Catholic Caucus: Daily Mass Readings, 01-21-05, Memorial, St. Agnes, virgin & martyr

USCCB.org/New American Bible ^ | 01-21-05 | New American Bible

[Salvation]

January 21, 2005
Memorial of Saint Agnes, virgin and martyr

Psalm: Friday 6

Reading I
Heb 8:6-13

Brothers and sisters:
Now our high priest has obtained so much more excellent a ministry
as he is mediator of a better covenant,
enacted on better promises.

For if that first covenant had been faultless,
no place would have been sought for a second one.
But he finds fault with them and says:
Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord,
when I will conclude a new covenant with the house of
Israel and the house of Judah.
It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers
the day I took them by the hand to lead
them forth from the land of Egypt;
for they did not stand by my covenant
and I ignored them, says the Lord.
But this is the covenant I will establish with the house of Israel
after those days, says the Lord:
I will put my laws in their minds
and I will write them upon their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they shall be my people.
And they shall not teach, each one his fellow citizen and kin, saying,
"Know the Lord,"
for all shall know me, from least to greatest.
For I will forgive their evildoing
and remember their sins no more.

When he speaks of a "new" covenant,
he declares the first one obsolete.
And what has become obsolete
and has grown old is close to disappearing.


Responsorial Psalm
Ps 85:8 and 10, 11-12, 13-14

R (11a) Kindness and truth shall meet.
Show us, O LORD, your mercy,
and grant us your salvation.
Near indeed is his salvation to those who fear him,
glory dwelling in our land.
R Kindness and truth shall meet.

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 Kindness and truth shall meet.
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 Kindness and truth shall meet.


Gospel
Mk 3:13-19

Jesus went up the mountain and summoned those whom he wanted
and they came to him.
He appointed Twelve, whom he also named Apostles,
that they might be with him
and he might send them forth to preach
and to have authority to drive out demons:
He appointed the Twelve:
Simon, whom he named Peter;
James, son of Zebedee,
and John the brother of James, whom he named Boanerges,
that is, sons of thunder;
Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew,
Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus;
Thaddeus, Simon the Cananean,
and Judas Iscariot who betrayed him.

[Salvation]

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

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St. Agnes, V. M. [Virgin and Martyr]

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From: Hebrews 8:6-13

Christ Is High Priest of a New Covenant, Which Replaces the Old
(Continuation)

---

[6] But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry which is as much more
excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it
is enacted on better promises. [7] For if that first covenant had been
faultless, there would have been no occasion for a second.

[8] For he finds fault with them when he says: "The days will come,
says the Lord, when I will establish a new covenant with the house of
Israel and with the house of Judah; [9] not like the covenant I made
with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to lead them
out of the land of Egypt; for they did not continue in my covenant, and
so I paid no heed to them, says the Lord. [10] This is the covenant
that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the
Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their
hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. [11] And
they shall not teach every one his fellow or every one his brother,
saying, 'Know the Lord,' for all shall know me, from the least of them
to the greatest. [12] For I will be merciful toward their iniquities,
and I will remember their sins no more."

[13] In speaking of a new covenant he treats the first as obsolete. And
what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.

---

Commentary:

3-6. To compare the earthly and heavenly tabernacles, the author
resorts to analogy and metaphor, which is all that he can do. Bearing
this in mind, one should not interpret the words of this passage as
meaning that Jesus Christ consummated his sacrifice only in heaven, for
the sacrifice of Calvary happened only once and was complete in itself.
What this passage is saying is that, in heaven, Christ, the eternal
Priest, continuously presents to the Father the fruits of the Cross.
In the New Covenant there is only one sacrifice--that of Jesus Christ
on Calvary; this single sacrifice is renewed in an unbloody manner
every day in the sacrifice of the Mass; there Jesus Christ the only
Priest of the New Law--immolates and offers, by means of priests who
are his ministers, the same victim (body and blood) which was
immolated in a bloody manner once and for all on the Cross.

