Posted on 08/06/2013 9:13:15 PM PDT by Salvation
August 7, 2013
Wednesday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Reading 1 Nm 13:1-2, 25–14:1, 26a-29a, 34-35
The LORD said to Moses [in the desert of Paran,]
“Send men to reconnoiter the land of Canaan,
which I am giving the children of Israel.
You shall send one man from each ancestral tribe,
all of them princes.”
After reconnoitering the land for forty days they returned,
met Moses and Aaron and the whole congregation of the children of Israel
in the desert of Paran at Kadesh,
made a report to them all,
and showed the fruit of the country
to the whole congregation.
They told Moses: “We went into the land to which you sent us.
It does indeed flow with milk and honey, and here is its fruit.
However, the people who are living in the land are fierce,
and the towns are fortified and very strong.
Besides, we saw descendants of the Anakim there.
Amalekites live in the region of the Negeb;
Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites dwell in the highlands,
and Canaanites along the seacoast and the banks of the Jordan.”
Caleb, however, to quiet the people toward Moses, said,
“We ought to go up and seize the land, for we can certainly do so.”
But the men who had gone up with him said,
“We cannot attack these people; they are too strong for us.”
So they spread discouraging reports among the children of Israel
about the land they had scouted, saying,
“The land that we explored is a country that consumes its inhabitants.
And all the people we saw there are huge, veritable giants
(the Anakim were a race of giants);
we felt like mere grasshoppers, and so we must have seemed to them.”
At this, the whole community broke out with loud cries,
and even in the night the people wailed.
The LORD said to Moses and Aaron:
“How long will this wicked assembly grumble against me?
I have heard the grumblings of the children of Israel against me.
Tell them: By my life, says the LORD,
I will do to you just what I have heard you say.
Here in the desert shall your dead bodies fall.
Forty days you spent in scouting the land;
forty years shall you suffer for your crimes:
one year for each day.
Thus you will realize what it means to oppose me.
I, the LORD, have sworn to do this
to all this wicked assembly that conspired against me:
here in the desert they shall die to the last man.”
Responsorial Psalm PS 106:6-7ab, 13-14, 21-22, 23
R. (4a) Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.
We have sinned, we and our fathers;
we have committed crimes; we have done wrong.
Our fathers in Egypt
considered not your wonders.
R. Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.
But soon they forgot his works;
they waited not for his counsel.
They gave way to craving in the desert
and tempted God in the wilderness.
R. Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.
They forgot the God who had saved them,
who had done great deeds in Egypt,
Wondrous deeds in the land of Ham,
terrible things at the Red Sea.
R. Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.
Then he spoke of exterminating them,
but Moses, his chosen one,
Withstood him in the breach
to turn back his destructive wrath.
R. Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.
Gospel Mt 15: 21-28
At that time Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon.
And behold, a Canaanite woman of that district came and called out,
“Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David!
My daughter is tormented by a demon.”
But he did not say a word in answer to her.
His disciples came and asked him,
“Send her away, for she keeps calling out after us.”
He said in reply,
“I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
But the woman came and did him homage, saying, “Lord, help me.”
He said in reply,
“It is not right to take the food of the children
and throw it to the dogs.”
She said, “Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps
that fall from the table of their masters.”
Then Jesus said to her in reply,
“O woman, great is your faith!
Let it be done for you as you wish.”
And her daughter was healed from that hour.
Feast Day: August 7
Born: October 1, 1480, Vicenza, Veneto, Republic of Venice (now Italy)
Died: August 7, 1547, Naples, Campania, Kingdom of Naples
Canonized: April 12, 1671, Rome by Pope Clement X
Patron of: workers; gamblers; job seekers; unemployed people
St. Cajetan
Feast Day: August 7
Born: 1480 :: Died: 1547
St. Cajetan was born in Vicenza in Italy, and his father was a rich Count. He studied Law at the University of Padua and became a Lawyer. He was a good Lawyer and got a job in the offices of the Pope in Rome.
Cajetan later decided he wanted to be a priest. After he became a priest he returned to his own city of Vicenza. All his rich relatives were angry with him for becoming a priest. This did not stop St, Cajetan from joining a group of humble, simple men who devoted themselves to helping the sick and the poor.
