Catholic Caucus: Daily Mass Readings, 10-15-03, Memorial, St Teresa of Jesus [Avila], virgin & docto

Reading I
Rom2:1-11

You, O man, are without excuse, every one of you who passes judgment.
For by the standard by which you judge another you condemn yourself,
since you, the judge, do the very same things.
We know that the judgment of God on those who do such things is true.
Do you suppose, then, you who judge those who engage in such things
and yet do them yourself,
that you will escape the judgment of God?
Or do you hold his priceless kindness, forbearance, and patience
in low esteem, unaware that the kindness of God
would lead you to repentance?
By your stubbornness and impenitent heart,
you are storing up wrath for yourself
for the day of wrath and revelation
of the just judgment of God,
who will repay everyone according to his works,
eternal life to those who seek glory, honor, and immortality
through perseverance in good works,
but wrath and fury to those who selfishly disobey the truth
and obey wickedness.
Yes, affliction and distress will come upon everyone
who does evil, Jew first and then Greek.
But there will be glory, honor, and peace for everyone
who does good, Jew first and then Greek.
There is no partiality with God.

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 62:2-3, 6-7, 9

R (13b) Lord, you give back to everyone according to his works.
Only in God is my soul at rest;
from him comes my salvation.
He only is my rock and my salvation,
my stronghold; I shall not be disturbed at all.
R Lord, you give back to everyone according to his works.
Only in God be at rest, my soul,
for from him comes my hope.
He only is my rock and my salvation,
my stronghold; I shall not be disturbed.
R Lord, you give back to everyone according to his works.
Trust in him at all times, O my people!
Pour out your hearts before him;
God is our refuge!
R Lord, you give back to everyone according to his works.

Gospel
Lk 11:42-46

The Lord said:
"Woe to you Pharisees!
You pay tithes of mint and of rue and of every garden herb,
but you pay no attention to judgment and to love for God.
These you should have done, without overlooking the others.
Woe to you Pharisees!
You love the seat of honor in synagogues
and greetings in marketplaces.
Woe to you!
You are like unseen graves over which people unknowingly walk."

Then one of the scholars of the law said to him in reply,
"Teacher, by saying this you are insulting us too."
And he said, "Woe also to you scholars of the law!
You impose on people burdens hard to carry,
but you yourselves do not lift one finger to touch them."

From: Romans 2:1-11

The Jews Also are Guilty

[1] Therefore you have no excuse, O man, whoever you are, when you
judge another; for in passing judgment upon him you condemn yourself,
because you, the judge, are doing the very same things. [2] We know
that the judgment of God rightly falls upon those who do such things.
[3] Do you suppose, 0 man, that when you judge those who do such things
and yet do them yourself, you will escape the judgment of God? [4] 0r
do you presume upon the riches of his kindness and forbearance and
patience? Do you not know that God's kindness is meant to lead you to
repentance? [5] But by your hard and impenitent heart you are storing
up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment
will be revealed. [6] For he will render to every man according to his
works: [7] to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and
honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; [8] but for those who
are factious and do not obey the truth, but obey wickedness, there will
be wrath and fury. [9] There will be tribulation and distress for every
human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, [10] but
glory and honor and peace for every one who does good, the Jew first
and also the Greek. [11] For God shows no partiality.

Commentary:

1. The Apostle now addresses the Jews to make them see that, despite
their privileged position, they too are unrighteous. He does this by
setting up an imaginary conversation with a person representing the
Jewish people, whose attitude is like that of those who "trusted in
themselves that they were righteous and despised others" (Lk 18:9). If
the pagans, who could only know God through the use of natural reason,
cannot be excused for not worshipping him and for committing sin, how
much more inexcusable is the behavior of Jews who, despite receiving
supernatural Revelation, commit the very same sins as those for which
they reproach the Gentiles. St Paul's invective against the Jews (vv.
17-24) is reminiscent of our Lord's criticism of the scribes and
Pharisees (cf. Mt 23:13-33).

2-11. These verses contain the following truths: 1) God rewards and
punishes, and therefore there is a close connection between a person's
behavior in this life (meritorious or blameworthy) and what happens to
him or her in the next life (cf. especially vv. 2, 5, 7-10). 2) God is
a just and impartial Judge; he does not look to whether a person is Jew
or Gentile but simply to how he lives. 3) The passage also tells us
when this judgment will take place (v. 5, elaborated on by v. 16).

