Catholic Caucus: Daily Mass Readings, 09-03-05, Mem. St. Gregory/Great, Pope & Doctor/Church

September 3, 2005
Memorial of Saint Gregory the Great, pope and doctor of the Church

Psalm: Saturday 38

Reading I
Col 1:21-23

Brothers and sisters:
You once were alienated and hostile in mind because of evil deeds;
God has now reconciled you
in the fleshly Body of Christ through his death,
to present you holy, without blemish,
and irreproachable before him,
provided that you persevere in the faith,
firmly grounded, stable,
and not shifting from the hope of the Gospel that you heard,
which has been preached to every creature under heaven,
of which I, Paul, am a minister.

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 54:3-4, 6 and 8

R. (6) God himself is my help.
O God, by your name save me,
and by your might defend my cause.
O God, hear my prayer;
hearken to the words of my mouth.
R. God himself is my help.
Behold, God is my helper;
the Lord sustains my life.
Freely will I offer you sacrifice;
I will praise your name, O LORD, for its goodness.
R. God himself is my help.

Gospel
Lk 6:1-5

While Jesus was going through a field of grain on a sabbath,
his disciples were picking the heads of grain,
rubbing them in their hands, and eating them.
Some Pharisees said,
“Why are you doing what is unlawful on the sabbath?”
Jesus said to them in reply,
“Have you not read what David did
when he and those who were with him were hungry?
How he went into the house of God, took the bread of offering,
which only the priests could lawfully eat,
ate of it, and shared it with his companions?”
Then he said to them, “The Son of Man is lord of the sabbath.”

From: Colossians 1:21-23

Christ's Saving Action on the Faithful

[21] And you, who once were estranged and hostile in mind, doing evil
deeds, [22] he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in
order to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable before him,
[23] provided that you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not
shifting from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which has been
preached to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a
minister.

Commentary:

21. "Hostile in mind": literally, "enemies in mind and thought"; for,
even if they did not formally declare themselves to be enemies of God,
they were enemies in fact due to the way they acted.

22. "In his body of flesh": the physical body of Christ, through which
he offered himself to the Father on the cross and brought about the
reconciliation of men with God and with each other. Christ's sacred
humanity is, therefore, an instrument of salvation: through his passion
and death our Lord conquered sin and obtained the graces we need to be
cleansed of our faults and to be presented "holy and blameless and
irreproachable before him."

The sacred text shows that the Incarnation of the Word is something
diametrically opposed to a disembodied spiritualism, which is quite
foreign to the spirit of the Gospel. In a homily given in a Mass on the
campus of Navarre University in 1967, Monsignor Escriva explained that
"authentic Christianity, which professes the resurrection of all flesh,
has always quite logically opposed 'dis-incarnation', without fear of
being judged materialistic. We can, therefore, rightfully speak of a
'Christian materialism', which is boldly opposed to those materialisms
which are blind to the spirit" ("Conversations", 115).

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 6:1-5

The Law of the Sabbath

[1] On a Sabbath, while He (Jesus) was going through the grainfields, His
disciples plucked and ate some ears of grain, rubbing them in their hands.
[2] But some of the Pharisees said, "Why are You doing what is not lawful to
do on the Sabbath?" [3] And Jesus answered, "Have you not read what David
did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: [4] how he entered
the house of God, and took and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is
not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those with
him?" [5] And he said to them, "The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath."

Commentary:

1-5. Accused by the Pharisees of breaking the Sabbath, Jesus explains the
correct way of understanding the Sabbath rest, using an example from the Old
Testament. And, by stating that He is "Lord of the Sabbath" He is openly
revealing that He is God Himself, for it was God who gave this precept to
the people of Israel. For more on this, see the notes on Matthew 12:2 and
12:3-8.

[The notes on Matthew 12:2 and 12:3-8 states:

2. "The Sabbath": this was the day the Jews set aside for worshipping God.
God Himself, the originator of the Sabbath (Genesis 2:3), ordered the Jewish
people to avoid certain kinds of work on this day (Exodus 20:8-11; 21:13;
Deuteronomy 5:14) to leave them free to give more time to God. As time went
by, the rabbis complicated this divine precept: by Jesus' time they had
extended to 39 the list of kinds of forbidden work.

