BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD

A LECTIO DIVINA Approach to the Weekday Liturgy CYCLE 1

ORDINARY TIME: WEEK 19-26

Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time (n. 73) Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time (n. 74) Twenty-first Week in Ordinary Time (n. 75) Twenty-second Week in Ordinary Time (n. 76) Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time (n. 77) Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time (n. 78) Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time (n. 79) Twenty-sixth Week in Ordinary Time (n. 80)

Prepared by Sr. Mary Margaret Tapang, PDDM

*** Text of the Cover Page ends here. ***

A Lectio Divina Approach to the Weekday Liturgy: Cycle I

BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD (n. 73) ORDINARY SEASON: WEEK 19

MONDAY: NINETEENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME “JESUS SAVIOR: His Passion Redeems Us … He Teaches Us to Love and Serve the Lord”

BIBLE READINGS Dt 10:12-22 // Mt 17:22-27

I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO

A. Gospel Reading (Mt 17:22-27): “They will kill him and he will be raised. The subjects are exempt from the tax.”

In the Gospel episode (Mt 17:22-27) we hear that Jesus Master wants to rectify the false adulation that honors him as a political leader, miracle worker, and breadbasket king, and not as the Suffering Servant to redeem the world from sin. The three predictions of the passion that he made on separate occasions are meant to dispel a false Messianic expectation that is based primarily on temporal powers, and not on service to God’s saving will. Today’s Gospel reading contains Jesus’ second prediction of his passion: “The Son of Man is to be handed over to men and they will kill him, and he will be raised on the third day”. His paschal destiny does not involve constraint on his part, but total union with the Father’s saving will. Jesus freely accepts his passion and death to bring about our redemption. He pays the price for our salvation. His paschal sacrifice is sheer grace. For this we are deeply thankful.

The following story, circulated on the Internet, gives us an insight into the “grace” aspect of Jesus’ saving sacrifice.

There once was a man named George Thomas, a preacher in a small Texas town. One Sunday morning he came to the Church building carrying a rusty, bent, old bird cage, and set it by the pulpit. Eyebrows were raised and, as if in response, the preacher began to speak.

"I was walking through town yesterday when I saw a young boy coming toward me swinging this bird cage. On the bottom of the cage were three little wild birds, shivering with cold and fright. I stopped the lad and asked, "What do you have there, son?" "Just some old birds", came the reply. "What are you going to do with them?" I asked. "Take 'em home and have fun with 'em," he answered. "I'm gonna tease 'em and pull out their feathers to make 'em fight. I'm gonna have a real good time." "But you'll get tired of those birds sooner or later. What will you do then?" "Oh, I got some cats," said the little boy. "They like birds. I'll take 'em to them."

The preacher was silent for a moment. "How much do you want for those birds, son?" "Huh?” Why, you don't want them birds, mister. They're just plain old field birds. They don't sing. They ain't even pretty!" "How much?" the preacher asked again. The boy sized up the preacher as if he were crazy and said,"$10?" The preacher reached in his pocket and took out a ten dollar bill. He placed it in the boy's hand. In a flash, the boy was gone.

The preacher picked up the cage and gently carried it to the end of the alley where there was a tree and a grassy spot. Setting the cage down, he opened the door, and by softly tapping the bars persuaded the birds out, setting them free. Well, that explained the empty bird cage on the pulpit, and then the preacher began to tell this story.

One day Satan and Jesus were having a conversation. Satan had just come from the Garden of Eden and he was gloating and boasting. "Yes, sir, I just caught a world full of people down there. Set me a trap, used bait I knew they couldn't resist. Got 'em all!" "What are you going to do with them?" Jesus asked. Satan replied, "Oh, I'm gonna have fun! I'm gonna teach them how to marry and divorce each other, how to hate and abuse each other, how to drink and smoke and curse. I'm gonna teach them how to invent guns and bombs and kill each other. I'm really gonna have fun!" "And what will you do when you are done with them?" Jesus asked. "Oh, I'll kill 'em”, Satan glared proudly.

"How much do you want for them?" Jesus asked. "Oh, you don't want those people. They ain't no good. Why, you'll take them and they'll just hate you. They'll spit on you, curse you and kill you. You don't want those people!" "How much?” Jesus asked again. Satan looked at Jesus and sneered, "All your blood, tears and your life”. Jesus said, "DONE!" Then he paid the price.

The preacher picked up the cage and walked from the pulpit.

B. First Reading (Dt 10:12-22): “Circumcise your hearts. Befriend the alien for you were once aliens yourselves.”

In today’s Old Testament reading (Dt 10:12-22), Moses gives another exhortation to the chosen people Israel as they face the Promised Land. He reiterates the great commandment that calls for total commitment to God: “Love and serve the Lord, your God, with all your heart and all your soul”. Israel’s experience of a benevolent God who works marvels on their behalf is a motive for the covenant observance. Indeed, love of God is the centerpiece of Israel’s response to God who has singled them out as his own people. This love response entails a “circumcised heart”, that is, an obedient heart, as well as acts of service: charity to the most needy and vulnerable members of the society. Together with the widows and the orphans, God’s preferential care includes the aliens who have no protection against the trespass of their social rights. The Israelites need to care for the foreigners for they themselves were once “alien” in the land of Egypt, departing from it “as numerous as the stars of the sky”. If the chosen people wish to secure their future in the Promised Land, they need to be faithful to the Lord and keep his commands and statutes.

The need to care for vulnerable aliens and to give hospitality to them can be gleaned from the following personal testimony (cf. Erna Kirk, “Home at Last” in Country, June/July 2011, p. 38).

When World War II started, my parents were farmers in the Soviet Union. But my father was of German descent, so the government took away their land and livestock, and forced them to leave the country. I was born in Poland in route to Germany.

When we arrived in Germany, no one wanted us there, either, because they regarded us as Russians. So my parents began working to find a way to come to America. It took seven years to find a sponsor who would take on a family with four children.

In 1954, we arrived on Ellis Island with all our belongings in three suitcases. Even though we spoke no English, we made our way to the hills of Tennessee, where we had arranged to sharecrop some land. We learned the language by watching television.

After five years of long, hard hours in endless rows of cotton, we were able to purchase 140 acres with a beautiful frame house. When all the papers were signed, my parents knelt on the ground, kissed it and thanked God for the thousandth time. We were home at last.

II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO

1. Do we appreciate the meaning of Christ’s passion and its significance for us? How do we respond to this wonderful grace and great act of love?

2. How do we carry out the exhortation of Moses and the supreme teaching of Jesus about the love of God and compassionate care for our needy neighbors?

III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO

Lord Jesus, you suffered for us. To redeem us you paid a great price. You suffered the passion and death on the cross to free us from the clutches of sin and death and to give us eternal life. Grant that we may treasure your sacrificial love for us. We give you glory and praise, now and forever. Amen.

*** Loving God, how marvelous you are and great are your saving acts for Israel! You brought to fulfillment your saving plan through your Son Jesus Christ, who teaches us how to love and serve you. Help us to live with an obedient heart and teach us how to give preferential care for the most needy and vulnerable of our society. We give you glory and praise, now and forever. Amen.

IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the CONTEMPLATIO

The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the week. Please memorize it.

“They will kill him, and he will be raised on the third day.” (Mt 17:23) //“Befriend the alien, for you were once aliens yourself.” (Dt 10:19)

V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO

Make an effort to unite the sacrifices of your daily life with the redeeming passion of our Lord Jesus Christ. Be present to the people around you in their trials and difficulties and help them in any way you can. // Be aware of the immigration issue being tackled by the nation and resolve to have a compassionate approach to it.

*** %%% *** %%% *** %%% ***

TUESDAY: NINETEENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME “JESUS SAVIOR: He Wants Us to Be Childlike and To Care for the Little Ones … He Urges Us to Be Steadfast”

BIBLE READINGS Dt 31:1-8 // Mt 18:1-5, 10, 12-14

I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO

A. Gospel Reading (Mt 18:1-5, 10, 12-14): “See that you do not despise one of these little ones.”

Today’s Gospel (Mt 18:1-5, 10, 12-14) tells us that the disciples’ response to the Divine Master’s patient endeavor to help them understand his messianic mission and paschal destiny is disappointing. They fail to understand. They even put a question that is tinged with a power struggle: “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” Their narrow vision degenerates into an authority issue. Jesus therefore teaches them the meaning of true greatness. He calls a child and puts him in front of them saying, “Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”

A child represents complete dependence. The heavenly kingdom is for those who are completely dependent on God and, in the spirit of a child, trust fully in him. An authentic Christian follower relies totally on God. The greatest in the heavenly kingdom are those who imitate Jesus in his complete trust and dependence on the Father’s will. Jesus also warns us not to despise the “little ones”, that is, the humble and lowly, all those who put their faith in God with childlike trust. He teaches us that it is not the will of the heavenly Father that any of the “little ones” be lost. By his pastoral ministry, Jesus invites us to promote the well-being and salvation of the poor and vulnerable.

The following inspiring story gives us insight into how to care for the “little ones” in our midst (cf. Rick Hamlin’s reflections in Daily Guideposts 2010, p. 260).

My father gets around with a walker these days, and he doesn’t get around much. But he was there when the whole clan – twenty and counting – gathered for a week at the beach, staying at a rental on the sand. We sailed, we surfed, we rode bikes on the boardwalk, swam out to the buoy and kayaked in the bay. Dad seemed to enjoy having everybody together, but even from under the umbrella on the porch, he got frustrated at not being able to do half of what he once could.

Late one afternoon, I suggested a walk. “I’m not sure how I can do it with this walker on the sand”, he said. “Let’s try”, I said. “You can hold my hand if you need to.” He made his way down the beach, leaning on the walker or me. We stopped to watch some sailors bring their boats to shore and take down their sails. “Hey, Mr. Hamlin!” one of the guys called. “How are you doing?” “Just fine”, he said, his hands on the walker.

We trudged back next to the water, choosing the hard sand. A pelican dipped past us and plunged into the bay, picking up dinner. A kayak cut across the smooth water, a fish leaping in its wake. The shadows of the palms lengthened across the sand in front of us. “The shadows lengthen”, he observed.

They do, I thought. The years go by, and you don’t know where they went. Age brings us struggles. But at the end of the day there are still beauties to be found in a setting sun and a slow walk on the beach, father and son.

B. First Reading (Dt 31:1-8): “Be brave and steadfast for you must bring this people into the land.”

Today’s Old Testament reading (Dt 31:1-8) is about the appointment of Joshua as Moses’ successor and how Moses encourages him in his mission as leader of Israel. Deuteronomy 3:23-29 presents a very interesting scenario. Moses pleads with God to cross the Jordan River and see the fertile land on the other side, the beautiful hill country and the mountains of Lebanon. But God does not allow him to enter the Promised Land: “That’s enough! Don’t mention this again … Give Joshua his instructions. Strengthen his determination because he will lead the people across to occupy the land that you see.” Moses resigns himself to the will of God. At the threshold of Canaan, the one hundred- year-old Moses makes it clear to the Israelites that he will not be able to enter the Promised Land and that it is Joshua who will lead Israel on the last stage of their journey into the Promised Land. Moses exhorts the Israelites: “Be brave and steadfast; have no fear or dread for it is the Lord God who marches with you; he will never fail you or forsake you.” Moses summons Joshua and exhorts the new leader appointed by God: “Be brave and steadfast, for you must bring this people into the land which the Lord swore to their fathers he would give them … It is the Lord who marches before you; he will be with you and will never fail or forsake you.” Moses tells Israel in general, and Joshua in particular, that they will succeed if they trust in the presence of God, the true liberator and warrior of Israel.

The following story is very inspiring. It depicts a “leader” whose trust in God is complete and whose faith has been passed on to his descendants (cf. Harold Hostetler, August 2 Reflection in Daily Guideposts 2010, p. 243).

Like many parents, I care about the faith of my children and grandchildren. I pray for them and hope they will always love God. But it’s easy to wonder how future generations will respond when it’s time to make their own decisions about following Christ.

That made me pull our family’s genealogy, an almost-1,200-page tome printed in 1928 titled Descendants of Jacob Hochstetler, which includes the history of my Swiss Amish ancestor as well as lists of the hundreds of family lines descended from him. My dad Ira is among those whose names appear in the book.

What struck me most about Jacob was his faith. His family had fled Switzerland and come to America in the early eighteenth century because of religious persecution. Like the rest of the Amish, he took the commands of God literally – he wouldn’t kill other human beings, even in war. During the French and Indian War he refused even to defend himself when Indians attacked his Pennsylvania home; he was wounded and lost his wife, a son and a daughter. As he and his two remaining sons were captured and about to be taken to separate villages, his parting advice was “Do not forget the Lord’s Prayer”.

Jacob and his sons survived the war and went on to spread the Hostetler (there are various spellings) lineage westward until, today, you can find us throughout the United States. Most of us are no longer Amish, but in our Jacob Hochstetler Family Association’s newsletter I’ve read of many Hostetlers down through the years who have gone into the ministry or otherwise heeded God’s call. What a legacy!

II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO

1. Do we heed Jesus’ teaching that unless we become like children, we will not enter the kingdom of heaven? Do we care for God’s “little ones”?

2. Are we brave and steadfast in love and service of God and in our discipleship of Christ? Do we believe that God is present to us and walks before us as our true leader and liberator?

III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO

Loving Jesus, you revealed to us that only those who become like children will enter the heavenly kingdom. Help us to be childlike in our dependence on God and teach us to be fully trusting in him. You exhort us not to neglect the “little ones” but rather to care for them. Let our ways be compassionate on behalf of the poor and vulnerable in our midst. We praise and bless you, now and forever. Amen.

*** O almighty God, you will never fail or forsake us. All your ways are true. As we journey to our final homeland you are present to us. Jesus Christ is the “perfect Moses” who leads to the eternal kingdom of love, justice and peace. Help us to trust in you and to be brave and steadfast in following Jesus to the ultimate Promised Land. We give you glory and praise, now and forever. Amen.

IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the CONTEMPLATIO

The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the day. Please memorize it.

“It is not the will of your heavenly Father that one of these little ones be lost.” (Mt 18:14) //“Be brave and steadfast … He will never fail you or forsake you.” (Dt 31:6)

V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO

Show God’s care and compassion for the “little ones” in our midst by your kind words and deeds. With childlike trust, ask God for the grace to be instruments of his pastoral care for the “little ones” in our society today. // When the ministry of leadership is overwhelming and when the challenges of discipleship are difficult to bear, allow yourself to be strengthened by the exhortation: “Be brave and steadfast … The Lord God marches before you … He will never fail or forsake you.”

*** %%% *** %%% *** %%% ***

WEDNESDAY: NINETEENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME “JESUS SAVIOR: He Teaches Us the Duty of Fraternal Correction … He Fulfills the Task of Moses”

BIBLE READINGS Dt 34:1-12 // Mt 18:15-20

I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO

A. Gospel Reading (Mt 18:15-20): “If your brother listens to you, you have won him over”

The authors of the Days of the Lord, vol. 4, remark on today’s Gospel reading (Mt 18:15-20): “The community for which Matthew collected and presented the Lord’s teachings was already a motley group. There were brothers and sisters who did not behave in an evangelical manner toward the little ones. There were leaders concerned more with honors than service. There were even disciples who lived in sin, publicly and scandalously. What to do about them? What should be the means by which they could be helped to become aware of their disorderly ways and be converted? Certainly there was no question to prematurely separate the weeds from the good grain (Mt 13:24-30). But in some cases, it became necessary to expel from the community brothers and sisters whose conduct could not be tolerated. These questions are still with us. The Gospel of Matthew shows us how to address them. The concrete modalities of the procedure outlined in Matthew cannot be followed to the letter, but we must remember their spirit and perspective. The sins of brothers and sisters cannot leave their kin and other members of the community indifferent. Charity and the spiritual welfare of others demand that we exert ourselves to bring back onto the right path whoever has wandered off. The parable of the lost sheep (Mt 18:10-14) immediately precedes Jesus’ words on charitable correction. The art of reprimand is certainly among the most difficult and delicate; yet this is no reason for us to evade our duty.”

The famous English ballerina, Margot Fonteyn, narrates an incident in which she experienced a sisterly correction from her best friend, Pamela May (cf. MARGOT FONTEYN: Her Own Best Selling Autobiography, London: Wyndham Publications Ltd., 1976, p. 98-99).

Pamela May was away from the ballet for quite a while having a baby. June Brae, the other member of our ‘triptych’, had met David Breeden at Cambridge at the same time that I met Tito and Pamela met Painton. June and David married early in the war and their daughter was born soon after Pamela’s son. I seemed to be the odd girl out.

Alone in No. 1 dressing room, without my closest friends, I developed a star complex, and for a time I was really impossible, imagining that I was different from, and superior to, those around me. Then Pamela came to see us. It was soon after she had been widowed. Completely broken up by her loss, and living as she did facing up to stark reality, she was in no mood to put up with my fanciful airs She told me outright that I had become a bore.

Thinking it over, I decided that I far preferred the company of my friends to the isolated pinnacle implied by the title Prima Ballerina Assoluta, which I had been trying to reach, so I climbed down. As a matter of fact, it had been partly the fault of what I call false friends – those who, with the best will, and believing themselves your warmest admirers, unwittingly destroy you with such talk as: “People didn’t realize how great you are”; “You are the greatest ballerina alive; people should fall back in awe when you leave the stage door”; “You should be treated like a queen.” All of which is, of course, rubbish.

B. First Reading (Dt 34:1-12): “There Moses died as the Lord had said and since then no prophet has arisen in Israel like him.”

Today’s Old Testament reading (Dt 34:1-12) is the final chapter of the Book of Deuteronomy and concludes the Pentateuch, that is, the first five books of the Hebrew- Christian Scriptures. The 120-year-old Moses, still strong and with good eyesight, climbs Mount Nebo. God lets him feast his eyes on the Promised Land that he will not be able to enter. After having a panoramic vision of the whole land, the Lord’s servant Moses dies in Moab and is buried there. The people mourn his death, for no prophet has arisen in Israel like Moses. Though Moses is remembered as a great leader, others will have to take his place if Israel is to remain loyal to the covenant. Joshua succeeds Moses as the leader who will lead the Israelites to the Promised Land. He is filled with the spirit of wisdom for Moses has laid his hands upon him. The people of Israel obey Joshua and keep the commands that the Lord has given them through Moses.

The role of Moses is to be carried out by future leaders for succeeding generations. In the fullness of time, Jesus Christ brings Moses’ task to completion. The prophetic and shepherding ministry of Jesus, the perfect Moses, lives on in the Church. Saint Maximilian Kolbe exemplifies this (cf. Notes from Wikipedia on the Internet).

Kolbe was canonized on 10 October 1982 by Pope John Paul II and declared a martyr of charity. He is the patron saint of drug addicts, political prisoners, families, journalists, prisoners and pro-life movements. Pope John Paul II declared him “the patron saint of our difficult century”. Due to Kolbe’s efforts to promote consecration and entrustment to Mary, he is known as the “apostle of consecration to Mary”.

He was born Raymond Kolbe on 8 January 1894 in Zdunska Wola in the kingdom of Poland, which was part of the Russian Empire, the second son of Julius Kolbe and Maria Dabrowska. His father was an ethnic German and his mother was Polish. He had four brothers: Francis, Joseph, Walenty (who lived a year) and Andrew (who lived four years).

Kolbe’s family moved to Pabianice, where his parents initially worked as basket weavers. Later, his mother worked as a midwife (often donating her services) and operated a shop in part of their rented house where she sold groceries and household goods. Julius Kolbe worked at the Krushe and Ender Mill and also worked on a parcel of rented land where he grew vegetables. In 1914, Julius joined Josef Pilsudki’s Polish Legions and was captured by the Russians and hanged for fighting for independence of a partitioned Poland.

Kolbe’s life was strongly influenced by a childhood vision of the Virgin Mary that he later described: “That night I asked the Mother of God what was to become of me, a child of Faith. Then she came to me holding two crowns, one white, the other red. She asked me if I was willing to accept either of these crowns. The white one meant that I should persevere in purity and the red that I should become a martyr. I said that I would accept them both.

In 1907 Kolbe and his elder brother Francis decided to join the Conventual Franciscans. They illegally crossed the border between Russia and Austria- Hungary and enrolled at the Conventual Franciscan minor seminary in Lwow. In 1910 Kolbe was allowed to enter the novitiate where he was given the religious name Maximilian. He professed his first vows in 1911 and final vows in 1914 in Rome, adopting the additional name of Maria to show his devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Kolbe would later sing hymns to the Virgin Mary in the concentration camp.

Kolbe was sent to Krakow in 1912, and later in the same year, to the house of studies in Rome where he studied philosophy, theology, mathematics and physics. He earned a doctorate in philosophy in 1915 at the Pontifical Gregorian University and a doctorate in theology in 1919 at the Pontifical University of St. Bonaventure.

During his time as a student, he witnessed vehement demonstrations against Popes St. Pius X and Benedict XV in Rome during an anniversary celebrating the Freemasons. According to Kolbe, “They placed the black standard of the Giordano Brunisti under the windows of the Vatican. On this standard the archangel, St. Michael, was depicted lying under the feet of the triumphant Lucifer. At the same time countless pamphlets were distributed to the people in which the Holy Father (i.e. the Pope) was attacked shamefully.

This event inspired Kolbe to organize the Militia Immaculata or Army of Mary to work for the conversion of sinners and enemies of the Catholic Church, specifically the Freemasons, through the intercession of the Virgin Mary. So serious was Kolbe about this goal that he added to the Miraculous Medal prayer: “O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee. And for all those who do not have recourse to thee, especially the Masons and all those recommended to thee.

The Immaculata friars utilized the most modern printing and administrative techniques in publishing catechetical and devotional tracts, a daily newspaper with a circulation of 230,000 and a monthly magazine with a circulation of over one million. Kolbe also used radio to spread his Catholic faith and to speak against the atrocities of the Nazi regime. He is the only canonized saint to have held an amateur radio license, with the call sign SP3RN.

In 1918 Kolbe was ordained a priest. In 1919 he returned to the newly independent Poland where he was very active in promoting the veneration of the Immaculate Virgin Mary, founding and supervising the monastery of Niepokalanov near Warsaw, a seminary, a radio station, and several other organizations and publications. Kolbe founded the monthly periodical Rycerz Niepokalanej in 1922 and in 1927 founded a Conventual Franciscan monastery at Niepokalanov, which became a major publishing center. Kolbe left Poland for Japan in 1930, spending six years there. The monastery at Niepokalanov began in his absence to publish a daily newspaper, Maly Dziennik, which became Poland’s top-seller. (…)

Between 1930 and 1936 Kolbe undertook a series of missions to Japan where he founded a monastery at the outskirts of Nagasaki, a Japanese paper and a seminary. The monastery he founded remains prominent in the Roman Catholic Church in Japan. Kolbe decided to build the monastery on a mountainside that, according to Shinto beliefs, was not the side best suited to be in harmony with nature. When the atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, Kolbe’s monastery was saved because the other side of the mountain took the main force of the blast.

With the invasion of his nation by Nazi Germany, Kolbe provided shelter to refugees from Greater Poland including 2,000 Jews whom he hid from Nazi persecution in his friary in Niepokalanov. On 17 February 1941, he was arrested by the German Gestapo and imprisoned in the Pawiak prison. On 28 May he was transferred to Auschwitz as prisoner #16670.

At the end of July 1941 three prisoners disappeared from the camp, prompting SS Hauptsturmfuhrer Karl Fritzsch, the deputy camp commander, to pick 10 men to be starved to death in an underground bunker in order to deter escape attempts. When one of the selected men Franciszek Gajowniczek cried out: “My wife! My children!”, Kolbe volunteered to take his place.

In his prison Kolbe celebrated Mass each day and sang hymns with the prisoners. He led the other condemned men in song and prayer and encouraged them by telling them they would soon be with Mary in heaven. Each time the guards checked on him, he was standing or kneeling in the middle of the cell and looking calmly at those who entered. After two weeks of dehydration and starvation, only Kolbe remained alive. The guards wanted the bunker emptied and they gave Kolbe a lethal injection of carbolic acid. Some who were present at the injection say that he raised his left arm and calmly waited for the injection. His remains were cremated on 15 August, the feast day of the Assumption of Mary.

II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO

1. What is my attitude to the erring members of the Christian community? Do we dedicate ourselves to the ministry of Christian correction? Do we believe that only God’s grace can change hearts and effect conversion? Do we allow ourselves to be instruments of grace for others?

2. Are we receptive and obedient to Church leaders commissioned by God to help us in our spiritual journey? How do we respond to the prophetic and guiding ministry of Jesus Christ, the perfect Moses?

III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO (Cf. Commission Francophone Cistercienne, Tropaires des dimanches, 109, Fiche de chant U LH 68)

When one human being wins another, heaven rises on earth. When two or three agree to implore the Father, heaven surrounds them and unfolds at their bidding. Earth and heaven are reconciled. Jesus is in our midst. Love and truth meet; glory will dwell on our earth. Truth will sprout from the earth and justice will lean down from heaven. God himself offers happiness and our earth will give its fruit. Earth and heaven are reconciled. Jesus is in our midst.

*** Lord God, we thank you for the leadership of Moses on behalf of the journeying people of God. We thank you for his successor Joshua and all future leaders in the history of Israel. Above all, we thank you for Jesus Christ, the perfect Moses, who guides the Church, the new people of God, to our true destiny. Grant us a docile heart to follow Jesus through the cross to Easter glory. We give you glory and praise, now and forever. Amen.

IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the CONTEMPLATIO

The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the day. Please memorize it.

“If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault …” (Mt 18:15) //“Since then no prophet has arisen in Israel like Moses.” (Dt 34:10)

V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO

Pray for the erring members of the community and for the grace needed by the Church to carry out its task of Christian correction. In a most humble and charitable way, exercise the duty of fraternal correction and forgiveness on behalf of erring members of your family and community. // In a spirit of thanksgiving for people who make present in today’s world the prophetic-pastoral mission of Moses and “the ultimate Moses” Jesus Christ, promote the apostolate of the Catholic media.

*** %%% *** %%% *** %%% ***

THURSDAY – NINETEENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME “JESUS SAVIOR: He Teaches Us to Forgive Seventy Times … In Him We Journey to Freedom and Victory”

BIBLE READINGS Jos 3:7-10a, 11, 13-17 // Mt 18:21-19:1

I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO

A. Gospel Reading (Mt 18:21-19:1): “I say to you not seven times, but seventy-seven times.” (By Mario S. Estrella: Member of the Religious Congregation Opifices Christi, Philippines)

When I was working as one of the training officers of the different training programs of the Department of Education, I had made a decision that was detrimental to the mandate of the Department to provide continuous service to teachers and principals. My immediate superior called it to my attention when he discovered my irresponsibility and incompetence. I thought I would be reprimanded and incriminated for negligence and my conduct, which was unbecoming to a government employee. The superior asked me if I was guilty of the offense and I replied affirmatively. He surprised me when he asked, “If I keep you in your present capacity, can I trust you in the future?” I replied, “I am sorry, sir. I have learned my lesson and you surely can trust me again.” He must have detected the sincerity of my repentance. “I am not going to press charges anymore and you can continue in your present responsibility,” he said. He told me then that he had once succumbed to the same situation, but he was given mercy and was asked to learn from it. His position now in the Department can attest how far he has gone because of the opportunity accorded to him.

Truly, according to Steve Goodlier, those who forgive best are those who are forgiven. The story is centered on the fruit of forgiveness. Forgiveness multiplies when freely given to the offender. Whether we like it or not, something good may come from the experience and could possibly change the person for the better.

There is another way of looking at why Jesus asked us to forgive seventy-seven times (cf. today’s Gospel reading, Mt 18:21-19:1). The number of times we exonerate is most likely equivalent to those who will have a change of heart for the better. The number of recipients who have been rehabilitated as a result of forgiveness is already a great contribution to the continuing proclamation of the Kingdom of God. If the recipients will do the same to their offenders, forgiveness multiplies until it reaches the core number that will make the world a better place to live in.

B. First Reading (Jos 3:7-10a, 11, 13-17): “The ark of the covenant of the Lord will precede you into the Jordan.”

Today’s reading (Jos 3:7-10a, 11, 13-17) depicts the crossing of Jordan River to the Promised Land. This saving event concludes the Israelites’ exodus from Egypt and manifests marvelously that indeed “there is a living God in their midst”. It is the loving initiative of God through and through. It is he who enables the chosen people to cross the Jordan, to evict the enemy nations and to take possession of the Promised Land.

Today’s episode of the crossing of the Jordan dramatizes and re-evokes the great deed of the Exodus. As the Lord has dried up the Red Sea so he works marvelously in drying up the waters of the Jordan. This miraculous event occurs in harvest time when all the banks of the river overflow with water from the melting snows of the northern mountains. Carried by the priests, the “ark of the covenant”, sign of God’s presence, precedes the people into the Jordan. The priests who carry the “ark of the covenant” remain in the middle of the Jordan until all the people have walked on its dry shod river bed. The saving event at the Jordan river confirms Joshua’s authority as leader and successor to Moses. Above all, it shows that the living God, the Lord of heaven and earth, is responsible for bringing Israel into the Promised Land.

The following article about the V-E Day 1945 (Victory over Europe Day) gives insight into the marvelous experience of victory and salvation of Joshua and the Israelites (cf. Lawrence Batley, “A Letter to My Parents” in Reminisce, June/July 2015, p. 21).

After flying from England to France, I was wounded in the Battle of Metz on November 14, 1944. I recuperated and was placed with the 3rd Division of the 8th Air Force as a mechanic, at their headquarters at Elveden Hall in Norfolk, England. On V-E Day, I wrote the following letter to my parents back home in South Hadley, Massachusetts. It was an attempt to describe the greatest celebration I’ve ever experienced.

May 9, 1945 Dear Mom & Dad, We’re celebrating V-E Day today, and everyone’s up to the square for the dance tonight. Boy, there were sure a lot of fireworks. I guess the Air Corps uses them for signals but used them for fireworks last night and today. They had a big baseball game in the front of the tent. All I had to do was roll up to the side, sit on my bed, and watch the game. It was between the enlisted men and the officers. The enlisted men won 6 to 2.

We had hot dogs, cheese sandwiches and egg sandwiches, and tomato and grapefruit juice. Then we had ice cream. Got a big dance tonight. There are loads of balloons and three great big silk parachutes; one red, one blue, and one white, and they were really used at one time or another.

The beer is going fast. They must have had at least 10 small kegs here.

I didn’t do much today. It’s a day off. I stood at a parade this morning, then went to church, then ate dinner. Later took a shower. We had a nice service for V-E Day.

Well, guess I’m going to close. I’ve been eating so much tonight, I can hardly breathe.

Your Loving Son, Larry.

II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO

1. Do we ever forgive? Do we set limits and conditions on Christian forgiveness? Do we imitate God in his willingness to forgive? Do we respond positively and fully to God’s healing and forgiving love? In our daily life, do we act like the merciless and unforgiving steward? If so, what do we do about it?

2. Do we believe that God has power to work marvels in our daily lives and especially difficult and crisis situations? Do we trust that he is for us and that his plans for us are wonderful?

III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO

Jesus Lord, thank you for your forgiving love! We have a duty to forgive for you have been truly merciful. Heal us totally of our resentments that we may be able to forgive seventy times seven. Let our hearts be open to your saving grace that we may be instruments of your peace and benediction to a wounded world in need of healing and reconciliation. Let us never be separated from you. We adore you and glorify you, now and forever. Amen.

*** Loving Father, how marvelous are your saving works for Israel! We trust in you for we too are your chosen people. Let us feel the wonders of your love. Lead us to freedom and victory as we cross the deep waters and challenges of the “Jordan” in our daily lives. You are “living God in our midst” and we give you glory and praise, now and forever. Amen.

IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the CONTEMPLATIO

The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the day. Please memorize it.

“I say to you forgive, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.” (Mt 18:22) // “There is a living God in your midst.” (Jos 3: 10)

V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO

Seek to extend God’s forgiving love to those who have wronged you. In a spirit of contrition, beg forgiveness from the people you have wronged that you may truly experience God’s forgiving and healing love. // Be deeply aware of the presence of the “living God in your midst” and the wonders he continually works in your life.

*** %%% *** %%% *** %%% ***

FRIDAY – NINETEENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME “JESUS SAVIOR: He Teaches That What God Has Joined Together, No Human Being Must Separate … God Has Accomplished Marvels through Him”

BIBLE READINGS Jos 24:1-13 // Mt 19:3-12

I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO

A. Gospel Reading (Mt 19:3-12): “Because of the hardness of your hearts Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so”

A young couple we know recently divorced. The ex-husband came to visit us at our convent. His eyes were glazed with anguish. We tried to offer consoling words, but the depth of his suffering was beyond understanding. Indeed, divorce inflicts terrible pain on its victims. In his book, Life on the Edge, Dr. James Dobson writes: “A Russian woman who was my guest on the radio talked about her years in a Nazi extermination camp. She had seen mass murder and every form of deprivation. After the war, she came to America and married, only to have her husband be unfaithful and abandon her a few years later. Unbelievably, she said that experience of rejection and loss was actually more painful than her years in a German death camp. That says it all.”

In today’s Gospel reading (Mt 19:3-12), Jesus rejects divorce and underlines the permanence of marriage. When a man and woman become one in marriage, they enter into a covenant relationship that is never to be broken. In the divine plan, marriage is indissoluble and no human agent could end such a union. The sacredness and integrity of marriage could be understood in the context of God’s faithful relationship with his covenant people, whom he has espoused to himself forever. Though the Mosaic Law allows divorce, it is only a concession to human weakness and not really the divine will. The radical nature of Jesus’ teaching on marriage leads his disciples to question whether it is advisable to marry at all. They naively contend that the single state is preferable to an indissoluble difficult marriage. The Divine Master responds by helping them to see celibacy as a gift of God and not an aversive option to a binding marriage. Indeed, it is possible for a Christian disciple to renounce marriage in view of the kingdom. The grace of God enables that person to embrace chastity and celibacy for the sake of the heavenly kingdom.

The Catholic Church today is confronted with an increasing number of divorced and remarried persons. Every member of the family suffers when a marriage shatters. Divorce is painful for all those involved. It is thus necessary to state here the Catholic position and the pastoral work concerning divorced and remarried persons.

Catechism of the Catholic Church 1650: Today there are numerous Catholics in many countries who have recourse to civil divorce and contract new civil unions. In fidelity to the words of Jesus Christ – “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another, commits adultery against her; and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery” – the Church maintains that a new union cannot be recognized as valid, if the first marriage was.

If the divorced are remarried civilly, they find themselves in a situation that objectively contravenes God’s law. Consequently, they cannot receive Eucharistic communion as long as this situation persists. For the same reason, they cannot exercise certain ecclesiastical responsibilities.

Reconciliation through the sacrament of Penance can be granted only to those who have repented from having violated the sign of the covenant and of fidelity to Christ, and who are committed to living in complete continence.

Catechism of the Catholic Church 1651: Toward Christians who live in this situation, and who often keep the faith and desire to bring up their children in a Christian manner, priests and the whole community must manifest an attentive solicitude, so that they do not consider themselves separated from the Church, in whose life they can and must participate as baptized persons.

They should be encouraged to listen to the Word of God, to attend the Sacrifice of the Mass, to persevere in prayer, to contribute to the works of charity and to community efforts for justice, to bring up the children in the Christian faith, to cultivate the spirit and practice of penance and thus implore, day by day, God’s grace.

B. First Reading (Jos 24:1-13): “I brought your father Abraham from the region beyond the River; led you out of Egypt, I brought you to your land.”

Today’s Old Testament reading (Jos 24:1-13) depicts Joshua toward the end of his life gathering the tribes of Israel at Shechem. He recounts the marvels God has done for the chosen people, starting with the call of Abraham “beyond the River” (that is, on the other side of Euphrates River) until the entrance into the Promised Land. Joshua’s magnificent summary is a great overture presenting the Lord as the one who accompanies Israel in its life and history. It is God who took Abraham, their ancestor, from the land across the Euphrates and led them through the whole land of Canaan. It is God who brought the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt. It is the Lord who brought the people to the Promised Land overpowering the pagan nations and taking possession of their cities and eating of vineyards and olive groves they did not plant. Indeed, their success cannot be attributed to the military might or human prowess of the Israelites: “not to their sword or their bow”. Rather, it is the Lord who is responsible for all that has taken place.

Joshua uses the historical summary of God’s marvelous deeds to prepare the chosen people for a covenant renewal at Shechem. Today’s new people of God ought to keep alive in their memory the divine benevolent deeds in order to remain faithful to him. One way of doing this is by reading the Bible. The following personal experience gives insight into this and is an inspiration (cf. Alma Barkman, May 2 Reflections in Daily Guideposts 2010, p, 141).

At one point in my life, wanting to do great things for God, I decided to read through the whole Bible, from Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21. Realizing I had bitten off more than I could chew, I quit. A few months later I tried again, but this time I dived in with such determination that any blessings I might have derived from my reading were consumed in my haste to keep up with the schedule. And so I went back to my old habit of reading the Bible in bits and pieces.

And then I heard the minister say, “If someone is in medical school, training to be a doctor, he or she reads the whole book of anatomy, not just bits and parts. If an apprentice is taking a course in mechanics, that person reads the whole manual, not just paragraphs here and there. The Bible is our manual for life, so we ought to read it from cover to cover, again and again.”

His words challenged me, so I decided to try it again. This time I read through the Bible systematically, but at my own speed, day by day, month by month, year by year, a little a time. I’ve been able to note the context of the passages and jot down a daily verse on my desk calendar. Best of all, reading through the Bible over and over again has given me ample opportunity to learn more about the Author.

“God, I may never do great things for You, but through Your Word, You certainly do great things for me.”

II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO

1. Do we try to see the meaning of marriage and celibacy in the context of the kingdom of God? Do we strive to be faithful to our covenant fidelity with God and reflect his faithful love in whatever we do? Do help those struggling with the pain of divorce and do we assist the divorced and remarried persons to continue to live their vocation as baptized persons?

2. Do we make an effort to keep in our heart the saving marvels God has done for his people Israel and for the “new People of Israel” through his Son Jesus Christ? Do we spend time to read and meditate on God’s saving actions in the Bible?

III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO

Lord Jesus, you teach the sacredness and integrity of marriage. Bless all married couples with the grace of faithful love. Fill with courage and patience all divorced persons struggling with loneliness and rejection. Assist all divorced and remarried persons to remain united with the Church and faithful in their Christian duties of charity. Grant your gift of chastity and celibacy to those called for a special service of your kingdom. We love you and we surrender to your saving will. You live and reign, forever and ever. Amen.

*** Gracious Father, how great is your plan for Israel! We thank you for you have chosen us in your Son Jesus Christ to be part of the universal plan of salvation. Let us be mindful of the marvels you have done for the Israelites and for the new people of God. Grant us the grace to be true to the gift of the covenant and let us be obedient to your word. You are our utmost good. We give you glory and praise, now and forever. Amen.

IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the CONTEMPLATIO

The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the week. Please memorize it.

“What God has joined together, no human being must separate.” (Mt 19:6) //“I brought you into the land … You took possession of the land.” (Jos 24:8)

V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO

By your prayers, words and actions, promote the sacredness and integrity of Christian marriage in the society today. // Allow the “memories” of God’s saving events to dwell in you and transform your life by committing yourself to read and study the Bible.

*** %%% *** %%% *** %%% ***

SATURDAY – NINETEENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME “JESUS SAVIOR: He Blesses the Children … God Has Accomplished Marvels through Him”

BIBLE READINGS Jos 24:14-29 // Mt 19:13-15

I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO

A. Gospel Reading (Mt 19:13-15): “Let the children come to me and do not prevent them; for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.

The Gospel reading (Mt 19:13-15) tells us that as Jesus makes his way to Jerusalem, teaching and healing, children are brought to him to be blessed. This account precedes the story of the young man who wants to follow Jesus but fails to do so because of his attachment to his possessions. Unlike the rich young man, the children are a symbol of the anawim – of the poor and lowly who depend totally on God. The kingdom of God is meant for the “children” who, in their simplicity and trust, totally rely on God. Jesus delights in them and he wants the children to come to him. The heavenly kingdom belongs to such as them. Jesus lays his hands upon the “little ones”. This gesture signifies his bestowal of the blessings and abundant riches of the kingdom upon them.

The following story entitled “Potato Chips”, circulated on the Internet, gives us a glimpse into the child-like quality that enables us – whether young or old - to experience the presence of God.

A little boy wanted to meet God. He knew it was a long trip to where God lived, so he packed his suitcase with a bag of potato chips and a six-pack of root beer and started his journey. When he had gone about three blocks, he met an old woman. She was sitting in the park, just staring at some pigeons. The boy sat down next to her and opened his suitcase. He was about to take a drink from his root beer when he noticed that the old lady looked hungry, so he offered her some chips. She gratefully accepted and smiled at him. Her smile was so pretty that the boy wanted to see it again, so he offered her a root beer. Again, she smiled at him. The boy was delighted! They sat there all afternoon eating and smiling, but they never said a word.

As twilight approached, the boy realized how tired he was and he got up to leave; but before he had gone more than a few steps, he turned around, ran back to the old woman, and gave her a hug. She gave him her biggest smile ever. When the boy opened the door to his own house a short time later, his mother was surprised by the look of joy on his face. She asked him, “What did you do today that made you so happy?” He replied, “I had lunch with God.” But before his mother could respond, he added, “You know what? She’s got the most beautiful smile I’ve ever seen!”

Meanwhile, the old woman, also radiant with joy, returned to her home. Her son was stunned by the look of peace on her face and he asked, “Mother, what did you do today that made you so happy?” She replied, “I ate potato chips in the park with God.” However, before her son responded, she added, “You know, he’s much younger that I expected.”

B. First Reading (Jos 24:14-29): “Decide today whom you will serve.”

Today’s Old Testament reading (Jos 24:14-29) is about the renewal of the covenant in the Promised Land, which the Israelites have entered and taken possession of through God’s assistance. Joshua clarifies the covenant obligation: total commitment to God. He challenges God’s chosen people: “Decide whom you will serve!” The people respond that they, as Joshua’s household, will serve the Lord who has been for them the “God of Exodus and of conquest”, and “the giver of their land”. To Joshua’s warning that Yahweh is a “holy and jealous God” who does not tolerate rebellion and infidelity, the people assert: “We will still serve the Lord.” The Israelites thus resolve to live within the bounds of a covenant that keeps them united with God. The Book of Joshua ends with the triumph of fidelity of the people of God and their leader Joshua, a precursor of our Savior Jesus Christ.

The new covenant established by Jesus Christ by his blood calls for total commitment. It challenges us to choose God, the giver of life. The following article illustrates a positive response to God’s offer of life (cf. “Quads’ mother: I’m proud of what we have achieved” in Alive! May 2013, p. 9).

An English mother who repeatedly refused to let doctors kill any of the four children she was carrying has spoken about the joys and difficulties the family had faced in the children’s first year of life. (…)

The four boys were conceived naturally at odds of 750,000 to 1, and were delivered by Caesarean section on the 29th of February last year. Despite the physical risks of multiple births, they are flourishing. (…)

Emma Robbins, a project manager from Bristol, spoke about the pressure put on her from early on to “selectively reduce” two of her unborn babies to give the remaining pair a better chance of survival. But she refused. The couple knew all that could go wrong, and that even if all the boys survived, it would be a huge burden for their finances. “But I couldn’t bring myself to choose between them”, she said. “How could anyone? I knew I had a strong marriage, that Martin would support and help me every step of the way, so I decided to let nature take its course.” (…)

It wasn’t an easy pregnancy, but eventually the babies were delivered two months early. “I’d worked so hard to keep my little stars safe and it was the most incredible feeling to know they had come into the world”, said Emma. Despite all the demands, the couple is now enjoying their role as parents. (…) She said, "And every day one of the boys will do something that makes me think: ‘You’re the sweetest, most beautiful thing in the world’.”

II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO

1. Do we believe that the kingdom of heaven belongs to the “little ones”? How do we prove that we are truly children of God?

2. What is our response to the challenge “Decide today whom you will serve”? What will give us strength to make a positive response to this challenge?

III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO

Loving Jesus, you said, “Let the children come to me, and do not prevent them; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” We are your disciples and within us is the spirit of the “little ones”. Draw us to you. Bless us and lay your hands upon us that we may be filled with the abundant riches of your kingdom. You are meek and gentle of heart. You call us to serve God the Father for we are his own children and you are our dear brother. We love and adore you, now and forever. Amen.

*** O loving God, you are the God who led us out of slavery and led us to our gracious heritage in the Promised Land. Help us in our fundamental option to love and serve you. Let us never forsake you. Give us the grace to be faithful to the new covenant ratified in Jesus Christ. We give you glory and praise, now and forever. Amen.

IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the CONTEMPLATIO

The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the week. Please memorize it.

