Monday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time

Reading 1 1 Mc 1:10-15, 41-43, 54-57, 62-63

[From the descendants of Alexander's officers]
there sprang a sinful offshoot, Antiochus Epiphanes,
son of King Antiochus, once a hostage at Rome.
He became king in the year one hundred and thirty seven
of the kingdom of the Greeks.

In those days there appeared in Israel
men who were breakers of the law,
and they seduced many people, saying:
"Let us go and make an alliance with the Gentiles all around us;
since we separated from them, many evils have come upon us."
The proposal was agreeable;
some from among the people promptly went to the king,
and he authorized them to introduce the way of living
of the Gentiles.
Thereupon they built a gymnasium in Jerusalem
according to the Gentile custom.
They covered over the mark of their circumcision
and abandoned the holy covenant;
they allied themselves with the Gentiles
and sold themselves to wrongdoing.

Then the king wrote to his whole kingdom that all should be one people,
each abandoning his particular customs.
All the Gentiles conformed to the command of the king,
and many children of Israel were in favor of his religion;
they sacrificed to idols and profaned the sabbath.

On the fifteenth day of the month Chislev,
in the year one hundred and forty-five,
the king erected the horrible abomination
upon the altar of burnt offerings
and in the surrounding cities of Judah they built pagan altars.
They also burned incense at the doors of the houses and in the streets.
Any scrolls of the law which they found they tore up and burnt.
Whoever was found with a scroll of the covenant,
and whoever observed the law,
was condemned to death by royal decree.
But many in Israel were determined
and resolved in their hearts not to eat anything unclean;
they preferred to die rather than to be defiled with unclean food
or to profane the holy covenant; and they did die.
Terrible affliction was upon Israel.

Responsorial Psalm Ps 119:53, 61, 134, 150, 155, 158

R. (see 88) Give me life, O Lord, and I will do your commands.
Indignation seizes me because of the wicked
who forsake your law.
R. Give me life, O Lord, and I will do your commands.
Though the snares of the wicked are twined about me,
your law I have not forgotten.
R. Give me life, O Lord, and I will do your commands.
Redeem me from the oppression of men,
that I may keep your precepts.
R. Give me life, O Lord, and I will do your commands.
I am attacked by malicious persecutors
who are far from your law.
R. Give me life, O Lord, and I will do your commands.
Far from sinners is salvation,
because they seek not your statutes.
R. Give me life, O Lord, and I will do your commands.
I beheld the apostates with loathing,
because they kept not to your promise.
R. Give me life, O Lord, and I will do your commands.

Alleluia 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 18:35-43

As Jesus approached Jericho
a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging,
and hearing a crowd going by, he inquired what was happening.
They told him,
"Jesus of Nazareth is passing by."
He shouted, "Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me!"
The people walking in front rebuked him,
telling him to be silent,
but he kept calling out all the more,
"Son of David, have pity on me!"
Then Jesus stopped and ordered that he be brought to him;
and when he came near, Jesus asked him,
"What do you want me to do for you?"
He replied, "Lord, please let me see."
Jesus told him, "Have sight; your faith has saved you."
He immediately received his sight
and followed him, giving glory to God.
When they saw this, all the people gave praise to God.

For the readings of the Optional Memorial of the Dedication of the Basilicas of Saints Peter and Paul, please go here.

For the readings of the Optional Memorial of Saint Rose Philippine Duchesne, please go here.

From: 1 Maccabees 1:10-15, 41-43, 54-57, 62-63

Alexander the Great and His Successors (Continuation)

[10] From them (the descendants of Alexander the Great’s officers) came forth
a sinful root, Antiochus Epiphanes, son of Antiochus the king; he had been a
hostage in Rome. He began to reign in the one hundred and thirty-seventh year
of the kingdom of the Greeks.

