Catholic Focus: May 20 - Memorial of Saint Bernardine of Siena, priest

Optional Memorial of Saint Bernardine of Siena, priest
Lectionary: 566

Below are the readings suggested for today's Memorial. However, readings for the Memorial may also be taken from the Common of Pastors: For Missionaries, #713-718.

Reading 1 Acts 4:8-12

Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, answered them:
"Leaders of the people and elders:
If we are being examined today
about a good deed done to a cripple,
namely, by what means he was saved,
then all of you and all the people of Israel should know
that it was in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazorean
whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead;
in his name this man stands before you healed.
He is the stone rejected by you, the builders,
which has become the cornerstone.
There is no salvation through anyone else,
nor is there any other name under heaven
given to the human race by which we are to be saved."

Responsorial Psalm Ps 40:2, 4, 7-8, 8-9, 10, 11

R. (8a and 9a) Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will.
I have waited, waited for the LORD,
and he stooped toward me and heard my cry.
And he put a new song into my mouth,
a hymn to our God.
R. Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will.
Sacrifice or oblation you wished not,
but ears open to obedience you gave me.
Burnt offerings or sin-offerings you sought not;
then said I, "Behold I come."
R. Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will.
"In the written scroll it is prescribed for me,
To do your will, O my God, is my delight,
and your law is within my heart!"
R. Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will.
I announced your justice in the vast assembly;
I did not restrain my lips, as you, O LORD, know.
R. Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will.
Your justice I kept not hid within my heart;
your faithfulness and your salvation I have spoken of;
I have made no secret of your kindness and your truth
in the vast assembly.
R. Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will.

Reading 2 Jn 8:12

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
I am the light of the world, says the Lord;
whoever follows me will have the light of life.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel Lk 9:57-62

As Jesus and his disciples were proceeding
on their journey to Jerusalem,
someone said to him,
"I will follow you wherever you go."
Jesus answered him,
"Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests,
but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head."
And to another he said, "Follow me."
But he replied, "Lord, let me go first and bury my father."
But he answered him, "Let the dead bury their dead.
But you, go and proclaim the Kingdom of God."
And another said, "I will follow you, Lord,
but first let me say farewell to my family at home."
Jesus said, "No one who sets a hand to the plow
and looks to what was left behind is fit for the Kingdom of God."

Luke
	English: Douay-Rheims	Latin: Vulgata Clementina	Greek NT: Byzantine/Majority Text (2000)
	Luke 9
57.	And it came to pass, as they walked in the way, that a certain man said to him: I will follow thee withersoever thou goest.	Factum est autem : ambulantibus illis in via, dixit quidam ad illum : Sequar te quocumque ieris.	εγενετο δε πορευομενων αυτων εν τη οδω ειπεν τις προς αυτον ακολουθησω σοι οπου αν απερχη κυριε
58.	Jesus said to him: The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.	Dixit illi Jesus : Vulpes foveas habent, et volucres cæli nidos : Filius autem hominis non habet ubi caput reclinet.	και ειπεν αυτω ο ιησους αι αλωπεκες φωλεους εχουσιν και τα πετεινα του ουρανου κατασκηνωσεις ο δε υιος του ανθρωπου ουκ εχει που την κεφαλην κλινη
59.	But he said to another: Follow me. And he said: Lord, suffer me first to go, and to bury my father.	Ait autem ad alterum : Sequere me : ille autem dixit : Domine, permitte mihi primum ire, et sepelire patrem meum.	ειπεν δε προς ετερον ακολουθει μοι ο δε ειπεν κυριε επιτρεψον μοι απελθοντι πρωτον θαψαι τον πατερα μου
60.	And Jesus said to him: Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou, and preach the kingdom of God.	Dixitque ei Jesus : Sine ut mortui sepeliant mortuos suos : tu autem vade, et annuntia regnum Dei.	ειπεν δε αυτω ο ιησους αφες τους νεκρους θαψαι τους εαυτων νεκρους συ δε απελθων διαγγελλε την βασιλειαν του θεου
61.	And another said: I will follow thee, Lord; but let me first take my leave of them that are at my house.	Et ait alter : Sequar te Domine, sed permitte mihi primum renuntiare his quæ domi sunt.	ειπεν δε και ετερος ακολουθησω σοι κυριε πρωτον δε επιτρεψον μοι αποταξασθαι τοις εις τον οικον μου
62.	Jesus said to him: No man putting his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.	Ait ad illum Jesus : Nemo mittens manum suam ad aratrum, et respiciens retro, aptus est regno Dei.	ειπεν δε ο ιησους προς αυτον ουδεις επιβαλων την χειρα αυτου επ αροτρον και βλεπων εις τα οπισω ευθετος εστιν εις την βασιλειαν του θεου

