CCC Cross Reference:
Sir 15:14 1730, 1743
Ps 103 304
Mk 10:11 2380; Mk 10:14 343, 1261; Mk 10:16 699
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Reading 1: Sir 17:1-15
God from the earth created man,
and in his own image he made him.
He makes man return to earth again,
and endows him with a strength of his own.
Limited days of life he gives him,
with power over all things else on earth.
He puts the fear of him in all flesh,
and gives him rule over beasts and birds.
He created for them counsel, and a tongue and eyes and ears,
and an inventive heart,
and filled them with the discipline of understanding.
He created in them knowledge of the spirit;
With wisdom he fills their heart;
good and evil he shows them.
He put the fear of himself upon their hearts,
and showed them his mighty works,
That they might glory in the wonder of his deeds
and praise his holy name.
He has set before them knowledge,
a law of life as their inheritance;
An everlasting covenant he has made with them,
his justice and his judgments he has revealed to them.
His majestic glory their eyes beheld,
his glorious voice their ears heard.
He says to them, “Avoid all evil”;
each of them he gives precepts about his fellow men.
Their ways are ever known to him,
they cannot be hidden from his eyes.
Over every nation he places a ruler,
but God’s own portion is Israel.
All their actions are clear as the sun to him,
his eyes are ever upon their ways.
Responsorial Psalm: Ps 103:13-14, 15-16, 17-18
R. (see 17) The Lord’s kindness is everlasting to those who fear him.
As a father has compassion on his children,
so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him,
For he knows how we are formed;
he remembers that we are dust.
R. The Lord’s kindness is everlasting to those who fear him.
Man’s days are like those of grass;
like a flower of the field he blooms;
The wind sweeps over him and he is gone,
and his place knows him no more.
R. The Lord’s kindness is everlasting to those who fear him.
But the kindness of the LORD is from eternity
to eternity toward those who fear him,
And his justice toward children’s children
among those who keep his covenant.
R. The Lord’s kindness is everlasting to those who fear him.
Gospel: Mk 10:13-16
People were bringing children to Jesus that he might touch them,
but the disciples rebuked them.
When Jesus saw this he became indignant and said to them,
“Let the children come to me; do not prevent them,
for the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these.
Amen, I say to you,
whoever does not accept the Kingdom of God like a child
will not enter it.”
Then he embraced the children and blessed them,
placing his hands on them.
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
First Reading: Ecclesiasticus 17:1-13
The Lord fashioned man from the earth,
to consign him back to it.
He gave them so many days’ determined time,
he gave them authority over everything on earth.
He clothed them with strength like his own,
and made them in his own image.
He filled all living things with dread of man,
making him master over beasts and birds.
He shaped for them a mouth and tongue, eyes and ears,
and gave them a heart to think with.
He filled them with knowledge and understanding,
and revealed to them good and evil.
He put his own light in their hearts
to show them the magnificence of his works.
They will praise his holy name,
as they tell of his magnificent works.
He set knowledge before them,
he endowed them with the law of life.
Their eyes saw his glorious majesty,
and their ears heard the glory of his voice.
He said to them, ‘Beware of all wrong-doing’;
he gave each a commandment concerning his neighbor.
Their ways are always under his eye,
they cannot be hidden from his sight.
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Responsorial Psalm:
Psalm 102(103):13-18
The love of the Lord is everlasting upon those who hold him in fear.
As a father has compassion on his sons,
the Lord has pity on those who fear him;
for he knows of what we are made,
he remembers that we are dust.
The love of the Lord is everlasting upon those who hold him in fear.
As for man, his days are like grass;
he flowers like the flower of the field;
the wind blows and he is gone
and his place never sees him again.
The love of the Lord is everlasting upon those who hold him in fear.
But the love of the Lord is everlasting
upon those who hold him in fear;
his justice reaches out to children’s children
when they keep his covenant in truth.
The love of the Lord is everlasting upon those who hold him in fear.
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Gospel: Mark 10:13-16
People were bringing little children to Jesus, for him to touch them. The disciples turned them away, but when Jesus saw this he was indignant and said to them, ‘Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. I tell you solemnly, anyone who does not welcome the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.’ Then he put his arms round them, laid his hands on them and gave them his blessing.
Readings and Commentary from the Navarre Bible
Saturday of the 7th Week in Ordinary Time
From: Sirach 17:1-15
God and Man
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[1] The Lord created man out of earth, and turned him back to it again. [2] He gave to men few days, a limited time, but granted them authority over the things upon the earth. [3] He endowed them with strength like his own, and made them in his own image. [4] He placed the fear of them in all living beings, and granted them dominion over beasts and birds. [6] He gave them ears and a mind for thinking. [7] He filled them with knowledge and understanding, and showed them good and evil. [8] He set his eye upon their hearts to show them the majesty of his works. [10] And they will praise his holy name, to proclaim the grandeur of his works. [11] He bestowed knowledge upon them, and allotted to them the law of life. [12] He established with them an eternal covenant, and showed them his judgments. [13] Their eyes saw his glorious majesty, and their ears heard the glory of his voice. [14] And he said to them, "Beware of all unrighteousness." [15] And he gave commandment to each of them concerning his neighbor.
