Catholic Caucus: Daily Mass Readings, 09-06-05

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

Alleluia Ping!

Please notify me via FReepmail if you would like to be added to or taken off the Alleluia Ping List.

From: Colossians 3:1-11

Seek the Things That Are Above

[1] If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are
above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

Avoid Sin

[2] Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on
earth. [3] For you have died, and your life is hid with Christ in God.
[4] When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with
Him in glory. [5] Put to death therefore what is earthly in you:
immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is
idolatry. [6] 0n account of these the wrath of God is coming. [7] In
these you once walked, when you lived in them. [8] But now put them all
away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and foul talk from your mouth.
[9] Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old
nature with its practices [10] and have put on the new nature, which is
being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. [11] Here
there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian,
Scythian, slave, free man, but Christ is all, and in all.

Commentary:

1-4. The more ethical and exhortatory part of the letter begins at this
point. It is a practical application of the teaching given in the
earlier chapters, designed to suit the circumstances that have arisen
in the Colossian church.

By His death and resurrection the Son of God frees us from the power of
Satan and of death. "By Baptism men are grafted into the paschal
mystery of Christ; they die with him, are buried with Him, and rise
with Him" (Vatican II, "Sacrosanctum Concilium", 6). In other words,
Christians have been raised to a new kind of life, a supernatural life,
whereby they share, even while on earth, in the glorious life of the
risen Jesus. This life is at present spiritual and hidden, but when
our Lord comes again in glory, it will become manifest and glorious.

Two practical consequences flow from this teaching--the need to seek
the "things that are above", that is, the things of God; and the need
to pass unnoticed in one's everyday work and ordinary life, yet to do
everything with a supernatural purpose in mind.

As regards the first of these the Second Vatican Council has said: "In
their pilgrimage to the Heavenly city Christians are to seek and relish
the things that are above (cf. Colossians 3:1-2): this involves not a
lesser, but a greater commitment to working with all men to build a
world that is more human" ("Gaudium Et Spes", 57). Work, family
relationships, social involvements--every aspect of human affairs--
should be approached in a spirit of faith and done perfectly, out of
love: "The true Christian, who acts according to this faith", Monsignor
Escriva comments, "always has his sights set on God. His outlook is
supernatural. He works in this world of ours, which he loves
passionately; he is involved in all its challenges, but all the while
his eyes are fixed on Heaven" ("Friends of God", 206).

Ordinary life, everyday interests, the desire to be better and to serve
others without seeking public recognition of one's merits--all this
makes for holiness if done for love of God. A simple life "hid with
Christ in God" (verse 3) is so important that Jesus Himself chose to
spend the greater part of His life on earth living like an ordinary
person: He was the son of a tradesman. "As we meditate on these
truths, we come to understand better the logic of God. We come to
realize that the supernatural value of our life does not depend on
accomplishing great undertakings suggested to us by our over-active
imagination. Rather it is to be found in the faithful acceptance
of God's will, in welcoming generously the opportunities for small,
daily sacrifice" ([St] J. Escriva, "Christ Is Passing By", 172).

This means that those who try to seek holiness by imitating Jesus in
His hidden life will be people full of hope; they will be optimistic
and happy people; and after their death they will share in the glory
of the Lord: they will hear Jesus' praise, "Well done, good and
faithful servant; you have been faithful over a little; I will set you
over much; enter into the joy of your Master" (Matthew 25:21).

On the value of the hidden life, see the note on Luke 2:15.

5-17. The Christian, who in Baptism has risen with Christ, should not
live for himself but for God. This means that every day he needs to put
off his old nature and put on the new.

The "old nature", the "old man": one who lets himself be led by
disorderly passions (cf. Rom 7:8), who lets his body do evil in the
service of sin (v. 5; cf. Rom 6:12f). With the help of grace the old
nature is being more and more broken down, while the new nature is
constantly being renewed (cf. 2 Cor 6:16). Impurity and the other vices
need to be uprooted so as to make room for goodness and its train of
Christian virtues (vv. 12-13), especially charity (v. 14), which are
features of the new nature.

Christ's disciple, who has been made a new person and who lives for the
Lord, has a new and more perfect knowledge of God and of the world
(v. 10). Thanks to this he see things from a more elevated viewpoint;
he has a "supernatural insight". This enables him to love and
understand everyone without distinction of race, nation or social
status (v. 11), and to imitate Christ, who has given himself up for
all. "The Only-begotten of the Eternal Father vouchsafed to become a
son of man, that we might be made conformable to the image of the Son
of God and be renewed according to the likeness of him who created us.
Therefore let all those who glory in the name of Christians not only
look upon our divine Savior as the most sublime and most perfect model
of all virtues, but also, by the careful avoidance of sin and the
unremitting practice of holiness, so reproduce in their conduct his
teaching and life, that when the Lord appears they may be like to him
in glory, seeing him as he is (cf. 1 Jn 3:2)" (Pius XII, "Mystici
Corporis", 20).

