Memorial of Saint John Vianney, Priest



“Then he strictly ordered his disciples to tell no one that he was the Messiah.” (Matthew 16:20)

Origen of Alexandria comments on this verse from the Gospel proclaimed at Mass today:

”What he intended when he forbade them to publicly declare him Christ is clarified in part by “From that time Jesus began to show his disciples how he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders” and the following thoughts. At the right time and in the right way, he proclaimed to those who knew that Jesus was Christ, Son of the living God (the Father had revealed this to them), that rather than believing in Jesus Christ already crucified, they should believe in Jesus Christ soon to be crucified. So also, instead of believing in Jesus Christ already risen from the dead, they should believe in “Jesus Christ soon to be raised from the dead.”

“Having put off from himself the principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in the cross.” If anyone is ashamed of the cross of Christ, he is ashamed of the agency by which these powers were defeated. The one who both believes and is assured of these things should, more appropriately, glory in the cross of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Through that cross, when Christ was crucified, the principalities (among them, I think, was also the prince of this world) were publicly humiliated and paraded before the eyes of the believing world.” (Commentary on Matthew, 12)



Collect
Almighty and merciful God,
Who made the Priest Saint John Vianney
wonderful in his pastoral zeal,
grant, we pray,
that through his intercession and example
we may in charity win brothers and sisters for Christ
and attain with them eternal glory.
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





The glorious duty of man: to pray and to love



Saint John Mary Vianney
Priest

An excerpt from Catechesis on Prayer

Memorial of Saint John Vianney, Priest

My little children, reflect on these words: the Christian’s treasure is not on earth but in heaven. Our thoughts, then, ought to be directed to where our treasure is. This is the glorious duty of man: to pray and to love. If you pray and love, that is where a man’s happiness lies.

Prayer is nothing else but union with God. When one has a heart that is pure and united with God, he is given a kind of serenity and sweetness that makes him ecstatic, a light that surrounds him with marvelous brightness. In this intimate union, God and the soul are fused together like two bits of wax that no one can ever pull apart. This union of God with a tiny creature is a lovely thing. It is a happiness beyond understanding.

We had become unworthy to pray, but God in his goodness allowed us to speak with him. Our prayer is incense that gives him the greatest pleasure.

My little children, your hearts are small, but prayer stretches them and makes them capable of loving God. Through prayer we receive a foretaste of heaven and something of paradise comes down upon us. Prayer never leaves us without sweetness. It is honey that flows into the soul and makes all things sweet. When we pray properly, sorrows disappear like snow before the sun.

Prayer also makes time pass very quickly and with such great delight that one does not notice its length. Listen: Once when I was a purveyor in Bresse and most of my companions were ill, I had to make a long journey. I prayed to the good God, and, believe me, the time did not seem long.

Some men immerse themselves as deeply in prayer as fish in water, because they give themselves totally to God. There is no division in their hearts. O, how I love these noble souls! Saint Francis of Assisi and Saint Colette used to see our Lord and talk to him just as we talk to one another.

How unlike them we are! How often we come to church with no idea of what to do or what to ask for. And yet, whenever we go to any human being, we know well enough why we go. And still worse, there are some who seem to speak to God like this: “I will only say a couple of things to you, and then I will be rid of you.” I often think that when we come to adore the Lord, we would receive everything we ask for, if we would ask with living faith and with a pure heart.

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

 

 

Wednesday of the Eighteenth Week
in Ordinary Time



“She said, “Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters.”” (Matthew 15:27.)

In commenting on these verses from today’s Gospel, Saint John Chrysostom writes:

“See her humility as well as her faith! For he had called the Jews “children,” but she was not satisfied with this. She even called them “masters,” so far was she from grieving at the praises of others. She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” Behold the woman’s wisdom! She did not venture so much as to say a word against anyone else. She was not stung to see others praised, nor was she indignant to be reproached. Behold her constancy. When he answered, “It is not fair to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs,” she said, “Yes, Lord.” He called them “children,” but she called them “masters.” He used the name of a dog, but she described the action of the dog. Do you see this woman’s humility?

Then compare her humility with the proud language of the Jews: “We are Abraham’s seed and were never in bondage to any man.” “We are born of God.” But not so this woman. Rather, she calls herself a dog and them masters. So for this reason she became a child. For what does Christ then say? “O woman, great is your faith.”

