A Lectio Divina Approach to the Sunday & Weekday Liturgy
BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD (Series 22, n. 46)
Week 28 in Ordinary Time: October 13-19, 2024
(The pastoral tool BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD: A LECTIO DIVINA APPROACH TO THE SUNDAY & WEEKDAY LITURGY includes a prayerful study of the Sunday liturgy from various perspectives. For the Lectio Divina on the liturgy of the past week: October 6-12, 2024 please go to ARCHIVES Series 21 and click on “Ordinary Week 27”.
Below is a LECTIO DIVINA APPROACH TO THE SUNDAY - WEEKDAY LITURGY: October 13-19, 2024.)
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October 13, 2024: TWENTY-EIGHTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR B
“JESUS SAVIOR: He Calls Us to a Radical Discipleship”
BIBLICAL READINGS
Wis 7:7-11 // Heb 4:12-13 // Mk 10:17-30
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
A, Gospel Reading (Mk 10:17-30): “Sell what you have and follow me.”
Today’s Gospel (Mk 10:17-30) is about the rich man in pursuit of eternal life. The man has responded to the demands of the commandments. For one who lives under the Old Covenant, such a response would have been sufficient. And, indeed, Jesus looks at him and loves him. But Jesus, the absolute treasure and font of all good, goes further. The incarnate Wisdom offers a new challenge and demands a greater response. The challenge is absolute discipleship, the following of Christ who is the absolute good. Christian discipleship involves renunciation of human assurances and security. Jesus is the true wealth besides which everything pales in comparison. To follow Jesus is to pursue and make a radical choice for absolute good. Jesus invites the rich man to make a fundamental option for the incomparable wealth of his person.
The enormity of the challenge is expressed in the Semitic hyperbole of a camel passing through the eye of a needle. It is a choice of a loving and discerning heart. It is a choice made possible by the grace of God: “with God all things are possible” (Mk 10:30). The true option for Christ, the “treasure of all treasures” is guided by the wisdom of heart. This radical challenge is addressed to us all.
The life of Saint Anthony Abbot, the celebrated Father of Monks, who was born in Egypt around the year 250, illustrates a positive response to Christ’s call to a radical discipleship (cf. January 17 Office of the Reading: From the Life of Saint Anthony by Saint Athanasius).
When Anthony was about eighteen or twenty years old, his parents died, leaving him with an only sister. He cared for her as she was very young, and also looked after their home.
Not six months after his parents’ death, as he was on his way to church for his usual visit, he began to think of how the apostles left everything and followed the Savior, and also of those mentioned in the book of Acts who had sold their possessions and brought the apostles the money for distribution to the needy. He reflected too on the great hope stored up in heaven for such as these. This was all in his mind when, entering the church just as the Gospel was being read, he heard the Lord’s words to the rich man: If you want to be perfect, go and sell all you have and give the money to the poor – you will have riches in heaven. Then come and follow me.
It seemed to Anthony that it was God who had brought the saints to his mind and that the words of the Gospel had been spoken directly to him. Immediately he left the church and gave away to the villagers all the property he had inherited, about 200 acres of very beautiful and fertile land, so that it would cause no distraction to his sister and himself. He sold all his other possessions as well, giving to the poor the considerable sum of money he collected. However, to care for his sister he retained a few things.
The next time he went to church he heard the Lord say in the Gospel: Do not be anxious about tomorrow. Without a moment’s hesitation he went out and gave the poor all that he had left. He placed his sister in the care of some well-known and trustworthy virgins and arranged for her to be brought up in the convent. Then he gave himself up to the ascetic life, not far from his own home. He kept a careful watch over himself and practiced great austerity. He did manual work because he had heard the words: If anyone will not work, do not let him eat. He spent some of his earnings on bread and the rest he gave to the poor.
Having learned that we should always be praying, even when we are by ourselves, he prayed without ceasing. Indeed, he was so attentive when Scripture was read that nothing escaped him and because he retained all he heard, his memory served him in place of books.
Seeing the kind of life he lived, the villagers and all the good men he knew called him the friend of God, and they loved him as both son and brother.
B. First Reading (Wis 7:7-11): “I deemed riches nothing in comparison to wisdom.”
When I read the newspaper account of the slayings of five schoolchildren of an Amish community at Lancaster County in Pennsylvania by a profoundly disturbed gunman, Charles Carl Roberts IV, who committed suicide during the attack, I grieved deeply. I have always regarded the Amish community with fascination. Greatly impressed by their serenity and peacefulness and enthralled by their life of simplicity, I complained almost angrily, “They do not deserve such brutality.” The violence inflicted on innocent young girls and the hurt it brought to the Amish community were absolutely senseless and deplorable. The following news report, however, moved me to tears and brought me consolation (cf. Fresno Bee, page 1 of the October 5, 2006 issue).
In just about any other community, a deadly school shooting would have brought demands from civil leaders for tighter gun laws and better security, and the victims’ loved ones would have lashed out at the gunman’s family or threatened to sue. But that’s not the Amish way. As they struggle with the slayings of five of their children in a one-room schoolhouse, the Amish in this Lancaster County village are turning the other cheek, urging forgiveness of the killer and quietly accepting what comes their way as God’s will. “They know their children are going to heaven. They know their children are innocent … and they know that they will join them in death,” said Gertrude Huntington, a Michigan researcher and expert on children in Amish society. “The hurt is very great,” Huntington said. “But they don’t balance the hurt with hate.” In the aftermath of Monday’s violence, the Amish are looking inward, relying on themselves and their faith, just as they have for centuries.
The Amish community’s choice to be peaceable and forgiving in the face of such tragedy and injustice is a gift of God - an act of grace. The spirit of God’s wisdom enabled them to endure injury with a forgiving heart and to reach out to the family of the gunman who had killed their beloved children. Indeed their wisdom-filled choice configured them more and more to God’s loving plan and engrafted them more intimately into it. The gift of wisdom that King Solomon prayed for and incarnated by Jesus Christ to the full has been poured out abundantly on this forgiving and peace loving Amish community.
In the Old Testament reading (Wis 7:7-11), which is taken from a Book attributed to King Solomon, the latter narrates that he prayed and pleaded to God, and the spirit of wisdom came upon him. Although written less than a hundred years before Jesus’ time, this Book was attributed to Israel’s third king because of his legendary wisdom. Harold Buetow explains: “The Book of Wisdom was written about 100 years before Christ, in Greek-dominated Alexandria in Egypt. The Jewish community there, though large in numbers, was in danger of losing its identity because of the twin dangers of Greek philosophy and Greek morals. It was a time when Jews were abandoning their faith in great numbers – for social acceptance, or to follow worldly philosophies, or to acquire material wealth … Solomon was like other people in being not specially disposed by birth toward wisdom. But, realizing that only wisdom can bring true happiness, he prayed for wisdom rather than power, riches, health, or good looks. As a result, he became a legend: for his own time, for Jews thereafter, and for all people. Indeed, even Jesus referred to the wisdom of Solomon (Lk 11:31).”
