Catholic Caucus: Daily Mass Readings, 12-07-02, Memorial of St. Ambrose, Bishop and doctor

Reading I
Is 30:19-21, 23-26

Thus says the Lord God,
the Holy One of Israel:
O people of Zion, who dwell in Jerusalem,
no more will you weep;
He will be gracious to you when you cry out,
as soon as he hears he will answer you.
The Lord will give you the bread you need
and the water for which you thirst.
No longer will your Teacher hide himself,
but with your own eyes you shall see your Teacher,
While from behind, a voice shall sound in your ears:
"This is the way; walk in it,"
when you would turn to the right or to the left.

He will give rain for the seed
that you sow in the ground,
And the wheat that the soil produces
will be rich and abundant.
On that day your flock will be given pasture
and the lamb will graze in spacious meadows;
The oxen and the asses that till the ground
will eat silage tossed to them
with shovel and pitchfork.
Upon every high mountain and lofty hill
there will be streams of running water.
On the day of the great slaughter,
when the towers fall,
The light of the moon will be like that of the sun
and the light of the sun will be seven times greater
like the light of seven days.
On the day the Lord binds up the wounds of his people,
he will heal the bruises left by his blows.

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 147:1-2, 3-4, 5-6

R (see Isaiah 30:18d) Blessed are all who wait for the Lord.
Praise the Lord, for he is good;
sing praise to our God, for he is gracious;
it is fitting to praise him.
The Lord rebuilds Jerusalem;
the dispersed of Israel he gathers.
R Blessed are all who wait for the Lord.
He heals the brokenhearted
and binds up their wounds.
He tells the number of the stars;
he calls each by name.
R Blessed are all who wait for the Lord.
Great is our Lord and mighty in power:
to his wisdom there is no limit.
The Lord sustains the lowly;
the wicked he casts to the ground.
R Blessed are all who wait for the Lord.

Gospel
Mt 9:35–10:1, 5a, 6-8

Jesus went around to all the towns and villages,
teaching in their synagogues,
proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom,
and curing every disease and illness.
At the sight of the crowds, his heart was moved with pity for them
because they were troubled and abandoned,
like sheep without a shepherd.
Then he said to his disciples,
"The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few;
so ask the master of the harvest
to send out laborers for his harvest."

Then he summoned his Twelve disciples
and gave them authority over unclean spirits to drive them out
and to cure every disease and every illness.

Jesus sent out these Twelve after instructing them thus,
"Go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
As you go, make this proclamation: ‘The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.'
Cure the sick, raise the dead,
cleanse lepers, drive out demons.
Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give."

The Word Among Us

Saturday, December 07, 2002

Meditation
Matthew 9:35–10:1,6-8

Imagine your excitement if a spiritually indifferent friend you’ve been praying for decides to open his or her heart to God. Or how would you feel if the young couple you helped at the marriage preparation course became devoted parishioners? Wouldn’t you be excited? Wouldn’t it feel great to see that evangelism really does work? And not only would you be happy, but all of heaven would be rejoicing as well.

Jesus proclaimed that “the harvest is plentiful” (Matthew 9:37), meaning there are many who are not yet believers but are ready to accept God’s merciful love. But bringing in this harvest of souls doesn’t happen overnight. Harvesting can be hard work! Indeed, much effort may be needed long before harvest time. The soil may need tilling; thorns of unbelief may need to be rooted out before the seed of God’s word can be planted. Faith may mature only slowly in the hearts of family members and friends. Our kindness, love, and prayer may be needed to water and nurture the seedlings of faith until they bud forth, blossom, and ripen into plump fruit.

The flip side of the harvest being abundant is that “the laborers are few.” This doesn’t make Jesus worry, however. Rather, he makes this point to encourage us to “ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers” (Matthew 9:38). The sowing and reaping of such a bountiful harvest requires the whole community of believers, including you and me. We can be confident that when we ask for help with the harvesting, God will richly provide, as we hear in the first reading. He provides not only the personnel, but the love, perseverance, the wisdom, and the grace needed to draw new citizens into his kingdom.

As children of a loving, generous God, it’s natural for us to want to share his love with others. At whatever stage of evangelization we are working—tilling the soil, planting seeds, or nurturing our friends’ growing faith—the Lord of the harvest is in control. And all our struggles and sacrifices are worthwhile when they help someone make the joyful discovery of God’s forgiveness and love.

“Jesus, Lord of the harvest, thank you for men and women prepared to become your followers. I hear you calling me to labor in your harvest, and I say, ‘Yes, Lord, send me!’”

From: Matthew 9:35-10:1, 6-8

The Need for Good Shepherds

[35] And Jesus went about all the cities and villages teaching in their
synagogues and preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom, and healing every
disease and every infirmity. [36] When He saw the crowds, He had
compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like
sheep without a shepherd. [37] Then He said to His disciples, "The
harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; [38] pray therefore the
Lord of harvest to send out laborers into His harvest."

