DAILY READING and REFLECTIONS For Saturday, September 27, 2014 25th Week in Ordinary Time - Psalter 1 (White) Optional Memorial: St. Vincent de Paul, Priest Readings: Ecl 11:9-12:8; Ps 90:3-17; Lk 9:43b-45 Response: In every age, O Lord, you have been our refuge. Rosary: Joyful Mysteries Verse Highlight: The Son of man is going to be delivered into the power of men. SAINT OF THE DAY: Saint Vincent de Paul, Priest Patron of charitable societies St. Vincent was born of poor parents in the village of Pouy in Gascony, France, about 1580. He enjoyed his first schooling under the Franciscan Fathers at Acqs. Such had been his progress in four years that a gentleman chose him as subpreceptor to his children, and he was thus enabled to continue his studies without being a burden to his parents. In 1596, he went to the University of Toulouse for theological studies, and there he was ordained priest in 1600. In 1605, on a voyage by sea from Marseilles to Narbonne, he fell into the hands of African pirates and was carried as a slave to Tunis. His captivity lasted about two years, until Divine Providence enabled him to effect his escape. After a brief visit to Rome he returned to France, where he became preceptor in the family of Emmanuel de Gondy, Count of Goigny, and General of the galleys of France. In 1617, he began to preach missions, and in 1625, he lay the foundations of a congregation which afterward became the Congregation of the Mission or Lazarists, so named on account of the Prioryof St. Lazarus, which the Fathers began to occupy in 1633. It would be impossible to enumerate all the works of this servant of God. Charity was his predominant virtue. It extended to all classes of persons, from forsaken childhood to old age. The Sisters of Charity also owe the foundation of their congregation to St. Vincent. In the midst of the most distracting occupations his soul was always intimately united with God. Though honored by the great ones of the world, he remained deeply rooted in humility. The Apostle of Charity, the immortal Vincent de Paul, breathed his last in Paris at the age of eighty. His feast day is September 27th. He is the patron of charitable societies. READINGS FROM THE NEW AMERICAN BIBLE: READING 1, Ecclesiastes 11:9--12:8 9 Young man, enjoy yourself while you are young, make the most of the days of your youth, follow the prompting and desire of heart and eye, but remember, God will call you to account for everything. 10 Rid your heart of indignation, keep your body clear of suffering, though youth and the age of black hair are both futile. 1 Remember your Creator while you are still young, before the bad days come, before the years come which, you will say, give you no pleasure; 2 before the sun and the light grow dim and the moon and stars, before the clouds return after the rain; 3 the time when your watchmen become shaky, when strong men are bent double, when the women, one by one, quit grinding, and, as they look out of the window, find their sight growing dim. 4 When the street-door is kept shut, when the sound of grinding fades away, when the first cry of a bird wakes you up, when all the singing has stopped; 5 when going uphill is an ordeal and you are frightened at every step you take- yet the almond tree is in flower and the grasshopper is weighed down and the caper-bush loses its tang; while you are on the way to your everlasting home and the mourners are assembling in the street; 6 before the silver thread snaps, or the golden bowl is cracked, or the pitcher shattered at the fountain, or the pulley broken at the well-head: 7 the dust returns to the earth from which it came, and the spirit returns to God who gave it. 8 Sheer futility, Qoheleth says, everything is futile. RESPONSORIAL PSALM, Psalms 90:3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 14, 17 3 You bring human beings to the dust, by saying, Return, children of Adam. 4 A thousand years are to you like a yesterday which has passed, like a watch of the night. 5 You flood them with sleep -- in the morning they will be like growing grass: 6 in the morning it is blossoming and growing, by evening it is withered and dry. 12 Teach us to count up the days that are ours, and we shall come to the heart of wisdom. 13 Come back, Yahweh! How long must we wait? Take pity on your servants. 14 Each morning fill us with your faithful love, we shall sing and be happy all our days; 17 May the sweetness of the Lord be upon us, to confirm the work we have done! GOSPEL, Luke 9:43-45 43 and everyone was awestruck by the greatness of God. But while everyone was full of admiration for all he did, he said to his disciples, 44 For your part, you must have these words constantly in mind: The Son of man is going to be delivered into the power of men. 45 But they did not understand what he said; it was hidden from them so that they should not see the meaning of it, and they were afraid to ask him about it. REFLECTIONS: Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam (To the Greater Glory of God) OPENING PRAYER: Father, guide us, as you guide creation according to your law of love. May we love one another and come to perfection in the eternal life prepared for us. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. ON READING 1: Ecclesiastes 11:9-12:8 (Wisdom and youth, Thoughts on Faith, Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher) Life is short, and the future that awaits everyone is uncertain (vanity: v. 8). Hence the advice given in vs. 9-10. The Preacher is not recommending hedonistic materialism; one needs to be ever mindful that God punishes and rewards, although, as the author sees it, that happens within the bounds of this life. The second part of the book began by pointing out that a person who seeks true wisdom does not dodge difficult issues, including that of death (7:1-2). The author rounds off this part by focussing on the Creator and on the end of mans life. Death, and what will happen when it comes, is described very forcefully here. The wisdom of man cannot penetrate beyond it. Viewed from the perspective of death, mans life is a temporary gift given him by God. One can glance back at ones youth and also at the years one may still have ahead (v. 1) and ponder the tenuous nature of life and remember that death is coming. This is truly the office of a teacher of wisdom -- to help individuals see what possibilities lie open to them, so that they can make free and responsible choices. This is what the Preacher has done, as he says at the end of his text. Death is the end of earthly life. Our lives are measured by time, in the course of which we change, grow old and, as with all living beings on earth, death seems like the normal end of life. That aspect of death lends urgency to our lives: remembering our mortality helps us realize that we have only a limited time in which to bring our lives to fulfilment (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1007). This verse repeats almost word for word what was said at the start of the book (cf. 1:2). The statement, in addition to acting as a title to the book, confirms that even the lifestyle outlined in the final chapters (cf. 7:9-12:7) is still vanity of vanities. True wisdom consists in realizing this and accepting it. Christian asceticism has accepted the general thrust of the Preachers message (detachment from worldly values, and attachment to Gods commandments) and indeed its written form -- use of short, incisive phrases, and a use of contrasts to good effect. Christian commitment has often been described in such terms -- as the imitation of Christ combined with rejection of the worlds vanities: He who follows me does not walk in darkness, says the Lord. These words are Christs. in which he counsels us to imitate his life and deeds if we truly desire to be enlightened and freed from all blindness of heart. Our study should consist, therefore, in a consideration of the life of Jesus. Vanity of vanities, all is vanity, unless one strives to love and serve God alone. The height of wisdom is to set aside this world in order to enter the kingdom of heaven. Vanity is to seek the riches that perish and to place ones hope in them. It is vanity, too, to seek human glory and boast of it. Vanity is to yield to the desires of the body, for which you must bear a greater punishment in the afterlife. It is vanity to desire long life and not to live it well. Vanity is to concern yourself only with this life and fail to contemplate the life to come. It is vanity to give your love to things that will so soon pass away and not to seek earnestly the joy that will last forever. Call to mind often that saying from the Scriptures: Neither has eye seen, nor ear heard, and try to tear your heart away from what is visible, to move beyond into what remains invisible (Thomas a Kempis, The Imitation of Christ, 1, 1-5). ON THE GOSPEL: Luke 9:43b-45 (Second Prophecy of the Passion) The Gospel today presents the second announcement of the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus. The disciples do not understand the words about the cross, because they are neither capable to understand a Messiah who becomes the servant of his brothers. They continue to dream about a glorious Messiah. Luke 9, 43b-44: The contrast. “Everyone was full of admiration for all he did”. Jesus said to his disciples “For your part you must have these words constantly in mind: The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the power of men”. The contrast is very big. On one side, the vibration and admiration of the people for everything that Jesus said and did. Jesus seems to correspond to all that people dream, believe and expect. On the other side, the affirmation of Jesus that he will be put to death and delivered in the hands of men, that is, the opinion of the