The gift of wisdom that King Solomon prayed for is the spirit of understanding that enables God’s faithful one to discern what is essential and meaningful. Personified as a woman, wisdom is the ability to comprehend what is truly important. It is a spiritual gift to recognize proper thought and behavior and helps a person to choose what is good. According to the authors of the Days of the Lord, vol. 5: “This wisdom is the spirit of discernment, understanding of the heart, surety of judgment that shows with certainty what is good and what is evil. It particularly characterizes the leaders of his people to whom God had given his Spirit and the prophets. It would be given in overabundance to the Messiah in order that many might benefit by it. One day, Jesus exulted with joy upon seeing the wisdom shown by the little ones (cf. Mt 11:25-26), and he said that the Father would give the Holy Spirit to those who asked for it (cf. Lk 11:13).”
The Gospel reading (Mk 10:17-30) about the rich man who fails to pursue his initial choice of “eternal life” and is not able to make a fundamental option for the Kingdom, on account of his attachment to material goods, acquires greater depth and perspective against the backdrop of today’s Book of Wisdom reading (Wis 7:7-11). Jesus is the personification of wisdom. Jesus Wisdom allows us to discern, often beyond deceptive appearances, what is true, just and good. He comes to reorient lives toward God’s will. Those who open up their hearts to Jesus will receive the gift of a discerning heart and will be empowered by God to make a radical choice for the Gospel.
C. Second Reading (Heb 4:12-13): “The word of God discerns reflections and thoughts of the heart.”
Jesus Christ is the divine word personified – the word of God made flesh - to enlighten our core decisions in life. This Sunday’s Second Reading (Heb 4:12-13) gives wonderful insights on the word of God and underlines its efficacy and formidable capacity of discernment. God’s living and effective word penetrates to the innermost part of a person and forces him/her to come to grips with what really matters. It scours our entire being, penetrating even between soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and reveals the deep truth about God’s love and our gracious destiny. Likewise, the life-giving word of God – the font of salvation Jesus - is as incisive as a two-edged sword in its power of judgment.
The 12th century Christian writer Baudouin de Ford remarks: “Yes, this Word is living, living in the heart of the Father, in the mouths of those who proclaim it, in the hearts of those who believe and love … When God’s words are heard, they pierce the believers’ hearts as the sharp arrows of the warrior (cf. Ps 120:4). They penetrate and remain in the heart’s innermost depths. This Word is sharper than a two-edged sword, more cutting than any force or power, more subtle than all the finesse of human genius, more pointed than every learned thrust of human discourse.”
I had a chance to shake hands with Mother Theresa of Calcutta when she went to an orphanage in Cebu, Philippines in 1976 and listen to the powerful words that came forth from her heart. She is an example of a full recipient of God’s grace of wisdom, of the Kingdom value and of the power of the word of God that “discerns reflections and thoughts of the heart”. The following excerpt from a discourse that she gave in 1994 to the political and religious leaders from across the United States for the National Prayer Breakfast, which included President Bill Clinton, the First Lady Hilary Clinton and Vice-President Al Gore, illustrates the power of the word of God and that Mother Theresa was indeed an instrument of the living and efficacious divine word that discerns and judges (cf. “Breakfast with a Champion” in Amazing Grace for the Catholic Heart, ed. Jeff Cavins, et. al. West Chester: Ascension Press, 2004, p. 227-234).
Let us thank God for the opportunity he has given us today to have come here to pray together. We have come here especially to pray for peace, joy, and love. We are reminded that Jesus came to bring the good news to the poor. He had told us what the good news is when he said, “My peace I leave with you; my peace I give unto you.” He came not to give the peace of the world, which is only that we don’t bother each other. He came to give peace of heart which comes from loving, from doing good to others. (…)
Jesus died on the Cross because that is what it took for him to do good for us – to save us from our selfishness and sin. He gave up everything to do the Father’s will, to show us that we too must be willing to give everything to do God’s will, to love one another as he loves each of us.
St. John says that you are a liar if you say you love God and you don’t love your neighbor. How can you love God whom you do not see, if you do not love your neighbor whom you see, whom you touch, with whom you live? Jesus makes himself the hungry one, the naked one, the homeless one, the unwanted one, and he says, “You did it to me.”
I can never forget the experience I had in visiting a home where they kept all the old parents of sons and daughters who had just put them into an institution and, maybe, forgotten them. I saw that in that home these old people had everything: good food, a comfortable place, television, everything. But everyone was looking toward the door. And I did not see a single one with a smile on his face. I turned to Sister and I asked, “Why do these people, who have every comfort here – why are they looking toward the door? Why are they not smiling?” (I am so used to seeing smiles on our people. Even the dying ones smile.) And Sister said, “This is the way it is, nearly every day. They are expecting – they are hoping – that a son or daughter will come to visit them.” See, this neglect to love brings spiritual poverty. Maybe in our family we have somebody who is feeling lonely, who is feeling sick, who is feeling worried. Are we willing to give until it hurts, in order to be with our families? Or do we put our own interests first?
I was surprised in the West to see so many young boys and girls given to drugs. And I tried to find out why. Why is it like that, when those in the West have so many more things than those in the East? And the answer was, “Because there is no one in the family to receive them.” Our children depend on us for everything: their health, their nutrition, their security, their coming to know and love God. For all of this, they look to us with trust, hope and expectation. But often father and mother are so busy that they have no time for their children, or perhaps they are not even married, or have given up on their marriage. So the children go to the streets, and get involved in drugs, or other things. We are talking of love of the child, which is where love and peace must begin.
But I feel that the greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion, because it is a war against the child – a direct killing of the innocent child – murder by the mother herself. And if we accept that a mother can kill even her own child, how can we tell other people not to kill one another? How do we persuade a woman not to have an abortion? As always, we must persuade her with love. The father of that child, whoever he is, must also give until it hurts. By abortion, the mother does not learn to love but kills her own child to solve her problems. And by the abortion, the father is told that he does not have to take any responsibility at all for the child he has brought into the world. Any country that accepts abortion is not teaching the people to love, but to use any violence to get what they want. That is why the greatest destroyer of love and peace is abortion.
