Catholic Caucus: Daily Mass Readings, 9-03-03, Memorial, St. Gregory the Great, pope & doctor

Reading I
Col 1:1-8

Paul, an Apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,
and Timothy our brother,
to the holy ones and faithful brothers and sisters in Christ in Colossae:
grace to you and peace from God our Father.

We always give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
when we pray for you,
for we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus
and the love that you have for all the holy ones
because of the hope reserved for you in heaven.
Of this you have already heard
through the word of truth, the Gospel, that has come to you.
Just as in the whole world it is bearing fruit and growing,
so also among you,
from the day you heard it and came to know the grace of God in truth,
as you learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow slave,
who is a trustworthy minister of Christ on your behalf
and who also told us of your love in the Spirit.

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 52:10, 11

R (10) I trust in the mercy of God for ever.
I, like a green olive tree
in the house of God,
Trust in the mercy of God
forever and ever.
R I trust in the mercy of God for ever.
I will thank you always for what you have done,
and proclaim the goodness of your name
before your faithful ones.
R I trust in the mercy of God for ever.

Gospel
Lk 4:38-44

After Jesus left the synagogue, he entered the house of Simon.
Simon's mother-in-law was afflicted with a severe fever,
and they interceded with him about her.
He stood over her, rebuked the fever, and it left her.
She got up immediately and waited on them.

At sunset, all who had people sick with various diseases brought them to him.
He laid his hands on each of them and cured them.
And demons also came out from many, shouting, "You are the Son of God."
But he rebuked them and did not allow them to speak
because they knew that he was the Christ.

At daybreak, Jesus left and went to a deserted place.
The crowds went looking for him, and when they came to him,
they tried to prevent him from leaving them.
But he said to them, "To the other towns also
I must proclaim the good news of the Kingdom of God,
because for this purpose I have been sent."
And he was preaching in the synagogues of Judea.

From: Colossians 1:1-8

Greeting

[1] Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy
our brother, [2] To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ at
Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father.

Thanksgiving for the Colossians' Response to the Gospel

[3] We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we
pray for you, because we have read of your faith in Christ Jesus and of
the love which you have for all the saints, [5] because of the hope
laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of
the truth, the gospel [6] which has come to you, as indeed in the whole
world it is bearing fruit and growing--so among yourselves, from the
day you heard and understood the grace of God in truth, [7] as you
learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful
minister of Christ on our behalf [8] and has made known to us your love
in the Spirit.

Commentary:

1-2. The city of Colossae, as has already been mentioned in the
Introduction, lay in the valley of the Lycus river, in Phrygia, a
region in the west central part of Anatolia (modern Turkey).

Timothy--whose mother was Jewish and whose father was Greek--was
already a Christian when St Paul met him in Lystra (cf. Acts 16: 1-2).
He readily agreed to go with Paul and Tom that point onwards he was one
of the Apostle's most faithful co-workers. Sometimes we see him
accompanying Paul (cf. Acts 20:4), and at other times Paul is sending
him off on a special mission (cf. Acts 19:22). When St Paul is writing
to the Colossians from his Roman prison, Timothy is by his side and
joins him in sending greetings.

Later on, the Apostle will entrust Timothy with the overseeing of the
church of Ephesus, and in that capacity he will send him two letters,
which form part of the canon of the New Testament.

On the greeting "grace and peace", see the note on Eph 1:2.

3-16. Epaphras, who was probably born in Colossae, must have come to
know St Paul during his stay in Ephesus and been convened after
receiving instruction from the Apostle. After being baptized he
preached the Gospel to his fellow-citizens. The combination of grace
and his own effort make his preaching very effective. However, due to
certain false apostles of a Judaizing tendency, errors of a pre-Gnostic
and syncretist type began to gain ground among the Colossians, to the
detriment of their faith (cf. p. 152 above).

St Paul writes the epistle after receiving a report from Epaphras on
the Church in Colossae (v. 9). Although the news Epaphras brought was
on the whole good (vv. 3-5), the Apostle feels that the false doctrines
being spread among the Colossians are a danger to their faith: the
faith that they hold, which they learned from Epaphras, a loyal
minister of Jesus Christ, is the true one.

3-5. St Paul expresses his gratitude to God for all the graces and
benefits he has given the Colossians and for the way they have
responded to them. He picks out the three theological virtues--faith,
charity, and hope and emphasizes the importance of hope as a support
for faith and fraternal love. In this regard, Monsignor Escriva says
in a homily, "I have seen many souls with such hope in God that they
are aflame with love, with a fire that makes the heart beat strong and
keeps it safe from discouragement and dejection, even though along the
way they may suffer and at times suffer greatly" ("Friends of God",
205).

