DAILY GOSPEL Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. John 6:68 Monday, 13 October 2014 Monday of the Twenty-eighth week in Ordinary Time Feast of the Church : In Canada : Thanksgiving Day Saint(s) of the day : St. Edward the Confessor († 1066) See commentary below or click here Aphrahat : Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites: so will the Son of Man be to this generation. Letter to the Galatians 4:22-24.26-27.31.5:1. Brothers and sisters: It is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the freeborn woman. The son of the slave woman was born naturally, the son of the freeborn through a promise. Now this is an allegory. These women represent two covenants. One was from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery; this is Hagar. But the Jerusalem above is freeborn, and she is our mother. For it is written: Rejoice, you barren one who bore no children; break forth and shout, you who were not in labor; for more numerous are the children of the deserted one than of her who has a husband. Therefore, brothers, we are children not of the slave woman but of the freeborn woman. For freedom Christ set us free; so stand firm and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery. Psalms 113(112):1-2.3-4.5a.6-7. Praise, you servants of the LORD, praise the name of the LORD. Blessed be the name of the LORD both now and forever. From the rising to the setting of the sun is the name of the LORD to be praised. High above all nations is the LORD; above the heavens is his glory. Who is like the LORD, our God, who looks upon the heavens and the earth below? He raises up the lowly from the dust; from the dunghill he lifts up the poor. Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 11:29-32. While still more people gathered in the crowd, Jesus said to them, «This generation is an evil generation; it seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it, except the sign of Jonah. Just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. At the judgment the queen of the south will rise with the men of this generation and she will condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and there is something greater than Solomon here. At the judgment the men of Nineveh will arise with this generation and condemn it, because at the preaching of Jonah they repented, and there is something greater than Jonah here. Copyright © Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, USCCB Commentary of the day : Aphrahat (?-c.345), monk and Bishop near Mosul Demonstration 3, Concerning fasting (SC 349) Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites: so will the Son of Man be to this generation. The children of Nineveh fasted with a pure fast when Jonah preached repentance to them. For thus it is written: “When they heard the preaching of Jonah they proclaimed a solemn fast and constant supplication, sitting on sackcloth and ashes. They took off their fine clothing and put on sackcloth instead. Infants were denied their mothers’ breasts; pasture, to beasts both small and great,” (cf Jon 3)… And now here is what is written: “God saw their actions, how they turned from their evil way. Then he turned from them his anger and did not destroy them.” It does not say: “He saw their abstinence from bread and water, with sackcloth and ashes,” but: “how they turned from their evil way and from the wickedness of their works”… This indeed was a pure fast and it was accepted: the fast that the Ninevites fasted when they turned away from their evil ways and the greediness of their hands… Because, my friend, when you fast, the best fast is always to abstain from wickedness. It is better than abstaining from bread and water, better than… “bowing the head like a reed and lying in sackcloth and ashes,” as Isaiah says (58,5). When, indeed, a man abstains from bread, water or whatever food it may be, if he covers himself with sackcloth and ashes and afflicts himself, he is loved, he is fine and acceptable. But that which is most acceptable is that he humbles himself, that he “releases the chains” of impiety and unties the bonds of deception. Then “his light breaks forth like the dawn and his vindication goes before him. He is like a watered garden; like a spring whose water never fails,” (Is 58, 8ff).
Posted on: Mon, 13 Oct 2014 02:13:08 +0000
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