7-12. The comparison between the two covenants, the Old made with
Moses and written on stone, and the New, engraved on the minds and
hearts of the faithful (cf. 2 Cor 3:3; Heb 10:16, 17) is developed with
the help of a quotation from Jeremiah (Jer 31:31-34), where the prophet
announces the spiritual alliance of Yahweh with his people. Jeremiah's
words, quoted from the Greek translation (very close to the original
Hebrew), refer directly to the restoration of the Jews after the Exile.
Now that the chosen people have been purified by suffering they are fit
to be truly the people of God: "I will be their God, and they shall be
my people"; this promise of intimate friendship is the core of the
prophecy. That is what it means when it says the Law will be written on
the minds and hearts of all, and all even the least--shall know God. It
may be that Jeremiah sensed the messianic restoration that lay beyond
the restoration of the chosen people on its return from exile;
certainly we can see that this oracle finds its complete fulfillment
only with the New Covenant: the return from Babylon was merely an
additional signal/symbol of the perfect Covenant which Christ would
establish. For it is in that New Covenant that God truly forgives sins
and remembers them no more.

The Old Covenant is said not to have been faultless, or sinless. This
does not mean it was bad; rather; as St Thomas explains, it was
powerless to atone for sins, it did not provide people with the grace
to avoid committing sins, it simply showed people how to recognize
sins, those who lived under the Old Law continued to be subject to sin
(cf. "Commentary on Heb.", 7, 2).

---

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]

From: Mark 3:13-19

Jesus Chooses Twelve Apostles

---

[13] And He (Jesus) went up into the hills, and called to Him those
whom He desired; and they came to Him. [14] And He appointed twelve,
to be with Him, and to be sent out to preach [15] and have authority to
cast out demons; [16] Simon whom He surnamed Peter; [17] James the son
of Zebedee and John the brother of James, whom He surnamed Boanerges,
that is, sons of thunder; [18] Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and
Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and
Simon the Cananaean, [19] and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Him.

---

Commentary:

13. "He called to Him those whom He desired": God wants to show us that
calling, vocation, is an initiative of God. This is particularly true
in the case of the Apostles, which is why Jesus could tell them, later
on, that "you did not choose Me, but I chose you" (Jn 15:16). Those
who will have power and authority in the Church will not obtain this
because first they offer their services and then Jesus accepts their
offering: on the contrary, "not through their own initiative and
preparation, but rather by virtue of divine grace, would they be called
to the apostolate" (St. Bede, "In Marci Evangelium Expositio, in
loc.").

14-19. The Twelve chosen by Jesus (cf. 3:14) receive a specific
vocation to be "people sent out", which is what the word "apostles"
means. Jesus chooses them for a mission which He will give them later
(6:6-13) and to enable them to perform this mission He gives them part
of His power. The fact that He chooses "twelve" is very significant.
This is the same number as the twelve Patriarchs of Israel, and the
Apostles represent the new people of God, the Church founded by
Christ. Jesus sought in this way to emphasize the continuity that
exists between the Old and New Testaments. The Twelve are the pillars
on which Christ builds His Church (cf. Gal 2:9); their mission to make
disciples of the Lord (to teach) all nations, sanctifying and governing
the believers (Mt 28:16-20; Mk 16:15; Lk 24:45-48; Jn 20:21-23).

14. The Second Vatican Council sees in this text the establishment of
the College of the Apostles: "The Lord Jesus, having prayed at length
to the Father, called to Himself those whom He willed and appointed
twelve to be with Him, whom He might send to preach the Kingdom of God
(cf. Mk 3:13-19; Mt 10:1-42). These apostles (cf. Lk 6:13) He
constituted in the form of a college or permanent assembly, at the head
of which He placed Peter, chosen from amongst them" (cf. Jn 21: 15-17)
[...]. "That divine mission, which was committed by Christ to the
apostles, is destined to last until the end of the world (cf. Mt
28:20), since the Gospel, which they were charged to hand on, is, for
the Church, the principle of all its life for all time. For that very
reason the apostles were careful to appoint successors in their
hierarchically constituted society." ("Lumen Gentium", 19-20).
Therefore, the Pope and the bishops, who succeed to the College of the
Twelve, are also called by our Lord to be always with Jesus and to
preach the Gospel, aided by priests.

