Catholic Caucus: Daily Mass Readings, 01-07-06, Optional, St. Raymond of Penafort

Reading I
1 Jn 5:14-21

Beloved:
We have this confidence in God,
that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.
And if we know that he hears us in regard to whatever we ask,
we know that what we have asked him for is ours.
If anyone sees his brother sinning, if the sin is not deadly,
he should pray to God and he will give him life.
This is only for those whose sin is not deadly.
There is such a thing as deadly sin,
about which I do not say that you should pray.
All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that is not deadly.

We know that no one begotten by God sins;
but the one begotten by God he protects,
and the Evil One cannot touch him.
We know that we belong to God,
and the whole world is under the power of the Evil One.
We also know that the Son of God has come
and has given us discernment to know the one who is true.
And we are in the one who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ.
He is the true God and eternal life.
Children, be on your guard against idols.

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 149:1-2, 3-4, 5 and 6a and 9b

R. (see 4a) The Lord takes delight in his people.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Sing to the LORD a new song
of praise in the assembly of the faithful.
Let Israel be glad in their maker,
let the children of Zion rejoice in their king.
R. The Lord takes delight in his people.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Let them praise his name in the festive dance,
let them sing praise to him with timbrel and harp.
For the LORD loves his people,
and he adorns the lowly with victory.
R. The Lord takes delight in his people.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Let the faithful exult in glory;
let them sing for joy upon their couches;
Let the high praises of God be in their throats.
This is the glory of all his faithful. Alleluia.
R. The Lord takes delight in his people.
or:
R. Alleluia.

Gospel
Jn 2:1-11

There was a wedding at Cana in Galilee,
and the mother of Jesus was there.
Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding.
When the wine ran short,
the mother of Jesus said to him,
“They have no wine.”
And Jesus said to her,
“Woman, how does your concern affect me?
My hour has not yet come.”
His mother said to the servers,
“Do whatever he tells you.”
Now there were six stone water jars there for Jewish ceremonial washings,
each holding twenty to thirty gallons.
Jesus told them,
“Fill the jars with water.”
So they filled them to the brim.
Then he told them,
“Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter.”
So they took it.
And when the headwaiter tasted the water that had become wine,
without knowing where it came from
(although the servers who had drawn the water knew),
the headwaiter called the bridegroom and said to him,
“Everyone serves good wine first,
and then when people have drunk freely, an inferior one;
but you have kept the good wine until now.”
Jesus did this as the beginning of his signs at Cana in Galilee
and so revealed his glory,
and his disciples began to believe in him.

From: 1 John 5:14-21

Prayer for Sinners

[14] And this is the confidence which we have in him, that if we ask
anything according to his will he hears us. [15] And if we know that he
hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have obtained the requests
made of him. [16] If any one sees his brother committing what is not a
mortal sin, he will ask, and God will give him life for those whose sin
is not mortal. There is sin which is mortal; I do not say that one is
to pray for that. [17] All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin which is
not mortal.

The Christian's Confidence as a Child of God

[18] We know that any one born of God does not sin, but He who was born
of God keeps him, and the evil one does not touch him.

[19] We know that we are of God, and the whole world is in the power of
the evil one.

[20] And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us
understanding, to know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in
his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life. [21] Little
children, keep yourselves from idols.

Commentary:

14-15. Earlier, the Apostle referred to confidence in prayer and to how
we can be sure of receiving what we pray for: that confidence comes
from the fact that "we keep his commandments and do what pleases him"
(1 Jn 3:22). Now he stresses that God always listens to us, if we ask
"according to his will". This condition can be taken in two ways, as St
Bede briefly explains: "Insofar as we ask for the things he desires,
and insofar as those of us who approach him are as he desires us to be"
("In I Epist. S. Ioannis, ad loc."). The asker therefore needs to
strive to live in accordance with God's will, and to identify himself
in advance with God's plans. If one does not try to live in keeping
with God's commandments, one cannot expect him to listen to one's
prayers.