“Let the children come to me … He placed his hands on them.” (Mt 19:14) //“Therefore we also will serve the Lord, for he is our God.” (Jos 24:18)

V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO

Cultivate a child-like attitude that will enable you to perceive the blessings of God and his presence in every moment of your life. // Today renew your covenant to love and serve the Lord and let the covenant commitment be translated into daily life by your loving service to the needy people around you.

*** Text of 19th Week in Ordinary Time ends here. ***

A Lectio Divina Approach to the Weekday Liturgy: Cycle I

BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD (n. 74) ORDINARY SEASON: WEEK 20

MONDAY: TWENTIETH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME “JESUS SAVIOR: He Challenges Us to Choose the Ultimate Good … They Did Not Listen to Him”

BIBLE READINGS Jgs 2:11-19 // Mt 19:16-22

I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO

A. Gospel Reading (Mt 19:16-22): “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell what you have and you will have treasure in heaven.”

The rich young man in today’s Gospel (Mt 19:16-22) is in pursuit of eternal life. He has kept the commandments. In the Old Covenant, such a response would have been sufficient. But Jesus goes further. He challenges him to sell what he has, give it to the poor and follow him. Christian discipleship involves renunciation. To follow Jesus is to make a radical choice for his very person - the absolute good. It entails leaving behind false security. Jesus therefore invites him to use his possessions to minister to the poor and thus find treasure in heaven. But the rich young man is excessively attached to his possessions. They preempt his priorities and value judgments. They impede him from choosing Jesus as the center of his life. Hence, this would-be disciple fails to respond to Jesus’ invitation and goes away sad. The rich young man’s possessions have actually “possessed” him.

Jesus invites us today to give God our possessions. In her book God Will Provide, p. 36-37, Patricia Treece remarks: “About surrendering possessions: it isn’t what you have; it’s whether it has you. Or to put it another way, it’s what you do with it. [Saint] John XXIII is a great example of not letting what you have, have you. At a certain point in the young priest’s career, he was named to head a student hostel. Suddenly he had to furnish small personal living quarters for himself. John had an artistic bent and discovered he enjoyed ‘decorating’ with the modest financial gift his dad gave him (unlike religious order priests, diocesan clergy take no vow of poverty). But he writes in his Journal that having set up his first home ‘in a suitable manner’, God let him see more than ever the beauty of the spirit of poverty. He then prays that he will always “keep this feeling of detachment from anything that is mine.”

B. First Reading (Jgs 2:11-19): “When the Lord raised up judges, they did not listen.”

We start today the reading of passages from the Book of Judges, which is composed of stories from the lawless period of Israel’s history between the invasion of Canaan and the establishment of the monarchy. It depicts the exploits of national heroes (called “judges”) as well as the sinful tendency of Israel to idolatry. The great lesson of the Book of Judges is this: Israel’s survival depends on loyalty to God, who is always ready to save his people when they cry for help and turn to him again.

Today’s First Reading (Jgs 2:11-19) shows the tremendous apostasy within Israel after the death of Joshua. A new era has begun with a new generation of Israelites who have not experienced the Lord’s saving deeds on behalf of Israel. This post-Exodus generation tends to run after the pagan gods Baal and Astarte, the embodiment of the idolatrous cult in the land they have conquered. The gods of the native inhabitants have truly become a snare for Israel. Their sin of idolatry angers God who allows them to fall into the power of their enemies. God however is merciful. To their cry of distress God responds with compassion by sending them leaders to save them from raiders. But the Israelites do not really pay attention to their leaders. When their leaders die, they relapse and become worse than the previous generation.

The chronic instability and the stubbornness of heart of Israel can also be verified in the modern day situation (cf. “Public Being Seriously Misled by Politicians” in Alive! July/August 2013, p. 3). Today’s situation is similar to that of sinful Israel who quickly stray from the way of their fathers, who do not listen to their “judges” and refuse to follow their example of obedience to God’s commands.

Ireland’s Catholic bishops have flatly contradicted Government claims that the Fine Gael-led drive to legalize the killing of unborn children is about saving women’s lives. “People are being misled”, said the bishops. “We challenge repeated statements that this legislation is about saving lives and involves no change to the law or practice on abortion.” They added that “legalizing the direct and intentional destruction of the life of an unborn baby can never be described as ‘life-saving’ or ‘prolife’.”

In a strongly worded statement, the bishops argued that every citizen, not just people of faith, should be deeply concerned by the radical anti-life campaign. “The Government is proposing abortion legislation that will fundamentally change the culture of medical practice in Ireland”, said the bishops. “For the first time legislation will be enacted permitting the deliberate and intentional killing of an unborn child.” They also pointed out that attempting to legalize the killing of innocent unborn children is a huge abuse of power that goes beyond the authority of the State. “No individual has the right to destroy life, and no State has the right to undermine the right to life”, said the statement. The arrogant refusal of the Government to engage with the argument against abortion is also deepening the belief that the present anti-life campaign has nothing to do with care for expectant mothers; that this is just a smokescreen.

In a letter to the media, Dr. Therese Boyle GP of the north Dublin Dochas Center asked why the Government is not listening. “The problem with the present debate is the dishonesty of its premise – that it is about ‘saving the lives of women’,” she wrote. “How can a maternal rate that approaches zero in statistical terms be improved upon?” She noted that doctors “understand fully the various issues involved in the present abortion debate and have strongly rejected the proposed legislation especially where it involves the right to a termination of pregnancy because of the risk of suicide.”

II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO

1. How do we respond to Christ’s radical challenge to make a fundamental option for his person? What do the following words of Christ mean to us personally: “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven”?

2. Like sinful Israel, are we guilty of straying from the ways of God and of disobeying his life-giving commands? If so, do we seek God’s forgiveness and mercy and resolve to listen to his voice and obey his saving will?

III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO

Lord Jesus, like the rich young man we want to follow you and seek eternal life. Help us to respond to the challenge of radical discipleship. Give us the wisdom and courage to “renounce” our possessions so that they may not control or possess us. Help us to use all the resources you have given us to minister to the poor and promote your kingdom of love, justice, and peace. You live and reign, forever and ever. Amen.

*** Loving God, you continue to work saving marvels on our behalf. But many times we refuse to see the goodness of your love for the “promise” of false idols tantalizes us. Convert us, O Lord! Teach us to walk on the right path and help us to listen to the modern day “judges” that you have provided for us in your benevolence. We give you glory and praise, now and forever. Amen.

IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the CONTEMPLATIO

The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the week. Please memorize it.

“If you wish to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” (Mt 19:21) //“They were quick to stray from the way their fathers had taken and did not follow their example of obedience to the commandments of the Lord.” (Jgs 2:17)

V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO

Take stock of your material possessions. Resolve to share your material resources with the needy and give to the poor. // Be deeply aware of the Church’s social teachings and by your prayer, words and actions, promote the defense of life and the integrity of the human person.

*** %%% *** %%% *** %%% ***

TUESDAY: TWENTIETH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME “JESUS SAVIOR: He Invites Us to Pursue the Kingdom of God … He Is Sent by God”

BIBLE READINGS Jgs 6:11-24a // Mt 19:23-30

I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO

A. Gospel Reading (Mt 19:23-30): “It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the Kingdom of God.”

The kingdom of God is an incomparable treasure that surpasses all earthly goods. It makes everything else relative and secondary. Jesus Master teaches us to discern what is true, just, and good. He comes to reorient our lives toward God and empowers those with receptive hearts to choose the heavenly kingdom. Those who fail to respond to Jesus’ radical challenge to follow him feel despondent, just like the rich young man who walks away sad - impeded by his possessions from pursuing wholeheartedly the heavenly kingdom.

The Danish theologian, Soren Kierkegaard, underlines the meaning of Christian discipleship: “To follow Christ means denying one’s self, and hence it means walking the same way as Christ walked in the humble form of a servant – needy, forsaken, mocked, not loving worldliness and not loved by the worldly-minded … He who in self- abnegation renounces the world and all that is the world’s, forsakes every relationship which otherwise tempts and holds captive … He who, if it becomes necessary, certainly does not love his father or mother or sister or brother less than before, but loves Christ so much more that he may be said to hate those others: he walks absolutely alone, alone in the whole world … Eternity will not ask about what worldly possessions you left behind in the world. But it will ask you what treasure you have accumulated in heaven.”

In today’s Gospel reading (Mt 19:23-30), having seen the rich young man walk away from the offer of heavenly treasure, Jesus exclaims: “It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” But he also asserts that with God all things are possible. The Drexel family illustrates what it means to pursue the heavenly kingdom in today’s world (cf. Patricia Treece, God Will Provide, Brewster: Paraclete Press, 2011, p. 38-39).

There are people who live in well-decorated mansions who also never let their enjoyed possessions come between them and God. Consider the parents of St. Katherine Drexel (d. 1985), the American heiress. Katherine’s father, Francis Drexel, and her mother, Emma Bouvier Drexel, were one of the richest couples in America. They used their money to do immense good as philanthropists, while they enjoyed a town mansion (with a chapel), a country estate (where their daughters ran catechism classes for the workers’ children), trips to Europe, and the best teachers for their children’s private education.

Reared to do good, the Drexel girls in turn lived exemplary lives, making praiseworthy use of enormous inherited incomes (to ensure that no one married any of his girls for money, Francis Drexel left all his wealth to charities, allowing his daughters to enjoy the interest on the immense sum during their lifetimes). Katherine, becoming a nun, dedicated herself and her riches to helping raise black and native Americans out of poverty through education. She became so detached from her resources – as the longest-lived she inherited from her sisters, each childless – that she never tried to break her father’s will; that upon his last daughter’s death left the fortune to charities named almost a century earlier, some of which no longer needed help.

Katherine’s order founded several schools – elementary, high, vocational, and even a university – that relied heavily on this money. But if God wanted the schools to continue, she believed, God would provide for them. And he did.

B. First Reading (Jgs 6:11-24a): “Go and save Israel. It is I who send you.”

Today’s First Reading (Jgs 6:11-24a) presents the call of Gideon and his mission as a savior. The idolatrous Israelites suffer the menace and oppression of the Midianites: camel-riding nomads whose novel method of swift travel and attack make them exceedingly dangerous. Even a strong man of Gideon’s valor has to beat out wheat in a concealed place to avoid Midian plunderers. The angel of the Lord appears to Gideon as he threshes out wheat in the wine press and greets him: “The Lord is with you, brave and mighty man!” Gideon challenges the angel’s greeting with a sarcastic remark claiming that rather than being with them, God has abandoned the people. The response to his sarcasm is a divine commission: “Go with the strength you have and save Israel from the power of Midian.” After protesting his lowliness and insignificance, the Lord assures him: “I shall be with you.” To his request for a “sign”, God obliges by transforming Gideon’s meal offering into a burnt offering. A fire comes up from the rock and consumes the meat and unleavened cakes that Gideon has prepared. Having received the sign of his election, he builds there an altar to the Lord and calls it “Yahweh-shalom” (“God is peace”), a reference to the divine assurance of peace. With a small army of three hundred men, Gideon is to defeat the Midianites because God is true to his promise: “I shall be with you.”

Today is the anniversary of the foundation of the Society of Saint Paul and of the entire Pauline Family (August 20, 1914). Our Founder, Blessed James Alberione, is a modern-day Gideon. Humble, fragile and self-effacing, he showed to the world that with God, who called him for a saving mission, nothing is impossible and that with God we can do all. Here is a biographical sketch prepared and circulated by the Pauline Family.

Fr. James Alberione’s story begins in San Lorenzo di Fossano (Cuneo), Italy, where he was born on 4 April 1884, the fifth of Michele and Teresa Alloco’s seven children.

At the age of 16, James entered the Seminary of Alba. During his Eucharistic adoration on the night of 31 December 1900, he turned his attention to what role he would play in the Church and society of the new century: “Particular enlightenment came from the Host … He felt deeply obliged to prepare himself to do something for the Lord and for the people of the new century.

8 September 1913 was an important date in the life of Fr. Alberione: on that day, Francesco Re, the Bishop of Alba, appointed him director of the weekly newspaper, the Gazzetta d’Alba. Fr. Alberione himself wrote in 1954: “When the time came to begin, the bishop struck the ‘hour of God’, charging him to devote himself to the diocesan press. This opened the way for the apostolate.”

From 1914-1960, Fr. Alberione founded a number of Institutes collectively known as the “Pauline Family”. Five are religious Congregations (Society of St. Paul, 1914; Daughters of St. Paul, 1915; Pious Disciples of the Divine Master, 1924; Sisters of Jesus Good Shepherd, 1938; Institute of Mary Queen of Apostles for Vocations, 1959); four are Secular Institutes (Jesus Priest; St. Gabriel the Archangel; Our Lady of the Annunciation; Holy Family, 1960), and one is a lay association (Pauline Cooperators, 1917).

In 1960, Fr. Alberione delineated the mission of the Pauline Family: “It has a single spirit, the one contained in the heart of St. Paul, ‘Cor Pauli, Cor Christi’; it has the same devotions, and its different ends converge in a common goal: to give Jesus Christ in a complete way, as he defined himself: ‘I am the Way, the Truth and the Life’.”

Filled with zeal for souls, Fr. Alberione saw the instruments of communication as the most rapid and effective way of making Jesus Christ known, of disseminating the Gospel message, and of reaching all people, especially those furthest from the Faith. Thus numerous books were printed and a variety of periodicals initiated, among these: Vita Pastorale (for parish priests, 1912); Giornalino (for children, 1924) and Famiglia Cristiana (for families, 1931). The cinema apostolate was also launched. But Fr. Alberione channeled his greatest efforts into helping people get to know the Bible and Gospel, millions of copies of which were printed and disseminated throughout the world over the years. At the same time, he sent out his sons and daughters to open new communities on every continent: from Argentina to Mexico, to the United States, to Australia; from Japan to Kenya, to India, to Canada. When Fr. Alberione died in 1971, the Pauline Family was present in more than 50 nations.

An hour before his death on 26 November 1971, Fr. Albeirone received a visit from Pope Paul VI. Two years earlier, the Pope had conferred on him the high honor of “Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice” and sketched out a memorable profile of him: “There he is: humble, silent, tireless, ever-vigilant, always recollected in his thoughts, which run from prayer to work; always intent on scrutinizing the ‘signs of the times’, that is, the most innovative ways of reaching souls. Our Don Alberione has given the Church new instruments with which to express herself, new means for giving vigor and breadth to her apostolate, new capacities and a new awareness of the importance and possibilities of her mission in the modern world, with modern means. Dear Don Alberione, allow the Pope to rejoice in your long, faithful and timeless work and in the fruit it has produced for the glory of God and the good of the Church.”

II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO

1. How does the Lord’s challenge to the rich young man affect me? Am I willing to renounce earth’s goods for the sake of the kingdom of God? How do I give witness to my fundamental choice for Jesus Christ? Do I believe that with God everything is possible and that with divine grace we gain eternal life?

2. Are we aware that as baptized Christians we have a special saving mission to carry out in today’s world and that it has its origin in God? Do we believe that with this divine mission we are accompanied by the divine assurance: “I shall be with you”?

III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO

Loving Father, we thank you for the challenge of Jesus Christ, the wisdom from on high. Help us to respond fully to Christ’s call to embrace radically the Kingdom value. Be with us as we hold on to his words that with your grace everything is possible. Never let us trust in our merits and power. Grant us the gift of eternal life in your kingdom where you live and reign, forever and ever. Amen.

*** O merciful and loving God, you called Gideon to rescue Israel from the Midianites and you assured him of your presence and assistance. Our Christian mission is to spread the Good News of salvation to the entire world and creation. Let us feel your assurance: “I will be with you”. Grant us the grace to be fully dedicated to this mission so that all peoples and all creation may be restored to you in your Son Jesus Christ, through the power of the Holy Spirit. We give you glory and praise, now and forever. Amen.

IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the CONTEMPLATIO

The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the day. Please memorize it.

“They will inherit eternal life.” (Mt 19:29) //“The Lord is with you, O champion.” (Jgs 6:12)

V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO

When you are in crisis with regards to your basic needs, affirm your trust in divine providence. Make an effort to share the gifts and resources God has given you with the poor and the needy. // Pray that, like Gideon, we may be efficacious instruments of God’s saving plan in today’s world. By your words and actions and total service to God and neighbor, participate deeply in the divine plan of salvation.

*** %%% *** %%% *** %%% ***

WEDNESDAY: TWENTIETH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME “JESUS SAVIOR: He Reveals God’s Generosity … He Is Our True Leader”

BIBLE READINGS Jgs 9:6-15 // Mt 20:1-16

I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO

A. Gospel Reading (Mt 20:1-16): “Are you envious because I am generous?”

Today’s Gospel reading (Mt 20:1-16) is about a landowner who went out at various hours of the day to the market place to hire laborers for his vineyard. At the end of the day all the laborers, including those who were hired at the last hour, were paid a full day’s wage. The bible scholar Eugene Maly explains: “Jesus was telling a simple agricultural story whose meaning was not in details but in the story itself. In the Father’s kingdom all are equally loved and human standards are not to be used to measure God’s generosity. God forgives and loves as the world does not know how to forgive and love. The Church must do likewise.”

The following modern day story by Marc Levy and published in Fresno Bee (August 17, 2008, p. A3) gives a glimpse into the immense love of God and his generous stance.

MARIETTA, Pa: A former tough-on-crime Pennsylvania lawmaker has adopted a new and unpopular cause, taking into his home three sex offenders who couldn’t find a place to live – a stand that has angered neighbors, drawn pickets and touched off a zoning dispute. As cities across the nation pass ever-tighter laws to keep out people convicted of sex crimes, Tom Armstrong said he is drawing on his religious belief in forgiveness and sheltering the three men until he can open a halfway house for sex offenders … Nearly 100 Pennsylvania municipalities have ordinances restricting where sex offenders may live. The ordinances generally bar them from moving in next to schools, playgrounds or other places where children might gather.

In early June, Armstrong quietly allowed a rapist and two other sex offenders who had served prison time to move into his 15-room century-old home 75 miles west of Philadelphia after another town blocked his plans for another halfway house … A Republican, Armstrong served 12 years in the Legislature before he was defeated in a primary in 2002. He was known for taking conservative positions on abortion, taxes and crime but also for his role in later years supporting prisoners’ rights. Over the past two decades, he also took in homeless veterans, and more recently he has been a mentor to ex-cons.

B. First Reading (Jgs 9:6-15): “It is said: The king will reign over us, when the Lord of God reigns among you (I Sm 12:12).”

Today’s Old Testament reading (Jgs 9:6-15) presents the ambitious bid for kingship of Abimelech, a descendant of Gideon by a polygamous marriage to a servant girl from Shechem. The ruthless Abimelech becomes the king of the city-state Shechem through machination and the brutal murder of his brothers, Gideon’s seventy sons. But Jotham, Gideon’s youngest son, escapes and is not killed. He survives to address a parable of judgment against Abimelch and his Shechem conspirators. In Jotham’s fable, the only one willing to reign over the other trees is not a real tree, but a worthless and destructive thornbush. Jotham’s allegorical prophecy comes true. In crowning Abimelech through devious means and conspiracy, Abimelech and the people of Shechem incur God’s retributive judgment. Tension soon develops between Abimelech and the citizens of Shechem and a military conflict breaks out. Abimelech is victorious, but it is an empty victory. In putting down the revolt he destroys Shechem and its citizens, and in the process Abimelch suffers an ignominious death. When Abimelech comes to attack the tower in Thebez, a woman throws a millstone down on his head and fractures his skull. He orders his young assistant to draw his sword and kill him. He does not want it said that a woman killed him. The story of Abimelech tells us that anything that humans achieve without the Lord God ends in disaster. Abimelech has been great in battles and has usurped the leadership of Shechem. But for all his feats, he remains vulnerable. Because of his ruthless ambition to be king and the lack of divine commissioning, Abimelech’s death is caused by a woman, a very humiliating destiny for a strong man.

Pope Pius X is an example of a Church leader ordained by God and totally conformed to Jesus Christ, the true leader-shepherd of God’s flock. Here is a biographical sketch taken from the Wikipedia on the Internet.

Pope Pius X (2 June 1835 – 20 August 1914), born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto, was the head of the Catholic Church from 4 August 1903 to his death in 1914. He was the first pope since Pius V (1566 to 1572) to be canonized … His most important reform was to publish the first Code of Canon Law, which collected the laws of the Church into one volume for the first time. He was a pastoral pope, encouraging personal piety and a lifestyle reflecting Christian values. He was born in the town of Riese, which would later append “Pio X” (Pius X’s name in Italian) to the town’s name.

Pius was particularly devoted to Mary. His encyclical Ad Diem Illum expresses his desire through Mary to renew all things in Christ, which he had defined as his motto in his first encyclical. Pius believed that there is no surer or more direct road than by the Virgin Mary to achieve this goal. Pius X was the only pope in the 20th century with extensive pastoral experience at the parish level and pastoral concerns permeated his papacy. He favored the use of the vernacular in catechesis. Frequent communion was a lasting innovation of his papacy. (…)

Personally, Pius combined within himself a strong sense of compassion, benevolence and poverty, but also stubbornness and a certain stiffness. He wanted to be pastoral and was the only pope in the 20th century who gave Sunday sermons every week. After the 1908 Messina earthquake he filled the Apostolic Palace with refugees, long before the Italian government acted. He rejected any kind of favors for his family. His brother remained a postal clerk; his favorite nephew stayed on as village priest, and his three sisters lived together close to poverty in Rome. He often referred to his own humble origins, taking up the causes of poor people. I was born poor, I have lived poor, and I wish to die poor. (…)

His simple origins became clear right after his election, when he wore a pectoral cross made of gilded metal on the day of his coronation and when his entourage was horrified, the new pope complained that he always wore it and that he had brought no other with him. He was well known for cutting down on papal ceremonies. He also abolished the custom of the pope dining alone (which has been established by Pope Urban VIII) and the pope invited his friends to eat with him. He was also on one occasion chided by Rome’s social leaders for refusing to make his peasant sisters papal countesses, to which he responded “I have made them sisters of the pope; what more can I do for them?”

He developed a reputation as being friendly with children. He carried candy in his pockets for the street urchins in Mantua and Venice, and taught catechism to them. During papal audiences, he would gather children around him and talk to them about things that interested them. His weekly catechism lessons in the courtyard of San Damaso in the Vatican always included a special place for children, and his decision to require the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine in every parish was partly motivated by a desire to reclaim children from religious ignorance. (…)

Considered a holy person by many, public veneration of Pope Pius began soon after his death. Numerous petitions resulted in an early process of beatification.

II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO

1. Have we tried to shrink God to our size and wanted to make our thoughts his thoughts and our ways his ways? Do we avail ourselves of the compassionate love of God that transcends our painfully limited ways and thoughts? Do we ever begrudge God’s generosity? Or instead, do we rejoice with God in his infinite goodness for all his people and creation?

2. Do we put our trust in God who commissions us to serve his people, or do we seek power and prestige for personal gain?

III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO

Almighty God, you are our loving Father. You showed justice to laborers of the first hour and kindness to workers of the later hour. Help us to imitate your benevolence and generosity so that no one among us would lack the basic necessities of life. We are laborers in your vineyard and we need personal dedication as farmhands in the great field of your kingdom. In every way and in all our thoughts, let us live by the spirit of the Gospel and follow your heart and ways as the Good Shepherd. We give you praise, now and forever. Amen.

*** Lord God, we put our trust in you as the true guardian of your chosen people. We thank you for Jesus Christ whom you have anointed to pasture your flock and to reign over us as the true king. Help us to be docile followers of your Son Jesus on the path that leads to eternal life. Let world leaders and civil authorities guide us in the spirit of justice and peace. We give you glory and praise, now and forever. Amen.

IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the CONTEMPLATIO

The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the day. Please memorize it.

“I am generous.” (Mt 20:15) // “Reign over us.” (Jgs 9:8)

V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO

By your acts of charity and solidarity with those who are experiencing the various hardships in today’s society (unemployment, poverty, insecurity, marginalization, etc.), let them experience God’s generous love. // Pray for civil authorities and world leaders that they may guide the people in the spirit of justice and peace. Be aware of social issues and be committed in helping people make the right decisions for the common good.

*** %%% *** %%% *** %%% ***

THURSDAY – TWENTIETH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME “JESUS SAVIOR: He Invites Us to the Banquet of Salvation … He Is the Perfect Offering”

BIBLE READINGS Jgs 11:29-39a // Mt 22:1-14

I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO

A. Gospel Reading (Mt 22:1-14): “Invite to the wedding feast whomever you find.”

Today’s Gospel parable (Mt 22:1-14) underlines the need for a positive and total response to the feast of the kingdom. The banquet of salvation is abundant and gratuitous, but it demands personal commitment and the daily weaving of the “wedding garment” of integrity and holiness by the way we live. The Church, which has a foretaste of the heavenly banquet, must go to the crossroads in order to invite everyone to the wedding feast. The community of believers has the duty to communicate to all peoples the superabundant riches of the banquet of salvation as well as the demands of the kingdom of heaven. Indeed, the Church needs to help unbelievers realize that it is a great misfortune to reject the bounteous feast of God’s kingdom and that it is a great tragedy to willfully exclude oneself from participating at the end-time “banquet of salvation”.

The Eucharist is the celebration and anticipation of the heavenly banquet. The Christian disciples who partake of the Lord’s sacramental meal on earth believe that on “that day” of his definitive coming, they shall take their place at the stupendous banquet of the victorious Lamb. In participating at the Lord’s Supper, they have the serious responsibility of manifesting to others the real nature of the true Church as the Bride of Christ - enrobed in a garment of salvation and covered with a mantle of justice.

The Gospel parable’s lesson on the necessity of wearing a “wedding garment” at the Lord’s banquet of salvation inspires me to do little good deeds with deeper meaning and greater spiritual intention. I was assigned in Los Angeles from 2007-2009. Our convent is located in downtown Los Angeles, which is within walking distance from the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels. When I go for the morning mass, I carry a plastic bag and pick up the trash strewn carelessly along the way. It is perplexing why there is so much litter when the city government provides trashcans in strategic places. Moreover, when I use a public restroom, I clean it up and make it ready for the next user. I feel that through these small acts of service, I am building a better world. Indeed, through little good deeds I am slowly weaving the “wedding garment” that enables me to participate more fully at the Eucharist and at the “banquet of salvation” at the end time.

B. First Reading (Jgs 11:29-39a): “I shall offer whoever comes out of the doors of my house as a burnt offering.”

The Book of Judges continues to depict the foils and foibles of Israel’s various leaders. Today’s Old Testament reading (Jgs 11:29-39a) is about the senseless vow of Jephthah, who has been requested by the leaders of Gilead to lead them in the fight against the Ammonites. A natural-born negotiator, he attempts to clarify the reasons for the Ammonite hostility and discovers that the Ammonites want back the land they claim Israel took from them when they came up from Egypt. Jephthah argues that the disputed territory does not belong to the Ammonites at all and that it has been a part of the former kingdom of Sihon that the Israelites have captured under Moses. Jephthah appeals to the Lord to judge between the Israelites and the implacable Ammonites. As a divine response, the spirit of the Lord comes upon Jephthah not only to confirm him in his diplomatic negotiation, but also to help him attain a resounding victory in his military campaign against the Ammonites.

Jephthah, however, does not seem to trust completely in the grace of God. He seeks to secure his victory by making a vow to offer as a holocaust whoever first comes out of his house upon his return. On account of his irresponsible vow, Jephthah’s victory becomes a tragedy, for the first person who meets him from the house is his own daughter – his only child. He fulfills the irrevocable vow with tragic dignity. The disconsolate Jephthah offers his daughter as a burnt offering after a period in which she mourns that she is going to die a virgin and childless. This story is meant to underline the lamentable effects of not trusting in the Lord’s willingness to save Israel and of resorting to pagan practices such as human sacrifice.

In contrast to Jephthah’s senseless vow of human sacrifice, the parishioners of St. Thomas of Canterbury Church make a very inspiring spiritual “offering” in union with their beloved deceased pastor whom we know personally (cf. H. Herhold, “Cycling Priest’s Death Sets San Jose Congregation on a Quest” in San Jose Mercury News).

Well before the bicycle accident, everyone agreed that Father Mark Catalana was an unusually attentive priest. When a parishioner at his San Jose Church, St. Thomas of Canterbury, had a birthday, Father Mark called and sang “Happy Birthday”. He did the same for anniversaries. If you stopped by the parish house on McCoy Avenue in the evening, he’d ask you in for dinner. In an age when Catholic churches have difficulty finding new priests, Father Mark happily embraced the role of a vocational cheerleader for the San Jose diocese.

His main mode of transportation was a bicycle, which he rode listening to music and fingering his rosary. He kept track of distance. By his 50th birthday – July 15 – he hoped to attain a lifetime goal he set as a young man: 100,000 miles.

“He put a face of humanity on my Catholicism”, said one parishioner, Pete R. Silva, who remembered that Father Mark called his cell phone at least once a week after Silva suffered a stroke in February. “I felt a warmth and personal connection, even though I was one of a multitude.”

When Father Mark was injured on his blue Giant road bike on April 15, it didn’t seem life-threatening. On the San Tomas Expressway overpass above Winchester Avenue, a woman driving a rental car drifted across the white line and hooked his handlebars with her car mirror. Father Mark went down hard, injuring his hip and elbow. Even after he underwent surgery at Valley Medical Center – his left hip was shattered – the outlook seemed optimistic. His doctors predicted he’d be back on a bike in six months. The irrepressible Father Mark visited other patients. Nobody foresaw the blood clot that killed him on May 2, not long after he had returned home to the parish.

More than 1,000 people attended his service, a mark of devotion inspired by the St. Francis High grad who had been in his post three years. Then something extraordinary unfolded. Led by the bicyclist named Bill Wright, the congregation of 300-odd families launched an effort to complete Father Mark’s miles. The priest was about 1,400 miles short of his 100,000-mile goal when the accident happened. “I said, ‘I’d like to do the miles’,” Wright remembered. “Then, in talking with some of my friends, they said they’d like to do it, too. Then it became ‘What about the kids? What about the older people?’”

With his daughter’s help, Wright passed out copies of a simple form that allowed people to tabulate their miles walking, jogging or cycling. Silva, the stroke victim, completed 16 or 17 miles on a stationary bike. Wright alone did 800 on his road bike. As of Monday, 115 people had completed six times more than was needed. Their total of 8,611 miles included 4,952 cycling, 593 jogging and 2,621 walking. Was it just a tally? No. It was homage of sweat to a man who had touched them all. One parishioner, begging off the pun, noted that Father Mark went the extra mile for them. The “Miles for Father Mark” acknowledged the debt. In a hard time for Catholics, it might have been one congregation’s finest moment.

II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO

1. What is our response to the Lord’s invitation, “Come to the feast”? What is the symbolism of the “wedding garment” mentioned in today’s gospel and its significance for us?

2. What is our attitude to making vows? Have we fulfilled the vows we have made or have reneged on them? What kind of vows we have made to God?

III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO

O loving God, we thank you for the “feast of rich food and choice wines” you have prepared for us on your holy mountain. The “banquet of salvation” at the end time celebrates the definitive triumph of your kingdom and the glory of your Paschal Lamb. In our daily celebration of the Eucharist, we have a foretaste of the eternal joy and the bounty of that heavenly feast. Grant us the grace to weave a “wedding garment” of integrity and holiness that we may be ready to participate fully and joyfully in the eternal “banquet of salvation”. You live and reign, forever and ever. Amen.

*** Loving Father, your compassion for your people Israel and for all of us is great and marvelous. Teach us to trust completely in your saving love and not in the security of our human efforts and achievements. Grant that we may carry out to the full the vow of obedience we have made to follow your saving well. We give you glory and praise, now and forever. Amen.

IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the CONTEMPLATIO

The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the day. Please memorize it.

“Many are invited, but few are chosen.” (Mt 22:14) // “The spirit of the Lord came upon him.” (Jgs 11:29)

V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO

By your small acts of charity and good deeds, strive to weave a “wedding garment” of integrity and holiness that will enable you to participate fully at the heavenly feasting. // Pray for the grace to be totally consecrated to the divine saving will. In your thoughts, words, actions and deeds, endeavor to be faithful to the baptismal consecration.

*** %%% *** %%% *** %%% ***

FRIDAY – TWENTIETH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME “JESUS SAVIOR: He Teaches Us the Meaning of Love … His Ancestress Ruth Embraced Israel’s God”

BIBLE READINGS Ru 1:1, 3-6, 14b-16, 22 // Mt 22:34-40

I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO

A. Gospel Reading (Mt 22:34-40): “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart and your neighbor as yourself.” (By Warren Padilla: Member: Pastoral Assistance and Community Education Mission)

Can you still remember your emotions when you first fell in love? What was your reaction? Didn’t you feel so excited and high, thinking about your beloved? You spent sleepless nights dreaming of being with your sweetheart. Oh, how love can be the most exciting thing in the world! If there is anything that makes a person so excited, it is love.

In like manner, there is nothing in the Christian life that is as exciting as the life of holiness. It can be said that the holiest people are the most excited people in the world. Wouldn’t you like to be excited, the way saints are? Well, be in love. If you love your fellowman the way Christ loves, you will be amazed how interesting life can be. Then the other blessings of God that you need will flow like a river into your life. That is why in today’s Gospel Jesus was asked by the Pharisees, “Teacher, which commandment of the law is the greatest?”

Jesus answered: “You shall love the Lord your God with your whole heart, with your whole soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it; you shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments the whole law is based, and the prophets as well.”

A Christian can be considered obedient to God only if he obeys first and foremost, the greatest commandment of God. This is the foundation of holiness, the first thing that makes him pleasing to God. On the other hand, the unwillingness of a person to live up to this great commandment equally becomes the basis for his condemnation – the greatest failure he can ever commit.

It is impossible for a Christian to reconcile hatred and ill-feeling with his/her love of God and neighbor. You can never be with God if you have in your heart feelings of remorse, indifference, resentment and jealousy. You can never please God while trying to avoid somebody who has caused you trouble. There is no such thing as loving the Lord, when at the same time you bear grudges towards a certain person. The happiest people in the world are those Christians who are in love with God and with their fellowmen. In other words, loving God and hating your fellowman can never go together. You have to be filled with love towards one another in order to be with God. A Christian then is a person of love. The more in love you are, the holier you become.

B. First Reading (Ru 1:1, 3-6, 14b-16, 22): “Naomi returned with the Moabite daughter-in-law, Ruth, to Bethlehem.”

Today’s Old Testament reading (Ru 1:3-6, 14b-16, 22) presents Ruth, the Moabite ancestress of the Messiah, as devoted not only to her mother-in-law Naomi, but also as totally embracing Israel’s God. The beautiful story of Ruth is set in the violent period of the judges. While the stories of the judges show the disasters when the chosen people turns away from God, the peaceful story of Ruth depicts the outpouring of divine blessings upon a “foreigner” who has turned to Israel’s God and becomes a part of his people.

A famine in Bethlehem has forced Elimelech, his wife Naomi, and their two sons to live in the country of Moab. There Naomi loses her husband and ten years later her sons Mahlon and Chilion who have married Moabite women. When the famine ends in Judah, Naomi plans to return to her homeland. Deeply concerned for the well-being of her daughters-in-law, Ruth and Orpah, she advises them to go back. Orpah, a worthy woman in her own right, follows her advice. Ruth however shows uncommon loyalty to her Israelite mother-in-law and a deep devotion to the God of Israel. She declares: “Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God.” Ruth seals her declaration with a solemn oath made in the name of Israel’s God. Naomi is overwhelmed and says nothing more. When they arrive in Bethlehem, the barley harvest is just beginning. And it is in a barley field where Boaz meets Ruth, his future wife. Through this marriage, Ruth the Moabite becomes the great-grandmother of David, Israel’s greatest king.

The selfless and loving devotion of Ruth for her kin and for the God of Israel enables her to be an important instrument of the saving plan of God. The same sterling quality may be verified in the life of Saint Rose of Lima whose biographical sketch is reported below (cf. Wikipedia on the Internet).

Saint Rose was born Isabel Flores y de Oliva in the city of Lima, the Viceroyalty of Peru, then part of New Spain, on April 20, 1586. She was one of the many children of Gaspar Flores, a harquebusier in the Imperial Spanish army, born in San German on the island of San Bautista (now Puerto Rico) and his wife, Maria de Oliva, a native of Lima. Her later nickname “Rose” comes from an incident in her babyhood: a servant claimed to have seen her face transformed into a rose. In 1597 she was confirmed by the Archbishop of Lima, Turibius de Mongrovejo, who was also to be declared a saint. She formally took the name of Rose at that time.

As a young girl – in emulation of the noted Dominican tertiary, St. Catherine of Siena – she began to fast three times a week and performed severe penances in secret. When she was admired for her beauty, Rose cut off her hair and smeared pepper on her face, upset that suitors were beginning to take notice of her. She rejected all suitors against the objections of her friends and her family. Despite the censure of her parents, she spent many hours contemplating the Blessed Sacrament which she received daily, an extremely rare practice in that period. She was determined to take a vow of virginity, which was opposed by her parents, who wished her to marry. Finally, out of frustration, her father gave her a room to herself in the family house.

After daily fasting, she took to permanently abstain from eating meat. She helped the sick and hungry around her community, bringing them to her room and taking care of them. Rose sold her fine needlework and took flowers that she grew to market to help her family. She made and sold lace and embroidery to care for the poor, and she prayed and did penance in a little grotto which she had built. Otherwise, she became a recluse, leaving her room only for her visits to church.

She attracted the attention of the friars of the Dominican Order. She wanted to become a nun, but her father forbade it, so she instead entered the Third Order of St. Dominic while living in her parents’ home. In her twentieth year she donned the habit of a tertiary and took a vow of perpetual virginity. She donned a heavy crown made of silver, with small spikes on the inside in emulation of the Crown of Thorns worn by Christ.

For eleven years she lived this way, with intervals of ecstasy, and died on August 24, 1617, at the age of 31. It is said that she prophesied the date of her death. Her funeral was held in the cathedral, attended by all the public authorities of Lima, and with a eulogy by the archbishop.

She was the first person born in the Americas to be canonized by the Catholic Church. She is the patroness of America, indigenous people of the Americas, of gardeners, of florists, of the city of Lima, of Peru, of the New World, of India, of people misunderstood for their piety and of the resolution of family quarrels.

II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO

1. Do we love God with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our mind? Do we love him with everything we have: a love that is whole-hearted, dynamic, and carried out with conviction, courage and commitment?

2. Do we show the same unconditional and loving devotion that Ruth the Moabite has shown for her kin and for the God of Israel?

III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO

Jesus said: “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind …You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Mt 22:37, 39). “This is my prayer to thee, my Lord – strike, strike at the penury in my heart. Give me strength never to disown the poor or bend my knees before insolent might, and give me the strength to surrender my strength to thy will with love.” (Rabindranath Tagore)

Jesus said: “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind …You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Mt 22:37, 39). “Grant me to recognize in other men, Lord God, the radiance of your face.” (Teilhard de Chardin)

Jesus said: “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind …You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Mt 22:37, 39). “Give us patience and fortitude to put self aside for you in the most unlikely people: to know that every man’s and any man’s suffering is our own first business, for which we must be willing to go out of our way and to leave our own interests.” (Caryll Houselander)

*** Gracious Father, you blessed the foreigner Ruth and made her a part of the covenant people. You made her an efficacious instrument of your saving plan by letting her give birth to Obed, King David’s ancestor. Grant us the same devotion and loyalty that Ruth has shown for you and her kin Naomi. Help us to take care of our needy relatives and family members. We give you glory and praise, now and forever. Amen.

IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the CONTEMPLATIO

The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the day. Please memorize it.

“You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind …You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Mt 22:37, 39) //“Your God will be my God.” (Ru 1:16)

V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO

Offer a concrete act of charity on behalf of the poor, the marginalized and the lonely, and the victims of man-made and natural calamities. // Pray that mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law may have a loving relationship similar to that of Naomi and Ruth. By your gentle words and acts of love promote peace and harmony within the family.

*** %%% *** %%% *** %%% ***

SATURDAY – TWENTIETH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME “JESUS SAVIOR: He Teaches Us to Practice What We Preach … He Was a Descendant of Ruth”

BIBLE READINGS Ru 2:1-3, 8-11; 4:13-17 // Mt 23:1-12

I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO

A. Gospel Reading (Mt 23:1-12): “They preach but do not practice.” (By Rodelio F. Paglinawan - Member: Society of Mary Queen of Apostles)

In today’s Gospel, we can learn two things that may be beneficial for our day-to- day living. These are (1) the practice of what we preach and (2) the virtue of humility. Although these two can be taken separately, they are closely intertwined in this gospel.

I remember a story about a teacher who taught her pupils to keep themselves and their surroundings clean and neat at all times. She even taught them how to help clean their houses. She told them how she hated the sight of a dirty house and its filthy surroundings. Her pupils were happy about the lesson, but hated the way it was taught to them. They thought that their teacher was conceited. One day, her pupils visited her in her house. To their disgust, they saw a lot of spider webs in her house. The floors were littered with so many things and a few cats feasted at the table on the leftover food. The teacher was so embarrassed when she saw her pupils’ reaction at what they had witnessed.

This story is told and retold in so many ways in our lives. We may be bragging about something that we have done and keep to ourselves the things that we failed to do. We may be bragging about a noble idea, which we cannot do ourselves. In both cases, traces of the story could be figured out. It will then be very embarrassing for us to face our own challenge and fail to meet the standard we ourselves have set. Humility is the best weapon we could have to counter this. Humility enables us to be what we should be, say only what we must say, and do only what we can, accepting our human limitations in the process. It is better to be humble than to be humiliated.

Trying our best to be Christ-like every day of our lives is the goal of every Christian. Saying what we mean, and meaning what we say could help us a lot. It would be better for us to avoid saying great things, which we ourselves cannot do. Now, I remember how most of my classmates in the seminary would put it: “the more we speak the more mistakes we commit; no talk, no mistake!” I am not promoting a speechless society here though. What I would like to underline is that we should only speak of the things that could add to the glory of God and his Church. Anything that would demean anyone in our community could also hurt the One whose image and likeness resides in them. Practicing what we preach … will make us humbler. Humility makes us nearer to the Almighty.

B. First Reading (Ru 2:1-3, 8-11; 4:13-17): “The Lord has not failed to provide you today with an heir. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.”

All of us six siblings, except one who was delivered in a hospital in Manila, were born at home in a small rural town in the province of Albay (Philippines). An elderly and very competent midwife assisted in my mom’s delivery of the babies. The birth of a new sibling was a very joyful event! Relatives and neighbors would come to see the mother and child. We were very proud to have an additional member to the family. In addition to the gift of the new baby, we were thrilled to have special food served to my mom and to us all – “arroz caldo”, a special kind of thick rice soup with tasty chicken bits.

Today’s Old Testament reading (Ru 2:1-3, 8-11; 4:13-17) depicts the joyful event of the birth of Obed. The neighbor women rejoice with the widow Naomi because through her faithful daughter-in-law Ruth, she receives a grandson who would assure the continuance of her family line. Boaz and Ruth, the parents of Obed, are persons of sterling quality. Filled with wisdom and spiritual strength and gifted with material affluence, Boaz is noble, generous, compassionate to the poor and foreigners and a man of integrity. Ruth, the Moabite, is selfless in her filial devotion to her mother-in-law Naomi. She has chosen to follow and dwell with Naomi in her homeland Bethlehem. She has shown great family loyalty in promoting the “immortality” of the family lineage of Naomi’s deceased husband. Above all, the foreigner Ruth has embraced the God of Israel with a faith that might very well shame the natural children of Abraham. Ruth exemplifies the blessing of a “foreigner” who turns to Israel’s God and so becomes a part of his covenant people.

From the nuptial union of Boaz and Ruth is the gift of the son Obed, the father of Jess, the father of David. The evangelist Matthew, in his genealogy of Jesus Christ (cf. Mt 1:1-17), specifies that the mother of Obed is Ruth. Though a foreigner, Ruth has a place in the ancestry of David, and through him, of Jesus Christ. In this awesome and fantastic lineage, we see God’s providence and sovereignty transcending barriers and prejudices as he progressively wields humanity into a single family of God.

II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO

1. Like some scribes and Pharisees rightly castigated for their vanity and hypocrisy, are we also guilty of these faults? If so, what do we do?

2. Do we believe that God continues to do “marvels” even in very difficult and desperate situations? Do we trust in the power of God as he progressively fulfills salvation history? Do we imitate Boaz in his compassion for the poor and widows and for migrants and the vulnerable?

III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO

O loving God, deliver us from falsehood and deception. Give us the grace to imitate Jesus the Divine Master. Teach us to follow his humble ways. May his mind enlighten us, his will strengthen us, and his heart enflame us. You live and reign, forever and ever. Amen.

*** Loving God, your wisdom and love transcend barriers. Your love is inclusive and embraces all. Your power is almighty and awesome. We thank you for our “ancestors” in faith and for giving us our Savior Jesus Christ, son of David, son of Jesse, son of Obed, whose mother is Ruth the Moabite. Give us the grace to care for the poor and the vulnerable. We give you glory and praise, now and forever. Amen.

IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the CONTEMPLATIO

The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the week. Please memorize it.

“You have but one teacher.” (Mt 23:8) // “Obed was the father of Jesse, the father of David.” (Ru 4:17)

V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO

Pray for all teachers that they may always be limpid, credible and authentic in the way they teach. Practice daily examination of conscience to help you imitate the Divine Master in his humility and integrity and have the grace to practice what you preach. // Be deeply aware of the needs of the immigrants and refugees and see in what way you can help respond to their needs.

*** Text of 20th Week in Ordinary Time ends here. ***

A Lectio Divina Approach to the Weekday Liturgy: Cycle I

BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD (n. 75) ORDINARY SEASON: WEEK 21

MONDAY: TWENTY-FIRST WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME “JESUS SAVIOR: He Rejects Hypocrisy … They Await Him, the Son Raised from the Dead”

BIBLE READINGS I Thes 1:1-5, 8b-10 // Mt 23:13-22

I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO

A. Gospel Reading (Mt 23:13-22): “Woe to you, blind guides.”

In today’s Gospel (Mt 23:13-22), Jesus calls for integrity of heart. When our thoughts, words and actions do correspond to our ideals, we have integrity. Jesus confronts the scribes and Pharisees for their hypocrisy and lack of integrity. To shake them up from complacency, he pronounces a series of woes upon them. The “woe” pronouncements manifest his concern for their self-destructive ways and serve as warnings of the unfortunate things to follow unless they change their ways. The scribes and Pharisees have rejected Jesus as Savior and likewise prevent others from entering the kingdom of God through Jesus. They have been zealous missionaries, but because of their false teachings their converts become worse than before. Their ridiculous discussions on what makes an “oath” binding express their perversion and evasion of truth. In an act of love, Jesus Master attempts to tear away their “masks” to bring them back to their senses and avert dire consequences.

The following story illustrates the hapless destiny of the fraudulent and hypocrite (cf. Anthony De Mello, Taking Flight: A Book of Story Meditations, New York: Image Books, 1988, p.132-133).

A seeker in search of a Master who would lead him to the path of holiness came to an ashram presided by a Guru who, in addition to having a great reputation for holiness, was also a fraud. But the seeker did not know him.

“Before I accept you as my disciple”, said the Guru, “I must test your obedience. There is a river flowing by the ashram that is infested with crocodiles. I want you to wade across the river.”

So great was the faith of the young disciple that he did just that. He walked across the river, crying, “All praise to the power of my Guru!” To the Guru’s astonishment, the man walked to the other bank unharmed.

This convinced the Guru that he was more of a saint than he himself had imagined, so he decided to give all his disciples a demonstration of his power and thereby enhance his reputation for holiness. He stepped into the river, crying, “All praise to me! All praise to me!”

The crocodiles promptly seized him and devoured him.

B. First Reading (I Thes 1:1-5, 8b-10): “You turned to God from idols to await his Son, whom he raised from the dead.”

In today’s First Reading (I Thes 1:1-5, 8b-10), Saint Paul bubbles with gratitude for the wonderful response of the Thessalonians to the Gospel. The community of believers in Thessalonica is marked by works of faith, labors of love and firm hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. Their commitment, concern and constancy inspire Paul to declare that God loves them and he has chosen them to be his own. The Thessalonians are imitators of Paul and of the Lord. They are also models for all believers. The news about their faith in God has gone everywhere. The people in Macedonia and Achaia speak of their hospitality and, above all, of their conversion: how they turned away from idols to God, to serve the true and living God and to await his Son Jesus, raised from the dead to be our deliverer.

The life of the poet Francis Thompson gives us insight into the conversion experience of the Thessalonians (cf. Wikipedia on the Internet).

Francis Thompson (16 December 1859 – 13 November 1907) was an English poet and ascetic. Born in Preston, Lancashire, his father Charles was a doctor who converted to Roman Catholicism, following his brother Edward Healy Thompson, a friend of Cardinal Manning. Thompson was educated at Ushaw College near Durham and then studied medicine at Owens College, now University of Manchester. He took no real interest in his studies and never practiced as a doctor, moving instead to London in 1885 to try to become a writer. Here he was reduced to selling matches and newspapers for a living.

During this time, he became addicted to opium, which he first had taken as medicine for ill health. Thompson started living on the streets of Charing Cross and sleeping by the River Thames, with the homeless and other addicts. He was turned down from Oxford University, not because he was unqualified, but because of his drug addiction. He would pick up newspapers and send letters to the editor. The editors would reply saying that there is a genius greater than Milton among us. Thompson left no return address, however, so the newspaper could not contact him.

Thompson lived a life of destitution until 1888 when he was “discovered” after sending his poetry to the magazine Merrie England. He was sought out by the editors of Merrie England, Wilfred and Alice Meynell, and rescued from the verge of starvation and self-destruction. Recognizing the value of his work, the couple gave him a home and arranged for the publication of his first book Poems in 1893. The book attracted the attention of sympathetic critics in St. James’ Gazette and other newspapers, and Coventry Patmore wrote a eulogistic notice in the Fortnightly Review of January 1894.

Thompson subsequently lived as an invalid in Wales at Storrington. A lifetime of extreme poverty, ill-health, and an addiction to opium took a heavy toll on Thompson, even though he found success in his last years. Thompson attempted suicide in his nadir of despair, but was saved from completing the action through a vision which he believed to be that of a youthful poet Thomas Chatterton, who had committed suicide almost a century earlier. Shortly afterwards, a prostitute – whose identity Thompson never revealed – befriended him, gave him lodgings and shared her income with him. Thompson was later to describe her in his poetry as his savior. She soon disappeared, however, never to return. He would eventually die from tuberculosis at the age of 48.

His most famous poem “The Hound of Heaven” describes the pursuit of the human soul by God. (…) The 182-line poem was the source of much of Thompson’s posthumous reputation. One of the most loved and possibly one of the more difficult Christian poems to read, “The Hound of Heaven” has been loved for over a century. It is not, however, a poem that most people can read without some background.

The following explanation is offered: “The name is strange. It startles one at first. It is so bold, so new, so fearless. It does not attract, rather the reverse. But when one reads the poem this strangeness disappears. The meaning is understood. As the hound follows the hare, never ceasing in its running, ever drawing nearer in the chase, with unhurrying and imperturbed pace, so does God follow the fleeing soul by His Divine Grace. And though in sin or in human love, away from God it seeks to hide itself, Divine Grace follows after, unwearyingly follows ever after, till the soul feels its pressure forcing it to turn to Him alone in that never ending pursuit. (cf. Neumann Press, Book of Verse, 1988)

II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO

1. Do I have sentiments and attitudes that do not build up integrity of heart? Am I guilty of hypocrisy? If so, what do I do to overcome this?

2. Like the Thessalonians, have we really turned to God from idols to await his Son, whom he raised from the dead?

III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO

Lord Jesus, you love us deeply. You care for our well-being. You wish to convert us from our hypocrisy and evil ways. Help us to have integrity of heart and seek true holiness in you. Live in us that we may live in you. Teach us to be steadfast in faith even in trials and persecutions. Let us be glorified in you, and you in us, You live and reign, forever and ever. Amen.

*** Loving God, we thank you for the Gospel that has come to us through the power of the Holy Spirit. Help us to turn away from idols to serve you, the true and living God. Bless us with your wisdom and grace as we await your Son Jesus Christ, raised from the dead as our Redeemer. We bless and glorify you, now and forever. Amen.

IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the CONTEMPLATIO

The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the week. Please memorize it.

“Woe to you, blind guides.” (Mt 23:16) //“You turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God.” (I Thes 1:9)

V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO

Today make a conscious effort to unite with Jesus every act of charity that you do, every kind word that you speak, every gracious thought that you think and every compassionate sentiment that you feel. // Pray for those suffering from drug addiction and substance-alcohol abuse. Do what you can to help them overcome their addiction and be completely healed of their brokenness.

*** %%% *** %%% *** %%% ***

TUESDAY: TWENTY-FIRST WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME “JESUS SAVIOR: He Calls Us to Greater Authenticity … His Disciples Share the Gospel and Their Very Selves”

BIBLE READINGS I Thes 2:1-8 // Mt 23:23-26

I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO

A. Gospel Reading (Mt 23:23-26): “But these you should have done, without neglecting the others.”

In today’s Gospel (Mt 22:23-26), we continue to listen to Jesus’ “woe” pronouncements that are meant to lead us on the path of authenticity and integrity. He laments the legalism and externalism of the scribes and Pharisees. They are preoccupied with minutiae like paying the tithe on seasoned herbs, but neglect the really important teachings of the Law, such as justice, mercy, and faithfulness. The perversion of their priorities is such that they are virtually straining out the gnat while swallowing the camel. Their concern for external observance is symbolized by vessels that are washed merely on the outside. Inner purity, however, is not obtained by external correctness in religious observance, but by cleaning up our inner dispositions. Sometimes we have moments of hypocrisy when we try to appear what we are not, especially in the area of personal worth. We also tend to have recourse to legalism because it presents the easy way out of our moral obligations. Indeed, trying to be good is more demanding than merely looking good. It is also easier to fulfill religious observances than concern ourselves with works of justice and compassion and to endeavor to translate our faith into action.

The following story gives insight into the Christian call for greater authenticity and charity (cf. Anthony De Mello, Taking Flight: A Book of Story Meditations, New York: Image Books, 1988, p. 33-34).

There was once a woman who was religious and devout and filled with love for God. Each morning she would go to church. And on her way children would call out to her, beggars would accost her, but so immersed was she in her devotions that she did not even see them.

Now one day she walked down the street in her customary manner and arrived at the church just in time for service. She pushed the door, but it would not open. She pushed it again harder, and found the door was locked.

Distressed at the thought that she would miss service for the first time in years, and not knowing what to do, she looked up. And there, right before her face, she found a note pinned to the door.

It said, “I’m out there!”

B. First Reading (I Thes 2:1-8): “We were determined to share with you not only the Gospel of God, but our very selves as well.”

In the reading (I Thes 2:1-8), we hear of the generous and selfless service of Saint Paul and his companions. The apostles share the Good News and their very selves. They evangelize by word and deed – by their life and teaching. The apostles are upright and without deception. They are men of integrity and sterling qualities. Hence, they are marvelous models for all who must transmit the Gospel through ages to come. The response of the Thessalonians to the Gospel and to the personal witnessing of Saint Paul and his companions is marvelous. They rightly discern that what they hear is the word of God and not merely human words. The apostles are grateful to God for their faith response and heartened that God works in those who believe.

The life of Saint Monica is an example of how a Christian believer shares with others, especially with her family, the Gospel of God and her very self as well (cf. Wikipedia on the Internet).

Saint Monica (AD 331-387), also known as Monica of Hippo, was an early Christian saint and the mother of St. Augustine of Hippo. She is honored in the Roman Catholic Church where she is remembered and venerated for her outstanding Christian virtues, particularly her suffering caused by the adultery of her husband and a prayerful life dedicated to the reformation of her son, who wrote extensively of her pious acts and life with her in his Confessions. Popular Christian legend recalls Saint Monica to have wept every night for her son Augustine.

Because of her name and place of birth, Monica is assumed to have been of Berber origin. She was married early in life to Patricius, who held an official position in Tagaste (present-day Souk Ahras, Algeria). Patricius was a pagan, though like so many at that period, his religion was no more than a name. His temper was violent and he appears to have been of dissolute habits. Consequently Monica’s married life was far from being a happy one, more especially as Patricius’ mother seems to have been of a like disposition with himself. There was, of course, a gulf between husband and wife. Her alms, deeds and her habits of prayer annoyed him, but it was said that he always held her in a sort of reverence. Monica was not the only matron of Tagaste whose married life was unhappy, but, by her sweetness and patience, she was able to exercise a good example amongst the wives and mothers of her native town. They knew that she suffered as they did, and her words and example had a proportionate effect.

Monica had three children: Augustine the eldest, Navigius the second, and a daughter Perpetua. Monica had been unable to secure baptism for her children and she experienced much grief when Augustine fell ill. In her distress she asked Patritius to allow Augustine to be baptized. Patricius agreed, but on the boy’s recovery withdrew his consent.

All Monica’s anxiety now centered in Augustine. He was wayward and, as he himself tells us, lazy. He was sent to school at Madaraus. Her husband Patricius subsequently became a Christian. Meanwhile, Augustine had been sent to Carthage to pursue his studies, and here he lived dissolutely. Patricius died very shortly after converting to Christianity and Monica decided not to marry again.

At Carthage Augustine had become a Manichean and when on his return home he shared his views regarding Manichaeism, Monica drove him away from her table. However, she is said to have experienced a strange vision that convinced her to reconcile with her son.

It was at this time that she went to see a certain holy bishop, whose name is not given, but who consoled her with the now famous words, “the child of tears shall never perish”. Monica followed her wayward son to Rome where he had gone secretly. When she arrived he had already gone to Milan, but she followed him. Here she found St. Ambrose and through him she ultimately had the joy of seeing Augustine convert to Christianity, after seventeen years of resistance.

In his book Confessions, Augustine wrote of a peculiar practice of his mother in which she “brought to certain oratories, erected in the memory of the saints, offerings of porridge, bread and wine”. When she moved to Milan, the bishop Ambrose forbade her to use the offering of wine since “it might be an occasion of gluttony for those who were already given to drink”. So Augustine wrote of her: “In place of a basket filled with fruits of the earth, she had learned to bring to the oratories of the martyrs a heart full of purer petitions, and to give all that she could to the poor – so that the communion of the Lord’s body might be rightly celebrated in those places where, after the example of his passion, the martyrs had been sacrificed and crowned” (Confessions 6.2.2).

Mother and son spent six months of true peace at Rus Cassisiacum (present-day Cassago Brianza) after which time Augustine was baptized in the church of St. John the Baptist at Milan. Africa claimed them, however, and they set out on their journey, stopping at Civitavecchia and at Ostia. Here, death overtook Monica and the finest pages of Augustine’s Confessions were penned as the result of the emotion he then experienced.

St. Monica is a patroness of those experiencing difficult marriages and disappointing children, victims of adultery or unfaithfulness, victims of verbal abuse, and the conversion of relatives.

II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO

1. How do we respond to the Christian call to greater authenticity, interiority and charity?

2. Like Saint Paul are we determine to share with others the Gospel of God and our very selves as well?

III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO

Jesus Master, you call us to greater authenticity, interiority and charity. Help us to purify our inner dispositions. Grant us honesty and integrity of heart. Be with us Jesus. Let your spirit of love shape our life. May we witness to the world the beauty of being a true Christian. May we hold fast to the sacred traditions handed on to us in and through the Church. You live and reign, forever and ever. Amen.

*** O loving God, we thank you for the example of Saint Paul the Apostle and all the saints in sharing with others the Gospel and their very selves. Help us to bring to fruition the message of salvation you have entrusted to us. Give us the grace to give the light of hope to the world. Make us true and loving disciples of Jesus Christ. We give you glory and praise, now and forever. Amen.

IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the CONTEMPLATIO

The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the day. Please memorize it.

“You have neglected the weightier things of the law.” (Mt 23:23) //“We were determined to share with you not only the Gospel of God, but our very selves as well.” (I Thes 2:8)

V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO

Open your eyes to the people around you today. Thank the Lord for the goodness you see. Beg the Lord for the grace to assist those who are lonely and needy. // Pray for greater harmony in family relationships. Be a channel of peace for feuding family members and those experiencing misunderstanding.

*** %%% *** %%% *** %%% ***

WEDNESDAY: TWENTY-FIRST WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME “JESUS SAVIOR: He Teaches Us the Meaning of True Religion … Working Night and Day His Disciples Proclaim the Gospel”

BIBLE READINGS I Thes 2:9-13 // Mt 23:27-32

I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO

A. Gospel Reading (Mt 23:27-32): “You are the children of those who murdered the prophets.”

In today’s Gospel reading (Mt 23:27-32) Jesus completes his litany of woes against the scribes and Pharisees. To pronounce a “woe” on someone or some groups is to express grief at their sorry state and to warn them of the dire consequences to follow. Indeed, it is terrible for the scribes and Pharisees because on account of their hypocrisy they are like whitewashed tombs that look fine on the outside, but are full of bones and decaying corpses on the inside. So wide is the gap between external appearance and internal reality that Jesus’ opponents may be compared to “whitewashed tombs”, the interior of which is the supreme degree of rottenness and uncleanness. They appear righteous, but inside they are filled with wrongdoing.

In the last “woe” that Jesus pronounces against the scribes and Pharisees, he condemns their practice of building fine tombs for the prophets and of decorating the monuments of the righteous. They do not really honor them, but instead perpetuate the violence committed by their ancestors. As descendants of those who have persecuted the prophets, they do not make an effort to renounce their wicked ways. They continue to persecute and shed the blood of the innocent. This final “woe” evokes the violent death that Jesus would suffer on the cross through the instigation of the scribes and Pharisees and of the persecution that the Christian community would endure through the ages.

The following story and lesson give insight into the perversion of religion and into the meaning of true religion (cf. Anthony de Mello, Taking Flight: A Book of Story Meditations, New York: Image Books, 1988, p. 73).

A Hindu Sage was having The Life of Jesus read to him When he learned how Jesus was rejected by his people in Nazareth, he exclaimed, “a rabbi whose congregation does not want to drive him out of town isn’t a rabbi.”

And when he heard how it was the priests who put Jesus to death, he said with a sigh, “It is hard for Satan to mislead the whole world, so he appoints prominent ecclesiastics in different parts of the globe.”

The lament of a bishop: “Wherever Jesus went there was a revolution; wherever I go people serve tea!”

When a million people follow you, ask yourself where you have gone wrong.

B. First Reading (I Thes 2:9-13): “Working night and day we proclaimed to you the Gospel of God.”

Today’s First Reading (I Thes 2:9-13) underlines the deep concern of Paul and his fellow missionaries for the Thessalonians. They are so full of love for them that they not only want to share with them the Good News from God but even their own lives. Saint Paul and his companions show concern for their converts by their working for their keep so as not to be a burden to them. It is easy to imagine Paul, the tentmaker, preaching the Gospel even while he is employed in his workshop. He toils from sunrise to sunset and he prays “night and day”. They also show their concern by their upright and blameless conduct toward the believers and by exhorting and encouraging them as a father treats his children. The Thessalonians respond positively to the work of evangelization. They have accepted the Gospel not as man’s message but as God’s message that is at work in those who believe. And for this reason they are filled with praise and thanksgiving to God.

The life of Saint Augustine illustrates both the dynamic of conversion as well as the loving concern of the apostles in their work of evangelization (cf. Wikipedia on the Internet).

Augustine was born in 354 in the municipium of Tagaste (now Souk Ahras, Algeria) in Roman Africa. His father, Patricius, was a pagan and his mother Monica was a Christian. It is assumed that his mother Monica was of Berber origin on the basis of her name, but as his family were honestiores, an upper class of citizens known as honorable men, Augustine’s first language is likely to have been Latin. At the age of 11, he was sent to school at Madaurus (now M’Daourouch), a small Numidian city about 19 miles south of Tagaste. There he became familiar with Latin literature as well as pagan beliefs and practices. His first insight into the nature of sin occurred when he and a number of friends stole fruit they didn’t even want from a neighborhood garden. This echoes nicely with his conversion which also involved a garden later in life.

At age 17, through the generosity of fellow citizen Romanianus, Augustine went to Carthage to continue his education in rhetoric. Although raised as a Christian, Augustine left the Church to follow the Manichaean religion, much to the despair of his mother Monica. As a youth Augustine lived a hedonistic lifestyle for a time, associated with young men who boasted of their sexual exploits with women and urged inexperienced boys, like Augustine, to seek out experiences or to make up stories about experiences in order to gain acceptance and avoid ridicule. It was during this period that he uttered his famous prayer, “Grant me chastity and continence, but not yet.”

At a young age, he began an affair with a young woman in Carthage. Possibly because his mother wanted him to marry a person of his class, the woman remained his lover for over thirteen years and gave birth to his son Adeodatus, who was said to have been extremely intelligent. He abandoned her finally on his conversion in 389 when the boy was 17.

During the years 373 and 374, Augustine taught grammar in Tagaste. The following year he moved to Carthage to conduct a school of rhetoric and would remain there for the next nine years. Disturbed by the unruly behavior of the students in Carthage, in 383 he moved to establish a school in Rome, where he believed the best and brightest rhetoricians practiced. However, Augustine was disappointed with the Roman schools where he was met with apathy. Once the time came for his students to pay their fees, they simply fled. Manichaean friends introduced him to the prefect of the City of Rome Symmachus, who had been asked to provide a professor of rhetoric for the imperial court of Milan.

While still in Carthage, he had begun to move away from Manichaeism, in part because of a disappointing meeting with the Manichaean bishop Faustus of Mileve, a key exponent of Manichaean theology. In Rome he is reported to have completely turned away from Manichaeism and instead embraced Scepticism of the New Academy movement. At Milan his mother pressured him to become a Christian. Augustine’s own studies in Neoplatonism were also leading him in this direction and his friend Simplicianus urged him that way as well. But it would be the bishop of Milan, Ambrose, who had the most influence over Augustine. Like Augustine, Ambrose was a master of rhetoric, but older and more experienced.

Ambrose baptized Augustine, along with his son Adeodatus on the Easter Vigil in 387 in Milan. A year later, in 388, Augustine completed his apology “On the Holiness of the Catholic Church”. That year Adeodatus and Augustine returned to Africa, Augustine’s home country, during which trip Augustine’s mother Monica died. Upon their arrival, they began a life of aristocratic leisure at Augustine’s family property. Soon after, Adeodatus, too passed away. Augustine then sold his patrimony and gave the money to the poor. The only thing he kept was the family house, which he converted into a monastic foundation for himself and a group of friends.

He became a famous preacher (more than 350 preserved sermons are believed to be authentic) and was noted for combating the Manichaean religion to which he had formerly adhered. In 395 he was made coadjutor Bishop of Hippo and became full Bishop shortly thereafter, hence the name “Augustine of Hippo”, and gave his property to the Church of Tagaste. He remained in that position until his death in 430.

Augustine worked tirelessly in trying to convince the people of Hippo to convert to Christianity. Though he had left the monastery, he continued to lead a monastic life in the Episcopal residence. He left a Rule for his monastery that led to his designation as the “patron saint of regular clergy”.

Much of Augustine’s later life was recorded by his friend Possidius, bishop of Calama (present-day Guelma, Algeria), in his Sancti Augustini Vita. Possidius admired Augustine as a man of powerful intellect and a stirring orator who took every opportunity to defend Christianity against its detractors. Possidius also described Augustine’s personal traits in detail, drawing a portrait of a man who ate sparingly, worked tirelessly, despised gossip, shunned the temptations of the flesh, and exercised prudence in the financial stewardship of his See.

Augustine was canonized by popular acclaim and later recognized as a Doctor of the Church in 1298 by Pope Boniface VIII. His feast day is 28 August, the day on which he died. He is considered the patron saint of brewers, printers, theologians, those with sore eyes, and a number of cities and dioceses.

II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO

1. Are we, too, guilty of some blatant hypocrisy that we could be called “whitewashed tombs”? If so, what can be done about it?

2. Like Saint Paul and Saint Augustine, do we work ceaselessly to proclaim the Gospel? Do we show true concern for the people being evangelized?

III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO

Almighty God, your ways are just and merciful. Teach us the meaning of religion and give us the grace to worship you in spirit and truth. You live and reign, forever and ever. Amen.

*** Lord God, we thank you for the ceaseless toil of Saint Paul and all the apostles for the spread of the Gospel. Help us to give witness to the Good News by our pure conduct and blameless life. Teach us to encourage those called to share in the kingdom glory. We thank you for the positive response of many peoples to the Gospel, welcoming it as your life-giving message. We give you glory and praise, now and forever. Amen.

IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the CONTEMPLATIO

The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the day. Please memorize it.

“Woe to you, hypocrites” (Mt 23:27) //“We proclaimed to you the Gospel of God.” (I Thes 2:9)

V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO

At the Eucharistic celebration, participate in the ritual action consciously, actively and meaningfully so that you may be able to translate the meaning of the Eucharist into daily life. // To enhance the process of evangelization, introduce your family and friends to the practice of Lectio Divina, the prayerful reading of the Word of God.

*** %%% *** %%% *** %%% ***

THURSDAY – TWENTY-FIRST WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME “JESUS SAVIOR: He Urges Us to Stay Awake … He Makes Us Abound in Love”

BIBLE READINGS I Thes 3:7-13 // Mt 24:42-51

I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO

A. Gospel Reading (Mt 24:42-51): “Stay awake!”

For nearly 20 years, Secret Agent Jerry Parr had guarded presidents and vice- presidents, always on the lookout for one pair of crazed, hate-filled eyes; always at the ready. He had to pass target practice every month as a requirement for his job. According to Jerry, prayer was an essential part of his life and job. In a way, Christian discipleship is similar to his job – something requiring watchfulness and constant vigilance.

Today’s Gospel reading (Mt 24:42-51) underlines the need for vigilance and watchfulness in preparation for the coming of Christ. The disciples of Jesus through all times are to keep in mind his urgent admonition, “Stay awake!” The Christian disciples are to be ready to open their hearts to the “essential One” who came to save us, who continually comes in our daily life, and will come again at the end time to restore all things. We must be prepared to welcome the kingdom of glory that he brings to fulfillment. Therefore, we must stay awake! For we do not know on which day our Lord will come.

For the Christian disciples, Advent – the time of hopeful waiting – is a year-round season and an ongoing experience. Aelred Rosser asserts: “Every task, every little job, every good word, every kind deed – all of these are the Lord at work in us, enabling us to prepare for his coming – now and finally. Blessed is that servant whom the master finds ready – busily waiting.” Indeed, the life of Christian disciples is dynamically driven by the expectation of the full realization of the kingdom inheritance and the definitive coming of our Lord Jesus. The spirit of Advent expectation helps us to carry out faithfully our task and mission on behalf of the reign of God upon earth.

B. First Reading (I Thes 3:7-13): “May the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all.”

In today’s First Reading (I Thes 3:7-13), Saint Paul, who is anxious to know how the faith of the Thessalonians is bearing up under pressure and persecution, gets Timothy’s assurance that the converts have remained steadfast. Their faith is so consoling to Paul in the midst of his own trouble and suffering. Paul is full of thanksgiving to God for the joy he has received from the Thessalonians and for the mutual encouragement. Paul prays constantly that he will be able to see them personally and thus supply them with whatever is still lacking in their faith. Above all, he prays that the Lord may make them increase and abound in love for one another and for all. As the believers flourish in love they will also grow in holiness and thus be ready to be in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all the saints in heaven.

The following story gives insight into the profound dimensions of Christian love (cf. Michael Massano, “Missioner Tales” in Maryknoll, September-October 2011, p.11).

About 10 years ago Samueli came to our House of Compassion, where the poorest of the poor are welcomed here in Musoma, Tanzania. He had been a pushcart worker loading sugar, rice and wood to be carried to local stores. When he began drinking heavily, his family abandoned him.

One of our volunteers discovered Samueli in a hospital, where he had been brought after he was found unconscious in the street. Father Godfried Biseko, founder of our home, asked the hospital to release Samueli to come and live with us.

Recently he became too weak to walk and is now confined to a wheelchair. But he loves to go outside to greet the sun. At the end of the day, as I get him ready and promise to see him tomorrow, he smiles. I smile too, having watched Samueli grow more content and self-confident as he has felt welcome.

The breastplate prayer of St. Patrick says, “Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ around me, Christ within me”. I cannot help but rejoice in the presence of Jesus shining through a man called Samueli.

II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO

1. How do we prepare for the Lord’s coming in mystery in the events of our life? How do we prepare for his definitive coming in glory? In word and deed, do we strive to enkindle the faith that the kingdom of God is come? Is our dynamic vigilance a source of inspiration for others?

2. Does our faith bear up under troubles and duress? Do we turn to God and to the community of faith for inner strength and encouragement?

III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO

Loving Father, we want to prepare for Christ’s coming in glory. As we wait for his coming you have enriched us in every way and filled us with spiritual gifts. Help us to stay awake for we do not know which day the Lord will come. Teach us to use our gifts with love and creativity. Bless us and make us faithful servants who wait for Christ’s glorious return. He lives and reigns forever and ever. Amen.

*** Heavenly Father, we thank you for the inner strength you give us when our faith is subjected to trials. We thank you for the mutual encouragement we receive as a community of faith. Lord of mercy and compassion, make us increase and abound in love for one another. Help us to be blameless in holiness for the coming of your Son Jesus Christ. We give you glory and praise, now and forever. Amen.

IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the CONTEMPLATIO

The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the day. Please memorize it.

“Therefore, stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come.” (Mt 24:42) //“May the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all.” (I Thes 3:12)

V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO

List three events in your life for which you were prepared and three other events for which you were unprepared. Pray over these events and ask the Lord to strengthen your vigilant expectation for his coming. If possible, help an elderly and/or seriously ill person prepare to receive Jesus at the hour of death. // Resolve to bring God’s strength and consolation to a person who is deeply distressed and discouraged.

*** %%% *** %%% *** %%% ***

FRIDAY – TWENTY-FIRST WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME “JESUS SAVIOR: He Wants Us to Keep the Lamp Burning … He Calls His Disciples to Holiness”

BIBLE READINGS I Thes 4:1-8 // Mt 25:1-13

I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO

A. Gospel Reading (Mt 25:1-13): “Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!”

The authors of the Days of the Lord, vol. 4, comment on today’s parable of the Ten Virgins (Mt 25:1-13): “Like many others, this parable is based on a fact, a situation of ordinary life. It tells of a custom connected with the wedding celebration … A parable is not a narrative of an event, retold with exactitude down to its minutest details. Storytellers can legitimately put in exaggerated traits that fit their purposes. This is done knowingly and fools no one. This being understood, the lesson of the parable is clear. We shall be kept waiting for the Lord’s coming; unforeseeable, it will happen suddenly. At that moment, everything will be lost for those who were taken by surprise. Others will not be able to help them. The improvident ones will find a closed door in the kingdom where the wedding of the Son of Man is celebrated.”

Today we are invited to prepare for our final encounter with God. If our eyes are focused on that glorious goal, we are more likely to keep our spiritual lamps lit for that reception. The bridegroom is on his way. We must rise to meet him. The liturgical scholar Adrian Nocent remarks: “Each is called, during the night of faith, to stand ready for the final encounter unto which God calls. This invitation and summons is most important. Everything else must take second place when it comes to having one’s lamp lit and trimmed.”

The following story illustrates a person’s ultimate encounter with the Lord at the hour of death (cf. Patricia Normile, “Caregivers Need Care Too” in Saint Anthony Messenger, May 2010, p. 22-26).

A hospice visitor, Deacon Amado Lim of Blue Ash, Ohio, knew Richard well. World War II veteran, great story teller, a man with a fine sense of humor, Richard (name has been changed) was a joy to visit. Then one evening Deacon Lim noted that he looked unusually sad. “I asked him why”, says the deacon. He said, “I was afraid.”

Richard continued, “I’ve shared many stories, but there’s one story I’ve not told you or anyone.” When Richard’s unit attacked a Nazi hiding place in Belgium, they met heavy fire and his best friend was mortally wounded. “I became livid”, Richard said. “I entered the building with my gun blazing. I saw two Nazi soldiers fall. I rushed toward them. They sprawled on the floor, covered with blood. I saw their faces. They were barely 12 years old – children! They didn’t say anything, just looked at me. Their faces were pleading, begging for mercy. My adrenaline pumped furiously. I shot them both. The faces of those boys have haunted me ever since. I cannot erase their images from my mind. Now I’m dying. I’m afraid to stand before God. He’ll never forgive me for what I did to those boys.”

Deacon Lim invited Richard to describe God. To Richard, God was a just God who rewards good and punishes evil. Voice trembling, Richard said that he couldn’t imagine God forgiving anyone who hurts children. Deacon Lim asked Richard to read aloud Bible stories describing God’s mercy. When the repentant criminal crucified on Calvary begged, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom”, Jesus replied, “Amen I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise” (Lk 23:42-43). Richard wept.

When Deacon Lim returned later, Richard smiled. “I’m no longer afraid. Jesus forgave the criminal. He forgives me because he knows how sorry I am.” Richard died two days later.

B. First Reading (I Thes 4:1-8): “This is the will of God, your holiness.”

In today’s First Reading (I Thes 4:1-8), Saint Paul exhorts the Thessalonians to live a life pleasing to God by following the instructions he and his companions gave by the authority of the Lord Jesus. He urges them to progress even more. The will of God is their sanctification. The goal of God’s call is for them to be holy. This entails living a life of sexual restraint and fidelity in a world of immoral and godless Gentiles “who do not know God”. It calls for proper ethical behavior that rejects greed and exploitation of our brothers and sisters. God has given us the Holy Spirit that we may grow in holiness. Whoever rejects Paul’s teaching rejects God, whose word the apostle makes known.

Saint Paul’s instruction on the Christian call to holiness is even more urgent and relevant in today’s society. The following article gives us an interesting insight into the need for holiness (cf. “Sinners Set on Being Saints” in Alive! July/August 2013, p. 3).

Matthew Warner blogs about things Catholic. Recently he questioned why the world doesn’t take Catholicism seriously. The blog provided much food for thought.

“We can talk about catechesis and community and leadership and orthodoxy”, he said. “We can complain about politics and how we need more preaching from the pulpit. But here is the core of the problem, the practical reason why people are not convinced of the Catholic faith anymore. We Catholics don’t look or act any differently to non-Catholics. It’s that simple.”

He spelt it out a bit more. “If we believe our faith and action in this life have eternal consequences, why don’t we act like it? If the Creator of everything is truly present in the Eucharist, why don’t our actions show this? If our relationship with God is truly the most important relationship, why don’t our daily schedules reflect that? If our marriages and families are our greatest blessings, why do we sacrifice them for our careers?”

And there was a lot more along that line. “Not only is our religion a fraud, but so are we Christians”, he said. “That’s what Catholics as a whole communicate about Catholicism.” His parents’ generation, he argued, left the Church without leaving the pews. Now they wonder why their kids find it silly to stand in the pews of a Church that never really understood, professing creeds that they never really believed.

Warner recognized that the Church needs inspirational leadership and solid catechesis and so on. But above all the Church must focus on what she does best, her competitive advantage: creating saints. “How many saints is your parish creating? That is the ultimate metric”, he said. “A saint is a powerful weapon in this culture war. They are compelling in every age and from every angle.” But saints are made, above all, by example. “As children we learn more by what we see our parents do than any words they say. We’ve forgotten this when it comes to handing on the faith.”

Putting it simply he said, “if we want the world to take Catholicism seriously, we must first take it seriously ourselves. That means making radical changes to the way we live our lives. When the world sees you, they don’t have to see a saint, but at least let them see a sinner set on sainthood.”

II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO

1. What is the personal significance of the wedding feast of the Bridegroom mentioned in today’s Gospel? In what ways are we the foolish bridesmaids? In what ways are we the wise bridesmaids? How do we deepen our spirit of preparedness for the Lord’s coming?

2. What is the personal meaning for us of Paul’s assertion that it is the will of God that we become holy? How will this change our life?

III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO

Lord Jesus, let our lamps be burning at your return. Help us to prepare worthily for our encounter with you at the hour of our death. We resolve to follow the path of holiness and righteousness. We commit ourselves to do acts of mercy and justice, of goodness and love, so that the final “hour” will be an encounter with your saving grace and a joyful participation in the wedding banquet. We love and serve you, now and forever. Amen.

*** Gracious Father, we thank you for revealing to us your gracious will. This is your will: our sanctification. Help us to live a life of integrity that befits our call to holiness. Help us to trust in the power of the Holy Spirit who helps us grow in holiness. Transform us into the likeness of Christ day by day and let us be a sign to the world of our true destiny. We give you glory and praise, now and forever. Amen.

IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the CONTEMPLATIO

The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the week. Please memorize it.

“The bridegroom came and those who were ready went into the wedding feast with him.” (Mt 25:1-13) //“This is the will of God, your holiness.” (I Thes 4:3)

V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO

In order to keep our lamps burning for the Lord’s coming, participate actively, consciously and fruitfully in the Eucharist and offer an act of charity daily on behalf of the weak and the needy. // Pray to the Lord to help you overcome your personal defects and sinful passions. In your own little way show to the world what it means to be holy and receptive to the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, who transforms us into the likeness of God day by day.

*** %%% *** %%% *** %%% ***

SATURDAY – TWENTY-FIRST WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME “JESUS SAVIOR: He Wants Us to Be His Enterprising Servants … His Disciples Are to Grow in Love”

BIBLE READINGS I Thes 4:9-11 // Mt 25:14-30

I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO

A. Gospel Reading (Mt 25:14-30): “Since you have been faithful in small matters, come share your master’s joy.”

In today’s Gospel reading (Mt 25:14-30), Jesus tells us the story of the master who distributed various amounts of money to three servants before going away on a journey. The Greek word that describes these amounts is “talents”. From this is derived the English term “talent” to describe the natural ability that can be improved by diligent practice. Two servants invested their talents and doubled the amount; the other one dug a hole in the ground and buried the talent entrusted to him by the master. The master returned and demanded a reckoning. The point of the story is not the uncertainty of the time of the Lord’s final coming, but the reckoning that will come and the responsibility expected of us. The Parable of the Talents teaches us not to be complacent and lazy, but to be diligent and enterprising. God want us to be creatively involved in the work of the kingdom. We need to be courageous and trustworthy servants in this time of waiting for the Master’s return.

The following testimony of Eli Doroteo of Antipolo City, Philippines, gives insight into the personal implication of today’s Gospel.

It is still fresh in my memory the spiritual exercise we had with Sr. Mary Celine, PDDM, during our retreat sometime in April 1999. The exercise was to divide our life into three segments and list in each of the three segments our experiences, most especially the downside in our life. Also, in each of the segments, we had to write God’s graces that helped us through those trials.

I was moved to tears when I discovered that in the three segments of my life, God was always present in my life in my MUSIC MINISTRY. In the first and second segments, I was a church choir member that started in Aklan and next in my stint with MIESCOR and in Muntinlupa. In the third segment (and until now), I sing the Responsorial Psalm during the Eucharistic celebrations. I realized that this is my calling – God gifted me with a talent of singing and of serving him in the Church.

As indicated in the Gospel of today, each of us has a God-given talent. The more we receive from God, the more we should be responsible to him at the judgment hour. This reminds me of the movie “Spiderman”. Peter’s uncle said, “With great power comes great responsibility”. In capsule form, this is what the Gospel of today is all about. A man who left his precious possessions to his servants represents God in the parable; he is a risk-taker here. This, I think, is God’s way when he calls a person to answer a particular need; he endows the person with a specific charism. The specific charism, when nurtured, becomes his distinctive identity. When exercised to its full potential, the charism becomes the person’s contribution to the Church and becomes his special mission.

B. First Reading (I Thes 4:9-11): “You have been taught by God to love one another.”

In today’s First Reading (I Thes 4:9-11), Saint Paul continues to exhort the Thessalonians to live a life of holiness through fraternal charity. They certainly know that they are to love one another. God himself has taught them through the apostles who have proclaimed God’s word among them. They have in fact responded by their love for one another and by their love for their fellow Christians in Macedonia. But Paul asserts: “Nevertheless we urge you, brothers and sisters, to progress even more.” Taking note of a problematic situation in the community where “idlers” and “busybodies” who, in expectation of the Lord’s imminent coming, neglect their own work to disturb others and live at their expenses, Paul urges them to grow in love by living quietly, by minding their own affairs, and by working with their own hands. Growth in love is important not only for the Christian community itself but also for the edification of non-Christians.

The following poem “The Handwriting on the Wall”, circulated on the Internet, gives us an example of growth and progress in charity.

A weary mother returned from the store, Lugging groceries through the kitchen door. Awaiting her arrival was her 8-year old son, Anxious to relate what his younger brother has done.

“While I was out playing and Dad was on a call, T.J took his crayons and wrote on the wall! It’s on the new paper you just hung in the den I told him you’d be mad at having to do it again.

She called his full name as she entered the room. He trembled with fear – he knew that meant doom! For the next ten minutes, she ranted and raved About the expensive wallpaper, and how she had saved.

Lamenting all the work it would take to repair, She condemned his actions and total lack of care. The more she scolded, the madder she got, Then stomped from his room totally distraught!

She headed for the den to confirm her fears. When she saw the wall, her eyes flooded with tears. The message she read pierced her soul with a dart. It said, “I love Mommy”, surrounded by a heart.

Well, the wallpaper remained, just as she found it. With an empty picture frame hung to surround it. A reminder to her, and indeed to all, Take time to read the handwriting on the wall.

II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO

1. In this time of vigil for the Lord’s coming at the end time, am I his enterprising servant? Do I endeavor to make the talents I have received bear abundant fruits for the glory of God and the good of the Church? Have I failed to maximize the talents and grace given me by the Lord?

2. Do we endeavor to love and to progress in fraternal charity? What are the difficulties we experience? How do we overcome them?

III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO

O loving God, we thank you for enriching us with many talents. Help us to be enterprising and creative in using them for your glory and for the sake of your kingdom. Help us to entrust ourselves totally to Jesus Christ. In him, you have chosen us – lowly and despised – for your own saving purpose. You live and reign, forever and ever. Amen.

*** Lord, you have taught us to love in Christ. Give us the grace to respond to the Spirit of love at work in our heart. Help us to progress even a little each day that we may be able to say at the end: “We have loved like Christ! We have loved our brothers and sisters to the end!” We give you glory and praise, now and forever. Amen.

IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the CONTEMPLATIO

The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the week. Please memorize it.

“Well done, my good and faithful servant … Come, share your master’s joy.” (Mt 25:21) //“You have been taught by God to love one another.” (I Thes 4:9)

V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO

List five talents you have received from the Lord, which you have utilized fully at the service of the Church and on behalf of the community. Thank the Lord for all these gifts received. List five talents, which you have failed to use wisely for the benefit of all. Beg God’s mercy and pardon for your failure to invest them fully. // Today, endeavor to give an example of patient loving and generous giving in the spirit of our Savior Jesus Christ.

*** Text of 21st Week in Ordinary Time ends here. ***

A Lectio Divina Approach to the Weekday Liturgy: Cycle I

BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD (n. 76) ORDINARY SEASON: WEEK 22

MONDAY: TWENTY-SECOND WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME “JESUS SAVIOR: He Was Rejected in His Own Country … We Will Be Always with Him!”

BIBLE READINGS I Thes 4:13-18 // Lk 4:16-30

I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO

A. Gospel Reading (Lk 4:16-30): “He has sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor. No prophet is accepted in his own native place.” (Gospel Reflection by Heather Jacobs, Bluff City, TN – U.S.A. // Illustrative Account by Sr. Mary Margaret, pddm)

As I reflected on the Gospel reading, the question kept coming to mind, why did Jesus’ relations and countrymen respond to him the way they did? Even though they saw the miracles and heard His profound wisdom, they still would not accept Him.

As I applied this question to my personal experiences, I realized that oftentimes we do the same thing with our own family members and those whom we have known for a period of time. When we’ve grown up with someone and known them through various stages of their life, we often take that person for granted. There doesn’t seem to be anything out of the ordinary about them. They become another increment of our regular, predictable, everyday life and we can’t imagine that person as anything other than the ideas we’ve formed about them through our limited experiences of that person.

Often, we limit our knowledge, respect, and love for a person to the roles they’ve played in our own lives. For example, when I think about my dad, it’s hard to think of him in any way other than as fulfilling the classic role of the father. He helped raise me with discipline and love, and worked hard to provide for my needs. All this is very important, but I must recognize that there’s more to him than just this, much more. To know him more fully, I have to learn to step outside my own personal experiences of him and try to walk in his shoes. A few years ago, my dad entered the deacon program. Now, each time I go home to visit he seems more and more different from the person I grew up knowing. It can be difficult to readjust and accept change, even when that change is positive.

I think a similar thing happened with Jesus’ relatives and countrymen. They helped raise Him, they fed Him, and played with Him. They helped clean Him and change Him when he got dirty as a young one. They helped teach and instruct Him. Suddenly, this man, who they thought they knew so well, returns and has profound wisdom and is working incredible miracles. They grew up with Him, what’s so special about Him that such a change has occurred? How and why did this change come about? If Jesus was a stranger to them and they didn’t have such preconceived ideas about Him, they probably would have accepted Him.

From this I realize that we need to learn to take a step back and try to view our acquaintances (especially those we know most closely) in a new way, rather than taking them for granted and just settling in our limited perspective of them. Most of all, we need to step back and ask: how is God working in and through this person? What is special and unique about this person? And how can I love and know this person more fully and completely by recognizing who they are as an individual, not just according to the way I’ve chosen to perceive them from my limited experiences of them.

***

The rejection that Jesus has experienced from his countrymen continues to be replicated in the life of today’s Christians. The following modern day account, circulated on the Internet, is an example.

This was sent by Father John Pitzer, formerly at Holy Ghost Church and now in New Orleans. Please offer your prayers and share with as many people as possible.