57. And it came to pass, that, as they went in the way, a certain man said to him, Lord, I will follow you wherever you go.
58. And Jesus said to him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man has not where to lay his head.
59. And he said to another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father.
60. Jesus said to him, Let the dead bury their dead, but go you and preach the kingdom of God.
61. And another also said, Lord, I will follow you; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house.
62. And Jesus said to him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.

CYRIL; Although the Almighty Lord is bountiful, He does not grant to every one absolutely and indiscriminately heavenly and divine gifts, but to those only who are worthy to receive them, who free themselves and their souls from the stains of wickedness. And this we are taught by the force of the angelic words, And it came to pass, that, as they went in the way, a certain man said to him, Lord, I will follow you. First indeed there is much tardiness implied in the manner of his coming. It is next shown that he is filled with too great presumption. For he sought not to follow Christ simply as several others of the people, but rather caught at the honor of the Apostleship. Whereas Paul says, No one takes the honor to himself but he that is called of God.

ATHAN. He dared also to match himself with the incomprehensible power of the Savior, saying, I will follow you wherever you go; for to follow the Savior simply to hear His teaching is possible to human nature, as it directs itself towards men, but it is not possible to go with Him wherever He is; for He is incomprehensible, and is not confined by place.

CYRIL; In another respect also our Lord deservedly gives him a refusal, for He taught that to follow the Lord, a man must take up his cross, and renounce the affection of this present life. And our Lord finding this lacking in him does not blame him, but corrects him.

It follows, And Jesus says to him, The foxes have holes, &c.

THEOPHYL. For having seen our Lord drawing much people to Him, he thought that he received reward from them, and that if he followed our Lord, he might obtain money.

THEOPHYL; Therefore it is said to him, Why do you seek to follow Me for the riches and gain of this world, when so great is My poverty that I have not even a place of rest, and take shelter under another man's roof.

CHRYS See how our Lord sets forth by his works the poverty which he taught. For him was no table spread, no lights, no house, nor any such thing.

CYRIL; Now under a mystical signification He applies the name of foxes and birds of the air to the wicked and crafty powers of evil spirits. As if He said, Since foxes and birds of the air have their abode in you, how shall Christ rest in you? What fellowship has light with darkness?

ATHAN. Or herein our Lord teaches the greatness of His gift, as if He said, All created things may be confined by place, but the Word of God has incomprehensible power. Say not then, I will follow you wherever you go. But if you would be a disciple, cast off foolish things, for it is impossible for him who remains in foolishness to become a disciple of the Word.

AMBROSE; Or, He compares foxes to heretics, because they are indeed a wily animal, and, ever intent upon fraud, commit their robberies by stealth. They let nothing be safe, nothing be at rest, nothing secure, for they hunt their prey into the very abodes of men. The fox again, an animal full of craft, makes no hole for itself, yet likes to lie always concealed in a hole. So the heretics, who know not how to construct a house for themselves, circumscribe and deceive others. This animal is never tamed, nor is it of use to man. Hence the Apostle, A heretic after the first and second admonition reject. But the birds of the air, which are frequently brought in to represent spiritual wickedness, build as it were their nests in the breasts of the wicked, and as long as deceit reigns over the affections, the divine principle has no opportunity to take possession.

