Free Republic
Browse · Search
Religion
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Catholic Caucus: Daily Mass Readings, 06-17-13
USCCB.org/RNAB ^ | 06-17-13 | Revised New American Bible

Posted on 06/16/2013 9:44:31 PM PDT by Salvation

June 17, 2013

Monday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time

 

Reading 1 2 Cor 6:1-10

Brothers and sisters:
As your fellow workers, we appeal to you
not to receive the grace of God in vain.
For he says:

In an acceptable time I heard you,
and on the day of salvation I helped you.


Behold, now is a very acceptable time;
behold, now is the day of salvation.
We cause no one to stumble in anything,
in order that no fault may be found with our ministry;
on the contrary, in everything we commend ourselves
as ministers of God, through much endurance,
in afflictions, hardships, constraints,
beatings, imprisonments, riots,
labors, vigils, fasts;
by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness,
in the Holy Spirit, in unfeigned love, in truthful speech,
in the power of God;
with weapons of righteousness at the right and at the left;
through glory and dishonor, insult and praise.
We are treated as deceivers and yet are truthful;
as unrecognized and yet acknowledged;
as dying and behold we live;
as chastised and yet not put to death;
as sorrowful yet always rejoicing;
as poor yet enriching many;
as having nothing and yet possessing all things.

Responsorial Psalm PS 98:1, 2b, 3ab, 3cd-4

R. (2a) The Lord has made known his salvation.
Sing to the LORD a new song,
for he has done wondrous deeds;
His right hand has won victory for him,
his holy arm.
R. The Lord has made known his salvation.
In the sight of the nations he has revealed his justice.
He has remembered his kindness and his faithfulness
toward the house of Israel.
R. The Lord has made known his salvation.
All the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation by our God.
Sing joyfully to the LORD, all you lands;
break into song; sing praise.
R. The Lord has made known his salvation.

Gospel Mt 5:38-42

Jesus said to his disciples:
“You have heard that it was said,
An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.
But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil.
When someone strikes you on your right cheek,
turn the other one to him as well.
If anyone wants to go to law with you over your tunic,
hand him your cloak as well.
Should anyone press you into service for one mile,
go with him for two miles.
Give to the one who asks of you,
and do not turn your back on one who wants to borrow.”


TOPICS: Catholic; General Discusssion; Prayer; Worship
KEYWORDS: catholic; ordinarytime; prayer
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-33 last
To: All
 
Catholic
Almanac:

Monday, June 17

Liturgical Color: Green


Today the Church honors St. Albert Chmielowski. He came from a wealthy family and had a promising career as an artist, but he gave it all up to work with the homeless, whom he felt were ignored by society. St. Albert died in 1916.


21 posted on 06/17/2013 2:53:45 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 20 | View Replies]

To: Salvation
Catholic Culture
22 posted on 06/17/2013 4:04:45 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 21 | View Replies]

To: All
Catholic Culture

Daily Readings for: June 17, 2013
(Readings on USCCB website)

Collect: O God, strength of those who hope in you, graciously hear our pleas, and, since without you mortal frailty can do nothing, grant us always the help of your grace, that in following your commands we may please you by our resolve and our deeds. 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.

Ordinary Time: June 17th

Monday of the Eleventh Week of Ordinary Time

Old Calendar: St. Gregory Barbarigo, Bishop and Confessor

According to the 1962 Missal of Bl. John XXIII the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, today is the feast of St. Gregory Barbarigo, canonized by Pope John XXIII in 1960. He was the Bishop of Bergamo and of Padua. St. Gregory was noted as a distinguished churchman and leading citizen whose charities were on a princely scale. He worked for unity of the Latin and Orthodox Churches.


St. Gregory Barbarigo
St. Gregory was born on September 16, 1625, and he died in 1697. His family lived in Venice and were held in high repute by the people there. He was the fourth son. He excelled in his studies at an early age and became interested in diplomacy and statesmanship. He knew Contarine, the Venetian ambassador, and went with him on at least one ambassadorial mission.

After he was ordained a priest in 1655, he organized care for the plague-stricken people of Rome. In 1657, Pope Alexander VII made him the first Bishop of Bergamo. He was a leader in promoting the reforms of the Council of Trent. He visited parishes, organizing the teaching of Christian doctrine and also worked with seminarians and clergy to raise their standards. His work was so respected that in 1660, he was made the Cardinal of Padua.

St. Gregory was extremely interested in higher education and worked for the development of seminaries and libraries. He established a printing press that printed pamphlets for Christians under Moslem rule. He was active in laboring to bring about a reunion with the Greek Church. St. Gregory took part in five papal Conclaves (for the election of the Pope) and was a candidate in three of them. It is recorded that his congregation thought him to be a man filled with wisdom.

Excerpted from St. Gregory Barbarigo Parish Website

Things to Do:

  • "In Italy it was above all the merit of St. Gregory Barbarigo, at the end of the 17th century to have labored indefatigably for the reorganization of the seminaries of Bergamo and Padua according to the norms laid down by the Council of Trent, keeping in mind all the time the spiritual and cultural needs of his time." Summi Dei Verbum Pope Paul VI Read this entire Apostolic Letter on the Occasion of the Fourth Centenary of the Establishment of Seminaries by the Council of Trent.

