READING and REFLECTIONS For Saturday, January 17 2015 3rd DAY OF THE PAPAL VISIT First week in Ordinary Time - Psalter Week 1 (Green) Readings: Heb 4:12-16; Ps 19:8-15; Mk 2:13-17 Response: Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life. Rosary: Joyful Mysteries Verse: It is not the healthy who need the doctor, but the sick. I came to call not the upright, but sinners. SAINT OF THE DAY: Saint Anthony the Abbot Two Greek philosophers ventured out into the Egyptian desert to the mountain where Anthony lived. When they got there, Anthony asked them why they had come to talk to such a foolish man? He had reason to say that -- they saw before them a man who wore a skin, who refused to bathe, who lived on bread and water. They were Greek, the worlds most admired civilization, and Anthony was Egyptian, a member of a conquered nation. They were philosophers, educated in languages and rhetoric. Anthony had not even attended school as a boy and he needed an interpreter to speak to them. In their eyes, he would have seemed very foolish. But the Greek philosophers had heard the stories of Anthony. They had heard how disciples came from all over to learn from him, how his intercession had brought about miraculous healings, how his words comforted the suffering. They assured him that they had come to him because he was a wise man. Anthony guessed what they wanted. They lived by words and arguments. They wanted to hear his words and his arguments on the truth of Christianity and the value of ascetism. But he refused to play their game. He told them that if they truly thought him wise, If you think me wise, become what I am, for we ought to imitate the good. Had I gone to you, I should have imitated you, but, since you have come to me, become what I am, for I am a Christian. Anthonys whole life was not one of observing, but of becoming. When his parents died when he was eighteen or twenty he inherited their three hundred acres of land and the responsibility for a young sister. One day in church, he heard read Matthew 19:21: If you wish to be perfect, go, sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me. Not content to sit still and meditate and reflect on Jesus words he walked out the door of the church right away and gave away all his property except what he and his sister needed to live on. On hearing Matthew 6:34, So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Todays trouble is enough for today, he gave away everything else, entrusted his sister to a convent, and went outside the village to live a life of praying, fasting, and manual labor. It wasnt enough to listen to words, he had to become what Jesus said. Every time he heard of a holy person he would travel to see that person. But he wasnt looking for words of wisdom, he was looking to become. So if he admired a persons constancy in prayer or courtesy or patience, he would imitate it. Then he would return home. Anthony went on to tell the Greek philosophers that their arguments would never be as strong as faith. He pointed out that all rhetoric, all arguments, no matter how complex, how well-founded, were created by human beings. But faith was created by God. If they wanted to follow the greatest ideal, they should follow their faith. Anthony knew how difficult this was. Throughout his life he argued and literally wrestled with the devil. His first temptations to leave his ascetic life were arguments we would find hard to resist -- anxiety about his sister, longings for his relatives, thoughts of how he could have used his property for good purposes, desire for power and money. When Anthony was able to resist him, the devil then tried flattery, telling Anthony how powerful Anthony was to beat him. Anthony relied on Jesus name to rid himself of the devil. It wasnt the last time, though. One time, his bout with the devil left him so beaten, his friends thought he was dead and carried him to church. Anthony had a hard time accepting this. After one particular difficult struggle, he saw a light appearing in the tomb he lived in. Knowing it was God, Anthony called out, Where were you when I needed you? God answered, I was here. I was watching your struggle. Because you didnt give in, I will stay with you and protect you forever. With that kind of assurance and approval from God, many people would have settled in, content with where they were. But Anthonys reaction was to get up and look for the next challenge -- moving out into the desert. Anthony always told those who came to visit him that the key to the ascetic life was perseverance, not to think proudly, Weve lived an ascetic life for a long time but treat each day as if it were the