Our Lady of Lourdes parish, Cincinnati, USA
Posted on 02/11/2021 6:13:52 AM PST by Cronos
Liturgical Colour: Green.
| First reading | Genesis 2:18-25 © |
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| Responsorial Psalm |
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| Psalm 127(128):1-5 © |
| Gospel Acclamation | Ps144:13 |
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| Or: | Jm1:21 |
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| Gospel | Mark 7:24-30 © |
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For: Thursday, February 11, 2021
5th Week in Ordinary Time
Optional Memorial: Our Lady of Lourdes
From: Genesis 2:18-25
The Creation of Eve
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[18] Then the Lord God said, "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him." [19] So out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. [20] The man gave names to all, cattle, and to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for the man there was not found a helper fit for him. [21] So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh; [22] and the rib which the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. [23] Then the man said, "This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man." [24] Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and cleaves to his wife, and they become one flesh. [25] And the man and his wife were both naked, and were not ashamed.
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Commentary:
2:18-25. God continues to take care of man, his creature. The sacred writer conveys this by means of a human metaphor, depicting God as a potter who realizes his creation is not yet perfect. The creation of the human being is not yet over: he needs to be able to live in a full and deep union with another of his kind. The animals were also created by God, but they cannot provide complete companionship. So God creates woman, giving her the same body as man. From now on it is possible for the human being to communicate. The creation of woman, therefore, marks the climax of God's love for the human being he created.
This passage also shows us man's interiority: he is aware of his own aloneness. Although here loneliness is more a possibility and a fear rather than a real situation, we are being told that it is through awareness of being alone that man can appreciate the benefit of communion with others.
2:19-20. Like man, animals are created out of matter, but they are not said to have received from God the breath of life. Only man is given the breath of life, and this is what makes him essentially different from animals: man has a form of life given him directly by God; that is to say, he is animated by a spiritual principle which enables him to converse with God and to have real communion with other human beings. We call this "soul" or "spirit". It makes man more akin to God than to animals, even though the human body is made from the earth and belongs to the earth just as an animal's body does (cf. the notes on 1:26 and 2:7).
"The unity of soul and body is so profound that one has to consider the soul to be the 'form' of the body (cf. Council of Vienne, Fidei Catholicae): that is, it is because of its spiritual soul that the body made of matter becomes a living, human body; spirit and matter, in man, are not two natures united, but rather their union forms a single nature" (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 365).
2:21-22. This sleep is a kind of death; it is as if God suspended the life he gave man, in order to re-shape him so that he can begin to live again in another way-by being two, man and woman, and no longer alone. By describing the creation of woman as coming from one of Adam's ribs, the sacred writer is saying that, contrary to people's thinking at the time, man and woman have the same nature and the same dignity, for both have come from the same piece of clay that God shaped and made into a living being. The Bible is also explaining the mutual attraction man and woman have for one another.
2:23 When man--now in the sense of the male human being--recognizes woman as a person who is his equal, someone who has the same nature as himself, he discovers in her the fit "helper" God wanted him to have. Now indeed the creation of the human being is complete, having become "man becomes the image of God not so much in the moment of solitude as in the moment of communion" (St. Pope John Paul II, General Audience, 4 November 1979).
The first man's acclaim for the first woman shows the capacity both have to associate intimately in marriage. Man's attitude to woman as it comes across here is that of husband to wife. "In his wife he sees the fulfillment of God's intention: 'It is not good that the man should he alone; I will make him a helper fit for him,' and he makes his own the cry of Adam, the first husband: 'This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh.' Authentic conjugal love presupposes and requires that a man have a profound respect for the equal dignity of his wife: 'You are not her master,' writes St Ambrose (Hexaemeron, 5, 7, 19) 'but her husband; she was not given to you to be your slave, but your wife [...]. Reciprocate her attentiveness to you and be grateful to her for her love"' (John Paul II, Familiaris Consortio, 25).