23 posted on 06/17/2013 4:06:16 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 22 | View Replies]

To: All
The Word Among Us

Meditation: Matthew 5:38-42

11th Week in Ordinary Time

An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. (Matthew 5:38)

In 1972, a meteorologist named Edward Lorenz published a paper on predictability in which he told this story. He was running a computer weather simulation and accidentally entered a variable that differed only slightly from his intended variable. The result was a completely different weather outcome. Lorenz theorized from this outcome that large systems such as weather patterns could be drastically altered by seemingly trivial events. As he put it, “Does the flap of a butterfly’s wings in Brazil set off a tornado in Texas?” And so was born the theory known as the Butterfly Effect.

 We can apply this principle to Jesus’ teaching today about generosity and forgiveness. Our instinct for revenge is extremely powerful. We find it only natural to take an eye-for-an-eye approach to life. But Jesus tells us to meet hostility with charity instead—not because he wants us to be weak but because he knows that one small act of mercy can have great consequences.

 We all know that our negative actions can certainly have unforeseen results. If a man is grumpy to his wife in the morning, she may pass that foul mood on to her colleagues at work all day, who may pass it on to their families, and so on. So why can’t the same be true when we act with kindness toward those who are unkind to us? Just as cool water puts out a raging fire, our calm and patient response to someone’s anger just may set off a cascade effect, as that person begins to treat everyone else with kindness!

 Of course, there’s no guarantee that we will see such positive results. But that didn’t prevent Maria Goretti from forgiving her murderer. She died without seeing how her mercy would bring the man to repentance and conversion. And neither did it stop Pope John Paul II from visiting his assailant in prison. These acts of charity, and many more like them, still witness to us today. Like these saints, you too can be a “change agent.” Christ is in you, and he can teach you how to turn the other cheek—just as he did.

“Lord, I’m awed by your love. Come, Lord, and fill me with your Spirit so that I can show everyone the mercy you have shown me!”

2 Corinthians 6:1-10; Psalm 98:1-4


24 posted on 06/17/2013 4:33:18 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 23 | View Replies]

To: All
 
Marriage = One Man and One Woman
Til' Death Do Us Part

Daily Marriage Tip for June 17, 2013:

“Why” questions are fine for inquisitive minds but can be an obstacle during marital arguments. Why? It can sound accusatory. “Why did you do that?” “Why don’t you just…” Be careful of “Why” questions disguised as innocent queries.


25 posted on 06/17/2013 4:43:35 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 24 | View Replies]

To: All
Vultus Christi

From morning's first light.

 on June 16, 2013 8:13 AM |
beato_angelico_003_noli_me_tangere.jpg

CHAPTER XII. How the Solemn Office of Lauds is to Be Said

14 Feb. 15 June. 15 Oct.
At Lauds on Sunday let the sixty-sixth Psalm first be said straight on without an antiphon. After this let the fiftieth Psalm be said, with an Alleluia, and then the hundred and seventeenth and the sixty-second. Then the Benedicite and Psalms of Praise, a lesson from the Apocalypse, said by heart, a responsory, a hymn, a versicle, a canticle out of the Gospel, and the Litany, and so end.

Psalm 66

Saint Benedict introduces Lauds each day with Psalm 66. In the light of dawn, Saint Benedict would have his monks perceive a symbol of the radiance that shines from the countenance of God. "God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God, in the face of Christ Jesus" (2 Corinthians 4:6).

May God have mercy on us, and bless us:
may he cause the light of his countenance to shine upon us,
and may he have mercy on us.

That we may know thy way upon earth:
thy salvation in all nations.

Let the people confess to thee, O God:
let all the people give praise to thee.

Let the nations be glad and rejoice:
for thou judgest the people with justice,
and directest the nations upon earth.

Let the people, O God, confess to thee:
let all the people give praise to thee:

The earth hath yielded her fruit.
May God, our God bless us,

May God bless us:
and all the ends of the earth fear him.

The Virgin Mother's Blessed Fruit

"The earth," sings the psalmist, "has yielded her fruit." What does this fruit-bearing earth signify if not the Mother of God, the virgin earth neither tilled nor seeded by man, yet rendered wonderfully fruitful by the Holy Ghost? "Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb" Lluke 1:42).

Universal Confession of Praise

I have long loved this psalm at the beginning of Lauds on all days and in every season. The repeated invitation to confess God insists that all peoples are created for the praise of His glory. No man and no nation on earth will find happiness and peace apart from the praise of God. "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with spiritual blessings in heavenly places, in Christ: as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and unspotted in his sight in charity. Who hath predestinated us unto the adoption of children through Jesus Christ unto himself: according to the purpose of his will: unto the praise of the glory of his grace, in which he hath graced us in his beloved Son" Ephesians 1:3-6).