beginning. To many, perseverance is simply not giving up, hanging in there. But to Anthony perseverance meant waking up each day with the same zeal as the first day. It wasnt enough that he had given up all his property one day. What was he going to do the next day? Once he had survived close to town, he moved into the tombs a little farther away. After that he moved out into the desert. No one had braved the desert before. He lived sealed in a room for twenty years, while his friends provided bread. People came to talk to him, to be healed by him, but he refused to come out. Finally they broke the door down. Anthony emerged, not angry, but calm. Some who spoke to him were healed physically, many were comforted by his words, and others stayed to learn from him. Those who stayed formed what we think of as the first monastic community, though it is not what we would think of religious life today. All the monks lived separately, coming together only for worship and to hear Anthony speak. But after awhile, too many people were coming to seek Anthony out. He became afraid that he would get too proud or that people would worship him instead of God. So he took off in the middle of the night, thinking to go to a different part of Egypt where he was unknown. Then he heard a voice telling him that the only way to be alone was to go into the desert. He found some Saracens who took him deep into the desert to a mountain oasis. They fed him until his friends found him again. Anthony died when he was one hundred and five years old. A life of solitude, fasting, and manual labor in the service of God had left him a healthy, vigorous man until very late in life. And he never stopped challenging himself to go one step beyond in his faith. Saint Athanasius, who knew Anthony and wrote his biography, said, Anthony was not known for his writings nor for his worldly wisdom, nor for any art, but simply for his reverence toward God. We may wonder nowadays at what we can learn from someone who lived in the desert, wore skins, ate bread, and slept on the ground. We may wonder how we can become him. We can become Anthony by living his life of radical faith and complete commitment to God. In His Footsteps: Fast for one day, if possible, as Anthony did, eating only bread and only after the sun sets. Pray as you do that God will show you how dependent you are on God for your strength. READINGS FROM THE NEW AMERICAN BIBLE: READING 1, Hebrews 4:12-16 12 The word of God is something alive and active: it cuts more incisively than any two-edged sword: it can seek out the place where soul is divided from spirit, or joints from marrow; it can pass judgement on secret emotions and thoughts. 13 No created thing is hidden from him; everything is uncovered and stretched fully open to the eyes of the one to whom we must give account of ourselves. 14 Since in Jesus, the Son of God, we have the supreme high priest who has gone through to the highest heaven, we must hold firm to our profession of faith. 15 For the high priest we have is not incapable of feeling our weaknesses with us, but has been put to the test in exactly the same way as ourselves, apart from sin. 16 Let us, then, have no fear in approaching the throne of grace to receive mercy and to find grace when we are in need of help. RESPONSORIAL PSALM, Psalms 19:8, 9, 10, 15 8 The precepts of Yahweh are honest, joy for the heart; the commandment of Yahweh is pure, light for the eyes. 9 The fear of Yahweh is pure, lasting for ever; the judgements of Yahweh are true, upright, every one, 10 more desirable than gold, even than the finest gold; his words are sweeter than honey, that drips from the comb. GOSPEL, Mark 2:13-17 13 He went out again to the shore of the lake; and all the people came to him, and he taught them. 14 As he was walking along he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office, and he said to him, Follow me. And he got up and followed him. 15 When Jesus was at dinner in his house, a number of tax collectors and sinners were also sitting at table with Jesus and his disciples; for there were many of them among his followers. 16 When the scribes of the Pharisee party saw him eating with sinners and tax collectors, they said to his disciples, Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners? 17 When Jesus heard this he said to them, It is not the healthy who need the doctor, but the sick. I came to call not the upright, but sinners. REFLECTIONS: Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam (To the Greater Glory of God) OPENING PRAYER: Father of love, hear our prayers. Help us to know your will and to do it with courage and faith. 