Life in union with Christ and apostolic zeal must be very closely
linked together; in other words, effectiveness in apostolate always
depends on union with our Lord, on continuous prayer and on sacramental
life: "Apostolic zeal is a divine craziness I want you to have. Its
symptoms are: hunger to know the Master; constant concern for souls;
perseverance that nothing can shake" (St J. Escriva, "The Way", 934).

16. At this point, before the word "Simon" the sentence "He formed the
group of the twelve" occurs in many manuscripts (it is similar to the
phrase "He appointed twelve" in v. 14) but it is not included in the
New Vulgate. The repetition of the same expression and the article in
"the twelve" show the importance of the establishment of the Apostolic
College.

---

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. Agnes was born of a noble Roman family during the beginning of
the third century. She was brought up as a Christian and grew to be
a very beautiful young woman. By the age of twelve, Agnes was
already receiving suitors for her hand in marriage, but refused each
one who came to her because she dedicated her virginity to God.

Several of the suitors who Agnes turned away became bitter at her
and turned her in to the authorities as a Christian. The political
atmosphere at the time was very charged, and the Diocletian
persecution was well under way. Agnes was arrested and brought
before a judge who tried to frighten her into denying up her Faith.
The judge was unsuccessful and decided to throw Agnes into a
house of prostitution to await her death. All who came to look lustfully
upon Agnes lost their sight, but many had their sight restored by her
intercessory prayers.

At last, Agnes was sentenced to death. She was beheaded, and her
body was taken away and buried in a catacomb that later came to
bear her name. Under the reign of the Emperor Constantine, a
basilica was built in her honor near her tomb and her relics were
placed under the altar.

St. Agnes, whose name means both purity and lamb, is the patron of
Christian virtue confronted by political and social violence. Agnes is
one of the most popular saints of the early Church, her life was
commented on by many of her contemporaries and her name is
mentioned it the First Eucharistic Prayer. In iconography, Agnes
many times is represented holding the martyr's palm and
accompanied by a lamb representing her sacrifice for the faith and
her name. St. Agnes is one of the four virgin martyrs whose feasts
are celebrated during the winter to serve as lights for the faithful in a
season of darkness.


QUOTE OF THE DAY

This is a virgin's birthday; let us follow the example of her chastity. It
is a martyr's birthday; let us offer sacrifices; it is the birthday of holy
Agnes: let men be filled with wonder, little ones with hope, married
woman with awe, and the unmarried with emulation. It seems to me
that this child, holy beyond her years and courageous beyond human
nature, received the name of Agnes (Greek: pure) not as an earthly
designation but as a revelation from God of what she was to be. -St.
Augustine


TODAY IN HISTORY

1276 Pierre de Tarantaise elected Bl. Pope Innocent V
1522 Adrian Florensz Boeyens elected Pope Adrian VI
1998 Pope John Paul II visits Cuba


TODAY'S TIDBIT

The feast of St. Agnes is the traditional day for the blessing of the
pallium, the stole woven from lamb's wool that shows the office of a
metropolitan.


INTENTION FOR THE DAY

Please pray for an end to abortion and that all people may develop a
greater respect for human life in all its forms.

[Salvation]

Friday, January 21, 2005
St. Agnes, Virgin, Martyr (Memorial)

First Reading: Psalm: Gospel:

Hebrews 8:6-13 Psalm 85:8,10-14 Mark 3:13-19 The home must be in accord with the Church, that all harmful influences be withheld from the souls of children. Where there is true piety in the home, purity of morals reigns supreme.  -- St. John Vianney

[Salvation]

**When he speaks of a "new" covenant,
he declares the first one obsolete.
And what has become obsolete
and has grown old is close to disappearing.**

The Navarre commentary does not address this last verse. Anyone wish to put your two cents in?

