1. Bible Study Guide 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time A February 9, 2014

2. 1 st Reading: Is 58:7-10 7 Share your bread with the hungry, shelter the oppressed and the homeless, cloth the naked when you see them, and not turning your back on your own. 8 Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your wound shall quickly be healed; Your vindication shall go before you, and the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard. 9 Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer, you shall cry for help, and he will say: Here I am! If you remove from your midst oppression, false accusation and malicious speech; 10 If you bestow your bread on the hungry and satisfy the afflicted; Then light shall rise for you in the darkness, and the gloom shall become for you like midday.

3. 1 st Reading: Is 58:7-10 7 Share your bread with the hungry, shelter the oppressed and the homeless, cloth the naked when you see them, and do not turn your back on your own. 8 Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your wound shall quickly be healed; Your vindication shall go before you, and the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard. 9 Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer, you shall cry for help, and he will say: Here I am! If you remove from your midst oppression, false accusation and malicious speech; 10 If you bestow your bread on the hungry and satisfy the afflicted; Then light shall rise for you in the darkness, and the gloom shall become for you like midday. The focus is on giving justice.

4. 1 st Reading: Is 58:7-10 7 Share your bread with the hungry, shelter the oppressed and the homeless, cloth the naked when you see them, and do not turn your back on your own. 8 Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your wound shall quickly be healed; Your vindication shall go before you, and the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard. 9 Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer, you shall cry for help, and he will say: Here I am! If you remove from your midst oppression, false accusation and malicious speech; 10 If you bestow your bread on the hungry and satisfy the afflicted; Then light shall rise for you in the darkness, and the gloom shall become for you like midday. Commentary In v.7, God commands us to do the following: – Feed the hungry – Give sanctuary to the oppressed and homeless – Cloth the naked – Pay attention to your own needy loved ones V.8 gives the reasons why we should be just, charitable and kind: – To shine, to bloom – To quickly heal our own woundedness – If we have been treated unjustly and shabbily, we will be vindicated. – God will be our rear guard so that no one will stab us at the back. V.9 further states the reasons why we should love the poor and affected: – When we pray, God will listen to us. – Help will be forthcoming.

5. 1 st Reading: Is 58:7-10 7 Share your bread with the hungry, shelter the oppressed and the homeless, cloth the naked when you see them, and do not turn your back on your own. 8 Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your wound shall quickly be healed; Your vindication shall go before you, and the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard. 9 Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer, you shall cry for help, and he will say: Here I am! If you remove from your midst oppression, false accusation and malicious speech; 10 If you bestow your bread on the hungry and satisfy the afflicted; Then light shall rise for you in the darkness, and the gloom shall become for you like midday. In vv.9b-10a, God makes more demands: – To remove (fight against) oppression – To remove false accusations (blaming, making others scapegoats); to stop violating the 8 th commandment, not to bear false witness. – To feed the hungry, as in v.7. – To make the afflicted happy V.10b gives the reasons why we should be just: – To live in light, not in darkness (confusion, crisis) – To replace gloom (sadness) with feelings of happiness.

6. Reflections on the 1 st Reading God is not a wishy-washy and phoney God. God demands that we exercise justice and we take care of the poor. It is for our own good. Don’t expect God to take care of you, if you don’t take care of the poor. If you feel you are not happy and still in the dark, maybe you are still living a selfish life, thinking only of yourself and your personal interests, or, you are not doing enough for the poor.

7. Resp. Ps 112:4-5, 6-7, 8-9 R. (4a) The just man is a light in darkness to the upright. 4 Light shines through the darkness for the upright; he is gracious and merciful and just. 5 Well for the man who is gracious and lends, who conducts his affairs with justice. 6 He shall never be moved; the just one shall be in everlasting remembrance. 7 An evil report he shall not fear; his heart is firm, trusting in the LORD. 8 His heart is steadfast; he shall not fear. Lavishly he gives to the poor; 9 His justice shall endure forever; his horn shall be exalted in glory.

