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From: Exodus 24:3-8
A sacred meal and sprinkling with blood
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Commentary:
24:1-8. It was common practice for those peoples to ratify pacts by means of a
rite or a meal. This section recounts a meal or rite whereby the Covenant was
sealed. This event is very important for salvation history: it prefigures the sacri-
fice of Jesus Christ, which brought in the New Covenant.
The usual interpretation is that there were two stages in this ratification — first in-
volving Moses and the elders, that is, authorities (vv. 1-2, 9-11) and then the entire
people (vv. 3-8). Other commentators think that there was only one ceremony,
relayed by two different traditions. In both cases the final editor has tried to make
it clear that both the leaders and the people themselves took part in and formally
accepted the divine Covenant and all it laid down.
24:1-11. Nabab and Abihu are priests of Aarons line (cf. 6:33; 28:1; Lev 10:1-2);
the elders represent the people on important matters. The ceremony takes place
on the top of the mountain, which all the leaders ascended Moses; the priests,
holders of religious authority; and the elders, that is, the civil and legal authori-
ties (cf. 18:21-26).
Only Moses has direct access to God (v. 2), but all are able to see God without
dying: what they see far outstrips in brilliance and luxury the great palaces and
temples of the East (cf. the vision of Isaiah in Is 6:10). In fact, they all share the
same table with God (v. 11): the description is reminiscent of a royal banquet, in
which the guests are treated on a par with the host: thus, the king of Babylonia
will show his benevolence to King Jehoiachin by having him as his dinner guest
(cf. 2 Kings 25:27-30). But it is, above all, a ritual banquet in which sharing the
same table shows the intimate relationship that exists between God and the
leaders of the people, and shows too that both parties are mutually responsible
for the covenant now being sealed.
24:3-8. The ceremony takes place on the ‘slope of the mountain; Moses alone is
the intermediary; but the protagonists are God and his people. The ceremony has
two parts — the reading and accepting of the clauses of the Covenant (vv. 3-4),
that is, the Words (Decalogue) and the laws (the so-called Code of the Covenant);
then comes the offering which seals the pact.
The acceptance of the clauses is done with all due solemnity, using the ritual
formula: “all the words which the Lord has spoken we will do. The people, who
have already made this commitment (19:8), now repeat it after listening to Moses
address (v. 3) and just before being sprinkled with the blood of the offering. The
binding force of the pact is thereby assured.
The offering has some very ancient features — the altar specially built for the
occasion (v. 4; cf. 20:25); the twelve pillars, probably set around the altar; the
young men, not priests, making the offerings; and particularly the sprinkling with
blood which is at the very core of the rite.
The dividing of the blood in two (one half for the altar which represents God, and
the other for the people) means that both commit themselves to the requirements
of the Covenant. There is evidence that nomadic peoples used to seal their pacts
with the blood of sacrificed animals. But there are no traces in the Bible of blood
being used in that way. This rite probably has deeper significance: given that
blood, which stands for life (cf. Gen 4), belongs to God alone, it must only be
poured on the altar or used to anoint people who are consecrated to God, such
as priests (cf. Ex 29:19-22). When Moses sprinkled the blood of the offering on
to the entire people, he was consecrating it, making it divine property and “a
kingdom of priests (cf. 19:3-6). The Covenant therefore is not only a commit-
ment to obey its precepts but, particularly, the right to belong to the holy nation,
which is Gods possession. At the Last Supper, when instituting the Eucharist,
Jesus uses the very same terms, “blood of the Covenant, thereby indicating the
nature of the new people of God who, having been redeemed, is fully “the holy
people of God (cf. Mt 26:27 and par.; 1 Cor 11:23-25).
The Second Vatican Council has this to say about the connexion between the
New and Old Covenants, pointing out that the Church is the true people of God:
“God chose the Israelite race to be his own people and established a covenant
with it. He gradually instructed this people — in its history manifesting both him-
self and the decree of his will — and made it holy unto himself. All these things,
however, happened as a preparation and figure of that new and perfect covenant
which was to be ratified in Christ, and of the fuller revelation which was to be
given through the Word of God made flesh. [
] Christ instituted this new cove-
nant, namely the new covenant in his blood (cf. 1 Cor 11:25); he called a race
made up of Jews and Gentiles which would he one, not according to the flesh,
but in the Spirit, and this race would he the new People of God (”Lumen gen-
tium”, 4 and 9).
*********************************************************************************************
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: John 11:19-27
The Raising of Lazarus (Continuation)
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Commentary:
1-45. This chapter deals with one of Jesus’ most outstanding miracles. The
Fourth Gospel, by including it, demonstrates Jesus’ power over death, which the
Synoptic Gospels showed by reporting the raising of the daughter of Jairus (Mat-
thew 9:25 and paragraph) and of the son of the widow of Nain (Luke 7:12).