So we might surmise that this is the reason he put her off, in order that he might proclaim aloud this saying and that he might crown the woman: “Be it done for you as you desire.” This means “Your faith, indeed, is able to effect even greater things than these. Nevertheless be it unto you even as you wish.” This voice was at one with the voice that said, “Let the heaven be,” and it was. “And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.”

Do you see how this woman, too, contributed not a little to the healing of her daughter? For note that Christ did not say, “Let your little daughter be made whole,” but “Great is your faith, be it done for you as you desire.” These words were not uttered at random, nor were they flattering words, but great was the power of her faith, and for our learning. He left the certain test and demonstration, however, to the issue of events. Her daughter accordingly was immediately healed.” (The Gospel of Matthew, Homily 52.)



Collect
Draw near to Your servants, O Lord,
and answer their prayers with unceasing kindness,
that, for those who glory in
You as their Creator and guide,
You may restore what You have created
and keep safe what You have restored.
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

 






The way of light



Saint Barnabas
Apostolic Father of the Church

An excerpt from Letter of Barnabas, (Chapter 19)

Wednesday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Consider now the way of light; any man who is bent on reaching his appointed goal must be very careful in all he does. Now these are the directions that have been given to us for this journey: love your Creator; reverence your Maker; give glory to him who redeemed you when you were dead; be single-minded but rich in spiritual treasure; avoid those who travel down death’s highway; hate whatever is displeasing to God; detest all hypocritical pretense; do not abandon God’s commandments. Do not put on airs, but be modest whatever you do; claim no credit for yourself. Plot no evil against your neighbor, and do not give pride an entrance into your heart.

Love your neighbor more than your own life. Do not kill an unborn child through abortion, nor destroy it after birth. Do not refrain from chastising son or daughter, but bring them up from childhood in the fear of the Lord. Do not set your heart on what belongs to your neighbor and do not give in to greed. Do not associate with the arrogant but cultivate those who are humble and virtuous.

Accept as a blessing whatever comes your way in the knowledge that nothing ever happens without God’s concurrence. Avoid duplicity in thought or in word, for such deception is a deadly snare.

Share with your neighbor whatever you have, and do not say of anything, this is mine. If you both share an imperishable treasure, how much more must you share what is perishable. Do not be hasty in speech; the mouth is a deadly snare. For your soul’s good, make every effort to live chastely. Do not hold out your hand for what you can get, only to withdraw it when it comes to giving. Cherish as the apple of your eye anyone who speaks to you of the word of the Lord.

Night and day you will bear in mind the hour of judgment; every day you will seek out the company of God’s faithful, either by preaching the word, earnestly exhorting them, ever considering how you can save souls by your eloquence, or else by working with your hands to make reparation for your past sins.

Never hesitate to give, and when you do give, never grumble; then you will know the one who will repay you. Preserve the traditions you have received, adding nothing and taking nothing away. The evildoer will ever be hateful to you. Be fair in your judgments. Never stir dissension, but act as peacemaker and reconcile the quarrelsome. Confess your sins, and do not begin to pray with a guilty conscience.

Such then is the way of light.

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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Tuesday of the Eighteenth Week
in Ordinary Time



“After doing so, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When it was evening he was there alone.” (Matthew 14:23.)

In commenting on these verses from today’s Gospel, Saint John Chrysostom writes:

“For what purpose does he go up into the hills on the mountain? To teach us that solitude and seclusion are good, when we are to pray to God. With this in view, you see, we find him continually withdrawing into the wilderness. There he often spends the whole night in prayer. This teaches us earnestly to seek such quietness in our prayers as the time and place may afford. For the wilderness is the mother of silence; it is a calm and a harbor, delivering us from all turmoils.” (The Gospel of Matthew: Homily, 50.)