The Pharisees accuse Jesus' disciples of breaking the Sabbath. In the
casuistry of the scribes and the Pharisees, plucking ears of corn was the
same as harvesting, and crushing them was the same as milling-types of
agricultural work forbidden on the Sabbath.

3-8. Jesus rebuts the Pharisees' accusation by four arguments-the example of
David, that of the priests, a correct understanding of the mercy of God and
Jesus' own authority over the Sabbath.

The first example which was quite familiar to the people, who were used to
listening to the Bible being read, comes from 1 Samuel 21:2-7:
David, in flight from the jealousy of King Saul, asks the priest of the
shrine of Nob for food for his men; the priest gave them the only bread he
had, the holy bread of the Presence; this was the twelve loaves which were
placed each week on the golden altar of the sanctuary as a perpetual
offering from the twelve tribes of Israel (Leviticus 24:5-9). The second
example refers to the priestly ministry to perform the liturgy, priests had
to do a number of things on the Sabbath but did not thereby break the law of
Sabbath rest (cf. Numbers 28:9).]

Catholic Culture

Collect:
Father, you guide your people with kindness and govern us with love. By the prayers of Saint Gregory give the spirit of wisdom to those you have called to lead your Church. May the growth of your people in holiness be the eternal joy of our shepherds. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Recipes:

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Activities:

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Prayers:

September 03, 2005

St. Gregory the Great, pope and doctor

Old Calendar: St. Pius X, Pope

St. Gregory, senator and prefect of Rome, then in succession monk, cardinal and pope, governed the Church from 590 to 604. England owes her conversion to him. At a period when the invasion of the barbarians created a new situation in Europe, he played a considerable part in the transitional stage, during which a great number of them were won for Christ. At the same time he watched over the holiness of the clergy and preserved ecclesiastical discipline, as well as attending to the temporal interests of his people of Rome and the spiritual interests of the whole of Christendom. To him the liturgy owes several of its finest prayers, and the name "Gregorian chant" recalls this great Pope's work in the development of the Church's chant. His commentaries on Holy Scripture exercised a considerable influence on Christian thought, particularly in the Middle Ages. Together with St. Ambrose, St. Augustine and St. Jerome he is one of the four great Doctors of the Latin Church.

Before the reform of the General Roman Calendar today was the feast of St. Pius X, which is now celebrated on August 21. The feast of St. Gregory the Great was observed on March 12.

St. Gregory the Great

St. Gregory was born at Rome in 540. He was successively senator and prefect of Rome before the age of 30. After five years he resigned and became a monk, transforming his own house into a Benedictine monastery, and founding six others. At the age of 50 he was elected pope, serving from 590 to 604. In 14 years he accomplished much for the Mystical Body of Christ.

After seeing English children being sold as slaves in Rome, he sent 40 monks, including St. Augustine of Canterbury, from his own monastery to make "the Angles angels." England owes her conversion to him. At a period when the invasion of the barbarian Lombards created a new situation in Europe, he played a great part in winning them for Christ. When Rome itself was under attack, he personally went to interview the Lombard King.

At the same time he watched equally over the holiness of the clergy and the maintenance of Church discipline, the temporal interests of his people of Rome and the spiritual interests of all Christendom. He removed unworthy priests from office, forbade taking money for many services, and emptied the papal treasury to ransom prisoners of the Lombards and to care for persecuted Jews and victims of plague and famine. These deeds and others made him, in the words of an antiphon in his office, "the Father of the City, the joy of the World."

Gregory reformed the liturgy, and it still contains several of his most beautiful prayers. The name "Gregorian chant" recalls this great Pope's work in the development of the Church's music. His commentaries on Holy Scripture exercised a considerable influence on Christian thought in the Middle Ages. St. Gregory died on March 12, 604. His body lies at St. Peter's in Rome.