[Salvation]

 

 

A Voice in the Desert

 

Friday January 21, 2005   Feast of Saint Agnes

 

Reading (1 Corinthians 1:26-31)   Gospel (St. Matthew 13:44-46)

 

In the first reading today, Saint Paul, in speaking to the Corinthians, reminds them of their background. The Corinthians, we recall, had a problem; there was lots of infighting and they were split up in different ways. They would claim, “I belong to this one,” and, “I belong to that one.” Who was more important was the question that they were really looking at. We recall that when Our Lord’s disciples were arguing about that same question He answered it in a way similar to Saint Paul, that is, He called a little child to them and pointed out who was really most important in the kingdom of heaven. And He told us also that the one who is the greatest is the one who would serve the rest.

 

That is exactly opposite of what the world would consider, but that is the nature of Christianity: It is exactly the opposite of the world. That is precisely the point all of us need to consider. We have been called by God not because we were the best that the world had to offer, because it is exactly the opposite of the world. If there is somebody who wants to be worldly, there really is not any place for that within the Church because as a Christian person you are already professing that you are going to live opposite of the ways of the world. But, unfortunately, the worldly ways have come very much into the Church these days and they are affecting people very deeply. So we need to make sure we are working that stuff out of our lives.

 

But in the same token, Saint Paul is telling us (and this is, again, something that all of us need to keep firmly in mind) that God chose the weak to shame the strong, God chose the foolish of the world to shame the wise, God chose the lowly and the despised of the world and those who count for nothing to put to shame those whom the world considers to be something of importance. Again, we see very clearly what the Lord is doing. He has called us because we were the weak, we were the foolish, we were the ones the world would not have considered to be of any importance; and He is going to use precisely that means to put to shame all of the worldly power and all of those who think they do not need God.

 

And it is going to be very evident to everyone, as it should be already in our own lives if we are truly living the Christian life, that this could not be us. There is no possible way that we are going to be able to do this – only God can. That is the part that is important: to make sure that the way we are living our lives is in such a way that it will be evident to everybody that this is the Lord. If we want to live like everybody else out in the world, everybody is going to look at us and think how wonderful we are and isn’t it great that we can fit in. That is not the way Jesus lived His life. He did not fit in; they hated Him because He did not live like the others. We need to make sure we are striving for the same sort of thing, not living in some sort of obnoxious way, but rather living a quiet Christian life, living the spiritual life, living the life of Christ.

 

Our Lord tells us in the Gospel reading that the kingdom of heaven is like something that is hidden, a buried treasure, a pearl that is inside of an oyster. It is something that is not just simply evident all by itself. It is going to require some work to find it, and it is going to be hidden. So for us, the kingdom of heaven is going to be hidden. The question is, are we willing to do the work to find it, to live it? Are we willing to go forth and get rid of everything else that is not of heaven in order to obtain heaven? Those are the kinds of things we need to think about. The kingdom of heaven, in this sense, is ultimately the Lord Himself, and He is hidden deep within. The Trinity itself dwells within each one of us if we are in the state of grace. Are we willing to do whatever it requires to be able to obtain that treasure?

 

If we really are the weak and the lowly, the despised and the foolish, we have no reason to boast. We have nothing to be able to point to ourselves and say, “Look at what I’ve done.” All we have the right to do is to look at Jesus and say, “Look at what He has done. Look at who He picked to demonstrate His sense of humor, and now look at what He has done with the ones He has chosen.” That is the only thing we can say. We cannot boast about this as though somehow it is what we have done – because we have not. Anything good in us, the Lord has done in us. We can say only that we cooperated. And even that is kind of humorous because most of us have probably gone kicking and screaming as the Lord had to do His work by dragging us through something. So we cannot even really say that we have cooperated very well. It is all the grace from God and we need to be so grateful for what He has done, for choosing us, for calling us, for forming us, for helping us to be able to see that this buried treasure of Jesus Christ is worth more than anything else and everything else combined, and for giving us the grace for being able to say “yes”. Now we have to allow Him to form us the rest of the way so that He really can through us put the worldly power completely to shame.