Many Jews are Led Astray

[11] In those days lawless men came forth from Israel, and misled many, saying,
“Let us go and make a covenant with the Gentiles round about us, for since we
separated from them many evils have come upon us.” [12] This proposal pleased
them, [13] and some of the people eagerly went to the king. He authorized them
to observe the ordinances of the Gentiles. [14] So they built a gymnasium in Je-
rusalem, according to Gentile custom, [15] and removed the marks of circumci-
sion, and abandoned the holy covenant. They joined with the Gentiles and sold
themselves to do evil.

Observance of the Law is Proscribed

[41] Then the king wrote to his whole kingdom that all should be one people,
[42] and that each should give up his customs. [43] All the Gentiles accepted
the command of the king. Many even from Israel gladly adopted his religion;
they sacrificed to idols and profaned the sabbath.

The Temple Profaned, the Books of the Law Set on Fire. Religious Persecution

[54] Now on the fifteenth day of Chislev, in the one hundred and forty-fifth year,
they erected a desolating sacrilege upon the altar of burnt offering. They also
built altars in the surrounding cities of Judah, [55] and burned incense at the
doors of the houses and in the streets. [56] The books of the law which they
found they tore to pieces and burned with fire. [57] Where the book of the cove-
nant was found in the possession of any one, or if any one adhered to the law,
the decree of the king condemned him to death.

[62] But many in Israel stood firm and were resolved in their hearts not to eat
unclean food. [63] They chose to die rather than to be defiled by food or to pro-
fane the holy covenant; and they did die.

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Commentary:

1:1-64 Greek domination was a terrible trial for the Jewish people. During the
Greek period they stayed loyal to the Covenant that God made with the patri-
archs, defending it against the Greek religion and culture which were imposed
on the East as a result of Alexander the Great’s conquests. Pagan customs
were introduced into Jerusalem and Judah, firstly, through the infidelity of many
Jews who were attracted by the novelty and splendor of Hellenistic culture, and,
secondly, because Antiochus Epiphanes tried to weld his territories together
politically by imposing Greek civilization and religion. To do this in Judea he at-
tacked the three pillars of the Jewish religion—the temple of Jerusalem; religious
customs, particularly circumcision and the sabbath observance; and the books
of the Law of Moses. It seemed inevitable that Judaism would disappear or else
be merged with the Greek world, as happened in other Eastern nations influ-
enced by Hellenism.

But, in fact,Israel kept its religious identity thanks to a special providence of God;
this enabled it to continue to be the chosen people from whom would be born the
Messiah, Jesus Christ. That is the message of the books of the Maccabees, a
message perceived by Church tradition when it acknowledged them as being part
of Holy Scripture. When speaking about these books, St Augustine was well
aware that the Jews did not regard them as being on the same level as the Law,
the Prophets and the Psalms, “but they [these books] will not have been received
by the Church in vain if they are read or listened to calmly, and especially those
parts that deal with the Maccabees themselves who, for the sake of God’s Law,
were true martyrs and suffered terrible and humiliating things” (St Augustine
“Contra Gaudentium”, 1, 31, 38).

1:1-10. “The land of Kittim” (in Greek, “khettim”), originally referred to the island
of Cyprus, but it also applied to Greece and Macedonia. Alexander the Great
died in Babylonia in the year 323 BC. His successors, called the Diadochi, fought
among themselves over the division of the empire. Ptolemy I gained control of E-
gypt, and founded the dynasty of the Lagids. Seleucus, the first of the Seleucid
kings, took Babylon. To begin with, Palestine was part of the Ptolemy domains,
but in the year 197 BC, after the battle of Baniyas in which Egypt was defeated,
it came under the control of the Seleucids. Antiochus IV Epiphanes, son of Anti-
ochus III and brother of Seleucus IV (cf. 2 Mac 4:7), had been sent to Rome by
his father as a hostage (in accordance with the treaty of Apamea, 188 BC). The
one hundred and thirty-seventh year, counting from 312 BC when the Seleucid
dynasty was founded, was 175 BC.