2:24. These words are a comment by the sacred writer in which, having told the story of the creation of woman, he depicts the institution of marriage as something established by God at the time when human life began. As St. Pope John Paul II explains, "this conjugal communion sinks its roots in the natural complementarity that exists between man and woman, and is nurtured through the personal willingness of the spouses to share their entire life-project, what they have and what they are: for this reason such communion is the fruit and the sign of a profoundly human need" (Farniliaris Consortio, 19).
By joining in marriage, man and woman form a family. Even the earliest translations of the Bible (Greek and Aramaic), interpreted this passage as meaning "the two will become one flesh", thereby indicating that marriage as willed by God was monogamous. Jesus also referred to this passage about the origin of man to teach the indissolubility of marriage, drawing the conclusion that "what God has joined together, let no man put asunder" (Mt 19:5 and par.) The Church teaches the same: "The intimate partnership of life and the love which constitutes the married state has been established by the Creator and endowed by him with its own proper laws: it is rooted in the contract of its partners, that is, in their irrevocable personal consent. It is an institution confirmed by the divine law and receiving its stability, even in the eyes of society, from the human act by which the partners mutually surrender themselves to each other; for the good of the partners, of the children, and of society this sacred bond no longer depends on human decision alone. For God himself is the author of marriage and has endowed it with various benefits and with various ends in view" (Vatican II, Gaudium Et Spes, 48,).
2:25. Here we can see how man and his body were totally in harmony, as were man and woman; this harmony will be broken due to the sin the narrative goes on to report.
The Curing of the Syrophoenician Woman
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[24] And from there he (Jesus) arose and went away to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And he entered a house, and would not have any one know it; yet he could not be hid. [25] But immediately a woman, whose little daughter was possessed by an unclean spirit, heard of him, and came and fell down at his feet. [26] Now the woman was a Greek, a Syrophoenician by birth. And she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. [27] And he said to her, "Let the children first be fed, for it is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs." [28] But she answered him, "Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs." [29] And he said to her, "For this saying you may go your way; the demon has left your daughter." [30] And she went home, and found the child lying in bed, and the demon gone.
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Commentary:
24. The region of Tyre and Sidon is nowadays the southern part of Lebanon – Phoenicia in ancient times. The distance from the lake of Gennesaret to the frontier of Tyre and Sidon is not more than 50 kms (30 miles). Jesus withdrew from Palestine to avoid persecution by the Jewish authorities and to give the Apostles more intensive training.
27. Our Lord actually uses the diminutive--"little dogs" to refer to the Gentiles-- thereby softening a scornful expression which Jews used. On the episode of the Canaanite woman cf. notes on parallel passages, Mt 15:21-28.
[The notes on Mt 15:21-28 states:
21-22. Tyre and Sidon were Phoenician cities on the Mediterranean coast, in present-day Lebanon. They were never part of Galilee but they were near its north-eastern border. In Jesus' time they were outside the territory of Herod Antipas. Jesus withdrew to this area to escape persecution from Herod and from the Jewish authorities and to concentrate on training His Apostles.
Most of the inhabitants of the district of Tyre and Sidon were pagans. St. Matthew calls this woman a "Canaanite"; according to Genesis (10:15), this district was one of the first to be settled by the Canaanites; St. Mark describes the woman as a "Syrophoenician" (Mark 7:26). Both Gospels point out that she is a pagan, which means that her faith in our Lord is more remarkable; the same applies in the case of the centurion (Matthew 8:5-13).
The Canaanite woman's prayer is quite perfect: she recognizes Jesus as the Messiah (the Son of David)--which contrasts with the unbelief of the Jews; she expresses her need in clear, simple words; she persists, undismayed by obstacles; and she expresses her request in all humility: "Have mercy on me." Our prayer should have the same qualities of faith, trust, perseverance and humility.
24. What Jesus says here does not take from the universal reference of His teaching (cf. Matthew 28:19-20; Mark 16:15-16). Our Lord came to bring His Gospel to the whole world, but He Himself addressed only the Jews; later on He will charge His Apostles to preach the Gospel to pagans. St. Paul, in his missionary journeys, also adopted the policy of preaching in the first instance to the Jews (Acts 13:46).