When prayer meets those requirements, "we know that we have obtained
the requests made of him", as our Lord himself assured us: "if you ask
anything in my name, I will do it" (Jn 14:14). "It is not surprising,
then," the Cure of Ars teaches, "that the devil should do everything
possible to influence us to give up prayer or to pray badly, because he
knows better than we do how terrible it is for hell and how impossible
it is that God should refuse us what we ask him for in prayer. How many
sinners would get out of sin if they managed to have recourse to
prayer!" ("Selected Sermons", Fifth Sunday after Easter).

16-17. "Mortal sin": the meaning of the original text is "sin which
leads to death". The gravity of this sin (St John does not specify its
exact nature) recalls the gravity of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit
(cf. Mt 12:31-32) and of the sin of apostasy which Hebrews speaks of
(Heb 6:4-8).

The Fathers have interpreted this _expression in various ways, referring
to different grave sins. In the context of the letter (in the previous
chapters St John often speaks about the antichrists and false prophets
who "went out" from the community: 2:19) the best interpretation seems
to be that of St Bede and St Augustine, who apply it to the sin of the
apostate who, in addition, attacks the faith of other Christians. "My
view is", St Augustine says, "that the sin unto death is the sin of the
brother who, after knowing God by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
attacks brotherly union and in a passion of envy reacts against that
very grace by which he was reconciled to God" ("De Sermo Dom. In
Monte", I, 22, 73).

If St John does not expressly command his readers to pray for these
sinners, it does not mean that they are beyond recovery, or that it is
useless to pray for them. Pope St Gelasius I teaches: "There is a sin
of death for those who persist in that same sin; there is a sin not of
death for those who desist from sin. There is, certainly, no sin for
the pardon of which the Church does not pray or from which, by the
power which was divinely granted to it, it cannot absolve those who
desist from it" ("Ne Forte").

Referring to this passage of St John, Pope John Paul II says:
"Obviously, the concept of death here is a spiritual death. It is a
question of the loss of the true life or 'eternal life', which for John
is knowledge of the Father and the Son (cf. Jn 17:3), and communion and
intimacy with them. In that passage the sin that leads to death seems
to be the denial of the Son (cf. 1 Jn 2:22), or the worship of false
gods (cf. 1 Jn 5:21). At any rate, by this distinction of concepts John
seems to wish to emphasize the incalculable seriousness of what
constitutes the very essence of sin, namely the rejection of God. This
is manifested above all in apostasy and idolatry: repudiating faith in
revealed truth and making certain created realities equal to God,
raising them to the status of idols and false gods (cf. 1 Jn 5:16-21)."
And after referring to blasphemy against the Holy Spirit (cf. Mt 12:31-
32) he adds: "Here of course it is a question of extreme and radical
manifestations--rejection of God, rejection of his grace, and therefore
opposition to the very source of salvation (cf. St Thomas, "Summa
Theologiae", II-II, q. 14, a. 1-3)--these are manifestations whereby a
person seems to exclude himself voluntarily from the path of
forgiveness. It is to be hoped that very few persist to the end in this
attitude of rebellion or even defiance of God. Moreover, God in his
merciful love is greater than our hearts as St John further teaches us
(cf. 1 Jn 3:20), and can overcome all our psychological and spiritual
resistance. So that, as St Thomas writes, 'considering the omnipotence
and mercy of God, no one should despair of the salvation of anyone in
this life' ("Summa Theologiae", II-II, q. 14, a. 3, ad 1)"
("Reconciliatio Et Paenitentia", 17).

18-20. "We know": each of these verses begins this way. He does not
mean theoretical knowledge but that understanding that comes from
living faith. St John is once again stressing the Christian's joyful
confidence, which he has been expounding throughout the letter (cf.
2:3-6 and note). This confidence is grounded on three basic truths:
1) he who is born of God does not sin (cf. 1 Jn 3:6-9 and note); 2) "we
are of God", and therefore we are particularly free of the world, which
is still in the power of the evil one (cf. 4:4; 5:12); 3) the Son of God
has become man (cf. 4:2; 5:1). The incarnation of the Word is the
central truth which sheds light on the two previous ones, because our
supernatural insight is the effect of the Incarnation (v. 20): Jesus
Christ, true God and true man, is also eternal life, for only in him
can we attain that life.

