Catholic Caucus: Daily Mass Readings, 11-10-04, Memorial, St. Leo the Great, Pope & doctor of church

November 10, 2004
Memorial of Saint Leo the Great, pope and doctor of the Church

Reading I
Ti 3:1-7

Beloved:
Remind them to be under the control of magistrates and authorities,
to be obedient, to be open to every good enterprise.
They are to slander no one, to be peaceable, considerate,
exercising all graciousness toward everyone.
For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, deluded,
slaves to various desires and pleasures,
living in malice and envy,
hateful ourselves and hating one another.

But when the kindness and generous love
of God our savior appeared,
not because of any righteous deeds we had done
but because of his mercy,
he saved us through the bath of rebirth
and renewal by the Holy Spirit,
whom he richly poured out on us
through Jesus Christ our savior,
so that we might be justified by his grace
and become heirs in hope of eternal life.

Responsorial Psalm
23:1b-3a, 3bc-4, 5, 6

R (1) The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
In verdant pastures he gives me repose;
Beside restful waters he leads me;
he refreshes my soul.
R The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
He guides me in right paths
for his name's sake.
Even though I walk in the dark valley
I fear no evil; for you are at my side
With your rod and your staff
that give me courage.
R The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
You spread the table before me
in the sight of my foes;
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
R The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
Only goodness and kindness follow me
all the days of my life;
And I shall dwell in the house of the LORD
for years to come.
R The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.

Gospel
Lk 17:11-19

As Jesus continued his journey to Jerusalem,
he traveled through Samaria and Galilee.
As he was entering a village, ten lepers met him.
They stood at a distance from him and raised their voice, saying,
"Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!"
And when he saw them, he said,
"Go show yourselves to the priests."
As they were going they were cleansed.
And one of them, realizing he had been healed,
returned, glorifying God in a loud voice;
and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him.
He was a Samaritan.
Jesus said in reply,
"Ten were cleansed, were they not?
Where are the other nine?
Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?"
Then he said to him, "Stand up and go;
your faith has saved you."

From: Titus 3:1-7

Respect for Lawful Authority

[1] Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be
obedient, to be ready for any honest work, [2] to speak evil of no one,
to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward
all men.

Renewal of the Christian Life in the Holy Spirit

[3] For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves
to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy,
hated by men and hating one another; [4] but when the goodness and
loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, [5] he saved us, not
because of deeds done by us in righteousness, but in virtue of his own
mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal in the Holy Spirit,
[6] which he poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior,
[7] so that we might be justified by his grace and become heirs in hope
of eternal life.

Commentary:

1-8. In the last part of the epistle St Paul deals with the way
believers conduct themselves in society at large (vv. 1-8); he warns
Titus to see that the Church does not become a place where people argue
(vv. 9-11); and finally he gives him some little personal commissions
and messages (vv. 12-14) and ends with the usual words of farewell (v.
15).

The scheme of the first section (vv. 1-8), like the previous chapter,
is as follows: first he describes the requirements of Christian living,
specifically the attitude towards civil authority and one's
fellow-citizens (vv. 1-2); then he gives the theological reasoning
behind it (vv. 3-8): for a Christian, moral behavior is a consequence
of faith.

1-2. Respect for lawful authority (cf. Roman 13:1-7; Tim 2:2; 1 Pet 2:
13-14) was particularly difficult and meritorious in the situation in
Crete, where the local population (many of them Jews) were not at all
happy with their Roman overlords. However, the freedom of the children
of God (cf. Rom 8:21) which the Christian acquires at Baptism does not
mean he has to be opposed to existing structures: the main thing it
leads him to is personal improvement: "The acute need for radical
reforms of the structures which conceal poverty and which are
themselves forms of violence, should not let us lose sight of the fact
that the source of injustice is in the hearts of men. Therefore it is
only by making an appeal to the moral potential of the person and to
the constant need for inner conversion, that social change will be
brought about which will truly be in the service of man. For it will
only be in the measure that they collaborate freely in these necessary
changes through their own initiative and solidarity, that people,
awakened to a sense of their responsibility, will grow in humanity"
(SCDF, "Libertatis Nuntius", 11, 8).

Gentleness and courtesy are expressions of the new commandment of love;
they show that a person is spiritually mature, and they are very
effective in drawing souls closer to Christ. "To criticize, to destroy,
is not difficult; any unskilled laborer knows how to drive his pick into
the noble and finely-hewn stone of a cathedral. To construct: that is
what requires the skill of a master" ([St] J. Escriva, "The Way", 456).

