Catholic Caucus: Daily Mass Readings, 09-06-14

Blessed Bertrand

Feast Day: September 6
Born: 1195 :: Died: 1230

Bertrand was born in the diocese of Nimes in southern France. At that time France was troubled by religious wars and there was great confusion about the Church's teaching. But Bertrand's parents managed to live a peaceful life and they taught the true faith to their son. He lived a good and holy life, praying constantly even as a young person.

He became a priest at a very early age and joined the missionaries to bring back to the Church the Albigenses who had no respect for authority or life, burned churches and convents and believed in false teachings.

St. Dominic and Blessed Bertrand met as missionaries and became very close friends, traveling, praying and fasting together, offering sufferings for the good of others.

Bertrand saw the holiness of St. Dominic, and the miracles he performed and told people about them. This was God's invitation for him to begin a very important ministry. When he was just 20 years old, he and five other men joined Dominic to form a new religious congregation, the Order of Preachers. They are also called "Dominicans".

Blessed Bertrand was sent to Paris to start the order there. Then St. Dominic called asked Bertrand to go to Bologna and start the order there. Bertrand obeyed happily.

Meanwhile, the Order of Preachers was growing. They preached the Gospel message in the towns and countryside. They wanted people to know and love Jesus.

Bertrand was made the superior of the province in southern France. He lived a simple life and spent his days preaching and helping people grow closer to God. He died while giving a sermon to some at the convent of Notre Dame in 1230. Many miracles still take place when people pray to Blessed Bertrand.

Luke
	English: Douay-Rheims	Latin: Vulgata Clementina	Greek NT: Byzantine/Majority Text (2000)
	Luke 6
1.	AND it came to pass on the second first sabbath, that as he went through the corn fields, his disciples plucked the ears, and did eat, rubbing them in their hands.	Factum est autem in sabbato secundo, primo, cum transiret per sata, vellebant discipuli ejus spicas, et manducabant confricantes manibus.	εγενετο δε εν σαββατω δευτεροπρωτω διαπορευεσθαι αυτον δια των σποριμων και ετιλλον οι μαθηται αυτου τους σταχυας και ησθιον ψωχοντες ταις χερσιν
2.	And some of the Pharisees said to them: Why do you that which is not lawful on the sabbath days?	Quidam autem pharisæorum, dicebant illis : Quid facitis quod non licet in sabbatis ?	τινες δε των φαρισαιων ειπον αυτοις τι ποιειτε ο ουκ εξεστιν ποιειν εν τοις σαββασιν
3.	And Jesus answering them, said: Have you not read so much as this, what David did, when himself was hungry, and they that were with him:	Et respondens Jesus ad eos, dixit : Nec hoc legistis quod fecit David, cum esurisset ipse, et qui cum illo erant ?	και αποκριθεις προς αυτους ειπεν ο ιησους ουδε τουτο ανεγνωτε ο εποιησεν δαυιδ οποτε επεινασεν αυτος και οι μετ αυτου οντες
4.	How he went into the house of God, and took and ate the bread of proposition, and gave to them that were with him, which is not lawful to eat but only for the priests?	quomodo intravit in domum Dei, et panes propositionis sumpsit, et manducavit, et dedit his qui cum ipso erant : quos non licet manducare nisi tantum sacerdotibus ?	ως εισηλθεν εις τον οικον του θεου και τους αρτους της προθεσεως ελαβεν και εφαγεν και εδωκεν και τοις μετ αυτου ους ουκ εξεστιν φαγειν ει μη μονους τους ιερεις
5.	And he said to them: The Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.	Et dicebat illis : Quia dominus est Filius hominis etiam sabbati.	και ελεγεν αυτοις οτι κυριος εστιν ο υιος του ανθρωπου και του σαββατου

1. And it came to pass on the second sabbath after the first, that he went through the corn fields; and his disciples plucked the ears of corn, and did eat, rubbing them in their hands.
2. And certain of the Pharisees said to them, Why do you that which is not lawful to do on the sabbath days?
3. And Jesus answering them said, Have you not read so much as this, what David did, when himself was an hungered, and they which were with him;
4. How he went into the house of God, and did take and eat the show-bread, and gave also to them that were with him; which it is not lawful to eat but for the Priests alone?
5. And he said to them, That the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.