Psalm 50, the Miserere

People unfamiliar with the particular genius of the Benedictine Office have expressed surprise that we sing Psalm 50, the Miserere, the most poignant of the penitential psalms on Sunday. For Saint Benedict, Psalm 50 is the indispensable morning prayer, inasmuch as it is a psalm of spiritual regeneration, of resurrection to newness of life, and of confirmation in the power of the Holy Ghost. The allusions to being sprinkled with hyssop, cleansed, washed, and made whiter than snow suggest that Psalm 50 be prayed as a renewal of the graces of Holy Baptism at the dawning of the day:

Thou shalt sprinkle me with hyssop, and I shall be cleansed:
thou shalt wash me, and I shall be made whiter than snow.

To my hearing thou shalt give joy and gladness:
and the bones that have been humbled shall rejoice.

Turn away thy face from my sins,
and blot out all my iniquities.

Create a clean heart in me, O God:
and renew a right spirit within my bowels.

Cast me not away from thy face;
and take not thy Holy Spirit from me.

Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation,
and strengthen me with a perfect spirit.

I will teach the unjust thy ways:
and the wicked shall be converted to thee.

Deliver me from blood, O God, thou God of my salvation:
and my tongue shall extol thy justice.

O Lord, thou wilt open my lips:
and my mouth shall declare thy praise.

Psalm 117

Psalm 117, the Paschal psalm par excellence, is well chosen for Sunday Lauds. It is the very psalm quoted by Saint Peter in his witness to the Resurrection before Annas and Caiaphas, and it is repeated daily at Holy Mass during the Octave of Pascha.

Be it known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God hath raised from the dead, even by him this man standeth here before you whole.This is the stone which was rejected by you the builders, which is become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other. For there is no other name under heaven given to men, whereby we must be saved. (Acts 4:10-12)

I will give glory to thee because thou hast heard me:
and art become my salvation.

The stone which the builders rejected;
the same is become the head of the corner.

This is the Lord' s doing:
and it is wonderful in our eyes.

This is the day which the Lord hath made:
let us be glad and rejoice therein. (Psalm 117:21-14)

Psalm 62

There follows a true morning psalm, a prayer of longing for union with God. Understandably, Saint Benedict will use the same psalm in his festive Lauds as well.

O God, my God,
to thee do I watch from morning's first light.

For thee my soul hath thirsted;
for thee my flesh, O how many ways!

In a desert land, and where there is no way, and no water:
so in the sanctuary have I come before thee,
to see thy power and thy glory.

For thy mercy is better than lives:
thee my lips shall praise.

Thus will I bless thee all my life long:
and in thy name I will lift up my hands.

Let my soul be filled as with marrow and fatness:
and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips.

If I have remembered thee upon my bed,
I will meditate on thee in the morning. (Psalm 62:1-7)

The Benedicite

The Benedicite follows, that is the Canticle of the Three young Men from the Book of Daniel. It is an invitation of all things created to the praise of God. In singing the Benedicite, one experiences the priesthood of man over creation. It is man's role to convoke all things to that for which they were created, the glory of God, and to lift them up to the Creator, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, in an immense oblation of praise.

The Church prescribes the same canticle to priests as their official liturgical thanksgiving after every Holy Mass. Blessed Dom Columba Marmion never omitted the Benedicite with the customary versicles and orations after Holy Mass. The holy Irish Benedictine felt it singularly appropriate to summon all creatures to the praise of the Word indwelling him sacramentally after Holy Communion.

The Laudate Psalms

Saint Benedict treats the last three psalms of the Psalter as if they were a single symphony of undiluted praise. They are sung under one Gloria Patri, not only on Sunday, but every day. It is this final portion of the psalmody that gives to the morning Office the name of Lauds. Over and again, we chant laudate, calling upon God's good creation to enter into its doxological finality. Dom Gabriel Sortais (1902-1963), Abbot General of the Trappist Order, was, on one occasion, so enthused by the bright succession of the Laudate psalms that he commented afterwards, "Today, I danced my way through Lauds."

Thinking of Our Oblates

There are Oblates who, given the duties of their various states in life, can but rarely pray the full Office. These do well to choose one or another of the psalms of Sunday Lauds for their morning prayer. Oblates with young children at home may want to introduce them to the Benedicite and the Laudate psalms, praying them together on alternate days. Children take easily to the praise of God, and are enchanted by the opportunity to invite all things created to join in their praise.


26 posted on 06/17/2013 4:57:43 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 25 | View Replies]

To: All
Regnum Christi

Something Radically New
| SPIRITUAL LIFE | SPIRITUALITY
Monday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time


Father Walter Schu, LC

Matthew 5: 38-42

Jesus said to his disciples: "You have heard that it was said, An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil. When someone strikes you on your right cheek, turn the other one to him as well. If anyone wants to go to law with you over your tunic, hand him your cloak as well. Should anyone press you into service for one mile, go with him for two miles. Give to the one who asks of you, and do not turn your back on one who wants to borrow."

Introductory Prayer: Lord, you present a message that is not easy for my fallen nature to accept. However, I believe in your words, and I trust in you because you alone have the words of eternal life. As I begin this moment of prayer, I turn to you as one in need. I want only to please you in all I do.

