Posted on 12/02/2019 9:49:40 PM PST by Salvation
KEYWORDS: advent; catholic; lk10; prayer; saints;
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Luke | |||
English: Douay-Rheims | Latin: Vulgata Clementina | Greek NT: Byzantine/Majority Text (2000) | |
Luke 10 |
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21. | In that same hour, he rejoiced in the Holy Ghost, and said: I confess to thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hidden these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them to little ones. Yea, Father, for so it hath seemed good in thy sight. | In ipsa hora exsultavit Spiritu Sancto, et dixit : Confiteor tibi Pater, Domine cæli et terræ, quod abscondisti hæc a sapientibus et prudentibus, et revelasti ea parvulis. Etiam Pater : quoniam sic placuit ante te. | εν αυτη τη ωρα ηγαλλιασατο τω πνευματι ο ιησους και ειπεν εξομολογουμαι σοι πατερ κυριε του ουρανου και της γης οτι απεκρυψας ταυτα απο σοφων και συνετων και απεκαλυψας αυτα νηπιοις ναι ο πατηρ οτι ουτως εγενετο ευδοκια εμπροσθεν σου |
22. | All things are delivered to me by my Father; and no one knoweth who the Son is, but the Father; and who the Father is, but the Son, and to whom the Son will reveal him. | Omnia mihi tradita sunt a Patre meo. Et nemo scit quis sit Filius, nisi Pater : et quis sit Pater, nisi Filius, et cui voluerit Filius revelare. | και στραφεις προς τους μαθητας ειπεν παντα μοι παρεδοθη υπο του πατρος μου και ουδεις γινωσκει τις εστιν ο υιος ει μη ο πατηρ και τις εστιν ο πατηρ ει μη ο υιος και ω εαν βουληται ο υιος αποκαλυψαι |
23. | And turning to his disciples, he said: Blessed are the eyes that see the things which you see. | Et conversus ad discipulos suos, dixit : Beati oculi qui vident quæ vos videtis. | και στραφεις προς τους μαθητας κατ ιδιαν ειπεν μακαριοι οι οφθαλμοι οι βλεποντες α βλεπετε |
24. | For I say to you, that many prophets and kings have desired to see the things that you see, and have not seen them; and to hear the things that you hear, and have not heard them. | Dico enim vobis quod multi prophetæ et reges voluerunt videre quæ vos videtis, et non viderunt : et audire quæ auditis, et non audierunt. | λεγω γαρ υμιν οτι πολλοι προφηται και βασιλεις ηθελησαν ιδειν α υμεις βλεπετε και ουκ ειδον και ακουσαι α ακουετε και ουκ ηκουσαν |
Jesus asked, What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? (Matthew 16:26a). The words were repeated to a young teacher of philosophy who had a highly promising career in academics, with success and a life of prestige and honor before him.
Francis Xavier, 24 at the time, and living and teaching in Paris, did not heed these words at once. They came from a good friend, Ignatius of Loyola, whose tireless persuasion finally won the young man to Christ. Francis then made the spiritual exercises under the direction of Ignatius, and in 1534, joined his little community, the infant Society of Jesus. Together at Montmartre they vowed poverty, chastity, obedience, and apostolic service according to the directions of the pope.
From Venice, where he was ordained a priest in 1537, Xavier went on to Lisbon and from there sailed to the East Indies, landing at Goa, on the west coast of India. For the next 10 years he labored to bring the faith to such widely scattered peoples as the Hindus, the Malayans, and the Japanese. He spent much of that time in India, and served as provincial of the newly established Jesuit province of India.
Wherever he went, Xavier lived with the poorest people, sharing their food and rough accommodations. He spent countless hours ministering to the sick and the poor, particularly to lepers. Very often he had no time to sleep or even to say his breviary but, as we know from his letters, he was filled always with joy.
Xavier went through the islands of Malaysia, then up to Japan. He learned enough Japanese to preach to simple folk, to instruct, and to baptize, and to establish missions for those who were to follow him. From Japan he had dreams of going to China, but this plan was never realized. Before reaching the mainland, he died. His remains are enshrined in the Church of Good Jesus in Goa. He and Saint Thérèse of Lisieux were declared co-patrons of the missions in 1925.
