Wednesday of the Nineteenth week in Ordinary Time Book of Ezekiel 9:1-7.10:18-22. Then he cried loud for me to hear: Come, you scourges of the city! With that I saw six men coming from the direction of the upper gate which faces the north, each with a destroying weapon in his hand. In their midst was a man dressed in linen, with a writers case at his waist. They entered and stood beside the bronze altar. Then he called to the man dressed in linen with the writers case at his waist, saying to him: Pass through the city (through Jerusalem) and mark an X on the foreheads of those who moan and groan over all the abominations that are practiced within it. To the others I heard him say: Pass through the city after him and strike! Do not look on them with pity nor show any mercy! Old men, youths and maidens, women and children--wipe them out! But do not touch any marked with the X; begin at my sanctuary. So they began with the men (the elders) who were in front of the temple. Defile the temple, he said to them, and fill the courts with the slain; then go out and strike in the city. Then the glory of the LORD left the threshold of the temple and rested upon the cherubim. These lifted their wings, and I saw them rise from the earth, the wheels rising along with them. They stood at the entrance of the eastern gate of the LORDS house, and the glory of the God of Israel was up above them. these were the living creatures I had seen beneath the God of Israel by the river Chebar, whom I now recognized to be cherubim. Each ohad four faces and four wings; something like human hands were under their wings. Their faces looked just like those I had seen by the river Chebar; each one went straight forward. Psalms 113(112):1-2.3-4.5-6. 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 is enthroned on high and looks upon the heavens and the earth below? Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 18:15-20. Jesus said to his disciples: If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have won over your brother. If he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, so that every fact may be established on the testimony of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell the church. If he refuses to listen even to the church, then treat him as you would a Gentile or a tax collector. Amen, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again, (amen,) I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything for which they are to pray, it shall be granted to them by my heavenly Father. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. Commentary of the day Catechism of the Catholic Church § 1444, 1449, 1484 Whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven In imparting to his apostles his own power to forgive sins the Lord also gives them the authority to reconcile sinners with the Church. This ecclesial dimension of their task is expressed most notably in Christs solemn words to Simon Peter: I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. (Mt 16,19) The office of binding and loosing which was given to Peter was also assigned to the college of the apostles united to its head (Mt 18,18; 28,16-20)” (Vatican II LG 22)… The formula of absolution used in the Latin Church expresses the essential elements of this sacrament: the Father of mercies is the source of all forgiveness. He effects the reconciliation of sinners through the Passover of his Son and the gift of his Spirit, through the prayer and ministry of the Church: “God, the Father of mercies, through the death and the resurrection of his Son has reconciled the world to himself and sent the Holy Spirit among us for the forgiveness of sins; through the ministry of the Church may God give you pardon and peace, and I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit… Christ is at work in each of the sacraments. He personally addresses every sinner: My son, your sins are forgiven. (Mk 2,5) He is the physician tending each one of the sick who need him to cure them. (cf. Mk 2,17) He raises them up and reintegrates them into fraternal communion. Personal confession is thus the form most expressive of reconciliation with God and with the Church.
Posted on: Tue, 12 Aug 2014 15:32:25 +0000
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