But when a man has proved his heart to be innocent, upon him Christ leans in some measure the weight of His greatness, for by a more abundant shedding of grace He is planted in the breasts of good men. So then it does not seem reasonable that we should think him faithful and simple, who is rejected by the judgment of the Lord, notwithstanding that he promised the service of unwearied attendance; but our Lord cares not for this kind of service, but only purity of affection, nor is his attendance accepted whose sense of duty is not proved. For the hospitality of faith should be given with circumspection, lest while opening the interior of our house to the unbelieving, through our imprudent credulity we fall a snare to the treachery of others. Therefore that you may be aware that God despises not attendance upon him but deceit, He who rejected the deceitful man chose the innocent.

For it follows, And he said to another, Follow me. But He says this to him, whose father He knew to be dead. Hence it follows, But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father.

THEOPHYL; He did not refuse the discipleship, but his wish was, having fulfilled the filial duty of burying his father, to follow Christ more freely.

AMBROSE; But the Lord calls those upon whom He has compassion. Hence it follows, And Jesus said, Let the dead bury their dead. Since we have received as a religious duty the burial of the human body, how is it thus that the burial even of a father's dead body is forbidden, unless you are to understand that human things are to be postponed to divine? It is a good employment, but the hindrance is greater, for he who divides his pursuits, draws down his affections; he who divides his care, delays his advances. We must first set abort the things which are most important. For the Apostles also, that they might not be occupied in the office of distributing alms, ordained ministers for the poor.

CHRYS. But what more necessary than the burial of his father, what more easy, seeing that there would not be much time given to it? We are then hereby taught that it becomes us not to spend even the slightest portion of our time in vain, although we have a thousand things to compel us, nay to prefer spiritual things to even our greatest necessities. For the devil watchfully presses close upon us, wishing to find any opening, and if he causes a slight negligence, he ends in producing a great weakness.

AMBROSE; The performance of a father's burial is not then prohibited, but the observance of religious duty is preferred to the ties of relationship. The one is left to those in like condition, the other is commanded to those who are left. But how can the dead bury the dead? unless you here understand a twofold death, one a natural death, the other the death of sin. There is also a third death, by which we die to sin, live to God.

CHRYS. By thus saying, their dead, he shows that this man's father was not his dead, for I suppose that the deceased was of the number of the unbelieving.

AMBROSE; Or because the throat of the ungodly is an open sepulcher, their memory is ordered to be forgotten whose services die together with their bodies. Nor is the son recalled from his duty to his father, but the faithful is separated from the communion of the unbelieving; there is no prohibition of duty, but a mystery of religion, that is, that we should have no fellowship with the dead Gentiles.

CYRIL; Or else, his father was borne down with years, and he thought he was doing an honorable act in proposing to pay the kind offices which were due to him, according to Exodus, Honor your father and your mother. Hence when calling him to the ministry of the Gospel, our Lord said, Follow me, he sought for a time of respite, which should suffice for the support of his decrepit father, saying, Permit me first to go and bury my father, not that he asked to bury his deceased father, for Christ would not have hindered the wish to do this, but he said, Bury, that is, support in old age even till death. But the Lord said to him, Let the dead bury their dead. For there were other attendants also bound by the same tie of relationship, but as I consider dead, because they had not yet believed Christ. Learn from this, that our duty to God is to be preferred to our love for our parents, to whom we show reverence, because through them have we been born. But the God of all, when hen as yet we e were not, brought us into being, our parents were made the ministers of our introduction.

AUG. Our Lord spoke this to the man to whom He had said, Follow me. But another disciple put himself forward, to whom no one had spoken any thing, saying, I will follow you, O Lord; but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at home, lest perchance they look for me as they are wont.

