Catholic Caucus: Daily Mass Readings, 11-14-14

November 14, 2014

Friday of the Thirty-second Week in Ordinary Time

Reading 1 2 Jn 4-9

[Chosen Lady:]
I rejoiced greatly to find some of your children walking in the truth
just as we were commanded by the Father.
But now, Lady, I ask you,
not as though I were writing a new commandment
but the one we have had from the beginning:
let us love one another.
For this is love, that we walk according to his commandments;
this is the commandment, as you heard from the beginning,
in which you should walk.

Many deceivers have gone out into the world,
those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh;
such is the deceitful one and the antichrist.
Look to yourselves that you do not lose what we worked for
but may receive a full recompense.
Anyone who is so “progressive”
as not to remain in the teaching of the Christ does not have God;
whoever remains in the teaching has the Father and the Son.

Responsorial Psalm Ps 119:1, 2, 10, 11, 17, 18

R. (1b) Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
Blessed are they whose way is blameless,
who walk in the law of the LORD.
R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
Blessed are they who observe his decrees,
who seek him with all their heart.
R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
With all my heart I seek you;
let me not stray from your commands.
R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
Within my heart I treasure your promise,
that I may not sin against you.
R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
Be good to your servant, that I may live
and keep your words.
R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
Open my eyes, that I may consider
the wonders of your law.
R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!

Gospel Lk 17:26-37

Jesus said to his disciples:
“As it was in the days of Noah,
so it will be in the days of the Son of Man;
they were eating and drinking,
marrying and giving in marriage up to the day
that Noah entered the ark,
and the flood came and destroyed them all.
Similarly, as it was in the days of Lot:
they were eating, drinking, buying,
selling, planting, building;
on the day when Lot left Sodom,
fire and brimstone rained from the sky to destroy them all.
So it will be on the day the Son of Man is revealed.
On that day, someone who is on the housetop
and whose belongings are in the house
must not go down to get them,
and likewise one in the field
must not return to what was left behind.
Remember the wife of Lot.
Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it,
but whoever loses it will save it.
I tell you, on that night there will be two people in one bed;
one will be taken, the other left.
And there will be two women grinding meal together;
one will be taken, the other left.”
They said to him in reply, “Where, Lord?”
He said to them, “Where the body is,
there also the vultures will gather.”

Interactive Saints for Kids

St. Lawrence O'Toole

Feast Day: November 14
Born: 1128 :: Died: 1180

Lawrence was born at Castledermot in Ireland. He was the son of the chief of Hy Murray. When he was only ten years old, a neighboring king Dermot McMurrogh Leinster attacked his father's territory and kidnapped him. Young Lawrence suffered for two years.

Then his father forced the king to give him up to the care of a bishop. When he did, Lawrence's father hurried to see his son and gratefully brought him home.

The chief wanted one of his sons to enter the service of the Church. While he was wondering which one to send, Lawrence told him with a laugh that he need not wonder anymore. "It is my desire," said Lawrence, "to have for my inheritance the service of God in the Church."

So his father took him by the hand and gave him into the care of the Bishop of Glendalough. Lawrence became a priest and the abbot of a great monastery.

Once food became very scarce in the whole neighborhood of the monastery. The good abbot gave great quantities away to keep the people from starving. He had many problems to handle as head of the monastery, too. Some of the monks criticized him for being too strict.

But Lawrence kept right on guiding the community in the way of self-sacrifice, despite the criticism. Then, there was the problem of the robbers and outlaws who lived in the nearby hills. Yet nothing discouraged the fearless Lawrence O'Toole.

In fact Lawrence was very strict with himself too. He wore a hair shirt under this robes. He made a 40 day retreat in St. Kevin's cave every year. He never ate meat or drank wine and fasted every Friday. But when he was in company, he would color his water and make it look like wine to avoid bringing attention to himself.

He became so famous that soon he was chosen to be archbishop of Dublin. In this new position, he lived as holy a life as ever. Every day, he invited many poor people to be his guests and helped many others as well. Lawrence loved his people and Ireland, and his country very much. He did all he could to keep peace.

Once a madman attacked him as he was going up to the altar to say Mass. He was knocked to the floor unconscious. Yet he came to his senses right away. He asked for water, blessed it and washed the wound at once. The bleeding stopped and he went right ahead with the Mass.

