Memorial of Saints Martha, Mary and Lazarus

“When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him; but Mary sat at home.” (John 11:20.)

Origen of Alexandria (part 2 of Pope Benedict’s reflections on Origen) comments on this verse from the Gospel proclaimed at Mass today:

“Since Mary is a type of the contemplative life, Martha of the active, Lazarus of him who has fallen into sins after believing, naturally Mary and Martha mourn for Lazarus, and in mourning they need the comfort concerning their brother which the Jews wish to bring them. But before the fullness of time, words despair of being able to make the sister of the dead cease from weeping over him.

Martha seems more eager than Mary, since Martha first ran to Jesus, while Mary remained sitting in the house. Therefore Martha, who was somewhat inferior in this regard, ran to Jesus while Mary remains in the house to receive him as one who was able to bear his presence. And she would not have gone out from her house if she had not heard her sister say, “The teacher has arrived and is calling you.” And she did not simply get up but did so quickly, and falling at Jesus’ feet said what she said. The other sister had not fallen at his feet.” (Fragment 80.)

Collect

O God, Whose Son
called Lazarus back to life from the grave
and was pleased to be a guest in the home of Martha,
grant us, we pray,
that, faithfully serving him in our brothers and sisters,
we, with Mary, may be found worthy to be nourished
by the contemplation of His word.
Who lives and reigns with You
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.

Glory to the Father
and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and will be forever. Amen

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In our home the law of loveis ordered in three ways

Saint Bernard of Clairvaux

Abbot and Doctor of the Church

An excerpt from Sermon 3
on the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Memorial of Saints Martha, Mary and Lazarus

Let us consider, brothers, how here in our home the ordering of love assigns these three things: service to Martha, contemplation to Mary, penance to Lazarus. The soul that possesses all these at the same time is complete; however, each of them seems to pertain more to distinct individuals, so that some are free for holy contemplation, others give themselves to fraternal service, while still others ponder their years in the bitterness of their soul, like wounded individuals sleeping in graves. It is therefore plainly necessary that Mary think devoutly and sublimely about her God, Martha kindly and mercifully about her neighbor, Lazarus sadly and humbly about himself.

Let each one consider where he stands. Even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were in this city, they could only save themselves by their righteousness, says the Lord, they could save neither son nor daughter (Ezekiel 14:14-16). We delude no one; would that none of you fool yourself! Indeed, for those to whom no stewardship has been entrusted, no particular service assigned, you will be placed either with Mary at the feet of Jesus or with Lazarus securely within the walls of his tomb. Why should Martha, who was anxious about many people, not be concerned about many things? But to you who are under no pressure from this need, one of two things is necessary: either not to be anxious at all, but to delight rather in the Lord; or, if you are not yet able to do this, do not be anxious about many things, but, as the prophet says of himself, be anxious for yourself.

It is necessary, however, that Martha herself also be warned, for there will be a thorough search among stewards to see if any are found faithful. She will indeed be faithful who, with a pure intention, seeks not her own things but the things of Jesus Christ; nor does her own will, but the Lord’s, so that her action is well ordered. For there are some whose eye is not single, and they receive their reward. There are others who are carried on the impulses of their emotions, and all the things that they offer have been tainted because in them are displayed their own wills.

Come with me now to the wedding song of Solomon. Let us consider how the groom, when he calls the bride, neither omits nor adds to any of these three things. Arise, he says, come quickly, my friend, my fair one, my dove, and come (Song of Songs 2:13-14). Is this friend not she who, intent upon the riches of the Lord, faithfully disposes also her very soul for his sake? For whenever she sets aside a spiritual exercise for the sake of one of the least of his, she spiritually lays down her life for him. Is she not fair who with unveiled face, by gazing upon the glory of the Lord, is transformed into the same image from glory to glory, as by the Spirit of the Lord? Surely the dove that sighs and moans in the clefts of the rock, in the hollows of the wall, is also buried beneath a stone?.


Truly great and manifest are the goodness and humanity of God. He has given us a most wonderful proof of his goodness by adding humanity to his own divine nature.

