Reflection on Mass Readings for feast of St Monica, mother of Augustine

Tuesday of the Twenty-first week in Ordinary Time  27 August 2013 St. Monica (332-387)   The circumstances of St. Monica's life could have made her a nagging wife, a bitter daughter-in-law and a despairing parent, yet she did not give way to any of these temptations. Although she was a Christian, her parents gave her in marriage to a pagan, Patricius, who lived in her hometown of Tagaste in North Africa. Patricius had some redeeming features, but he had a violent temper and was licentious. Monica also had to bear with a cantankerous mother-in-law who lived in her home. Patricius criticized his wife because of her charity and piety, but always respected her. Monica's prayers and example finally won her husband and mother-in-law to Christianity. Her husband died in 371, one year after his Baptism.   Monica had at least three children who survived infancy. The oldest, Augustine, is the most famous. At the time of his father's death, Augustine was 17 and a rhetoric student in Carthage. Monica was distressed to learn that her son had accepted the Manichean heresy and was living an immoral life. For a while, she refused to let him eat or sleep in her house. Then one night she had a vision that assured her Augustine would return to the faith. From that time on she stayed close to her son, praying and fasting for him. In fact, she often stayed much closer than Augustine wanted.   When he was 29, Augustine decided to go to Rome to teach rhetoric. Monica was determined to go along. One night he told his mother that he was going to the dock to say goodbye to a friend. Instead, he set sail for Rome. Monica was heartbroken when she learned of Augustine's trick, but she still followed him. She arrived in Rome only to find that he had left for Milan. Although travel was difficult, Monica pursued him to Milan.   In Milan Augustine came under the influence of the bishop, St. Ambrose, who also became Monica's spiritual director. She accepted his advice in everything and had the humility to give up some practices that had become second nature to her (see Quote, below). Monica became a leader of the devout women in Milan as she had been in Tagaste.   She continued her prayers for Augustine during his years of instruction. At Easter, 387, St. Ambrose baptized Augustine and several of his friends. Soon after, his party left for Africa. Although no one else was aware of it, Monica knew her life was near the end. She told Augustine, "Son, nothing in this world now affords me delight. I do not know what there is now left for me to do or why I am still here, all my hopes in this world being now fulfilled." She became ill shortly after and suffered severely for nine days before her death.   Almost all we know about St. Monica is in the writings of St. Augustine, especially his Confessions.   Quote:       When Monica moved from North Africa to Milan, she found religious practices new to her and also that some of her former customs, such as a Saturday fast, were not common there. She asked St. Ambrose which customs she should follow. His classic reply was: "When I am here, I do not fast on Saturday, but I fast when I am in Rome; do the same and always follow the custom and discipline of the Church as it is observed in the particular locality in which you find yourself."   Reflection:   Today, with Internet searches, e-mail shopping and instant credit, we have little patience for things that take time. Likewise, we want instant answers to our prayers. Monica is a model of patience. Her long years of prayer, coupled with a strong, well-disciplined character, finally led to the conversion of her hot-tempered husband, her cantankerous mother-in-law and her brilliant but wayward son, Augustine.   1 Thess. 2:1-8. You yourselves know, brothers and sisters, that our reception among you was not without effect. Rather, after we had suffered and been insolently treated, as you know, in Philippi, we drew courage through our God to speak to you the gospel of God with much struggle. Our exhortation was not from delusion or impure motives, nor did it work through deception. But as we were judged worthy by God to be entrusted with the gospel, that is how we speak, not as trying to please human beings,but rather God, who judges our hearts. Nor, indeed, did we ever appear with flattering speech, as you know, or with a pretext for greed - God is witness - nor did we seek praise from human beings, either from you or from others, although we were able to impose our weight as apostles of Christ. Rather, we were gentle among you, as a nursing mother cares for her children. With such affection for you, we were determined to share with you not only the gospel of God, but our very selves as well, so dearly beloved had you become to us.   Ps 139(138):1-3.4-6. O LORD, you have probed me and you know me; You know when I sit and when I stand; You understand my thoughts from afar. My journeys and my rest you scrutinize, With all my ways you are familiar. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O LORD, you know the whole of it. Behind me and before, you hem me in and rest your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; too lofty for me to attain.   Matt 23:23-26. Jesus said: "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You pay tithes of mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier things of the law: judgment and mercy and fidelity. But these you should have done, without neglecting the others. Blind guides, who strain out the gnat and swallow the camel! Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You cleanse the outside of cup and dish, but inside they are full of plunder and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, cleanse first the inside of the cup, so that the outside also may be clean."   Commentary of the day: Origen (c.185-253), priest and theologian Homilies on Saint Luke's Gospel, no.21 ; PG 13, 1855 ; SC 87 "Cleanse first the inside of the cup" : prepare a way into our heart In the prophet Isaiah we read the following words: “A voice cries out in the desert: Prepare the way of the Lord! Make straight his highway!” (cf. Is 40,3). The Lord wants to find a way into your hearts by which he can enter and walk. Prepare this way for him; make his highway straight... What kind of way are we going to prepare for the Lord? A material way? But how could God's Word make use of a way like that? Wouldn't it be better to prepare an interior way for the Lord and to draw some straight, connected roads into our hearts? Yes indeed! This is the way for the Word of God to enter in and settle within the human heart that is able to receive him.How great man's heart is! How broad and spacious so long as it is pure! Do you want to understand its greatness and breadth? Take a look at the range of divine knowledge it contains. Here is a heart that says so itself: “God gave me sound knowledge of existing things that I might know the organization of the universe and the force of its elements, the beginning and the end and the midpoint of times, the changes in the sun's course and the variations of the seasons. Cycles of years, positions of the stars, natures of animals, tempers of beasts, powers of the winds and thoughts of men, uses of plants and virtues of roots” (Wsd 7.17-20). You see, the heart of man which encompasses so many things is by no means small!...Well then, if it isn't small and if it can grasp so many things, we can prepare a way for the Lord in it and make straight a highway where the Word and Wisdom of God can walk (1Cor 1,24). Prepare a way for the Lord by means of a good conscience; level the road for the Word of God to walk within you without obstacle and give you understanding of his mysteries and of his coming.