18. "In this Johannine affirmation", Pope John Paul II teaches, "there
is an indication of hope, based on the divine promises: the Christian
has received the guarantee and the necessary strength not to sin. It is
not a question therefore of a sinlessness acquired through one's own
virtue or even inherent in man, as the Gnostics thought. It is a result
of God's action. In order not to sin the Christian has knowledge of
God, as St John reminds us in this same passage. But a little earlier
he had written: 'No one born of God commits sin; for God's seed [RSV:
"nature"] abides in him' (1 Jn 3:9). If by 'God's seed' we understand,
as some commentators suggest, Jesus the Son of God, then we can say
that in order not to sin, or in order to gain freedom from sin, the
Christian has within himself the presence of Christ and the mystery of
Christ, which is the mystery of God's loving kindness" ("Reconciliatio
Et Paenitentia", 20).

19. "The whole world is in the power of the evil one": although the
Greek term may be neuter and would allow a more abstract translation
("in the power of evil"), it is more consistent with the context to
take it in a personal sense. St John is pointing up the contrast
between Christ's followers and those of the evil one: whereas the world
(in the pejorative sense) is like a slave in the power of the devil,
true Christians are in Christ, as free people, with a share in Christ's
own life. "We have been born of God through grace and have been reborn
in Baptism through faith. On the other hand, those who love the world
are in the power of the enemy, be it because they have not yet been
liberated from him by the waters of regeneration or because, after
their rebirth, they have once more submitted to his rule through
sinning" ("In I Epist. S. Ioannis, ad loc.").

20. "Him who is true": that is, the only true God as distinct from
false gods; the Jews used to refer to God as "the True", without naming
him. When St John goes on to say that "we are in him, who is true, in
his Son Jesus Christ", he is confessing the divinity of Christ and the
fact that he is the only mediator between the Father and mankind.

21. Although at first sight, this formal exhortation may seem
surprising, it was appropriate in its time, because these first
Christians were living in the midst of a pagan world, and were exposed
to the danger of idolatry.

However, St John may be speaking metaphorically: the true danger facing
Christians, then and now, is that of following the idols of the heart--
that is, sin; in which case he is giving this final counsel: Keep away
from sin, be on your guard against those whose fallacious arguments
could lead you to sin.

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: John 2:1-11

The Wedding at Cana

[1] On the third day there was a marriage at Cana in Galilee, and the
mother of Jesus was there; [2] Jesus also was invited to the marriage,
with his disciples. [3] When the wine failed, the mother of Jesus said
to him, "They have no wine." [4] And Jesus said to her, "O woman, what
have you to do with me? My hour has not yet come." [5] His mother said
to the servants. "Do whatever he tells you." [6] Now six stone jars
were standing there, for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding
twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to them, "Fill the jars with
water." And they filled them up to the brim. [8] He said to them, "Now
draw some out, and take it to the steward of the feast." So they took
it. [9] When the steward of the feast tasted the water now become wine,
and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn
the water knew), the steward of the feast called the bridegroom
[10] and said to him, "Every man serves the good wine first; and when
men have drunk freely, then the poor wine; but you have kept the good
wine till now. " [11] This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana
in Galilee, and manifested his glory; and his disciples believed in
him.

Commentary:

1. Cana in Galilee was probably what is now Kef Kenna, seven kilometers
(four miles) north-east of Nazareth.

The first guest to be mentioned is Mary: St Joseph is not mentioned,
which cannot be put down to St John's forgetfulness: his silence here
and on other occasions in his Gospel leads us to believe that Joseph
had already died.

The wedding celebrations lasted quite a while in the East (Gen 29:27;
Judg 14:10, 12, 17; Job 9:12; 10:1). In the course of the celebrations
relatives and friends would come to greet the newly-weds; even people
passing through could join in the celebration. Wine was regarded as an
indispensable element in meals and also helped to create a festive
atmosphere. The women looked after the catering: here our Lady would
have lent a hand, which was how she realized they were running out of
wine.

