Posted on 07/07/2014 10:52:03 PM PDT by Salvation
July 8, 2014
Tuesday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Reading 1 Hos 8:4-7, 11-13
Thus says the LORD:
They made kings in Israel, but not by my authority;
they established princes, but without my approval.
With their silver and gold they made
idols for themselves, to their own destruction.
Cast away your calf, O Samaria!
my wrath is kindled against them;
How long will they be unable to attain
innocence in Israel?
The work of an artisan,
no god at all,
Destined for the flames—
such is the calf of Samaria!
When they sow the wind,
they shall reap the whirlwind;
The stalk of grain that forms no ear
can yield no flour;
Even if it could,
strangers would swallow it.
When Ephraim made many altars to expiate sin,
his altars became occasions of sin.
Though I write for him my many ordinances,
they are considered as a stranger’s.
Though they offer sacrifice,
immolate flesh and eat it,
the LORD is not pleased with them.
He shall still remember their guilt
and punish their sins;
they shall return to Egypt.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 115:3-4, 5-6, 7ab-8, 9-10
R. (9a) The house of Israel trusts in the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Our God is in heaven;
whatever he wills, he does.
Their idols are silver and gold,
the handiwork of men.
R. The house of Israel trusts in the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
They have mouths but speak not;
they have eyes but see not;
They have ears but hear not;
they have noses but smell not.
R. The house of Israel trusts in the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
They have hands but feel not;
they have feet but walk not.
Their makers shall be like them,
everyone that trusts in them.
R. The house of Israel trusts in the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Gospel Mt 9:32-38
A demoniac who could not speak was brought to Jesus,
and when the demon was driven out the mute man spoke.
The crowds were amazed and said,
“Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel.”
But the Pharisees said,
“He drives out demons by the prince of demons.”
Jesus went around to all the towns and villages,
teaching in their synagogues,
proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom,
and curing every disease and illness.
At the sight of the crowds, his heart was moved with pity for them
because they were troubled and abandoned,
like sheep without a shepherd.
Then he said to his disciples,
“The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few;
so ask the master of the harvest
to send out laborers for his harvest.”
Day 207 - Is there such a thing as structures of sin? // Can a Christian be a radical individualist?
Is there such a thing as structures of sin?
Structures of sin exist only in a manner of speaking. A sin is always connected with an individual person, who knowingly and willingly agrees to something evil.
Nevertheless, there are societal situations and institutions that are so contradictory to God's commandments that we speak about "structures of sin"yet these, too, are the consequence of personal sins.
Can a Christian be a radical individualist?
No, a Christian can never be a radical individualist, because man is by nature designed for fellowship.
Every person has a mother and a father; he receives help from others and is obliged to help others and to develop his talents for the benefit of all. Since man is God's "image", in a certain way he reflects God, who in his depths is not alone but triune (and thus life, love, dialogue, and exchange). Finally, love is the central commandment for all Christians; through it we profoundly belong together and are fundamentally dependent on one another. "You shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Mt 22:39). (YOUCAT questions 320-321)
Dig Deeper: CCC section (1869-1890) and other references here.
Part 3: Life in Christ (1691 - 2557)
Section 1: Man's Vocation Life in the Spirit (1699 - 2051)
Chapter 1: The Dignity of the Human Person (1700 - 1876)
Article 8: Sin (1846 - 1876)
V. THE PROLIFERATION OF SIN ⇡
Thus sin makes men accomplices of one another and causes concupiscence, violence, and injustice to reign among them. Sins give rise to social situations and institutions that are contrary to the divine goodness. "Structures of sin" are the expression and effect of personal sins. They lead their victims to do evil in their turn. In an analogous sense, they constitute a "social sin."144
144.
John Paul II, RP 16.
IN BRIEF ⇡
"God has consigned all men to disobedience, that he may have mercy upon all" (Rom 11:32).
Sin is an utterance, a deed, or a desire contrary to the eternal law (St. Augustine, Faust 22:PL 42, 418). It is an offense against God. It rises up against God in a disobedience contrary to the obedience of Christ.
Sin is an act contrary to reason. It wounds man's nature and injures human solidarity.
The root of all sins lies in man's heart. The kinds and the gravity of sins are determined principally by their objects.