Collect
Draw near to Your servants, O Lord,
and answer their prayers with unceasing kindness,
that, for those who glory in
You as their Creator and guide,
You may restore what You have created
and keep safe what You have restored.
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

 






The new creation



Saint Barnabas
Apostolic Father of the Church

An excerpt from Letter of Barnabas, (Chapter 5)

Tuesday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time

The Lord was willing to hand over his body for destruction so that by the shedding of his blood we might be made holy through the remission of our sins. According to Scripture this refers to both Israel and us. He was wounded for our transgressions and bruised by our iniquities; by his wounds we are healed. He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, like a lamb that is dumb before its shearer. What a debt of gratitude, then, do we owe to the Lord for letting us see the meaning of the past, for instructing us about the present and not leaving us in ignorance about the future. In the words of Scripture: Not unjustly are nets spread for birds. This means that a man is justly condemned if, knowing the right way, he heads into the way of darkness.

The Lord was ready to undergo suffering for our souls’ sake, even though he is Lord of the whole earth, the one to whom God said at the foundation of the world: Let us make man in our own image and likeness. But, in that case, my brothers, how could he allow himself to suffer at the hands of men? This is the explanation. The prophets inspired by his grace foretold what he would do; he allowed himself to suffer because he had to be seen in the flesh, in order that he might destroy the power of death and manifest the resurrection from the dead. In this way he would carry out the promises that had been made to our forefathers, and while still on earth prepare for himself a new people; he would also show that, after the resurrection, he was to be our judge. Furthermore, by teaching Israel and working such great signs and wonders, he proclaimed the good news and showed the depths of his love for that people.

Having thus renewed us by forgiving our sins, he refashioned us; he gave us the souls of children, as though we had been born anew. For it is to us that Scripture refers when the Father says to the Son: Let us make man according to our own image and likeness; and let him rule over the beasts on the earth and the birds in the air and the fish in the sea. The Lord saw the beauty of our fashioning and added: Increase and multiply and fill the earth.

All this God said to his Son. But let me now point out to you how he also speaks to us. It is indeed a second act of creation that the Lord has performed in these last days; that is why he says: Behold, I am making the last things like the first. It was this that the prophet had in mind when he said: Enter into a land flowing with milk and honey, and rule over it. It is true, you see, that we have been completely remade. This is what God means by the words of another prophet: Behold, says the Lord, I will take the stony hearts out of this people, that is, the people whom the Spirit of the Lord foreknew, and put hearts of flesh into them. For he willed to appear in the flesh and live among us.

And so, my brothers, the dwelling place of our hearts is a temple sacred to the Lord. Again, the Lord says: Let me give thanks to you in the assembly of the people. So it is we whom he has led into a fertile land.

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

 

 





I have run the race; I have kept the faith



Optional Memorial — 2 August
Saint Eusebius of Vercelli
Bishop

From a Letter by Saint Eusebius of Vercelli

Dearly beloved, I know now that you are safe, as I was hoping, and I felt that I had paid you a visit, by being suddenly transported over the face of the earth like Habakkuk, when the angel brought him to Daniel. When I receive a letter from one of you and see in your writings your goodness and love, joy mingles with tears, and my desire to continue reading is checked by my weeping. Both emotions are inescapable, as they vie with each other in discharging their duty of affection, when such a letter satisfies my longing for you.

Days pass in this way as I imagine myself in conversation with you, and so I forget my past sufferings. Consolations surround me on all sides: your firm faith, your love, your good works. In the midst of so many great blessings I soon imagine myself in your company, in exile no longer.

Dearly beloved, I rejoice in your faith, in the salvation that comes from faith, in your good works, which are not confined to your own surroundings but spread far and wide. Like a farmer tending a sound tree, untouched by ax or fire because of its fruit, I want not only to serve you in the body, good people that you are, but also to give my life for your well-being.

Somehow or other I have managed with difficulty to complete this letter. I asked God constantly to keep the guards away hour by hour, and to allow the deacon to bring you some kind of greeting in writing, not simply news of my suffering. So I beg you to keep the faith with all vigilance, to preserve harmony, to be earnest in prayer, to remember me always, so that the Lord may grant freedom to his Church which is suffering throughout the world, and that I may be set free from the sufferings that weigh upon me, and so be able to rejoice with you.

I also ask and beseech you in God’s mercy, that each one of you should add his own name to the greeting in this letter. Of necessity I cannot write to each of you as was my custom. So in this letter I ask you all - brothers and holy sisters, sons and daughters, men and women, old and young - to be content with this greeting and to be good enough to give my respectful good wishes to those who are outside the community and are kind enough to be my friends.


