Posted on 10/19/2004 7:45:57 AM PDT by Salvation
October 19, 2004
Memorial of Saint John de Brébeuf and Saint isaac Jogues, priests and martyrs, and their companions, martyrs
Psalm: Tuesday 45 Reading I Responsorial Psalm Gospel
Reading I
Eph 2:12-22
Brothers and sisters:
You were at that time without Christ,
alienated from the community of Israel
and strangers to the covenants of promise,
without hope and without God in the world.
But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off
have become near by the Blood of Christ.
For he is our peace, he made both one
and broke down the dividing wall of enmity, through his Flesh,
abolishing the law with its commandments and legal claims,
that he might create in himself one new person in place of the two,
thus establishing peace,
and might reconcile both with God,
in one Body, through the cross,
putting that enmity to death by it.
He came and preached peace to you who were far off
and peace to those who were near,
for through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.
So then you are no longer strangers and sojourners,
but you are fellow citizens with the holy ones
and members of the household of God,
built upon the foundation of the Apostles and prophets,
with Christ Jesus himself as the capstone.
Through him the whole structure is held together
and grows into a temple sacred in the Lord;
in him you also are being built together
into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 85:9ab-10, 11-12, 13-14
R (see 9) The Lord speaks of peace to his people.
I will hear what God proclaims;
the LORDfor he proclaims peace.
Near indeed is his salvation to those who fear him,
glory dwelling in our land.
R The Lord speaks of peace to his people.
Kindness and truth shall meet;
justice and peace shall kiss.
Truth shall spring out of the earth,
and justice shall look down from heaven.
R The Lord speaks of peace to his people.
The LORD himself will give his benefits;
our land shall yield its increase.
Justice shall walk before him,
and salvation, along the way of his steps.
R The Lord speaks of peace to his people.
Gospel
Lk 12:35-38
Jesus said to his disciples:
"Gird your loins and light your lamps
and be like servants who await their master's return from a wedding,
ready to open immediately when he comes and knocks.
Blessed are those servants
whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival.
Amen, I say to you, he will gird himself,
have them recline at table, and proceed to wait on them.
And should he come in the second or third watch
and find them prepared in this way,
blessed are those servants."
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From: Ephesians 2:12-22
Reconciliation of Jews and Gentiles in Christ
From: Luke 12:35-38
The Need for Vigilance and the Parable of the Steward
Tuesday, October 19, 2004 Saints Isaac Jogues and John de Brébeuf, Priests, Martyrs and Their Companions (Memorial) |
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Isaac Jogues (1607-1646): Isaac Jogues and his companions were the first martyrs of the North American continent. As a young Jesuit, Isaac Jogues, a man of learning and culture, taught literature in France. He gave up that career to work among the Huron Indians in the New World, and in 1636 he and his companions, under the leadership of John de Brébeuf, arrived in Quebec. The Hurons were constantly warred upon by the Iroquois, and in a few years Father Jogues was captured by the Iroquois and imprisoned for 13 months. His letters and journals tell how he and his companions were led from village to village, how they were beaten, tortured and forced to watch as their Huron converts were mangled and killed.
An unexpected chance for escape came to Isaac Jogues through the Dutch, and he returned to France, bearing the marks of his sufferings. Several fingers had been cut, chewed or burnt off. Pope Urban VIII gave him permission to offer Mass with his mutilated hands: "It would be shameful that a martyr of Christ be not allowed to drink the Blood of Christ." Welcomed home as a hero, Father Jogues might have sat back, thanked God for his safe return and died peacefully in his homeland. But his zeal led him back once more to the fulfillment of his dreams. In a few months he sailed for his missions among the Hurons.
In 1646 he and Jean de Lalande, who had offered his services to the missioners, set out for Iroquois country in the belief that a recently signed peace treaty would be observed. They were captured by a Mohawk war party, and on October 18 Father Jogues was tomahawked and beheaded. Jean de Lalande was killed the next day at Ossernenon, a village near Albany, New York.
The first of the Jesuit missionaries to be martyred was René Goupil who, with Lalande, had offered his services as an oblate. He was tortured along with Isaac Jogues in 1642, and was tomahawked for having made the Sign of the Cross on the brow of some children.
Jean de Brébeuf (1593-1649): Jean de Brébeuf was a French Jesuit who came to Canada at the age of 32 and labored there for 24 years. He went back to France when the English captured Quebec (1629) and expelled the Jesuits, but returned to his missions four years later. Although medicine men blamed the Jesuits for a smallpox epidemic among the Hurons, Jean remained with them.
