Posted on 06/30/2011 9:52:40 PM PDT by Salvation
July 1, 2011
Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus
Reading 1
Dt 7:6-11
Moses said to the people:
"You are a people sacred to the LORD, your God;
he has chosen you from all the nations on the face of the earth
to be a people peculiarly his own.
It was not because you are the largest of all nations
that the LORD set his heart on you and chose you,
for you are really the smallest of all nations.
It was because the LORD loved you
and because of his fidelity to the oath he had sworn your fathers,
that he brought you out with his strong hand
from the place of slavery,
and ransomed you from the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt.
Understand, then, that the LORD, your God, is God indeed,
the faithful God who keeps his merciful covenant
down to the thousandth generation
toward those who love him and keep his commandments,
but who repays with destruction a person who hates him;
he does not dally with such a one,
but makes them personally pay for it.
You shall therefore carefully observe the commandments,
the statutes and the decrees that I enjoin on you today."
R. (cf. 17) The Lord's kindness is everlasting to those who fear him.
Bless the LORD, O my soul;
all my being, bless his holy name.
Bless the LORD, O my soul;
and forget not all his benefits.
R. The Lord's kindness is everlasting to those who fear him.
He pardons all your iniquities,
heals all your ills.
He redeems your life from destruction,
crowns you with kindness and compassion.
R. The Lord's kindness is everlasting to those who fear him.
Merciful and gracious is the LORD,
slow to anger and abounding in kindness.
Not according to our sins does he deal with us,
nor does he requite us according to our crimes.
R. The Lord's kindness is everlasting to those who fear him.
Beloved, let us love one another,
because love is of God;
everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God.
Whoever is without love does not know God, for God is love.
In this way the love of God was revealed to us:
God sent his only Son into the world
so that we might have life through him.
In this is love:
not that we have loved God, but that he loved us
and sent his Son as expiation for our sins.
Beloved, if God so loved us,
we also must love one another.
No one has ever seen God.
Yet, if we love one another, God remains in us,
and his love is brought to perfection in us.
This is how we know that we remain in him and he in us,
that he has given us of his Spirit.
Moreover, we have seen and testify
that the Father sent his Son as savior of the world.
Whoever acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God,
God remains in him and he in God.
We have come to know and to believe in the love God has for us.
God is love, and whoever remains in love
remains in God and God in him.
At that time Jesus exclaimed:
"I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
for although you have hidden these things
from the wise and the learned
you have revealed them to little ones.
Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will.
All things have been handed over to me by my Father.
No one knows the Son except the Father,
and no one knows the Father except the Son
and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.
"Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened,
and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,
for I am meek and humble of heart;
and you will find rest for yourselves.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden light."
| Feast Day: | July 1 |
| Born: | 24 November 1713 at Petra, Spanish Majorca |
| Died: | 28 August 1784 |
| Beatified: | 25 September 1988 by Pope John Paul II |
"Behold this Heart which has loved men so much, and yet men do not want to love Me in return. Through you My divine Heart wishes to spread its love everywhere on earth."
- Jesus to Saint Margaret Mary
Our Lord also made 12 promises to St. Margaret Mary for those that are devoted to His Sacred Heart.
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During his training to become a priest, Junipero read the life stories of Franciscan saints. The saint whose life fascinated him most was St. Francis Solano, a missionary priest to South America who had been declared a saint just a few years earlier. Young Junipero decided that, if it was God's will, he too would be a missionary.
Junipero was ordained a priest in 1736 and became a professor of philosophy. Twenty years, later, he was given the wonderful opportunity to go as a missionary to a place called "New Spain" in Mexico and California.
Junipero and his close friend, Friar Francisco Palou, joined the group of missionaries at a seaport city in Spain called Cadiz. From there they sailed across the Atlantic Ocean to Vera Cruz, Mexico and arrived there on December 6, 1749.
Soon after they landed, Junipero got bitten by a mosquito that left one leg swollen. He also suffered from asthma (making it difficult to breathe at times). This made walking a painful process for the rest of his life. But he and another friar walked the next part of the journey from Vera Cruz to Mexico City, a distance of 240 miles which took them more than fifteen days.
From Mexico City, Junipero and Friar Francisco Palou were sent to work among the Pame Indians (a tribe of Red Indians) at the Franciscan Mission of the Sierra Gorda. Several of the friars then traveled to missions in Lower California. Junipero, Francisco and a handful of other Franciscans were asked to bring the Gospel to the native peoples in Upper California.