1:11-15. Conforming to Greek ways was equivalent in that situation to turning
one’s back on the Lord and on the Covenant. Gymnasia were presided over by
Greek gods, and “becoming like the Gentiles” involved disguising the signs of cir-
cumcision when taking part undressed in gymnasium sports. Belonging to the
people of God entailed a moral lifestyle different from that of the Gentiles, just as
being a member of the Church, the new people of God, requires a person to avoid
practices and attitudes contrary to the natural law and Christian ethics.

Apropos of this, St Paul taught the first Christians: “We beseech and exhort
you in the Lord Jesus, that as you learned from us how you ought to live and to
please God, just as you are doing, you do so more and more. For you know what
instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, your
sanctification: that you abstain from immorality; that each of you know how to
control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like hea-
then who do not know God” (1 Thess 4:1-5). “Reject the deception of those who
appease themselves with the pathetic cry of ‘Freedom! Freedom!’ Their cry often
masks a tragic enslavement because choices that prefer error do not liberate.
Christ alone sets us free, for he alone is the Way, the Truth and the Life” (St. J.
Escriva, “Friends of God”, 26).

1:41-53. Up to this point the Jews have been governed by their own laws, which
were both religious and civil. In order to unify his empire politically, Antiochus
wants to impose a single form of religious practice. Those Jews who had a liking
for things Greek had no difficulty in accepting the king’s laws: they were already
conforming to them, and now they became formal apostates of Judaism. Other
Jews, maybe majority, conformed out of fear. But there were others still, whom
the sacred writer sees as the true Israel (v. 53), who were forced to go
underground to stay loyal to their religion.

1:54-64. The author recalls with great sadness the exact day when an altar, or
perhaps a statue, dedicated to Zeus Olympus was erected in the temple of Je-
rusalem—8 December 167 BC. The revulsion God-fearing Jews felt towards that
object can be seen from the name used to describe it—”a desolating sacrifice”
(”abominatio desolationis”, the abomination of desolation: cf. Dan 9:27; 11:31;
12:11). In Hebrew the words used sound like the name of the “Baal of the hea-
vens”, the Canaanite idol which Israelites in ancient times found so attractive
and against which the prophets strove (cf. 1 Kings 18:20-40). But the phrase
also, literally, means something abominable which leads to total perdition. It
is, in the last analysis, a symbol of idolatrous worship which seeks to impose
itself by force on worship of the true God. Our Lord Jesus Christ will use the ve-
ry same expression, “desolating sacrifice”, “abomination of desolation”, to an-
nounce the tribulation which will overwhelm Jerusalem (as it indeed did when the
Romans destroyed it in 70 AD) and which will be a sign of the tribulations that
will happen at the end of time (cf. Mt 24:15-25 and par.).

The events narrated briefly here and the violence done to the Jews, as also ex-
emplary acts of fidelity,are reported in more detail in 2 Maccabees 6:1-11, 18,
31; 7:1-42. It was a very testing time for Israel, a time of purging and purification.
When God allows persecution to happen, he does so to elicit fidelity: this is
true for Israel and later for the Church.

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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: Luke 18:35-43

The Cure of the Blind Man of Jericho

[35] As He (Jesus) drew near to Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside
begging; [36] and hearing a multitude going by, he inquired what this meant. [37]
They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.” [38] And he cried, “Jesus, Son
of David, have mercy on me!” [39] And those who were in front rebuked him, tel-
ling him to be silent; but he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on
me!” [40] And Jesus stopped, and commanded him to be brought to Him; and
when he came near, He asked him, [41] “What do you want Me to do for you?”
He said, “Lord, let me receive my sight.” [42] And Jesus said to him, “Receive
your sight; your faith has made you well.” [43] And immediately he received his
sight and followed Him, glorifying God; and all the people, when they saw it,
gave praise to God.

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Commentary:

35-43. The blind man of Jericho is quick to use the opportunity presented by
Christ’s presence. We should not neglect the Lord’s graces, for we do not know
whether He will offer us them again. St. Augustine described very succinctly the
urgency with which we should respond to God’s gift, to His passing us on the
road: “’Timeo Jesum praetereuntem et non redeuntem’: I fear Jesus may pass
by and not come back.” For, at least on some occasion, in some way, Jesus
passes close to everyone.

