Posted on 07/02/2017 10:08:03 PM PDT by Salvation
KEYWORDS: catholic; jn20; ordinarytime; prayer; saints;
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From: Ephesians 2:19-22
Reconciliation of Jews and Gentiles in Christ (Continuation)
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Commentary:
11-22. What is the significance of the calling of the Gentiles to the Church?
Their previous situation, separated from Christ (vv. 11-12), has undergone radical
change as a result of the Redemption Christ achieved on the Cross: that action
has, on the one hand, brought the two peoples together (made peace between
them: vv. 13-15) and, on the other, it has reconciled them with God, whose ene-
my each was (vv. 16-18). The Redemption has given rise to the Church, which
St Paul here describes as a holy temple built on the foundation of the apostles
and prophets (vv. 19-22).
19. After describing the Redemption wrought by Christ and applied in the Church
by the Holy Spirit, St Paul arrives at this conclusion: the Gentiles are no longer
strangers; they belong to Christ’s Church.
In the new Israel (the Church) privileges based on race, culture or nationality
cease to apply. No baptized person, be he Jew or Greek, slave or free man, can
be regarded as an outsider or stranger in the new people of God. All have proper
citizenship papers. The Apostle explains this by using two images: The Church
is the city of saints, and God’s family or household (cf. 1 Tim 3:15). The two ima-
ges are complementary: everyone has a family, and everyone is a citizen. In the
family context, the members are united by paternal, filial and fraternal links, and
love presides; family life has a special privacy. But as a citizen one is acting in a
public capacity; public affairs and business must be conducted in a manner that
is in keeping with laws designed to ensure that justice is respected. The Church
has some of the characteristics of a family, and some of those of a polity (cf. St
Thomas Aquinas, “Commentary on Eph, ad loc.”).
The head of the Church is Christ himself, and in his Church are assembled the
children of God, who are to live as brothers and sisters, united by love. Grace,
faith, hope, charity and the action of the Holy Spirit are invisible realities which
forge the links bringing together all the members of the Church, which is more-
over something very visible, ruled by the successor of Peter and by the other
bishops (cf. Vatican II, “Lumen Gentium”, 8), and governed by laws—divine and
ecclesiastical—which are to be obeyed.
20-22. To better explain the Church, the Apostle links the image of “the house-
hold of God” to that of God’s temple and “building” (cf. 1 Cor 3:9). Up to this he
has spoken of the Church mainly as the body of Christ (v. 16). This image and
that of a building are connected: our Lord said, “Destroy this temple and in three
days I will raise it up” (Jn 2:19), and St John goes on to explain that he was
speaking “of the temple of his body” (Jn 2:21). If the physical body of Christ is
the true temple of God because Christ is the Son of God, the Church can also
be seen as God’s true temple, because it is the mystical body of Christ.
The Church is the temple of God. “Jesus Christ is, then, the foundation stone of
the new temple of God. Rejected, discarded, left to one side, and done to death
—then as now—the Father made him and continues to make him the firm immo-
vable basis of the new work of building. This he does through his glorious resur-
rection [...].
“The new temple, Christ’s body, which is spiritual and invisible, is constructed by
each and every baptized person on the living cornerstone, Christ, to the degree
that they adhere to him and ‘grow’ in him towards ‘the fullness of Christ’. In this
temple and by means of it, the ‘dwelling place of God in the Spirit’, he is glorified,
by virtue of the ‘holy priesthood’ which offers spiritual sacrifices (1 Pet 2:5), and
his kingdom is established in the world.
“The apex of the new temple reaches into heaven, while, on earth, Christ, the
cornerstone, sustains it by means of the foundation he himself has chosen and
laid down—’the apostles and prophets’ (Eph 2: 20) and their successors, that is,
in the first place, the college of bishops and the ‘rock’, Peter (Mt 16:18)” (Bl.
John Paul II, “Homily at Orcasitas, Madrid”, 3 November 1981).