After years of labor for the Church, St. Lawrence O'Toole became very ill. When he was asked if he wanted to make a will, the holy archbishop smiled. He answered, "God knows that I don't have a penny in the world." He had long ago given everything he had to others, just as he had given himself completely to God.

St. Lawrence O'Toole died on November 14, 1180 when he was traveling with King Henry II, as a peacemaker.

Catholic Culture

Daily Readings for:November 14, 2014
(Readings on USCCB website)

Collect: Almighty and merciful God, graciously keep from us all adversity, so that, unhindered in mind and body alike, we may pursue in freedom of heart the things that are yours. 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

o Pumpkin Tarts

ACTIVITIES

o Motivating Children to Perform Good Deeds

o Praying for the Dead and Gaining Indulgences During November

o Religion in the Home for Elementary School: November

o Religion in the Home for Preschool: November

PRAYERS

o Prayer for the Dead

o November Devotion: The Holy Souls in Purgatory

o Little Litany of the Holy Souls

o Prayer for the Dead - 2

o Prayer for a Happy Death

o Daily Acceptance of Death

· Ordinary Time: November 14th

· Friday of the Thirty-Second Week of Ordinary Time

Old Calendar: St. Josaphat, bishop and confessor; St. Lawrence O'Toole (Hist)

According to the 1962 Missal of St. John XXIII the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, today is the feast of St. Josephat, a Catholic of the Ruthenian rite. He was an apostle of the return of the Orthodox schismatics to the Church of Rome. At the age of twenty he became a Basilian monk, and while still young was made superior of his monastery, then archimandrite of Vilna and finally Archbishop of Polotsk. The young Archbishop's zeal for the cause of the "uniates" aroused the hatred of the schismatics, and he was murdered by a mob at Vitebsk in 1623 at the age of forty-three. His prayer contained the conversion of his murderers. He is one of the patrons of Poland. His feast in the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite is celebrated on November 12.

Historically today is the feast of St. Lawrence O'Toole the Archbishop of Dublin during the takeover of Ireland by the Normans and King Henry II. His efforts in the peace process and his frustration with King Henry probably caused his early death. Highly honoured at Eu in Normandy, France, where he died.

St. Lawrence O'Toole
St. Lawrence O'Toole was born around 1128 in County Kildare, Ireland. His father was the chief of Hy Murray, and his mother one of the Clan O'Byrne. At the age of 10, Lawrence was given up as a hostage to King Mac Murehad of Leinster, who treated him with such inhumanity that his father obliged the King to turn him over to the Bishop of Glendalough.

St. Lawrence grew to be such a model of virtue, that at the young age of 25 he was chosen to replace the Bishop as abbot upon the Bishop’s death. He governed his community with virtue and prudence, and was unanimously chosen to fill the new See of Dublin in 1161.

In 1171, St. Lawrence visited King Henry II of England to handle affairs of his diocese. While approaching the altar to officiate at Mass, the Archbishop was violently attacked by a maniac. Everyone present thought he was mortally wounded, but Saint Lawrence came to, asked for some water, blessed it and applied it to his wound. The bleeding immediately stopped and the Archbishop continued to celebrate Mass.

St. Lawrence was most widely known for his piety, charity, and prudence, and was respected as a negotiator.

He died on November 14, 1180, at Eu in Normandy. He was canonized in 1225 by Honorius III.

Excerpted from Catholic News Agency

Things to Do:

Read more about St. Lawrence O'Toole here and here

Purgatory is Temporary
Purgatory is not eternal. Its duration varies according to the sentence pronounced at each particular judgment. It may be prolonged for centuries in the case of the more guilty souls, or of those who, being excluded from the Catholic communion, are deprived of the suffrages of the Church, although by the divine mercy they have escaped hell. But the end of the world, which will be also the end of time, will close for ever the place of temporary expiation. God will know how to reconcile His justice and His goodness in the purification of the last members of the human race, and to supply by the intensity of the expiatory suffering what may be wanting in duration. But, whereas a favorable sentence at the particular judgment admits of eternal beatitude being suspended and postponed, and leaves the bodies of the elect to the same fate as those of the reprobate; at the universal judgment, every sentence, whether for heaven or for hell, will be absolute, and will be executed immediately and completely. Let us, then, live in expectation of the solemn hour, when "the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God." He that is to come will come, and will not delay, as the Doctor of the Gentiles reminds us; His arrival will be sudden, as that of a thief, we are told, not only by St. Paul, but also by the prince of the apostles and the beloved disciple; and these in turn are but echoing the words of our Lord Himself: "As lightning cometh out of the east and appears even unto the west: so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be."