St. Cajetan went all over the city looking for unfortunate people and would serve them himself. He helped at the hospital by caring for people with the most disgusting diseases. In other cities, he did the same charitable work.
He also encouraged everyone to go to Holy Communion often. "I shall never be happy," he said, "until I see Christians flocking to feed on the Bread of Life with eagerness and delight, not with fear and shame."
Together with three other holy men, St. Cajetan started an order of religious priests called "Theatines." These priests devoted themselves to preaching the Gospel message to the people. They encouraged the people to go often for confession and to receive Communion. They also helped the sick and did lots of other good works.
St. Cajetan died at the age of sixty-seven on August 7, 1547, in Naples. Although he was very sick before he died, he lay on hard wooden boards, even though the doctor advised him to sleep on a mattress.
"My Savior died on a cross," he said. "Let me at least die on wood."
Are thread truncating again?
Wednesday, August 7
Liturgical Color: Green
The Jesuit order was restored by Pope
Pius VII on this day in 1814. Pope
Clement XIV reluctantly suppressed it in
1773 due to threats from monarchies in
France and Spain. Founded in 1540,
the Jesuits have over 20,000 priests.
Daily Readings for: August 07, 2013
(Readings on USCCB website)
Collect: By the power of the Holy Spirit, we pray, almighty God, make us docile in believing the faith and courageous in confessing it, just as you granted Saint Sixtus and his companions that they might lay down their lives for the sake of your word and in witness to Jesus. Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
O God, who endowed the Priest Saint Cajetan with the grace of imitating the apostolic way of life, grant us, through his example and intercession, to trust in you at all times and to seek unceasingly your Kingdom. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
RECIPES
ACTIVITIES
o Religion in the Home for Elementary School: August
o Religion in the Home for Preschool: August
PRAYERS
o Novena to Saint Cajetan - Patron of the Unemployed
Ordinary Time: August 7th
Optional Memorial of Sts. Sixtus II, pope and martyr and companions, martyrs and Optional Memorial of St. Cajetan, priest
Old Calendar: St. Cajetan, confessor; St. Donatus, bishop and martyr
With the future Pope Paul IV, St. Cajetan founded the first congregation of Clerks Regular, a new form of institute which corresponded with the needs of the time. Trust in God was its principal rule; its members were forbidden to ask for alms and depended entirely on the spontaneous charity of the faithful. Such was Cajetan's zeal in seeking the salvation of souls that he came to be called "the hunter of souls." He died at Naples on August 7, 1547.
Today is also the feast of Sts. Sixtus II and his companions, Felicissimus and Agapitus. Pope Sixtus II was one of the first victims of the persecution under the Emperor Valerian. Felicissimus and Agapitus were two of his deacons who were executed with him. Sixtus governed the Church from 256 to 258. His name is mentioned in the Canon of the Mass.
St. Sixture and St. Cajetan's feasts are celebrated today both in the Ordinary Form and the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite.
According to the 1962 Missal of Bl. John XXIII the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, today is the feast of St. Donatus. His name occurs second on the list of the bishops of the See of Arezzo. Little is known of him. The Acts of his martyrdom, unfortunately, do not merit credence.
St. Sixtus II and companions
Even as the storm of persecution created by Emperor Valerian raged against the Church, the papal throne was not vacant. Sixtus, a Greek, was elected to succeed Stephen. The emperor's decrees had ordered the Christians to take part in state religious ceremonies and forbade them to assemble in cemeteries. For nearly a year Sixtus managed to evade the authorities before he was gloriously martyred.
Valerian issued his second edict ordering the execution of Christian bishops, priests, and deacons. Sixtus had taken to holding services in the private cemetery of Praetextatus because it was not watched as closely by the authorities as was the cemetery of Calixtus. But in early August of 258, while Sixtus was seated on his episcopal chair and surrounded by the brethren, the soldiers broke in arresting Sixtus and four deacons who were in attendance. After a formal judgment, Sixtus was led back to the very place where he had been arrested, to face execution. His chief deacon Lawrence, upon hearing the news, hastened to his side, desiring to die with his bishop. Sixtus consoled his deacon by telling him that he would follow in three days with even greater glory. The soldiers then placed Sixtus in his chair and swiftly beheaded him. True to the great pope's words, Lawrence was arrested three days later and executed the same day.