AMBROSE; Not only in the form of expression but in His very practice and mode of action, did the Lord begin to absolve man from the observance of the old law. Hence it is said, And it came to pass that he went through the corn fields, &c.

THEOPHYL; For His disciples having no opportunity for eating because the multitudes thronged so, were naturally hungry, but by plucking the ears of corn they relieved their hunger, which is a mark of a strict habit of life, not seeking for prepared meats, but mere simple food.

THEOPHYL. Now He says, on the second sabbath after the first, because the Jews called every feast a sabbath. For sabbath means rest. Frequently therefore was there feasting at the preparation, and they called the preparation a sabbath because of the feast, and hence they gave to the principal sabbath the name of the second-first, as being the second in consequence of the festival of the day preceding.

CHRYS. For there was a double feast; one on the principal sabbath, another on the next solemn day succeeding, which was also called a sabbath.

ISIDORE; He says, On the second-first, because it was the second day of the Passover, but the first of unleavened bread. Having killed the passover, on the very next day they kept the feast of unleavened bread. And it is plain that this was so from the fact, that the Apostles plucked ears of corn and ate them, for at that time the ears are weighed down by the fruit.

EPIPH. On the sabbath day then they were seen passing through the corn fields, and eating the corn, showing that the bonds of the sabbath were loosened, when the great Sabbath was come in Christ, Who made us to rest from the working of our iniquities.

CYRIL; But the Pharisees and Scribes not knowing the Holy Scriptures agreed together to find fault with Christ's disciples, as it follows, And certain of the Pharisees said to them, Why do you, &c. Tell me now, when a table is set before you on the sabbath day; do you not break bread? Why then do you blame others?

THEOPHYL; But some say that these things were objected to our Lord Himself; they might indeed have been objected by different persons, both to our Lord Himself and His disciples, but to whomsoever the objection is made, it chiefly refers to Him.

AMBROSE; But the Lord proves the defenders of the law to be ignorant of what belongs to the law, bringing the example of David; as it follows, And Jesus answering said to them, Have you not read so much as this, &c.

CYRIL; As if He said, Whereas the law of Moses expressly says, Give a righteous judgment and you shall not respect persons in judgment, how now do you blame My disciples, who even to this day extol David as a saint and prophet, though he kept not the commandment of Moses?

CHRYS. And mark, that whenever the Lord speaks for His servants, (i.e. His disciples,) He brings forward servants, as for example David and the Priests; but when for Himself; He introduces His Father; as in that place, My Father works hitherto, and I work.

THEOPHYL. But he reproves them in another way, as it is added, And he said to them, that the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath. As if he said, I am the Lord of the sabbath, as being He who ordained it, and as the Legislator I have power to loose the sabbath; for Christ was called the Son of man, who being the Son of God yet condescended in a miraculous manner to be made and called for man's sake the Son of man.

CHRYS. But Mark declares that He uttered this of our common nature, for He said, The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath. It is therefore more fitting that the sabbath should be subject to man, than that man should bow his neck to the sabbath.

AMBROSE; But herein is a great mystery. For the field is the whole world, the corn is the abundant harvest of the saints in the seed of the human race, the ears of corn are the fruits of the Church, which the Apostles shaking off by their works fed upon, nourishing themselves with our increase, and by their mighty miracles, as it were out of the bodily husks, plucking forth the fruits of the mind to the light of faith.

THEOPHYL; For they bruise the ears in their hands, because when they wish to bring others over into the body of Christ, they mortify their old man with its acts drawing them away from worldly thoughts.

AMBROSE; Now the Jews thought this unlawful on the Sabbath, but Christ by the gift of new grace represented hereby the rest of the law, the work of grace. Wonderfully has He called it the second-first sabbath, not the first-second, because that was loosed from the law which was first, and this is made first which was ordained second. It is therefore called the second sabbath according to number, the first according to the grace of the wolf. For that sabbath is better where there is no penalty, than that where there is a penalty prescribed. Or this perhaps was first in the foreknowledge of wisdom, and second in the sanction of the ordinance.