Christ Jesus is the stone: this indicates his strength; and he is the cornerstone
because in him the two peoples, Jews and Gentiles, are joined together (cf. St
Thomas Aquinas, “Commentary on Eph, ad loc”.). The Church is founded on this
strong, stable bedrock; this cornerstone is what gives it its solidity. St Augustine
expresses his faith in the perennial endurance of the Church in these words:
“The Church will shake if its foundation shakes, but can Christ shake? As long
as Christ does not shake, so shall the Church never weaken until the end of
time” (”Enarrationes in Psalmos”, 103).
Every faithful Christian, every living stone of this temple of God, must stay fixed
on the solid cornerstone of Christ by cooperating in his or her own sanctification.
The Church grows “when Christ is, after a manner, built into the souls of men
and grows in them, and when souls also are built into Christ and grow in him;
so that on this earth of our exile a great temple is daily in course of building, in
which the divine majesty receives due and acceptable worship” (Pius XII, “Me-
diator Dei”, 6).
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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.
From: John 20:24-29
Jesus Appears to the Disciples (Continuation)
[26] Eight days later, His disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was
with them. The doors were shut, but Jesus came and stood among them, and
said, “Peace be with you.” [27] Then He said to Thomas, “Put your finger here,
and see My hands; and put out your hand, and place it in My side; do not be
faithless, but believing.” [28] Thomas answered Him, “My Lord and my God!”
[29] Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen Me?
Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.”
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Commentary:
24-28. Thomas’ doubting moves our Lord to give him special proof that His risen
body is quite real. By so doing He bolsters the faith of those who would later
on find faith in Him. “Surely you do not think”, Pope St. Gregory the Great com-
ments, “that is was a pure accident that the chosen disciple was missing; who
on his return was told about the appearance and on hearing about it doubted;
doubting, so that he might touch and believe by touching? It was not an acci-
dent; God arranged that it should happen. His clemency acted in this wonderful
way so that through the doubting disciple touching the wounds in His Master’s
body, our own wounds of incredulity might be healed. [...] And so the disciple,
doubting and touching, was changed into a witness of the truth of the Resurrec-
tion” (”In Evangelia Homiliae”, 26, 7).
Thomas’ reply is not simply an exclamation: it is an assertion, an admirable act
of faith in the divinity of Christ: “My Lord and my God!” These words are an eja-
culatory prayer often used by Christians, especially as an act of faith in the real
presence of Christ in the Blessed Eucharist.
29. Pope St. Gregory the Great explains these words of our Lord as follows:
“By St. Paul saying ‘faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of
things unseen’ (Hebrews 11:1), it becomes clear that faith has to do with things
which are not seen, for those which are seen are no longer the object of faith, but
rather of experience. Well then, why is Thomas told, when he saw and touched,
‘Because you have seen, you have believed?’ Because he saw one thing, and be-
lieved another. It is certain that mortal man cannot see divinity; therefore, he saw
the man and recognized Him as God, saying, ‘My Lord and my God.’ In conclu-
sion: seeing, he believed, because contemplating that real man he exclaimed
that He was God, whom he could not see” (”In Evangelia Homiliae”, 27, 8).
Like everyone else Thomas needed the grace of God to believe, but in addition to
this grace he was given an exceptional proof; his faith would have had more merit
had he accepted the testimony of the other Apostles. Revealed truths are normal-
ly transmitted by word, by the testimony of other people who, sent by Christ and
aided by the Holy Spirit, preach the deposit of faith (cf. Mark 16:15-16). “So faith
comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes from the preaching of Christ”
(Romans 10:17). The preaching of the Gospel, therefore, carries with it sufficient
guarantees of credibility, and by accepting that preaching man “offers the full sub-
mission of his intellect and will to God who reveals, willingly assenting to the reve-
lation given” (Vatican II, “Dei Verbum”, 5).
“What follows pleases us greatly: ‘Blessed are those who have not seen and yet
believe.’ For undoubtedly it is we who are meant, who confess with our soul Him
whom we have not seen in the flesh. It refers to us, provided we live in accordance
with the faith, for only he truly believes who practices what the believes” (”In Evan-
gelia Homiliae”, 26, 9).
*********************************************************************************************
Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.
Pray for Pope Francis.
Liturgical Colour: Red.