The blind man of Jericho acclaims Jesus as the Messiah—he gives Him the
messianic title of Son of David—and asks Him to meet his need, to make him
see. His is an active faith; he shouts out, he persists, despite the people get-
ting in his way. And he manages to get Jesus to hear him and call him. God
wanted this episode to be recorded in the Gospel, to teach us how we should
believe and how we should pray — with conviction, with urgency, with constancy,
in spite of the obstacles, with simplicity, until we manage to get Jesus to listen
to us.

“Lord, let me receive my sight”: this simple ejaculatory prayer should be often
on our lips, flowing from the depths of our heart. It is a very good prayer to use
in moments of doubt and vacillation, when we cannot understand the reason be-
hind God’s plans, when the horizon of our commitment becomes clouded. It is
even a good prayer for people who are sincerely trying to find God but who do
not yet have the great gift of faith.

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
1 Maccabees 1:10-15,41-43,54-57,62-64 ©

The persecution of Antiochus Epiphanes

There grew a sinful offshoot, Antiochus Epiphanes, son of King Antiochus; once a hostage in Rome, he became king in the one hundred and thirty-seventh year of the kingdom of the Greeks. It was then that there emerged from Israel a set of renegades who led many people astray. ‘Come,’ they said ‘let us reach an understanding with the pagans surrounding us, for since we separated ourselves from them many misfortunes have overtaken us.’ This proposal proved acceptable, and a number of the people eagerly approached the king, who authorised them to practise the pagan observances. So they built a gymnasium in Jerusalem, such as the pagans have, disguised their circumcision, and abandoned the holy covenant, submitting to the heathen rule as willing slaves of impiety.

Then the king issued a proclamation to his whole kingdom that all were to become a single people, each renouncing his particular customs. All the pagans conformed to the king’s decree, and many Israelites chose to accept his religion, sacrificing to idols and profaning the sabbath. The king erected the abomination of desolation above the altar; and altars were built in the surrounding towns of Judah and incense offered at the doors of houses and in the streets. Any books of the Law that came to light were torn up and burned. Whenever anyone was discovered possessing a copy of the covenant or practising the Law, the king’s decree sentenced him to death.

Yet there were many in Israel who stood firm and found the courage to refuse unclean food. They chose death rather than contamination by such fare or profanation of the holy covenant, and they were executed. It was a dreadful wrath that visited Israel.

Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 118(119):53,61,134,150,155,158 ©

Give me life, O Lord, and I will do your will.

I am seized with indignation at the wicked

who forsake your law.

Though the nets of the wicked ensnared me

I remembered your law.

Give me life, O Lord, and I will do your will.

Redeem me from man’s oppression

and I will keep your precepts.

Those who harm me unjustly draw near;

they are far from your law.

Give me life, O Lord, and I will do your will.

Salvation is far from the wicked

who are heedless of your statutes.

I look at the faithless with disgust;

they ignore your promise.

Give me life, O Lord, and I will do your will.

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!

Gospel	Luke 18:35-43 ©

'Son of David, have pity on me'

As Jesus drew near to Jericho there was a blind man sitting at the side of the road begging. When he heard the crowd going past he asked what it was all about, and they told him that Jesus the Nazarene was passing by. So he called out, ‘Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me.’ The people in front scolded him and told him to keep quiet, but he shouted all the louder, ‘Son of David, have pity on me.’ Jesus stopped and ordered them to bring the man to him, and when he came up, asked him, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ ‘Sir,’ he replied ‘let me see again.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Receive your sight. Your faith has saved you.’ And instantly his sight returned and he followed him praising God, and all the people who saw it gave praise to God for what had happened.

