Monday of the Twenty-fourth Week
in Ordinary Time



“A centurion there had a slave who was ill and about to die, and he was valuable to him.” (Luke 7:2.)

Saint Ambrose of Milan offers the following insight on this verse from today’s Gospel proclamation:

“The servant of a Gentile centurion is immediately brought to the Lord for healing; this represented the people of the nations who were held in the bonds of worldly slavery, sick with deadly passions, to be cleansed by the Lord’s blessing. The Evangelist did not err in saying that he was at the point of death, for he would have died if Christ would not have healed him. He fulfilled the rule with heavenly love, he who so loved his enemies that he snatched them from death and admitted them to the hope of eternal salvation.” (Exposition on the Gospel of Luke, 5.)



Collect
Look upon us, O God,
Creator and ruler of all things,
and, that we may feel the working of Your mercy,
grant that we may serve You with all our heart.
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





The shepherds who feed themselves



Saint Augustine of Hippo
Bishop and Great Western Father of the Church

An excerpt from his sermon On Pastors

Monday of the Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time

Let us consider the unflattering words of God which Scripture addresses to shepherds who feed themselves and not the sheep. You consume their milk and cover yourselves with their wool; you kill the fatlings, but my sheep you do not pasture. You have failed to strengthen what was weak, to heal what was sick, and to bind up what was injured. You did not call back what went astray, nor seek out what was lost. What was strong you have destroyed, and my sheep have been scattered because there is no shepherd.

This is spoken to the shepherds who feed themselves and not the sheep; it speaks of their concern and their neglect. What is their concern? You consume their milk and cover yourselves with their wool. And so the Apostle asks: Who plants a vineyard and does not eat from its fruit? Who pastures a flock and does not drink from the milk of the flock? Thus we learn that the milk of the flock is whatever temporal support and sustenance God's people give to those who are placed over them. It is of this that the Apostle was speaking in the passage just quoted.

Although he chose to support himself by the labor of his own hands and not to ask for milk from the sheep, the Apostle did say that he had the right to receive the milk, for the Lord had established that they who preach the Gospel should live from the Gospel. Paul also says that other of his fellow apostles made use of this right, a right granted them, and not unlawfully usurped. But Paul went further by not taking what was rightfully his. He forgave the debt, whereas the others did not demand what was not due them. Therefore Paul went further. Perhaps his action was foreshadowed by the Good Samaritan who, when he brought the sick man to the inn, said: If you spend any more, I will repay you on my way back.

What more can I say concerning those shepherds who do not need the milk of the flock? They are more merciful; or rather, they carry out a more abundant ministry of mercy. They are able to do so, and they do it. Let them receive praise, but do not condemn the others. The Apostle himself did not seek what was given. However, he wanted the sheep to be fruitful, not sterile and unable to give milk.

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

 


Releasing from the prison of sin: FORGIVENESS



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

“Then Peter approached Jesus and asked Him,
“Lord, if my brother sins against me,
how often must I forgive (ἀφήσω, apheso) him?
As many as seven times?”
Jesus answered,
“I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times.
...
So will my heavenly Father do to you,
unless each of you forgives (ἀφῆτε, aphete)
your brother from your heart.”
(Matthew 18:21-22. 35)


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

What does it mean to forgive? It is a question worth pondering if for no other reason than to learn whether or not ‘my meaning’ is ‘in sync’ with the Gospel. I often pose questions like this with the undergraduates at Holy Family University. Every once-in-a-while, there is a wow moment in the classroom as the material ‘clicks’ and a student is drawn subsequently to deeper communion with the Person, Jesus. Similarly the same question, what does it mean to forgive, is worth posing this Sunday. As Jesus invites Peter to reconsider his approach to forgiveness, each one of us this Sunday is in Peter’s sandals. Jesus invites us to reconsider our approach to forgiveness because our identity as a conscious disciple of Jesus is on the line.

Jesus freely imparted the Father’s forgiveness in response to sorrow for sin. He taught His disciples to forgive one another and included it as a petition in the prayer that defines all Christian Prayer, the Lord’s Prayer. He even pronounced a prayer of forgiveness from His broken Body engulfed in a pain that words cannot even begin to express as He was dying on the Cross. And just in case none of this has moved us, Jesus concluded today’s parable with one of the Gospels’ most stinging challenge: “So will my heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you forgives his brother (ἀφῆτε, aphete) from his heart (Matthew 18:35).”

