Catholic Caucus: Daily Mass Readings, 08-16-04, Optional, St. Stephen of Hungary

USCCB.org/New American Bible ^ | 08-16-04 | New American Bible

[Salvation]

August 16, 2004
Monday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

Psalm: Monday 36 Reading I Responsorial Psalm Gospel

Reading I
Ez 24:15-23

The word of the LORD came to me:
Son of man, by a sudden blow
I am taking away from you the delight of your eyes,
but do not mourn or weep or shed any tears.
Groan in silence, make no lament for the dead,
bind on your turban, put your sandals on your feet,
do not cover your beard, and do not eat the customary bread.
That evening my wife died,
and the next morning I did as I had been commanded.
Then the people asked me, "Will you not tell us what all these things
that you are doing mean for us?"
I therefore spoke to the people that morning, saying to them:
Thus the word of the LORD came to me:
Say to the house of Israel:
Thus says the Lord GOD:
I will now desecrate my sanctuary, the stronghold of your pride,
the delight of your eyes, the desire of your soul.
The sons and daughters you left behind shall fall by the sword.
Ezekiel shall be a sign for you:
all that he did you shall do when it happens.
Thus you shall know that I am the LORD.
You shall do as I have done,
not covering your beards nor eating the customary bread.
Your turbans shall remain on your heads, your sandals on your feet.
You shall not mourn or weep,
but you shall rot away because of your sins and groan one to another.

Responsorial Psalm
Deuteronomy 32:18-19, 20, 21

R (see 18a) You have forgotten God who gave you birth.
You were unmindful of the Rock that begot you.
You forgot the God who gave you birth.
When the LORD saw this, he was filled with loathing
and anger toward his sons and daughters.
R You have forgotten God who gave you birth.
"I will hide my face from them," he said,
"and see what will then become of them.
What a fickle race they are,
sons with no loyalty in them!"
R You have forgotten God who gave you birth.
"Since they have provoked me with their ‘no-god'
and angered me with their vain idols,
I will provoke them with a ‘no-people';
with a foolish nation I will anger them."
R You have forgotten God who gave you birth.

Gospel
Mt 19:16-22


A young man approached Jesus and said,
"Teacher, what good must I do to gain eternal life?"
He answered him, "Why do you ask me about the good?
There is only One who is good.
If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments."
He asked him, "Which ones?"
And Jesus replied, "You shall not kill;
you shall not commit adultery;
you shall not steal;
you shall not bear false witness;
honor your father and your mother;
and you shall love your neighbor as yourself."
The young man said to him,
"All of these I have observed. What do I still lack?"
Jesus said to him, "If you wish to be perfect, go,
sell what you have and give to the poor,
and you will have treasure in heaven.
Then come, follow me."
When the young man heard this statement, he went away sad,
for he had many possessions.

[Salvation]

For your reading, reflection, faith-sharing, comments, questions, discussion.

[Salvation]

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Monday August 16, 2004   Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

Reading (Ezekiel 24:15-23)    Gospel (St. Matthew 19:16-22)

In the first reading today, the prophet Ezekiel is told by God that the delight of his eyes, the joy of his heart, is going to be removed from his life; and, of course, that was his wife. But for many of us, if God told us that the delight of our eyes and the joy of our heart was going to be removed, it would not be a person; it would be some kind of material thing or quite a number of material things, for all that matters. All we need to do is look at our own lives and ask ourselves, “What is it that I place as the priority?” Sometimes it may be some external thing entirely, some hobby that we may have. Sometimes it may just be something like a car or some collection of little knick knacks or whatever we have put lots of time and money into and that we kind of place in a position that is far greater than what it really deserves. But, whatever the case may be, there are times when there are things that are not bad in themselves but become a problem for us if they get in the way of our relationship with God. So if the Lord were to say to us today, “The delight of your eyes and the joy of your heart is going to be taken from you,” what would that be – and why?

The Lord tells this rich young man today in the Gospel that if he wants to be perfect – not just if he wants to be able to go to heaven, but if he wants to be perfect – Sell what you have and give it to the poor, and then you will have treasure in heaven. The young man went away sad because he had many possessions.

Now we think about the way that God has worked here. Ezekiel’s wife, who is the joy of his heart and the delight of his eyes, he is not to mourn; he is not to cry when his wife dies. But we, on the other hand, would probably mourn and weep if some material thing was taken away from us. And so then we look at this and say, “Well, what’s more important to us?” If we would weep and we would be sad because some material thing was removed from our lives, that tells us just how attached we are. It wasn’t that the prophet was not devastated by the death of his wife, but it was a matter of God showing him that this is what the people were going to do. They were going to lose what was really the most important and they were not going to weep and they were not even going to be sad because they did not care. Other things that should not have been more important are what became more important to them. In this case, it was the temple; God was going to let His sanctuary be defiled, and the people would not even have wept and they would not have cared.