To choose deliberately that is, both knowing it and willing it something gravely contrary to the divine law and to the ultimate end of man is to commit a mortal sin. This destroys in us the charity without which eternal beatitude is impossible. Unrepented, it brings eternal death.
Venial sin constitutes a moral disorder that is reparable by charity, which it allows to subsist in us.
The repetition of sins even venial ones engenders vices, among which are the capital sins.
Chapter 2: The Human Community (1877 - 1948)
The vocation of humanity is to show forth the image of God and to be transformed into the image of the Father's only Son. This vocation takes a personal form since each of us is called to enter into the divine beatitude; it also concerns the human community as a whole.
Article 1: The Person and Society (1878 - 1896)
I. THE COMMUNAL CHARACTER OF THE HUMAN VOCATION ⇡
All men are called to the same end: God himself. There is a certain resemblance between the unity of the divine persons and the fraternity that men are to establish among themselves in truth and love.1 Love of neighbor is inseparable from love for God.
1.
Cf. GS 24 § 3.
The human person needs to live in society. Society is not for him an extraneous addition but a requirement of his nature. Through the exchange with others, mutual service and dialogue with his brethren, man develops his potential; he thus responds to his vocation.2
2.
Cf. GS 25 § 1.
A society is a group of persons bound together organically by a principle of unity that goes beyond each one of them. As an assembly that is at once visible and spiritual, a society endures through time: it gathers up the past and prepares for the future. By means of society, each man is established as an "heir" and receives certain "talents" that enrich his identity and whose fruits he must develop.3 He rightly owes loyalty to the communities of which he is part and respect to those in authority who have charge of the common good.
3.
Cf. Lk 19:13,15.
Daily Readings for:July 08, 2014
(Readings on USCCB website)
Collect: O God, who in the abasement of your Son have raised up a fallen world, fill your faithful with holy joy, for on those you have rescued from slavery to sin you bestow eternal gladness. 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
PRAYERS
o Novena to Our Lady of Mount Carmel
· Ordinary Time: July 8th
· Monday of the Fourteenth Week of Ordinary Time; Bl. Peter Vigne, priest (GRC)
Old Calendar: St. Elizabeth, Queen of Portugal, widow
Bl. Peter Vigne, a French priest, was beatified on October 3, 2004 by Pope John Paul II and proposed to the universal Church as an example of a tireless missionary and apostle of the Most Holy Sacrament.
According to the 1962 Missal of St. John XXIII the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, today is the feast of St. Elizabeth of Portugal. Her optional memorial in the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite is celebrated on July 5.
Historically today is the feast of St. Edgar the peacemaker, king of England in 975.
Bl. Peter Vigne
Peter Vigne was born August 20, 1670 in Privas (France), a small town still feeling the effects of the Wars of Religion from the previous century. His father (Peter Vigne), an honest textile merchant, and his mother (Frances Gautier) married in the Catholic Church, and had their five children baptised in the Catholic parish of Saint Thomas, Privas. Two daughters died in infancy. Peter and his two older siblings, John-Francis and Eleonore, lived with their parents in relative comfort.
When he was 11 years of age, Peter was chosen by the Parish Priest to act as a witness, signing the parish register for Baptisms, Marriages or Deaths.
After receiving a good level of education and instruction, towards the end of his teenage years, his life was suddenly transformed by a new awareness of the presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. This experience led him to centre his life on Jesus, who offered himself on the Cross for love of us, and in the Eucharist, never ceases to give himself to all men. In 1690, he entered the Sulpician Seminary in Viviers. He was ordained a priest on September 18, 1694 in Bourg Saint Andeol by the Bishop of Viviers. He was sent as curate to Saint-Agreve where, for six years he exercised his priestly ministry, in friendship with his Parish Priest and beloved by his parishioners.
He was always attentive to discern in life's events what the Lord was asking of him, and he felt called elsewhere. With understandable hesitancy in the beginning and then with increasing certitude, he pursued his spiritual itinerary along new paths. His desire to work as a missionary among the poor was central to his decision to join the Vincentians in Lyon, in 1700. There, he received a solid formation in poverty and in conducting "popular missions" and with his fellow priests began visiting towns and villages in the work of evangelisation. In 1706, he left the Vincentians of "his own free will." Now more than ever he was passionate for the salvation of souls, especially for the poor people living in the countryside. After a period of searching, his vocation took shape with increasing clarity. He became an "itinerant missionary" applying his own pastoral methods, whilst submitting his ministry to the authorization of his hierarchical superiors.
