Catholic Caucus: Daily Mass Readings, 02-10-05, Optional, St. Scholastica

USCCB.org/New American Bible ^ | 02-10-05 | New American Bible

[Salvation]

February 10, 2005
Thursday after Ash Wednesday

Psalm: Thursday 9

Reading I
Dt 30:15-20

Moses said to the people:
"Today I have set before you
life and prosperity, death and doom.
If you obey the commandments of the LORD, your God,
which I enjoin on you today,
loving him, and walking in his ways,
and keeping his commandments, statutes and decrees,
you will live and grow numerous,
and the LORD, your God,
will bless you in the land you are entering to occupy.
If, however, you turn away your hearts and will not listen,
but are led astray and adore and serve other gods,
I tell you now that you will certainly perish;
you will not have a long life
on the land that you are crossing the Jordan to enter and occupy.
I call heaven and earth today to witness against you:
I have set before you life and death,
the blessing and the curse.
Choose life, then,
that you and your descendants may live, by loving the LORD, your God,
heeding his voice, and holding fast to him.
For that will mean life for you,
a long life for you to live on the land that the LORD swore
he would give to your fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob."


Responsorial Psalm
Ps 1:1-2, 3, 4 and 6

R (40:5a) Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.
Blessed the man who follows not
the counsel of the wicked
Nor walks in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the company of the insolent,
But delights in the law of the LORD
and meditates on his law day and night.
R Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.
He is like a tree
planted near running water,
That yields its fruit in due season,
and whose leaves never fade.
Whatever he does, prospers.
R Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.
Not so the wicked, not so;
they are like chaff which the wind drives away.
For the LORD watches over the way of the just,
but the way of the wicked vanishes.
R Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.


Gospel
Lk 9:22-25

Jesus said to his disciples:
"The Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected
by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes,
and be killed and on the third day be raised."

Then he said to all,
"If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself
and take up his cross daily and follow me.
For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.
What profit is there for one to gain the whole world
yet lose or forfeit himself?"

[Salvation]

For your reading, reflection, faith-sharing, comments, questions, discussion.

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Alleluia Ping!

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Lent 2005, Prayer, Reflection, Action for All

Reflections for Lent: February 6 -- March 27, 2005

The Three Practices of Lent: Praying, Fasting, Almsgiving

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Some wonderful threads to read and bump!

 

Mardi Gras' Catholic Roots [Shrove Tuesday]

The Holy Season of Lent -- Fast and Abstinence

The Holy Season of Lent -- The Stations of the Cross

[Suffering] His Pain Like Mine

Lent and Fasting

Ash Wednesday

All About Lent

Kids and Holiness: Making Lent Meaningful to Children

 

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Saint Scholastica, Virgin and Religious Founder

[Salvation]

From: Deuteronomy 30:15-20

Israel Facing Life and Death: The Two Ways

---

[15] "See, I have set before you this day life and good, death and evil.
[16] If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you
this day, by loving the Lord your God, by walking in his ways, and by
keeping his commandments and his statutes and his ordinances, then you shall
live arid multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land which
you are entering to take possession of it. [17] But if your heart turns
away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and
serve them, [18] I declare to you this day, that you shall perish; you shall
not live long in the land which you are going over the Jordan to enter and
possess. [19] I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that
I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse; therefore choose
life, that you and your descendants may live, [20] loving the LORD your God,
obeying his voice, and cleaving to him; for that means life to you and
length of' days, that you may dwell in the land which the Lord swore to your
fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them."

---

Commentary:

30:15-20. The last verses of the discourse addresses a touching and solemn
appeal to Israel, spelling out what its responsibilities are: it is
completely free to choose between good and evil; but depending on whether it
is faithful or unfaithful, it will he blessed or punished by the Lord.

The concluding exhortation (vv. 19-20) is particularly moving: "choose
life", loving the Lord, for "that means life". In the New Testament we find
passages which echo the same ideas: "I am the life," our Lord will say (Jn
14:6); and St Paul: "It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me"
(Gal 2:20); "for to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain" (Phil 1:21).