8. Resp. Ps 112:4-5, 6-7, 8-9 R. (4a) The just man is a light in darkness to the upright. 4 Light shines through the darkness for the upright; he is gracious and merciful and just. 5 Well for the man who is gracious and lends, who conducts his affairs with justice. 6 He shall never be moved; the just one shall be in everlasting remembrance. 7 An evil report he shall not fear; his heart is firm, trusting in the LORD. 8 His heart is steadfast; he shall not fear. Lavishly he gives to the poor; 9 His justice shall endure forever; his horn shall be exalted in glory. Commentary V.4 states that God loves the upright, gracious, merciful and just. V.5 identifies who is just: – The one who is gracious, and lends, and justly deals with other people V.6 states the reward of living a just life: – He will not be thrown out of balance – He will be fondly remembered – He will not be carried away or overwhelmed by bad news. V.8 describes what a just man does: – Lavishes the poor, gives not in small quantity In v.9, the just man will be acknowledged by God. God will always remember him.

9. Reflections on the Psalm God loves the righteous and just people, not only the poor. Just people operate by God’s principles. They earn their living (merits) without cheating and deceiving their clients and authorities. They are guided by moral and ethical principles. They are not afraid of being harassed.

10. 2 nd Reading: 1 Corinthians 2:1-5 1 When I came to you, brothers, proclaiming the mystery of God, I did not come with sublimity of words or of wisdom. 2 For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified. 3 I came to you in weakness and fear and much trembling, 4 and my message and my proclamation were not with persuasive (words of) wisdom, but with a demonstration of spirit and power, 5 so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God.

11. 2 nd Reading: 1 Corinthians 2:1-5 1 When I came to you, brothers, proclaiming the mystery of God, I did not come with sublimity of words or of wisdom. 2 For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified. 3 I came to you in weakness and fear and much trembling, 4 and my message and my proclamation were not with persuasive (words of) wisdom, but with a demonstration of spirit and power, 5 so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God. The focus is on the power of God.

12. 2 nd Reading: 1 Corinthians 2:1-5 1 When I came to you, brothers, proclaiming the mystery of God, I did not come with sublimity of words or of wisdom. 2 For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified. 3 I came to you in weakness and fear and much trembling, 4 and my message and my proclamation were not with persuasive (words of) wisdom, but with a demonstration of spirit and power, 5 so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God. Commentary In v.1, Paul reminds the people how he preached. He did not preach with lofty words or the eloquence of philosophers. In v.2, Paul is focused on Jesus Christ crucified, not on anything else. In v.3, Paul reiterates his approach to them: – in weakness and fear, not in human persuasiveness – But with the spirit and power (of God). V.4 V.5 states his reason: – Your faith will be based on God’s power not on human (his) wisdom, or, on his power to persuade.

13. Reflections on the 2 nd Reading We owe our faith from the power of God, not from the wisdom of any human being. Our faith is a gift from God. We got it through self-effacing instruments of God, like St. Paul. We did not become Christians because someone deceived or sweet-talked us. It is a big privilege to have faith in Christ.

14. Gospel Reading: Matthew 5,13-16 13 "You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned? It is no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. 14 You are the light of the world. A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket; it is set on a lampstand, where it gives light to all in the house. 16 Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father.”

15. Gospel Reading: Matthew 5,13-16 13 "You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned? It is no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. 14 You are the light of the world. A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket; it is set on a lampstand, where it gives light to all in the house. 16 Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father.” The focus is on being salt and light of the world.

16. Gospel Reading: Matthew 5,13-16 Salt 13 "You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned? It is no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. Light 14 You are the light of the world. A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket; it is set on a lampstand, where it gives light to all in the house. 16 Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father.” A simple outline!