For more than thirty years he tirelessly travelled on foot or on horseback the ways of Vivarais and Dauphiné, and even further ahead. He faced the fatigue of being constantly on the move, as well as severe weather conditions, in order to make Jesus known, loved and served. He preached, visited the sick, catechised the children, administered the sacraments, even going as far as carrying “his” confessional on his back, ready at all times to celebrate and bestow the Mercy of God. He celebrated Mass, exposed the Blessed Sacrament, and taught the faithful the prayer of Adoration. Mary, "Beautiful Tabernacle of God among men" was also given a place of honour in his prayer and his teaching.
In 1712, he came to Boucieu-le-Roi, where the terrain favoured the erection of a Way of the Cross. With the help of parishioners he constructed 39 stations throughout the village and countryside, teaching the faithful to follow Jesus from the Upper Room to Easter and Pentecost. Boucieu became his place of residence. There, he gathered together a few women, charging them to "accompany the pilgrims" on the Way of the Cross and help them to pray and meditate.
It was there that he founded the Congregation of the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament. On November 30, 1715, in the church at Boucieu, he gave them the cross and the religious habit. He invited them to assure continuous adoration of Jesus present in the Eucharist and to live together in fellowship. Anxious to give the youth access to instruction, thus helping them grow in their faith and Christian values, Peter Vigne opened schools and also established a "Training School" for teachers.
Such a challenging and busy lifestyle needed some support. For that reason, whenever Peter Vigne was in Lyon on business, he never failed to call on his former seminary tutors, the priests of Saint Sulpice, to meet his confessor and spiritual director. Drawn by the eucharistic spirituality of the Priests of the Blessed Sacrament, founded by Monsignor d'Authier de Sisgaud, he was accepted as an associate member of this society of priests, January 25, 1724, in Valence, and benefited by their spiritual and temporal help.
Whilst continuing to accompany his young Congregation, Peter Vigne persisted with his apostolic works, and to make the fruits of his missions more available, he found time to write books: rules to live by, works of spirituality, especially the one entitled, "meditations on the most beautiful book, Jesus Christ suffering and dying on the Cross".
The physical strength of our pilgrim for God, the demands of his apostolic activities, the long hours he spent in adoration and his life of poverty, bear witness not only to a fairly robust physique, but above all to a passionate love of Jesus Christ who loved his own to the end (cf. John 13:1).
At the age of 70, the effects of exhaustion began to show. During a mission at Rencurel, in the Vercors mountains, he was taken ill and had to interrupt his preaching. Despite all his efforts to celebrate the Eucharist one more time and encourage the faithful to love Jesus, feeling his end was near, he expressed once again his missionary zeal, then withdrew in quiet prayer and reflection. A priest and two Sisters came in haste to accompany him in his final moments. On July 8, 1740, he went to join the One he had so loved, adored and served. His body was taken back to its final resting place in the little church in Boucieu where it remains to this day.
Taken from the Vatican Website
St. Edgar
Although few people have heard of him, King Edgar is regarded as the first ruler of a consolidated England.
Father of Saint Edward the Martyr and great-grandson of Alfred the Great, Edgar was born to king Edmund the Magnificent and St Elfgiva.
He was efficient, peaceful, and unusually tolerant of local customs. He supported his friend Saint Dunstan, who served as his counselor.
England underwent a religious revival in his reign, and he is venerated at Glastonbury.
Excerpted from Daily Gospel
14th Week in Ordinary Time
They made idols for themselves. (Hosea 8:4)
Ornately carved dragons, stoic Buddhas, calves, bulls, even human forms with animal heads—the ancient world offered an extraordinary variety of idols. Today, we’re more likely to treat athletes, rock stars, or luxury cars as idols. But in the end, an idol is anything that we allow to influence our thoughts, emotions, and actions more than it should. Perhaps the Pharisees who opposed Jesus idolized their own narrow observance of Judaism. So when Jesus came neither looking nor acting as they thought he should, they plotted against him.
Here’s the thing about idols: they’re tricky. They can have great sway over us, yet not appear as idols at all! But if something erodes your peace, causes your heart to tremble, or drives rational thoughts from your head, there’s probably some kind of idolatry behind it.