And for this I appeal in India and I appeal everywhere: “Let us bring the child back.” The child is God’s gift to the family. Each child is created in the special image and likeness of God for greater things – to love and be loved. This is the only way that our world can survive, because our children are the only hope for the future. As other people are called to God, only their children can take their places. But what does God say to us? He says, “Even if a mother could forget her child, I will not forget you. I have carved you in the palm of my hand. We are carved in the palm of his hand; that unborn child has been carved in the hand of God from conception, and is called by God to love and be loved, not only now in this life, but forever. God can never forget us.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
Do we yearn for the gift of wisdom? Do we beg the Lord to give us this precious gift? How do we respond to Christ’s radical challenge to make a fundamental option for his person? Do we believe in Christ’s exhortation: “With God all things are possible”?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
Lord God,
you made all things by your word.
Grant me Wisdom, the attendant at your throne.
Send her forth from your holy heavens
that she may be with me and work with me.
From your glorious throne dispatch her
that I may discern your compassionate plan for me.
Let your wisdom guide me
that I may have the strength to embrace
Christ’s call to radical discipleship
and be greatly filled
with heavenly treasures.
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.
“Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor and you will have treasures in heaven; then come, follow me.” (Mk 10: 21).
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
Pray for the gift of wisdom that will enable you to make a fundamental choice for Christ and follow him all the way. Take stock of your material possessions. Make a radical decision to share your material resources with the needy and to give to the poor.
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October 14, 2024: MONDAY – WEEKDAY (28); SAINT CALLISTUS I, Pope, Martyr
“JESUS SAVIOR: He Gives Them the Sign of Jonah … He Has Set Us Free”
BIBLE READINGS
Gal 4:22-24, 26-27, 31-5:1 // Lk 11:29-32
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
A. Gospel Reading (Lk 11:29-32): “This generation seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it, except the sign of Jonah.”
I have a beautiful statue of the Holy Child Jesus (known in the Philippines as Santo Niño). It is enthroned in a prominent place in my room. Every morning and evening I kneel before him and offer special prayers for vocations. One day in 2012 I received a new assignment. From our convent in San Jose I was to be transferred to Fresno. But I was not sure whether I would bring the statue with me or leave it at our San Jose convent. I prayed to the Santo Niño to give me a “sign” where he wanted to be. By chance, I mentioned to Sr. Mary Lucy that I was praying for a “sign”. She spontaneously remarked: “Leave the Santo Niño in San Jose. I will keep it in my room.” That was the “sign” I was waiting for!
In today’s Gospel episode (Lk 11:29-32), the adversaries of Jesus ask for a “sign”, but he refuses to oblige to their terms. It is futile to give a further sign to an “evil generation” that chooses not to believe. His opponents have accused him of driving out demons by the power of Beelzebul. They have also demanded from him a sign of divine authority - proof that his authority comes from God and not from the prince of demons. Jesus counters that they will not be given any sign, except the “sign of Jonah”. Jonah was a prophet sent by God to the Ninevites to move them to conversion. Just as Jonah became a sign and means of salvation for the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be the sign and means of salvation for all generations and creation.
The pagan Ninevites and the Queen of the South are models of receptivity to the Word that summons us to conversion. Jesus is the incarnate wisdom and, as the Word of God, he is more than Jonah. Hence, the “paschal sign” of Christ is infinitely more powerful and efficacious than the “sign of Jonah”. Through Jonah, God generously extended forgiveness and salvation to the Assyrian Ninevites, a Gentile nation. But through the “Son of Man” Jesus Christ, God extends forgiveness and salvation to all nations.
B. First Reading (Gal 4:22-24, 26-27, 31-5:1): “We are children not of the slave woman but of the freeborn woman.”
In today’s First Reading (Gal. 4:22-24, 26-27, 31-5:1), Paul continues to underline the status of liberty already acquired by the Galatians when they received the Christian faith. Those who are in Christ are no longer subject to the Law. In the new life in Christ, there is no place for slavery. Using the allegory of Sarah and her children of freedom, in contrast to Hagar and her children of slavery, Paul refutes the Judaizers’ contention that Christians must follow the Torah’s legal prescriptions. Hagar represents the Sinai covenant that “enslaves” the children to the Law. Sarah represents the Abraham covenant, a context entirely free from the Torah’s legal prescriptions. For the apostle Paul, the example of Sarah and Hagar supports the reality that in Christ, God’s new freedom reigns. Paul’s statement to the Galatians is emphatic: “For freedom Christ set us free; so stand firm and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery.” Indeed, to return to “circumcision” is to fall into slavery; to adopt the practices of the Judaizers is to forfeit Christian freedom.
The following story illustrates what it means to live Christ’s gift of “freedom” (cf.
Elizabeth Sherrill in Daily Guideposts 2014, p. 317).
Dick Riley, Accountant: It was twelve-year-old Liz’s turn to go with me on an interview. But, oh dear, I thought as we set out in the car for Pennsylvania, how would she react when she saw Dick Riley?
Sixteen years earlier, an ambitious young man with a wife and a baby on the way, Dick had fallen from a ladder. Paralyzed except for partial use of one arm, his legs had been amputated so he could turn himself in bed.
“You mustn’t cry”, I coached Liz. “You mustn’t act sorry for him.”
Dick’s wife led me to the room where he sat in a motorized bed surrounded by the files of his accounting business. I wrenched my eyes from the sheet – too flat where his body ended at the hips – and met a pair of smiling eyes. “I didn’t use to smile”, he told me. “All I cared about was getting rich fast.” Too fast to follow tedious safety rules for ladder use. As for smiling: “Only at someone who could help me get ahead.”
After the interview, Dick turned to Liz. Who was her best friend? What was her hardest class? “I’ll pray at exam time.” When teenage Dicky came home, his father asked after an ailing schoolmate. A client phoned. “I won’t charge him”, Dick said afterward. “He’s struggling to keep his kid in college.”
And that self-absorbed young man he used to be? “He was a lot more handicapped than I am. Sure, I’m trapped in this useless body, but when you’re wrapped up in yourself, that’s the real prison.”
Grant me the true liberty, Father, of self-forgetfulness.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
1. Are we receptive to the grace of God and his living Word calling us to conversion? Do we greatly welcome the “sign of Jonah” into our lives?
2. Do we believe that Christ has set us free? How do we live out our freedom as children of God? Do we allow ourselves to be subjected to various “enslavements”?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
Jesus Master,
we thank you for being the “sign of Jonah” par excellence.
Help us to welcome the “paschal sign”
of your death and resurrection into our life.
Let not the pagan Ninevites and the Queen of the South condemn us,
but let their positive response be our own inspiration.
For freedom, you have set us free.
Do not allow us to become slaves again.
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.
“No sign will be given it, except the sign of Jonah.” (Lk 11:29) // “For freedom Christ set us free.” (Gal 5:1)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
Pray for those who have difficulty perceiving and welcoming the “sign of Jonah” and the “paschal sign” of Jesus Christ into their life. By your acts of charity enable the people around you to relish the “paschal sign” of Christ who calls us to salvation and sanctification. By your daily self-renunciation, endeavor to live the freedom of the children of God.