Once again, we can look at ourselves, we can look around the world: Each one of us is the temple of the Lord. How often it has been defiled! How many people are in mortal sin and they do not care! They do not weep; they are not sad. They revel in the fact; they rejoice in whatever it is they are doing that is getting them into the state of mortal sin and keeping them there, and they do not want to get out of it! So, once again, we have to ask ourselves, “Where are the priorities in people’s lives?” It is not God, and the greatest commandment first and foremost is to love God. That is going to bring the greatest joy to our hearts, but instead we have found our joy either in material things, or, even worse, in sinful things, and we revel in it because we do not want God to be the center of our lives. If we were to lose Him, there are all too many people in this society that would not even notice. They would not care; they would not weep; they would not be sad because they have chosen sin over God. They have chosen materialism over a true spirituality. They have chosen self instead of the Lord. They have chosen the world instead of heaven.

The temple of the Lord has been defiled, and nobody seems to care. For those to whom the Lord has given at least a love for Him and a desire for Him, we need to make sure we are doing everything we can to make the temple of the Lord beautiful, to give Him the love and the worship that belongs to Him, that is rightfully His, because the Lord’s temple, His sanctuary, is being defiled left and right. At least if there would be a few who truly are trying to seek Him, who are not just saying, “Well, what’s the minimum I need to do to get into heaven? Just don’t break the Ten Commandments…” But if we could say, “The Lord has commanded me to be perfect; what do I need to do to be perfect? I need to get rid of all attachments. I need to break away from everything that is keeping me from God. I need to set my heart completely on Him. I need to truly be the sanctuary of the Lord, a place for God to dwell, a place where He is worshiped, a place that is set aside only for Him,” and remove from our lives everything that leads us away from Him, then we will be perfect.
Then we will be able to love God with our whole heart and soul and strength, and we will be doing what we have been commanded to do.

[Salvation]

The Ten Commandments

[Salvation]

From: Matthew 19:16-22


The Rich Young Man

---

[16] And behold, one man came up to Him (Jesus), saying, "Teacher, what
good deed must I do, to have eternal life?" [17] And He said to him,
"Why do you ask Me about what is good? One there is who is good. If
you would enter life, keep the commandments." [18] He said to Him,
"Which?" And Jesus said, "You shall not kill, You shall not commit
adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness,
[19] Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as
yourself." [20] The young man said to Him, "All these I have observed;
what do I still lack?" [21] Jesus said to him, "If you would be
perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will
have treasure in Heaven; and come, follow Me." [22] When the young man
heard this he went away sorrowful; for he had great possessions.

---

Commentary:


17. The Vulgate and other translations, supported by a good many Greek
codexes, fill this verse out by saying, "One alone is good, God."


20-22. "What do I still lack?" The young man kept the commandments
that were necessary for salvation. But there is more. This is why our
Lord replies, "if you would be perfect..." that is to say, if you want
to acquire what is still lacking to you. Jesus is giving him an
additional calling, "Come, follow Me": He is showing that He wants him
to follow Him more closely, and therefore He requires, as He does
others (cf. Matthew 4:19-22), to give up anything that might hinder his
full dedication to the Kingdom of God.


The scene ends rather pathetically: the young man goes away sad. His
attachment to his property prevails over Jesus' affectionate
invitation. Here is sadness of the kind that stems from cowardice,
from failure to respond to God's calling with personal commitment.


In reporting this episode, the evangelists are actually giving us a
case-study which describes a situation and formulates a law, a
case-study of specific divine vocation to devote oneself to God's
service and the service of all men.


This young man has become a symbol of the kind of Christian whose
mediocrity and shortsightedness prevent him from turning his life into
a generous, fruitful self-giving to the service of God and neighbor.


What would this young man have become, had be been generous enough to
respond to God's call? A great apostle, surely.

---

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. Stephen was born a pagan at Pannonia around the year 969. At
the age of 10, he and his father were baptized. At the age of 20, he
married Gisela, sister of St. Henry. Stephen later succeeded his
father as chief of the Magyars and adopted a policy of
Christianization of the country for both political and religious reasons.
After doing this, he suppressed numerous revolts of pagan nobles
and welded his tribe into a strong national group. After these works
were finished, he went to Rome get ecclesiastical organization and
to ask the pope to give him the title of king. He was crowned on
Christmas Day 1001.

Stephen's actions and reforms faced opposition but they survived.
St. Stephen died in the year 1038 and was canonized in the year
1083. He is known as the apostolic king and the apostle of Hungary.