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.

Oops, #3 is for tomorrow, sorry!

From: Colossians 2:6-15

A Warning About Empty Philosophies

[6] As therefore you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so live in him,
[7] rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as
you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.

[8] See to it that no one makes a prey of you by philosophy and empty
deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental
spirits of the universe, and not according to Christ.

Defense of Sound Teaching in the Face of Heresy

[9] For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, [10] and you
have come to fullness of life in him, who is the head of all rule and
authority. [11] In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision
made without hands, by putting off the body of flesh in the
circumcision of Christ; [12] and you were buried with him in baptism,
in which you were also raised with him through faith in the working of
God, who raised him from the dead. [13] And you, who were dead in
trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive
together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, [14] having
canceled the bond which stood against us with its legal demands; this
he set aside, nailing it to the cross. [15] He disarmed the
principalities and powers and made a public example of them, triumphing
over them in him.

Commentary:

4-8. These verses reveal the Apostle's pastoral solicitude for the
faithful of Colossae. Although physically absent, he is with them in
spirit. He rejoices and gives thanks to God for their steadfastness,
but he leaves them in no doubt about the dangers which threaten their
faith. Clearly he is referring to those who were adulterating the
Colossians' faith by intruding erroneous ideas. By sophistry and deceit
they were trying to convince the faithful that it was better to have
recourse to angels rather than to Christ, arguing that angels were the
chief mediators between God and men.

The Christian faith is not opposed to human scholarship and science, it
rejects only vain philosophy, that is, philosophy which boasts that it
relies on reason alone and which fails to respect revealed truths.

Over the centuries, people have often tried to adapt the truths of
faith to the philosophies or ideologies which happen to be in vogue. In
this connection Leo Xlll said: "As the Apostle warns, 'philosophy and
empty deceit' can deceive the minds of Christians and corrupt the
sincerity of men's faith; the supreme pastors of the Church, therefore,
always see it as part of their role to foster as much as they can
sciences which merit that name, and at the same time to ensure by
special watchfulness, that human sciences are taught in keeping with
the criteria of Catholic faith--particularly philosophy, because proper
methodology in the other sciences is largely dependent on [correctness
in] philosophy" ("Aeterni Patris", 1).

"The elemental spirits of the universe": see the note on Gal 4:3.

9. This is such an important verse that it deserves close analysis.
"Dwell": the Greek word means a stable way of living or residing, as
distinct from a transitory presence: in other words, the union of
Christ's human nature with his divine nature is not just something
which lasts for a while; it is permanent. "Deity": the Greek word can
also be translated as "divinity"; in either case, the sentence means
that God has taken up a human nature, in such a way that, although it
was only the second divine Person, the Son, who became incarnate, by
virtue of the unity of the divine essence, where one divine person is
present the other two persons are also present.

This verse enunciates the profound mystery of the Incarnation in a
different way to John 1:14: "And the word became flesh and dwelt among
us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory; glory as of the
only Son from the Father" (cf. also 1 in 1:1-2).

When the sacred text says that in Christ "the whole fullness of deity
dwells bodily", it means, St John of Avila explains, "that it does not
dwell in him merely by grace-as in the case of the saints (men and
angels both), but in another way of greater substance and value, that
is, by way of personal union" ("Audi, "Filia", 84).

In Jesus Christ, then, there are two natures, divine and human, united
in one person, who is divine. This "hypostatic union" does not prevent
each nature from having all its own proper characteristics, for, as St
Leo the Great defined, "the Word has not changed into flesh, nor has
flesh changed into Word; but each remains, in a unity" ("Licet Per
Nostros", 2).

10. Since Christ is head of angels and men, the head of all creation
(cf. Eph 1:10) and especially head of the Church (cf. Col 1:18), all
fullness is said to reside in him (cf. note on Col 1:19). Hence, not
only is he pre-eminent over all things but "he fills the Church, which
is his body and fullness, with his divine gifts (cf. Eph 1:22-23), so
that it may increase and attain to all the fullness of God (cf. Eph
3:19)" (Vatican II, "Lumen Gentium", 7).

