Thoughts to live by: 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time
The painting at the center of this page is copied after a Flemish engraving, and depicts the biblical story of Abraham's sacrifice of his son Isaac. European paintings and engravings were first available in Iran and copied during the Safavid period (1501–1722), and this scene in particular remained popular through the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. This version is in fact quite similar to a seventeenth-century painting signed by the Safavid artist Muhammad Zaman. The painting has been set into a frame with a dense flower and bird (gul-o-bul-bul) design, signed by Fathallah Sani'zada. The inscriptional medallion at the bottom of the page that gives his name also dedicates the work to Vusuq al-Dawleh, who was prime minister at the time.
By Unknown author - https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/452106, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=146111751
20 July
Readings: Gn. 18:1-10; Ps. 15:2-3, 3-4, 5; Col. 1:24-28; Lk. 10:24-28.
1. 1st Reading, Gn. 18:1-10 — In the previous chapter, God promised Abram (99 yrs old), renamed Abraham, that Sarai (90 yrs old), renamed Sarah, will bear a son in her old age, and Abraham will be "the father of a multitude of nations." This is the covenant between God and Abraham. Circumcision will be the sacred sign of the covenant.
2. In this Sunday's 1st Reading, Abraham is visited by "three men," for whom Sarah prepares food (vv. 1-9). One of the men says to Abraham, "I will return to you about this time of the year, and Sarah will then have a son" (v. 10). The Lord would fulfill this promise in Genesis 21, when Sarah gives birth to Isaac.
3. Resp. Ps. 15:2-3, 3-4, 5 — The psalmist asks, "Lord, who may dwell in your tent? On your holy mountain?" The Lord answers: "Whoever walks without blame, doing what is right, speaking truth from the heart: Who does not slander... does no harm to a friend, never defames a neighbor;
Who disdains the wicked, but honors those who fear the Lord;
Who keeps an oath despite the cost (vv. 2-4), lends no money at interest, accepts no bribe against the innocent" (v. 5). The one who wishes to be admitted into the Lord's abode must have virtues that respects one's neighbor, especially the poor.
4. 2nd Reading, Col. 1:24-28 — Paul teaches the Christian community at Colossae (a city of Phrygia, part of modern Turkey), that they have experienced the reconciling effects of Christ's death. He sees the effects of the Cross in the redemption of human beings, but the Colossians have to persevere in the faith (vv. 21-23).
5. "Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ on behalf of his body, which is the Church (v. 24), of which I am a minister in accordance with God's stewardship given to me to bring to completion for you the word of God (v. 25), the mystery hidden from ages and from generations past. But now it has been manifested to his holy ones (v. 27), to whom God chose to make known the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; it is Christ in you, the hope for glory (v. 27). It is he whom we proclaim, admonishing everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone perfect in Christ" (v. 28).
6. Paul here tells the Colossians that he rejoices in the sufferings that he experiences in his apostolic ministry. His sufferings reflect the sufferings that Christ experienced on behalf of his Church (v. 24). The preaching of the word of God carries out the divine plan ("the mystery hidden from ages") to make Christ known to the Gentiles ("Christ in you, the hope for glory," vv. 25-27). The word of God teaches the God-given wisdom about Christ, that "everyone may be perfect in Christ" (v. 28).