All of us are called to go and preach to all nationssee Matthew 28:19. Our preaching is not necessarily on distant shores but to our families, our children, our husband or wife, our coworkers. And we are called to preach not with words, but by our everyday lives. Only by sacrifice, the giving up of all selfish gain, could Francis Xavier be free to bear the Good News to the world. Sacrifice is leaving yourself behind at times for a greater good, the good of prayer, the good of helping someone in need, the good of just listening to another. The greatest gift we have is our time. Francis Xavier gave his to others.
Japan
Jewelers
Missions
Sailors
From: Isaiah 11:1-10
The New Descendant of David
He shall not judge by what his eyes see,
or decide by what his ears hear;
[4] but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked.
[5] Righteousness shall be the girdle of his waist,
and faithfulness the girdle of his loins.
[6] The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,
and the leopard shall lie down with the kid,
and the calf and the lion and the failing together,
and a little child shall lead them.
[7] The cow and the bear shall feed;
their young shall lie down together;
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
[8] The sucking child shall play over the hole of the asp,
and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adders den.
[9] They shall not hurt or destroy
in all my holy mountain;
for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.
The Return of the Exiles
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Commentary:
11:1-9. This passage, which is regarded as the third Immanuel oracle, has
two parts to it. The first (vv.1-5) announces that the shoot will spring from the
stump of Jesse (David’s father) at some future date. The second (vv. 6-9) de-
scribes the good things associated with his reign, using imagery to do with
messianic peace: creation will be restored to its state of original justice.
The first part is a formal announcement of the accession of a new king in the
line of David — humble, because he comes from a tree that has been pruned
yet has all the vitality of a tender shoot. It refers to a future king (”there shall
come ...”) and not the reigning monarch. The new king will be endowed with
exceptional qualities that equip him to rule, thanks to the Holy Spirit who will
descend upon him. The divine Spirit is an inner strength, a gift that God gives
to key figures in salvation history to enable them to accomplish a difficult and
dangerous mission — Moses (cf. Num 11:17), the judges (cf. 3:10; 6:34) and
David (1 Sam 16:13). The new descendant of David will rule over the people
not in a heavy-handed way like the kings of the time, but with a charismatic
dynamism that comes from God. Six gifts of the Spirit are mentioned, in pairs
— wisdom and understanding, referring to the skill and prudence that ensure
that he will judge rightly; counsel and fortitude, the characteristics of an astute
strategist like David; knowledge and the fear of the Lord, which have to do with
the religious sphere, for the king must not forget that he is God’s representa-
tive.
The second part describes very beautifully the messianic peace that will flower
with this new “shoot”. It paints a panorama of the harmony that reigned at the
dawn of creation, only to be broken by sin. Even among wild beasts violence
will disappear. No longer will man in his pride desire to be “like God, knowing
good and evil” (Gen 3:5); instead he will be filled with the divine gift of the
“knowledge of the Lord” (v. 9). The “child”, mentioned twice (vv. 6, 8), is not
directly connected with the child-king of the oracle found in 9:6 or with the Im-
manuel (7:14); however, in the mind of the prophet they must have had many
points of contact, given the reference to the child having a leadership role (v.
6).
The image of the “shoot” from the royal line who will bring peace has been in-
terpreted in Christian tradition as finding fulfillment in Jesus Christ. St Thomas
Aquinas read this passage as referring to Christ, who brought about the restor-
ation of mankind; he points out: “First, the birth of Christ the ‘restorer’, is spo-
ken of (v. 1); then, his holiness (vv. 2-9) and his dignity (v. 10) are described”
(”Expositio Super lsaiam”, 11). And Bl. John Paul II comments: “Alluding to
the coming of a mysterious personage, which the New Testament revelation
will identify with Jesus, Isaiah connects his person and mission with a parti-
cular action of the Spirit of God — the Spirit of the Lord.