Junipero started Mission San Diego on July 16, 1769, when he was fifty-six years old. The mission was an open invitation to his beloved people to come and meet Jesus who slowly began to trust the friars. Some people were baptized and began to live the Christian faith. Father Serra and the friars loved and protected their people. They trained many of them in European methods of agriculture, cattle husbandry, and othe crafts.
Then the golden chain of new missions grew: Mission San Carlos in Monterey; Mission San Antonio de Padua; Mission San Gabriel Archangel; Mission San Luis Obispo; Mission San Francisco de Asis; Mission San Juan Capistrano; Mission Santa Clara de Asis; Mission San Buenaventura.
He founded twenty-one missions and finally, six thousand native peoples were baptized and became followers of Jesus. Junipero helped the Church to grow on the west coast of the United States.
Blessed Junipero made his final tour of the missions in Upper California which lasted about six months. He died peacefully at Mission San Carlos on August 28, 1784, and is buried there. In 1988, Pope John Paul II declared Father Junipero Serra "blessed."
Reflection: "All my life I have wanted to be a missionary. I have wanted to carry the gospel message to those who have never heard of God and the kingdom he has prepared for them."- Bl. Junipero
We thank you, God our Father, for those who have responded to your call to priestly ministry.
Accept this prayer we offer on their behalf: Fill your priests with the sure knowledge of your love.
Open their hearts to the power and consolation of the Holy Spirit.
Lead them to new depths of union with your Son.
Increase in them profound faith in the Sacraments they celebrate as they nourish, strengthen and heal us.
Lord Jesus Christ, grant that these, your priests, may inspire us to strive for holiness by the power of their example, as men of prayer who ponder your word and follow your will.
O Mary, Mother of Christ and our mother, guard with your maternal care these chosen ones, so dear to the Heart of your Son.
Intercede for our priests, that offering the Sacrifice of your Son, they may be conformed more each day to the image of your Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Saint John Vianney, universal patron of priests, pray for us and our priests
This icon shows Jesus Christ, our eternal high priest.The gold pelican over His heart represents self-sacrifice.
The border contains an altar and grapevines, representing the Mass, and icons of Melchizedek and St. Jean-Baptiste Vianney.
Melchizedek: king of righteousness (left icon) was priest and king of Jerusalem. He blessed Abraham and has been considered an ideal priest-king.
St. Jean-Baptiste Vianney is the patron saint of parish priests.
1. Sign of the Cross: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
2. The Apostles Creed: I BELIEVE in God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended to the dead. On the third day He rose again. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty. From thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
3. The Lord's Prayer: 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 who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.
4. (3) Hail Mary: HAIL Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now, and in the hour of our death. Amen. (Three times)
5. Glory Be: 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.
Fatima Prayer: Oh, my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, lead all souls to heaven, especially those in most need of your mercy.
Announce each mystery, then say 1 Our Father, 10 Hail Marys, 1 Glory Be and 1 Fatima prayer. Repeat the process with each mystery.
End with the Hail Holy Queen:
Hail, Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy, our life, our sweetness and our hope! To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve! To thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this vale of tears! Turn then, most gracious advocate, thine eyes of mercy towards us; and after this, our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus!
O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary! Pray for us, O holy Mother of God, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Final step -- The Sign of the Cross
The Mysteries of the Rosary
By tradition, Catholics meditate on these Mysteries during prayers of the Rosary.
The biblical references follow each of the Mysteries below.
St. Michael, the Archangel, defend us in battle
Be our protection against the wickedness
and snares of the devil;
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray,
and do thou, O Prince of the heavenly host,
by the power of God,
Cast into hell Satan and all evil spirits
who prowl through the world seeking the ruin of souls.
Amen
+
From an Obama bumper sticker on a car:
"Pray for Obama. Psalm 109:8"
Psalm 109:8
"Let his days be few; and let another take his place of leadership."
PLEASE JOIN US -
|
A Prayer for PriestsO my God, help those priests who are faithful to remain faithful; to those who are falling, stretch forth Your Divine Hand that they may grasp it as their support. In the great ocean of Your mercy, lift those poor unfortunate ones who have fallen, that being engulfed therein they may receive the grace to return to Your Great Loving Heart. Amen. Precious Blood of Jesus, protect them!
