Catholic Caucus< Daily Mass Readings, 06-28-04, Memorial, St. Irenaeus, Bishop & martyr

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June 28, 2004
Memorial of Saint Irenaeus, bishop and martyr

Psalm: Monday 29 Reading I Responsorial Psalm Gospel

Reading I
Am 2:6-10, 13-16

Thus says the LORD:
For three crimes of Israel, and for four,
I will not revoke my word;
Because they sell the just man for silver,
and the poor man for a pair of sandals.
They trample the heads of the weak
into the dust of the earth,
and force the lowly out of the way.
Son and father go to the same prostitute,
profaning my holy name.
Upon garments taken in pledge
they recline beside any altar;
And the wine of those who have been fined
they drink in the house of their god.

Yet it was I who destroyed the Amorites before them,
who were as tall as the cedars,
and as strong as the oak trees.
I destroyed their fruit above,
and their roots beneath.
It was I who brought you up from the land of Egypt,
and who led you through the desert for forty years,
to occupy the land of the Amorites.

Beware, I will crush you into the ground
as a wagon crushes when laden with sheaves.
Flight shall perish from the swift,
and the strong man shall not retain his strength;
The warrior shall not save his life,
nor the bowman stand his ground;
The swift of foot shall not escape,
nor the horseman save his life.
And the most stouthearted of warriors
shall flee naked on that day, says the LORD.

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 50:16bc-17, 18-19, 20-21, 22-23

R (22a) Remember this, you who never think of God.
"Why do you recite my statutes,
and profess my covenant with your mouth,
Though you hate discipline
and cast my words behind you?"
R Remember this, you who never think of God.
"When you see a thief, you keep pace with him,
and with adulterers you throw in your lot.
To your mouth you give free rein for evil,
you harness your tongue to deceit."
R Remember this, you who never think of God.
"You sit speaking against your brother;
against your mother's son you spread rumors.
When you do these things, shall I be deaf to it?
Or do you think that I am like yourself?
I will correct you by drawing them up before your eyes."
R Remember this, you who never think of God.
"Consider this, you who forget God,
lest I rend you and there be no one to rescue you.
He that offers praise as a sacrifice glorifies me;
and to him that goes the right way I will show the salvation of God."
R Remember this, you who never think of God.

Gospel
Mt 8:18-22

When Jesus saw a crowd around him,
he gave orders to cross to the other shore.
A scribe approached and said to him,
"Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go."
Jesus answered him, "Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests,
but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head."
Another of his disciples said to him,
"Lord, let me go first and bury my father."
But Jesus answered him, "Follow me,
and let the dead bury their dead."

[Salvation]

June 28, 2004
Vigil of the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles

Psalm: Monday 29 Reading I Responsorial Psalm Reading II Gospel

Reading I
Acts 3:1-10

Peter and John were going up to the temple area
for the three o'clock hour of prayer.
And a man crippled from birth was carried
and placed at the gate of the temple called "the Beautiful Gate"
every day to beg for alms from the people who entered the temple.
When he saw Peter and John about to go into the temple,
he asked for alms.
But Peter looked intently at him, as did John,
and said, "Look at us."
He paid attention to them, expecting to receive something from them.
Peter said, "I have neither silver nor gold,
but what I do have I give you:
in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazorean, rise and walk."
Then Peter took him by the right hand and raised him up,
and immediately his feet and ankles grew strong.
He leaped up, stood, and walked around,
and went into the temple with them,
walking and jumping and praising God.
When all the people saw the man walking and praising God,
they recognized him as the one who used to sit begging
at the Beautiful Gate of the temple,
and they were filled with amazement and astonishment
at what had happened to him.

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 19:2-3, 4-5

R (5) Their message goes out through all the earth.
The heavens declare the glory of God;
and the firmament proclaims his handiwork.
Day pours out the word to day;
and night to night imparts knowledge.
R Their message goes out through all the earth.
Not a word nor a discourse
whose voice is not heard;
through all the earth their voice resounds,
and to the ends of the world, their message.
R Their message goes out through all the earth.

Reading II
Gal 1:11-20

I want you to know, brothers and sisters,
that the Gospel preached by me is not of human origin.
For I did not receive it from a human being, nor was I taught it,
but it came through a revelation of Jesus Christ.

For you heard of my former way of life in Judaism,
how I persecuted the Church of God beyond measure
and tried to destroy it, and progressed in Judaism
beyond many of my contemporaries among my race,
since I was even more a zealot for my ancestral traditions.
But when God, who from my mother's womb had set me apart
and called me through his grace,
was pleased to reveal his Son to me,
so that I might proclaim him to the Gentiles,
I did not immediately consult flesh and blood,
nor did I go up to Jerusalem
to those who were Apostles before me;
rather, I went into Arabia and then returned to Damascus.

Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem
to confer with Cephas and remained with him for fifteen days.
But I did not see any other of the Apostles,
only James the brother of the Lord.
–As to what I am writing to you, behold,
before God, I am not lying.

Gospel
Jn 21:15-19

Jesus had revealed himself to his disciples
and, when they had finished breakfast, said to Simon Peter,
"Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?"
Simon Peter answered him, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you."
Jesus said to him, "Feed my lambs."
He then said to Simon Peter a second time,
"Simon, son of John, do you love me?"
Simon Peter answered him, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you."
He said to him, "Tend my sheep."
He said to him the third time,
"Simon, son of John, do you love me?"
Peter was distressed that he had said to him a third time,
"Do you love me?" and he said to him,
"Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you."
Jesus said to him, "Feed my sheep.
Amen, amen, I say to you, when you were younger,
you used to dress yourself and go where you wanted;
but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands,
and someone else will dress you
and lead you where you do not want to go."
He said this signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God.
And when he had said this, he said to him, "Follow me."

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From: Matthew 8:18-22


Demands for Following Christ

---

[18] Now when Jesus saw great crowds around Him, He gave orders to go
over to the other side. [19] And a scribe came up and said to Him,
"Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go." [20] And Jesus said to
him, "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of
Man has nowhere to lay His head." [21] Another of the disciples said to
Him, "Lord let me first go and bury my father." [22] But Jesus said to
him, "Follow Me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead."

---

Commentary:


18-22. From the very outset of His messianic preaching, Jesus rarely
stays in the same place; He is always on the move. He "has nowhere to
lay His head" (Matthew 8:20). Anyone who desires to be with him has to
"follow Him". This phrase "following Jesus" has a very precise
meaning: it means being His disciple (cf. Matthew 19:28). Sometimes
the crowds "follow Him"; but Jesus' true disciples are those who
"follow Him" in a permanent way, that is, who keep on following Him:
being a "disciple of Jesus" and "following Him" amount to the same
thing. After our Lord's ascension, "following Him" means being a
Christian (cf. Acts 8:26). By the simple and sublime fact of Baptism,
every Christian is called, by a divine vocation, to be a full disciple
of our Lord, with all that that involves.


The evangelist here gives two specific cases of following Jesus. In
the case of the scribe our Lord explains what faith requires of a
person who realizes that he has been called; in the second case--that
of the man who has already said "yes" to Jesus--He reminds him of what
His commandment entails. The soldier who does not leave his position
on the battlefront to bury his father, but instead leaves that to those
in the rearguard, is doing his duty. If service to one's country makes
demands like that on a person, all the more reason for it to happen in
the service of Jesus Christ and His Church.


Following Christ, then, means we should make ourselves totally
available to Him; whatever sacrifice He asks of us we should make: the
call to follow Christ means staying up with Him, not falling behind; we
either follow Him or lose Him. In the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew
5-7) Jesus explained what following Him involves--a teaching which we
find summarized in even the most basic catechism of Christian doctrine:
a Christian is a man who believes in Jesus Christ--a faith he receives
at Baptism--and is duty bound to serve Him. Through prayer and
friendship with the Lord every Christian should try to discover the
demands which this service involves as far as he personally is
concerned.


20. "The Son of Man": this is one of the expressions used in the Old
Testament to refer to the Messiah. It appeared first in Daniel 7:14
and was used in Jewish writings in the time of Jesus. Until our Lord
began to preach it had not been understood in all its depth. The title
"the Son of man" did not fit in very well with Jewish hopes of an
earthly Messiah; this was why it was Jesus' favorite way of indicating
that He was the Messiah--thereby avoiding any tendency to encourage
Jewish nationalism. In the prophecy of Daniel just mentioned this
messianic title has a transcendental meaning; by using it Jesus was
able discreetly to proclaim that He was the Messiah and yet avoid
people interpreting His role in a political sense. After the
Resurrection the Apostles at last realized that "Son of Man" meant
nothing less than "Son of God".


22. "Leave the dead to bury their own dead": although this sounds very
harsh, it is a style of speaking which Jesus did sometimes use: here
the "dead" clearly refers to those whose interest is limited to
perishable things and who have no aspirations towards the things that
last forever.


"If Jesus forbade him," St. John Chrysostom comments, "it was not to
have us neglect the honor due to our parents, but to make us realize
that nothing is more important than the things of Heaven and that we
ought to cleave to these and not to put them off even for a little
while, though our engagements be ever so indispensable and pressing"
("Hom. on St. Matthew", 27).