25-28. This dialogue between Jesus and the woman is especially beautiful. By appearing to be harsh He so strengthens the woman's faith that she deserves exceptional praise: "Great is your faith!" Our own conversation with Christ should be like that: "Persevere in prayer. Persevere, even when your efforts seem barren. Prayer is always fruitful" (St. J. Escriva, The Way, 101).]
Logical Bible Study podcast on the daily mass Gospel reading for Thursday, February 11, 2021. Today's Gospel reading is Mark 7:24-30 - 'The Curing of the Syrophoenician Woman.'
| Mark | ||||
| English: Douay-Rheims | English: American Standard Version | Latin: Vulgata Clementina | Greek NT: Byzantine/Majority Text (2000) | |
| 24. | And rising from thence he went into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon: and entering into a house, he would that no man should know it, and he could not be hid. | And from thence he arose, and went away into the borders of Tyre and Sidon. And he entered into a house, and would have no man know it; and he could not be hid. | Et inde surgens abiit in fines Tyri et Sidonis : et ingressus domum, neminem voluit scire, et non potuit latere. | και εκειθεν αναστας απηλθεν εις τα μεθορια τυρου και σιδωνος και εισελθων εις οικιαν ουδενα ηθελεν γνωναι και ουκ ηδυνηθη λαθειν |
| 25. | For a woman as soon as she heard of him, whose daughter had an unclean spirit, came in and fell down at his feet. | But straightway a woman, whose little daughter had an unclean spirit, having heard of him, came and fell down at his feet. | Mulier enim statim ut audivit de eo, cujus filia habebat spiritum immundum, intravit, et procidit ad pedes ejus. | ακουσασα γαρ γυνη περι αυτου ης ειχεν το θυγατριον αυτης πνευμα ακαθαρτον ελθουσα προσεπεσεν προς τους ποδας αυτου |
| 26. | For the woman was a Gentile, a Syrophenician born. And she besought him that he would cast forth the devil out of her daughter. | Now the woman was a Greek, a Syrophoenician by race. And she besought him that he would cast forth the demon out of her daughter. | Erat enim mulier gentilis, Syrophœnissa genere. Et rogabat eum ut dæmonium ejiceret de filia ejus. | ην δε η γυνη ελληνις συραφοινικισσα τω γενει και ηρωτα αυτον ινα το δαιμονιον εκβαλη εκ της θυγατρος αυτης |
| 27. | Who said to her: Suffer first the children to be filled: for it is not good to take the bread of the children, and cast it to the dogs. | And he said unto her, Let the children first be filled: for it is not meet to take the children's bread and cast it to the dogs. | Qui dixit illi : Sine prius saturari filios : non est enim bonum sumere panem filiorum, et mittere canibus. | ο δε ιησους ειπεν αυτη αφες πρωτον χορτασθηναι τα τεκνα ου γαρ καλον εστιν λαβειν τον αρτον των τεκνων και βαλειν τοις κυναριοις |
| 28. | But she answered and said to him: Yea, Lord; for the whelps also eat under the table of the crumbs of the children. | But she answered and saith unto him, Yea, Lord; even the dogs under the table eat of the children's crumbs. | At illa respondit, et dixit illi : Utique Domine, nam et catelli comedunt sub mensa de micis puerorum. | η δε απεκριθη και λεγει αυτω ναι κυριε και γαρ τα κυναρια υποκατω της τραπεζης εσθιει απο των ψιχιων των παιδιων |
| 29. | And he said to her: For this saying go thy way, the devil is gone out of thy daughter. | And he said unto her, For this saying go thy way; the demon is gone out of thy daughter. | Et ait illi : Propter hunc sermonem vade : exiit dæmonium a filia tua. | και ειπεν αυτη δια τουτον τον λογον υπαγε εξεληλυθεν το δαιμονιον εκ της θυγατρος σου |
| 30. | And when she was come into her house, she found the girl lying upon the bed, and that the devil was gone out. | And she went away unto her house, and found the child laid upon the bed, and the demon gone out. | Et cum abiisset domum suam, invenit puellam jacentem supra lectum, et dæmonium exiisse. | και απελθουσα εις τον οικον αυτης ευρεν το δαιμονιον εξεληλυθος και την θυγατερα βεβλημενην επι της κλινης |
7:24–30
24. And from thence he arose, and went into the borders of Tyre and Sidon, and entered in to an house, and would have no man know it: but he could not be hid.
