Posted on 08/16/2006 8:29:49 AM PDT by Salvation
Friday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Psalm: Friday 34
Reading 1
Ez 16:1-15, 60, 63 or 16: 59-63
The word of the LORD came to me:
Son of man, make known to Jerusalem her abominations.
Thus says the Lord GOD to Jerusalem:
By origin and birth you are of the land of Canaan;
your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite.
As for your birth, the day you were born your navel cord was not cut;
you were neither washed with water nor anointed,
nor were you rubbed with salt, nor swathed in swaddling clothes.
No one looked on you with pity or compassion
to do any of these things for you.
Rather, you were thrown out on the ground as something loathsome,
the day you were born.
Then I passed by and saw you weltering in your blood.
I said to you: Live in your blood and grow like a plant in the field.
You grew and developed, you came to the age of puberty;
your breasts were formed, your hair had grown,
but you were still stark naked.
Again I passed by you and saw that you were now old enough for love.
So I spread the corner of my cloak over you to cover your nakedness;
I swore an oath to you and entered into a covenant with you;
you became mine, says the Lord GOD.
Then I bathed you with water, washed away your blood,
and anointed you with oil.
I clothed you with an embroidered gown,
put sandals of fine leather on your feet;
I gave you a fine linen sash and silk robes to wear.
I adorned you with jewelry: I put bracelets on your arms,
a necklace about your neck, a ring in your nose,
pendants in your ears, and a glorious diadem upon your head.
Thus you were adorned with gold and silver;
your garments were of fine linen, silk, and embroidered cloth.
Fine flour, honey, and oil were your food.
You were exceedingly beautiful, with the dignity of a queen.
You were renowned among the nations for your beauty, perfect as it was,
because of my splendor which I had bestowed on you,
says the Lord GOD.
But you were captivated by your own beauty,
you used your renown to make yourself a harlot,
and you lavished your harlotry on every passer-by,
whose own you became.
Yet I will remember the covenant I made with you when you were a girl,
and I will set up an everlasting covenant with you,
that you may remember and be covered with confusion,
and that you may be utterly silenced for shame
when I pardon you for all you have done, says the Lord GOD.
or
Thus says the LORD:
I will deal with you according to what you have done,
you who despised your oath, breaking a covenant.
Yet I will remember the covenant I made with you when you were a girl,
and I will set up an everlasting covenant with you.
Then you shall remember your conduct and be ashamed
when I take your sisters, those older and younger than you,
and give them to you as daughters,
even though I am not bound by my covenant with you.
For I will re-establish my covenant with you,
that you may know that I am the LORD,
that you may remember and be covered with confusion,
and that you may be utterly silenced for shame
when I pardon you for all you have done, says the Lord GOD.
Responsorial Psalm
Isaiah 12:2-3, 4bcd, 5-6
R. (1c) You have turned from your anger.
God indeed is my savior;
I am confident and unafraid.
My strength and my courage is the LORD,
and he has been my savior.
With joy you will draw water
at the fountain of salvation.
R. You have turned from your anger.
Give thanks to the LORD, acclaim his name;
among the nations make known his deeds,
proclaim how exalted is his name.
R. You have turned from your anger.
Sing praise to the LORD for his glorious achievement;
let this be known throughout all the earth.
Shout with exultation, O city of Zion,
for great in your midst
is the Holy One of Israel!
R. You have turned from your anger.
Gospel
Mt 19:3-12
Some Pharisees approached Jesus, and tested him, saying,
“Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause whatever?”
He said in reply, “Have you not read that from the beginning
the Creator made them male and female and said,
For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother
and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh?
So they are no longer two, but one flesh.
Therefore, what God has joined together, man must not separate.”
They said to him, “Then why did Moses command
that the man give the woman a bill of divorce and dismiss her?”
He said to them, “Because of the hardness of your hearts
Moses allowed you to divorce your wives,
but from the beginning it was not so.
I say to you, whoever divorces his wife
(unless the marriage is unlawful)
and marries another commits adultery.”
His disciples said to him,
“If that is the case of a man with his wife,
it is better not to marry.”
He answered, “Not all can accept this word,
but only those to whom that is granted.
Some are incapable of marriage because they were born so;
some, because they were made so by others;
some, because they have renounced marriage
for the sake of the Kingdom of heaven.
Whoever can accept this ought to accept it.”
Please notify me via FReepmail if you would like to be added to or taken off the Alleluia Ping List.
Yes, you are seeing strange things. I will be flying to Chicago to stay with my daughter and my eighth grandchild (named ‘David’ after my husband, BTW!) for almost a week.
Carolina and Coleus have agreed to add to the threads after I post them, do the ping, and the links for that day( if there are any.)
| Friday, August 18, 2006 Feria |
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**Every moment comes to us pregnant with a command from God, only to pass on and plunge into eternity, there to remain forever what we have made of it.
-- St. Francis de Sales**
Those oneh hour visits with the Lord in Adoration are worth it, aren't they?