Now in David escaping with his companions, there was a foreshadowing of Christ in the law, who with His Apostles escaped the prince of the world. But how was it that the Observer and Defender of the law Himself both eat the bread, and gave it to those that were with Him, which no one was allowed to eat but the priests, except that He might show by that figure that the priests' bread was to come over to the use of the people, or that we ought to imitate the priests' life, or that all the children of the Church are priests, for we are anointed into a holy priesthood, offering ourselves a spiritual sacrifice to God. But if the sabbath was made for men, and the benefit of men required that a man when hungry (having been long without the fruits of the earth) should forsake the abstinence of the old fast, the law is surely not broken but fulfilled.

Catena Aurea Luke 6

Day 268 - What is meant by the principle "labor before capital"? // What does the Church say about globalization?

What is meant by the principle "labor before capital"?

The Church has always taught "the principle of the priority of labor over capital" (Pope John Paul II, LE). Man owns money or capital as a thing. Labor, in contrast, is inseparable from the person who performs it. That is why the basic needs of laborers have priority over the interests of capital. The owners of capital and investors have legitimate interests, too, which must be protected. It is a serious injustice, however, when entrepreneurs and investors try to increase their own profits at the expense of the basic rights of their laborers and employees.

What does the Church say about globalization?

Globalization is in itself neither good nor bad; it is, rather, the description of a reality that must be shaped. "Originating within economically developed countries, this process by its nature has spread to include all economies. It has been the principal driving force behind the emergence from underdevelopment of whole regions, and in itself it represents a great opportunity. Nevertheless, without the guidance of charity in truth, this global force could cause unprecedented damage and create new divisions within the human family" (Pope Benedict XVI, CiV). When we buy inexpensive jeans, we should not be indifferent to the conditions in which they were manufactured, to the question of whether or not the workers received a just wage. Everyone's fortune matters. No one's poverty should leave us indifferent. On the political level, there is a need for "a true world political authority" (Pope Benedict XVI, CiV [citing Bl. John XXIII, Encyclical Pacem in terris]) to help reach a compromise between the people in the rich nations and those in underdeveloped countries. Far too often the latter are still excluded from the advantages of economic globalization and have only burdens to bear. (YOUCAT questions 445-446)

Catholic Culture

Daily Readings for:September 06, 2014
(Readings on USCCB website)

Collect: God of might, giver of every good gift, put into our hearts the love of your name, so that, by deepening our sense of reverence, and, by your watchful care, keep safe what you have nurtured. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

RECIPES

o Nameday Sugar Cookies

ACTIVITIES

o Attitudes toward Miracles

PRAYERS

o September Devotion: Our Lady of Sorrows

· Ordinary Time: September 6th

· Saturday of the Twenty-Second Week of Ordinary Time

Old Calendar: St. Eleutherius, priest (Hist)

Mary suffered because of her intimate union with Christ, on account of our sins, and on behalf of her spiritual children. Devotion to the Mother of Sorrows and the Seven Sorrows of Mary encourages us to flee from sin and inflames our desire to do penance and make reparation so as to console the Hearts of Jesus and Mary.

— The Catholic Faith, John O'Connell

Historically today is the feast of St. Eleutherius, abbot of St. Mark's monastery near Spoleto in the Italian province of Perugia, he was the friend of St. Gregory who mentions him several times in his Dialogues.

St. Eleutherius
A wonderful simplicity and spirit of compunction were the distinguishing virtues of this holy sixth century abbot. He was elected to preside Saint Mark’s monastery near Spoleto, and favored by God with the gift of miracles.

A child who was confided to the monastery, to be educated there after having been delivered by the Abbot from a diabolical possession, appeared to everyone to be entirely exempt from further molestations. And Saint Eleutherius chanced to say one day: “Since the child is among the servants of God, the devil dares not approach him.” These words seemed to savor of vanity, and thereupon the devil again entered into and tormented the child. The Abbot humbly confessed his fault and undertook a fast, in which the entire community joined, until the child was again freed from the tyranny of the fiend.