Excerpted from The Liturgical Year, Abbot Gueranger O.S.B.

Things to Do:

Say a prayer for the Poor Souls; for instance, recite the Little Litany of the Holy Souls.
Offer up some small sacrifice for the relief of the most abandoned soul. "It is therefore a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from sins" (Mc. 12:46).

The Word Among Us

Meditation: Luke 17:26-37

32nd Week in Ordinary Time

So it will be on the day the Son of Man is revealed. (Luke 17:30)

Imagine that you just got married to the man or woman of your dreams. Soon afterward, you have to leave on a long business trip. You love your job and look forward to the meetings you will have with your clients. Your company sends you to a nice location, and you look forward to some sightseeing in your spare time. You’re staying at a comfortable hotel with a good restaurant. And yet as much as you are enjoying the trip, you still long to get back home to your beloved.

This analogy can help us to deal with Jesus’ words about his final coming. We too are away on a kind of business trip, with the job of helping to build the kingdom of God. It’s good work, and it’s very rewarding. But we still can’t wait to get home to the Lord, the one place where we most belong!

The only difference in this analogy is the element of surprise. We don’t know the day or the hour when our life’s journey will end. And when it does, we won’t have any time to pack extra bags! So while we are finding great value in our work for the Lord, a part of us should always be ready to greet him whenever he comes again.

So how do we keep our focus on Jesus as we do our work here on earth? Not by being so other-worldly minded that we ignore everything here below! For whether we spend our days working on a construction site or praying in a monastery, we have the opportunity to glorify the Lord. It’s a matter of perspective.

Here’s one way to keep a good perspective: remember that no matter what your job is, you aren’t just doing a chore. You are cooperating with God in the task of getting the world ready for Jesus’ return. You are providing for your family. You are giving your coworkers the witness of a life conformed to the teachings of Christ. You are glorifying God, not just earning a paycheck!

“Lord, I long to see you face-to-face! Help me to see you and love you in everyone I meet today.”

2 John 4-9; Psalm 119:1-2, 10-11, 17-18

Regnum Christi

Living My Encounter with Christ

U. S. A. | SPIRITUAL LIFE | SPIRITUALITY

November 14, 2014. Friday of the Thirty-second Week in Ordinary Time

By Father Edward Hopkins, LC

Luke 17:26-37

Jesus said to his disciples: "As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be in the days of the Son of Man; they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage up to the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. Similarly, as it was in the days of Lot: they were eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, building; on the day when Lot left Sodom, fire and brimstone rained from the sky to destroy them all. So it will be on the day the Son of Man is revealed. On that day, a person who is on the housetop and whose belongings are in the house must not go down to get them, and likewise a person in the field must not return to what was left behind. Remember the wife of Lot. Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses it will save it. I tell you, on that night there will be two people in one bed; one will be taken, the other left. And there will be two women grinding meal together; one will be taken, the other left." They said to him in reply, "Where, Lord?" He said to them, "Where the body is, there also the vultures will gather."

Introductory Prayer: I believe in you, Lord, my companion and strength. I believe that you come out to meet me each day, asking me to depend more on you and less on creatures. I hope in you, Lord, as the one who fills my longing to love and be loved. I love you here and now with my prayer and with my desire to be faithful and generous in the little things you ask of me.

Petition: Lord, help me to put you first in my life.

1. They Were Eating and Drinking: In the time of Noah and of Lot, God’s judgment was said to come down upon man. Yet the real moment of judgment for each one of us comes immediately upon our own death. It is then that the kingdom will be fully revealed to us, and it will be decided whether we will be part of it or not. But it is in the course of my own life that my option for being received into the kingdom is decided. God comes to me today. How will I respond? My response now and each day determines my eternal place in the kingdom.