17. Gospel Reading: Matthew 5,13-16 Salt 13 "You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned? It is no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. Light 14 You are the light of the world. A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket; it is set on a lampstand, where it gives light to all in the house. 16 Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father.” Commentary The passage is a continuation of the sermon on the Mount. In v.13, Jesus uses a metaphor (salt) to describe the Christians. – Christians should be useful (give taste, joy) to the world. In v.14, Jesus uses another metaphor (light) to describe the Christians. – Christians should give light (radiate, shine). Vv.14a-16 talk about the need to be exposed to the world as Christians. We do not hide our identity and our works. V.16b states the reason why: – People will see how good you are. – They will glorify God because of you.

18. Reflections on the Gospel We, Christians, should come forward to be recognized. We should not hide ourselves (our identity) under the cloak of anonymity. We should learn that being salt and light to the world is our mission. Christians must make a good impression to the world and that we are useful to our fellow human beings, and that our faith is relevant to them.

19. Tying the 3 readings and the Psalm The first reading asks us to love the poor. The psalm tells us that God loves those who are just and who love the poor. The second reading tells us that our faith comes from the power of God, not from humans. The gospel reading asks us to be relevant to the world.

20. How to develop your sharing We, Christians, must have social orientation. Meaning, we must live our faith in the social milieu, not just in the comfort of our churches and homes. We must develop a sense of radicalism (radix, root). We must re-root our faith to its origins (biblical and church traditions), and ground it in the society where we find ourselves. Without radicalism, we live our faith in a vacuum and that is not true faith.

21. Radicalism should not be equated with Godless ideologies. Christian radicalism is best practiced when we address the “signs of the times” in the light of our faith. The “signs of the times” are numerous: widespread poverty, unemployment, drug addiction, global warming, environmental degradation, extreme weather conditions, migration, religious intolerance, fundamentalism, violation of human rights, animal rights, children’s rights, rights of the unborn, militant extremism, racism, sexism, militarism, terrorism, hegemonism, hedonism, Generation X, Lost Generation, pre-marital sex, consumerism, pornography, etc. The readings for this Sunday guide us how to be radical.

22. The first reading commands us to go back to the basics: to give food to the hungry, shelter to the homeless, justice to the afflicted, etc. We cannot run away from these social responsibilities, if we want to keep our relationship with God intact. Radicalism is the passion to alleviate the situation of the poor, to remove what makes them poor. If we help the poor, we will shine, we will be happy. There will be peace and security.

23. The psalm encourages us to be just. God loves the just, not the oppressive. The just do not cheat, deceive, manipulate and do violence to the poor. They build a just society. They are not bystanders. They have initiatives. They are well-motivated. They are technocrats with a social conscience. They study the social teachings of the Catholic Church.

24. The second reading tells us that our faith is rooted in God. We become Christians by the power of God’s grace, not by human eloquence. We trace the gift of our faith from the source of our being, God. Our vocation is sacred. Our faith comes to naught when we disconnect ourselves from Christ. Our preaching must be simple, not garbled with gimmickry, tendencies to entertain, demagoguery, highfalutin words and theological gobbledygook. Our mission must be rooted in our deep love of the Christ Crucified.

25. The gospel reading challenges us, Christians, to exercise radicalism in the open. We should overcome our cowardice and timidity. We cannot be Christian radicals if we work in the dark. We should stand proud of our faith and act accordingly in front of the world, against all odds. Through our creativity, we make the message of our faith palatable and credible to incredulous people.

26. The eucharist is the food of the just. When we worthily receive the Holy Eucharist, we are re-rooting ourselves to Christ. In the eucharist, we, as salt and light of the world, bear witness to Christ.

27. Our Context of Sin and Grace Unjust policies No accountability Withholds necessary information Social injustices Without roots, rootless Uprooted Uncultured Coward Christians Religious services becoming rock and roll Liturgy served by people without any sense of the sacred. Honest Just Transparent Accountable Charitable institutions God-fearing social and economic engineers and businessmen