Union with Christ makes Christians sharers in his "fullness", that is,
in divine grace (of which he is absolutely full and we have a partial
share), in a word, in his perfections.

That is why the members of the Church who "through the sacraments are
united in a hidden and real way to Christ" ("Lumen Gentium", 7) can
attain the fullness of the Christian life.

It was very appropriate for St Paul to be instructing the Colossians in
these truths at this time, because it put them on their guard against
preachers who were arguing for exaggerated worship of angels, to the
detriment of Christ's unique, pre-eminent mediation.

11-12. This is a reference to another error which the Judaizers were
trying to spread at Colossae and which was already treated in detail in
the letters to the Galatians and the Romans--the idea that it was
necessary for Christians to be circumcised. Physical circumcision
affects the body, whereas what the Apostle, by analogy, calls "the
circumcision of Christ", that is, Baptism, puts off the "body of flesh"
(an expression which seems to refer to whatever is sinful in man). "We,
who by means of (Christ) have reached God, have not been given fleshly
circumcision but rather spiritual circumcision [...]; we receive it by
the mercy of God in Baptism" (St Justin, "Dialogue with Trypho", 43,
2). "By the sacrament of Baptism, whenever it is properly conferred in
the way the Lord determined and received with the proper dispositions
of soul, man becomes truly incorporated into the crucified and
glorified Christ and is reborn to a sharing of the divine life, as the
Apostle says: [Col 2:12 follows]" (Vatican II, "Unitatis
Redintegratio", 22).

As on other occasions (cf. Rom 6:4), St Paul, evoking the rite of
immersion in water, speaks of Baptism as a kind of burial (a sure sign
that someone has died to sin), and of resurrection to a new life, the
life of grace. By this sacrament we are associated with Christ's death
and burial so as to be able to rise with him. "Christ by his
resurrection signified our new life, which was reborn out of the old
death which submerged us in sin. This is what is brought about in us by
the great sacrament of Baptism: all those who receive this grace die to
sin [...] and are reborn to the new life" (St Augustine, "Enchiridion",
41-42).

13-14. This is one of the central teachings of the epistle--that Jesus
Christ is the only mediator between God and men. The basic purpose of
his mediation is to reconcile men with God, through the forgiveness of
their sins and the gift of the life of grace, which is a sharing in
God's own life.

Verse 14 indicates how Christ achieved this purpose--by dying on the
Cross. All who were under the yoke of sin and the Law have been set
free through his death.

The Mosaic Law, to which the scribes and Pharisees added so many
precepts as to make it unbearable, had become (to use St Paul's
comparison) like a charge sheet against man, because it imposed heavy
burdens but did not provide the grace needed for bearing them. The
Apostle very graphically says that this charge sheet or "bond" was set
aside and nailed on the Cross--making it perfectly clear to all that
Christ made more than ample satisfaction for our crimes. "He has
obliterated them," St John Chrysostom comments, "not simply crossed
them out; he has obliterated them so effectively that no trace of them
remains in our soul. He has completely canceled them out, he has nailed
them to the Cross [...]. We were guilty and deserved the most rigorous
of punishments because we were all of us in sin! What, then, does the
Son of God do? By his death on the Cross he removes all our stains and
exempts us from the punishment due to them. He takes our charge-sheet,
nails it to the Cross through his own person and destroys it" ("Hom. on
Col, ad loc.").

15. Jesus is the only mediator between God and man. The angelic
principalities and powers are insignificant by comparison with him: God
has overpowered them and publicly exposed them through the death of his
Son. The sentence seems to evoke the idea of the parade of a victorious
general complete with trophies, booty and prisoners.

Some scholars interpret this passage differently; the "public
spectacle", according to their interpretation, would refer to the fact
that the good angels had been mediators in the revelation of the Mosaic
Law (cf. Gal 3:19) and were being venerated by some contemporary Jews
(among them some converts from Colossae) with a form of worship
bordering on superstition. God would have caused them to become "a
public spectacle" when they acted as a kind of escort in Christ's
victory parade. Thus, both interpretations lead to the conclusion that
angels, who are Christ's servants, should not be rendered the worship
due to him alone, even though they do play an important part in God's
plan of salvation. One of the missions entrusted to them is that of
continually interceding on behalf of mankind.