Cf. RSV footnote to v. 36: this follows the (fuller) Septuagint Greek (as do
the New Vulgate and the Spanish). The words "if you obey the commandments of
the Lord your God" do help to stress the contrast with what it says in v. 17.

---

Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text
taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries
made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of
Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock,
Co. Dublin, Ireland.

[Salvation]

From: Luke 9:22-25

First Prophecy of the Passion

---

(Jesus said to His disciples), [22] "The Son of Man must suffer many
things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes,
and be killed, and on the third day be raised."

The Need for Self-Denial

---

[23] And He said to all, "If any man would come after Me, let him deny
himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me. [24] For whoever
would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for My
sake, he will save it. [25] For what does it profit a man if he gains
the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?"

---

Commentary:

22. Jesus prophesied His passion and death in order to help His
disciples believe in Him. It also showed that He was freely accepting
these sufferings He would undergo. "Christ did not seek to be
glorified: He chose to come without glory in order to undergo
suffering; and you, who have been born without glory, do you wish to be
glorified? The route you must take is the one Christ took. This means
recognizing Him and it means imitating Him both in His ignominy and in
His good repute; thus you will glory in the Cross, which was His path
to glory. That was what Paul did, and therefore he gloried in saying,
`Far be it from me to glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus
Christ' (Galatians 6:14)" (St. Ambrose, "Expositio Evangelii Sec.
Lucam, in loc.").

23. "Christ is saying this again, to us, whispering it in our ears: the
cross EACH DAY. As St. Jerome puts it: `Not only in time of
persecution or when we have the chance of martyrdom, but in all
circumstances, in everything we do and think, in everything we say, let
us deny what we used to be and let us confess what we now are, reborn
as we have been in Christ' ("Epistola" 121, 3) [...]. Do you see? The
DAILY cross. No day without a cross; not a single day in which we are
not to carry the cross of the Lord, in which we are not to accept His
yoke" ([St] J. Escriva, "Christ Is Passing By", 58 and 176). "There is no
doubt about it: a person who loves pleasure, who seeks comfort, who flies
from anything that might spell suffering, who is over-anxious, who
complains, who blames and who becomes impatient at the least little thing
which does not go his way--a person like that is a Christian only in name;
he is only a dishonor to his religion for Jesus Christ has said so: Anyone
who wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross
every day of his life, and follow Me" (St. John Mary Vianney, "Selected
Sermons", Ash Wednesday).

The Cross should be present not only in the life of every Christian but
also at the crossroads of the world: "How beautiful are those crosses
on the summits of high mountains, and crowning great monuments, and on
the pinnacles of cathedrals...! But the Cross must also be inserted in
the very heart of the world.

"Jesus wants to be raised on high, there in the noise of the factories
and workshops, in the silence of libraries, in the loud clamor of the
streets, in the stillness of the fields, in the intimacy of the family,
in crowded gatherings, in stadiums.... Wherever there is a Christian
striving to lead an honorable life, he should, with his love, set up
the Cross of Christ, who attracts all things to Himself" ([St] J. Escriva,
"The Way of the Cross", XI, 3).

25. By this radical statement Jesus teaches us to do everything with a
view to eternal life: it is well worth while to devote our entire life
on earth to attaining eternal life. "We have been warned that it
profits man nothing if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits
himself. Far from diminishing our concern to develop this earth, the
expectance of a new earth should spur us on, for it is here that the
body of a new human family grows, foreshadowing in some way the age
which is to come. That is why, although we must be careful to
distinguish earthly progress clearly from the increase of the Kingdom
of Christ, such progress is of vital concern to the Kingdom of God,
insofar as it can contribute to the better ordering of human society"
(Vatican II, "Gaudium Et Spes", 39).

---

Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text
taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries
made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of
Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock,
Co. Dublin, Ireland.

