Catholic Caucus: Daily Mass Readings, 9-20-02, Mem: Sts. Andrew Kim Taegon, Paul Chong Hasang

Reading I
1 Cor 15:12-20

Brothers and sisters:
If Christ is preached as raised from the dead,
how can some among you say there is no resurrection of the dead?
If there is no resurrection of the dead,
then neither has Christ been raised.
And if Christ has not been raised, then empty too is our preaching;
empty, too, your faith.
Then we are also false witnesses to God,
because we testified against God that he raised Christ,
whom he did not raise if in fact the dead are not raised.
For if the dead are not raised, neither has Christ been raised,
and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is vain;
you are still in your sins.
Then those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.
If for this life only we have hoped in Christ,
we are the most pitiable people of all.

But now Christ has been raised from the dead,
the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 17:1bcd, 6-7, 8b and 15

R (15b) Lord, when your glory appears, my joy will be full.
Hear, O Lord, a just suit;
attend to my outcry;
hearken to my prayer from lips without deceit.
R Lord, when your glory appears, my joy will be full.
I call upon you, for you will answer me, O God;
incline your ear to me; hear my word.
Show your wondrous mercies,
O savior of those who flee
from their foes to refuge at your right hand.
R Lord, when your glory appears, my joy will be full.
Hide me in the shadow of your wings,
But I in justice shall behold your face;
on waking, I shall be content in your presence.
R Lord, when your glory appears, my joy will be full.

Gospel
Lk 8:1-3

Jesus journeyed from one town and village to another,
preaching and proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom of God.
Accompanying him were the Twelve
and some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities,
Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out,
Joanna, the wife of Herod's steward Chuza,
Susanna, and many others
who provided for them out of their resources.

From The Word Among Us

Friday, September 20, 2002

Meditation
1 Corinthians 15:12-20

Do you want some advice on evangelization? Then, read these words from St. Paul about the power of Jesus’ resurrection. It’s not a typical place to look, but Paul is adamant that Christ must be preached as “raised from the dead” (1 Corinthians 15:12). In a way, to focus only on Jesus’ death would be as silly as burying seeds in a garden without thinking about the flowers or vegetables that they will become. As Jesus himself once said, it is so that it will “bear much fruit” that a grain of wheat must fall into the ground and die (John 12:24).

Yes, Jesus died for our sins. But he also rose in victory over sin—and he took us with him to heaven! Paul’s point is that without the resurrection, our condition would be pitiful: “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.” (1 Corinthians 15:17).

The good news God has commissioned us to proclaim is that Christ has been raised, and through his resurrection, heaven now is opened. All the healing, restoring, transforming power of God has been poured out on a fallen world. This message of hope and promise should be at the heart of the message we preach. Jesus’ death isn’t just about what he saved us from. It’s also about what he saved us for. Evangelization is meant to go beyond announcing God’s forgiveness for sin. It proclaims the invitation to live in his presence, even here on earth, and the untold possibilities of life that unfold as we walk with Jesus every day.

Seeing both sides of the cross—Jesus’ death and his resurrection—can fill us with a growing passion to spread the gospel. We can help men and women come to share in the victory of Christ. We can help them rise above this world in faith. We can help them find the way to freedom from sin so they can be intimately united to Jesus. May this be the great hope that guides us today in all our dealings with people—at work, at school, in our neighborhood, in our homes. May we be joyful witnesses to the resurrection life.

“Lord Jesus, thank you for the victory of your resurrection. I want to reveal this life to everyone who has yet to encounter you as their risen and victorious Lord.”

First Reading: The Basis of our Faith, The Cause of our Resurrection

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Commentary:

12-19. St Paul very forcefully states that the resurrection of Christ is an essential truth of the Christian faith; without it that faith is vain. For, by rising from the dead Christ completes the work of Redemption. Dying on the cross meant victory over sins; but it was necessary also that he should rise from the dead and thereby conquer death, the outcome of sin (cf. Rom 5:12). "It was necessary that Christ should rise again in order to manifest the justice of God; for it was most appropriate that he who through obedience to God was degraded, and loaded with ignominy, should by him be exalted. [...] He rose also to confirm our faith, which is necessary for justification; for the resurrection of Christ from the dead by his own power affords an irrefutable proof that he was the Son of God. Again the resurrection nourishes and sustains our hope. As Christ rose again, we rest on an assured hope that we too shall rise again; the members must necessarily arrive at the condition of their head. [...] Finally, the resurrection of our Lord, it should also be taught, was necessary to complete the mystery of our salvation and redemption. By his death Christ liberated us from sin, by his resurrection he restored to us the most important of those privileges which we had forfeited by sin" ("St Pius V Catechism", I, 6, 12).