 

reflections on Mass readings 26th August

 

Monday of the Twenty-first week in Ordinary Time     26 August 2013

1 Thess. 1:1-5.8b-10.

Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy to the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: grace to you and peace.
We give thanks to God always for all of you, remembering you in our prayers, unceasingly
calling to mind your work of faith and labor of love and endurance in hope of our Lord Jesus Christ, before our God and Father,
knowing, brothers loved by God, how you were chosen.
For our gospel did not come to you in word alone, but also in power and in the holy Spirit and with much conviction. You know what sort of people we were among you for your sake.
In every place your faith in God has gone forth, so that we have no need to say anything.
For they themselves openly declare about us what sort of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God
and to await his Son from heaven, whom he raised from (the) dead, Jesus, who delivers us from the coming wrath.

Ps 149(148):1b-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.

Mt 23:13-22.

Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You lock the kingdom of heaven before human beings. You do not enter yourselves, nor do you allow entrance to those trying to enter.
(...)
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You traverse sea and land to make one convert, and when that happens you make him a child of Gehenna twice as much as yourselves.
Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'If one swears by the temple, it means nothing, but if one swears by the gold of the temple, one is obligated.'
Blind fools, which is greater, the gold, or the temple that made the gold sacred?
And you say, 'If one swears by the altar, it means nothing, but if one swears by the gift on the altar, one is obligated.'
You blind ones, which is greater, the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred?
One who swears by the altar swears by it and all that is upon it;
one who swears by the temple swears by it and by him who dwells in it;
one who swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and by him who is seated on it."


 Commentary of the day :

Rule of the Master, monastic Rule of the 6th century
Prologue, 1-14 ; SC 105

The crossroad in our heart: "The road is broad that leads to perdition...; constricted the road that leads to life" (Mt 7,13-14)

Now, O man - you, first of all, who are reading this rule aloud to your community and then you who are listening to me as you listen to this reading: set aside every other thought for the time being and know that when I speak to you it is God who is admonishing you through my mouth. We have to make our way freely to our Lord God, through good deeds and upright intentions. If not, we will be summoned to appear before him and carried off by death in spite of ourselves, because of our sinful negligence... The time remaining for us to live is being lived by us as if it were a respite, whereas God's goodness is looking daily for progress from us. It wants something better from us to day than yesterday.You who are listening to me, pay close attention. Then my words..., marching along by means of the application of your mind, will come at last to the crossroad of your heart. When you have reached this crossroad... leave the way of evil behind, which is the way of ignorance, and stand in front of the two ways opening out in front of you: these are the two ways of observing the Lord's commands. We who are seeking for the way that leads to God, let us come to a halt in our hearts at this crossroad and consider these two ways, these two kinds of understanding, that present themselves before us. Let us consider by which of these two ways we can reach God. If we continue to the left then we should fear – for this way is broad – in case it may not rather be the one that leads to perdition. If we turn to the right then we are on the right road, for this way is narrow and leads faithful servants to their Lord himself... Be conformed, then, to what you hear before you quit the light of this world for you will not return to it before the resurrection. And at the resurrection, if you have acted well here in this present time, you will be destined for eternal glory with all the saints.

