Mass Readings and reflections for Thursday, 26 September 2013
Thursday of the Twenty-fifth week in Ordinary TimeSaints Cosmas & Damian, Martyrs († c. 283) were brothers, born in Arabia, who had become eminent for their skill in the science of medicine. Being Christians, they were filled with the spirit of charity and never took money for their services. At Egaea in Cilicia, where they lived, they enjoyed the highest esteem of the people. When the persecution under Diocletian broke out, their very prominence rendered them marked objects of persecution. Being apprehended by order of Lysias, governor of Cilicia, they underwent various torments about the year 283. They are patron saints of pharmacists.
Haggai 1:1-8.
On the first day of the sixth month in the second year of King Darius, The word of the LORD came through the prophet Haggai to the governor of Judah, Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel, and to the high priest Joshua, son of Jehozadak:
Thus says the LORD of hosts: This people says: "Not now has the time come to rebuild the house of the LORD."
(Then this word of the LORD came through Haggai, the prophet:)
Is it time for you to dwell in your own paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins?
Now thus says the LORD of hosts: Consider your ways!
You have sown much, but have brought in little; you have eaten, but have not been satisfied; You have drunk, but have not been exhilarated; have clothed yourselves, but not been warmed; And he who earned wages earned them for a bag with holes in it.
Thus says the LORD of hosts: Consider your ways!
Go up into the hill country; bring timber, and build the house That I may take pleasure in it and receive my glory, says the LORD.
Thus says the LORD of hosts: This people says: "Not now has the time come to rebuild the house of the LORD."
(Then this word of the LORD came through Haggai, the prophet:)
Is it time for you to dwell in your own paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins?
Now thus says the LORD of hosts: Consider your ways!
You have sown much, but have brought in little; you have eaten, but have not been satisfied; You have drunk, but have not been exhilarated; have clothed yourselves, but not been warmed; And he who earned wages earned them for a bag with holes in it.
Thus says the LORD of hosts: Consider your ways!
Go up into the hill country; bring timber, and build the house That I may take pleasure in it and receive my glory, says the LORD.
Ps 149(148):1-2.3-4.5-6a.9b.
Sing to the LORD a new song
of praise in the assembly of the faithful.
Let Israel be glad in their maker,
let the children of Zion rejoice in their king.
Let them praise his name in the festive dance,
let them sing praise to him with timbrel and harp.
For the LORD loves his people,
and he adorns the lowly with victory.
Let the faithful exult in glory;
let them sing for joy upon their couches;
Let the high praises of God be in their throats.
This is the glory of all his faithful. Alleluia.
of praise in the assembly of the faithful.
Let Israel be glad in their maker,
let the children of Zion rejoice in their king.
Let them praise his name in the festive dance,
let them sing praise to him with timbrel and harp.
For the LORD loves his people,
and he adorns the lowly with victory.
Let the faithful exult in glory;
let them sing for joy upon their couches;
Let the high praises of God be in their throats.
This is the glory of all his faithful. Alleluia.
Lk 9:7-9.
Herod the tetrarch heard about all that was happening, and he was greatly perplexed because some were saying, "John has been raised from the dead" ;
others were saying, "Elijah has appeared"; still others, "One of the ancient prophets has arisen."
But Herod said, "John I beheaded. Who then is this about whom I hear such things?" And he kept trying to see him.
others were saying, "Elijah has appeared"; still others, "One of the ancient prophets has arisen."
But Herod said, "John I beheaded. Who then is this about whom I hear such things?" And he kept trying to see him.
Commentary of the day :
Today is the birthday of my brother Brendan who is also a priest but ten years after me. He hasn't spoken to me since my hiatus with the Catholic priesthood owing to my decision to marry. He thinks I am bound for hell. Sad to say, many righteous people feel that God is like the Old Testament no chances, wrath-filled deity and despite preaching mercy and forgiveness they never offer it. Jesus gives stern warning to those who follow that view of Christianity: "the amount you measure out will the amount you are given back" (Matthew 18:31-33)
Today's Gospel shows the attitude of many of my Twitter followers who claim not to believe in God or Jesus but have a healthy respect for those who reverently do. They are however dissuaded from following a faith because of the poor examples of the representatives putting themselves forward as "faith leaders" e.g. Joseph Ratzinger and George Pell.