He composed catechisms and a dictionary in Huron, and saw 7,000 converted before his death. He was captured by the Iroquois and died after four hours of extreme torture at Sainte Marie, near Georgian Bay, Canada.
Father Anthony Daniel, working among Hurons who were gradually becoming Christian, was killed by Iroquois on July 4, 1648. His body was thrown into his chapel, which was set on fire.
Gabriel Lalemant had taken a fourth vowto sacrifice his life to the Indians. He was horribly tortured to death along with Father Brébeuf.
Father Charles Garnier was shot to death as he baptized children and catechumens during an Iroquois attack.
Father Noel Chabanel was killed before he could answer his recall to France. He had found it exceedingly hard to adapt to mission life. He could not learn the language, the food and life of the Indians revolted him, plus he suffered spiritual dryness during his whole stay in Canada. Yet he made a vow to remain until death in his mission.
These eight Jesuit martyrs of North America were canonized in 1930.
Comment:
Quote:Faith and heroism planted belief in Christ's cross deep in our land. The Church in North America sprang from the blood of martyrs. Are we as eager to keep that cross standing in our midst? Do we bear witness to deep-seated faith in us, the Good News of the cross (redemption) into our home, our work, our social world?
"My confidence is placed in God who does not need our help for accomplishing his designs. Our single endeavor should be to give ourselves to the work and to be faithful to him, and not to spoil his work by our shortcomings" (from a letter of Isaac Jogues to a Jesuit friend in France, September 12, 1646, a month before he died).
**These eight Jesuit martyrs of North America were canonized in 1930.**
I was not aware of this fact.
O Lord,
O how many times,
some days,
does the temper flare,
and the desire to strike out,
lash,
hurt,
by word or deed
comes welling up.
O Lord,
teach me
when that moment comes
to lift it up to you,
my peace,
my light,
my hope,
and let your Spirit
speak the soothing words
deep into my soul
that I say the thing
that furthers your will,
and not mine.
Amen.
Homily of the Day
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Tuesday, October 19, 2004 Meditation Luke 12: 35-38 Are you ready? Do you have enough oil to keep your lamps burning? The people in Jesus time knew, probably more than we do, the need to be alert. Home security was not a multimillion-dollar industry back then, and night marauders were more common. So guards and night watchmen had to be alert at all times, ready for whatever danger may come. We may or may not have to face the threat of thieves in the night, but we are all called to guard the treasure of our inheritance in Christ. Our enemies, the devil, the world, and our own fallen nature, are constantly on the prowl, seeking to plunder us. They look for opportunities to move us off of our position of confidence in Christ. They insinuate doubts about our dignity as beloved children of God. They seek to cloud our memory of Gods prior work in our lives and convince us that Christ in us is not our hope of glory at all. In the face of such threats, Jesus calls us to be prepared. He wants us to be ready not only for his second coming but also for all the times he comes to us in our daily lives to minister his grace and wisdom to us. By staying alert, we can guard the privileged position we have in Christ, our standing as citizens with the saints and members of the household of God (Ephesians 2:19). This alertness will keep us open to welcome Jesus whenever he comes. The promise of the gospel is that as we stay alert to the Lord, our enemies will lose their hold on us. Even the storms of life will become precious opportunities to see how Jesus fights for us. The Lord is waiting to be gracious to us. He so wants to minister to us. Give him your burdens and sorrows, and he will turn them into joy and laughter. Keep alert and always remember that you have a God who has loved you from all time and wants you to experience his victory and taste the joy that is to come when he returns. Jesus, you are everything I need. You are my precious pearl. Help me make decisions today that will guard the treasure you have placed in my heart. I will keep my lamp burning only as you fill me with the oil of your Spirit. |
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Are you aware of exactly what it is that this writer is trying to promote?
Lk 12:35-38 | ||
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# | Douay-Rheims | Vulgate |
35 | Let your loins be girt and lamps burning in your hands. | sint lumbi vestri praecincti et lucernae ardentes |
36 | And you yourselves like to men who wait for their lord, when he shall return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open to him immediately. | et vos similes hominibus expectantibus dominum suum quando revertatur a nuptiis ut cum venerit et pulsaverit confestim aperiant ei |
37 | Blessed are those servants whom the Lord, when he cometh, shall find watching. Amen I say to you that he will gird himself and make them sit down to meat and passing will minister unto them. | beati servi illi quos cum venerit dominus invenerit vigilantes amen dico vobis quod praecinget se et faciet illos discumbere et transiens ministrabit illis |
38 | And if he shall come in the second watch or come in the third watch and find them so, blessed are those servants. | et si venerit in secunda vigilia et si in tertia vigilia venerit et ita invenerit beati sunt servi illi |
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