25. For a certain woman, whose young daughter had an unclean spirit, heard of him, and came and fell at his feet:
26. The woman was a Greek, a Syrophenician by nation; and she besought him that he would cast forth the devil out of her daughter.
27. But Jesus said unto her, Let the children first be filled: for it is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it unto the dogs.
28. And she answered and said unto him, Yes, Lord: yet the dogs under the table eat of the children’s crumbs.
29. And he said unto her, For this saying go thy way; the devil is gone out of thy daughter.
30. And when she was come to her house, she found the devil gone out, and her daughter laid upon the bed.
THEOPHYLACT. After that the Lord had finished His teaching concerning food, seeing that the Jews were incredulous, He enters into the country of the Gentiles, for the Jews being unfaithful, salvation turns itself to the Gentiles; wherefore it is said, And from thence he arose, and went into the borders of Tyre and Sidon.
PSEUDO-CHRYSOSTOM. (Vict. Ant. e Cat. in Marc.) Tyre and Sidon were places of the Canaanites, therefore the Lord comes to them, not as to His own, but as to men, who had nothing in common with the fathers to whom the promise was made. And therefore He comes in such a way, that His coming should not be known to the Tyrians and Sidonians. Wherefore it continues: And entered in to a house, and would have no man know it. For the time had not come for His dwelling with the Gentiles and bringing them to the faith, for this was not to be, till after His cross and resurrection.
THEOPHYLACT. (Pseudo-Aug. Quæst. e Vet. et Nov. Test. 77) Or else His reason for coming in secret was that the Jews should not find occasion of blame against Him, as if He had passed over to the unclean Gentiles. It goes on, But he could not be hid.
PSEUDO-AUGUSTINE. But if He wished to do so and could not, it appears as if His will was impotent; it is not possible however that our Saviour’s will should not be fulfilled, nor can He will a thing, which He knows ought not be. Therefore when a thing has taken place, it may be asserted that He has willed it. But we should observe that this happened amongst the Gentiles, to whom it was not time to preach; nevertheless not to receive them, when they came to the faith of their own accord, would have been to grudge them the faith. So then it came to pass that the Lord was not made known by His disciples; others, however, who had seen Him entering the house, recognised Him, and it began to be known that He was there. His will therefore was that He should not be proclaimed by His own disciples, but that others should come to seek Him, and so it took place.
BEDE. (in Marc. 2, 30) Having entered also into the house, He commanded His disciples not to betray who He was to any one in this unknown region, that they, on whom He had bestowed the grace of healing, might learn by His example, as far as they could, to shrink from the glory of human praise in the shewing forth of their miracles; yet they were not to cease from the pious work of virtue, when either the faith of the good justly deserved that miracles should be done, or the unfaithfulness of the wicked might necessarily compel them. For He Himself made known His entry into that place to the Gentile woman, and to whomsoever He would.
PSEUDO-AUGUSTINE. (ubi sup.) Lastly, the Canaanitish woman came in to Him, on hearing of Him; if she had not first submitted herself to the God of the Jews, she would not have obtained their benefit. Concerning her it continues: For a woman, whose daughter had an unclean spirit, as soon as she had heard of him, came in and fell at his feet.
PSEUDO-CHRYSOSTOM. (Vict. Ant. e Cat. in Marc.) Now by this the Lord wished to shew His disciples that He opened the door of faith even to the Gentiles, wherefore also the nation of the woman is described when it is added, The woman was a Gentile, a Syrophenician by nation, that is, from Syria of Phænice. It goes on: And she besought him that he would cast forth the devil out of her daughter.