Here's wishing you traveling mercies as you head off on vacation!
O God, come to my aid.
O Lord, make haste to help me.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen. Alleluia.
A suitable hymn may be inserted at this point.
| Psalm 68 (69) |
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| I am consumed with zeal for your house |
| Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck. I am stuck in bottomless mud; I am adrift in deep waters and the flood is sweeping me away. I am exhausted with crying out, my throat is parched, my eyes are failing as I look out for my God. Those who hate me for no reason are more than the hairs of my head. They are strong, my persecutors, my lying enemies: they make me give back things I never took. God, you know my weakness: my crimes are not hidden from you. Let my fate not put to shame those who trust in you, Lord, Lord of hosts. Let them not be dismayed on my account, those who seek you, God of Israel. For it is for your sake that I am taunted and covered in confusion: I have become a stranger to my own brothers, a wanderer in the eyes of my mother’s children. Because zeal for your house is consuming me, and the taunts of those who hate you fall upon my head. I have humbled my soul with fasting and they reproach me for it. I have made sackcloth my clothing and they make me a byword. The idlers at the gates speak against me; for drinkers of wine, I am the butt of their songs. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. |
| Psalm 68 (69) |
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| But I turn my prayer to you, Lord, at the acceptable time, my God. In your great kindness, hear me, and rescue me with your faithful help. Tear me from the mire, before I become stuck; tear me from those who hate me; tear me from the depths of the waters. Do not let the waves overwhelm me; do not let the deep waters swallow me; do not let the well’s mouth engulf me. Hear me, Lord, for you are kind and good. In your abundant mercy, look upon me. Do not turn your face from your servant: I am suffering, so hurry to answer me. Come to my soul and deliver it, rescue me from my enemies’ attacks. You know how I am taunted and ashamed; how I am thrown into confusion. You can see all those who are troubling me. Reproach has shattered my heart – I am sick. I looked for sympathy, but none came; I looked for a consoler but did not find one. They gave me bitterness to eat; when I was thirsty, they gave me vinegar to drink. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. |
| Psalm 68 (69) |
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| I am weak and I suffer, but your help, O God, will sustain me. I will praise the name of God in song and proclaim his greatness with praises. This will please the Lord more than oxen, than cattle with their horns and hooves. Let the humble see and rejoice. Seek the Lord, and your heart shall live, for the Lord has heard the needy and has not despised his captive people. Let heaven and earth praise him, the seas and all that swims in them. For the Lord will make Sion safe and build up the cities of Judah: there they will live, the land will be theirs. The seed of his servants will inherit the land, and those who love his name will dwell there. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. |
| Reading | Micah 6:1 - 15 © |
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| Now listen to what the Lord is saying: Stand up and let the case begin in the hearing of the mountains and let the hills hear what you say. Listen, you mountains, to the Lord’s accusation, give ear, you foundations of the earth, for the Lord is accusing his people, pleading against Israel: My people, what have I done to you, how have I been a burden to you? Answer me. I brought you out of the land of Egypt, I rescued you from the house of slavery; I sent Moses to lead you, with Aaron and Miriam. My people, remember: what did Balak plot, that king of Moab? What did Balaam answer, that son of Beor? From Shittim to Gilgal, for you to know the rightness of the ways of the Lord. ‘With what gift shall I come into the Lord’s presence and bow down before God on high? Shall I come with holocausts, with calves one year old? Will he be pleased with rams by the thousand, with libations of oil in torrents? Must I give my first-born for what I have done wrong, the fruit of my body for my own sin?’ What is good has been explained to you, man; this is what the Lord asks of you: only this, to act justly, to love tenderly and to walk humbly with your God. The voice of the Lord. He is calling to the city: Listen, tribe, and assembly of the city whose rich men are crammed with violence, whose citizens are liars. Must I put up with fraudulent measure, or that abomination the short-weight bushel? Must I hold the man honest who measures with false scales and a bag of faked weights? I have therefore begun to strike you down, to bring you to ruin for your sins. You will eat but never be satisfied, store away but never preserve – and what is preserved I shall give to the sword. You will sow but never reap, press the olive but never rub yourself with oil, press the grape but never drink wine from it. |
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A second reading should come here, from the lives of the saints or the writings of the Fathers of the Church, but the reading for today has not yet been added to the Universalis database. Please be patient. One day all readings will be here.
| A concluding prayer may follow here. |
O God, come to my aid.
O Lord, make haste to help me.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen. Alleluia.