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October 15, 2024: TUESDAY – SAINT TERESA OF JESUS, Virgin, Doctor of the Church
“JESUS SAVIOR: He Teaches the Importance of Almsgiving ,,, He Shows Us that Faith Works through Love”
BIBLE READINGS
Gal 5:1-6 // Lk 11:37-41
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
A. Gospel Reading (Lk 11:37-41): “Give alms and behold, everything will be clean for you.”
When I was a young girl, I was trained to scoop up a cup of grains from the rice bin whenever the “alabado” (a beggar) knocked at our door. I would solemnly offer it to him. He would pour my offering in his woven basket and utter words of blessing. That childhood formation on almsgiving had a great effect on me. It helped me to be more compassionate and caring for the poor and needy.
Today’s Gospel (Lk 11:37-41) contains a revolutionary statement of Jesus about almsgiving. In the context of his polemic with the Pharisees, who are more concerned with ritual cleanliness than with cleanliness of the soul, Jesus asserts: “But as to what is within, give alms, and behold, everything will be clean for you.” Indeed, almsgiving is purifying. It liberates us from evil tendencies that lead to self-destruction. Jesus teaches the ritually conscious Pharisees and all of us that charity is above hand-washing rules and other humanly contrived regulations that are hard to bear. Jesus motivates his disciples to be deeply concerned with the needy and vulnerable. To take a legalistic stance and a hypocritical attitude would seriously compromise the meaning of Christian discipleship, which is deeply animated by love of God and neighbor.
The following article, circulated on the Internet, gives insight into the importance of almsgiving in the Christian life.
“Alms” is a word from Old English that refers to something, like food or money, given to the poor. As a practice, almsgiving can include many things, such as making a donation to a charitable organization or tithing to a religious institution (that is, giving one-tenth a part of something). Almsgiving is part of our baptismal calling, as it is one way to take care of our brothers and sisters, both locally and globally, and to provide for the needs of the “least of these.” In a sense, almsgiving is putting money where our mouths are, that is, giving a material gift as a sign of our commitment to follow in the steps of Jesus.
Like fasting, almsgiving is a practice that encourages us to think about our lives and ourselves in new ways. Almsgiving encourages focusing on what we have to give, rather than on what we can get for ourselves. It also can help correct our attitude toward material possessions. Rather than hoarding our things out of fear that we may not have enough, almsgiving encourages us to express gratitude for all that God has given to us by giving some away. Small acts of almsgiving help us to grow in charity, leading toward recognition of Jesus Christ in the poor of our world. Almsgiving takes us beyond an attitude of “it’s just me and God,” as we respond to the needs of others, of those who participate in the Body of Christ with us. (…)
Almsgiving and tithing do not have to involve money. Take a look at your closet and what is in your room. Could you donate 10% of your clothes, items that are in good condition that you do not use but that someone else could? Do you have books in good condition that could be donated to a homeless shelter or school? Think about how many hours of “free time” you have each week. Could you donate 10% of that time to charity or justice work — serving lunch at a soup kitchen, writing letters for Amnesty International, joining Big Brother/Big Sister?
B. First Reading (Gal 5:1-6): “Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.”
In today’s first reading (Gal 5:1-6), Saint Paul underlines that justification in Christ produces a new Christian identity. The Christian believers are now righteous and free. Paul authoritatively exhorts the Galatians to remain free. He warns them that to return to circumcision is to be obliged to observe the entire Law. The real issue, however, is not circumcision or non-circumcision. The fundamental opposition is between the justice sought in the fulfillment of the Law and the justice caused by God, that is, the salvation won for us by the innocent crucified Jesus Christ. The justice through legal observance “enslaves” while the justice through faith in Christ frees, produces life and saves. Our hope of righteousness is based not on the Law, but on Christ’s redeeming act. Moreover, when we are in union with Christ Jesus what matters is faith that works through love. Freedom in Christ is manifested in communitarian and disinterested love.
The following modern day account gives insight into “the faith that works through love” (cf. Rebecca Ondov in Daily Guideposts 2014, p. 80).
Unrelenting screams drifted down the Jetway and through the plane as I searched for my seat. Scooting next to the window, I stuffed my long legs in place and looked up to see a mother wrestling with a three-year-old boy – the source of the screams – into the seat next to mine. I closed my eyes. God, this must be a mistake.
In spite of the mother’s trying to comfort her son, the screams escalated when the plane lurched back from the gate and rumbled down the runway. My ears throbbed. Staring out the window, I whined, God please shut him up. Yet in spirit I heard, “Help him.” But, God, I don’t have anything to offer. “Show him My mercy.”
I groaned. A white jet stream zigzagged across the sky. I looked at the boy. “Can you see that cloud?” Tears streamed down his face. I continued, “That’s a jet.” The boy’s brow furrowed. I asked, “Do you ever watch jets fly overheard?” He sniffed and nodded. I managed a smile. “Did you know that there are little boys watching us fly over? Let’s wave at them.”
His face brightened as he peered out the window, waved, and said, “Hi, little boys.”
The rest of the trip he waved while his mother and I chatted. When we deplaned his mother said, “I sure am glad that you sat next to us.”
I grinned. “Me, too.”
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
1. Do we realize the importance of “almsgiving” in the practice of Christian discipleship and in the cleansing of evil tendencies that lead to self-destruction? Are we guilty of concerning ourselves with external observances but not with inner attitudes and personal integrity?
2. Do we manifest our living faith through works of love?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
Jesus,
we thank you for calling us to personal integrity
and for teaching us
that charity preempts mere legal observance.
Help us to appreciate
the power and beauty of almsgiving.
Grant us the grace
to exercise almsgiving creatively and efficaciously.
Let us manifest our living faith through works of love.
You are our self-giving Lord, 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.
“Give alms, and behold, everything will be clean for you.” (Lk 11:41) // “What matters is faith that works through love.” (Gal 5:6)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
Practice almsgiving creatively and with personal dedication. In your daily life manifest your faith through works of love.
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October 16, 2024: WEDNESDAY – WEEKDAY (28); SAINT HEDWIG, Religious; SAINT MARGARET MARY
ALACOQUE, Virgin
“JESUS SAVIOR: He Denounces the Pharisees and the Lawyers … He Teaches Us How to Live by the Spirit”
BIBLE READINGS
Gal 5:18-25 // Lk 11:42-46
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
A. Gospel Reading (Lk 11:42-46): “Woe to you Pharisees! Woe also to you scholars of the law!”
A religious habit, the special dress worn by Sisters, is a sign of religious consecration and a witness to poverty. To wear a religious habit entails blessings as well as responsibilities. People have high expectations of those wearing a religious habit. They are deluded when a Sister’s behavior does not conform to the high ideals they profess. Once, I was at a crowded boarding area in the Houston airport, trying to catch my connecting flight to San Jose. Since I was eager to board immediately and find a space for my bulky carry-on luggage, I unwittingly cut into the passengers’ line. One disgusted lady muttered: “How shameful!” I felt very sorry and ashamed. The irked passenger was justified in chastising me. I therefore resolved to be more attentive and respectful of the rights of other passengers.
