, son, that I may eat of it
and then give you my blessing.”
Jacob served it to him, and Isaac ate;
he brought him wine, and he drank.
Finally his father Isaac said to Jacob,
“Come closer, son, and kiss me.”
As Jacob went up and kissed him,
Isaac smelled the fragrance of his clothes.
With that, he blessed him saying,
“Ah, the fragrance of my son
is like the fragrance of a field
that the Lord has blessed!
“May God give to you
of the dew of the heavens
And of the fertility of the earth
abundance of grain and wine.
“Let peoples serve you,
and nations pay you homage;
Be master of your brothers,
and may your mother’s sons bow down to you.
Cursed be those who curse you,
and blessed be those who bless you.”
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 135:1b-2, 3-4, 5-6
R. (3a) Praise the Lord for the Lord is good!
or:
R. Alleluia.
Praise the name of the Lord;
Praise, you servants of the Lord
Who stand in the house of the Lord,
in the courts of the house of our God.
R. Praise the Lord for the Lord is good!
or:
R. Alleluia.
Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good;
sing praise to his name, which we love;
For the Lord has chosen Jacob for himself,
Israel for his own possession.
R. Praise the Lord for the Lord is good!
or:
R. Alleluia.
For I know that the Lord is great;
our Lord is greater than all gods.
All that the Lord wills he does
in heaven and on earth,
in the seas and in all the deeps.
R. Praise the Lord for the Lord is good!
or:
R. Alleluia.
Gospel
Mt 9:14-17
The disciples of John approached Jesus and said,
“Why do we and the Pharisees fast much,
but your disciples do not fast?”
Jesus answered them, “Can the wedding guests mourn
as long as the bridegroom is with them?
The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them,
and then they will fast.
No one patches an old cloak with a piece of unshrunken cloth,
for its fullness pulls away from the cloak and the tear gets worse.
People do not put new wine into old wineskins.
Otherwise the skins burst, the wine spills out, and the skins are ruined.
Rather, they pour new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved.”
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
First reading Genesis 27:1 – 29
Isaac had grown old, and his eyes were so weak that he could no longer see. He summoned his elder son Esau, ‘My son!’ he said to him, and the latter answered, ‘I am here’. Then he said, ‘See, I am old and do not know when I may die. Now take your weapons, your quiver and bow; go out into the country and hunt me some game. Make me the kind of savory I like and bring it to me, so that I may eat, and give you my blessing before I die.’
Rebekah happened to be listening while Isaac was talking to his son Esau. So when Esau went into the country to hunt game for his father, Rebekah took her elder son Esau’s best clothes, which she had in the house, and dressed her younger son Jacob in them, covering his arms and the smooth part of his neck with the skins of the kids. Then she handed the savoury and the bread she had made to her son Jacob.
He presented himself before his father and said, ‘Father’. ‘I am here;’ was the reply ‘who are you, my son?’ Jacob said to his father, ‘I am Esau your first-born; I have done as you told me. Please get up and take your place and eat the game I have brought and then give me your blessing.’ Isaac said to his son, ‘How quickly you found it, my son!’ ‘It was the Lord your God’ he answered ‘who put it in my path.’ Isaac said to Jacob, ‘Come here, then, and let me touch you, my son, to know if you are my son Esau or not’. Jacob came close to his father Isaac, who touched him and said, ‘The voice is Jacob’s voice but the arms are the arms of Esau!’ He did not recognize him, for his arms were hairy like his brother Esau’s, and so he blessed him. He said, ‘Are you really my son Esau?’ And he replied, ‘I am’. Isaac said, ‘Bring it here that I may eat the game my son has brought, and so may give you my blessing’. He brought it to him and he ate; he offered him wine, and he drank. His father Isaac said to him, ‘Come closer, and kiss me, my son’. He went closer and kissed his father, who smelled the smell of his clothes.
He blessed him saying:
‘Yes, the smell of my son
is like the smell of a fertile field blessed by the Lord.
May God give you
dew from heaven,
and the richness of the earth,
abundance of grain and wine!
May nations serve you
and peoples bow down before you!
Be master of your brothers;
may the sons of your mother bow down before you!
Cursed be he who curses you;
blessed be he who blesses you!’
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 134(135):1-6
Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good.
or
Alleluia!
Praise the name of the Lord,
praise him, servants of the Lord,
who stand in the house of the Lord
in the courts of the house of our God.
Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good.
or
Alleluia!
Praise the Lord for the Lord is good.
Sing a psalm to his name for he is loving.
For the Lord has chosen Jacob for himself
and Israel for his own possession.
Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good.
or
Alleluia!
For I know the Lord is great,
that our Lord is high above all gods.
The Lord does whatever he wills,
in heaven, on earth, in the seas.
Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good.
or
Alleluia!
Gospel Matthew 9:14 – 17
Then John’s disciples came to him and said, ‘Why is it that we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not?’ Jesus replied, ‘Surely the bridegroom’s attendants would never think of mourning as long as the bridegroom is still with them? But the time will come for the bridegroom to be taken away from them, and then they will fast. No one puts a piece of unshrunken cloth on to an old cloak, because the patch pulls away from the cloak and the tear gets worse. Nor do people put new wine into old wineskins; if they do, the skins burst, the wine runs out, and the skins are lost. No; they put new wine into fresh skins and both are preserved.’