First reading |
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Ephesians 2:19-22 © |
Responsorial Psalm |
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Psalm 116(117):1-2 © |
Gospel Acclamation | Jn20:29 |
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Gospel | John 20:24-29 © |
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Is This Bishop Right about the Rosary Conquering Boko Haram? [Catholic Caucus]
Why Boko Haram and ISIS Target Women
Report reveals scale of Boko Haram violence inflicted on Nigerian Catholics
Military evacuating girls, women rescued from Boko Haram
Echos of Lepanto Nigerian bishop says rosary will bring down Boko Harm
After vision of Christ, Nigerian bishop says rosary will bring down Boko Haram (Catholic Caucus)
Nigerian Bishop Says Christ Showed Him How to Beat Islamic Terror Group
We thank you, God our Father, for those who have responded to your call to priestly ministry.
Accept this prayer we offer on their behalf: Fill your priests with the sure knowledge of your love.
Open their hearts to the power and consolation of the Holy Spirit.
Lead them to new depths of union with your Son.
Increase in them profound faith in the Sacraments they celebrate as they nourish, strengthen and heal us.
Lord Jesus Christ, grant that these, your priests, may inspire us to strive for holiness by the power of their example, as men of prayer who ponder your word and follow your will.
O Mary, Mother of Christ and our mother, guard with your maternal care these chosen ones, so dear to the Heart of your Son.
Intercede for our priests, that offering the Sacrifice of your Son, they may be conformed more each day to the image of your Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Saint John Vianney, universal patron of priests, pray for us and our priests
This icon shows Jesus Christ, our eternal high priest.
The gold pelican over His heart represents self-sacrifice.
The border contains an altar and grapevines, representing the Mass, and icons of Melchizedek and St. Jean-Baptiste Vianney.
Melchizedek: king of righteousness (left icon) was priest and king of Jerusalem. He blessed Abraham and has been considered an ideal priest-king.
St. Jean-Baptiste Vianney is the patron saint of parish priests.
1. Sign of the Cross: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
2. The Apostles Creed: I BELIEVE in God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell; on the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty; from there He shall come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
3. The Lord's Prayer: OUR Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.
4. (3) Hail Mary: HAIL Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now, and in the hour of our death. Amen. (Three times)
5. Glory Be: GLORY be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
6. Fatima Prayer: Oh, my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, lead all souls to heaven, especially those in most need of your mercy.
Announce each mystery, then say 1 Our Father, 10 Hail Marys, 1 Glory Be and 1 Fatima prayer. Repeat the process with each mystery.
End with the Hail Holy Queen:
Hail, Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy, our life, our sweetness and our hope! To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve! To thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this vale of tears! Turn then, most gracious advocate, thine eyes of mercy towards us; and after this, our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus!
O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary! Pray for us, O holy Mother of God, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Final step -- The Sign of the Cross
The Mysteries of the Rosary By tradition, Catholics meditate on these Mysteries during prayers of the Rosary. The biblical references follow each of the Mysteries below.
The Joyful Mysteries
(Mondays and Saturdays)
1. The Annunciation (Luke 1:26-38) [Spiritual fruit - Humility]
2. The Visitation (Luke 1: 39-56) [Spiritual fruit - Love of Neighbor]
3. The Nativity (Luke 2:1-20) [Spiritual fruit - Poverty of Spirit]
4. The Presentation (Luke 2:21-38) [Spiritual fruit - Purity of mind & body]
5. The Finding of Jesus in the Temple (Luke 2:41-52) [Spiritual fruit - Obedience ]
St. Michael the Archangel
~ PRAYER ~
St. Michael, the Archangel, defend us in battle
Be our protection against the wickedness
and snares of the devil;
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray,
and do thou, O Prince of the heavenly host,
by the power of God,
Cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits
who prowl through the world seeking the ruin of souls.
Amen
+
A Prayer for PriestsO my God, help those priests who are faithful to remain faithful; to those who are falling, stretch forth Your Divine Hand that they may grasp it as their support. In the great ocean of Your mercy, lift those poor unfortunate ones who have fallen, that being engulfed therein they may receive the grace to return to Your Great Loving Heart. Amen. Precious Blood of Jesus, protect them!