CYRIL; Now this promise is worthy of our admiration and full of all praise, but to bid farewell to those who are at home, to get leave from them, shows that he was still somehow divided from the Lord, in that he had not yet resolved to make this venture with his whole heart. For to wish to consult relations who would not agree to his proposal because one somewhat wavering. Wherefore our Lord condemns this, saying, No man, having put his hand to the plough and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God. He puts his hand to the plough who is ambitious to follow, yet looks back again who seeks an excuse for delay in returning home, and consulting with his friends.

AUG. As if he said to him, The East calls you, and you turn to the West.

THEOPHYL: To put one's hand to the plough, is also, (as it were by a certain sharp instrument,) by the wood and iron of our Lord's passion, to wear away the hardness of our heart, and to open it to bring forth the fruits of good works. But if any one, having begun to exercise this, delights to look back with Lot's wife to the things which he had left, he is deprived of the gift of the kingdom to come.

GREEK EX. For the frequent looking upon the things which we have forsaken, through the force of habit draws us back to our past way of life. For practice has great power to retain to itself. Is not habit generated of use, and nature of habit? But to get rid of or change nature is difficult; for although when compelled it for a while turns aside, it very rapidly returns to itself.

THEOPHYL; But if the disciple about to follow our Lord is reproved for wishing even to bid farewell at home, what will be done to such as for no advantage-sake frequently visit the houses of those whom they have left in the world?

Catena Aurea Luke 9

St. Bernardine of Siena: A perfect model for good vocations and good priests

From LifeSiteNews

— Throughout the history of the Church, God raises up saints whose apostolic zeal and gift of preaching call to mind the Apostle to the Gentiles. Without a doubt, St. Bernardine (feast day: May 20) deserves to be numbered among the greatest of St. Paul’s imitators.

Born in Siena in 1380, Bernardine lost his parents as a boy and was brought up by his aunts. Although he was to be known throughout his life for his playfulness and buoyant spirit, he was an implacable foe of coarse jests and sordid occupations. As a child, he once struck a high-ranking official who had suggested dishonorable recreations and later returned with his friends to cast mud and stones at the man until he desisted from his wicked ways.

At twenty, he revealed to the world a hint of his fervor by taking charge of a hospital in Siena during a severe plague and organizing a band of friends who eased the victims’ suffering and prepared them for a holy death. Upon the death of his aunt, he sold his possessions and sought entry into the Franciscans of the Strict Observance, otherwise known as the Friars Minor or “little brothers.” At 24 he was ordained a priest. For the next twelve years, we know little about his life, save that he spent his time in prayer and meditation, as though in preparation for a great work.

Around the age of 36, a sign came to him that he should commence a labor of preaching throughout the feud-riven and vice-laden land of Italy. For the next 14 years, Bernardine traveled all over the country, preaching in every town and city — sometimes, on account of his growing fame, to open-air audiences as large as 30,000. Finding the people and their leaders steeped in avarice, luxury, vengeance, usury, and other excesses typical of the early Renaissance, Bernardine passionately exhorted his listeners to thrust aside their rivalries and worldly corruptions in order to obey the demands of the Gospel of Christ, the one true message of peace and the one unfailing guarantee of happiness.

So successful were his efforts at reconciling the rival factions of Guelphs and Ghibellines that families who had stolen one another’s property freely returned what had been taken, exiles were called back from their dwellings, and political shields and signs were replaced by monograms of the Holy Name of Jesus. Rather than tolerate their discordant factionalism as a lesser man would have done, Bernardine fearlessly rebuked statesmen and nobles, even as he weaned the common people of their addictions to gambling and carousing. By the force of his words and the grace of God, Bernardine turned the hearts of thousands to thoughts of peace and strengthened bonds of benevolence among families and neighbors.

During his travels on foot through the various provinces of Italy, his preaching coalesced more and more around the Name of Jesus, the power, beauty, and holiness of which he eloquently expounded before the crowds. At the end of his sermons he would hold aloft a wooden board inscribed with the letters “IHS” surrounded by rays of light and plead with the people to embrace as their way of life this heavenly name and all it signified.