In today’s Gospel episode (Lk 11:42-46), Jesus is fully justified in chastising the Pharisees and scribes for their lapses and hypocrisy. They have distorted their priorities and have neglected the essentials. They pay tithes meticulously, but fail to pay the debt of justice and charity. They seek recognition in synagogues and marketplaces, but fail to give honor to God through integrity of heart. They are to lead the people on the right path, but by their hypocrisy and false teachings they lead them astray instead. Hence, his description of them as “unseen graves” is very fitting. Jesus likewise admonishes the scholars of the law for imposing on people heavy burdens which they themselves do not wish to carry. They use the law to punish the people instead of interpreting it for them as a gift of God. The Pharisees and scribes, having studied the Torah and the prophetic writings, should have set their priorities right. With all the special resources and tools they have received, they should have known better. On account of the greater graces they have received, they have greater accountability and responsibility.
B. First Reading (Gal 5:18-25): “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified their flesh with its passions and desires.”
We conclude the liturgical reading of Saint Paul’s letter to the Galatians on a positive note. Today’s passage (Gal 5:18-25) underlines that the Christian has died not only to the Law but also to his “self” (sarx), with all its earthbound, limited and degrading tendencies. The lifestyle of a Christian is characterized by vitality, that is, by a living relationship with Christ in the Spirit. Those who live by the Spirit bear the “fruit of the Spirit”, which is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. This is to be contrasted with the deeds of the “flesh”, which can be clustered into four groups: sexual aberrations (immorality, impurity, licentiousness); heathen worship (idolatry, sorcery); social evils (hatred, rivalry, jealousy, outbursts of fury, acts of selfishness, dissensions, factions, occasions of envy) and intemperance (drinking bouts, orgies and the like). Although the tendencies of the flesh do not disappear in human beings, Saint Paul reminds us that those who belong to Christ have crucified their flesh with its passions and desires. Moreover, if we live in the Spirit and follow the lead of the Spirit, we prevail over the power of the flesh.
The following personal account illustrates a Christian’s struggle to live by the lead of the Spirit (cf. Debbi Macomber in Daily Guideposts 2010, p. 135).
My husband and I both grew up in small towns. Colville, Washington, Wayne’s hometown, had the only stoplight in the entire county when we got married. Twenty-four years ago, when we moved to Port Orchard, there was only one stoplight in town. Even now neither of us is accustomed to dealing with a lot of traffic. We know we’re spoiled, and that’s the way we like it.
When Jazmine, our oldest granddaughter was around three years old, I picked her up in Seattle and drove her to Port Orchard. As luck would have it, I hit heavy traffic. For what seemed like hours we crawled at a snail’s pace toward the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. In order to keep Jazmine entertained, I sang songs and made up silly stories. She chatted away happily in her car seat. Not so with me. My nerves were fried.
Finally I couldn’t stand it any longer. “Jazmine, just look at all these cars”, I muttered as I pressed on the horn. What’s the matter with these people anyway? Obviously, they don’t realize I have places to go and people to see. Normally the drive took forty minutes, and I’d already been on the road an hour.
“Grandma”, Jazmine asked from the backseat, “are we in a hurry?”
Oh, Father, thank you for my sweet granddaughter and the reminder of what is really important: spending time with her.
Here is another beautiful story. It is about an experience of the “fruit of the Spirit”, a marvelous gift (cf. Tim Williams, Daily Guideposts 2014, p. 206).
Dianne, my wife, can tolerate a lot of pain, but her arthritic hip finally forced her to accept that it was time for surgery. She was in the hospital for three days after her hip-replacement operation. I was with her most of the time, but several dedicated nurses were with her all the time.
Yes, we are grateful for the skills of the surgeon and for nurses who can expertly find a vein when inserting a needle for an IV. And, yes, competence should be the tenth fruit of the Spirit. But in the course of the minute-by-minute duration of recovery, there is nothing more important than kindness, one of nine spiritual gifts listed in Paul’s letter to the Galatians.
“I’m just doing my job”, Nurse Kelley gently chided me after I thanked her more than once for taking care of my wife. How wrong she was! Kindness is a gift, not an obligation. Kelley, Bonnie, James, Lisa, and others whose names I’ve forgotten gave us that gift, again and again, until Dianne was able to come home.
Thank You, God, for the kindness of others. Please bless those who share such a precious gift.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
1. Do I behave in ways that deserve censure and condemnation? What do I do to rectify the awful things I have done?
2. Do we live by the Spirit and follow the Spirit’s lead? Do we manifest the “fruit of the Spirit” in our lives?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
Heavenly Father,
we thank you for Jesus, the Divine Master.
He exposes our hypocrisy and duplicity
that we may rectify our evil ways.
He leads us on the road to wholeness and personal integrity.
Help us to love God wholeheartedly
and serve our neighbors devotedly.
Let us always live by the Spirit
and follow his lead in our daily Christian life.
Fill us the “fruits of the 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.
“You pay no attention to judgment and to love for God.” (Lk 11:42) // “If we live in the Spirit, let us also follow the Spirit.” (Gal 5:25)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
When you receive some chastisement for a failure or a misdeed, do not react negatively, but humbly welcome it. Resolve to rectify your actions so as to become a better disciple of Christ. Pray for the grace to always manifest in your daily life the “fruit of the Spirit”.
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October 17, 2024: THURSDAY – SAINT IGNATIUS OF ANTIOCH, Bishop, Martyr
“JESUS SAVIOR: He Suffered Persecution … He Calls Us to Holiness”
BIBLE READINGS
Eph 1:1-10 // Lk 11:47-54
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
A. Gospel Reading (Lk 11:47-54): “The blood of the prophets is required, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah.”
In today’s Gospel reading (Lk 11:47-54), Jesus calls the scribes or teachers of the Law to accountability. They build fine tombs for the prophets their ancestors murdered. But their hostility and resistance to Jesus’ prophetic words replicate the very actions of their ancestors who persecuted and killed the prophets. Moreover, the Divine Master lambastes them for “taking away the key of knowledge”. They have distorted the true understanding of God and salvation. By perverting and misusing the Law, they are not able to enter God’s kingdom and stop others who are trying to come in. Today’s episode ends ominously. When Jesus leaves, the scribes join the Pharisees in criticizing him bitterly. Moreover, they lay traps for him, intending to catch him saying something wrong.
