8/20/2019 26th Sunday of Ordinary Time

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26th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Sept. 27, 2015

(Numbers 11:252!" #ames 5:16" $ar% !:&'&,5,7')

The se*enty +eders- had been hosen by $oses at the /ords

direti*e to hep $oses in administerin to the needs of the peope.

They share in the +spirit- hih $oses had reei*ed, but in imited

suppy, sine their prophesyin as shorti*ed (that itte detai is

missin from the /etionary). 3abbis in ater enturies ompared

$oses to a burnin ande from hih fire as ta%en, hie not

diminishin the oriina andes poer ($oses).

The introdution of 4dad and $edad, ho ere not present he

the spirit as distributed but ho reei*ed the spirit and prophesied

+inside the amp,- aused #oshua to beome onerned about $osesosin poer beause of these to ho had eary reei*ed the spirit

$oses is the one ho trusts the spirit and ishes that a possessed th

spirit.

The nion of merian ebre 8onreations 8ommentary on

this passae notes about this disareement beteen $oses and #oshu

his trusted aide, +$oses is seure in his on reationship ith 9od an

on*ined that ony as more peope eperiene the bessin of the;i*ine

8/20/2019 26th Sunday of Ordinary Time

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Shoars are di*ided hether the readin from Numbers has

infuened this inident in $ar%. Ay arranin them toether as the

/etionary has done, it suests that the 9ospe is i%e the Numbers

readin, at east as far as the theme of nonmembers or%in ith the

roup is onerned.

s far as the rest of the passae is onerned, the +itte ones-

mentioned must refer to the hid and those i%e him, mentioned in

$%. !:&7, hom #esus used as an eampe. No #esus says if anyone

shoud ause suh a hid to sin, the onseBuenes i be se*ere. e

be better off ith a reat mistone tied around his ne% and thron

into the sea, than to fae a Cudment for the offense. The same thin i

true for indi*iduas ho sin. @hether its ones hand, foot, or eye, tha

auses the sin, its better to enter ife maimed than to be thron into9ehenna ith ones hoe body. 9ehenna as symboi of a pae of

punishment. >n rea ife, it as the arbae dump for #erusaem of the

day and aays had smo%y emissions from burnin trash. >t as a

nasty pae, as a trash dumps are, and a fittin symbo for a pae on

oud not rather *isit.

Thats a perfet seue into #ames poerfu reminder that this

ords eath and those ho pie it up for themse*es i one day btestified aainst by that same eath. The impiation is that the

aumuation of the eath as done iiity on the ba%s of the

or%ers (those +ho har*ested your fieds-). #ames is

unompromisin in ondemnin those ho ha*e i*ed +in uury and

peasure.- #ames ea*es no ie room (+you ha*e fattened your

hearts for the day of sauhter-), espeiay those ho ha*e done so bepoitin the aborer.

?r. /arene ummer