 
 
 
 
 

Tuesday of the Seventeenth Weekin Ordinary Time

“Do not spurn us, for your name’s sake; do not dishonor your glorious throne; remember and do not break your covenant with us…” (Jeremiah 14:21.)

Saint Jerome offers the following insight on this verse from today’s First Reading:

“He is saying, We and our ancestors have also neglected the precepts of God by the same insanity. The measure of our ancestors, therefore, is filled up in us, in such a way that whatever was coming due to them would be added to our measure. This is why it was said, concerning Judah: “May the Lord remember his fathers and may the sin of his mother not be forgotten! May they always be opposed to the Lord, and may their memory be eradicated from the earth!

We should not think that the glorious throne of God is only the throne of the temple, which was repeatedly destroyed, but that it is also every saint who is cast down and destroyed when he offends God by his multitude of sins, according to what is written: “You have cast his throne to the ground.” Nevertheless, the one who perishes from his own guilt is sustained by the clemency of the Lord, whereby the severity of the sentence is altered, lest the Lord invalidate his covenant in which he promised to be our coming salvation.” (Six Books on Jeremiah, 3.)

Collect

O God,
protector of those who hope in You,
without Whom nothing has firm foundation, nothing is holy,
bestow in abundance Your mercy upon us
and grant that, with You as our ruler and guide,
we may use the good things that pass
in such a way as to hold fast even now
to those that ever endure.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son
Who lives and reigns with You
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.

Glory to the Father
and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and will be forever. Amen

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Sow integrity for yourselves

Saint Basil the Great

Bishop and Great Eastern Father of the Church

An excerpt from a A Sermon on Charity

Tuesday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time

Man should be like the earth and bear fruit; he should not let inanimate matter appear to surpass him. The earth bears crops for your benefit, not for its own, but when you give to the poor, you are bearing fruit which you will gather in for yourself, since the reward for good deeds goes to those who perform them. Give to a hungry man, and what you give becomes yours, and indeed it returns to you with interest. As the sower profits from wheat that falls onto the ground, so will you profit greatly in the world to come from the bread that you place before a hungry man. Your husbandry must be the sowing of heavenly seed: Sow integrity for yourselves, says Scripture.

You are going to leave your money behind you here whether you wish to or not. On the other hand, you will take with you to the Lord the honor that you have won through good works. In the presence of the universal judge, all the people will surround you, acclaim you as a public benefactor, and tell of your generosity and kindness.

Do you not see how people throw away their wealth on theatrical performances, boxing contests, mimes and fights between men and wild beasts, which are sickening to see, and all for the sake of fleeting honor and popular applause? If you are miserly with your money, how can you expect any similar honor? Your reward for the right use of the things in this world will be everlasting glory, a crown of righteousness, and the kingdom of heaven; God will welcome you, the angels will praise you, all men who have existed since the world began will call you blessed. Do you care nothing for these things, and spurn the hopes that lie in the future for the sake of your present enjoyment? Come, distribute your wealth freely, give generously to those who are in need. Earn for yourself the psalmist’s praise: He gave freely to the poor; his righteousness will endure for ever.

How grateful you should be to your own benefactor; how you should beam with joy at the honor of having other people come to your door, instead of being obliged to go to theirs! But you are now ill-humored and unapproachable; you avoid meeting people, in case you might be forced to loosen your purse-strings even a little. You can say only one thing: “I have nothing to give you. I am only a poorman.” A poor man you certainly are, and destitute of all real riches; you are poor in love, generosity, faith in God and hope for eternal happiness.