A suitable hymn may be inserted at this point.
| Psalm 50 (51) |
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| God, have mercy on me |
| Take pity on me, Lord, in your mercy; in your abundance of mercy wipe out my guilt. Wash me ever more from my guilt and cleanse me from my sin. For I know how guilty I am: my sin is always before me. Against you, you alone have I sinned, and I have done evil in your sight. Know this, so that you may give just sentence and an unbiased judgement. See, I was conceived in guilt, in sin my mother conceived me; but you love truth in the heart, and deep within me you have shown me your wisdom. You will sprinkle me with hyssop, and I will be made clean; you will wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. You will make me hear the sound of joy and gladness; the bones you have crushed will rejoice. Turn your face away from my sins and wipe out all my transgressions; create a pure heart in me, God, put a steadfast spirit into me. Do not send me away from your presence, or withdraw your holy spirit from me; give me again the joy of your salvation, and be ready to strengthen me with your spirit. I will teach the unjust your ways, and the impious will return to you. Free me from the guilt of bloodshed, God, God my saviour, and my voice will glory in your justice. Open my lips, Lord, and my mouth will proclaim your praise; for you do not delight in sacrifices: if I offered you a burnt offering, it would not please you. The true sacrifice is a broken spirit: a contrite and humble heart, O God, you will not refuse. Be pleased, Lord, to look kindly on Sion, so that the walls of Jerusalem can be rebuilt, Then indeed you will accept the proper sacrifices, gifts and burnt offerings; then indeed will bullocks be laid upon your altar. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. |
| Canticle | Jeremiah 14 |
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| Lamentation of the people in the time of famine and war | |
| Let my eyes shed tears, night and day, let them never cease, for the daughter of my people is afflicted with a great affliction, with the worst of all wounds. If I go out into the fields – behold, those slain by the sword; if I go into the city – behold, those wasted by famine. Prophet and priest go through the land, they know nothing. Surely you have not rejected Judah, thrust him from you? Surely Sion has not become hateful to your heart? Why have you struck us down beyond all hope of healing? We have looked for peace, but no good came; we have looked for the time of healing, but trouble came instead. We acknowledge, O Lord, our wickedness, and the evil done by our fathers: we acknowledge that we have sinned. Do not make us a reproach, for your name’s sake, and do not make us a disgrace before the throne of your glory. Remember the covenant you made with us: do not bring it to an end. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. |
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| Psalm 99 (100) |
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| Enter the Temple with joy |
| Rejoice in the Lord, all the earth. Exult in his presence and serve him with joy. Know that the Lord is God. He made us and we are his – his people, the sheep of his flock. Cry out his praises as you enter his gates, fill his courtyards with songs. Proclaim him and bless his name; for the Lord is our delight. His mercy lasts for ever, his faithfulness through all the ages. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. |
| A short Bible reading and responsory may follow here. |
| Canticle | Benedictus |
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| The Messiah and his forerunner | |
| Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, for he has come to his people and brought about their redemption. He has raised up the sign of salvation in the house of his servant David, as he promised through the mouth of the holy ones, his prophets through the ages: to rescue us from our enemies and all who hate us, to take pity on our fathers, to remember his holy covenant and the oath he swore to Abraham our father, that he would give himself to us, that we could serve him without fear – freed from the hands of our enemies – in uprightness and holiness before him, for all of our days. And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High: for you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare his path, to let his people know their salvation, so that their sins may be forgiven. Through the bottomless mercy of our God, one born on high will visit us to give light to those who walk in darkness, who live in the shadow of death; to lead our feet in the path of peace. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. |
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| Some short prayers may follow here, to offer up the day's work to God. |
| Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those that trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. |
| A concluding prayer may follow here. |
| May the Lord bless us and keep us from all harm; and may he lead us to eternal life. |
| A M E N |
| First reading | Ezekiel 16:1 - 63 © |
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| The word of the Lord was addressed to me as follows, ‘Son of man, confront Jerusalem with her filthy crimes. Say, “The Lord says this: By origin and birth you belong to the land of Canaan. Your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite. At birth, the very day you were born, there was no one to cut your navel-string, or wash you in cleansing water, or rub you with salt, or wrap you in napkins. No one leaned kindly over you to do anything like that for you. You were exposed in the open fields; you were as unloved as that on the day you were born. ‘“I saw you struggling in your blood as I was passing, and I said to you as you lay in your blood: Live, and grow like the grass of the fields. You developed, you grew, you reached marriageable age. Your breasts and your hair both grew, but you were quite naked. Then I saw you as I was passing. Your time had come, the time for love. I spread part of my cloak over you and covered your nakedness; I bound myself by oath, I made a covenant with you – it is the Lord who speaks – and you became mine. I bathed you in water, I washed the blood off you, I anointed you with oil. I gave you embroidered dresses, fine leather shoes, a linen headband and a cloak of silk. I loaded you with jewels, gave you bracelets for your wrists and a necklace for your throat. I gave you nose-ring and earrings; I put a beautiful diadem on your head. You were loaded with gold and silver, and dressed in fine linen and embroidered silks. Your food was the finest flour, honey and oil. You grew more and more beautiful; and you rose to be queen. The fame of your beauty spread through the nations, since it was perfect, because I had clothed you with my own splendour – it is the Lord who speaks. ‘“You have become infatuated with your own beauty; you have used your fame to make yourself a prostitute; you have offered your services to all comers... but I will remember the covenant that I made with you when you were a girl, and I will conclude a covenant with you that shall last for ever. And so remember and be covered with shame, and in your confusion be reduced to silence, when I have pardoned you for all that you have done – it is the Lord who speaks.”’ |