In the course of speaking about God as rewarding the good, St Paul
describes the glorious state of the blessed in heaven ("eternal life",
"glory", "honor", "peace": vv. 7, 10) and the fact that it will last
for ever ("immortality": v. 7). He also teaches that in order to attain
this state one must persevere in good works ("patience in well-doing":
v. 7); this echoes what our Lord said: "he who endures to the end will
be saved" (Mt 10:22; cf. 24:13).

Parallel with this, St Paul speaks of how God will punish sinners
("wrath and fury": v. 8) and of the unhappy fate of those condemned to
hell ("tribulation and distress": v. 9).

The meaning of this passage becomes clearer in the light of many other
passages of Sacred Scripture and, also, of the Church's teaching about
the Judgment and when it will take place. There are two different
occasions "when everyone must appear in the presence of the Lord to
render an account of all his thoughts, words and actions [...]. The
first takes place when each of us departs this life; for then he is
instantly placed before the judgment seat of God, where all that he has
ever done shall be subjected to the most rigid scrutiny. This is called
the particular judgment. The second occurs when on the same day and in
the same place all men shall stand together before the tribunal of
their judge, that in the presence and hearing of all human beings of
all times each may know his final doom and sentence" ("St Pius V
Catechism", 1, 8, 3).

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.

From: Luke 11:42-46

The Hypocrisy of the Scribes and Pharisees (Continuation)

(Jesus said to the Pharisees,) [42] "But woe to you Pharisees! for you
tithe mint and rue and every herb, and neglect justice and the love of
God; these you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.
[43] Woe to you Pharisees! for you love the best seat in the synagogues
and salutations in the market places. [44] Woe to you! for you are like
graves which are not seen, and men walk over them without knowing it."

[45] One of the lawyers answered Him, "Teacher, in saying this You
reproach us also." [46] And He said, "Woe to you lawyers also! for you
load men with burdens hard to bear and you yourselves do not touch the
burdens with one of your fingers."

Commentary:

42. The Law of Moses laid down that the harvest had to be tithed (cf.
Leviticus 27:30-33; Deuteronomy 12:22ff; etc.) to provide for the
worship offered in the temple. Insignificant products were not subject
to this Law.

Rue is a bitter medicinal plant used by the Jews in ancient times. Did
it have to be tithed?: the Pharisees, who were so nit-picking, said
that it did.

44. According to the Old Law, anyone who touched a grave became unclean
for seven days (Num 19:16), but with the passage of time a grave could
become so overgrown that a person could walk on it without noticing.
Our Lord uses this comparison to unmask the hypocrisy of these people
He is talking to: they are very exact about very small details but they
forget their basic duty--justice and the love of God (verse 42). On
the outside they are clean but their hearts are full of malice and
rottenness (verse 39); they pretend to be just, appearances are all
that matters to them; they know that virtue is held in high regard,
therefore they strive to appear highly virtuous (verse 43). Duplicity
and deceit mark their lives.

FEAST OF THE DAY

Teresa Sanchez Cepeda Davila y Ahumada was born in Avila, in
what is now Spain, on March 28, 1515. She was the third child of a
noble Don Alonso Sanchez de Cepeda and his second wife, Doña
Beatriz, who died when Teresa was 14. Her father was a saintly and
literate man, and her mother was a pious and loving. After the death
of her mother she was sent to school under the Augustinian nuns in
Avila but left after 18 months due to illness. She remained with her
father and an uncle after leaving school, and they continued her
education.

Her uncle introduced her to the writings of St. Jerome, which instilled
in her the desire for the religious life, although she considered it a
safe route rather than a true calling. At first, when Teresa expressed
her desire to enter the convent, her father did not give her his
consent, so she left home in 1535 without telling him and entered the
Carmelite Convent of the Incarnation at Avila. On seeing this
determination her father relented, but leaving her family on those
terms was a heart-rending experience for Teresa, which she later
compared to death.

A year after taking her vows Teresa became very ill, and due to inept
medical treatment she was incapacitated for a lengthy period and
never fully recovered her health. It was during this period of illness
that she began practicing mental prayer. She was granted many
'interior locutions and visions', in which none of the 5 exterior senses
are involved. She considered herself unworthy of such favors but
God would increase his work in her when she resisted. Word of her
visions spread through Avila and troubled the people living there,
and attracted the attention of the Dominicans and Jesuits, including
St. Francis Borgia, who determined her veracity and counseled her
spiritually.