Petition: Lord, help me to embrace your call to turn the other cheek.

1. The Leitmotif: Can we discover a unifying thread in this week’s Gospel readings? One that stands out is the radical newness of Christ’s Kingdom. It is new in its fundamental principle: a charity that must extend to loving one’s very enemies (Monday and Tuesday). It is new in the intentions which must motivate all our actions (Wednesday). It is new in the way we are to pray to our Father in heaven (Thursday). And, finally, it is new in the radical demands it places upon us as followers of Christ: We must make this Kingdom our only treasure (Friday) and seek it above everything else in life (Saturday). What a privilege to be called to the mission of helping to establish such a Kingdom! What a joy, what an honor, what a glory to be the subjects of such a King! Do people encounter a “newness”, a freshness, in my approach to life? Is it rooted in Christ’s new teaching?

2. A New Legislator: We find ourselves at the heart of Christ’s discourse in his Sermon on the Mount. Our Lord attributes to himself an authority that must have startled and even shocked his Jewish listeners. He claims the power to alter what has been proclaimed in the very Law of Moses and the prophets — the absolute source of authority for the Jewish faith. Remember that God gave Moses the Ten Commandments, and God put his word in the mouths of the prophets. So when Jesus says, “You have heard it said…. But I say to you...,” only two alternatives are possible: Either Christ is a madman, or he is truly the Son of God, the one who has come “not to abolish the law and the prophets, but to fulfill them.” I may agree that he is truly the Son of God, but do I embrace all of his teachings?

3. Turning the Other Cheek: It would certainly be hard to find words more radical than these. Who would dare to speak them, if not the Son of God himself? He would live them out fully in his own life, allowing himself to be nailed to the cross by evil men. But is it really possible for us to live them as his followers, as Christians? Do we really turn the other cheek when someone strikes us? If people demand something of us unjustly, do we give them even more than they ask? What could be the purpose of these commands from Christ, which seem to leave us vulnerable and defenseless? In the end, it is only such heroic charity that will be able to win over evil men to the cause of the Gospel. And that is precisely what Christ, our Savior, longs for. “God … desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:3-4).

Conversation with Christ: Lord, I long to have a heart that is more like yours. Warm my selfish heart so that I will lovingly turn the other cheek as you ask of me. Help me to grow in zeal for all men to be saved and to come to know you in their lives.

Resolution: I will do an act of kindness for someone with whom it is difficult for me to get along.


27 posted on 06/17/2013 5:04:58 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 26 | View Replies]

To: All

Reflection on the Beatitudes

 

by CE Editor on June 17, 2013 · 

Lectio:

Monday, June 17, 2013

Ordinary Time
1) Opening prayer

Almighty God,
our hope and our strength,
without you we falter.
Help us to follow Christ
and to live according to your will.
Who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