Scriptures for the Optional Memorial


Collect
Lead us, Lord God,
to imitate the constancy of Saint Eusebius
in affirming the divinity of Your Son,
so that, by preserving the faith he taught as Your Bishop,
we may merit a share in the very life of 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

 





Memorial of Saint Alphonsus Liguori,
Bishop and Doctor of the Church



“… and he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he said the blessing, broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, who in turn gave them to the crowds.” (Matthew 14:19.)

Saint Jerome offers the following insight on these verses from today’s Gospel Proclamation:

“They are ordered to sit down on the grass and, according to another Evangelist, to recline in groups of hundreds and of fifties. In this way from the repentance of the fifty, they ascended toward the perfect summit of one hundred.

He looked up to heaven that he might teach them to keep their eyes focused there. He then took in hand five loaves of bread and two fish; he broke the loaves and gave the food to the disciples. By the breaking of the bread, he makes it into a seedbed of food — for if the bread had been left intact and not pulled apart and broken into pieces, they would have been unable to feed the great crowds of men, women and children. The law with the prophets are therefore pulled apart and broken into pieces. Mysteries are made manifest, so that what did not feed the multitude of people in its original whole and unbroken state now feeds them in its divided state.” (Commentary on Matthew, 2.)


Collect
O God,
Who constantly raise up
in Your Church new examples of virtue,
grant that we may follow
so closely in the footsteps
of the Bishop Saint Alphonsus
in his zeal for souls
as to attain the same rewards
that are his in heaven.
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


Top





On the love of Christ



Saint Alphonsus Liguori
Bishop and Doctor of the Church

An excerpt from his work, Treatise on the Practice of Loving Jesus Christ

Memorial of Saint Alphonsus Liguori,
Bishop and Doctor of the Church

All holiness and perfection of soul lies in our love for Jesus Christ our God, who is our Redeemer and our supreme good. It is part of the love of God to acquire and to nurture all the virtues which make a man perfect.

Has not God in fact won for himself a claim on all our love? From all eternity he has loved us. And it is in this vein that he speaks to us: “O man, consider carefully that I first loved you. You had not yet appeared in the light of day, nor did the world yet exist, but already I loved you. From all eternity I have loved you.”

Since God knew that man is enticed by favors, he wished to bind him to his love by means of his gifts: “I want to catch men with the snares, those chains of love in which they allow themselves to be entrapped, so that they will love me.” And all the gifts which he bestowed on man were given to this end. He gave him a soul, made in his likeness, and endowed with memory, intellect and will; he gave him a body equipped with the senses; it was for him that he created heaven and earth and such an abundance of things. He made all these things out of love for man, so that all creation might serve man, and man in turn might love God out of gratitude for so many gifts.

But he did not wish to give us only beautiful creatures; the truth is that to win for himself our love, he went so far as to bestow upon us the fullness of himself. The eternal Father went so far as to give us his only Son. When he saw that we were all dead through sin and deprived of his grace, what did he do? Compelled, as the Apostle says, by the superabundance of his love for us, he sent his beloved Son to make reparation for us and to call us back to a sinless life.

By giving us his Son, whom he did not spare precisely so that he might spare us, he bestowed on us at once every good: grace, love and heaven; for all these goods are certainly inferior to the Son: He who did not spare his own Son, but handed him over for all of us: how could he fail to give us along with his Son all good things?

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

 

 


In God we trust - OR - in Greed we trust?



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

Someone in the crowd said to Jesus,
“Teacher, tell my brother to share the inheritance with me.”
He replied to him,
“Friend, who appointed me as your judge and arbitrator?”
Then he said to the crowd,
“Take care to guard against all greed,
for though one may be rich,
one’s life does not consist of possessions.”



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

Two imperatives – or better, Divine commands – frame Jesus’ response to the plea seeking His resolution of a nasty family dispute over inheritance (sound familiar?): ὁράω (horao) and φυλάσσω (phulasso). ὁράω (horao, ‘see so as to discern’) and φυλάσσω (phulasso, ‘guarding in such a way that one is saved’) are verbs that denote necessary actions for anyone responding to Jesus’ call to be His disciple. Even before considering ‘what needs to be seen’ and ‘what needs to be guarded against’ it is imperative to know what is involved in ‘seeing’ and ‘guarding’ as a disciple of Jesus.