2. "To show that all states in life are good, [...] Jesus deigned to be
born in the pure womb of the Virgin Mary; soon after he was born he
received praise from the prophetic lips of Anna, a widow, and, invited
in his youth by the betrothed couple, he honored the wedding with the
power of his presence" (St Bede, "Hom. 13", for the second Sunday after
the Epiphany). Christ's presence at the wedding at Cana is a sign that
he blesses love between man and woman joined in marriage: God
instituted marriage at the beginning of creation (cf. Gen 1:27-28);
Jesus confirmed it and raised it to the dignity of a sacrament (cf. Mt
19:6).

3. In the Fourth Gospel the Mother of Jesus--this is the title St John
gives her--appears only twice: once here, and the other time on Calvary
(Jn 19:25). This suggests Mary's involvement in the redemption. A
number of analogies can be drawn between Cana and Calvary. They are
located at the beginning and at the end of Jesus' public life, as if to
show that Mary is present in everything that Jesus did. Her title--
Mother--carries very special tones: Mary acts as Jesus' true Mother at
these two points in which his divinity is being revealed. Also, both
episodes demonstrate Mary's special solicitude towards everyone: in one
case she intercedes when "the hour" has not yet come; in the other she
offers the Father the redeeming death of her Son, and accepts the
mission Jesus confers on her to be the Mother of all believers, who are
represented on Calvary by the beloved disciple.

"In the public life of Jesus Mary appears prominently; at the very
beginning when at the marriage feast of Cana, moved with pity, she
brought about by her intercession the beginning of the miracles of
Jesus the Messiah (cf. John 2:1-11). In the course of her Son's
preaching she received the words whereby, in extolling a kingdom beyond
the concerns and ties of flesh and blood, he declared blessed those who
heard and kept the word of God (cf. Mk 3:35; Lk 11:27-28) as she was
faithfully doing (cf. Lk 2:19, 51). Thus the Blessed Virgin advanced in
her pilgrimage of faith, and faithfully persevered in her union with
her Son unto the cross, where she stood (cf. Jn 19:25), in line with
the divine plan, enduring with her only-begotten Son the intensity of
his passion, with his sacrifice, associating herself in her mother's
heart, and lovingly consenting to the immolation of this victim which
was born of her. Finally, she was given by the same Christ Jesus dying
on the cross as a mother to his disciple, with these words: 'Woman,
behold thy son' (Jn 19:26-27)" (Vatican II, "Lumen Gentium", 58).

4. For the meaning of the words of this verse see the section on our
Lady in the "Introduction" above (pp. 35ff). It should also be said
that the Gospel account of this dialogue between Jesus and his Mother
does not give us his gestures, tone of voice etc.: to us, for example,
his answer sounds harsh, as if he were saying, "This is no concern of
ours". But that was not the case.

Woman" is a respectful title, rather like "lady" or "madam"; it is a
formal way of speaking. On the Cross Jesus will use the same word with
great affection and veneration (Jn 19:26).

[The sentence rendered What have you to do with me?" (RSV) is the
subject of a note in RSVCE which says "while this expression always
implies a divergence of view, the precise meaning is to be determined
by the context, which here shows that it is not an unqualified
rebuttal, still less a rebuke." The Navarre Spanish is the equivalent
of "What has it to do with you and me?"] The sentence "What has it to
do with you and me?" is an Oriental way of speaking which can have
different nuances. Jesus' reply seems to indicate that although in
principle it was not part of God's plan for him to use his power to
solve the problem the wedding-feast had run into, our Lady's request
moves him to do precisely that. Also, one could surmise that God's plan
envisaged that Jesus should work the miracle at his Mother's request.
In any event, God willed that the Revelation of the New Testament
should include this important teaching: so influential is our Lady's
intercession that God will listen to all petitions made through her;
which is why Christian piety, with theological accuracy, has called our
Lady "supplicant omnipotence".

"My hour has not yet come": the term "hour" is sometimes used by Jesus
to designate the moment of his coming in glory (cf. Jn 5:28), but
generally it refers to the time of his passion, death and resurrection
(cf. Jn 7:30; 12:23; 13:1; 17:1).

5. Like a good mother, the Virgin Mary knows perfectly well what her
son's reply means--though to us it is ambiguous ("What has it to do
with you and me?"): she is confident that Jesus will do something to
come to the family's rescue. This is why she tells the servants so
specifically to do what Jesus tells them. These words of our Lady can
be seen as a permanent invitation to each of us: "in that all Christian
holiness consists: for perfect holiness is obeying Christ in all
things" (St Thomas Aquinas, "Comm. on St John, in loc.").