3-7. The main subject of the chapter is the theological basis of social
obligations (vv. 1-2); every Christian should bear witness to salvation
history, to the change from sin to grace, and the change from an era of
slavery and error to the era of freedom and rebirth ushered in by
Christ.

The "old regime" is sketched out in a very vivid way (v. 3), showing
the effects of sin on man in his three dimensions: in relation to
himself, sin makes a person foolish, rebellious, wayward, a slave; in
respect of God, he becomes hateful in his rebellious pride; and as far
as others are concerned he becomes their enemy--"hating one another".

However, the coming of Christ has opened up a new panorama (vv. 4-7).
As elsewhere in these letters (cf. 1 Tim 3:15; Tit 2:11-14), we have
here a hymn to Christ which may well have come from primitive Christian
liturgy or from a confession of faith. It summarizes Christian teaching
on the Incarnation, the Redemption and the application of salvation to
the individual.

According to this text, the Incarnation is the revelation of God our
Savior, who makes known his goodness ("benignity", a word which often
occurs in the Old Testament and sometimes in the New: cf. Rom 2:4; 11:
22; Gal 5:22; Eph 2:7) and "loving goodness" (literally "philanthropy",
a word taken from Greek). The Redemption is referred to in Old
Testament language: "he saved us in virtue of his own mercy."

Finally, the Christian's access to salvation is something gratuitous:
without any prior merit on our part, God's mercy has sought us out (v.
5; cf. note on Rom 3:27-31); Baptism is the door to salvation, for it
is the sacrament of "regeneration and renewal" (cf. Eph 5:26); the Holy
Spirit sent by Christ (cf. Jn 14:26) makes the waters of Baptism
effective; his grace gives life to the soul and entitles it to eternal
life (cf. Gal 4:7; Rom 8:16-17). The Council of Trent specified that
"justification is not only the remission of sins, but sanctification
and renovation of the interior man through the voluntary reception of
grace and gifts whereby a man becomes just instead of unjust and a
friend instead of an enemy, that he may be an heir in the hope of life
everlasting" ("De Iustificatione", chap. 7).

The magnificent resume of faith in Christ contained in Titus 3:3-7 also
helps Christians see how to approach their work and social involvement;
the Second Vatican Council has reminded us once again that "the
promised and hoped-for restoration has already begun in Christ. It is
carried forward in the sending of the Holy Spirit and through him
continues in the Church in which, through our faith, we learn the
meaning of our earthly life, while we bring to term, with hope of
future good, the task allotted to us in the world by the Father, and so
work out our salvation" ("Lumen Gentium", 48).

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 17:1-6

On Leading Others Astray, Fraternal Correction

[1] And He (Jesus) said to His disciples, "Temptations to sin are sure
to come; but woe to him by whom they come! [2] It would be better for
him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the
sea, than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin. [3]
Take heed yourselves; if your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he
repents, forgive him; [4] and if he sins against you seven times in the
day, and turns to you seven times, and says, `I repent,' you must
forgive him."

The Power of Faith

[5] The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith! [6] And the
Lord said, "If you had faith as a grain of mustard seed, you could say
to this sycamine tree, `Be rooted up, and be planted in the sea', and
it would obey you."

Commentary:

1-3. Our Lord condemns scandal, that is, "any saying, action or
omission which constitute for another an occasion of sin" ("St. Pius X
Catechism", 417). Jesus is teaching two things here: the first is that
scandal will "in fact" happen; the second, that it is a grave sin, as
shown by the punishment it earns.

The reason why it is so serious a sin is that it "tends to destroy
God's greatest work, that of Redemption, through souls being lost; it
kills one's neighbor's soul by taking away the life of grace, which is
more precious than the life of the body, and it is the cause of a
multitude of sins. This is why God threatens with the most severe
punishment those who cause others to stumble" ("ibid"., 418). See [the
notes on] Matthew 18:6-7; 18-8; 18:10.

"Take heed to yourselves": a serious warning, meaning that we should
not be a cause of scandal to others nor should we be influenced by the
bad example others give us.

People who enjoy authority of any kind (parents, teachers, politicians,
writers, artists, etc.) can more easily be a cause of scandal. We need
to be on the alert in this respect in view of our Lord's warning, "Take
heed to yourselves."

2. Millstones were circular in shape with a large hole in the center.
Our Lord's description, therefore, was very graphic: it meant that the
person's head just fitted through the hole and then he could not get
the stone off.

3-4. In order to be a Christian one must always, genuinely, forgive
others. Also, one has to correct an erring brother to help him change
his behavior. But fraternal correction should always be done in a very
refined way, full of charity; otherwise we would humiliate the person
who has committed the fault, whereas we should not humiliate him but
help him to be better.

