Catholic Caucus: Daily Mass Readings, 10-04-03, Memorial, St. Francis of Assisi

Reading I
Bar 4:5-12, 27-29

Fear not, my people!
Remember, Israel,
You were sold to the nations
not for your destruction;
It was because you angered God
that you were handed over to your foes.
For you provoked your Maker
with sacrifices to demons, to no-gods;
You forsook the Eternal God who nourished you,
and you grieved Jerusalem who fostered you.
She indeed saw coming upon you
the anger of God; and she said:

"Hear, you neighbors of Zion!
God has brought great mourning upon me,
For I have seen the captivity
that the Eternal God has brought
upon my sons and daughters.
With joy I fostered them;
but with mourning and lament I let them go.
Let no one gloat over me, a widow,
bereft of many:
For the sins of my children I am left desolate,
because they turned from the law of God.

Fear not, my children; call out to God!
He who brought this upon you will remember you.
As your hearts have been disposed to stray from God,
turn now ten times the more to seek him;
For he who has brought disaster upon you
will, in saving you, bring you back enduring joy."

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 69:33-35, 36-37

R (34) The Lord listens to the poor.
"See, you lowly ones, and be glad;
you who seek God, may your hearts revive!
For the LORD hears the poor,
and his own who are in bonds he spurns not.
Let the heavens and the earth praise him,
the seas and whatever moves in them!"
R The Lord listens to the poor.
For God will save Zion
and rebuild the cities of Judah.
They shall dwell in the land and own it,
and the descendants of his servants shall inherit it,
and those who love his name shall inhabit it.
R The Lord listens to the poor.

Gospel
Lk 10:17-24

The seventy-two disciples returned rejoicing and said to Jesus,
"Lord, even the demons are subject to us because of your name."
Jesus said, "I have observed Satan fall like lightning from the sky.
Behold, I have given you the power
‘to tread upon serpents' and scorpions
and upon the full force of the enemy
and nothing will harm you.
Nevertheless, do not rejoice because the spirits are subject to you,
but rejoice because your names are written in heaven."

At that very moment he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said,
"I give you praise, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
for although you have hidden these things
from the wise and the learned
you have revealed them to the childlike.
Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will.
All things have been handed over to me by my Father.
No one knows who the Son is except the Father,
and who the Father is except the Son
and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him."

Turning to the disciples in private he said,
"Blessed are the eyes that see what you see.
For I say to you,
many prophets and kings desired to see what you see,
but did not see it,
and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it."

The Seventy Return From Their Mission

[17] The seventy returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the demons are
subject to us in Your name!" [18] And He (Jesus) said to them, "I saw
Satan fall like lightning from Heaven. [19] Behold, I have given you
authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power
of the enemy; and nothing shall hurt you. [20] Nevertheless do not
rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you; but rejoice that
your names are written in Heaven."

Jesus Gives Thanks

[21] In that same hour He rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, "I
thank Thee, Father, Lord of Heaven and earth, that thou hast hidden
these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to
babes; yea, Father, for such was Thy gracious will. [22] All things
have been delivered to Me by My Father; and no one knows who the Son is
except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and any one to
whom the Son chooses to reveal Him."

[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:

20. Our Lord corrects His disciples, making them see that the right
reason for rejoicing lies in hope of reaching Heaven, not in the power
to do miracles which He gave them for their mission. As He said on
another occasion, "On that day many will say to Me, `Lord, Lord, did we
not prophesy in Your name, and cast our demons in Your name, and do
many mighty works in Your name?' And then will I declare to them, `I
never knew you; depart from Me, you evildoers'" (Matthew 7:22-23). In
other words, in the eyes of God doing His holy will at all times is
more important than working miracles.

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 example, in another passage He says: "Truly, I say to
you, unless you turn and become 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-sufficiency, 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 little, you have to abandon
yourself as children do, believe as children, beg as children 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
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.

FEAST OF THE DAY

St. Francis was born in the town of Assisi around the year 1182.
Francis' family was financially stable and Francis was educated so
he would be able to help his father when he was old enough. As
Francis grew up, he enjoyed many worldly pleasures, but he was
balanced with a great generosity and love of God's people.