We find the same attitude in Pope John Paul II's prayer at our Lady's
shrine at Knock, when he consecrated the Irish people to God: "At this
solemn moment we listen with particular attention to your words: "Do
whatever my Son tells you". And we wish to respond to your words with
all our heart. We wish to do what your Son tells us, what he commands
us, for he has the words of eternal life. We wish to carry out and
fulfill all that comes from him, all that is contained in the Good
News, as our forefathers did for many centuries. [...] Today,
therefore, [...] we entrust and consecrate to you, Mother of Christ and
Mother of the Church, our hearts, our consciences, and our works, in
order that they may be in keeping with the faith we profess. We entrust
and consecrate to you each and every one of those who make up both the
community of the Irish people and the community of the People of God
living in this land" ("Homily at Knock Shrine", 30 September 1979)."

6. We are talking about 500-700 liters (100-l50 gallons) of top quality
wine. St John stresses the magnificence of the gift produced by the
miracle--as he also does at the multiplication of the loaves
(Jn 6:12-13). One of the signs of the arrival of the Messiah was
abundance; here we have the fulfillment of the ancient prophecies:
"the Lord will give what is good, and our land will yield its
increase", as Psalm 85:12 proclaims; "the threshing floors shall be
full of grain, the vats shall overflow with wine and oil" (Joel 2:24;
cf. Amos 9:13-15). This abundance of material goods is a symbol of the
supernatural gifts Christ obtains for us through the Redemption: later
on St John highlights our Lord's words: "I came that they may have
life, and have it abundantly" (Jn 10:10; cf. Rom 5:20).

7. "Up to the brim": the evangelist gives us this further piece of
information to emphasize the superabundance of the riches of Redemption
and also to show how very precisely the servants did what they were
told, as if hinting at the importance of docility in fulfilling the
will of God, even in small details.

9-10. Jesus works miracles in a magnificent way; for example, in the
multiplication of the loaves and fish (cf. Jn 6:10-13) he feeds five
thousand men--who eat as much as they want--and the left-overs fill
twelve baskets. In this present miracle he does not change the water
into just any wine but into wine of excellent quality.

The Fathers see in this good wine, kept for the end of the
celebrations, and in its abundance, a prefiguring of the crowning of
the history of salvation: formerly God sent the patriarchs and
prophets, but in the fullness of time he sent his own Son, whose
teaching perfects the old Revelation and whose grace far exceeds the
expectations of the righteous in the Old Testament. They also have
seen, in this good wine coming at the end, the reward and joy of
eternal life which God grants to those who desire to follow Christ and
who have suffered bitterness and contradiction in this life (cf. St
Thomas Aquinas, "Commentary on St John, in loc.").

11. Before he worked this miracle the disciples already believed that
Jesus was the Messiah; but they had too earthbound a concept of his
salvific mission. St John testifies here that this miracle was the
beginning of a new dimension in their faith; it became much deeper. "At
Cana, Mary appears once more as the Virgin in prayer: when she
tactfully told her Son of a temporal need, she also obtained an effect
of grace, namely, that Jesus, in working the first of his 'signs',
confirmed his disciples' faith in him" (Paul VI, "Marialis Cultus",
18).

"Why are Mary's prayers so effective with God? The prayers of the
saints are prayers of servants, whereas Mary's are a Mother's prayer,
whence flows their efficacy and their authority; and since Jesus has
immense love for his Mother, she cannot pray without being listened to.
[...]

"To understand Mary's great goodness, let us remember what the Gospel
says. [...] There was a shortage of wine, which naturally worried the
married couple. No one asks the Blessed Virgin to intervene and request
her Son to come to the rescue of the couple. But Mary's heart cannot
but take pity on the unfortunate couple [...]; it stirs her to act as
intercessor and ask her Son for the miracle, even though no one asks
her to. [...] If our Lady acted like this without being asked, what
would she not have done if they actually asked her to intervene?" (St
Alphonsus, "Sunday Sermons", 48).