Saint Gregory the Great, finding himself unable to fast on Holy Saturday on account of extreme weakness, called for this Saint, who was in Rome at the time, to offer up prayers to God for him that he might join the faithful in the solemn practice of that day’s penances. Saint Eleutherius prayed with many tears, and the Pope, when they came out of the church, felt suddenly strengthened and able to accomplish the fast as he desired. The same Pope, remarking that the Abbot was said to have raised a dead man to life, added: “He was so simple a man, one of such great penance, that we must not doubt that Almighty God granted much to his tears and his humility!” After resigning his abbacy, Saint Eleutherius died in Rome in Saint Andrew’s monastery, about the year 585.

—Excerpted from Vie des Saints pour tous les jours de l’année, by Abbé L. Jaud (Mame: Tours, 1950); Little Pictorial Lives of the Saints, a compilation based on Butler’s Lives of the Saints and other sources by John Gilmary Shea (Benziger Brothers: New York, 1894).

The Word Among Us

Meditation: Luke 6:1-5

Common of the Blessed Virgin Mary

The Son of Man is lord of the sabbath. (Luke 6:5)

Did you know the sabbath was God’s idea? It started when he commanded Moses to “remember to keep holy the sabbath day” (Exodus 20:8). Israel was to cease from her labors and rest on the sabbath, just as God rested after six days of creation. Unfortunately, instead of a time of rest, sabbath observation evolved for some people into a set of rules focusing on what they could and could not do. God’s desire to give his people rest took second place to strict observances.

But Jesus understood what the Sabbath was supposed to be. In today’s Gospel reading, he tells some of the Pharisees, “The Son of Man is Lord of the sabbath” (Luke 6:5.) In another place, he tells them, “The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath” (Mark 2:27). God wants to bless us on the sabbath day and help us draw closer to him, not put us into a box.

As the Catechism states, “With compassion, Christ declares the sabbath for doing good rather than harm, for saving life rather than killing. The sabbath is the day of the Lord of mercies and a day to honor God” (CCC, 2173).

How do you think about Sundays? Apart from “having” to go to Mass, do you see it as a golden opportunity to worship God and let him shower his blessings on you? That’s what the sabbath—and the Eucharist in particular—is meant to be all about. It’s true that at Mass, you can find the grace and wisdom you need to deal with the worries and challenges that have been weighing on your heart all week. But it’s also true that you can experience the sweetness and refreshment of receiving Jesus’ Body and Blood in the presence of your brothers and sisters in Christ.

So be expectant tomorrow! During Mass, believe that you are one with the body of Christ. Tell yourself that you are a beloved son or daughter of God. Then when you go to Communion, ask Jesus to reveal himself to you in the way you need him most. Let him bless you and refresh you for the week ahead!

“Jesus, I long to worship you and to receive the spiritual and physical refreshment you want to give me tomorrow. Thank you for the gift of your sabbath rest!”

1 Corinthians 4:6-15; Psalm 145:17-21

Regnum Christi

The Heart of the Matter

U. S. A. | SPIRITUAL LIFE | SPIRITUALITY

September 6, 2014. Saturday of the Twenty-second Week in Ordinary Time

Luke 6: 1-5

While Jesus was going through a field of grain on a sabbath, his disciples were picking the heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands, and eating them. Some Pharisees said, "Why are you doing what is unlawful on the sabbath?" Jesus said to them in reply, "Have you not read what David did when he and those who were with him were hungry? How he went into the house of God, took the bread of offering, which only the priests could lawfully eat, ate of it, and shared it with his companions." Then he said to them, "The Son of Man is lord of the sabbath."

Introductory Prayer: Lord, I worship you because I came from you. I long for you because you made me for yourself. I praise you as my ever-present helper. I call on you as my powerful protector. ( Universal Prayer of Pope Clement XI )

Petition: Lord, purify my heart.

1. The Pharisees’ Heart: Sometimes a short phrase reveals so much about what is happening inside a person’s mind and heart. One can get a glimpse into Hitler’s corrupt heart with his famous phrase: “I do not see why man should not be just as cruel as nature.” His actions were of the cruelest. Thirty-plus years ago, when John Paul II was elected pope, the simple phrase, “Be not afraid”, indicated the attitude he would have for the following 26 fearless years of his papacy. In this passage the Pharisees say so much about the state of their own hearts by saying so little: “Why are you doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?” The Pharisees are all caught up in the externals of the law and miss the big picture that Christ came to bring: complete love for God and heroic love of neighbor. As Christians we are not called to have a heart that calculates the cost, but rather one filled with unconditional love.

