DAILY READING and REFLECTIONS For Tuesday, August 19, 2014 20th Week in Ordinary Time - Psalter 4 (Green/White) Feast of St. John Eudes, Priest Readings: Eze 28:1-10; Dt 32:26-36; Matt 19:23-30 Response: It is I who deal death and give life. Rosary: Sorrowful Mysteries Key Verse: It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for someone rich to enter the kingdom of Heaven. SAINT OF THE DAY: Saint John Eudes, Priest Birth: 1601 - Death: 1680 John Eudes was born at Ri, Normandy, France, on November 14, 1601, the son of a farmer. He went to the Jesuit college at Caen when he was 14, and despite his parents wish that he marry, joined the Congregation of the Oratory of France in 1623. He studied at Paris and at Aubervilliers, was ordained in 1625, and worked as a volunteer, caring for the victims of the plagues that struck Normandy in 1625 and 1631, and spent the next decade giving Missions, building a reputation as an outstanding preacher and confessor and for his opposition to Jansenism. He became interested in helping fallen women, and in 1641, with Madeleine Lamy, founded a refuge for them in Caen under the direction of the Visitandines. He resigned from the Oratorians in 1643 and founded the Congregation of Jesus and Mary (the Eudists) at Caen, composed of secular priests not bound by vows but dedicated to upgrading the clergy by establishing effective seminaries and to preaching missions. His foundation was opposed by the Oratorians and the Jansenists, and he was unable to obtain Papal approval for it, but in 1650, the Bishop of Coutances invited him to establish a seminary in that diocese. The same year the sisters at his refuge in Caen left the Visitandines and were recognized by the Bishop of Bayeux as a new congregation under the name of Sisters of Our Lady of Charity of the Refuge. John founded seminaries at Lisieux in 1653 and Rouen in 1659 and was unsuccessful in another attempt to secure Papal approval of his congregation, but in 1666 the Refuge sisters received Pope Alexander IIIs approval as an institute to reclaim and care for penitent wayward women. John continued giving missions and established new seminaries at Evreux in 1666 and Rennes in 1670. He shared with St. Mary Margaret Alacoque the honor of initiating devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus (he composed the Mass for the Sacred Heart in 1668) and the Holy Heart of Mary, popularizing the devotions with his The Devotion to the Adorable Heart of Jesus (1670) and The Admirable Heart of the Most Holy Mother of God, which he finished a month before his death at Caen on August 19th. He was canonized in 1925. His feast day is August 19th. READINGS FROM THE NEW AMERICAN BIBLE: READING 1, Ezekiel 28:1-10 1 The word of Yahweh was addressed to me as follows, 2 Son of man, say to the ruler of Tyre, The Lord Yahweh says this: Because your heart has grown proud, you thought: I am a god; I am divinely enthroned far out to sea. Though you are human, not divine, you have allowed yourself to think like God. 3 So, you are wiser than Danel; no sage as wise as you! 4 By your wisdom and your intelligence you have made yourself a fortune, you have put gold and silver into your treasuries. 5 Such is your skill in trading, your fortune has continued to increase, and your fortune has made your heart grow prouder. 6 And so, the Lord Yahweh says this: Since you have allowed yourself to think like God, 7 very well, I am going to bring foreigners against you, the most barbarous of the nations. They will draw sword against your fine wisdom, they will desecrate your splendour, 8 they will throw you down into the grave and you will die a violent death far out to sea. 9 Will you still think: I am a god, when your slaughterers confront you? But you will be human, not divine, in the clutches of the ones who strike you down! 10 You will die like the uncircumcised at the hand of foreigners. For I have spoken -- declares the Lord Yahweh. RESPONSORIAL PSALM, Deuteronomy 32:26-27, 27-28, 30, 35-36 26 I should crush them to dust, I said, I should wipe out all memory of them, 27 did I not fear the boasting of the enemy. But do not let their foes be mistaken! Do not let them say, We have got the upper hand and Yahweh plays no part in this. 28 What a short-sighted nation this is, how thoroughly imperceptive! 30 How else could one man rout a thousand, how could two put ten thousand to flight, were it not that their Rock has sold them, that Yahweh has delivered them up? 35 Vengeance is mine, I will pay them back, for the time when they make a false step. For the day of their ruin is close, doom is rushing towards them, for he will see to it that their power fails. that neither serf nor free man remains. 36 (For Yahweh will see his people righted, he will take pity on his servants.) GOSPEL, Matthew 19:23-30 23 Then Jesus said to his disciples, In truth I tell you, it is hard for someone rich to enter the kingdom of Heaven. 24 Yes, I tell you again, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for someone rich to enter the kingdom of Heaven. 25 When the disciples heard this they were astonished. Who can be saved, then? they said. 26 Jesus gazed at them. By human resources, he told them, this is impossible; for God everything is possible. 27 Then Peter answered and said, Look, we have left everything and followed you. What are we to have, then? 28 Jesus said to them, In truth I tell you, when everything is made new again and the Son of man is seated on his throne of glory, you yourselves will sit on twelve thrones to judge the twelve tribes of Israel. 29 And everyone who has left houses, brothers, sisters, father, mother, children or land for the sake of my name will receive a hundred times as much, and also inherit eternal life. 30 Many who are first will be last, and the last, first. REFLECTIONS: Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam (To the Greater Glory of God) OPENING PRAYER: God our Father, may we love you in all things and above all things and reach the joy you have prepared for us beyond all our imagining. 