The Evangelist first sets the scene (verses 1-16); then he gives Jesus’ conversa-
tion with Lazarus’ sisters (verses 17-37); finally, he reports the raising of Lazarus
four days after his death (verses 38-45). Bethany was only about three kilometers
(two miles) from Jerusalem (verse 18). On the days prior to His passion, Jesus
often visited this family, to which He was very attached. St. John records Jesus’
affection (verses 3, 5, 36) by describing His emotion and sorrow at the death of
His friend.
By raising Lazarus our Lord shows His divine power over death and thereby gives
proof of His divinity, in order to confirm His disciples’ faith and reveal Himself as
the Resurrection and the Life. Most Jews, but not the Sadducees, believed in the
resurrection of the body. Martha believed in it (cf. verse 24).
Apart from being a real, historical event, Lazarus’ return to life is a sign of our
future resurrection: we too will return to life. Christ, by His glorious resurrection
though He is the “first-born from the dead” (1 Corinthians 15:20; Colossians 1:
18; Revelation 1:5), is also the cause and model of our resurrection. In this His
resurrection is different from that of Lazarus, for “Christ being raised from the
dead will never die again” (Romans 6:9), whereas Lazarus returned to earthly
life, later to die again.
21-22. According to St. Augustine, Martha’s request is a good example of confi-
dent prayer, a prayer of abandonment into the hands of God, who knows better
than we what we need. Therefore, “she did not say, But now I ask You to raise
my brother to life again. [...] All she said was, I know that You can do it; if you
will, do it; it is for you to judge whether to do it, not for me to presume” (”In Ioann.
Evang.”, 49, 13). The same can be said of Mary’s words, which St. John repeats
at verse 32.
24-26. Here we have one of those concise definitions Christ gives of Himself, and
which St. John faithfully passes on to us (cf. John 10:9; 14:6; 15:1): Jesus is the
Resurrection and the Life. He is the Resurrection because by His victory over
death He is the cause of the resurrection of all men. The miracle He works in
raising Lazarus is a sign of Christ’s power to give life to people. And so, by faith
in Jesus Christ, who arose first from among the dead, the Christian is sure that
he too will rise one day, like Christ (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:23; Colossians 1;18).
Therefore, for the believer death is not the end; it is simply the step to eternal life,
a change of dwelling-place, as one of the Roman Missal’s Prefaces of Christian
Death puts it: “Lord, for your faithful people life is changed, not ended. When the
body of our earthly dwelling lies in death, we gain an everlasting dwelling place in
Heaven”.
By saying that He is Life, Jesus is referring not only to that life which begins be-
yond the grave, but also to the supernatural life which grace brings to the soul of
man when he is still a wayfarer on this earth.
“This life, which the Father has promised and offered to each man in Jesus
Christ, His eternal and only Son, who ‘when the time had fully come’ (Galatians
4:4), became incarnate and was born of the Virgin Mary, is the final fulfillment of
man’s vocation. It is in a way the fulfillment of the ‘destiny’ that God has prepared
for him from eternity. This ‘divine destiny’ is advancing, in spite of all the enigmas,
the unsolved riddles, the twists and turns of ‘human destiny’ in the world of time.
Indeed, while all this, in spite of all the riches of life in time, necessarily and inevi-
tably leads to the frontiers of death and the goal of the destruction of the human
body, beyond that goal we see Christ. ‘I am the resurrection and the life, He who
believes in Me...shall never die.’ In Jesus Christ, who was crucified and laid in the
tomb and then rose again, ‘our hope of resurrection dawned...the bright promise
of immortality’ (”Roman Missal”, Preface of Christian Death, I), on the way to
which man, through the death of the body, shares with the whole of visible crea-
tion the necessity to which matter is subject” (Bl. John Paul II, “Redemptor Ho-
minis”, 18).
*********************************************************************************************
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: Luke 10:38-42
Martha and Mary Welcome Our Lord
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Commentary:
38-42. Our Lord was heading for Jerusalem (Luke 9:51) and His journey took Him
through Bethany, the village where Lazarus, Martha and Mary lived — a family for
whom He had a special affection, as we see in other passages of the Gospel (cf.
John 11:1-14; 12:1-9).
St. Augustine comments on this scene as follows: “Martha, who was arranging
and preparing the Lord’s meal, was busy doing many things, whereas Mary pre-
ferred to find her meal in what the Lord was saying. In a way she deserted her
sister, who was very busy, and sat herself down at Jesus’ feet and just listened
to His words. She was faithfully obeying what the Psalm said: ‘Be still and know
that I am God’ (Psalm 46:10). Martha was getting annoyed, Mary was feasting;
the former coping with many things, the latter concentrating on one. Both occu-
pations were good” (”Sermon”, 103).
Martha has come to be, as it were, the symbol of the active life, and Mary that
of the contemplative life. However, for most Christians, called as they are to sanc-
tify themselves in the middle of the world, action and contemplation cannot be re-
garded as two opposite ways of practising the Christian faith: an active life forget-
ful of union with God is useless and barren; but an apparent life of prayer which
shows no concern for apostolate and the sanctification of ordinary things also
fails to please God. The key lies in being able to combine these two lives, with-
out either harming the other. Close union between action and contemplation can
be achieved in very different ways, depending on the specific vocation each per-
son is given by God.