The following modern day account gives insight into the hostility and persecution that Jesus suffered (cf. Elizabeth Sherrill in Daily Guideposts 2014, p. 220).
Rebmann Wamba, Presbyterian Pastor: It was a typical noisy market scene in Kenya, except for the sudden silence surrounding the stall where Rebmann Wamba had stopped to bargain over a stalk of matoke bananas. It was the same at the poultry vendor’s, where he purchased a chicken (live), and the tea seller’s, where he counted out the copper for two tea bags.
My husband and I were interviewing Wamba about his transformation from violent Mau Mau chieftain to ordained Presbyterian pastor. Once hailed as a freedom fighter, he’d told us, he’d become a despised outsider. We saw this now ourselves as hostile eyes followed him on his errands.
The chicken and tea were luxuries in our honor. Wamba had invited us to Sunday dinner with his wife and eight children in their mud-and-wattle home in Ngecha, and afterward to the service at his church. Walls were all it had. No roof. No floor. But a congregation overflowing the wood-plank benches. A drummer beat out the rhythm of a joyous opening hymn. For two hours, Wamba preached in Kiswahili while we watched the rapt faces of this embattled minority.
With the closing hymn, a collection was taken. The congregation’s offerings, Wamba has told us, were the church’s only support. I looked into the basket, which held a few penny coppers, two eggs, and an ear of corn. How long, I wondered, till a roof rose over these walls? And how long had I taken for granted the roof over our lovely stone church at home? How long had I tranquilly called myself a Christian and never encountered the hostile gaze of a neighbor?
Remind me, Lord, of all those who have paid the price for following You.
B. First Reading (Eph 1:1-10): “God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world.”
We begin the semi-continuous reading of Saint Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. In today’s reading (Eph 1:1-10), we are invited to contemplate the comprehensive character and vast horizon of our vocation as Church. The author of the letter to the Ephesians makes us relish the following heart-warming reality: God chose us in Christ. God has bestowed upon us every spiritual blessing in Christ. One of the most remarkable blessings for which we render the almighty God thanksgiving and praise is our vocation to be holy and our destiny to become his adopted children through his beloved Son, who redeemed us by his blood.
By the paschal sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the mystery or the marvelous plan of the Father to unite all things in his Son is wisely and fully revealed. God destined people of all races, both Jews and Gentiles alike, to share in this plan of total restoration in Jesus Christ. Moreover, the heavenly Father gives us the gift of the Holy Spirit as a pledge of this universal integration and cosmic unification. Our ultimate Christian vocation then, which has its origin from God even before the world began, is to participate in the divine saving plan “to restore all things into one in Christ, in the heavens and on earth” (Eph 1:10). In Jesus Christ, the Wisdom of God, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, we look forward to be united with God the Father forever and with all creation.
The following story is a beautiful example of a person who played a wonderful part in God’s plan of salvation (cf. “ErnstT” by Mary Chandler in The Way of St. Francis, March-April 2009, p. 12-20). In his unique and humble way, the Swiss-born American, Ernst Belz embraced his call to holiness and played an important role in restoring all things in Christ Jesus.
Sometimes a small body contains a heart as big as the whole outdoors. My friend, Ernst Belz, had such a heart. Standing four feet four inches tall, he refused to be hampered by his physical limitations. He hiked. He skied. He was a mountaineer. He lived life fully – and he touched the lives of all he met. Encouraged by our writing class, Ernst collected some of the stories he had read to us into a book, which he called Glimpses of My Life. The youngest of five children, Ernst grew up in a remote area in the Swiss mountains. His life was never easy; but at an early age he showed compassion for the needs of others. During the harsh winter months, he put hay in crib-like stalls for the elk and deer so they wouldn’t starve. He split wood for his mother’s cooking stove and her bread-baking oven, while at the same time mourning the loss of the beloved tree that had been his friend. In one chapter in his book he talks with a spruce that had to be cut down. The tree convinced Ernst that its sacrifice would benefit the family as firewood and by opening up more space and sunlight for other trees. Ernst’s final request to the spruce was simply: “May I embrace you once more?” (…)
In 1934, Ernst immigrated to the United States on the Queen Mary. He disembarked at New York Harbor, wobbly and unsteady on his feet after four days of being seasick, and was welcomed by his sponsors, a young Swiss couple who had immigrated earlier. “As we left the pier”, Ernst said, “it saddened me to notice some lonely and rather bewildered immigrants whom nobody had welcomed. Did they know where they would spend their first night on American soil?” A month later, he left his friends’ home in Connecticut to live in a hostel-type facility, the Sloane House, in New York City. Ernst was determined to “make it”. Every day he went job hunting. American slang proved to be a challenge. One morning a student waiter asked him how he wanted his eggs. Ernst wondered how to order “sunny-side up”. He asked for “two eggs looking at me”, which made the waiter roar with laughter. One morning at Sloane House, a well-dressed gentleman joined Ernst at breakfast and asked if he had a church home. He didn’t. Ernst joined the group, made friends, and for the next four and a half years these young men and women, he said, put meaning and purpose into his life. Ernst landed his first job with a food importer and manufacturing company, where he was expected to keep track of raw materials from the time of shipping until the shipment arrived. He processed the documentation, particularly the proper handling of the bill of lading and the negotiations of the letters of credit. During the job interview, Ernst said, he was touched by his boss’ sensitivity “when he was wondering if the chair would be comfortable because of my height”. Three months after his arrival in the United States, Ernst had a job as the assistant to the vice president. (…)
The final years of Ernst’s active life were spent with the Franciscans. A Benedictine priest invited Ernst to the San Damiano Retreat House in the hills near Danville in Northern California to visit his Franciscan friends. Ernst learned that the Franciscans were beginning the “Franciscan Covenant Program” for lay people, which meant that single men, women, or retired married couples would commit themselves to live and work with the Franciscans for a period of time and share their spiritual life. Ernst decided to leave his position at the University of the Pacific to join the program three years before his scheduled retirement. (…) During his time in the Franciscan Covenant Program, Ernst served, for a few weeks each year, at the Paz Y Bien Franciscan orphanage in Guaymas, Sonora Province in Mexico. “What a privileged opportunity it was! This time I was working and living in the midst of about seventy children between the ages of three and a half and eleven years. Although some of them were the poorest of the poor, their happy and cheerful little faces seemed to light up the whole world … I doubt that there could have been a more meaningful way for me to end my active life than to serve in the midst of those dear, innocent little orphan children.” In the picture he brought to class, Ernst blended in so well with the children that he had to point himself out to us. (…)
Eventually, Ernst stopped coming to the writing class. The trip became too much for him. He spent the last few months of his life in a care facility in Oceanside, California, where he recently passed away. Long ago, Ernst came to the conclusion that “economic success does not necessarily bring personal contentment”. The orphans, “some of them the poorest of the poor, have nothing, yet their happy, smiling and contented faces light up an otherwise dark and hopeless world like little candles.” Because of his tender heart, his quest for knowledge, and his loving outlook and philosophy, I was not surprised when a friend from Oceanside, California sent me a clipping from the San Diego Union-Tribune, dated May 12, 2006. At the dedication of a special Heritage Room, the library director announced that the late Ernst Belz has bequeathed $67,667 to the Oceanside Public Library. Somewhere, my small friend with his big heart is smiling.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
1. Have you ever met hostility or persecution for proclaiming the Christian faith? How did you respond to it?
2. What is the personal meaning and implication for you of Paul’s affirmation, “God chose us in Christ”?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
Loving Father,
we praise you for the bounty of your spiritual blessings,
especially our vocation to holiness
and our pre-destiny as your beloved children in Christ.