Patron: choir boys; educators; gout; masons; Music; musicians; choirs; singers; stonecutters; teachers; popes; students; scholars; against plague; against gout; against fever; England; West Indies;

Symbols: dove (the Holy Spirit perched upon St. Gregory's shoulder while he wrote); bishop's staff; book and a pen; papal tiara; a church; a sheet of music written in Gregorian style (4 lines, with square notes); scroll with the words, "Ora pro nobis Deum"; desk and book; altar; double or triple cross; eagle; lectern; tall cross and book.

Things to Do:

Read this brief overview of Gregorian chant.
Play recordings of chant.
Read excerpts from St. Gregory's writings.
From the Catholic Culture Library: Study the history of missionaries in England, The Origins of the Hymns of the Liturgy, Papal Errors in the Ordinary Magisterium? and Pope Pius X's encyclical, Iucunda Sane on Pope Gregory the Great.
Read The Life of St. Gregory from the Golden Legend.

The Word Among Us

Saturday, September 03, 2005

Meditation
Colossians 1:21-23

. . . Provided that you continue securely established and steadfast in the faith. . . (Colossians 1:23)

When Carol was first converted to Christ, she was so full of joy, love, and gratitude to the Lord that she could not imagine herself being any other way. “At the start,” she said, “I was so in love with the Lord that my relationship with him was always foremost on my mind. But as time went by and hard times came, my zeal began to fade. My love burned less fervently and I began to drift away.”

Carol’s statement gives witness to the fact that although conversion is a life-changing experience, it is only the beginning. Further deepening of, and abiding in, this newfound relationship with Jesus is crucial if we want to remain steadfast and grow in holiness.

That’s where the Sacrament of Reconciliation comes in. It is probably one of the most powerful tools we have to help us deepen our conversions. Turning back to Jesus, confessing our sins, and experiencing his forgiveness, we are filled once again with knowledge of God’s mercy and love for us. It’s almost like experiencing conversion all over again! What’s more, the grace poured out in Confession allows us to deal with any “estrangement” and “hostility” that still remains in our hearts and minds after our initial encounter with the Lord (Colossians 1:21).

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, “Conversion to Christ, the new birth of Baptism, the gift of the Holy Spirit and the Body and Blood of Christ received as food have made us ‘holy and without blemish.’ Nevertheless the new life received in Christian initiation has not abolished the frailty and weakness of human nature. . . . This is the struggle of conversion directed toward holiness and eternal life to which the Lord never ceases to call us.” (CCC, 1426)

What a blessing to know that in this “struggle of conversion” we have access to the grace of Confession! No matter how many times we fall, Jesus will always be there, ready to pick us up and encourage us to keep following him.

“Lord, I thank you and praise you for all you have done in my life. Help me do all I can to deepen my relationship with you so that I may remain faithful all the days of my life.”

Psalm 54:3-4,6,8; Luke 6:1-5

Lk 6:1-5
#	Douay-Rheims	Vulgate
1	And it came to pass on the second first sabbath that, as he went through the corn fields, his disciples plucked the ears and did eat, rubbing them in their hands.	factum est autem in sabbato secundoprimo cum transiret per sata vellebant discipuli eius spicas et manducabant confricantes manibus
2	And some of the Pharisees said to them: Why do you that which is not lawful on the sabbath days?	quidam autem Pharisaeorum dicebant illis quid facitis quod non licet in sabbatis
3	And Jesus answering them, said: Have you not read so much as this, what David did, when himself was hungry and they that were with him:	et respondens Iesus ad eos dixit nec hoc legistis quod fecit David cum esurisset ipse et qui cum eo erant
4	How he went into the house of God and took and ate the bread of proposition and gave to them that were with him, which is not lawful to eat but only for the priests?	quomodo intravit in domum Dei et panes propositionis sumpsit et manducavit et dedit his qui cum ipso erant quos non licet manducare nisi tantum sacerdotibus
5	And he said to them: The Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.	et dicebat illis quia dominus est Filius hominis etiam sabbati

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