Mass Readings and Reflection for 25th Sunday in Ordinary time

Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year C  25 August 2013

Is 66:18-21.

Thus says the LORD: I know their works and their thoughts, and I come to gather nations of every language; they shall come and see my glory.
I will set a sign among them; from them I will send fugitives to the nations: to Tarshish, Put and Lud, Mosoch, Tubal and Javan, to the distant coastlands that have never heard of my fame, or seen my glory; and they shall proclaim my glory among the nations.
They shall bring all your brethren from all the nations as an offering to the LORD, on horses and in chariots, in carts, upon mules and dromedaries, to Jerusalem, my holy mountain, says the LORD, just as the Israelites bring their offering to the house of the LORD in clean vessels.
Some of these I will take as priests and Levites, says the LORD.

Ps 117(116):1.2.

Praise the LORD, all you nations;
glorify him, all you peoples!

For steadfast is his kindness for us,
and the fidelity of the LORD endures forever.

Heb. 12:5-7.11-13.

Brothers and sisters, You have forgotten the exhortation addressed to you as children: "My son, do not disdain the discipline of the Lord or lose heart when reproved by him;
for whom the Lord loves, he disciplines; he scourges every son he acknowledges."
Endure your trials as "discipline"; God treats you as sons. For what "son" is there whom his father does not discipline?
At the time, all discipline seems a cause not for joy but for pain, yet later it brings the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who are trained by it.
So strengthen your drooping hands and your weak knees.
Make straight paths for your feet, that what is lame may not be dislocated but healed.

Lk 13:22-30.

Jesus passed through towns and villages, teaching as he went and making his way to Jerusalem.
Someone asked him, "Lord, will only a few people be saved?" He answered them,
Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter but will not be strong enough.
After the master of the house has arisen and locked the door, then will you stand outside knocking and saying, 'Lord, open the door for us.' He will say to you in reply, 'I do not know where you are from.'
And you will say, 'We ate and drank in your company and you taught in our streets.'
Then he will say to you, 'I do not know where (you) are from. Depart from me, all you evildoers!'
And there will be wailing and grinding of teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God and you yourselves cast out.
And people will come from the east and the west and from the north and the south and will recline at table in the kingdom of God.
For behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last."

Commentary of the day :
An elderly gent was invited to his old friends' home for dinner one evening. He was impressed by the way his buddy preceded every request to his wife with endearing terms — Honey, My Love, Darling, Sweetheart, Pumpkin, etc. The couple had been married almost 70 years, and clearly they were still very much in love. While the wife was in the kitchen, the man leaned over and said to his host, "I think it's wonderful that, after all these years, you still call your wife those loving pet names."
 The old man hung his head. "I have to tell you the truth," he said, "I forgot her name about 10 years ago."
I used to read this Gospel text as saying, Many people who profess to be Christians or even priests and religious leaders will be turned out of the kingdom with Jesus telling them, “Away from me, I don’t know you”. I know this will be true for many who may be surprised when it happens because they don’t see their true character. Maybe they look at themselves through a dusty mirror and believe themselves to be good and holy just because they say lots of prayers, but their heart is far from God. As Jesus said, “They honour me only with their lips”.

I remember thinking while listening to a lecture about Christology in one of my subjects at the seminary, “This guy reckons he knows a lot about God, but he doesn’t know God. He talks about God like He is a subject in a science journal, not as someone he is in relationship with”.

That’s the trap for Christians too. We can forget why we are being kind or considerate and do it for recognition more than because we know its what God wants. Sometimes I can become selfish and think only of myself and my immediate family and forget that God’s ways of thinking are broader and more inclusive.

Can anything good come from that place?

 

Saint Bartholomew, apostle - Feast           24 August 2013

Revel. 21:9b-14.