Luke
	English: Douay-Rheims	Latin: Vulgata Clementina	Greek NT: Byzantine/Majority Text (2000)
	Luke 18
35.	Now it came to pass, when he drew nigh to Jericho, that a certain blind man sat by the way side, begging.	Factum est autem, cum appropinquaret Jericho, cæcus quidam sedebat secus viam, mendicans.	εγενετο δε εν τω εγγιζειν αυτον εις ιεριχω τυφλος τις εκαθητο παρα την οδον προσαιτων
36.	And when he heard the multitude passing by, he asked what this meant.	Et cum audiret turbam prætereuntem, interrogabat quid hoc esset.	ακουσας δε οχλου διαπορευομενου επυνθανετο τι ειη τουτο
37.	And they told him, that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by.	Dixerunt autem ei quod Jesus Nazarenus transiret.	απηγγειλαν δε αυτω οτι ιησους ο ναζωραιος παρερχεται
38.	And he cried out, saying: Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me.	Et clamavit, dicens : Jesu, fili David, miserere mei.	και εβοησεν λεγων ιησου υιε δαυιδ ελεησον με
39.	And they that went before, rebuked him, that he should hold his peace: but he cried out much more: Son of David, have mercy on me.	Et qui præibant, increpabant eum ut taceret. Ipse vero multo magis clamabat : Fili David, miserere mei.	και οι προαγοντες επετιμων αυτω ινα σιωπηση αυτος δε πολλω μαλλον εκραζεν υιε δαυιδ ελεησον με
40.	And Jesus standing, commanded him to be brought unto him. And when he was come near, he asked him,	Stans autem Jesus jussit illum adduci ad se. Et cum appropinquasset, interrogavit illum,	σταθεις δε ο ιησους εκελευσεν αυτον αχθηναι προς αυτον εγγισαντος δε αυτου επηρωτησεν αυτον
41.	Saying: What wilt thou that I do to thee? But he said: Lord, that I may see.	dicens : Quid tibi vis faciam ? At ille dixit : Domine, ut videam.	λεγων τι σοι θελεις ποιησω ο δε ειπεν κυριε ινα αναβλεψω
42.	And Jesus said to him: Receive thy sight: thy faith hath made thee whole.	Et Jesus dixit illi : Respice, fides tua te salvum fecit.	και ο ιησους ειπεν αυτω αναβλεψον η πιστις σου σεσωκεν σε
43.	And immediately he saw, and followed him, glorifying God. And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God.	Et confestim vidit, et sequebatur illum magnificans Deum. Et omnis plebs ut vidit, dedit laudem Deo.	και παραχρημα ανεβλεψεν και ηκολουθει αυτω δοξαζων τον θεον και πας ο λαος ιδων εδωκεν αινον τω θεω

35. And it came to pass, that as he was come nigh unto Jericho, a certain blind man sat by the way side begging:
36. And hearing the multitude pass by, he asked what it meant.
37. And they told him, that Jesus of Nazareth passes by.
38. And he cried, saying, Jesus, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me.
39. And they which went before rebuked him, that he should hold his peace: but he cried so much the more, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me.
40. And Jesus stood, and commanded him to be brought to him: and when he was come near, he asked him,
41. Saying, What will you that I shall do to you? And he said, Lord, that I may receive my sight.
42. And Jesus said to him, Receive your sight: your faith has saved you.
43. And immediately he received his sight, and followed him, glorifying God: and all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God.

GREG. Because the disciples being yet carnal were unable to receive the words of mystery, they are brought to a miracle. Before their eyes a blind man receives his sight, that by a divine work their faith might be strengthened.

THEOPHYL. And to show that our Lord did not even walk without doing good, He performed a miracle on the way, giving His disciples this example, that we should be profitable in all things, and that nothing in us should be in vain.

AUG. We might understand the expression of being nigh to Jericho, as if they had already gone out of it, but were still near. It might, though less common in this sense, be so taken here, since Matthew relates, that as they were going out of Jericho, two men received their sight who sat by the way side. There need be no question n about the number, if we suppose that one of the Evangelists remembering only one was silent about the other Mark also mentions only one, and he too says that he received his sight as they were going out of Jericho; he has given also the name of the man and of his father, to let us understand that this one was well known, but the other not so, so that it might come to pass that the one who was known would be naturally the only one mentioned. But seeing that what follows in St. Luke's Gospel most plainly proves the truth of his account, that while they were yet coming to Jericho, the miracle took place, we cannot but suppose that there were two such miracles, the first upon one blind man when our Lord was coming to that city, the second on two, when He was departing out of it; Luke relating the one, Matthew the other.