Dear Friends, Just a few minutes ago I received the following text message on my phone from Sean Malone who leads Crisis Relief International (CRI). We then spoke briefly on the phone and I assured him that we would share this urgent prayer need with all of our contacts.

"We lost the city of Queragosh (Qaraqosh). It fell to ISIS and they are beheading children systematically!!! Oh, dear God, what a world we are living in!!!!!

This is the city we have been smuggling food to. ISIS has pushed back Peshmerga (Kurdish forces) and is within 10 minutes of where our CRI team is working. Thousands more fled into the city of Erbil last night. The UN evacuated it's staff in Erbil. Our team is unmoved and will stay. Prayer cover needed!"

Please pray sincerely for the deliverance of the people of Northern Iraq from the terrible advancement of ISIS and its extreme Islamic goals for mass conversion or death for Christians across this region.

B. First Reading (I Thes 4:13-18): “God, through Jesus, will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.”

Today’s First Reading (I Thes 4:13-18) is a Pauline masterpiece. This beautiful passage declares that God will unite with him the faithful departed. Animated with divine wisdom, Paul assures the Thessalonians, distressed about the destiny of their loved ones who died before the Lord’s parousia or final coming. They need not fear that their beloved dead would miss the glorious deliverance. Indeed, that we shall be united with the Lord always should be a deep consolation for us all.

The liturgical scholar, Adrian Nocent, comments: “Saint Paul is trying to instill hope into the Christians of Thessalonica. His message, in brief, is that the resurrection of Jesus is what gives meaning to every Christian life, and that God will take to himself those who have died with Christ. We died with Christ in baptism; we shall also share his resurrection. The confusion in the minds of the Thessalonians provides Paul with an occasion for describing what will happen at the end of time. He works with images, but his point is clear. His essential teaching is that all, whether already dead or still living when Christ comes, will be taken up with Christ into glory.”

In light of Saint Paul’s words of wisdom, we believe that death is a participation in the death and resurrection of Christ. It is also our last act of self-giving to our heavenly Father. As an intimate participation in Christ’s paschal mystery, death is life’s completion. It leads to eternal and intimate union with God. The following story can help us appreciate the beauty of this tremendous mystery and realize that the faithful departed are indeed with God (cf. Brian Clark, “September 11 Journeys of Faith: Vision of Hope” in Guideposts, September 2011, p. 54-55).

I lay on my side in bed, a week after the attack, waiting for the comfort of sleep, still trying to make sense of everything that had happened. Tomorrow, I was supposed to return to work at Euro Brokers’ new office space. I was one of the company’s executives. People expected me to be there, but was I really ready to go back? After what I’d been through?

It was still so surreal. I’d survived. Scrambled down 84 floors from my office in the South Tower of the World Trade Center. Some in the media were calling me a hero, because I’d stopped to pull a man from the rubble on the eighty-first floor. But surely anyone would have done the same. The truth, Stanley Praimnath has saved my life as much as I’d saved his. If not for him … I shuddered at what might have been. Just minutes after we got out, the building collapsed. I thought of the colleagues I’d lost, more than 60 in all. I’d never see them again.

I closed my eyes and I was back there in the South Tower with Stanley, holding onto each other, the stairwell lit only by my flashlight, pushing past huge pieces of drywall, water cascading down the steps. The air was thick with dust. Hacking, coughing, we got to the seventy-fourth floor, and suddenly it was like we’d entered another world. The lights were on. I could breathe again. We hurried on.

On the sixty-eighth floor we met a man coming up. Jose Marrero. He’d worked in the Euro Brokers’ security department for years, a friend to everyone he met. He was a handsome man, in his mid-thirties, with a 100-watt smile that told everyone that things were right with the world. But that day he was drenched in sweat, breathing hard, holding a walkie-talkie to his ear. “Jose”, I said, “where are you going?”

“I can hear David Vera’s voice up above”, he said. “I’m going to help him.”

“Dave’s a big boy”, I said. “He’ll get out on his own. Come on down with us.”

“No”, Jose said. “Dave needs help. I’ll be all right.”

It was the last time I saw him alive. I opened my eyes, staring into the empty darkness of my bedroom. My wife stirred and put her arm around me. Had Jose made it all the way to Dave Vera? Where was he when the tower came crashing down? He’d never again know his wife’s touch. He’d had his whole life ahead of him. Like so many of the others. Now, there was nothing.

My thought faded: tired …

I was awake again. I’ve gotta get some sleep. I was lying on my back looking at the foot of the bed. I never sleep like this. Why don’t I turn over? And then, suddenly, there was the image of Jose, standing inches from my feet. He was wearing the most unusual shirt, blousy and brilliant white. I stared at him. Jose, you’re alive. How did you do it?

He just smiled that glorious ear-to ear grin. He was okay, joyful even, like he was in on some kind of wonderful secret, and he seemed to be telling me, “You’ll figure it out.”

Then he was gone as quickly as he had appeared. Still, there was something that lingered. A powerful, reassuring presence. Jose is with God, I thought. But more than that, I sensed God was with me.

II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO

1. Do we allow the adage “Familiarity breeds contempt” to take hold of us negatively and thus diminish our positive response to God’s marvelous actions and prophetic voice? Are we open to the positive change that occurs in the people around us? Do we welcome the “surprises” that each new day brings to our life?

2. Are we heartened by the truth that God, through Jesus, will bring with him those who have fallen asleep and that we shall always be with the Lord?

III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO

Loving Father, you sent prophets to speak your word of mercy to your erring people. In their ministry of salvation, they experienced the agony and the ecstasy that their proclamation entails. In the fullness of time, you sent to us your divine Son, the Incarnate Word. He is the ultimate prophet and message-bearer, the radical revelation of your saving love. Jesus was rejected in his own native place. As Christian disciples, we, too, are called to proclaim your word today and thus experience the agony and ecstasy of prophecy. Give us the grace to be faithful to our vocation. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

*** O loving God, we believe that Jesus died and rose again and that you will take back with Jesus those who have died believing in him. We believe that the faithful departed will experience the fullness of life through the power of Christ’s death and resurrection. In the spirit of the wisdom-filled Saint Paul, let us be messengers of hope to the bereaved. Help us assure the grieving that their deceased loved ones are in your care. We are deeply consoled that we shall be always with you and live in your presence, forever and ever. Amen.

IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the CONTEMPLATIO

The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the week. Please memorize it.

“No prophet is accepted in his own native place.” (Lk 4:24) //“For if we believe that Jesus died and rose, so too will God, through Jesus, bring with him those who have fallen asleep.” ( I Thes 4:14)

V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO

Pray that Christian disciples may be faithful to their prophetic ministry and be strengthened by the Holy Spirit in their task of witnessing to God’s message of truth, salvation and liberation. Offer a helping hand for modern day prophets who are being ostracized, abused and persecuted. // By your acts of kindness and compassion to the bereaved and the grieving and by your words of comfort, let them experience the hope of resurrection in Jesus Christ.

*** %%% *** %%% *** %%% ***

TUESDAY: TWENTY-SECOND WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME “JESUS SAVIOR: His Word Is Confirmed by His Deed … He Died for Us that We May Live Together with Him”

BIBLE READINGS I Thes 5:1-6, 9-11 // Lk 4:31-37

I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO

A. Gospel Reading (Lk 4:31-37): “I know who you are – the Holy One of God!”

Today’s Gospel reading (Lk 4:31-37) depicts the early phase of our Lord’s public ministry. Jesus is in the synagogue at Capernaum on a Sabbath, speaking the saving word of God and teaching with authority. The evangelist Luke describes the impact of his ministry on the worshipping assembly: “They were astonished at his teaching because he spoke with authority.” Jesus then manifests the power of God’s saving word by performing a healing sign. He cures a man possessed by an unclean spirit. His word is confirmed by his deed. Both word and action manifest that he is truly the Messiah sent from God.

Cardinal John Henry Newman remarks: “Grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. In him God is fully and truly seen, so that he is absolutely the way, and the truth and the life. All our duties are summed up for us in the message he brings … Christ has brought from his Father for all of us the full and perfect way of life. Thus he brings grace as well as truth, a most surprising miracle of mercy.”

A contemporary Church mission that is dear to me is the Vladivostok Mission: Reviving the Catholic Church in Eastern Russia. A way of collaborating is to send Mass stipends. I sent $20.00 requesting that a Mass be offered for two special intentions. Fr. Myron Effing’s letter of acknowledgment, dated July 31, 2012, contains an update of their mission and shows that their Gospel proclamation follows the way of Jesus, that is, by word and deed.

More good news, Sister Mary Margaret! You remember that our Lesozavodsk parishioner Vladimir needed to fly to Korea for a cancer operation – he came through the operation just fine, but now the extra good news. The two tumors were not cancerous! The doctor said that it was extremely dangerous anyway, and could be fatal if it had burst accidentally. He has returned home. And he says that for the first time in 57 years he feels normal! Most of his life he has lived with fever and a high white cell blood count. He wants to write a personal letter to all those who helped him with the operation. The donations for him from America came to just over $5000. Donations from the Russian side came to $3500. Most of this came from the active work of the parishioners of Visitation Parish in Lesozavodsk. Congratulations to everybody! Thanks be to God!

B. First Reading (I Thes 5:1-6, 9-11): “Jesus Christ died for us so that we may live together with him.”

In today’s First Reading (I Thes 5:1-6, 9-11), Saint Paul exhorts the Thessalonians to stay awake and sober. They must be personally involved and absolutely ready for the Day of the Lord. It will come unexpectedly, like a thief in the night. The Day of the Lord has a twofold connotation: salvation for the just and judgment for the evil ones. The authors of the book Days of the Lord, vol. 4, remark: “For certain people, it will be catastrophic because, living heedlessly – in peace and quiet, as they see it – they will be taken unawares. For others who remain watchful, this coming will hold no surprise. It will happen in the night of the world; but Christians are not in darkness, for they are the children of light. They behave as in full daylight. They remain at all times spiritually awake, ready to welcome the Lord as a friend they have waited for; to him, they will joyfully open the door.”

The reason for Christian optimism is God’s saving activity. We are not destined to wrath, but for that future salvation that comes on the Day of the Lord. He died for us that we may live together with him. That definitive salvation is already at work in the present. With this assurance, we are to console and encourage one another as we look forward to the Day of the Lord.

The following story is a powerful example of how a believer prepares himself for the Day of the Lord (cf. Deena Burnett Bailey, “September 11 Journeys of Faith: A Glimpse of Heaven” in Guideposts, September 2011, p. 60-61).

I was married to Tom Burnett, one of the passengers on United Airlines Flight 93. Terrorists hijacked the plane, intending to fly it to Washington D.C., perhaps aiming for the White House. Tom managed to call me several times from the plane and he told me that he and other passengers were going to try to wrest control of the cockpit from the hijackers. Thanks to the bravery of those passengers, the plane didn’t reach its target but instead crashed in a field in rural Pennsylvania, killing all aboard.

A ray of light cut through the darkness of that day for me – Tom’s faith. In the months leading up to September 11 a profound change had come over him, a deepening of his connection to God. At the time neither he nor I understood why. Then on September 11, it became clear to me.

Tom grew up Catholic. Unlike me, raised a Baptist, he seldom talked about his faith, though his rock-solid commitment to God was one of the things that drew me to him. After we married and had kids, I would go to church with him and I began to understand how he drew spiritual sustenance from the liturgy. The public prayer and sharing of faith experiences that I’d grown up with just wasn’t part of his makeup.

One day in the fall of 2000 Tom got home from work and said, “Deena, have you noticed that I haven’t been coming home for lunch lately?” We lived in California, where Tom was an executive at a medical-device company. Though he traveled frequently on business, whenever he was at the office he made a point of heading home to have lunch with me.

“I figured you were busy”, I said. “Actually, I’ve been going to Mass”, he said. I looked at him, puzzled. He went on, “A parish near the office has a noon Mass and I’ve been attending every day.”

“Why?” I asked. Tom paused. “I don’t know how else to say this. I feel like God is trying to tell me something. Maybe if I go to church every day, I’ll be able to hear better.”

Now I was really surprised. Tom never talked like this. “What do you think it is?” I asked. “I don’t know”, he said. “I have some sense that it’s going to affect a lot of people. And … well, this is the weird part, I think it might even involve the White House somehow.”

I had no idea what to make of this. Neither did Tom. Still, he kept attending Mass daily. He prayed more often and more openly, and we talked a lot about his growing relationship with God.

Tom never grew any more certain about the message being sent to him. But that didn’t matter. What mattered was the wonderful closeness that he shared with me.

That’s why even as the events of September 11 were unfolding, I had no doubt about the source of Tom’s courage about Flight 93 that day. And I believe his experience offers a ray of light through any darkness. A light that shines through my life even now, and forever.

II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO

1. How do we share in Christ’s prophetic ministry? How do we make the voice of truth resound in the world today? In imitation of Christ, are we ready to support our prophetic proclamation with prophetic action?

2. How do I prepare for the Day of the Lord so that it will not overtake me like a thief in the night?

III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO

Lord Jesus, you are the true prophet. The words you speak are confirmed by marvelous signs and healing actions. We thank you for revealing to us, by word and deed, the mercy of God. In you, we have received the vocation to proclaim the Gospel. Give us the wisdom of the Holy Spirit that we may fully discern and carry out the divine saving will. You live and reign, forever and ever. Amen.

*** O loving God, we thank you for Saint Paul who exhorts us to be ready for the Day of the Lord. As children of light, may we imitate him in living the life of Christ and radiate the light of the Gospel to the world. Please do not allow the Day of the Lord to overtake us as a thief, but rather, let it be for us a saving grace. For the kingdom, the power and glory are yours, now and forever. Amen.

IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the CONTEMPLATIO

The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the day. Please memorize it.

“What is there about his word?” (Lk 4:36) //“Our Lord Jesus Christ died for us so that we may live together with him.” (cf. I Thes 5:9-10)

V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO

Endeavor to bring the word of God and his healing love to a painful predicament and/or an unjust social situation. // Pray for the grace of a holy death and for greater readiness for the coming of the Day of the Lord. By your acts of justice, kindness and compassion, manifest that you are children of light, eager to welcome the Day of the Lord.

*** %%% *** %%% *** %%% ***

WEDNESDAY: TWENTY-SECOND WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME “JESUS SAVIOR: He Heals, Prays and Proclaims the Gospel … His Gospel Is Proclaimed to the Whole World”

BIBLE READINGS Col 1:1-8 // Lk 4:38-44

I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO

A. Gospel Reading (Lk 4:38-44): “To the other towns also I must proclaim the good news of the Kingdom of God because for this purpose I have been sent.”

Today’s Gospel (Lk 4:38-44) depicts our Lord Jesus as in full swing in his public ministry. The paschal victory of Jesus is prefigured in the healing he carries out on behalf of Simon’s mother-in-law afflicted with a severe fever, the many others suffering with various diseases and those possessed by demons. The healing ministry of Jesus is a sign that the kingdom of wholeness has come. By his mission of healing, he asserts that sickness, suffering, and death do not have the ultimate word.

At daybreak, Jesus left and went to a deserted place. The “dawn” of Jesus is poised in earnest towards greater intimacy with the loving Father and the proclamation of the Gospel. The saving ministry of the healing Lord is sustained by his life of prayer and personal dialogue with the Father. Hence, the restoring touch of Jesus reaches out more extensively and the Good News is carried even farther, propelled by a life of recollection and prayer. Indeed, the ability to make core decisions for God’s kingdom is made possible by his profound communion with the Father in a relationship of prayer. Jesus’ tryst at the dawn of day and his deeds of healing invite us to sustain our own healing ministry by a life of prayer.

The following story of a consecrated religious, Sister Blandina Segale (cf. Margaret and Matthew Bunson, “Woman of the Wild, Wild West” in Our Sunday Visitor, March 25, 2007, p. 12) made me smile. I find her life of total dedication to the service of God’s people very inspiring and interesting. United with the Lord, she heals, prays and proclaims the Gospel.

One of the most intriguing Catholic women serving the people of the United States was Sister Blandina Segale, a Sister of Charity who cared for those who journeyed along the dangerous Santa Fe Trail. In 1872, Sister Blandina was sent alone to Trinidad, Colorado, a Wild West haven for outlaws and renegades. She was 22 at that time. Because she was a Catholic nun bent on aiding the local Native Americans and the poor, Sister Blandina was not welcomed to Trinidad with overwhelming enthusiasm. The residents of Trinidad faced hard lives and did not fancy the sort of concerns that a nun might have. They were not cruel or insulting toward her, but they obviously had little interest in her labors. That changed rather abruptly, however, when her “patron” announced one day that he expected one and all to treat her with respect and courtesy. If any of the good people of Trinidad caused Sister Blandina any problems, he would deal with them personally. Actually, he promised to shoot them down like dogs.

The townspeople knew the “patron” well, and some recalled that he had shot a man for snoring too loudly at a campsite, so he was a man to take seriously when he made a threat. The “patron” of Sister Blandina was William Bonney, known in history as Billy the Kid. She had given nursing care to one of Billy’s companions when he was shot and left for dead in an abandoned hut, and the famous outlaw was repaying her for her merciful care of his friend. He also appreciated her efforts for others. The first time they met, actually, Billy the Kid had come to town to scalp the four doctors who had refused aid to his wounded companion. Sister Blandina talked him out of it.

She had also saved the life of another man soon after arriving in Trinidad. Caught after fatally wounding a companion in a gun battle, the man was about to be dragged from the jail by an angry mob. Sister Blandina hurried to the bedside of the dying victim and talked him into forgiving his attacker. She and the sheriff then walked the murderer through the streets to the victim, who did forgive his assailant and then died. When Sister Blandina announced the deathbed scene to the angry men standing outside in the street, the mob thought it was all a bit peculiar, but they lost their enthusiasm for a hanging and let justice prevail in a courtroom. (…)

Sister Blandina was transferred to Santa Fe in time, where she continued establishing charitable institutions and programs. She labored for 21 years in the American West, becoming famous and respected … In time, Sister Blandina was assigned to Cincinnati, where she continued her labors with her sister, who was also a nun. She died in Cincinnati on February 23, 1941.

B. First Reading (Col 1:1-8): “The Gospel has come to you just as in the whole world.”

We begin today the semi-continuous reading of Saint Paul’s letter to the faith community in Colossae, a town in Asia Minor east of Ephesus. Though not established by him, Paul feels responsible for the Colossians as he sends out workers from Ephesus, the capital of the Roman province of Asia. Epaphras, a Colossian who is described by Paul as a “dear fellow servant” and “Christ’s faithful worker”, has brought the faith to Colossae. Epaphras, who may have been converted by Paul at Ephesus, reports to Paul of the love that the Spirit has given to the Colossians. In today’s reading (Col 1:1-8), Saint Paul thanks God for their faith in Christ Jesus and for their love for all God’s people. Indeed, the Gospel that has been proclaimed to the Colossians and abroad is growing and bringing abundant blessings upon the believers.

Like Saint Paul, the apostle of Christ Jesus, and his fellow worker Epaphras, we too are called to proclaim the Gospel and experience its abundant fruits in our daily life. The following story gives a glimpse into the fruition of Christian faith (cf. Scott Walker, October 24 Reflection in Daily Guideposts 2010, p. 333).

All of our children are now in college or graduate school: Drew, a student at the University of South California Law School; Luke, a senior at Samford University; and Jodi, a sophomore at Furman University. Over the years many older friends told us that our children would grow up before we realized it. They were right!

But we have anything but an “empty nest”. My wife Beth is the international student relations adviser at Baylor University. One of her responsibilities is to find host families in our community of Waco, Texas, who will befriend international students. This year we have adopted three students: Lulu, a pre- dentistry student from Singapore; George, a prelaw student from the Philippines; and Lian, a graduate student in photo-journalism from China.

This afternoon I received an e-mail from George’s father. Tonight Lulu ate dinner with us and is spending the night. Yesterday Beth had lunch with Lian. Our life is enriched by our friendship with these wonderful young adults from Asia. They are now part of our family.

Beth and I are discovering that when we extend friendship and hospitality to God’s children, we receive far more than we give. And when we embrace people from around the world, God is able to multiply goodness and love between cultures and nations.

II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO

1. Do I witness to the healing power of the Good News? Do I incarnate the healing compassion of our Lord Jesus Christ today? Do I derive strength and meaning for my healing ministry from deep communion with God in prayer?

2. Do we imitate Saint Paul and his fellow workers in proclaiming the Gospel and in letting it bear abundant blessings to all?

III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO

Lord Jesus, our healing Lord, people are hurting more than before. Hold the sick in your arms. Comfort them. Fill their lives with meaning. Touch their sufferings with your gentle healing hand. And though we pray for health and healing, let us find you in the mystery of suffering and continue to work as God’s co-workers. You live and reign, forever and ever. Amen.

*** Lord God, we give you thanks for the spread and growth of the Gospel. Give us the grace to be Christ’s faithful workers in proclaiming the Good News of salvation to all. Let our faith in Christ grow, our love for one another inspire and our hope of final union with Christ Savior be satisfied. You live and reign, forever and ever. Amen.

IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the CONTEMPLATIO

The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the day. Please memorize it.

“He laid his hands in each of them and cured them.” (Lk 4:40) //“The Gospel is bearing fruit and growing.” (Col 1:6)

V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO

Anointing of the sick is understood incompletely by many as “extreme unction” to be administered to a dying person, with the result that the person no longer has control of his/her faculties and so is incapable of receiving it with complete awareness, faith and devotion. As part of your healing ministry as a Christian, encourage a seriously ill person to receive the Anointing at the proper time. // By your kind words and acts of charity, let the Gospel spread and bear abundant fruits. See what you can do to utilize the digital media to proclaim the saving Gospel.

*** %%% *** %%% *** %%% ***

THURSDAY – TWENTY-SECOND WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME “JESUS SAVIOR: He Calls Us to Put Out into the Depths … In Him We Share the Lot of the Saints in Light”

BIBLE READINGS Col 1:9-14 // Lk 5:1-11

I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO

A. Gospel Reading (Lk 5:1-11): “They left everything and followed Jesus.”

Some years ago our class at Maryhill School of Theology celebrated the “Misa ng Bayang Pilipino”, the Filipino inculturated form of the Roman Mass, with the barrio inhabitants of Talim Island, located in the middle of Laguna de Bay, a beautiful lake in the Philippines. We lodged there overnight, hosted by several families. The following sunrise, we went to celebrate the Morning Prayer beside the lake. As we sat on the sand, we heard the waves gently touching the shore. We gazed upon small boats, called “bancas”, lying upturned on the sand and fishing nets hanging on bamboo poles and fences to dry. Indeed, the “bancas” and the nets are the life-blood of fishermen. In light of this experience, I can vividly imagine the episode described by the evangelist Luke at the Lake of Gennesaret. It is easy for me to glean the significance of Simon Peter and the other fishermen renouncing their boats and nets and leaving everything behind to follow Jesus.

The mission of Jesus is to bring salvation to all, in accordance with the Father’s saving plan. Today’s Gospel (Lk 5:1-11) describes him preaching beside the lake. In order to minister more effectively to the great crowd pressing on him, Jesus gets into Simon’s boat and asks him to put out a short distance from the shore. Jesus then sits down and teaches the crowd from the boat. Seated on that improvised pulpit, his voice as true Teacher resounds as the people listen attentively to his saving word.

The next scene portrays the power of the word of God. After proclaiming to the crowd on the shore, Jesus commands the boat owner, who has worked all night without a catch: “Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch.” If the night fishing has been unprofitable, the daytime fishing would be even more so. Hence, it seems preposterous for a village carpenter-turned-prophet to command that to a professional fisherman. Simon, however, acts upon the Master’s word. As a result, they catch such a great number of fish that the nets begin to tear. They signal to their partners in the other boat to come to help them. All are “awed” by the catch. Simon falls at the knees of Jesus saying, “Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.” Jesus assures Simon and gives him a mission: “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.”

The reading concludes with an image of a dynamic response: “When they brought their boats to the shore, they left everything and followed him.” The Lord who proclaimed the saving word of God to the eager crowd at Lake Gennesaret and challenged Simon and his companions to put out into the depths is the same Lord who calls us today to discipleship. The response of Peter and his companions inspires us to make a total commitment to Jesus and follow him into the depths of his paschal destiny. Like them, we too must be willing to launch into the deep waters and thus share in the bounty of salvation.

B. First Reading (Col 1:9-14): “God delivered us from the power of darkness and transferred us to the Kingdom of his beloved Son.”

In today’s First Reading (Col 1:9-14), Saint Paul prays for the Colossians: that God may give them the knowledge of his will – with all the wisdom and understanding that his Spirit gives. This “knowledge” is not conceptual, but personal. It is a personal experience of God’s loving plan to save us in his Son Jesus Christ. True knowledge of the divine will implies living a life that is pleasing to God. It bears fruit in good deeds and is a total commitment to the divine saving will. The Christian believers are sure to encounter difficulties in their “walking in a manner worthy of the Lord”. Hence, Saint Paul prays that they may be strengthened by God’s glorious power. Then they will be able to endure everything with patience. Paul now invites: “Let us give thanks to the Father for having made you worthy to share in the lot of the saints in light.” God is worthy to receive thanks and praise because it is he who rescued us from the power of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of his beloved Son. Through the paschal mystery of his Son Jesus Christ, we have redemption and our sins forgiven.

The following story is an example of a call and response to share “in the lot of the saints in light” (cf. Linda Lochtefeld, “A Different Light” in 101 Inspirational Stories of the Sacrament of Reconciliation, Sister Patricia Proctor, Spokane: Franciscan Monastery of Saint Clare, 2006, p. 11-12)

I grew up a Protestant, active in my church until I went to college. I never paid much attention to other faiths until I met my husband-to-be. Joe was a Catholic from a very Catholic community. I began attending church with Joe and tried to learn about his faith. When we got engaged, I decided to join the Church – mainly because it was important to Joe and his family. I believe I joined the Church with my head and not my heart, which is why things began to fall apart shortly after our wedding.

Within a year after our son, Lee, was born, my mother was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Suffering had begun. I was very confused. I got angry at everything and everybody: my husband, the doctors, and God. All I saw everywhere, including the church, was suffering and I couldn’t handle it. I felt that God had abandoned all of us. I quit going to church. My actions and attitudes became full of sin. I emotionally began leaving my marriage and unknowingly went into a deep depression.

In 1997, a few years after my mother’s death, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I hit bottom. I had never been more terrified in my life. Worst of all, I had no faith. When I checked into the hospital for surgery, I was asked what church I attended, what my faith was. I had no answer. I felt abandoned by God, but He was there watching over me, along with my husband, who never left my side.

After surgery, I turned on the TV trying to calm down, and that’s when I found the channel with the camera on the crucifix in the chapel at the hospital. I left that channel on all night. Every time I woke up there’s a soft glow from the TV filling the room – and there was Jesus on the cross. I stared at Him and began to see His suffering in a different light. For the first time I started to see within my heart the beauty and love of our crucified Savior on the cross. My life began to change.

My mother-in-law gave me a tape of the rosary that Joe and I played and prayed together whenever the fear set in. During this time, I experienced one of the greatest healings of all, through the sacrament of reconciliation. I had only gone to confession once, when I first joined the church fifteen years previously. As a Protestant I had been taught that all I had to do was tell God I was sorry for my sins, and He would forgive me. I had been doing that over and over since my surgery, but I couldn’t stop feeling guilty for the many, many sins of my past.

Finally, I made an appointment to see our priest, Father Daniel Conlon, now bishop of Steubenville, to celebrate the sacrament of reconciliation in his office. Before my confession, I wrote down everything I could think of then, even though I dreaded facing Father with my embarrassing sins. I felt this push from the Holy Spirit and I couldn’t stop. I poured out my past amidst tears and Kleenex. Father counseled me, and then he stood up, laid hands on me and prayed over me. He told me that in the name of Jesus, my sins were forgiven. I felt numb as I left his office.

In the days ahead, I became aware that a change was happening. Every time I would begin to think about the past, my thoughts immediately would turn to something else. Later, I would realize that I had not spent any time thinking about my guilt or my sins. Thoughts and feelings that I couldn’t seem to control before were being cleansed completely from my mind. My past was being lifted once and for all.

II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO

1. What is our personal response to the Master’s command: “Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch”? Do we ever allow our human unworthiness and insufficiency to daunt us? Do we imitate the faith-response of Peter and his companions: “When they brought their boats to the shore, they left everything and followed him”?

2. How does this Pauline faith affirmation impact us: God rescued us from the power of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of his beloved Son. Through him we have redemption, the forgiveness of our sins?

III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO

Lord and Master, you challenged Peter to put out into the deep. May we imitate Simon Peter’s faith response and experience the bountiful catch. May poverty and insufficiency never daunt us. May we trust in your words: “Do not be afraid!” You live and reign, forever and ever. Amen.

*** Loving Father, grant us a true knowledge of your will. Help us to live in a way that pleases you. Make us bear fruit of good deeds. Let our faith grow and produce abundantly. We give you thanks, God our Father, for calling us to share in the lot of the saints in light, through Jesus your beloved Son. Through him we have redemption, the forgiveness of our sins. We give you glory and praise, now and forever. Amen.

IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the CONTEMPLATIO

The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the day. Please memorize it.

“Put out into deep water.” (Lk 5:4) //“Let us give thanks to the Father for having made you worthy to share the lot of the saints in light.” (Col 1:12)

V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO

Pray for all Christians that we may realize the greatness of our vocation as “fishers of men”. Offer special prayers and acts of charity for the increase and perseverance of priestly and religious vocations. // At the end of the day, find a quiet place and moment, and pray meditatively Col 1:12-13. Consider also the possibility of celebrating the sacrament of reconciliation one of these days.

*** %%% *** %%% *** %%% ***

FRIDAY – TWENTY-SECOND WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME “JESUS SAVIOR: He Is the Bridegroom-Messiah … He Is the Image of God and Icon of God’s Love”

BIBLE READINGS Col 1:15-20 // Lk 5:33-39

I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO

A. Gospel Reading (Lk 5:33-39): “When the bridegroom is taken away from them, then they will fast.”

Today’s Gospel (Lk 5:33-39) depicts Jesus as the Bridegroom-Messiah. He invites us to a new relationship that transcends mere legal observance and superficial piety. A loving relationship with the Bridegroom entails a radical transformation and infuses new meaning into such religious practices as fasting, an issue raised by some people when they observed that John’s disciples and the Pharisees fast, while Jesus’ disciples did not. Jesus answers them, “Can you make the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come, and when the bridegroom is taken away from them, they will fast in those days.” The reference to the Bridegroom being taken away is an allusion to the death of Jesus that led to his saving glory.

Indeed, in the new dispensation that resulted from the paschal event of the death and resurrection of Jesus, his disciples would fast, but not in the meaning given to this religious practice by the disciples of John and the Pharisees. Following a new lifestyle based on the radical salvation won for us by Christ’s saving death on the cross, the Christian disciples would also fast, but for the right reason. An erroneous notion of fasting has no place in the messianic kingdom ushered in by Christ. Indeed, the followers of Jesus would exercise various forms of salutary asceticism, in a spirit of receptivity to the coming of the Kingdom. They would carry these out in anticipation of the full joy that is prepared for them by the victorious Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, in the nuptial banquet in heaven.

The radical newness of our relationship with Christ can be compared to a piece of new cloth which should not be sewn into an old cloak, for it will make the tear even greater. It can also be compared to new wine which should not be poured into an old wineskin for it will cause the skin to break and spill the wine. Indeed, the love- relationship with Christ, the Bridegroom, demands an exhilaratingly new vision and life- style, symbolically portrayed by Luke as “new wine” poured into fresh wineskins.

The Redemptorist John P. Fahey Guerra gives insight into Christian fasting as an opportunity to gauge our cooperation with God’s plan (cf. Ligourian, A Redemptorist Pastoral Publication, February 2012, p. 11).

We have formed attitudes, feelings, and beliefs about the poor and about poverty in our lives that are simply not in accord with our faith in the God of Jesus Christ. Many of these attitudes have become so habitual that they appear “natural” to us, and, as a consequence, we don’t see the need to reflect on them.

Fasting is a spiritual exercise that seeks to break the power these habits of mind and heart have over us. It is not deprivation for deprivation’s sake, but rather a distancing of ourselves from our present worldview so that our faith in God’s view of the world might take hold of us.

Our encounter with the poor family in Mexico was disconcerting to us; it broke the pattern of our comfortable view of the world. It questioned our way of living. It showed us that we were far from where we were called to be. Fasting is a way for us to intentionally bring into question our present way of living.

B. First Reading (Col 1:15-20): “In him were created all things.”

We are called to love. This Christian imperative takes on a deep meaning and broad perspective when seen against the backdrop of today’s First Reading (Col 1:15-20), which is an early hymn of the Church extolling Christ as Creator and Redeemer. As the first-born of all creation and the first-born from the dead, he is the head of the body, the Church, and has primacy in everything. It is astounding that this highly exalted Jesus Christ fulfilled the divine saving plan “to reconcile everything” both on earth and in the heavens through “the blood of his cross”. Christ is the image of the invisible God. By his paschal mystery, he revealed the fullness of the God’s love for us and became the perfect icon of the Father’s compassionate love. Through his sacrificial death that brought redemption and peace to all creation, Christ manifested radically the absolute and uncompromising love of God for all and thus became the utmost sacrament of salvation.

As Christian disciples, we are urgently called to be deeply involved in the work of creation and redemption. We do this by following the demands of covenant love: “You shall love the Lord your God, with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” We too need to be icons or living images of God’s compassionate love for all. One efficacious way to reflect the goodness of God is to treat with sensitivity and preferential concern the poor and needy, the weak and vulnerable among us.

The following story is lovely and very inspiring. It illustrates how we can be “icons of love” in today’s world. We need more inspiring and heart-warming testimonies like this (cf. “The Life Cycle of the Egg Salad Sandwich” by Colby Thiele and Roger Williams in The Way of St. Francis, March-April 2010, p. 11-15).

It all began in December 2008. The U.S. economy was continuing its decline, foreclosures were mounting, unemployment rates were steadily rising, and newspaper articles were being written about how the growing homeless population had increased the strain on the local food banks. That was when we – Roger and Colby – decided we wanted to give back to the community by volunteering our time. The two of us shared an employer and rode the bus to work each day. As luck would have it, our route passed right by St. Mary’s Basilica, a Franciscan parish in downtown Phoenix, Arizona. Each morning we observed a congregation of homeless men and women in the church’s parking lot, waiting in line for something. Our curiosity aroused, we called to inquire about volunteering our services – and to find out what was really going on.

Our journey began in earnest the first week of February 2009 when we met Linda and Tom, the couple in charge of the St. Mary’s Food Program. What we had been witnessing from the bus was a church-sponsored effort that provided a sack lunch to some 200 to 300 people a day. We were immediately welcomed into the volunteer family of the morning food program. Initially, we thought we could give a little of our time to help those less fortunate. After our first day, however, we found that we had committed to volunteering three days a week: every Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday morning. Little did we know that we would benefit more from our efforts than those who received food from us.

On occasion, the two of us had discussed just how fortunate we both were in life. Life, after all, can take many different paths. Depending on your philosophy, you can attribute your path to luck, choice or divine intervention. After our first few weeks of volunteer work with the food program, we were both overwhelmed with questions. We wondered, if we had made different decisions, or if our circumstances had been slightly different during periods in our life, would we be on the other side of the receiving line? We came to the conclusion that this could have easily been the case.

Our first day consisted of placing sandwiches in brown paper bags that already contained round tortilla corn chips and candy. After that, we were escorted by Linda and Tom to the street level with the bagged meals and a cart full of juice boxes. We began the distribution process by joining hands and reciting The Lord’s Prayer. Twelve months later, it is safe to say that the two of us have recited The Lord’s Prayer more often in the back parking lot of St. Mary’s than in all our other days combined!

We handed out the sack lunches and the drinks, and offered simple greetings such as “Good morning” or “How are you?” Each of our guests replied with a pleasant “thank-you” or “God bless you”. It felt good to receive such a warm response and see the appreciation in the eyes of the men and women. Then came the first ripple in the pond that provided the moment of change – we asked a person for his name. He said his name was Clyde, and we, in return, introduced ourselves. The look in Clyde’s eyes and his demeanor immediately changed. The idea that someone would ask his name and take more of an interest than just handing out food surprised him.

As each day went by, we made a point to introduce ourselves and find out the name of at least one additional person per day. Before long we knew Clyde, Chet, Adam, Tony, David, Guy, Anna, Pat, Adrian, Meagan, Blake, Ed, Floyd and many more. We became familiar with some of their likes and dislikes. Guy, for example, likes Costal Cooler juice boxes, so we would save one for him each day and slip him two sandwiches so that he could keep one for dinner. Blake prefers bologna sandwiches with a crunch, so he would take his chips and add them to the middle of his sandwich. Forearmed with this knowledge, we were able to make Blake feel that his preferences were known and important: when he showed up, we’d have his sandwich ready, chips already inserted in the middle.

It didn’t take long before we had our first uncomfortable encounter. One of the homeless men began shouting at others in line. We didn’t know what to do or how to handle it. Fortunately for us, the situation resolved itself. The shouting ended and the man left. The next day the man was back, and we were worried about another confrontation. Instead, the man took his place in line, and we asked his name. He told us his name, Michael, and we introduced ourselves, thus beginning a dialogue that lasted nearly a year. Then we had Sam get upset over a candy bar. He threw it on the ground in front of us and stepped on it. The next day we greeted Sam and went out of our way to be nice and befriend him. We found out very quickly that the way to change people was through kindness and understanding.

As the days and weeks past, we realized we were receiving more from the program than the homeless were. We looked forward to our Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. We found that beginning our day at St. Mary’s was not only good for our souls but actually energized us. We work in an office building with more than 300 coworkers, yet we noticed we were saying hello to more people on the streets than to coworkers in the office. Over the course of the last year, we have become involved in the lives of the people we serve. We have raised funds for cross-country bus tickets; donated watches, hats and clothing; purchased brakes for bicycles; and made hundreds of brownies to add to the food bags. We do these things because we feel we are making a difference. And each time we give, we receive.

Our week begins before 6:30 each Monday morning at St. Mary’s. Immediately upon our arrival in the church’s downstairs social hall, we add 180 to 216 ham and cheese sandwiches to bags already packed with other items. While we are getting the meals ready, Linda is hard at work, running up and down the stairs to the friary kitchen to boil 15 dozen eggs. At 7 a.m., we move the ham and cheese sandwich lunches to the street level, recite The Lord’s Prayer and spend the next sixty minutes handing out food and greeting the people we have come to know over the last year. During this sixty-minute period, other volunteers are peeling the hard-boiled eggs (yes, all 180 of them) and crushing them into sizes small enough for egg salad. The crushed eggs are wrapped and refrigerated.

On Wednesday morning we arrive – again, before 6:30 a.m. – and once more place the day’s sandwiches (this time tuna salad) in the pre-packed bags. Once we have completed this task, it’s time to mix the crushed eggs with mayonnaise into a mixture with the proper consistency to spread on bread. We then proceed to make 180 to 216 egg salad sandwiches. These sandwiches are bagged, boxed and refrigerated for the following day.

On Thursday morning we arrive and transfer the egg salad sandwiches from the refrigerator to the pre-made bags for distribution to the homeless that morning. We have come to know our week as The Life Cycle of the Egg Salad Sandwich. Our journey begins on Monday with the raw eggs and ends on Thursday with very tasty sandwiches.

As an aside, since we became involved with the St. Mary’s Food Program, our professional careers have flourished and our personal lives have improved in ways that are indescribable. Coincidence? Some may think so, but we know better.

II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO

1. Do we respond to God’s eternal and faithful love incarnated in Christ, the messianic Bridegroom? Do we cherish the radical newness that God’s forgiving and renewing love brings to us through his Son Jesus Christ? Are we ready to share the tenderness of God’s love with the forlorn and abandoned of today’s world?

2. Do we truly honor Jesus Christ – highly exalted in creation and salvation history – by allowing ourselves to be molded by him into “icons of divine love”?

III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO

Lord Jesus, you are the Bridegroom of the Church, Renew us in your love and pour “new wine” to our feasting. Let us be faithful servants and trustworthy stewards. Purify the motives of our hearts that we may render God fitting praise, now and forever. Amen.

*** Loving Father, Jesus Christ is the image of your compassionate goodness. Your Servant-Son Jesus is the primordial sacrament of your saving love. He is the first-born of all creation and the first-born from the dead. He is the Lord of all creation and our Savior-Redeemer. Grant us the grace to be transformed, through our intimate participation in Christ’s paschal sacrifice, into living “icons of love”. May we reflect the radiance of your life-giving love in today’s fragmented and suffering world. Bless us, loving Father. We love and serve you; we give you praise and glorify you as the font of love, now and forever. Amen.

IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the CONTEMPLATIO

The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the day. Please memorize it.

“When the bridegroom is taken away from them, then they will fast in those days.” (Lk 5:35) // “Jesus Christ is the image of the invisible God.” (Col 1:15a)

V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO

Pray for those whose marriage bond has been adulterated and shattered. Offer your contribution to promote the healing of nuptial relationships and the integrity of the sacrament of matrimony. // By your active works of charity to the poor and vulnerable, strive to be “icons of love” in today’s world.

*** %%% *** %%% *** %%% ***

SATURDAY – TWENTY-SECOND WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME “JESUS SAVIOR: He Is the Lord of the Sabbath … By His Death We Are Reconciled to God”

BIBLE READINGS Col 1:21-23 // Lk 6:1-5

I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO

A. Gospel Reading (Lk 6:1-5): “Why are you doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?”

The Pharisees, the religious experts, become more and more critical of everything Jesus does. In today’s Gospel account, the Pharisees accuse Jesus’ disciples of profaning the Sabbath, the seventh day. According to Jewish tradition, the Sabbath is to be kept holy and as a day of rest since God rested on the seventh day. The biblical scholar Samuel Oyin Abogunrin comments: “In order to make sure no one did any work during the day of rest (Friday evening until Saturday evening), the rabbis later added numerous additional regulations so that scrupulous people could be sure they obeyed the Torah rule properly. In the process they focused on doing the right thing and making sure others did the right thing; as often happens in such cases, some people lost sight of the true meaning of the Sabbath.”

In today’s Gospel reading (Lk 6:1-5), the Pharisees confront the disciples of Jesus for doing what is unlawful on a Sabbath. Eating the grain out of someone’s field in not unlawful, but plucking the grain and rubbing the kernels to remove the husks is tantamount to “plucking” and “winnowing”, farm tasks that break the Sabbath law. Jesus defends his disciples by appealing to sacred scriptures. He asks the Pharisees if what his disciples have done is wrong, what about David: he and his hungry men went into the house of God, took the bread and ate the bread which can be “lawfully” eaten only by priests. In this incident (cf. I Samuel 21:2-7) the disciplinary restriction of the law gives way before human need. Jesus then makes a climactic assertion: “The Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.” Jesus is the “Son of Man” who ushers in the dawn of salvation even on a Sabbath.

The following story gives a glimpse into the perversion of the Law/religion as well as its true interpretation/meaning (cf. Anthony De Mello, Taking Flight: A Book of Story Meditations, New York: Image Books, 1988, p. 90-92).

Among the Jews, the observance of the Sabbath, the day of the Lord, was originally a thing of joy. But too many Rabbis kept issuing one injunction after another on how exactly it was to be observed, what sort of activity was allowed, until some people felt they could hardly move during the Sabbath for fear that some regulation or other might be transgressed.

The Baal Shem, son of Eliezer, gave much thought to this matter. One night he had a dream. An angel took him up to heaven and showed him two thrones placed above all others. “For whom they are reserved?” he asked. “For you” – was the answer – “if you make use of your intelligence, and for a man whose name and address is now being written down and given to you.”

He was then taken down to the deepest spot in hell and shown two vacant seats. “For whom are these prepared?” he asked. “For you” – the answer came – “if you do not make use of your intelligence and for the man whose name and address are being written down for you.”

In his dream Baal Shem visited the man who was to be his companion in paradise. He found him living among Gentiles, quite ignorant of Jewish customs, and, on the Sabbath, he would give a banquet at which there was a lot of merrymaking, and to which all his Gentile neighbors were invited. When Baal Shem asked him why he held this banquet, the man replied, “I recall that in my childhood my parents taught me that the Sabbath was a day of rest and for rejoicing; so on Saturdays my mother made the most succulent meals at which we sang and danced and made merry. I do the same today.”

Baal Shem attempted to instruct the man in the ways of his religion, for he had been born a Jew but was evidently quite ignorant of all the rabbinical prescriptions. But Baal Shem was struck dumb when he realized that the man’s joy in the Sabbath would be marred if he was made aware of his shortcomings.

Baal Shem, still in his dream, then went to the home of his companion in hell. He found the man to be a strict observer of the Law, always apprehensive lest his conduct should not be correct. The poor man spent each Sabbath day in a scrupulous tension as if he were sitting on hot coals. When Baal Shem attempted to upbraid him for his slavery to the Law, the power of speech was taken from him as he realized that the man would never understand that he could do wrong by fulfilling religious injunctions.