One of the seven angels who held the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues came and said to me, "Come here. I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb."
He took me in spirit to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God.
It gleamed with the splendor of God. Its radiance was like that of a precious stone, like jasper, clear as crystal.
It had a massive, high wall, with twelve gates where twelve angels were stationed and on which names were inscribed, (the names) of the twelve tribes of the Israelites.
There were three gates facing east, three north, three south, and three west.
The wall of the city had twelve courses of stones as its foundation, on which were inscribed the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

Ps 145(144):10-11.12-13ab.17-18.

Let all your works give you thanks, O LORD,
And let your faithful ones bless you.
Let them discourse of the glory of your Kingdom
And speak of your might.

Making known to men your might
and the glorious splendor of your Kingdom.
Your Kingdom is a Kingdom for all ages,
And your dominion endures through all generations.

The LORD is just in all his ways
And holy in all his works.
The LORD is near to all who call upon him,
To all who call upon him in truth.

Jn 1:45-51.

Philip found Nathanael and told him, "We have found the one about whom Moses wrote in the law, and also the prophets, Jesus, son of Joseph, from Nazareth."
But Nathanael said to him, "Can anything good come from Nazareth?" Philip said to him, "Come and see."
Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, "Here is a true Israelite. There is no duplicity in him."
Nathanael said to him, "How do you know me?" Jesus answered and said to him, "Before Philip called you, I saw you under the fig tree."
Nathanael answered him, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel."
Jesus answered and said to him, "Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than this."
And he said to him, "Amen, amen, I say to you, you will see the sky opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man."

 Commentary of the day :

Two things strike me about this passage. One that Nathaniel was quick to deride Jesus just because He lived in the insignificant town of Nazareth. Would we ever write someone off because he was a westie or coming from a poor area?

Second question:

What was Nathaniel doing when Jesus saw him under the tree? We will never know but it made such an impression on him that he made that bold proclamation "You are the King of Israel" and then followed Jesus to his own ultimate martyrdom.

When we have those Nathaniel moments they convict us that God really is watching all that we do and we are certain that He is assisting us towards our ultimate resurrection when we will see the angels ascending and descending!

 Saint Peter Damian (1007-1072), hermit then Bishop, Doctor of the Church
Sermon 42, 2nd for Saint Bartholomew ; PL 144, 726 

"You will see the sky opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man"

The apostles' glory is so indistinguishable and so bonded together by the cement of so many graces that in celebrating the feast of one of them the common greatness of all is called to our interior attention. For they share together the same authority of supreme judge, the same honorable rank, and they hold the same power to bind and loose (Mt 19,28; 18,18). They are those precious pearls that Saint John tells us he beheld in the Book of Revelation out of which are constructed the gates of the heavenly Jerusalem (Rv 21,21.14)... And indeed, whenever the apostles beam divine light through their signs or miracles, they open up the heavenly glory of Jerusalem to all peoples who have been converted to the christian faith...Of them, too, the prophet says: “Who are these who fly along like clouds?” (Is 60,8)... God raises the minds of his preachers to contemplation of truths on high... so that they can abundantly pour down the rain of God's word into our hearts. Thus they drink water from the spring so as to give us drink too. Saint Bartholomew drew from the fulness of this spring when the Holy Spirit came upon him, as on the other apostles, in the form of tongues of fire (Acts 2,3).Perhaps, hearing of fire, you don't see its relationship to water? But listen to how our Lord calls “water” the Holy Spirit who came down like fire on the apostles: “Let anyone who thirsts,” he says, “come to me and drink”. And he adds: “Whoever believes in me – as scripture says – 'Rivers of living water will flow from within him'.” And the evangelist explains: “He said this in reference to the Spirit that those who came to believe in him were to receive” (Jn 7,37-39). The Psalmist, too, says to believers: “They have their fill of the prime gifts of your house; from your delightful stream you give them