Far from being an obstacle, work should be a means and an occasion for a
close relationship with our Lord, which is the most important thing in our life.
Following this teaching of the Lord, the ordinary Christian should strive to attain
an integrated life — an intense life of piety and external activity, orientated to-
wards God, practised out of love for Him and with an upright intention, which ex-
presses itself in apostolate, in everyday work, in doing the duties of one’s state
in life. “You must understand now more clearly that God is calling you to serve
Him in and from the ordinary, material and secular activities of human life. He
waits for us every day, in the laboratory, in the operating room, in the army bar-
racks, in the university chair, in the factory, in the workshop, in the fields, in the
home and in all the immense panorama of work. Understand this well: there is
something holy, something divine, hidden in the most ordinary situations, and it
is up to each of you to discover it [...]. There is no other way. Either we learn to
find our Lord in ordinary, everyday life, or else we shall never find Him. That is
why I can tell you that our age needs to give back to matter and to the most tri-
vial occurrences and situations their noble and original meaning. It needs to re-
store them to the service of the Kingdom of God, to spiritualize them, turning
them into a means and an occasion for a continuous meeting with Jesus Christ”
(St. J. Escriva,”Conversations”, 114).
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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.
Liturgical Colour: White.
First reading | Exodus 24:3-8 © |
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Responsorial Psalm |
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Psalm 49(50):1-2,5-6,14-15 © |
Gospel Acclamation | Heb4:12 |
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Or | Jm1:21 |
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Gospel | John 11:19-27 © |
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Alternative Gospel | Luke 10:38-42 © |
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Pray for Pope Francis.
Is This Bishop Right about the Rosary Conquering Boko Haram? [Catholic Caucus]
Why Boko Haram and ISIS Target Women
Report reveals scale of Boko Haram violence inflicted on Nigerian Catholics
Military evacuating girls, women rescued from Boko Haram
Echos of Lepanto Nigerian bishop says rosary will bring down Boko Harm
After vision of Christ, Nigerian bishop says rosary will bring down Boko Haram (Catholic Caucus)
Nigerian Bishop Says Christ Showed Him How to Beat Islamic Terror Group
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, and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell; on the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty; from there 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.
6. 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.
The Joyful Mysteries
(Mondays and Saturdays)
1. The Annunciation (Luke 1:26-38) [Spiritual fruit - Humility]
2. The Visitation (Luke 1: 39-56) [Spiritual fruit - Love of Neighbor]
3. The Nativity (Luke 2:1-20) [Spiritual fruit - Poverty of Spirit]
4. The Presentation (Luke 2:21-38) [Spiritual fruit - Purity of mind & body]
5. The Finding of Jesus in the Temple (Luke 2:41-52) [Spiritual fruit - Obedience ]
St. Michael the Archangel
~ PRAYER ~
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 the evil spirits
who prowl through the world seeking the ruin of souls.
Amen
+
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).
Catholic Word of the Day: LITANY OF THE PRECIOUS BLOOD, 09-25-12
ST. GASPAR: Founder of the Society of the Precious Blood
Mass in the Cathedral of the Most Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ (London, 9/18)
Devotion to the Drops of Blood Lost by our Lord Jesus Christ on His Way to Calvary (Prayer/Devotion)
Chaplet of the Most Precious Blood
Catholic Word of the Day: PRECIOUS BLOOD, 12-03-11
The Traditional Feast of the Most Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ (Catholic Caucus)
Devotion to the Precious Blood
DOCTRINE OF THE BLOOD OF CHRIST
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,And More on the Precious Blood
Litany of the Most Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ
NOTHING IS MORE POTENT AGAINST EVIL THAN PLEADING THE PRECIOUS BLOOD OF CHRIST
Litany of the Most Precious Blood of Jesus
A woman named Martha welcomed him to her home.
Martha and Mary were sisters; they were close not only through ties of blood, but also through piety. Both of them were attached to the Lord, and with one heart they served him during the time of his life here below. Martha welcomed him as one normally welcomes a traveler. But it was a servant welcoming her Master, someone who is ill welcoming her Savior, a creature welcoming her Creator
For the Lord wanted to take the form of a servant so that it would be possible for servants to nourish him
So here we have the Lord being welcomed like a guest. To his own he came, yet his own did not accept him. Any who did accept him he empowered to become children of God. (Jn 1:11-12) The servants who had been adopted in this way became his brothers, the captives who had been delivered in this way became his co-heirs. But let no one among you say: Blest are they who had the good fortune of welcoming Christ in their own house! Dont feel pain, dont lament for having been born during a period when you can no longer see the Lord in flesh and blood. He has not withdrawn his favor from you, he who said: As often as you did it for one of my least brothers, you did it for me. (Mt 25:40)
St. Jean Eudes
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