Francis' life was completely changed one day when he met a leper
and saw the great needs of this man. Francis gave the leper all the
possessions he had with him. He began to give more and more of
his time and possessions to the poor. As Francis began to move his
life more and more to the service of God, his father began to become
angry with him. This built up until one day Francis' father gave him
the choice to give up his new life for God or to give up his life as a
merchant. Francis gave up the life of a merchant and renounced all
his rights to his inheritance.

Francis set out to do the will of God. He had been inspired to rebuild
the decaying church at St. Damino and began to beg for alms to
raise the needed money. While he was working on this task, he
began to attract followers, and the Order of Friars Minor began to
take shape.

Francis spent the rest of his life with the order he created, begging
for alms and serving God's people. In addition to founding the
Franciscan order, Francis also helped St. Clare form the Poor
Clares, sisters with much of the same aims as the Franciscans.
Francis received the stigmata on September 24, 1224 and died on
October 4, 1226 at the age of 45 and was canonized less then two
years latter in July 1228. St. Francis is the patron of ecologists and of
Italy.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

We adore you and we bless you, Lord Jesus Christ, here and in all
the churches which are in the whole world, because by your holy
cross you have redeemed the world. -St. Francis of Assisi

TODAY IN HISTORY

1965 Pope Paul VI becomes 1st Pope to visit Western Hemisphere
1978 Funeral services held for Pope John Paul I

TODAY'S TIDBIT

St. Francis of Assisi founded the Order of Friars Minor, helped found
the Poor Clares and his rule is also used by Third Order
Franciscans. Currently there are more than 17900 Franciscans
around the world.

INTENTION FOR THE DAY

Please pray, through the intercession of St. Francis, for all the poor.

The Word Among Us

Saturday, October 04, 2003

Meditation
Luke 10:17-24

There is no doubt that Jesus rejoiced with his disciples when they returned from their preaching tour. After all, these simple fishermen and tax gatherers had just performed miraculous healings and cast out fearsome demons. But just like children whose boundless energy needs to be channeled in the right direction, the disciples needed to recognize where their joy truly lay. Jesus made it clear to them that no matter what deeds of power they performed, nothing could compare with the fact that their names were written in heaven.

But it wasn’t enough for Jesus to redirect the disciples’ rejoicing. He went on to demonstrate for them the kind of rejoicing that should characterize his followers: “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants” (Luke 10:21).

Try to imagine the delight with which the Son of God rejoiced in the Holy Spirit at that moment. Try, too, to imagine what it might look like for the Blessed Trinity to rejoice, dance, and celebrate together every time they see “infants” like us open their hearts to revelation from heaven. It’s this experience of an opened heaven—this experience of God’s revelation in our hearts—that is meant to move us to praise and rejoicing as well. In fact, knowing that God has us in the palm of his hand can lead us to a whole life of joy. It can move us to rejoice in the beauty of a starlit night or in our loving relationships just as much as we rejoice that our names are written in heaven.

St. Francis of Assisi, whose feast we celebrate today, is one person who knew how blessed he was to have been touched by God. In his famous Canticle of the Sun, Francis sang and rejoiced over the way he found God’s love and beauty in all of creation. Nothing, not even rejection by his family, or hardships among his brothers, or the poverty of his calling, dampened his joy. May we learn from Francis how to surrender ourselves to Jesus. May our lives become songs of praise and thanksgiving to the One who loves us so deeply!

“Holy Spirit, help me celebrate in joy the love that you pour out upon me. May I live my life in exuberant praise of your presence that surrounds me.”

One Bread, One Body

<< Saturday, October 4, 2003 >>

St. Francis of Assisi

Baruch 4:5-12, 27-29

Psalm 69:33-35, 36-37

Luke 10:17-24

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THE DISASTER OF NOT LEARNING FROM DISASTER

“He Who has brought disaster upon you will, in saving you, bring you back enduring joy.” —Baruch 4:29

When disaster strikes, an obvious question is: “Why did God let this happen to me?” A possible answer to this question is: Disaster has befallen you because you, your family, or your nation have angered God by falling into the sin of idolatry (Bar 4:6-7). You have made something more important to you than God. The advantage of this answer is that we can repent and do something about the cause of the problem rather than take the role of victim and blame other people for our problems.

