For your reading, reflection, faith-sharing, comments, questions, discussion.

KEYWORDS: catholic; lk12; ordinarytime; prayer; saints;

Alleluia Ping

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From: Romans 6:19-23

Liberation from Sin (Continuation)

[19] I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just
as you once yielded your members to impurity and to greater and greater iniqui-
ty, so now yield your members to righteousness for sanctification.

[20] When you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. [21]
But then what return did you get from the things of which you are now ashamed?
The end of those things is death. [22] But now that you have been set free from
sin and have become slaves of God, the return you get is sanctification and its
end, eternal life. [23] For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is
eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

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Commentary: The Navarre has no commentary for this reading. Please reflect
on God’s word and invite the Holy Spirit to enter your heart with His inspiration.

*********************************************************************************************
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 12:49-53

Jesus the Cause of Dissension

(Jesus said to His disciples,) [49] “I came to cast fire upon the earth; and would
that it were already kindled! [50] I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how I
am constrained until it is accomplished! [51] Do you think that I have come to
give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division; [52] for henceforth in one
house there will be five divided, three against two and two against three; [53] they
will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter
and daughter against her mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and dau-
ghter-in-law against her mother-in-law.”

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Commentary:

49-50. In the Bible, fire is often used to describe God’s burning love for men. This
divine love finds its highest expression in the Son of God become man: “God so
loved the world that He gave His only Son” (John 3:16). Jesus voluntarily gave up
His life out of love for us, and “greater love has no man than this, that a man lays
down his life for his friends” (John 15:13).

In these words reported by St. Luke, Jesus Christ reveals His abounding desire
to give His life for love of us. He calls His death a baptism, because from it He
will arise victorious never to die again. Our Baptism is a submersion in Christ’s
death, in which we die to sin and are reborn to the new life of grace: “We were
buried therefore with Him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised
from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life”
(Romans 6:4).

Through this new life, we Christians should become set on fire in the same way
as Jesus set His disciples on fire: “With the amazing naturalness of the things
of God, the contemplative soul is filled with apostolic zeal. ‘My heart became hot
within me, a fire blazed forth from my thoughts’ (Psalm 38:4). What could this fire
be if not the fire that Christ talks about: ‘I came to cast fire upon the earth, and
would that it were already kindled’ (Luke 12:49). An apostolic fire that acquires
its strength in prayer: there is no better way than this to carry on, throughout the
whole world, the battle of peace to which every Christian is called to fill up what
is lacking in the sufferings of Christ (cf. Colossians 1:24)” (St. J. Escriva, “Christ
Is Passing By”, 120).

51-53. God has come into the world with a message of peace (cf. Luke 2:14) and
reconciliation (cf. Romans 5:11). By resisting, through sin, the redeeming work of
Christ, we become His opponents. Injustice and error lead to division and war. “In-
sofar as men are sinners, the threat of war hangs over them and will so continue
until the coming of Christ; but insofar as they can vanquish sin by coming toge-
ther in charity, violence itself will be vanquished” (Vatican II, “Gaudium Et Spes”,
78).

During His own life on earth, Christ was a sign of contradiction (cf. Luke 2:34).
Our Lord is forewarning His disciples about the contention and division which will
accompany the spread of the Gospel (cf. Luke 6:20-23; Matthew 10:24).

*********************************************************************************************
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.

Scripture readings from the Jerusalem Bible by Darton, Longman & Todd

Readings at Mass

Liturgical Colour: Green.

First reading	Romans 6:19-23 ©

Now you are set free from sin, and slaves to God

If I may use human terms to help your natural weakness: as once you put your bodies at the service of vice and immorality, so now you must put them at the service of righteousness for your sanctification.

When you were slaves of sin, you felt no obligation to righteousness, and what did you get from this? Nothing but experiences that now make you blush, since that sort of behaviour ends in death. Now, however, you have been set free from sin, you have been made slaves of God, and you get a reward leading to your sanctification and ending in eternal life. For the wage paid by sin is death; the present given by God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Responsorial Psalm	Psalm 1:1-4,6 ©

Happy the man who has placed his trust in the Lord.

Happy indeed is the man

who follows not the counsel of the wicked;

nor lingers in the way of sinners

nor sits in the company of scorners,

but whose delight is the law of the Lord

and who ponders his law day and night.

