‘words (λόγοι, logoi) of THE WORD (Του Λόγου, Tou Logou)’ ponders the Sacred Scriptures, the Sacred Liturgy, Fathers of the Church and RCIA as a response to the call for a New Evangelization that by the grace of God the Holy Spirit all may encounter God the Son, Jesus the Incarnate Word and be drawn in love as adopted children to God our Father Who is Merciful Love.
“I am not worthy that you should enter my house. I am not capable of receiving the Sun of Righteousness in its entirety; a little radiance from it is sufficient for me to remove sickness, as it does for the darkness.” When our Lord heard this, he marveled at him. God marveled at a human being. He said to those who were near him, “Truly, I say to you, not even in anyone among the house of Israel have I found this kind of faith.” … The centurion had brought them, and he came so that they would be advocates on his behalf. He rebuked them because they did not possess his faith. To show that the centurion’s faith was the first of the faith of the Gentiles, he said, “Do not imagine that this faith can be limited to the centurion.” For he saw and believed. “Many will believe who have not seen.” “Many will come from the east and from the west and will sit at table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, etc.” (Commentary on Tatian’s Diatessaron, 6)
Glory to You Father, Son and Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning is now
and will be forever. Amen!
“I tell you, in just the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance (μετανοίας, metanoias).” (Luke 15:7) and
“In just the same way, I tell you, there will be rejoicing among the angels of God over one sinner who repents (μετανοοῦντι, metanoouvti).” (Luke 15:10)
In the flow of undergraduate Scripture study, I often ask students the meaning of words that appear in the various translations of the Bible used in class. The exercise provides and opportunity to know where the students are in their approach to the Sacred Text and an entre to examine a particular word in its original Hebrew or Greek context.
Among the more challenging words that we explore in class is repentance or the verb to repent. Repentance translates the word μετάνοια (metanoia), a compound of the Greek prefix μετα (meta, “beyond”) and the Greek noun νοος (noos, “mind”). Literally, μετάνοια is “going beyond the mind” suggesting an action “from the heart.” This is certainly the way of living that the Divine Lawgiver had in mind when the Decalogue was offered to the Chosen People. The 10 prescriptions of the Covenant were not intended to be a mindless checklist of do’s and don’ts that ‘earned points with God,’ but a norm for experiencing true peace and happiness lived from the heart.
“The Prodigal Son” by Pierre Puvis de Chavannes
As important as “from the heart” is in exploring the depth of μετάνοια, I was fortunate to stumble upon a description of μετάνοια years ago put forth by the Jesuit philosopher-theologian, Bernard Lonergan in his work, Method in Theology. Over the years, I have – with due respect and deference to Fr Lonergan – tailored the description in view of additional patristic and theological insights. With that in mind, I have found the following helpful as a starting point to ponder Jesus’ summons to His followers:
μετάνοια is a Grace initiated and sustained response to the Kingdom of God that is a radical transformation actively engaging all dimensions and levels of human living. μετάνοια consciously acknowledges that life is an interlocking and interdependent series of changes and developments expressive of relational living with God, others, the true self and all of creation. μετάνοια further involves transforming apprehensions (how one sees the world), sensitizing conscience and moral criteria (values) all as a continuous straining forward to receive the ‘call up’ from God the Father in Christ Jesus Our Lord through the Grace of the Holy Spirit.
Yes there is much to ponder in the description of what seems is to be simple and “from the heart.” Yet the affects and effects of Original Sin often limit what we think needs to be done in terms of repenting … if I just change this or change that – I will be fine, I will be done. The truth is that this side of the grave the work of μετάνοια is never done. It involves the ‘work’ of letting oneself be found. As the Lord’s Grace leads us onward and upward, μετάνοια is an affirmation not only of transformation that needs to occur, but more so the discovery of abundant riches of the Father’s loving mercy poured into our lives as Gift.