Glory to the Father
and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and will be forever. Amen

 

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Monday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time

“Take the loincloth that you have bought, which is around your waist, and arise, rgo to the Euphrates and hide it there in sa cleft of the rock…” (Jeremiah 13:4)

Saint Jerome offers the following insight on this verses from today’s First Reading:

“Yet such is the order of nature. While truth is always bitter, pleasantness waits upon evildoing. Isaiah goes naked without blushing, as a type of the captivity to come. Jeremiah is sent from Jerusalem to the Euphrates (a river in Mesopotamia) and leaves his girdle to be marred in the Chaldaean camp, among the Assyrians hostile to his people. Ezekiel is told to eat bread made of mingled seeds and baked over the dung of people and cattle. He is commanded to experience the death of his wife without shedding a tear. Amos is driven from Samaria. Why is he driven from it? Surely in this case, as in the others, because he was a spiritual surgeon who cut away the parts diseased by sin and urged people to repentance. The apostle Paul says, “Am I therefore become your enemy because I tell you the truth?” And so the Savior found it, from whom many of the disciples turned back from following him because his sayings seemed hard.” (Letter 40)

Collect

O God, protector of those who hope in You
without Whom nothing has firm foundation,
nothing is holy,
bestow in abundance Your mercy upon us
and grant that,
with You as our ruler and guide,
we may use the good things that pass
in such a way as to hold fast even now
to those that ever endure.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,
who lives and reigns with You
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.

Glory to the Father
and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and will be forever. Amen

Divine and Human Mercy

Saint Caesarius of Arles

An excerpt from Sermon 25

Monday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. My brothers and sisters, sweet is the thought of mercy, but even more so is mercy itself. It is what all men hope for, but unfortunately, not what all men deserve. For while all men wish to receive it, only a few are willing to give it.

How can a man ask for himself what he refuses to give to another? If he expects to receive any mercy in heaven, he should give mercy on earth. Do we all desire to receive mercy? Let us make mercy our patroness now, and she will free us in the world to come. Yes, there is mercy in heaven, but the road to it is paved by our merciful acts on earth. As Scripture says: Lord, your mercy is in heaven.

There is, therefore, an earthly as well as heavenly mercy, that is to say, a human and a divine mercy. Human mercy has compassion on the miseries of the poor. Divine mercy grants forgiveness of sins. Whatever human mercy bestows her on earth, divine mercy will return to us in our homeland. In this life God feels cold and hunger in all who are stricken with poverty; for, remember, he once said: What you have done to the least of my brothers you have done to me. Yes, God who sees fit to give his mercy in heaven wishes it to be a reality here on earth.

What kind of people are we? When God gives, we wish to receive, but when he begs, we refuse to give. Remember, it was Christ who said: I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat. When the poor are starving, Christ too hungers. Do not neglect to improve the unhappy conditions of the poor, if you wish to ensure that your own sins be forgiven you. Christ hungers now, my brethren; it is he who deigns to hunger and thirst in the persons of the poor. And what he will return in heaven tomorrow is what he receives here on earth today.

What do you wish for, what do you pray for, my dear brothers and sisters, when you come to church? Is it mercy? How can it be anything else? Show mercy, then, while you are on earth, and mercy will be shown to you in heaven. A poor person asks you for something; you ask God for something. He begs for a morsel of food; you beg for eternal life. Give to the beggar so that you may merit to receive from Christ. For he it is who says: Give and it will be given to you. It baffles me that you have the impudence to ask for what you do not want to give. Give when you come to church. Give to the poor. Give them whatever your resources will allow.

Glory to the Father
and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and will be forever. Amen

 

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Kingdom living - a receiving in JOY

εὐαγγελίζω (euaggelizo)
"to announce the Good News of victory in battle"

“The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure
buried in a field,
which a person finds and hides again,
and out of joy (καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς χαρᾶς, kaì apò tēs charās)
goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.”

Matthew 13:44
Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Lectionary Year A

θεωρέω (theoreo)
("to perceive, discover, ponder a deeper meaning")

Compared to the previous weeks, the parabolic proclamation this Sunday is noticeably shorter. Unlike the previous weeks, Jesus does not explain the meaning of His words probably due in part to the disciple’s affirmation that they ‘understood all these things.’ (Matthew 13:51) Like the Gospel words of previous weeks, Jesus draws images from day-to-day living: buried treasure, a field, pearls, a net, fish of all kinds and buckets. Actions also are familiar to the listeners of Jesus’ day: burying valuables (done especially in times of war or civil conflict to protect one’s goods - the ancient world’s equivalent of a bank safety deposit box), finding, hiding, selling, buying, throwing, separating, and keeping; not to mention wailing and grinding of teeth to round out the picture. Like previous Sundays, the Parables of Jesus offer much to ponder, much to treasure and much to reflect upon: imperative actions all ordered to being formed as an engaged disciple of Jesus living the Gift of the Kingdom of GOd.