PSEUDO-CHRYS. There was a great multitude gathered round Christ, and the blind man indeed knew Him not, but felt a drawing towards Him, and grasped with his heart what his sight embraced not. As it follows, And when he heard the multitude passing by, he asked what it was. And those that saw spoke indeed according to their own opinion.

And they told him that Jesus of Nazareth passes by. But the blind man cried out. He is told one thing, he proclaims another; for it follows, And he cried out, saying, Jesus, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me. Who taught you this, O man? Have you that are deprived of sight read books? Whence then know you the Light of the world? Verily the Lord gives sight to the blind.

CYRIL; Having been brought up a Jew, he was not ignorant that of the seed of David should God be born according to the flesh, and therefore he addresses Him as God, saying, Have mercy upon me. Would that those might imitate him who divide Christ into two. For he speaks of Christ as God, yet calls Him Son of David. But they marvel at the justice of his confession, and some even wished to prevent him from confessing his faith. But by checks of this kind his ardor was not damped. For faith is able to resist all, and to triumph over all. It is a good thing to lay aside shame in behalf of divine worship. For if for money's sake some ale bold, is it not fitting when the soul is at stake, to put on a righteous boldness?

As it follows, But he cried out the more, Son of David, &c. The voice of one invoking in faith stops Christ, for He looks back upon them who call upon Him in faith.

And accordingly He calls the blind man to Him, and bids him draw nigh, that he in truth who had first laid hold on Him in faith, might approach Him also in the body.

The Lord asks this blind man as he drew near, What will you that I shall do? He asks the question purposely, not as ignorant, but that those who stood by might know that he sought not money, but divine power from God. And thus it follows, But he said, Lord, that I may receive my sight.

PSEUDO-CHRYS. Or because the Jews perverting the truth might say, as in the case of him who was born blind, This is not he, but one like to him, He wished the blind first to make manifest the infirmity of his nature, that then he might fully acknowledge the greatness of the grace bestowed upon him. And as soon as the blind man explained the nature of his request, with words of the highest authority He commanded him to see. As it follows, And Jesus said to him, Receive your sight. This served only still more to increase the guilt of unbelief in the Jews. For what prophet ever spoke in this way? Observe moreover what the physician claims from him whom he has restored to health. Your faith has saved you. For faith then mercies are sold. Where faith is willing to accept, there grace abounds. And as from the same fountain some in small vessels draw little water, while others in large draw much, the fountain knowing no difference in measure; and as according to the windows which are opened, the sun sheds more or less of its brightness within; so according to the measure of a man's motives does he draw down supplies of grace. The voice of Christ is changed into the light of the afflicted. For He was the Word of true light.

And thus it follows, And immediately he said. But the blind man as before his restoration he showed an earnest faith, so afterwards did he give plain tokens of his gratitude; And he followed him, glorifying God.

CYRIL; From which it is clear, that he was released from a double blindness, both bodily and intellectual. For he would not have glorified Him as God, had he not truly seen Him as He is. But he also gave occasion to others to glorify God; as it follows, And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God.

BEDE; Not only for the gift of light obtained, but for the merit of the faith which obtained it.

PSEUDO-CHRYS. We may here well inquire, why Christ forbids the healed demoniac who wished to follow Him, but permits the blind man who had received his sight. There seems to be a good reason for both the one case and the other. He sends away the former as a kind of herald, to proclaim aloud by the evidence of his own state his benefactor, for it was indeed a notable miracle to see a raving madman brought to a sound mind. But the blind man He allows to follow Him, since He was going up to Jerusalem about to accomplish the high mystery of the Cross, that men having a recent report of a miracle might not suppose that He suffered so much from helplessness as from compassion.