The monogram “IHS,” which can still be seen in many Catholic churches and cathedrals, is an abbreviated form of the medieval spelling of the Name of Our Lord, “ihesus.” We find the monogram as early as the eighth century, written on a Roman gold coin: “dn ihs chs rex regnantium” (Lord Jesus Christ, King of Kings). Bernardine was also responsible for encouraging his listeners to add the Name of Jesus to the Hail Mary: “and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.” From Italy, where it first took root, the custom quickly spread throughout the Universal Church.

Why did St. Bernardine invest such importance in the Savior’s Name? Frederick Holweck explains: “the Name of Jesus reminds us of all the blessings we receive through our Holy Redeemer.” Just as we honor Christ’s Passion when we revere the cross upon which the victim was offered, so too we give praise and worship to the Son of God when we invoke and show reverence to His Name. Holweck goes on to say (reference numbers omitted):

The Name of Jesus invoked with confidence brings help in bodily needs, according to the promise of Christ: “In my name...they shall take up serpents; and if they shall drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them: they shall lay their hands upon the sick, and they shall recover” (Mk. 16:17-18). In the Name of Jesus the Apostles gave strength to the lame (Acts 3:6; 9:34) and life to the dead (Acts 9:40). It gives consolation in spiritual trials. The Name of Jesus reminds the sinner of the prodigal son’s father and of the Good Samaritan; it recalls to the just the suffering and death of the innocent Lamb of God. It protects us against Satan and his wiles, for the Devil fears the Name of Jesus, who has conquered him on the Cross. In the name of Jesus we obtain every blessing and grace for time and eternity, for Christ has said: “If you ask the Father any thing in my name, he will give it you” (Jn. 16:23). Therefore the Church concludes all her prayers by the words: “Through Our Lord Jesus Christ,” etc. So the word of St. Paul is fulfilled: “That in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those that are in heaven, on earth, and under the earth” (Phil. 2:10).

St. Bernardine’s popularity attracted powerful friends — and no less powerful enemies. Accused of heresy and denounced before Pope Martin V, Bernardine was ultimately vindicated and his opponents put to shame. He turned down three offers of bishoprics from the same pope, “saying playfully that all Italy was already his diocese.”

When he turned fifty, Bernardine took up the office of vicar general of the Friars Minor. There is a fine lesson to be learned from the good results of his efforts: it is holiness and fervor that produce vocations, not lax rules and easier standards. Bernardine was on fire for the conversion of souls from the head to the heel of Italy; that is why his branch of the Franciscans grew from about 200 when he first entered religious life to over 4,000 by the time he died. As vicar general, he founded or reformed 300 convents, sent off missionaries to the Orient, and established contacts with the dissident Greek Christians, whose ambassadors he later addressed at the Council of Florence. Bernardine was a deeply learned man. His collected writings include formal Latin dissertations that elucidate his teaching, essays on ascetical and mystical theology, books on practical discipline, treatises on the Virgin Mary, and a commentary on the Apocalypse of St. John.

After 12 years as vicar general, Bernardine, now 62, resigned his office in order to return to preaching, as was his heart’s longing. Despite ill health, two years later, during the Lent of 1444, he preached in the town of Massa Marittima on 50 consecutive days, for three to four hours each day. Although by the end of this Lent his health was already weak, he set out for Naples, the only place he had not yet preached in the course of his life. As he made his way thither, he came down with a fever and died at Aquila on the eve of the Ascension, May 20, in the company of friars.

Universally revered for his holiness, gentleness, courage, and ardor, Bernardine was canonized within six years of his death by the Holy Church on whose behalf he humbly and faithfully toiled for more than 40 years. This great Franciscan saint shows us the kind of priest, preacher, and administrator the Church on Earth needs today.

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