Posted on 08/15/2019 11:21:25 PM PDT by Salvation
KEYWORDS: catholic; mt19; ordinarytime; prayer; saints;
From: Joshua 24:1-13
Joshua and the renewal of the Covenant
[8] Then I brought you to the land of the Amorites, who lived on the other side of
the Jordan; they fought with you, and I gave them into your hand, and you took
possession of their land, and I destroyed them before you. [9] Then Balak the
son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and fought against Israel; and he sent and in-
vited Balaam the son of Beor to curse you, [10] but I would not listen to Balaam;
therefore he blessed you; so I delivered you out of his hand. [11] And you went
the Jordan and came to Jericho, and the men of Jericho fought against you, and
also the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Girgashites,
the Hivites and the Jebusites; and I gave them into your hand. [12] And I sent
the hornet before you, which drove them out before you, the two kings of the A-
morites; it was not by your sword or by your bow. [13] I gave you a land on which
you had not laboured, and cities which you had not built, and you dwell therein;
you eat the fruit of the vineyards and oliveyards which you did not plant.’
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Commentary:
24:1-28 The book of Joshua is not so much a report about a military campaign
as a vivid lesson in theology about how faithfully God keeps his promises, and
a call to respond to that faithfulness. This is borne out by the fact that the book
ends with a ratification of the Covenant: the nation that has taken possession of
the promised land renews the undertakings given by their fathers at Sinai. This
ceremony takes place at Shechem. After an historical introduction recalling what
God has done for the Israelites (vv. 2-13), Joshua asks the people about their de-
termination to stay faithful to the Lord (vv. 14-24). Once they have all made a com-
mitment to serve the Lord and obey him in everything, the Covenant is ceremon-
ially ratified (vv. 25-27). Elements of this rite are to be found in Hittite rites of vas-
salage of the second millennium BC. So, the Covenant is not only a religious act;
it also has the force of secular law.
The Covenant lies at the basis of Christian morality, because it implies the con-
viction that God directs the course of history and he chooses people who are to
make a specific commitment of fidelity: “There is no doubt that Christian moral
teaching, even in its Biblical roots, acknowledges the specific importance of a
fundamental choice which qualifies the moral life and engages freedom on a ra-
dical level before God. It is a question of the decision of faith, of the obedience
of faith (cf. Rom 16:26) by which man makes a total and free self-commitment
to God, offering “the full submission of intellect and will to God as he reveals
(Dei Verbum, 5). [
] In the Decalogue one finds, as an introduction to the vari-
ous commandments, the basic clause: ‘I am the Lord your God . . . ‘ (Ex 20:2),
which, by impressing upon the numerous and varied particular prescriptions their
primordial meaning, gives the morality of the Covenant its aspect of complete-
ness, unity and profundity. Israel’s fundamental decision, then, is about the fun-
damental commandment (cf. Jos 24:14-25; Ex 19:3-8; Mic 6:8) (Bl. John Paul
II, Veritatis splendor, 66).
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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.
From: Matthew 19:3-12
Marriage and Virginity
[10] The disciples said to Him, “If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is
not expedient to marry.” [11] But He said to them, “Not all men can receive this
precept, but only those to whom it is given. [12] For there are eunuchs who have
been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men,
and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the
Kingdom of Heaven. He who is able to receive this, let him receive it.”
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Commentary:
4-5. “Marriage and married love are by nature ordered to the procreation and edu-
cation of children. Indeed children are the supreme gift of marriage and greatly
contribute to the good of the parents themselves. God Himself said: ‘It is not good
that man should be alone’ (Genesis 2:18), and ‘from the beginning (He) made them
male and female’ (Matthew 19:4); wishing to associate them in a special way with
his own creative work, God blessed man and woman with the words: ‘Be fruitful
and multiply’ (Genesis 1:28). Without intending to underestimate the other ends
of marriage, it must be said that true married life and the whole structure of family
life which results from it is directed to disposing the spouses to cooperate valiant-
ly with the love of the Creator and Savior, who through them will increase and en-
rich His family from day to day” (Vatican II, “Gaudium Et Spes”, 50).
9. Our Lord’s teaching on the unity and indissolubility of marriage is the main
theme of this passage, apropos of which St. John Chrysostom comments that
marriage is a lifelong union of man and woman (cf. “Hom. on St. Matthew”, 62).
On the meaning of “except for unchastity”, see the note on Matthew 5:31-32).
11. “Not all men can receive this precept”: our Lord is fully aware that the de-
mands involved in His teaching on marriage and His recommendation of celiba-
cy practised out of love of God run counter to human selfishness. That is why
He says that acceptance of this teaching is a gift from God.