The Most Precious Blood of Jesus
July is traditionally associated with the Precious Blood of Our Lord. It may be customary to celebrate the votive Mass of the Precious Blood on July 1.
The extraordinary importance of the saving Blood of Christ has ensured a central place for its memorial in the celebration of this cultic mystery: at the centre of the Eucharistic assembly, in which the Church raises up to God in thanksgiving "the cup of blessing" (1 Cor 10, 16; cf Ps 115-116, 13) and offers it to the faithful as a "real communion with the Blood of Christ" (1 Cor 10, 16); and throughout the Liturgical Year. The Church celebrates the saving Blood of Christ not only on the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ, but also on many other occasions, such that the cultic remembrance of the Blood of our redemption (cf 1 Pt 1, 18) pervades the entire Liturgical Year. Hence, at Vespers during Christmastide, the Church, addressing Christ, sings: "Nos quoque, qui sancto tuo redempti sumus sanguine, ob diem natalis tui hymnum novum concinimus." In the Paschal Triduum, the redemptive significance and efficacy of the Blood of Christ is continuously recalled in adoration. During the adoration of the Cross on Good Friday the Church sings the hymn: "Mite corpus perforatur, sanguis unde profluit; terra, pontus, astra, mundus quo lavanturflumine", and again on Easter Sunday, "Cuius corpus sanctissimum in ara crucis torridum, sed et cruorem roesum gustando, Deo vivimus (194).
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Chaplet of the Most Precious Blood
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DOCTRINE OF THE BLOOD OF CHRIST
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,And More on the Precious Blood
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NOTHING IS MORE POTENT AGAINST EVIL THAN PLEADING THE PRECIOUS BLOOD OF CHRIST
FORMER PENTECOSTAL RELATES MIRACLE THAT OCCURRED WITH THE PRECIOUS BLOOD
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St.Gaspar:Founder of the Society of the Precious Blood[AKA The Hammer of Freemasons]
July 2011
Pope Benedict XVI's Intentions
General Intention: That Christians may contribute to alleviating the material and spiritual suffering of AIDS patients, especially in the poorest countries.
Missionary Intention: For the religious who work in mission territories, that they may be witnesses of the joy of the Gospel and living signs of the love of Christ.
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PERPETUAL ADORATION
From: Deuteronomy 7:6-11
God’s Election of Israel
*********************************************************************************************
Commentary:
7:6-16. It is fair to say that Deuteronomy 7:6-7 is the classic passage in Old Tes-
tament revelation on God’s special election of Israel. That election, and the love
which it evidences, are themes basic to this book; it keeps on stressing them (cf.,
e.g., 4:20, 34; 9:5). God makes his choice first—quite independently of the quali-
ties or merits of the people or of individuals. The only reason for his choice is pure
love and (in the case of the Israelites) the promises he made to their ancestors
(cf. the note on Ex 1:8-14). Consciousness of this election, awareness that Isra-
el is God’s special possession, runs right through Holy Scripture. The New Testa-
ment upholds this privilege that belongs to Israel: John 1:11 (”He came to his own
home”) must be interpreted in the first instance as meaning that the Word comes
specially to his people Israel; in the second instance he comes to all mankind.
Romans 9:4-5 carries the same message: “They are Israelites, and to them be-
long the sonship, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and
the promise, and of their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ [...].”
Verses 7-8 give the theological explanation of this election: God’s pure love, his
predilection, is totally unmerited by Israel; this means that God is sovereignly
free to choose whomever he wishes for the mission he has in mind; and no one
has any right to be chosen specially by God.
What happens in the collectivity of the people of Israel also applies when God
singles out individuals for special assignments. In the New Testament, it says a-
propos of the apostles, that “he called to him those whom he desired” (Mt 3:13);
and the case of St Paul is particularly apposite: Jesus called him though he “had
blasphemed and persecuted and insulted him [Christ]” (1 Tim 1:13).
“Vocation comes first,” BI. Josemaria Escriva reminds us. “God loves us before
we even know how to go toward him, and he places in us the love with which we
can respond to his call. God’s fatherly goodness comes out to meet us. Our Lord
is not only just. He is much more: he is merciful. He does not wait for us to go to
him. He takes the initiative, with the unmistakable signs of paternal affection”
(”Christ Is Passing By”, 33).