I watched an interesting documentary on Australian Muslims' divorces last night and watch three Sheiks sitting in judgment over a couple who were seeking a divorce. I was totally turned off by the suggesting that they are paid for their services as the Sheiks sat pen in hand ready to decide on this unfortunate couple's fate.
A couple showed their certificate of divorce to show the Sheiks that this was for them only a formality, the Sheiks were furious. They are losing their influence over their people who have adopted an attitude which welcomes Western permissiveness.
When the decision went against one group of Islamic Sheiks from another faction they said, "We don't care what the Australian government decides, we don't accept the divorce. What's in it for us?" It was weird and made me realize that there are so many versions of religion that are driven by power struggles and greed rather than the good of humanity.
Catechism of the Catholic Church § 31-35
Created in God's image and called to know and love him, the person who seeks God discovers certain ways of coming to know him. These are also called proofs for the existence of God, not in the sense of proofs in the natural sciences, but rather in the sense of "converging and convincing arguments", which allow us to attain certainty about the truth.
These "ways" of approaching God from creation have a twofold point of departure: the physical world, and the human person. The world: starting from movement, becoming, contingency, and the world's order and beauty, one can come to a knowledge of God as the origin and the end of the universe. As St. Paul says of the Gentiles: “For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. Ever since the creation of the world his invisible nature, namely, his eternal power and deity, has been clearly perceived in the things that have been made” (Rm 1,19f; cf Ac 14,15f; 17,27f; Wsd 13,1f)….
The human person: with his openness to truth and beauty, his sense of moral goodness, his freedom and the voice of his conscience, with his longings for the infinite and for happiness, man questions himself about God's existence. In all this he discerns signs of his spiritual soul; this soul... can have its origin only in God. The world, and man, attest that they contain within themselves neither their first principle nor their final end, but rather that they participate in Being itself, which alone is without origin or end. Thus, in different ways, man can come to know that there exists a reality which is the first cause and final end of all things, a reality "that everyone calls God" (St Thomas Aquinas).
Man's faculties make him capable of coming to a knowledge of the existence of a personal God. But for man to be able to enter into real intimacy with him, God willed both to reveal himself to man, and to give him the grace of being able to welcome this revelation in faith. The proofs of God's existence, however, can predispose one to faith and help one to see that faith is not opposed to reason.
These "ways" of approaching God from creation have a twofold point of departure: the physical world, and the human person. The world: starting from movement, becoming, contingency, and the world's order and beauty, one can come to a knowledge of God as the origin and the end of the universe. As St. Paul says of the Gentiles: “For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. Ever since the creation of the world his invisible nature, namely, his eternal power and deity, has been clearly perceived in the things that have been made” (Rm 1,19f; cf Ac 14,15f; 17,27f; Wsd 13,1f)….
The human person: with his openness to truth and beauty, his sense of moral goodness, his freedom and the voice of his conscience, with his longings for the infinite and for happiness, man questions himself about God's existence. In all this he discerns signs of his spiritual soul; this soul... can have its origin only in God. The world, and man, attest that they contain within themselves neither their first principle nor their final end, but rather that they participate in Being itself, which alone is without origin or end. Thus, in different ways, man can come to know that there exists a reality which is the first cause and final end of all things, a reality "that everyone calls God" (St Thomas Aquinas).
Man's faculties make him capable of coming to a knowledge of the existence of a personal God. But for man to be able to enter into real intimacy with him, God willed both to reveal himself to man, and to give him the grace of being able to welcome this revelation in faith. The proofs of God's existence, however, can predispose one to faith and help one to see that faith is not opposed to reason.
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