12. Our Lord speaks figuratively here, referring to those who, out of love for Him,
renounce marriage and offer their lives completely to Him. Virginity embraced for
the love of God is one of the Church’s most precious charisms (cf. 1 Corinthians
7); the lives of those who practise virginity evoke the state of the blessed in Hea-
ven, who are like the angels (cf. Matthew 22:30). This is why the Church’s Magis-
terium teaches that the state of virginity for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven is
higher than the married state (cf. Council of Trent, “De Sacram. Matr.”, can. 10;
cf. also Ven. Pius XII, “Sacra Virginitas”). On virginity and celibacy the Second
Vatican Council teaches: “The Church’s holiness is also fostered in a special
way by the manifold counsels which the Lord proposes to His disciples in the
Gospel for them to observe. Towering among these counsels is that precious
gift of divine grace given to some by the Father (cf. Matthew 19:11; 1 Corinthians
7:7) to devote themselves to God alone more easily in virginity or celibacy [...].
This perfect continence for love of the Kingdom of Heaven has always been held
in high esteem by the Church as a sign and stimulus of love, and as a singular
source of spiritual fertility in the world” (”Lumen Gentium”, 42; cf. “Perfectae Ca-
ritatis”, 12). And, on celibacy specifically, see Vatican II’s “Presbyterorum Ordi-
nis”, 16 and “Optatam Totius”, 10.
However, both virginity and marriage are necessary for the growth of the Church,
and both imply a specific calling from God: “Celibacy is precisely a gift of the
Spirit. A similar though different gift is contained in the vocation to true and faith-
ful married love, directed towards procreation according to the flesh, in the very
lofty context of the sacrament of Matrimony. It is obvious that this gift is funda-
mental for the building up of the great community of the Church, the people of
God. But if this community wishes to respond fully to its vocation in Jesus Christ,
there will also have to be realized in it, in the correct proportion, that other gift,
the gift of celibacy ‘for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven’” (St. John Paul II,
“Letter To All Priests”, 1979).
*********************************************************************************************
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.
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Liturgical Colour: Green.
First reading | Joshua 24:1-13 © |
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I gave you a land where you never toiled, vineyards and olive-groves you never planted |
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Responsorial Psalm |
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Psalm 135(136):1-3,16-18,21-22,24 © |
Gospel Acclamation | Ps110:7,8 |
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Or: | cf.1Th2:13 |
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Gospel | Matthew 19:3-12 © |
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Husband and wife are no longer two, but one body |
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Matthew | |||
English: Douay-Rheims | Latin: Vulgata Clementina | Greek NT: Byzantine/Majority Text (2000) | |
Matthew 19 |
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3. | And there came to him the Pharisees tempting him, and saying: Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause? | Et accesserunt ad eum pharisæi tentantes eum, et dicentes : Si licet homini dimittere uxorem suam, quacumque ex causa ? | και προσηλθον αυτω οι φαρισαιοι πειραζοντες αυτον και λεγοντες αυτω ει εξεστιν ανθρωπω απολυσαι την γυναικα αυτου κατα πασαν αιτιαν |
4. | Who answering, said to them: Have ye not read, that he who made man from the beginning, Made them male and female? And he said: | Qui respondens, ait eis : Non legistis, quia qui fecit hominem ab initio, masculum et feminam fecit eos ? Et dixit : | ο δε αποκριθεις ειπεν αυτοις ουκ ανεγνωτε οτι ο ποιησας απ αρχης αρσεν και θηλυ εποιησεν αυτους |
5. | For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and they two shall be in one flesh. | Propter hoc dimittet homo patrem, et matrem, et adhærebit uxori suæ, et erunt duo in carne una. | και ειπεν ενεκεν τουτου καταλειψει ανθρωπος τον πατερα [αυτου] και την μητερα και προσκολληθησεται τη γυναικι αυτου και εσονται οι δυο εις σαρκα μιαν |
6. | Therefore now they are not two, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let no man put asunder. | Itaque jam non sunt duo, sed una caro. Quod ergo Deus conjunxit, homo non separet. | ωστε ουκετι εισιν δυο αλλα σαρξ μια ο ουν ο θεος συνεζευξεν ανθρωπος μη χωριζετω |
7. | They say to him: Why then did Moses command to give a bill of divorce, and to put away? | Dicunt illi : Quid ergo Moyses mandavit dare libellum repudii, et dimittere ? | λεγουσιν αυτω τι ουν μωσης ενετειλατο δουναι βιβλιον αποστασιου και απολυσαι αυτην |
8. | He saith to them: Because Moses by reason of the hardness of your heart permitted you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so. | Ait illis : Quoniam Moyses ad duritiam cordis vestri permisit vobis dimittere uxores vestras : ab initio autem non fuit sic. | λεγει αυτοις οτι μωσης προς την σκληροκαρδιαν υμων επετρεψεν υμιν απολυσαι τας γυναικας υμων απ αρχης δε ου γεγονεν ουτως |