7:10. This verse touches on something very important as regards human behavior:
God rewards those who do good and punishes those who do evil. Everyday expe-
rience does not always seem to bear this out: evil people enjoy success whereas
good people are mistreated and despised. Men have always asked themselves
how God’s justice can be compatible with these facts.
The prophet Jeremiah will ask the Lord: “Why does the way of the wicked pros-
per? Why do all who are treacherous thrive?” (Jer 12:1). Many psalms echo the
same idea (cf Ps 37; 38; 29; 49; 73; 92). But the place where the matter is dealt
with most dramatically is the book of Job. The Wisdom books of the Old Testa-
ment do a lot to provide an answer to this question, but it will not be until the full-
ness of Revelations in the New Testament that it is fully solved. Throughout the
New Testament reward or punishment is not depicted as a mathematical calcula-
tion, to produce instant recompense in this life; rather, the way a person behaves
in this life decides his or her fate in the next life. If the wicked are successful in
this life, that is something very short-lived; whereas the joy of the righteous will
reach its fullness in eternal beatitude. Prior to that, the righteous often suffer con-
tradiction, pain and sorrow: it purifies their lives and gives an increase of divine
grace.
*********************************************************************************************
Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.
From: 1 John 4:7-16
God is Love. Brotherly Love, the Mark of Christians
[11] Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. [12] No man
has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is per-
fected in us.
[13] By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us
of his own Spirit. [14] And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his
Son as the Savior of the world. [15] Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of
God, God abides in him, and he in God. [16] So we know and believe the love
God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God
abides in him.
*********************************************************************************************
Commentary:
7-21. St John now expands on the second aspect of the divine commandment (cf.
1 Jn 3:23)—brotherly love. The argument is along these lines: God is love and it
was he who loved us to begin with (vv. 7-10); brotherly love is the response which
God’s love calls for (vv. 11 16); when our love is perfect, we feel no fear (vv. 17-18);
brotherly love is an expression of love of God (vv. 19-21).
This is not tiresome repetition of the ideas already discussed (2:7-11; 3:11-18):
contrary to the false teaching which is beginning to be spread, charity is the sure
mark, the way to recognize the genuine disciple.
St Jerome hands down a tradition concerning the last years of St John’s life: when
he was already a very old man, he used always say the same thing to the faithful:
“My children, love one another!” On one occasion, he was asked why he insisted
on this: “to which he replied with these words worthy of John: ‘Because it is the
Lord’s commandment, and if you keep just this commandment, it will suffice”’
(”Comm. in Gal.”, III, 6, 10).
7. The divine attributes, God’s perfections, which he has to the highest degree,
are the cause of our virtues: for example, because God is holy, we have been
given a capacity to be holy. Similarly, because God is love, we can love. True
love, true charity, comes from God.
8. “God is love”: without being strictly speaking a definition (in 1:5 he says “God
is light”), this statement reveals to us one of the most consoling attributes of
God: “Even if nothing more were to be said in praise of love in all the pages of
this epistle”, St Augustine explains, “even if nothing more were to be said in all
the pages of Sacred Scripture, and all we heard from the mouth of the Holy Spi-
rit were that ‘God is love’, there would be nothing else we would need to look for”
(”In Epist. Ioann. Ad Parthos”, 7, 5).
God’s love for men was revealed in Creation and in the preternatural and super-
natural gifts he gave man prior to sin; after man’s sin, God’s love is to be seen,
above all, in forgiveness and redemption (as St John goes on to say: v. 9), for
the work of salvation is the product of God’s mercy: “It is precisely because sin
exists in the world, which ‘God so loved . . . that he gave his only Son’ (Jn 3:16),
that God, who ‘is love’ (1 Jn 4:8), “cannot reveal himself other than as mercy”.
This corresponds not only to the most profound truth of that love which God is,
but also to the whole interior truth of man and of the world which is man’s tem-
porary homeland” (Bl. John Paul II, “Dives In Misericordia”, 13).
9. God has revealed his love to men by sending his own Son; that is, it is not on-
ly Christ’s teachings which speak to us of God’s love, but, above all, his presence
among us: Christ himself is the fullness of revelation of God (cf. Jn 1:18; Heb 1:1)
and of his love for men. “The source of all grace is God’s love for us, and he has
revealed this not just in words but also in deeds. It was divine love which led the
second Person of the most holy Trinity, the Word, the Son of God
the Father, to take on our flesh, our human condition, everything except sin. And
the Word, the Word of God, is the Word from which Love proceeds (cf. “Summa
Theologiae”, I, q. 43, a. 5, quoting St Augustine, “De Trinitate”, IX, 10).
