Catholic Caucus: Daily Mass Readings, 02-11-04, Optional, Our Lady of Lourdes

Reading I
1 Kgs 10:1-10

The queen of Sheba, having heard of Solomon's fame,
came to test him with subtle questions.
She arrived in Jerusalem with a very numerous retinue,
and with camels bearing spices,
a large amount of gold, and precious stones.
She came to Solomon and questioned him on every subject
in which she was interested.
King Solomon explained everything she asked about,
and there remained nothing hidden from him
that he could not explain to her.

When the queen of Sheba witnessed Solomon's great wisdom,
the palace he had built, the food at his table,
the seating of his ministers, the attendance and garb of his waiters,
his banquet service,
and the burnt offerings he offered in the temple of the LORD,
she was breathless.
"The report I heard in my country
about your deeds and your wisdom is true," she told the king.
"Though I did not believe the report until I came and saw with my own eyes,
I have discovered that they were not telling me the half.
Your wisdom and prosperity surpass the report I heard.
Blessed are your men, blessed these servants of yours,
who stand before you always and listen to your wisdom.
Blessed be the LORD, your God,
whom it has pleased to place you on the throne of Israel.
In his enduring love for Israel,
the LORD has made you king to carry out judgment and justice."
Then she gave the king one hundred and twenty gold talents,
a very large quantity of spices, and precious stones.
Never again did anyone bring such an abundance of spices
as the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 37:5-6, 30-31, 39-40

R (30a) The mouth of the just murmurs wisdom.
Commit to the LORD your way;
trust in him, and he will act.
He will make justice dawn for you like the light;
bright as the noonday shall be your vindication.
R The mouth of the just murmurs wisdom.
The mouth of the just man tells of wisdom
and his tongue utters what is right.
The law of his God is in his heart,
and his steps do not falter.
R The mouth of the just murmurs wisdom.
The salvation of the just is from the LORD;
he is their refuge in time of distress.
And the LORD helps them and delivers them;
he delivers them from the wicked and saves them,
because they take refuge in him.
R The mouth of the just murmurs wisdom.

Gospel
Mk 7:14-23

Jesus summoned the crowd again and said to them,
"Hear me, all of you, and understand.
Nothing that enters one from outside can defile that person;
but the things that come out from within are what defile."

When he got home away from the crowd
his disciples questioned him about the parable.
He said to them,
"Are even you likewise without understanding?
Do you not realize that everything
that goes into a person from outside cannot defile,
since it enters not the heart but the stomach
and passes out into the latrine?"
(Thus he declared all foods clean.)
"But what comes out of the man, that is what defiles him.
From within the man, from his heart,
come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder,
adultery, greed, malice, deceit,
licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly.
All these evils come from within and they defile."

From: Mark 7:14-23

What Defiles a Man

[14] And He (Jesus) called the people to meet Him, and said to them,
"Hear Me, all of you, and understand: [15] there is nothing outside a
man which by going into him can defile him; but the things that come
out of a man are what defile him." [17] And when He had entered the
house, and left the people, His disciples asked Him about the parable.
[18] And He said to them, "Then are you also without understanding? Do
you not see that whatever goes into a man from outside cannot defile
him, [19] since it enters, not his heart but his stomach, and so passes
on?" (Thus He declared all foods clean.) [20] And He said, "What comes
out of a man is what defiles a man. [21] For from within, out of the
heart of man, come evil thoughts, fornication, theft, murder, adultery,
[22] coveting, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride,
foolishness. [23] All these evil things come from within, and they
defile a man.

Commentary:

15. Some important codexes add here: "If any man has ears to hear, let
him hear," which would form verse 16.

18-19. We know from Tradition that St. Mark was the interpreter of St.
Peter and that, in writing his Gospel under the inspiration of the Holy
Spirit, he gathered up the Roman catechesis of the head of the Apostles.