7. "On our behalf" (cf. RSV note): many important manuscripts read
this as "on your behalf", but "on our behalf" parallels the "for us" of
the New Vulgate, meaning that Epaphras is a minister of Christ who
faithfully substitutes for Paul in his apostolic work among the
Colossians.

8. "Your love in the Spirit": this may refer either to the theological
virtue of charity or to the love which the faithful, under the
influence of the Holy Spirit, have for the Apostle.

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.

From: Luke 4:38-44

The Cure of Peter's Mother-In-Law

[38] And He (Jesus) arose and left the synagogue, and entered Simon's
house. Now Simon's mother-in-law was ill with a high fever, and they
besought Him for her. [39] And He stood over her and rebuked the
fever, and it left her; and immediately she rose and served them.

Other Cures

[40] Now when the sun was setting, all those who had any that were sick
with various diseases brought them to Him; and He laid His hands on
every one of them and healed them. [41] And demons also came out of
many, crying, "You are the Son of God!" But He rebuked them, and would
not allow them to speak, because they knew that He was the Christ.

Jesus Preaches in Other Cities in Judea

[42] And when it was day He departed and went into a lonely place. And
the people sought Him and came to Him, and would have kept Him from
leaving them; [43] but He said to them, "I must preach the Good News of
the Kingdom of God to the other cities also; for I was sent for this
purpose." [44] And He was preaching in the synagogues of Judea.

Commentary:

38-39. In the public life of Jesus we find many touching episodes (cf.
for example Luke 19:1; John 2:1) which show the high regard He had for
everyday family life.

Here we can clearly see the effectiveness of prayer on behalf of other
people: "No sooner did they pray to the Savior", St. Jerome says, "than
He immediately healed the sick; from this we learn that He also listens
to the prayers of the faithful for help against sinful passions"
("Expositio In Evangelium Sec. Lucam, in loc.").

St. John Chrysostom refers to this total, instantaneous cure: "Since
this was a curable type of illness He displayed His power through the
way He brought healing, doing what medicine could not do. Even after
being cured of fever, patients need time to recover their former
strength, but here the cure was instantaneous" ("Hom. on St. Matthew",
27).

The Fathers saw in this lady's fever a symbol of concupiscence:
"Peter's mother-in-law's fever represents our flesh affected by various
illnesses and concupiscences; our fever is passion, our fever is lust,
our fever is anger--vices which, although they affect the body, perturb
the soul, the mind and the feelings" (St. Ambrose, "Expositio Evangelii
Sec. Lucam, in loc.").

On the practical consequences of this St. Cyril says: "Let us receive
Jesus Christ, because when He visits us and we take Him into our minds
and hearts, even our worst passions are extinguished and we are kept
safe to serve Him, that is, to do what pleases Him" ("Hom. 28 In
Mattheum").

43. Our Lord again stresses one of the reasons why He has come into the
world. St. Thomas, when discussing the purpose of the Eucharist, says
that Christ "came into the world, first, to make the truth known, as He
Himself says: `for this I was born, and for this I have come into the
world, to bear witness to the truth' (John 18:37). Hence it was not
fitting that He should hide Himself by leading a solitary life, but
rather that He should appear openly and preach in public. For this
reason He tells those who wanted to detain Him, `I must preach the Good
News of the Kingdom of God to the other cities also; for I was sent for
this purpose.' Secondly, He came in order to free men from sin; as the
Apostle says, `Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners' (1
Timothy 1:15). This is why Chrysostom says, `Although Christ might,
while staying in the same place, have drawn all men to Himself to hear
His preaching, He did not do so--in order to give us the example to go
out and seek the lost sheep, as the shepherd does, or as the doctor
does, who visits the sick person.' Thirdly, He came so that `we might
obtain access to God' (Romans 5:2)" ("Summa Theologiae", III, q. 40, a.
1, c.).

FEAST OF THE DAY

Pope St. Gregory the Great was born in Rome around the year 540
and served much of his early life in civil office. Around the age of 30,
he retired from his public duties, joined the Benedictine order and
formed several monasteries for the order on his own property.

After several years, he was ordained to the priesthood and began to
move back into public life, but this time working for God. For a time,
he served as one of the Pope's major assistants and later was later
named to serve as the papal nuncio at Constantinople. After several
years as legate, he was called back to Rome to become abbot.
Around the age of 50 he was elected to the Papacy, consecrated the
64th pope, and ruled for 14 years.