“Love is revealed to us in the incarnation, the redemptive journey which Jesus
Christ made on our earth, culminating in the supreme sacrifice of the cross. And
on the cross it showed itself through a new sign: ‘One of the soldiers pierced his
side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water’ (Jn 19:34). This
water and blood of Jesus speaks to us of a self-sacrifice brought to the last ex-
treme: ‘It is finished’ (Jn 19:30)—everything is achieved, for the sake of love” (St.
J. Escriva, “Christ Is Passing By”, 162).
“Among us”: it is difficult to convey in English everything the Greek contains. The
Greek expression means that the love of God was shown to those who witnessed
our Lord’s life (the Apostles) and to all other Christians, whose participate in this
apostolic witness (cf. note on 1 Jn 1:1-3; this idea is repeated in vv. 14 and 16).
But it also means “within us”, inside us, in our hearts, insofar as we partake of
God’s own life by means of sanctifying grace: every Christian is a witness to the
fact that Christ has come so that men “may have life, and have it abundantly”
(Jn 10:10).
10. Given that love is an attribute of God (v. 8), men have a capacity to love inso-
far as they share in God’s qualities. So, the initiative always lies with God.
When explaining in what love consists. St John points to its highest form of ex-
pression: “he sent (his Son) to be the expiation of our sins” (cf. 2:2). Similar turns
of phrase occur throughout the letter: the Son of God manifested himself “to des-
troy the works of the devil” (3:8); “he laid down his life for us” (3:16). All these
statements show that: 1) Christ’s death is a SACRIFICE in the strict sense of
the word, the most sublime act of recognition of God’s sovereignty; 2) it is an ato-
ning sacrifice, because it obtains God’s pardon for the sins of men; 3) it is the su-
preme act of God’s love, so much so that St John actually says, “in this is love.”
What is amazing, St Alphonsus teaches, “is that he could have saved us without
suffering or dying and yet he chose a life of toil and humiliation, and a bitter and
ignominious death, even death on a cross, something reserved for the very worst
offenders. And why was it that, when he could have redeemed us without suffe-
ring, he chose to embrace death on the Cross? To show us how much he loved
us” (”The Love of Jesus Christ”, chap. 1).
11-12. The Apostle underlines here the theological basis of brotherly love: the
love which God has shown us by the incarnation and redemptive death of his
Son, places us in his debt: we have to respond in kind; so we “ought” to love our
neighbor with the kind of gratitude and disinterest that God showed by taking the
initiative in loving us.
Moreover, by loving one another we are in communion with God. The deepest de-
sire of the human heart, which is to see and to possess God, cannot be satisfied
in this life, because “no man has ever seen God” (v. 12); our neighbor, on the o-
ther hand, we do see. So, in this life, the way to be in communion with God is by
brotherly love. “Love of God is the first thing in the order of commands”, St Au-
gustine explains, “and love of neighbor is the first thing in the order of practice
[...]. You, who do not yet see God, will, by loving your neighbor, merit to see him.
Love of neighbor cleanses our eyes to see God, as John clearly says, If you do
not love your neighbor, whom you see, how can you love God, whom you do not
see (cf. 1 Jn 4:20)” (”In Ioann. Evang.”, 17, 8).
13. Having the gift of the Holy Spirit is the sure sign of being in communion with
God. Since the Holy Spirit is the love of the Father and of the Son, his presence
in the soul in grace is necessarily something dynamic, that is, it moves the per-
son to keep all the commandments (cf. 3:24), particularly that of brotherly love.
This interior impulse shows that the third Person of the Blessed Trinity is at work
within us; it is a sign of union with God.
The Holy Spirit’s action on the soul is a marvelous and deep mystery. “This brea-
thing of the Holy Spirit in the soul,” says St John of the Cross, “whereby God
transforms it into himself, is so sublime and delicate and profound a delight to it
that it cannot be described by mortal tongue, nor can human understanding, as
such, attain to any conception of it” (”Spiritual Canticle”, stanza 39).
14-15. Once more (cf. v. 1:4) St John vividly reminds his readers that he and the
other Apostles have seen with their own eyes the Son of God, made man out of
love for us. They were eyewitnesses of his redemptive life and death. And in the
Son, sent by the Father as Savior of the world, the unfathomable mystery of God
is revealed—that his very being is Love.