“What man among you having a hundred sheep and losing one of them would not leave the ninety-nine in the desert and go after the lost one until he finds it?” (Luke 15:4)
“Leaving those that have not strayed, the good Shepherd seeks you. If you will surrender yourself, he will not hold back. In his kindness, he will lift you up on his shoulders, rejoicing that he has found his sheep that was lost. The Father stands and awaits your return from your wandering. Only turn to him, and while you are still afar off, he will run and embrace your neck. With loving embraces, he will enfold you, now cleansed by your repentance…. He says, “Truly I say to you that there is joy in heaven before God over one sinner who repents.” If any one of those who seem to stand will bring a charge that you have been quickly received, the good Father himself will answer for you. He will say, “It is fitting that we should celebrate and be glad, for this my daughter was dead and is come to life again. She was lost and is found.” (Letter 46)
Glory to You Father, Son and Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning is now
and will be forever. Amen!
“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,, 94.)
Today is the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross. 2007, Pope Benedict XVI reflected on this Feast during the Angelus of 11 September 2005.
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,
one God, for ever and ever.
Glory to You Father, Son and Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning is now
and will be forever. Amen!
“This parable he added as a most necessary attachment to what had been said. The blessed disciples were about to be the initiators and teachers of the world. It was necessary for them therefore to prove themselves possessed of everything piety requires. They must know the pathway of the evangelic mode of life and be workmen ready for every good work. They must be able to bestow upon well-instructed hearers such correct and saving teaching as exactly represents the truth. This they must do, as having already first received their sight and a mind illuminated with the divine light, lest they should be blind leaders of the blind. It is not possible for those enveloped in the darkness of ignorance to guide those who are afflicted in the same way into the knowledge of the truth. Should they attempt it, they will both roll into the ditch of carelessness.
He overthrew the bragging passion of boastfulness, which most give way, that they may not enviously strive to surpass their teachers in honor. He added, “The disciple is not above his teacher.” Even if some make such progress, as to attain to a virtue that rivals that of their teachers, they will range themselves no higher than their level and be their imitators. Paul shall again support us. He says, “Imitate me, as I also imitate Christ.”” (Commentary on Luke, Homily 29)
Today is the memorial of Saint John Chrysostom, one of the four great Eastern Fathers of the Church. In 2007, Pope Benedict XVI devoted two General Audiences to reflect on the life and teaching of Saint Gregory: 19 September 2007 audience and 26 September 2007 audience.
O God,
strength of those who hope in You,
Who willed that the
Bishop Saint John Chrysostom
should be illustrious by his wonderful eloquence
and his experience of suffering,
grant us, we pray, that,
instructed by his teachings,
we may be strengthened
through the example of his invincible patience.
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 You Father, Son and Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning is now
and will be forever. Amen!
“But rather, love your enemies and do good to them, and lend expecting nothing back; then your reward will be great and you will be children of the Most High, for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.” (Luke 6:35)
“Lend to those from whom you do not hope to receive in return.” “And what sort of a loan is this,” he says, “to which there is no hope of a return attached?” Consider the force of the statement, and you will admire the kindness of the Lawmaker. When you have the intention of providing for a poor person for the Lord’s sake, it is at the same time both a gift and a loan. It is a gift because of the expectation of no repayment, but a loan because of the great gift of the Master who pays in his place and who, receiving trifling things through a poor person, will give great things in return for them.” (Homily on Psalm 14)
Glory to You Father, Son and Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning is now
and will be forever. Amen!
“The Christian who has advanced by means of good discipline and the gift of the Spirit to the measure of the age of reason experiences glory and pleasure and enjoyment that is greater than any human pleasure. These come to one after grace is given to him, after being hated because of Christ, being driven, and enduring every insult and shame in behalf of his faith in God. For such a person, whose entire life centers on the resurrection and future blessings, every insult and scourging and persecution and the other sufferings leading up to the cross are all pleasure and refreshment and surety of heavenly treasures. For Jesus says, “Blessed are you when men reproach you and persecute you and, speaking falsely, say all manner of evil against you; for my sake rejoice and exult because your reward is great in heaven.” (On the Christian Mode of Life)
Glory to You Father, Son and Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning is now
and will be forever. Amen!
“Since then it was impossible that our life, which had been estranged from God, should of itself return to the high and heavenly place, for this reason, as the apostle says, he who knew no sin is made sin for us and frees us from the curse by taking on him our curse as his own. Having taken up and, in the language of the apostle, “slain” in himself “the enmity” which by means of sin had come between us and God (in fact sin was the “enmity”) and having become what we were, he through himself again united humanity to God. For having by purity brought into closest relationship with the Father of our nature that new man which is created after God, in whom dwelled all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, he drew with him into the same grace all the nature that partakes of his body and is akin to him.” (Against Eunomious, 12)
Glory to You Father, Son and Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning is now
and will be forever. Amen!
