Saturday,6 July 2013
Feast of St. Maria Goretti, Virgin and Martyr (1890-1902)
Genesis 27:1-5.15-29.
Genesis 27:1-5.15-29.
When Isaac was so old that his eyesight had failed
him, he called his older son Esau and said to him, "Son!" "Yes,
father!" he replied.
Isaac then said, "As you can see, I am so old that I may now die at any time.
Take your gear, therefore--your quiver and bow--and go out into the country to hunt some game for me.
With your catch prepare an appetizing dish for me, such as I like, and bring it to me to eat, so that I may give you my special blessing before I die."
Rebekah had been listening while Isaac was speaking to his son Esau. So when Esau went out into the country to hunt some game for his father,
Rebekah then took the best clothes of her older son Esau that she had in the house, and gave them to her younger son Jacob to wear;
and with the skins of the kids she covered up his hands and the hairless parts of his neck.
Then she handed her son Jacob the appetizing dish and the bread she had prepared.
Bringing them to his father, Jacob said, "Father!" "Yes?" replied Isaac. "Which of my sons are you?"
Jacob answered his father: "I am Esau, your first-born. I did as you told me. Please sit up and eat some of my game, so that you may give me your special blessing."
But Isaac asked, "How did you succeed so quickly, son?" He answered, "The LORD, your God, let things turn out well with me."
Isaac then said to Jacob, "Come closer, son, that I may feel you, to learn whether you really are my son Esau or not."
So Jacob moved up closer to his father. When Isaac felt him, he said, "Although the voice is Jacob's, the hands are Esau's."
(He failed to identify him because his hands were hairy, like those of his brother Esau; so in the end he gave him his blessing.)
Again he asked him, "Are you really my son Esau?" "Certainly," he replied.
Then Isaac said, "Serve me your game, son, that I may eat of it and then give you my blessing." Jacob served it to him, and Isaac ate; he brought him wine, and he drank.
Finally his father Isaac said to him, "Come closer, son, and kiss me."
As Jacob went up and kissed him, Isaac smelled the fragrance of his clothes. With that, he blessed him, saying, "Ah, the fragrance of my son is like the fragrance of a field that the LORD has blessed!
"May God give to you of the dew of the heavens And of the fertility of the earth abundance of grain and wine.
"Let peoples serve you, and nations pay you homage; Be master of your brothers, and may your mother's sons bow down to you. Cursed be those who curse you, and blessed be those who bless you."
Isaac then said, "As you can see, I am so old that I may now die at any time.
Take your gear, therefore--your quiver and bow--and go out into the country to hunt some game for me.
With your catch prepare an appetizing dish for me, such as I like, and bring it to me to eat, so that I may give you my special blessing before I die."
Rebekah had been listening while Isaac was speaking to his son Esau. So when Esau went out into the country to hunt some game for his father,
Rebekah then took the best clothes of her older son Esau that she had in the house, and gave them to her younger son Jacob to wear;
and with the skins of the kids she covered up his hands and the hairless parts of his neck.
Then she handed her son Jacob the appetizing dish and the bread she had prepared.
Bringing them to his father, Jacob said, "Father!" "Yes?" replied Isaac. "Which of my sons are you?"
Jacob answered his father: "I am Esau, your first-born. I did as you told me. Please sit up and eat some of my game, so that you may give me your special blessing."
But Isaac asked, "How did you succeed so quickly, son?" He answered, "The LORD, your God, let things turn out well with me."
Isaac then said to Jacob, "Come closer, son, that I may feel you, to learn whether you really are my son Esau or not."
So Jacob moved up closer to his father. When Isaac felt him, he said, "Although the voice is Jacob's, the hands are Esau's."
(He failed to identify him because his hands were hairy, like those of his brother Esau; so in the end he gave him his blessing.)
Again he asked him, "Are you really my son Esau?" "Certainly," he replied.