Disaster can be a call to repentance (see Lk 13:3, 5) and commitment to the Lord. God can change the worst disasters into “enduring joy” (Bar 4:29) if we “turn now ten times the more to seek Him” (Bar 4:28). After a disaster, we are often naturally traumatized and spiritually paralyzed. However, as sin increases, grace increases all the more (Rm 5:20). After a disaster, we should “grab” the grace of the moment and turn to the Lord with ten times greater zeal. We must “redeem the time” (Eph 5:16, our transl.) and “make the most of the present opportunity, for these are evil days” (Eph 5:16). When we don’t learn from disaster, we set the stage for the next disaster. “Turn now ten times the more to seek” the Lord (Bar 4:28).

Prayer: Father, may I not take the role of victim but of victor.

Promise: “Do not rejoice so much in the fact that the devils are subject to you as that your names are inscribed in heaven.” —Lk 10:20

Praise: St. Francis turned the disaster of a Church in need of deep restoration into a glorious act of faith and obedience by doing all he could to rebuild that Church.

Homily of the Day

Homily of the Day

Title:	They Know They're Little
Author:	Monsignor Dennis Clark, Ph.D
Date:	Saturday, October 4, 2003

A newly-ordained priest was about to perform his first wedding, and he was very nervous. So he asked his pastor for help. The old monsignor told him everything he needed to know and then ended with some advice. "Father," he said, "if you get lost and can't think of what to say, quote scripture. It's always safe, and you'll never go wrong."

With that the young priest went off to church and did a fine job of conducting the wedding... until the very end, that is, when he was to pray the solemn blessing over the bride and groom. At that crucial moment, with hand outstretched and every eye upon him, he froze. He couldn't find his place in the prayer book. His mind was a blank. He had no idea of what to say. Then he remembered the monsignor's advice: if you get lost, quote scripture. So he ended the wedding by quoting most solemnly the only verse he could remember, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."
+ + + +
Standing just inches away from a bride and groom as they exchange their vows, I find it difficult not to be awed and astonished at the immensity of what two fragile human beings are committing themselves to do and be for one another. To be faithful friends, to be truly one for better or worse, for the rest of their lives. How can such a thing be possible for mere human beings?

The same question always stuns me when a young couple present their new baby for baptism, and solemnly commit themselves to the immense task of being faithful models and guides for that child for decades to come. How can this be possible for ordinary humans? And the question rises yet again when I see a young man commit himself to serve faithfully as a priest for the rest of his life. How can this be possible for a mere human being?

Sometimes all of this surely does seem impossible. Sometimes all these solemnly-spoken commitments to be faithful spouse, or parent, or priest seem just wishful thinking. And for all too many of us that's how things actually turn out. But in today's gospel, Jesus tells us that's not the way things have to turn out, even with all our flaws and limitations. In this gospel, Jesus says the impossible is possible: we can be part of his kingdom, we can become the wonderful spouses, parents, and friends that we long to be, but so often have not been.

And how is this to happen? Jesus says quite simply, we must become like little children! But what are little children really like? And what makes them different from most of us? First of all they know they're little, and they know that in order to live they need the help of people who love them. It doesn't even occur to them to pose as invincible or seriously pretend to be what they are not. Little children trust the people they meet, and they presume the best about them. (That's why they get all those lectures about taking no rides from strangers.) They don't label others as enemies before there's reason to do so.

Little children think of everything as possible and worth trying. You don't hear a little child saying "you can't do that" or "it'll never work". What you do hear is "when can we start"? Little children are compassionate to those who are even smaller and more helpless than themselves. Legions of stray cats, scrawny dogs, and birds with broken wings could testify to that.

Little children lack the attention span of adults. They have little physical strength, few skills, and only the sparsest of knowledge about the world. Yet they have what matters: they are transparently open and receptive to people, to God, to life. And that means that all that is good can get into their lives and help them.

Imagine what wonderful spouses, parents, and friends we could be — even with all our faults — if only our hearts were that open and receptive. No love, no joy, no person would ever be locked out. God and his whole universe would be inside working for us and filling in those parts of us that are damaged or weak. That is Jesus' promise: we will get all that just by doing what little children know how to do, by opening the doors of our hearts.

So let us begin now by opening our hearts in prayer:

Lord, hold us in the palm of your hand and show us once more how to be like little children. Help us to lay aside our masks and our pretensions, and teach us to trust, to hope, and never to fear. Let our hearts become so open, so transparent, and so wide that every person and every love may find there a home. Amen.

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