Teresa wrote an account of her experiences in an autobiography and
in her book "The Interior Castle". She also founded 12 reform
minded communities Discalced Carmelite Nuns of the Primitive Rule
and four male communities, with some assistance from St. John of
the Cross. She recounted the story of these in her "Book of
Foundations". She faced strong opposition throughout in this work
but with the help of Phillip II the Discalced Carmelite province was
approved and canonically established on June 22, 1580.

Shortly afterward on Oct. 4, 1582 she passed away. Due to the
reform of the calendar the following day was reckoned as October
15. Her body was transferred to Avila, but later conveyed to Alba,
where it is still preserved incorrupt. Her heart, showing the marks of
Transverberation, or piercing of her heart, is exposed there as well.
She was beatified in 1614, and canonized in 1622 by Pope Gregory
XV and in 1970, was the first woman to be declared a doctor of the
Church. St. Teresa is a patron saint of Spain.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

Unless you strive after virtues and practice them, you will never grow
to be more than dwarfs. -St. Theresa of Avila

TODAY IN HISTORY

1790 Mother Bernardina and Frances Dickinson found a convent of
Discalced Carmelites. It was the first Catholic convent founded in the
United States.

TODAY'S TIDBIT

Transverberation is a word that means piercing. The experience of
Teresa's transverberation is described in the twenty-ninth chapter of
her autobiography.

INTENTION FOR THE DAY

Please pray for all people buying a home.

The Word Among Us

Wednesday, October 15, 2003

Meditation
Luke 11:42-46

Imagine inviting a special guest to your house for dinner and having him insult you and all the friends you invited to join you that evening. What kind of guest would attack his host so fiercely? One thing’s for sure: You probably wouldn’t invite him back for another evening, would you?

Like a ferocious lion attacking his foes, Jesus, the Lion of Judah (Revelation 5:5), attacked not the Pharisees themselves but the attitudes that had taken up residence in some of their hearts. In interpreting the Law of Moses, some Pharisees held to an inflexible approach that ignored the call to balance justice and mercy. In response, Jesus sought to show them the spirit of the law. The Pharisees and the lawyers at the dinner were experts in the law. But Jesus wanted them to see that the kingdom of God is more about relationships than it is about rules and regulations. The challenge was not simply to tithe but to love the Lord and be just toward his people. The whole point to following God’s commands was not to prove one’s holiness, but to love God and remain true to his covenant love.

Unlike these lawyers, who Jesus said wouldn’t lift a finger to carry another’s burdens, Jesus carried all of our burdens and bore all of our afflictions on the cross. And unlike these Pharisees, who cleaned the outside of the cups but not the inside, Jesus came to cleanse us from the inside out, to purify our hearts and draw us to himself. Jesus didn’t just tell us how to act. He offered himself up as a sacrifice so that we would have the power to follow his commands.

This is the whole reason for the Incarnation! Jesus came to be with us, to be one of us, so that we could be like him and live with him forever. Every day, Jesus is with us to help carry our burdens and to flood us with divine grace. He didn’t leave us alone when he returned to the Father. He left us his Holy Spirit to be our Counselor, and he left us his body and blood in the Eucharist. That’s how much he loves us!

“Jesus, lover of my soul, I give you my heart. Thank you for taking my sin and carrying my burdens. Thank you for loving me enough to die for me. Come, Lord Jesus, and feed me with the bread of life. Nourish my soul. Quench my spiritual thirst.”

One Bread, One Body

<< Wednesday, October 15, 2003 >>

St. Teresa of Avila

Romans 2:1-11

Psalm 62

Luke 11:42-46

View Readings

TRUTH AND CONSEQUENCES

“Do you suppose...that you will escape [God’s] judgment?” —Romans 2:3

If we sin and are too stubborn to repent, we are storing up wrath for Judgment Day (Rm 2:4-6). This wrath includes fury, affliction, and distress (Rm 2:8-9). Yet to those who have repented and totally given their lives to the Lord, to “those who strive for glory, honor, and immortality by patiently doing right” (Rm 2:7), the Lord gives eternal life (Rm 2:7). Eternal life includes “glory, honor, and peace” (Rm 2:10).

Although we are so small in the universe and our time on earth is so short, our lives have astounding and everlasting consequences. Therefore, we must make the most of this moment in eternity by loving the Lord with all our hearts and thereby escaping from the prison of selfishness. “What profit does he show who gains the whole world and destroys himself in the process?” (Lk 9:25)

Let us lose our lives by giving them to Jesus. He will save our lives so that we will not lose them forever (see Lk 9:24). Jesus is our only Hope, but the only Hope we need. Let us accept Jesus as our Lord, Savior, and God on His terms. Let us choose Jesus as our Life (Jn 14:6) and the only Way to eternal life.