“Then you heard the words of the Lord, saying, “Stretch forth your hand.” That is the common and universal remedy. You who think that you have a healthy hand beware lest it is withered by greed or by sacrilege. Hold it out often. Hold it out to the poor person who begs you. Hold it out to help your neighbor, to give protection to a widow, to snatch from harm one whom you see subjected to unjust insult. Hold it out to God for your sins. The hand is stretched forth; then it is healed. Jeroboam’s hand withered when he sacrificed to idols; then it stretched out when he entreated God.” (Exposition of the Gospel of Luke, 5)
Today is the memorial of Saint Peter Claver, a Jesuit who worked among the many women and men who were removed from their homes in Africa and forcibly sold into slavery in ‘the New World.’ One of Saint Peter’s letters is presented in today’s Liturgy of the Hours, Office of Readings. Click here to find out more information about the Saint Peter Claver museum in Cartagena, Columbia.
O God,
Who made Saint Peter Claver
a slave of slaves and strengthened him
with wonder charity and patience
as he came to their help,
grant, through his intercession, that,
seeking the things of Jesus Christ,
we may love our neighbor in deeds and in truth.
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 You Father, Son and Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning is now
and will be forever. Amen!
“If any one comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:26)
“I heard his holy voice speaking to all without distinction. “He who does not leave father and mother and brothers and all that he possesses and take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.” I learned from Scripture and from experience itself that the cross comes at the end for no other reason than that we must endure trials and tribulations and finally voluntary death itself. In times past, when heresies prevailed, many chose death through martyrdom and various tortures. Now, when we through the grace of Christ live in a time of profound and perfect peace, we learn for sure that cross and death consist in nothing else than the complete putting to death of self-will. He who pursues his own will, however slightly, will never be able to observe the law of Christ the Savior.” (Discourses, 20)
The following excerpt from Dietrich Bonhoeffer’sCost of Discipleship is a most appropriate text to ponder:
“Discipleship means adherence to Christ, and, because Christ is the object of that adherence, it must take the form of discipleship. An abstract Christology, a doctrinal system, a general religious knowledge on the subject of grace or on the forgiveness of sins, render discipleship superfluous, and in fact they positively exclude any idea of discipleship whatever, and are essentially inimical to the whole conception of following Christ. With an abstract idea it is possible to enter into a relation of formal knowledge, to become enthusiastic about it, and perhaps even to put it into practice; but it can never be followed in personal obedience. Christianity without the living Christ is inevitably Christianity without discipleship, and Christianity without discipleship is always Christianity without Christ.
It remains an abstract idea, a myth that has a place for the Fatherhood of God, but omits Christ as the living Son. A Christianity of that kind is nothing more or less than the end of discipleship.”
“The cross is laid on every Christian. The first Christ-suffering which every man must experience is the call to abandon the attachments of this world. It is that dying of the old man which is the result of his encounter with Christ. As we embark upon discipleship we surrender ourselves to Christ in union with his death—we give over our lives to death. Thus it begins; the cross is not the terrible end to an otherwise god-fearing and happy life, but it meets us at the beginning of our communion with Christ. When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die. It may be a death like that of the first disciples who had to leave home and work to follow him, or it may be a death like Luther’s, who had to leave the monastery and go out into the world. But it is the same death every time — death in Jesus Christ, the death of the old man at his call.”