In these verses St Paul is really giving indirect arguments in support of Christ's resurrection, by pointing out what an absurd situation we would be in if Jesus Christ had not risen: our faith would be in vain (vv. 14,17,18), as would our hope (v.19); the Apostles would be false witnesses and their preaching valueless (vv 14-15); and we would still be in our sins (v. 17). Christians, in other words, would be "of all men most to be pitied" (v. 19).

20-28. The Apostle insists on the solidarity that exists between Christ and Christians: as members of one single body, of which Christ is the head, they form as it were one organism (cf. Rom 6:3-11; Gal 3:28). Therefore, once the resurrection of Christ is affirmed, the resurrection of the just necessarily follows. Adam's disobedience brought death for all; Jesus, the new Adam, has merited that all should rise (cf. Rom 5:12-21). "Again, the resurrection of Christ effects for us the resurrection of our bodies not only because it was the efficient cause of this mystery, but also because we all ought to arise after the example of the Lord. For with regard to the resurrection of the body we have this testimony of the Apostle: 'As by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead' (1 Cor 15:21). In all that God did to accomplish the mystery of our redemption he made use of the humanity of Christ as an effective instrument, and hence his resurrection was, as it were, an instrument for the accomplishment of our resurrection" ("St Pius V Catechism", I, 6, 13).

Although St Paul here is referring only to the resurrection of the just (v. 23), he does speak elsewhere of the resurrection of all mankind (cf. Acts 24:15). The doctrine of the resurrection of the bodies of all at the end of time, when Jesus will come in glory to judge everyone, has always been part of the faith of the Church; "he [Christ] will come at the end of the world, he will judge the living and the dead; and he will reward all, both the lost and the elect, according to their works. And all those will rise with their own bodies which they now have so that they may receive according to their works, whether good or bad; the wicked, a perpetual punishment with the devil; the good, eternal glory with 'Christ" (Fourth Lateran Council, "De Fide Catholica", chap. 1).
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Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland.

The Holy Women

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Commentary:

1-3. The Gospel refers a number of times to women accompanying our Lord. Here St. Luke gives us the names of three of them--Mary, called Magdalene, to whom the risen Christ appeared beside the Holy Sepulchre (John 20:11-18; Mark 16:9); Joanna, a lady of some position, whom we also meet among the women who went to the tomb on the morning of the Resurrection (Luke 24:10), and Susanna, whom the Gospel does not mention again. The role of these women consisted in helping Jesus and His disciples out of their own resources, thereby showing their gratitude for what Christ had done for them, and in cooperating in His ministry.

Men and women enjoy equal dignity in the Church. Within the context of that equality, women certainly have specific characteristics which must necessarily be reflected in their role in the Church: "All the baptized, men and women alike, share equally in the dignity, freedom and responsibility of the children of God.... Women are called to bring to the family, to society and to the Church, characteristics which are their own and which they alone can give--their gentle warmth and untiring generosity, their love for detail, their quick-wittedness and intuition, their simple and deep piety, their constancy.... A woman's femininity is genuine only if she is aware of the beauty of this contribution for which there is no substitute--and if she incorporates it into her own life" ([Blessed] J. Escriva, "Conversations", 14 and 87).

The Gospel makes special reference to the generosity of these women. It is nice to know that our Lord availed Himself of their charity, and that they responded to Him with such refined and generous detachment that Christian women feel filled with a holy and fruitful envy (cf. [Blessed] J. Escriva, "The Way", 981).
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Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland.

OK, ladies, here you go!

Sts. Andrew Kim Taegon, Paul Chong Hasang, and Companions

Feastday: September 20

Feastday: September 20

The evangelization of Korea began during the 17th century through a group of lay persons. A strong vital Christian community flourished there under lay leadership until missionaries arrived from the Paris Foreign Mission Society.

During the terrible persecutions that occurred in the 19th century (in 1839, 1866, and 1867), one hundred and three members of the Christian community gave their lives as martyrs. Outstanding among these witnesses to the faith were the first Korean priest and pastor, Andrew Kim Taegon, and the lay apostle, Paul Chong Hasang.

Among the other martyrs were a few bishops and priests, but for the most part lay people, men and women, married and unmarried, children, young people, and the elderly. All suffered greatly for the Faith and consecrated the rich beginnings of the Church of Korea with their blood as martyrs.

Pope John Paul II, during his trip to Korea, canonized these martyrs on May 6, 1984, and inserted their feast into the Calendar of the Universal Church.

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