QUOTE OF THE DAY

Do not fear that the occupations imposed by obedience will draw
you away from union with God: for when they are performed for
His glory they have, instead, great power to unite us closely to
Him. For how can those things separate us from God, which unite
our will to his? The whole mistake arises from the failure to
distinguish between being drawn away from God, and being
drawn away from the sweetness found in the interior perception of
God. It is true that in occupation this sweetness is not always
enjoyed (though it is sometimes in the highest degree); but in
depriving ourselves of this for the love of God, we gain in stead of
losing, while we leave the weak for the strong. While to quit or
abandon our work to unite ourselves to God by prayer, reading, or
recollection, by solitude and contemplation, would be to withdraw
from God and unite ourselves to ourselves and to our own self-
love. -St. Francis de Sales


TODAY IN HISTORY

1327 Death of St. Roch
1815 Birth of St. John Bosco, Italian educator. Founder of the
Society of St. Francis de Sales (the Salesians).


TODAY'S TIDBIT

The Salesians, who celebrate the birth of their namesake today,
were formed by St. John Bosco in 1854. The society of lay brothers,
priests and clerics is dedicated to the purification of its members
through the exercise of corporal and spiritual works of mercy. The
society is dedicated to working among the poor and the young
especially in education.


INTENTION FOR THE DAY

Please pray for the recently deceased and all the souls in purgatory.

[Salvation]

**Please pray for the recently deceased and all the souls in purgatory.**

A quick prayer for my recently deceased pastor, Fr. Phil.

[Salvation]

Monday, August 16, 2004
Feria

First Reading: Psalm: Gospel:

Ezekiel 24:15-23 Deuteronomy 32:18-21 Matthew 19:16-22 Let it be assured that to do no wrong is really superhuman and belongs to God alone.  -- St. Gregory Nazianzen

[Salvation]

The Word Among Us

Monday, August 16, 2004

Meditation
Matthew 19:16-22



Perhaps this story about the rich young man is about our attitude toward money, but since there were other occasions in Scripture, say, about the women who had money and used their money to support Jesus and his ministry, we can more accurately say that this passage is about attitude and disposition.

There was something in this rich young man’s attitude that was not right. Jesus saw it and sought to confront it so that the man could be free to receive his love. Jesus saw that this young man had allowed his wealth to become a false idol, holding a position higher than God.

This story from Matthew can move us to ask a similar question. Are there attitudes in us—toward money, recognition, fulfillment, or power—that hold a higher place than God? Do these dispositions mean so much to us that they cause us to minimize or dismiss the way God wants us to live? Are they more important to us than our relationship with Jesus?

As far as Jesus is concerned, our life with him is not about getting our prayer time in, going to Mass, the work we do, or the way we live. Yes, our Lord wants us to live a certain way—filled with positive and virtuous actions. But it’s possible to do all the right things and still live a life that is focused on ourselves and not on giving glory and honor to God.

Brothers and sisters, God wants our hearts. He wants us to be a living sacrifice to him. We need to be clear that our Father prefers a people who are totally committed to his Son—even though this people may also be failing, weak, susceptible to sin, and unfaithful. Our Father has far more difficulty with a people who may be “near-to-perfect” but who also hold on to their independence, self-sufficiency, and self-fulfillment. Those who are weak and yet love Jesus are far more attractive to God than the powerful people who love themselves more than his Son.

“Jesus, I surrender my heart to you. Take any part of me that is unbending and make it pliable for you. Give me a desire to cast aside every obstacle that keeps me from walking in your presence. I love you, Lord.”

[Salvation]

These are two different threads -- same title. Thanks, Lady in Blue!

Saint Stephen-Confessor, King Of Hungary 975-1038

Saint Stephen-Confessor, King of Hungary 975-1038

[Salvation]

“Jesus, I surrender my heart to you. Take any part of me that is unbending and make it pliable for you. Give me a desire to cast aside every obstacle that keeps me from walking in your presence. I love you, Lord.”

[Salvation]

One Bread, One Body

One Bread, One Body

All Issues > Volume 20, Number 5

<< Monday, August 16, 2004 >>

St. Stephen of Hungary

Ezekiel 24:15-24

Deuteronomy 32:18-21

Matthew 19:16-22

View Readings

THE ONLY HOPE FOR THE HUMAN HEART

“Thus the word of the Lord came to me: Son of man, by a sudden blow I am taking away from you the delight of your eyes, but do not mourn or weep or shed any tears.” —Ezekiel 24:15-16

Ezekiel’s wife suddenly died. The Lord told Ezekiel not to show any signs of mourning his wife’s death. This was a prophetic witness to show the hardheartedness of God’s people, who “couldn’t care less” about the destruction and desecration of the Temple, and the fall of Jerusalem (Ez 24:21ff). Ezekiel’s prophetic witness was unsuccessful. The people rotted away because of their sins (Ez 24:23).