authority on Jesus is totally contrary to the opinion of the people. Christ predicts His passion and death a number of times. Initially He does so in veiled terms (John 2:19; Luke 5:35) to the crowd; and later, much more explicitly, to His disciples (Luke 9:22), though they fail to understand His words, not because what He says is not clear, but because they do not have the right dispositions. St. John Chrysostom comments: Let no one be scandalized by this imperfection in the Apostles; for the Cross had not yet been reached nor the grace of the Spirit given (Hom. on St. Matthew, 65). Luke 9, 45: The announcement of the Cross. “But they did not understand what he said; for them it was so mysterious, that they did not understand the sense and were afraid to ask questions concerning this argument”. The disciples listened to him but they did not understand the words about the cross. But even in this way, they do not ask for any clarification. They are afraid to show their ignorance! The title Son of Man. This name appears quite frequently in the Gospels: 12 times in John, 13 in Mark, 28 in Luke, 30 in Matthew. In all, it appears 83 times in the four Gospels. This is the name which pleased Jesus the most. This title comes from the Old Testament. In the Book of Ezekiel, is indicated the very human condition of the prophet (Ez 3, 1.4.10. 17; 4, 1 etc.). In the Book of Daniel, the same title appears in the apocalyptic vision (Dn 7, 1-28), in which Daniel describes the empires of the Babylonians, of the Medes, of the Persians and of the Greeks. In the vision of the prophet, these four empires have the appearance of “monstrous animals” (cf. Dn 7, 3-8). They are animal empires which are brutal, inhuman, which persecute, dehumanize and kill (Dn 7, 21.25). In the vision of the prophet, after the anti-human kingdoms, the Kingdom of God appears which has the appearance, not of an animal, but rather of a human person, Son of Man. That is, a Kingdom with the appearance of people, a human kingdom, which promotes life, it humanizes (Dn 7, 13-14). In the prophecy of Daniel the Son of Man represents, not an individual, but rather, as he himself says, the “people of the Saints of the Most High” (Dn 7, 27; cf. Dn 7, 18). It is the People of God who do not allow themselves to be dehumanized nor deceived or manipulated by the dominating ideology of the animal empires. The Mission of the Son of Man, that is, of the People of God, consists in realizing the Kingdom of God like a human kingdom. That is, a Kingdom which promotes life, which humanizes persons. Presenting himself as Son of Man to the disciples, Jesus makes his own this mission which is the mission of all the People of God. It is as if he would say to them and to all of us: “Come with me! This mission is not only mine, but it belongs to all of us! Let us go together to carry out the mission which God has entrusted to us, and thus realize the human and humanizing Kingdom which he dreamt!” And he did this during all his life, especially during the last three years. Pope Leo the Great said: “Jesus was so human, but so human, like only God can be human”. The more human he was, the more divine he was. The more he is “Son of Man” the more he is “Son of God!” Everything which dehumanizes persons draws away from God. That was condemned by God, who has placed the good of the human person above all the laws, above the Sabbath or Saturday (Mk 2, 27). At the moment when he was condemned to death by the religious tribunal of the Synedrium, Jesus assumes this title. When he was asked if he was “the Son of God” (Mk 14, 61), he answered that he is the “Son of Man”: “I am. And you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Almighty” (Mk 14, 62). Because of this affirmation he was declared, by the authority, guilty deserving death. He himself knew it because he had said: “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mk 10, 45). FINAL PRAYERS: For ever, Yahweh, your word is planted firm in heaven. Your constancy endures from age to age; you established the earth and it stands firm. (Ps 119,89-90) Soul of Christ, sanctify me. Body of Christ, save me. Blood of Christ, drench me. Water from the side of Christ, wash me. Passion of Christ, strengthen me. Within your wounds hide me. Do not let me be separated from you. From the wicked foe, defend me. At the hour of my death call me to your side, That with your saints I may praise you forever. Amen. -- St, Ignatius of Loyola It is by God’s mercy that we are saved. May we never tire of spreading this joyful message to the world. -- Pope Francis Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ. -- St. Jerome The Father uttered one Word; that Word is His Son, and He utters Him forever in everlasting silence; and in silence the soul has to hear it. -- St. John of the Cross
Posted on: Fri, 26 Sep 2014 22:55:17 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015