Excerpted from The Popes: A Papal History, J.V. Bartlett
Symbols: Cross; sword.
Often Portrayed As: Giving Saint Lawrence a bag of money to give to the poor; with Saint Lawrence; with Saint Lawrence and Saint John the Baptist.
St. Cajetan
Cajetan, a co-founder of the Theatines, received the office of protonotary at Rome from Pope Julius II when still quite young. After he was ordained priest in 1516, he left the papal court and dedicated himself entirely to the service of the Lord. With his own hands he cared for the sick. Such zeal did he show for the salvation of his fellowmen that he was surnamed the "huntsman for souls."
In order to raise the standards of ecclesiastical discipline among the clergy, Cajetan founded in 1524 a community of Clerks Regular who were to lead an apostolic life. They were to look with disdain upon all earthly belongings, to receive no income, to accept no salaries from the faithful; only from that which was freely offered were they allowed to retain the means of livelihood. Thus they were to rely unreservedly upon Divine Providence.
St. Cajetan often prayed eight hours daily. He was particularly active during the Breviary reform under Pope Clement VII. He was kind, mild, but above all, humble. He asked God that no one should know the place of his burial. While attending the Christmas celebration at St. Mary of the Crib, he is said to have been given the grace of receiving from Mary the Child Jesus into his arms. During the sack of Rome by the soldiers of Charles V in 1527, he was tortured and cast into prison because he refused to surrender certain church monies which, in fact, he had distributed among the poor. An insurrection filled him with such grief and sorrow that he took sick and died.
Excerpted from The Church's Year of Grace, Pius Parsch
Patron: job seekers; unemployed.
St. Donatus
"At Arezzo in Tuscany the death of the holy bishop Donatus. Besides other miracles, he restored, by means of his prayer, a chalice broken by pagans, according to the account of Pope St. Gregory I. He was slain under Julian the Apostate about the year 363" (Martyrology).
Legend says that he was born at Nicomedia of parents who had both been slain for Christ's sake. With the holy monk Hilarinus he fled to Arezzo in Tuscany, of which city he afterwards became Bishop. There the Prefect Quadratian, during the persecution under Julian, about 362, commanded both Hilarinus and Donatus to worship idols, and when they both refused, they were slain. Hilarinus was beaten to death with clubs. Donatus was in diverse ways savagely tortured, and then put to the sword. The Christians buried their bodies honourably close by the city.
Symbols: Dragon emerging from a well; chalice; crozier; sword.
Saint Sixtus II, Pope, and Companions, Martyrs
“Have pity on me, Lord, son of David! (Matthew 15:22)”
Despite being ignored and rebuffed, the Canaanite woman persisted. Please, please, please! If you’ve ever dealt with a child who desperately wanted something, you can imagine the feeling Jesus must have had. He could heal her daughter. He knew it. She knew it. Although she was not Jewish, she had some understanding of who he was—something more than just a holy man, a gifted rabbi, or a prophet. And she would not be dissuaded from her quest to find healing for her daughter.
Most of us would give up if we were denied and slighted as this woman was. But not her. She approached Jesus and “did him homage” (Matthew 15:25). She worshipped him. With her final plea, she reminded him exactly who he is. She reminded herself, too, and believed. She confessed what she knew about Jesus, what he said about himself, and what he said about her. Instead of taking offense at his words, she shaped her will and her feelings to these truths and persisted.
This is what we do when we worship God. We declare, “This is who you are. This is who I know you to be. And I believe these truths about you.” Worship like this has the power to strengthen our relationship with God. It can remind us of the reasons why we can hope and trust in the Lord. It can comfort us when we don’t immediately find the answer we seek. It can even give us reason and courage to continue asking in the face of silence, rebuff, or apparent denial.