By the strength of the Holy Spirit,
help us to participate fully in your saving plan
to unite all peoples and restore all things in Christ.
Strengthen us when we suffer persecution and hostility
for being true to our faith.
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.
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
Pray for today’s persecuted Christians and see in what way you can help Christian refugees. By your commitment to the dignity of the human person and the care for God’s creation, endeavor to promote the divine saving plan “to restore all things in Christ”.
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October 18, 2024: FRIDAY – SAINT LUKE EVANGELIST
“JESUS SAVIOR: He Calls Us to Proclaim the Advent of God’s Kingdom … He Gives Strength to His Missionaries”
BIBLE READINGS
2 Tm 4:10-17b // Lk 10:1-9
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
A. Gospel Reading (Lk 10:1-9): “The harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few.”
This happened in November of 1984 in Bombay, India. I accompanied our Italian Superior to a cemetery where hundreds of Italian soldiers, who died during World War II, were buried. A special memorial service was held for them. Italian citizens and members of the diplomatic corps attended the celebration, which was graced by the presence of the Italian Minister of Finance, the Honorable Signor Spadolini. After the laying of the floral wreath, a Mass followed. Two good-looking young men were actively participating in the Mass. Probably, the sons of some diplomats, I thought. After the Mass, the two were introduced to us as members of Chiara Lubich’s Focolare Movement. They were residing and working in the slums of Bombay. As we hitched a ride back home, a Sister was reciting a litany of miseries. She cynically asked, “Where is the Kingdom of God, tell me!” One of the two Focolare missionaries answered, “The Kingdom of God is within you!” She sobered up.
The Gospel reading (Lk 10:1-9) depicts the mission of Christian disciples to be bearers of peace and the Gospel joy as they move from village to village, proclaiming the coming of God’s kingdom. The image of the “rich harvest” signifies the peoples of the whole world that need to be gathered into the kingdom of God. In order to be more efficacious in gathering the people of God as in a “rich harvest”, Jesus gives his disciples remarkable directives. They are to travel light and not to carry any moneybag, sack or sandals. The detachment from material goods would enable them to uphold the absolute priority of preaching the Good News. The spirit of detachment would also help them to trust more deeply in Divine Providence and oblige them to rely humbly on the hospitality of those who are receptive to the Gospel. The mission of the Christian disciples is urgent. Hence, they are enjoined not to greet anyone on the way. Above all, they need to persevere. Even if not always welcomed, they are to continue to bring the peace of Christ and the Good News of the Kingdom. Their power to heal the sick would reinforce their message that the Kingdom of God is at hand.
B. First Reading (2 Tm 4: 10-17b): “Luke alone is with me.”
As we celebrate the feast of Saint Luke, Evangelist, the First Reading (2 Tm 4:10-17b) underlines the loneliness that Christian disciples may experience in their apostolic ministry. Saint Paul speaks of being abandoned, but in the midst of a general disloyalty he is consoled by the loyalty of some faithful apostolic workers. He remarks that “Luke is the only one with me”. Paul also requests Timothy to come and to bring with him Mark, who is helpful to Paul in his ministry. Noteworthy is the apostle’s avowal of faith and the meaning of his mission: “The Lord stood by me and gave me strength, so that through me the proclamation might be completed and all the Gentiles might hear it.”
In Paul’s apostolic ministry he has Saint Luke as one of his eminent fellow workers. Considered as patron saint of artists, physicians, surgeons, students and butchers, Saint Luke authored the third Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles. These works give important information about Christ and the early Church. Below are some excerpts from EWTN’s article on Saint Luke that can be accessed on the Internet.
St. Luke was a native of Antioch, the metropolis of Syria, a city famous for the agreeableness of its situation, the riches of its traffic, its extent, the number of its inhabitants, the politeness of their manners, and their learning and wisdom. Its schools were the most renowned in all Asia, and produced the ablest masters in all arts and sciences. St. Luke acquired a stock of learning in his younger years, which we are told he improved by his travels in some parts of Greece and Egypt. St. Jerome assures us he was very eminent in his profession, and St. Paul, by calling him his most dear physician, seems to indicate that he had not laid it aside.
Besides his abilities in physics, he is said to have been very skillful in painting. The Menology of the Emperor Basil, compiled in 980, Nicephorus, Metaphrastes, and other modern Greeks quoted by Gretzer in his dissertation on this subject, speak much of his excelling in this art, and of his leaving many pictures of Christ and the Blessed Virgin. Though neither the antiquity nor the credit of these authors is of great weight, it must be acknowledged, with a very judicious critic, that some curious anecdotes are found in their writings. In this particular, what they tell us is supported by the authority of Theodorus Lector, who lived in 518, and relates that a picture of the Blessed Virgin painted by St. Luke was sent from Jerusalem to the Empress Pulcheria, who placed it in the church of Hodegorum which she built in her honour at Constantinople. Moreover, a very ancient inscription was found in a vault near the Church of St. Mary in via lata in Rome, in which it is said of a picture of the Blessed Virgin Mary discovered there, "One of the seven painted by St. Luke." Three or four such pictures are still in being; the principal is that placed by Paul V in the Barghesian chapel in St. Mary Major.
About the year 56 St. Paul sent St. Luke with St. Titus to Corinth with such high commendation that his praise in the gospel resounded throughout all the churches. St. Luke attended him to Rome, whither he was sent prisoner from Jerusalem in 61. The apostle remained there two years in chains; but was permitted to live in a house which he hired, though under the custody of a constant guard; and there he preached to those who daily resorted to hear him. St. Luke was the apostle's faithful assistant and attendant during his confinement, and had the comfort to see him set at liberty in 63, the year in which this evangelist finished his Acts of the Apostles.