There are a number of Greek verbs that are translated into English “to see” and the Sacred Scriptures employ a variety of these verbs throughout both Testaments. When it comes to “seeing” as expressed by the verb ὁράω (horao, translated here from the New American Bible Revised Edition as “take care”), this is a deliberate and intentional action, involving collateral actions of gazing, staring, and beholding. ὁράω (horao) is not an involuntary, momentary or mindless sight of a given reality. ὁράω (horao) involves a choice (which requires knowledge and freedom) whereby one rivets attention on another person, place or object. While not excluding per se the eye itself and the various processes that occur when light falls upon cones and rods in the retina, ὁράω (horao) is more about intellectual and spiritual insight. Such intellectual or spiritual ‘seeing’ consequently draws the beholder to truth – and since the ‘seeing’ or ‘beholding’ is intense, one comes to the truth that is the core of the person, place or object beheld. ὁράω (horao) is “to see” the essence of another person, place or object and consequently “know” (or “experience”) the other with more than just a superficial, passing glance. It is in this context that ὁράω (horao) can describe the act of discerning the true nature of another person, place or object in the created order. Recall Genesis 3 and the allure of the fruit: in terms of a passing glance, “the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eyes.” (Genesis 3:6) To see beyond the surface, more than human biology and the physics of light are required. “Seeing” in the sense of ὁράω (horao) requires (especially in the case of discipleship) listening and receiving the revelation of Jesus. This act informs ὁράω (horao) and properly directs the discerning process.

φυλάσσω (phulasso) - the other important verb in this Sunday’s reflection - translated here from the New American Bible Revised Edition as “to guard,” also expresses a person’s attitude or disposition ‘to keep and to observe all that has been asked’ such as a Covenant or Divine Law. When used in situations to express ‘protecting life or possession,’ φυλάσσω (phulasso) also embodies elements of ‘being alert,’ ‘being vigilant’ and ‘being attentive.’ These important ‘mental’ aspects of “to guard / to protect” can be defensive (‘guarding against an enemy’) or offensive (‘protecting/treasuring the good I/others possess’). Yet in both cases, φυλάσσω (phulasso) is devoid of passivity. Whether the action is protecting or observing, one consciously chooses the action and keeps alert while observing all that has been asked or while protecting the goods in one’s possession.


Both verbs, ὁράω (horao) and φυλάσσω (phulasso), describe vital dimensions of activity pertinent to being Jesus’ disciple. Gazing that is informed by Divine Revelation to know a course of action and to then observe and protect the good entrusted to one are applicable across the spectrum of living Jesus’ life. In this Sunday’s Word, Jesus specifically applies these imperative actions to greed. As one of the capital sins (see Catechism of the Catholic Church, sin (1849 and following) and capital sins (1866)), greed (see Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2535-2540) is the disordered attachment to anyone or anything. It is a block to authentic relational living with God, others, the true self and all creation. Greed is a desire that, while originally grounded in the natural instinct for what is necessary to survive, becomes disordered by an appetite to either attach oneself exclusively to an item(s) of the created order or to allow – consciously or unconsciously – the hunger for ‘more’ to grow insatiably. Greed ‘says’ to the human condition that this item or that item will bring complete happiness. Greed ‘says’ you NEED and MUST HAVE this item or that item to be fully alive and complete as a person. When that voice is heard as opposed to the Word of Revelation informing our vision, distorted sight is not the only problem a person faces. Fixation and an insatiable desire for ‘more’ drive life to the point that one locks on a particular item or the path to acquire ‘more beyond what is needed for living.’ Life is skewed dangerously and one is unable to be like Mary who chooses the better part to sit at the feet of Jesus. Greed further distorts life by making elements of the created order ends in themselves, ‘mini-gods’ that become an ‘all-or-nothing’ – ‘make it or break it’ in living life.

Seeing the created order properly and not permitting it to control our lives is the caution Jesus sounds. He does so because, in the words of Saint Augustine, “O Lord our God, You have made us for Yourself and our hearts are restless until they rest in You,” true joy and peace in life lies in attachment to the God and Father of us all, not what He has created.









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