The vision which St. Peter had in Joppa (Acts 10:10-16) showed him the
full depth of what Jesus teaches here about food. When he returns to
Jerusalem, St. Peter himself tells us this in his report on the
conversion of Cornelius: "I remembered the word of the Lord" (Acts
11:16). The now non-obligatory character of such prescriptions laid
down by God in the Old Testament (cf. Leviticus 11) would have been
something St. Peter included in his preaching. For interpretation of
this text cf. also note on Matthew 15:10-20.

[Note on Matthew 15:10-20 states:

10-20. Our Lord proclaims the true meaning of moral precepts and makes
it clear that man has to answer to God for his actions. The scribes'
mistake consisted in concentrating on externals and not giving pride of
place to interior purity of heart. For example they saw prayer in
terms of exact recital of fixed forms of words rather than as a raising
of the soul to God (cf. Matthew 6:5-6). The same thing happened in the
case of dietary regulations.

Jesus avails Himself of the particular cases dealt with in this passage
to teach us where to find the true center of moral action: it lies in
man's personal decision, good or evil, a decision which is shaped in
his heart and which then is expressed in the form of action. For
example, the sins which our Lord lists are sins committed in the human
heart prior to being acted out. In the Sermon on the Mount He already
said this: "Every one who looks at a woman lustfully has already
committed adultery with her in his heart" (Matthew 5:28).]

20-23. "In order to help us understand divine things, Scripture uses
the _expression `heart' in its full meaning, as the summary and source,
_expression and ultimate basis, of one's thoughts, words and actions"
([St] J. Escriva, "Christ Is Passing By", 164).

The goodness or malice, the moral quality, of our actions does not
depend on their spontaneous, instinctive character. The Lord Himself
tells us that sinful actions can come from the human heart.

We can understand how this can happen if we realize that, after
original sin, man "was changed for the worse" in both body and soul and
was, therefore, prone to evil (cf. Council of Trent, "De Peccato
Originali"). Our Lord here restores morality in all its purity and
intensity.

Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text
taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries
made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of
Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock,
Co. Dublin, Ireland.

The Worod Among Us

Wednesday, February 11, 2004

Meditation
Mark 7:14-23

Jesus didn’t pull any punches when he answered the Pharisees’ challenge about his disciples’ apparent disregard for their ancestors’ traditions. Along with their involved list of unclean foods they were forbidden to eat, some Jews also had elaborate rituals of hand washing before meals. It must have been shocking to hear Jesus say that it wasn’t what went into someone’s body—as in eating with unwashed hands—but what came out that brought about defilement (Mark 7:15).

Apparently, Jesus’ words were so radical that even his disciples didn’t understand (Mark 7:20-23). So Jesus spelled it out for them by naming some of the ugly tendencies that reside in the human heart. He was using the physical act of washing and eating as an analogy for the spiritual defilement that comes from our own hearts.

Doesn’t this list of impure motives turn your stomach? It’s bad enough that we live in a world that is antagonistic toward God. Now Jesus is telling us that we have to deal with the sinful desires that rise up in our own hearts as well. After all, it’s one thing to face down what the external world preaches, but it gets even more difficult when we find the world living within us.

Who can save us from these inner drives? Thanks be to God, we have a Savior and Redeemer in Jesus Christ! Today’s psalm tells us that “the salvation of the righteous is from the Lord; he is their refuge in the time of trouble” (Psalm 37:39).

Brothers and sisters, we all need healing and salvation from Jesus. We all need to be saved from the world, and we also need to be healed of the sin in our hearts. Our very nature—not just our environment—needs the power of Jesus’ cross. So let’s make the choice right now to deal with these drives by submitting them to Jesus. Every little step we take will unlock a torrent of divine grace. Every choice to turn to Jesus will give us spiritual strength to keep fighting the good fight of faith. Let’s keep it up so that we can all become a witness to the goodness and mercy of God.

“Lord, thank you for your cleansing blood, which purifies me and makes me into a new creation. Help me to live as your disciple bringing goodness and mercy and love to all I come in contact with.”