AUGUSTINE. (de Con. Evan. 2, 49) It appears however that some question about a discrepancy may be raised, because it is said that the Lord was in the house when the woman came to her, asking about her daughter. When, however, Matthew says that His disciples had suggested to Him, Send her away, for she crieth after us, (Matt. 15:23) he appears to imply nothing less than that the woman uttered supplicating cries after the Lord, as He walked. How then do we infer that she was in the house, except by gathering it from Mark, who says that she came in to Jesus, after having before said that He was in the house? But Matthew in that he says, He answered her not a word, gave us to understand that He went out, during that silence, from the house; thus too the other events are connected together, so that they now in no way disagree. It continues; But he said unto her, Let the children be first filled.
BEDE. (ubi sup.) The time will come when even you who are Gentiles will obtain salvation; but it is right that first the Jews who deservedly are wont to be called by the name of children of God’s ancient election, should be refreshed with heavenly bread, and that so at length, the food of life should be ministered to the Gentiles. There follows: For it is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it to the dogs.
PSEUDO-CHRYSOSTOM. (Vict. Ant. e Cat. in Marc.) These words He uttered not that there is in Him a deficiency of virtue, to prevent His ministering to all, but because His benefit, if ministered to both Jews and Gentiles who had no communication with each other, might be a cause of jealousy.
THEOPHYLACT. He calls the Gentiles dogs, as being thought wicked by the Jews; and He means by bread, the benefit which the Lord promised to the children, that is, to the Jews. The sense therefore is, that it is not right for the Gentiles first to be partakers of the benefit, promised principally to the Jews. The reason, therefore, why the Lord does not immediately hear, but delays His grace, is, that He may also shew that the faith of the woman was firm, and that we may learn not at once to grow weary in prayer, but to continue earnest till we obtain.
PSEUDO-CHRYSOSTOM. (Vict. Ant. e Cat. in Marc.) In like manner also to shew the Jews that He did not confer healing on foreigners in the same degree as to them, and that by the discovery of the woman’s faith, the unfaithfulness of the Jews might be the more laid bare. For the woman did not take it ill, but with much reverence assented to what the Lord had said. Wherefore it goes on, And she answered and said unto him, Truth, Lord, but the dogs under the table eat of the children’s crumbs.
THEOPHYLACT. As if she had said, The Jews have the whole of that bread which comes down from heaven, and Thy benefits also; I ask for the crumbs, that is, a small portion of the benefit.
PSEUDO-CHRYSOSTOM. (Vict. Ant. e Cat. in Marc.) Her placing herself therefore in the rank of dogs is a mark of her reverence; as if she said, I hold it as a favour to be even in the position of a dog, and to eat not from another table, but from that of the Master himself.
THEOPHYLACT. Because therefore the woman answered with much wisdom, she obtained what she wanted; wherefore there follows, And he said unto her, &c. He said not, My virtue hath made thee whole, but for this saying, that is, for thy faith, which is shewn by this saying, go thy way, the devil is gone out of thy daughter. It goes on, And when she was come into her house, she found her daughter laid upon the bed, and the devil gone out.
BEDE. (ubi sup.) On account then of the humble and faithful saying of her mother, the devil left the daughter; here is given a precedent for catechising and baptizing infants, seeing that by the faith and the confession of the parents, infants are freed in baptism from the devil, though they can neither have knowledge in themselves, or do either good or evil.
PSEUDO-JEROME. Mystically however the Gentile woman, who prays for her daughter, is our mother the Church of Rome. Her daughter afflicted with a devil, is the barbarian western race, which by faith hath been turned from a dog into a sheep. She desires to take the crumbs of spiritual understanding, not the unbroken bread of the letter.
THEOPHYLACT. The soul of each of us also, when he falls into sin, becomes a woman; and this soul has a daughter who is sick, that is, evil actions; this daughter again has a devil, for evil actions arise from devils. Again, sinners are called dogs, being filled with uncleanness. For which reason we are not worthy to receive the bread of God, or to be made partakers of the immaculate mysteries of God; if however in humility, knowing ourselves to be dogs, we confess our sins, then the daughter, that is, our evil life, shall be healed.