Then Isaac said, "Serve me your game, son, that I may eat of it and then give you my blessing." Jacob served it to him, and Isaac ate; he brought him wine, and he drank.
Finally his father Isaac said to him, "Come closer, son, and kiss me."
As Jacob went up and kissed him, Isaac smelled the fragrance of his clothes. With that, he blessed him, saying, "Ah, the fragrance of my son is like the fragrance of a field that the LORD has blessed!
"May God give to you of the dew of the heavens And of the fertility of the earth abundance of grain and wine.
"Let peoples serve you, and nations pay you homage; Be master of your brothers, and may your mother's sons bow down to you. Cursed be those who curse you, and blessed be those who bless you."
Psalm 135(134):1-2.3-4.5-6.
Praise the name of the LORD;
Praise, you servants of the LORD
Who stand in the house of the LORD,
in the courts of the house of our God.
Praise the LORD, for the LORD is good;
sing praise to his name, which we love;
For the LORD has chosen Jacob for himself,
Israel for his own possession.
For I know that the LORD is great;
our LORD is greater than all gods.
All that the LORD wills he does
in heaven and on earth,
in the seas and in all the deeps.
Praise, you servants of the LORD
Who stand in the house of the LORD,
in the courts of the house of our God.
Praise the LORD, for the LORD is good;
sing praise to his name, which we love;
For the LORD has chosen Jacob for himself,
Israel for his own possession.
For I know that the LORD is great;
our LORD is greater than all gods.
All that the LORD wills he does
in heaven and on earth,
in the seas and in all the deeps.
Matt 9:14-17.
The disciples of John approached Jesus and said, “Why
do we and the Pharisees fast much, but your disciples do not fast?”
Jesus answered them, "Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.
No one patches an old cloak with a piece of unshrunken cloth, for its fullness pulls away from the cloak and the tear gets worse.
People do not put new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise the skins burst, the wine spills out, and the skins are ruined. Rather, they pour new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved."
Jesus answered them, "Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.
No one patches an old cloak with a piece of unshrunken cloth, for its fullness pulls away from the cloak and the tear gets worse.
People do not put new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise the skins burst, the wine spills out, and the skins are ruined. Rather, they pour new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved."
Commentary of the day :
When I go into my private chapel and offer the Eucharist (on my own with the angels as witnesses) my wife criticises me and says, "Why don't you just start your own religion?"
I try to ignore the slight in her words by saying honestly, "I don't want to start a new religion, there is nothing wrong with it."
I do however, think it would be nice to have more people worship God with me but as much as I invite and ask people they are not interested.
Does that make me feel that maybe I am wrong? No.
It just proves what Jesus said, "People like the old ways". They like what they are comfortable with. They don't want to try the new wine, because 'the old is good"
Luke 5:39 has Jesus saying "And no one, after drinking old wine wishes for new; for he says, 'The old is good enough.'"'.
Our Lord was not saying "old is better". He was saying, "people say that the old is good enough". And that is because they are set in their ways, averse to change. They like the stable OLD ways. Perhaps they are lazy to look further for another place to worship?
I take this message from our Lord today to emphasise the need to find new ways
to present the Gospel message. There is a need for newer forms of worship that will attract people to God, not drive them away with boredom.
For the Catholic church it means that we need to
update the way we express our worship and praise for God, not go backwards.
I see the recent changes to
the Mass as regression in liturgy not progress. No one understands the prayers
now so how can they be expected to say Amen to something incomprehensible?
To
expect them to, is to treat adult Catholics as no more than trained parrots,
repeating what they hear and doing what they are told.
Come to think of it,
that is what the hierarchy expects you to be…
But that is not what Jesus wants. He criticised His generation by repeating the words of the Old Testament in reference to them: "These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me." (Matthew 15:18)
The same could be said of many priests at the altar. Don't be like them. Use your mind and your heart and worship God with your lives as well as your words!
Blessings on your day!
Kevin Lee
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