Forgiving offenses--which is something we should always do--should not
be confused with giving up rights which have been justly violated. One
can claim rights without any kind of hatred being implied; and
sometimes charity and justice require us to exercise our rights.
"Let's not confuse the rights of the office you hold with your rights
as a person. The former can never be waived" ([St] . Escriva, "The Way", 407).

Sincere forgiveness leads us to forget the particular offense and to
extend the hand of friendship, which in turn helps the offender to
repent.

The Christian vocation is a calling to holiness, but one of its
essential requirements is that we show apostolic concern for the
spiritual welfare of others: Christianity cannot be practiced in an
isolated, selfish way. Thus, "if any one among you wanders from the
truth and some one brings him back, let him know that whoever brings
back a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death
and will cover a multitude of sins" (James 5:20).

5. "Increase our faith!": a good ejaculatory prayer for every
Christian. "Omnia possibilia sunt credenti". Everything is possible
for anyone who has faith.' The words are Christ's. How is it that you
don't say to Him with the Apostles: `"adauge nobis fidem"! increase my
faith!'?" ("The Way", 588).

6. "I'm not one for miracles. I have told you that in the Holy Gospel
I can find more than enough to confirm my faith. But I can't help
pitying those Christians--pious people, `apostles' many of them--who
smile at the idea of extraordinary ways, of supernatural events. I
feel the urge to tell them: Yes, this is still the age of miracles: we
too would work them if we had faith!" ("The Way", 583).

FEAST OF THE DAY

Pope St. Leo the Great was a Italian of noble birth. In his youth, he
applied himself to his studies, especially in the study of scripture and
theology. He was ordained to the priesthood and was known to be
very eloquent in his writings and in his sermons. In 440, Pope Sixtus
III died, and Leo was elected to the Papacy. In exercising the office
of pope, Leo did not hold back any of his talents or any of the tools of
sanctity, learning, prudence and eloquence, which he had
developed, from the use of God.

During his reign, which exceeded twenty years, he battled the
heresies of Pelagianism, Manichaeism, and helped the faithful
strengthen their love of God. As a leader of Rome, Leo led its
defense against a barbarian attack. And as the pastor of all
Catholics, he reached out to the Church in the East to help settle
areas of doctrinal controversy.

During his lifetime, and especially during his reign as pope, Leo
wrote many letters and sermons encouraging and teaching his flock.
Many of these writings still exist today, and it is for these writings and
his sermons that Leo is a Doctor of the Church. Leo died around the
year 461.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

Virtue is nothing without the trial of temptation, for there is no conflict
without an enemy, no victory without strife. -Pope St. Leo the Great

TODAY IN HISTORY

461 St Leo I ends his reign as Pope
1977 It was announced that Pope Paul VI had ended the automatic
excommunication imposed on divorced American Catholics who
remarried.

TODAY'S TIDBIT

The automatic excommunication of divorced Catholics was not a
decree that was announced by the Vatican. This decree was first
imposed by the Plenary Council of American Bishops in 1884 and
applied only to the diocese of America.

INTENTION FOR THE DAY

Please pray for the strengthening of all families.

ROMAN MISSAL | DOUAY TEXTS

-----------------†JMJ†-----------------
Wednesday, 32nd Week in Ordinary Time
---------------†AMDG†---------------

I confess to almighty God,
and to you, my brothers and sisters,
that I have sinned through my own fault
strike the breast
in my thoughts and in my words
in what I have done,
and in what I have failed to do;
and I ask blessed Mary, ever virgin,
all the angels and saints,
and you, my brothers and sisters,
to pray for me to the Lord our God.

FIRST READING – Ti 3:1-7
For we ourselves were deluded, but because of his mercy, he saved us.

Admonish them to be subject to princes and powers,
to obey at a word, to be ready to every good work.
To speak evil of no man,
not to be litigious, but gentle:
shewing all mildness towards all men.

For we ourselves also were some time unwise,
incredulous, erring, slaves to divers desires and pleasures,
living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.

But when the goodness and kindness of God our Saviour appeared:
Not by the works of justice, which we have done,
but according to his mercy, he saved us,
by the laver of regeneration, and renovation of the Holy Ghost;

Whom he hath poured forth upon us abundantly,
through Jesus Christ our Saviour:
That, being justified by his grace, we may be heirs,
according to hope of life everlasting.

RESPONSORIAL PSALM – Ps 22:1b-3a, 3bc-4, 5, 6
Dóminus pascit me, et nihil mihi déerit.
The Lord ruleth me: and I shall want nothing.