Prayer: Jesus, I am all Yours.

Promise: “Do you presume on His kindness and forbearance? Do you not know that God’s kindness is an invitation to you to repent?” —Rm 2:4

Praise: St. Teresa’s trust in God, her common sense, and her great capacity for work enabled her to accomplish amazing feats to build up the Church.

Homily of the Day

Homily of the Day

Title:	Greetings from Mt Olympus
Author:	Monsignor Dennis Clark, Ph.D.
Date:	Wednesday, October 15, 2003

Romans 2:1-11 / Lk 11:42-46

In today's epistle reading, St Paul could be describing any one of us. We human beings seem to have an overwhelming compulsion to judge, whatever the issue or the occasion may happen to be. As if we dwelt on the heights of Mt Olympus, we always have some judgment to offer, whether it's our business or not. And what we have to say is rarely positive.

Where does this need to judge come from? A lack of realistic self-knowledge is what makes this kind of judging others possible, but the judging itself comes straight out of ego, the need to make ourselves more by making our neighbors less. Of course, it doesn't work, because as St Paul says, "By your judgment you convict yourself, since you do the very same things."

So what's the remedy for this habit which is so persistent in so many of us? The only place to start is with getting to know ourselves a lot better, and facing up to our own sins, follies, and mistakes. There's a lifetime of work at transformation and conversion right there. No need to look outside. And as we progress, we need to learn to take delight at each milestone along the way, making no comparisons to anyone else. That's the way that God looks at us - all on our own, with no comparisons and no useless judgments.

There is one more thing that's needed, and that is to begin to think like God as we look at one another. In the place of those judgmental thoughts, one question should run through our minds over and over: How can I support you, my brothers and sisters, as you struggle to grow into all that God wants and hopes for you? That question can free us from judging forever! And it can open our hearts to joys we've never known - the joys of being builders, just like God.

Big Laws, Small Laws 10/15/2003

The other morning I was standing there in the shower when a little epiphany hit me on my soggy head. As I reached up for the shampoo bottle I noticed something my eyes had seen hundreds of times but my brain had never comprehended till that moment. There are instructions on shampoo bottles.

In This Article... Why? Er... and my point is....? When you get rid of the Big Laws...

Why?

Okay. So it was a really little epiphany. But bear with me for a moment and think about the implications of that.

You and I have been bathing and shampooing our hair for years longer than we were ever able to read. One would require a brainectomy not to know how to use shampoo. And yet, the shampoo bottle still has detailed instructions which begin with "Wet hair".

Why are these instructions there? Why would a giant shampoo corporation pay big bucks to a technical writer to write and a bottle manufacturer to design a bottle with instructions that are the equivalent of saying, "Breathe in, breathe out"?

Er... and my point is....?

The answer is in three words: Fear of Lawsuit. The corporate heads that sweat over such matters at board meetings are petrified that some yingyang who is late for his Morons Anonymous meeting might just rub shampoo into his dry hair on the way out the door and then discover to his shock and horror that a) the shampoo doesn't come out when you do that and b) there were no instructions on the bottle to the contrary, so he can sue the daylights out of the negligent corporation that failed to remind him to "Wet hair, apply shampoo, then rinse." That's why there are instructions on shampoo bottles. It's the same sort of thing that drives companies to post warnings like "Do not drive with product in place" on those giant windshield thingies that keep your car interior cool or "Not to be taken orally" on hemorrhoid ointments.

About now, someone is probably thinking, "Gosh, thanks for sharing this valuable insight, Mark but, uh, isn't this supposed to be a Catholic column? I'm not quite sure how to integrate shampoo, windshield thingies, and hemorrhoid ointment warnings into my prayer life. Help me out here."

Okay. The reason I mention this stuff is because one Catholic duty is to focus on our life and relationship with God in light of the Ten Commandments.

When you get rid of the Big Laws...

It's like this. Many people think the call to examine our lives in light of the Ten Commandments is a guilt trip based on fear. But the reality is that examining our conscience in light of the Ten Commandments is the only ticket out of guilt and fear. Why? Because the Ten Commandments presuppose that we are to be taken seriously as moral agents who can choose both sin and virtue and be persons who act out of love, not just react as victims. The Ten Commandments treat us like competent grownups and call us to act like it.