St. Luke did not forsake his master after he was released from his confinement. That apostle in his last imprisonment at Rome writes that the rest had all left him, and that St. Luke alone was with him. St. Epiphanius says that after the martyrdom of St. Paul, St. Luke preached in Italy, Gaul, Dalmatia, and Macedon. By Gaul some understand Cisalpine Gaul, others Galatia. Fortunatus and Metaphrastus say he passed into Egypt and preached in Thebais. St. Hippolytus says St. Luke was crucified at Elaea in Peloponnesus near Achaia. The modern Greeks tell us he was crucified on an olive tree. The ancient African Martyrology of the fifth age gives him the titles of Evangelist and Martyr.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
1. Do we follow Jesus’ instructions to his disciples, especially with regards to the sense of urgency, spirit of trust and detachment, and absolute commitment that the mission of the Gospel entails? Do we take to heart Jesus’ exhortation: “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)?
2. How does the life and ministry of Saint Luke inspire you? Do you believe that God, who has strengthen Saint Paul, Saint Luke and the other apostles-disciples, will also stand by you and give you strength?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
(Cf. Opening Prayer of the Mass on the Feast of Saint Luke)
Father,
you chose Luke the evangelist to reveal
by preaching and writing
the mystery of your love for the poor.
Unite in one heart and spirit
all who glory in your name.
Grant 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 week. Please memorize it.
“The kingdom of God is at hand for you.” (Lk 10:9) // “The Lord stood by me and gave me strength.” (2 Tm 4:17)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
In your daily life and by your acts of charity, especially to the poor and needy, be bearers of the joy of the Gospel. Make an effort to study prayerfully the Gospel of Saint Luke and the Acts of the Apostles.
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October 19, 2024: SATURDAY – SAINTS JOHN DE BREBEUF AND ISAAC JOGUES, Priests, AND COMPANIONS, Martyrs
“JESUS SAVIOR: He Invites Us to Trust in the Holy Spirit … He Is Head Over All Things”
BIBLE READINGS
Eph 1:15-23 // Lk 12:8-12
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
A. Gospel Reading (Lk 11:27-28): “The Holy Spirit will teach you at that moment what you should say.”
In December 1989 I was to make a public defense of my doctoral dissertation, “James Alberione and the Liturgical Movement” at the Pontifical Liturgical Institute of St. Anselm in Rome. I was anxious and distressed, but the Gospel reading at Mass during the day of the thesis defense gave me strength: “Do not worry about how or what your defense will be or about to say. For the Holy Spirit will teach you at that moment what you should say.” The Holy Spirit truly came to my aid. Everything went well and I even got a “ten out of ten” for my oral defense.
In today’s Gospel reading (Lk 12:8-12), Jesus assures his followers through time and space that they have the Holy Spirit to speak for them in times of trial. Christians subjected to persecution have the Holy Spirit as their teacher and defender. They need not worry how to defend themselves or what words to say when they are brought to court. The Holy Spirit will give them strength and wisdom to witness to their faith in Jesus. But they need to be receptive to the Spirit and allow him to work in them. To reject the Holy Spirit who offers forgiveness, repentance and renewal is to reject salvation. Jesus’ contemporaries who rejected him during his earthly ministry would have another chance through the gift of the Spirit at Pentecost. But to resist the Holy Spirit, the Easter gift, is to refuse deliberately the Father’s saving will. To close oneself to the Spirit is to negate the experience of God’s peace and reconciliation.
B. First Reading (Eph 1:15-23): “He gave Christ as head over all things to the Church, which is his Body.”
According to St. Paul, the Church, whose head is the One seated at the right hand in the heavens, is the fullness of Jesus (Eph 1:23). Just as Jesus is the fullness of the Father, so the Church is the fullness of Jesus. Each one of us, as members of the Church, is called to attain the full stature of Christ (Eph 4:13) and his fullness. As baptized Christians we are all invited to attain personally to the full stature of Christ. To us is given the mandate to proclaim the Gospel to every creature, so as to achieve the cosmic fullness willed by God and hoped for by us.
The following family experience gives insight into what it means growing into the full stature of Christ (cf. Scott Walkers in Daily Guideposts 2014, p. 126).
How do you express gratitude to someone who has shaped your life? I pondered this recently when I attended the seventy-fifth wedding anniversary of my uncle Clarence and aunt Shirley Walker.
My grandfather Eddie Walker was a successful rancher on the high plains of eastern Colorado. One day in 1933, he asked my father, Al. to ride with him to pick up supplies. Walking into a store, my grandfather suddenly collapsed. His stomach ulcer had perforated in an age prior to antibiotics. Within three days. he was dead, leaving his wife, Callie, a sixteen-year-old son, Clarence, and my fourteen-year-old father to run a ranch at the height of the Great Depression. It seemed an impossible challenge.
However, Clarence dropped out of high school and poured his energy into saving the ranch, insisting that my father remain in school and help only as time permitted. Later, Clarence encouraged him to attend college. Over the next eight years, my father earned a PhD in theology and became a minister, teacher, and missionary.
As I flew to Colorado, I promised to say thank you. Clarence and Shirley are frail and live in an assisted-living facility. Both are deaf, and there would be few private moments for conversation. However, the time came on the evening following the anniversary celebration. Sitting quietly by Clarence’s bed, I placed my hand on his and quietly said a simple prayer of thanksgiving for a good and loving man. I know he heard me and God did too.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
1. In moments of trial and persecution do you call upon the Holy Spirit to give you courage and strength? How do you manifest your trust in the Holy Spirit?
2. Does the quality of my service promote a person’s growth in the full stature of Christ and help achieve his fullness in all creation?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
Lord Jesus,
help us to acknowledge you in today’s world
so that on judgment day,
you will acknowledge us before God’s angelic court.
In times of persecution and trials,
send us your Holy Spirit
to defend, teach and speak for us.
Help us always to be receptive
and obedient to his promptings.
You live and reign, forever and ever.
Amen.
***
Loving Father,
you have given your Son rule over the works of your hands.
Grant us the spirit of wisdom resulting in knowledge of him.
May the eyes of our hearts be enlightened
that we may know the riches of glory in his inheritance.
We glorify and serve 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.
“The Holy Spirit will teach you at that moment what you should say.” (Lk 12:12) //“He put all things beneath his feet.” (Eph 1:22)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
In your resolve to give an authentic Christian witness invoke the Holy Spirit to give you wisdom and strength. // Using a map or a globe, offer a prayer for the Church’s mission to spread the Good News to all creatures and do what you can to promote this Christian mandate.
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Prepared by Sr. Mary Margaret Tapang PDDM
PIAE DISCIPULAE DIVINI MAGISTRI
SISTER DISCIPLES OF THE DIVINE MASTER
60 Sunset Ave., Staten Island, NY 10314
Tel. (718) 494-8597 // (718) 761-2323
Website: WWW.PDDM.US