Considering Solomon’s prayer (First Reading) for “an understanding heart to judge Your people and to distinguish right from wrong,” we can look at Jesus’ parable and the disciples’ response as a moment of wisdom. Through a variety of images, Jesus catechizes his followers in the ways of living His Father’s Kingdom. Such catechesis and manner of living releases wisdom into the world whereby humanity has resources to respect always the dignity of the other as a child of God. This Godly wisdom, when taken to the heart, transforms not only individuals but the world. The “understanding heart” receives reality as gift thus experiencing freedom from the enslavement of entitlement that always demeans human dignity by selfish manipulation, attempting to impose one’s agenda on reality.

Then, there are the hope-filled words of God spoken and penned by Saint Paul: “We know that all things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28).” Many of our Bibles naturally open to Romans 8 because we read this chapter often, especially when things are not going so well in life. The comforting words remind us not only how big the big-picture of Divine Really is, but that each of us is known and loved infinitely by the One Who is Love. Experiencing this love leads precisely to the unnamed people of this Sunday’s parable.

Why did the person sell all and buy the field? Why did the merchant sell all and buy the pearl? Why the hard work of selecting good fish? It all comes down to 1 reality: JOY (χαρά chará). Joachim Jeremias (a preeminent biblical scholar whose specialty was Jesus’ Parables), commenting on the treasure and pearl states: “When that great joy, surpassing all measure, seizes a man, it carries him away, penetrates his inmost being, subjugates his mind. All else seems valueless compared with that surpassing worth. No price is too great to pay. The decisive thing in the twin parable is not what the two men give up, but reason for their doing so; the overwhelming experience of the splendor of their discovery. Thus it is with the Kingdom of God. The effect of the joyful news is overpowering. It fills the heart with with gladnes and makes life’s whole aim the consummation of the divine community and produces the most wholehearted self-sacrifice. What is the quality of a life which has been overmastered by this great joy? It is to follow Jesus. Its characteristic is the love whose pattern is to be found in the Lord who has become a servant. Such a love finds its expression in silent giving with no sounding of a trumpet. It does not lay up treasure on earth but entrusts its possessions to God’s faithful hands” thereby setting us free from anxiety and worry.

Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

“The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field, which a person finds and hides again, and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field…” (Matthew 13:44.)

Origen of Alexandria (part 2 of Pope Benedict’s reflections on Origen) comments on this verse from the Gospel proclaimed at Mass today:

“Now a man who comes to the field, whether to the Scriptures or to the Christ who is formed both from things manifest and from things hidden, finds the hidden treasure of wisdom whether in Christ or in the Scriptures. For, going round to visit the field and searching the Scriptures and seeking to understand the Christ, he finds the treasure in it. Having found it, he hides it, thinking that it is not without danger to reveal to everybody the secret meanings of the Scriptures or the treasures of wisdom and knowledge in Christ. And, having hidden it, he goes away. Now he is focused on the heavy labor of devising how he shall buy the field, or the Scriptures, that he may make them his own possession, receiving from the people of God the oracles of God with which the Jews were first entrusted. But when one taught by Christ has bought the field, the kingdom of God, according to another parable, is like a vineyard that is “taken from” the first and given to other nations bringing forth its fruits. The one who bought the field in faith, as the fruit of his having sold all else that he had, no longer was keeping anything that was formerly his. For they would be a distracting source of evil to him.

And you will give the same application, if the field containing the hidden treasure is Christ. Those who give up all things and follow him have, as it were in another way, sold their possessions. Thus by having sold and surrendered them and having received in their place a noble resolution from God their helper, they may purchase, at great cost worthy of the field, the field containing the hidden treasure.” (Commentary on Matthew, 10.)