2) Gospel Reading – Matthew 5,38-42
Jesus said to his disciples: ‘You have heard how it was said: Eye for eye and tooth for tooth. But I say this to you: offer no resistance to the wicked. On the contrary, if anyone hits you on the right cheek, offer him the other as well; if someone wishes to go to law with you to get your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. And if anyone requires you to go one mile, go two miles with him. Give to anyone who asks you, and if anyone wants to borrow, do not turn away.
3) Reflection
• Today’s Gospel forms part of a small literary unit which goes from Mt 5, 17 to Mt 5, 48, in which is described how to pass from the ancient justice of the Pharisees (Mt 5, 20) to the new justice of the Kingdom of God (Mt 5, 48). It describes how to go up to the Mountain of the Beatitudes, from where Jesus announces the new Law of Love. The great desire of the Pharisees was to live in justice, to be just before God. And this is the desire of all of us. Just is the one who succeeds to live where God wants him/her to live. The Pharisees tried to attain justice through the strict observance of the Law. They thought that with their own effort they could succeed in being where God wanted them to be. Jesus takes a stand concerning this practice and announces the new justice which should exceed, surpass the justice of the Pharisees (Mt 5, 20). In today’s Gospel we are reaching almost the summit of the mountain. Only a little is lacking. The summit is described in one phrase: “Be perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect” (Mt 5, 48), on which we will meditate in tomorrow’s Gospel. Let us look closely at this last degree which is still lacking to reach the summit of the Mountain, of which Saint John of the Cross says: “Here reign silence and love”.
• Matthew 5, 38: Eye for eye and tooth for tooth. Jesus quotes a text of the Ancient Law saying: “You have heard how it was said: Eye for eye and tooth for tooth!” He shortened the text, because the complete text said: “Life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, blow for blow” (Ex 21, 23-25). Like in the previous cases, here also Jesus makes a completely new rereading. The principle “eye for eye, tooth for tooth” was already found in the origin of the interpretation which the Scribes made of the law. This principle should be overthrown, because it perverts and destroys the relationship between persons and with God.
• Matthew 5, 39ª: Do not give back evil for evil received. Jesus affirms exactly the contrary: “But I say to you do not offer resistance to the wicked”. Before some violence received, our natural reaction is to pay the other one with the same coin. Vengeance asks for “eye for eye, tooth for tooth”. Jesus asks to pay back the evil not with evil, but with good. Because if we do not know how to overcome the violence received, the spiral of violence will take up everything and we will not know what to do. Lamec said: For a wound received I will kill a man, and for a scar I would kill a young person. If the vengeance of Cain was worth seven that of Lamec will count for seventy-seven” (Gen 4, 24). And it was precisely because of this terrible act of vengeance that everything ended in the confusion of the Tower of Babel. (Gen 11,1-9). Faithful to the teaching of Jesus, Paul writes in the Letter to the Romans: “Never pay back evil with evil; let your concern be to do good to all men. Do not allow yourselves to be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good” (Rm 12, 17.21). To be able to have this attitude is necessary to have much faith in the possibility to recover that the human being has. How can we do this in practice? Jesus offers four concrete examples.
• Matthew 5, 39b-42: the four examples to overcome the spiral of violence. Jesus says: “rather (a) if anyone hits you on the right cheek, offer him the other as well; (b) if anyone wishes to go to Law with you to get your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. (d) And if anyone requires you to go one mile, go two miles with him. (e) Give to anyone who asks you, and if anyone wants to borrow, do not turn away” (Mt 5, 40-42). How are these four affirmations to be understood? Jesus himself helps us to understand. When the soldier hit him on the cheek, he did not offer the other cheek. Rather, he reacted with energy: “If there is some offence in what I said, point it out, but if not, why do you strike me?” (Jn 18, 23) Jesus does not teach us to be passive. Saint Paul thinks that paying evil with good “you will make others be ashamed” (Rm 12, 20). This faith in the possibility to recover the human being is possible only beginning from the root which comes from the total gratuity of the creative love which God shows us in the life and the attitudes of Jesus.
4) Personal questions
• Have you some time felt within you such a great anger as to want to apply the vengeance “eye for eye, tooth for tooth”? What did you do to overcome this?
• Does life in community, living together, favour today in the Church and in us the creative love which Jesus proposes in today’s Gospel?
5) Concluding Prayer
Give ear to my words, Yahweh,
spare a thought for my sighing.
Listen to my cry for help,
my King and my God! To you I pray. (Ps 5,1-2)
This reflection by the good Carmelites at ocarm.org

28 posted on 06/17/2013 5:18:40 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 27 | View Replies]

To: All
One Bread, One Body

One Bread, One Body

 


<< Monday, June 17, 2013 >>
 
2 Corinthians 6:1-10
View Readings
Psalm 98:1-4 Matthew 5:38-42
 

HEALING MERCIES

 
Jesus said: "You have heard the commandment, 'An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.' But what I say to you is: offer no resistance to injury." —Matthew 5:38-39
 

In one of his talks, Pope John Paul II remarked that there seemed to have been fewer healings at Lourdes, the major healing center of the world. He thought that this might have indicated fewer healings in general throughout the world. The pope realized the difficulty in knowing how many are healed. However, let us assume that the pope's observation was correct. Why may there be fewer healings?

  • Healings, especially for Christians, are often based on faith (e.g. Mt 9:22). Possibly our faith is weak.
  • Healings accompany the proclamation of God's word (see Mk 16:15-18). Our lack of evangelization may limit the opportunities for healing.
  • The Lord uses medical technology to heal. However, many don't realize that the Lord, not the technology, does the healing.
  • No one deserves healing. The Lord heals us in His mercy. Mercy is given especially to the merciful (see Mt 5:7). However, our culture of death is unforgiving and often merciless. Most people, even Catholics, still believe in "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth" (see Mt 5:38). We want our rights, even if the price is to execute a few criminals. "Should a man nourish anger against his fellows and expect healing from the Lord?" (Sir 28:3) Will God give His healing mercies to the merciless?

 
Prayer: Father, may I want my worst enemy to be blessed, loved, healed, and saved.
Promise: " 'In an acceptable time I have heard you; on a day of salvation I have helped you.' Now is the acceptable time! Now is the day of salvation!" —2 Cor 6:2
Praise: Praying for healing for his son, Grant saw the fever leave as he trusted God.

29 posted on 06/17/2013 5:24:41 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 28 | View Replies]

To: All
 
Indeed, let us pray to remove paying for the abortion of others from ANY healthcare coverage!


30 posted on 06/17/2013 5:26:33 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 29 | View Replies]

