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Reading 1
Lv 25:1, 8-17
The Lord said to Moses on Mount Sinai,
“Seven weeks of years shall you count–seven times seven years–
so that the seven cycles amount to forty-nine years.
Then, on the tenth day of the seventh month, let the trumpet resound;
on this, the Day of Atonement, the trumpet blast shall re-echo
throughout your land.
This fiftieth year you shall make sacred
by proclaiming liberty in the land for all its inhabitants.
It shall be a jubilee for you,
when every one of you shall return to his own property,
every one to his own family estate.
In this fiftieth year, your year of jubilee,
you shall not sow, nor shall you reap the aftergrowth
or pick the grapes from the untrimmed vines.
Since this is the jubilee, which shall be sacred for you,
you may not eat of its produce,
except as taken directly from the field.
“In this year of jubilee, then,
every one of you shall return to his own property.
Therefore, when you sell any land to your neighbor
or buy any from him, do not deal unfairly.
On the basis of the number of years since the last jubilee
shall you purchase the land from your neighbor;
and so also, on the basis of the number of years for crops,
shall he sell it to you.
When the years are many, the price shall be so much the more;
when the years are few, the price shall be so much the less.
For it is really the number of crops that he sells you.
Do not deal unfairly, then; but stand in fear of your God.
I, the Lord, am your God.”
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 67:2-3, 5, 7-8
R. (4) O God, let all the nations praise you!
May God have pity on us and bless us;
may he let his face shine upon us.
So may your way be known upon earth;
among all nations, your salvation.
R. O God, let all the nations praise you!
May the nations be glad and exult
because you rule the peoples in equity;
the nations on the earth you guide.
R. O God, let all the nations praise you!
The earth has yielded its fruits;
God, our God, has blessed us.
May God bless us,
and may all the ends of the earth fear him!
R. O God, let all the nations praise you!
Gospel
Mt 14:1-12
Herod the tetrarch heard of the reputation of Jesus
and said to his servants, “This man is John the Baptist.
He has been raised from the dead;
that is why mighty powers are at work in him.”
Now Herod had arrested John, bound him, and put him in prison
on account of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip,
for John had said to him,
“It is not lawful for you to have her.”
Although he wanted to kill him, he feared the people,
for they regarded him as a prophet.
But at a birthday celebration for Herod,
the daughter of Herodias performed a dance before the guests
and delighted Herod so much
that he swore to give her whatever she might ask for.
Prompted by her mother, she said,
“Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist.”
The king was distressed,
but because of his oaths and the guests who were present,
he ordered that it be given, and he had John beheaded in the prison.
His head was brought in on a platter and given to the girl,
who took it to her mother.
His disciples came and took away the corpse
and buried him; and they went and told Jesus.
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
First reading Leviticus 25:1 – 17
The Lord spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai; he said:
“You are to count seven weeks of years – seven times seven years, that is to say a period of seven weeks of years, forty-nine years. And on the tenth day of the seventh month you shall sound the trumpet; on the Day of Atonement you shall sound the trumpet throughout the land. You will declare this fiftieth year sacred and proclaim the liberation of all the inhabitants of the land. This is to be a jubilee for you; each of you will return to his ancestral home, each to his own clan. This fiftieth year is to be a jubilee year for you: you will not sow, you will not harvest the ungathered corn, you will not gather from the untrimmed vine. The jubilee is to be a holy thing to you, you will eat what comes from the fields.
“In this year of jubilee each of you is to return to his ancestral home. If you buy or sell with your neighbor, let no one wrong his brother. If you buy from your neighbor, this must take into account the number of years since the jubilee: according to the number of productive years he will fix the price. The greater the number of years, the higher shall be the price demanded; the less the number of years, the greater the reduction; for what he is selling you is a certain number of harvests. Let none of you wrong his neighbor, but fear your God; I am the Lord your God.”
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 66(67):2-3,5,7-8
Let the peoples praise you, O God, let all the peoples praise you.
O God, be gracious and bless us
and let your face shed its light upon us.
So will your ways be known upon earth
and all nations learn your saving help.
Let the peoples praise you, O God, let all the peoples praise you.
Let the nations be glad and exult
for you rule the world with justice.
With fairness you rule the peoples,
you guide the nations on earth.
Let the peoples praise you, O God, let all the peoples praise you.
The earth has yielded its fruit
for God, our God, has blessed us.
May God still give us his blessing
till the ends of the earth revere him.
Let the peoples praise you, O God, let all the peoples praise you.
Gospel Matthew 14:1 – 12
At that time Herod the tetrarch heard about the reputation of Jesus, and said to his court, ‘This is John the Baptist himself; he has risen from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him’.
Now it was Herod who had arrested John, chained him up and put him in prison because of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife. For John had told him, ‘It is against the Law for you to have her’. He had wanted to kill him but was afraid of the people, who regarded John as a prophet. Then, during the celebrations for Herod’s birthday, the daughter of Herodias danced before the company, and so delighted Herod that he promised on oath to give her anything she asked.
Prompted by her mother she said, ‘Give me John the Baptist’s head, here, on a dish’. The king was distressed but, thinking of the oaths he had sworn and of his guests, he ordered it to be given her, and sent and had John beheaded in the prison. The head was brought in on a dish and given to the girl who took it to her mother. John’s disciples came and took the body and buried it; then they went off to tell Jesus.