That’s not to say that we’re all idolaters who willingly and greedily bow down to the modern world’s false gods. It’s hard to find someone who “worships” money or someone who is truly “obsessed” with gaining power. Still, if the everyday ups and downs of the stock market send you into a panic or if the slightest tickle in your throat brings on visions of a fatal illness, then something has a greater hold on you than it should.
It doesn’t have to be this way! Nothing has to rob you of your peace or your trust in the Lord. If you can get into the habit of guarding and examining your thoughts during the day, you’ll find yourself more peaceful. Just try to be aware of the thoughts that grip your imagination, and see where they lead you. Don’t engage in a witch hunt; just take a look at what goes on inside of you. If the thoughts are making you more agitated or more self-focused, try to redirect them.
For example, tell yourself, “God holds my life in his hand, and nothing can snatch me away.” Or “God is a God of hope; I know he can satisfy the longings of my heart.” Where you find fear or gridlock in your heart, take it to your heavenly Father. Remember that he sent his Son to give you freedom and peace!
“Jesus, you are the one true God! Teach me how to find my hope in you. Lord, I want to know the peace that comes from surrendering to you.”
Psalm 115:3-10; Matthew 9:32-38
Daily Marriage Tip for July 8, 2014:
(Readers Tip) In each challenging situation I strive to remember that this man is Gods amazing gift to me, and that God trusts me to love him with the same love God has for us.
The Mass — You Can’t Live Without It, Part II
Monday, 07 July 2014 14:47
Here is Part II of the talk I gave on Saturday:
The Liturgy, Summit and Wellspring
The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium, affirms that,
The liturgy is the summit toward which the activity of the Church is directed; at the same time it is the font from which all her power flows. For the aim and object of apostolic works is that all who are made sons of God by faith and baptism should come together to praise God in the midst of His Church, to take part in the sacrifice, and to eat the Lord’s supper.
Ultimately, every missionary endeavour has but one goal: to bring men and women to the altar. It was the loss of this priestly, sacrificial, and eucharistic perspective that brought about a crisis in missionary life from which the Church has yet to recover.
Active Participation in the Most Holy Mysteries
Two papal documents (the first from Saint Pius X, and the second from Pope Pius XII) and a text of the Second Vatican Council’s Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy constitute an authoritative teaching on participation in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. The first of these, dated 22 November 1903, is contained pope Saint Pius X’s epoch–making Motu Proprio, Tra le sollecitudini, a document that, in many ways, still waits to be implemented in the Church.
Pope Saint Pius X
Filled as We are with a most ardent desire to see the true Christian spirit flourish in every respect and be preserved by all the faithful, We deem it necessary to provide before anything else for the sanctity and dignity of the temple, in which the faithful assemble for no other object than that of acquiring this spirit from its foremost and indispensable font, which is the active participation in the most holy mysteries and in the public and solemn prayer of the Church. And it is vain to hope that the blessing of heaven will descend abundantly upon us, when our homage to the Most High, instead of ascending in the odor of sweetness, puts into the hand of the Lord the scourges wherewith of old the Divine Redeemer drove the unworthy profaners from the Temple.
Pope Saint Pius X declares “active participation in the most holy mysteries (the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass) and in the public and solemn prayer of the Church (the Divine Office)” the primary and indispensable wellspring of the true Christian spirit. One can be neither fully human nor fully Catholic apart from the altar, the priesthood, and the Holy Sacrifice. “Active participation in the most holy mysteries and in the public and solemn prayer of the Church” is not a mere option for those who are so inclined, nor is it one school of “spirituality” among many in an ever–expanding and ever–changing array of fashions in piety; it is the “foremost and indispensable font” of the true Christian spirit, the universal and supremely effective means by which, following the motto of Pope Saint Pius X, all things can be “restored in Christ”. Instaurare omnia in Christo (Ephesians 1:10). No pious devotion, no system of meditation, and no ascetical endeavour — however praiseworthy these things may be in themselves — possess the efficacy and virtue of “active participation in the most holy mysteries and in the public and solemn prayer of the Church”.
The restoration of humanity to man — that is the recovery of his eucharistic, sacerdotal, and victimal vocation — is the beginning of the restoration all things in Christ. The finest flowerings of human culture are themselves the fruit of the cultus of latria, that is, of the sacrificial worship due to God alone.