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| Psalm or canticle | Isaiah 12:2 - 6 |
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| Behold, God is my salvation: I will be confident, I will not fear; for the Lord is my strength and my joy, he has become my saviour. And you will rejoice as you draw water from the springs of salvation. And then you will say: “Praise the Lord and call upon his name. Tell the peoples what he has done, remember always the greatness of his name. Sing to the Lord, for he has done great things: let this be known throughout the world”. |
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| Gospel | Matthew 19:3 - 12 © |
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| Some Pharisees approached Jesus, and to test him they said, ‘Is it against the Law for a man to divorce his wife on any pretext whatever?’ He answered, ‘Have you not read that the creator from the beginning made them male and female and that he said: This is why a man must leave father and mother, and cling to his wife, and the two become one body? They are no longer two, therefore, but one body. So then, what God has united, man must not divide’. They said to him, ‘Then why did Moses command that a writ of dismissal should be given in cases of divorce?’ ‘It was because you were so unteachable’ he said ‘that Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but it was not like this from the beginning. Now I say this to you: the man who divorces his wife – I am not speaking of fornication – and marries another, is guilty of adultery.’ The disciples said to him, ‘If that is how things are between husband and wife, it is not advisable to marry’. But he replied, ‘It is not everyone who can accept what I have said, but only those to whom it is granted. There are eunuchs born that way from their mother’s womb, there are eunuchs made so by men and there are eunuchs who have made themselves that way for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let anyone accept this who can.’ |
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Catholic ping!
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August 18, 2006    Optional Memorial of St. Jane Frances de Chantal, religious (USA) Old Calendar: St. Agapitus, martyr
Before the reform of the General Roman Calendar today was the feast of St. Agapitus, a martyr of Palestrina, not far from Rome. His cult, which is very ancient, was particularly popular in the eternal city where Felix III (492) caused a church to be built in his honor. Ancient inscriptions show clearly the great confidence placed in the intercession of this martyr.
St. Jane Frances de Chantal  Jane Frances Fremiot de Chantal was the foundress of the Order of the Visitation of Mary. She came from a noble family (born 1572), was married by her father to the Baron von Chantal (1592). As mother she most zealously instructed the children in the ways of virtue and piety and in the observance of every divine precept. With great generosity she supported the poor and took special joy in seeing how divine Providence often blesses and increases the smallest larder. Therefore she made a vow never to refuse anyone who asked for alms in the Name of Christ.The death of her husband, who was accidently shot while on the chase (1601), she bore with Christ-like composure and with all her heart forgave the person who had killed him; then she acted as sponsor for one of his children in order to show her forgiveness openly. There was a holy friendship between her and her spiritual guide, Francis de Sales; with his approval she left her father and children and founded the Visitation nuns. Thus, too, it should be with us—firm yet forgiving, and each at the proper place and in the proper measure. Our zeal must not make us hard, fanatic; neither may love degenerate into sentimentalism. In fundamentals, in faith, and in the commandments we must be firm, immovable, with no trace of tolerance; but in our contacts with men, patient, forgiving, tender, conciliatory. The Christian ought be firm and resolute as a father, mild and self-sacrificing as a mother. This tension between complementary virtues we find exemplified in a heroic degree in St. Jane Frances de Chantal. Excerpted from The Church's Year of Grace, Pius Parsch. "Love! love! love! my daughters; I know nothing else." Thus did Jane de Chantal, the glorious cooperatrix of St. Francis in establishing the Visitation of holy Mary, often cry out in her latter years. "Mother", said one of the sisters, "I shall write to our houses that your charity is growing old, and that, like your godfather St. John, you can speak of nothing but love." To which the saint replied: "My daughter, do not make such a comparison, for we must not profane the saints by comparing them to poor sinners; but you will do me a pleasure if you tell those sisters that if I went by my own feelings, if I followed my inclination, and if I were not afraid of wearying the sisters, I should never speak of anything but charity; and I assure you, I scarcely ever open my mouth to speak of holy things, without having a mind to say: Thou shalt love the Lord with thy whole heart, and thy neighbour as thyself." Patron: Forgotten people; in-law problems; loss of parents; parents separated from children; widows. Things to Do: Learn more about the Visitation nuns founded by St. Jane Frances; consider having a spiritual director. St. Francis de Sales, in speaking about the spirit of the institute he had founded with St. Jane, declares that it is "a spirit of profound humility towards God and of great sweetness towards our neighbour, inasmuch as there is less rigour towards the body, so much the more sweetness must there be in the heart." And because "this Congregation has been so established that no great severity may prevent the weak and infirm from entering it and giving themselves up to the perfection of divine love,'' he adds playfully: "If there be any sister so generous and courageous as to wish to attain perfection in a quarter of an hour by doing more than the Community does, I would advise her to humble herself and be content to become perfect in three days, following the same course as the rest. For a great simplicity must always be kept in all things: to walk simply, that is the true way for the daughters of the Visitation, a way exceedingly pleasing to God and very safe." Read the Treatise on the Love of God written by St. Francis de Sales for St. Jane and her sisters; donate food to the food pantry at your church, if you have more time volunteer to help.