AMBROSE; In the blind man we have a type of the Gentile people, who have received by the Sacrament of our Lord the brightness of the light which they had lost. And it matters not whether the cure is conveyed in the case of one or two blind men, inasmuch as deriving their origin from Ham and Japhet, the sons of Noah, in the two blind men they put forward two authors of their race.

GREG. Or, blindness is a symbol of the human race, which in our first parent knowing not the brightness of heavenly light, now suffers the darkness of his condemnation. Jericho is interpreted 'the moon,' whose monthly wanings represent the feebleness of our mortality. While then our Creator is drawing nigh to Jericho, the blind is restored to sight, because when God took upon Him the weakness of our flesh, the human race received back the light which it had lost. He then who is ignorant of this brightness of the everlasting light, is blind. But if he does no more than believe in the Redeemer who said, I am the way, the truth, and the life; he sits by the way side. If he both believes and prays that he may receive the everlasting light, he sits by the way side and begs. Those that went before Jesus, as He was coming, represent the multitude of carnal desires, and the busy crowd of vices which before that Jesus comes to our heart, scatter our thoughts, and disturb us even in our prayers. But the blind man cried out the more; for the more violently we are assailed by our restless thoughts, the more fervently ought we to give ourselves to prayer. As long as we still suffer our manifold fancies to trouble us in our prayers, we feel in some measure Jesus passing try. But when we are very steadfast in prayer, God is fixed in our heart, and the lost light is restored. Or to pass by is of man, to stand is of God. The Lord then passing by heard the blind man crying, standing still restored him to sight, for by His humanity in compassion to our blindness He has pity upon our cries, by the power of His divinity He pours upon us the light of His grace.

Now for this reason He asks what the blind man wished, that He might stir up his heart to prayer, for He wishes that to be sought in prayer, which He knows beforehand both that we seek and He grants.

AMBROSE; Or, He asked the blind man to the end that we might believe, that without confession no man can be saved.

GREG. The blind man seeks from the Lord not gold, but light. Let us then seek not for false riches, but for that light which together with the Angels alone we may see, the way whereunto is faith. Well then was it said to the blind, Receive your sight; your faith has saved you. He who sees, also follows, because the good which he understands he practices.

AUG. If we interpret Jericho to mean the moon, and therefore death, our Lord when approaching His death commanded the light of the Gospel to be preached to the Jews only, who are signified by that one blind man whom Luke speaks of, but rising again from the dead and ascending to heaven, to both Jews and Gentiles; and these two nations seem to be denoted by the two blind men whom Matthew mentions.

Catena Aurea Luke 18

November 18 - Memorial of Dedication of the Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles

The Story of the Dedication of the Churches of Saints Peter and Paul

St. Peter’s is probably the most famous church in Christendom. Massive in scale and a veritable museum of art and architecture, it began on a much humbler scale. Vatican Hill was a simple cemetery where believers gathered at Saint Peter’s tomb to pray. In 319, Constantine built a basilica on the site that stood for more than a thousand years until, despite numerous restorations, it threatened to collapse. In 1506, Pope Julius II ordered it razed and reconstructed, but the new basilica was not completed and dedicated for more than two centuries.

St. Paul’s Outside-the-Walls stands near the Abaazia delle Tre Fontane, where Saint Paul is believed to have been beheaded. The largest church in Rome until St. Peter’s was rebuilt, the basilica also rises over the traditional site of its namesake’s grave. The most recent edifice was constructed after a fire in 1823. The first basilica was also Constantine’s doing.

Constantine’s building projects enticed the first of a centuries-long parade of pilgrims to Rome. From the time the basilicas were first built until the empire crumbled under “barbarian” invasions, the two churches, although miles apart, were linked by a roofed colonnade of marble columns.