The Most Precious Blood of Jesus
July is traditionally associated with the Precious Blood of Our Lord. It may be customary to celebrate the votive Mass of the Precious Blood on July 1.
The extraordinary importance of the saving Blood of Christ has ensured a central place for its memorial in the celebration of this cultic mystery: at the centre of the Eucharistic assembly, in which the Church raises up to God in thanksgiving "the cup of blessing" (1 Cor 10, 16; cf Ps 115-116, 13) and offers it to the faithful as a "real communion with the Blood of Christ" (1 Cor 10, 16); and throughout the Liturgical Year. The Church celebrates the saving Blood of Christ not only on the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ, but also on many other occasions, such that the cultic remembrance of the Blood of our redemption (cf 1 Pt 1, 18) pervades the entire Liturgical Year. Hence, at Vespers during Christmastide, the Church, addressing Christ, sings: "Nos quoque, qui sancto tuo redempti sumus sanguine, ob diem natalis tui hymnum novum concinimus." In the Paschal Triduum, the redemptive significance and efficacy of the Blood of Christ is continuously recalled in adoration. During the adoration of the Cross on Good Friday the Church sings the hymn: "Mite corpus perforatur, sanguis unde profluit; terra, pontus, astra, mundus quo lavanturflumine", and again on Easter Sunday, "Cuius corpus sanctissimum in ara crucis torridum, sed et cruorem roesum gustando, Deo vivimus (194).
Catholic Word of the Day: LITANY OF THE PRECIOUS BLOOD, 09-25-12
ST. GASPAR: Founder of the Society of the Precious Blood
Mass in the Cathedral of the Most Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ (London, 9/18)
Devotion to the Drops of Blood Lost by our Lord Jesus Christ on His Way to Calvary (Prayer/Devotion)
Chaplet of the Most Precious Blood
Catholic Word of the Day: PRECIOUS BLOOD, 12-03-11
The Traditional Feast of the Most Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ (Catholic Caucus)
Devotion to the Precious Blood
DOCTRINE OF THE BLOOD OF CHRIST
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,And More on the Precious Blood
Litany of the Most Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ
NOTHING IS MORE POTENT AGAINST EVIL THAN PLEADING THE PRECIOUS BLOOD OF CHRIST
Litany of the Most Precious Blood of Jesus
«Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature» (Mc 16,15)
Put your finger into the mark of the nails, Jesus said to Thomas. You were looking for me when I was not here; take advantage of it now that I am here. I know what you are wanting to do in spite of your silence. Even before you tell me, I know what you are thinking. I heard what you said and, even though unseen, I was beside you, close to your doubts, and made you wait so that I could witness your impatience all the better without revealing myself . Put your finger into the mark of the nails; put your hand into my side; and do not be unbelieving, but believe.
Then Thomas touched him. All his defiance fell away and, filled with sincere faith and all the love owing to God, he cried out: My Lord and my God! And the Lord said to him: You have believed because you have seen me. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe! Thomas, take the news of my resurrection to those who have not seen. Lead the whole world to belief, not at the evidence of its eyes but at your word. Go through peoples and pagan cities. Teach them to the carry the cross on their shoulders, not weapons... Tell them they are called by grace and, as for you, consider their faith: truly, happy are those who have not seen and yet believe!
Such is the army the Lord has raised; these are the children of the baptismal pool, the works of grace, the harvest of the Spirit. They have followed Christ without having seen him; they sought and they believed. They recognised with the eyes of faith, not of the body. They have not placed their fingers in the marks of the nails but have been fastened to his cross and embraced his sufferings. They have not seen the Lord's side but, through grace, have been made one with his members and have made their own these words of the Lord: Happy are those who have not seen and have believed!
St. Jean Marie Baptiste Vianney, the Cure of Ars
|
The Angel of the Lord declared to Mary:
Behold the handmaid of the Lord: Be it done unto me according to Thy word.
And the Word was made Flesh: And dwelt among us.
Amen. "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you" (Lk 1:28) "Blessed are you among women, |
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