Readings and Commentary from the Navarre Bible
Saturday of the 17th Week in Ordinary Time
From: Leviticus 25:1, 8-17
[1] The LORD said to Moses on Mount Sinai,
Rules About the Jubilee Year
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[8] "And you shall count seven weeks' of years, seven times seven years, so that the time of the seven weeks of years shall be to you forty-nine years. [9] Then you shall send abroad the loud trumpet on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the day of atonement you shall send abroad the trumpet throughout all your land. [10] And you shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants; it shall be a jubilee for you, when each of you shall return to his property and each of you shall return to his family. [11] A jubilee shall that fiftieth year be to you; in it you shall neither sow, nor reap what grows of itself, nor gather the grapes from the undressed vines. [12] For it is a jubilee; it shall be holy to you; you shall eat what it yields out of the field.
[13] "In this year of jubilee each of you shall return to his property. [14] And if you sell to your neighbor or buy from your neighbor, you shall not wrong one another. [15] According to the number of years after the jubilee, you shall buy from your neighbor, and according to the number of years for crops he shall sell to you. [16] If the years are many you shall increase the price, and if the years are few you shall diminish the price, for it is the number of the crops that he is selling to you. [17] You shall not wrong one another, but you shall fear your God; for I am the LORD your God."
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Commentary:
25:1-7. Here we can see concern for the conservation of land, trying to ensure that short-term productivity is not obtained at the cost of deterioration in the long term. It is always made clear that the earth is a gift from God: therefore, God's sovereignty over the land has to be periodically acknowledged. This is the primary reason for these rules about allowing the land to lie fallow.
Exodus 23:10-11 also talks about the sabbatical year, but here there is reference to additional reasons for it, to do with the welfare of the under-privileged. These rules did not all have to be put into effect at the same time, because that might have created a huge problem of generalized idleness. In the book of Maccabees, for example, there are references to difficulties that arose at that time due to one sabbatical year (cf. 1 Mac 6:49).
25:8-22. Here again the number seven, by being applied to the calendar, creates a special situation. Now we have seven weeks of years, that is a run of forty-nine years; and this leads to the following year, the fiftieth, being a jubilee year. The rules about letting the land lie fallow are applied to the jubilee year; special clauses are added, such as that to do with the redemption of property. So, in the jubilee year, land acquired had to be returned to its original owner This custom meant that what in fact was sold was the usufruct of the land and its price would be a function of the number of years' use the buyer was getting.
Again, underlying this is the idea that the land is a divine gift which ought always to revert to those to whom the Lord originally granted it. Even so, these regulations were not obeyed very well. Thus, we find the prophets vigorously denouncing the way some people built up land holdings to the detriment of others. The basic reason for their complaint was not just a fine sense of social justice but the fact that God's rules were being violated (cf. Is 5:8; Mic 2:2).
Verses 14-15 here are [as in the Spanish edition, which is also in line with most modern vernacular translations] divided differently from the Nev Vulgate division.
Verses 18-22 round off the previous passage and introduce what follows. They remind people about the promises God makes to those who are faithful to his commandments, and they are meant to encourage those who might be tempted to think that God will not look after them if they have to face three years without harvest (the sabbatical year, the jubilee year and the year after it, at the end of which a harvest would be reaped). A provident God will ensure that those who stay true to him will experience no want.
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From: Matthew 14:1-12
The Death of John the Baptist
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[1] At that time Herod the tetrarch heard about the fame of Jesus; [2] and he said to his servants, "This is John the Baptist, he has been raised from the dead; that is why these powers are at work in him." [3] For Herod had seized John and bound him and put him in prison, for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife; [4] because John said to him, "It is not lawful for you to have her." [5] And though he wanted to put him to death, he feared the people, because they held him to be a prophet. [6] But when Herod's birthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced before the company, and pleased Herod, [7] so that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she might ask. [8] Prompted by her mother, she said, "Give me the head of John the Baptist here on a platter." [9] And the king was sorry; but because of his oaths and his guests he commanded it to be given; [10] he sent and had John beheaded in the prison, [11] and his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother. [12] And his disciples came and took the body and buried it; and they went and told Jesus.
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Commentary:
1. Herod the tetrarch, Herod Antipas (see the note on Mt 2:1), is the same Herod as appears later in the account of the Passion (cf. Lk 23:7ff). A son of Herod the Great, Antipas governed Galilee and Perea in the name of the Roman emperor; according to Flavius Josephus, the Jewish historian ("Jewish Antiquities", XVIII, 5, 4), he was married to a daughter of an Arabian king, but in spite of this he lived in concubinage with Herodias, his brother's wife. St. John the Baptist, and Jesus himself, often criticized the tetrarch's immoral life, which was in conflict with the sexual morality laid down in the Law (Lev 18:16;20:21) and was a cause of scandal.
3-12. Towards the end of the first century Flavius Josephus wrote of these same events. He gives additional information--specifying that it was in the fortress of Makeronte that John was imprisoned (this fortress was on the eastern bank of the Dead Sea, and was the scene of the banquet in question) and that Herodias' daughter was called Salome.
9. St Augustine comments: "Amid the excesses and sensuality of the guests, oaths are rashly made, which then are unjustly kept" ("Sermon 10").
It is a sin against the second commandment of God's Law to make an oath to do something unjust; any such oath has no binding force. In fact, if one keeps it—as Herod did--one commits an additional sin. The Catechism also teaches that one offends against this precept if one swears something untrue, or swears needlessly (cf. "St Pius V Catechism", III, 3, 24). Cf. note on Mt 5:33-37.
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Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and by Scepter Publishers in the United States. We encourage readers to purchase The Navarre Bible for personal study. See Scepter Publishers for details.
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