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Twenty-first Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year A, August 21, 2005

First reading, Isaiah 22:19-23

The Historical Situation: Chapters 13 through 23 of Isaiah are oracles in which the prophet pronounces God's judgment against various nations. Babylon, Assyria, Syria, Tyre, Sidon and Egypt all take their licks, as you might expect. But chapter 22 is directed at Jerusalem, capital of Judah and home of many of God's chosen people. In particular, a royal official named Shebna gets severely criticized and told that he will have to yield to a replacement named Eliakim. When Isaiah promises the "key of the house of David" to Eliakim, he's summoning the memory of Judah's long-gone greatest king, and the happy memory of an old golden age. We read this passage today only to prepare ourselves to hear the day's gospel, Matthew 16:13-20, where Jesus grants Peter "keys to the kingdom of heaven."

Proclaiming It: So emphasize the parts about the key, and "when he opens, no one will shut," etc.

Here are acceptable pronunciations of the difficult Hebrew names:

Be sure you know how you are going to pronounce them, so you don't stumble over them when you're in the pulpit.

Second Reading, Romans 11:33-36

The Theological Background: What had Paul so excited? In Romans, chapters 9-11, Paul speculates on how the Jews, always God's chosen people, could apparently forfeit their chosen status by failing to accept Jesus. Since we don't get to read the whole passage, let me summarize it. God's plan calls for the Jews to reject Jesus so that a few believers, like Paul, would be forced to carry the good news outside Judaism and evangelize the Gentiles. When Gentiles are converted, the Jews will be impressed, not to mention jealous, and accept Christ themselves. The result will be the salvation of the whole world and the reconciliation of Jews and Gentiles, goods even greater than the election of Israel. The ancient promise of God to Abraham will not go unfulfilled.

Proclaiming It: This beautiful passage calls for careful oral interpretation. Saint Paul is so excited about something he has written in prior paragraphs that he bursts into this rhapsodic praise of God. Try to capture Paul's mood when you proclaim this passage to the congregation.

Chances are the congregation won't know the background. But let them know that you, like Saint Paul, have some reason to give glory to God.

Extra! Each Sunday passage from Romans in context: Click here to see a table summarizing the readings from Romans from the 9th to the 24th Sundays of Ordinary Time, this year.

Several other commentaries on these passages. All are thoughtful, all quite readable, from the scholarly to the popular.
Links may be incomplete more than a few weeks before the "due date."
Lutheran pastor and college teacher Dan Nelson's notes for a study group.
Dan covers different first and second readings. His treatment of today's gospel contrasts interestingly with the treatment from Saint Charles Church (--->). 		Bible Study pages of Saint Charles Borromeo Catholic Church, Picayune, Mississippi. From the heartland of the U.S.A., two priest-columnists, both learned and wise, with a great common touch:
One of Father Roger Karban's syndicated column about these readings,

and another

and
The 2002 column of Jesuit Father Francis X. Cleary, From the site of the Saint Louis Review.
The Text This Week; links to homilies, art works, movies and other resources on the week's scripture themes
Saint Louis University's excellent new liturgy site
Most welcome here are Reginald Fuller's commentaries.
This site keeps its back issues posted for only about eight weeks.

The Lectionary selections in the frame at the left, if any, are there for your convenience. The publishers of the page in that frame have no connection, except for membership in the one Body of Christ, with the publisher of this page. Likewise the publishers of the pages on the links above.

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Last modified: Mon Jul 25 19:57:36 CDT 2005