“While Jesus was going through a field of grain on a sabbath, His disciples were picking the heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands, and eating them.” (Luke 6:1-2)
“The Lord Jesus begins to divest man [people] of the observation of the old law and clothes him with the new covering of grace not only through the understanding of words but also through the very usage and appearance of actions. Already on the sabbath, he leads him through the cornfields, that is, he brings him to what abounds in fruit. What the sabbath, the standing corn, and the ears mean to him is no small mystery. The field is this whole world, and the standing corn of the field is an abundant fruitfulness of saints in the sowing of the human race. The ears of the field are the fruits of the church that the apostles scattered with their works and on which they fed, sustaining themselves on our progress. The corn was already standing rich in abundant ears of virtues. The fruits of our merit are compared with these, because they also wither in a shower or are parched by the sun or soaked by the rain or shattered by storms or hoarded by the reapers in the storehouses of the blessed granaries. The earth has already received the Word of God, and the nourishing field sown with heavenly seed has brought forth abundant fruit. The disciples hungered for the salvation of humankind, and by the splendid miracles of their works they plucked as if from the husks of their bodies fruits of their minds to the light of faith. The Jews thought that this was not permitted on the sabbath, but Christ through the gift of new grace designated the idleness of the law as a work of grace.” (Exposition of the Gospel of Luke, 5)
“And they said to him, “The disciples of John fast often and offer prayers, and the disciples of the Pharisees do the same; but yours eat and drink.”” (Luke 5:33)
“Then in this passage, fasting represents the old garment that the apostle thought should be taken off. He said, “Strip yourselves of the old man with his deeds,” so that we may put on the new man, which is renewed by the sanctification of baptism. Then the series of teachings is suited to the same garment, lest we mix the deeds of the old and the new man, when the physical exterior performs the works of the flesh. The inner man, which is reborn, should not have the varied appearance of old and new actions but be the same color as Christ. With zeal of mind, it should imitate him for whom he was cleansed by baptism. So let the discolored coverings of the mind, which are displeasing to the Bridegroom, be absent, for one who has not a wedding garment is displeasing to him. What can please the Bridegroom, except peace of spirit, purity of heart and clarity of mind?” (Exposition of the Gospel of Luke, 5)
“Getting into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, he asked him to put out a short distance from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat.” (Luke 5:3)
“Ordinarily people are not given life on a boat but transported. Nor are they comforted on a vessel but anxious about its journey. Notice also that this boat is not a boat that is given to Peter to be piloted — rather, it is the church, which is committed to the apostle to be governed. For this is the vessel that does not kill but gives life to those borne along by the storms of this world as if by waves. Just as a little boat holds the dying fish that have been brought up from the deep, so also the vessel of the church gives life to human beings who have been freed from turmoil. Within itself, I say, the church gives life to those who are half-dead, as it were.” (Sermon 110)
“After he left the synagogue, he entered the house of Simon. Simon’s mother-in-law was afflicted with a severe fever, and they interceded with him about her.” (Luke 4:38)
“Now Simon’s mother-in-law was kept in her bed sick with a fever.” May Christ come to our house and enter in and by his command cure the fever of our sins. Each one of us is sick with a fever. When-ever I give way to anger, I have a fever. There are as many fevers as there are faults and vices. Let us beg the apostles to intercede for us with Jesus, that he may come to us and touch our hand. If he does so, at once our fever is gone. He is an excellent physician and truly the chief Physician. Moses is a physician. Isaiah is a physician. All the saints are physicians, but He is the chief Physician.” (Homilies on the Gospels, 75)
From the Congregation’s website: “Sister Mary Stella CSFN, (Adela Mardosewicz) and her 10 companion sisters were executed by the Nazi regime on 1 August 1943 and buried in a common grave outside Nowogródek, then in Poland now part of Belarus.
In the wake of mass arrests the previous month in Nowogrodek, Sister Mary Stella and her companions prayed:
‘O God, if sacrifice of life is needed, accept it from us who are free from family obligations and spare those who have wives and children.’
Sr. Stella and her 10 companions were beatified by Pope John Paul II on March 5, 2000.”
O Most Blessed Trinity,
we praise and thank You
for the example of Blessed Mary Stella
and Her ten companions,
Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth,
who by imitating Jesus Christ,
offered themselves as a sacrifice of love.
God of mercy and compassion,
through the merits of their martyrdom
and by their intercession,
grant us the grace we humbly ask…
(insert intention here)…
so that like them,
we may witness with our lives
to the presence of the Kingdom of God’s love
and extend it to the human family throughout the world.
We ask this through Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Blessed Martyred Sisters of Nowogródek, pray for us.
“Even when the demons spoke the truth, for they spoke the truth when they said, “Thou are the Son of God,” the Lord himself silenced them and forbade them to speak. He did this to keep them from sowing their own wickedness in the midst of the truth. He also wished us to get used to never listening to them even though they seem to speak the truth..” (The Life of Saint Antony, 26)
Today is the memorial of Saint Gregory the Great, one of the four great Western Fathers of the Church. In May 2008, Pope Benedict XVI devoted two General Audiences to reflect on the life and teaching of Saint Gregory: 28 May 2008 audience and 4 June 2008 audience.