Jesus’ Words certainly cut deep into our minds and hearts. Every time we hear Him say a word about forgiveness our minds vividly present us with the many faces of strained and broken relationships that are still oozing with pain. The pain and hurt often prompt thoughts, if not action, of revenge because ‘he or she is not going to get away with hurting me’ (consider the First Reading from Sirach). Other times the hurts generate anger as we realize we cannot do anything to ‘feel better.’ We have experienced hurts so deep that ‘forgiveness’ (whatever that might be) seems impossible to us at that moment.

ἀφίημι (aphíēmi) is the Greek verb that is generally rendered “to forgive” in the majority of English Bible translations. In antiquity, ἀφίημι (aphíēmi) meant “to release” suggesting a prior action that has somehow bound or even imprisoned a person or object (hence the reference to prison in this Sunday's Gospel). Closely related to the meaning of “to release,” is “to leave” and “to leave to another.” While there are a number of other English words that also translate ἀφίημι (aphíēmi), all of the translations suggest some type of movement. This further suggests that ἀφίημι (aphíēmi) ‘permits’ movement since, implicitly, motion has been halted. Secular usage of ἀφίημι (aphíēmi) conveyed a sense of “lifting or releasing a debt owed” - a meaning often woven into biblical Texts such as this Sunday’s Parable and the Lord’s Prayer.


So what does this all have to say to us when it comes to the very difficult action of forgiving another or others? Sin (sin in Hebrew hatta means “to miss the mark”) by its very nature is not only evil or disorder, but also an evil or disorder that is chosen. When I sin, I choose to introduce a level of chaos and disorder into life that retards and may even stop any growth or movement in life towards the other, others and Other (God). Sin is a choice that results in confining myself, life and relationships to the solitary existence of a prison cell. The greater ‘the sin’ the harder the brakes are applied to life and relational living. Some offenses may even bring all movement to a screeching stop similar to putting a car ‘in park’ and blocking the wheels, not to mention the possibility of lifting the car on jack stands and removing the wheels. Nobody goes anywhere then.

The act of forgiving (ἀφίημι [aphíēmi]) is a power breathed into life that has been stopped dead in its tracks. ἀφίημι (aphíēmi) is an act of creation – a mighty act of creation – enabled by the Divine Life of the Holy Trinity within that jump-starts life once again. It does not whitewashing or pretending that the hurt or damage did not occurred. Forgiveness is not about forgetting or having the memory of the hurt eviscerated. Such is impossible as what has occurred is an event in history. The damage occurred in a particular time and a particular place and is real. To ‘pretend’ otherwise is foolish and to equate forgiving with forgetting is dangerous. What forgiveness does, however, is release one from the crippling affect and effect that the memories of painful events have over our life in the present. In the end, forgiveness is Divine Love that calls forth life into existence much the same way reality first came into existence: the response to a Word pronounced by a Loving Creator.

In fairness, what about the hurts that run so deep in life that I will not forgive? Consider: is it a case of ‘not forgiving’ or is it a case that in the present – not excluding the future – I am not there yet? Let’s face it, we have all been hurt by friends and family in such a way that we are bleeding, and bleeding profusely. Not even a tight tourniquet will stop the blood flow! Some wounds take time to stop bleeding before healing can begin. Some injuries to our bodies, for example, have to remain open so that infection may drain before closing a wound or casting a limb. Similarly, some hurts require time prior to the healing word and experience of forgiveness. While waiting, actively seek the Lord’s grace to be able to forgive. This active seeking points us in the proper direction, gets life moving somewhat and gradually helps us to seek the day with Grace to say, “I release you. I forgive you. Let’s move on.” One might not be the other’s BFF (best friend forever) after the incident or incidents, but the freedom experienced does make for a more joy filled living.




Collect
Look upon us, O God,
Creator and ruler of all things,
and, that we may feel the working of Your mercy,
grant that we may serve You with all our heart.
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






Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time



“That is why the kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who decided to settle accounts with his servants…” (Matthew 18:23.)

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

“If the comparison is to a king like this—and to one who acts like this — of whom must we be speaking if not the Son of God? For he is the king of the heavens. Just as he is wisdom itself and justice and truth, is he not kingship itself? The kingdom does not belong to any of those below, nor a part of those above, but to all those above, whatever is called the heavens. If you are curious about the beatitude “theirs is the kingdom of heaven,” you can just as well say “theirs is Christ,” since Christ is the kingdom.