The Calling and First Mission of the Apostles

[1] And He called to Him His twelve disciples and gave them authority
over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and
every infirmity. (And He charged them,) [6] "But go rather to the lost
sheep of the house of Israel. [7] And preach as you go, saying, `The
Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.' [8] Heal the sick, raise the dead,
cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You received without pay, give
without pay."

Commentary:

35. The Second Vatican Council uses this passage when teaching about
the message of Christian charity which the Church should always be
spreading: "Christian charity is extended to all without distinction of
race, social condition or religion, and seeks neither gain nor
gratitude. Just as God loves us with a gratuitous love, so too the
faithful, in their charity, should be concerned for mankind, loving it
with that same love with which God sought man. As Christ went about
all the towns and villages healing every sickness and infirmity, as a
sign that the Kingdom of God had come, so the Church, through its
children, joins itself with men of every condition, but especially with
the poor and afflicted, and willingly spends herself for them" ("Ad
Gentes", 12).

36. "He had compassion for them": the Greek verb is very expressive; it
means "He was deeply moved". Jesus was moved when He saw the people,
because their pastors, instead of guiding them and tending them, led
them astray, behaving more like wolves than genuine shepherds of their
flock. Jesus sees the prophecy of Ezekiel 34 as now being fulfilled;
in that passage God, through the prophet, upbraids the false shepherds
of Israel and promises to send them the Messiah to be their new
leader.

"If we were consistent with our faith when we looked around us and
contemplated the world and its history, we would be unable to avoid
feeling in our own hearts the same sentiments that filled the heart of
our Lord" ([Blessed] J. Escriva, "Christ Is Passing By", 133).
Reflection on the spiritual needs of the world should lead us to be
tirelessly apostolic.

37-38. After contemplating the crowds neglected by their shepherds,
Jesus uses the image of the harvest to show us that that same crowd is
ready to receive the effects of Redemption: "I tell you, lift up your
eyes, and see now the fields are already white for harvest" (John
4:35). The field of the Jewish people cultivated by the
prophets--most recently by John the Baptist--is full of ripe wheat. In
farmwork, the harvest is lost if the farmer does not reap at the right
time; down the centuries the Church feels a similar need to be out
harvesting because there is a big harvest ready to be won.

However, as in the time of Jesus, there is a shortage of laborers. Our
Lord tells us how to deal with this: we should pray to God, the Lord of
harvest, to send the necessary laborers. If a Christian prays hard, it
is difficult to imagine his not feeling urged to play his part in this
apostolate. In obeying this commandment to pray for laborers, we
should pray especially for there to be no lack of shepherds, who will
be able to equip others with the necessary means of sanctification
needed to back up the apostolate.

In this connection Paul VI reminds us: "the responsibility for
spreading the Gospel that saves belongs to everyone--to all who have
received it! The missionary duty concerns the whole body of the
Church; in different ways and to different degrees, it is true, but we
must all of us be united in carrying out this duty. Now let the
conscience of every believer ask himself: Have I carried out my
missionary duty? Prayer for the Missions is the first way of
fulfilling this duty" ("Angelus Address", 23 October 1977).

1-4. Jesus calls His twelve Apostles after recommending to them to
pray to the Lord to send laborers into His harvest (cf. Matthew 9:38).
Christians' apostolic action should always, then, be preceded and
accompanied by a life of constant prayer: apostolate is a divine
affair, not a merely human one. Our Lord starts His Church by calling
twelve men to be, as it were, twelve patriarchs of the new people of
God, the Church. This new people is established not by physical but by
spiritual generation. The names of those Apostles are specifically
mentioned here. They were not scholarly, powerful or important
people: they were average, ordinary people who responded faithfully to
the grace of their calling--all of them, that is, except Judas
Iscariot. Even before His death and resurrection Jesus confers on them
the power to cast out unclean spirits and cure illnesses--as an earnest
of and as training for the saving mission which He will entrust to
them.

The Church reveres these first Christians in a very special way and is
proud to carry on their supernatural mission, and to be faithful to the
witness they bore to the teaching of Christ. The true Church is absent
unless there is uninterrupted apostolic succession and identification
with the spirit which the Apostles made their own.

"Apostle": this word means "sent"; Jesus sent them out to preach His
Kingdom and pass on His teaching.