Thanks to this revelation given to him in a form of a dream, the Baal Shem Tov evolved a new system of observance whereby God is worshiped in joy that comes from the heart.

When people are joyful they are always good; whereas when they are good they are seldom joyful.

B. First Reading (Col 1:21-23): “Christ has now reconciled you to present you holy and unblemished before him.”

In today’s First Reading (Col 1:21-23), Saint Paul reinforces the idea that God made peace through his Son’s sacrificial death on the cross by applying it to the personal experience of the Colossians. In their pre-Christian pagan past, they were alienated from God by the evil things they did and thought. But their former existence has given to a new one through Christ’s reconciling action by his death on the cross. Through the death of Jesus they are reconciled to God and are presented to him “holy, without blemish and irreproachable before him”. Paul urges the Colossian believers to maintain this present state of holiness and blamelessness. They must continue to be faithful and steadfast in keeping the Gospel that has been proclaimed to them. The apostle Paul is at the service of this transforming life-giving Gospel that has been proclaimed to the world.

Christ’s act of reconciliation lives on in today’s here and now through the works of his ministers. The following story is an example (cf. Daniel Longland, “Won’t Go to Confession” in 101 Inspirational Stories of the Sacrament of Reconciliation, Sister Patricia Proctor, Spokane: Franciscan Monastery of Saint Clare, 2006, p. 17).

I am a priest in the Diocese of Plymouth in England, and for seven years I was the Catholic chaplain in a rather large local hospital there. One day as I was visiting patients, a man told me that he did not want to see me. I said, “Okay, that is all right.” Each day as I passed his bed, I would greet him and then walk on.

On one occasion he called me and said, “Listen, if I wanted to receive the sacraments again after more than sixty years, I know I would have to go to confession and I cannot do that.” I assured him that going to confession would be quite easy, and that I would ask him the questions. We talked for a long time and finally he said he would go to confession. I made an appointment for him for three days later.

The following day as I passed his bed he called to me and said, “Sorry, but I cannot possibly tell you what I have been doing all these years. I won’t go to confession.” I sat at the foot of his bed and asked him, “What are you afraid to tell me?” To my amazement, he told me about all the sins he thought he could not tell in two or three days’ time. When he finished talking, I asked him, “Is there anything else you have to tell me?” He said, “No, that is everything.”

I asked him if he was truly sorry for all these faults and failings because he had now confessed everything! Then I told him about God’s love for him and for us all. I gave him absolution and anointed him. He was so happy!

The next day when I went to the hospital, I was informed that the man had died that night. All I could say was, “God is so great! His love is beyond understanding”.

II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO

1. What does it mean for us personally that Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath? How do we keep the Lord’s Day holy?

2. How do we respond to the affirmation that God has reconciled us to himself in Christ and that we are called to stand before him “holy, without blemish and irreproachable”?

III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO

O Jesus Lord, you are the Lord of the Sabbath. Teach us the meaning of compassion and help us discern the true demands of God’s commands. You live and reign, forever and ever. Amen.

*** Lord God, we thank you for the ministers of the Gospel. Above all, we thank you for Christ’s death on the cross which reconciled us to you. Let us be steadfast in faith, hope and love and keep us “holy, blameless and irreproachable” in your sight. Teach us how to be of service to the Gospel and imitate Saint Paul and the apostles in their missionary zeal. We bless and adore you, now and forever. Amen.

IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the CONTEMPLATIO

The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the week. Please memorize it.

“The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.“ (Lk 6:5) //“God has now reconciled you in the fleshly Body of Christ through his death.” (Col 1:22)

V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO

Endeavor to celebrate Sunday as truly the Lord’s Day. // In any way you can, enable your friends and family members to appreciate the meaning and importance of the sacrament of reconciliation.

*** Text of 22nd Week in Ordinary Time ends here. ***

A Lectio Divina Approach to the Weekday Liturgy: Cycle I

BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD (n. 77) ORDINARY SEASON: WEEK 23

MONDAY: TWENTY-THIRD WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME “JESUS SAVIOR: He Does Good on the Sabbath … His Ministers Proclaim the Mystery of Salvation”

BIBLE READINGS Col 1:24-2:3 // Lk 6:6-11

I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO

A. Gospel Reading (Lk 6:6-11): “The scribes and the Pharisees watched him closely to see if he would cure on the Sabbath.”

On another Sabbath, Jesus goes into the synagogue to worship and teach. The scribes and Pharisees are there to actively scrutinize him. They watch closely to see if he would cure on the Sabbath and thus find a reason to accuse him. They legally interpret healing as a medical intervention and, therefore, as a kind of “work” that transgresses the law of the Sabbath. Jesus, however, realizes how wrong they are. He, therefore, responds to the conflict situation proactively. He deliberately heals on a Sabbath day to teach them its true meaning. The law of Sabbath rest is meant for the good of people. To do a compassionate act on the Sabbath – to heal a man with a withered hand and to relieve him of suffering - is therefore “lawful”. To refuse to do the good that can be done is akin to evil. There is no “Sabbath” that restricts us from doing good to another human being. There is no “Sabbath” that prevents us from loving. Indeed, the refusal to love is a betrayal of life.

In light of today’s reading (Lk 6:6-11), we are being challenged to be courageous like Jesus in doing what is good and not allow “false restrictions” to impede us. When I was a teenager, I saw on television the movie “The Nun’s Story”, starring Audrey Hepburn. She was a missionary nun in Africa and was serving as a nurse in a hospital. The medical doctor was out of town when a bleeding patient was brought for treatment. An emergency surgery has to be done to save the injured man. Although she did not have a medical license, she took the risk and operated on him. The courageous nun saved his life.

B. First Reading (Col 1:24-2:3): “I am a minister of the Church to bring to completion the mystery hidden from ages past.”

Today’s First Reading (Col 1:24-2:3) underlines the toil and struggle of Saint Paul as a messenger of the mystery of salvation. He asserts that the core of the “mystery” is a person – the person of Jesus Christ. As a servant of the Church, Saint Paul is happy about his sufferings. By means of his sufferings he helps to complete what still remains of Christ’s sufferings on behalf of his body, the Church. Paul does not mean that Christ did not suffer enough or that something is lacking in Christ’s afflictions to save humankind. “To fill up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ” means that the apostolic toil and sufferings of Saint Paul are associated with and continue the saving work of Jesus in preaching the Gospel, with all the trials and difficulties it entails. Hence, the completion of the “sufferings of Christ” is intimately connected with the completion of the preaching of the Gospel. The hard-working Saint Paul continues to reveal to the Colossians and other people the divine saving mystery, which is Christ himself – the key that opens all the hidden treasures of God’s wisdom and knowledge,

The following portrait of two senior priests illustrates what it means to be a servant of the Church and to toil on behalf of the saving mystery in today’s world (cf. Michelle Martin, “Older Priests Continue Ministry Long after Retirement” in Our Sunday Visitor, June 9, 2013, p. 12).

Msgr. Thomas Prendergast, a senior priest at Our Mother of Confidence Parish in San Diego, said his days are full. Prendergast is 81 and has been retired since he was 75. He was already retired when he moved into Our Mother of Confidence at the invitation of the pastor.

“I say Mass at least every Sunday and sometimes during the week”, he said. “I hear confessions every Saturday, and the sick calls, you know. We have a large parish here, a lot of seniors. I don’t do a lot of administration to speak of. Before I was retired, there was a lot of administration.”

Msgr. Prendergast said he thinks that people might like to have a younger man in the parish, but “they’re happy to have a priest.” He most enjoys visiting the sick and anointing people who are seriously ill. Asked if he intends to continue his ministry, Msgr. Prendergast said, “As long as I am in reasonably good health, yes.”

***

Msgr. Francis Maniola is nothing if not a model of faithfulness. The priest, who celebrated his 100th birthday and his 75th anniversary of ordination in April, still participates at Mass every weekend at St. Symphorosa Church in Chicago, taking Communion on the same altar where he has served nearly every weekend since he became a pastor of the parish in 1968. Since then, Msgr. Maniola has baptized and married generations of parishioners, said Marge Garbacz, the parish’s pastoral associate and director of religious education. Msgr. Maniola served as the parish’s third pastor before retiring in 1981. Named pastor emeritus and asked to stay on by the next pastor, Msgr. Maniola never left.

Now he participates in Mass by watching from the sacristy door, approaching the altar for the Our Father and Communion, Garbacz said. “It’s such a witness of faithfulness”, she said. Up until this year, Msgr. Maniola blessed many sacramentals and other objects, even after he stopped celebrating Mass publicly and could no longer listen to confessions because he was too hard of hearing. “He loved to bless things”, Garbacz said. “People would stop by the rectory and we’d call him and he’d come down.”

After a brief hospitalization in January, Msgr. Maniola now has the aid of a caregiver for some daily tasks, but he still joins the parish staff for lunch every day. “When he was in the hospital, he told everyone, ‘I want to go home’,” Garbacz said. “For him, St. Symphorosa is home.”

II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO

1. Are we like the scribes and Pharisees, who prevent others from doing good to the needy? Do we have a healthy understanding of the “Sabbath” that enables us to be more compassionate to our needy and suffering neighbors?

2. What do we do personally “to fill up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ on behalf of his Body” – the Church? What do we do to reveal the saving mystery, who is Christ?

III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO

Loving Father, we thank you for Jesus, the Divine Master. He is the Lord of the Sabbath. He heals even on the Sabbath to teach us that the Sabbath is made for the good of man and that man was not made for the Sabbath. Help us to imitate him in acting compassionately with the freedom of the Holy Spirit, the principle of life and good. Let us be convinced that refusal to do good is a betrayal of life. We love you, dear Father in heaven. We give you glory and praise, now and forever. Amen.

*** O loving God, we thank you for Saint Paul’s work as servant of the Church and for revealing to the nations the saving mystery, who is Christ. Help us to treasure the presence of Christ in us. He is the hope of glory. Give us the grace to unite our apostolic endeavors and afflictions with the saving work of Christ on behalf of the Gospel. Let us be drawn together in love and be filled with courage to preach Christ to everyone and to give witness to him throughout the world. You live and reign, forever and ever. Amen.

IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the CONTEMPLATIO

The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the day. Please memorize it.

“Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath?” (Lk 6:9) //“I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake.” (Col 1:24)

V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO

Pray that you may have a healthy understanding of church and civil laws. Endeavor to do charitable acts every day so that you will be ready to do good even in extraordinary situations and/or conditions. // Offer to God your trial, toil and affliction for the sake of the Gospel believing that in your very struggle the saving mystery of God’s love in Christ is revealed.

*** %%% *** %%% *** %%% ***

TUESDAY: TWENTY-THIRD WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME “JESUS SAVIOR: He Spends the Night in Prayer … He Is the Fullness of Life”

BIBLE READINGS Col 2:6-15 // Lk 6:12-19

I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO

A. Gospel Reading (Lk 6:12-19): “He spent the night in prayer. He chose Twelve whom he also named Apostles.”

The night is fascinating. It can be a moment of deep commune with God and a time of profound prayer. In today’s Gospel (Lk 6:12-19) we hear that before choosing his apostles, Jesus spends an entire night on a mountain in prayer. Once again, before making a decisive decision crucial to his messianic mission, he prays. When the day comes, he calls his disciples to himself and chooses the twelve apostles, who represent the “twelve” tribes of the New Israel, the Church. Like Moses descending from the mountain to deliver the Law to the people, Jesus comes down from the mountains to share with them the word of life and his touch of healing. On the plain, people crowd around him to hear the word of God and to experience his healing touch.

Prayer is a very important element in the life of Jesus and his disciples. Harold Buetow remarks: “It’s in prayer that we learn the mystery of Christ and the wisdom of the cross. In prayer we perceive in all their dimensions the real needs of our brothers and sisters throughout the world; in prayer we find the strength to face whatever lies before us; in prayer we get the strength for the mission which Christ shares with us.”

The following account in the life of John Michael Talbot, a modern day disciple- apostle and a “troubadour for the Lord” gives us a glimpse into the role and importance of prayer in the Christian vocation (cf. Dan O’Neill, Signatures: The Story of John Michael Talbot, Berryville: Troubadour for the Lord, 2003, p. 43-45).

It happened in 1971 in a hotel in mid-America. “Things now rush together in my memory about those years, probably the endless touring and performing lulled me into a stupefied indifference about where I was or when I was there, and, of course, there were far more important matters on my mind at that time”, John points out. “All I remember about the general circumstances is that we were in the middle of a tour, probably somewhere in the Midwest, and spending this particular night at Holiday Inn. I had my own room – the walls I recall as being blue – probably matched my disposition at the time.”

The other band members and road crew were checking into their rooms down the hall as John closed the door and collapsed on the double bed, turning his tired gaze toward the window. The soft eerie glow of the neon hotel sign filtered softly through the drawn blue drapery, bathing him in a pattern of light and shadows. As had become his custom when there were quiet, restful moments at hand, John began to pray to a God he did not know deeply but had come to believe in. Almost imperceptibly, his silent, interior meditation became an audible, vocal question: “Lord, who are you?”

Then it happened. Light seemed to fill the room, gradually intensifying to a mind- bending brilliance. Startled, John sat up, blinking his eyes to behold the figure of a man in white robes, arms outstretched, with long hair and a beard. “I saw an image”, John says, “that looked like Jesus – it was a traditional Christ-figure – an incredible sight.” A surge of adrenaline tore through his body like a hot rushing current, yet there was no fear or panic.

“I looked up out of my prayer and saw Christ bathed in light before me”, says John Michael. “He didn’t say anything. He didn’t give me a ‘great commission’ or anything like that. He was simply present. His love poured over and through me – it even seemed to emanate from me. In that experience I knew that my prayer for God to reveal himself to me was answered in the person of Jesus. I didn’t understand any Christian theology. I just knew that God loved me through this revelation of Jesus, and that any of my past sins or failings were forgiven. He stood before me, somehow almost around and within me, in infinite greatness yet total humility. I felt compassion. And I felt acceptance. I had been reading about Jesus and feeling him in my heart, but at that moment I actually experienced his touch. I knew it was Jesus. From that point on, I begin calling myself a Christian again.” (…)

As they say, “the real test is in the fruit”, and the fruits of John’s life were definite changes for the better. John’s band-mates said that he became a more mature and well-balanced person. His newfound faith was making him a better human being. He was nicer to be around. The photos of Mason Proffit show the change. The early ones show a dull-eyed, aimless teenager. After the Christ experience John Michael Talbot looks like a young man with a vision about the direction of his life.

B. First Reading (Col 2:6-15): “God brought you to life along with Christ having forgiven us all our transgressions.”

In today’s First Reading (Col 2:6-15), Saint Paul exhorts the Colossians to live in union with Christ and to remain faithful to the apostolic teaching. He advises them to be on guard against those who deceive them with human wisdom and false teachings about “the ruling spirits of the universe”. Paul thus underlines the pre-eminence of Christ. The full content of divine nature lives in Christ, who is supreme over every spiritual ruler and authority. In union with Christ through baptism we have received the fullness of life. Those who through sin are spiritually dead have been brought to life in Jesus Christ. God has done away with their spiritual debts by nailing them to the redemptive cross together with Christ. Through the cross, Christ subjected all rulers and authorities.

The following story gives an insight into Saint Paul’s assertion that God has brought us to life in Christ and that in him our sins are forgiven (cf. Anne Caron, “My Own Disbelief” in 101 Inspirational Stories of the Sacrament if Reconciliation, Sister Patricia Proctor, Spokane: Franciscan Monastery of Saint Clare, 2006, p. 208-209).

A few years ago our parish held a Lenten Mission. I was not planning to go, but a friend didn’t want to go alone, so I went to accompany her. I think God used her to get me to go!

The Passionist priest giving the mission was very fervent and very much in love with the Lord. I drank in every word he said and thrilled to the truth of it. It had been awhile since I’d gone to confession because I felt very unworthy. I had feelings that God loved everyone else more than he loved me. Sometimes I would imagine that God was impatient with me for repeating the same sins over and over.

At one point during the mission, the priest pointed to the crucifix. He said to us in a firm and solemn voice, “If you don’t think this is enough to forgive what you’ve done, then there’s no way you can be forgiven.”

It hit me like a ton of bricks! My feelings of unworthiness could prevent Our Blessed Lord from forgiving my sins? Not because Jesus was unwilling, but because of my own disbelief! I was stunned. Could I actually prevent God from forgiving me?

I approach the sacrament of reconciliation very differently now. It’s still not easy. It’s still humiliating to admit my faults and deliberate actions, but knowing that there is an ocean of mercy that I can throw those sins into fills me with deep gratitude.

Now I know that God’s loving heart is always there to lean on and whisper my sorrows to. I haven’t yet been able to live up to my desire to live the perfect life out of love for Him, but I know that this is where I receive the grace to keep trying.

II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO

1. What role does prayer play in our life, and especially in our Christian vocation? Do we give fundamental importance to prayer and contemplation? Do we see the intimate connection between prayer and deep commune with God and the call to mission and service of the Kingdom?

2. How does Paul’s assertion that God has now brought us to life with Christ and that God forgave us all our sins impinge on us?

III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO

Lord Jesus, you spent an entire night in prayer to discern the divine will with regards to your mission and the future leaders of the Church. Help us to perceive the great importance of prayer in our life. Grant us the strength to carry out our mission on behalf of your kingdom of justice, peace and love. You live and reign, forever and ever. Amen.

*** O loving and merciful God, you have brought us to life with Christ and upon the cross, our debt of sins is forgiven. Help us to accept your gift of forgiveness. Let us live in union with Jesus and build our lives on him. Strengthen our faith and fill us with thanksgiving for freeing us from the power of the sinful self. We give you glory and praise, now and forever. Amen.

IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the CONTEMPLATIO

The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the day. Please memorize it.

“He spent the night in prayer to God.” (Lk 6:12) //“But God has now brought you to life with Christ.” (Col 2:13)

V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO

Tonight spend quiet moments in prayer to God. Allow your prayer to be transformed into acts of self-giving and service to the needy. // Be aware of the beauty and power of the sacrament of reconciliation. Help your friends and loved ones to appreciate this God-given gift.

*** %%% *** %%% *** %%% ***

WEDNESDAY: TWENTY-THIRD WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME “JESUS SAVIOR: He Blesses the Anawim … In Him We Have Put On the New Self”

BIBLE READINGS Col 3:1-11 // Lk 6:20-26

I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO

A. Gospel Reading (Lk 6:20-26): “Blessed are you who are poor. Woe to you who are rich.”

In today’s Gospel (Lk 6:20-26), Jesus blesses the anawim (from anawah = humility). They are a people - humble and lowly - who find their well-being in God. These humble believers are eager to welcome God and ready to do his will. They put their hope and trust in God alone. Formed by his mother Mary, the Lord’s humble handmaid, Jesus is the ultimate anawim. As the Servant-Son of Yahweh, he is meek and humble of heart. In his inaugural discourse as Divine Master, Jesus declares that the anawim – the poor, the hungry, the grieving and the persecuted - are blessed by the Lord. They are recipients of salvation and of God’s infinite favor. Immersed into the baptismal waters of his paschal destiny, the Christian disciples in today’s world are the anawim. Like Jesus and Mary, they are called to proclaim the beatitudes of God’s anawim.

Instead of beatitudes, woes are to fall upon the rich who do not use their wealth to help the needy, hoarding it for themselves. Woes are to fall upon the well-fed who are oblivious to the hunger pangs of the poor, not sharing with them the bounty from their table of plenty. Woes are to fall upon those who seek the joys of the world, not commiserating with the grieving and the afflicted. Woes are to fall upon the false prophets, basking in the adulation of friendsmade complacent by their false words of comforts.

But what does it mean to live the spirit of the anawim today? This personal account can give an insight.

A few years ago, I conducted a liturgy class at Maryhill School of Theology in Metro Manila, Philippines, that included the topic “Liturgy and Creation”. I invited an ecology team from Barrio Ugong to share their endeavors with my students. The team was composed of enterprising housewives. None of them had a college or even a high school degree, but they became a leaven of transformation for their local community. Speaking in Tagalog, for none of them was proficient in English, the medium of instruction in higher Filipino schools, the housewives conducted the seminar on waste management, recycling, composting, organic gardening, etc. in very simple terms, but with expertise. They also shared the initial resistance of some people to their community project. The “macho” men in the neighborhood were hostile. But the women steeled themselves from their unjust attacks and persisted with single-hearted devotion and courage. Their humility and prophetic stance paid off. Barrio Ugong was judged the best barrio in the Philippines!

B. First Reading (Col 3:1-11): “You have died with Christ; put to death, then, the parts of you that are earthly.”

In today’s First Reading (Col 3:1-11) Saint Paul exhorts the Colossians to seek out the matters that are in heaven, where Christ sits on his throne at the right side of God. Their “old self” has died and they have been raised to life with Christ. Now their life is hidden with Christ in God and this will be made manifest in glory on judgment day. This dying with Christ involves absolute separation from the former sinful life. They must put off the old self with its habits and put on the new self that is being renewed into the image of the Creator. Christ is the perfect image of God and the perfect pattern of life for the baptized. In Jesus Christ, the great social barriers of race, culture and states of life are broken down. “Christ is all and in all.” These social distinctions are non-consequential when we consider the truth that Jesus Christ is really all that matters.

Mike McGovern (“Papa Mike”) and his conversion story illustrate, in a social context, Saint Paul’s insight about a worldly life that leads to self-destruction and a spiritual life that leads to salvation (cf. Poverello News, July 2013, p.2-3).

In the 1960s I was an eager participant in the hippie movement: free love, drug experimentation that soon led to dependency, openness to a hodge-podge of strange spiritual beliefs, and advocating for the expansion of the welfare state as a way of addressing poverty. I marched in anti-war and anti-poverty marches (when I wasn’t too drunk to march), took LSD, smoked marijuana, and practiced sexual liberation with a vengeance. And guess what? I became poor, miserable, spiritually empty, and got to the point where I wanted to kill myself.

As much as I hate to admit it, it’s when I embraced those hated middle-class values that I found meaning and happiness. Middle-class value number one: old- fashioned Christianity. My conversion to Catholicism gave me a new direction and a purpose for living. Middle-class value number two: I got married, and I stayed married, taking seriously that “until death do we part” business. Middle- class value number three: I worked my way up from an apprenticeship to a full- time job as a photoengraver, learning good work habits and providing for my family. Finally, Middle-class value number four: I started giving back to others less fortunate than me, which is how Poverello House started.

Granted, Poverello House isn’t the usual career path of an up and coming bourgeoisie fella, but then, I didn’t follow the typical middle-class blueprint for successful living until I’d already messed things up pretty well. The point is, even though I gravitated toward the counterculture of the 1960s and continued to view myself as part of that culture, and even though I still have some euphoric recall of those days, I can see now that it was utterly destructive. The only way I escaped was to embrace those boring middle-class values … Drugs, uncommitted sex, irresponsibility, and dependency became permanent features of urban poverty, and this cultural dysfunction led to widespread despair.

When we take a homeless drug addict into our program, in most cases we’re not only dealing with the personal wreckage of his life, but also the leftover cultural debris from the 1960s. Our solution is so middle-class that it almost makes the old hippie in me want to cry: get clean and sober, get God, work hard, be responsible, get a job, and take care of the messes you’ve made, and then go out and help someone else in need. It’s a far cry from “Turn on, tune in, drop out”, and certainly more humdrum, but it means the difference between a horrible life of squalor and having a chance at achieving lasting joy.

II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO

1. How does Jesus’ proclamation of the Beatitudes impinge upon us? Do we accept his declaration that the anawim are indeed blessed by the Lord? Do we try to live out in our life the beatitudes of the anawim? Do we look upon Jesus as the ultimate anawim and imitate Mother Mary who has lived the spirit of the anawim?

2. What does it mean personally for us that “we have died with Christ” and that “we need to put to death, then, the parts of us that are worldly”?

III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO

Loving Jesus, you are the true anawim. In Galilee, you taught us the beatitudes of the anawim. Help us to live the spirit of the anawim and total dependence on God. We adore you, Jesus, meek and humble of heart. Live in us, Christ our Lord, now and forever. Amen.

*** Loving Father, we thank you for uniting ourselves into the death of Christ. Help us to put off the old self with its sinful habits and to put on the new self that shares in the glory of Christ. Teach us to cherish the new being that is constantly renewed in your image. In our life of holiness and service to the Gospel, let us no longer be concerned with false distinctions based on race, culture and various states of life. We believe that Christ is all and that he is in all. We give you glory and praise, now and forever. Amen.

IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the CONTEMPLATIO

The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the day. Please memorize it.

“Blessed are you who are poor.” (Lk 6:20) //“Put to death, then, the parts of you that are earthly.” (Col 3:5)

V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO

Meditate on the Beatitudes and our identity as Christian anawim. In your service to the poor, those who mourn, the victims of injustice and violence, etc., endeavor to be an instrument of God’s beatitude for them. // Make it a point to make an examination of the heart at the beginning of the day and at the end of the day. Examine how you respond to the grace of God calling you to live to the full the “new self” in Christ. If you have failed, consider the possibility of approaching the sacrament of reconciliation.

*** %%% *** %%% *** %%% ***

THURSDAY – TWENTY-THIRD WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME “JESUS SAVIOR: He Calls Us to Radical Forgiveness and Mercy … He Wants Us to Put on Love”

BIBLE READINGS Col 3:12-17 // Lk 6:27-38

I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO

A. Gospel Reading (Lk 6:27-38): “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”

In today’s Gospel (Lk 6:27-38), Jesus challenges us to be radically God-like in extending forgiveness, love and mercy to all. Jesus’ exigent demands resound: “Love your enemies … Do good to them … Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.” The words of Jesus on forgiveness and compassion, however, should not be falsely interpreted. His words on non-retaliation and forgiveness do not promote passivity nor permit us to succumb to evil and injustice. Rather, Jesus’ words are a call to radicality. Aelred Rosser asserts: “It’s about being radical: radically loving, radically generous, radically God-like. All the kinds of behavior that Luke records here are summed up in one kind of behavior: God-like behavior. To what extent can we behave like God? To a far greater extent than most of us do. The bottom line may be put this way: if there is no difference between how Christians behave and how non-Christians behave, where’s the evidence that Christianity is different?”

Indeed, Jesus challenges us anew. He who invites us to this radical expression of God’s benevolence and compassion will also give us the grace and inner strength to be radically loving and forgiving. In the case of someone who loves God and Christ, everything is possible. Trusting in the grace of God, the Christian disciple is able to say: “In him who is the source of my strength, I have strength for everything” (Phil 4:13).

The following two stories illustrate what it means to live the challenge of forgiveness and mercy. The first story is about radical forgiveness (cf. Mary Brown in Daily Guideposts 2010, p. 270) and the second is about radical compassion (cf. Brenda Wilbee in Daily Guideposts 2010, p. 271)

Story 1: I’ve been deeply concerned for my friend. Her teenage daughter has moved in with her older boyfriend and his dad. The boyfriend and his dad treat my friend with hostility. To make matters worse, my friend’s ex-husband has joined them in their anger at her. Together they’ve leveled false accusations against my friend and have alienated her daughter from her.

Over the past months my friend has poured out her despair to me. Tonight, however, when I phoned her, I heard an amazing change in her voice. “I feel as though a huge weight had been lifted off me”, she said. “What happened?” I asked. “Well, when I heard the Gospel reading at church this morning – to love your enemies and to pray for those who persecute you – I knew that somehow I had to do what Jesus said, even though it seems impossible.” “Considering how you’ve been treated, it does seem impossible to respond that way.” “I felt that I couldn’t but that God could. For the rest of the service, I prayed for them. When I came home, I still felt overwhelmed by my hurt and anger, so I prayed more. Instead of praying for them to change, I simply asked God to do good to them. Suddenly, everything inside me changed, I felt a lightness I’ve never felt before. I know that somehow everything will work out. I’ll keep praying for them and trusting God. I finally have peace.”

***

Story 2: David Denny founded the city of Seattle in 1851. I know the man well; I wrote six books about him and his Sweetbriar Bride Louisa. With only twenty-five cents in his pocket, he went on to become the city’s third richest man. With assets of three million dollars. In the panic of 1893, his brother begged that he shut down his enterprises to weather the terrible recession.

“I can’t”, he replied. “A hundred families will starve.” David instead mortgaged everything, and the recession rolled in. He and Louisa celebrated their fortieth wedding anniversary in an empty mansion and then moved on to a log cabin he’d once given his daughter Abbie. He died ten years later with less than twenty-five cents to his name but with a reputation worth more than gold. Seattle loved Honest Dave.

Before he died, he wrote: “If I could live my life again, I’d still come West, I’d join the same church and marry the same woman. But I’d endeavor to be a better Christian.”

B. First Reading (Col 3:12-17): “Put on love, that is, the bond of perfection.”

Today’s First Reading (Col 3:12-17) is a prescription for an ideal relationship among Church members. Taken from the section of Colossians which urges the members of the body of Christ, the Church, to live according to the values of the community, it encourages works of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and love in Christ’s name. In the faith community and in its individual members, the peace of Christ must reign. Moreover, they should be filled with praise and thanksgiving. Saint Paul teaches us how this could be done: letting Christ’s word dwell in us, teaching with all wisdom according to apostolic understanding, admonishing one another, worshipping and singing to God with grateful hearts, doing everything in word and deed in the name of Christ Jesus. The biblical scholar Ivan Havener remarks: “Seen in this light, thanksgiving to God the Father through Christ becomes a whole way of life. Christian life is eucharist, that is, thanksgiving.”

The following story, circulated on the Internet, illustrates how inspiring and awesome it is when people put on love, the bond of perfection.

In Phoenix, Arizona, a 26-year-old mother stared down at the 6-year-old son who was dying of terminal leukemia. Although her heart was filled with sadness, she also had a strong feeling of determination. Like any parent, she wanted her son to grow up and fulfill all his dreams. Now that was no longer possible! The leukemia would see to that. But she still wanted her son’s dream to come true.

She took her son’s hand and asked, “Billy, did you ever think about what you wanted to be once you grow up? Did you ever dream and wish what would you do with your life?”

“Mommy, I always wanted to be a fireman when I grow up.”

Mom smiled back and said, “Let’s see if we can make your wish come true.”

Later that day she went to her local Fire Department in Phoenix, Arizona, where she met Fireman Bob, who had a heart as big as Phoenix. She explained her son’s final wish and asked if it might be possible to give her 6-year-old son a ride around the block on a fire engine. Fireman Bob said, “Look, we can do better than that. If you have your son ready at seven o’clock Wednesday morning, we’ll make him an honorary Fireman for the whole day. He can come down to the fire station, eat with us, go out on all the fire calls, the whole nine yards! And if you give us his sizes, we can get a real fire uniform for him, with a real fire hat – not a toy – one with the emblem of the Phoenix Fire Department on it, a yellow slicker like we wear and rubber boots. They’re all manufactured right here in Phoenix, so we can get them fast.”

Three days later Fireman Bob picked up Billy, dressed him in his uniform and escorted him from his hospital bed to the waiting hook and ladder truck. Billy got to sit on the back of the truck and help steer it back to the fire station. He was in heaven. There were three fire calls in Phoenix that day and Billy got to go out on all three calls. He rode in the different fire engines, the Paramedic’s van and even the fire chief’s car. He was also videotaped for the local news program.

Having his dream come true, with all the love and attention that was lavished upon him, so deeply touched Billy, that he lived three months longer than any doctor thought possible. One night all of his vital signs began to drop dramatically and the head nurse, who believed in the hospice concept that no one should die alone, began to call the family members to the hospital. Then she remembered the day Billy had spent as a Fireman, so she called the Fire Chief and asked if it would be possible to send a fireman in uniform to the hospital to be with Billy as he made his transition.

The chief replied, “We can do better than that. We’ll be there in five minutes. Will you please do me a favor? When you hear the sirens screaming and see the lights flashing, will you announce over the PA system that there is not a fire? It’s the department coming to see one of its finest members one more time. And will you open the window to his room?”

About five minutes later a hook and ladder truck arrived at the hospital and extended its ladder up to Billy’s third floor open window --- 16 fire-fighters climbed up the ladder into Billy’s room! With his mother’s permission they hugged him and held him and told him how much they LOVED him.

With his dying breath, Billy looked up at the fire chief and said, “Chief, am I really a fireman now?”

“Billy, you are, and the Head Chief, Jesus, is holding your hand”, the chief said.

With those words, Billy smiled and said, “I know. He’s been holding my hand all day, and the angels have been singing.” He closed his eyes one last time.

II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO

1. How does today’s Gospel on forgiveness and mercy challenge me? What is my response to the command of Jesus: “Love your enemies and do good to them … Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful”? Do I use Christ’s teaching on forgiveness and compassion as an excuse to hide the absence of justice and to acquiesce to the onslaught of injustice and evil?

2. How do we endeavor to put on love, the bond of perfection?

III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO

Lord God, you are merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in kindness. We thank you for your Son Jesus Christ who incarnated the meaning of forgiveness and mercy. He calls us to be forgiving and merciful. Give us the grace to show to the world that “love builds up”. Do not let us commit scandal that will cause others to sin. O loving Father, you live and reign, forever and ever. Amen.

*** Loving Father, we are your chosen ones. Give us the grace to live fully our vocation to holiness. Help us to be compassionate, patient, gentle and kind. Teach us to be forgiving and to put on love, the bond of perfection. Let the word of Christ dwell in us and may we do everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we give you glory and praise, now and forever. Amen.

IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the CONTEMPLATIO

The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the day. Please memorize it.

“Love your enemies … Be merciful.” (Lk 6:35 - 36) // “Put on love, that is, the bond of perfection.” (Col 3:14)

V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO

Name someone who has hurt you. Pray for that person for a period of time and offer him/her your gift of forgiveness even from afar. Offer an act of compassion and mercy for someone in deep need. // Today resolve to show your kindness and concern for a needy person.

*** %%% *** %%% *** %%% ***

FRIDAY – TWENTY-THIRD WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME “JESUS SAVIOR: He Condemns False Condemnation … He Mercifully Treated the Apostle Paul”

BIBLE READINGS I Tm 1:1-2, 12-14 // Lk 6:39-42

I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO

A. Gospel Reading (Lk 6:39-42): “Can a blind person guide a blind person?”

In today’s Gospel reading (Lk 6:39-42), Jesus, the son of a carpenter, uses carpentry images to deliver the irony of hypocrisy and false condemnation: the righteous with a wooden beam in the eye wants to remove the sawdust in another’s eye. In the biblical world, the “eye” represents a person’s attitude and understanding. Indeed, our pride obstructs the light of compassionate understanding and blinds us to our own faults and the duty of charity. Jesus warns against exaggerating our neighbor’s faults and minimizing our own. He wants us to remove the “wooden beam” of our hypocrisy and pride that we may be able to remove charitably the “splinter” that hurts our neighbor’s eyes. He does not condemn fraternal correction, but false condemnation. Jesus Master counsels true compassion in dealing with our brothers and sisters.

In a funny vein, the following story illustrates how prejudice could pervert our judgment (cf. Anthony de Mello, Taking Flight: A Book of Story Meditations, New York: Image Books, 1988, p. 122).

Two Irish laborers were working on the road outside a house of prostitution. Presently the local Protestant minister came along, pulled down his hat, and walked into the building. Pat said to Mike, “Did you see that? What can you expect? He’s a Protestant, isn’t he?

Soon after, a rabbi arrived on the scene. He pulled his collar up and walked in too. Said Pat “What a terrible example for a religious leader to give his people!”

Finally, who should pass by but a Catholic priest. He drew his cloak around his head and slipped into the building. Said Pat, “Now isn’t it a terrible thing. Mike, to think that one of the girls must have taken ill?”

B. First Reading (I Tm 1:1-2, 12-14): “I was once a blasphemer, but I have been mercifully treated.”

Today we begin reading from Paul’s First Letter to Timothy. A young Christian from Asia Minor, Timothy is the son of a Jewish mother and a Greek father. He became a companion and assistant to Paul in his missionary work. The letter contains instructions concerning the Church and its leaders as well as personal instructions to Timothy on how to be a good servant of Jesus Christ and how to carry out his responsibilities to the believers.

In today’s reading (I Tm 1:1-2, 12-14), Paul identifies himself as an apostle as well as a recipient of God’s mercy. Saint Paul is a model and limpid example of a sinner saved by grace. He had been a blasphemer, a persecutor of Christ and his Church, and an arrogant man. But God pours out his abundant grace upon him and gives him the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. Paul is totally grateful to Jesus who has appointed and strengthened him for the apostolic ministry.

Saint Paul’s experience of being mercifully treated by God continues to be felt by people even in the here and now. The following is an example (cf. Leodone Yballe, “A Heavy Burden” in 101 Inspirational Stories of the Sacrament if Reconciliation, Sister Patricia Proctor, Spokane: Franciscan Monastery of Saint Clare, 2006, p. 29-30).

As I write this, I have tears streaming down my face; these are tears of joy and gratitude.

Reconciliation? The Lord had been working overtime on me for the last several years. But my addictions to pornography, lies, and self-importance – won me back almost every time.

On the feast of the Conversion of St. Paul two years ago, He did to me what He did to Saul. God knocked me down from my high horse. My marriage was in trouble.

Driving to my office that morning, I was listening to the radio and happened to tune in to a Catholic radio station, The Station of the Cross, in Rochester, New York. EWTN’s Mass broadcast had just started. As I listened to the readings, the Lord touched my heart. He helped me to see my life and how far I was from Him. I cried like a child in my car. As I was parking, sobbing like an infant, I resolved to find my Ananias.

Father Peter Abas, a priest at St. Anne’s in Rochester, was the first and only priest I could think of. I left voice and E-mail messages asking if he could see me that night. We played phone tag throughout the day. Father Peter thought if the Holy Spirit wants it, he will come. At six-thirty that night, I got into my car trusting the Lord would lead me to see Father Peter. At seven o’clock, I drove into St. Anne’s parking area. Father Peter was waiting and hoping that I would come.

We went into one of the small private rooms in the rectory, and I knelt down and asked Father Peter to hear my confession. I started by telling how heavy the burden was on my soul. My tears were a cleansing flood, as I recounted, amidst sobs, all my sins. It seemed as if my confession lasted almost an hour. Like the Prodigal Son, I told my Father I was not worthy to be called His son.

Father Peter took a clean sheet of paper, crumpled it in his hands, opened it, and said, “See how ugly this is?” I responded, “Yes, it is a very messy looking paper.”

Opening it up, he said, “Look at the lines here, and here, and here – don’t they look nice? This is how God sees you – so pleasing to Him that He can only love you.” And of course, I cried some more, a mixture of joy and shame in my tears. Joy because He did love me and did not throw me away from His sight, and shame for rejecting Him from my life.

When I received the absolution, my soul felt light, and I started to see a new path. Unlike Saul, my eyes did not see everything immediately. But He showed me enough to help me walk home to Him.

II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO

1. Do I give in to a righteous tendency to judge my neighbors and condemn their “faults”? Do I endeavor to remove the “wooden beam” in my eye in order to help my brother remove the “sawdust” in his eye?

2. Do we realize that we are recipients of divine mercy and that we have been mercifully treated by God? What is our response?

III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO

Jesus Lord, you are God’s compassion and righteousness. Help us to stop judging harshly that we may not be judged. Help us to be compassionate. Deal kindly with us. With true seeing “eye”, may we perceive the beauty of charity and embrace our duty to care for our brothers and sisters. Teach us to imitate Saint Paul in his zeal to proclaim the Gospel to all. You live and reign, forever and ever. Amen.

*** Loving Father, you are loving and merciful. In your Son Jesus Christ, we have experienced what it means to be an object of divine grace. We give you thanks and praise for your saving mercy. Teach us to cherish and bring to fruition the grace of mercy you have poured out upon us abundantly. Let us live faithfully in the faith and love of our Lord Jesus, who lives and reigns with you, forever and ever. Amen.

IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the CONTEMPLATIO

The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the day. Please memorize it.

“Remove the wooden beam from your eye first.” (Lk 6:42) //“I have been mercifully treated.” (I Tm 1:13)

V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO

Before making a judgmental remark, hold your tongue and pray to God for the spirit of compassion and the grace not to make false judgments. To help you make life- giving choices that are pleasing to God, make the examination of the heart a part of your life. // In your dealings with persons whom you find troublesome, make an effort to treat them with patient mercy remembering how God has treated you with kindness and love.

*** %%% *** %%% *** %%% ***

SATURDAY – TWENTY-THIRD WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME “JESUS SAVIOR: He Teaches Us to Be His Disciples in Word and in Deed … He Came to Save Sinners”

BIBLE READINGS I Tm 1:15-17 // Lk 6:43-49

I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO

A. Gospel Reading (Lk 6:43-49): “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord’, but do not do what I command?”

In today’s Gospel reading (Lk 6:43-49) Jesus uses fruit-tree images to underline the source of a person’s actions. Just as the fruit tells us whether or not the tree is healthy and from what variety of tree it comes from, so the words and deeds of those who claim to be his disciples manifest the quality and reality of their relationship with Jesus. They can be true disciples of Jesus if they will be able to hear his words and put them into practice.

Using the powerful image of a solid foundation, Jesus likewise urges his disciples to build their lives upon his words, which are life’s sure foundation. We must not simply proclaim in words that Jesus is Lord and call upon him as our Lord Savior. We must act in a way that corresponds to the inner strength of our word. Our actions must give witness to the faith we profess. Our worship of God must be incarnated in the life we live.

The following story of Jo Dee Baker from Slidell, Louisiana, whose lovely house and beautiful garden were devastated by Hurricane Katrina, tells of a community of believers whose efficacious faith is founded on a solid foundation (cf. “Angels on the Move” in Guideposts, Large Print Edition, March 2006, p. 5-9). Both Jo, the victim of a natural calamity, and the caregivers from the Baptist Church illustrate how wonderful and marvelous is a faith that is put into practice.

My beautiful yard was a mess of uprooted trees and debris; the salt water had burned the grass a sickly brown. My lovely white picket fence lay on its side, and shingles from my roof littered the ground like fallen leaves. Inside, slimy mud covered the floors, and water from the storm surge had tossed all my furniture upside down. The walls were caked black with mildew. Practically everything I owned was ruined. How could I ever come back from this? How could anyone? (…)

So many people needed help, and help was spread thin. “Lord”, I prayed, “I need some divine intervention here.” The next day, I pulled up to my house just as a man with a pickup truck was slowly passing by. He stopped, rolled down the window and leaned out. “Do you need any help?” he shouted. I laughed halfheartedly. “Help? I need an army,” I said. “I’m Brother Johnny from First Baptist Church of Pontchatoula.” He wrote down my name, address and number. “We’ll be in touch, Ma’am.” Then he drove off. But after two weeks I still hadn’t heard from him.

One Monday morning, lugging another bag of my ruined treasures to the curb, I stared down the street at the mountains of trash and destroyed homes. “So many people have lost so much,” I thought. Just then, my cell phone rang. Service was still spotty, but the voice on the other end was loud and clear. “Hello, it’s Brother Johnny. I’ve got some people who want to volunteer to help you. They’ll be calling you.” That was it. He hung up. Then the phone rang again. “Jo Dee? This is Jimmy Brown. I’m from the Pleasant Hill Baptist Church in Rives, Tennessee. We need to know what you need, exactly.” Where to begin? I told him about the mildewed floors, the torn up roof. “Don’t worry, Ma’am. We’ll be there. See you next Tuesday morning.” (…)

Nineteen people had traveled all the way from Tennessee just to help little old me. They spent three days cleaning the rot and grime and putting on my new roof. Two weeks after they left, about 40 more, from an association of 45 churches, came to finish the job! They ripped out and replaced the flooring, repainted the house, put in new shelves and cabinets, installed a stove and a water heater. By the time they were done, the house looked better than ever!

B. First Reading (I Tm 1:15-17): “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.”

The reading (I Tm 1:15-17) delineates the picture of Saint Paul as model and limpid example of “a sinner saved by grace”. Paul’s personal experience of the Risen Lord that transformed him from a persecutor into a zealous apostle solidifies the faith statement that “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.”

The liturgical scholar Adrian Nocent remarks: “Saint Paul lets us know here his own personal experience: he had been a sinner, and yet God chose him as a minister. God chose to trust him. Paul’s case interested the entire Church. The other apostles had been chosen by the earthly Jesus and had lived with him; now Paul, who persecuted the others, saw himself overwhelmed by grace and chosen to be Christ’s servant no less than the other apostles. (…) Paul reminds us that conversion in Christ Jesus is always possible through faith and love. More than that, he believes that his sins and his conversion are part of a providential plan: he, a sinner, was chosen for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. Paul thus regards himself as the first of sinners but also as the foremost witness to the long-suffering patience of God.”