9. | And I say to you, that whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and he that shall marry her that is put away, committeth adultery. | Dico autem vobis, quia quicumque dimiserit uxorem suam, nisi ob fornicationem, et aliam duxerit, mchatur : et qui dimissam duxerit, mchatur. | λεγω δε υμιν οτι ος αν απολυση την γυναικα αυτου μη επι πορνεια και γαμηση αλλην μοιχαται και ο απολελυμενην γαμησας μοιχαται |
10. | His disciples say unto him: If the case of a man with his wife be so, it is not expedient to marry. | Dicunt ei discipuli ejus : Si ita est causa hominis cum uxore, non expedit nubere. | λεγουσιν αυτω οι μαθηται αυτου ει ουτως εστιν η αιτια του ανθρωπου μετα της γυναικος ου συμφερει γαμησαι |
11. | Who said to them: All men take not this word, but they to whom it is given. | Qui dixit illis : Non omnes capiunt verbum istud, sed quibus datum est. | ο δε ειπεν αυτοις ου παντες χωρουσιν τον λογον τουτον αλλ οις δεδοται |
12. | For there are eunuchs, who were born so from their mother's womb: and there are eunuchs, who were made so by men: and there are eunuchs, who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven. He that can take, let him take it. | Sunt enim eunuchi, qui de matris utero sic nati sunt : et sunt eunuchi, qui facti sunt ab hominibus : et sunt eunuchi, qui seipsos castraverunt propter regnum cælorum. Qui potest capere capiat. | εισιν γαρ ευνουχοι οιτινες εκ κοιλιας μητρος εγεννηθησαν ουτως και εισιν ευνουχοι οιτινες ευνουχισθησαν υπο των ανθρωπων και εισιν ευνουχοι οιτινες ευνουχισαν εαυτους δια την βασιλειαν των ουρανων ο δυναμενος χωρειν χωρειτω |
The Church is universal, but its expression is always affectedfor good or illby local culture. There are no generic Christians; there are Mexican Christians, Polish Christians, Filipino Christians. This fact is evident in the life of Stephen, national hero and spiritual patron of Hungary.
Born a pagan, he was baptized around the age of 10, together with his father, chief of the Magyars, a group who migrated to the Danube area in the ninth century. At 20, he married Gisela, sister to the future emperor, Saint Henry. When he succeeded his father, Stephen adopted a policy of Christianization of the country for both political and religious reasons. He suppressed a series of revolts by pagan nobles and welded the Magyars into a strong national group. He asked the pope to provide for the Churchs organization in Hungaryand also requested that the pope confer the title of king upon him. He was crowned on Christmas day in 1001.
Stephen established a system of tithes to support churches and pastors and to relieve the poor. Out of every 10 towns one had to build a church and support a priest. He abolished pagan customs with a certain amount of violence, and commanded all to marry, except clergy and religious. He was easily accessible to all, especially the poor.
In 1031, his son Emeric died, and the rest of Stephens days were embittered by controversy over his successor. His nephews attempted to kill him. He died in 1038 and was canonized, along with his son, in 1083.
Gods gift of holiness is a Christlike love of God and humanity. Love must sometimes bear a stern countenance for the sake of ultimate good. Christ attacked hypocrites among the Pharisees, but died forgiving them. Paul excommunicated the incestuous man at Corinth that his spirit may be saved. Some Christians fought the Crusades with noble zeal, in spite of the unworthy motives of others.
Today, after senseless wars, and with a deeper understanding of the complex nature of human motives, we shrink from any use of violencephysical or silent. This wholesome development continues as people debate whether it is possible for a Christian to be an absolute pacifist or whether evil must sometimes be repelled by force.
Bricklayers
Hungary
No one is positive, but it appears that Saint Roch was born in Montpellier, France, the son of the governor. Nothing is known of his childhood, but it is known that he lost both parents by the age of twenty. He then went on pilgrimage to Rome and there cared for the victims of a plague that was taking its toll on Italy. He, himself, succumbed to the disease while at Piacenza, but he soon recovered. He was later reputed to have performed many healing miracles.
When he return to Montpellier, he was jailed for five years by his uncle who accused him of being a spy disguised as a pilgrim. The imprisonment appears to have been a mistake, and Saint Roch died in prison. After his death, it seems a birthmark in the form of a cross on his chest identified him as the son of the former governor. Later, when miracles were reported through his intercession, a popular cult developed.
It is obvious that being well known or even recognizable are not necessary for sainthood. But service to the community through care for those in needthrough miracles at his intercessionseem to suffice.
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Invalids
Knee Problems
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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.
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