Pope Pius XII and Mediator Dei
The question remains, then, of just how one participates actively “in the most holy mysteries and in the public and solemn prayer of the Church”. Pope Pius XII situates active participation in a personal and corporate adhesion to the sacrifice of Christ who, in every Holy Mass, exercises His priesthood and offers Himself as a spotless victim to the Father. One comes to Holy Mass, then, not after the manner of a consumer looking seeking spiritual gratification but, rather, as an offerer bearing to the altar the oblation of his own life, as a royal priest set over all created things in order to raise them heavenward in the Great Thanksgiving (Eucharist), and as a victim, a sacrificial lamb ready to be made over to God in Christ. In Christ and in the members of His Mystical Body are the prophetic words of Abraham to Isaac wondrously fulfilled: “God Himself will provide the lamb” (Genesis 22:8). Pope Pius XII writes:
All the elements of the liturgy, then, would have us reproduce in our hearts the likeness of the divine Redeemer through the mystery of the cross, according to the words of the Apostle of the Gentiles, “With Christ I am nailed to the cross. I live, now not I, but Christ liveth in me.” Thus we become a victim, as it were, along with Christ to increase the glory of the eternal Father.
Victimhood
Pope Pius XII does not shrink from using the language of victimhood; rather does he elucidate its meaning and propose it as something essential to the holiness of all the baptized. He goes on to say:
Let this, then, be the intention and aspiration of the faithful, when they offer up the divine Victim in the Mass. For if, as St. Augustine writes, our mystery is enacted on the Lord’s table, that is Christ our Lord Himself, who is the Head and symbol of that union through which we are the body of Christ and members of His Body; if St. Robert Bellarmine teaches, according to the mind of the Doctor of Hippo, that in the sacrifice of the altar there is signified the general sacrifice by which the whole Mystical Body of Christ, that is, all the city of redeemed, is offered up to God through Christ, the High Priest: nothing can be conceived more just or fitting than that all of us in union with our Head, who suffered for our sake, should also sacrifice ourselves to the eternal Father. For in the sacrament of the altar, as the same St. Augustine has it, the Church is made to see that in what she offers she herself is offered.
United with High Priest and His Earthly Minister
Pope Pius XII evokes the compelling image of the sacrificing priest standing before the altar in persona Christi capitis — in the person of Christ the Head. Behind him, and facing with him in the same direction, stand the faithful participating in the Holy Sacrifice. Here, in the words of Pope Pius XII, quoting Saint Augustine, is “the general sacrifice by which the whole Mystical Body of Christ, that is, all the city of redeemed, is offered up to God through Christ, the High Priest”. The priest alone offers the sacrifice in persona Christi capitis, but the people, members conjoined to the same Head, place the seal of their assent upon the Great Thanksgiving by singing “Amen”.
Let the faithful, therefore, consider to what a high dignity they are raised by the sacrament of baptism. They should not think it enough to participate in the eucharistic sacrifice with that general intention which befits members of Christ and children of the Church, but let them further, in keeping with the spirit of the sacred liturgy, be most closely united with the High Priest and His earthly minister, at the time the consecration of the divine Victim is enacted, and at that time especially when those solemn words are pronounced, “By Him and with Him and in Him is to Thee, God the Father almighty, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, all honor and glory for ever and ever”; to these words in fact the people answer, “Amen.” Nor should Christians forget to offer themselves, their cares, their sorrows, their distress and their necessities in union with their divine Savior upon the cross.
The Second Vatican Council
Sacrosanctum Concilium, the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy of the Second Vatican Council, promulgated on 4 December 1963, simply repeats and reaffirms the teachings of Pope Saint Pius X and of Pope Pius XII. For this reason, the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy must be interpreted in a hermeneutic of continuity with the teachings of Pope Saint Pius X and Pope Pius XII.
Christ indeed always associates the Church with Himself in this great work wherein God is perfectly glorified and men are sanctified. The Church is His beloved Bride who calls to her Lord, and through Him offers worship to the Eternal Father.
Rightly, then, the liturgy is considered as an exercise of the priestly office of Jesus Christ. In the liturgy the sanctification of the man is signified by signs perceptible to the senses, and is effected in a way which corresponds with each of these signs; in the liturgy the whole public worship is performed by the Mystical Body of Jesus Christ, that is, by the Head and His members.