The practical result of refusing to be treated like a competent grownup is to regard oneself as a helpless child who can only be acted upon. The practical result of that is to make everybody a "victim" and nobody responsible. And the practical result of that is guilt, fear and simmering resentment against all those "other people" who act upon poor me. When you sin, you can repent and be done with it. When you are a helpless victim, you can only whine and seek damages. Thus, growing numbers of sullen irresponsible adolescents of all ages are eager to figure out a way to sue shampoo manufacturers for not explaining that you wet hair, lather, rinse and repeat. And, in defense, the world grows an armor plating of shampoo instructions and legalese.

As Chesterton said long ago, when you get rid of the Big Laws, you don't get freedom. You don't even get anarchy. You get the small laws.

What You Eat 10/15/03

Twenty years ago, George Gallup conducted a poll called “Religion in America.” He studied two groups of Americans, regular churchgoers from various Christian churches on the one hand, and totally unchurched people on the other.

He quizzed both groups on issues ranging from the divinity of Jesus, to cheating on income tax, infidelity in marriage, and abortion.

His findings were shocking. Fully 88% of the churchgoers had answers identical to those of the unchurched people. He dubbed these folks nominal Christians. Only 12% of the churchgoers had opinions and lifestyles that were recognizably Christian.

Hold it. Ephesian 4:17-24 tells us that to be a Christian means to live in a radically different way than the pattern offered by the pagan society that surrounds us. Being a Christian means acquiring a new mind and becoming a new person who reflects the image and likeness of a holy God.

So why don’t 88% of churchgoers get it? They have presumably heard this passage in Church more than once. Maybe it is because the adage is true — you are what you eat.

Recently I heard someone quip that if you are what you eat, most Americans are fast, easy, and cheap. But scarier than what we put into our mouths is what we put into our minds. The average American watches over 20 hours of TV per week. When not watching the tube, we are often online, listening to radio, scanning a magazine, or listening to our favorite CD. Should we be surprised that our values generally reflect the values of the entertainment industry and news media? After all, you are what you eat.

That’s why Jesus offers himself to us as the bread of life, the bread that comes down from heaven. Since the 16th century, people have often debated the meaning of John 6. Should we interpret the manna from heaven to be his Word, or rather the Eucharist? This is a false alternative, as shown to us by the Mass. An ancient tradition dating back to the early Church Fathers says that we feed on Christ from two tables, the table of the word, symbolized by the lectern, and the table of the Eucharist, which is the altar.

Each Mass offers a feast of God’s word not only in the readings, but in the prayers and acclamations which are usually direct quotes or paraphrases from Scripture. The word of God in the liturgy is like a double-edged sword that penetrates deep, challenging us, healing our wounds, enlightening our minds, directing our steps. It stimulates the eyes of faith to recognize the body and blood of Christ under the humble signs of bread and wine. The Eucharist is indeed the most substantial food he offers us. We are called to be the Body of Christ. Why did he give us his body, blood, soul and divinity under the forms of bread and wine? Because you are what you eat.

Lots of Catholics who regularly come to Mass are part of the 88% nominal majority. Why is that? Because the word and Eucharist can only be eaten by faith and digested by those who are not bloated with junk food. Many scarcely hear the Sunday readings because their minds are filled with the song they were listening to on the way to Church or the to-do list from their Daytimer. Many hear but quickly forget since they don’t feed on God’s word again until the next time they are at Sunday Mass.

If we carefully examined the 12% of churchgoers with recognizably Christian lifestyles, I bet we’d find that most of them shy away from intellectual junk food, coming to Mass hungry (maybe that’s the point of the hour pre-communion fast). I bet they provide some time to digest the Word and the Eucharist through regular moments of quiet prayer throughout the week. And I bet they are smart enough to know that you don’t eat just once a week and expect to run the race to win (1 Cor 9:24). Like the Israelites in the desert, these Christians gather the manna of God’s Word every day and make it their daily bread. Some even attend the Eucharist daily.

Besides their lives being more inspiring, the lives of the 12% in Gallup’s poll exhibited one further characteristic. They were considerably happier than both the unchurched and the nominal Christians who were equally plagued with a vague sense of emptiness.

Junk food may taste good, but it often leaves you with indigestion. But the bread of life satisfies. We were made for it. As Jesus says, “no one who comes to me shall ever be hungry, no one who believes in me shall thirst again.”

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