“These are the words of the prophet: ‘There shall come forth a shoot from the
stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. And “the Spirit of
the Lord shall rest upon him,” the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spi-
rit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. And
his delight shall be the fear of the Lord’ (Is 11:1-3). This text is important for
the whole pneumatology of the Old Testament, because it constitutes a kind
of bridge between the ancient biblical concept of ‘spirit’, understood primarily
as a ‘charismatic breath of wind’, and the ‘Spirit’ as a person and as a gift, a
gift for the person. The Messiah of the lineage of David (’from the stump of
Jesse’) is precisely that person upon whom the Spirit of the Lord ‘shall rest.’
It is obvious that in this case one cannot yet speak of a revelation of the Pa-
raclete. However, with this veiled reference to the figure of the future Messiah
there begins, so to speak, the path towards the full revelation of the Holy Spi-
rit in the unity of the Trinitarian mystery, a mystery which will finally be mani-
fested in the New Covenant” (”Dominum Et Vivificantem”, 15).
A Christian reading of these words finds in them a reference to the action of
the Holy Spirit in souls; the “spirits” that repose in the Messiah; are stable
“gifts” through which the Holy Spirit acts. There are six of these gifts, accor-
ding to the Hebrew text (which the New Vulgate and the RSV follow). The
Greek translation of the Septuagint and the Vulgate divide the gift of fear into
two — piety and fear of the Lord. That is why catechesis and theology speak
of there being seven gifts: “The seven ‘gifts’ of the Holy Spirit are wisdom, un-
derstanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety and fear of the Lord. They
belong in their fullness to Christ, Son of David (cf. Is 11:1-2). They complete
and perfect the virtues of those who receive them. They make the faithful do-
cile in readily obeying divine inspirations” (”Catechism of the Catholic Church”,
1831).
******************************************************************************************
Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.
From: Luke 10:21-24
Jesus Gives Thanks
[23] Then turning to the disciples He said privately, “Blessed are the eyes which
see what you see! [24] For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to
see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not
hear it.”
*********************************************************************************************
Commentary:
21. This passage of the Gospel is usually called our Lord’s “hymn of joy” and
is also found in St. Matthew (11:25-27). It is one of those moments when Jesus
rejoices to see humble people understanding and accepting the word of God.
Our Lord also reveals one of the effects of humility — spiritual childhood. For ex-
ample, in another passage He says: “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and be-
come like children, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven” (Matthew 18: 3).
But spiritual childhood does not involve weakness, softness or ignorance: “I have
often meditated on this life of spiritual childhood, which is not incompatible with
fortitude, because it demands a strong will, proven maturity, an open and firm
character [...]. To become children we must renounce our pride and self-sufficien-
cy, recognizing that we can do nothing by ourselves. We must realize that we
need grace, and the help of God our Father to find our way and keep it. To be lit-
tle, you have to abandon yourself as children do, believe as children, beg as chil-
dren beg” (St. J. Escriva, “Christ Is Passing By”, 10 and 143).
22. “This statement is a wonderful help to our faith,” St. Ambrose comments,
“because when you read ‘all’ you realize that Christ is all-powerful, that He is not
inferior to the Father, or less perfect than He; when you read ‘have been delivered
to me’, you confess that Christ is the Son, to whom everything belongs by right
of being one in substance [with the Father] and not by grace of gift” (”Expositio
Evangelii Sec. Lucam, in loc.”).
Here we see Christ as almighty Lord and God, consubstantial with the Father,
and the only one capable of revealing who the Father is. At the same time, we
can recognize the divine nature of Jesus only if the Father gives us the grace of
faith — as He did to St. Peter (cf. Matthew 16:17).
23-24. Obviously, seeing Jesus with one’s own eyes was a wonderful thing for
people who believed in him. However, our Lord will say to Thomas, “Blessed are
those who have not seen and yet believe” (John 20:29). St. Peter, for his part,
tells us: “Without having seen Him you love Him; though you do not see Him
you believe in Him and rejoice with unutterable and exalted joy. As the outcome
of your faith you obtain the salvation of your souls” (1 Peter 1:8-9).
*********************************************************************************************
Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.
Pray for Pope Francis.
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