Feast of St Rose of Lima. Reflection. Mass Readings & Comments

Saint Rose of Lima Feast Day - August 30 Patroness of The Americas, South America,  Latin America, Peru, Philippines and Florists This South American Saint's real name was Isabel, but she was such a beautiful baby that she was called Rose, and that name remained.  As she grew older, she became more and more beautiful, and one day, her mother put a wreath of flowers on her head to show off her loveliness to friends. But Rose had no desire to be admired, for her heart had been given to Jesus. So she put a long pin into that wreath and it pierced her so deeply, that she had a hard time getting the wreath off afterward. Another time she became afraid that her beauty might be a temptation to someone, since people could not take their eyes off her. Therefore, she rubbed her face with pepper until it was all red and blistered. St. Rose worked hard to support her poor parents and she humbly obeyed them, except when they tried to get her to marry. That she would not do. Her love of Jesus was so great that when she talked about Him, her face glowed and her eyes sparkled. Rose had many temptations from the devil, and there were also many times when she had to suffer a feeling of terrible loneliness and sadness, for God seemed far away. Yet she cheerfully offered all these troubles to Him. In fact, in her last long, painful sickness, this heroic young woman use to pray: "Lord, increase my sufferings, and with them increase Your love in my heart." Rose was the first canonized saint of the New World. She has one characteristic of all saints—the suffering of opposition—and another characteristic which is more for admiration than for imitation—excessive practice of mortification. The saints have so great a love of God that what seems bizarre to us, and is indeed sometimes imprudent, is simply a logical carrying out of a conviction that anything that might endanger a loving relationship with God must be rooted out. So, because her beauty was so often admired, Rose used to rub her face with pepper to produce disfiguring blotches. Later, she wore a thick circlet of silver on her head, studded on the inside, like a crown of thorns. When her parents fell into financial trouble, she worked in the garden all day and sewed at night. Ten years of struggle against her parents began when they tried to make Rose marry. They refused to let her enter a convent, and out of obedience she continued her life of penance and solitude at home as a member of the Third Order of St. Dominic. So deep was her desire to live the life of Christ that she spent most of her time at home in solitude. During the last few years of her life, Rose set up a room in the house where she cared for homeless children, the elderly and the sick. This was a beginning of social services in Peru. Though secluded in life and activity, she was brought to the attention of Inquisition interrogators, who could only say that she was influenced by grace. When she died at 31 (1586-1617), the city turned out for her funeral. Prominent men took turns carrying her coffin. Many miracles followed her death. She was beatified by Clement IX, in 1667, and canonized on 2 April 1671 by Clement X, the first American to be so honored. She is represented wearing a crown of roses.
	Help me to remember what is really important:  that I am Your child You are my Father You love me for who I am and how I live Not what I look like or what I own. Let me praise You who sees into my heart, who is always with me and who eases my suffering.
In today's world, where beauty and possessions seem to mean so much, the story of St. Rose is just as relevant as it was when she was canonized in 1671 - particularly to young people who are bombarded with message about what to buy and how to look.  While it is difficult to avoid distractions, most of us don't have to move to a hermitage or isolate ourselves to bring Rose's message of humility and comfort in the Lord into our homes. First reading from book of Ruth 1:1.3-6.14-16.22. Once in the time of the judges there was a famine in the land; so a man from Bethlehem of Judah departed with his wife and two sons to reside on the plateau of Moab. Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died, and she was left with her two sons, who married Moabite women, one named Orpah, the other Ruth. When they had lived there about ten years, both Mahlon and Chilion died also, and the woman was left with neither her two sons nor her husband. She then made ready to go back from the plateau of Moab because word reached her there that the LORD had visited his people and given them food. Again they sobbed aloud and wept; and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law good-bye, but Ruth stayed with her. "See now!" she said, "your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and her god. Go back after your sister-in-law!" But Ruth said, "Do not ask me to abandon or forsake you! for wherever you go I will go, wherever you lodge I will lodge, your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Thus it was that Naomi returned with the Moabite daughter-in-law, Ruth, who accompanied her back from the plateau of Moab. They arrived in Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest. Ps 146(145):5-6ab.6c-7.8-9a.9bc-10. Blessed he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD, his God, Who made heaven and earth, The sea and all that is in them. The LORD keeps faith forever, secures justice for the oppressed, gives food to the hungry. The LORD sets captives free. The LORD gives sight to the blind. The LORD raises up those who were bowed down; the LORD loves the just. The LORD protects strangers. The fatherless and the widow the LORD sustains, But the way of the wicked he thwarts. The LORD shall reign forever; Your God, O Zion, through all generations. Alleluia. Mt 22:34-40. When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them, a scholar of the law, tested him by asking, “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” He said to him, "You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbour as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments." Commentary of the day : Can you honestly say you keep Jesus’ commandment of loving God with all your heart etc and loving your neighbour (not just those next door) as much as you love yourself? I know I can’t. I still have a long way to go. But I pray that I can at least treat others like I would like to be treated. Which is why I would never be rude to a person, even if she were doing my make-up (not likely to happen). Why? Because imagine if you were that person, would you like to be talked down to? Would you like to be abused? So why do it Mr Rudd? Listen to what Saint Teresa of Avila (1515-1582), Carmelite, Doctor of the Church says in her book: “Interior Castle”, Fifth Dwelling Places, ch. 3 (trans. ©Washington Province of Discalced Carmelites, Inc, 1980) If you have never read it, I highly recommend it if you want to advance on the way of sanctity. The great commandment The Lord asks of us only two things: love of His Majesty and love of our neighbour. These are what we must work for. By observing them with perfection, we do His will and so will be united with Him. But how far, as I have said, we are from doing these two things for so great a God as we ought! May it please His Majesty to give us His grace so that we might merit, if we want, to reach this state that lies within our power. The most certain sign, in my opinion, as to whether or not we are observing these two laws is whether we observe well the love of neighbour. We cannot know whether or not we love God, although there are strong indications for recognizing that we do love Him; but we can know whether we love our neighbour. And be certain that the more advanced you see you are in love for your neighbour the more advanced you will be in the love of God, for the love His Majesty has for us is so great that to repay us for our love of neighbour He will in a thousand ways increase the love we have for Him. I cannot doubt this. That is why it's important for us to walk with careful attention to how we are proceeding in this matter, for if we practice love of neighbour with great perfection, we will have done everything. I believe that, since our nature is bad, we will not reach perfection in the love of neighbour if that love doesn't rise from love of God as its root.
	"Apart from the cross, there is no other ladder by which we may get to heaven." St. Rose of Lima