The servants in this case are the dispensers of the word. When he demands an account of the servants, the king also asks those who have borrowed from the servants, whether a hundred measures of grain or a hundred jars of oil or whatever those outside the king’s stewardship have received. For the fellow servant of the unjust steward, according to the parable, will not be found to be the one who owes a hundred measures of grain or a hundred jars of oil, as is clear from the words “How much do you owe my master?” Consider that each good and fitting deed is like a profit and a gain, but each bad one is like a loss. And just as one gain can be a gain of more money and another of less and there is a difference between the more and the less, so in the case of good deeds there is a kind of valuing of greater or lesser gains.

The moment of beginning the reckoning starts with the household of God, as is it written in Ezekiel: “Begin at my sanctuary.” This judgment begins as quickly as the twinkling of an eye. In thinking of the demanding of accounts, let us not forget what we have said before, that these accounts are spiritually conceived. And the moment of demand begins understandably with those who owe the most. This is why the passage does not begin generally with a reckoning of all accounts but a specific one: one was brought to him. Here is the moment. He is beginning to demand an account of one who owed him ten thousand talents! It is as if the servant had lost a vast amount and much had been loaned and entrusted to him but had brought no gain to his master. Rather, he ended up losing a vast sum so as to owe him an incredible debt of talents. Remembering the prophet Zechariah, it may be that he owed so many talents for this reason: he had often sought out the woman hidden in a barrel with a lead cover, whose name is Iniquity.” (Commentary on Matthew, 14.)




Collect
Look upon us, O God,
Creator and ruler of all things,
and, that we may feel the working of Your mercy,
grant that we may serve You with all our heart.
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

 






I am a Christian as well as a leader



Saint Augustine of Hippo
Bishop and Great Western Father of the Church

An excerpt from his sermon, On Pastors

Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

You have often learned that all our hope is in Christ and that he is our true glory and our salvation. You are members of the flock of the Good Shepherd, who watches over Israel and nourishes his people. Yet there are shepherds who want to have the title of shepherd without wanting to fulfill a pastor’s duties; let us then recall what God says to his shepherds through the prophet. You must listen attentively; I must listen with fear and trembling.

The word of the Lord came to me and said: Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel and speak to the shepherds of Israel. We just heard this reading a moment ago, my brothers, and I have decided to speak to you on this passage. The Lord will help me to speak the truth if I do not speak on my own authority. For if I speak on my own authority, I will be a shepherd nourishing myself and not the sheep. However, if my words are the Lord’s, then he is nourishing you no matter who speaks. Thus says the Lord God: Shepherds of Israel, who have been nourishing only themselves! Should not the shepherds nourish the sheep? In other words, true shepherds take care of their sheep, not themselves. This is the principle reason why God condemns those shepherds: they took care of themselves rather than their sheep. Who are they who nourish themselves? They are the shepherds the Apostle described when he said: They all seek what is theirs and not what is Christ’s.

I must distinguish carefully between two aspects of the role the Lord has given me, a role that demands a rigorous accountability, a role based on the Lord’s greatness rather than on my own merit. The first aspect is that I am a Christian; the second, that I am a leader. I am a Christian for my own sake, whereas I am a leader for your sake; the fact that I am a Christian is to my own advantage, but I am a leader for your advantage.

Many persons come to God as Christians but not as leaders. Perhaps they travel by an easier road and are less hindered since they bear a lighter burden. In addition to the fact that I am a Christian and must give God an account of my life, I as a leader must give him an account of my stewardship as well.




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
Saints Cornelius and Cyprian
Bishops and Martyrs



“A good tree does not bear rotten fruit, nor does a rotten tree bear good fruit…” (Luke 6:43.)

Saint Bede the Venerable comments on this verse from today’s Gospel proclamation:

“Every tree which does not bear fruit will be cut down and cast into the fire.” He is referring to human beings as trees and to their works as the fruit. Do you want to know which are the bad trees and what are the bad fruits? The apostle teaches us this. He says, “The works of the flesh are manifest: they are fornication, impurity, self-indulgence, idolatry, sorcery, malice, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, conflict, factions, envy, murder, drunkenness, carousing, and things of this sort.” Do you want to hear whether trees which bring forth fruits such as these belong in the heavenly temple of the eternal King? The apostle continues: “I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not attain the kingdom of God.” He subsequently lists the fruits of a good tree. He says, “The fruit, however, of the Spirit is charity, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, faith, gentleness, self-control.