Paul has experienced to the full that “Christ came to save sinners”. Together with Jesus Christ and in the spirit of Saint Paul, we must mirror the benevolent effort of our loving God to seek the lost. The following story dramatizes the miracle of the “lost and found … strayed and returned … sinned and forgiven … estranged and reconciled” (cf. Stephen Covey, “I Found My Son Again” in Chicken Soup for the Soul: Count Your Blessings, ed. Jack Canfield, et. al. Cos Cob: CSS, 2009, p. 295-298). May this awesome miracle come to life again and again!

I have a dear friend who once shared with me his deep concern over a son he described as being “rebellious”, “disturbing”, and “an ingrate”. “Stephen, I don’t know what to do”, he said. “It’s gotten to the point where if I come into the room to watch television with my son, he turns it off and walks out. I’ve tried my best to reach him, but it’s just beyond me.

At the time I was teaching some university classes around the 7 habits. I said, “Why don’t you come with me to my class right now? We’re going to be talking about Habit 5 – how to listen emphatically to another person before you attempt to explain yourself. My guess is that your son may not feel understood.” “I already understand him”, he replied. “And I can see problems he’s going to have if he doesn’t listen to me.” “Let me suggest that you assume you know nothing about your son. Just start with a clean slate. Listen to him without any moral evaluation or judgment. Come to class and learn how to do this and how to listen within his frame of reference.”

So he came. Thinking he understood after just one class, he went to his son and said, “I need to listen to you. I probably don’t understand you, and I want to. His son replied, “You have never understood me – ever!” And with that, he walked out. The following day my friend said, “Stephen, it didn’t work. I made such an effort, and this is how he treated me! I felt like saying; ‘You idiot! Aren’t you grateful for what I’ve done and what I’m trying to do now?’ I really don’t know if there’s any hope.” I said, “He’s testing your sincerity. And what did he find out? He found out you don’t really want to understand him. You want him to shape up.” “He should, the little whippersnapper!” he replied. “He knows full well what he’s doing to mess things up.”

I replied, “Look at the spirit inside you now. You’re angry and frustrated and full of judgments. Do you think you can use some surface-level listening technique with your son and get him to open up? Do you think it’s possible for you to talk to him or even look at him without somehow communicating all those negative things you’re feeling deep inside? You’ve got to do much more private work inside your own mind and heart. You’ll eventually learn to appreciate him and to love him unconditionally just the way he is rather that withholding your love until he shapes us. On the way, you’ll learn to listen within his frame of reference and, if necessary, apologize for your judgments and past mistakes or do whatever it takes.”

My friend caught the message. He could see that he had been trying to practice the technique at the surface but was not dealing with what would produce the power to practice it sincerely and consistently, regardless of the outcome. So he returned to class for more learning and began to work on his feelings and motives, particularly the need to appreciate, respect and empathize. He soon started to sense a new attitude within himself. His feelings about his son turned more tender and sensitive and open. He became profoundly grateful for his son, simply because he sincerely wanted to understand and appreciate his son.

He finally said, “I’m ready. I’m going to try it again.” I said, “He’ll test your sincerity again.” “It’s all right, Stephen”, he replied. “At this point I feel as if he could reject every overture I make, and it would be all right. I would just keep making them because it’s the right thing to do, and he’s worth it. I feel so grateful for him and for the hard learning.”

That night he sat down with his son and said, “I know you feel as though I haven’t tried to understand and appreciate you, but I want you to know that I am trying and will continue to try.” Again, the boy coldly replied, “you have never understood me”. He stood up and started to walk out, but just as he reached the door, my friend said to his son, “Before you leave, I want to say that I’m really sorry for the way I embarrassed you in front of your friends the other night.” His son whipped around and said, “You have no idea how much that embarrassed me!” His eyes began to fill with tears.

“Stephen”, he said to me later, “all the training and encouragement you gave me did not even begin to have the impact of that moment when I saw my son begin to tear up. I had no idea that he even cared, that he was that vulnerable. For the first time I really wanted to listen. My gratitude grew immensely.” And listen he did. The boy gradually began to open up. They talked until midnight, and when his wife came in and said, “It’s time for bed”, his son quickly replied, “We want to talk, don’t we, Dad?” They continued to talk into the early morning hours.

The next day in the hallway of my office building, my friend with tears in his eyes, said, “Stephen, I found my son again.”

II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO

1. Do our words and actions manifest the fruitfulness of the seed of the Gospel in us? Is our faith solidly built on the word of God? Is it efficacious and operative? How do we translate our faith into action?

2. How does the reality “Christ came to save sinners” impact our personal life? Together with Jesus Christ and in the spirit of Saint Paul, do we mirror the benevolent effort of our loving God to seek the lost?

III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO

Loving Father, help us to trust in the saving word of Jesus. May our faith be true and shown by our actions. By the strength of the same Spirit help us to pursue what is good that we may bear abundant fruits of holiness and good works. As living and active members of the Body of Christ, let us always be nourished at the table of the Word and Eucharist. You live and reign, forever and ever. Amen.

*** O Father, you are loving and forgiving. Christ came into the world to save sinners. Gracious Father, you have treated us mercifully. In Christ your Son, you have saved us. With the community of the redeemed, we cry out with festive joy: “To the king of ages, incorruptible, invisible, the only God, honor and glory, forever and ever.” Amen.

IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the CONTEMPLATIO

The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the week. Please memorize it.

“I will show you what someone is like who comes to me, listens to my words and acts on them.” (Lk 6:47) //“Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.” (I Tm 1:15)

V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO

When life’s trials seem to submerge you, pray to God that he may strengthen your faith. Extend your helping hand and share the Word with those whose faith is wavering. // By your life of charity, service and peacefulness, let the world know that “Christ came into the world to save sinners” and that he is the joy of salvation. Assist the Church’s pastoral ministry of seeking the lost through your spiritual, moral and material contribution.

*** Text of 23rd Week in Ordinary Time ends here. ***

A Lectio Divina Approach to the Weekday Liturgy: Cycle I

BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD (n. 78) ORDINARY SEASON: WEEK 24

MONDAY: TWENTY-FOURTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME “JESUS SAVIOR: He Heals the Centurion’s Servant … Through Him We Offer our Prayers to God”

BIBLE READINGS I Tm 2:1-8 // Lk 7:1-10

I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO

A. Gospel Reading (Lk 7:1-10): “Not even in Israel I have found such faith.” (By Bishop Joseph Mukala, India)

The centurion had to face certain challenges when he decided to request him to heal his servant. His own friends must have ridiculed him for seeking the assistance of a so-called Jewish preacher. His own authority over his subjects could prevent him from having recourse to a so-called preacher with magic powers. In any case we can count on his deep faith in the authority of Christ, to whom he pleaded for the cure of his servant … We are in need of healing, both spiritual and mental.

The Lord is ever ready to come under our roof and heal us. He gently tells us that he is ready to come and heal us if only we open ourselves to him and his healing power. The centurion knew that Jesus has power and authority to heal from a distance, as he himself has power and authority to command and get things done. Hence, he humbled himself before Jesus and requested him to exercise his power and authority to heal his servant, without coming to his house … As the centurion acknowledged the power and authority of Jesus in healing his servant, let us also be conscious of our need for the presence of the Lord in our lives – that he may heal us of our spiritual, psychological and mental agonies and wounds. In the same measure, let us also be conscious of people who need our presence for their healing, especially those who are close to us, like the servant who was very close to his master, the centurion.

B. First Reading (I Tm 2:1-8): “I ask that prayers be offered for everyone to God who wills everyone to be saved.”

Today’s First Reading (I Tm 2:1-8) invites us to a ministry of prayer to God who wills everyone to be saved. Prayer is a means of accomplishing the divine plan of salvation. The liturgical scholar, Adrian Nocent comments: “We are urged here to pray for all men so that they may be saved. Such prayer is efficacious, but its efficacy derives from Christ Jesus, who gives himself as a ransom for all. The apostle’s role is to bring this gift to men. The Christian community is meant to be a community of prayer, and Paul asks that in every place Christians should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling. This is to say that their intention must be upright; they do not pray to draw down wrath from heaven on their enemies or to further their personal ambition … Paul is here urging us to frequent prayer that is not limited to the time of liturgy. We are to be really preoccupied with the salvation of all men, for we share responsibility for them with Christ.” Let us continue our prayers for all: for civil authorities and for everyone, that all may be saved and come to the knowledge of truth. Let us pray for those who aid the world’s poor and work to bring God’s saving compassion, especially in today’s distressed society.

The following is an example of how the ministry of prayer is at work in our life (cf. David Stefanowicz, “More Than I Asked” in Amazing Grace for the Catholic Heart, ed. Jeff Cavis, et. al. West Chester: Ascension Press, 2004, p. 175-178).

I drove home to my wife, Teri. She looked at my stricken face as I walked through the door knowing instantly that something was very wrong. “I have cancer”, I told her immediately, and I explained the situation. In the embrace of my wife my heart finally plugged into my brain, releasing a floodgate of tears. I did not feel alone anymore. We cried and hugged. As I held Teri, the cancer was no longer just about me; it was about Teri, my daughter Brittany, age thirteen, and sons Chris and Benjamin, ages eleven and eight. They all needed me.

With Teri at my side, we told the kids. Then we all cried and prayed together. Looking into the faces of my loved ones, I became determined to do everything possible to beat this cancer. But I realized I could not do it alone. I needed God more than ever.

Teri called her brother, Fr. Wayne Sattler. He suggested I receive the sacrament of the anointing of the sick. He also said he would be praying for the intercession of Mother Teresa. While Fr. Wayne was in seminary in Rome, several meetings with Mother Teresa inspired him to greater spirituality. Although she has not yet been canonized as a saint of the Church, Fr. Wayne believes her to be a powerful intercessor in heaven. He sent us prayer cards with prayers for her intercession.

We did not stop there. We asked everyone we knew to pray for healing. We prayed Rosaries, went to extra Masses and prayed unceasingly. Although I was determined to beat the cancer, I still had to face my mortality head on. My Internet research revealed a fifty percent survival rate five years after treatment for my kind of cancer. That put my life’s odds on par with a coin toss.

I so desperately wanted my life to stay the same. My family needed me. “Please God,” I prayed, “let me live to take care of Teri and the kids.” (…)

I got to the hospital early for the 11:45 a.m. surgery, cautiously relieved the day had finally arrived. Teri and I hugged goodbye as I was wheeled away in the operating room. Three hours later, I woke up to excruciating pain. Shaking violently from the after effects of the anesthesia compounded the throbbing pain in my mouth and throat. Stitches, cotton and a plastic plate covering my mouth made it impossible to speak.

I wanted to know how the surgery went, but I could not form the question to ask the nurse. Not until I was wheeled from the recovery room to the patient room was I able to see Teri. She put her arms around me and kissed me. I looked into her eyes, waiting to hear how the surgery went. “Did they get it all? Has it spread?” I desperately wanted to know yet feared a negative response.

I had prayed so hard for a full recovery. I believed God could allow me to get better, and I prayed that this would be His will. What He did, however, I had never asked for. It was more than I ever dreamed of. “The doctor removed three teeth and quite a bit of tissue and bone at the site”, Teri explained, ‘but Dave, the pathology test done in the surgery room showed no cancer.” Subsequent tests showed there was no trace of cancer. Baffled, Dr. Adams went back to the initial biopsy. The tissue was definitively cancerous. He re-examined the tissue removed during surgery. No cancer whatsoever.

My family and I sincerely believe that God healed my cancer through the intercession of Mother Teresa. Through the grace of God I have been blessed with a second chance and I will do everything possible to live each moment in union with Him now. He has given me more than I will ever deserve and more than I asked.

II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO

1. Like the centurion, do we have such faith as to seek healing from our Lord Jesus?

2. Do we believe that prayer is a ministry that promotes the divine saving plan? Do we experience that prayer is “good and pleasing to God”? Do we pray for civil authorities and for everyone that all may be saved? Is our prayer authentic and does it involve the sacrifice of our lives?

III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO

Lord Jesus, we thank you for the compassionate centurion who begged you to save the life of his dear servant. We also thank you for the people whose lives the centurion’s goodness has touched and who now intercede with him. Help us to imitate the centurion’s care for the lowly ones and for your own people. Fill us with the same great faith that inspired him to trust in you. As you healed the centurion’s dying servant, touch us anew with your healing power. Lord Jesus, we are not worthy that you should enter under our roof, but only say the word and our souls will be healed. You live and reign, forever and ever. Amen.

*** O loving God, Jesus came to save us by dying for us. Grant that we may unite ourselves with your Son’s ultimate sacrifice on the cross that all may be saved. Teach us to pray not only with our lips, but with our hearts and with our lives. Make us realize that prayer is a ministry that promotes your compassionate plan. Teach us to be creative, daring and resourceful in our work for the Kingdom. We give you thanks and praise for you are a loving God and a merciful Father. Through Christ, with Christ and in Christ, we glorify you, now and forever. Amen.

IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the CONTEMPLATIO

The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the day. Please memorize it.

“Not even in Israel have I found such faith.” (Lk 7:9) //“I ask that supplications, prayers, petitions and thanksgiving be offered for everyone.” (I Tm 2:1)

V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO

Pray not only for healing, but also to be a healer. Do something kind and comforting for a sick relative, or friend, or a subordinate. // Pray that Christian disciples may work in a concerted effort to promote God’s benevolent plan to save all. By your acts of justice and charity on behalf of the world’s poor, discover the beauty and dignity of being God’s humble instrument of salvation.

*** %%% *** %%% *** %%% ***

TUESDAY: TWENTY-FOURTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME “JESUS SAVIOR: He Raises the Widow’s Son … He Is the True Minister of the Church”

BIBLE READINGS I Tm 3:1-13 // Lk 7:11-17

I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO

A. Gospel Reading (Lk 7:11-17): “Young man, I tell you arise!”

I was born before Vatican II and the Mass that I attended when I was a little girl was in Latin. I could not make out what was being done by the priest, nor could I understand what was being said. But I knew, from strict discipline, that inside the church I was supposed to behave. One day, during the Mass, after the parish priest had read in Latin, he took a special book and began to read a story in the vernacular – in our Bicol dialect. I was only five years old, but I listened with rapt attention about a man Jesus raising a widow’s son to life. I was fascinated and loved that story, which I never forgot.

In today’s Gospel (Lk 7:11-17), the raising of the dead in Naim depicts Jesus responding compassionately to a tragedy. Death has taken away, with a wicked hand, the only son of a widow, who is in a pitiable condition. Not only has she lost her only son but, as a widow, she is most vulnerable and defenseless in the Jewish society. Just as he responded benevolently with miraculous power to the good centurion’s request to heal his faithful servant, Jesus manifests in Naim his compassion and efficacious power. Seeing the bereaved mother, he is moved with pity for her and tells her not to weep. He touches the coffin and commands, “Young man, I tell you arise!” The dead man sits up and begins to speak. Jesus gives him back to his mother. The miracle elicits the marvel of the people, who give glory to God. Jesus thus manifests anew his power over life and death.

The miracle of life over death lives on in today’s world. When I was teaching confirmation class in Fresno, one of my students – Ian Flores – was involved in a vehicular accident. The car in which he and three high school classmates were riding was hit by a school bus. The girl driving the car was killed; one classmate was seriously injured and was fighting for her life at the ICU – she eventually recovered; one remained unscathed; and Ian was in coma. His mom told me, “He keeps on sleeping… sleeping … sleeping!” On the eighth day, our pastor Msgr. Pat McCormick said to the comatose boy, “Ian, if you want to spend Christmas at home, you better wake up!” The following day, Ian woke up and made it so difficult for the nurses that the doctor gave in to his desire to go home. When Msgr. Pat and I visited Ian at their ranch, he was limping a little and using a crutch, but otherwise he was okay. The sense of gratitude that pervaded the family was akin to the marvelous feeling that filled the widow of Naim when Jesus raised her dead son to life and gave him back to her.

B. First Reading (I Tm 3:1-13): “The bishop must be irreproachable; similarly, deacons must hold fast to the mystery of faith with a clear conscience.”

Today’s First Reading (I Tm 3:1-13) is about the leaders and the helpers in the Church. Saint Paul describes the qualifications in Church ministry. To be a minister of the Church is not for selfish gain, but to promote the welfare of the community. The office of the bishop is a noble task which involves regulating the life of the community and presiding at the assembly of worship. The bishop must have the ability to teach because preaching the Gospel is the central duty of the leader of the faith community. Hence, he must not be a recent convert, for the work of evangelization needs suitable preparation. On account of the importance of his office, he must be irreproachable and self-controlled, gentle and peaceful, temperate and hospitable. Besides being a person of good character, the bishop should be a unifying force both within his home and in the Church. By his life of integrity, the bishop wields a sense of respect even from people outside the Church.

The list of qualifications for deacons is similar to that of a bishop. The deacons must be persons of good character and repute. They must not be polygamous and must be able to manage their children and family. Since deacons are particularly subject to temptations because they are in charge of alms, Saint Paul underlines that they must not be greedy for money. Above all, they must be steadfast in truth. They should hold to the revealed truth of the faith with a clear conscience. Those deacons who do their work well win for themselves a good standing and are able to speak boldly about their faith in Christ Jesus.

The following profile of a modern-day bishop gives insight into the meaning of Church ministry (cf. Matthew Bunson, “Cardinal Luis Tagle: An Emerging Voice in Asia Church” in Our Sunday Visitor, December 30, 2012, p. 11).

On November 24, Pope Benedict XVI officially installed Archbishop Luis Tagle, the archbishop of Manila, Philippines, as a member of the College of Cardinals. The high honor capped a year in which Cardinal Tagle, 55, emerged onto the scene of global Catholicism.

Nicknamed by his friends “Chito”, the American-educated bishop and theologian (he earned a doctorate in theology from The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.) had been bishop of Imus, Philippines, from 2001 until 2011 when he was transferred to the archdiocese of Manila as its new archbishop. He was a member of the International Theological Commission and earned notoriety for his remarks at the Synod of Bishops in 2005 and 2008 and at the International Eucharistic Congress in Quebec City. He is famous across Asia for his great concern for the poor, taking the bus to work every day and playing the guitar.

His profile increased when he was named by Pope Benedict XVI to the Synod of Bishops held in Rome in October that focused on the New Evangelization. He called on the Church to discover the power of silence as a sign of a new spirit of humility, declaring, “The Church’s humility, respectfulness and silence might reveal more clearly the face of God in Jesus.”

He was subsequently nominated by the Pope as vice president of the “Commission for the Message” and produced the formal statement on the New Evangelization at the synod. He was in Rome during the canonization of St. Pedro Calungsod. Tagle, considered a young and important voice for the rapidly growing Church in Asia.

II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO

1. Do we truly love Jesus and trust in the compassion he showed to the widow of Naim? How do we share his benevolence with the people around us?

2. How do we understand the meaning of Church ministry today and the role of bishops, priests and deacons in the faith community?

III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO

Lord Jesus, the sight of tragedy moves you to pity. The grief of the widow of Naim fills you with compassion. You therefore raised her dead son to life and gave him back to her. We thank you for your loving mercy. We glorify you for your gift of life and the triumph of life. You live and reign, now and forever. Amen.

*** O loving God, we thank you for Jesus, the true minister of the Church. We pray for all baptized Christians that we may be totally immersed into the life of Jesus, the one who serves. We pray for bishops, priests and deacons that they may be faithful to the ministry they have received. Make them pure and blameless in your sight. Let them serve your people with personal dedication. We give you glory and praise, now and forever. Amen.

IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the CONTEMPLATIO

The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the day. Please memorize it.

“Young man, I tell you arise!” (Lk 7:14) //“A bishop must be irreproachable … deacons must be dignified, holding fast to the mystery of faith with a clear conscience.” (I Tm 3:1, 8)

V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO

If there is any occasion to participate in a funeral liturgy, do so with a conscious spirit of love and compassion for the bereaved. // Make an effort to know more about the bishop, priests and deacons in your local Church. By word, prayer and action assist them in their ministry.

*** %%% *** %%% *** %%% ***

WEDNESDAY: TWENTY-FOURTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME “JESUS SAVIOR: He Does Not Square Up to Their Expectations … He Is the Mystery of Our Faith”

BIBLE READINGS I Tm 3:14-16 // Lk 7:31-35

I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO

A. Gospel Reading (Lk 7:31-35): “We played the flute for you, but you did not dance. We sang a dirge, but you did not weep.”

This happened in Rome many years ago. It was summer and the weather was sultry. Instead of using a black habit (that is, the Sister’s dress), I wore white for hygienic reasons. Several Sisters commented that I look better in black. A few days later, I changed again to a black habit for a practical purpose - because I was making a long trip from Rome to northern Italy by train and a black dress is less messy. Some Sisters remarked that I look better in white. I was chagrined! I could not please them either in black or in white.

In today’s Gospel (Lk 7:31-35), Jesus is likewise chagrined by the whims and capriciousness of the people of his generation. They are like children playing in the marketplace who call to one another: “We played the flute for you, but you did not dance. We sang a dirge for you and you did not weep.” The spoiled brats are not happy because their expectations are not met. Similarly, the religious leaders of Israel are difficult to satisfy. Neither John nor Jesus has squared up to their standards and expectations. They find fault with John because he is too ascetic. They are unhappy with Jesus because he is lax and gluttonous. They are indecisive. Their rejection of Jesus as the Messiah reveals their stubbornness and foolishness. They lack wisdom of heart and have negated God’s plan and his gift of salvation through his Son Jesus Christ.

B. First Reading (I Tm 3:14-16): “Undeniably great is the mystery of devotion.”

In today’s First Reading (I Tm 3:14-16), Saint Paul speaks of his travel plans and the possibility of delay. In the event that he should be delayed, he expects them to know how to behave in the Church, which is “the household of God”. The Church of the living God is the pillar and foundation of truth. Indeed, through the divine epiphany in Jesus Christ, the faith community becomes the place of God’s presence and the guarantor and bulwark of faith. Saint Paul then cites a beautiful hymn which encapsulates the mystery of faith, who is Christ: he became man and died for all, vindicated by God and exalted before the angels, preached among the nations and believed in throughout the world, taken up in glory. Indeed, the “catholic” Church is the privileged communicator of the saving event centered on our “catholic” Savior, Jesus Christ.

The following article illustrates how the “mystery of devotion” Jesus Christ is proclaimed to the nations today (cf. Brandon Vogt, “Bishop Christopher Coyne: Leading the Flock in the Digital Word” in Our Sunday Visitor, December 30, 2012, p. 11).

In his message for the 44th World Communications Day, Pope Benedict XVI encouraged priests to “make astute use” of new media. After all, he asked, who better to “help the men and women of our digital age sense the Lord’s presence”? Many priests have heeded that call, but few better than Bishop Christopher Coyne, auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis. In the last few years, he’s started a popular blog titled “Let Us Walk Together” and has connected with thousands of followers through Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.

Every morning, Bishop Coyne tweets out short reflections on the Mass readings or the saints of the day, usually followed by a quote or prayer. His messages are then beamed across the world and even his brother bishops take note. One recently confessed to using Bishop Coyne’s daily Twitter reflections to draft his own morning homilies.

Besides the devotional messages, Bishop Coyne uses new media because it personally connects him to his flock. It’s common for parishioners to tell him, “I read your tweets every morning, and they’re such a great way to start the day.” A young couple once messaged him on Facebook, explaining their baby was about to have surgery. They asked for Bishop Coyne’ prayers and, thanks to Facebook, he was able to immediately respond with encouragement and supplication.

Among bishops, Bishop Coyne is the clear online leader. Back in November, this was affirmed when he was invited to be a panelist at the special USCCB bishops and bloggers meeting. In his opening remarks he explained, “It’s not a question if bishops and the Church should be involved in digital media, but how. As a living bridge between the episcopacy and the digital world, Bishop Coyne modeled that “how” throughout 2012. While his brother bishops may be hesitant about websites and social media, perhaps even afraid, they can rest easy knowing one of their own is leading the way.

II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO

1. How do we respond to God’s offer of salvation in Jesus Christ? Are we indecisive and obstinate, or are we open and receptive to divine grace?

2. Do we value our belonging to the Church, “the household of God, which is the Church of the living God”? How do we proclaim the “mystery of devotion”, centered on Jesus Christ, to the nations?

III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO

Loving Jesus, you are the Father’s gift of salvation. But we are full of whims and caprices like the spoiled brats in the marketplace. We refuse to let you enter into our lives. Forgive us, Lord Jesus, for we are foolish and stubborn. Grant us wisdom of heart so that we may receive divine grace. Let us welcome you as our saving Lord, now and forever. Amen.

*** Loving Father, we thank you for our belonging to the Church, “the household of God, which is the Church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of truth”. How marvelous is the “mystery of devotion” centered on our Lord Jesus Christ! Grant that we may fully embrace this saving mystery in our life and efficaciously share the mystery of faith to all nations and creation. We give you glory and praise, now and forever. Amen.

IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the CONTEMPLATIO

The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the day. Please memorize it.

“To what shall I compare the people of this generation?” (Lk 7:31) //“Undeniably great is the mystery of devotion.” (I Tm 3:16a)

V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO

Today follow through with your decision to imitate the goodness and kindness of Christ to others, especially the needy and the unfortunate. // Invite one or more persons to visit the PDDM website: www.pddm.us and profit from the pastoral tools “LECTIO DIVINA” and “EUCHARISTIC ADORATION”.

*** %%% *** %%% *** %%% ***

THURSDAY – TWENTY-FOURTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME “JESUS SAVIOR: He Forgives Our Sins … His Ministers Are to Set an Example”

BIBLE READINGS I Tm 4:12-16 // Lk 7:36-50

I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO

A. Gospel Reading (Lk 7:36-50): “Her many sins have been forgiven; hence, she has shown great love.”

When I was old enough to understand, my mother told me this beautiful story of forgiveness. I was about two years old and the youngest in a brood of three when my father became sick with tuberculosis. Three-fourths of his lungs were gone and my mom had to take care of him full time. My mom felt she could not afford to have another baby, and when she conceived, she tried to abort the pregnancy by taking contraceptive pills. One night she had a nightmare. She dreamed that two children were pursuing her with long stemmed, deadly sickles in their hands. My mom woke up trembling and sweating. The following morning she went to church and confessed to a priest. The priest, however, protracted the sacramental absolution. He advised her to do all what she could to make the baby live. My mother went directly to her friend, a nurse practitioner and asked for help. The nurse gave her vitamins and medications to promote the pregnancy. She also gently chided my mother for her lack of faith in Divine Providence. The baby in my mother’s womb survived and was brought forth. A strong, healthy and handsome boy, and very fair! He would grow up and become a dentist. My mother was forgiven. She was blessed with other children. My father was healed and would live serenely and fruitfully for 82 years.

Today’s Gospel reading (Lk 7:36-50) helps us to see the intimate relationship between forgiveness and the gift of love. The sinful woman, who bathes Jesus’ feet with tears of repentance, dries them with her hair, kisses them with devotion, and anoints them with precious ointment, expresses her profound love for Jesus, who is the font of forgiveness. She is overwhelmed with love for the one who forgives – for the one who understands – for the merciful Love in person. The divine forgiveness is always present – we just have to welcome it, respond to it and own it – for Jesus is always present to us. The loving and tender actions of the woman prove that her many sins are forgiven. Because she has embraced Jesus - God’s forgiving love made incarnate - her many sins are forgiven. Indeed, loving deeds and works of charity are indicators that we have really opened ourselves up to the divine gift of forgiveness.

B. First Reading (I Tm 4:12-16): “Attend to yourself and to your teaching; you will save both yourself and those who listens to you.”

In today’s First Reading (I Tm 4:12-16), Saint Paul delineates Timothy’s duties, which serve as a job description for typical Church ministers. Timothy joined Paul’s company about 18 years previously, and when the Pauline letter was written (circa 65 AD), Timothy was probably about 35 years old. Paul advises Timothy to compensate for his youthfulness with exemplary personal conduct and dedication. Timothy has been ordained as Church pastor with a specific duty to teach and to be guardian of faith. Before the believers he is to be a living witness of love and faith and must endeavor to live in integrity. In view of the saving mission, Timothy must keep watch on himself and must keep at heart his teaching ministry.

In the following article, one unnamed priest shares how he witnesses to Christ on a “typical” day (cf. “Your Parish Priest: Very Busy Days Bookended by Prayer” in Our Sunday Visitor, December 30, 2012, p. 12).

My “typical” day always begins with prayer: I pray a Morning Prayer to the Sacred Heart even before I get out of bed! This sets the tone for the rest of the day which continues with a prayer of meditation, the office of readings and morning prayer from the Liturgy of the Hours and then Mass. If there’s a funeral or burial, that can easily fill the rest of the morning. Otherwise, I often spend the time answering E-mails and letters, writing bulletin columns or blog posts, returning phone calls or meeting with staff members – the preschool director, the music director, the financial administrator, the plant manager or the cemetery superintendent.

Some days, I grab lunch with whatever staff happen to be around. At other times, it’s a “working” lunch. I’ve found that a meal is an excellent way to connect with people, especially teens and adults. In fact, I like to say, half jokingly, that I do some of my best pastoral work in restaurants!

Right after lunch, I like to spend a few minutes sorting through the day’s mail. Then I try to devote an hour or two to prayer and spiritual reading, preparing homilies, or thinking over the next presentation to the youth group. I cover for the chaplain of the local Catholic hospital on his days off each week, so there’s often a round of visits and calls for anointing of the sick.

One or two afternoons each month are devoted to visiting our homebound parishioners: those moments are often the high points of their month! When a parishioner dies, I visit the wake in the afternoon, because things around the parish only pick up in the evening. On any given day, I may have a parish council or finance council meeting, youth group meeting or activity, Catholic Daughters, Knights of Columbus, or a diocesan meeting.

Sometimes I don’t eat supper until very late, after which I like to walk around our property and pray the Rosary. Then, it’s time for night prayer and bed. If it sounds like a lot, it is – but the rewards are literally out of this world.

II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO

1. What insights can we derive from the “sinful woman” who had greatly loved Jesus, the forgiving Love made flesh? Do we endeavor to approach Jesus, wash his feet with tears of repentance and anoint them with the balm of love and spirit of contrition? Do we allow Jesus’ merciful love to transform us?

2. Do we care for our bishops, priests and deacons? Do we pray for them and assist them in their ministry? Do we promote their integrity and defend them from unjust accusations?

III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO

Lord Jesus, you forgave the sinful woman who washed your feet with tears of repentance and anointed them with the balm of love. Listen to our prayers: forgive our sins, renew our hearts by your love, help us to live in unity as your disciples that we may proclaim to all your saving power. You incarnate God’s loving mercy and you live now and forever. Amen.

*** Loving Father, we thank you for the ordained ministers who watch over your Church, teaching and nourishing our faith. Protect them from unjust accusations and help them to live a life of holiness and integrity. Bless them in all their endeavors to bring the saving love of Christ to all. We give you glory and praise, now and forever. Amen.

IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the CONTEMPLATIO

The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the day. Please memorize it.

“Her many sins have been forgiven” (Lk 7:47) // “Set an example for those who believe.” (I Tm 4:12)

V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO

Pray that God’s merciful love may be experienced by those who have sinned against him and that they may open themselves up to his gift of forgiveness. // Make an effort to commend your pastor for the good work he does on behalf of the parish community.

*** %%% *** %%% *** %%% ***

FRIDAY – TWENTY-FOURTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME “JESUS SAVIOR: He Is Accompanied By Ministering Women … He Ministers Compete Well for the Faith”

BIBLE READINGS I Tm 6:2c-12 // Lk 8:1-3

I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO

A. Gospel Reading (Lk 8:1-3): “Accompanying them were some women who provided for them out of their resources.”

Today’s Gospel reading (Lk 8:1-3) is a beautiful image of ministering women. While Jesus travels through towns and villages preaching the Good News about the Kingdom of God, he is accompanied not only by the “Twelve” apostles but also by women who responded to Jesus out of gratitude for the blessings received from him. These remarkable women use their own resources to help Jesus and his disciples. Jesus imparts a new dignity and role to women, involving them in his public ministry. The “ministering women” of the Gospel are a figure of the wonderful array of women who fulfill vital ministries in the Church through the ages. The backbones in most missionary movements are women and they continue to play prominent and indispensable roles in successful Christian spiritual-apostolic endeavors.

The ministering women in Jesus’ public ministry are intimate participants in the paschal mystery of Jesus’ passion, death and resurrection. When Jesus dies on the cross, the women who have followed him from Galilee are present, standing and witnessing the event at a distance. They prepare the spices and perfume for Jesus’ burial and witness how Jesus’ body is placed in the tomb. Above all, they are the first witnesses and messengers of the resurrection. Filled with the Holy Spirit, the Risen Lord’s Easter gift, women continue, through time and space, to proclaim zealously the joy of the Gospel.

The following account in the life of Blessed James Alberione, Founder of the Pauline Family, is an example of how women cooperate in the spread of the Gospel and in the priestly zeal (cf. Luigi Rolfo, James Alberione: Apostle for Our Times, trans. Salvatore Paglieri, New York: Alba House, 1987, p. 113-114)

A Great Benefactress: In those days, he came to know a truly precious cooperator to whom he felt duty bound to pay a debt of gratitude … He met her under circumstances of which we have news through the testimony of one of the very first Paulines.

The government had requisitioned a wing of the diocesan seminary for military use. The wing had been left vacant since many clerics had been called into military service. Among the soldiers lodged at the seminary where Father Alberione maintained a bedroom – since he still did not have one at his own house – there was a young, pale official of distinguished and aristocratic mien who one day revealed to the young priest the discomfort it caused him to have to sleep in the middle of such slovenly and poorly educated soldiers. Father Alberione felt obliged to perform an act of Christian and priestly generosity: he let the young official have his room and bed and resigned himself to sleeping on a couch in the refectory or in the hallway of his house.

The mother of the official, a Mrs. Amalia Cavazza-Vitali, occupant of the castle of Barbaresco, informed about what had happened, wanted to meet the priest who had been so generous towards her son; and, in finding out that he didn’t have a mattress, hurried to acquire one better than the one he had given up to her son and donate it to him. Father Alberione thanked her, but immediately passed the mattress on to one of his boys who had none. The lady bought a second one which went yet to another boy. Then, like any mother, she acquired a third and brought it to Father Alberione. She consigned it to him stating very clearly: “Remember I’m not giving this to you but only lending it and I intend to be able to come back and get it at any moment. For that reason, you can use it only. Do I make myself understood?” And so, whether he liked it or not, the priest had to accept these conditions, keep the mattress for himself and use it.

The mattresses were just a small part of the many gifts which Mrs. Cavazza, now an enthusiastic cooperator in the works of Father Alberione, gave to the House up to 1922 when the Lord called her to Himself. When she came to know that Father Alberione wanted to have a little chapel in the house, she gave him a beautiful chalice, which was used for the first time on June 29, 1918. Twice a week a cart left Barbaresco carrying to Alba the famous “Barbaresco” wine, coffee, meat, home-made bread, fruit, medicine, etc. – all things destined for Father Alberione but which, because of his disposition, were regularly passed on to his boys.

The lady wanted to do more and to give not only things but her time as well: she helped in editing The Gazette of Alba; she offered two manuscripts of her own, “The Duties of Daughters” and “Duties of Wives and Mothers”; and she assisted every time she could in reading and correcting the proofs.

B. First Reading (I Tm 6:2c-12): “But you, man of God, pursue righteousness.”

In today’s Second Reading (I Tm 6:2c-12), Saint Paul reminds Timothy about the danger of wealth and money. Timothy, a leader of a Christian community, must not succumb to seductions of worldly riches, but rather pursue the virtues and qualities of true discipleship. He must “compete well for the faith” in order to reach the goal of eternal life. Paul reminds Timothy of the “noble confession” he made at his baptismal consecration and ordination. Timothy’s task is to bear faithful witness to Christ and the Gospel. His duty as bishop includes the pursuit of justice and righteousness - of love, patience and gentleness - on behalf of the people he serves. His pastoral commission involves striving for justice and care for the poor.

The Korean martyrs Saint Andrew Kim Taegon and Sant Paul Chong Hasang exemplify the sterling qualities of Christian discipleship and Church ministry (cf. Wikipedia profiles on the Internet).

Saint Andrew Kim Taegon: Saint Kim Taegon Andrea (1821-1846), generally referred to as Saint Andrew Kim Taegon in English, was the first Korean-born Catholic priest and is the patron saint of Korea. In the late 18th century, Roman Catholicism began to take root slowly in Korea and was introduced by laypeople. It was not until 1836 that Korea saw its first consecrated missionaries (members of the Paris Foreign Missions Society) arrive, only to find out that the people were already practicing Catholicism.

Kim’s parents were converts and his father was subsequently martyred for practicing Christianity, a prohibited activity in heavily Confucian Korea. After being baptized at age 15, Kim studied at a seminary in the Portuguese colony of Macau. He also spent time in study at Lolomboy, Bulacan, Philippines, where a statue of his stands in a village. He was ordained a priest in Shanghai after nine years (1844) by the French bishop Jean Joseph Ferreol. He then returned to Korea to preach and evangelize. During the Joseon Dynasty, Christianity was suppressed and many Christians were persecuted and executed. Catholics had to covertly practice their faith. Kim was one of several thousand Christians who were executed during this time. In 1846, at the age of 25, he was tortured and beheaded near Seoul on the Han River.

His last words were: “This is my last hour of life, listen to me attentively; if I have held communication with foreigners, it has been for my religion and for my God. It is for Him that I die. My immortal life is on the point of beginning. Become Christians if you wish to be happy after death, because God has eternal chastisements in store for those who have refused to know Him.”

Before Ferreol, the first Bishop of Korea, died from exhaustion on the third of February 1853, he wanted to be buried beside Kim, stating, “You will never know how sad I was to lose this young native priest. I have loved him as a father loved his son; it is a consolation for me to think of his eternal happiness.”

On May 6, 1984, Pope John Paul II canonized Kim along with 102 other Korean martyrs, including Paul Chong Hasang, during his trip to Korea. Their memorial is September 20.

***

Saint Paul Chong Hasang: Saint Paul Chong Hasang (1794 or 1795 – September 22, 1839) was one of the Korean martyrs. He was the son of the martyr Augustine Jeong Yak-Jong and a nephew of noted philosopher John Jeong Yak- Jong, who were among the first converts of Korea, who wrote the first catechism for the Roman Catholic Church in Korea (entitled “Jugyo Yoji”). When Yakjong was martyred with Hasang’s older brother, Yakjong’s wife and the remaining children were spared and went into a rural place. Hasang was seven years old.

When he grew up, Hasang chose to become a servant of a government interpreter. This enabled him to travel to Beijing multiple times, where he entreated the bishop of Beijing to send priests to Korea, and wrote to Pope Gregory XVI via the bishop of Beijing, requesting the establishment of a diocese in Korea. This happened in 1825.

Some years later, Bishop Laurent-Marie Joseph and two priests were sent. The bishop found Hasang to be talented, zealous and virtuous. He taught him Latin and theology, and was about to ordain him when a persecution broke out. Hasang was captured and gave a judge a written statement defending Catholicism. The judge, after reading it, said: “You are right in what you have written, but the king forbids this religion; it is your duty to renounce it.” Hasang replied, “I have told you that I am a Christian, and will be one until my death.”

After this Hasang went through a series of tortures in which his countenance remained tranquil. Finally, he was bound to a cross on a cart and cheerfully met his death at the age of 45.

The Korean Martyrs are commemorated by the Roman Catholic Church with a memorial on 20 September. 103 of them, including Hasang, were canonized by Pope Paul II in 1984.

II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO

1. Am I sensitive to the needs of the Gospel workers? Do I promote and collaborate in their ministry? How?

2. Like Saint Timothy and the martyrs, are we willing to compete well for our faith and to make a noble confession of our faith?

III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO

Loving Father, your Son Jesus became poor and allowed the ministering women to provide for his needs. Like the holy women who joined Jesus in his public ministry, may we collaborate intimately in his saving ministry. We give you glory and praise, now and forever. Amen.

*** Loving Father, we pray for the ministers of the Church that they may strive for righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Grant that they may compete well for the faith and firmly profess their faith before all. We give you glory and praise, now and forever. Amen.

IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the CONTEMPLATIO

The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the day. Please memorize it.

“They provided for them out of their resources.” (Lk 8:3) // “Compete well for the faith. Lay hold of eternal life.” (I Tm 6:11-12)

V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO

Endeavor to help the needy priests in any way you can. // Pray for priests who are in crisis. Do what you can to help them persevere in the race of faith.

*** %%% *** %%% *** %%% ***

SATURDAY – TWENTY-FOURTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME “JESUS SAVIOR: He Sows the Seed of the Living Word … He Is God’s Faithful Witness”

BIBLE READINGS I Tm 6:13-16 // Lk 8:4-15

I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO

A. Gospel Reading (Lk 8:4-15): “As for the seed that fell on rich soil, they are the ones who embrace the word and bear much fruit through perseverance.” (Gospel Reflection by Dr. Eleanor Ronquillo, Member: ASSOCIATION OF PAULINE COOPERATORS – Friends of the Divine Master, Antipolo Unit, Philippines)

Here is the story of three people:

1. A mother of a young boy, an only son, served her parish well. Then her young son got sick and died of dengue fever. She transferred to the Born Again Movement.

2. A father of four young children, two boys and two girls, had been a devout Catholic, a humble servant. His eldest child, one of his daughters, suddenly died in a car accident. Then within a few months, his other daughter died of a lingering heart disease. He has remained steadfast, in fact more busy with his apostolate, so that people admire his courage and great faith.

3. A fifty-year old man had several medical illnesses, many physical pains and fears. He often fought with neighbors and relatives. Then he began to study the Bible and claimed he had found God. Now, he goes about criticizing priests, scrutinizing the works of parish workers, largely becoming disgusted by the way people behave.

Three lives, three different levels of faith. Which seed fell on good ground and bore fruit? Which seed started to grow on rock, but was scorched by the sun? Which seed grew among thistles and weeds, ready to be choked by them?

Our lives are constantly challenged by weeds, thistles, rocks, the heat of the sun … Can we say we are founded on good ground? Such are the pains of life that some may reach their breaking point at which they break away. Others are strengthened in faith by their intense crises. Quite honestly, I am afraid. Like the plant that grows on good ground, I want to grow and bear fruit. But there are just times when strong forces of heavy rains, strong winds, intense heat, and being trampled upon might weaken the plant. Those are the times I need to cling, I need to hold on, I need to anchor, to be nurtured. Like the plant, we all need to be nurtured. And we must be nurtured in our faith in order to grow.

B. First Reading (I Tm 6:13-16): “Keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

In today’s reading (I Tm 6:13-17), Saint Paul reminds Timothy of the “noble confession” he made at his baptismal consecration and ordination, as well as the faith confession Jesus himself made before Pontius Pilate, which climaxed in Christ’s passion and death on the cross. With this powerful reminder, Paul admonishes Timothy to fulfill God’s command faithfully until the Lord’s coming. Timothy’s task is to bear faithful witness to Christ and the Gospel, just as Jesus bore faithful witness before Pilate. His duty as bishop includes the pursuit of justice and righteousness - of love, patience and gentleness - on behalf of the people he serves. Indeed, Timothy’s pastoral commission involves striving for justice and care for the poor.

Aelred Rosser concludes: “The letter to Timothy advises the young bishop about his new role as a leader of the community. It also reveals the kind of persons we ought to be. We are to have integrity, which means putting everything together for God and fellow human beings.”

Mother Teresa of Calcutta exemplifies the power of love that ministers to the needy and the pursuit of gentleness that benefits the world’s poor. A person of profound integrity and tremendous dedication, she became God’s instrument to alleviate the pain and hunger, the fear and despair, of the “Lazarus” in our world today. As we celebrate the centenary of the birth of Mother Teresa, it is our joy to present the following excerpt that depicts her boundless love for the poor and destitute (cf. Paul Cheruthottuputam, SDB, “The Power of a Smile” in L’Osservatore Romano, September 10, 2010, p. 6-7).

Mother Teresa’s Contribution to Church and Society: It is difficult to judge the impact Mother Teresa had on the Church and society. It would be true to say that her dedication to helping those who couldn’t help themselves has been an inspiration to the world. I know of a young man who volunteered in her Kalighat home for the dying. Inspired by her philosophy of service, he made a film entitled “My Karma” which won several international awards. Not only did this Hindu Bengali youth quit his job as an officer in the Indian navy and now works in a Muslim slum in Narekeldanga area of Calcutta, calling Mother Teresa his mother and Mahatman Gandhi his father. Mother Teresa did more than inspire. She taught that the greatest way to show God’s love is to meet the needs of others, one person at a time, here and now. She offered no magical solution to the problems and injustices in the world. But, she showed how we can make a difference in the life of one person at a time!