Collect

O God, protector of those who hope in You,
without Whom nothing has firm foundation,
nothing is holy,
bestow in abundance Your mercy upon us
and grant that, with You as our ruler and guide,
we may use the good things that pass
in such a way as to hold fast even now
to those that ever endure.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,
Who lives and reigns with You
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Glory to the Father
and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and will be forever. Amen

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I rejoice exceedingly in all my tribulations

Saint John Chrysostom

Bishop and Great Eastern Father of the Church

An excerpt from his Homily 14

Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Again Paul turns to speak of love, softening the harshness of his rebuke. For after convicting and reproaching them for not loving him as he had loved them, breaking away from his love and attaching themselves to troublemakers, he again takes the edge off the reproach by saying: Open your hearts to us, that is, love us. He asks for a favor which will be no burden to them but will be more profitable to the giver than to the receiver. And he did not use the word “love” but said, more appealingly: Open your hearts to us.

Who, he said, has cast us out of your minds, thrust us from your hearts? How is it that you feel constraint with us? For, since he has said earlier: You are restricted in your own affection, he now declares himself more openly and says: Open your heart to us, thus once more drawing them toward him. For nothing so much wins love as the knowledge that one’s lover desires most of all to be himself loved.

For I said before, he tells them, that you are in our hearts to die together or live together. This is love at its height, that even though in disfavor, he wishes both to die and to live with them. For you are in our hearts, not just somehow or other, but in the way I have said. It is possible to love and yet to draw back when danger threatens; but my love is not like that.

I am filled with consolation. What consolation? That which comes from you because you, being changed for the better, have consoled me by what you have done. It is natural for a lover both to complain that he is not loved in return and to fear that he may cause distress by complaining too much. Therefore, he says: I am filled with consolation, I rejoice exceedingly.

It is as if he said, I was much grieved on your account, but you have made it up for me in full measure and given me comfort; for you have not only removed the cause for any grief but filled me with a richer joy.

Then he shows the greatness of that joy by saying not only I rejoice exceedingly but also the words which follow: in all my tribulations. So great, he says, was the delight that you gave me that it was not even dimmed by so much tribulation, but overcame by its strength and keenness all those sorrows which had invaded my heart, and took away from me all awareness of them.

Glory to the Father
and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and will be forever. Amen

 

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Feast of Saint James, Apostle

“Just so, the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:28.)

In commenting on this verse from today’s Gospel, Saint John Chrysostom writes:

“He says, “The Son of man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.” It is as if he were saying, “I willed not even to stop at death but even in death gave my life as a ransom. For whom? For enemies. For you. If you are abused, my life is given for you. It is for you. Me for you.”

So you need not be too picky if you suffer the loss of your honor. No matter how much it is lowered, you will not be descending as far as your Lord descended. And yet the deep descent of one has become the ascent of all. His glory shines forth from these very depths. For before he was made man, he was known among the angels only. But after he was made man and was crucified, so far from lessening that glory, he acquired further glory besides, even that from his personal knowledge of the world.

So fear not then, as though your honor were put down. Rather, be ready to abase yourself. For in this way your glory is exalted even more, and in this way it becomes greater. This is the door of the kingdom. Let us not then go the opposite way. Let us not war against ourselves. For if we desire to appear great, we shall not be great but even the most dishonored of all.

Do you see how everywhere Jesus encourages them by turning things upside down? He gives them what they desire but in ways they did not expect. In the preceding passages we have shown this in many instances. He acted this way in the cases of the covetous and of the proud. So you can see why he asks whether we are giving our alms to be seen by others. To enjoy glory? Do not do this for glory, and you will enjoy it more. Why do you lay up treasures? To be rich? Try laying up no treasures, and then you will be rich. And in this case, why do you set your heart on sitting in the first place? That you may have the honor before others? Try choosing the last place; then you will enjoy the first. That is how things work in the kingdom. If it is your will to become great, then do not seek greatness and you will become great.” (The Gospel of Matthew: Homily, 65.)

Collect

Almighty ever-living God,
Who consecrated the first fruits of Your Apostles
by the blood of Saint James,
grant, we pray, that Your Church
may be strengthened by his confession of faith
and constantly sustained by his protection.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,
Who lives and reigns with You
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Glory to the Father
and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and will be forever. Amen

 

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