At the time this epistle was being written there was need to emphasize
first that Jesus Christ is the only mediator. The mediation of angels
depends on him (it is something revealed in fact in the Old Testament:
cf. Tob 12:3, 12ff; Dan 9:2ff; 10:13; Ezek 49:3; Zech 1:9; etc.). The
Blessed Virgin Mary's mediation, also subordinate to that of Christ,
is something which becomes clearer as the events of the New Testament
unfold. Mary's mediation is, however, on a higher level than that of
the angels. Pope Pius XII says this, echoing earlier teachings: "If, as
he does, the Word works miracles and infuses grace by means of the
human nature he has taken on, if he uses the sacraments, and his
Saints, as instruments for the saving of souls, how could he not use
the office and action of his most blessed Mother to distribute the
fruits of the Redemption?

"With a truly maternal spirit (our predecessor Pius IX of immortal
memory says), having in her hands the business of our salvation, she
concerns herself with all mankind, for she has been made by the Lord
Queen of heaven and earth and is raised above all the choirs of Angels
and all the degrees of the Saints in heaven; she is there at the right
hand of her only Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, in most effective
supplication, obtaining whatever she asks; she cannot but be heard"
("Ad Caeli Reginam", 17).

"Principalities and powers": see the note on Eph 6:12.

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 6:12-19

The Calling of the Apostles

[12] In these days He (Jesus) went out into the hills to pray; and all
night He continued in prayer to God. [13] And when it was day, He
called His disciples, and chose from them twelve, whom He named
Apostles: [14] Simon, whom He named Peter, and Andrew, his brother, and
James and John, and Philip and Bartholomew, [15] and Matthew, and
Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon who was called the
Zealot, [16] and Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became
a traitor.

The Sermon on the Mount

[17] And He came down with them and stood on a level place, with a
great crowd of His disciples and a great multitude of people from all
Judea and Jerusalem and the sea coast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to
hear Him and to be healed of their diseases; [18] and those who were
troubled with unclean spirits were cured. [19] And all the crowd
sought to touch Him, for power came forth from Him and healed them
all.

Commentary:

12-13. The evangelist writes with a certain formality when describing
this important occasion on which Jesus chooses the Twelve, constituting
them as the apostolic college: "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. Mark 2:13-19; Matthew 10:1-42). These Apostles (cf. Luke 6:13) He
constituted in the form of a college or permanent assembly, at the head
of which He placed Peter, chosen from among them (cf. John 21:15-17).
He sent them first of all to the children of Israel and then to all
peoples (cf. Romans 1:16), so that, sharing in His power, they might
make all peoples His disciples and sanctify and govern them (cf.
Matthew 28:16-20; and par.) and thus spread the Church and,
administering it under the guidance of the Lord, shepherd it all days
until the end of the world (cf. Matthew 28:20). They were fully
confirmed in this mission on the day of Pentecost (cf. Act 2:1-26)
[...]. Through their preaching the Gospel everywhere (cf. Mark 16:20),
and through its being welcomed and received under the influence of the
Holy Spirit by those who hear it, the Apostles gather together the
universal Church, which the Lord founded upon the Apostles and built
upon Blessed Peter their leader, the chief cornerstone being Christ
Jesus Himself (cf. Revelation 21:14; Matthew 16:18; Ephesians 2:20).
That divine mission, which was committed by Christ to the Apostles, is
destined to last until the end of the world (cf. Matthew 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 this hierarchically
constituted society" (Vatican II, "Lumen Gentium", 19-20).

Before establishing the apostolic college, Jesus spent the whole night
in prayer. He often made special prayer for His Church (Luke 9:18;
John 17:1ff), thereby preparing His Apostles to be its pillars (cf.
Galatians 2:9). As His Passion approaches, He will pray to the Father
for Simon Peter, the head of the Church, and solemnly tell Peter that
He has done so: "But I have prayed for you that your faith may not
fail" (Luke 22:32). Following Christ's example, the Church stipulates
that on many occasions liturgical prayer should be offered for the
pastors of the Church (the Pope, the bishops in general, and priests)
asking God to give them grace to fulfill their ministry faithfully.

Christ is continually teaching us that we need to pray always (Luke
18:1). Here He shows us by His example that we should pray with
special intensity at important moments in our lives. "`Pernoctans in
oratione Dei. He spent the whole night in prayer to God.' So St.
Luke tells of our Lord. And you? How often have you persevered like
that? Well, then...." ([St] J. Escriva, "The Way", 104).

On the need for prayer and the qualities our prayer should have, see
the notes on Matthew 6:5-6; 7:7-11; 14:22-23; Mark 1:35; Luke 5:16;
11:1-4; 22:41-42.