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 Hebrews 4:12-16 (Through Faith We Can Attain Gods Rest - continued, Our Confidence is Based on Christs Priesthood Hebrews 4, 12-13. The word of God, which the text speaks about, probably refers to Revelation taken as a whole, particularly Sacred Scripture; but it may also refer to he Logos or Word, the second person of the Holy Trinity. The word of God is presented as an expression of Gods power: it is that active word (Genesis 1:3ff; Psalm 33:9) which creates everything out of nothing. In the Wisdom books we find this word personified (Sirach 42:15; 43:26; Wisdom 9:1; 18:15; Psalm 148:1-5). But this living and active word of God is also to be seen in the New Testament(Galatians 3:8, 22) and in its full and perfect form in Christ himself (John 1:1; Revelation 9:13). Gods word is also very much at work in Revelation: In the sacred books the Father who is in heaven comes lovingly to meet his children, and talks to them. And such is the force and power of the Word of God that it serves the Church as her support and vigor, and the children of the Church as strength for their faith, food for the soul, and a pure and lasting fount of spiritual life (Vatican II, Dei Verbum, 21). Gods word is consoling and life-giving, but it also inspires fear in those who try to ignore it. The word of his truth is hotter and brighter than the sun, and pierces the very depths of hearts and minds (St Justin, Dialogue with Trypho, 121, 2). The depths of a persons heart, his deepest thoughts, attitudes and intentions, lie open to Gods all-seeing eye. What a person does or thinks is expressed in his actions, but one can never be sure of what motivates his actions. That, however, is never hidden from God (St. Thomas, Commentary on Heb. 4, 2). The last judgment, which is a hidden backdrop to these words of the sacred text, calls us to present conversion. The Apostle of God wrote this not only for his immediate] readers but also for us. It behooves us therefore always to keep that divine judgment before our minds, and to be full of fear and trembling and to keep Gods commandments faithfully and be ever hopeful of that rest promised us which we shall attain in Christ (Theodoret of Cyrus, Interpretatio Ep. ad Haebreos, ad loc.). Hebrews 4, 14-16. The text now reverts to its main theme (cf. 2:17), that is, the priesthood of Christ. It highlights the dignity of the new high priest, who has passed through the heavens; and His mercy, too, for He sympathizes with our weaknesses. We have, therefore, every reason to approach Him with confidence. The believers were at that time in a storm of temptation; that is why the Apostle is consoling them, saying that our High Priest not only knows, as God, the weaknesses of our nature: as man, He has also experienced the sufferings that affect us, although He was free from sin. Since He knows our weaknesses so well, He can give us the help we need, and when He comes to judge us, He will take that weakness into account in His sentence (Interpretatio Ep. Ad Haebreos, ad loc.). We should respond to the Lords goodness by staying true to our profession of faith. The confession or profession of faith referred to here is not simply an external declaration: external confession is necessary but there must also be commitment and a spirit of fidelity. A Christian needs to live up to all the demands of his calling; he should be single-minded and free from doubts. Hebrews 4, 15. If we should some time find ourselves sorely tempted by our enemies, it will greatly help us to remember that we have on our side a high priest who is most compassionate, for He chose to experience all kinds of temptation (St. Pius V Catechism, IV, 15, 14). In order to understand and help a sinner to get over his falls and cope with temptation, one does not oneself need to have experience of being tempted; in fact, only one who does not sin knows the full force of temptation, because the sinner gives in prior to resisting to the end. Christ never yielded to temptation. He therefore experienced much more than we do (because we are often defeated by temptation) the full rigor and violence of those temptations which He chose to undergo as man at particular points in His life. Our Lord, then, allowed Himself to be tempted, in order to set us an example and prevent us from ever losing confidence in our ability to resist temptation with the help of grace (cf. notes on Matthew 4:1-11 and paragraph). There is no man, St. Jerome comments, who can resist all tests except Heho, made in our likeness, has experienced everything but sin (Comm. In Ioannam, II, 46). Christs sinlessness, often affirmed in Sacred Scripture (Romans 8 :3; 2 Corinthians 5:21; John 8 :46; 1 Peter 1:19; 2:21-24), follows logically from His being God and from His human integrity and holiness. At the same time Christs weakness, which He chose to experience out of love for us, is a kind of invitation from God to pray for strength to resist sin. Let us adore Christ who emptied Himself to assume the condition of a slave. He was tempted in every way that we are, but did not sin. Let us turn in prayer to Him, saying, You took on our human weakness. Be the eyes of the blind, the strength of the weak, the friend of the lonely (Liturgy of the Hours, Christmas Day, Evening Prayer I). Hebrews 4, 16. The throne is the symbol of Christs authority; He is King of the living and the dead. But here it speaks of a throne of grace: through the salvation worked by Christ, the compassionate Priest and Intercessor, Gods throne has become a judgment seat from which mercy flows. Christ has initiated for mankind a time of forgiveness and sanctification in which He does not yet manifest His position as Sovereign Judge. Christs priesthood did not cease to operate with His death; it continues in Heaven, where He forever pleads on our behalf, and therefore we should have confident recourse to Him. What security should be ours in considering the mercy of the Lord! He has but to cry for redress, and I, the Ever-Merciful, will listen to him (Exodus 22:27). It is an invitation, a promise that He will not fail to fulfill. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, and we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. The enemies of our sanctification will be rendered powerless if the mercy of God goes before us. And if through our own fault and human weakness we should fall, the Lord comes to our aid and raises us up (St. J. Escriva, Christ Is Passing By, 7). ON THE GOSPEL: Mark 2:13-17 (The Calling of Matthew) In yesterday’s Gospel, we have seen the first conflict which arose concerning the forgiveness of sins (Mk 2, 1-12). In today’s Gospel we meditate on the second conflict which arose when Jesus sat at table with the sinners (Mk 2, 13-17). In the years 70’s, the time when Mark wrote, in the communities there was a conflict between Christians who had been converted from Paganism and those from Judaism. Those from Judaism found great difficult to enter into the house of converted Pagans and to sit with them around the same table (cf. Acts 10, 28; 11, 3). In describing how Jesus faces this conflict, Mark orientates the community to solve the problem. Jesus taught, and the people were happy to listen to him. Jesus goes out again to go near the sea. People arrive and he begins to teach them. He transmits the Word of God. In Mark’s Gospel, the beginning of the activity of Jesus is characterized by much teaching and much acceptance on the part of the people (Mk 1, 14.21.38-39; 2, 2.13), in spite of the conflicts with religious authority. What did Jesus teach? Jesus proclaimed the Good News of God (Mk 1, 14). He spoke about God, but he spoke in a new way, different. He spoke starting from his experience, of the experience which he himself had of God and of Life. Jesus lived in God. And surely he had touched the heart of the people who liked to listen to him (Mk 1, 22.27). God, instead of being a severe Jew who threatens from far, at a distance, with punishment and hell, becomes once again, a friendly presence, a Good News for the people. Jesus calls a sinner to be a disciple and invites him to eat in his house. Jesus calls Levi, a tax collector, and he, immediately, leaves everything and follows Jesus. He begins to be part of the group of the disciples. Immediately, the text says literally: While Jesus was at table in his house. Some think that in his house means the house of Levi. But the most probable translation is that it was a question of the house of Jesus. It is Jesus who invites all to eat in his house: sinners and tax collectors, together with the disciples. Jesus has come not for the just, but for sinners. This gesture or act of Jesus causes the religious authority to get very angry. It was forbidden to sit at table with tax collectors and sinners, because to sit at table with someone meant that he was considered a brother! Instead of speaking directly with Jesus, the Scribes of the Pharisees speak with the disciples: How is it that he eats and drinks together with tax collectors and sinners? Jesus responds: “It is not the healthy who need the doctor, but the sick. I came to call not the upright, but sinners! As before with the disciples (Mk 1, 38), now also, it is the conscience of his mission which helps Jesus to find the response and to indicate the