The Divine Judge. A Call to Repentance
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[15] Their ways are always before him, they will not be bid from his eyes."
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Commentary:
16:24-23:27. These chapters are the second of the five parts we can distinguish in the book of Sirach. Like all the other parts it opens with doctrinal instruction (16:24-18:14), dealing this time with the divine Wisdom manifested by the Creator in all his works; this is followed (18:15-23:27) by a series of practical teachings. As in the previous part it is not easy to see any clear order in the ma- xims. However, further emphasis is put here on prudence in speech.
16:24-18:14 The doctrinal introduction to the first part of the book (1:1-2:18) summarized the main ideas in the book and put the focus, mainly, on the Lord, the only God, as being the source of wisdom. Now the author goes on to explain that, in creating the universe, the Most High arranged all his works in order and laid down laws to govern them (16:27). First (cf. 16:24-31) we find teachings from the first chapters of Genesis: creation took place "from [in] the beginning" (16:26a; Gen 1:1); God determined the order of things (16:26b; Gen 1:3-2:3); with the result that it "was good" (Gen 1:4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25, 31 and Sir 16:29b) and "he covered its surface with all kinds of living beings" (16:30; Gen 1:20-31).
Pre-eminent among these created beings is man, made in the image of God (cf. 17:3; Gen 1:26-27). When it sees the harmony of the universe and all the living things that populate it, the human mind can recognize that there is a pattern to all this and can work its way up to God (17: 1-10). St Paul, in his Letter to the Romans, makes the point, again that "his (God's) invisible nature, namely, his eternal power and deity, has been clearly perceived in the things that have been made" (Rom 1:20). In addition, man has been given divine law to help him lead a life in line with what God has revealed to him over the course of time. And the supernatural revelation of the Law through Moses makes God's wisdom shine
even brighter (17:11-17).
This brings the writer to reflect on God as Judge, and on man as someone who must render an account to his creator, not just as regards his external actions but as regards even his inmost thoughts. This is a well-argued case for conversion to God (cf. 17:19-32). Ben Sirach has clear ideas about the meaning of life and death, but the New Testament sees further. He knows that the Lord will "recompense" people (cf. 17:23), but he does not go so far as to say that there is life after death (17:27-31).In any event, for the author the main thing is to give praise to God (17:27-29); hence his call to conversion (17:24, 26, 29).
The doctrinal introduction to this second part of the book concludes with reflections on the majesty and compassion of God--so vast compared to man (18:1-14).Having established just how limited man is, Ben Sirach asks himself: What is man, and what good can be do? God is under no obligation to care for man, to encourage him to do good or to guard him against evil. This sapiential style of writing is rhetorical: it is meant to draw attention to God's kindness and mercy towards man. The sacred writer does not have access to God's last revelation in the form of Jesus Christ; but by contemplating God's favors to Israel he is able to get more insights into man and the nature of man. John Paul II points out that: "These are questions in every human heart, as the poetic genius of every time and every people has shown, posing again and again -- almost as the prophetic voice of humanity -- the "serious question" which makes human beings truly what they are.
They are questions which express the urgency of finding a reason for existence, in every moment, at life's most important and decisive times as well as more ordinary times. These questions show the deep reasonableness of human existence, since they summon human intelligence and will to search freely for a solution which can reveal the full meaning of life. These enquiries, therefore,are the highest expression of human nature; which is why the answer to them is the gauge of the depth of his engagement with his own existence. In particular, when "the why of things" is explored in full harmony with the search for the ultimate answer, then human reason reaches its zenith and opens to the religious impulse. The religious impulse is the highest expression of the human being's free and personal search for the divine" ("Fides Et Ratio", note 28).
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From: Mark 10:13-16
Jesus and the Children
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[13] And they were bringing children to Him, that He might touch them; and the disciples rebuked them. [14] But when Jesus saw it He was indignant, and said to them, "Let the children come to Me, do not hinder them; for to such belongs the Kingdom of God. [15] Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the Kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it." [16] And He took them in His arms and blessed them, laying His hands upon them.
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Commentary:
13-16. This Gospel account has an attractive freshness and vividness about it which may be connected with St. Peter, from whom St. Mark would have taken the story. It is one of the few occasions when the Gospels tell us that Christ became angry. What provoked His anger was the disciples' intolerance: they felt that these people bringing children to Jesus were a nuisance: it meant a waste of His time; Christ had more serious things to do than be involved with little children. The disciples were well-intentioned; it was just that they were applying the wrong criteria. What Jesus had told them quite recently had not registered: "Whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me, receives not Me but Him who sent Me" (Mark 9:37).
Our Lord also stresses that a Christian has to become like a child to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. "To be little you have to believe as children believe, to love as children love, to abandon yourself as children do..., to pray as children pray" (St. J. Escriva, "Holy Rosary", Prologue).
Our Lord's words express simply and graphically the key doctrine of man's divine sonship: God is our Father and we are His sons and daughters, His children; the whole of religion is summed up in the relationship of a son with His good Father. This awareness of God as Father involves a sense of dependence on our Father in Heaven and trusting abandonment to His loving providence--in the way a child trusts its father or mother; the humility of recognizing that we can do nothing by ourselves; simplicity and sincerity, which make us straightforward and honest in our dealings with God and man.
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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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