12. Since Jesus is God, why does He pray? There were two wills in
Christ, one divine and one human (cf. "St. Pius X Catechism", 91), and
although by virtue of His divine will He was omnipotent, His human will
was not omnipotent. When we pray, what we do is make our will known to
God; therefore Christ, who is like us in all things but sin (Hebrews
4:15), also had to pray in a human way (cf. "Summa Theologiae", III, q.
21, a. 1). Reflecting on Jesus at prayer, St. Ambrose comments: "The
Lord prays not to ask things for Himself, but to intercede on my
behalf; for although the Father has put everything into the hands of
the Son, still the Son, in order to behave in accordance with His
condition as man, considers it appropriate to implore the Father for
our sake, for He is our Advocate [...]. A Master of obedience, by His
example He instructs us concerning the precepts of virtue: `We have an
advocate with the Father' (1 John 2:1)" ("Expositio Evangelii sec.
Lucam, in loc.").

14-16. Jesus chose for Apostles very ordinary people, most of them poor
and uneducated; apparently only Matthew and the brothers James and John
had social positions of any consequence. But all of them gave up
whatever they had, little or much as it was, and all of them, bar
Judas, put their faith in the Lord, overcame their shortcomings and
eventually proved faithful to grace and became saints, veritable
pillars of the Church. We should not feel uneasy when we realize that
we too are low in human qualities; what matters is being faithful to
the grace God gives us.

19. God became man to save us. The divine person of the Word acts
through the human nature which He took on. The cures and casting out
of devils which He performed during His life on earth are also proof
that Christ actually brings redemption and not just hope of
redemption. The crowds of people from Judea and other parts of Israel
who flock to Him, seeking even to touch Him, anticipate, in a way,
Christians' devotion to the holy Humanity of Christ.

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.

Tuesday, September 6, 2005
Feria

First Reading:
Psalm:
Gospel:

Colossians 2:6-15
Psalm 145:1-2, 8-11
Luke 6:12-19

Let my soul live as if separated from my body.

-- St. John of the Cross

Catholic Culture

Collect:
God our Father, you redeem us and make us your children in Christ. Look upon us, give us true freedom and bring us to the inheritance you promised. Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Activities:

Prayers:

» September Devotion: Our Lady of Sorrows

September 06, 2005

Tuesday of the Twenty-Third Week of Ordinary Time

"And there followed Him a great multitude of people, and of women, who bewailed and lamented Him." The meeting of Jesus and Mary on the Way of the Cross is Mary's fourth sorrow. This Mother, so tender and loving, meets her beloved Son, meets Him amid an impious rabble, who drag Him to a cruel death, wounded, torn by stripes, crowned with thorns, streaming with blood, bearing His heavy cross. Consider, the grief of the blessed Virgin thus beholding her Son! Who would not weep at seeing this Mother's grief? But who has been the cause of such woe?

Meditation
The liturgy puts on the lips of Our Lady of Sorrows these touching words: "O you who pass by the way, attend and see if there be any sorrow like to my sorrow." Yes, her grief was immeasurable, and was surpassed only by her love, a love so great that it could encompass that vast sea of sorrow. It can be said of Mary, as of no other creature, that her love was stronger than death; in fact, it made her able to support the cruel death of Jesus.

"Who could be unfeeling in contemplating the Mother of Christ suffering with her Son?" chants the Stabat Mater; and immediately it adds, "O Mother... make me feel the depth of your sorrow, so that I may weep with you. May I bear in my heart the wounds of Christ; make me share in His Passion and become inebriated by the Cross and Blood of your Son." In response to the Church's invitation, let us contemplate Mary's sorrows, sympathize with her, and ask her for the invaluable grace of sharing with her in the Passion of Jesus. Let us remember that this participation is not to be merely sentimental—even though this sentiment is good and holy—but it must lead us to real compassion, that is, to suffering with Jesus and Mary. The sufferings God sends us have no other purpose.

The sight of Mary at the foot of the Cross makes the lesson of the Cross less hard and less bitter; her maternal example encourages us to suffer and makes the road to Calvary easier. Let us go, then, with Mary, to join Jesus on Golgotha; let us go with her to meet our cross; and sustained by her, let us embrace it willingly, uniting it with her Son's.

Excerpted from Divine Intimacy, Fr. Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen, O.C.D.

Sorrows of Mary [long]

September Devotion: Our Lady of Sorrows

Since the 16th century Catholic piety has assigned entire months to special devotions. Due to her feast day on September 15, the month of September has traditionally been set aside to honor Our Lady of Sorrows. All the sorrows of Mary (the prophecy of Simeon, the three days' loss, etc.) are merged in the supreme suffering at the Passion. In the Passion, Mary suffered a martyrdom of the heart because of Our Lord's torments and the greatness of her love for Him. "She it was," says Pope Pius XII, "who immune from all sin, personal or inherited, and ever more closely united with her Son, offered Him on Golgotha to the Eternal Father together with the holocaust of her maternal rights and motherly love. As a new Eve, she made this offering for all the children of Adam contaminated through his unhappy fall. Thus she, who was the mother of our Head according to the flesh, became by a new title of sorrow and glory the spiritual mother of all His members."