The Queenship of Mary

Thursday of the Twentieth week in Ordinary Time       22 August 2013
The Queenship of Mary - Memorial

Judges 11:29-39.

The spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah. He passed through Gilead and Manasseh, and through Mizpah-Gilead as well, and from there he went on to the Ammonites.
Jephthah made a vow to the LORD. "If you deliver the Ammonites into my power," he said, "whoever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me when I return in triumph from the Ammonites shall belong to the LORD. I shall offer him up as a holocaust."
Jephthah then went on to the Ammonites to fight against them, and the LORD delivered them into his power,
so that he inflicted a severe defeat on them, from Aroer to the approach of Minnith (twenty cities in all) and as far as Abel-keramin. Thus were the Ammonites brought into subjection by the Israelites.
When Jephthah returned to his house in Mizpah, it was his daughter who came forth, playing the tambourines and dancing. She was an only child: he had neither son nor daughter besides her.
When he saw her, he rent his garments and said, "Alas, daughter, you have struck me down and brought calamity upon me. For I have made a vow to the LORD and I cannot retract."
"Father," she replied, "you have made a vow to the LORD. Do with me as you have vowed, because the LORD has wrought vengeance for you on your enemies the Ammonites."
Then she said to her father, "Let me have this favor. Spare me for two months, that I may go off down the mountains to mourn my virginity with my companions."
"Go," he replied, and sent her away for two months. So she departed with her companions and mourned her virginity on the mountains.
At the end of the two months she returned to her father, who did to her as he had vowed. She had not been intimate with man. It then became a custom in Israel

Ps 40(39):5.7-8a.8b-9.10.

Blessed the man who makes the LORD his trust;
who turns not to idolatry
or to those who stray after falsehood.
Sacrifice or oblation you wished not,
but ears open to obedience you gave me.
Burnt offerings or sin-offerings you sought not;

then said I, “Behold I come.”
“In the written scroll it is prescribed for me,
To do your will, O my God, is my delight,
and your law is within my heart!”

I announced your justice in the vast assembly;
I did not restrain my lips, as you, O LORD, know.

Mt 22:1-14.

Jesus again in reply spoke to the chief priests and the elders of the people in parables saying,
“The kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son. He dispatched his servants to summon the invited guests to the feast, but they refused to come.
A second time he sent other servants, saying, 'Tell those invited: "Behold, I have prepared my banquet, my calves and fattened cattle are killed, and everything is ready; come to the feast."'
Some ignored the invitation and went away, one to his farm, another to his business. The rest laid hold of his servants, mistreated them, and killed them. The king was enraged and sent his troops, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city.
Then he said to his servants, 'The feast is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy to come.
Go out, therefore, into the main roads and invite to the feast whomever you find.'
The servants went out into the streets and gathered all they found, bad and good alike, and the hall was filled with guests.
But when the king came in to meet the guests he saw a man there not dressed in a wedding garment.
He said to him, 'My friend, how is it that you came in here without a wedding garment?' But he was reduced to silence.
Then the king said to his attendants, 'Bind his hands and feet, and cast him into the darkness outside, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.'
Many are invited, but few are chosen."

Commentary of the day :

Two bizarre readings today. The first it is impossible for me to say, “Thanks be to God” after. If you think there is a reason to justify someone making a ridiculous vow (and then carrying it out) tell me and I will become a Jew!

The Gospel is worthy of further comment which I will leave for another day or someone more holy than me to respond (see below).

I want to address the feast day which is relegated to a “Memorial”. It’s the event we recall in the 5^th Glorious Mystery of the Rosary.

Many so called ‘primitive religions’ have a female deity to balance the masculinity of the ‘principal god’ so its not surprising for those outside Catholicism to believe that we deify the mother of Jesus. Its probably not untrue of some Catholics who want to view Mary as Queen of Heaven sitting alongside Jesus and King of Heaven and Earth.

I have always struggled with the need to give Heaven a Kingdom context when we imagine in the afterlife there will be no opposing powers. Kingdoms are so middle ages. But perhaps these concepts were first expressed in a period of human history when there were lots of wars and rivalry over land. I believe the more accurate translation of the word Jesus was quoted as using when He dictated the prayer which has become known as “The Lord’s Prayer” is ‘reign’, not Kingdom. Either way it implies a dominion over all other opposing powers.

So why do we need to give Mary a feast calling her “Queen of Heaven and Earth”? Why do some Catholics feel the need to elevate Mary’s status so greatly as to even insist that the Papacy declare her “co-redemptrix” a word meaning that she and Jesus cooperated to redeem humanity.
Of course everyone knows there would be no Jesus if not a mother, but to say that Mary shared in the redemptive act just by giving birth is a bit of a stretch. Its like saying my mother is partly responsible (even half responsible for the shame and embarrassment I have brought to those pedophiles I exposed in my book www.unholysilence.com !)

Saint Nerses Chnorhali (1102-1173), Armenian patriarch
Jesus, the Father's beloved Son, §683-687 ; SC 203

"Come to the feast"

Your servants' call has invited me, even me!, to the divine wedding prepared for you, O beloved Son, by the Father, that I may rejoice in ineffable joy here below in the mystery of the altar, and may rejoice in the heavenly city (Rv 21,2f.) in days to come in eternal, inexpressible and unchanging rejoicing. But because I no longer wear the splendid garment worthy of the wedding hall; because I have soiled by the dark sins of my soul the garment given at baptism's sacred fount O impenetrable Master...,clothe me again anew with your own self (cf. Gal 3,27)and restore to its former splendour my sullied original robe. Since I do not hear your voice, Lord, speak the word “friend” with accents worthy of compassion and may I never be thrown down, as was that one, into the pit for ever.

 

You go into my vineyard too - Reflection on Mass readings for feast of St Pius X

Wednesday of the Twentieth week in Ordinary Time        21 August 2013

St. Pius X, Pope (1835-1914)

Very few popes deserve as much praise as this man did. He was the one who allowed younger children (from aged 7) to receive their first Holy Communion saying most young children had a deeper desire to have the Presence of Jesus inside them than many adults. Previously kids had to be about 15 years old before they could fully and properly participate at Mass. Can you imagine today trying to get fifteen year olds to make their First Holy Communion? (By the way he is not the one who shook hands with Hitler - that was Pius XII).

Judges 9:6-15.

All the citizens of Shechem and all Beth-millo came together and proceeded to make Abimelech king by the terebinth at the memorial pillar in Shechem.
When this was reported to him, Jotham went to the top of Mount Gerizim, and standing there, cried out to them in a loud voice: "Hear me, citizens of Shechem, that God may then hear you!
Once the trees went to anoint a king over themselves. So they said to the olive tree, 'Reign over us.'
But the olive tree answered them, 'Must I give up my rich oil, whereby men and gods are honoured, and go to wave over the trees?'
Then the trees said to the fig tree, 'Come; you reign over us!'
But the fig tree answered them, 'Must I give up my sweetness and my good fruit, and go to wave over the trees?'
Then the trees said to the vine, 'Come you, and reign over us.'
But the vine answered them, 'Must I give up my wine that cheers gods and men, and go to wave over the trees?'
Then all the trees said to the buckthorn, 'Come; you reign over us!'
But the buckthorn replied to the trees, 'If you wish to anoint me king over you in good faith, come and take refuge in my shadow. Otherwise, let fire come from the buckthorn and devour the cedars of Lebanon.'

Ps 21(20):2-3.4-5.6-7.