Catholic Culture

Collect:
Lord, you gave St. Raymond the gift of compassion in his ministry to sinners. May his prayers free us from the slavery of sin and help us to love and serve you in liberty. 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.

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Prayers:

January 07, 2006

Optional Memorial of St. Raymond of Penafort, priest

Born in Barcelona, Spain, St. Raymond of Penafort was the third Superior-General of the Domincan Order. He is famous for his work in the freeing of slaves. He wrote five books of Decretals which are now a valuable part of the Canon Law of the Church. The Summa Casuum, which is about the correct and fruitful administration of the Sacrament of Penance, is the most notable of his works.

The Fourteen Day of Christmas

St. Raymond of Penafort
The blessed Raymond was born at Barcelona, of the noble family of Penafort. Having been imbued with the rudiments of the Christian faith, the admirable gifts he had received, both of mind and body, were such that even when quite a boy he seemed to promise great things in his later life.

Whilst still young, he taught humanities in Barcelona. Later on, he went to Bologna, where he applied himself with much diligence to the exercises of a virtuous life, and to the study of canon and civil law. He there received the Doctor's cap, and interpreted the sacred canons so ably that he was the admiration of his hearers. The holiness of his life becoming known far and wide, Berengarius, the Bishop of Barcelona, when returning to his diocese from Rome, visited Bologna in order to see him; and after most earnest entreaties, induced Raymund to accompany him to Barcelona. He was shortly after made Canon and Provost of that Church, and became a model to the clergy and people by his uprightness, modesty, learning and meekness. His tender devotion to the Holy Mother of God was extraordinary, and he never neglected an opportunity of zealously promoting the devotion and honor which are due to her.

When he was about forty-five years of age, he made his solemn profession in the Order of the Friars Preachers. He then, as a soldier but just entered into service, devoted himself to the exercise of every virtue, but above all to charity to the poor, and this mainly to the captives who had been taken by the infidels. It was by his exhortation that St Peter Nolasco (who was his penitent) was induced to devote all his riches to this work of most meritorious charity. The Blessed Virgin appeared to Peter, as also to blessed Raymund and to James the First, King of Aragon, telling them that it would be exceedingly pleasing to herself and her divine Child, if an Order of Religious men were instituted whose mission it should be to deliver captives from the tyranny of infidels. Whereupon, after deliberating together, they founded the Order of our Lady of Mercy for the Ransom of Captives; and blessed Raymund drew up certain rules of life, which were admirably adapted to the spirit and vocation of the said Order. Some years after, he obtained their approbation from Gregory the Ninth, and made St Peter Nolasco, to whom he gave the habit with his own hands, first General of the Order.

Raymund was called to Rome by the same Pope, who appointed him to be his Chaplain, Penitentiary, and Confessor. It was by Gregory's order that he collected together, in the volume called the Decretals, the Decrees of the Roman Pontiffs, which were to be found separately in the various Councils and Letters. He was most resolute in refusing the Archbishopric of Tarragona, which the same Pontiff offered to him, and, of his own accord resigned the Generalship of the Dominican Order, which office he had discharged in a most holy manner for the space of two years. He persuaded James the King of Aragon to establish in his dominions the Holy Office of the Inquisition. He worked many miracles; among which is that most celebrated one of his having, when returning to Barcelona from the island of Majorca, spread his cloak upon the sea, and sailed upon it, in the space of six hours, the distance of a hundred and sixty miles, and having reached his convent, entered it through the closed doors. At length, when he had almost reached the hundredth year of his age, and was full of virtue and merit, he slept in the Lord, in the year of the Incarnation 1275. He was canonized by Pope Clement the Eighth.

Patron: Attorneys; barristers; canonists; lawyers; medical record librarians.

Things to Do:

St. Raymond diligently studied Canon Law. Spend some time learning what are the obligations and rights of the laity under Church law.
Learn more about the Spanish Inquistion.
St. Raymond contributed much to the understanding of the Sacrament of Penance. Make sure your family knows the Act of Contrition and says it every day.

American Catholic’s Saint of the Day

January 7, 2006

St. Raymond of Penyafort

(1175-1275)

Since Raymond lived into his hundredth year, he had a chance to do many things. As a member of the Spanish nobility, he had the resources and the education to get a good start in life.