INVOCATIONS
Mary most sorrowful, Mother of Christians, pray for us.
Virgin most sorrowful, pray for us.

TO THE QUEEN OF MARTYRS
Mary, most holy Virgin and Queen of Martyrs, accept the sincere homage of my filial affection. Into thy heart, pierced by so many swords, do thou welcome my poor soul. Receive it as the companion of thy sorrows at the foot of the Cross, on which Jesus died for the redemption of the world. With thee, O sorrowful Virgin, I will gladly suffer all the trials, contradictions, and infirmities which it shall please our Lord to send me. I offer them all to thee in memory of thy sorrows, so that every thought of my mind, and every beat of my heart may be an act of compassion and of love for thee. And do thou, sweet Mother, have pity on me, reconcile me to thy divine Son Jesus, keep me in His grace, and assist me in my last agony, so that I may be able to meet thee in heaven and sing thy glories. Amen.

TO THE MOTHER OF SORROWS
Most holy Virgin. and Mother, whose soul was pierced by a sword of sorrow in the Passion of thy divine Son, and who in His glorious Resurrection wast filled with never-ending joy at His triumph; obtain for us who call upon thee, so to be partakers in the adversities of Holy Church and the sorrows of the Sovereign Pontiff, as to be found worthy to rejoice with them in the consolations for which we pray, in the charity and peace of the same Christ our Lord. Amen.

IN HONOR OF THE SORROWS OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY
O most holy and afflicted Virgin! Queen of Martyrs! thou who didst stand motionless beneath the Cross, witnessing the agony of thy expiring Son--through the unceasing sufferings of thy life of sorrow, and the bliss which now more than amply repays thee for thy past trials, look down with a mother's tenderness and pity on me, who kneel before thee to venerate thy dolors, and place my requests, with filial confidence, in the sanctuary of thy wounded heart; present them, I beseech thee, on my behalf, to Jesus Christ, through the merits of His own most sacred death and passion, together with thy sufferings at the foot of the cross, and through the united efficacy of both obtain the grant of my present petition. To whom shall I resort in my wants and miseries if not to thee, O Mother of Mercy, who, having so deeply drunk of the chalice of thy Son, canst compassionate the woes of those who still sigh in the land of exile? Offer for me to my Savior one drop of the Blood which flowed from His sacred veins, one of the tears which trickled from His divine eyes, one of the sighs which rent His adorable Heart. O refuge of the universe and hope of the whole world, do not reject my humble prayer, but graciously obtain the grant of my petition.

TO OUR LADY OF SORROWS
O most holy Virgin, Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ: by the overwhelming grief you experienced when you witnessed the martyrdom, the crucifixion, and the death of your divine Son, look upon me with eyes of compassion, and awaken in my heart a tender commiseration for those sufferings, as well as a sincere detestation of my sins, in order that, being disengaged from all undue affection for the passing joys of this earth, I may sigh after the eternal Jerusalem, and that henceforward all my thoughts and all my actions may be directed towards this one most desirable object. Honor, glory, and love to our divine Lord Jesus, and to the holy and immaculate Mother of God. Amen. --Saint Bonaventure

Prayer Source: Prayer Book, The by Reverend John P. O'Connell, M.A., S.T.D. and Jex Martin, M.A., The Catholic Press, Inc., Chicago, Illinois, 1954

Homily of the Day

Title:	Are You Doing Your Share of Jesus' Work?
Author:	Monsignor Dennis Clark, Ph.D.
Date:	Tuesday, September 6, 2005

Colossians 2:6-15 / Lk 6:12-19

Have you ever imagined what it must have been like to be one of those twelve apostles called by Jesus to be his followers. Imagine spending three years, night and day, with Jesus himself, and being close enough to watch him respond to every kind of challenge, to watch him get tired and fall asleep, to watch him laugh and play with little children, and to watch him stay so closely connected to the Father. But best of all, imagine the thrill of knowing that Jesus had picked and chosen YOU to carry on his work. What an honor! What a trust! If only you'd been there.

Well, of course, you weren't. But Jesus is giving each one of us the same invitation that he gave to those original apostles: "Come, follow in my footsteps, and do the work that I do." And what exactly is Jesus' work? Reconciliation. Bringing people together into friendship with God and with one another, and helping to take away everything that stands in the way of that friendship.