2. Do Not Return to What Was Left Behind: In most disasters people have little chance to collect belongings; those who try are often lost as a result. The same will be true of the Final Judgment – or at our own death; when Jesus comes, will I be ready? What do I most cherish? What I must hold on to is my relationship with Christ. And this implies in so many ways losing “my life” here. Do I live with the attitude of losing my life a little more each day, detaching myself from things, activities and people, so as to be freer to love, serve and be with Christ?

3. Where the Body Is? “Where Lord?” the disciples ask; where will the day of the Son of man take place? It will take place, says Jesus, wherever you are. Whether we die and encounter Christ in a personal judgment or are alive to encounter the Lord at his Second Coming and the Final Judgment, the reality is the same. Standing next to a saint or a sinner will not alter our fate. Who we know or what contacts we have will do little. Where we are in our relationship with Christ will be the only real determining factor. Where am I, Lord, today, in relationship with you? May this be my only concern!

Conversation with Christ: Lord Jesus, increase my desire to live my life in close relation with you. Order all my activities according to your will, and my relationships according to your heart. “I want whatever you want, because you want it, the way you want it, as long as you want it” (Prayer of Pope Clement XI).

Resolution: I will give priority to my relationship with Christ. I will make prayer my first act today before every meal.

Homily of the Day

November 14, 2014

As we near the end of the Liturgical year, the Liturgy focuses on the essential things – to follow the Lord, as the responsorial psalm says. The Epistle stresses the new commandment: Let us love one another. This is love: to walk according to His Commandments, and this is His Commandment: that we walk in love as we have learned. The emphasis is on following the law of the Lord.

In the Gospel, the Lord’s basic message is that when the Son of Man comes, everything stops, and we had all better be ready. He recalls the time of Noah, when everything seemed normal until the day that Noah entered the Ark and they all died. Also, the Lord reminds us all that even Lot’s wife, who was already headed to safety, should not have tried to look back and hold on to the past. Lastly, the Lord emphasizes that whoever tries to save his life shall lose it, and whoever gives his life will be born again. Whoever gives his life for Jesus will be born again. Thus there seem to be two special words for today: COMMANDMENT OF LOVE and FOLLOWING THIS COMMANDMENT. These are the essential things that will carry us to the next life, to rebirth, to God’s Presence. Let us all pray for each other to learn the Commandment of Love and to Follow it steadfastly.

One Bread, One Body

Language: English | Español

All Issues > Volume 30, Issue 6

<< Friday, November 14, 2014 >>

2 John 4-9
View Readings

Psalm 119:1-2, 10-11, 17-18

Luke 17:26-37
Similar Reflections

SPACED OR GRACED?

"It will be like that on the day the Son of Man is revealed." —Luke 17:30

Today, I visited two people who had suffered strokes. The strokes affected a part of the brain which is necessary for their memory to function. For example, if these men walked a few feet away from their homes, they might not remember how to return, even with the home in plain sight.

All of us, because of our fallen nature, were stroke victims spiritually. We were confused and didn't know if we had a home or where it was. We were "out of it" and would have stayed "out of it" (see Lk 17:26ff).

"But God is rich in mercy; because of His great love for us He brought us to life with Christ when we were dead in sin. By this favor you were saved. Both with and in Christ Jesus He raised us up and gave us a place in the heavens" (Eph 2:4-6). The Lord has given us a new nature. We need not be confused and deceived (see 2 Jn 7) anymore. By totally giving our lives to Jesus, we can walk "in the path of truth" (2 Jn 4). We will not get lost. We will be ready for Jesus' second coming and will go home to our Father in heaven. Thank you, Jesus, for saving us!

Prayer: Jesus, my Light, my Love, my Lord, my All!

Promise: "Look out that you yourselves do not lose what you have worked for; you must receive your reward in full." —2 Jn 8

Praise: In obedience to and by the grace of God, Maria fasts three times a week in order to bring down the strongholds of the enemy and build up the Kingdom of God (see Mt 17:21, NAB).

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Meditation: Luke 17:26-37

Marriage=One Man and One Woman 'Til Death Do Us Part

One Bread, One Body

SPACED OR GRACED?

By the Babe Unborn