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: Ezekiel 28:1-10 (Oracle against the King of Tyre) The oracle here is addressed to the king of Tyre (the prince in Ezekiels language) but he stands for the whole country. The nation is denounced for its pride -- most clearly to be seen in its king, who was rich and clever and so influential in the region that he came to see himself as a god. He is given a severe sentence: he will die like any other man (v. 9); worse still, he will die the death of the uncircumcised by the hand of foreigners (v. 10). The prophet clearly regards pride as being almost as sinful as idolatry, for the gravity of every sin lies in desiring to be like a god. Sin sets itself against Gods love for us and turns our hearts away from it. Like the first sin, it is disobedience, a revolt against God through the will to become like Gods (Gen 3:5), knowing and determining good and evil. Sin is thus love of oneself even to contempt of God (St Augustine, De civ. Dei, 14, 28). In this proud self-exaltation, sin is diametrically opposed to the obedience of Jesus, which achieves our salvation (cf. Phil 2:6-9) (Catechism of the Catholic Church 1850). ON THE GOSPEL: Matthew 19:23-30 (Christian Poverty and Renunciation) The Gospel today is the immediate continuation of yesterday’s Gospel. It gives the commentary of Jesus regarding the negative reaction of the young rich man. Matthew 19, 23-24: The camel and the eye of the needle. After the young man left, Jesus comments his decision and says: “In truth I tell you, it is hard for someone rich to enter the kingdom of Heaven. Yes, I tell you again, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for someone rich to enter the kingdom of Heaven”. Two observations concerning this affirmation of Jesus: a) the proverb of the camel and of the eye of the needle was used to say that something was impossible and unthinkable, humanly speaking. b) The expression “that someone rich enters the kingdom of Heaven”, is a question, in the first place, not of entrance into Heaven after death, but of entering into the community around Jesus. And even now this is true. It is very difficult for the rich to enter and to feel at home in the communities which try to live the Gospel according to the demands of Jesus and which try to be open to the poor, the migrants and to those excluded by society. By drawing this comparison Jesus shows that it is simply not possible for people who put their hearts on worldly things to obtain a share in the Kingdom of God. With God all things are possible: that is, with Gods grace man can be brave and generous enough to use wealth to promote the service of God and man. This is why St. Matthew, in Chapter 5, specifies that the poor in spirit are blessed (Matthew 5:3). Matthew 19, 25-26: The fear of the disciples. The young man had observed the commandments, but without understanding the reason for the observance. Something similar was happening with the disciples. When Jesus called them, they did exactly the same thing which Jesus had asked the young man: they left everything and followed Jesus (Mt 4, 20.22). But they were astonished at this affirmation of Jesus concerning the impossibility for someone rich to enter the Kingdom of God. This was a sign that they had not understood well the response which Jesus had given to the young rich man: “Go, sell all you possess, give it to the poor and then come and follow me!” Because if they had understood, they would not have remained so surprised by the requests of Jesus. When wealth or the desire for riches occupies the heart and the look, the person does not succeed to understand the sense of life and of the Gospel. God alone can help! “This is impossible for man, but for God all is possible!” Matthew 19, 27: The question of Peter. The background of the misunderstanding of the disciples appears in the question asked by Peter: “Look, we have left everything and have followed you. What are we to have then?” In spite of the beautiful generosity of abandoning everything, they still have the old mentality. They have abandoned everything in order to get something in exchange. They still had not understood well the sense of service and of gratuity. Matthew 19, 28-30: The response of Jesus. In truth I tell you, when everything is made new again and the Son of Man is seated on his throne of glory you yourselves will sit on twelve thrones to judge the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses, brothers, sisters, father, mother, children or land for the sake of my name will receive a hundred times as much and also inherit eternal life. Many, who are first, will be last, and the last, first”. In this response, Jesus describes the new world, the foundation of which had been placed by his work and that of the disciples. Jesus stresses three important points: (a) The disciples will sit on twelve thrones next to Jesus to judge the twelve tribes of Israel (cfr. Rev 4, 4). (b) In exchange they will receive many things which they had abandoned: houses, brothers, sisters, mother, children land and will inherit eternal life. (c) The future world will be the reverse of the present world. There, the last ones will be the first ones and the first ones will be the last ones. The community around Jesus is the seed and the manifestation of this new world. Up until now the small community of the poor continues to be the seed and manifestation of the Kingdom. In the new world, in the regeneration: a reference to the renewal of all things which will take place when Jesus Christ comes to judge the living and the dead. The resurrection of the body will be an integral part of this renewal. The ancient people of God, Israel, was made up of twelve tribes. The new people of God, the Church, to which all men are called, is founded by Jesus Christ on the Twelve Apostles under the primacy of Peter. These graphic remarks should not be explained away. They mean that love or Jesus Christ and His Gospel should come before everything else. What our Lord says here should not be interpreted as conflicting with the will of God Himself, the creator and sanctifier of family bonds. Every time that in the history of the people of the Bible a new movement arises to renew the Covenant, it begins by re-establishing the rights of the poor, of the excluded. Without that, the Covenant will not be reconstructed. This is the sense and the reason for the insertion and the mission of the community of Jesus, in the midst of the poor. It draws from the roots and it inaugurates the New Covenant. FINAL PRAYERS: Even were I to walk in a ravine as dark as death I should fear no danger, for you Lord, are at my side. Your staff and your crook are there to soothe me. (Ps 23,4) Holy Mary, mother of God, with your sure promise we move forward with the adventures of our lives. We are confident that, from your place with Jesus, you draw us all together in God’s good grace. So pray for us sinners on this journey of life until one day we see you face to face, with Jesus and the Father in the Holy Spirit. Amen. 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: Tue, 19 Aug 2014 00:10:47 +0000
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