One Bread, One Body

All Issues > Volume 20, Number 2

<< Wednesday, February 11, 2004 >>

Our Lady of Lourdes

1 Kings 10:1-10

Psalm 37:5-6, 30-31, 39-40

Mark 7:14-23

View Readings

RECOGNIZE TRUE RICHES OR LOSE EVERYTHING

“When the queen of Sheba witnessed Solomon’s great wisdom, the palace he had built, the food at his table, the seating of his ministers, the attendance and garb of his waiters, his banquet service, and the holocausts he offered in the temple of the Lord, she was breathless.” —1 Kings 10:4-5

Christians are the wealthiest people in the world (see Eph 1:18). Yet what does that mean? Some Christians have been given a heavy responsibility of stewardship. The Lord has given them extensive material wealth to be distributed according to His specific directions. Such was the breathtaking wealth of Solomon.

All Christians have been given an awesome inheritance in the “unfathomable riches of Christ” (Eph 3:8). These are interior riches. Some of these riches are to be “rich in mercy” (Eph 2:4), love, compassion, justice, and many other virtues, charisms, and graces of the Holy Spirit.

Frequently, spiritual riches are not recognized as valuable. Because of this sinful failure, some people gain the whole world and lose their immortal souls (see Lk 9:25). However, other people lose their lives for love of Jesus and paradoxically gain their lives (Lk 9:24) and the ultimate riches of eternal life.

All Christians are rich (Rv 3:9). But what are true riches? Which riches can you take with you after death? How can we store up riches in heaven? (Mt 6:20) Everything is at stake on how we live the answer to these questions. Be rich in God’s eyes.

Prayer: Father, make me wise in the area of wealth so that I may accept Your salvation on Your terms.

Promise: Jesus “summoned the crowd again and said to them, ‘Hear Me, all of you, and try to understand.’ ” —Mk 7:14

Praise: Our Lady of Lourdes led St. Bernadette through acts of faith, trials, and miracles toward a holiness that led countless others on the same path.

The Homily of the Day

Homily of the Day

Title:	He Has Breathed His Own Breath into You!
Author:	Monsignor Dennis Clark, Ph.D.
Date:	Wednesday, February 11, 2004

1 Kgs 10:1-10 / Mk 7:14-23

The range of foolish and evil things of which we human beings are never ceases to astonish. We destroy our bodies and sometimes our brains with controlled substances, even though we know better. We make stupid choices that we know in advance will lead to trouble. We devastate our marriages and friendships by repeating the same mistakes again and again. How often we’ve heard it said, quite correctly, “she’s married the same man again.”

And that’s just the stupid part. There’s also the downright evil side of us, the lying, cheating, stealing and killing, the willingness to wage war for no good reason, the willingness to tolerate an unjust society, the willingness to turn our backs on the poor and the suffering. All in all, between stupidity and downright evil, this human nature of ours seems a fairly nasty piece of work.

Yet, there’s something more to us than all that, and today’s first reading from Genesis gives us a hint of it. After God formed Adam’s body from the clay, the story says that he breathed into Adam’s nostrils HIS OWN BREATH. In a word, there is more to us than sin and foolishness. There is something of God’s own life in us, something holy and precious that should give us hope. We are made for something more, something very special, and God will never stop trying to help that emerge onto the center stage of our lives.

So never despair. Never give up. He has breathed his own breath into you, and he doesn’t intend that it be wasted!

Questions and Answers

Marian Apparitions
Question from Adam on 06-23-2003:

Dear Mr. Bunson, What are some of the approved Marian apparitions? Adam

Answer by Matthew Bunson on 06-25-2003:

The Blessed Virgin Mary has appeared throughout the world and throughout history. The seven best-known Marian apparitions are:

Banneux, near Liège, Belgium, in 1933. She appeared to an 11-year-old peasant girl, Mariette Beco, in a garden behind the family cottage in Banneux. She called herself the Virgin of the Poor, and has since been venerated as Our Lady of the Poor, the Sick, and the Indifferent.