“It is ‘God, who is rich in mercy’ (Eph 2:4) whom Jesus Christ has revealed to us
as Father: it is his very Son who, in himself, has manifested him and made him
known to us (cf. Jn 1:18; Heb 1:1f)” (Bl. John Paul II, “Dives In Misericordia”, 1).
16. “Knowing” and “believing” are not theoretical knowledge but intimate, expe-
rienced attachment (cf. notes on 2:3-6; 4:1-6; Jn 6:69; 17:8). Therefore when St
John says that they knew and believed “the love God has for us” he is not refer-
ring to an abstract truth but to the historical fact of the incarnation and death of
Christ (v. 14), the supreme manifestation of the Father’s love.
“He who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him”: St Thomas Aqui-
nas explains “that in some way the loved one is to be found in the lover. And so,
he who loves God in some way possesses him, as St John says (1 Jn 4:16) [...].
Also, it is a property of love that the lover becomes transformed into the loved
one; so, if we love vile and perishable things, we become vile and perishable, like
those who ‘became detestable like the things they loved” (Hos 9:10). Whereas,
if we love God, we are made divine, for the Apostle says, ‘He who is united to
the Lord becomes one spirit with him’ (1 Cor 6:17)” (”In Duo Praecepta”, prol.,
3).
*********************************************************************************************
Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.
From: Matthew 11:25-30
Jesus Thanks His Father
[25] At that time Jesus declared, “I thank Thee, Father, Lord of Heaven and earth,
that Thou hast hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed
them to babes; [26] yea, Father, for such was Thy gracious will. [27] All things
have been delivered to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son except the
Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and any one to whom the
Son chooses to reveal Him. [28] Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden,
and I will give you rest. [29] Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me; for I am
gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. [30] For My yoke
is easy, and My burden is light.”
*********************************************************************************************
Commentary:
25-26. The wise and understanding of this world, that is, those who rely on their
own judgment, cannot accept the revelation which Christ has brought us. Super-
natural outlook is always connected with humility. A humble person, who gives
himself little importance, sees; a person who is full of self-esteem fails to per-
ceive supernatural things.
27. Here Jesus formally reveals His divinity. Our knowledge of a person shows
our intimacy with Him, according to the principle given by St. Paul: “For what
person knows a man’s thoughts except the spirit of the man which is in him?”
(1 Corinthians 2:11). The Son knows the Father by the same knowledge as that
by which the Father knows the Son. This identity of knowledge implies oneness
of nature; that is to say, Jesus is God just as the Father is God.
28-30. Our Lord calls everyone to come to Him. We all find things difficult in one
way or another. The history of souls bears out the truth of these words of Jesus.
Only the Gospel can fully satisfy the thirst for truth and justice which sincere peo-
ple feel. Only our Lord, our Master—and those to whom He passes on His power
— can soothe the sinner by telling him, “Your sins are forgiven” (Matthew 9:2). In
this connection Pope Paul VI teaches: “Jesus says now and always, ‘Come to
Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.’ His attitude to-
wards us is one of invitation, knowledge and compassion; indeed, it is one of of-
fering, promise, friendship, goodness, remedy of our ailments; He is our comfor-
ter; indeed, our nourishment, our bread, giving us energy and life” (”Homily on
Corpus Christi”, 13 June 1974).
“Come to Me”: the Master is addressing the crowds who are following Him, “ha-
rassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd” (Matthew 9:36). The Phari-
sees weighed them down with an endless series of petty regulations (cf. Acts 15:
10), yet they brought no peace to their souls. Jesus tells these people, and us,
about the kind of burden He imposes: “Any other burden oppresses and crushes
you, but Christ’s actually takes weight off you. Any other burden weighs down,
but Christ’s gives you wings. If you take a bird’s wings away, you might seem to
be taking weight off it, but the more weight you take off, the more you tie it down
to the earth. There it is on the ground, and you wanted to relieve it of a weight;
give it back the weight of its wings and you will see how it flies” (St. Augustine,
“Sermon” 126).
“All you who go about tormented, afflicted and burdened with the burden of your
cares and desires, go forth from them, come to Me and I will refresh you and you
shall find for your souls the rest which your desires take from you” (St. John of
the Cross, “Ascent of Mount Carmel”, Book 1, Chapter 7, 4).
*********************************************************************************************
Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.
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