The Second Vatican Council, in line with Vatican I, "confesses" and
"declares" that the Church has a hierarchical structure: "The Lord
Jesus, having prayed at length to the Father, called to Himself those
whom He willed and appointed twelve to be with Him, whom He might send
to preach the Kingdom of God (cf. Mark 3:13-19: Matthew 10:1-10).
These Apostles (cf. Luke 6:13) He constituted in the form of a college
or permanent assembly, at the head of which He placed Peter, chosen
from among them (cf. John 21:15-17). He sent them first of all to the
children of Israel and then to all peoples (cf. Romans 1:16), so that,
sharing in His power, they might make all peoples His disciples and
sanctify and govern them (cf. Matthew 28:16-20; Mark 16:15; Luke
24:45-48; John 20:21-23) and thus spread the Church and, administering
it under the guidance of the Lord, shepherd it all days until the end
of the world (cf. Matthew 28:28)" ("Lumen Gentium", 19).

1. In this chapter St. Matthew describes how Jesus, with a view to the
spreading of the Kingdom of God which He inaugurates, decides to
establish a Church, which He does by giving special powers and training
to these twelve men who are its seed.

5-6. In His plan of salvation God gave certain promises (to Abraham
and the Patriarchs), a Covenant and a Law (the Law of Moses), and sent
the prophets. The Messiah would be born into this chosen people, which
explains why the Messiah and the Kingdom of God were to be preached to
the house of Israel first before being preached to the Gentiles.
Therefore, in their early apprenticeship, Jesus restricts the Apostles'
area of activity to the Jews, without this taking from the world-wide
scope of the Church's mission. As we will see, much later on He
charges them to "go and make disciples of all nations" (Matthew 28:19;
"Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to the whole creation"
(Mark 16:16). The Apostles also, in the early days of the spread of
the Church, usually sought out the Jewish community in any new city
they entered, and preached first to them (cf. Acts 13:46).

7-8. Previously, the prophets, when speaking of the messianic times,
had used imagery suited to the people's spiritual immaturity. Now,
Jesus, in sending His Apostles to proclaim that the promised Kingdom of
God is imminent, lays stress on its spiritual dimension. The power
mentioned in verse 8 are the very sign of the Kingdom of God or the
reign of the Messiah proclaimed by the prophets. At first (Chapters 8
and 9) it is Jesus who exercises these messianic powers; now He gives
them to His disciples as proof that His mission is divine (Isaiah
35:5-6; 40:9; 52:7; 61:1).

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.

One Bread, One Body

<< Saturday, December 7, 2002 >>

St. Ambrose

Isaiah 30:19-21, 23-26

Psalm 147

Matthew 9:35—10:1, 6-8

View Readings

IS IT CHRISTMAS YET?

“The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” —Matthew 10:7

When the Messiah, the Christ, comes:

“No more will you weep” (Is 30:19).
Our prayers will be answered quickly (Is 30:19).
The Lord will meet our needs (Is 30:20).
The Lord, our Teacher, will give us practical direction for our lives (Is 30:20-21).
We will prosper (see Is 30:23ff).
We will live in a supernatural light (Is 30:26).
The Lord will bind up our wounds and heal us (Is 30:26).

Partly because these messianic promises do not seem fulfilled, conservative Jews believe that the Messiah, the Christ, has not yet come and therefore the true Christmas has not yet come. Christians believe that these promises and many more have been fulfilled in the Incarnation, death, and resurrection of God Himself. We Christians admit that the new, abundant life given us by Jesus (Jn 10:10) has not been fully accepted because of our sins. However, this does not mean that the Lord has not fulfilled these messianic promises (see Jos 23:14).

This Christmas, let us repent of sin and receive His messianic promises. Thereby we show that Jesus is the Messiah, the Christ, and that Christmas is real.

Prayer: Father, by my total commitment to Christ, make my life a Christmas present to all I meet.

Promise: Jesus “said to His disciples, ‘The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the Master of the harvest to send out laborers for His harvest.’ ” —Mt 9:37-38

Praise: St. Ambrose proclaimed: “The Church’s foundation is unshakable and firm against the assaults of the raging sea.”

Catholic Online Saints

St. Ambrose

d. 397

At 33 Ambrose had it all - a successful career as a lawyer, an important position as governor of Milan, the approval and friendship of the emperor, and a large estate.

Then the bishop of Milan died. At this time, about 374, heresies threatened to destroy the Church. The bishop had supported the Arian heresy that argued against the divinity of Christ. Who would take his place - an Arian or a Catholic? Both sides met in the cathedral and a riot broke out.

Public order was Ambrose's responsibility as governor so he hurried to the church and made a passionate speech not in favor of either side, but in favor of peace. He begged the people to make their choice without fighting, using restraint and moderation.

Suddenly, while he was speaking, a voice called out, "Ambrose for bishop!" Soon everyone was shouting, "Ambrose for bishop!"

The other bishops of the province were only too glad to have this controversial decision taken out of their hands. But Ambrose was not about to give up a successful career for the dangerous position of bishop - a life- threatening occupation in these heretical times. So Ambrose ran away. When he appealed to the emperor to overturn the decision on the basis that he hadn't even been baptized yet, the emperor answered that he was happy that he chose governors fit for the episcopal office. Ambrose hid in a senator's house but the senator surrendered Ambrose when he heard about the emperor's decision.

With nowhere else to run, Ambrose gave in. Since he'd been forced to take the position, no one would have been surprised if he'd decided to keep on living the way that he had before ordination. Instead, Ambrose immediately gave his property to the poor and put himself under the instruction of Saint Simplician to learn Scripture and theology.

The Arians thought Ambrose would be "their" bishop because Ambrose had been a member of court and many in government were Arians. But Ambrose used his skills as a lawyer and orator to fight the Arians in church, court, senate, and even the emperor's own family. The same stubbornness that had made him refuse the position in the first place was now his weapon in fighting heresy and pursuing sanctity.

Ambrose's Treasure

When the Goths invaded the empire and took captives, Ambrose paid out all the money he had in ransom. He said the best and most effective charity was ransoming captives and hostages. He even took all gold vessels belonging to the Church and had them melted down. He said, "It is a better thing to save souls for the Lord than to save treasures. He who sent forth his apostles without gold had not need of gold to form his Church. The Church possesses gold, not to hoard, but to scatter abroad and come to the aid of the unfortunate.

"Would not the Lord say to us: 'Why have you let so many needy perish of hunger? Since you had gold, you should provide for their needs'...Could we say: 'I feared to leave the temple of God without ornament.' But that which can't be bought with gold does not take its value from gold. The best way to use the gold of the Redeemer is for the redemption of those in peril."

Ambrose always was more concerned for the poor than for power. He often reproached the wealthy for ignoring the poor: "God created the universe in such a manner that all in common might derive their food from it, and that the earth should also be a property common to all. Why do you reject one who has the same rights over nature as you? It is not from your own goods that you give to the beggar; it is a portion of his own that you are restoring to him. The earth belongs to all. So you are paying back a debt and think you are making a gift to which you are not bound."

Sentenced to Death

When the emperor died, the Empress Justina, an Arian, became regent for her four year old son. Maximus, a former Roman soldier, realized the emperor's death might weaken the empire enough for his army to conquer it. Justina begged Ambrose to negotiate with him. In spite of the fact that she was his enemy, Ambrose went on a diplomatic mission that convinced Maximus not to invade.

Justina's idea of showing gratitude to Ambrose was to demand that Ambrose's basilica be handed over to the Arians. Ambrose answered that he would never give up the temple of God.

The people were on Ambrose's side. It is possible he could have even started a coup to overthrow Justina. But Ambrose was careful never to say or do anything to start violence. When Catholics seized an Arian priest and were going to put him to death, Ambrose intervened in the name of peace and prayed God suffer no blood to be shed. He sent out priests and deacons to rescue his Arian enemy.

Ambrose said, "When I was told the church was surrounded with soldiers I said I cannot give it up but I must not fight." The soldiers came in to the basilica - but they came in to pray.

Justina then persuaded her son to make a law legalizing Arians and forbidding Catholics to oppose Arians under pain of death. No one could even present a petition against a church being yielded up.

On Palm Sunday, Ambrose preached a sermon about not giving up churches. The congregation, afraid for their lives, barricaded themselves in the basilica with their pastor Ambrose. The imperial troops surrounded the basilica in an attempt to starve them out, but on Easter Sunday all the people were still inside.

In the face of arms and soldiers, Ambrose said, "My only arms are my tears. I will never depart willingly but I won't resist by force."

In order to calm the frightened people Ambrose taught them to sing hymns he had composed. He split the congregation in two in order to alternate verses of the hymns. This is our first record of communal singing in church.

The music of praise and prayer seeped out through the walls of the basilica and into the hearts of the soldiers. Soon the soldiers outside joined in the singing. The siege ended.

The Other Cheek

With the military concentrated on fighting Catholics, Maximus decided Rome was ready for an invasion. Justina and her son were panic-stricken. What could they do?

They turned to one person they knew could handle the mission - the person they had just attacked and threatened. They asked Ambrose to go to Maximus again and stop his invasion.

Who would have blamed Ambrose for refusing?

In a miraculous act of forgiveness, Ambrose went on this mission for his enemies. When Maximus refused to compromise, Ambrose hurried home to warn them. Justina and her son fled to Greece, while Ambrose stayed behind. Fortunately, the eastern Emperor Theodosius intervened and defeated Maximus. However, Theodosius then took over control of the whole empire. Theodosius was Catholic and became a lifelong friend of Ambrose.

Ambrose died in 397, at about the age of 57. His memorial is celebrated on December 7, the date of his ordination.

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