Catholic Caucus: Daily Mass Readings, 12-09-03, Optional, St. Juan Diego

Reading I
Is 40:1-11

Comfort, give comfort to my people,
says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her
that her service is at an end,
her guilt is expiated;
Indeed, she has received from the hand of the LORD
double for all her sins.

A voice cries out:
In the desert prepare the way of the LORD!
Make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God!
Every valley shall be filled in,
every mountain and hill shall be made low;
The rugged land shall be made a plain,
the rough country, a broad valley.
Then the glory of the LORD shall be revealed,
and all people shall see it together;
for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.

A voice says, "Cry out!"
I answer, "What shall I cry out?"
"All flesh is grass,
and all their glory like the flower of the field.
The grass withers, the flower wilts,
when the breath of the LORD blows upon it.
So then, the people is the grass.
Though the grass withers and the flower wilts,
the word of our God stands forever."

Go up onto a high mountain,
Zion, herald of glad tidings;
Cry out at the top of your voice,
Jerusalem, herald of good news!
Fear not to cry out
and say to the cities of Judah:
Here is your God!
Here comes with power
the Lord God,
who rules by his strong arm;
Here is his reward with him,
his recompense before him.
Like a shepherd he feeds his flock;
in his arms he gathers the lambs,
Carrying them in his bosom,
and leading the ewes with care.

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 96:1-2, 3 and 10ac, 11-12, 13

R (see Isaiah 40:10ab) The Lord our God comes with power.
Sing to the LORD a new song;
sing to the LORD, all you lands.
Sing to the LORD; bless his name;
announce his salvation, day after day.
R The Lord our God comes with power.
Tell his glory among the nations;
among all peoples, his wondrous deeds.
Say among the nations: The LORD is king;
he governs the peoples with equity.
R The Lord our God comes with power.
Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice;
let the sea and what fills it resound;
let the plains be joyful and all that is in them!
Then let all the trees of the forest rejoice.
R The Lord our God comes with power.
They shall exult before the LORD, for he comes;
for he comes to rule the earth.
He shall rule the world with justice
and the peoples with his constancy.
R The Lord our God comes with power.

Gospel
Mt 18:12-14

Jesus said to his disciples:
"What is your opinion?
If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray,
will he not leave the ninety-nine in the hills
and go in search of the stray?
And if he finds it, amen, I say to you, he rejoices more over it
than over the ninety-nine that did not stray.
In just the same way, it is not the will of your heavenly Father
that one of these little ones be lost."

Thought for the Day

The spiritually avaricious are those who can never have enough of embracing and seeking after countless exercises of piety, hoping thereby to attain perfection all that much sooner, they say. They do this as though perfection consisted in the multitude of things we do and not in the perfection with which we do them! I have already said this very often, but it is necessary to repeat it: God has not placed perfection in the multiplicity of acts we perform to please Him, but only in the way we perform them, which is simply to do the little we do according to our vocation, in love, by love, and for love.

-- St. Francis de Sales

From: Matthew 18:12-14

The Lost Sheep

[12] "What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them
has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go
in search of the one that went astray? [13] And if he finds it, truly,
I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that
never went astray. [14] So it is not the will of My Father who is in
Heaven that one of these little ones should perish."

Commentary:

12-14. This parable clearly shows our Lord's loving concern for
sinners. It expresses in human terms the joy God feels when a wayward
child comes back to Him.

Seeing so many souls living away from God, Pope John Paul II comments:
"Unfortunately we witness the moral pollution which is devastating
humanity, disregarding especially those very little ones about whom
Jesus speaks."

"What must we do? We must imitate the Good Shepherd and give ourselves
without rest for the salvation of souls. Without forgetting material
charity and social justice, we must be convinced that the most sublime
charity is spiritual charity, that is, the commitment for the salvation
of souls. And souls are saved with prayer and sacrifice. This is the
mission of the Church!" ("Homily to the Poor Clares of Albano," 14
August 1979).

As the RSV points out, "other ancient authorities add verse 11, "For
the Son of Man came to save the lost"--apparently taken from Luke
19:10.

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.

FEAST OF THE DAY

Bl. Juan Diego Cuatitlatoatzin, meaning talking eagle, was a native
Mexican who converted to Catholicism. He was a member of the
Chichimeca people and is thought to have been one of the
community's major leaders. Juan had a reputation for holiness and
generosity and later in his life he devoted himself to the pilgrims who
visited the church built in honor of Our Lady of Guadeloupe.

Out of love for his faith and the Mass, he walked fifteen miles to
Mexico City every day to attend Mass. Four hundred and seventy six
years ago today, he was walking to Mass when Our Lady appeared
to him requesting him to build a church on the site where they were
standing. After several apparitions and several miracles, the bishop
granted his permission for a church to be built on the site. After the
church was finished, Juan Diego is said to have devoted the
remainder of his life to directing and caring for pilgrims who came to
see the image of Our Lady of Guadeloupe. Bl. Juan Diego was
beatified by Pope John Paul II in Mexico City in the year 1990.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

Present sorrow and suffering is the way to glory, the way to the
kingdom. -St. Bernard

TODAY IN HISTORY

1531 First apparition of Our Lady at Guadeloupe

TODAY'S TIDBIT

Yesterday marked the anniversary of the convocation of the First
Vatican Council. This council was held in the Vatican and attended
by almost 800 bishops from around the world. This council was
made up of four public sessions and 89 general meetings before its
end on July 7, 1870. This council defined papal primacy and
infallibility in a dogmatic constitution on the Church and touched on
other issues such as natural religion, revelation, and the relationship
between faith and reason.

