I spotted this a couple months ago but someone beat me to it.
So, guess what Gospel will be read in the Ordinary Form for the beginning of the Synod – which will be discussion, inter alia, marriage, and Communion for the divorced and civilly remarried.
UPDATE
A buddy – The Great Roman – just texted to me:
And in the EF the XIX Dominica post Pentecosten speaks of the last judgment as a wedding, in the umpteenth biblical analogy between marriage and the relationship between God and our souls, while the proper for St Francis has “jugum meum enim suave”, which reminds us of the ancient etymology of conjugium from jugum – jungo, conveying the image of being united by and under the same yoke. And to the Synod Fathers I recommend meditating the Gradual: “os instinc meditabitur sapientia et lingua eius loquetur iudicium. Lex Dei eius in corde (remember sklerokardia?) et non supplantabuntur gressus eius”
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Not only the Gospel, the first reading too. So, was this an accident or prudential planning? Who chose the starting date? Is it too much of a stretch to suggest the Holy Spirit had a hand in the choice?
That’s nice, but as anyone who has ever been subject to Scripture classes pumping Form Criticism knows: What German Scripture scholars hypothesize about Scripture trumps anything that is actually in the text. If Scripture is not in harmony with their a priori ideas, they just label the text as a mythologically inspired accretion not relevant to Revelation
The Office of Readings in the OF Liturgia Horarum is also pertinent for the Sunday that begins the Synod. The first reading is 1 Tim. 1:1-20, and here are some extracts from the second reading from St Gregory the Great (Book of Pastoral Rule [Regula Pastoralis], 2, 4):
“A spiritual guide should be silent when discretion requires and speak when words are of service. Otherwise he may say what he should not or be silent when he should speak. Indiscreet speech may lead men into error and an imprudent silence may leave in error those who could have been taught. Pastors who lack foresight hesitate to say openly what is right because they fear losing the favour of men. As the voice of truth tells us, such leaders are not zealous pastors who protect their flocks, rather they are like mercenaries who flee by taking refuge in silence when the wolf appears…
“To advance against the foe involves a bold resistance to the powers of this world in defence of the flock. To stand fast in battle on the day of the Lord means to oppose the wicked enemy out of love for what is right.
“When a pastor has been afraid to assert what is right, has he not turned his back and fled by remaining silent? Whereas if he intervenes on behalf of the flock, he sets up a wall against the enemy in front of the house of Israel…
“The word of reproach is a key that unlocks a door, because reproach reveals a fault of which the evildoer is himself often unaware. That is why Paul says of the bishop: He must be able to encourage men in sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it. [Tit. 1:9b] For the same reason God tells us through Malachi: The lips of the priest are to preserve knowledge, and men shall look to him for the law, for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts. [Mal. 2:7] Finally, that is also the reason why the Lord warns us through Isaiah: Cry out and be not still; raise your voice in a trumpet call. [Isa. 58:1a]”