way for the proclamation of the Good News of Jesus. Mark 2, 14. St. Mark and St. Luke (5:27-32) both call him Levi; the First Gospel, on the other hand, calls him Matthew (Matthew 9:9-13); but they are all referring to the same person. All three accounts describe the same event. Later on, St Mark and St. Luke, when giving the list of Apostles (Mark 3:13-19; Luke 6:12-16), include Matthew, not Levi. The Fathers identify Matthew with Levi. Besides it was quite common for Jews to have two names: Jacob-Israel, Simon-Peter, Saul-Paul, Joseph-Caiaphas, John-Mark... Frequently, the name and surname were connected with some significant change in the life and mission of the person concerned. Did Jesus saving intervention in this Apostles life lead to a change of name? The Gospel does not tell us. Levi-Matthew, as a publican or tax collector (Matthew 9:9-13), was sitting at the tax office, a special place where one went to pay tribute. Publicans were tax collectors appointed by the Romans. It was, therefore, an occupation hated and despised by the people; but it was also a much-coveted position because it was an easy way to become prosperous. Matthew leaves everything behind when Jesus calls him. He immediately responds to his vocation, because Jesus gives him the grace to accept his calling. Jesus is the basis of our confidence in being able to change, provided we cooperate with His grace, no matter how unworthy our previous conduct may have been. And He is also the source of the confidence we need in order to be apostolic--helping others to be converted and seek holiness of life. Because He is the Son of God He is able to raise up children of God even from stones (cf. Matthew 3:9). Cf. note on Matthew 9:9. Mark 2, 17. The scribes and Pharisees reproach the disciples, and Jesus replies with a popular proverb: Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. He is the doctor of souls, come to cure sinners of their spiritual ailments. Our Lord calls everyone, His redemptive mission extends to everyone; He affirms this on other occasions, using parables such as that of the marriage feast (Matthew 22:1-14; Luke 14:16-24). How, then, can we explain the restriction He seems to place here by saying that He has not come to call the righteous? It is not really a restriction. Jesus uses the opportunity to reproach the scribes and Pharisees for their pride: they consider themselves just, and their reliance on their apparent virtue prevents them from hearing the call to conversion; they think they can be saved by their own efforts (cf. John 9:41). This explains the proverb Jesus quotes; certainly His preaching makes it quite clear that no one is good but God alone (Mark 10:18) and that everyone must have recourse to the mercy and forgiveness of God in order to be saved. In other words, mankind is not divided into two--the just and the unjust. We are all sinners, as St. Paul confirms: all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). Precisely because of this, Christ came to call all of us; He justifies those who respond to His call. Our Lords words should also move us to pray humbly and confidently for people who seem to want to continue living in sin. As St. Teresa beseeched God: Ah, how hard a thing am I asking of Thee, my true God! I ask Thee to love one who loves Thee not, to open to one who has not called upon Thee, to give health to one who prefers to be sick and who even goes about in search of sickness. Thou sayest, my Lord, that Thou comest to seek sinners; these, Lord, are the true sinners. Look not upon our blindness, my God, but upon all the blood that was shed for us by Thy Son. Let Thy mercy shine out amid such tremendous wickedness. Behold, Lord, we are the works of Thy hands (Exclamations of the Soul to God, n. 8). The Fathers of the Church see this calling by Jesus as an invitation to repentance and penance. St. John Chrysostom (Hom. on St. Matthew, 30:3), for example, explains the phrase by putting these words in Jesus mouth: I am not come that they should continue sinners but that they should change and become better. FINAL PRAYERS: May the words of my mouth always find favour, and the whispering of my heart, in your presence, Yahweh, my rock, my redeemer. (Ps 19,14) Lord Jesus, we ask you now to help us remain with you always, to be close to you with all the ardor of our hearts, to take up joyfully the mission you entrust to us, and that is to continue your presence and spread the good news of your resurrection. -- Carlo Maria Martini, S.J. in Hearts on Fire 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, 16 Jan 2015 22:56:46 +0000
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