The Lord may have given Ezekiel this unsuccessful mission as a prefigurement of His own death. Jesus died crucified and generally ignored and unmourned. However, He broke open hardened hearts through His death, the supreme expression of perfect, forgiving, unconditional, infinite, divine love. Now even all humanity with our hardened hearts can have new hearts (see Ps 51:12) if we turn to the pierced, sacred heart of Jesus. We do this by giving our lives totally to Jesus, being baptized, and living our Baptisms daily and deeply.

The Lord promises: “I will sprinkle clean water upon you to cleanse you from all your impurities, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. I will give you a new heart” (Ez 36:25-26). If today you hear His voice, harden not your heart (Ps 95:7-8).

Prayer: Father, immerse me into the burning love of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Promise: “Jesus told him, ‘If you seek perfection, go, sell your possessions, and give to the poor. You will then have treasure in heaven. Afterward, come back and follow Me.’ ” —Mt 19:21

Praise: St. Stephen, king of Hungary, loved the poor and instituted a system of tithes to relieve their suffering and hunger.

[Salvation]

Homily of the Day

Homily of the Day

Title:	Where Have You Invested Your Heart?
Author:	Monsignor Dennis Clark, Ph.D
Date:	Monday, August 16, 2004

Ez 24:15-24 / Mt 19:16-22

Once in a while it’s fascinating to take just a peek, with the help of our TVs, at the lifestyles of the rich and famous. The yachts and private jets, the designer clothes and jewels, the posh residences scattered helter-skelter across the world, and the regularly-scheduled face-lifts: It all seems so unreal and so far away from our own lives. And we might conclude that we’re relatively immune from the temptations experienced by the rich young man in today’s gospel.

Unfortunately, we’re not. There’s something in every one of us that inclines us to give our hearts to what’s in front of us, no matter how trivial or inconsequential it may be. And having given our hearts, we have little room for anything else, not even an invitation from the Lord.

Take some time out and see where you’ve invested your heart. Does your investment make sense? Is it yielding the kind of return that a heart-investment should? Is it perhaps time to reallocate your most precious resources? It is for many of us, so don’t be shy!

[Salvation]

American Cathlic's Saint of the Day

August 16, 2004

St. Stephen of Hungary

(975-1038)

The Church is universal, but its expression is always affected—for good or ill—by local culture. There are no “generic” Christians; there are Mexican Christians, Polish Christians, Filipino Christians. This fact is evident in the life of Stephen, national hero and spiritual patron of Hungary.

Born a pagan, he was baptized at about the age of ten, together with his father, chief of the Magyars, a group who migrated to the Danube area in the ninth century. At 20 he married Gisela, sister to the future emperor, St. Henry. When he succeeded his father, Stephen adopted a policy of Christianization of the country for both political and religious reasons. He suppressed a series of revolts by pagan nobles and welded the Magyars into a strong national group. He sent to Rome to get ecclesiastical organization—and also to ask the pope to confer the title of king upon him. He was crowned on Christmas day in 1001.

Stephen established a system of tithes to support churches and pastors and to relieve the poor. Out of every 10 towns one had to build a church and support a priest. He abolished pagan customs with a certain amount of violence, and commanded all to marry, except clergy and religious. He was easily accessible to all, especially the poor.

In 1031 his son Emeric died, and the rest of his days were embittered by controversy over his successor. His nephews attempted to kill him. He died in 1038 and was canonized, along with his son, in 1083.

Comment:

God’s gift of holiness is a Christlike love of God and humanity. Love must sometimes bear a stern countenance for the sake of ultimate good. Christ attacked hypocrites among the Pharisees, but died forgiving them. Paul excommunicated the incestuous man at Corinth “that his spirit may be saved.” Some Christians fought the Crusades with noble zeal, in spite of the unworthy motives of others. Today, after senseless wars, and with a deeper understanding of the complex nature of human motives, we shrink from any use of violence, physical or “silent.” This wholesome development continues as people debate whether it is possible for a Christian to be an absolute pacifist or whether evil must sometimes be repelled by force.

Quote:

“Although the Church has contributed much to the development of culture, experience shows that, because of circumstances, it is sometimes difficult to harmonize culture with Christian teaching.

“These difficulties do not necessarily harm the life of faith. Indeed they can stimulate the mind to a more accurate and penetrating grasp of the faith. For recent studies and findings of science, history and philosophy raise new questions which influence life and demand new theological investigations” (Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, 62).

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Noon Bump!
12:30 Mass in Oregon on INSP (ch 16 Charter Cable Central Coast)