---

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.

[Salvation]

FEAST OF THE DAY

St. Irenaeus, whose name means lover of peace, was born around
the year 130. He received his education is Smyrna and became a
disciple of St. Polycarp, bishop of that city. In the year 177 he was
ordained to the priesthood at Lyons, France. Shortly after his
ordination, he was made bishop of Lyons. During his lifetime he
composed works defending the Catholic faith against errors of the
Gnostics.

The writings of St. Irenaeus entitle him to a high place among the
fathers of the Church. His writings not only laid the foundations of
Christian theology but also, by exposing and refuting the errors of the
Gnostics, delivered the Catholic Faith from the real danger of the
doctrines of those heretics. St. Irenaeus was one of the first Church
Fathers to provide a coherent rationale for a Christian bible, including
both testaments, and was the first to offer a comprehensive account
of belief in God's universal providential and redemptive economy.

St. Irenaeus' date of death is not known, but he is believed to have
been martyred during the persecution of Septimus Severus around
the year 202. The bodily remains of St. Irenaeus were buried in a
crypt under the altar of the church of St. John in Lyons, which was
later rededicated to his patronage. This tomb was destroyed by the
Calvinists in 1562.


QUOTE OF THE DAY

As by the Word of God, Jesus our Savior was Flesh and had both
Flesh and blood for our salvation, so also the food which has been
blessed by the word of prayer instituted by Him is both the Flesh and
Blood of Jesus Incarnate. -St. Justin Martyr


TODAY IN HISTORY

767 Pope St. Paul I dies
1243 Coronation of Pope Innocent IV
1245 1st Council of Lyons opens
1476 Pope Paul IV is born


TODAY'S TIDBIT

The First Council of Lyons, the thirteenth ecumenical council of the
Church, was convened by Pope Innocent IV and its three sessions
were attended by approximately 150 bishops. This council approved
22 canons and confirmed the deposition of the Emperor Fredrick II.


INTENTION FOR THE DAY

Please pray, through the intercession of St. Irenaeus, for peace throughout
the world.

[Salvation]

Oops!

Gueuss I hit the > key instead of the : key in the title!

Will it even matter is 5 minutes?

[Salvation]

Gueuss
Guess

[Salvation]

Monday, June 28, 2004
St. Irenaeus, Bishop, Martyr (Memorial)

First Reading: Psalm: Gospel:

Amos 2:6-10, 13-16 Psalm 50:16-23 Matthew 8:18-22 The Holy Spirit has both taught us and reminded us. He has taught us whatever it was that Christ did not teach to His Disciples, because they were not able to hear it; He reminded them of whatever the Lord had said to them, but which they could not remember, either because of its obscurity, or because they were slow of mind.  -- St. Theophylactus

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Saint Irenaeus, Doctor of the Church [& Martyr]

St. Irenaeus(A.D. 125-202) [Bishop and Martyr] {Locked}

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The Word Among Us

Monday, June 28, 2004

Meditation
Amos 2:6-10,13-16



Person of the Year: Amos the Prophet.

Even if magazines had been around back then, this would have been a very unlikely headline for Amos or any other Old Testament prophet. Most of them had no desire to be the center of attention, and they certainly never won any popularity contests! What distinguished these prophets from everyone else was that they were touched by God in such a powerful way that they had to obey his command to speak to their people. And even though their message was frequently one of judgment and a call to repentance, they never lost their sense of God’s love.

Amos was a simple sheepherder from Judah when God sent him north to Israel to preach repentance. Evidently, the Israelites under King Jeroboam II had grown very prosperous and were exploiting the poor. They were running after the false gods of wealth and pleasure and ignoring the truth, all the while pretending to be pious. So God sent Amos to remind them of what he really wanted of them: “Let justice roll like a river, and righteousness like a never-failing stream” (Amos 5:24).

Judging from today’s reading, it’s obvious that Amos did not try to “sugarcoat” anything. He showed the people how they had disobeyed God and warned them of the dire consequences they faced if they did not repent. Nevertheless, Amos told Israel how much God loved them and how he really did not want to punish them. He pleaded with them: “Seek good and not evil, that you may live” (Amos 5:14).

As you meditate on this passage, keep in mind that God’s prophetic call hasn’t disappeared. Prophets are still needed today! Be open to the possibility that the Spirit might be leading you to witness for him. You may be in a very ordinary situation such as at a party when a controversial subject comes up. Or you may see something unethical at work, in school, or in your neighborhood. Spend time in his word, and in prayer with him, and you will know when and how to “speak the truth in love” (Ephesians 4:15).