 

[Salvation]

Homily of the Day

Homily of the Day

Title:	He Sees in You a Capacity for Greatness!
Author:	Monsignor Dennis Clark, Ph.D.
Date:	Friday, January 21, 2005

Hebrews 8:6-13; Mark 3:13-19

Like a new president putting together his cabinet, Jesus chose His twelve and took them to the top of a mountain where He gave to each a special share in His ministry of spreading the Good News. Every one of them was gifted in some way, but none of them was perfect by any stretch of the imagination. Yet Jesus saw in each the capacity for true greatness in the eyes of God. He saw it in Matthew the tax collector, in Peter the obstreperous fisherman, and yes, He saw it in Judas, who would later betray Him. Jesus took a chance on the goodness that God had planted in each of their hearts, and in every case but one God’s grace took root and flourished.

Why did the eleven succeed and the one fail? Surely it wasn’t a matter of talent or giftedness, because Judas probably outshone most of his colleagues. And it certainly wasn’t a lack of subsequent mistakes, for the whole lot of them continued to stumble as much as walk along their paths, even after Jesus had sent them the Spirit to be their counsel and guide. The decisive factor in those Apostles achieving the destination of sainthood for which God intended them was not sinlessness, but a readiness to acknowledge their sins, to seek forgiveness, and to start again and again and again.

It was the only real choice that they had, and it’s the only choice we have, not to be perfect, but never to cease in giving our hearts back to the Lord in humble sorrow and then trying again and again and again.

 

Note to everyone -- Let me know which homily you like the best -- I'll post only one after a week's feedback. ~Salvation

[Ciexyz]

Every morning is a new day in which we can walk with the Lord. Amen.

[Ciexyz]

Please pray for an end to abortion and that all people may develop a greater respect for human life in all its forms.

Prayers offered up for the pre-born.

[Ciexyz]

Let's allow God's grace to take root and flourish in our lives.

[Smartass]

I Pledge Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America
and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God,
indivisible, with liberty and justice for all ... born and unborn.

[Salvation]

I like that added phrase there!

[Smartass]

Excellent Pro-Life Flash Video:

JUST THE FACTS

THANKS FOR THE PING
A child is a gift, not a choice

[Ciexyz]

15 replies and 51 views so far.

[Ciexyz]

Prayers offered up for all those females who are considering abortion. Let's pray that they get an ultra-sound and see that they're carrying a pre-born child, and decide then to keep that child.

[Ciexyz]

"Hooray for daily homilies" ping.

[Salvation]

The Word Among Us

Friday, January 21, 2005 Meditation Hebrews 8:6-13 Jesus has now obtained a more excellent ministry . . . he is the mediator of a better covenant. (Hebrews 8:6) Don’t you find it astounding that the Lord of all creation would want to bind himself in a covenant relationship with the ones he created? But, amazingly, this has always been God’s desire. Even before he formed the first man and woman, his intention was to walk with his people. Beginning with Abraham, God entered into a covenant in which he called his people to follow his ways and promised to watch over them. Then, when he rescued their descendants from slavery in Egypt, he strengthened this covenant relationship through Moses and established his people as a holy nation set apart for his purposes. Again and again, God showed his mercy toward them and offered to them an ever-deepening intimacy with him. In this covenant, God taught his people to live in a way that honored him as their Creator and Protector. Having given them his commandments, he also showed them what to do if they were disobedient. Every year, he called them to be cleansed from any acts of disobedience through a sacrificial liturgy that involved the shedding of the blood of sheep and goats. Thus, the people would recommit themselves to the covenant and continue to know God’s special blessings. But God had even greater plans. He was looking forward to—and preparing the ground for—something much more intimate. Through Jesus, he established a new covenant in which he himself would dwell within us! Instead of commandments written on stone, he would give us a new heart and a new mind where his will and his purposes would be engraved. This new covenant would be established through the blood that Jesus shed on the cross. No longer would there be a need for annual sacrifices for sin. Brothers and sisters, Jesus has given us great hope. Now that we are cleansed from within by his own blood, the Holy Spirit can dwell in us. Everything that God intended from the very beginning has been given to us in Christ. That’s how much he is committed to us! “Lord, great are your mercies! I am overwhelmed at your unquenchable love. Your covenant is perfect and glorious—just as you yourself are perfect in love!”