Happy the man who has placed his trust in the Lord.

He is like a tree that is planted

beside the flowing waters,

that yields its fruit in due season

and whose leaves shall never fade;

and all that he does shall prosper.

Happy the man who has placed his trust in the Lord.

Not so are the wicked, not so!

For they like winnowed chaff

shall be driven away by the wind:

for the Lord guards the way of the just

but the way of the wicked leads to doom.

Happy the man who has placed his trust in the Lord.

Gospel Acclamation	Jn8:12

Alleluia, alleluia!

I am the light of the world, says the Lord;

anyone who follows me will have the light of life.

Alleluia!

Or:	Ph3:8-9

Alleluia, alleluia!

I have accepted the loss of everything

and I look on everything as so much rubbish

if only I can have Christ

and be given a place in him.

Alleluia!

Gospel	Luke 12:49-53 ©

How I wish it were blazing already!

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘I have come to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were blazing already! There is a baptism I must still receive, and how great is my distress till it is over!

‘Do you suppose that I am here to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. For from now on a household of five will be divided: three against two and two against three; the father divided against the son, son against father, mother against daughter, daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law, daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.’

Salvation, I can’t thank you enough for thus post. I’ve read over this scripture many times and completely missed it.

“Jesus said to his disciples:
“I have come to set the earth on fire,
and how I wish it were already blazing!
There is a baptism with which I must be baptized,and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished!

This is why the sinners are afraid of global warming. I’m not joking.

The increased presence of the Holy Spirit on earth right now causes discomfort for people who hold onto sin.

This is also the reason for the concept of burning in hell. People can’t hold onto darkness in the bright Light of God.

It’s like placing a dense object in the microwave. It heats up and catches on fire.

This is also why it is important to love our enemies. God is Love. The Light that we direct their way when praying for them is like “placing hot coals upon their heads.”

Romans 12:20

On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”

Luke
	English: Douay-Rheims	Latin: Vulgata Clementina	Greek NT: Byzantine/Majority Text (2000)
	Luke 12
49.	I am come to cast fire on the earth; and what will I, but that it be kindled?	Ignem veni mittere in terram, et quid volo nisi ut accendatur ?	πυρ ηλθον βαλειν εις την γην και τι θελω ει ηδη ανηφθη
50.	And I have a baptism wherewith I am to be baptized: and how am I straitened until it be accomplished?	Baptismo autem habeo baptizari : et quomodo coarctor usque dum perficiatur ?	βαπτισμα δε εχω βαπτισθηναι και πως συνεχομαι εως ου τελεσθη
51.	Think ye, that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, no; but separation.	Putatis quia pacem veni dare in terram ? non, dico vobis, sed separationem :	δοκειτε οτι ειρηνην παρεγενομην δουναι εν τη γη ουχι λεγω υμιν αλλ η διαμερισμον
52.	For there shall be from henceforth five in one house divided: three against two, and two against three.	erunt enim ex hoc quinque in domo una divisi, tres in duos, et duo in tres	εσονται γαρ απο του νυν πεντε εν οικω ενι διαμεμερισμενοι τρεις επι δυσιν και δυο επι τρισιν
53.	The father shall be divided against the son, and the son against his father, the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother, the mother in law against her daughter in law, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.	dividentur : pater in filium, et filius in patrem suum, mater in filiam, et filia in matrem, socrus in nurum suam, et nurus in socrum suam.	διαμερισθησεται πατηρ επι υιω και υιος επι πατρι μητηρ επι θυγατρι και θυγατηρ επι μητρι πενθερα επι την νυμφην αυτης και νυμφη επι την πενθεραν αυτης

49. I am come to send fire on the earth, and what will I, if it be already kindled?
50. But I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I straightened till it be accomplished!
51. Suppose you that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division:
52. For from henceforth there shall be five in one house divided, three against two, and two against three.
53. The father shall be divided against the son, and the son against the father; the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother; the mother in law against her daughter in law, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.

AMBROSE; To stewards, that is, to Priests, the preceding words seem to have been addressed, that they may thereby know that hereafter a heavier punishment awaits them, if, intent upon the world's pleasures, they have neglected the charge of their Lord's household, and the people entrusted to their care. But as it profits little to be recalled from error by the fear of punishment, and far greater is the privilege of charity and love, our Lord therefore kindles in men the desire of acquiring the divine nature, saying, I came to send fire on earth, not indeed that He is the Consumer of good men, but the Author of good will, who purifies the golden vessels of the Lord's house, but burns up the straw and stubble.