“Lord, send the fire of your Spirit on your people! Call them to be prophets for you, to be salt and light in the world. Give us all the courage to witness to your word and your truth.”

[Salvation]

One Bread, One Body

All Issues > Volume 20, Number 4

<< Monday, June 28, 2004 >>

St. Irenaeus

Amos 2:6-10, 13-16

Psalm 50

Matthew 8:18-22

View Readings

THE TEST FOR TRUTH IN WORSHIP

“Upon garments taken in pledge they recline beside any altar.” —Amos 2:8

The prophet Amos pointed out the connection between acting unjustly and worshipping falsely, that is, engaging in idol worship (see also Is 1:13-16). We as Catholics know from the Lord through His Church that our forms of liturgical worship are God’s idea and not ours. Therefore, we know that our worship is true and not idolatrous. Nonetheless, even though we know that the expressions and words we use in worship are true, we do not know whether each of us are worshipping in Spirit and in truth (see Jn 4:23), because worship is fundamentally an interior matter.

However, if we examine our consciences on justice, we may discover insights about our worship which would have otherwise remained hidden. For example, that Sunday morning is the most segregated time of the week in the USA is not just because of the differences between blacks and whites in their styles of worship. This segregation is connected to racism on the part of both whites and blacks. This is a severe indictment against the truth of our worship. The unprecedented injustice of abortion — both surgical and chemical — is another indictment. The injustices done behind the scenes to maximize the comfort and convenience of our lifestyles also give us reason to wonder what is at the depths of our worship. There are signs that idolatry may be pervasive. In this extreme danger, let us repent.

Prayer: Father, make me a worshipper in Spirit and in truth no matter what I may have to suffer.

Promise: “Follow Me, and let the dead bury their dead.” —Mt 8:22

Praise: St. Irenaeus had a special charism of fostering unity and peace in the early Church. He served as bishop for twenty years before giving his life in martyrdom.

[Salvation]

**St. Irenaeus had a special charism of fostering unity and peace in the early Church.**

St. Irenaeus, we ask you in prayer, for peace and an end to all in-fighting on this forum.

[Salvation]

Homily of the Day

Title:	Did the Dog Really Eat Your Homework?
Author:	Monsignor Dennis Clark, PhD.
Date:	Monday, June 28, 2004

Amos 2:6-10, 13-16 / Mt 8:18-22

Most people are fairly accomplished at the art of making excuses, no matter what the issue. Indeed many of us got an early start with the dog eating our fictional homework or our little brother throwing that same fictional homework out the car window on the way to school. Or perhaps it was as simple as "she made me do it."

Later on we graduated to things like, "I can't start a diet at Christmas," or "the host would be offended if I didn't accept another glass," or "they don't really need this."

Jesus knows the truth and so do we: There was no homework; she didn't make me do it; I don't want to diet; I do want another drink; and I am taking what doesn't belong to me! So when Jesus calls us, as He does every day, to come and follow Him, there are only two truthful answers: "Yes" and "No." Excuses aren't answers, and they don't count.

So what's your answer to Jesus' invitation going to be today? "Yes" or "No"? Remember now: No excuses!

 

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Links to the two posts above:

One Bread, One Body

Homily of the Day

[Salvation]

American Cathlic's Saint of the Day

June 28, 2004

St. Irenaeus

(130?-220)

The Church is fortunate that Irenaeus was involved in many of its controversies in the second century. He was a student, well trained, no doubt, with great patience in investigating, tremendously protective of apostolic teaching, but prompted more by a desire to win over his opponents than to prove them in error.

As bishop of Lyons he was especially concerned with the Gnostics, who took their name from the Greek word for “knowledge.” Claiming access to secret knowledge imparted by Jesus to only a few disciples, their teaching was attracting and confusing many Christians. After thoroughly investigating the various Gnostic sects and their “secret,” Irenaeus showed to what logical conclusions their tenets led. These he contrasted with the teaching of the apostles and the text of Holy Scripture, giving us, in five books, a system of theology of great importance to subsequent times. Moreover, his work, widely used and translated into Latin and Armenian, gradually ended the influence of the Gnostics.

The circumstances and details about his death, like those of his birth and early life in Asia Minor, are not at all clear.

Comment:

A deep and genuine concern for other people will remind us that the discovery of truth is not to be a victory for some and a defeat for others. Unless all can claim a share in that victory, truth itself will continue to be rejected by the losers, because it will be regarded as inseparable from the yoke of defeat. And so, confrontation, controversy and the like might yield to a genuine united search for God's truth and how it can best be served.

[Salvation]

I like that quote also. Is it on the web? Or did you type it for us?

[Salvation]

I'm sorry -- I see it is from one of the threads about St. Irenaeus.