[Salvation]

Thursday, February 10, 2005
St. Scholastica, Virgin (Commemoration)

First Reading: Psalm: Gospel:

Deuteronomy 30:15-20 Psalm 1:1-4, 6 Luke 9:22-25 It is simply impossible to lead, without the aid of prayer, a virtuous life.  -- St. John Chrysostom

[Salvation]

American Cathlic's Saint of the Day

February 10, 2005

St. Scholastica

(480-542?)

Twins often share the same interests and ideas with an equal intensity. Therefore, it is no surprise that Scholastica and her twin brother, Benedict, both established religious communities within a few miles from each other.

Born in 480 of wealthy parents, Scholastica and Benedict were brought up together until he left for Rome to continue his studies.

Little is known of Scholastica’s early life. She founded a religious community for women near Monte Cassino at Plombariola, five miles from where her brother governed a monastery.

The twins visited each other once a year in a farmhouse because Scholastica was not permitted inside the monastery. They spent these times discussing spiritual matters.

According to the Dialogues of St. Gregory the Great, the brother and sister spent their last day together in prayer and conversation. Scholastica sensed her death was close at hand and she begged Benedict to stay with her until the next day.

He refused her request because he did not want to spend a night outside the monastery, thus breaking his own Rule. Scholastica asked God to let her brother remain and a severe thunderstorm broke out, preventing Benedict and his monks from returning to the abbey.

Benedict cried out, “God forgive you, Sister. What have you done?” Scholastica replied, “I asked a favor of you and you refused. I asked it of God and he granted it.”

Brother and sister parted the next morning after their long discussion. Three days later, Benedict was praying in his monastery and saw the soul of his sister rising heavenward in the form of a white dove. Benedict then announced the death of his sister to the monks and later buried her in the tomb he had prepared for himself.

Comment:

Scholastica and Benedict gave themselves totally to God and gave top priority to deepening their friendship with him through prayer. They sacrificed some of the opportunities they would have had to be together as brother and sister in order better to fulfill their vocation to the religious life. In coming closer to Christ, however, they found they were also closer to each other. In joining a religious community, they did not forget or forsake their family but rather found more brothers and sisters.

Quote:

“All religious are under an obligation, in accordance with the particular vocation of each, to work zealously and diligently for the building up and growth of the whole mystical body of Christ and for the good of the particular churches. It is their duty to foster these objectives primarily by means of prayer, works of penance, and by the example of their own lives” (Decree on the Pastoral Office of Bishops, 33, Austin Flannery translation).

[Salvation]

From CatholicCulture.org

 

Collect:
Lord, as we recall the memory of St. Scholastica, we ask that by her example we may serve you with love and obtain perfect joy. Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Recipes:

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Prayers:

• » Litany of Saint Scholastica
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February 10, 2005

Memorial of St. Scholastica, virgin

Old Calendar: St. Scholastica

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Yesterday we began Lent. Today we take up our cross and follow Christ. We are presented with a choice, "Today I have set before you life and prosperity, death and doom. . . Choose life, then, that you and your descendants may live, by loving the Lord, your God, heeding his voice, and holding fast to him."

St. Scholastica was the twin sister of St. Benedict, the Patriarch of Western monasticism. She was born in Umbria, Italy, about 480. Under Benedict's direction, Scholastica founded a community of nuns near the great Benedictine monastery Monte Cassino. Inspired by Benedict's teaching, his sister devoted her whole life to seeking and serving God. She died in 547 and tradition holds that at her death her soul ascended to heaven in the form of a dove.

Today's station is at St. George's. Pope St Gregory established a diaconia, an institution that cared for the poor, at the site of this church. The area has a special place in the history of Rome, as an ancient tradition claims that it was here that Romulus killed his brother Remus before founding the city.

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St. Scholastica
St. Scholastica, like her brother, dedicated herself to God from early youth. Information on the virgin Scholastica is very scanty. In his Second Book of Dialogues (Ch. 33 and 34) Pope St. Gregory has described for us the last meeting between brother and sister (cf. third lesson):

"His sister Scholastica, who had been consecrated to God in early childhood, used to visit with him once a year. On these occasions he would go to meet her in a house belonging to the monastery a short distance from the entrance. For this particular visit he joined her there with a few of his disciples and they spent the whole day singing God's praises and conversing about the spiritual life.