From this it follows that every liturgical celebration, because it is an action of Christ the priest and of His Body which is the Church, is a sacred action surpassing all others; no other action of the Church can equal its efficacy by the same title and to the same degree. (Sacrosanctum Concilium, article 7)
The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy express the Church’s earnest desire that all the faithful should participate fully, consciously, and actually in liturgical celebrations. This, of course, is but a rephrasing of what Pope Saint Pius X wrote sixty years earlier concerning, “the active participation in the most holy mysteries and in the public and solemn prayer of the Church”.
Mother Church earnestly desires that all the faithful should be led to that fully conscious, and active participation in liturgical celebrations which is demanded by the very nature of the liturgy. Such participation by the Christian people as “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a redeemed people (1 Pet. 2:9; cf. 2:4-5), is their right and duty by reason of their baptism.
In the restoration and promotion of the sacred liturgy, this full and active participation by all the people is the aim to be considered before all else; for it is the primary and indispensable source from which the faithful are to derive the true Christian spirit; and therefore pastors of souls must zealously strive to achieve it, by means of the necessary instruction, in all their pastoral work.
Into the Sacrifice of Christ
The highest and most fruitful degree of participation in the liturgical action is achieved when the faithful, drawn to the altar and represented there by the priest, inhere in the great eucharistic and sacrificial movement for which they were created, and into which they were baptized: Christ the High Priest making Himself over to the Father. Christ offers Himself in sacrifice, not in isolation from His members, for He exercises His priesthood as the Head of His Body, the Church. He is the sacrifice by which all creation is sanctified. He is the Lord of History, the Alpha and the Omega in whom all things that are in heaven and on earth are recapitulated and restored to their primal liturgical and eucharistic finality.
Man Liturgically Fulfilled and Realised
One comes to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, then, not to “get something out of it” but to pour oneself into it. And, in doing this, one becomes one’s true self in a manner that glorifies God and causes one to go forward, impelled by the sacrificial love of Christ, “from glory to glory” (2 Corinthians 3:1). The Mass — you cannot live without it.
How Do You Feed a Hungry Heart? | ||
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July 8, 2014. Tuesday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time
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Matthew 9:32-38 A demoniac who could not speak was brought to Jesus, and when the demon was driven out the mute person spoke. The crowds were amazed and said, "Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel." But the Pharisees said, "He drives out demons by the prince of demons." Jesus went around to all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom, and curing every disease and illness. At the sight of the crowds, his heart was moved with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest." Introductory Prayer: Lord, I bring myself into your presence knowing the zeal of your heart for souls. The glory of your heavenly Father can shape my own heart. I am confident that I can throw off all that is lukewarm and tepid in my own soul today. I desire to fulfill the mission you have given me more perfectly. 1. The Prime Choice: So many of the moral predicaments men bring upon themselves are not, as some would say, the work of a “cruel” God. Christ’s will is the happiness that people relentlessly pursue at heart. Yet a battle ensues in every soul: whether or not God may enter into the way we live that life. What Christ is not permitted to touch cannot be healed or redeemed. The Pharisees freely choose to live with demons rather than to live with Christ, rather than to let him take center stage. In our battle with our weaknesses and temptations, we should be sensitive to the truth that we will be confronted with the same choice. Will we be in “control” and live with our demons, or will we surrender to Christ totally and guarantee victory over every evil in our lives? 2. Seeing With Christ’s Eyes: If we could open our heart to see what Christ sees, we would follow everyday what he asks of us: "Beg the harvest master to send out laborers to gather his harvest" (Matthew 9:38). To be sure, we must lend a hand in the mission, but we must also pray that shepherds are not lacking in the Church. If we could see with Christ’s eyes, we would know that many are ready to fall into his arms with only the least motivation. No need for fancy discourses or rigorous apologetics. They just want someone to say, “This way,” and they will follow. We should not fear being apostles; many more are ready for what we have to say than we think are ready. 3. Diligent Preparations: If we could see with Christ’s heart, we would not show the least pessimism as we face the culture of death or the culture of the absolute self. We would know that Christ fully satisfies people’s hunger for God in spite of their history of misery, pain or self-indulgence. Get ready: the farther people are from God, the more the signs of their need for him will show. Get ready with prayer. Prepare the emergency rooms of salvation where many patients will soon be left, for only through prayer will we be assured that doctors will be there to treat them and put them on the road to full recovery. Conversation with Christ: Lord, I know how much you love all people and manifest that love by coming to us every day at Mass. In the Eucharist I meet the one that has so loved me; in the Eucharist I will beg you to meet the needs of my heart and of countless souls by setting fire for you in the hearts of many young people, so that they generously accept a mission to souls in your name. Resolution: I will offer one hour of adoration this week for vocations to the priesthood and consecrated life |
July 8, 2014
In the first reading, God is angry at those who presume to worship Him or do things for Him which He did not order them to do. He warns people who show off their love of God, but inside they do not truly love Him because they do not follow His commands. This happens to us when we pray a lot and do good deeds and make a big show of it. But when God wants us to give up something for Him, we hesitate. We have our own ideas of how to serve God when all He wants us to do is to obey his law of love. “Love one another as I have loved you.” Jesus went to the people in need of his help and gave his time and effort for them. Many saints have followed in His footsteps. As he did, Jesus wants us to show our love in action – helping the poor and the sick, treating people justly including paying our workers their just wage. If we do otherwise, God, who sees everything, will make clear to us his displeasure.