St. Agapitus  The Office offers these legendary details: "Agapitus was only fifteen years old but already his heart was all aglow with the desire to die as a martyr. Upon orders from the Emperor Aurelian (ca. 257), he was mercilessly whipped with leaded scourges, then thrown into a vile basement to remain there four days without food. After further punishment under the lash, he was suspended head downwards over a smoldering fire so that he should die from the smoke; boiling water was dashed against him, and his jaws were battered. When wild beasts hesitated to harm him, he was beheaded with the sword."Excerpted from The Church's Year of Grace, Pius Parsch. Things to Do:
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God calls each one of us to be a saint.
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August 18, 2006
St. Jane Frances de Chantal
(1562-1641)
Jane Frances was wife, mother, nun and founder of a religious community. Her mother died when Jane was 18 months old, and her father, head of parliament at Dijon, France, became the main influence on her education. She developed into a woman of beauty and refinement, lively and cheerful in temperament. At 21 she married Baron de Chantal, by whom she had six children, three of whom died in infancy. At her castle she restored the custom of daily Mass, and was seriously engaged in various charitable works. Her husband was killed after seven years of marriage, and she sank into deep dejection for four months at her family home. Her father-in-law threatened to disinherit her children if she did not return to his home. He was then 75, vain, fierce and extravagant. Jane Frances managed to remain cheerful in spite of him and his insolent housekeeper.
When she was 32 she met St. Francis de Sales, who became her spiritual director, softening some of the severities imposed by her former director. She wanted to become a nun but he persuaded her to defer this decision. She took a vow to remain unmarried and to obey her director. After three years Francis told her of his plan to found an institute of women which would be a haven for those whose health, age or other considerations barred them from entering the already established communities. There would be no cloister, and they would be free to undertake spiritual and corporal works of mercy. They were primarily intended to exemplify the virtues of Mary at the Visitation (hence their name, the Visitation nuns): humility and meekness. The usual opposition to women in active ministry arose and Francis de Sales was obliged to make it a cloistered community following the Rule of St. Augustine. Francis wrote his famous Treatise on the Love of God for them. The congregation (three women) began when Jane Frances was 45. She underwent great sufferings: Francis de Sales died; her son was killed; a plague ravaged France; her daughter-in-law and son-in-law died. She encouraged the local authorities to make great efforts for the victims of the plague and she put all her convent’s resources at the disposal of the sick. During a part of her religious life she had to undergo great trials of the spirit—interior anguish, darkness and spiritual dryness. She died while on a visitation of convents of the community. Quote:
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| Biographical selection: St. Jane Frances de Chantal (1572-1641) was the widow of the Baron of Chantal. She founded the Order of the Visitation with St. Francis of Sales.
Afterward, she knelt before her father, Monsieur Fremiot, President of the Parliament of Burgundy, to ask his blessing. He said: “My God, it does not belong to me to change Thy designs. If it did, I would ask Thee to let me keep my daughter with me. Instead I offer to Thee this beloved daughter. Receive and console her.” Then he blessed her. She was also very much loved by the poor and all the inhabitants of Monthelon, who publicly manifested their sorrow at her departure. She had received Holy Eucharist in Dijon to fortify herself for the coming separation from her 14-year-old son. The young man ran to her and embraced her, locking his arms around her neck, trying to move her heart to change her mind, but without success. He then went to the door and barred his mother’s way by lying across the threshold. “Since I am too weak to stop you,” he said, “you will have to step over your only son to abandon him.” The saint wept bitterly, but did not waver in her resolve. Her serenity restored, she told those present: “I ask you to forgive my weakness in weeping, for I am leaving my son and my father forever, but I will find my God everywhere.” Comments of Prof. Plinio: One can see the tragic aspect of the scene. St. Jane Frances de Chantal was a widow and an extremely good person, carrying out her family duties in a way that attracted the friendship and affection of everyone. If it were a revolutionary family of our days, she would be persecuted; but it was a very good family, so she was esteemed by all the members. She was the emotional support of her father-in-law, her father, and her son. Until that moment she had been a splendid family member and had earned the general affection of the household as well as the inhabitants of Monthelon, where she lived. God gave her a new vocation and asked her to rip herself asunder from all those legitimate and even holy bonds in order to be the founder of a new contemplative religious family. From then on, she would no longer be able to see her relatives. The tragic aspect of the scene is placed in relief with the leave-taking of her father-in-law: she knelt before the 86-year-old man and asked his forgiveness for whatever wrong she had done him and asked his blessing. Then came the farewell to her father: again tears, again kneeling before him. The old man, like a figure in a Greek tragedy, offered his daughter to God. And then came the dramatic scene with her son hanging on her neck asking her not to leave, not to go away to the convent. Unsuccessful, he lay down on the threshold to show his dissent and to force her to walk across his body to leave. All these acts are deeply tragic. Such tragedy was a consequence of a profoundly serious mentality about life, and particularly the religious life. It reflects a sense of the gravity of things, a great sense of what the cross represents, of what religious renunciation represents. The person who was called to a religious vocation had the sense of the serious relationship with Our Lord Jesus Christ she was entering into. Such seriousness accepted with a supernatural outlook also gives a great serenity, as we can see in the final episode of St. Jane Frances de Chantal’s farewell. Today people have lost this sense of solemnity and seriousness. Almost everything is superficial, vacuous, received with a pasted-on smile used for every occasion.