"When darkness was setting in they took their meal together and continued their conversation at table until it was quite late. Then the holy nun said to him, 'Please do not leave me tonight, brother. Let us keep on talking about the joys of heaven till morning.' 'What are you saying, sister?' he replied. 'You know that I cannot stay away from the monastery.' The sky was so clear at the time, there was not a cloud in sight.

"At her brother's refusal Scholastica folded her hands on the table and rested her head upon them in earnest prayer. When she looked up again, there was a sudden burst of lightning and thunder accompanied by such a downpour that Benedict and his companions were unable to set foot outside the door. By shedding a flood of tears while she prayed, this holy nun had darkened the cloudless sky with a heavy rain. The storm began as soon as her prayer was over. In fact, the two coincided so closely that the thunder was already resounding as she raised her head from the table. The very instant she ended her prayer the rain poured down.

"Realizing that he could not return to the abbey in this terrible storm, Benedict complained bitterly. 'God forgive you, sister!' he said. 'What have you done?' Scholastica simply answered, 'When I appealed to you, you would not listen to me. So I turned to my God and He heard my prayer. Leave now if you can. Leave me here and go back to your monastery.'

"This, of course, he could not do. He had no choice now but to stay, in spite of his unwillingness. They spent the entire night together and both of them derived great profit from the holy thoughts they exchanged about the interior life. The next morning Scholastica returned to her convent and Benedict to his monastery.

"Three days later as he stood in his room looking up toward the sky, he beheld his sister's soul leaving her body and entering the heavenly court in the form of a dove. Overjoyed at her eternal glory, he gave thanks to God in hymns of praise. Then, after informing his brethren of her death, he sent some of them to bring her body to the abbey and bury it in the tomb he had prepared for himself. The bodies of these two were now to share a common resting place, just as in life their souls had always been one in God."

Her tomb is at Monte Cassino. —The Church's Year of Grace, Pius Parsch

Patron: Against rain; convulsive children; nuns; storms.

Symbols: Nun with crozier and crucifix; nun with dove flying from her mouth.

Things to Do:

• Tell your children about the "holy twins": St. Scholastica and the tender love she had for her brother St. Benedict. Ask them how they can help one another to become saints.

• Make an altar hanging or window transparency in the shape of a dove to honor St. Scholastica.

• If you are traveling to Italy try to visit St. Benedict's Abbey of Monte Cassino. If not, make a virtual visit.

• Read more about the life of St. Scholastica.

• Learn how to prayerfully read Sacred Scripture in this article, Lectio Divina: Daily Information for a New Life by Fr. Adam Ryan, O.S.B.

[Ciexyz]

O Lord, we love you, we long to walk in your ways and give you praise and worship.

[Ciexyz]

Lenten ping.

[Smartass]

Thursday after Ash Wednesday

Then he [Jesus] said to them all,
"If any want to become my followers,
let them deny themselves and take up
their cross daily and follow me.
For those who want to save their life
will lose it, and those who lose their
'life for my sake will save it.
What does it profit them if they gain
the whole world, but lose or forfeit themselves?
(Lk 9:23-25, NRSV)

[Ciexyz]

Prayers offered up for the Pope's continued health and comfort.

[Ciexyz]

We delight in the scripture of the Lord, and meditate on His word daily.

[Ciexyz]

Here's wishing all FReepers reading this thread a blessed Lenten season. May our thoughts remain focused on Christ's sacrifice for us.