Beauraing, Belgium, in 1932 and 1933. She appeared to five children in the garden of a convent school in Beauraing.

Fátima, Portugal, in 1917; one of the most famous of apparitions. Our Lady appeared to three children (Lucia dos Santos, 10, who is now a Carmelite nun; Francisco Marto, 9, who died in 1919; and his sister Jacinta, 7, who died in 1920; Jacinta and Francisco were beatified by Pope John Paul II in 2000) in a field called Cova da Iria near Fátima.

Guadalupe, Mexico, in 1531. Our Lady appeared to an Indian, Juan Diego (declared Blessed in 1990 and canonized in 2002), on Tepeyac hill outside of Mexico City.

La Salette, France, in 1846. Mary appeared as a sorrowing and weeping figure to two peasant children, Melanie Matthieu, 15, and Maximin Giraud, 11, at La Salette.

Lourdes, France, in 1858. Mary, identifying herself as the Immaculate Conception, appeared 18 times to 14-year-old Bernadette Soubirous (canonized in 1933) at the grotto of Massabielle near Lourdes.

Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal, France, in 1830. Mary appeared three times to Catherine Labouré (canonized in 1947) in the chapel of the motherhouse of the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul, Rue de Bac, Paris.

Finally, mention should be made of the alleged apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary to six young people of Medjugorje, Bosnia-Herzegovina. The apparitions were first reported in June 1981, initially in the neighboring hillside field, subsequently in the village church of St. James and even distant places. In 1987, the bishops of Yugoslavia declared: “On the basis of research conducted so far, one cannot affirm that supernatural apparitions are involved” at Medjugorje. Currently, the events remain under on-going investigation by the Holy See to determine their authenticity. Nevertheless, the site of Medjugorje remains a popular destination for Catholic pilgrims from Europe and the United States.

Wednesday February 11, 2004 Fifth Week in Ordinary Time

Reading (1 Kings 10:1-10) Gospel (St. Mark 7:14-23)

In the Gospel today, as Our Lord speaks to us about what defiles a person, we recall that from the Old Testament there were all kinds of ways that a person would become ritually impure: just simply touching something that was impure, eating something that was unclean, doing anything that would cause a person to become ritually impure. All of these things were external. There certainly were the commandments that God had given to the people, and their sins would also cause ritual impurity. But most of the things that the people would have to purify themselves for before they could enter the temple to worship God had to do with things that were external to themselves. For instance, if someone touched a dead body, if someone touched a pig, if someone touched a leper, even if you had a clay pot and it touched something that was unclean then everything in the pot became unclean, and if you drank or ate what was in the pot then you became unclean. That was the way they were looking at things. It all had to do with the idea of making sure that one was pure and proper before the Lord, and to be able to understand that there were lots of different ways that a person could be affected.

Well, what the Lord was doing was letting us know that what happened in the Old Testament with all of these laws regarding the ritual purity really was pointing, not to the externals that cause these things in the Old Testament, but to the internal realities. That is, if you just look at some of those points you see that if we are dead on the inside, if we are in the state of mortal sin, we are ritually impure; if we touch something internally, that is, if we choose it, if we accept something that is inappropriate, something that is unclean, we become unclean, we become ritually impure. And so what in the Old Testament was external, Our Lord is now pointing to the reality that it is what is internal that makes us impure, that those things simply are external expressions of the internal realities.

That is the way we would just naturally understand the way things operate. The body expresses the person; so when you make a choice, it is expressed in and through the body. Well, in this case, now it is to be able to say, “We can look beyond just the externals and we can look at what is on the inside.” And so the Lord gives a whole list of some of the things that are in the heart, all of the points that He talks about: the evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly. All of these things, He tells us, make us unclean. So it is what is in the heart, it is the dispositions of the heart, it is the choices that we make. Those choices, of course, are going to find an external expression. But, nonetheless, it is the choice itself – not merely the expression of the choice – that makes us unclean. And in order to be ritually pure, to be able to come before the Lord to worship Him, we must go to confession. So we need to be very careful.