The Lord ruleth me: and I shall want nothing.
He hath set me in a place of pasture.
He hath brought me up, on the water of refreshment:
He hath converted my soul.

He hath led me on the paths of justice,
for his own name's sake.
For though I should walk in the midst of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evils, for thou art with me.

Thy rod and thy staff, they have comforted me.
Thou hast prepared a table before me against them that afflict me.
Thou hast anointed my head with oil;
and my chalice which inebriateth me, how goodly is it!

And thy mercy will follow me
all the days of my life.
And that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
unto length of days.
_______________________________________________
1 "Ruleth me"... In Hebrew, Is my shepherd, viz., to feed, guide, and govern me.

ALLELUIA – 1 Thes 5:18
In ómnibus grátias ágite: hæc est enim volúntas Dei in Christo Iesu erga vobis.
Alleluia, alleluia
In all things give thanks;
for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you all.
Alleluia, alleluia.

GOSPEL – Luke 17:11-19
Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?

And it came to pass, as he was going to Jerusalem,
he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee.
And as he entered into a certain town,
there met him ten men that were lepers, who stood afar off;
And lifted up their voice, saying:
Jesus, master, have mercy on us.

Whom when he saw, he said:
Go, shew yourselves to the priests.
And it came to pass, as they went, they were made clean.

And one of them, when he saw that he was made clean,
went back, with a loud voice glorifying God.

And he fell on his face before his feet,
giving thanks: and this was a Samaritan.

And Jesus answering, said,
Were not ten made clean? and where are the nine?
There is no one found to return and give glory to God,
but this stranger.

And he said to him:
Arise, go thy way; for thy faith hath made thee whole.

The Council of Chalcedon & the Papacy
by Mark J. Bonocore

Around 448, the aged Byzantine monk Eutyches, who had been a zealous ally of St. Cyril of Alexandria at the Council of Ephesus, became rigid and inflexible on his views regarding the Incarnation. He argued that Christ's Divine nature so absorbed His human nature that His human nature ceased to be -- thus giving birth to the heresy of Monophysitism.

This heretical doctrine spread throughout the Eastern Church, and forced St. Flavian, Patriarch of Constantinople, to call a local synod to condemn it. However, Eutyches refused to submit to the synod, appealing his case to Pope Leo I. This is what he wrote:

I take refuge, therefore, with you, the defender of religion and abhorrer of such factions. ...I beseech you not to be prejudiced against me by their insidious designs about me, but to pronounce the sentence which shall seem to you right upon the Faith. -- Eutyches to Pope Leo, Ep 21.

Patriarch Flavian also appealed to Rome for a ruling, moving Pope Leo to produce his famous Tome, which totally condemned Monophysitism. And so, responding to Eutyches, St. Peter Chrysologus, Archbishop of Ravenna, writes:

We exhort you, honorable brother, that you obediently listen to what has been written by the blessed Pope of the city of Rome, since blessed Peter, who lives and presides in his own see, offers the truth of faith to those who seek. For we, in our zeal for peace and faith, cannot decide questions of faith apart from consent of the Bishop of Rome. -- Peter Chrysologus of Ravenna to Eutyches, Ep 25

However, Eutyches would not submit. Having the ear of the Eastern Emperor (who, being opposed to the dynasty that supported Nestorius, favored Eutyches' views), the heretical monk persuaded him to call another Council of Ephesus -- the so-called "Robber Council" of 449, in which the Roman teaching was rejected, and Monophysitism declared to be the orthodox doctrine of the Church. At this council, Patriarch Flavian was physically abused; and so writes to Pope Leo in appeal:

When I began to appeal to the throne of the Apostolic See of Peter, the Prince of the Apostles, and to the whole sacred synod, which is obedient to Your Holiness, at once a crowd of soldiers surrounded me and barred my way when I wished to take refuge at the holy altar. ...Therefore, I beseech Your Holiness not to permit these things to be treated with indifference...but to rise up first on behalf of the cause of our orthodox Faith, now destroyed by unlawful acts. ...Further to issue an authoritative instruction...so that a like faith may everywhere be preached by the assembly of an united synod of fathers, both Eastern and Western. Thus the laws of the fathers may prevail and all that has been done amiss be rendered null and void. Bring healing to this ghastly wound. -- Patriarch Flavian of Constantinople to Pope Leo, 449

At this same "Robber Council" of Ephesus, several other Eastern bishops were deposed from their sees for refusing to embrace Monophysitism. Among them, were Theodoret of Cyrus and Eusebius of Doryleum, both of whom appeal to Pope Leo, saying...