• First, she understood that the life of a family is a wonderful thing, something desired by God. |
For: Friday, August 18, 2006
19th Week in Ordinary Time
From: Matthew 19:3-12
Marriage and Virginity
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[3] And Pharisees came up to Him (Jesus) and tested Him by asking, "Is
it lawful to divorce one's wife for any cause?" [4] He answered, "Have
you not read that He who made them from the beginning made them male
and female, [5] and said, `For this reason a man shall leave his father
and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one'?
[6] So they are no longer two but one. What therefore God has joined
together, let no man put asunder." [7] They said to Him, "Why then did
Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce, and to put her
away?" [8] He said to them, "For your hardness of heart Moses allowed
you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.
[9] And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for unchastity,
and marries another, commits adultery; and he who marries a divorced
woman commits adultery."
[10] The disciples said to Him, "If such is the case of a man with his
wife, it is not expedient to marry." [11] But He said to them, "Not
all men can receive this precept, but only those to whom it is given.
[12] For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are
eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who
have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven. He
who is able to receive this, let him receive it."
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Commentary:
4-5. "Marriage and married love are by nature ordered to the
procreation and education of children. Indeed children are the supreme
gift of marriage and greatly contribute to the good of the parents
themselves. God Himself said: `It is not good that man should be
alone' (Genesis 2:18), and `from the beginning (He) made them male and
female' (Matthew 19:4); wishing to associate them in a special way with
his own creative work, God blessed man and woman with the words: `Be
fruitful and multiply' (Genesis 1:28). Without intending to
underestimate the other ends of marriage, it must be said that true
married life and the whole structure of family life which results from
it is directed to disposing the spouses to cooperate valiantly with the
love of the Creator and Savior, who through them will increase and
enrich His family from day to day" (Vatican II, "Gaudium Et Spes",
50).
9. Our Lord's teaching on the unity and indissolubility of marriage is
the main theme of this passage, apropos of which St. John Chrysostom
comments that marriage is a lifelong union of man and woman (cf. "Hom.
on St. Matthew", 62). On the meaning of "except for unchastity", see
the note on Matthew 5:31-32).
11. "Not all men can receive this precept": our Lord is fully aware
that the demands involved in His teaching on marriage and His
recommendation of celibacy practised out of love of God run counter to
human selfishness. That is why He says that acceptance of this
teaching is a gift from God.
12. Our Lord speaks figuratively here, referring to those who, out of
love for Him, renounce marriage and offer their lives completely to
Him. Virginity embraced for the love of God is one of the Church's
most precious charisms (cf. 1 Corinthians 7); the lives of those who
practise virginity evoke the state of the blessed in Heaven, who are
like the angels (cf. Matthew 22:30). This is why the Church's
Magisterium teaches that the state of virginity for the sake of the
Kingdom of Heaven is higher than the married state (cf. Council of
Trent, "De Sacram. Matr.", can. 10; cf. also Pius XII, "Sacra
Virginitas"). On virginity and celibacy the Second Vatican Council
teaches: "The Church's holiness is also fostered in a special way by
the manifold counsels which the Lord proposes to His disciples in the
Gospel for them to observe. Towering among these counsels is that
precious gift of divine grace given to some by the Father (cf. Matthew
19:11; 1 Corinthians 7:7) to devote themselves to God alone more easily
in virginity or celibacy [...]. This perfect continence for love of
the Kingdom of Heaven has always been held in high esteem by the Church
as a sign and stimulus of love, and as a singular source of spiritual
fertility in the world" ("Lumen Gentium", 42; cf. "Perfectae
Caritatis", 12). And, on celibacy specifically, see Vatican II's
"Presbyterorum Ordinis", 16 and "Optatam Totius", 10.