Often, as we lose ourselves in worship, amazing things happen! Perhaps you will hear the Spirit speaking words of wisdom, comfort, or encouragement. You may even receive immediate, miraculous answers to your pleas. Whatever happens, you can be sure that your abandonment and persistence will bear fruit. Because when you worship, God sees your faith, and his heart is moved.
So if you want to see great things from God, worship him for who he is. Keep on declaring his truths, and he will answer.
“Jesus, you are God, all-good and all-powerful. You love all whom you have made, including me, and are merciful to all. I trust you today with the deepest desires of my heart.”
Numbers 13:1-2, 25–14:1, 26-29, 34-35; Psalm 106:6-7, 13-14, 21-23
Daily Marriage Tip for August 7, 2013:
Couples who have a television in their bedroom have sex half as often as those who dont. (2006 Ladies Home Journal study). TVs are not bad; neither is sex. Just dont let the TV substitute for cuddling and intimacy.
Daring Doggedness | ||
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Wednesday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary
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Matthew 15: 21-28 At that time Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a Canaanite woman of that district came and called out, "Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is tormented by a demon." But he did not say a word in answer to her. His disciples came and asked him, "Send her away, for she keeps calling out after us." He said in reply, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." But the woman came and did him homage, saying, "Lord, help me." He said in reply, "It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs." She said, "Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters." Then Jesus said to her in reply, "O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish." And her daughter was healed from that hour. Introductory Prayer: Lord Jesus, I believe you want me to have faith in you, faith that hearkens to your words without any second guessing. I hope in your words, not relying solely on my own strength or reasoning. I love you. You continue to astonish me by showing me that your ways are not my ways. Petition: Lord, fill my heart with gratitude and trust even when those I love suffer. 1. My daughter… “My daughter is tormented by a demon.” Sufferings of strangers stir our compassion. But when a son or daughter suffers, anguish can reach fever pitch. Imagine the agony of the mother in this Gospel passage. Imagine the near-physical pain she felt in the depths of her heart. However, her love nourished her hope and propelled her to seek out Christ. When those we love suffer, we need the same wisdom to seek the Lord. 2. Unfathomed Dimensions: Only a mother or father knows the depths of his or her love for a child: “Words cannot express.…” We truly understand love when it involves people we know and love. Contemplate the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ. Imagine the false accusations, scourging, humiliations and the crucifixion. Now imagine your own son or daughter, or mom or dad or loved one, suffering the same fate. Christ’s passion takes on a new dimension. 3. Our Title to God’s Grace: "Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters." Faith and humility move Christ’s heart. How easily we adopt a spoiled-child mentality, believing that we deserve more. “The earth doesn’t owe you a living,” a sage once said. “It was here before you.” How much happier we are when we acknowledge our littleness and unworthiness, when we recognize our status as creatures of God who gives us life, breath and every beat of our heart. All we possess is a gift of his creative love. How happy we are when we are grateful and let him know this a thousand times a day. Conversation with Christ: Lord, I will praise and thank you a thousand times and in a thousand ways for all you do for me. Even sufferings, I know, come from your hand for my greater good, although I may not always perceive the good at that moment. Give me the gratitude, faith and trust to accept my cross and rejoice in your creative love for me. Resolution: I will thank the Lord repeatedly throughout the day. |
Throughout all four Gospels Jesus is uniformly gentle, kind and
compassionate. But in today’s reading,a mother begs him to cure her
daughter and he pays no attention to her at all. Finally he does
recognize her, only to insult her: “It’s not right to take the food of
sons and daughters and throw it to the dogs.” He’s calling the woman
and her daughter “dogs.”
One explanation ascribes Jesus’ unusual reaction to the woman’s use of
the title, “Son of David.” The woman calls Jesus, “Sir,” and then she
adds, “Son of David.” In the context, “Son of David” is insulting.
Jesus is in a foreign land. Calling him “Son of David” is identifying
him as a Jew, a foreigner.
Jesus goes on as though he hasn’t heard her. She continues to follow
him and the disciples are getting more embarrassed, and say to Jesus,
“Do something about her.” Jesus replies, “I’ve been sent only to Jews.”