The Nirmal Hriday (home for the dying), her first institution started in 1952 in the temple precincts of Calcutta’s presiding deity, Kali, is still the hallowed place which makes her friends and foes stand in awe. It was the place where Mother Teresa met every journalist who interviewed her for the first time. Since its creation, some 50,000 men, women and children taken from the streets have been transported to this home. Of these, one half died surrounded by love and kindness. For those who survived, the Sisters helped to find a job or they were sent to homes where they could live happily,

Her Shishu Bavan (home for babies) as well as other orphanages have offered shelter and hope to countless children around the world. Many of the children that were raised in them went on to become productive citizens and some even joined her mission. The leper colony which Mother Teresa founded with monies from her 1971 Pope John XXIII Peace Prize has offered a place where the outcasts can find acceptance. When she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979, she convinced the committee to cancel the official banquet and use the money to buy meals for 15,000 poor. She opened houses for alcoholics, drug addicts, AIDS patients, and the homeless and destitute in Rome. Mother Teresa also supported the rehabilitation of women prisoners with the help of late West Bengal Marxist Chief Minister, Jyoti Basu.

Mother Teresa and Her Critics: She has been praised by many individuals, governments and organizations; however, she has also faced a diverse range of criticisms. (…) Attacking the wrinkled, hunched-over Sister of Calcutta, accusing her of being a goggle-eyed fanatic and a mad and disgusting celebrator of poverty, is the aetheistic equivalent of mugging an old woman

To take us into Mother Teresa’s word, celebrated British journalist Malcom Muggeridge sets up a contrast between his commonplace perception of the world and those of Mother Teresa. Early in his book Something Beautiful for God (Harper & Row, 1971) Muggeridge mentions a brief stay (as the assistant editor of The Statesman newspaper) in Calcutta in the 1930s during which he became disgusted by the slums and wretched social conditions. He remembers self- righteously asking people, “Why don’t the authorities do something?” And he quickly left. Mother Teresa, by contrast, saw the same squalor and stayed – armed, as Muggeridge puts it, only with “this Christian love shining about her”. Muggeridge remarks, “As for my expatiations on Bengal’s wretched social conditions – I regret to say that I doubt whether in any divine accounting, they will equal one single quizzical half smile bestowed by Mother Teresa on a street urchin who happened to catch her eye” (p. 220).

Mother Teresa had a short response to her critics: “No matter who says what, you should accept it with a smile and do your own work.”

Mother Teresa’s Spirituality: (…) As much as she believed in the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, she believed that in the bodies of the poorest of the poor, she touched the body of Jesus. (…) Maintaining constant union with God was the hallmark of her spirit of prayer. Have you seen any of her photos without those gnarled hands clutching her Rosary beads? For she knew there was no other way to know what God wanted every moment of the day except by asking Him for the grace to know His divine will and then to do it with all her heart! (…) The striking aspect of Mother Teresa’s spirituality is that she never did anything more than what she insisted with every Missionary of Charity Sister – the spirituality of the vows of chastity, poverty and obedience, and the fourth vow, to give “wholehearted and free service to the poorest of the poor”.

II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO

1. With eagerness and humility, do we endeavor to be the rich, welcoming soil that will make the seed of the Kingdom grow and bear abundant fruit to be shared with those who long for the blessings of God? When we are not receptive to grace, what do we do to surmount this spiritual resistance and difficulty?

2. Do we endeavor to keep God’s commandments without stain or reproach until the “appearance” of our Lord Jesus Christ that God will make manifest at the proper time?

III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO

Lord Jesus, let the gentle dew of your grace fall on the parched soil of our heart to soften it and make it fruitful. Let the seed of your living Word grow in our heart and yield a bountiful harvest. You live and reign, forever and ever. Amen.

*** O loving God, the blessed Ruler, the King of kings and the Lord of Lords you alone are immortal. You dwell in unapproachable light. With Jesus Christ and Saint Paul, Saint Timothy and all the apostles and disciples, let us give faithful witness to you. To you br honor and eternal power! You live and reign, forever and ever. Amen.

IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the CONTEMPLATIO

The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the week. Please memorize it.

“They bear fruit through perseverance.” (Lk 8:15) // “Keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (I Tm 6:14)

V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO

Pray that the seed of the Kingdom may find rich soil to nourish it, and make it grow and be fruitful. Pray for Christian disciples-apostles who broadcast the seed of the word of God in today’s field of human concerns and affairs that they may be strengthened in their endeavors. Do what you can to cooperate in their mission of sowing the word of God. // Spend some quiet moments before the Blessed Sacrament to meditate and pray on God’s life-giving commands.

*** Text of 24th Week in Ordinary Time ends here. ***

A Lectio Divina Approach to the Weekday Liturgy: Cycle I

BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD (n. 79) ORDINARY SEASON: WEEK 25

MONDAY: TWENTY-FIFTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME “JESUS SAVIOR: He Calls Us to Radiate the Light of God’s Word … He Builds God’s House”

BIBLE READINGS Ezr 1:1-6 // Lk 8:16-18

I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO

A. Gospel Reading (Lk 8:16-18): “A lamp is placed on a lamp stand so that those who enter may see the light.”

Today’s Gospel reading (Lk 8:16-18) helps us to understand the role of Christians in the world. We are to shine and manifest to others, by the way we live, the light of God’s word. Just as a lamp is intended to give light, so the word of Jesus is to be received and become a light for our soul and irradiated to others. We are the light of the world. Our Christian discipleship involves public witnessing of the spiritual light received from God. We reflect the light of Christ in the same way that a glowing bride reflects the radiance that comes from love. In order that those who are entering God’s kingdom may continue to see the light and be channels of that light, we need to be receptive to his word. Jesus exhorts us: “Take care, then, how you hear.” When we open our hearts to the word of God, we become richer and richer in the life it engenders and nourishes. When we do not listen to the word of God and fail to act upon it, the spiritual life that has earlier germinated withers away.

The following article illustrates the beauty and power of spiritual light that fills our heart and the tremendous value of personal receptivity that enables us to experience the true “gift of sight” (cf. Marilyn Morgan King in Daily Guideposts 2010, p. 387).

As highly as I value the faces of the people I love, vibrant colors, the beauty of the mountains and the mystery of night, there is one thing I love more. It’s an un- nameable splendor, a mystery far greater than I, not personal to me, and it lives in the heart of every being. Now and then I’ve caught glimpses of it in silent prayer, and I’ve come to know it as vast and boundless, all-loving and ablaze with the light of the Spirit.

Though I may someday lose my physical sight, I’ll be okay, because I’ll remind myself of Helen Keller’s words: “The best and most beautiful things cannot be seen or touched. They must be felt with the heart.”

And I’ll pull up some of the many inspiring images I’ve stored in my heart to feed my soul when it’s hungry for beauty. Often, as I’m falling asleep or waking up, images appear behind my closed eyelids - of wisteria flowers, or the sad-glorious stained glass window by Marc Chagall; or a twenty-foot-high rhododendron bush with my love smiling in front of it; or of a sometimes flaming, sometimes softly glowing Nebraska sunset.

Sometimes I have even seen an image of Jesus holding a little lamb snuggled against His cheek. That’s when I remember my Aunt Alta’s words as she was dying: “Oh! He is beautiful!” Now I think I know Who she saw with her blind eyes.

B. First Reading (Ezr 1:1-6): “Those who are any part of God’s people, let them go up and build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem.”

Today we begin to read from the Book of Ezra, which describes the return of some of the Jewish exiles from Babylon and the restoration of life and worship in Jerusalem. Today’s Old Testament reading (Ezr 1:1-6) marks a momentous event: the edict of the Persian king Cyrus which marks the end of the Babylonian exile. In the first year that Cyrus is an emperor (538 B.C.), he issues a decree of liberation and a command to the Jewish exiles: “May God be with all of you who are his people. You are to go and rebuild the Temple of the Lord, the God of Israel; the God who is worshiped in Jerusalem.” He likewise orders the Babylonians to assist those exiles who need help to return. They are to give them provisions as well as free-will offerings. In the Jewish faith perspective, the benevolent ruler, King Cyrus, is an instrument of God’s saving plan. Thus the families of Judah and Benjamin, the priests and Levites, and everyone else whose heart God has moved prepare to go up to Jerusalem to build the house of the Lord.

The Pauline Family’s apostolic endeavor to construct the Church of Saint Paul in Alba, Italy gives us insight into the task and challenge of the Jews as they return to Jerusalem to rebuild the Lord’s temple (cf. Luigi Rolfo, SSP, James Alberione: Apostle for our Times, New York: Alba House, 1987, p. 243-245)

The Institute would multiply its appeals among its friends and Cooperators in order to receive some material help. And the Cooperators, most of whom found themselves in very modest economic conditions, responded to these appeals with generosity and an interest which could be hard to match in these times of ours in which people are much better off. (…)

The church could be opened to the public for worship and so it was on Sunday, October 28, 1928. That morning, the venerable Joseph Francis Re, bishop of Alba, conferred the diaconate on eight young Paulines. In the afternoon, he went to bless the new church whose construction he had authorized and which he had always followed with great interest. (…)

The ceremony of the benediction was followed by an entire week of festivities, which it would perhaps be more proper to call a week of special prayers. In fact, in the new church Masses were celebrated without interruption from 4:00 a.m. till noon. At 9:00 each day there was a sung Mass with a homily. At 12:00 noon the Blessed Sacrament was solemnly exposed and adoration, which concluded at 3:00 p.m. with the solemn chanting of vespers, a sermon and benediction, was begun. (…)

Those who were present at those festivities may have forgotten all the details. But, most probably, they could never forget the effect which was produced in the soul by the prayers and certain Gregorian chants of the Pauline Family when it was reunited in the new church. It was truly a massive choir upon which the slight echo from the cupola conferred a very special solemnity. Many times, when the religious silence of the function was unexpectedly interrupted by a prayer or a song by the whole community, people who were to be found but occasionally in church were seen to weep with emotion.

II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO

1. How do we respond to the light of God’s word? Do we allow this light to fill our hearts and allow its radiance to enlighten the morbid shadows around us? Are we channels of God’s light for others?

2. Do we take to heart our duty and responsibility to contribute to the house of God and to help it make secure?

III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO

Lord Jesus, we thank you for the light of God’s word. Your light shines in the world’s darkness, but the darkness has not overcome it. Help us to light the lamp of truth so that those seeking to enter your kingdom may see your life-giving light. Teach us to listen to your word. You live and reign, forever and ever. Amen.

*** O loving God, we thank you for using human instruments to promote your saving plan. The Persian King Cyrus liberated your people in Babylon and gave them the opportunity to go to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. We too are called, in the here and now, to build up the Church, the temple of living stones. Help us to do our very best to promote the holiness and integrity of the Church. And as members of the Church, let us radiate your divine glory to all peoples of the earth. You live and reign, forever and ever. Amen.

IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the CONTEMPLATIO

The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the day. Please memorize it.

“He places the lamp on a stand so that those who enter may see light.” (Lk 8:16) //“They prepared to go up to build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem.” (Ezr 1:5)

V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO

By our daily acts of charity and compassion to our brothers and sisters, let us help overcome the shadows of sin and death that darken our world. // Seriously consider the possibility of becoming actively involved in Church ministry. If you are already involved, be very grateful to God for this opportunity to do your very best in the Lord’s temple.

*** %%% *** %%% *** %%% ***

TUESDAY: TWENTY-FIFTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME “JESUS SAVIOR: His Family Hears and Acts on God’s Word”

BIBLE READINGS Ezr 6:7-8, 12b, 14-20 // Lk 8:19-21

I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO

A. Gospel Reading (Lk 8:19-21): “My mother and my brother are those who hear the word of God and act upon it.”

Today’s Gospel (Lk 8:19-21) continues to challenge us to respond fully to the word of God. The mother of Jesus and other relatives come to see Jesus, but are prevented by the thick crowd. They stand outside and call for him. The Divine Master wisely uses the occasion of their visit to assert that the fundamental relationship to him lies not through blood ties or other earthly connections, but through hearing and acting upon the word of God. While his kin are waiting, Jesus delineates what constitutes his spiritual family – those who hear and obey the divine word are the authentic family members. In light of Mary’s response at the Lord’s annunciation, “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word”, the mother of Jesus passes the criterion with flying colors. Mary is the supreme model of one who hears and acts upon the word. Mary is the exemplar of receptivity to the divine word. In her womb, the word of God becomes flesh and she brings forth the Savior of the world. Mary is truly the mother of Jesus and is thus the most privileged member of the “family of God”.

In a humorous vein, the following story gives insight into the meaning of “family” (cf. Davida Dalton, as told to Jo Ellen Johnson, “In His Mother’s Footsteps” in Chicken Soup for the Christian Soul, ed. Jack Canfield, et. al., Deerfield Beach: Health Communications, Inc., 1997, p. 108-109).

It was a busy day in our Costa Mesa, California home. But then, with 10 children and one on the way, every day was a bit hectic. On this particular day, however, I was having trouble doing even routine chores – all because of one little boy.

Len, who was three at the time, was on my heels no matter where I went. Whenever I stopped to do something and turned back around, I would trip over him. Several times, I patiently suggested fun activities to keep him occupied. “Wouldn’t you like to play on the swing set?” I asked again.

But he simply smiled an innocent smile and said, “Oh, that’s all right, Mommy, I’d rather be in here with you.” Then he continued to bounce happily along behind me.

After stepping on his toes for the fifth time, I began to lose my patience and insisted that he go outside and play with the other children. When I asked him why he was acting this way, he looked up at me with sweet green eyes and said, “Well, Mommy, in Primary my teacher told me to walk in Jesus’ footsteps. But I can’t see him, so I’m walking in yours.”

I gathered Len in my arms and held him close. Tears of love and humility spilled over from the prayer that grew in my heart – a prayer of thanks for the simple, yet beautiful perspective of a three-year-old boy.

B. First Reading (Ezr 6:7-8, 12b, 14-20): “They completed the temple of God and ate the Passover.”

Today’s First Reading (Ezr 6:7-8, 12b, 14-20 depicts the role of another Persian emperor in the saving plan of God. The enemies of the people living in Judah and Jerusalem try to stop the construction of the Jerusalem temple decreed by King Cyrus of Persia. Work on the temple ceases and remains at a standstill until the second year of the reign of King Darius of Persia. At this time the prophets Haggai and Zechariah begin to speak in the name of the Lord. Hearing their message, Zerubbabel and Jeshua begin to rebuild the house of God. Governor Tattenai and his fellow officials oppose them. But God is watching over the Jewish leaders. The Persian local officials decide to take no action until they could write to King Darius and receive a reply. Governor Tattenai requests that the archives be searched to see if there is an ordinance of King Cyrus for the rebuilding of the temple. King Cyrus’ order is rediscovered in the city of Ecbatana in the province of Media.

In his letter, King Darius voices his own directive on the matter under investigation. He tells the local officials not to interfere with the rebuilding of the Jerusalem temple. He also orders them to facilitate the work with money collected through taxation as well as to provide materials for the daily temple offerings required by the Jewish law. The motivation of King Darius is interesting: “This is to be done so that they can offer sacrifices that are acceptable to the God of Heaven and pray for his blessings on me and my sons.”

With the backing of King Darius, work on the “Second Temple” goes forward and it is completed in the spring of 515 B.C. The temple is dedicated by a legitimate community of faith led by priests and Levites. Although the offerings for this occasion are relatively modest compared to the sacrifices at the dedication of the “First Temple” led by King Solomon, the “Second Temple” is destined to be honored by a longer life. In spite of the poverty of the struggling community, the children of Israel celebrate the dedication of the house of God with joy. Thus the cultic services resume as prescribed in the book of Moses and the Jews celebrate the ritual feast of the Lord’s Passover.

The joy that the Jewish people feel at the completion of the “Second Temple” is similar to the joy that we - the parishioners of St. Mary Queen of the Apostles - feel at the completion of our much longed for church building. Here is a profile of the parish (cf. Ron Orozco, “St. Mary Queen of the Apostles” in Fresno Bee, March 16, 2012, p. C4).

Parishioners at St. Mary Queen of the Apostles Catholic Church in west Fresno say they feel comfortable in their new church building. It’s been an interesting journey, some say. Several years ago, nearly every parishioner agreed the congregation had outgrown its church building, used since the 1960s. Seating capacity was about 225 people. With west Fresno growing, a campaign began to build a moderate church building to accommodate more people. Plans called for pews accommodating about 600.

Some parishioners, however, said they were concerned about the church growth. “They said, ‘I hope it doesn’t make us not be a family’, Debi Nichols remembered. “There was a fear it would be cold.” Others said they welcomed the step up. “For years a lot didn’t come because they didn’t like the little old church”, Lisa Newsom said.

The larger building – at a cost of $2.5 million – became a reality and was dedicated Dec. 8. Church officials also thought they might have to cut back from six to four weekend Masses. But so many parishioners flocked to services in the new building, the church returned to six Masses. “A beautiful problem to have”, said the church’s pastor, the Rev. Timothy Cardoza. “It’s a wonderful community.”

On a recent Sunday, parishioners sang the songs, “I Am the Light of the World”, “In These Days of Lenten Journey” and “Here I Am”. Church piano player Marina Aksenov recognized the new building acoustics: “It’s beautiful.”

Here are other notes from the visit:

What’s the first things you notice from your pew? The wooden cross with purple draping near the altar.

What might you see here that you won’t other places? Parishioners recently filed out of Masses and went to the old church building, now a social hall. Fresh cinnamon rolls and other foods and items were sold there to raise money for the Msgr. McCormick Jamaica Project.

What’s everyone talking about? The church’s youth getting involved in the Guadalupana Society.

II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO

1. Do I truly hear the word of God and act upon it? Do I look upon Mary as the model of hearing and acting upon his word?

2. How do we participate in the liturgy of the Church and how do we promote true worship?

III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO

Lord Jesus, we thank you for giving us the true criterion of kinship with you. Help us to look upon Mary as the supreme model of hearing and acting upon the word so that we may truly belong to your family. In your name, let us be brothers and sisters to one another. We bless and thank you for making us a part of the family of God. You live and reign, forever and ever. Amen.

*** (Cf. Common of the Dedication of a Church, The Roman Missal) God our Father, from living stones, your chosen people, you built an eternal temple to your glory. Increase the spiritual gifts you have given to your Church, so that your faithful people may continue to grow into the new and eternal Jerusalem. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the CONTEMPLATIO

The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the day. Please memorize it.

“My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and act on it.” (Lk 8:21) //“They finished the building according to the command of the God if Israel.” (Ezr 6:14)

V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO

By your prayers and concrete acts of charity, be a brother or a sister to those in need. // Be informed about are the real needs of your parish community and see what you can do to help respond to these needs.

*** %%% *** %%% *** %%% ***

WEDNESDAY: TWENTY-FIFTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME “JESUS SAVIOR: He Sends Them to Proclaim the Gospel and to Heal … In Him Mercy Comes to Us”

BIBLE READINGS Ezr 9:5-9 // Lk 9:1-6

I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO

A. Gospel Reading (Lk 9;1-6): “He sent them to proclaim the Kingdom of God and to heal the sick.”

Today’s Gospel reading (Lk 9:1-6) is about the Lord who sends, and the mission of those he sends. Jesus sends them to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. He summons his disciples and selects the Twelve. Tutored by Jesus, and present with him as he heals many from sickness and evil, the Twelve go out into the world with tremendous power bestowed upon them. Luke narrates: “They set out and went from village to village proclaiming the good news and curing diseases everywhere.” The task of those sent by Jesus is to bring the healing balm of forgiveness to those wounded by the virulence of sin and to denounce evil wherever its presence is obvious, openly confronting it by appealing to the power of Christ. Pope Paul VI remarks: “The Church is a continuation and extension of his presence, called above all to carry on the mission of Jesus and his work of evangelization without ceasing. Never can the Christian community be shut in on itself.”

The following inspiring story illustrates that the apostolic spirit lives on in the world today (cf. Oliver Costantino, “Helping to Save Lives” in Maryknoll, May/June 2014, p. 35-36).

Ten years ago, my pediatrician, Doctor Benitez, told my family that he was going on a mission trip to Bolivia. My parents asked my brothers and me if we would like to contribute any money to his mission. We all pitched in and gave Doctor Benitez $250. When he returned from Bolivia, he told us that the money was used to pay the medical expenses for a girl from a homeless family. She was burned in a fire and left to die.

That was my first experience of giving. I do not remember, but my parents tell me that I was proud that the money saved a life. That experience started a longtime support of Doctor Benitez and his missions. The following year my family had a fund-raising party. We raised over $3,000 and collected over 200 pairs of shoes. The party was a huge success, and we felt happy to be helping others.

In 2004, Doctor Benitez decided to go to Uganda, where his friend Lawrence Mulinda was born and raised. This time we sent him with $500 and all of our used clothes and shoes. Again, the money was used to save a life. While Doctor Benitez was touring a hospital in a small village, he noticed a newborn baby who looked as if she were starving to death. When he asked about her, the doctor told him that she had a cyst under her tongue that made it impossible for her to nurse. Since that was the only way to feed a baby, she was waiting to die. Doctor Benitez asked how much money it would cost to do the simple surgery. He was told that it was very expensive because she would have to be taken to the capital and they would have to pay for transportation, the hospital bill and hotel for her mother. Doctor Benitez asked again and they finally told him $500 should take care of it. He pulled our donation out of his pocket and handed it to the nun who was the administrator of the hospital. Baby Winnie’s life was saved.

Throughout the years we have continued to support the mission in Uganda, financially as well as through prayer. We have watched the village of Kayenje grow with a new church, school, teacher’s home and convent. I love to think about the difference the little we do makes in a country like Uganda.

Last summer my mother and brother had the opportunity to go to Uganda on a mission. The entire trip was rewarding. They were able to clothe, feed and care for the children’s medical needs. My brother even held a soccer clinic and brought enough balls, cleats, shin guards and new uniforms for the two teams in the village. My mother says the greatest blessing of the trip was getting to meet Baby Winnie. She is now 9 years old, and her parents came to meet my mom and thank our family for saving her life. My mother reminded them that God saved her life, not us.

Our experience of giving to the poor in Uganda is definitely an act of charity, but I love that God gives me the opportunity to perform an act of charity every day, and I do it with a smile. As Pope Francis says, “We all have the duty to do good.”

B. First Reading (Ezr 9:5-9): “In our servitude our God has not abandoned us.”

Today’s First Reading (Ezr 9:5-9) can be understood better if we read chapters 7 and 8 of the Book of Ezra. A third benevolent Persian king Artaxerxes becomes an instrument of God’s saving plan. By divine grace the priest-scribe Ezra has won the favor of King Artaxerxes, who gave him everything he asks for. King Artaxerxes decrees that all the Israelite people in his empire, that so desire, be permitted to go with Ezra to Jerusalem. He sends Ezra to investigate the conditions in Jerusalem and Judah in order to see how well the Law entrusted by God is being obeyed. He also assures Ezra that anything he needs for the Temple he may get from the royal treasury.

When Ezra arrives in Jerusalem he is crushed with grief for the sins committed by the returned exiles. They have intermarried with non-Jews and the “abominations” of the spouses have corrupted the Israelites. Their marriages have brought them into contact with the worship of other gods and led them into the sin of idolatry. Ezra’s prayer of lament for the sin of his people is climaxed by a proclamation of divine mercy: “You have been gracious to us … You have let us escape from slavery, and have given us new life.” But the present favor is in jeopardy. Israel has transgressed against God’s commandment. Their religious integrity has been compromised by consorting with idolaters. Indeed, the rebuilding of the Jerusalem temple-building is a secondary issue to the real issue of the building up of the chosen people, the dwelling place of God. The book of Ezra concludes with a gracious note: the returned exiles promise to do what God’s Law demands and they end their sinful marriages with foreigners.

The experience of divine mercy and new life narrated in the Book of Ezra continues to be felt in the here and now. Here is an example (cf. Fr. Edward Wolanski, CP, “A Successful Mission” in 101 Inspirational Stories of the Sacrament of Reconciliation, Sr. Patricia Proctor OSC, Spokane: Franciscan Monastery of Saint Clare, 2006, p. 127-128).

I was sent to preach a parish mission in a small parish church. There was a family who was helping the pastor prepare for the mission. They were very devoted to Our Lady of Fatima. For six months before the mission, this family and two other families gave up their Saturday mornings to come to the church and pray the rosary for the success of the mission. This was especially difficult for the children, but they believed their prayers would help.

On the opening day of the mission only thirty-five people came. The pastor, the three families and I were all very disappointed. After the first service I went with the pastor to the confessionals. The first person who entered my confessional began by saying, “Father, it had been forty years since my last confession.” The second person who came began with, “Father, it has been twenty-five years since my last confession.” I was overwhelmed. The third person who came in said, “Father, I don’t know how long since it has been since my last confession.” One after the other, with few exceptions, all had been away from the sacrament for a long, long time.

I came out of the confessional thinking I was the last one in the church, only to find the pastor coming out of his confessional. We met in the center aisle, and before I could tell him of the wonderful experience I had, he excitedly told me: “I have never heard confessions like that in all my priesthood. People who have been away for years and years came.” I then shared my experience with him and we both looked to the tabernacle and gave thanks to the Lord and Our Lady.

The next day we shared with the three families what had happened and how their prayers during those six months helped so many people find the courage to approach the sacrament. We all agreed that the mission was successful, not because of the number who attended, but because of those who found new life through the sacrament of reconciliation.

II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO

1. As Christian disciples today, do we trust in the loving God who is totally involved in our lives? What is the specific apostolic mission entrusted to us by Christ today? Do we believe in the Gospel’s power against the forces of evil?

2. Do we recognize the divine mercy that enfolds us in our life and do we feel the need to respond to God’s gracious love?

III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO

Jesus Lord, you summon us and entrust to us the Gospel with its power of action against evil. You send us to touch the wounded world with the healing power of your love. Grant us the grace we need to proclaim the Good News and cure diseases. Teach us to trust in the word of God. He is a shield for all who seek his protection. You live and reign, forever and ever. Amen.

*** Loving Father, you are good and merciful. You do not allow our servitude to sin to last forever. Your Son Jesus Christ breaks the bondage of evil and raises us to new life. Make us true “living stones” of the Church, your dwelling place in the Spirit. Let us give you glory and praise, now and forever. Amen.

IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the CONTEMPLATIO

The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the day. Please memorize it.

“Jesus sent them to proclaim the Kingdom of God and to heal the sick.” (Lk 9:1) //“Thus he has given us new life to raise again the house of our God.” (Ezr 9:8)

V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO

Pray for all missionaries that they may carry out their mandate with absolute trust in God and apostolic zeal. Be a missionary to a person close to you and in need of the healing power of the Gospel. // Be deeply aware of the divine mercy that enfolds you and resolve to take seriously the gifts you have received from God for the building up of the Church, the people of God.

*** %%% *** %%% *** %%% ***

THURSDAY – TWENTY-FIFTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME “JESUS SAVIOR: Herod Wants To See Him … He Urges Us to Build the House of God”

BIBLE READINGS Hg 1:1-8 // Lk 9:7-9

I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO

A. Gospel Reading (Lk 9:7-9): “John I beheaded. Who then is this about whom I hear such things?”

In India I was struck by a powerful image given to us by a priest in a retreat conference. A stone is submerged in the bottom of a river – for days and days, for months and months, for years and years, for ages and ages – but never soaked and drenched. It is impervious. At the core it remains dry and lifeless. The impenetrable stone surrounded by clear waters is a pathetic image of Herod Antipas who is resistant to grace. He is licentious and feckless. He lives in incestuous union with Herodias. John the Baptist censures him severely for taking his brother’s wife. Herod retaliates by having him arrested and imprisoned. On account of a senseless oath to a stepdaughter who delighted him with a sensuous dance, he has John the Baptist beheaded. Herod is also superstitious.

In the Gospel reading (Lk 9:7-9), the wild news about Jesus of Nazareth being John the Baptist raised from the dead baffles Herod. He keeps trying to see Jesus. But when he finally sees Jesus in a mock trial before the latter’s passion and crucifixion, he would want to see him perform some miracle and be entertained with religious prodigies. Jesus however would not respond to his frivolous questions and requests. The Son of God would remain silent. Too sated with self-centered pleasure-seeking, Herod would not able to recognize the presence of grace standing before him. Herod would not be moved to repentance conversion by the Word of God. Respecting his fundamental choice, the incarnate love would have difficulty penetrating his heart wholly taken up by frivolity and corruption.

The following story illustrates the tragedy of making evil choices and of being impervious to divine grace (cf. David Schantz, Daily Guideposts 2010, p. 22).

My minister-father was a storyteller, and the best part of Sunday was listening to his stories from the pulpit. One of my favorites was about an exceptional contractor who built beautiful homes. There was always a long waiting list of customers.

One day the contractor told his foreman, “I need to go East for a few months, and while I’m gone I want you to build this house for me.” He showed the foreman the plans. “I want this to be the best house you’ve ever built for me. Spare no expense. I want it done right.”

When his boss left, the foreman got to thinking, “This is a big project. I could make some extra money on it by substituting grade-B materials where they won’t show. I could pocket the difference.”

When the boss returned, he was impressed. “The house is beautiful!” He put his arm around the foreman’s shoulders. “The reason I wanted you to make this house special is that I want you to have it as an expression of my gratitude for your years of service to me.”

The foreman’s face fell, knowing that he had cheated only himself.

B. First Reading (Hg 1:1-8): “Build the house that I may take pleasure in it.”

Within these two days we shall hear more accounts concerning the reconstruction of the Jerusalem temple – this time from the book of Haggai, the first prophet of post- exilic Israel. The foundation of the Jerusalem temple has been laid out in the spring of 536 B.C. by the first group of returned exiles from Babylon. No additional progress has been made and in 520 B.C. the temple still lies in ruins. The people feel they are too poor to take up the undertaking. They say: “This is not the right time to rebuild the house of the Lord.” Their excuse however is unjustifiable. They live in well-built houses while the temple decays. In today’s reading (Hg 1:1-8), the prophet Haggai invites the people to reflect on their experience. Although they have labored for food, drink, clothing and wages, the results are poor and unsatisfying. Haggai asserts that the blessings of the Lord God do not accompany the people because of their failure to build the temple. Things will change if it is rebuilt. When the temple is completed, blessing will replace judgment and the Lord will dwell in the temple-community again. Indeed, for the prophet Haggai the physical restoration of the temple-building has a symbolic value. To rebuild the temple- building means to restore the relationship of the community with God.

Against the backdrop of today’s reading, Mark Shea’s article, “In Defense of Beauty” enables us to understand the purpose and importance of the Catholic Church’s artistic and cultural tradition, which offers its riches in the service of God (cf. Our Sunday Visitor, February 5, 2012, p. 9-12).

“Why does the Church have all those gold cups and fancy paintings?” (…) This remains the substance of the charge to this day: that the evangelical counsel of poverty is contradicted by the art, the gold, the finery, the gorgeousness of the Catholic artists and cultural tradition and that the only true Christian is more or less walking barefoot in the snow like St. Francis. (…)

Catholics who seek to defend the Faith should not give that point short shrift. St. Dominic certainly didn’t. Instead, he founded an order of beggars and revived obedience to the evangelical counsels of chastity, obedience and poverty that had fallen on hard times in his day. Other Catholics from the Discalced Carmelites to the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal have done the same over the centuries.

What they have not done, however, is demand that the Church sell off its artistic legacy or start celebrating Mass with paper plates and Styrofoam cups. Indeed, what is remarkable is that those who have most strongly embraced the evangelical counsels of poverty for themselves and urged them upon the faithful have also insisted on the gorgeousness of the Church in its work of worship to God. Servant of God Dorothy Day, who was not exactly a fan of Donald Trump- like opulence and who had a heart for the poor as big as any saints who ever lived, said, “For Christ himself housed in the tabernacles in the Church, no magnificence is too great, but for the priest who serves Christ, and for the priesthood of the laity, no such magnificence, in the face of the hunger and homelessness of the world, can be understood.”

This distinction between the gorgeousness that is properly devoted to God and the temperance we should practice toward ourselves should get our attention. (…) Jesus said, “Let her alone, let her keep it for the day of my burial. The poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me” (Jn 12:8). This gives us a clue about how reformers from St. Dominic to Dorothy Day could call for radical poverty, yet have no objection to lavish beauty in the service of God. For Jesus himself had no objections to the worshipper lavishing what she had on God. In this, he was acting in obedience to what his Father had revealed in the Old Testament. (…)

[In Exodus 25-32] God calls the Israelites to put their very best into the worship of him. The sanctuary was to be made of the finest materials they had and worked with the best craftsmanship. It was to be not merely functional, but beautiful. Scripture (which almost never mentions colors) dwells on the scarlet, red and blue materials of the Tabernacle and lays out in minute detail the way the precious metals of gold and silver (as well as bronze) are to be used to create the place that will be the Dwelling Place of God. In this, we hear something of the unique sort of love and joy that is known by those who create beautiful things with their hands: the joy of beauty. (…)

The essence of worship is sacrifice and that all, rich and poor, are called to worship. So [Jesus] likewise welcomes the sacrifice of Mary’s jar of ointment, expensive as it is, as a fitting adornment to the greatest sacrifice of all: his own crucifixion in just a few days’ time. (…)

But as Jesus also showed in accepting the anointing of Mary, we are not to be stingy with God in the slightest – because he has been absolutely lavish with us by pouring out the very life of his Son for our salvation.

II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO

1. Do we make habitual and chronic evil choices so that we become impervious to God’s grace? Are we like Herod Antipas in our behavior and choices?

2. Do we give priority to our daily subsistence rather than cultivate personal relationship with our loving God? Do we endeavor to live a life of true worship even at the cost of sacrifice?

III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO

Lord Jesus, the incarnate Wisdom of God, you preach the Good News and call people to conversion. Please help us to listen to your voice and make a fundamental choice for you. Help us to avoid the tragic choices of Herod. Do not allow us to pursue mere “vanities”. Teach us to respond to divine grace and let us be filled with the love and blessings of God. You are our glorious Savior, now and forever. Amen.

*** Loving Father, at times our priorities are totally warped so that we allow the cares of daily living to overwhelm us. We fail to give you glory and praise and even disdain the external symbols and signs of true worship. Forgive us for our failure towards the Church of “living stones” and for neglecting our duties to our poor and needy brothers and sisters. Let our lives be sanctified as temples of the Holy Spirit. You live and reign, forever and ever. Amen.

IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the CONTEMPLATIO

The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the day. Please memorize it.

“And Herod kept trying to see him.” (Lk 9:9) //“Build the house that I may take pleasure in it and receive my glory.” (Hg 1:8)

V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO

Pray that our daily choices might be responsible and in accordance to the will of God. Make an effort to enlighten the people around you in making the “right” choice for our Savior Jesus. // When you enter the church-building be deeply aware that it is a sacred space meant for prayer and community worship. Observe reverent silence in this sacred place.

*** %%% *** %%% *** %%% ***

FRIDAY – TWENTY-FIFTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME “JESUS SAVIOR: He Predicts His Passion and Glorification … He Is the Temple of Splendor”

BIBLE READINGS Hg 2:1-9 // Lk 9:18-22

I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO

A. Gospel Reading (Lk 9:18-22): “You are the Christ of God. The Son of Man must suffer greatly.”

I visited the California State Fair for the first time on August 29, 2003. I had a great time at the Fine Arts section of the Expo Center Building where I saw a painting entitled “Napping in the Garden”. The body of Christ, stretched in the form of a cross, is sleeping peacefully in a cosmic garden of incredible beauty. Jesus Christ is surrounded by ministering angels and created beings. The artist’s message for me is incisive. The one “napping in the garden” is the Servant of Yahweh, who offered his ultimate service on the cross. The “Messiah of God” is now at the center of adoration and ministry of the entire cosmos. Jesus, acknowledged by Peter as the “Messiah of God”, presents himself to his disciples as the Suffering Servant. In today’s Gospel (Lk 9:18-22), he predicts his passion and glorification. The Son of Man must suffer much and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the teachers of the Law. He will be put to death, but three days later he will be raised to life. Although Jesus speaks of suffering and death, what triumphs ultimately is the power of life. There is redemption in his total self-giving.

The following story gives us a glimpse of the saving glory that comes in living out our paschal destiny (cf. Roberta Messner in Daily Guideposts 2010, p. 27).

For forty years I suffered with head and mouth pain from tumors caused by an incurable disorder. I lived from moment to moment and went to great lengths to get my mind off the relentless pain. Then a curious thing happened: I began to notice that whenever I turned my thoughts to others instead of dwelling on myself, I experienced an incredible sense of well-being. Whether I was planning to give, anticipating the act of giving or doing the giving myself, I could feel my entire body change.

One of the most difficult aspects of living with intractable pain is getting started in the morning. So before turning in each night, I placed a gift for someone at work alongside my car keys. It might be as simple as an article clipped from a magazine or coupons for laundry detergent or a tea bag in a new herbal flavor. Or it might be a pair of earrings I really wanted for myself that God nudged me to give away.

I mentioned my newfound approach to my physician, Dr. Brownfield. He told me that my discovery was supported by both the Bible and medical science. “Giving releases endorphins, the body’s natural painkillers, Roberta. Studies have actually shown that volunteers, some of the most devoted givers of all, lead happier, healthier and longer lives.” He closed our time together that day with a prayer that God would continue to bless me with the abundant life He promises in His Word, the giving life.

Since that day I’ve continued to give in the ways God directs. And I hadn’t needed a single dose of breakthrough pain medicine. I’ve come to understand that giving is a God-given tool – like exercise and a balanced diet – that helps us to live the full life He has in mind for us.

B. First Reading (Hg 2:1-9): “One moment yet and I will fill this house with glory.”

In today’s First Reading (Hg 2:1-9), we hear again from the prophet Haggai. His message to Zerubbabel, the governor of Judah; to Joshua, the high priest; and to the Jewish people is about the splendor of the new temple. Haggai speaks in 520 B.C. on the final day of a week’s celebration of the feast of Tabernacles. It is on this festival during Solomon’s reign that the First Temple was dedicated. The temple being rebuilt by the returned Jewish exiles lacks the splendor of Solomon’s temple. God thus speaks to the people through the prophet Haggai exhorting them not to be discouraged, but to continue the work of rebuilding the temple. The Lord God assures his people: “I am with you … I will fill this house with glory … Greater will be the future glory of this house … In this place I will give you peace.” Indeed, the true glory of the temple is not the material adornment, but the continuing presence of God. The full meaning of Haggai’s message will be realized in the messianic age – in the glorified body of the Risen Christ, the splendor of the Father.

The following story illustrates that where the love of Jesus Christ dwells, the splendor of beauty and grace shines (cf. Judy Newton, “A Simple Celebration” in Country, December-January 2013, p. 8).

The lights of the little country church shone upon the snow, welcoming us as we made our way to Christmas Eve services. It was a simple country church filled with farm folk who, after bedding their animals down for the night, came here from miles around. Times were hard in the 1940s, but anyone could see the hope and faith on the faces of these hardworking people.

My parents, my sister and I had come to celebrate the birth of our Savior with friends and family. Warmed by the stove and the seasonal cheer, we were secure in the knowledge of our love for one another.

The program began with pieces recited by the smaller children, and then came the play. There were no flashing lights, no sound system or other modern equipment, but the church glowed with love as the actors told the Nativity story.

After the program, Santa gave each child a small brown paper bag filled with candies, nuts and an orange. When the church was over, we went to my grandparents’ house to exchange gifts. Grandma and Grandpa, Mom and Dad, aunts, uncles and cousins filled the house to overflowing.

That country church is gone now, lost to fire, and a lot of those people have gone on to be with the Lord. But neither time nor flames can hurt the memories of those holidays long ago.

II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO

1. How does Jesus’ pronouncement of his passion impinge on us? Do we see the intimate connection between Jesus’ self-giving passion and his glorification?

2. When things are not as splendid as we expect them to be, do we feel discouraged? Do we believe that God’s indwelling in us, through Christ in the Spirit, is the true splendor and the utmost joy to fill our hearts?

III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO

Loving Father, we thank you for your beloved Son, the Suffering Servant. Give us the grace to be Christian disciples marked by self-giving. Help us to trust in you, the Lord of time and history. You are in control of the past, the present and the future. We dwell in “your time”. You live and reign, forever and ever. Amen.

*** Loving Father, we thank you for assuring us, “Fear not … I am with you!” We thank you for the gift of Jesus, the splendor of your love, who fills our hearts with grace and beauty. Let the glory of the Risen Christ abide in us and help us irradiate the light of his saving presence to all nations. We give you glory and praise, now and forever. Amen.

IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the CONTEMPLATIO

The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the day. Please memorize it.

“The Son of Man must suffer greatly … and on the third day be raised.” (Lk 9:22) //“I will fill this house with glory.” (Hg 2:7)

V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO

Through concrete acts of charity to those experiencing fears and difficulties, manifest your intimate participation in the paschal destiny of Jesus, our self-giving Lord and the “Messiah of God”. // Be attentive to the divine splendor that enfolds us. Seek to share the beauty of God’s love with those who are despondent and discouraged.

*** %%% *** %%% *** %%% ***

SATURDAY – TWENTY-FIFTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME “JESUS SAVIOR: He Teaches the Disciples the Meaning of His Death … All Nations Dwell in Him”

BIBLE READINGS Zec 2:5-9, 14-15a // Lk 9:43b-45

I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO

A. Gospel Reading (Lk 9:43b-45): “The Son of Man is to be handed over to men. They were afraid to ask him about this saying.”

In today’s Gospel reading (Lk 9:43b-45), Jesus speaks again about his death. The response of the disciples to the Divine Master’s patient effort to make them understand his messianic mission is bewilderment. They fail to grasp what Jesus means and they are afraid to question him. It is because they do not want to be confronted with the painful element of Christ’s paschal destiny. They are afraid to stare at the specter of Jesus’ impending death. In the first prediction, Jesus has underlined the harsh implications of his passion for his disciples. To be true followers of Jesus they too need to carry their cross. This is an aversive proposition for the disciples. Hence, when the Master brings out the issue again, they remain silent. They willfully choose not to understand. Bereft of the paschal vision, their personal concerns degenerate into authority issues and power struggles.

The following story presents in a humorous vein what it means “to refuse to understand” (cf. Anthony De Mello, Taking Flight: A Book of Story Meditations, New York: Image Books, 1988, p. 172).

A bishop had decreed that woman housekeepers for priests should be at least fifty years of age. He was startled, in the visitation of his diocese, to discover a priest who thought he was observing the law by keeping two housekeepers, each one of whom was twenty-five years of age.

B. First Reading (Zec 2:5-9, 14-15a): “See, I am coming to dwell among you.”

Starting today and in the next few days we shall be hearing from the priest- prophet Zechariah, whose prophecies are dated from 520 B.C. to 518 B.C. His visions deal with the restoration of Jerusalem, the rebuilding of the temple, the purification of God’s people and the messianic age to come. The messianic Jerusalem will bring back the golden days of Moses when God is presented as leading his people by columns of cloud and fire.

Today’s First Reading (Zec 2:5-9, 14-15a) is about the vision of an angel with a measuring line. He measures the city in order to rebuild it. Another angel appears to give a message of blessing and hope. He announces that Jerusalem will have many more people than before. The Lord God himself will be the wall of fire to encircle the city to protect it and he will dwell there in all his glory. Zechariah’s prophecy underlines the universal character of the divine saving plan: “At that time many nations will come to the Lord and become his people.”

That “many nations shall join themselves to the Lord” and that “the Lord comes to dwell among the nations” has been realized through the paschal sacrifice of Jesus Christ. The martyrdom of San Lorenzo Ruiz and his companion martyrs, saints from various nations, illustrates the fulfillment of Zechariah’s prophecy of universal salvation. Here is an account of their martyrdom (cf. Wikipedia on the Internet).

Lorenzo Ruiz was born in Binondo, Manila, to a Chinese father and a Filipino mother who were both Catholic. His father taught him Chinese while his mother taught him Tagalog.

Ruiz served as an altar boy at the convent of Binondo church. After being educated by the Dominican friars for a few years, Ruiz earned the title of escribano (calligrapher). He became a member of the Cofradia del Santissimo Rosario (Confraternity of the Most Holy Rosary). He married Rosario, a native, and they had two sons and a daughter. The Ruiz family lead a generally peaceful, religious and content life.

In 1636, while working as a clerk in Binondo Church, Ruiz was falsely accused of killing a Spaniard. Ruiz sought asylum on board a ship with three Dominican priests: Saint Antonio Gonzales; Saint Guillermo Courtet; Saint Miguel de Aozaraza, a Japanese priest; Saint Vicente Shiwozuka de la Cruz; and a lay leper Saint Lazaro of Kyoto. Ruiz and his companions left for Okinawa on 10 June 1636, with the aid of the Dominican fathers and Fr. Giovanni Yago.

The Tokugawa shogunate was persecuting Christians by the time Ruiz had arrived in Japan. The missionaries were arrested and thrown into prison, and after a year, they were transferred to Nagasaki to face trial by torture. He and his companions faced different type of torture. One of these was the insertion of needles inside their fingernails.

On 27 September 1637, Ruiz and his companions were taken to Nishizaka Hill, where they were tortured by being hung upside down in a pit. This form of torture was known as tsurushi in Japanese or horca y hoya in Spanish. The method was supposed to be extremely painful: though the victim was bound, one hand is always left free so that victims may be able to signal that they recanted, and they would be freed. Ruiz refused to renounce Christianity and died from blood loss and suffocation. His body was cremated and his ashes thrown into the sea.