On December 8, 1854, Pope Pius IX proclaimed the dogma of the Immaculate Conception in the apostolic constitution Ineffabilis Deus. A little more than three years later, on February 11, 1858, a young lady appeared to Bernadette Soubirous. This began a series of visions. During the apparition on March 25, the lady identified herself with the words: “I am the Immaculate Conception.”
Bernadette was a sickly child of poor parents. Their practice of the Catholic faith was scarcely more than lukewarm. Bernadette could pray the Our Father, the Hail Mary and the Creed. She also knew the prayer of the Miraculous Medal: “O Mary conceived without sin.”
During interrogations Bernadette gave an account of what she saw. It was “something white in the shape of a girl.” She used the word aquero, a dialect term meaning “this thing.” It was “a pretty young girl with a rosary over her arm.” Her white robe was encircled by a blue girdle. She wore a white veil. There was a yellow rose on each foot. A rosary was in her hand. Bernadette was also impressed by the fact that the lady did not use the informal form of address (tu), but the polite form (vous). The humble virgin appeared to a humble girl and treated her with dignity.
Through that humble girl, Mary revitalized and continues to revitalize the faith of millions of people. People began to flock to Lourdes from other parts of France and from all over the world. In 1862 Church authorities confirmed the authenticity of the apparitions and authorized the cult of Our Lady of Lourdes for the diocese. The Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes became worldwide in 1907.
Reflection
Lourdes has become a place of pilgrimage and healing, but even more of faith. Church authorities have recognized over 60 miraculous cures, although there have probably been many more. To people of faith this is not surprising. It is a continuation of Jesus’ healing miracles—now performed at the intercession of his mother. Some would say that the greater miracles are hidden. Many who visit Lourdes return home with renewed faith and a readiness to serve God in their needy brothers and sisters.
There still may be people who doubt the apparitions of Lourdes. Perhaps the best that can be said to them are the words that introduce the film The Song of Bernadette: “For those who believe in God, no explanation is necessary. For those who do not believe, no explanation is possible.”
Our Lady of Lourdes is the Patron Saint of:
Bodily Ills
Played baseball for them when I was a Yute. Our hats said OLLS on them. Old Lamott’s Liquor Shop. we said. Father Lamott was the Pastor. Lord help you if you made a mistake as an altar boy. You got “The Stare” from him.
The pilgrimage of Lourdes is founded on the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin to a poor, fourteen-year-old girl, Bernadette Soubirous. The first apparition occurred 11 February, 1858. There were eighteen in all; the last took place 16 July, of the same year. Bernadette often fell into an ecstasy. The mysterious vision she saw in the hollow of the rock Massabielle was that of a young and beautiful lady. Lovelier than I have ever seen said the child. But the girl was the only one who saw the vision, although sometimes many stood there with her. Now and then the apparition spoke to the seer who also was the only one who heard the voice. Thus, she one day told her to drink of a mysterious fountain, in the grotto itself, the existence of which was unknown, and of which there was no sign, but which immediately gushed forth. On another occasion the apparition bade Bernadette go and tell the priests she wished a chapel to be built on the spot and processions to be made to the grotto. At first the clergy were incredulous. It was only four years later, in 1862, that the bishop of the diocese declared the faithful justified in believing the reality of the apparition. A basilica was built upon the rock of Massabielle by M. Peyramale, the parish priest. In 1873 the great national French pilgrimages were inaugurated. Three years later the basilica was consecrated and the statue solemnly crowned. In 1883 the foundation stone of another church was laid, as the first was no longer large enough. It was built at the foot of the basilica and was consecrated in 1901 and called the Church of the Rosary. Pope Leo XIII authorized a special office and a Mass, in commemoration of the apparition, and in 1907 Pius X extended the observance of this feast to the entire Church; it is now observed on 11 February.
ReflectionHoly Mary, Mother of God, pray for us!
when was that?
First through 5th grades, 1960-1965.
MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS FOR THE XXIX WORLD DAY OF THE SICK (February 11) 2021
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