2. A King’s Heart: Another character in this passage is King David, whom Christ hails for having chosen to feed his starving army over scrupulously following some norms of the law regarding eating. From the story of David and Goliath, we learn that David had a brave heart from his youth and that he trusted in God over his own limitations. Young David’s heart was honest and humble: King Saul was trying to kill him, yet when David had the chance to kill Saul in a cave, he relented and later made amends with Saul. David’s heart was weak when he fell in love with Uriah’s wife and then had Uriah killed. Nevertheless David’s heart did not grow cold from this sin; rather, he repented deeply: “Have mercy on me, God in your goodness blot out my offenses, wash away all my guilt, from my sin cleanse me” (Psalm 51). With time and patience David formed a remarkable heart that loved God and neighbor.

3. The Sacred Heart: What love the Heart of Christ shows his apostles in this passage. Imagine the scene: Christ walking through a ripe field of grain with his closest friends, laughing, joking, talking about the town they just visited, speaking of their dreams, and also snacking on the ripe harvest. Christ’s heart was so immersed with love for these men who would be the pillars of the Church and who would bring his message to the whole world. How far his thoughts were from the littleness and pettiness of the empty details of the worn out laws! His law is the new law of love: “Behold the heart that has so loved men.” Christ looks at us the same way he looked at his apostles in the field – as friends who are called to be the pillars of the new evangelization, as apostles who are to bring his words to the end of the earth. He needs us to say “yes” to this call!

Conversation with Christ: Lord Jesus, thank you for the unconditional love of your heart. I want to repay your love for me by loving you back with the same intensity. I know I always fall short of this, but you know my heart, and you know I want to be close to you until the day I meet you face-to-face in eternity.

Resolution: With a repentant heart, I will go to confession today.

By Matthew Reinhardt, Consecrated Member of Regnum Christi

One Bread, One Body

Language: English | Español

All Issues > Volume 30, Issue 5

<< Saturday, September 6, 2014 >>

1 Corinthians 4:6-15
View Readings

Psalm 145:17-21

Luke 6:1-5
Similar Reflections

"I CAN'T GET NO SATISFACTION"

"At the moment you are completely satisfied." —1 Corinthians 4:8

In the USA, it has been legal for decades to murder millions of babies each year. Our country is struggling to protect the definition of marriage as the union of a man and a woman. The Catholic Church has been publicly racked by scandal and is suffering a serious shortage of priests. The body of Christ has been fractured by centuries of disunity. The name of God is routinely taken in vain on the airwaves. Sexual sin is flaunted. "That is the present state of affairs" (1 Cor 4:13).

Why do we tolerate this? Don't we know who we are? We are disciples of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. In Him we have immeasurable power (Eph 1:19). In Jesus we can conquer evil (Rm 8:37; 1 Jn 5:5) and attack the gates of hell, which cannot withstand us (Mt 16:18).

Are you "satisfied"? (1 Cor 4:8) Are you fighting hard for the faith or hardly fighting? (Jude 3) Are you a spiritual sluggard or a spiritual slugger? Repent deeply. Put out into the deep (Lk 5:4) in your discipleship. Fast more intensely. Pray without ceasing (1 Thes 5:17) and without losing heart (Lk 18:1). Throw yourself into your marriage and parenting. Teach your children the faith (Prv 22:6). Have more children and raise them to be committed disciples of Jesus. Reach new levels in forgiveness. Bear insults patiently (1 Cor 4:12); refuse to tolerate evil (Rm 12:9). Do not grow lazy and satisfied, for you serve Almighty God (Rm 12:11). "I am writing you in this way not to shame you but to admonish you" (1 Cor 4:14).

Prayer: Jesus, why do I settle for defeat when You are my Captain? Replace my lethargy with zeal and fervor for You.

Promise: "The Son of Man is Lord even of the sabbath." —Lk 6:5

Praise: Roger prays daily for those who have continually caused him distress at his job.

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Meditation: Luke 6:1-5

Marriage=One Man and One Woman 'Til Death Do Us Part

One Bread, One Body

"I CAN'T GET NO SATISFACTION"

By the Babe Unborn