Reflection

Peter, the rough fisherman whom Jesus named the rock on which the Church is built, and the educated Paul, reformed persecutor of Christians, Roman citizen, and missionary to the gentiles, are the original odd couple. The major similarity in their faith-journeys is the journey’s end: both, according to tradition, died a martyr’s death in Rome—Peter on a cross and Paul beneath the sword. Their combined gifts shaped the early Church and believers have prayed at their tombs from the earliest days.

franciscanmedia.org

Memorial of Saint Rose Philippine Duchesne, virgin

Saint Rose Philippine Duchesne’s Story

Born in Grenoble, France, of a family that was among the new rich, Rose learned political skills from her father and a love of the poor from her mother. The dominant feature of her temperament was a strong and dauntless will, which became the material—and the battlefield—of her holiness. She entered the Visitation of Mary convent at 19, and remained despite family opposition. As the French Revolution broke, the convent was closed, and she began taking care of the poor and sick, opened a school for homeless children, and risked her life helping priests in the underground.

When the situation cooled, Rose personally rented the former convent, now a shambles, and tried to revive its religious life. The spirit was gone, however, and soon there were only four nuns left. They joined the infant Society of the Sacred Heart, whose young superior, Mother Madeleine Sophie Barat, would be her lifelong friend.

In a short time Rose was a superior and supervisor of the novitiate and a school. But since hearing tales of missionary work in Louisiana as a little girl, her ambition was to go to America and work among the Indians. At 49, she thought this would be her work. With four nuns, she spent 11 weeks at sea en route to New Orleans, and seven weeks more on the Mississippi to St. Louis. She then met one of the many disappointments of her life. The bishop had no place for them to live and work among Native Americans. Instead, he sent her to what she sadly called “the remotest village in the U.S.,” St. Charles, Missouri. With characteristic drive and courage, she founded the first free school for girls west of the Mississippi.

It was a mistake. Though Rose was as hardy as any of the pioneer women in the wagons rolling west, cold and hunger drove them out—to Florissant, Missouri, where she founded the first Catholic Indian school, adding others in the territory.

“In her first decade in America, Mother Duchesne suffered practically every hardship the frontier had to offer, except the threat of Indian massacre—poor lodging, shortages of food, drinking water, fuel and money, forest fires and blazing chimneys, the vagaries of the Missouri climate, cramped living quarters and the privation of all privacy, and the crude manners of children reared in rough surroundings and with only the slightest training in courtesy” (Louise Callan, R.S.C.J., Philippine Duchesne).

Finally at age 72, retired and in poor health, Rose got her lifelong wish. A mission was founded at Sugar Creek, Kansas, among the Potawatomi and she was taken along. Though she could not learn their language, they soon named her “Woman-Who-Prays-Always.” While others taught, she prayed. Legend has it that Native American children sneaked behind her as she knelt and sprinkled bits of paper on her habit, and came back hours later to find them undisturbed. Rose Philippine died in 1852, at the age of 83, and was canonized in 1988. The Liturgical Feast of Saint Rose Philippine Duchesne is November 18.

Reflection

Divine grace channeled Mother Duchesne’s iron will and determination into humility and selflessness, and to a desire not to be made superior. Still, even saints can get involved in silly situations. In an argument with her over a minor change in the sanctuary, a priest threatened to remove the tabernacle. She patiently let herself be criticized by younger nuns for not being progressive enough. For 31 years, she hewed to the line of a dauntless love and an unshakable observance of her religious vows.

franciscanmedia.org

Patron of perseverance amid adversity, Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau.

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November 18 2019

Monday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time

Reading 1 1 Mc 1:10-15, 41-43, 54-57, 62-63

Responsorial Psalm Ps 119:53, 61, 134, 150, 155, 158

Alleluia Jn 8:12

Gospel Lk 18:35-43

For the readings of the Optional Memorial of the Dedication of the Basilicas of Saints Peter and Paul, please go here.

For the readings of the Optional Memorial of Saint Rose Philippine Duchesne, please go here.

Readings at Mass

November 18 - Memorial of Dedication of the Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles

The Story of the Dedication of the Churches of Saints Peter and Paul

Reflection

Memorial of Saint Rose Philippine Duchesne, virgin

Saint Rose Philippine Duchesne’s Story

Reflection