However, both virginity and marriage are necessary for the growth of
the Church, and both imply a specific calling from God: "Celibacy is
precisely a gift of the Spirit. A similar though different gift is
contained in the vocation to true and faithful married love, directed
towards procreation according to the flesh, in the very lofty context
of the sacrament of Matrimony. It is obvious that this gift is
fundamental for the building up of the great community of the Church,
the people of God. But if this community wishes to respond fully to
its vocation in Jesus Christ, there will also have to be realized in
it, in the correct proportion, that other gift, the gift of celibacy
`for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven'" (John Paul II, "Letter To All
Priests", 1979).
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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.
Reprinted with permission from Four Courts Press and Scepter
Publishers, the U.S. publisher (see below).
EZEKIEL 16:1-15, 60, 63
The word of the Lord came to me: Son of man, make known to Jerusalem
her abominations. Thus says the Lord God to Jerusalem: By origin and
birth you are of the land of Canaan; your father was an Amorite and
your mother a Hittite. As for your birth, the day you were born your
navel cord was not cut; you were neither washed with water nor
anointed, nor were you rubbed with salt, nor swathed in swaddling
clothes. No one looked on you with pity or compassion to do any of
these things for you. Rather, you were thrown out on the ground as
something loathsome, the day you were born. Then I passed by and saw
you weltering in your blood. I said to you: Live in your blood and grow
like a plant in the field. You grew and developed, you came to the age
of puberty; your breasts were formed, your hair had grown, but you were
still stark naked. Again I passed by you and saw that you were now old
enough for love. So I spread the corner of my cloak over you to cover
your nakedness; I swore an oath to you and entered into a covenant with
you; you became mine, says the Lord God. Then I bathed you with water,
washed away your blood, and anointed you with oil. I clothed you with
an embroidered gown, put sandals of fine leather on your feet; I gave
you a fine linen sash and silk robes to wear. I adorned you with
jewelry: I put bracelets on your arms, a necklace about your neck, a
ring in your nose, pendants in your ears, and a glorious diadem upon
your head. Thus you were adorned with gold and silver; your garments
were of fine linen, silk, and embroidered cloth. Fine flour, honey, and
oil were your food. You were exceedingly beautiful, with the dignity of
a queen. You were renowned among the nations for your beauty, perfect
as it was, because of my splendor which I had bestowed on you, says the
Lord God. But you were captivated by your own beauty, you used your
renown to make yourself a harlot, and you lavished your harlotry on
every passer-by, whose own you became. Yet I will remember the covenant
I made with you when you were a girl, and I will set up an everlasting
covenant with you, that you may remember and be covered with confusion,
and that you may be utterly silenced for shame when I pardon you for
all you have done, says the Lord God.
MATTHEW 19:3-12
Some Pharisees approached Jesus, and tested him, saying, "Is it lawful
for a man to divorce his wife for any cause whatever?" He said in
reply, "Have you not read that from the beginning the Creator made them
male and female and said, For this reason a man shall leave his father
and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one
flesh? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God
has joined together, man must not separate." They said to him, "Then
why did Moses command that the man give the woman a bill of divorce and
dismiss her?" He said to them, "Because of the hardness of your hearts
Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was
not so. I say to you, whoever divorces his wife (unless the marriage is
unlawful) and marries another commits adultery." His disciples said to
him, "If that is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to
marry." He answered, "Not all can accept this word, but only those to
whom that is granted. Some are incapable of marriage because they were
born so; some, because they were made so by others; some, because they
have renounced marriage for the sake of the Kingdom of heaven. Whoever
can accept this ought to accept it."
REFLECTION
The general principle of Jesus' vision of Christian marriage is clear:
marriage is indissoluble. Jesus interprets Genesis: "Whom God has
joined, let no man separate."
Moses, however, did allow divorce. And so the Pharisees bring this up
to Jesus. Jesus responds, "What Moses said was not a law, it was a
concession." The Jews of Moses' day were hardheaded, he says, they
refused to accept that a man must remain united with one woman for
life.
The Pharisees' understanding of Moses' attitude toward divorce provides
Jesus with an opportunity to present his vision of what marriage is.
And a very beautiful vision it is! A lifelong love commitment: a shared
life stretching over many years, so intimate in every aspect of its
reality that the two spouses can be called one flesh; a life of love,
issuing in the gift of love the spouses give to each other and to God,
the child; the years of loving nurture and care which will allow the
child to grow into a loving adulthood in the service of God and
neighbor.
A truly inspiring vision.
Only with the help of Christ and his Holy Spirit can the couple develop
the sympathy, the understanding, the forgiving spirit, the caring love,
which any marriage would welcome, which Christian marriage demands.
From the Beginning It Was Not So…
August 18, 2006
Christ can ask more of us because he himself brings the grace to live our lives before God in a new way.
Friday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Father Richard Gill, LC
Matthew 19:3-12
Some Pharisees approached Jesus, and tested him, saying, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause whatever?" He said in reply, "Have you not read that from the beginning the Creator made them male and female and said, For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, no human being must separate." They said to him, "Then why did Moses command that the man give the woman a bill of divorce and dismiss her?" He said to them, "Because of the hardness of your hearts Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. I say to you, whoever divorces his wife (unless the marriage is unlawful) and marries another commits adultery." His disciples said to him, "If that is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry." He answered, "Not all can accept this word, but only those to whom that is granted. Some are incapable of marriage because they were born so; some, because they were made so by others; some, because they have renounced marriage for the sake of the Kingdom of heaven. Whoever can accept this ought to accept it."