The good man produces good from the good treasure in his heart, and the evil man produces evil from the evil treasure.” The treasure in one’s heart is the intention of the thought, from which the Searcher of hearts judges the outcome.

Christ subsequently adds force to his pronouncement by clearly showing that good speech without the additional attestation of deeds is of no advantage at all. He asks, “And why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I say?” To call upon the Lord seems to be the gift of a good treasure, the fruit of a good tree. “For everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved.” If anyone who calls upon the name of the Lord resists the Lord’s commands by living perversely, it is evident that the good that the tongue has spoken has not been brought out of the good treasure in his heart. It was not the root of a fig tree but that of a thorn bush that produced the fruit of such a confession — a conscience, that is, bristling with vices, and not one filled with the sweetness of the love of the Lord” (Homilies on the Gospels, 2.)


Collect
O God, Who gave
Saints Cornelius and Cyprian to Your people
as diligent shepherds and valiant Martyrs,
grant that through their intercession
we may be strengthened in faith and constancy
and spend ourselves without reserve
for the unity of the Church.
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





A faith that is ready and unshaken



Saint Cyprian of Carthage
Bishop, Father of the Church and Martyr

An excerpt from his Letter 60

Memorial of Saints Cornelius, Pope, and Cyprian, Bishop, Martyrs

Cyprian sends greetings to his brother Cornelius. My very dear brother, we have heard of the glorious witness given by your courageous faith. On learning of the honor you had won by your witness, we were filled with such joy that we felt ourselves sharers and companions in your praiseworthy achievements. After all, we have the same Church, the same mind, the same unbroken harmony. Why then should a priest not take pride in the praise given to a fellow priest as though it were given to him? What brotherhood fails to rejoice in the happiness of its brothers wherever they are?

Words cannot express how great was the exultation and delight here when we heard of your good fortune and brave deeds: how you stood out as a leader of your brothers in their declaration of their faith. You led the way to glory, but you gained many companions in that glory; being foremost in your readiness to bear witness on behalf of all, you prevailed on your people to become a single witness. We cannot decide which we ought to praise, your own ready and unshaken faith or the love of your brothers who would not leave you. While the courage of the bishop who thus led the way has been demonstrated, at the same time the unity of the brotherhood who followed has been manifested. Since you have one heart and one voice, it is the Roman Church as a whole that has thus borne witness.

Dearest brother, bright and shining is the faith which the blessed Apostle praised in your community. He foresaw in the spirit the praise your courage deserves and the strength that could not be broken; he was heralding the future when he testified to your achievements; his praise of the fathers was a challenge to the sons. Your unity, your strength have become shining examples of these virtues to the rest of the brethren.

Divine providence has now prepared us. God’s merciful design has warned us that the day of our own struggle, our own contest, is at hand. By that shared love which binds us closely together, we are doing all we can to exhort our congregation, to give ourselves unceasingly to fasting, vigils and prayers in common. These are the heavenly weapons which give us the strength to stand firm and endure; they are the spiritual defenses, the God-given armaments that protect us.

Let us then remember one another, united in mind and heart. Let us pray without ceasing, you for us, we for you; by the love we share we shall thus relieve the strain of these great trials.



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 Our Lady of Sorrows



“Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala.” (John 19:25.)

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

“Mary, the mother of the Lord, stood by her Son’s cross. No one has taught me this but the holy Evangelist John. Others have related how the earth was shaken at the Lord’s passion, the sky was covered with darkness, the sun withdrew itself and how the thief was, after a faithful confession, received into paradise. John tells us what the others have not told, how the Lord while fixed on the cross called to his mother. He thought it was more important that, victorious over his sufferings, Jesus gave her the offices of piety than that he gave her a heavenly kingdom. For if it is the mark of religion to grant pardon to the thief, it is a mark of much greater piety that a mother is honored with such affection by her Son. “Behold,” he says, “your son.” “Behold your mother.” Christ testified from the cross and divided the offices of piety between the mother and the disciple.