Readings and Commentary from the Navarre Bible
Saturday of the 13th Week in Ordinary Time
From: Genesis 27:1-5, 15-29
Jacob Obtains Isaac's Blessing by Cunning
---------------------------------------------------------------
[1] When Isaac was old and his eyes were dim so that he could not see, he called Esau his older son, and said to him, "My son"; and he answered, "Here I am." [2] He said, "Behold, 1 am old; I do not know the day of my death. [3] Now then, take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field, and hunt game for me, [4] and prepare for me savory food, such as I love, and bring it to me that I may eat; that I may bless you before I die."
[5] Now Rebekah was listening when Isaac spoke to his son Esau. So when Esau went to the field to hunt for game and bring it, [15] (Then) Rebekah took the best garments of Esau her older son, which were with her in the house and put them on Jacob her younger son; [16] and the skins of the kids she put upon his hands and upon the smooth part of his neck; [17] and she gave the savory food and the bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of her son Jacob.
[18] So he went in to his father, and said, "My father"; and said, "Here I am; who are you, my son?" [19] Jacob said to his father "I am Esau your first-born. I have done as you told me; now sit and eat of my game, that you may bless me." [20] But Isaac said to his son, "How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son?" He answered, "Because the Lord your God granted me success." [21] Then Isaac said to Jacob, "Come near, that I may feel you, my son, to know whether you are really my son Esau or not." [22] Jacob went near to Isaac his father, who felt him and said, "The voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau." [23] And he did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like his brother Esau's hands; so he blessed him. He said, "Are you really my son Esau?" He answered, "I am." Then he said, "Bring it to me, that I may eat of my son's game and bless you." So he brought it to him, and he ate; and he brought him wine, and he drank. [26] Then his father Isaac said to him, "Come near and kiss me, my son." [27] So he came near and kissed him; and he smelled the smell of his garments, and blessed him, and said, "See, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field which the Lord has blessed! [28] May God give you of the dew of heaven, and of the fatness of the earth, and plenty of grain and wine. [29] Let peoples serve you, and nations bow down to you."
*********************************************************************************************
Commentary:
27:1-45. Jacob managed to get the birthright; now he is going to get the blessing his father intended for his firstborn son. Seemingly, this blessing meant he acquired a right to the inheritance he had already bought from Esau and it meant he would be the head of the family (cf. v. 29). Moreover, by getting his father's blessing he also received God's blessing. The Bible does not make a judgment about the methods Jacob used to deflect his father's blessing to himself; but it does make it clear, once again, that he had no right to it as far as human laws were concerned; no, he received both the birthright and the blessing as a gratuitous gift from God, who chose the younger son (cf. 25:23). Here too, as in the case of Isaac (cf. 21:8-13), the part played by the mother is stressed; she ignores custom, and plays an active part in the furthering of God's plans. The passage also stresses how shrewd the patriarch is by comparison with Esau. Jacob's action is justified in the overall context of the narrative, given that he bought the birthright previously from his brother. However, the prophet Hosea was of the opinion that Jacob had done something he should be sorry for; in which case Jacob prefigures the people of Israel, whom the prophet calls to repentance (cf. Hos 12:37).
This account is in a style similar to what we saw in chapter 24: the action unfolds over five scenes, each of which includes a dialogue between two people (their psychology is captured very well); dramatic tension is maintained by curio- sity as to who will end up winning the blessing; the story is well told, and rather amusing.
27:5-17. Rebekah apparently acts out of human motives, impelled by her love for her favorite (younger) son (cf. 25:28). God will use this favoritism to guide events so that his plans for the two sons take effect (cf. 25:23). Holy Scripture does not justify Rebekah's action, but God draws great good from it: the promises made to Abraham pass, through Jacob, to the people of Israel, his descendants.
27:20. Jacob's reply, invoking the name of God as it does, is not a little astute: he does not explain how he obtained the game, but the reader is led to believe that it was Rebekah's doing.
27:26-29. The blessing Isaac gives Jacob evokes the fine qualities of this son, the fruitfulness of the land and lordship over the nations--three things connected with the call to Abraham and the promise of land and descendants, as will be pointed out later on when Isaac reaffirms his blessing after he discovers he has been deceived (cf. 28:3-4). The Letter to the Hebrews (cf. Heb 11:20) teaches that this blessing and also that received by Esau (cf. Gen 27:39-40), are inspired by faith and are given with a view to the future, that is, to the fullness of time. And so St Augustine interprets that "what the blessing of Jacob typifies is, then, the preaching of Christ to all nations. [...] Isaac is the law and prophecy by which Christ is blessed by means of the mouth of the Jews. But, since law and prophecy was not understood, it was as though it came from one who spoke in ignorance. It is with the aroma of Christ's name that the world, like a field, is filled.
His is the blessing of the dew from heaven (meaning the shower of His divine words) and of the fruitfulness of the earth (in the sense of the gathering in of the peoples of the earth). His is the harvest of grain and of wine (interpreted as the multitude of those who gather the grain and wine in the sacrament of his Body and Blood. [...] His Father's sons, in the sense of the sons of Abraham according to faith, adore Him who is, in turn, a son of Abraham according to the flesh. Anyone who curses Him is cursed, and anyone who blesses Him is blessed. What I mean is that it is our Christ who is blessed (in the sense of being truly announced) even by the Jews themselves, who, for all their errors of hoping for some other Messiah and of thinking that it is he who is being blessed, still sing in their synagogues the Laws and the Prophets" ("De Civitate Dei", 16, 37).
*********************************************************************************************
No comments:
Post a Comment