[annalex]

Lk 9:22-25
#	Douay-Rheims	Vulgate
22	Saying: The Son of man must suffer many things and be rejected by the ancients and chief priests and scribes and be killed and the third day rise again.	dicens quia oportet Filium hominis multa pati et reprobari a senioribus et principibus sacerdotum et scribis et occidi et tertia die resurgere
23	And he said to all: If any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.	dicebat autem ad omnes si quis vult post me venire abneget se ipsum et tollat crucem suam cotidie et sequatur me
24	For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: for he that shall lose his life for my sake shall save it.	qui enim voluerit animam suam salvam facere perdet illam nam qui perdiderit animam suam propter me salvam faciet illam
25	For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world and lose himself and cast away himself?	quid enim proficit homo si lucretur universum mundum se autem ipsum perdat et detrimentum sui faciat

[annalex]

"For whoever wishes to save his life" is closer to Jerome's "qui enim voluerit animam suam salvam facere" in 24. Douay's archaic "will" fails to convey volition in today's usage.

[Salvation]

I like it better too. But does the word "will" mean that a man takes action, whereas the word "wishes" might be construed as merely thoughts or dreams?

[Salvation]

 

 

A Voice in the Desert

 

Thursday February 10, 2005   Thursday After Ash Wednesday

Reading (Deuteronomy 30:15-20)   Gospel (St. Luke 9:22-25)

 In the first reading from the Book of Deuteronomy, Moses tells us that he places before us life and death, the blessing and the curse. And he talks all about what will happen as we make our choices. He says that if we choose life it is going to be because we have chosen to serve the Lord, to be obedient to His commandments, to do all the things that Our Lord is asking us to do, and to walk in His way. If we choose death, it is because we have chosen not to serve the Lord but to serve other gods and to do things our own way. 

Our Lord in the Gospel reading, then, follows up on the point and He tells us the same thing. He places before us life and death. He places before us the blessing and the curse, as well. He tells us exactly what it is going to require. So if we are going to be obedient to the commandment of our God, what is it? You must take up your cross daily and follow Me. And He tells us that anyone who would lose his life will save it. If we want life, it is only by losing our life in order to serve Christ.  

Now that sounds like it is completely foolish, and on Our Lord’s part it sounds like it is completely selfish. He says, Whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. Imagine if we ran around saying something like that – “The only way that you’re going to live is if you do something for me”! Well, the difference is that He is God, and so He is telling us that if we serve God (which is exactly what Moses told us) then we will have life. But He tells us how we are to serve Him: It is to lose our life, it is to take up our cross, and it is to follow in His way. That is exactly what Moses said, except Moses did not say, “Take up your cross,” but he told us to follow in the way of the Lord, to be obedient to His commands. Jesus is just specifying what the commandment is: We have to be willing to lose ourselves. If we lose ourselves for His sake then what happens is that we gain Him, we are transformed into Christ, and then it is Christ Who lives in us.  

That is the whole goal of what this life is all about. And as we begin this holy season of Lent, it is a stark reminder to us of what our lives are to be about, that we are to be striving for life, for eternal life. There is only one way to eternal life, and that is Jesus Christ. The Lord has made it very clear that if we are going to follow that way it is going to lead right through Calvary, right to the Cross, and from the Cross to eternity. So if we want to be able to have eternal life, we have to walk the way; and the Way, the Truth, and the Life are one and the same. If we want life, that is Jesus Christ. If we want to be able to get to life, we have to walk on the way, and the way is Jesus Christ. It is the simple truth, and the truth is Jesus Christ. It is all the same. We like to try to invent some other way of being able to get there, something that seems easier and more pleasant. That is serving another god; it is not serving Jesus because He has told us exactly what it is going to require if we are going to serve Him. If we are not doing it His way – and He is the Way – then we are walking a different path; a different path is a different god, and it will not lead us to eternity.

 So as we begin this time of self-denial, it is to walk upon that same path of Christ, to be rejected, to be ridiculed, to be put to death. In this case, it is putting to death that within our own selves which is not of God so that the life of Christ will live in us, to choose the Cross because that is to choose the blessing. It is to choose life. If we run away from the Cross, we have chosen the curse and we have chosen death. That is what this world has chosen, and we live in a culture of death. But, as Christian people, we espouse the culture of life, and the life comes from dying to self, the life comes from the Cross, the life comes only from union with Jesus Christ.

 *  This text was transcribed from the audio recording with minimal editing.