CYRIL; Now it is the way of holy Scripture to use sometimes the term fire, of holy and divine words. For as they who know how to purify gold and silver, destroy the dross by fire, so the Savior by the teaching of the Gospel in the power of the Spirit cleanses the minds of those who believe in Him. This then is that wholesome and useful fire by which the inhabitants of earth, in a manner cold and dead through sin, revive to a life of piety.

CHRYS. For by the earth He now means not that which we tread under our feet, but that which was fashioned by His hands, namely, man, upon whom the Lord pours out fire for the consuming of sins, and the renewing of souls.

TIT. BOST. And we must here believe that Christ came down from heaven. For if He had come from earth to earth, He would not say, I came to send fire upon the earth.

CYRIL; But our Lord was hastening the kindling of the fire, and hence it follows, And what will I, save that it be kindled? For already some of the Jews believed, of whom the first were the holy Apostles, but the fire once lighted in Judea was about to take possession of the whole world, yet not till after the dispensation of His Passion had been accomplished. Hence it follows, But I have a baptism to be baptized with. For before the holy cross and His resurrection from the dead, in Judea only was the news told of His preaching and miracles; but after that the Jews in their rage had slain the Prince of life, then commanded He His Apostles, saying, Go and teach all nations.

GREG. Or else, fire is sent upon the earth, when by the fiery breath of the Holy Spirit, the earthly mind has all its carnal desires burnt up, but inflamed with spiritual love, bewails the evil it has done; and so the earth is burnt, when the conscience accusing itself, the heart of the sinner is consumed in the sorrow of repentance.

BEDE; But He adds, I have a baptism to be baptized with, that is, I have first to be sprinkled with the drops of My own Blood, and then to inflame the hearts of believers by the fire of the Spirit.

AMBROSE; But so greet was our Lord's condescension, that He tells us He has a desire of inspiring us with devotion, of accomplishing perfection in us, and of hastening His passion for us; as it follows, And how am I straightened till it be accomplished

BEDE; Some manuscripts have, "And how am I anguished," that is, grieved. For though He had in Himself nothing to grieve Him, yet was as He afflicted by our woes, and at the time of death He betrayed the anguish which He underwent not from the fear of His death, but from the delay of our redemption. For he who is troubled until he reaches perfection, is secure of perfection, for the condition of bodily affections not the dread of death offends him. For he who has put on the body must suffer all things which are of the body, hunger, thirst, vexation, sorrow; but the Divine nature knows no change from such feelings. At the same time He also shows, that in the conflict of suffering consists the death of the body, peace of mind has no struggle with grief.

BEDE; But the manner in which after the baptism of His passion and the coming of the spiritual fire the earth will be burnt, He declares as follows, Suppose you that I am to give peace, &c.

CYRIL; What say you, O Lord? Did you not come to give peace, Who art made peace for us? making peace by your cross with things in earth and things in heaven; Who said, My peace I give to you. But it is plain that peace is indeed a good, but sometimes hurtful, and separating us from the love of God, that is, when by it we unite with those who keep away from God. And for this reason we e teach the faithful to avoid earthly bonds. Hence it follows, For from henceforth there shall be five in one house divided, three against two, &c.

AMBROSE; Though the connection would seem to be of six persons, father and son, mother and daughter, mother in law and daughter in law, yet are they five, for the mother and the mother in law may be taken as the same, since she who is the mother of the son, is the mother in law of his wife.

CHRYS. Now hereby He declared a future event, for it so happened in the same house that there have been believers whose fathers wished to bring them to unbelief; but the power of Christ's doctrines has so prevailed, that fathers were left by sons, mothers by daughters, and children by parents. For the faithful in Christ were content not only to despise their own, but at the same time also to suffer all things as long as they were not without the worship of their faith. But if He were mere man, how would it have occurred to Him to conceive it possible that He should be more loved by fathers than their children were, by children than their fathers, by husbands than their wives, and they too not in one house or a hundred, but throughout the world? And not only did he predict this, but accomplish it in deed.