By the time he was 20, he was teaching philosophy. In his early 30s he earned a doctorate in both canon and civil law. At 41 he became a Dominican. Pope Gregory IX called him to Rome to work for him and to be his confessor. One of the things the pope asked him to do was to gather together all the decrees of popes and councils that had been made in 80 years since a similar collection by Gratian. Raymond compiled five books called the Decretals. They were looked upon as one of the best organized collections of Church law until the 1917 codification of canon law.

Earlier, Raymond had written for confessors a book of cases. It was called Summa de casibus poenitentiae. More than just a list of sins and penances, it discussed pertinent doctrines and laws of the Church that pertained to the problem or case brought to the confessor.

At the age of 60, Raymond was appointed archbishop of Tarragona, the capital of Aragon. He didn’t like the honor at all and ended up getting sick and resigning in two years.

He didn’t get to enjoy his peace long, however, because when he was 63 he was elected by his fellow Dominicans to be the head of the whole Order, the successor of St. Dominic. Raymond worked hard, visited on foot all the Dominicans, reorganized their constitutions and managed to put through a provision that a master general be allowed to resign. When the new constitutions were accepted, Raymond, then 65, resigned.

He still had 35 years to oppose heresy and work for the conversion of the Moors in Spain. He convinced St. Thomas Aquinas to write his work Against the Gentiles.

In his100th year the Lord let Raymond retire.

Comment:

Raymond was a lawyer, a canonist. Legalism is one of the things that the Church tried to rid herself of at Vatican II. It is too great a preoccupation with the letter of the law to the neglect of the spirit and purpose of the law. The law can become an end in itself, so that the value the law was intended to promote is overlooked. But we must guard against going to the opposite extreme and seeing law as useless or something to be lightly regarded. Laws ideally state those things that are for the best interests of everyone and make sure the rights of all are safeguarded. From Raymond, we can learn a respect for law as a means of serving the common good.

Quote:

“He who hates the law is without wisdom,/and is tossed about like a boat in a storm” (Sirach 33:2).

Jn 2:1-11
#	Douay-Rheims	Vulgate
1	And the third day, there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee: and the mother of Jesus was there.	et die tertio nuptiae factae sunt in Cana Galilaeae et erat mater Iesu ibi
2	And Jesus also was invited, and his disciples, to the marriage.	vocatus est autem ibi et Iesus et discipuli eius ad nuptias
3	And the wine failing, the mother of Jesus saith to him: They have no wine.	et deficiente vino dicit mater Iesu ad eum vinum non habent
4	And Jesus saith to her: Woman, what is that to me and to thee? my hour is not yet come.	et dicit ei Iesus quid mihi et tibi est mulier nondum venit hora mea
5	His mother saith to the waiters: Whatsoever he shall say to you, do ye.	dicit mater eius ministris quodcumque dixerit vobis facite
6	Now there were set there six waterpots of stone, according to the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three measures apiece.	erant autem ibi lapideae hydriae sex positae secundum purificationem Iudaeorum capientes singulae metretas binas vel ternas
7	Jesus saith to them: Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim.	dicit eis Iesus implete hydrias aqua et impleverunt eas usque ad summum
8	And Jesus saith to them: Draw out now, and carry to the chief steward of the feast. And they carried it.	et dicit eis Iesus haurite nunc et ferte architriclino et tulerunt
9	And when the chief steward had tasted the water made wine, and knew not whence it was, but the waiters knew who had drawn the water; the chief steward calleth the bridegroom,	ut autem gustavit architriclinus aquam vinum factam et non sciebat unde esset ministri autem sciebant qui haurierant aquam vocat sponsum architriclinus
10	And saith to him: Every man at first setteth forth good wine, and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse. But thou hast kept the good wine until now.	et dicit ei omnis homo primum bonum vinum ponit et cum inebriati fuerint tunc id quod deterius est tu servasti bonum vinum usque adhuc
11	This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee; and manifested his glory, and his disciples believed in him.	hoc fecit initium signorum Iesus in Cana Galilaeae et manifestavit gloriam suam et crediderunt in eum discipuli eius

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