During his reign, Gregory pushed for many reforms and
evangelization. Gregory removed unworthy priests from parishes,
forbade taking money for certain services, and spent much of the
papal treasury to ransom prisoners of the Lombards, care for
persecuted Jews and aid the sick and dying. Gregory is also
responsible for reforming the liturgy and strengthening support for
moral and theological doctrine. Pushing for the conversion of
England, Gregory sent more than 40 monks from his own monastery
to evangelize there. These monks, who included St. Augustine of
Canterbury, were successful in converting much of Anglo-Saxon
England.

Gregory died March 12, 604 and is considered one of the four great
doctors of the church. He is the patron saint of music and
traditionally is one who coined the phrase saying that the pope is the
"servant of the servants of God."

QUOTE OF THE DAY

The proof of love is in the works. Where love exists, it works great
things. But when it ceases to act, it ceases to exist. -Pope St. Gregory the Great

TODAY IN HISTORY

1914 Cardinal Giacome della Chiesa becomes Pope Benedict XV
1954 Pope Pius X canonized a saint
1978 Pope John Paul I officially installed as 264th supreme pontiff

TODAY'S TIDBIT

With St. Albert the Great, St. Basil the Great and Pope St. Leo the
Great, Gregory is recognized as one of the four doctors of the
Church who have earned the title "magnus" or "great" for his impact
on the whole of the Church.

INTENTION FOR THE DAY

Please pray for all who are battling cancer

The Word Among Us

Wednesday, September 03, 2003

Meditation
Colossians 1:1-8

Pope John XXIII was once quoted as saying, “Correct a little, overlook much, observe all.” In today’s reading from Colossians, St. Paul certainly reflected this approach as well. Difficulties in the church at Colossae were causing Paul great concern, and he might have felt tempted to use the full weight of his authority to correct them. But instead of approaching the church’s problems in a domineering manner, he started his letter with encouragement and support: “We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love which you have for all the saints” (Colossians 1:3-4).

Later in his letter, Paul did get around to correcting the Colossians, but in a manner that was respectful and patient (chapter 2). Like Jesus, he sought to be meek and humble, dealing with their controversies gently and with great compassion.

One reason Paul opened his heart toward the Colossians as he did was that he understood human weakness and not just theoretically. In one of his most personal statements, he told the Corinthians how he had experienced God’s grace in his own life: “Whenever I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:10). This experience of his own weakness helped Paul know how to reach out to others in their weaknesses.

If St. Paul could treat the Colossians this way in their times of confusion and doubt, imagine the tender gaze with which God must look at us. Our Father knows that we fall short of the expectations we—and others—have for us. He knows that we are “earthen vessels” (2 Corinthians 4:7) and that “all of us make many mistakes” (James 3:2). But that’s the whole point of the gospel: Jesus did not save us because we are righteous but because we are desperately in need of redemption. God wants to comfort us when we feel the weight of our own human frailty. He never stops offering us his compassion, healing, and love. Why? Because he doesn’t just see us as we are, but as we can be—as he intends for us to become in Christ.

“Dear God, help me not to be nearsighted about your power in my life. Show me that you are greater than any human weakness so that I will cling to you in faith.”

One Bread, One Body

<< Wednesday, September 3, 2003 >>

Pope St. Gregory the Great

Colossians 1:1-8

Psalm 52

Luke 4:38-44

View Readings

THE HOMELESS GOD

Jesus “entered the house of Simon. Simon’s mother-in-law was in the grip of a severe fever, and they interceded with Him for her. He stood over her and addressed Himself to the fever, and it left her.” —Luke 4:38-39

Jesus wants to enter your home. He also wants your home to be a house of prayer and healing. Will you invite Jesus to be Lord of your life and your home? Will you pray daily with the members of your family? Jesus has promised: “Where two or three are gathered in My name, there am I in their midst” (Mt 18:20).

Jesus not only wants to be enthroned in your home, but He also intends to make your home a center for evangelization, healing, and deliverance (see Lk 4:40ff). Will you let Jesus change the way your home has been used? Will you let Jesus radically change your lifestyle?

Your home is one of your most valuable resources for building God’s kingdom. Make your home totally available to the Lord by obeying the Lord’s every wish. When Jesus walked the face of the earth, He had “nowhere to lay His head” (Lk 9:58). Even today, Jesus is “homeless” because, when He knocks on our doors (see Rv 3:20), He is sometimes not allowed entry and lordship (see Lk 2:7). Throw open your home to Jesus.

Prayer: Father, when You make a house call, may I say “Yes” to You.

Promise: “We have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love you bear toward all the saints — moved as you are by the hope held in store for you in heaven.” —Col 1:4-5

Praise: As pope, St. Gregory carefully and diligently tended to the “home” God had given to him — the Catholic Church.

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