The gospel tells us that there is a strong demand for harvesters who will help Jesus bring people to the knowledge of God. Jesus worked tirelessly proclaiming the Kingdom of God, reminding people to turn to God for healing, and personally curing their illnesses. We are to continue his mission to preach the Good News to a pagan society. We must pray for more vocations and also lay missionaries who will devote their lives to saving men and women by introducing them to the Kingdom of God.
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English: Douay-Rheims | Latin: Vulgata Clementina | Greek NT: Byzantine/Majority Text (2000) | |
Matthew 9 |
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32. | And when they were gone out, behold they brought him a dumb man, possessed with a devil. | Egressis autem illis, ecce obtulerunt ei hominem mutum, dæmonium habentem. | αυτων δε εξερχομενων ιδου προσηνεγκαν αυτω ανθρωπον κωφον δαιμονιζομενον |
33. | And after the devil was cast out, the dumb man spoke, and the multitudes wondered, saying, Never was the like seen in Israel. | Et ejecto dæmonio, locutus est mutus, et miratæ sunt turbæ, dicentes : Numquam apparuit sic in Israël. | και εκβληθεντος του δαιμονιου ελαλησεν ο κωφος και εθαυμασαν οι οχλοι λεγοντες ουδεποτε εφανη ουτως εν τω ισραηλ |
34. | But the Pharisees said, By the prince of devils he casteth out devils. | Pharisæi autem dicebant : In principe dæmoniorum ejicit dæmones. | οι δε φαρισαιοι ελεγον εν τω αρχοντι των δαιμονιων εκβαλλει τα δαιμονια |
35. | And Jesus went about all the cities, and towns, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease, and every infirmity. | Et circuibat Jesus omnes civitates, et castella, docens in synagogis eorum, et prædicans Evangelium regni, et curans omnem languorem, et omnem infirmitatem. | και περιηγεν ο ιησους τας πολεις πασας και τας κωμας διδασκων εν ταις συναγωγαις αυτων και κηρυσσων το ευαγγελιον της βασιλειας και θεραπευων πασαν νοσον και πασαν μαλακιαν εν τω λαω |
36. | And seeing the multitudes, he had compassion on them: because they were distressed, and lying like sheep that have no shepherd. | Videns autem turbas, misertus est eis : quia erant vexati, et jacentes sicut oves non habentes pastorem. | ιδων δε τους οχλους εσπλαγχνισθη περι αυτων οτι ησαν εσκυλμενοι και ερριμμενοι ωσει προβατα μη εχοντα ποιμενα |
37. | Then he saith to his disciples, The harvest indeed is great, but the labourers are few. | Tunc dicit discipulis suis : Messis quidem multa, operarii autem pauci. | τοτε λεγει τοις μαθηταις αυτου ο μεν θερισμος πολυς οι δε εργαται ολιγοι |
38. | Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he send forth labourers into his harvest. | Rogate ergo Dominum messis, ut mittat operarios in messem suam. | δεηθητε ουν του κυριου του θερισμου οπως εκβαλη εργατας εις τον θερισμον αυτου |
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