We hasten to your Apostolic See in order to receive from you a cure for the wounds of the Church. For every reason it is fitting for you to hold the first place, inasmuch as your see is adorned with many privileges. I have been condemned without trial. But I await the sentence of your Apostolic See. I beseech and implore Your Holiness to succor me in my appeal to your fair and righteous tribunal. Bid me hasten to you and prove to you that my teaching follows in the footsteps of the Apostles. -- Theodoret to Pope Leo, Ep 113

The Apostolic throne has been wont from the beginning to defend those who are suffering injustice. I entreat Your Blessedness, give me back the dignity of my episcopate and communion with yourself, by letters from you to my lowliness bestowing on me my rank and communion. -- Eusebius of Doryleum to Pope Leo

Thereafter, Pope Leo succeeded in getting both Emperors to call the Council of Chalcedon in 451. At this Council, attended by about 600 bishops (almost all of the Eastern Church), Pope Leo's Tome against Monophysitism and for the orthodox teaching of the two natures of Christ was embraced with the pronouncement:

"This is the faith of the fathers! This is the faith of the Apostles! So we all believe! thus the orthodox believe! Anathema to him who does not thus believe! Peter has spoken thus through Leo! . . . This is the true faith!'" (Acts of the Council, session 2 [A.D. 451]).

St. Leo the Great is commemorated in the Orthodox Church on February 18th. He was a great champion and defender of Orthodoxy. His Easter Sermon, though quite short, is a masterpiece of the Faith.

Sermon by Pope Leo the Great
(Sermo 2 de Nativ. Domini)

GOD is He whose nature is goodness, whose will is power, and whose work is mercy.

Wherefore, at the very beginning of the world, as soon as the devil's hatred had mortally poisoned mankind with the venom on his envy, this almighty and merciful God even then foretold those remedies which his mercy had foreordained for our healing.

At that time he bade the serpent know that there was to be a seed of the woman who yet should crush the prideful swelling of his pestilential head. This seed was none other than the Christ to come in the flesh, even God and Man in one Person, who should be born of the Virgin, and by his virgin-birth should condemn the seducer of man.

THE devil rejoiced that he had, by his artful cunning, so deceived man as to make him lose the gifts of God, and forfeit the privilege of eternal life. Yea, when the devil had thus brought man under the hard sentence of death, he found a certain solace for his own misery in the fact that he now had a comrade in his guilt. He thought also that God, in His just anger, would change His original design towards man, whom he had made in such honor.

But, dearly beloved, that unchangeable God, whose will cannot be balked of its loving-kindness, in the dispensation of his own secret counsel, had already provided a mysterious way for carrying out his original purpose of goodness. So it was that mankind, which had been led into sin by the wicked craft of the devil, was not suffered to perish, and frustrate that gracious purpose of God.

American Cathlic's Saint of the Day

November 10, 2004

St. Leo the Great

(d. 461)

With apparent strong conviction of the importance of the Bishop of Rome in the Church, and of the Church as the ongoing sign of Christ’s presence in the world, Leo the Great displayed endless dedication in his role as pope. Elected in 440, he worked tirelessly as "Peter’s successor," guiding his fellow bishops as "equals in the episcopacy and infirmities."

Leo is known as one of the best administrative popes of the ancient Church. His work branched into four main areas, indicative of his notion of the pope’s total responsibility for the flock of Christ. He worked at length to control the heresies of Pelagianism, Manichaeism and others, placing demands on their followers so as to secure true Christian beliefs. A second major area of his concern was doctrinal controversy in the Church in the East, to which he responded with a classic letter setting down the Church’s teaching on the nature of Christ. With strong faith, he also led the defense of Rome against barbarian attack, taking the role of peacemaker.

In these three areas, Leo’s work has been highly regarded. His growth to sainthood has its basis in the spiritual depth with which he approached the pastoral care of his people, which was the fourth focus of his work. He is known for his spiritually profound sermons. An instrument of the call to holiness, well-versed in Scripture and ecclesiastical awareness, Leo had the ability to reach the everyday needs and interests of his people. One of his Christmas sermons is still famous today.

Comment:

At a time when there is widespread criticism of Church structures, we also hear criticism that bishops and priests—indeed, all of us—are too preoccupied with administration of temporal matters. Pope Leo is an example of a great administrator who used his talents in areas where spirit and structure are inseparably combined: doctrine, peace and pastoral care. He avoided an "angelism" that tries to live without the body, as well as the "practicality" that deals only in externals.

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