Communion with God and his people is the ultimate purpose and joy of our lives, and building that communion is the task of every one of us every day. So there's the question for the day: What is your role in reconciling people with God and with one another? As we work to build communion, are you part of the problem or part of the solution? With your particular gifts, where could you make the best contribution to building up God's family?

Good questions for us all. So be sure to listen to the answers.

Faith-sharing bump.

Prayers offered up for continued recovery efforts in the hurricane-ravaged areas.

Salvation,Mass bump.

A Voice in the Desert

Tuesday September 6, 2005 Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time

Reading (Colossians 2:6-15) Gospel (St. Luke 6:12-19)

In the first reading today from his Letter to the Colossians, Saint Paul in very succinct form lays out for us not only what our faith is about but the dignity that is ours. He tells us, first of all, that in Christ the fullness of deity dwells bodily. Deity, of course, means “God.” So the fullness of God dwells in Him in a bodily form. Then he goes on to tell us that in Christ we have been circumcised, not with the circumcision that is administered by hand, but rather a circumcision by which we put off the body entirely, with all of its desires that would be immoral, to be able to live a truly moral life. He goes on to tell us that we were baptized into Christ, we were raised with Him, and so we share already in the death and resurrection of Christ. We were brought to life with all of our sins forgiven, Saint Paul tells us, and He nailed all of these to the Cross. Therefore, He despoiled all the principalities and powers.

Before all of this, he tells us that we are not to be led astray by any kind of seductive philosophy, and then lays out who it is that we are, understanding who we are. We are members of Jesus Christ, and therefore being members of Jesus Christ we share in the divine nature. We have been incorporated into Christ, we have died with Him, and we have been raised with Him. That is who we are. And because that is who we are, we have to reject everything that is not Christ. That is exactly what he tells us: See to it that no one captivate you with an empty, seductive philosophy according to the tradition of men, according to the elemental powers of the world and not according to Christ.

That last point is the most important. If it is not according to Christ, it must be rejected. We cannot be playing games with these things that are in opposition to the faith. It is not a matter of hedging our bets: “Well, maybe, if this isn’t the truth then I want to make sure that I’m okay.” There is only one truth, and if we are not convinced of the truth then we are not convinced of Christ. If we are not convinced of Christ then we have no part in Him. And if we have no part in Christ, we have no part in eternal life.

So if there is something that is being presented that is not focused on Christ, that is not firmly rooted in Christ, reject it outright and absolutely. Do not even give it a second thought because it is not true. We need to be very clear about this because in our neopagan society there is an awful lot out there that is leading people away, that is drawing people away from Christ, because they are looking for some kind of power, they are looking for some sort of curious intrigue, whatever it might be. That is not what we can be about. We have to be faithful to Jesus Christ. He alone is our hope and there is no other. So that is what we have to look at. In this world that has gone astray, it wants to pull us down with it. We have to reject that. We have to remain firmly rooted in Christ, but in order to do that we have to know, first of all, Who He is, and then we have to know who we are. That is what Saint Paul lays out so neatly in this reading today. In Him the fullness of deity dwells bodily. He is God and He is man. You were baptized into Him. You share in everything that is Christ. Once you understand Who He is and once you understand who you are, there is no option, there is no other possibility. Therefore, anything that is not according to Christ is not true. And, therefore, any kind of philosophy or religion that does not have Jesus Christ as its center and is in opposition to the one faith that Jesus Christ Himself established, we must reject wholeheartedly and absolutely, and remain firmly rooted only in Jesus Christ.

* This text was transcribed from the audio recording with minimal editing.

The Word Among Us

Tuesday, September 06, 2005

Meditation
Colossians 2:6-15

From the beginning, people have sought to reach out and touch God. They have searched the mysteries of the universe and the intricacies of the human heart to understand the meaning and purpose of life. Philosophers and theologians, adults and children, sophisticated and simple: Everyone longs to know who they are and why they are on this earth.

In today’s passage, Paul warns against trying to find these answers solely through intellectual seeking. Instead, he cautions us to stay firmly planted in the truths that have been revealed about Jesus—truths that were made known to us when we received Christ Jesus, not when we figured him out (Colossians 2:6). But how can we hold fast to these truths, especially the ones that go beyond the constraints of human reason? How can we base our lives upon claims that in some cases even defy everyday logic?