Introductory Prayer: Lord, teach me to understand and accept you as the one who teaches us the new law of love. I desire to embrace it with faith and confidence, and a humble heart. Teach me today to live by your word of life.
Petition: Soften the hardness of my heart, Lord God, so that your word will give me new life and your law will be a light for my path each day.
1. Hardness of Their Hearts. The Pharisees heard Jesus’ teaching against divorce at the Sermon on the Mount, a teaching which contradicted the practice of the Jews. They thought to trap him by putting his teaching in opposition to Moses’. They were hoping to discredit him. But Jesus knew their twisted intentions and grounded his teaching on God’s original plan for man and woman. He knew that they were looking to get around the will of God and carve out exceptions. Jesus felt no need to pander to the crowd or offer an easier way out when challenged. His focus was on what God intended, and even today he challenges everyone to respond.
2. A New Law. Jesus’ teaching seems so counter-cultural, no less today than in his own time. How can he be so bold and ask for so much? Do we not still labor under the same sin, imperfection and hardness of heart as the people of Moses’ time and his time? The key is that Jesus does not add new laws; rather he brings the grace to be able to live as God intended “from the beginning,” that is, before sin entered the world. Christ can ask more of us because he himself brings the grace to live our lives before God in a new way. By grace we are made “new men (and women) in Christ” and transformed into God’s children, empowered to live in holiness and the full truth.
3. Never Give Up. The disciples seem at first to be discouraged because the new teaching of Jesus is difficult to live: “Then it is better not to marry.” They are seeing things through their own narrow experience and through the lens of popular opinion. Yet they must make the transforming encounter with the grace of Christ. We too need to believe in that grace and communicate it to others, since it enables us to love others “as he loved us.” Christ’s grace is what brings vitality and freshness to our lives and makes us able to offer something new and hopeful to the world around us.
Dialogue with Christ: Jesus, give me the faith and confidence to believe with all my heart that your grace is enough for me. Teach me to believe that your commands are always supported by your grace and that I can live as a new man in you.
Resolution: I will ask for an unbreakable hope in the power of God’s grace acting in me.
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| A Cloud of Witnesses |
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| 08/18/06 |
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The house I grew up in was filled with little bits of our lives, and the lives of those around us. Photos of friends and family, as well as my father's artwork, graced every wall. Here was mother's college diploma; there was the pottery cup my brother made in second grade; in the corner, my sister's drill team photo. Above it all was a crucifix that announced to the world that this was a Catholic home. |
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In This Article... The Familiar Touches of FamilyImage and WordReflection of the Heavenly Liturgy |
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The sin of Adam had come into all men. Through one man, the Apostle says, sin entered and through sin, death. Thus it has come to all men. Therefore, the justice of Christ must enter into men; and as the old Adam ruined his descendants through sin, so Christ must bring new life to all men through justice. The Apostle stresses this theme when he says: As through the disobedience of one man, many were made sinners, so too, through the obedience of one man, many were made just. And, as sin brought death to the offender, so grace through justice brings birth to life eternal.
Someone may say to me: "But the sin of Adam is justifiably transmitted to his posterity. Since they were descended from him, and since we are not descended from Christ, how can we be saved because of him?" Do not think in physical terms about descent, then you will see how Christ is our father. In these times of salvation, Christ received body and soul from Mary. He came to save this soul, not to leave it in hell. He united it with his spirit and made it his own. And this is the marriage of the Lord, the union of two in one flesh, so that according to that great mystery, two become one flesh, Christ and his Church.
From this marriage the Christian people are born, by the descent of the spirit of the Lord. The essential nature of the soul, engendered by heavenly seed, grows in the womb of our mother, the Church, and at birth is given life by Christ. Therefore, the Apostle says: The first Adam was a living soul, the new Adam a life-giving spirit. Thus Christ continues in the Church through his priests, as the same Apostle says: In Christ, I have begotten you. And so, the seed of Christ, that is, the Spirit of God, brings forth the new man, nourished in the womb of his mother, welcomed at his birth at the font through the hands of the priests, while faith presides over the ceremony.
Christ must, therefore, be received in order to beget, for the apostle John says: To all who received him he gave the power to become sons of God. But these things cannot be accomplished except by the sacrament of the font, the chrism and the priest. For sin is washed away by the waters of the font; the Holy Spirit is poured forth in the Chrism; and we obtain both of these gifts through the hands and the mouth of the priest. Thus the whole man is reborn and renewed in Christ. Just as Christ rose from the dead, so we shall walk in the newness of life, that is, we put away the errors of our old lives and follow the new way through the Spirit in Christ.
Homily of the Day
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