For instance, we can look at the situation in the first reading. We have two people whose motives were not good. We have the Queen of Sheba who comes to Solomon. She brings all kinds of gold and spices and garments and so on, and she plays this rather manipulative game because she came for a purpose. Solomon, being the wisest man in the world, had a major weakness. We know that he had hundreds of wives and hundreds more concubines. The Queen of Sheba was wiser than Solomon because she came for the purpose of going home with a baby and she succeeded in her purpose. So you have Solomon who is being arrogant and showing off, and, of course, desiring something that he should not. And you have the Queen of Sheba, who comes with an impure motive, hiding it under things that look good, that is, asking questions about a variety of things so that she can get answers to bring them home and buttering him up with all kinds of niceties and so on. But the reality is that when she went home she had exactly what she wanted. And so we see how it is what is in the heart, not necessarily just the external actions. In this case, the external adultery would certainly be that, and it certainly made both of them impure in that way; but it was the intention. She came with a bad intention. He is acting with a bad intention. Both of them, of course, wind up falling into sin. But the impurity was already there and that is the thing we have to understand.

It is what is in the heart. We need to be humble. We need to be charitable. We need to be pure. We need all the virtues that we have to be striving for. And it is not just the externals. That is how it has to start – we need to be able to stop doing whatever unfortunate actions we have ourselves involved in – but then we need to continue on and we need to eradicate these things from our hearts; not just from our actions, but from our hearts, to change the disposition so that the virtue is true. Not just that we are putting up a nice façade and making it look good, but that we truly are holy. That is what the Lord is looking for: someone who is not just exteriorly clean, but someone who is interiorly purified through prayer, through sacrifice, through the sufferings of life, through union with Christ. That is what He is pointing to: a deeper reality of holiness, not an external purity, but an internal purity, a purity of the heart, for persons who are truly filled with virtue.

FEAST OF THE DAY

On February 11, 1858, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to St.
Bernadette Soubirous beginning a series of apparitions that have
served to rejuvenate the faith of many and bring about the
conversion and healing of thousands.

In her apparitions to Bernadette, Mary appeared as a humble girl
with a rosary over her arm and roses at her feet. She spoke with
Bernadette as an equal and treated Bernadette with dignity. In one of
the apparitions to St. Bernadette, Mary revealed that "I am the
Immaculate Conception." This came only a few years after the
dogma of the Immaculate Conception had been proclaimed by Pope
Pius IX in the Constitution Ineffabilis Deus and served to bring more
awareness to the dogma throughout the world.

Soon after Bernadette began receiving the visions of Mary, word of
them spread throughout the surrounding area and eventually to the
whole world. After interviews with Bernadette, the proving of many
miracles at the site of the apparition and interviews with various other
witnesses, the Church confirmed the authenticity of the visions.
Many miracles have been confirmed at the shrine that was built to
Mary on the spot where she appeared to Bernadette. The feast of
Our Lady of Lourdes was declared to be a world wide feast day in
1907.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

I am the Immaculate Conception -Revelation of the Virgin Mary to St.
Bernadette at Lourdes.

TODAY IN HISTORY

731 Pope St Gregory II dies
824 Pope St Paschal I dies
1858 In Lourdes, France, 14-year-old Bernadette Soubirous
experienced her first vision of the Virgin Mary. By July 16th of this
year, she had experienced 18 such visions.
1929 Vatican City made an enclave of Rome

TODAY'S TIDBIT

In 1992, Pope John Paul II designated February 11 as World Day of
the Sick. This is a time for "prayer and sharing, of offering one's
suffering for the good of the Church and of reminding us to see in our
sick brother and sister the face of Christ who, by suffering, dying and
rising, achieved the salvation of humankind." (Quote from Letter
Instituting the World Day of the Sick, 13 May 1992, 3)

INTENTION FOR THE DAY

On this World Day of the sick, please pray for all the sick and for all care
providers.

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