To: Salvation
Matthew
  English: Douay-Rheims Latin: Vulgata Clementina Greek NT: Byzantine/Majority Text (2000)
  Matthew 5
38 You have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth. Audistis quia dictum est : Oculum pro oculo, et dentem pro dente. ηκουσατε οτι ερρεθη οφθαλμον αντι οφθαλμου και οδοντα αντι οδοντος
39 But I say to you not to resist evil: but if one strike thee on thy right cheek, turn to him also the other: Ego autem dico vobis, non resistere malo : sed si quis te percusserit in dexteram maxillam tuam, præbe illi et alteram : εγω δε λεγω υμιν μη αντιστηναι τω πονηρω αλλ οστις σε ραπισει επι την δεξιαν [σου] σιαγονα στρεψον αυτω και την αλλην
40 And if a man will contend with thee in judgment, and take away thy coat, let go thy cloak also unto him. et ei, qui vult tecum judicio contendere, et tunicam tuam tollere, dimitte ei et pallium : και τω θελοντι σοι κριθηναι και τον χιτωνα σου λαβειν αφες αυτω και το ιματιον
41 And whosoever will force thee one mile, go with him other two, et quicumque te angariaverit mille passus, vade cum illo et alia duo. και οστις σε αγγαρευσει μιλιον εν υπαγε μετ αυτου δυο
42 Give to him that asketh of thee and from him that would borrow of thee turn not away. Qui petit a te, da ei : et volenti mutuari a te, ne avertaris. τω αιτουντι σε διδου και τον θελοντα απο σου δανεισασθαι μη αποστραφης

31 posted on 06/17/2013 5:45:30 PM PDT by annalex (fear them not)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: annalex
38. You have heard that it has been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth;
39. But I say to you, That you resist not evil; but whosoever shall smite you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also.
40. And if any man will sue you at the law, and take away your coat, let him have your cloak also.
41. And whosoever shall compel you to go a mile, go with him twain.
42. Give to him that asks you, and from him that would borrow of you turn not away.

GLOSS. The Lord having taught that we are not to offer injury to our neighbor or irreverence to the Lord, now proceeds to show the Christian should demean himself to those that injure him.

AUG. This law, Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, was enacted to repress the flames of mutual hate, and to be a check on their undisciplined spirits. For who when he would take revenge, was ever content to return just so much harm as he had received? Do we not see men who have suffered some trifling hurt, straightway plot murder, thirst for blood, and hardly find evil enough that they can do to their enemies for the satisfying of their rage? To this immeasured and cruel fury the Law puts bounds when it enacts a lex talionis; that is, that whatever wrong or hurt any man has done to another, he should suffer just the same in return. This is not to encourage but to check rage; for it does not rekindle what was extinguished, but hinders the flames already kindled from further spread. It enacts a just retaliation, properly due to him who has suffered the wrong. But that mercy forgives any debt, does not make it unjust that payment had been sought. Since then he sins who seeks an unmeasured vengeance, but he does not sin who desires only a just one; he is therefore further from sin who seeks no retribution at all. I might state it yet thus: It was said to them of old time, You shall not take unequal retaliation; But I say to you, You shall not retaliate; this is a completion of the Law, if in these words something is added to the Law which was wanting to it; yea, rather that which the Law sought to do, namely, to put an end to unequal revenge, is more safely secured when there is no revenge at all.

PSEUDO-CHRYS. For without this command, the commands of the Law could not stand. For if according to the Law we begin all of us to render evil for evil, we shall all become evil, since they do hurt abound. But if according to Christ we resist not evil, though they that are evil be not amended, yet they that are good remain good.

JEROME; Thus our Lord by doing away all retaliation, cuts off the beginnings of sin. So the Law corrects faults, the Gospel removes their occasions.

GLOSS. Or it may be said that the Lord said this, adding somewhat to the righteousness of the old Law.

AUG. For the righteousness of the Pharisees is a less righteousness, not to transgress the measure of equal retribution; and this is the beginning of peace; but perfect peace is to refuse all such retribution. Between that first manner then, which was not according to the Law, to wit, that a greater evil should be returned for a less, and this which the Lord enjoins to make His disciples perfect, to wit, that no evil should be returned for evil, a middle place is held by this, that an equal evil should be returned, which was thus the passage from extremist discord to extremist peace. Whoso then first does evil to another departs furthest from righteousness; and who does not first do any wrong, but when wronged repays with a heavier wrong, has departed somewhat from extreme injustice; he who repays only what he has received, gives up yet something more, for it were but strict right that he whom is the first aggressor should receive a greater hurt than he inflicted. This righteousness thus partly begun, He perfects, who is come to fulfill the Law. The two steps that intervene He leaves to be understood; for there is who does not repay so much, but less; and there is yet above him, he who repays not at all; yet this seems too little to the Lord, if you be not also ready to suffer wrong. Therefore He says not, Render not evil for evil, but, Resist not against evil, not only repay not what is offered to you, but do not resist that it should not be done to you. For thus accordingly He explains that saying, If any man smite you on your right cheek, offer to him the left also. Which as being a high part of mercy is known to those who serve such as they love much; from whom, being morose, or insane, they endure many things, and if it be for their health they offer themselves to endure more. The Lord then, the Physician of souls, teaches His disciples to endure with patience the sicknesses of those for whose spiritual health they should provide. For all wickedness comes of a sickness of the mind; nothing is more innocent than he who is sound and of perfect health in virtue.

ID. The things which are done by the Saints in the New Testament profit for examples of understanding those Scriptures which are modeled into the form of precepts. Thus we read in Luke; Whoso smites you on the one cheek, turn to him the other also (Luke 6:29). Now there is no example of patience more perfect than that of the Lord; yet He, when he was smitten, said not, 'Behold the other cheek,' but, If I have spoken amiss, accuse me wherein it is amiss; but if well, why do you smite me (John 18:23)? hereby showing us that that turning of the other cheek should be in the heart.