O God,
Who care for Your people
with gentleness and rule them in love,
through the intercession of Pope Saint Gregory,
endow, we pray, with a spirit of wisdom
those to whom you have given authority to govern,
that the flourishing of a holy flock
may become the eternal joy of the shepherds.
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.
“The LORD God then took the man and settled him in the garden of Eden, to cultivate and care for it.” (Genesis 2:15)
Saint Augustine of Hippo offers the following commentary on these verses taken from today’s Scripture (optional Readings for Labor Day):
“Although man was placed in paradise so as to work and guard it, that praiseworthy work was not toilsome. For the work in paradise is quite different from the work on the earth to which he was condemned after the sin. The addition “and to guard it” indicated the sort of work it was. For in the tranquility of the happy life, where there is no death, the only work is to guard what you possess.” (Two Books on Genesis Against the Manichaeans, 2)
“May Your favor, O Lord, be upon us, and may You give success to the work of our hands. (Psalm 90:17)
COLLECT
O God, Who through human labor
never cease to perfect and govern
the vast work of creation,
listen to the supplications of Your people
and grant that all men and women
may find work that befits their dignity,
joins them more closely to one another
and enables them to serve their neighbor.
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.
“Then God said: Let us make human beings in our image, after our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the tame animals, all the wild animals, and all the creatures that crawl on the earth. God created mankind in his image; in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them and God said to them: Be fertile and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it.* Have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and all the living things that crawl on the earth. God also said: See, I give you every seed-bearing plant on all the earth and every tree that has seed-bearing fruit on it to be your food; and to all the wild animals, all the birds of the air, and all the living creatures that crawl on the earth, I give all the green plants for food. And so it happened. God looked at everything he had made, and found it very good. Evening came, and morning followed—the sixth day. Thus the heavens and the earth and all their array were completed. On the seventh day God completed the work he had been doing; he rested on the seventh day from all the work he had undertaken. God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work he had done in creation (Genesis 1:26-2:3.”
“The truth that by means of work man participates in the activity of God himself, his Creator, was given particular prominence by Jesus Christ-the Jesus at whom many of his first listeners in Nazareth “were astonished, saying, ‘Where did this man get all this? What is the wisdom given to him? ... Is not this the carpenter?’” For Jesus not only proclaimed but first and foremost fulfilled by his deeds the “gospel,” the word of eternal Wisdom, that had been entrusted to him. Therefore this was also “the gospel of work.” because he who proclaimed it was himself a man of work, a craftsman like Joseph of Nazareth. And if we do not find in his words a special command to work-but rather on one occasion a prohibition against too much anxiety about work and life - at the same time the eloquence of the life of Christ is unequivocal: he belongs to the “working world”, he has appreciation and respect for human work. It can indeed be said that he looks with love upon human work and the different forms that it takes, seeing in each one of these forms a particular facet of man’s likeness with God, the Creator and Father. Is it not he who says: “My Father is the vinedresser,” and in various ways puts into his teaching the fundamental truth about work which is already expressed in the whole tradition of the Old Testament, beginning with the Book of Genesis?
On the basis of these illuminations emanating from the Source himself, the Church has always proclaimed what we find expressed in modern terms in the teaching of the Second Vatican Council: “Just as human activity proceeds from man, so it is ordered towards man. For when a man works he not only alters things and society, he develops himself as well. He learns much, he cultivates his resources, he goes outside of himself and beyond himself. Rightly understood, this kind of growth is of greater value than any external riches which can be garnered ... Hence, the norm of human activity is this: that in accord with the divine plan and will, it should harmonize with the genuine good of the human race, and allow people as individuals and as members of society to pursue their total vocation and fulfill it.”
Such a vision of the values of human work, or in other words such a spirituality of work, fully explains what we read in the same section of the Council’s Pastoral Constitution with regard to the right meaning of progress: “A person is more precious for what he is than for what he has. Similarly, all that people do to obtain greater justice, wider brotherhood, and a more humane ordering of social relationships has greater worth than technical advances. For these advances can supply the material for human progress, but of themselves alone they can never actually bring it about.”