Finally, Jesus stops; the woman falls at his feet, and pleads with him
to cure her daughter. Jesus then speaks those unbelievable words: “It
isn’t right to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” A
commentator suggests Jesus was continuing the rather awkward,
discriminatory approach used by the woman when she called him “Son of
David.” Maybe he wanted to show her how unfair she was. And maybe she
understood because she answered him, “Don’t dogs have some rights in
your house?”
Jesus grants the woman’s request. As he has done in the past, he deals
publicly with a Gentile, and a woman. In Jesus’ time, Jews despised
Gentiles and had little or no respect for women. Jesus granted to this
Gentile woman the request she had made and publicly praised her faith
while granting her request. He clearly felt himself absolutely free to
disregard these two Jewish prejudices. The incident is really an
invitation to us to review our own prejudices.
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Matthew | |||
English: Douay-Rheims | Latin: Vulgata Clementina | Greek NT: Byzantine/Majority Text (2000) | |
Matthew 15 |
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21. | And Jesus went from thence, and retired into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. | Et egressus inde Jesus secessit in partes Tyri et Sidonis. | και εξελθων εκειθεν ο ιησους ανεχωρησεν εις τα μερη τυρου και σιδωνος |
22. | And behold a woman of Canaan who came out of those coasts, crying out, said to him: Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David: my daughter is grieviously troubled by the devil. | Et ecce mulier chananæa a finibus illis egressa clamavit, dicens ei : Miserere mei, Domine fili David : filia mea male a dæmonio vexatur. | και ιδου γυνη χαναναια απο των οριων εκεινων εξελθουσα εκραυγασεν αυτω λεγουσα ελεησον με κυριε υιε δαυιδ η θυγατηρ μου κακως δαιμονιζεται |
23. | Who answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying: Send her away, for she crieth after us: | Qui non respondit ei verbum. Et accedentes discipuli ejus rogabant eum dicentes : Dimitte eam : quia clamat post nos. | ο δε ουκ απεκριθη αυτη λογον και προσελθοντες οι μαθηται αυτου ηρωτων αυτον λεγοντες απολυσον αυτην οτι κραζει οπισθεν ημων |
24. | And he answering, said: I was not sent but to the sheep that are lost of the house of Israel. | Ipse autem respondens ait : Non sum missus nisi ad oves, quæ perierunt domus Israël. | ο δε αποκριθεις ειπεν ουκ απεσταλην ει μη εις τα προβατα τα απολωλοτα οικου ισραηλ |
25. | But she came and adored him, saying: Lord, help me. | At illa venit, et adoravit eum, dicens : Domine, adjuva me. | η δε ελθουσα προσεκυνησεν αυτω λεγουσα κυριε βοηθει μοι |
26. | Who answering, said: It is not good to take the bread of the children, and to cast it to the dogs. | Qui respondens ait : Non est bonum sumere panem filiorum, et mittere canibus. | ο δε αποκριθεις ειπεν ουκ εστιν καλον λαβειν τον αρτον των τεκνων και βαλειν τοις κυναριοις |
27. | But she said: Yea, Lord; for the whelps also eat of the crumbs that fall from the table of their masters. | At illa dixit : Etiam Domine : nam et catelli edunt de micis quæ cadunt de mensa dominorum suorum. | η δε ειπεν ναι κυριε και γαρ τα κυναρια εσθιει απο των ψιχιων των πιπτοντων απο της τραπεζης των κυριων αυτων |
28. | Then Jesus answering, said to her: O woman, great is thy faith: be it done to thee as thou wilt: and her daughter was cured from that hour. | Tunc respondens Jesus, ait illi : O mulier, magna est fides tua : fiat tibi sicut vis. Et sanata est filia ejus ex illa hora. | τοτε αποκριθεις ο ιησους ειπεν αυτη ω γυναι μεγαλη σου η πιστις γενηθητω σοι ως θελεις και ιαθη η θυγατηρ αυτης απο της ωρας εκεινης |
(*) τοις κυναριοις -- "to the dogs". It is sometime remarked that κυναριοι is really more like "puppies". However, I have it on the authority of my former priest, a biblical scholar, that the diminutive was not contemplated in this passage.
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