ID. For the Lord was ready not only to be smitten on the other cheek for the salvation of men, but to be crucified with His whole body. It may be asked, What does the right cheek expressly signify? As the face is that whereby any man is known, to be smitten on the face is according to the Apostle to be condemned and despised. But as But as we cannot say, 'right face,' and 'left face,' and yet we have a name twofold, one before God, and one before the world, it is distributed as it were into the right cheek, and left cheek, that whoever of Christ's disciples is despised for that he is a Christian, may be ready to be yet more despised for any of this world's honors that he may have. All things wherein we suffer any wrong are divided into two kinds, of which one is what cannot be restored, the other what may be restored. In that kind which cannot be restored, we are wont to seek the solace of revenge. For what does it boot if when smitten you smite again, is the hurt done to your body thereby repaid to you? But the mind swollen with rage seeks such assuagements.

PSEUDO-CHRYS. Or has your return blow at all restrained him from striking you again? It has rather roused him to another blow. For anger is not checked by meeting anger, but is only more irritated.

AUG. Whence the Lord judges that others' weakness should rather be born with compassion, than that our own should be soothed by others' pain. For that retribution which tends to correction is not here forbidden, for such is indeed a part of mercy; nor does such intention hinder that he, who seeks to correct another, is not at the same time ready himself to take more at his hands. But it is required that he should inflict the punishment to whom the power is given by the course of things, and with such a mind as the father has to a child in correcting him whom it is impossible he should hate. And holy men have punished some sins with death, in order that a wholesome fear might be struck into the living, and so that not his death, but the likelihood of increase of his sin had he lived, was the hurt of the criminal. Thus Elias punished many with death, and when the disciples would take example from him, they were rebuked by the Lord, who did not censure this example of the Prophet, but their ignorant use of it, seeing them to desire the punishment not for correction's sake, but angry hate. But after He had inculcated love of their neighbor and had given them the Holy Spirit, there wanted not instances of such vengeance, as Ananias and his wife who fell down dead at the words of Peter, and the Apostle Paul delivered some to Satan for the destruction of the flesh. Yet do some, with a kind of blind opposition, rage against the temporal punishments of the Old Testament, not knowing with what mind they were inflicted.

ID. But who that is of sober mind would say to kings, "It is nothing of your concern who will live religiously, or who profanely"? It cannot even be said to them, that it is not their concern who will live chastely, or who unchastely. It is indeed better that men should be led to serve God by right teaching than by penalties; yet has it benefited many, as experience has approved to us, to be first coerced by pain and fear, that they might be taught after, or to be made to conform in deed to what they had learned in words. The better men indeed are led of love, but the more part of men are wrought on by fear. Let them learn in the case of the Apostle Paul, how Christ first constrained, and after taught him.

ID.Therefore in this kind of injuries which are wont to rouse vengeance Christians will observe such a mean, that hate shall not be caused by the injuries they may receive, and yet wholesome correction be not foregone by Him who has right of either counsel or power.

JEROME; Mystically interpreted, when we are smitten on the right cheek, He said not, offer to him the left, but the other; for the righteous has not a left. That is, if a heretic has smitten us in disputation, and would wound us in a right hand doctrine, let him be met with another testimony from Scripture.

AUG. The other kind of injuries are those in which full restitution can be made, of which there are two kinds: one relates to money, the other to work; of the first of these it is He speaks when He continues, Whoever will sue you for your coat, let him have your cloak likewise. As by the cheek are denoted such injuries of the wicked as admit of no restitution but revenge, so by this similitude of the garments is denoted such injury as admits restitution. And this, as the former, is rightly taken of preparation of the heart, not of the show of the outward action. And what is commanded respecting our garments, is to be observed in all things that by any right we call our own in worldly property. For if the command be expressed in these necessary articles of life, how much more does it hold in the case of superfluities and luxuries? And when He says, He who will sue you, He clearly intends to include everything for which it is possible that we should be sued. It may be made a question whether it is to be understood of slaves, for a Christian ought not to possess his slave on the same footing as his horse; though it might be that the horse was worth the more money. And if your slave have a milder master in you than he would have in him who seeks to take him from you, I do not know that he ought to be given up as lightly as your coat.

PSEUDO-CHRYS. For it were an unworthy thing that a believer should stand in his cause before an unbelieving judge. Or if one who is a believer, though (as he must be) a worldly man, though he should have reverenced you for the worthiness of the faith, sues you because the cause is a necessary one, you will lose the worthiness of Christ for the business of the world. Further, every lawsuit irritates the heart and excites bad thoughts; for when you see dishonesty or bribery employed against you, you hasten to support your own cause by like means, though originally, you might have intended nothing of the sort.

AUG. The Lord here forbids his disciples to have lawsuits with others for worldly property. Yet as the Apostle allows such kind of causes to be decided between brethren, and before arbiters who are brethren, but utterly disallows them without the Church, it is manifest what is conceded to infirmity as pardonable.