This teaching on the question of progress and development – a subject that dominates present day thought-can be understood only as the fruit of a tested spirituality of human work; and it is only on the basis of such a spirituality that it can be realized and put into practice. This is the teaching, and also the program, that has its roots in “the gospel of work.””
“The Scripture asserts that “everyone that exalts himself will be humbled, and he that humbles himself will be exalted.” If we want to attain to true humility and come quickly to the top of that heavenly ascent to which we can only mount by lowliness in this present life, we must ascend by good works. We must erect the mystical ladder of Jacob, where angels ascending and descending appeared to him. Ascent and descent mean that we go downward when we exalt ourselves and rise when we are humbled. The ladder represents our life in this world, which our Lord erects to heaven when our heart is humbled. The sides of the ladder represent our soul and body, sides between which God has placed several rungs of humility and discipline, whereby we are to ascend if we would answer his call.” (Rule of Benedict, 7)
Father in Heaven, as your sons and daughters we present these prayers to You born of confidence and humility.
1. Your sacred Word Heavenly Father teaches us ‘to conduct our affairs with humility.’ Fill the Church – Your Son’s Body – with men and women who act as Jesus’ disciples, humbly seeking You and the salvation of one another, especially our family members. We humbly pray.
2. Your sacred Word Heavenly Father promises the Spirit-filled peace of Your Son. Pour forth that same peace upon our world. Bring peace to Syria. For the innocent victims of wars, crime, violence and hatred – We humbly pray.
3. Your sacred Word Heavenly Father teaches us that “You have made a home for the poor.” In all levels of Church and parish planning and living, impel us to work to alleviate the burdens of the poor and all who suffer in any way. We humbly pray.
4. Your sacred Word Heavenly Father teaches that we have “approached Jesus, the Mediator of a new Covenant.” As many return to school this week, may learning equip all students with the Truth of Jesus that reverences life and serves the needs of the poor. We humbly pray.
5. For all the sick (especially …) [PAUSE]
May all who have died (especially …) live eternally with You: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We pray …
Father,
all that is good comes from You.
Humbly we ask that You
graciously fill our hearts
with love for You.
Increase our faith and by Your constant care,
protect the good You have given to us.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,
Who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit,
One God, forever and ever.
“Notice too that the servants did not go to the master so they might be judged and receive their just deserts. Rather, “the master came to them” in due course. “After a long time” he came and “settled accounts with them” on everything they had done, compensating them for the gains of their good works and the losses of their sins. Settling “accounts” and scrutinizing everything, he dealt with each one individually. It behooves us, then, as those who by sinning have done evil and by doing good reaped a profit, to keep a guard on our hearts. In this way, when our Master comes to settle accounts with us, we may not be found to have done evil, even through idle words.” (Commentary on Matthew, 66)
“It is some great thing, some exceedingly great thing, that this oil signifies. Do you think it might be charity? If we try out this hypothesis, we hazard no precipitate judgment. I will tell you why charity seems to be signified by the oil. The apostle says, “I will show you a still more excellent way.” “If I speak with the tongue of mortals and of angels but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.” This is charity. It is “that way above the rest,” which is with good reason signified by the oil. For oil swims above all liquids. Pour in water, and pour in oil upon it; the oil will swim above. Pour in oil, pour in water upon it; the oil will swim above. If you keep the usual order, it will be uppermost; if you change the order, it will be uppermost. “Charity never fails.” (Sermon 93)
“In what way, then, was this just man harmed by this demise, this violent death, these chains, this imprisonment? Who are those he did not set back on their feet—provided they had a penitent disposition—because of what he spoke, because of what he suffered, because of what he still proclaims in our own day—the same message he preached while he was living. Therefore, do not say: “Why was John allowed to die?” For what occurred was not a death, but a crown, not an end, but the beginning of a greater life. Learn to think and live like a Christian. You will not only remain unharmed by these events, but will reap the greatest benefits.” (On the Providence of God, 22)
Today is also the Memorial of the Passion of Saint John the Baptist. Click here for a commentary on the Baptist’s death by Saint Bede the Venerable (the selection is taken from today’s Liturgy of the Hours, Office of Readings).
O God,
Who willed that Saint John the Baptist
should go ahead of Your Son
both in his birth and in his death,
grant that, as he died a Martyr for truth and justice,
we, too, may fight hard for the confession of what you teach.
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.