The best way to be reassured of Jesus is to spend time with him, meditating on what he did for us and praising him for all his beauty, goodness, power, and love. Our best hope is to find a quiet place where there are few distractions and to quiet our racing minds so that the Spirit of Christ can flood us and convince us all over again.

What does the Spirit want to show us? That Jesus is the God who protects and comforts us. That he can take our sorrows and worries and carry them with us. That he wants to direct us when we don’t know which way to turn. The Spirit also wants to prove to us that Jesus is a God of power, capable of changing us, moving us, molding us to perfection and completion. And most importantly, the Spirit wants to convince us that Jesus really did die on a cross for us and that he really did rise from the dead to bring us salvation. Jesus is the God who accepts us as we are, with all of our imperfections, and promises to transform us into his own image and likeness.

If we seek Christ, we will find him. Then, no mere human philosophy will be able to entrap us. We will remain rooted and built up in Jesus because he has shown himself to us. And nothing can overcome the power of revelation!

“Jesus, I praise you for revealing your power in my life. Thank you, Lord, for revealing your truth to my heart.”

Psalm 145:1-2,8-11; Luke 6:12-19

Lk 6:12-19
#	Douay-Rheims	Vulgate
12	And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain to pray: and he passed the whole night in the prayer of God.	factum est autem in illis diebus exiit in montem orare et erat pernoctans in oratione Dei
13	And when day was come, he called unto him his disciples: and he chose twelve of them (whom also he named apostles):	et cum dies factus esset vocavit discipulos suos et elegit duodecim ex ipsis quos et apostolos nominavit
14	Simon, whom he surnamed Peter, and Andrew his brother, James and John, Philip and Bartholomew,	Simonem quem cognominavit Petrum et Andream fratrem eius Iacobum et Iohannem Philippum et Bartholomeum
15	Matthew and Thomas, James the son of Alpheus, and Simon who is called Zelotes,	Mattheum et Thomam Iacobum Alphei et Simonem qui vocatur Zelotes
16	And Jude the brother of James, and Judas Iscariot, who was the traitor.	Iudam Iacobi et Iudam Scarioth qui fuit proditor
17	And coming down with them, he stood in a plain place: and the company of his disciples and a very great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the sea coast, both of Tyre and Sidon,	et descendens cum illis stetit in loco campestri et turba discipulorum eius et multitudo copiosa plebis ab omni Iudaea et Hierusalem et maritimae Tyri et Sidonis
18	Who were come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. And they that were troubled with unclean spirits were cured.	qui venerunt ut audirent eum et sanarentur a languoribus suis et qui vexabantur ab spiritibus inmundis curabantur
19	And all the multitude sought to touch him: for virtue went out from him and healed all.	et omnis turba quaerebant eum tangere quia virtus de illo exiebat et sanabat omnes

Twelve Apostles

Illuminated Ps. 18:10-15
The Theodore Psalter
11 c. Byzantine manuscript
British Museum

One Bread, One Body

<< Tuesday, September 6, 2005 >>

Colossians 2:6-15

Psalm 145

Luke 6:12-19

View Readings

CONFUSION OR COMMITMENT?

“See to it that no one deceives you through any empty, seductive philosophy that follows mere human traditions, a philosophy based on cosmic powers rather than on Christ.” —Colossians 2:8

Satan is the author of confusion. He tries to seduce and trick us in thousands of different ways. We must have our eyes fixed on Jesus and be maturing in the Spirit or we will be deceived.

“Let us, then, be children no longer, tossed here and there, carried about by every wind of doctrine that originates in human trickery and skill in proposing error” (Eph 4:14). “I tell you all this so that no one may delude you with specious arguments” (Col 2:4). “Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teaching” (Heb 13:9). “There are many irresponsible teachers ... empty talkers and deceivers. These must be silenced” (Ti 1:10-11).

A good teacher “must hold fast to the authentic message, so that he will be able both to encourage men to follow sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict it” (Ti 1:9). The truth will set us free, and confusion will hold us bound (Jn 8:32).

In the modern world, and even in the Church, there is a monumental crisis of truth. We must know Jesus personally, be guided by the Spirit, and boldly acknowledge the Lord in public. We must completely submit our wills to Him and tremble at His word (Is 66:2). If we are not totally committed to Jesus, Satan will manipulate us to work against Jesus. We’re either completely for Jesus or forced to be against Him.

Prayer: Jesus, my Lord, my God, my All! (Jn 20:28)

Promise: “The whole crowd was trying to touch Him because power went out from Him which cured all.” —Lk 6:19

Praise: Joseph is able to clear away confusion by spending a weekly quiet hour in Eucharistic adoration.