AMBROSE; Now in a mystical sense the one house is one man, but by two we often mean the soul and the body. But if two things meet together, each one has its part; there is one which obeys, another which rules. But there are three conditions of the soul, one concerned with reason, another with desire, the third with anger. Two then are divided against three, and three against two. For by the coming of Christ, man who was material became rational. We were carnal and earthly, God sent His Spirit into our hearts, and we became spiritual children. We may also say, that in the house there are five others, that is, smell, touch, taste, sight, and hearing. If then with respect to those things which we hear or see, separating the sense of sight and hearing, we shut out the worthless pleasures of the body which we take in by our taste, touch, and smell, we divide two against three, because the mind is not carried away by the allurements of vice. Or if we understand the five bodily senses, already are the vices and sins of the body divided among themselves. The flesh and the soul may also seem separated from the smell, touch, and taste of pleasure, for while the stronger sex of reason is impelled, as it were, to manly affections, the flesh strives to keep the reason more effeminate. Out of these then there spring up the motions of different desires, but when the soul returns to itself it renounces the degenerate offspring. The flesh also bewails that it is fastened down by its desires (which it has borne to itself,) as by the thorns of the world. But pleasure is a kind of daughter in law of the body and soul, and is wedded to the motions of foul desire. As long then as there remained in one house the vices conspiring together with one consent, there seemed to be no division; but when Christ sent fire upon the earth which should burn out the offenses of the heart, or the sword which should pierce the very secrets of the heart, then the flesh and the soul renewed by the mysteries of regeneration cast off the bond of connection with their offspring. So that parents are divided against their children, while the intemperate man gets rid of his intemperate desires, and the soul has no more fellowship with crime. Children also are divided against parents when men having become regenerate renounce their old vices, and younger pleasure flies from the rule of piety, as from the discipline of a strict house.

BEDE; Or in another way. By three are signified those who have faith in the Trinity, by two the unbelievers who depart from the unity of the faith. But the father is the devil, whose children we were by following him, but when that heavenly fire came down, it separated us from one another, and showed us another Father who is in heaven The mother is the Synagogue, the daughter is the Primitive Church, who had to bear the persecution of that same synagogue, from whom she derived her birth, and whom she did herself in the truth of the faith contradict. The mother in law is the Synagogue, the daughter in law the Gentile Church, for Christ the husband of the Church is the son of the Synagogue, according to the flesh. The Synagogue then was divided both against its daughter in law, and its daughter, persecuting believers of each people. But they also were divided against their mother in law and mother, because they wished to abolish the circumcision of the flesh.

The Second Glorious Coming of Our Lord Jesus Christ

The Temple of the 12 Apostles

Capernaum, the Holy Land

October 24 - Memorial of Saint Anthony Mary Claret, bishop

Saint Anthony Mary Claret’s Story

The “spiritual father of Cuba” was a missionary, religious founder, social reformer, queen’s chaplain, writer and publisher, archbishop, and refugee. He was a Spaniard whose work took him to the Canary Islands, Cuba, Madrid, Paris, and to the First Vatican Council.

In his spare time as weaver and designer in the textile mills of Barcelona, Anthony learned Latin and printing: The future priest and publisher was preparing. Ordained at 28, he was prevented by ill health from entering religious life as a Carthusian or as a Jesuit, but went on to become one of Spain’s most popular preachers.

Anthony spent 10 years giving popular missions and retreats, always placing great emphasis on the Eucharist and devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. It was said that his rosary was never out of his hand. At age 42, he founded a religious institute of missionaries beginning with five young priests, known today as the Claretians.

Anthony was appointed to head the much-neglected archdiocese of Santiago in Cuba. He began its reform by almost ceaseless preaching and hearing of confessions, and suffered bitter opposition mainly for opposing concubinage and giving instruction to black slaves. A hired assassin—whose release from prison Anthony had obtained—slashed open his face and wrist. Anthony succeeded in getting the would-be assassin’s death sentence commuted to a prison term. His solution for the misery of Cubans was family-owned farms producing a variety of foods for the family’s own needs and for the market. This invited the enmity of the vested interests who wanted everyone to work on a single cash crop—sugar. Besides all his religious writings are two books he wrote in Cuba: Reflections on Agriculture and Country Delights.

He was recalled to Spain for a job he did not relish—being chaplain for the queen. Anthony went on three conditions: He would reside away from the palace; he would come only to hear the queen’s confession and instruct the children; and he would be exempt from court functions. In the revolution of 1868, he fled to Paris with the queen’s party, where he preached to the Spanish colony.