According to Latin missionary accounts sent back to Manila, Ruiz declared these words upon his death: “Ego Catholicus sum et animo prompt paratoque pro Deo mortem obibo. Si mille vitas haberem, cunctas ei offerrem.” In English this may be rendered: “I am a Catholic and wholeheartedly do accept death for the Lord. If I had a thousand lives, all these I shall offer to him.” This may be reconstructed into Tagalog or Pilipino as “Isa akong Katoliko at buong-pusong tinatanggap ang kamatayan para sa Panginoon. Kung ako man ay may isanlibong buhay, lahat ng iyon ay iaalay ko sa Kanya.”

II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO

1. Are we willing to understand the meaning of the passion and death of our Lord Jesus Christ and their personal implications for our life?

2. Do we believe that God dwells among us and that his indwelling is not only in Jerusalem, but among the nations? What do we do to promote evangelization and the vitality of the Church-faith community? How do we imitate the faith of our fathers and the faith of the martyrs?

III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO

Lord Jesus, you speak to us about your passion. Help us to listen with the heart and understand what it means to be your disciple. You live and reign, forever and ever. Amen.

*** Loving Father, you manifest your glory in our midst. We thank you for surrounding the Church, the new city Jerusalem, with your glory and protection. Give us the grace to spread the Good News of salvation to all that all nations may dwell in this city and be filled with your glory. You live and reign, forever and ever. Amen.

IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the CONTEMPLATIO

The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the week. Please memorize it.

“The Son of Man is to be handed over to men.” (Lk 9:44) //“Many nations shall join themselves to the Lord on that day.” (Zec 2:15)

V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO

Pray for the grace to understand and follow the divine saving will and foster a discipline of prayerful silence before the Blessed Sacrament. // Take note of the cultural diversity and multi-ethnic character of the faith community. Be grateful to the Lord for this gift and resolve to give your very best to enhance the universal character of the Church.

*** Text of 25th Week in Ordinary Time ends here. ***

A Lectio Divina Approach to the Weekday Liturgy: Cycle I

BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD (n. 80) ORDINARY SEASON: WEEK 26

MONDAY: TWENTY-SIXTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME “JESUS SAVIOR: He Teaches Us to Care for Little Ones and to Be Little Ones … He Rescues His People and Brings Them Home”

BIBLE READINGS Zec 8:1-8 // Lk 9:46-50

I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO

A. Gospel Reading (Lk 9:46-50): “The one who is least among all of you is the one who is the greatest.”

As Jesus comes closer to his passion, he strains to prepare his disciples for his death and its meaning in God’s plan. In today’s Gospel reading (Lk 9:46-50), we hear that they fail to understand and are unresponsive to his second prediction of the passion. Their self-centered focus has blinded them to the divine purpose. Very inappropriately, they begin to argue who is the greatest and quarrel about their status in God’s kingdom. The Divine Master is ever patient and, to help them overcome their obtuseness, he takes a child. Placing the little one by his side, Jesus asserts that to receive and care for such a “child” is to receive him. He likewise declares that the least is the greatest in the kingdom. Jesus drills into his disciples the following truth: that the greatest loves even the lowliest and has the greatest need for God. A “child” is thus a model of discipleship and the “little one” among us – the poor, the weak, the humble and vulnerable - becomes the object of our caring discipleship.

The life of Saint Therese of the Child Jesus is a beautiful response to Jesus, who teaches us to care for the “little one” and shows the way of the “little one”. The following insights into her spirituality are circulated on the Internet.

Thérèse entered the Carmel of Lisieux with the determination to become a saint. But, by the end of 1894, six full calendar years as a Carmelite made her realize how small and insignificant she was. She saw the limitations of all her efforts. She remained small and very far off from the unfailing love that she would wish to practice. She understood then that it was on this very littleness that she must lean to ask God's help … Thérèse found a passage from Proverbs that struck her with particular force: If anyone is a very little one, let him come to me (cf. Proverbs 9:4). And from the book of Isaiah (66:12-13), she was profoundly struck by another passage: As a mother caresses her child, so I shall console you, I shall carry you at my breast and I shall swing you on my knees. She concluded that Jesus would carry her to the summit of sanctity. The smallness of Thérèse, her limits, became in this way grounds for joy, more than discouragement.

It is only in Manuscript C of her autobiography that she gave to this discovery the name of “little way”, “petite voie”. Echoes of this way, however, are heard throughout her work. From February 1895 she would regularly sign her letters by adding very little, toute petite, in front of her name. It was on this view then, that she based her extraordinary refusal to consider her daily faults important. Because of her lack of illusions in her view of human beings, she assigned to these things no more significance than they deserved. "I have long believed that the Lord is more tender than a mother. I know that a mother is always ready to forgive trivial, involuntary misbehaviour on the part of her child. Children are always giving trouble, falling down, getting themselves dirty, breaking things - but all this does not shake their parents’ love for them. "

This “little way” of Therese is the foundation of her spirituality: “I rejoice to be little because only children, and those who are like them, will be admitted to the heavenly banquet.” She developed an approach to the spiritual life that people of every background can understand and adopt. This is evident in her approach to prayer: "For me, prayer is a movement of the heart; it is a simple glance toward Heaven; it is a cry of gratitude and love in times of trial as well as in times of joy; finally, it is something great, supernatural, which expands my soul and unites me to Jesus. . . . I have not the courage to look through books for beautiful prayers ... I am like a child who does not know how to read; I say very simply to God what I want to say, and He always understands me.”

B. First Reading (Zec 8:1-8): “I will rescue my people from the land of the rising sun and from the land of the setting sun.”

Today’s First Reading (Zec 8:1-8) contains God’s message of blessings for his suffering people, whose disobedience led to their exile. God longs to help them because of his deep love for them. He promises to return to Jerusalem and dwell in it. His indwelling will generate life. In contrast to the desolation of the abandoned and semi- destroyed city, it will again be populated. Old men and women, young girls and boys, will again revel in the presence of God. In view of his saving will to reunite the whole people around the Temple, God will intervene to bring his people from the land of their exile. He will bring them back from the east (“the land of the rising sun”) and from the west (“the land of the setting sun”) to live in Jerusalem. He will actualize once again the ancient covenant in which they become God’s people and God rules over them faithfully and justly.

The saving plan of God to reintegrate his people on a universal scope is carried out throughout history in an awesome way. The following is an inspiring example (cf. Fr. Dwight Longenecker, “Intellectual Search Brought Rabble-Rouser to the Faith” in Our Sunday Visitor, August 25, 2013, p. 13).

Admirers of G.K. Chesterton had cause for rejoicing earlier this month when it was announced that a British bishop will appoint a cleric to begin his investigation into a possible canonization cause of the British writer and thinker. Whether or not Chesterton is eventually canonized, one thing is sure – he has played a vital role in bringing many to the Faith, including the dramatic conversion of literary scholar Joseph Pearce. (…)

England in the late 1960s and early 70s was receiving waves of immigrants from Pakistan and India, and many homegrown English felt threatened. By the time Pearce was 15 in 1976, he had joined the right-wing National Front – a racist, neo-Nazi gang with political pretensions. Within a year he had left school and become the editor of the gang’s newspaper.

Scrapping up for a good fight, he linked up with the loyalist paramilitary groups in Ulster to defend his country’s heritage from the Irish nationalists. Taking on their anti-Catholic bitterness, Pearce rallied round his new tribe with the intention of being a full-time right-wing revolutionary. In 1982 he was jailed for six months for publishing material that was likely to incite racial hatred.

The visit to Britain of Pope John Paul II in 1982 was another flash point. He joined the Protestant nationalist protests against the visit, and when he got out of jail went straight back to his editorship of the paper. By 1985 he was sentenced to a full year, but his second incarceration was of a different order.

During his first prison term, Pearce had come across Chesterton’s writings. First attracted to the Catholic convert’s personality and politics, he soon found that he was reading Chesterton’s defense of the Catholic faith. Against this offense, Pearce, who was raised nominally Anglican, had no defense. Consequently, on his second entrance to prison, Pearce declared his religion to be Catholic, and he recounts how in the first night in solitary confinement he clutched a rosary, fingering the beads and opening his heart to God’s love.

On his release in 1986, he decided to leave his political involvement. He later left London and moved into the country, got a job in a book warehouse and, with only a substandard high school education, started to research and write a biography of Chesterton. In 1989, at Our Lady, Mother of God Church in Norwich, Pearce finally was received into the Church. (…)

Pearce was looking for answers. His sharp intellect and bright curiosity turned him toward one of the greatest writers of the 20th century. However, the story of any conversion to the Catholic faith is always a journey of both the head and the heart. Pearce’s intellectual search was also a search for reconciliation instead of division and love instead of hatred.

Chesterton once said that the universe was a riddle, and the Catholic faith was the key that unlocked the riddle. For Pearce, the Faith was also the key that unlocked the prison house of his hate-filled heart and opened it to the Light of Life and the joy of Everlasting Freedom.

II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO

1. How do we heed Jesus’ invitation to care for the little ones in our midst and to pursue the Kingdom as a “child” who greatly needs divine help?

2. Do we give heed to the words of blessing from God or do we choose to stay in our own misery and refuse to be consoled by his comforting words? How do we promote the divine saving plan of universal salvation?

III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO

Lord Jesus, we thank you for teaching us the “little way”. You teach us to receive a “child” in your name. You also teach us that the least is the greatest in the heavenly kingdom. Help us to care for the “little ones” among us, especially the poor and vulnerable. Give us the wisdom to pursue the kingdom following the path of humility and total dependence on his grace. We love you Jesus and we offer ourselves totally you. You are our saving Lord, now and forever. Amen.

*** O loving God, we thank you for your words of comfort. Be with us and let us rejoice in your presence and blessings. Bring us close to you and let all people, young and old, from the land of the rising sun to the land of the setting sun find their home in you. You live and reign, forever and ever. Amen.

IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the CONTEMPLATIO

The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the day. Please memorize it.

“Whoever receives this child in my name receives me … The one who is least among all of you is the one who is the greatest.” (Lk 9:48) //“I will rescue my people.” (Zec 8:7)

V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO

Be greatly aware of the Church’s social teaching concerning the option for the poor and vulnerable. By prayer, word and action, show your care for the weakest among us – the unborn, those dealing with disabilities or terminal illness, the poor and marginalized. // Be thankful to God for the conversion experience of many people in today’s world. By your kind words and actions, be an instrument of healing and conversion for those who have been alienated from God.

*** %%% *** %%% *** %%% ***

TUESDAY: TWENTY-SIXTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME “JESUS SAVIOR: He Journeys to Jerusalem and He Endures Our Affliction … Peoples and Nations Seek Him”

BIBLE READINGS Zec 8:20-23 // Lk 9:51-56

I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO

A. Gospel Reading (Lk 9:51-56): “He resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem.”

Today’s Gospel reading (Lk 9:51-56) is about Jesus’ departure for Jerusalem. The evangelist Luke presents the call to radical discipleship within the context of Jesus’ decisive journey to his paschal destiny. The Gospel passage begins with 9:51, the turning point in Luke’s narrative: “When the days for Jesus to be taken up were fulfilled, he resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem.” Jesus’ decision to go to Jerusalem is not a casual decision, but a deliberate one. He is resolved to do the Father’s will. Christian discipleship demands total participation in his Easter itinerary of dying on the cross and life-giving glory. To journey with Jesus to Jerusalem is to walk along the road of faith – the old rugged road that leads to Calvary.

The following modern day account gives insight how in daily life we “walk along the road of faith” (cf. Jon Sweeney in Guideposts 2014, p. 206).

I have long been drawn to old roads. I look at well-worn tracks to the forest or up the mountain and wonder who walked them for the first time and what the land looked like then. Sometimes I imagine deer or moose trekking along a ridge down from the mountain to a stream, and eventually men following, until a path is formed and then a road is built in its place.

Walking these roads every day, I am sometimes reminded of other important “roads” in my life.

Traveling along the road of faith, I am never alone. My great-grandmother used to challenge me as a boy. She told me to learn the Bible, inspiring me to follow her example by reading it every day and memorizing many verses. Then my grandparents asked me to love the Lord and, more importantly, showed me how to do it in the hands-on ways that their compassion went out to the elderly, whom they served every week in nursing homes.

My parents, too, shined a light down that path of faith that can sometimes be dark and tough to follow. Also, aunts and uncles, friends and mentors have walked the path before me. I am able to follow their well-worn treads. Because of them all, I know which way to go.

B. First Reading (Zec 8:20-23): “Many people shall come to seek the Lord in Jerusalem.”

Today’s First Reading (Zec 8:20-23) depicts a vision of hope and grandeur. Many peoples and powerful nations will come to Jerusalem to worship the Lord and to pray for his blessing. They will seek the Lord Almighty for they recognize that peace and salvation are in him alone. God is always ready and anxious to receive his people. There will be no more disdain or mockery. Strangers will want to integrate with God’s chosen people and Israel will be a means of salvation. The foreigners will say to the Jew: “We want to share in your destiny because we have heard that God is with you.” This phenomenon of universal integration will reverse the process of dispersion brought about by the ambitious builders of the tower of Babylon (cf. Gen 11:1-9). In Jesus Savior, the restoration of all things, all peoples and nations, is brought about.

The process of universal restoration in Christ goes on. The World Youth Day events, organized by the Church, promote the unification of peoples from every nation and culture. The following article gives insight into this (cf. Eddie O’Neill, “Mile-High Memories” in Our Sunday Visitor, August 25, 2013, p. 9-10).

In August 1993, David Letterman moved from his TV home on NBC to CBS, pitcher Nolan Ryan got his 324th and final win, and in Denver, Colorado, hundreds of thousands of Catholic pilgrims from around the globe converged for World Youth Day.

As the first World Youth Day in North America and the first in an English- speaking nation, the Aug.11-15 event is regarded as ground-breaking. From the heights of the Mile-High City, the world witnessed Blessed John Paul II’s endearing love for the young people of the Church and, in turn, their love for him. It would be a model for future World Youth Days, including last month’s event in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Before 1993, World Youth Day largely consisted of two days – a Saturday night vigil and a Sunday Mass with the pope. Now, the event is a weeklong opportunity for prayer, celebration, fellowship, catechesis, with the pope present for several days. Those involved in youth ministry in the United States point to Denver as a watershed event in the way the Church now approaches its work with young people. (…)

That week in August certainly had an effect on Leslie Elliott, the director of music and liturgy at Holy Innocents Church in Victorville, California. Then 15, Elliott traveled to Denver with her home parish, Our Lady of the Desert in Apple Valley, California. “The preparation for World Youth Day and the experience of the week really changed me, my worldview and my experience of Catholicism”, she told Our Sunday Visitor.

She remembers the thousands of fellow pilgrims from around the world whom she met with big hugs and even bigger smiles. She recalls the thunderous roar of “Pope John Paul II, we love you!” as the pope arrived at Mile High Stadium. While Denver was Elliott’s first World Youth Day, it wasn’t her last. She attended Toronto in 2002 and Madrid in 2011, this time leading a group of young pilgrims.

Elliott, who has served as a World Youth Day coordinator for a neighboring parish, said that each World Youth Day has helped her better understand her vocation. “They have helped me to have a deeper sense of hope and trust in God’s plan for me”, she said.

II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO

1. Are we ready to follow Jesus resolutely on the road to Jerusalem?

2. Are we concerned and involved in promoting God’s plan of universal salvation? How do we contribute to the realization of this saving plan?

III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO

Lord Jesus, after your public ministry in Galilee and when the time drew near for you to be taken up to heaven, you resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem. We too would like to journey with you to Jerusalem and participate intimately in the paschal destiny of your death and rising. Help us to follow you on the old rugged road that leads to Calvary. You live and reign, forever and ever. Amen.

*** God our Father, we praise and bless you for calling the peoples of the earth to climb the mountain of Zion and share in the blessings you have reserved for all the nations. Give us the grace to be faithful in proclaiming the Gospel so that peoples of all nations will come to worship you and invoke your blessings. We give you glory and praise, now and forever. Amen.

IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the CONTEMPLATIO

The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the day. Please memorize it.

“Jesus resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem...” (Lk 9:51) //“Many people and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord.” (Zec 8:22)

V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO

Pray that you may have the grace to understand and experience the meaning of Christian discipleship. Pray in thanksgiving for all those who are able to follow Christ resolutely on the road to Jerusalem // Be aware of important events in the Church, such as World Youth Day, International Eucharistic Congress, World Mission Sunday, etc. and resolve to broaden your vision and deepen your concern for the spread of the Catholic faith.

*** %%% *** %%% *** %%% ***

WEDNESDAY: TWENTY-SIXTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME “JESUS SAVIOR: He Lays Down the Demands of Discipleship … He Is the Fortified City”

BIBLE READINGS Neh 2:1-8 // Lk 9:57-62

I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO

A. Gospel Reading (Lk 9;57-62): “I will follow you wherever you go.”

Before sending out seventy-two disciples ahead of him, Jesus clarifies the meaning of discipleship. In today’s Gospel (Lk 9:57-62), he meets three candidates and utilizes this occasion to underline the exigent character of Christian discipleship. To the first, who makes an enthusiastic offer of allegiance: “I will follow you wherever you go”, Jesus presents the challenge of sacrifice: “The Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” The second asks permission to go first and bury his father, that is, he wants to attend to his family before he follows Christ. Jesus asserts that all filial obligations are subordinate to his urgent call to proclaim the kingdom of God, which demands an immediate response. The third is willing to follow but asks to say farewell to his family at home. Jesus challenges him to a total renunciation and wholehearted dedication. The call of Christian discipleship demands an irrevocable response and entails wholehearted dedication.

In light of today’s Gospel I re-read my vocation story as a Pious Disciple of the Divine Master. Christ has showered me with overwhelming mercy and love. I heard his urgent call to follow him and I responded readily to his gift of vocation. I was a B.S. Premed student at the University of the Philippines when I got to know about the PDDM Congregation. I entered the convent after my third year of college. One month after my entrance, the major Superior asked me to go back to school and finish my B.S. degree. My name was among the list of 80 students that would be interviewed in 1971 for admission at the U.P. College of Medicine. But my dream to become a doctor was subordinate to my religious vocation. I left school altogether after Premed and underwent intense preparation for my religious consecration. I made my first religious profession in 1974 and was deeply happy with my life as a consecrated person. However, I continued to nurture my dream to become a medical doctor, which I presented several times to our major Superior. Before my finals vows in 1980 I requested again to be given a chance to become a medical doctor. But I was told in serious terms to make a decision: to follow Christ or to pursue my “career” outside the convent. My tears flowed when I pronounced my decision to follow Christ and to let go of my dream. In 1989 I became a “doctor” – not a “Doctor of Medicine” – but a “Doctor in Sacred Liturgy”.

B. First Reading (Neh 2:1-8): “If it please the king, send me to the city of my ancestors and I will rebuild it.”

In the First Reading (Neh 2:1-8) we begin to hear from the Book of Nehemiah whose mission includes the rebuilding of the city of Jerusalem. Today’s account is situated in 445 B.C. in the 20th year of the reign of King Artaxerxes I (465-425 B.C.). Having heard of the distressing situation of the city of Jerusalem, Nehemiah – a pious believer – prays to God to help him in his mission to restore the walls of Jerusalem. He pleads that the king, whom he serves as wine steward, may be merciful to him. Four months later, as he serves the king, Artaxerxes takes notice that the dear servant looks sad. Nehemiah answers that he is indeed sad because the city where his ancestors are buried is in ruins and its gates destroyed by fire. Having prayed to God, he then presents to King Artaxerxes his request to go to Judah to rebuild the city of his ancestors. He also asks official letters for the governors of West-of-Euphrates instructing them to let him travel to Judah as well as a letter to Asaph, keeper of the royal forests, to supply him with the timber needed for the construction of the ruined city. Amazingly, King Artaxerxes grants him all he asks for, because God’s favor is upon Nehemiah. He also receives a military escort for the journey as well as a political post as governor of Judah. Nehemiah, who will serve for twelve years, will truly be a compassionate and unselfish governor who honors God. The kind-hearted and devout Nehemiah will put all his energy into the rebuilding of the city of Jerusalem and for the good of God’s people.

Nehemiah’s concern for the restoration and viability of the holy city Jerusalem can shed light on today’s issue of closing parish doors (cf. Charles Pope in “Pastoral Answers” in Our Sunday Visitor, August 25, 2013, p. 15).

From a pastoral point of view, it seems evident that bishops do not close parishes, people close parishes. The fact remains that many parishes filled to overflowing back in the 1950s now sit increasingly empty. This is a teachable moment, and we must accept some very painful facts. When only 25 percent of Catholics go to Mass nationwide, and when Catholics stop having many children or effectively handing on the Faith to their children, this is what happens.

The Church simply cannot maintain parishes and other institutions such as schools and hospitals, when Catholics are largely absent. Pastorally speaking, people – not bishops alone – close parishes. Many parishes, schools, seminaries, and convents now sit largely empty. And as they become empty, bills are unpaid, maintenance is deferred, and the situation eventually becomes critical. Decisions have to be made.

Pastorally, one would hope that long before things go utterly critical, that bishops, working together with communities that are going into crisis, can speak honestly and work for solutions. But this is not simply the responsibility of the bishop; it is the responsibility of all the people of God to have such honest discussions. Thus, we are left with difficult but teachable moments about what happens when the Faith handed down to us is largely set aside by the vast majority of Catholics.

It’s time to evangelize and make disciples, as Christ commands.

II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO

1. Do we realize the cost of Christian discipleship, and are we ready to pay the price of commitment?

2. How does the figure of Nehemiah inspire us? What are the virtues of his character that we can emulate? Like him, do we show great zeal for the city of God?

III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO

Jesus Lord, you are God’s faithful servant. We thank you for your obedience to the divine saving will. Help us to listen to your call and answer it readily. Teach us to serve with whole-hearted dedication. You live and reign, forever and ever. Amen.

*** Loving Father, we thank you for the faith of our fathers. Help us to imitate them in their zeal to build your house and in their complete trust in you. Grant that we may imitate the pious believer, Nehemiah, in his humble stance and his personal dedication for the good of your people. We give you glory and praise, now and forever. Amen.

IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the CONTEMPLATIO

The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the day. Please memorize it.

“I will follow you wherever you go.” (Lk 9:57) //“The favoring hand of my God was upon me.” (Neh 2:8)

V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO

Pray in thanksgiving for the gift of Christian vocation and the call to holiness. Do what you can to promote priestly and religious vocations in the Church. // Be deeply concerned and involved in the Faith transmission and formation of the children and the youth. This is a way to build God’s house.

*** %%% *** %%% *** %%% ***

THURSDAY – TWENTY-SIXTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME “JESUS SAVIOR: He Calls Us to Proclaim the Gospel and to Be Bearers of Peace … He Is the Living Word that Strikes to the Heart”

BIBLE READINGS Neh 8:1-4a, 5-6, 7b-12 // Lk 10:1-12

I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO

A. Gospel Reading (Lk 10:1-12): “Your peace will rest on him.”

The book, Stories for the Heart, compiled by Alice Gray (Multnomah Press: Sisters, Oregon, 1996, p.239), contains a heartwarming story, “Picture of Peace” by Catherine Marshall. Her story gives us a glimpse of what true peace is all about.

There once was a king who offered a prize to the artist who would paint the best picture of peace. Many artists tried. The king looked at all the pictures. But there were only two he really liked, and he had to choose between them. One picture was of a calm lake. The lake was a perfect mirror for peaceful towering mountains all around it. Overhead was a blue sky with fluffy white clouds. All who saw this picture thought that it was a perfect picture of peace. The other picture had mountains, too. But these were rugged and bare. Above was an angry sky, from which rain fell and in which lightning played. Down the side of the mountain tumbled a foaming waterfall. This did not look peaceful at all. But when the king looked closely, he saw behind the waterfall a tiny bush growing in a crack in the rock. In the bush a mother bird had built her nest. There, in the midst of the rush of angry water, sat the mother bird on her nest – in perfect peace.

Which picture do you think won the prize? The king chose the second picture. Do you know why? “Because,” explained the king, “peace does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble, or hard work. Peace means to be in the midst of all those things and still be calm in your heart. This is the real meaning of peace.”

Today’s Gospel (Lk 10:1-12) tells us about the mission of the seventy-two disciples who are called to be peace-bearers. The peace that they are sent forth to bring comes from the sacrificial love of Christ, and it is the true peace welling up from within. The peace-bearing mission of Christ’s disciples has a universal character. In Luke’s account, we hear: “The Lord appointed seventy-two others whom he sent ahead of him in pairs to every town and place he intended to visit.” The number “seventy-two” stands for the number of all the nations; and the Christians disciples are to reach out to all the nations and preach the Good News. Harold Buetow adds a depth of meaning to the number seventy-two symbolism. He remarks: “In the Gospel Jesus sends seventy-two disciples like lambs among wolves (v. 3) to spread his message of peace – a reminder that, when Moses was worn down with work, the Lord had him designate seventy-two elders to help him … We must not only be grateful for his salvation but must actually share it by carrying our responsibilities. Although we can’t offer instant solutions to all problems or suffering, Jesus’ Good News can alone provide true peace.”

The evangelist Luke expresses the magnitude of the missionary task of the seventy-two disciples in terms of “abundant harvest” as we can glean from Jesus’ exhortation to his disciples: “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest” (Lk 10:2). The plentiful harvest refers to the extensive missionary work that the followers of Christ need to carry out on behalf of the entire human race. Indeed, the task of preaching the Gospel of peace to humankind entails the self-sacrificing ministry of apostolic “reapers” to gather the fruitful harvest of the redeemed into the barns of God’s kingdom.

Luke’s account of mission-sending underlines, moreover, the urgency of the Gospel task. According to the commands of Jesus, the disciples are to travel light, salute no one along the road, and not be deterred by those who refuse to welcome them. There is an impelling quality and resoluteness in the task of proclaiming the Reign of God and in spreading the message of peace. The disciples sent by Jesus must not be waylaid nor indulge in distractions or petty matters, but rather, trust in the providence of God as they experience their own vulnerability and the people’s hostility. Indeed, the time of salvation has come. The kingdom of God is at hand. The mission of the Christ’s disciples is urgent and they must keep moving.

Marked by the spirit of poverty, Saint Francis of Assisi is a true Gospel bearer, a channel of God’s peace and a promoter of the integration of creation. Circulated on the Internet, the following article helps us understand what it means to proclaim that the kingdom is at hand.

It has been argued that no one in history was as dedicated as Francis to imitate the life, and carry out the work, of Christ in Christ’s own way … This is important in understanding Francis' character and his affinity for the Eucharist and respect for the priests who carried out the sacrament… He and his followers celebrated and even venerated poverty. Poverty was so central to his character that in his last written work, the Testament, he said that absolute personal and corporate poverty was the essential lifestyle for the members of his order … He believed that nature itself was the mirror of God. He called all creatures his “brothers” and “sisters,” and even preached to the birds and supposedly persuaded a wolf to stop attacking some locals if they agreed to feed the wolf. In his “Canticle of the Creatures” (“Praises of Creatures” or “Canticle of the Sun”), he mentioned the “Brother Sun” and “Sister Moon,” the wind and water, and “Sister Death.” He referred to his chronic illnesses as his “sisters." His deep sense of brotherhood under God embraced others, and declared that he considered himself no friend of Christ if he did not cherish those for whom Christ died … Francis' visit to Egypt and attempted rapprochement with the Muslim world had far-reaching consequences, long past his own death, since after the fall of the Crusader Kingdom it would be the Franciscans, of all Catholics, who would be allowed to stay on in the Holy Land and be recognized as Custodians of the Holy Land on behalf of Christianity. (…)

Francis preached the teaching of the Catholic Church that the world was created good and beautiful by God but suffers a need for redemption because of the primordial sin of man. He preached to man and beast the universal ability and duty of all creatures to praise God (a common theme in the Psalms) and the duty of men to protect and enjoy nature as both the stewards of God's creation and as creatures ourselves … Legend has it that on his deathbed, St. Francis thanked his donkey for carrying and helping him throughout his life, and his donkey wept.

B. First Reading (Neh 8:1-4a, 5-6, 7b-12): “Ezra opened the book of the law, blessed the Lord, and all the people answered, Amen! Amen!”

Two of our postulants who were teaching catechism at the San Jose Elementary School in Antipolo (Philippines) prepared their class to celebrate the Rite of Penance. They engaged the children actively and creatively. One little girl brought her family’s tablecloth to cover the teacher’s desk that would serve as a makeshift altar. Some brought flowers and candles. Others were trained to proclaim the bible readings and to offer the prayer intentions. The whole class learned some easy and delightful sung responses. The priest proclaimed the Parable of the Prodigal Son in the vernacular and, in simple terms, explained to the children the meaning of the Gospel reading. During the celebration of the Word, the class was unusually attentive and focused. Some were shedding tears. When the catechists asked why they were weeping, they replied: “It is because we are sorry for our sins!”

Today’s Old Testament passage (Neh 8:1-4a, 5-6, 7b-12) describes a liturgy of the Word where the Law “which the Lord had given to Israel” is proclaimed and explained to the people, enabling them to understand what is read. When Ezra, the priest-scribe, reads from the book of the Law, the people weep from the sheer emotion of hearing God’s Word. They have recognized the special character of the word proclaimed, producing a remarkable effect in their lives. Indeed, the community that actively seeks the Law, not only hears it, but also understands its vital significance. The reading from the Law, constituted by the Pentateuch or the first five books of the Bible, has shed light on their fragile and feckless inner core and they respond with tears. The liturgical reading from the Law is not meant, however, to condemn, but to be a font of joy and strength for that assembly who hungers for the life-giving Word of God. Moreover, the divine Word moves them to vital social action and impels them to share compassionately their resources with the needy.

Aelred Rosser comments: “Notice the basic liturgical structure in this first reading. The people assemble, hear the Word of God, receive explanatory instruction and encouragement and then respond in worship and prayer. The framework of our own liturgy is not very different. Ezra reads the law to people who are very much in need of hearing it. Their highly emotional and heartrending response indicates that they need both the encouraging words of the law’s promise as well as, perhaps, the discipline which the law requires of them. The combination of sorrow for sin and the joy of being forgiven always produces healing tears. The occasion presented here is certainly a high holy day, perhaps Yom Kippur, the New Year. Notice that the long and arduous ceremony (from daybreak till midday) is followed by a feast celebrated in the classic way: rich food, good drink and special provisions for the poor. It is a tradition that we would do well to follow.”

II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO

1. Do we heed the exhortation of Jesus: “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest”? As disciples of Christ in mission are we resolute and decisive in proclaiming the Reign of God and its message of peace? Do we travel light or are we are encumbered with a heavy load? Are we distracted or do we have focus? Are we truly bearers of peace? Does our evangelical mission beget tranquility in others?

2. Do we experience the importance of the proclamation of the Word of God in the liturgy? Like the liturgical assembly in Ezra’s time, do we endeavor to listen to the Word with receptive hearts, willful attention and self-sacrifice? Do we invest time, effort, love and creativity in order to glean the meaning and challenge of God’s Word for us? Do we try to hear and understand the Word, both personally and as members of the faith community? Do we respond to the social challenge of God’s living Word?

III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO

Lord Jesus, we pray for more laborers to reap the harvest of the human race. Help us that we too may be self-giving reapers in that fruitful harvest. Make us instruments of your peace. May the peace that you have bestowed upon us rest on the people we are to bless. Do not let discouraging results overwhelm us, nor encouraging achievements inflate us. Let us truly rejoice in your peace and in the assurance that having done your saving will, our names are written in heaven. You live and reign, forever and ever. Amen.

*** My Divine Teacher, you open the Scroll before me every time that the Scriptures are proclaimed during the Liturgy or during my private prayer. I want to listen to you … I intend to set aside every preoccupation of mine, judgment, preconceived categories … I want to bring silence within myself so that your voice pronounces in me and for me the Word of God. I am waiting that you open the Scroll and find the passage written today for me … If you are the one reading for me, there will always be a text or a phrase which is meaningful for my situation. If my heart is filled with you, I immediately find the Word meant for me. You are the Word of Life and we adore you, now and forever. Amen.

IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the CONTEMPLATIO

The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the day. Please memorize it.

“Go on your way; behold I am sending you.” (Lk 10:3) //“They understood the words that had been expounded to them.” (Neh 8:12)

V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO

Pray for an increase of priestly and religious vocations in the Church. Pray for peace in the world and those called to be special peace-bearers in today's situations of violence and conflict. By your kind words and charitable speech, be a bearer of God’s peace, harmony and reconciliation. // To help us contemplate more deeply the breadth, depth and height of the challenge of the living Word, Jesus Christ, make an effort to spend an hour in Eucharistic Adoration.

*** %%% *** %%% *** %%% ***

FRIDAY – TWENTY-SIXTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME “JESUS SAVIOR: He Experienced Rejection … He Calls to Penitence”

BIBLE READINGS Bar 1:15-22 // Lk 10:13-16

I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO

A. Gospel Reading (Lk 10:13-16): “Whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.”

In today’s Gospel reading (Lk 10:13-16), Jesus warns the recipients of his public ministry in Galilee of the dire consequences of their impenitence. The lakeside towns of Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum have received so much in terms of divine grace, but fail to bear fruits of conversion. They do not surrender themselves to Jesus and are deaf to his word. Jesus works miracles in their midst and proclaims the Good News to them, but they refuse to accept him as the Messiah. Because of their resistance to grace, they merit judgment more severe than the people of Tyre and Sidon, ancient cities notorious for wickedness and impiety. The life-giving Gospel that Jesus preaches cannot be ignored. There are unfortunate and death-dealing consequences in rejecting his divine offer of salvation. To reject Jesus is thus to opt for self-destruction.

Like Jesus, his disciples of today will meet hostility and rejection as the following article shows (cf. “Hands off the Cross” in L’Osservatore Romano, July 25, 2012, p. 9).

The Russian Orthodox Church cannot stand by and watch while Christianity is persecuted in Europe, according to Fr. Philip Ryabykh, a representative of the Patriarchate of Moscow to the Council of Europe, in an interview with the Voice of Russia. He was referring to the two British citizens fired for their refusal to remove the crosses around their necks in the workplace. The cases of Nadia Eweida, an employee of British Airways at Heathrow Airport, and Shirley Chaplin, a nurse, will soon be examined by the European Court of Human Rights and Orthodox representatives, together with Russian lawyers, have already guaranteed their support. Fr. Philip called this an “unprecedented situation”.

The two women have appealed to the Court to recognize that the freedom of religion has been violated and that they have been discriminated against because of their religious ties. British authorities – the Voice of Russia says – did not expect the case to be brought before the Strasbourg Court and has proposed a law that allows employers to dismiss employees who refuse to hide their religious confession.

“The decision of the Strasbourg Court will apply to all countries that are members of the Council of Europe, including Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova – that is, countries where Orthodox Christianity is the most common denomination”, Fr. Philip says. It is a tradition among Orthodox Christians to wear a crucifix and, he warned, “if the Strasbourg Court’s decision turns out not in favor of these women, this would create a dangerous precedent which, I believe, would be very dangerous. This may become a start of persecution against Christianity in Europe”.

B. First Reading (Bar 1:15-22): “We have sinned in the Lord’s sight and disobeyed him.”

Today and tomorrow we shall hear from the prophet Baruch. Today’s Old Testament reading (Bar 1:15-22) is a moving penitential prayer in which the people acknowledge their responsibility for the catastrophe and deportation they have experienced and continue to experience. The exiles avow: “We have sinned in the Lord’s sight and disobeyed him.” The painful thoughts and the raw feelings of the Jewish people at the destruction of Jerusalem and their captivity are crystallized in this prayer. They humbly recognize that they have been rebellious throughout Israel’s history and have refused to obey the word of the Lord. When the people abandon the Lord God to serve kings and foreign gods, they lose God’s blessings and suffer the curse of the land of the exile. The chastised people thus confess their sins and declare: “The Lord God is righteous, but we are still covered with shame.”

The spirit of penitence that characterizes the exiles’ prayer is likewise present in a modern-day penitent who narrates the following story (cf. Anonymous, “The Long List of Sin” in 101 Inspirational Stories of the Sacrament of Reconciliation, Sr. Patricia Proctor, Spokane: Franciscan Monastery of Saint Clare, 2006, p. 138).

In the summer of 2005, a retired priest filled in for a month at the northern Arizona parish where I was living. That same week I received an e-mail from someone in my Medjugorje prayer group which spoke about confession and gave a very long list of common (and often) grave sins.

Reading that list, I recognized a large number that I had committed as a teen or young adult. Some, while knowing they weren’t the best things to do, I hadn’t really thought of as sins, such as partying or drinking to excess, but others were just plain embarrassing to admit to. I knew that it was unlikely that I’d confessed them before. It nagged at me that there were so many un-confessed big sins in my life. The problem, however, was recognizing what had or had not been confessed.

So, just to be on the safe side, I brought the whole list with me, unaware that the new priest had already arrived and was handling confession that night. I was dismayed, how does one explain such things to someone who has no past experience or connection with me?

The desire to chicken out was strong. It would have been very easy to make a simple confession of the usual sins, yet something held me to my resolve. I chose to be honest and explain my intention, and why this was important to me. I asked if he had the time that night to hear this confession as it was a long list. He looked a little nervous, but agreed to hear the whole thing.

While difficult and embarrassing, I was surprised to discover in this priest a wonderful spiritual advisor. During the time he was there, my spiritual life blossomed. Thinking about the change, I believe it was due to Father hearing my complete confession.

II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO

1. Do we suffer rejection and hostility for our Christian faith? What is our response to such a situation?

2. Do we thank the Lord for calling us to the grace of repentance and for giving us the opportunity to confess our sins in the sacrament of reconciliation?

III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO

Lord Jesus, you experienced hostility and rejection in the lakeside towns of Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum. Forgive us, Jesus, for our lack of response to your merciful love. Give us the grace never to reject you again. Fill us with courage to be faithful. You are our saving Lord, now and forever. Amen.

*** Loving Father, we have sinned against you and we merit the senseless miseries in our life. You are righteous and we are covered with shame. Take away the curse of disobedience, bathe us in the tears of repentance and wrap us in your life-giving grace. You live and reign, forever and ever. Amen.

IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the CONTEMPLATIO

The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the day. Please memorize it.

“And whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.” (Lk 10:16) //“We did evil in the sight of the Lord, our God.” (Bar 1:22)

V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO

Through prayer, word and action, seek to overcome the hostility and “persecution” against the Church in the modern world. // Be reconciled with a person whom you have hurt and share God’s forgiveness with someone who has hurt you.

*** %%% *** %%% *** %%% ***

SATURDAY – TWENTY-SIXTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME “JESUS SAVIOR: He Rejoices at the Return of the Disciples in Mission … He Calls Us Back”

BIBLE READINGS Bar 4:5-12, 27-29 // Lk 10:17-24

I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO

A. Gospel Reading (Lk 10:17-24): “Rejoice because your names are written in heaven.”

The Divine Master experiences misunderstanding and rejection from the towns along Lake Galilee where he has performed many miracles. Many have painfully disappointed him. But in today’s Gospel episode (Lk 10:17-24), the seventy-two disciples who returned rejoicing from their mission have filled Jesus with joy. They have subjected demons through the power of his name. Rejoicing with them, Jesus makes them understand that the source of their joy should not be in having subjected the demons, but in having their names written in heaven. His disciples, in welcoming him as their true Master and Lord, have proven themselves “childlike” in character. They have opened themselves up to the spiritual revelation that Jesus gives, but which “the wise and the learned” of this world refuse to perceive. Through Jesus, God the Father is revealed. God is no longer an enigma, for through Jesus we can “see” God as the fullness of love. No wonder Jesus turns to his disciples and exclaims: “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see!”

As Christian disciples in today’s world, we too must be “childlike” in our stance. We are able to rejoice because we are assured of the divine presence wherever we are and in whatever “storms” we encounter. The following story, circulated on the Internet, will give insight into this and will make us smile.

A little girl walked to and from school daily. Though the weather that morning was questionable and clouds were forming, she made her daily trek to school. As the afternoon progressed, the winds whipped up, along with lightning.

The mother of the little girl felt concerned that her daughter would be frightened as she walked home from school. She also feared the electric storm might harm the child. Full of concern, the mother got into her car and quickly drove along the route to her child’s school. As she did, she saw her little girl walking along. At each flash of lightning, the child would stop, look up and smile. More lightning followed quickly and with each, the little girl would look at the streak of light and smile.

When the mother drew up beside the child, she lowered the window and called, “What are you doing?” The child answered, “I am trying to look pretty because God keeps taking my picture.”

B. First Reading (Bar 4:5-12, 27-29): “He who brought disaster upon you will bring you back enduring joy.”

In the reading (Bar 4:5-12, 27-29) we hear that through the prophet Baruch, God addresses a message of consolation to Israel in exile. Their present situation is not final. It is true that Jerusalem is like a widow bereft of her children, who have been sent into exile because of their sins. But God tells his people not to fear, assuring them that he who brought these calamities upon them will rescue them and bring them everlasting love. The confession of sins pronounced earlier by a deeply chastised people (which we heard yesterday in the First Reading) simply underlines the compassionate character of a loving God who is ever mindful and forgiving. Hence, the Lord’s invitation for the sinful people is to turn back and serve him with greater determination and thus experience everlasting joy.

The following story of mercy and forgiveness in today’s here and now is very consoling (cf. Dale Recinella, “It Is Never Too Late” in 101 Inspirational Stories of the Sacrament of Reconciliation, Sr. Patricia Proctor, Spokane: Franciscan Monastery of Saint Clare, 2006, p. 187-189).

After many years of general prison ministry, in 1998 I was asked to begin ministry cell-to-cell in Florida’s death row and solitary confinement. Florida has the third largest death row in the U.S., with over 370 men, and has over 2,000 men in long- term solitary confinement in the two prisons at which I serve as a Catholic lay chaplain. On behalf of the Catholic Church, the bishop of Florida, and under the pastoral supervision of my priest and bishop, I go cell-to-cell in ministry to the men inside. (…)

I can testify to you that the power of the sacrament of confession and of the Holy Spirit is greater than the darkness of death row, even of the death house. There was a man who desired to become a Catholic because of the influence of Pope John Paul II. After a year of preparation for entry into the Catholic Church, he was suddenly scheduled for execution. His execution date turned out to be just days after the death of John Paul II. Our Catholic governor even considered delaying the execution out of respect for the pontiff.

The morning before his execution, the bishop came to the death house to administer his first confession, his first Communion and his confirmation. This was done with him standing in a narrow cage called a holding cell, with shackles upon his ankles and chains on his wrists.

When the bishop pronounced the words of absolution and then of confirmation, his whole body jerked as though he had been jolted by electricity. He even began to fall back against the rear of the cage, in a manner called the resting in the spirit. The guards who were watching were astonished. They said for a moment that he became luminous.

The next day, during his last hours in the death house, he told me that John Paul II had visited him during that moment and told him that Jesus would come for him at the moment of his death. Nothing anyone could say could dissuade him from this belief.

A few hours before the execution, the warden came down to his cell with a message from the mother of the victim of the crime. She had asked the warden to inform the condemned man that she forgave him and bore him no ill will. The reconciliation offered by the sacrament of confession had been actualized on this side of the great divide between the temporal and the eternal.

He died in peace, at one with God.

My testimony is this. Nothing – absolutely nothing that any man can say, build or do as an obstacle or a barrier – not even the mountain of concrete, steel and despair that is death row – is able to prevent the power of the sacrament and the Holy Spirit from entering and remaining in the willing human heart.

II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO

1. Do we trust in Jesus as the true revelation of the Father? Are we the “little ones” who are willing to savor the rich and life-giving revelation of Jesus?

2. How do we respond to God’s call to turn back to him and serve with greater determination? Do we trust that the redeeming God will bring us everlasting joy?

III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO

O loving Father, thank you for the gift of your Son Jesus, the meek and humble One. Teach us to be receptive as “little ones” to the light of wisdom and perceive the beauty of your saving plan. Grant us the grace to live the life of Christ in the Spirit and reject the awful pride of the “wise and learned”. You live and reign, forever and ever. Amen.

*** Loving Father, we thank you for giving us the courage to trust in your merciful love. You want us to go back to you and serve you with greater determination. We renounce our evil ways and sinfulness and we open our hearts to your forgiveness. Let us rejoice in your forgiveness and the gift of everlasting joy. You live and reign, forever and ever. Amen.

IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the CONTEMPLATIO

The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the week. Please memorize it.

“He rejoiced in the Holy Spirit.” (Lk 10:21) //“He will, in saving you, bring you back enduring joy.” (Bar 4:29)

V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO

Pray that Christian disciples may always be “childlike” and receptive to the divine revelation given to us in Jesus Christ each day. Endeavor to be the “childlike” disciples envisioned by the Gospel. // Pray for those on death row and the most hardened criminals in our society today. Unite your sacrifice and suffering with Jesus for the conversion of souls.

*** Text of 26th Week in Ordinary Time ends here. ***