Nor was Mary below what was becoming the mother of Christ. When the apostles fled, she stood at the cross and with pious eyes beheld her Son’s wounds. For she did not look to the death of her offspring but to the salvation of the world. Or perhaps, because that “royal hall” knew that the redemption of the world would be through the death of her Son, she thought that by her death she also might add something to that universal gift. But Jesus did not need a helper for the redemption of all, who saved all without a helper. This is why he says, “I am counted among those who go down to the pit. I am like those who have no help.” He received indeed the affection of his mother but sought not another’s help. Imitate her, holy mothers, who in her only dearly beloved Son set forth so great an example of maternal virtue. For neither have you sweeter children, nor did the Virgin seek the consolation of being able to bear another son.” (Letter 63)



Collect
O God, Who willed that,
when Your Son was lifted high on the Cross, His Mother should stand
close by and share His suffering,
grant that Your Church,
participating with the
Virgin Mary in the Passion of Christ,
may merit a share in his Resurrection.
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

 






His mother stood by the cross



Saint Bernard of Clairvaux
Abbot and Doctor of the Church

An excerpt from a Sermon

Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows

The martyrdom of the Virgin is set forth both in the prophecy of Simeon and in the actual story of our Lord’s passion. The holy old man said of the infant Jesus: He has been established as a sign which will be contradicted. He went on to say to Mary: And your own heart will be pierced by a sword.

Truly, O blessed Mother, a sword has pierced your heart. For only by passing through your heart could the sword enter the flesh of your Son. Indeed, after your Jesus—who belongs to everyone, but is especially yours—gave up his life, the cruel spear, which was not withheld from his lifeless body, tore open his side. Clearly it did not touch his soul and could not harm him, but it did pierce your heart. For surely his soul was no longer there, but yours could not be torn away. Thus the violence of sorrow has cut through your heart, and we rightly call you more than martyr, since the effect of compassion in you has gone beyond the endurance of physical suffering.

Or were those words, Woman, behold your Son, not more than a word to you, truly piercing your heart, cutting through to the division between soul and spirit? What an exchange! John is given to you in place of Jesus, the servant in place of the Lord, the disciple in place of the master; the son of Zebedee replaces the Son of God, a mere man replaces God himself. How could these words not pierce your most loving heart, when the mere remembrance of them breaks ours, hearts of iron and stone though they are!

Do not be surprised, brothers, that Mary is said to be a martyr in spirit. Let him be surprised who does not remember the words of Paul, that one of the greatest crimes of the Gentiles was that they were without love. That was far from the heart of Mary; let it be far from her servants.

Perhaps someone will say: “Had she not known before that he would not die?” Undoubtedly. “Did she not expect him to rise again at once?” Surely. “And still she grieved over her crucified Son?” Intensely. Who are you and what is the source of your wisdom that you are more surprised at the compassion of Mary than at the passion of Mary’s Son? For if he could die in body, could she not die with him in spirit? He died in body through a love greater than anyone had known. She died in spirit through a love unlike any other since his.

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

 

 

Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross



“And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up...” (John 3:14.)

Saint Justin of Rome comments on this verse from the Gospel proclaimed at Mass today:

“It seems that the type and sign that was erected to counteract the serpents that bit Israel was intended for the salvation of those who believe that death was declared to come thereafter on the serpent through him who would be crucified. But salvation was to come to those who had been bitten by him and had committed themselves to him who sent his Son into the world to be crucified. For the Spirit of prophecy by Moses did not teach us to believe in the serpent, since it shows us that he was cursed by God from the beginning. And in Isaiah he tells us that he shall be put to death as an enemy by the mighty sword, which is Christ.

By this [lifting up of the serpent], he proclaimed the mystery where he declared that he would break the power of the serpent, which occasioned the transgression of Adam. He [would bring] salvation to those who believe on him because of this sign (i.e., his crucifixion) — salvation from the fangs of the serpent, which are wicked deeds, idolatries and other unrighteous acts. Just as God commanded the sign to be made by the brazen serpent—and yet he is blameless — even so, though a curse lies in the law against persons who are crucified, yet no curse lies on the Christ of God, by whom all that have committed things worthy of a curse are saved.” (Dialogue with Trypho, 91, 94)



Collect
O God,
Who willed that Your Only Begotten Son
should undergo the Cross
to save the human race,
grant, we pray, that we,
who have known His mystery on earth,
may merit the grace
of His redemption 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


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