INTENTION FOR THE DAY

Please pray for the church in missionary areas.

The Word Among Us

Tuesday, December 09, 2003

Meditation
Isaiah 40:1-11

About five hundred years before Jesus came, a prophet wrote about the expected Messiah. His words tell of a time when all Israel’s sins will be forgiven and when the times of hardship and pain will be over for Jerusalem. It is a message of coming comfort and peace. It’s a message of restoration and hope.

John the Baptist selected this very passage from Isaiah to describe his own vocation in life. Just as a king in ancient times had forerunners sent ahead of him to prepare the way, John was the “forerunner” of Jesus: He fillled in the valleys, smoothed out the rough roads, and turned the eyes of the Israelites toward heaven. John moved his hearers to repent for their sins and to prepare themselves to receive the One who was greater than he.

Jesus did come. After he rose from the dead, he promised that he would come again, this time as a King. In the meantime, we have seen the Holy Spirit’s work again and again. In every age, the Spirit has raised up servants who call out to us and tell us to “prepare the way” for Jesus’ Second Coming.

Some of these servants have called us to deepen our prayer life. Others have called us to a greater reverence for the Eucharist. Still others have called us to repent and turn away from sin. Who among us hasn’t been touched by the lives of these holy people? Through these “forerunners,” the Holy Spirit wants to guide us and protect us. He wants to help us see our faults and encourage us when we are despairing. When we are suffering, he wants to hold our hand and support us. When we are wandering, he wants to keep us on the right track.

More than anything else, the Holy Spirit wants to help us keep our hopes high. He wants us to know how bright and how wonderful heaven is going to be. He wants us to dream about a world without poverty, without war, without hatred, and without sin. This is why he wants us to pray, “Come, Lord Jesus.” Today, why not tell Jesus that you are grateful for sending us prophetic voices, saints who cry out, “Prepare the way for the Lord”?

“Holy Spirit, move in me. Straighten out my rough roads so that I may be smooth and perfect when Jesus comes again.”

One Bread, One Body

<< Tuesday, December 9, 2003 >>

St. Juan Diego

Isaiah 40:1-11

Psalm 96

Matthew 18:12-14

View Readings

LOST LOVE

“It is no part of your heavenly Father’s plan that a single one of these little ones shall ever come to grief.” —Matthew 18:14

At this time of weakened, lukewarm faith, we have more stray sheep than we have sheep following the Master (see Mt 18:12). We have more fallen away Christians than committed ones.

Jesus’ attitude toward these sinners is one of mercy. In His mercy, He has become a human being and died on the cross to free those trapped in sin. He has made the ultimate sacrifice to lead the stray sheep back to Him. As disciples of Jesus, we must be like Him and make any sacrifice to lead others back to Him. Driven by mercy, we must make it a priority to seek the lost.

As we prepare for the Christmas season, our hearts go out to those who have nothing. By this, we do not primarily mean the poor and underprivileged, as great as their suffering is. Rather, those who have nothing are principally those who have not given their lives to Christ or have lost their new life in Christ. Without a total commitment to Christ, life is a living death (see 1 Jn 3:14). In mercy, let us reach out to the poorest of the poor: those who do not know Christ’s love or have lost their first love (see Rv 2:4). Seek the lost sheep.

Prayer: Father, give me Jesus’ heart for the lost.

Promise: “Here comes with power the Lord God, Who rules by His strong arm.” —Is 40:10

Praise: St. Juan Diego’s humble obedience conquered the New World more than all the conquistadors combined.

Homily of the Day

Homily of the Day

Title:	Aging Is a Gift!
Author:	Monsignor Dennis Clark, Ph.D.
Date:	Tuesday, December 9, 2003

Is 40:1-11 / Mt 18:12-14

Isaiah reminds us quite pointedly today of our mortality. “All mankind is grass, and all their glory like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower wilts....” How true, and how fast it happens. Before we know it, our lives are half over or more. And we can find ourselves sad or disappointed or even fearful about what comes next. There’s a yearning in us for something more substantial, something more lasting.

Isaiah shows us where to look. “Though the grass withers and the flower wilts, the word of our God stands forever.” And that’s where we need to plant our lives, squarely in the Lord who is the ground of our being. Aging has its drawbacks, but it has some singular blessings as well. It can remind us of what lasts and what doesn’t, of where our hearts will be satisfied and filled full, and where they won’t. It can prod us to let go of what doesn’t count, and to grasp at real life, not just appearances.

Thank God that He’s giving you the gift of time, time to grow up on the inside and to learn to value what has lasting value. Thank God, and let Him come all the way into your life.

May your Christmas celebration be more than just a recollection of events long past. Let it be a rejoicing at His coming to take up residence within you, never to leave again.

Jesus said to his disciples:

"What is your opinion? If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine in the hills and go in search of the stray? And if he finds it, amen, I say to you, he rejoices more over it than over the ninety-nine that did not stray. In just the same way, it is not the will of your heavenly Father that one of these little ones be lost."

I love this gospel and was just thinking, maybe we should send it (along with all of our signatures) to Bishop Lynch in Florida. The Bishop that is NOT fighting for this member of his flock (Terri).

Thoughts?

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