O LORD, in your strength the king is glad;
in your victory how greatly he rejoices!
You have granted him his heart’s desire;
you refused not the wish of his lips.

For you welcomed him with goodly blessings,
you placed on his head a crown of pure gold.
He asked life of you: you gave him
length of days forever and ever.

Great is his glory in your victory;
majesty and splendour you conferred upon him.
You made him a blessing forever,
you gladdened him with the joy of your face.

Mt 20:1-16a.

Jesus told his disciples this parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out at dawn to hire laborers for his vineyard.

After agreeing with them for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard. 

Going out about nine o'clock, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, 

and he said to them, 'You too go into my vineyard, and I will give you what is just.'

So they went off. (And) he went out again around noon, and around three o'clock, and did likewise. 

Going out about five o'clock, he found others standing around, and said to them, 'Why do you stand here idle all day?' 

They answered, 'Because no one has hired us.' He said to them, 'You too go into my vineyard.' 

When it was evening the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, 'Summon the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and ending with the first.'

When those who had started about five o'clock came, each received the usual daily wage. 

So when the first came, they thought that they would receive more, but each of them also got the usual wage. 

And on receiving it they grumbled against the landowner, 

saying, 'These last ones worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us, who bore the day's burden and the heat.' 

He said to one of them in reply, 'My friend, I am not cheating you. Did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage?

Take what is yours and go. What if I wish to give this last one the same as you?

Or am I not free to do as I wish with my own money? Are you envious because I am generous?' 

Thus, the last will be first, and the first will be last."







Commentary of the day: 

The context: The parable described in today’s gospel is known as the “Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard” or the “Parable of the Generous Landlord.”  This remarkable and rather startling parable is found only in Matthew.  There is Gospel, or "good news," in this parable because it is the story of the landlord's love and generosity, representing God’s love and generosity.  The question in God's mind is not, “How much do these people deserve?” but rather, “How can I help them?  How can I save them before they perish?”  It’s all about grace and blessings. God is presented in the parable as a loving mother who cares about each of her children equally.

The parable in a nutshell: The kingdom of heaven, says Jesus, is like a landowner who goes out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard.  He rounds up a group at 6 AM, agrees to pay them the usual daily wage and then puts them into action.  At 9 AM, he rounds up another group.  At noon, he recruits a third team, and then at 3 PM, a fourth.  Finally, at 5 PM, he finds still more laborers who are willing and able to work.  He sends them into the vineyard to do what they can before sundown.  As the day ends, the landowner instructs his manager to pay each of the workers one denarius, the daily living wage, and to begin with those who started at 5 PM.

 Life messages: (1) We need to follow God’s example and show grace to our neighbor.  When someone else is more successful than we are, let us assume he needs the success.  When someone who does wrong fails to get caught, let us remember the many times we have done wrong and gotten off free.  We mustn’t wish pain on people for the sake of “fairness.”  We become envious of others because of our lack of generosity of heart. 2) We need to express our gratitude to God in our daily lives.  God personally calls each of us to a particular ministry. He shows his care by giving us His grace and eternal salvation.  All our talents and blessings are freely given us by God, so we should thank Him by avoiding sins, by rendering loving service to others, and by listening and talking to Him. 

(Fr. Tony) L/13

Saint John Chrysostom (c.345-407), priest at Antioch then Bishop of Constantinople, Doctor of the Church 

Homilies on Saint Matthew's Gospel, no.64, 4 

"You too go into my vineyard"

It is very obvious that this parable is considering people's conversion to God: some from their youth, others a little later and, finally, some only in old age. Christ rebukes the pride of the first to be called to stop them criticizing those called at the eleventh hour by showing them that payment is the same for all. At the same time, he stirs up the enthusiasm of the latter by showing them they can win the same wage as the former. Our Saviour has just been talking about the renunciation of wealth, disdain for possessions and those virtues that demand bigheartedness and courage. For this he needs to stir up the ardour of a youthful soul and so our Lord sets the flame of charity alight in them and strengthens their courage by showing them that even those who arrived last receive a full day's wages...To put it more clearly: some of them might have taken advantage of it and fallen into indifference and carelessness. But the disciples will clearly see that this generosity is a result of God's mercy, which alone bears them up to merit so magnificent a reward... All Jesus' parables – the virgins, the net, the thorns, the barren tree – call on us to show our virtue in our deeds... He is exhorting us to a pure and holy life. A holy life demands more from our hearts than simple purity of faith for it is a continual struggle, a tireless labour.