GREG. There are, who are so far to be endured, as they rob us of our worldly goods; but there are whom we ought to hinder, and that without breaking the law of charity, not only that we may not be robbed of what is ours, but lest they by robbing others destroy themselves. We ought to fear much more for the men who rob us, than to be eager to save the inanimate things they take from us. When peace with our neighbor is banished the heart on the matter of worldly possessions, it is plain that our estate is more loved than our neighbor.

AUG. The third kind of wrongs, which is in the matter of labor, consists of both such as admit restitution, and such as do not - or with or without revenge - for he who forcibly presses a man's service, and makes him give his aid against his will, can either be punished for his crime, or return the labor. In this kind of wrongs then, the Lord teaches that the Christian mind is most patient, and prepared to endure yet more than is offered; If a man constrain you to go with him a mile, go with him yet another two. This likewise is meant not so much of actual service with your feet , as of readiness of mind.

CHRYS.The word here used signifies to drag unjustly, without cause, and with insult.

AUG. Let us suppose it therefore said, Go with him other two, that the number three might be completed; by which number perfection is signified; that whoever does this might remember that he is fulfilling perfect righteousness. For which reason he conveys this precept under three examples, and in this third example, he adds a twofold measure to the one single measure, that the threefold number may be complete. Or we may so consider as though in enforcing this duty, He had begun with what was easiest to bear, and had advanced gradually. For finest He commanded that when the right cheek was smitten we should turn the other also; therein showing ourselves ready to endure another wrong less than that you have already received. Secondly, to him that would take your coat, He bids you part with your cloak (or garment, as some copies read), which is either just as great a loss, or perhaps a little greater). In the third, He doubles the additional wrong which He would have us ready to endure. And seeing it is a small thing not to hurt unless you further show kindness, He adds, To him that asks of you, give.

PSEUDO-CHRYS.Because wealth is not ours but God's, God would have us stewards of His wealth. and not lords.

JEROME; If we understand this only of alms, it cannot stand with the estate of the most part of men who are poor; even the rich if they have been always giving, will not be able to continue always to give.

AUG. Therefore, He says not, 'Give all things to him that asks, but, Give to every one that asks; that you should only give what you can give honestly and rightly. For what if one ask for money to employ in oppressing the innocent man? What if he ask your consent to unclean sin? We must give then only what will hurt neither ourselves or others, as far as man can judge; and when you have refused an inadmissible request, that you may not send away empty him that asked, show the righteousness of your refusal; and such correction of the unlawful petitioner will often be a better gift than the granting of his suit.

ID. For with more benefit is food taken from the hunger, if certainty of provision causes him to neglect righteousness, than that food should be supplied to him that he may consent to a deed of violence and wrong.

JEROME; But it may be understood of the wealth of doctrine: wealth which never fails but the more of it is given away, the more it abounds.

AUG. That He commands, And from him that would borrow of you, turn not away, must be referred to the mind; for God loves a cheerful giver (2 Cor 9:7). And everyone that receives indeed borrows, though it is not he that shall pay, but God who restores to the merciful many fold. Or, if you like to understand by borrowing, only taking with promise to repay, we must understand the Lord's command as embracing both these kinds of affording aid; whether we give outright, or lend to receive again. And of this last kind of showing mercy it is well-said, Turn not away, that is, do not be therefore backward to lend, as though, because man shall repay you, therefore God shall not; for what you do by God's command cannot be without fruit.

PSEUDO-CHRYS. Christ bids us lend but not on usury; for he who gives on such terms does not bestow his own, but takes of another; he looses from one chain to bind with many, and gives not for God's righteousness sake, but for his own gain. For money taken on usury is like the bite of an asp; as the asp's poison secretly consumes the limbs, so usury turns all our possessions into debt.

AUG. Some object that this command of Christ is altogether inconsistent with civil life in Commonwealths; who, say they, would suffer, when he could hinder it, the pillage of his estate by an enemy; or would not repay the evil suffered by a plundered province of Rome on the plunderers according to the rights of war? But these precepts of patience are to be observed in readiness of the heart, and that mercy, not to return evil for evil, must be always fulfilled by the will. Yet must we often use a merciful sharpness in dealing with the headstrong. And in this way, if the earthly commonwealth will keep the Christian commandments, even war will not be waged without good charities, to the establishing among the vanquished peaceful harmony of godliness and righteousness. For that victory is beneficial to him from whom it snatches license to sin; since nothing is more unfortunate for sinners, than the good fortune of their sins, which nourishes an impunity that brings punishment after it, and an evil will is strengthened, as it were some internal enemy.

Catena Aurea Matthew 5
32 posted on 06/17/2013 5:46:00 PM PDT by annalex (fear them not)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 31 | View Replies]

To: annalex


Christ at the Column

Hans Memling

1485-90
Oil on oak panel, 58,8 x 34,3 cm (with original frame)
Colección Mateu, Barcelona

33 posted on 06/17/2013 5:46:25 PM PDT by annalex (fear them not)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 32 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-33 last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
Religion
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson