How can I bear to see the evil that is to befall my people?
In another audience with the king, Esther fell at his feet
and tearfully implored him to revoke the harm done by
Haman the Agagite,
and the plan he had devised against the Jews.
The king stretched forth the golden scepter to Esther.
So she rose and, standing in his presence, said:
"If it pleases your majesty and seems proper to you,
and if I have found favor with you and you love me,
let a document be issued to revoke the letters
which that schemer Haman, son of Hammedatha the Agagite,
wrote for the destruction of the Jews in all the royal provinces.
For how can I witness the evil that is to befall my people,
and how can I behold the destruction of my race?"
King Ahasuerus then said to Queen Esther and to the Jew
Mordecai:
"Now that I have given Esther the house of Haman,
and they have hanged him on the gibbet because he attacked
the Jews,
you in turn may write in the king^ name what you see fit
concerning the Jews
and seal the letter with the royal signet ring.^
For whatever is written in the name of the king
and sealed with the royal signet ring cannot be revoked.
And there was splendor and merriment for the Jews,
exultation and triumph.
In each and every province and in each and every city,
wherever the king's order arrived,
there was merriment and exultation,
banqueting and feasting for the Jews.
And many of the peoples of the land embraced Judaism.
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Commentary on Es 8:3-8,16-17a
This selection contains the second royal decree by King Ahasuerus. Queen Esther had previously accepted that, because no one may visit the king (even his wife) without invitation upon pain of death, by going to the king to plead for mercy for the Jews, she could be executed. "The king stretched forth the golden scepter to Esther." By this action, the king extended the invitation to his wife, thereby removing the threat of execution.
Once admitted, she begs the king to reverse the punishment (the mass execution of all the Jews in his vast kingdom) devised by Haman, son of Hammedatha. (Hamm had previously been exposed as a plotter and had been killed on the same device he had intended for Mordecai, Esther's uncle. )
Omitted from this selection (vv. 9-15) are the date and means by which second decree was promulgated, and Chapter E which contains the actual text of the decree.
The selection concludes with the reaction of the Jewish people who learn that Queen Esther's intercession has been their salvation. Reflecting on this queenly intercession, we also see an image the Blessed Virgin Mary, Queen of Heaven, interceding for her faithful children.
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RESPONSORIAL PSALM
RESPONSORIAL PSALM
R. (see 2b) Make your face shine upon us, O God.
May God be gracious to us and bless us;
may God's face shine upon us.
So shall your rule be known upon the earth,
your saving power among all the nations.
R. Make your face shine upon us, O God.
May the peoples praise you. God;
may all the peoples praise you!
May the nations be glad and shout for joy;
for you govern the peoples justly,
you guide the nations upon the earth.
R. Make your face shine upon us, O God.
May the peoples praise you. God;
may all the peoples praise you!
The earth has yielded its harvest;
God, our God, blesses us.
R. Make your face shine upon us, O God.
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Commentary on Ps 67:2-3,4-5, 6-7
Psalm 67 is a blessing and has elements of the ancient blessing of Aaron from Numbers 6:22ff. This blessing has more of a plaintive tone (a group lament), or petition asking for a bountiful harvest. It points to the universal salvation promised by God to all the peoples.
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GOSPEL
The mother of Jesus said to him: They have no wine.
There was a wedding at Cana in Galilee,
and the mother of Jesus was there. ,
Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding.
When the wine ran short,
the mother of Jesus said to him,
"They have no wine."
And Jesus said to her,
"Woman, how does your concern affect me?
My hour has not yet come."
His mother said to the servers,
"Do whatever he tells you."
Now there were six stone water jars there for Jewish ceremonial washings,
each holding twenty to thirty gallons.
Jesus told them,
"Fill the jars with water."
So they filled them to the brim.
Then he told them,
"Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter."
So they took it.
And when the headwaiter tasted the water that had become wine,
without knowing where it came from
(although the servers who had drawn the water knew),
the headwaiter called the bridegroom and said to him,
"Everyone serves good wine first,
and then when people have drunk freely, an inferior one;
but you have kept the good wine until now."
Jesus did this as the beginning of his signs at Cana in Galilee
and so revealed his glory,
and his disciples began to believe in him.
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Commentary on Jn 2:1-11
The author gives us the story of Jesus' first revelatory action following his baptism by St. John the Baptist in the Jordan. Jesus and his disciples are invited to a wedding and the wine runs out. Jesus’ mother lets her son know that the time has come for his revelation, even though Jesus does not think so. The Greek in the exchange between Jesus and his mother is ambiguous; some would interpret it, ‘What concern is that of mine or yours?’, but it is more probably to be understood as a Hebrew idiom, ‘What have I to do with you?’, that is, ‘Leave me alone, do not interfere with me’, as in Matthew 8.29, and in many passages of the Old Testament. [1]
Significantly the stone water jars were there for the ceremonial cleansing, the very Hebrew custom John the Baptist used in his call to repentance. The Hebrew custom was symbolic (as was St. John's invitation to be baptized in the Jordan); the Lord would later make baptism efficacious as sins were forgiven. We also note the Hebrew numerology applied to this scene. The number six represents one less than the perfect number seven. It was not yet Jesus’ time. The water became wine, not his blood which was yet to be poured out for the salvation of mankind.
The final statement in this story: “his disciples began to believe in him,” is the only time in the Gospel of St. John where there was any doubt about the Lord’s true identity on their part.
Significantly the stone water jars were there for the ceremonial cleansing, the very Hebrew custom John the Baptist used in his call to repentance. The Hebrew custom was symbolic (as was St. John's invitation to be baptized in the Jordan); the Lord would later make baptism efficacious as sins were forgiven. We also note the Hebrew numerology applied to this scene. The number six represents one less than the perfect number seven. It was not yet Jesus’ time. The water became wine, not his blood which was yet to be poured out for the salvation of mankind.
The final statement in this story: “his disciples began to believe in him,” is the only time in the Gospel of St. John where there was any doubt about the Lord’s true identity on their part.
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[1] Knox Bible footnote on Jn 2:4
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