All his life Anthony was interested in the Catholic press. He founded the Religious Publishing House, a major Catholic publishing venture in Spain, and wrote or published 200 books and pamphlets.

At Vatican I, where he was a staunch defender of the doctrine of infallibility, Anthony won the admiration of his fellow bishops. Cardinal Gibbons of Baltimore remarked of him, “There goes a true saint.” At the age of 63, he died in exile near the border of Spain.

Reflection

Jesus foretold that those who are truly his representatives would suffer the same persecution as he did. Besides 14 attempts on his life, Anthony had to undergo such a barrage of the ugliest slander that the very name Claret became a byword for humiliation and misfortune. The powers of evil do not easily give up their prey. No one needs to go looking for persecution. All we need to do is be sure we suffer because of our genuine faith in Christ, not for our own whims and lack of prudence.

Saint Anthony Mary Claret is Patron Saint of:

Weavers

franciscanmedia.org

Saint Antonio María Claret y Clarà

Quezon City, The Philippines

patron saint of Textile Merchants, Weavers, Savings, Catholic press, and Technical and Vocational Educators

Both of your posts are excellent and mind-provoking!

It’s also the reason for the second line in the Lord’s Prayer..

your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

This is our prayer for the fire to come upon us.

You’re talking about the fire of the Holy Spirit, aren’t you?

Absolutely. It is a cleansing, refining fire. It’s how Jesus did His healing as the fire removed sin.

I’ve had people standing several feet from me with their eyes closed grab their body and shout that it felt like a hot knife inside them and all I did was pray for them.

If I just sit in prayer for a period of time the sweat starts rolling off me as it burns off my own garbage.

The reason God appeared to Moses as a burning bush is that the bush could not exist in God’s high frequency consciousness.

When a person is “born of the spirit” they begin to perceive directly from their consciousness external to the physical body. The further you go from the dense physical body, the higher your frequency.

Normal brain wave frequencies are 0 to 30 Hz. In consciousness of an awakened or enlightened person it goes into the hundreds of HZ as measured by an EEG.

My 97 year old mother was crying and told me she was afraid to die as she thought she was going to hell. I immediately started praying beside her for the Love and Light from Heaven to come upon her. I prayed and prayed, but it would not open.

She stopped eating that night and did not eat for the next 3 weeks. Her body was very hot, actually radiating heat, but the was no infection or natural cause. I could see a liquid golden light around her though.

For the 3rd week, she did not eat or drink. The golden light got brighter. Even the hospice nurse had never seen this previously.

At the end of the 3rd week, the portal to Heaven opened and the bright Light shown upon her so she could leave her body and go to Heaven. That Love is so bright and full of Love & bliss that it surpasses description.

The day after she died I put nice clothes on her body for removal. There was zero rigor mortis. The Light had cleansed her completely.

This fire is here now stronger than ever. It is the only reason I can do what I do as the work is all done by the fire, not me.

We are entering the period described by Peter in Acts 2 when quoting the Prophet Joel.

Sometime read about the persecution of Justin Martyr. As described in “The Early Christians after the death of the Apostles”
Book by Eberhard Arnold.

Martyr was burned at the stake and the fire did not harm him. The Roman’s had to pull him from the fire and stab him to kill him.

When a person is filled with the fire of the Holy Spirit, real fire does not harm them. This is also why the 3 thrown in the furnace were not killed, but the guards were, in the Old Testament.

This is all real. The Bible is the Truth.

I read about Justin Martyr in the book, “Four Witnesses” by Bennett, but don’t recall any mention of his death. It was mostly about the Eucharist as celebrated then compared to now and how similar the two were — same Eucharist, same Mass.

Pray for Pope Francis.

October 24 2019

Thursday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time

Reading 1 Rom 6:19-23

Responsorial Psalm PS 1:1-2, 3, 4 and 6

Alleluia Phil 3:8-9

Gospel Lk 12:49-53

For the readings of the Optional Memorial of Saint Anthony Mary Claret, please go here.

Readings at Mass

October 24 - Memorial of Saint Anthony Mary Claret, bishop

Saint Anthony Mary Claret’s Story

Reflection

Saint Anthony Mary Claret is Patron Saint of: