Catholic Caucus: Sunday Mass Readings, 08-11-13, Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

USCCB.org/RNAB ^ | 08-11-13 | Revised New American Bible

[Salvation]

August 11, 2013

 

Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

 

 

Reading 1 Wis 18:6-9

The night of the passover was known beforehand to our fathers,
that, with sure knowledge of the oaths in which they put their faith,
they might have courage.
Your people awaited the salvation of the just
and the destruction of their foes.
For when you punished our adversaries,
in this you glorified us whom you had summoned.
For in secret the holy children of the good were offering sacrifice
and putting into effect with one accord the divine institution.

Responsorial Psalm Ps 33:1, 12, 18-19, 20-22

R. (12b) Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
Exult, you just, in the LORD;
praise from the upright is fitting.
Blessed the nation whose God is the LORD,
the people he has chosen for his own inheritance.
R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
See, the eyes of the LORD are upon those who fear him,
upon those who hope for his kindness,
To deliver them from death
and preserve them in spite of famine.
R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
Our soul waits for the LORD,
who is our help and our shield.
May your kindness, O LORD, be upon us
who have put our hope in you.
R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.

Reading 2 Heb 11:1-2, 8-19

Brothers and sisters:
Faith is the realization of what is hoped for
and evidence of things not seen.
Because of it the ancients were well attested.

By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place
that he was to receive as an inheritance;
he went out, not knowing where he was to go.
By faith he sojourned in the promised land as in a foreign country,
dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs of the same promise;
for he was looking forward to the city with foundations,
whose architect and maker is God.
By faith he received power to generate,
even though he was past the normal age
—and Sarah herself was sterile—
for he thought that the one who had made the promise was
trustworthy.
So it was that there came forth from one man,
himself as good as dead,
descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky
and as countless as the sands on the seashore.

All these died in faith.
They did not receive what had been promised
but saw it and greeted it from afar
and acknowledged themselves to be strangers and aliens on earth,
for those who speak thus show that they are seeking a homeland.
If they had been thinking of the land from which they had come,
they would have had opportunity to return.
But now they desire a better homeland, a heavenly one.
Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God,
for he has prepared a city for them.

By faith Abraham, when put to the test, offered up Isaac,
and he who had received the promises was ready to offer his only son,
of whom it was said,
“Through Isaac descendants shall bear your name.”
He reasoned that God was able to raise even from the dead,
and he received Isaac back as a symbol.

Or HEB 11:1-2, 8-12

Brothers and sisters:
Faith is the realization of what is hoped for
and evidence of things not seen.
Because of it the ancients were well attested.

By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place
that he was to receive as an inheritance;
he went out, not knowing where he was to go.
By faith he sojourned in the promised land as in a foreign country,
dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs of the same promise;
for he was looking forward to the city with foundations,
whose architect and maker is God.
By faith he received power to generate,
even though he was past the normal age
—and Sarah herself was sterile—
for he thought that the one who had made the promise was
trustworthy.
So it was that there came forth from one man,
himself as good as dead,
descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky
and as countless as the sands on the seashore.

Gospel Lk 12:32-48

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Do not be afraid any longer, little flock,
for your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom.
Sell your belongings and give alms.
Provide money bags for yourselves that do not wear out,
an inexhaustible treasure in heaven
that no thief can reach nor moth destroy.
For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.

“Gird your loins and light your lamps
and be like servants who await their master’s return from a wedding,
ready to open immediately when he comes and knocks.
Blessed are those servants
whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival.
Amen, I say to you, he will gird himself,
have them recline at table, and proceed to wait on them.
And should he come in the second or third watch
and find them prepared in this way,
blessed are those servants.
Be sure of this:
if the master of the house had known the hour
when the thief was coming,
he would not have let his house be broken into.
You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect,
the Son of Man will come.”

Then Peter said,
“Lord, is this parable meant for us or for everyone?”
And the Lord replied,
“Who, then, is the faithful and prudent steward
whom the master will put in charge of his servants
to distribute the food allowance at the proper time?
Blessed is that servant whom his master on arrival finds doing so.
Truly, I say to you, the master will put the servant
in charge of all his property.
But if that servant says to himself,
‘My master is delayed in coming,’
and begins to beat the menservants and the maidservants,
to eat and drink and get drunk,
then that servant’s master will come
on an unexpected day and at an unknown hour
and will punish the servant severely
and assign him a place with the unfaithful.
That servant who knew his master’s will
but did not make preparations nor act in accord with his will
shall be beaten severely;
and the servant who was ignorant of his master’s will
but acted in a way deserving of a severe beating
shall be beaten only lightly.
Much will be required of the person entrusted with much,
and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more.”

Or LK 12:35-40

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Gird your loins and light your lamps
and be like servants who await their master’s return from a wedding,
ready to open immediately when he comes and knocks.
Blessed are those servants
whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival.
Amen, I say to you, he will gird himself,
have the servants recline at table, and proceed to wait on them.
And should he come in the second or third watch
and find them prepared in this way,
blessed are those servants.
Be sure of this:
if the master of the house had known the hour
when the thief was coming,
he would not have let his house be broken into.
You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect,
the Son of Man will come.”

[Salvation]

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[Salvation]

From: Wisdom 18:6-9

---

[6] That night was made known beforehand to our fathers, so that they might re-
joice in sure knowledge of the oaths in which they trusted.
[7] The deliverance of the righteous and the destruction of their enemies were
expected by thy people.
[8] For by the same means by which thou didst punish our enemies thou didst
call us to thyself and glorify us.
[9] For in secret the holy children of good men offered sacrifices, and with one
accord agreed to the divine law, that the saints would share alike the same
things, both blessings and dangers; and already they were singing the praises
of the fathers.

*********************************************************************************************
Commentary:

18:5-19:21. The book of Wisdom closes with a section devoted to the night of the
Passover, the culminating moment of God’s actions in the salvation history of his
people. In the light of that situation the sacred writer reviews the wondrous events
that took place during the Exodus.

19:5-9. Once again a contrast is drawn between the severe way God dealt with
the Egyptians and his kindness towards the Israelites; there now takes place an
exceptionally important event – the Passover. The Egyptians had decreed that
all the first-born Hebrew males should be put to death (cf. Ex 1:15-22). To es-
cape this fate, Moses, a newborn child, is left out (v. 5) on the waters of the Nile
in a basket and rescued by the pharaoh’s daughter (Ex 2:1-10). With the law of
retaliation as a background, the crime committed by the Egyptians must be pun-
ished by the death of their own first-born, “at midnight” (Ex 2:29) and by the later
destruction in the Red Sea of those sent to pursue the Israelites (Ex 14:26-29).

On the Passover night, two contrasting things happen: the first-born of the Egyp-
tians are smitten, which forces the pharaoh to let the Hebrews leave forthwith,
thereby obtaining the deliverance promised to their forebears (cf. Gen 15:13-14)
and to Moses (Ex 11:4-7). But on the very same night, the Hebrews, “the holy
children of good men” (v. 9) celebrate the Passover meal in their houses, as a
festive sacrifice, all of them committing themselves to share both “blessings
and dangers”; in this way they act as a people consecrated to the Lord and
sing “the praises of the fathers” (v. 9). In due course, these original hymns came
to form the Hallel, a group of psalms that were recited on Passover night and on
the great feast-days (cf. Ps 113-118) – hymns that Jesus will recite with his di-
sciples at the Last Supper (cf. Mt 26:30; Mk 14:26).

*********************************************************************************************
Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

[Salvation]

From: Hebrews 11:1-2, 8-19
The Good Example of the Patriarchs
________________________________________
[1] Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not
seen. [2] For by it the men of old received divine approval.
[8] By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place which he
was to receive as an inheritance and he went out, not knowing where he was to
go. [9] By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living
in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. [10] For he
looked forward to the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is
God. [11] By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was
past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised. [12] There-
fore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many
as the stars of heaven and as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.
[13] These all died in faith, not having received what was promised, but having
seen it and greeted it from afar, and having acknowledged that they were stran-
gers and exiles on the earth. [14] For people who speak thus make it clear that
they are seeking a homeland. [15] If they had been thinking of that land from
which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. [16] But
as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is
not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.
[17] By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had
received the promises was ready to offer up his only son, [18] of whom it was
said, “Through Isaac shall your descendants be named.” [19] He considered
that God was able to raise men even from the dead; hence he did receive him
back, and this was a symbol.
*********************************************************************************************
Commentary:
1. Although the text does not aim to provide a precise definition of faith, it does
in fact very clearly describe the essence of that virtue, linking it to hope in future
things and to certainty concerning supernatural truths. By means of faith, the
believer acquires certainty concerning God’s promises to man, and a firm convic-
tion that he will obtain access to heaven. The Latin translates as “substantia”
the word the RSV translates as “assurance”; “substantia”, which literally means
“that which underlies”, here refers to the solid basis provided by hope.
This verse indicates that faith, which is a type of knowledge, is different from
other types of human knowledge. Thus, man can know things by direct evidence,
by reasoned proof or by someone else’s testimony. As regards knowledge based
on information provided by someone else, that is, knowledge based on faith, we
can distinguish two types—human faith, when it is another human being whose
word one relies on (as in the case of pupil/teacher, child/parent), and supernatu-
ral faith (when the testimony comes from God himself, who is Supreme Truth).
In this latter case the knowledge provided is most certain.
However, the object of supernatural faith, that is, what one believes in (God and
the unchanging decrees of his will), is not something that is self-evident to man,
nor is it something that can be attained by the use of unaided reason.That is why
it is necessary for God himself to bear witness to what he reveals. Faith, then, is
certain knowledge, but it is knowledge of things which are not self-evident, things
which one does not see but which one can hope for.
The verse also says that faith is “conviction” concerning things not seen. It is
therefore different from opinion, suspicion or doubt (none of which implies cer-
tainty). By saying that it has to do with things unseen, it is distinguishing faith
from knowledge and intuitive cognition (cf. “Summa Theologiae”, II-II, q. 4,a. 1).
Summing up, we can say that “when God makes a revelation, we are obliged to
render by faith a full submission of intellect and will. The faith, however, which is
the beginning of human salvation, the Catholic Church asserts to be a superna-
tural virtue whereby, with the inspiration and help of God’s grace, we believe that
what he has revealed is true—not because its intrinsic truth is seen by the natural
light of reason, but because of the authority of God who reveals it, of God who
can neither deceive nor be deceived” (Vatican I, “Dei Filius”, chap. 3).
It is, therefore, a feature of faith that it makes as certain about things which are
not self-evident. That is why in order to believe one must want to believe, why the
act of believing is always free and meritorious. However, faith can, with God’s help,
reach a certainty greater than any proof can provide. ‘This faith”, St John of Avila
comments, “is not based on reasons [...]; for when a person believes on the ba-
sis of reasons, he is not believing in such a way that he is totally convinced, with-
out any doubt or scruple whatever. But the faith which God infuses is grounded
on divine Truth, and it causes one to believe more firmly than if one saw it with
one’s own eyes, and touched it with one’s hands—and to believe more certainly
than he who believes that four is greater than three, the sort of thing that is so ob-
vious that the mind never hesitates a moment, nor can it even if it wants to” (”Au-
di, Filia”, chap. 43).
The faith which God gives a person—supernatural faith—is necessarily the point
of departure for hope and charity: it is what is usually called “living faith”.
When one lives with this kind of faith it is easy to see that the three “theological”
virtues (faith, hope and charity) are bound up with one another. Faith and hope
lead a person to unite himself to God as the source from which all good things
flow; charity unites us to God directly, by loving affection, because God is the
supreme Good. Faith is as it were the first step: it means accepting what God
says as true.
We then unite ourselves to him through hope, insofar as we rely on God’s help
to attain beatitude. The goal of this process is charity, the fullness of which is
eternal possession of God, the Supreme Good. “Let us grow in hope, thereby
strengthening our faith which is truly ‘the assurance of things hoped for, the con-
viction of things not seen’ (Heb 11:1).
Let us grow in this virtue, let us beg our Lord to increase his charity in us; after
all, one can only really trust what one loves with all one’s might. And it is certain-
ly worthwhile to love our Lord” (St. J. Escriva, “Friends of God”, 220).
If hope in general is the conviction of being able to obtain something worthwhile in
the future, something difficult to obtain, theological hope is the conviction of being
able, with the help of God, to attain heaven. And faith is precisely what provides
certain knowledge of those two truths—that heaven is our goal and that God wants
to help us to get there (cf. “Summa Theologiae”, II-II, q. l7, a 5 and 7). Therefore,
nothing should dishearten us on this road to our ultimate goal because we put our
trust in “three truths: God is all-powerful, God has a boundless love for me, God is
faithful to his promises. And it is he, the God of mercies, who enkindles this trust
within me, so that I never feel lonely or useless or abandoned but, rather, involved
in a plan of salvation which will one day reach its goal in Paradise” (John Paul I,
“Address”, 20 September 1978).
8. Abraham, “our father in faith”, is the greatest example, in the Old Testament,
of faith in God (cf. Gen 12:1-4; Rom 4:1ff; Gal 3:6-9; Heb 6:13ff). It is not surpri-
sing that the author pauses to dwell on the faithful life of the father of the chosen
people. Putting all his trust in the divine word, Abraham gave up all the security
and comfort of his native land in Ur of the Chaldeans, to set out for a distant and
unknown place, the land of Canaan, which God had promised to give his descen-
dants. “Neither the love for his homeland nor the pleasure of his neighbors’ com-
pany nor the comforts of his father’s home were able to weaken his resolve. He
set out courageously and ardently to where God willed to lead him. What self-
abasement and abandonment! One cannot love God perfectly unless one re-
nounces all attachment to perishable things” (St Francis de Sales, “Treatise on
the Love of God”, book 10). Abraham symbolizes the need for detachment if one
is to obtain redemption and to be a good servant of God and of others.
“Never forget that Christ cannot be reached without sacrifice. You have to get rid
of everything that gets in the way [...]. You have to do the same in this battle for
the glory of God, in this struggle of love and peace by which we are trying to
spread Christ’s kingdom. In order to serve the Church, the Pope and all souls,
you must be ready to give up everything superfluous” (St. J. Escriva, “Friends of
God”, 196).
9-10. Abraham, and his son Isaac and grandson Jacob like him, far from settling
down comfortably in a permanent place, lived a nomadic existence a stranger in
a foreign land (cf. Gen 23:4). By faith the patriarch “looked forward to the city
which has foundations”, the city God would build. Instead of the provisionality of
tents and the weak foundations of cities built by men, a heavenly city was being
established, eternal and permanent, built by God on solid foundations, which Ab-
raham hoped one day to possess. The promised land was a symbol of the defi-
itive fatherland to which God called the father of Israel. There was even a late
Jewish tradition which spoke of Abraham being given a vision of the heavenly Je-
rusalem after he ratified his covenant with God.
Christians live in the world by the will of God, and they love the world, but at the
same time they realize they should not settle down in it as if it were the final goal
of their lives. “They are residents at home in their own country but their behavior
is more like that of people who are passing through [...]. For them any foreign
country is a homeland, and any homeland a foreign country” (”Letter to Diogne-
tus”, V, 5).
11-12. Sarah, like Abraham, was very elderly when God announced that she was
going to have a child. At first she was puzzled and even sarcastically skeptical
(cf. Gen 18:9f), but soon her attitude changed into a faith which God rewarded by
her conceiving Isaac. The faith of Sarah and her husband can be said to exceed
that of the earlier patriarchs because what God promised could come true only
by means of a miracle, since Abraham, like his wife, was old and incapable of
begetting children. That is why it says that from one man “and him as good as
dead” innumerable descendants were born. God is generous in rewarding man’s
faith. “’Si habueritis fidem, sicut granum sinapis”! —If your faith were the size of
a mustard seed!...’
“What promises are contained in this exclamation of the Master!” (St. J. Escriva,
“The Way”, 585).
The conception of Isaac is also a “type” of that of Christ. “All the miraculous
conceptions which occurred in the Old Testament were prefigurements of the
greatest of all miracles, the Incarnation of the Word. It was fitting that his birth
from a Virgin should be prefigured by other births so as to prepare people’s minds
for faith. But there is this difference: God miraculously enabled Sarah to conceive
by means of human seed, whereas the blessed Virgin conceived without it” (St
Thomas Aquinas, “Commentary on Heb.”, 11, 3).
13-16. After speaking about the faith of Abel, Noah and Abraham, the sacred
writer goes on to give a brief panoramic account of the entire history of the Pa-
triarchs and the Exodus. It does not deal with events in chronological order. By
recalling that the Patriarchs left their own country to journey abroad “seeking a
homeland”, he brings in the exodus from Egypt. Between Abraham, who left Ur
to travel to the land of Canaan, and the people of Israel, who left Egypt for the
promised land, there is an obvious parallel, which is even more marked if one
bears in mind that neither Abraham nor the Israelites led by Moses were des-
tined to take possession of the land: that was reserved to their descendants.
The only thing Abraham managed to do was to purchase the cave of Machpelah,
near Hebron, and the land immediately around it, for which he had to pay a very
high price in silver. The cave became the burial ground of Sarah, Abraham him-
self, Isaac, Rebecca, Jacob and Leah. But Abraham publicly admitted he was
“a stranger and a sojourner” in Canaan when he bought the cave from the Hittites
(Gen 23:4). Nor did the Hebrews of Moses’ generation manage to enter Canaan.
The nearest they got to it was descriptions brought by their spies; and Moses
himself was only able to view it from a distance, from Mount Nebo, just prior to
his death (cf. Deut 32:49-52; 33:1-4).
Abraham, and later Isaac and Jacob (who led a nomadic existence in Canaan),
like the Israelites in the wilderness, prefigure Christians, who are also in search
of a land of their own, a better homeland, that is, heaven (cf. Heb 13:14). It cer-
tainly is moving to recall the Patriarchs and the Exodus, and very helpful to the
faith and hope of Christians amid the difficulties they encounter in this world.
Those men of faith are said to have “seen” what was promised: this may be a
reference to some special grace God gave them, as was the case with Abra-
ham (cf. Jn 8:56), or else to the intuitive vision of supernatural things which faith
provides (cf. “Commentary on Heb, ad loc.”). “They greeted it from afar,” happy
to do so. “They greeted the promises and rejoiced,” St John Chrysostom says,
“for they already had such faith in those promises that they could make signs
of greeting. This comparison is taken from seafaring: when from afar sailors es-
py the city they are making for, even before entering the port they cheer in gree-
ting” (”Hom. on Heb.”, 23).
The Patriarchs’ attitude was a true indication of their faith in a future life, for, as
St Thomas points out, by describing themselves as strangers and sojourners
(Gen 23:4; 47:9; cf. Deut 26:5) they showed they were heading towards their
homeland, the heavenly Jerusalem. They did not set their hearts on an earthly
homeland, or on their parental homestead, for if so they could in fact have cho-
sen to return to it (cf. “Commentary on Heb, ad loc.”). Thus the promises made
to them found their fulfillment not in something earthly but in the eternity of hea-
ven: “Therefore God is not ashamed” to be called the God of Abraham and Isaac
and Jacob: seeing their faith and fidelity, he overlooked their sins and faults. And
he is disposed to act in the same way towards Christians.
In vv. 14 and 16, in the Greek text and the New Vulgate — and in the RSV — the
verbs are in the present tense, as distinct from the past (aorist) used generally
in this passage. This is because the whole paragraph is recalling the life of the
Patriarchs, but with the intention of stressing that their faith is an example to all
generations. What we have here is a mixture of history and sapiential writing,
using verbs which indicate that the action—or at least some of its effects — is
still going on.
17-19. It is very difficult for us to imagine what Abraham thought when God asked
him to sacrifice Isaac, the son of the promise, his only son, in the mountains of
Moriah (cf. Gen 22:2). The Old Testament shows how resolute Abraham was, his
absolute docility, his serenity even in the midst of suffering his trust in God (cf.
Gen 22:1-18). This is revealed in the touching conversation between the Patriarch
and his son, when Isaac asks him where is the lamb for the offering and Abraham
replies, “God will provide himself with the lamb for a burnt offering, my son”. In St
Paul’s epistles generally Abraham’s faith is proposed as an example (cf. Gal 3:7;
Rom 4:3, 11-12; 4:17-22); but that was in the context of his faith in God’s promise
that he would have a multitude of descendants. Here, however, the Patriarch’s
faith is to be seen in the way he approaches a commandment which seems to
negate that promise: how could God possibly ask him to sacrifice his only son?
The answer lies in the fact that God knew that Abraham had faith in his ability to
bring the dead back to life.
Abraham’s obedience to God in this episode is the most striking proof of his faith.
Here most of all the Patriarch “believed against hope [...]; he grew strong in his
faith as he gave glory to God” (Rom 4:18, 21). “The Patriarch hears words which
deny the promise; he hears the very author of the promise contradict himself, but
he is not dismayed; he is going to obey as if everything were completely consis-
tent. And in fact the two things were compatible: the two things God said were
contradictory as far as human logic was concerned; but faith brought them into
agreement [...].
“God tested Abraham’s faith. Did he not know the strength and integrity of that
great man? Undoubtedly he did, very well. Why, then, did he put them to the
test? He did not do it to prove to himself the Patriarch’s virtue; he did it to show
the world how excellent Abraham was. The Apostle, moreover, shows the He-
brews one of the causes of our temptations, so that anyone who is afflicted
should not think that God has abandoned him” (”Hom. on Heb.”, 25). we know,
moreover, that precisely on account of Abraham’s generosity and faith, God re-
newed his promise to him, now ratifying it with an oath (cf. Gen 22:16; Heb 6:
13-18).
19. “Hence he did receive him back, and this was a symbol”: after offering Isaac,
Abraham was given him back, because God stepped in before Isaac was sacri-
ficed (Gen 22:11-12). And he received him as “a symbol” (literally, as “a para-
ble”). Tradition has always seen the sacrifice of Isaac, the only Son, as a sym-
bol of the redemptive sacrifice of Christ; and, particularly, it has seen God’s in-
tervention on Mount Moriah as a symbol of the Resurrection. “He saw it as a
symbol,” Theodoret comments, “that is, as a prefigurement of the Resurrection.
(Isaac) was brought to death by his father’s will, and then brought back to life by
the voice which prevented his death. All this amounts to a prefiguring of the pas-
sion of the Savior, and that is why the Lord told the Jews, ‘Your father Abraham
rejoiced that he was to see my day; he saw it and was glad’ (Jn 8:56)” (”Interpre-
tatio Ep. ad Haebreos, ad loc.”).
Origen, a writer of Christian antiquity, reflects this tradition very beautifully when
he says that the sacrifice of Isaac helps us to understand the mystery of Redemp-
tion. “Isaac carrying the wood for the burnt offering is a symbol of Christ, who car-
ried his (own) cross. But it is also the function of the priest to carry the wood for
the burnt offering [...]. Christ is the Word of God, but the Word made flesh. There-
fore, there is in Christ an element which comes from above and another which
comes from human nature, which he took on in the womb of the Virgin. This is
why Christ experiences suffering: he suffers in the flesh, and he dies, but what
suffers death is the flesh, and the ram is a figure of this, as St John said, ‘Behold
the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world’ (Jn 1:29) [...]. Christ is at
one and the same time victim and high priest. Thus, according to the spirit he of-
fers the victim to his father, according to his flesh, he himself is offered on the al-
tar of the cross” (”Homilies on Genesis”, 8, 6 and 9).
For all these reasons, Eucharistic Prayer I links Christ’s sacrifice with those of
Abel, Isaac and Melchizedek.
*********************************************************************************************
Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

[Salvation]

From: Luke 12:32-48

Trust in God’s Fatherly Providence (Continuation)

---

(Jesus said to His disciples,) [32] “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s
good pleasure to give you the kingdom. [33] Sell your possessions, and give
alms; provide yourselves with purses that do not grow old, with a treasure in
the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys.
[34] For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

The Need for Vigilance and the Parable of the Steward (Continuation)

---

(Jesus said to His disciples,) [35] “Let your loins be girded and your lamps burn-
ing, [36] and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from
the marriage feast, so that they may open to him at once when he comes and
knocks. [37] Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he
comes; truly, I say to you, he will gird himself and have them sit at table, and he
will come and serve them. [39] If he comes in the second watch, or in the third,
and finds them so, blessed are those servants!” [40] You also must be ready;
for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”

[41] Peter said, “Lord are you telling this parable for us or for all?” [42] And the
Lord said, “Who then is the faithful and wise steward, whom his master will set
over his household, to give them their portion of food at the proper time? [43]
Blessed is that servant whom his master when he comes will find so doing. [44]
Truly I tell you, he will set him over all his possessions. [45] But if that servant
says to himself, ‘My master is delayed in coming,’ and begins to beat the men-
servants and the maidservants, and to eat and drink and get drunk, [46] the mas-
ter of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an
hour he does not know, and will punish him, and put him with the unfaithful. [47]
And that servant who knew his master’s will, but did not make ready or act ac-
cording to his will, shall receive a severe beating. [48] But he who did not know,
and did what deserved a beating, shall receive a light beating. Everyone to whom
much is given, of him much will be required; and of him to whom men commit
much they will demand the more.”

*********************************************************************************************
Commentary:

33-34. Our Lord concludes this address by insisting on those imperishable goods
to which we should aspire. In this connection the Second Vatican Council con-
cludes its teaching on the universal call to holiness saying: “Therefore all the faith-
ful are invited and obliged to holiness and perfection of their own state of life. Ac-
cordingly let all of them see that they direct their affections rightly, lest they be
hindered in their pursuit of perfect love by the use of worldly things and by an ad-
herence to riches which is contrary to the spirit of evangelical poverty, following
the Apostle’s advice: Let those who use this world not fix their abode in it, for
the form of this world is passing away (cf. 1 Corinthians 7:31)” (”Lumen Gentium”,
42).

“When Holy Scripture refers to the heart, it does not refer to some fleeting senti-
ment of joy or tears. By heart it means the person who directs his whole being,
soul and body, to what he considers his good, as Jesus himself indicated: ‘For
where your treasure is, there will your heart be also’ (Matthew 6:21)” (St. J. Es-
criva, “Christ Is Passing By”, 164). Our Lord’s teaching is quite clear: man’s
heart yearns to possess wealth, a good social position, prestigious public or pro-
fessional appointments, which he sees as providing him with security, content-
ment and self-affirmation; however, this kind of treasure involves endless worry
and disappointment, because there is always a danger of losing it. Jesus does
not mean that man should forget about earthly things, but he does teach us that
no created thing should become our “treasure”, our main in life: that should be
God, our Creator and Lord, whom we should love and serve as we go about our
ordinary affairs, putting our hopes on the eternal joy of heaven. See also the note
on Matthew 6:19-21.

[The note on Matthew 6:19-21 states:

19-21. The idea here is very clear: man’s heart yearns for a treasure which will
give him security and happiness. However, every treasure in the form of earthly
goods—wealth, property—becomes a constant source of worry, because there is
always the risk we will lose it or because the effort to protect it is such a strain.

Against this, Jesus teaches us here that our true treasure lies in good works and
an upright life, which will be eternally rewarded by God in Heaven. That indeed is
a treasure which one never loses, a treasure on which Christ’s disciple should put
his heart.

Jesus closes the teaching contained in the preceding verses with a kind of refrain
(verse 21). He is not saying that people should be unconcerned about earthly
things; what He does say is that no created thing can be “the treasure”, the ult-
imate aim, of man. What man should do is make his way to God, sanctify him-
self and give all glory to God, by making right use of the noble things of the earth:
“Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Co-
rinthians 10:31; cf. Colossians 3:17).]

35-39. In the preaching of Christ and of the Apostles we are frequently exhorted
to be watchful (cf. Matthew 24:42; 25:13; Mark 14:34) — for one thing, because
the enemy is always on the prowl (cf. 1 Peter 5:8), and also because a person in
love is always awake (cf. Song of Songs 5:2). This watchfulness expresses itself
in a spirit of prayer (cf. Luke 21:36; 1 Peter 4:7) and fortitude in faith (cf. 1 Corin-
thians 16:13). See the note on Matthew 25:1-13.

[The note on Matthew 25:1-13 states:

1-13. The main lesson of this parable has to do with the need to be on the alert:
in practice, this means having the light of faith, which is kept alive with the oil of
charity. Jewish weddings were held in the house of the bride’s father. The virgins
are young unmarried girls, bridesmaids who are in the bride’s house waiting for
the bridegroom to arrive. The parable centers on the attitude one should adopt
up to the time when the bridegroom comes. In other words, it is not enough to
know that one is “inside” the Kingdom, the Church: one has to be on the watch
and be preparing for Christ’s coming by doing good works.

This vigilance should be continuous and unflagging, because the devil is forever
after us, prowling around “like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Pe-
ter 5:8). “Watch with the heart, watch with faith, watch with love, watch with cha-
rity, watch with good works [...]; make ready the lamps, make sure they do not
go out [...], renew them with the inner oil of an upright conscience; then shall the
Bridegroom enfold you in the embrace of His love and bring you into His banquet
room, where your lamp can never be extinguished” (St. Augustine, “Sermon”,
93).]

35. To enable them to do certain kinds of work the Jews used to hitch up the flo-
wing garments they normally wore. “Girding your loins” immediately suggests a
person getting ready for work, for effort, for a journey etc. (cf. Jeremiah 1:17;
Ephesians 6:14; 1 Peter 1:13). Similarly, “having your lamps burning” indicates
the sort of attitude a person should have who is on the watch or is waiting for
someone’s arrival.

40. God has chosen to hide from us the time of our death and the time when the
world will come to an end. Immediately after death everyone undergoes the Parti-
cular Judgment: “just as it is appointed for men to die once, and after that comes
judgment...” (Hebrews 9:27). The end of the world is when the General Judgment
will take place.

41-48. After our Lord’s exhortation to vigilance, St. Peter asks a question (verse
41), the answer to which is the key to understanding this parable. On the one
hand, Jesus emphasizes that we simply do not know exactly when God is going
to ask us to render an account of our life; on the other — answering Peter’s ques-
tion — our Lord explains that His teaching is addressed to every individual. God
will ask everyone to render an account of his doings: everyone has a mission to
fulfill in this life and he has to account for it before the judgment seat of God and
be judged on what he has produced, be it much or little.

“Since we know neither the day nor the hour, we should follow the advice of the
Lord and watch constantly so that, when the single course of our earthly life is
completed (cf. Hebrews 9:27), we may merit to enter with Him into the marriage
feast and be numbered among the blessed (cf. Matthew 25:31-46) and not, like
the wicked and slothful servants (cf. Matthew 25:26), be ordered to depart into
the eternal fire (cf. Matthew 25:41)” (Vatican II, “Lumen Gentium”, 48).

*********************************************************************************************
Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

[Salvation]

Scripture readings taken from the Jerusalem Bible, published and copyright © 1966, 1967 and 1968 by Darton, Longman & Todd

Readings at Mass

---

First reading

Wisdom 18:6-9 ©

That night had been foretold to our ancestors,

so that, once they saw what kind of oaths they had put their trust in, they would joyfully take courage.

This was the expectation of your people,

the saving of the virtuous and the ruin of their enemies;

for by the same act with which you took vengeance on our foes

you made us glorious by calling us to you.

The devout children of worthy men offered sacrifice in secret

and this divine pact they struck with one accord:

that the saints would share the same blessings and dangers alike;

and forthwith they had begun to chant the hymns of the fathers.

---

Psalm

Psalm 32:1,12,18-20,22 ©

Happy are the people the Lord has chosen as his own.

Ring out your joy to the Lord, O you just;

  for praise is fitting for loyal hearts.

They are happy, whose God is the Lord,

  the people he has chosen as his own.

Happy are the people the Lord has chosen as his own.

The Lord looks on those who revere him,

  on those who hope in his love,

to rescue their souls from death,

  to keep them alive in famine.

Happy are the people the Lord has chosen as his own.

Our soul is waiting for the Lord.

  The Lord is our help and our shield.

May your love be upon us, O Lord,

  as we place all our hope in you.

Happy are the people the Lord has chosen as his own.

EITHER:

Second reading

Hebrews 11:1-2,8-19 ©

Only faith can guarantee the blessings that we hope for, or prove the existence of the realities that at present remain unseen. It was for faith that our ancestors were commended.

  It was by faith that Abraham obeyed the call to set out for a country that was the inheritance given to him and his descendants, and that he set out without knowing where he was going. By faith he arrived, as a foreigner, in the Promised Land, and lived there as if in a strange country, with Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. They lived there in tents while he looked forward to a city founded, designed and built by God.

  It was equally by faith that Sarah, in spite of being past the age, was made able to conceive, because she believed that he who had made the promise would be faithful to it. Because of this, there came from one man, and one who was already as good as dead himself, more descendants than could be counted, as many as the stars of heaven or the grains of sand on the seashore.

  All these died in faith, before receiving any of the things that had been promised, but they saw them in the far distance and welcomed them, recognising that they were only strangers and nomads on earth. People who use such terms about themselves make it quite plain that they are in search of their real homeland. They can hardly have meant the country they came from, since they had the opportunity to go back to it; but in fact they were longing for a better homeland, their heavenly homeland. That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, since he has founded the city for them.

  It was by faith that Abraham, when put to the test, offered up Isaac. He offered to sacrifice his only son even though the promises had been made to him and he had been told: It is through Isaac that your name will be carried on. He was confident that God had the power even to raise the dead; and so, figuratively speaking, he was given back Isaac from the dead.

OR:

Second reading

Hebrews 11:1-2,8-12 ©

Only faith can guarantee the blessings that we hope for, or prove the existence of the realities that at present remain unseen. It was for faith that our ancestors were commended.

  It was by faith that Abraham obeyed the call to set out for a country that was the inheritance given to him and his descendants, and that he set out without knowing where he was going. By faith he arrived, as a foreigner, in the Promised Land, and lived there as if in a strange country, with Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. They lived there in tents while he looked forward to a city founded, designed and built by God.

  It was equally by faith that Sarah, in spite of being past the age, was made able to conceive, because she believed that he who had made the promise would be faithful to it. Because of this, there came from one man, and one who was already as good as dead himself, more descendants than could be counted, as many as the stars of heaven or the grains of sand on the seashore.

---

Gospel Acclamation

Mt11:25

Alleluia, alleluia!

Blessed are you, Father,

Lord of heaven and earth,

for revealing the mysteries of the kingdom

to mere children.

Alleluia!

Or	Mt24:42 44

Alleluia, alleluia!

Stay awake and stand ready,

because you do not know the hour

when the Son of Man is coming.

Alleluia!

EITHER:

Gospel

Luke 12:32-48 ©

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘There is no need to be afraid, little flock, for it has pleased your Father to give you the kingdom.

  ‘Sell your possessions and give alms. Get yourselves purses that do not wear out, treasure that will not fail you, in heaven where no thief can reach it and no moth destroy it. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

  ‘See that you are dressed for action and have your lamps lit. Be like men waiting for their master to return from the wedding feast, ready to open the door as soon as he comes and knocks. Happy those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. I tell you solemnly, he will put on an apron, sit them down at table and wait on them. It may be in the second watch he comes, or in the third, but happy those servants if he finds them ready. You may be quite sure of this, that if the householder had known at what hour the burglar would come, he would not have let anyone break through the wall of his house. You too must stand ready, because the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.’

  Peter said, ‘Lord, do you mean this parable for us, or for everyone?’ The Lord replied, ‘What sort of steward, then, is faithful and wise enough for the master to place him over his household to give them their allowance of food at the proper time? Happy that servant if his master’s arrival finds him at this employment. I tell you truly, he will place him over everything he owns. But as for the servant who says to himself, “My master is taking his time coming,” and sets about beating the menservants and the maids, and eating and drinking and getting drunk, his master will come on a day he does not expect and at an hour he does not know. The master will cut him off and send him to the same fate as the unfaithful.

  The servant who knows what his master wants, but has not even started to carry out those wishes, will receive very many strokes of the lash. The one who did not know, but deserves to be beaten for what he has done, will receive fewer strokes. When a man has had a great deal given him, a great deal will be demanded of him; when a man has had a great deal given him on trust, even more will be expected of him.’

OR:

Gospel

Luke 12:35-40 ©

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘See that you are dressed for action and have your lamps lit. Be like men waiting for their master to return from the wedding feast, ready to open the door as soon as he comes and knocks. Happy those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. I tell you solemnly, he will put on an apron, sit them down at table and wait on them. It may be in the second watch he comes, or in the third, but happy those servants if he finds them ready. You may be quite sure of this, that if the householder had known at what hour the burglar would come, he would not have let anyone break through the wall of his house. You too must stand ready, because the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.’

[Salvation]

The Light of Faith (Lumen Fidei)[Catholic Caucus]

Year of Faith: Does God Command Evil Actions in the Bible? Part II (Part I linked
Francis "Lights" Up – Pope's First Encyclical Due Friday
Pope: Homily at Mass for Evangelium Vitae Day [full text]
Adoration with Pope energizing Catholics worldwide
Parishes Worldwide Prepare for Eucharistic Adoration Hour (June 2 at 11 am ET)
Pope [Francis] at Pentecost: Newness, harmony and mission
Audience: Do not be ‘part-time’ Christians
Pope Francis: Regina caeli
Pope to welcome 70,000 youths, confirm 44 (this Sunday) [Catholic Caucus]
Pope Francis’ General Audience focused on women. Feminists aren’t going to be happy

Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio's "Letter On the Year of Faith" (Crossing Threshold of Faith)
Pope Francis – the real deal – has Audience with Cardinals
Benedict XVI's Final General Audience
On Ash Wednesday
On God As Creator of Heaven and Earth
On Abraham's Faith
On Christ As Mediator Between God and Man
On the Incarnation
On God the Almighty Father
Year of Faith: Indulgences and Places of Pilgrimage [Ecumenical]
On the Identity of Jesus

On the Faith of Mary, the Virgin Mother of Christ
Father Cantalamessa's 1st Advent Sermon (Catholic Caucus)
On The Unfolding of God's Self-Revelation
On the Beauty of God's Plan of Salvation
On Bearing Witness to the Christian Faith
On the Splendor of God's Truth
On the Knowledge of God
Archbishop Chaput says Year of Faith holds solution to relativism
Following the Truth: The Year Of Faith – 10 Things You Should Know [Catholic Caucus]
Papal Encyclical on Faith Announced

On the Desire for God
On the Ecclesial Nature of Faith
On the Nature of Faith
Catechism's benefits explained for Year of Faith (Catholic Caucus)
A Life of Faith: Papal Theologian Speaks on the Grace of Faith
ASIA/LAOS - "Year of Faith" amid the persecutions of Christians forced to become "animists"
From no faith to a mountain-top of meaning: Father John Nepil (Catholic Caucus)
Living the Year of Faith: How Pope Benedict Wants You to Begin [Catholic Caucus]
Share Your Faith in This Year of Faith: Two keys to help you do it.
On A New Series of Audiences for The Year of Faith

Pope will deliver year-long teaching series on restoring faith
Pope Benedict XVI Grants Plenary Indulgence to Faithful [Catholic Caucus]
Pope, at Marian shrine, entrusts Year of Faith, synod to Mary (Catholic Caucus)
Catholic Church Calls for Public Prayers in Offices on Fridays
Highlights in the Plan for Year of Faith: Traditional Events Will Take on Special Perspective
Catholic Church calls for public prayers in offices on Fridays
Vatican Unveils Logo for Year of Faith [Catholic Caucus]
Miami Prelate Recalls Pope's Visit to Cuba, Looks to Year of Faith [Catholic Caucus]
The World-Changing Year of Faith [Catholic Caucus]
Vatican to Issue Recommendations for Celebrating Year of Faith

[Salvation]

Perpetual Novena for the Nation (Ecumenical)

[Salvation]

Prayers for The Religion Forum (Ecumenical)

[Salvation]

 

Jesus, High Priest

 

We thank you, God our Father, for those who have responded to your call to priestly ministry.

Accept this prayer we offer on their behalf: Fill your priests with the sure knowledge of your love.

Open their hearts to the power and consolation of the Holy Spirit.

Lead them to new depths of union with your Son.

Increase in them profound faith in the Sacraments they celebrate as they nourish, strengthen and heal us.

Lord Jesus Christ, grant that these, your priests, may inspire us to strive for holiness by the power of their example, as men of prayer who ponder your word and follow your will.

O Mary, Mother of Christ and our mother, guard with your maternal care these chosen ones, so dear to the Heart of your Son.

Intercede for our priests, that offering the Sacrifice of your Son, they may be conformed more each day to the image of your Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Saint John Vianney, universal patron of priests, pray for us and our priests

This icon shows Jesus Christ, our eternal high priest.

The gold pelican over His heart represents self-sacrifice.

The border contains an altar and grapevines, representing the Mass, and icons of Melchizedek and St. Jean-Baptiste Vianney.

Melchizedek: king of righteousness (left icon) was priest and king of Jerusalem.  He blessed Abraham and has been considered an ideal priest-king.

St. Jean-Baptiste Vianney is the patron saint of parish priests.

[Salvation]

Pray a Rosary each day for our nation.

1.  Sign of the Cross:  In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

2.  The Apostles Creed:  I BELIEVE in God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell; on the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty; from there He shall come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

3.  The Lord's Prayer:  OUR Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.

4. (3) Hail Mary:  HAIL Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now, and in the hour of our death. Amen. (Three times)

5. Glory Be:  GLORY be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Fatima Prayer: Oh, my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, lead all souls to heaven, especially those in most need of your mercy.

Announce each mystery, then say 1 Our Father, 10 Hail Marys, 1 Glory Be and 1 Fatima prayer.  Repeat the process with each mystery.

End with the Hail Holy Queen:

Hail, Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy, our life, our sweetness and our hope! To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve! To thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this vale of tears! Turn then, most gracious advocate, thine eyes of mercy towards us; and after this, our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus!

O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary! Pray for us, O holy Mother of God, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Final step -- The Sign of the Cross

 

The Mysteries of the Rosary

By tradition, Catholics meditate on these Mysteries during prayers of the Rosary.
The biblical references follow each of the Mysteries below.

The Glorious Mysteries
(Wednesdays and Sundays)
1.The Resurrection (Matthew 28:1-8, Mark 16:1-18, Luke 24:1-12, John 20:1-29) [Spiritual fruit - Faith]
2. The Ascension (Mark 16:19-20, Luke 24:50-53, Acts 1:6-11) [Spiritual fruit - Christian Hope]
3. The Descent of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:1-13) [Spiritual fruit - Gifts of the Holy Spirit]
4. The Assumption [Spiritual fruit - To Jesus through Mary]
5. The Coronation [Spiritual fruit - Grace of Final Perseverance]

[Salvation]

~ PRAYER ~

St. Michael, the Archangel, defend us in battle
 Be our protection against the wickedness
and snares of the devil;
May God rebuke him, we  humbly pray,
 and do thou, O Prince of the heavenly host,
 by the power of God,
 Cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits
who prowl through the world seeking the ruin of souls.
 Amen
+

[Salvation]

A Prayer for our Free Nation Under God
God Save Our Country web site (prayer warriors)
Prayer Chain Request for the United States of America
Pray for Nancy Pelosi
Prayer and fasting will help defeat health care reform (Freeper Prayer Thread)
Prayer Campaign Started to Convert Pro-Abortion Catholic Politicians to Pro-Life
[Catholic Caucus] One Million Rosaries
Non-stop Rosary vigil to defeat ObamaCare

From an Obama bumper sticker on a car:

"Pray for Obama.  Psalm 109:8"

   

PLEASE JOIN US -

Evening Prayer
Someone has said that if people really understood the full extent of the power we have available through prayer, we might be speechless.
Did you know that during WWII there was an advisor to Churchill who organized a group of people who dropped what they were doing every day at a prescribed hour for one minute to collectively pray for the safety of England, its people and peace?  

There is now a group of people organizing the same thing here in America. If you would like to participate: Every evening at 9:00 PM Eastern Time (8:00 PM Central) (7:00 PM Mountain) (6:00 PM Pacific), stop whatever you are doing and spend one minute praying for the safety of the United States, our troops, our citizens, and for a return to a Godly nation. If you know anyone else who would like to participate, please pass this along. Our prayers are the most powerful asset we have.    Please forward this to your praying friends.

[Salvation]

August Devotion -- The Immaculate Heart [of Mary]

Since the 16th century Catholic piety has assigned entire months to special devotions. The month of August is traditionally dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The physical heart of Mary is venerated (and not adored as the Sacred Heart of Jesus is) because it is united to her person: and as the seat of her love (especially for her divine Son), virtue, and inner life. Such devotion is an incentive to a similar love and virtue.

This devotion has received new emphasis in this century from the visions given to Lucy Dos Santos, oldest of the visionaries of Fatima, in her convent in Tuy, in Spain, in 1925 and 1926. In the visions Our Lady asked for the practice of the Five First Saturdays to help make amends for the offenses given to her heart by the blasphemies and ingratitude of men. The practice parallels the devotion of the Nine First Fridays in honor of the Sacred Heart.

On October 31, 1942, Pope Pius XII made a solemn Act of Consecration of the Church and the whole world to the Immaculate Heart. Let us remember this devotion year-round, but particularly through the month of August.

INVOCATIONS

O heart most pure of the Blessed Virgin Mary, obtain for me from Jesus a pure and humble heart.

Sweet heart of Mary, be my salvation.

ACT OF CONSECRATION
Queen of the most holy Rosary, help of Christians, refuge of the human race, victorious in all the battles of God, we prostrate ourselves in supplication before thy throne, in the sure hope of obtaining mercy and of receiving grace and timely aid in our present calamities, not through any merits of our own, on which we do not rely, but only through the immense goodness of thy mother's heart. In thee and in thy Immaculate Heart, at this grave hour of human history, do we put our trust; to thee we consecrate ourselves, not only with all of Holy Church, which is the mystical body of thy Son Jesus, and which is suffering in so many of her members, being subjected to manifold tribulations and persecutions, but also with the whole world, torn by discords, agitated with hatred, the victim of its own iniquities. Be thou moved by the sight of such material and moral degradation, such sorrows, such anguish, so many tormented souls in danger of eternal loss! Do thou, O Mother of mercy, obtain for us from God a Christ-like reconciliation of the nations, as well as those graces which can convert the souls of men in an instant, those graces which prepare the way and make certain the long desired coming of peace on earth. O Queen of peace, pray for us, and grant peace unto the world in the truth, the justice, and the charity of Christ.

Above all, give us peace in our hearts, so that the kingdom of God may spread its borders in the tranquillity of order. Accord thy protection to unbelievers and to all those who lie within the shadow of death; cause the Sun of Truth to rise upon them; may they be enabled to join with us in repeating before the Savior of the world: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men of good will."

Give peace to the nations that are separated from us by error or discord, and in a special manner to those peoples who profess a singular devotion toward thee; bring them back to Christ's one fold, under the one true Shepherd. Obtain full freedom for the holy Church of God; defend her from her enemies; check the ever-increasing torrent of immorality; arouse in the faithful a love of purity, a practical Christian life, and an apostolic zeal, so that the multitude of those who serve God may increase in merit and in number.

Finally, even as the Church and all mankind were once consecrated to the Heart of thy Son Jesus, because He was for all those who put their hope in Him an inexhaustible source of victory and salvation, so in like manner do we consecrate ourselves forever to thee also and to thy Immaculate Heart, O Mother of us and Queen of the world; may thy love and patronage hasten the day when the kingdom of God shall be victorious and all the nations, at peace with God .and with one another, shall call thee blessed and intone with thee, from the rising of the sun to its going down, the everlasting "Magnificat" of glory, of love, of gratitude to the Heart of Jesus, in which alone we can find truth, life, and peace. — Pope Pius XII

IN HONOR OF THE IMMACULATE HEART
O heart of Mary, mother of God, and our mother; heart most worthy of love, in which the adorable Trinity is ever well-pleased, worthy of the veneration and love of all the angels and of all men; heart most like to the Heart of Jesus, of which thou art the perfect image; heart, full of goodness, ever compassionate toward our miseries; deign to melt our icy hearts and grant that they may be wholly changed into the likeness of the Heart of Jesus, our divine Savior. Pour into them the love of thy virtues, enkindle in them that divine fire with which thou thyself dost ever burn. In thee let Holy Church find a safe shelter; protect her and be her dearest refuge, her tower of strength, impregnable against every assault of her enemies. Be thou the way which leads to Jesus, and the channel, through which we receive all the graces needful for our salvation. Be our refuge in time of trouble, our solace in the midst of trial, our strength against temptation, our haven in persecution, our present help in every danger, and especially) at the hour of death, when all hell shall let loose against u its legions to snatch away our souls, at that dread moment; that hour so full of fear, whereon our eternity depends. An,; then most tender virgin, make us to feel the sweetness of thy motherly heart, and the might of thine intercession with Jesus, and open to us a safe refuge in that very fountain of mercy, whence we may come to praise Him with thee in paradise, world without end. Amen.

Prayer Source: Prayer Book, The by Reverend John P. O'Connell, M.A., S.T.D. and Jex Martin, M.A., The Catholic Press, Inc., Chicago, Illinois, 1954

Sacred Heart Of Jesus

Immaculate Heart of Mary

Blessed be the Most Loving Heart and Sweet Name of Our Lord Jesus Christ and the most glorious Virgin Mary, His Mother, in eternity and forever. Amen. ....Only the Heart of Christ who knows the depths of his Father's love could reveal to us the abyss of his mercy in so simple and beautiful a way ----From the Catechism. P:1439 From the depth of my nothingness, I prostrate myself before Thee, O Most Sacred, Divine and Adorable Heart of Jesus, to pay Thee all the homage of love, praise and adoration in my power. Amen. - - St. Margaret Mary Alacoque The prayer of the Church venerates and honors the Heart of Jesus just as it invokes his most holy name. It adores the incarnate Word and his Heart which, out of love for men, he allowed to be pierced by our sins. Christian prayer loves to follow the way of the cross in the Savior's steps.-- >From the Catechism. P: 2669 The Salutation to the Heart of Jesus and Mary   An Offering of the Hearts of Jesus and Mary
Novena Prayer to Sacred Heart  of Jesus Prayer to the Wounded Heart of Jesus   Act of Consecration to the Sacred Heart   Meditation & Novena Prayer on the Sacred Heart Beads to the Sacred Heart		Novena Prayer to the Immaculate Heart of Mary   A Solemn Act of Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary   The Daily Offering to the  Immaculate Heart of Mary   Exaltation of the Immaculate  Heart of Mary   Prayer to the Blessed Virgin

The Holy Heart of Mary Is, After the Heart of Jesus, the Most Exalted Throne of Divine Love
Let us recollect that God has given us the feast of the most pure Heart of the Blessed Virgin so that we may render on that day all the respect, honor and praise that we possibly can. To enkindle this spirit within us let us consider our motivating obligations.

The first is that we ought to love and honor whatever God loves and honors, and that by which He is loved and glorified. Now, after the adorable Heart of Jesus there has never been either in heaven or on earth, nor ever will be, a heart which has been so loved and honored by God, or which has given Him so much glory as that of Mary, the Mother of Jesus. Never has there been, nor will there ever be a more exalted throne of divine love. In that Heart divine love possesses its fullest empire, for it ever reigns without hindrance or interruption, and with it reign likewise all the laws of God, all the Gospel maxims and every Christian virtue.

This incomparable Heart of the Mother of our Redeemer is a glorious heaven, a Paradise of delights for the Most Holy Trinity. According to St. Paul, the hearts of the faithful are the dwelling place of our Lord Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ Himself assures us that the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost take up Their abode in the hearts of those who love God. Who, therefore, can doubt that the Most Holy Trinity has always made His home and established the reign of His glory in an admirable and ineffable manner in the virginal Heart of her who is the Daughter of the Father, the Mother of the Son, the Spouse of the Holy Ghost, who herself loves God more than all other creatures together?

How much then are we not obliged to love this exalted and most lovable Heart?

— St. John Eudes

Today: Immaculate Heart of Mary [DEVOTIONAL]

The Immaculate Heart of Mary [Devotional] Catholic/Orthodox Caucus
Devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary [Catholic/Orthodox Caucus]
Saturdays and the Immaculate Heart of Mary [Catholic/Orthodox Caucus]
The Brown Scapular (Catholic Caucus)
The History of Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary (Catholic Caucus)
Homilies preached by Father Robert Altier on the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary
Marian Associations Unite to Celebrate Immaculate Heart
Solemnity Most Sacred Heart of Jesus and Immaculate Heart of Mary
FEAST OF THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY, AUGUST 22ND
Devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary

August Devotion -- The Immaculate Heart [of Mary]

Since the 16th century Catholic piety has assigned entire months to special devotions. The month of August is traditionally dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The physical heart of Mary is venerated (and not adored as the Sacred Heart of Jesus is) because it is united to her person: and as the seat of her love (especially for her divine Son), virtue, and inner life. Such devotion is an incentive to a similar love and virtue.

This devotion has received new emphasis in this century from the visions given to Lucy Dos Santos, oldest of the visionaries of Fatima, in her convent in Tuy, in Spain, in 1925 and 1926. In the visions Our Lady asked for the practice of the Five First Saturdays to help make amends for the offenses given to her heart by the blasphemies and ingratitude of men. The practice parallels the devotion of the Nine First Fridays in honor of the Sacred Heart.

On October 31, 1942, Pope Pius XII made a solemn Act of Consecration of the Church and the whole world to the Immaculate Heart. Let us remember this devotion year-round, but particularly through the month of August.

INVOCATIONS

O heart most pure of the Blessed Virgin Mary, obtain for me from Jesus a pure and humble heart.

Sweet heart of Mary, be my salvation.

ACT OF CONSECRATION
Queen of the most holy Rosary, help of Christians, refuge of the human race, victorious in all the battles of God, we prostrate ourselves in supplication before thy throne, in the sure hope of obtaining mercy and of receiving grace and timely aid in our present calamities, not through any merits of our own, on which we do not rely, but only through the immense goodness of thy mother's heart. In thee and in thy Immaculate Heart, at this grave hour of human history, do we put our trust; to thee we consecrate ourselves, not only with all of Holy Church, which is the mystical body of thy Son Jesus, and which is suffering in so many of her members, being subjected to manifold tribulations and persecutions, but also with the whole world, torn by discords, agitated with hatred, the victim of its own iniquities. Be thou moved by the sight of such material and moral degradation, such sorrows, such anguish, so many tormented souls in danger of eternal loss! Do thou, O Mother of mercy, obtain for us from God a Christ-like reconciliation of the nations, as well as those graces which can convert the souls of men in an instant, those graces which prepare the way and make certain the long desired coming of peace on earth. O Queen of peace, pray for us, and grant peace unto the world in the truth, the justice, and the charity of Christ.

Above all, give us peace in our hearts, so that the kingdom of God may spread its borders in the tranquillity of order. Accord thy protection to unbelievers and to all those who lie within the shadow of death; cause the Sun of Truth to rise upon them; may they be enabled to join with us in repeating before the Savior of the world: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men of good will."

Give peace to the nations that are separated from us by error or discord, and in a special manner to those peoples who profess a singular devotion toward thee; bring them back to Christ's one fold, under the one true Shepherd. Obtain full freedom for the holy Church of God; defend her from her enemies; check the ever-increasing torrent of immorality; arouse in the faithful a love of purity, a practical Christian life, and an apostolic zeal, so that the multitude of those who serve God may increase in merit and in number.

Finally, even as the Church and all mankind were once consecrated to the Heart of thy Son Jesus, because He was for all those who put their hope in Him an inexhaustible source of victory and salvation, so in like manner do we consecrate ourselves forever to thee also and to thy Immaculate Heart, O Mother of us and Queen of the world; may thy love and patronage hasten the day when the kingdom of God shall be victorious and all the nations, at peace with God .and with one another, shall call thee blessed and intone with thee, from the rising of the sun to its going down, the everlasting "Magnificat" of glory, of love, of gratitude to the Heart of Jesus, in which alone we can find truth, life, and peace. — Pope Pius XII

IN HONOR OF THE IMMACULATE HEART
O heart of Mary, mother of God, and our mother; heart most worthy of love, in which the adorable Trinity is ever well-pleased, worthy of the veneration and love of all the angels and of all men; heart most like to the Heart of Jesus, of which thou art the perfect image; heart, full of goodness, ever compassionate toward our miseries; deign to melt our icy hearts and grant that they may be wholly changed into the likeness of the Heart of Jesus, our divine Savior. Pour into them the love of thy virtues, enkindle in them that divine fire with which thou thyself dost ever burn. In thee let Holy Church find a safe shelter; protect her and be her dearest refuge, her tower of strength, impregnable against every assault of her enemies. Be thou the way which leads to Jesus, and the channel, through which we receive all the graces needful for our salvation. Be our refuge in time of trouble, our solace in the midst of trial, our strength against temptation, our haven in persecution, our present help in every danger, and especially) at the hour of death, when all hell shall let loose against u its legions to snatch away our souls, at that dread moment; that hour so full of fear, whereon our eternity depends. An,; then most tender virgin, make us to feel the sweetness of thy motherly heart, and the might of thine intercession with Jesus, and open to us a safe refuge in that very fountain of mercy, whence we may come to praise Him with thee in paradise, world without end. Amen.

Prayer Source: Prayer Book, The by Reverend John P. O'Connell, M.A., S.T.D. and Jex Martin, M.A., The Catholic Press, Inc., Chicago, Illinois, 1954

Sacred Heart Of Jesus

Immaculate Heart of Mary

Blessed be the Most Loving Heart and Sweet Name of Our Lord Jesus Christ and the most glorious Virgin Mary, His Mother, in eternity and forever. Amen. ....Only the Heart of Christ who knows the depths of his Father's love could reveal to us the abyss of his mercy in so simple and beautiful a way ----From the Catechism. P:1439 From the depth of my nothingness, I prostrate myself before Thee, O Most Sacred, Divine and Adorable Heart of Jesus, to pay Thee all the homage of love, praise and adoration in my power. Amen. - - St. Margaret Mary Alacoque The prayer of the Church venerates and honors the Heart of Jesus just as it invokes his most holy name. It adores the incarnate Word and his Heart which, out of love for men, he allowed to be pierced by our sins. Christian prayer loves to follow the way of the cross in the Savior's steps.-- >From the Catechism. P: 2669 The Salutation to the Heart of Jesus and Mary   An Offering of the Hearts of Jesus and Mary
Novena Prayer to Sacred Heart  of Jesus Prayer to the Wounded Heart of Jesus   Act of Consecration to the Sacred Heart   Meditation & Novena Prayer on the Sacred Heart Beads to the Sacred Heart		Novena Prayer to the Immaculate Heart of Mary   A Solemn Act of Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary   The Daily Offering to the  Immaculate Heart of Mary   Exaltation of the Immaculate  Heart of Mary   Prayer to the Blessed Virgin

The Holy Heart of Mary Is, After the Heart of Jesus, the Most Exalted Throne of Divine Love
Let us recollect that God has given us the feast of the most pure Heart of the Blessed Virgin so that we may render on that day all the respect, honor and praise that we possibly can. To enkindle this spirit within us let us consider our motivating obligations.

The first is that we ought to love and honor whatever God loves and honors, and that by which He is loved and glorified. Now, after the adorable Heart of Jesus there has never been either in heaven or on earth, nor ever will be, a heart which has been so loved and honored by God, or which has given Him so much glory as that of Mary, the Mother of Jesus. Never has there been, nor will there ever be a more exalted throne of divine love. In that Heart divine love possesses its fullest empire, for it ever reigns without hindrance or interruption, and with it reign likewise all the laws of God, all the Gospel maxims and every Christian virtue.

This incomparable Heart of the Mother of our Redeemer is a glorious heaven, a Paradise of delights for the Most Holy Trinity. According to St. Paul, the hearts of the faithful are the dwelling place of our Lord Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ Himself assures us that the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost take up Their abode in the hearts of those who love God. Who, therefore, can doubt that the Most Holy Trinity has always made His home and established the reign of His glory in an admirable and ineffable manner in the virginal Heart of her who is the Daughter of the Father, the Mother of the Son, the Spouse of the Holy Ghost, who herself loves God more than all other creatures together?

How much then are we not obliged to love this exalted and most lovable Heart?

— St. John Eudes

[Salvation]

August 2013
Pope's Intentions

Parents and Teachers. That parents and teachers may help the new generation to grow in upright conscience and life.

The Church in Africa. That the local Church in Africa, faithfully proclaiming the Gospel, may promote peace and justice.

[Salvation]

Daily Gospel Commentary

Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year C

Commentary of the day
Saint Fulgentius of Ruspe (467-532), Bishop in North Africa
Homily 1, on the Lord's servants ; CCL 91A, 889 (trans. breviary Common of pastors)

"Stewards of the mysteries of God"

Wishing to emphasize the special office of the servants whom he has placed in charge of his people, the Lord says, 'Who, do you think, is the faithful and wise steward whom the Lord sets over his household, to give to them their measure of wheat at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes.” Who is that master, brethren? Without a doubt it is Christ, who says to his disciples: “You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right for so I am” (Jn 13,13). What, too, is the master's household? Doubtless it is the one which the Lord himself ransomed... This sacred household is the holy, Catholic Church, which is spread through the whole earth with abundant fertility and glories in the fact that she has been redeemed by the precious blood of her Master. As he himself says: “The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mk 10,45). He is, too, the good shepherd who laid down his life for his sheep” (Jn 10,11)...

As to who the steward is who ought to be faithful as well as wise, the Apostle Paul shows us, when, speaking of himself and his companions, he says: “This is how one should regard us, as the servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover, it is required of stewards that they should be found trustworthy” (1Cor 4,1-2). Now, lest anyone of us should think that it is only the apostles who have been made stewards..., the blessed Apostle Paul shows us that the bishops also are stewards, when he says: “For a bishop, as God's steward, must be blameless” (Tt 1,7)...

We, therefore, who are the servants of the master of the household, we are the stewards of the Lord, we have received the measure of wheat to disburse to you.

[Salvation]

From Zenit.org

Be ready: be poor

Lectio Divina: 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

Paris, August 09, 2013 (Zenit.org) Monsignor Francesco Follo | 757 hits

1)    Providence: God’s loyalty that always supports us.

     The central idea of today’s Roman Liturgy is faith[1]as confidence in God’s loyalty.

     In the first reading we are told that in “the night of the liberation from slavery God gave to his people a column of fire as guide for the unknown journey” (Wis. 18,6).  Showing in daylight a column of clouds and at night a column of fire God never abandons his people. The memory of God’s gifts and of His actions to liberate and guide the chosen people invites us to have faith in the Lord who guides his people from slavery to freedom.  

      In the second reading the author of the Letter to the Hebrews shows us that faith is inside the history of a people that has strongly believed in God. Abraham is such a great example that he is called “our Father in faith”. He believed not because he had seen God but because he has listened to Him and started a journey towards an unexpected future. We too are called to live the same faith that has pushed Abraham to live on earth as a pilgrim. The history of salvation, that has in Abraham a stronghold, is like a pilgrimage that gradually is fulfilled revealing more promises towards the full communion with God: from earth to progeny  to live in God’s home.

      Like Abraham we believers are always “on the road”, eternal pilgrims towards a homeland that is not a place but a state: it is not to live with God but to be in Him like the shoots “into” the grapevine. Paraphrasing a bit the Letter to Diognetus (II, 5, 1-16) we can say that we Christian

Inhabit a country but we are there as pilgrims: every foreign land is homeland for us, every homeland is a foreign land. We live our life on earth but we are citizen of Heaven (Heb 13-14)

    We find a true testimony of this situation in the consecrated Virgins who live in the world but are not of the world. With their consecration they have given their heart to the Spouse for whom they wait intensely to welcome him with devotion, to love him in chastity and to serve him continually (see Rite of the Consecration of the Virgins, 25: “Receive the veil and the ring that are the insignia of your consecration. Keep unstained your fidelity to your Bridegroom, and never forget that you are bound to the service of Christ and of his body, the Church”). Consecrated life shows the truth of the experience of giving oneself to God. In the continuous conversion to the Lord the person finds a solid road that makes him/her free.

2)    The watch: our loyalty to Christ always

In the third reading, a text from the Evangelist Luke (12; 32-48), Jesus beside the invitation to have faith in providence speaks also of the importance of the watch while waiting for the return of the Lord Jesus.

      The subject to whom Jesus turns to is the” little flock”: a flock loved by God, chosen and intended for the Kingdom, but a little flock. This small number could raise doubt and discouragement in the heart of many. It is a discouragement to push away: the history of salvation is ruled by the law of the “remainders of Israel” that is the small group of true believers in whom the Kingdom is realized for the benefit of all.

      The small flock is invited not to be afraid.” Do not be afraid” means watch, readiness and commitment, all in a spirit of great faith. The Kingdom is donated ( the Father” was pleased to give us the Kingdom”) and rests on his love not on our performances. We must not be afraid.

     The small flock is invited also to give away its assets. “Sell all that you have and give the money to charity” This is the richness that never fails compared to the “have more” we find in the parable of the unwise rich man. This is the orientation for our heart”Where your treasure is, there is your heart”.

3)    Blind to evil to see Good.

   The evangelical story carries on with a language full of imagery (verses 35-40) whose meaning is however very clear. “Be ready, gird your loins and light your lamps”. The image of the lamps reminds us of the parable of the wise and unwise virgins. The belt recalls the way the laborers lifted and rolled their garments at their waist so to be free in their movements and the way the travelers lifted their garments to walk faster. It is advisable to have the wandering and vigil attitude that doesn’t allow being inactive. Too many things can obstruct the spirit and make us inactive at the expenses of hope. (Hope is not only waiting for the afterlife but also the ability to transform things on this earth keeping in mind that we need to convert first otherwise. Tolstoy would be right when he wrote “Everybody thinks about changing the world but nobody thinks about  changing himself”).

After the short parable of the Owner that comes back from the wedding and the one of the Lord that comes suddenly like a robber, there is the one of the loyal administrator (verses 41-48). In this way the theme of the watch is enriched by a new attitude, the loyalty in the administration of the owner’s assets and the sense of responsibility. What are the owner’s assets to be administered with loyalty and responsibility? The text doesn’t say it clearly but we can think at the use of all the goods (wealth, relationships, all) that God gave us and that we must administrate and not kept for us only.

     Loyalty and the sense of responsibility are requested in proportion with the knowledge that everyone has of the owner. The bigger is the knowledge the bigger is the responsibility. Loyalty and responsibility are above all requested to the believers to do the true work in the God’s wine yard, the Church.

      The important thing is to grow in faith to “see” that God is Father and that he can be called owner because he is omnipotent. In Jesus the Father puts omnipotence to the service of his charity making it good and lovable by everyone. In Jesus faith makes us “blind” to evil and prophets to Good, to Charity, to Sainthood and to Eternal Life. Acting in this way we can guide our brothers in Christ to Peace and to the Father.

       Let’s not be tired of looking at Christ on the Cross. The more we put our eyes on Him and the more we’ll see the light through his chest open to love, the more we will believe because faith is born from the light of love.

        Let’s become poor in spirit making all assets servant of Justice and using them with the justice that consumes in charity and reveals itself in mercy (see Pope Francis, Lumen Fidei, 7 and 13).

                                                       Faith is the light of love

In God’s gift of faith, a supernatural infused virtue, we realize that a great love has been offered us, a good word has been spoken to us, and that when we welcome that word, Jesus Christ the Word made flesh, the Holy Spirit transforms us, lights up our way to the future and enables us joyfully to advance along that way on wings of hope. Thus wonderfully interwoven, faith, hope and charity are the driving force of the Christian life as it advances towards full communion with God. (LF 7)

Believing means entrusting oneself to a merciful love which always accepts and pardons, which sustains and directs our lives, and which shows its power by its ability to make straight the crooked lines of our history. Faith consists in the willingness to let ourselves be constantly transformed and renewed by God’s call.

(1)    [1] Faith is the interior attitude of the believer. The words of the Bible that are translated with “faith” or “loyalty’ (in Hebrew emunah, emet) and with “believe” come from the same root (‘mn); in Greek pistis “faith’ e pisteuein “to believe”. The basic idea, in Hebrew, is that one of resoluteness; in Greek is the one of persuading. See Jean- Yves Lacoste, “Dictionnaire critique de théologie”, Paris 2007.

--

Roman Rite

XIX Sunday in Ordinary Time- Year C- August 11, 2013

[Salvation]

Arlington Catholic Herald

GOSPEL COMMENTARY LK 12:32-48

Wait. Just wait.

 

By Fr. Paul Scalia

 

The Israelites could not wait any longer. Moses showed no sign of returning from the mountaintop any time soon. So they took things into their own hands. Aaron fashioned a golden calf for them to worship. They swiftly left the way of the Lord and fell into idolatry (cf. Ex 32:1-6). Fast-forward some years. Saul showed a similar impatience with Samuel, the Lord’s prophet. Not knowing the time of Samuel’s return, he decided to do things on his own. And that was the beginning of the end for him (cf. 1 Sam 13:2-14).

Perhaps Our Lord has these examples in mind when he describes the unfaithful steward’s thoughts: “My master is delayed in coming” (Lk 12:45). That steward falls into the same error as the Israelites, Saul and countless others. He grows impatient with the master’s seeming delay. At the heart of infidelity is this impatience — an unwillingness to wait for the Lord.

 

Some of us are more impatient than others. But impatience is deep within us all. Indeed, we can interpret original sin in this light. It can be seen as the desire to possess immediately — to grasp for — what God intended to give. Ever since, our fallen human nature has this tragic inclination to seek the immediate possession of things. Our technologically advanced society only exacerbates this wound. We grow accustomed to instantaneous responses and results. Every business and company caters to this, promising us prompt service, immediate results, etc. No waiting.

How different is the life of faith. It requires patience and waiting. As Pope Francis says in “Lumen Fidei”: “Faith by its very nature demands renouncing the immediate possession which sight would appear to offer.” Scripture often gives voice to this truth with the plaintive yet faithful plea, “How long, O Lord?” (cf. Ps 6:3; 13:1; 35:17; Hb 1:2) The initiative always belongs to God. Faith requires us to wait on Him, to allow Him to make Himself known. We operate according to His schedule, not our own. And if He seems to delay, we do not take things into our own hands.

The refusal to wait — that impatient grasping for control — leads us into sin. With the Israelites it took the form of idolatry. Not willing to wait for the Lord, they fashioned a god for themselves. At the heart of idolatry lurks impatience with God. When we grow tired of waiting for Him, we begin to create our own gods — perhaps not graven images, but certainly our own little interests, ideologies and activities that eclipse Him in our hearts.

And such impatience leads swiftly to other sins — because morality requires patience. So, after worshipping the golden calf, the Israelites “sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to revel” (a euphemism, to be sure) (Ex 32:6). And the unfaithful steward begins “to beat the menservants and the maidservants, to eat and drink and get drunk” (Lk 12:45).

Each of us has experienced this impatience. When will God answer my prayers? How much longer must I keep going? Where is He? And yet, as dangerous as that impatience may be, it can become an occasion to increase in our desire to see Him and to experience His power. In this regard we have the example of Our Lord Himself longing for the fulfillment of His mission: “I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing! There is a baptism with which I must be baptized, and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished!” (Lk 12:49-50) We also have the example of Our Lady, waiting patiently on Holy Saturday for God’s power, so hidden from the world, to be revealed. May we show our faith similarly, submitting our impatience to His grace, that it may become a holy longing.

Fr. Scalia is Arlington Bishop Paul S. Loverde’s delegate for clergy.

[Salvation]

The Work of God

Give alms.

Catholic Gospels - Homilies, Matthew, Luke, Mark, John - Inspirations of the Holy Spirit 

Year C

 -  19th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Give alms.

Luke 12:32-48

32 Fear not, little flock, for it has pleased your Father to give you a kingdom.
33 Sell what you possess and give alms. Make to yourselves bags which don’t grow old, a treasure in heaven which does not fail: where no thief approaches, nor moth corrupts.
34 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
35 Let your loins be girt, and lamps burning in your hands.
36 And you yourselves like to men who wait for their lord, when he shall return from the wedding; that when he comes and knocks, they may open to him immediately.
37 Blessed are those servants, whom the Lord when he comes shall find watching. Amen I say to you, that he will gird himself, and make them sit down to eat, and passing will minister unto them.
38 And if he shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants.
39 But know this, that if the householder did know at what hour the thief would come, he would surely watch, and would not suffer his house to be broken into.
40 Be then also ready: for at what hour you may not think, the Son of man will come.
41 And Peter said to him: Lord, do you speak this parable to us, or likewise to all?
42 And the Lord said: Who (do you think) is the faithful and wise steward, whom his lord sets over his family, to give them their measure of wheat in due season?
43 Blessed is that servant, whom when his lord shall come, he shall find so doing.
44 Verily I say to you, he will set him over all that he possesses.
45 But if that servant shall say in his heart: My lord will take long in coming; and shall begin to strike the menservants and maidservants, and to eat and to drink and be drunk:
46 The lord of that servant will come in the day that he hopes not, and at the hour that he knows not, and shall separate him, and shall appoint him his portion with unbelievers.
47 And that servant who knew the will of his lord, and prepared not himself, and did not according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.
48 But he that did not know, and did things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. And unto whomsoever much is given, of him much shall be required: and to whom they have committed much, of him they will demand the more.

Inspiration of the Holy Spirit - From the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Do not be afraid my children, indeed my Father is pleased to give you the Kingdom of Heaven. He loved the world so much that He sent me to open the eternal gates to all those who believe in me. He sent me to free you from the slavery of sin and to proclaim the good news of my Kingdom. All you have to do is to follow me: your way, your truth and your life. Trust in me and remain in my love, I will help you to overcome all your obstacles.

Get rid of all the unwanted baggage for your heavenly journey; prepare your treasure in heaven by giving alms, unchain yourselves from the material possessions of the world and be free to soar spiritually to your eternal home. Do not bind your souls to the filth of this earth; open them instead to the action of the Holy Spirit so that you may be purified by the fire of love.

If your treasure is in Heaven, your heart will be in Heaven. Let then your heart be purified by my doctrine, watch and be ready for my coming. Fear my judgment with respect but know that I judge by the love you give to others. Therefore start loving as never before, reconcile with those who you have offended you, pray for them. Pray for all men good and evil to receive my grace. Rejoice in your coming salvation and offer your gift to others. Share your physical and spiritual riches without fear, you will lack nothing if you have a generous heart.

To have a share of my wisdom is the greatest treasure you may have in your life, but this is a talent of much value and you will have to give an account for it. Pearls are not to be thrown to the pigs; those who misuse the gifts from above will have to pay the penalty for their contempt.

Author: Joseph of Jesus and Mary

[Salvation]

Archdiocese of Washington

On Forsaking Fear By Remaining Ready. A Homily for the 19th Sunday of the Year

By: Msgr. Charles Pope

In the Gospel for this weekend (Luke 12:32-40) the Lord Jesus presents a “Recipe for Readiness.” He gives this recipe so that we can lay hold of his offer that we not be afraid. But he is not simply saying, “Be not afraid.” He is explaining how we can battle fear by being ready.

It is frequent problem in the modern experience of the Christian life that many remain vague about what is necessary to be ready to meet God. Many also make light of the day of Judgment and consider it all but certain that they and most of humanity will be found approved.

Jesus does not however adopt this posture. In fact he teaches the exact opposite and consistently warns of the need to be ready for our judgment. As such, He does not counsel a foolish fearlessness rooted in the deception that all or most will be saved. Rather he counsels a fearlessness based on solid preparation for the day of judgement. Jesus tells us at least five things to do in order to be ready, and therefore not afraid.

If we are not ready by these sorts of preparations, Jesus warns, later in this text that He will come when we least expect and, like a thief, take away all that we wrongly call our own. Jesus says elsewhere, But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap (Lk 21:34) And the apostolic tradition adds, that to those unprepared, disaster will fall on them as suddenly as a pregnant woman’s labor pains begin. And there will be no escape. (1 Thess 5:3).

Thus, while Jesus begins by saying that we ought not fear, (for the Father wants to grant us the kingdom), he also warns that being free of fear is contingent on embracing and following a plan that he (Jesus) sets forth for our life.

 So lets look at this plan and see how we can forsake fear by becoming and remaining ready. Jesus gives us five specific and concrete things to do that will help us to be ready when the Lord shall call us. It is not an exhaustive list, for no one passage of Scripture is the whole of Scripture. But here are some very practical and specific things to reflect on and do.

I. REASSESS YOUR WEALTH. Jesus says, Do not be afraid any longer, little flock, for your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your belongings and give alms. Provide money bags for yourselves that do not wear out, an inexhaustible treasure in heaven that no thief can reach nor moth destroy. For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be. In effect the Lord is giving us here a triple teaching on wealth. First he says that we ought to

• Fore-go Fear. In the end it is fear that makes us greedy and worldly. We grab up the things of this world because we are terrified of not having enough for tomorrow. But what if we could receive the gift to trust God more and know and experience that he will give us our daily bread? He has given us the Kingdom, why not everything else besides? He may not give us everything we want but we can learn to trust that he will give us what we really need. Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these other things will be given unto to you (Matt 6:21). If we can just allow God to diminish our fear we will be surprised how easy it is for us to be generous with what we have and not hoard it.
• Forward your Fortune- We store up treasure for ourselves in heaven when we are generous to the needy and poor. Treasure is not stored in heaven by way of a rocket ship or balloon. It is stored there by generously distributing our wealth to others in wise and creative ways. This was discussed in last week’s reading more substantially see here: Instructions on Income While it may not be appropriate for us to sell everything and go live on a park bench, the Lord is surely telling us to be less attached to and passionate about money and things for they root us in this world. And where our treasure is, there also will our heart be.
• Fix your focus - Our focus is wrong and worldly because most of us have our treasure here. But once we become less fearful and more generous, our obsession with worldly treasure subsides and our joy in heavenly treasure grows. And this fixes our broken focus. For now our heart is where our treasure really is and ought to be: in heaven with God. So simplify, be less rooted in this world and come to experience that your greatest treasure is God and the things waiting for you in heaven.

So, reassess your wealth. What is it and where is it? That will tell you a lot about your heart too.

II. READY TO WORK – The Lord says “Gird your loins” which is the ancient equivalent of “roll up your sleeves.” The Lord has a work for us and wants us to get about it.

Surely the Lord has more than a worldly career in mind. He has in mind things like raising kids in godly fear, pursuing justice, and growing in holiness. The Lord wants us to work in his Kingdom. We must commit to prayer, Sunday worship, the reception of the Sacraments, to obedience and holiness.

And the Lord has a particular work for us based on our gifts. Some can teach, others are good with senior citizens, still others are good entrepreneurs and can provide good work for others at a just wage. Some are skilled at medicine and the care of the sick. Some are called to priesthood and the religious life. Some are called to suffering and to offer that suffering for the salvation of souls. Some serve in strength, others in weakness. But all are called to serve, called to work.

So work with what the Lord gave you to advance his kingdom. Part of being ready means doing our work.

III. READ THE WORD – The Lord says, “light your lamps.”

At one level, the phrase “light your lamps” is simply a symbol for readiness (eg. the Wise and Foolish Virgins in Matt. 25:1-13)

But in another sense “lamp” is also a symbol for Scripture. For example, You Word O Lord is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path (Ps 119:105). Or again, We possess the prophetic message that is altogether reliable. You will do well to be attentive to it, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts (2 Peter 1:19).

So here we can also understand that the Lord is teaching us that an essential part of being ready is to be rooted and immersed in the Scriptures and the Teachings of the Church. It makes sense of course. There is just too much stinking thinking in this increasingly secular world hostile to the faith to think that our mind is going to be anything but sullied if we are not reading Scripture every day. How will our minds be sober and clear if we are inebriated by the world?

Clearly, being ready means reading Scripture each day and basing our life on it.

IV. REMAIN WATCHFUL – The Lord says, “And be like servants who await their master’s return from a wedding, ready to open immediately when he comes and knocks…..Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour when the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come”

Now there are different ways to watch and wait. There is the passive watching and waiting that we may do when waiting for a bus. We just sit there and look down the street. But there is another way of waiting that is more active. Consider the kind of watchfulness that one has who waits on tables. This is an active waiting and watching. It observes what is necessary and what will soon become necessary and moves to supply what is needed.

There is also an eager sort of waiting intended here much like the eager waiting of a child on Christmas Eve. The Child does not wait in dread for the coming of “Santa” but with eager expectation.

And so it is that a watchful waiting and an eager waiting are what the Lord has in mind here. It is like that active waiting when we have invited a guest to our home eagerly prepared the house, and all is readiness. We know that his arrival is imminent and so we joyfully prepare and place all in order.

And to set our house in order is to sweep clean our soul of sin and all unrighteousness by God’s grace, and to remove all the clutter of the worldliness. Regular confession, daily repentance, sweep clean the house, and simplifying our lives and freeing ourselves from worldly attachments de-clutters the house of our soul.

Have you prepared the home of your soul for the Lord’s arrival? If not, the Lord says, you may experience him as a thief. Now the Lord is not really a thief for everything belongs to him. But if you and I have not renounced our worldliness and greed, if we have not de-cluttered our lives of attachments to this world, the Lord WILL come to and take back what is his, but he will seem like a  thief because we think it is ours.

It’s never a good idea to call God, the Lord and owner of all, a thief. Bad move.

V. REFLECT on your reWARD - The Lord says, Blessed are those servants whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival. Amen, I say to you, he will gird himself, have them recline at table, and proceed to wait on them. And should he come in the second or third watch and find them prepared in this way, blessed are those servants. -

The Lord is clear that he has a reward for those who are found ready!

It is prefigured in the banquet of the Eucharist wherein the Lord prepares a meal and feeds us. The Lord says, Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me (Rev 3:20). And again, And I confer a kingdom on you, just as my Father has conferred one on me, that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom (Luke 22:30). We have so much easy food today but in the ancient world one of the most pleasant things they looked forward to was a hearty meal in the company of good friends and family.

The Lord offers us the magnificent blessing of heaven wherein we will be with him and those whom we love forever in unspeakable joy and peace.

Do you meditate often on heaven and long for its rewards? One of the stranger aspects of the modern world is that, even among believers, we talk so little of heaven. True, it is not a place any of us have been yet so it’s hard to fully understand what it will be like. But reflect often on the joy waiting for you in heaven.

Part of being ready to go home to Lord is to long for that day to come. When we want to do something we eagerly prepare for it, we are motivated and make sacrifices to do it.  When we desire it we will more naturally get ready and lay aside whatever is necessary to make the passage there.

So here are five elements constituting a recipe for readiness. Better set your house in order ’cause he may be coming soon!

[Salvation]

Sunday Gospel Reflections

19th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Reading I: Wisdom 18:6-9 II: Hebrews 11:1-2,8-19

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Gospel
Luke 12:32-48

³² "Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.
³³ Sell your possessions, and give alms; provide yourselves with purses that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys.
³⁴ For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
³⁵ "Let your loins be girded and your lamps burning,
³⁶ and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the marriage feast, so that they may open to him at once when he comes and knocks.
³⁷ Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes; truly, I say to you, he will gird himself and have them sit at table, and he will come and serve them.
³⁸ If he comes in the second watch, or in the third, and finds them so, blessed are those servants!
³⁹ But know this, that if the householder had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have left his house to be broken into.
⁴⁰ You also must be ready; for the Son of man is coming at an unexpected hour."
⁴¹ Peter said, "Lord, are you telling this parable for us or for all?"
⁴² And the Lord said, "Who then is the faithful and wise steward, whom his master will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the proper time?
⁴³ Blessed is that servant whom his master when he comes will find so doing.
⁴⁴ Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions.
⁴⁵ But if that servant says to himself, 'My master is delayed in coming,' and begins to beat the menservants and the maidservants, and to eat and drink and get drunk,
⁴⁶ the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will punish him, and put him with the unfaithful.
⁴⁷ And that servant who knew his master's will, but did not make ready or act according to his will, shall receive a severe beating.
⁴⁸ But he who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, shall receive a light beating. Every one to whom much is given, of him will much be required; and of him to whom men commit much they will demand the more.

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Interesting Details

• In the first few verses, today's passage continues last Sunday's discussion of possessions in the life of the Christian.
• (v.32) "my little flock": The gentleness here matches that of "my friends" in 12:4. The image of the flock echoes the designation of Israel guided by the Lord (Ez 34:11-24). The disciples represent that "little flock" which forms the nucleus of the restored people around the prophet.
• (v.35) At that time, when a man was resting, he loosened the belt which held his long robe. When working he tightened the belt, thus hitching up his robe to facilitate work and movement. The fastening of the belt recalls the preparation for the Exodus. The Hebrew people were to be ready to move immediately when the call of the Lord came. The disciples of Jesus are to be ready to open to the Master "immediately when He comes".
• (v.36) The passage has some points of resemblance to the parable of the ten virgins in Mt. 24:42-51. The earliest Christians held out the expectation that Jesus would return in glory very soon. But by the time Luke wrote, a different notion prevailed. The Lord would return at an unknown time, at an indefinite moment in the future. Luke therefore calls for continued vigilance and fidelity.
• "steward": The household manager is often translated as "steward". He was himself a slave just as those he oversees; despite his relative authority, he is equally subject to the authority of the master.
• (v.45) Luke has placed great emphasis here upon the notion of punishment. Those who serve the Church must never abuse their authority. Their role is one of service, not placing others in servitude.
• (v.48) Those "entrusted with much" authority, and those "entrusted with more", must live up to their appointed tasks. Luke is already looking ahead to the future organization of the Church.

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One Main Point

The image of authority is one of service to others. Leaders of the Church have been entrusted much, and much will be expected of them.

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Reflections

1. What has God entrusted to me to manage? How am I taking care of this responsibility?
2. About what dangers is Jesus warning me in this passage? Which danger is most likely to be a problem for me?

[Salvation]

Sunday, August 11, 2013
Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

First Reading: Psalm: Second Reading: Gospel:

Wisdom 18:6-9 Psalm 33:1, 12, 18-22 Hebrews 11:1-2, 8-19 or 11:1-2, 8-12 Luke 12:32-48 or 12:35-40 The believer's act [of faith] does not terminate in the propositions, but in the realities [which they express]. -- St. Thomas Aquinas

[Salvation]

Just A Minute (Listen) Some of EWTN's most popular hosts and guests in a collection of one minute inspirational messages. A different message each time you click.

[Salvation]

The Angelus 

The Angel of the Lord declared to Mary: 
And she conceived of the Holy Spirit. 

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. 

Behold the handmaid of the Lord: Be it done unto me according to Thy word. 

Hail Mary . . . 

And the Word was made Flesh: And dwelt among us. 

Hail Mary . . . 

Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ. 

Let us pray: 

Pour forth, we beseech Thee, O Lord, Thy grace into our hearts; that we, to whom the incarnation of Christ, Thy Son, was made known by the message of an angel, may by His Passion and Cross be brought to the glory of His Resurrection, through the same Christ Our Lord.

Amen. 

[Mad Dawg]

I am trying to adopt the practice of giving the first hour after I wake (and make coffee) to prayer and study. These commentaries are very helpful.

[Salvation]

I hope you are feeling better too.

God bless.

[Salvation]

Saint Clare, Virgin

Saint Clare, Virgin
Memorial
August 11th

Giuseppe Cesari,
St Clare with the Scene of the Siege of Assisi
Oil on panel, 37 x 45 cm
The Hermitage, St. Petersburg

In 1234, the army of Frederick II was devastating the valley of Spoleto, the soldiers, preparatory to an assault upon Assisi, scaled the walls of San Damiano by night, spreading terror among the community. Clare, calmly rising from her sick bed, and taking the ciborium from the little chapel adjoining her cell, proceeded to face the invaders at an open window against which they had already placed a ladder. It is related that, as she raised the Blessed Sacrament on high, the soldiers who were about to enter the monastery fell backward as if dazzled, and the others who were ready to follow them took flight. It is with reference to this incident that St. Clare is generally represented in art bearing a ciborium.

(Principal source - Catholic Encyclopedia - 1913 edition )

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History:
Co-foundress of the Order of Poor Ladies, or Clares, and first Abbess of San Damiano; born at Assisi, July 16, 1194; died there August 11, 1253.

As a child she was most devoted to prayer and to practices of mortification, and as she passed into girlhood her distaste for the world and her yearning for a more spiritual life increased. She was eighteen years of age when St. Francis came to preach the Lenten course in the church of San Giorgio at Assisi. Inspired by his words, she sought him out secretly and begged him to help her that she too might live "after the manner of the holy Gospel". St. Francis, who at once recognized in Clare one of those chosen souls destined by God for great things, and who also, doubtless, foresaw that many would follow her example, promised to assist her. On Palm Sunday night Clare secretly left her father's house, by St. Francis's advice and, accompanied by her aunt Bianca and another companion, proceeded to the humble chapel of the Porziuncula, where St. Francis and his disciples met her with lights in their hands. Clare then laid aside her rich dress, and St. Francis, having cut off her hair, clothed her in a rough tunic and a thick veil, and in this way the young heroine vowed herself to the service of Jesus Christ. This was March 20, 1212.

Clare was joined by her younger sister Agnes, whom she was instrumental in delivering from the persecution of their infuriated relatives. St. Francis rebuilt the poor chapel of San Damiano and established it as a place for the first community of the Order of Poor Ladies, or of Poor Clares, as this second order of St. Francis came to be called.

St. Clare and her companions had no written rule to follow beyond a very short formula vitae given them by St. Francis, and which may be found among his works. Some years later, apparently in 1219, during St. Francis's absence in the East, Cardinal Ugolino, then protector of the order, afterwards Gregory IX, drew up a written rule for the Clares at Monticelli, taking as a basis the Rule of St. Benedict, retaining the fundamental points of the latter and adding some special constitutions. This new rule, which, in effect if not in intention, took away from the Clares the Franciscan character of absolute poverty so dear to the heart of St. Francis and made them for all practical purposes a congregation of Benedictines, was approved by Honorius III (Bull, "Sacrosancta", December 9, 1219). When Clare found that the new rule, though strict enough in other respects, allowed the holding of property in common, she courageously and successfully resisted the innovations of Ugolino as being entirely opposed to the intentions of St. Francis. The latter had forbidden the Poor Ladies, just as he had forbidden his friars to possess any worldly goods even in common. Owning nothing, they were to depend entirety upon what the Friars Minor could beg for them. This complete renunciation of all property was however regarded by Ugolino as unpractical for cloistered women. When, therefore, in 1228, he came to Assisi for the canonization of St. Francis (having meanwhile ascended the pontifical throne as Gregory IX), he visited St. Clare at San Damiano and pressed her to so far deviate from the practice of poverty which had up to this time obtained at San Damiano, as to accept some provision for the unforeseen wants of the community. But Clare firmly refused. Gregory, thinking that her refusal might be due to fear of violating the vow of strict poverty she had taken, offered to absolve her from it. "Holy Father, I crave for absolution from my sins", replied Clare, "but I desire not to be absolved from the obligation of following Jesus Christ".

The heroic unworldliness of Clare filled the pope with admiration, as his letters to her, still extant, bear eloquent witness, and he so far gave way to her views as to grant her on September 17, 1228, the celebrated Privilegium Paupertatis which some regard in the light of a corrective of the Rule of 1219. The original autograph copy of this unique "privilege"-- the first one of its kind ever sought for, or ever issued by the Holy See -- is preserved in the archive at Santa Chiara in Assisi. The text is as follows: "Gregory Bishop Servant of the Servants of God. To our beloved daughters in Christ Clare and the other handmaids of Christ dwelling together at the Church of San Damiano in the Diocese of Assisi. Health and Apostolic benediction. It is evident that the desire of consecrating yourselves to God alone has led you to abandon every wish for temporal things. Wherefore, after having sold all your goods and having distributed them among the poor, you propose to have absolutely no possessions, in order to follow in all things the example of Him Who became poor and Who is the way, the truth, and the life. Neither does the want of necessary things deter you from such a proposal, for the left arm of your Celestial Spouse is beneath your head to sustain the infirmity of your body, which, according to the order of charity, you have subjected to the law of the spirit. Finally, He who feeds the birds of the air and who gives the lilies of the field their raiment and their nourishment, will not leave you in want of clothing or of food until He shall come Himself to minister to you in eternity when, namely, the right hand of His consolations shall embrace you in the plenitude of the Beatific Vision. Since, therefore, you have asked for it, we confirm by Apostolic favor your resolution of the loftiest poverty and by the authority of these present letters grant that you may not be constrained by anyone to receive possessions. To no one, therefore, be it allowed to infringe upon this page of our concession or to oppose it with rash temerity. But if anyone shall presume to attempt this, be it known to him that he shall incur the wrath of Almighty God and his Blessed Apostles, Peter and Paul. Given at Perugia on the fifteenth of the Kalends of October in the second year of our Pontificate."

That St. Clare may have solicited a "privilege" similar to the foregoing at an earlier date and obtained it vivâ voce, is not improbable. Certain it is that after the death of Gregory IX Clare had once more to contend for the principle of absolute poverty prescribed by St. Francis, for Innocent IV would fain have given the Clares a new and mitigated rule, and the firmness with which she held to her way won over the pope. Finally, two days before her death, Innocent, no doubt at the reiterated request of the dying abbess, solemnly confirmed the definitive Rule of the Clares (Bull, "Solet Annuere", August 9, 1253), and thus secured to them the precious treasure of poverty which Clare, in imitation of St. Francis, had taken for her portion from the beginning of her conversion. The author of this latter rule, which is largely an adaptation mutatis mutandis, of the rule which St. Francis composed for the Friars Minor in 1223, seems to have been Cardinal Rainaldo, Bishop of Ostia, and protector of the order, afterwards Alexander IV, though it is most likely that St. Clare herself had a hand in its compilation. Be this as it may, it can no longer be maintained that St. Francis was in any sense the author of this formal Rule of the Clares; he only gave to St. Clare and her companions at the outset of their religious life the brief formula vivendi already mentioned.

St. Clare, who in 1215 had, much against her will been made superior at San Damiano by St. Francis, continued to rule there as abbess until her death, in 1253, nearly forty years later.

We know that she became a living copy of the poverty, the humility, and the mortification of St. Francis; that she had a special devotion to the Holy Eucharist, and that in order to increase her love for Christ crucified she learned by heart the Office of the Passion composed by St. Francis, and that during the time that remained to her after her devotional exercises she engaged in manual labor.

After St. Francis's death the procession which accompanied his remains from the Porziuncula to the town stopped on the way at San Damiano in order that Clare and her daughters might venerate the pierced hands and feet of him who had formed them to the love of Christ crucified -- a pathetic scene which Giotto has commemorated in one of his loveliest frescoes.

On August 11, 1253, the holy foundress of the Poor Ladies passed peacefully away amid scenes which her contemporary biographer has recorded with touching simplicity. The pope, with his court, came to San Damiano for the saint's funeral, which partook rather of the nature of a triumphal procession.

The Clares desired to retain the body of their foundress among them at San Damiano, but the magistrates of Assisi interfered and took measures to secure for the town the venerated remains of her whose prayers, as they all believed, had on two occasions saved it from destruction. Clare's miracles too were talked of far and wide. It was not safe, the Assisians urged, to leave Clare's body in a lonely spot without the walls; it was only right, too, that Clare, "the chief rival of the Blessed Francis in the observance of Gospel perfection", should also have a church in Assisi built in her honor. Meanwhile, Clare's remains were placed in the chapel of San Giorgio, where St. Francis's preaching had first touched her young heart, and where his own body had likewise been interred pending the erection of the Basilica of San Francesco. Two years later, September 26, 1255, Clare was solemnly canonized by Alexander IV, and not long afterwards the building of the church of Santa Chiara, in honor of Assisi's second great saint, was begun under the direction of Filippo Campello, one of the foremost architects of the time. On October 3, 1260, Clare's remains were transferred from the chapel of San Giorgio and buried deep down in the earth, under the high altar in the new church, far out of sight and reach. After having remained hidden for six centuries -- like the remains of St. Francis -- and after much search had been made, Clare's tomb was found in 1850, to the great joy of the Assisians. On September 23 in that year the coffin was unearthed and opened, the flesh and clothing of the saint had been reduced to dust, but the skeleton was in a perfect state of preservation. Finally, on the September 29, 1872, the saint's bones were transferred, with much pomp, by Archbishop Pecci, afterwards Leo XIII, to the shrine, in the crypt at Santa Chiara, erected to receive them, and where they may now be seen.

(Principal source - Catholic Encyclopedia - 1913 edition )

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Collect:
O God, who in your mercy led Saint Clare to a love of poverty,
grant, through her intercession,
that, following Christ in poverty of spirit,
we may merit to contemplate you
one day in the heavenly Kingdom.
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. +Amen.

First Reading: Philippians 3:8-14
Indeed I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For His sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as refuse, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own, based on law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and may share His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death, that if possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me His own. Brethren, I do not consider that I have made it My own; but one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Gospel Reading: Matthew 19:27-29
Then Peter said in reply, "Lo, we have left everything and followed you. What then shall we have?" Jesus said to them, "Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of man shall sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And every one who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name's sake, will receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life.

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Recipe:
St. Clare Turnovers -- Pasteis de Santa Clara

A recipe from a monastery in Coimbra, Portugal, this has been preserved for generations.

Pastry Ingredients
1/2 cup (100g) butter, chilled
1 3/4 cups (200g) flour
1 egg, slightly beaten

Filling Ingredients
1/2 cup (125g) sugar
1/2 cup (50g) almonds, ground
4 egg yolks

Rub butter into the flour and add a bit of very cold water until a pliable dough is obtained. Cover and refrigerate until filling is finished.

Melt the sugar in a little water and boil until thick. Add the ground almonds and yolks. Mix and simmer while stirring until very thick.

Roll out the dough to 1/8 - inch (3mm) thickness, cut into 3 - inch (8cm) diameter circles. Divide the filling among them, placing it in the middle of each circle. Wet the edges and fold over, forming a half - moon shape. Seal and brush with the beaten egg and bake on a greased cookie sheet at 400°F (200°C) until golden, about 20 minutes. When baked, dredge in sugar.

Makes about 24 turnovers.

from Cooking with the Saints, Ignatius Press.

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Saint Clare of Assisi: Our Guide in the Garden of Prayer

Prayer is like a secret garden, made up of silence and rest and inwardness. -- Jean Vanier

Pilgrims to San Damiano, the first monastery of the Poor Clares in Assisi, are shown a picturesque spot that tradition has christened "the garden of St. Clare." It is not difficult to imagine the Seraphic Mother working there, tending her flowers, praising God, perhaps even humming softly St. Francis' "Canticle of the Creatures."

There is another garden where St. Clare of Assisi can be found, - the garden of prayer. Here, too, she meets us as an accomplished gardener, a proficient guide who is willing to assist us in cultivating the soil in order to enjoy the flowers and savor the fruits of prayer.

Gathering the Heart - Day One

First of all, St. Clare teaches us the need for Recollection. This "gathering of the heart" is like a wall around the garden of prayer. When you pray, go into your room, shut the door and pray to your Father in secret. Wherever our sacred, secret place may be, it is there we discover that the heart needs both silence and a certain separation from the ordinary events of daily life in order to encounter THE Reality of life which is God. This vital work of the heart requires effort, aided by grace: Place your mind before the mirror of eternity, place your soul in the brightness of glory... (3rd Letter of St. Clare to St. Agnes of Prague)

The Master of Prayer - Day Two

The Lady Clare does not delay long in introducing us to the Master in the Gardens of Prayer - the Holy Spirit. Like St. Francis, she urges her friends and followers to study closely that which they ought above all to desire: to have the Spirit of the Lord and His holy way of working. (Rule of St. Clare, X) Why? Because if we pray to Him with a pure heart, we experience that He is the Artisan of the living tradition of prayer and that it is in the communion of the Holy Spirit that Christian prayer is prayer in the Church. (CATECHISM 2672)

Trusted Tools - Day 3

It is tempting to imagine that in the garden of prayer, the saints and mystics moved from ecstasy to ecstasy. Actually, they used the same sturdy Tools for Prayer available to us. They understood that even the simplest vocal prayer can lead to deep contemplative prayer. We know some of St. Clare's favorite vocal prayers: The Office of the Passion composed by St. Francis and a prayer to the Five Wounds of Christ. But her most favored vocal prayer was the Holy Name of JESUS, the prayer that is possible "at all times" because it is not one occupation among others but the only occupation: that of loving God, which animates and transfigures every action in Christ Jesus. (CATECHISM 2668)

With and In the Word - Day Four

Our Lord declared: The Seed is the Word.  Thus St. Clare invites us to fill our garden of prayer with the Good Seed of the Word of God. Her own prayer was deeply Scriptural. She immersed herself in the PSALMS, the masterwork of prayer in the Old Testament (CATECHISM 2595) and prayed with depth and devotion the OUR FATHER, the summary of the whole Gospel (Tertullian) Welcoming the Word in the good soil of a recollected heart, praying WITH the Word and IN the Word, St. Clare's garden of prayer flourished.

Ask...and Receive! - Day Five

Prayers of Petition are like the annuals in the garden of prayer. They are the "needs of the day" set before our heavenly Father. Jesus said, ASK and you will receive, St. Clare took Him at His word. She asked for bread for her community, healing for her sick Sisters, guidance in making decisions. But we also know that the horizons of the Lady Clare's prayer broadened into the wide vistas of Intercession. There was no concern, suffering, anguish or discouragement of others which did not find an echo in the heart of (this) prayerful woman. (Pope John Paul II) And she invites everyone who enters the garden of prayer to become a co-worker of God Himself and a support to the weak and wavering members of His glorious Body. (3rd Letter of St. Clare to St. Agnes of Prague)

To Give Him Thanks and Praise - Day Six

If prayers of petition and intercession are the annuals in our garden of prayer, then Praise and Thanksgiving are its perennials, The Seraphic Mother summarized the need for continual praise and thanksgiving when she told her Sisters: ALWAYS and in ALL THINGS, God must be praised! (Process of Canonization) So well did she live her own advice that she died with one last act of thankful praise on her lips: May You be blessed, O Lord, for having created me!

Weeds in the Garden - Day Seven

The CATECHISM states succinctly that prayer is a battle. (2725-2728) Any seasoned cultivator of prayer has battled the Weeds of distraction. St. Clare offers us the example of her own generous efforts to eliminate the spiritual weeds that kept her from a deep and loving communion with the Lord. Aware that the Evil One is always ready to place obstacles on our path to prayer, the Seraphic Mother counsels us to face the spiritual combat with courage and faith: Pray and watch at all times! Carry out the work you have so well begun, and fulfill in true humility the service of God you have undertaken (Letter to Ermentrude)

The Prayer of Love and Silence - Day Eight

In the shade of His tree I sat and His fruit was sweet to my taste. So sang the Bride in the Song of Songs. To every worker in the garden of prayer there come those "cool-of-the-evening" experiences, when the adoring Prayer of Love and Silence is the only response to God's hidden yet manifested presence. The Seraphic Mother had but one shining word to express the joy and wonder of these gifted times of prayer: Happy the soul to whom it is given to attain this life with Christ; to cleave with all one's heart to Him whose love inflames our love, whose contemplation is our refreshment.... (4th Letter of St. Clare to St. Agnes of Prague)

The Garden's Fountain - Day Nine

What was The Foundation that watered St. Clare's garden of prayer? It was the Eucharist, the source and summit of Christian worship, life and mission. In the Eucharistic Liturgy is found every form of prayer. Here we "gather up" the heart, recollecting our whole being under the prompting of the Holy Spirit. (CATECHISM 2711) Here we unite ourselves to Christ as He offers perfect praise and thanksgiving to the Father. Here the Good Seed of the Word is lavishly sown. The Eucharist is the food of faith which strengthens us for the spiritual combat. In the Eucharist, communion with God becomes a reality cherished in adoring silence. Is it any wonder that the Seraphic Mother did all she could to foster devotion to the Eucharistic mystery?

Even more, Clare's whole life became a Eucharist (Pope John Paul II), spent near this Fountain of living water. To all who enter the garden of prayer, she issues the same invitation: Come to the water! Learn here that if we thirst for God, it is because He has first thirsted for us. The garden of prayer is the garden of God where prayer is a response of love to the thirst of the only Son of God (CATECHISM 2561)

The Poor Clare Nuns
Belleville, Illinois
2007

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Benedict XVI, General Audience: Saint Clare of Assisi, September 15, 2010

Saint Clare of Assisi
Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Our catechesis today deals with Saint Clare of Assisi, the great mystic, friend of Saint Francis and foundress of the Poor Clare Nuns. Born to a family of means, Clare chose to embrace a life of radical poverty, chastity and trust in God’s providence; received by Francis, she consecrated herself completely to Christ and, together with her companions, embraced the common life in the Church of San Damiano in Assisi. The spiritual friendship between Clare and Francis reminds us of how the great saints have found in such friendships a powerful impetus to greater love of Christ and renewed strength in the pursuit of the way of perfection. Clare’s Rule, the first written by a woman, sought to preserve and foster the Franciscan charism in the growing number of women’s communities which followed the example of Francis and her own. Her spirituality, nourished by the Eucharist, was based on the loving contemplation of Christ as the source and perfection of every virtue. Saint Clare shows us the value of consecrated virginity as an image of the Church’s love for her divine Spouse, and the decisive role played by courageous and faith-filled women to the Church’s renewal in every age.

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The Poor Clares Colettine: An Explanation -- A father describes his daughter's vocation -- PENTECOST 2003 ISSUE

[Salvation]

Blessed John Henry Newman

Blessed John Henry Newman

Photo of John Henry Newman 1887

Cor ad cor loquitur (Heart speaks to heart)

John Henry Cardinal Newman (February 21, 1801- Augst 11,1890) was an Anglican clergyman and a leader of the Tractarian or Oxford Movement to reform and "re-catholicize" the Church of England before he entered the Catholic Church in 1845.

He was ordained to the Catholic priesthood May 30, 1847, at the time he established the Oratory of Saint Philip Neri in England.

His many published works -- notably his spiritual autobiography, Apologia pro Vita Sua (1864), The Idea of the University (1852), and The Grammar of Assent (1870) -- have inspired Catholics for more than a century with their deep insights and eloquent style. His famous hymn "Lead Kindly Light" is one of the treasures of English-language hymnody. His poem The Dream of Gerontius (1865) is the source of another of his inspiring hymns, “Praise to the Holiest in the Height”. Both before and after he entered the Catholic Church, Newman’s gift of preaching and oratory were as widely admired as his many published writings.

Father Newman was named Cardinal by Pope Leo XIII in 1879. He died at the Oratory in Birmingham on August 11, 1890. He was declared “venerable” by Pope John Paul II in 1991, and his beatification was formally proclaimed by Pope Benedict XVI on September 19, 2010, during the official papal visit to the United Kingdom.

His feast day is October 9, the date of his being received into the Catholic Church in 1845.

***

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MASS WITH THE BEATIFICATION
OF VENERABLE CARDINAL JOHN HENRY NEWMAN

HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI

Cofton Park of Rednal - Birmingham
Sunday, September 19, 2010

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

This day that has brought us together here in Birmingham is a most auspicious one. In the first place, it is the Lord’s day, Sunday, the day when our Lord Jesus Christ rose from the dead and changed the course of human history for ever, offering new life and hope to all who live in darkness and in the shadow of death. That is why Christians all over the world come together on this day to give praise and thanks to God for the great marvels he has worked for us. This particular Sunday also marks a significant moment in the life of the British nation, as it is the day chosen to commemorate the seventieth anniversary of the Battle of Britain. For me as one who lived and suffered through the dark days of the Nazi regime in Germany, it is deeply moving to be here with you on this occasion, and to recall how many of your fellow citizens sacrificed their lives, courageously resisting the forces of that evil ideology. My thoughts go in particular to nearby Coventry, which suffered such heavy bombardment and massive loss of life in November 1940. Seventy years later, we recall with shame and horror the dreadful toll of death and destruction that war brings in its wake, and we renew our resolve to work for peace and reconciliation wherever the threat of conflict looms. Yet there is another, more joyful reason why this is an auspicious day for Great Britain, for the Midlands, for Birmingham. It is the day that sees Cardinal John Henry Newman formally raised to the altars and declared Blessed.

I thank Archbishop Bernard Longley for his gracious welcome at the start of Mass this morning. I pay tribute to all who have worked so hard over many years to promote the cause of Cardinal Newman, including the Fathers of the Birmingham Oratory and the members of the Spiritual Family Das Werk. And I greet everyone here from Great Britain, Ireland, and further afield; I thank you for your presence at this celebration, in which we give glory and praise to God for the heroic virtue of a saintly Englishman.

England has a long tradition of martyr saints, whose courageous witness has sustained and inspired the Catholic community here for centuries. Yet it is right and fitting that we should recognize today the holiness of a confessor, a son of this nation who, while not called to shed his blood for the Lord, nevertheless bore eloquent witness to him in the course of a long life devoted to the priestly ministry, and especially to preaching, teaching, and writing. He is worthy to take his place in a long line of saints and scholars from these islands, Saint Bede, Saint Hilda, Saint Aelred, Blessed Duns Scotus, to name but a few. In Blessed John Henry, that tradition of gentle scholarship, deep human wisdom and profound love for the Lord has borne rich fruit, as a sign of the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit deep within the heart of God’s people, bringing forth abundant gifts of holiness.

Cardinal Newman’s motto, Cor ad cor loquitur, or “Heart speaks unto heart”, gives us an insight into his understanding of the Christian life as a call to holiness, experienced as the profound desire of the human heart to enter into intimate communion with the Heart of God. He reminds us that faithfulness to prayer gradually transforms us into the divine likeness. As he wrote in one of his many fine sermons, “a habit of prayer, the practice of turning to God and the unseen world in every season, in every place, in every emergency – prayer, I say, has what may be called a natural effect in spiritualizing and elevating the soul. A man is no longer what he was before; gradually … he has imbibed a new set of ideas, and become imbued with fresh principles” (Parochial and Plain Sermons, iv, 230-231). Today’s Gospel tells us that no one can be the servant of two masters (cf. Lk 16:13), and Blessed John Henry’s teaching on prayer explains how the faithful Christian is definitively taken into the service of the one true Master, who alone has a claim to our unconditional devotion (cf. Mt 23:10). Newman helps us to understand what this means for our daily lives: he tells us that our divine Master has assigned a specific task to each one of us, a “definite service”, committed uniquely to every single person: “I have my mission”, he wrote, “I am a link in a chain, a bond of connexion between persons. He has not created me for naught. I shall do good, I shall do his work; I shall be an angel of peace, a preacher of truth in my own place … if I do but keep his commandments and serve him in my calling” (Meditations and Devotions, 301-2).

The definite service to which Blessed John Henry was called involved applying his keen intellect and his prolific pen to many of the most pressing “subjects of the day”. His insights into the relationship between faith and reason, into the vital place of revealed religion in civilized society, and into the need for a broadly-based and wide-ranging approach to education were not only of profound importance for Victorian England, but continue today to inspire and enlighten many all over the world. I would like to pay particular tribute to his vision for education, which has done so much to shape the ethos that is the driving force behind Catholic schools and colleges today. Firmly opposed to any reductive or utilitarian approach, he sought to achieve an educational environment in which intellectual training, moral discipline and religious commitment would come together. The project to found a Catholic University in Ireland provided him with an opportunity to develop his ideas on the subject, and the collection of discourses that he published as The Idea of a University holds up an ideal from which all those engaged in academic formation can continue to learn. And indeed, what better goal could teachers of religion set themselves than Blessed John Henry’s famous appeal for an intelligent, well-instructed laity: “I want a laity, not arrogant, not rash in speech, not disputatious, but men who know their religion, who enter into it, who know just where they stand, who know what they hold and what they do not, who know their creed so well that they can give an account of it, who know so much of history that they can defend it” (The Present Position of Catholics in England, ix, 390). On this day when the author of those words is raised to the altars, I pray that, through his intercession and example, all who are engaged in the task of teaching and catechesis will be inspired to greater effort by the vision he so clearly sets before us.

While it is John Henry Newman’s intellectual legacy that has understandably received most attention in the vast literature devoted to his life and work, I prefer on this occasion to conclude with a brief reflection on his life as a priest, a pastor of souls. The warmth and humanity underlying his appreciation of the pastoral ministry is beautifully expressed in another of his famous sermons: “Had Angels been your priests, my brethren, they could not have condoled with you, sympathized with you, have had compassion on you, felt tenderly for you, and made allowances for you, as we can; they could not have been your patterns and guides, and have led you on from your old selves into a new life, as they can who come from the midst of you” (“Men, not Angels: the Priests of the Gospel”, Discourses to Mixed Congregations, 3). He lived out that profoundly human vision of priestly ministry in his devoted care for the people of Birmingham during the years that he spent at the Oratory he founded, visiting the sick and the poor, comforting the bereaved, caring for those in prison. No wonder that on his death so many thousands of people lined the local streets as his body was taken to its place of burial not half a mile from here. One hundred and twenty years later, great crowds have assembled once again to rejoice in the Church’s solemn recognition of the outstanding holiness of this much-loved father of souls. What better way to express the joy of this moment than by turning to our heavenly Father in heartfelt thanksgiving, praying in the words that Blessed John Henry Newman placed on the lips of the choirs of angels in heaven:

Praise to the Holiest in the height
And in the depth be praise;
In all his words most wonderful,
Most sure in all his ways!
(The Dream of Gerontius).

© Copyright 2010 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana

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Collect:
O God, who bestowed on the Priest John Henry Newman
the grace to follow your kindly light
and find peace in your Church;
graciously grant that,
through his intercession and example,
we may be led out of shadows and images
into the fulness of your 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. +Amen

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John Henry Newman's Maryvale - by Joanne Bogle

Help, Lord, the souls that thou has made -- Blessed John Henry Newman (hymn)

Pope Benedict XVI's Visit to Britain Is Making History- Beatification of Cardinal Newman a highlight of the events -- by Mary Ellen Bork

John Henry Newman's Hymns

John Henry Newman and Music by Susan Treacy, on the Adoremus website

Cardinal Newman On the Mass, on the Adoremus website

Pope Benedict XVI's Apostolic Journey to the United Kingdom on the occasion of the Beatification of Card. John Henry Newman, (16-19 September 2010) on the Vatican Website

[Salvation]

St. Francis of Assisi (and) St. Clare of Assisi [Catholic Caucus]
SAINT CLARE, VIRGIN, FOUNDRESS OF THE POOR CLARES 1193-1253
Permission has been granted... [Poor Clares in San Antonio] (Catholic/Orthodox Caucus)
St. Clare's Advice Defended Assisi Against An Attack By the ... (My Title)
Boomer Contemplating Faith: touching story as only an encounter with Poor Clares could inspire
St Clare of Assisi (1193-1253)
Saint Clare of Assisi

[Salvation]

[Blessed] John Henry Newman and Music
Newman’s Faith
Cardinal Newman: Doctor of the Church? [Catholic Caucus]
Happiness in the Church of Rome
Said, as it is among us. [Blessed John Henry Newman]

The `father' of the Catholic -- Blessed John Henry Newman
Three Lessons from Newman
Blessed Cardinal Newman and the...
Beatification of Cardinal Newman: Pope's homily [Full Text]
Beatification of John Henry Newman, Cofton Park, Birmingham Homily of the Holy Father
The Birmingham Oratory [founded by John Henry Cardinal Newman]
Cardinal Newman and Oscott College
Newman spoke this evening in Hyde Park
Catholic officials to investigate claims of second Newman miracle
Cardinal Newman: The Victorian Celebrity Intellectual Who Brought Benedict to Britain

Beyond the Beatification of Cardinal Newman
Newman and the Miraculous Medal
Liberal Jesuits Found Newman Institute in Uppsala, Sweden
Commemorative Stamps Celebrate Pope's UK Visit And Newman Beatification [Catholic Caucus]
Why John Henry Newman converted to Catholicism
[CATHOLIC/...CAUCUS] Sun newspaper falsely alleges Cardinal Newman was a homosexual
Sorry, Professor Milbank, Newman was no ecumenist [Cardinal John Henry Newman]
Newman calls us to leave behind stale arguments
Newman & Preaching in the Byzantine Tradition
Pope's beatification of Cardinal Newman 'to take place at disused Longbridge plant'

Fighting For The Real Cardinal Newman
Saint Philip Neri: A Humble Priest {Sermon Excerpt from Ven. John Henry Newman [Catholic Caucus]
Pope Benedict "sanitising Newman"?
Newman's Biographer on His Subject's Orthodoxy and Sexuality
Why Cardinal Newman is No Saint
Pope to visit Queen, beatify Cardinal Newman during England visit
(Cardinal) Newman on Rites and Ceremonies
Deacon Cured Through Intervention of Cardinal Newman Preaches at Westminster Cathedral
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With His Daring Scheme, Benedict XVI Fulfills the Hopes of Cardinal Newman

Deacon discusses miracle healings in beatification cause of John Henry Newman [Catholic Caucus]
Pope Benedict Clears Way For Cardinal John Newman To Become First English Saint In 40 Years
Pope Benedict clears way for Cardinal John Newman to become first English saint in 40 years
Newman Beatification Expected
Biographer challenges Newman revisionists
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Mystery of cardinal's missing bones Cardinal John Henry Newman Faithfully Celibate
No body (found) in exhumed (Cardinal John Henry) Newman's grave
Cardinal Newman Exhumation Fails to Produce Body
Mainstream Media Slammed for Libelling John Henry Newman as Homosexual

Catholic Officials Seek Permission to Exhume Cardinal Newman's Body
John Henry Cardinal Newman to be beatified
Happy Birthday Cardinal Newman, part 2
Happy Birthday Cardinal Newman, part 1
Newman on Conversion
Cardinal Newman 'to become saint very soon'
Cardinal Newman: sainted after US 'miracle'
Searching For Authority - from Cardinal Newman's writings
The Belief of Catholics concerning the Blessed Virgin: the Second Eve [Newman Reader]
Beatification soon for Cardinal Newman?

[Salvation]

Information: Saint Clare of Assisi

Feast Day: August 11

Born: July 16, 1194, Assisi, Italy

Died: August 11, 1253, Assisi, Italy

Canonized: September 26, 1255, Rome by Pope Alexander IV

Major Shrine: Basilica of Saint Clare, Assisi

Patron of: clairvoyance, eye disease, goldsmiths, laundry, embrodiers, gilders, good weather, needleworkers, telephones, telegraphs, television

[Salvation]

Information: St. Philomena

Feast Day: August 11

Major Shrine: Church of Our Lady of Grace in Mugnano del Cardinale

Patron of: Children, youth, babies, infants, lost causes, sterility, virgins, Children of Mary, The Universal Living Rosary Association

[Salvation]

Interactive Saints for Kids

St. Clare

Feast Day: August 11
Born: 1193 :: Died: 1253

St. Clare was born in a little town called Assisi, in Italy. She was a beautiful girl who lived at the time of St. Francis of Assisi.

Before she was born, when her mother was praying one day for the baby that was soon to be born, she heard a voice saying "Woman, do not worry, you shall have a daughter and by her life, she will bring God's light to the world."

Clare had so much pity for the poor, that quite often she would secretly give her food to them and go hungry herself.

She spent time praying faithfully to Jesus everyday. If she did anything wrong when she was with her friends she would immediately do penance so that Jesus would be happy with her again.

When Clare was eighteen, she heard St. Francis preach. Her heart burned with a great desire to imitate him. She also wanted to live a poor, humble life for Jesus.

So one evening, she ran away from home and went to the church where St. Francis and his Friars (disciples) lived. In a little chapel outside Assisi, she gave herself to God.

St. Francis cut off her beautiful hair and offered her a rough brown habit (long dress that nuns normally wear) and left her in the abbey to stay with the Benedictine nuns.

Her friends hated this work she was doing for God and her parents tried in every way to make her return home, but Clare would not. Soon her fifteen-year-old sister Agnes also joined her. Other young women wanted to be brides of Jesus, too. Before long there was a small religious community.

Under the guidance of St. Francis, Clare started an order of nuns called the "Poor Clares." St. Clare and her nuns wore no shoes. They never ate meat. They lived in a poor house and kept silent most of the time. Yet they were very happy because they felt that Jesus was close to them.

Once an army of cruel soldiers came to attack Assisi. They planned to raid the convent first. Although very sick, St. Clare asked to be carried to the window. She had the Blessed Sacrament placed right where the soldiers could see it.

Then she knelt and begged God to save the nuns. "O Lord, protect these sisters whom I cannot protect now," she prayed. And a voice within her seemed to say: "I will keep them always in my care." Suddenly, a great fear came over the attackers and they ran away as fast as they could.

St. Clare was sick for twenty-nine years before she died on August 11, 1253. But she was always joyful because she was serving the Lord.

Some people worried that the nuns were suffering because they were so poor. "They say that we are too poor, but how can a heart which holds the infinite God be poor?"

[annalex]

Luke
	English: Douay-Rheims	Latin: Vulgata Clementina	Greek NT: Byzantine/Majority Text (2000)
	Luke 12
32.	Fear not, little flock, for it hath pleased your Father to give you a kingdom.	Nolite timere pusillus grex, quia complacuit Patri vestro dare vobis regnum.	μη φοβου το μικρον ποιμνιον οτι ευδοκησεν ο πατηρ υμων δουναι υμιν την βασιλειαν
33.	Sell what you possess and give alms. Make to yourselves bags which grow not old, a treasure in heaven which faileth not: where no thief approacheth, nor moth corrupteth.	Vendite quæ possidetis, et date eleemosynam. Facite vobis sacculos, qui non veterascunt, thesaurum non deficientem in cælis : quo fur non appropriat, neque tinea corrumpit.	πωλησατε τα υπαρχοντα υμων και δοτε ελεημοσυνην ποιησατε εαυτοις βαλαντια μη παλαιουμενα θησαυρον ανεκλειπτον εν τοις ουρανοις οπου κλεπτης ουκ εγγιζει ουδε σης διαφθειρει
34.	For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.	Ubi enim thesaurus vester est, ibi et cor vestrum erit.	οπου γαρ εστιν ο θησαυρος υμων εκει και η καρδια υμων εσται
35.	Let your loins be girt, and lamps burning in your hands.	Sint lumbi vestri præcincti, et lucernæ ardentes in manibus vestris,	εστωσαν υμων αι οσφυες περιεζωσμεναι και οι λυχνοι καιομενοι
36.	And you yourselves like to men who wait for their lord, when he shall return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open to him immediately.	et vos similes hominibus exspectantibus dominum suum quando revertatur a nuptiis : ut, cum venerit et pulsaverit, confestim aperiant ei.	και υμεις ομοιοι ανθρωποις προσδεχομενοις τον κυριον εαυτων ποτε αναλυση εκ των γαμων ινα ελθοντος και κρουσαντος ευθεως ανοιξωσιν αυτω
37.	Blessed are those servants, whom the Lord when he cometh, shall find watching. Amen I say to you, that he will gird himself, and make them sit down to meat, and passing will minister unto them.	Beati servi illi quos, cum venerit dominus, invenerit vigilantes : amen dico vobis, quod præcinget se, et faciet illos discumbere, et transiens ministrabit illis.	μακαριοι οι δουλοι εκεινοι ους ελθων ο κυριος ευρησει γρηγορουντας αμην λεγω υμιν οτι περιζωσεται και ανακλινει αυτους και παρελθων διακονησει αυτοις
38.	And if he shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants.	Et si venerit in secunda vigilia, et si in tertia vigilia venerit, et ita invenerit, beati sunt servi illi.	και εαν ελθη εν τη δευτερα φυλακη και εν τη τριτη φυλακη ελθη και ευρη ουτως μακαριοι εισιν οι δουλοι εκεινοι
39.	But this know ye, that if the householder did know at what hour the thief would come, he would surely watch, and would not suffer his house to be broken open.	Hoc autem scitote, quoniam si sciret paterfamilias, qua hora fur veniret, vigilaret utique, et non sineret perfodi domum suam.	τουτο δε γινωσκετε οτι ει ηδει ο οικοδεσποτης ποια ωρα ο κλεπτης ερχεται εγρηγορησεν αν και ουκ αν αφηκεν διορυγηναι τον οικον αυτου
40.	Be you then also ready: for at what hour you think not, the Son of man will come.	Et vos estote parati : quia qua hora non putatis, Filius hominis veniet.	και υμεις ουν γινεσθε ετοιμοι οτι η ωρα ου δοκειτε ο υιος του ανθρωπου ερχεται
41.	And Peter said to him: Lord, dost thou speak this parable to us, or likewise to all?	Ait autem et Petrus : Domine, ad nos dicis hanc parabolam, an et ad omnes ?	ειπεν δε αυτω ο πετρος κυριε προς ημας την παραβολην ταυτην λεγεις η και προς παντας
42.	And the Lord said: Who (thinkest thou) is the faithful and wise steward, whom his lord setteth over his family, to give them their measure of wheat in due season?	Dixit autem Dominus : Quis, putas, est fidelis dispensator, et prudens, quem constituit dominus supra familiam suam, ut det illis in tempore tritici mensuram ?	ειπεν δε ο κυριος τις αρα εστιν ο πιστος οικονομος και φρονιμος ον καταστησει ο κυριος επι της θεραπειας αυτου του διδοναι εν καιρω το σιτομετριον
43.	Blessed is that servant, whom when his lord shall come, he shall find so doing.	Beatus ille servus quem, cum venerit dominus, invenerit ita facientem.	μακαριος ο δουλος εκεινος ον ελθων ο κυριος αυτου ευρησει ποιουντα ουτως
44.	Verily I say to you, he will set him over all that he possesseth.	Vere dico vobis, quoniam supra omnia quæ possidet, constituet illum.	αληθως λεγω υμιν οτι επι πασιν τοις υπαρχουσιν αυτου καταστησει αυτον
45.	But if that servant shall say in his heart: My lord is long a coming; and shall begin to strike the menservants and maidservants, and to eat and to drink and be drunk:	Quod si dixerit servus ille in corde suo : Moram facit dominus meus venire : et cœperit percutere servos, et ancillas, et edere, et bibere, et inebriari :	εαν δε ειπη ο δουλος εκεινος εν τη καρδια αυτου χρονιζει ο κυριος μου ερχεσθαι και αρξηται τυπτειν τους παιδας και τας παιδισκας εσθιειν τε και πινειν και μεθυσκεσθαι
46.	The lord of that servant will come in the day that he hopeth not, and at the hour that he knoweth not, and shall separate him, and shall appoint him his portion with unbelievers.	veniet dominus servi illius in die qua non sperat, et hora qua nescit, et dividet eum, partemque ejus cum infidelibus ponet.	ηξει ο κυριος του δουλου εκεινου εν ημερα η ου προσδοκα και εν ωρα η ου γινωσκει και διχοτομησει αυτον και το μερος αυτου μετα των απιστων θησει
47.	And that servant who knew the will of his lord, and prepared not himself, and did not according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.	Ille autem servus qui cognovit voluntatem domini sui, et non præparavit, et non facit secundum voluntatem ejus, vapulabit multis :	εκεινος δε ο δουλος ο γνους το θελημα του κυριου εαυτου και μη ετοιμασας μηδε ποιησας προς το θελημα αυτου δαρησεται πολλας
48.	But he that knew not, and did things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. And unto whomsoever much is given, of him much shall be required: and to whom they have committed much, of him they will demand the more.	qui autem non cognovit, et fecit digna plagis, vapulabit paucis. Omni autem cui multum datum est, multum quæretur ab eo : et cui commendaverunt multum, plus petent ab eo.	ο δε μη γνους ποιησας δε αξια πληγων δαρησεται ολιγας παντι δε ω εδοθη πολυ πολυ ζητηθησεται παρ αυτου και ω παρεθεντο πολυ περισσοτερον αιτησουσιν αυτον

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32. Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.
33. Sell that you have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that fails not, where no thief approaches, neither moth corrupts.
34. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

GLOSS. Our Lord having removed the care of temporal things from the hearts of His disciples, now banishes fear from them, from which superfluous cares proceed, saying, Fear not, &c.

THEOPHYL. Bu the little flock, our Lord signifies those who are willing to become His disciples, or because in this world the Saints seem little because of their voluntary poverty, or because they are outnumbered by the multitude of Angels, who incomparably exceed all that we can boast of. The name little our Lord gives to the company of the elect, either from comparison with the greater number of the reprobate, or rather because of their devout humility.

CYRIL; But why they ought not to fear, He shows, adding, for it is your Father's good pleasure; as if He says, How shall He who gives such precious things be wearied in showing mercy towards you? For although His Flock is little both in nature and number and renown, yet the goodness of the Father has granted even to this little flock the lot of heavenly spirits, that is, the kingdom of heaven. Therefore that you may possess the kingdom of heaven, despise this world's wealth. Hence it is added, Sell that you have, &c.

BEDE; As if He says, Fear not lest they who warfare for the kingdom of God, should be in want of the necessaries of this life. But sell that you have for alms' sake, which then is done worthily, when a man having once for his Lord's sake forsaken all that he has, nevertheless afterwards labors with his hands that he may be able both to gain his living, and give alms.

CHRYS. For there is no sin which almsgiving does not avail to blot out. It is a salve adapted to every wound. But almsgiving has to do not only with money, but with all matters also wherein man succors man, as when the physician heals, and the wise man gives counsel.

GREG. NAZ. Now I fear lest you should think deeds of mercy to be not necessary to you, but voluntary. I also thought so, but was alarmed at the goats placed on the left hand, not because they robbed, but did not minister to Christ among the poor.

CHRYS. For without alms it is impossible to see the kingdom. For as a fountain if it keeps its waters within itself grows foul, so also rich men when they retain every thing in their possession.

BASIL; But some one will ask, upon what grounds ought we to sell that which we have? Is it that these things are by nature hurtful, or because of the temptation to our souls? To this we must answer, first, that every thing existing in the world if it were in itself evil, would be no creation of God, for every creation of God is good. And next, that our Lord's command teaches us not to cast away as evil what we possess, but to distribute, saying, and give alms.

CYRIL; Now perhaps this command is irksome to the rich, yet to those who are of a sound mind, it is not unprofitable, for their treasure is the kingdom of heaven. Hence it follows, Provide for yourselves bags which wax not old, &c.

BEDE; That is, by doing alms, the reward of which abides for ever; which must not be taken as a command that no money be kept by the saints either for their own, or the use of the poor, since we read that our Lord Himself, to whom the angels ministered, had a bag in which he kept the offerings of the faithful; but that God should not be obeyed for the sake of such things, and righteousness be not forsaken from fear of poverty.

GREG. NYSS. But He bids us lay up our visible and earthly treasures where the power of corruption does not reach, and hence He adds, a treasure that fails not, &c.

THEOPHYL. As if He said, "Here the moth corrupts, but there is no corruption in heaven." Then because there are some things which the moth does not corrupt, He goes on to speak of the thief, For gold the moth corrupts not, but the thief takes an away.

BEDE; Whether then should it be simply understood, that money kept fails, but given away to our neighbor bears everlasting fruit in heaven; or, that the treasure of good works, if it be stored up for the sake of earthly advantage, is soon corrupted and perishes; but if it be laid up solely from heavenly motives, neither outwardly by the favor of men, as by the thief which steals from without, nor inwardly by vainglory, as by the moth which devours within, can it be defiled.

GLOSS. Or, the thieves are heretics and evil spirits, who are bent upon depriving us of spiritual things. The moth which secretly frets the garments is envy, which mars good desires, and bursts the bonds of charity.

THEOPHYL. Moreover, because all things are not taken away by theft, He adds a more excellent reason, and one which admits of no objection whatever, saying, For where your treasure is, there will your hearts be also; as if He says, "Suppose that neither moth corrupts nor thief takes away, yet this very thing, namely, to have the heart fixed in a buried treasure, and to sink to the earth a divine work, that is, the soul, how great a punishment it deserves." EUSEB. For every man naturally dwells upon that which is the object of his desire, and thither he directs all his thoughts, where he supposes his whole interest to rest. If any one then has his whole mind and affections, which he calls the heart, set on things of this present life, he lives in earthly things. But if he has given his mind to heavenly things, there will his mind be; so that he seems with his body only to live with men, but with his mind to have already reached the heavenly mansion.

BEDE; Now this must not only be felt concerning love of money, but all the passions. Luxurious feasts are treasures; also the sports of the gay and the desires of the lover.

35. Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning;
36. And you yourselves like to men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he comes and knocks, they may open to him immediately.
37. Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he comes shall find watching: verily I say to you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them.
38. And if he shall come in the second watch, or in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants.
39. And this know, that if the goodman of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through.
40. Be you therefore ready also: for the Son of man comes at an hour when you think not.

THEOPHYL. Our Lord having taught His disciples moderation, taking from them all care and conceit of this life, now leads them on to serve and obey, saying, Let your loins be girded, that is, always ready to do the work of your Lord, and your lamps burning, that is, do not lead a life in darkness, but have with you the light of reason, showing you what to do and what to avoid. For this world is the night, but they have their loins girded, who follow a practical or active life. For such is the condition of servants who must have with them also lamps burning; that is, the gift of discernment, that the active man may be able to distinguish not only what he ought to do, but in what way; otherwise men rush down the precipice of pride. But we must observe, that He first orders our loins to be girded, secondly, our lamps to be burning. For first indeed comes action, then reflection, which is an enlightening of the mind. Let us then strive to exercise the virtues, that we may have two lamps burning, that is, the conception of the mind ever shining forth in the soul, by which we are ourselves enlightened, and learning, whereby we enlighten others.

MAXIM. Or, he teaches us to keep our lamps burning, by prayer and contemplation and spiritual love.

CYRIL; Or, to be girded, signifies activity and readiness to undergo evils from regard to Divine love. But the burning of the lamp signifies that we should not suffer any to live in the darkness of ignorance.

GREG. Or else, we gird our loins when by continence we control the lusts of the flesh. For the lust of men is in their loins, and of women in their womb; by the name of loins, therefore, from the principal sex, lust is signified. But because it is a small thing not to do evil, unless also men strive to labor in good works, it is added, And your lamps burning in your hands; for we hold burning lamps in our hands, when by good works we show forth bright examples to our neighbors.

AUG. Or, He teaches us also to gird our loins for the sake of keeping ourselves from the love of the things of this world, and to have our lamps burning, that this thing may be done with a true end and right intention.

GREG. But if a man has both of these, whosoever he be, nothing remains for him but that he should place his whole expectation on the coming of the Redeemer. Therefore it is added, And be you like to men that wait for their Lord, when he will return from the wedding, &c. For our Lord went to the wedding when ascending up into heaven as the Bridegroom He joined to Himself the heavenly multitude of angels.

THEOPHYL. Daily also in the heavens He betroths the souls of the Saints, whom Paul or another offers to Him, as a chaste virgin. But He returns from the celebration of the heavenly marriage, perhaps to all at the end of the whole world, when He shall come from heaven in the glory of the Father; perhaps also every hour standing suddenly present at the death of each individual.

CYRIL; Now consider that He comes from the wedding as from a festival, which God is ever keeping; for nothing can cause sadness to the Incorruptible Nature.

GREG. NYSS. Or else, when the wedding was celebrated and the Church received into the secret bridal chamber, in the angels were expecting the return of the King to His own natural blessedness. And after their example we order our life, that as they living together without evil, are prepared to welcome their Lord's return, so we also, keeping watch at the door, should make ourselves ready to obey Him when He comes knocking; for it follows, that when he comes and knocks, they may open to him immediately.

GREG. For He comes when He hastens to judgment, but He knocks, when already by the pain of sickness He denotes that death is at hand; to whom we immediately open if we receive Him with love. For he who trembles to depart from the body, has no wish to open to the Judge knocking, and dreads to see that Judge whom he remembers to have despised. But he who rests secure concerning his hope and works, immediately opens to Him that knocks; for when he is aware of the time of death drawing near, he grows joyful, because of the glory of his reward; and hence it is added, Blessed are the servants whom the Lord when he comes shall find watching. He watches who keeps the eyes of his mind open to behold the true light; who by his works maintains that which he beholds, who drives from himself the darkness of sloth and carelessness.

GREG. NYSS. For the sake then of keeping watch, our Lord advised above that our loins should be girded, and our lamps burning, for light when placed before the eyes drives away sleep. The loins also when tied with a girdle, make the body incapable of sleep. For he who is girt about with chastity, and illuminated by a pure conscience, continues wakeful.

CYRIL; When then our Lord coming shall find us awake and girded, having our hearts enlightened, He will then pronounce us blessed, for it follows, Verily I say to you, that he shall gird himself, from which we perceive that He will recompense us in like manner, seeing that He will gird Himself with those that are girded.

ORIGEN; For He will be girded about His loins with righteousness.

GREG. By which He girds Himself, that is, prepares for judgment.

THEOPHYL. Or, He will gird Himself, in that He imparts not the whole fullness of blessings, but confines it within a certain measure. For who can comprehend God how great He is? Therefore are the Seraphims said to veil their countenance, because of the excellence of the Divine brightness. It follows, and will make them to sit down; for as a man sitting down causes his whole body to rest, so in the future coming the Saints will have complete rest; for here they have not rest for the body, but there together with their souls their spiritual bodies partaking of immortality will rejoice in perfect rest.

CYRIL; He will then make them to sit down as a refreshment to the weary, setting before them spiritual enjoyments, and ordering a sumptuous table of His gifts.

DIONYSIUS AR. The "sitting down" is taken to be the repose from many labors, a life without annoyance, the divine conversation of those that dwell in the region of light enriched with all holy affections, and an abundant pouring forth of all gifts, whereby they are filled with joy. For the reason why Jesus makes them to sit down, is that He might give them perpetual rest, and distribute to them blessings without number. Therefore it follows, And will pass over and serve them.

THEOPHYL. That is, Give back to them, as it were, an equal return, that as they served Him, so also He will serve them.

GREG. But He is said to be passing over, when He returns from the judgment to His kingdom. Or the Lord passes to us after the judgment, and raises us from the form of His humanity to a contemplation of His divinity.

CYRIL; Our Lord knew the proneness of human infirmity to sin, but because He is merciful, He does not allow us to despair, but rather has compassion, and gives us repentance as a saving remedy. And therefore He adds, And if he shall come in the second watch, &c. For they who keep watch on the walls of cities, or observe the attacks of the enemy, divide the night into three or four watches.

GREG. The first watch then is the earliest time of our life, that is, childhood, the second youth and manhood, but the third represents old age. He then who is unwilling to watch in the first, let him keep even the second. And he who is unwilling in the second, let him not lose the remedies of the third watch, that he who has neglected conversion in childhood, may at least in the time of youth or old age recover himself.

CYRIL; Of the first watch, however, he makes no mention, for childhood is not punished by God, but obtains pardon; but the second and third age owe obedience to God, and the leading of an honest life according to His will.

GREEK EX. Or, to the first watch belong those who live more carefully, as having gained the first step, but to the second, those who keep the measure of a moderate conversation, but to the third, those who are below these. And the same must be supposed of the fourth, and if it should so happen also of the fifth. For there are different measures of life, and a good rewarder metes out to every man according to his deserts.

THEOPHYL. Or since the watches are the hours of the night which lull men to sleep, you must understand that there are also in our life certain hours which make us happy if we are found awake. Does any one seize your goods? Are your children dead? Are you accused? But if at these times you have done nothing against the commandments of God, He will find you watching in the second and third watch, that is, at the evil time, which brings destructive sleep to idle souls.

GREG. But to shake off the sloth of our minds, even our external losses are by a similitude set before us. For it is added, And this know, that if the goodman of the house had known what hour the thief would come.

THEOPHYL. Some understand this thief to be the devil, the house, the soul, the goodman of the house, man. This interpretation, however, does not seem to agree with what follows. For the Lord's coming is compared to the thief as suddenly at hand, according to the word of the Apostle, The day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. And hence also it is here added, Be you also ready, for the Son of man comes at an hour when you think not.

GREG. Or else; unknown to the master the thief breaks into the house, because while the spirit sleeps instead of guarding itself; death comes unexpectedly, and breaks into the dwelling place of our flesh. But he would resist the thief if he were watching, because being on his guard against the coming of the Judge, who secretly seizes his soul, he would by repentance go to meet Him, lest he should perish impenitent. But the last hour our Lord wishes to be unknown to us, in order as we cannot foresee it, we may be unceasingly preparing for it.

41. Then Peter said to him Lord, speak you this parable to us, or even to all?
42. And the Lord said, Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his lord shall make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of meat in due season?
43. Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he comes shall find so doing.
44. Of a truth I say to you, that he will make him ruler over all that he has.
45. But and if that servant say in his heart, My lord delays his coming; and shall begin to beat the menservants and maidens, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken;
46. The lord of that servant will come in a day when he looks not for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in sunder, and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers.

THEOPHYL. Peter, to whom the Church had already been committed, as having the care of all things, inquires whether our Lord put forth this parable to all. As it follows, Then Peter said to him, Lord, speak you this parable to us, or to all?

BEDE; Our Lord had taught two things in the preceding parable to all, even that He would come suddenly, and that they ought to be ready and waiting for Him. But it is not very plain concerning which of these, or whether both, Peter asked the question, or whom he compared to himself and his companions, when he said' Speak you to us, or to all? Yet in truth by these words, us and all, he must be supposed to mean none other than the Apostles, and those like to the Apostles, and all other faithful men; or Christians, and unbelievers; or those who dying separately, that is, singly, both unwillingly indeed and willingly, receive the coming of their Judge, and those who when the universal judgment comes are to be found alive in the flesh. Now it is marvelous if Peter doubted that all must live soberly, piously, and justly, who wait for a blessed hope, or that the judgment will to each and all be unexpected. It therefore remains to be supposed, that knowing these two things, he asked about that which he might not know, namely, whether those sublime commands of a heavenly life in which He bade us sell what we have and provide bags which wax not old, and watch with our loins girded, and lamps burning, belonged to the Apostles only, and those like to them, or to all who were to be saved.

CYRIL; Now to the courageous rightly belong the great and difficult of God's holy commandments, but to those who have not yet attained to such virtue, belong those things from which all difficulty is excluded. Our Lord therefore uses a very obvious example, to show that the above-mentioned command is suited to those who have been admitted into the rank of disciples, for it follows, And the Lord said, Who then is that faithful steward?

AMBROSE; Or else, the form of the first command is a general one adapted to all, but the following example seems to be proposed to the stewards, that is, the priests; and therefore it follows, And the Lord said, Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his Lord shall make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of meat in due season?

THEOPHYL. The above-mentioned parable relates to all the faithful in common, but now hear what suits the Apostles and teachers. For I ask, where will be found the steward that possesses in himself faithfulness and wisdom? for as in the management of goods, whether a man be careless yet faithful to his master, or else wise yet unfaithful, the things of the master perish; so also in the things of God there is need of faithfulness and wisdom. For I have known many servants of God, and faithful men, who because they were unable to manage ecclesiastical affairs, have destroyed not only possessions, but souls, exercising towards sinners indiscreet virtue by extravagant rules of penance or unseasonable indulgence.

CHRYS. But our Lord here asks the question not as ignorant, who was a faithful and wise steward, but wishing to imply the rareness of such, and the greatness of this kind of chief government.

THEOPHYL. Whosoever then has been found a faithful and wise steward, let him bear rule over the Lord's household that he may give them their portion of meat in due season, either the word of doctrine by which their souls are fed, or the example of works by which their life is fashioned.

AUG. Now he says portion, because of suiting His measure to the capacity of his several hearers.

ISIDORE; It was added also in their due season, because a benefit not conferred at its proper time is rendered vain, and loses the name of a benefit. The same bread is not equally coveted by the hungry man, and him that is satisfied. But with respect to this servant's reward for his stewardship, He adds, Blessed is that servant whom his Lord when he comes shall find so doing.

BASIL; He says not, 'doing,' as if by chance, but so doing. For not only conquest is honorable, but to contend lawfully, which is to perform each thing as we have been commanded.

CYRIL; Thus the faithful and wise servant prudently giving out in due season the servants' food, that is, their spiritual meat, will be blessed according to the Savior's word, in that he will obtain still greater things, and will be thought worthy of the rewards which are due to friends. Hence it follows, Of a truth I say to you, that he will make him ruler over all that he has.

BEDE; For whatever difference there is in the merits of good hearers and good teachers, such also there is in their rewards; for the one whom when He comes He finds watching, He will make to sit down; but the others whom He finds faithful and wise stewards, He will place over all that He has, that is, over all the joys of the kingdom of heaven, not certainly that they alone shall have power over them, but that they shall more abundantly than the other saints enjoy eternal possession of them.

THEOPHYL. Or, he will make him ruler over all that he has, not only over His own household, but that earthly things as well as heavenly shall obey him. As it was with Joshua the son of Nun, and Elias, the one commanding the sun, the other the clouds; and all the Saints as God's friends use the things of God. Whosoever also passes his life virtuously, and has kept in due submission his servants, that is, anger and desire, supplies to them their portion of food in due season; to anger indeed that he may feel it against those who hate God, but to desire that he may exercise the necessary provision for the flesh, ordering it to God. Such an one, I say, will be set over all things which the Lord has, being thought worthy to look into all things by the light of contemplation.

CHRYS. But our Lord not only by the honors kept in store for the good, but by threats of punishment upon the bad, leads the hearer to correction, as it follows, But if that servant shall say in his heart, My Lord delays his coming.

BEDE; Observe that it is counted among the vices of a bad servant that he thought the coming of his Lord slow, yet it is not numbered among the virtues of the good that he hoped it would come quickly, but only that he ministered faithfully. There is nothing then better than to submit patiently to be ignorant of that which can not be known, but to strive only that we be found worthy.

THEOPHYL. Now from not considering the time of our departure, there proceed many evils. For surely if we thought that our Lord was coming, and that the end of our life was as at hand, we should sin the less. Hence it follows, And shall begin to strike the man servants and maidens, and to eat and drink and be drunken.

BEDE; In this servant is declared the condemnation of all evil rulers, who, forsaking the fear of the Lord, not only give themselves up to pleasures, but also provoke with injuries those who are put under them. Although these words may be also understood figuratively, meaning to corrupt the hearts of the weak by an evil example; and to eat, drink, and be drunken, to be absorbed in the vices and allurements of the world, which overthrow the mind of man. But concerning his punishment it is added, The Lord of that servant will come in a day when he looks not for him, that is, the day of his judgment or death, and will cut him in sunder.

BASIL; The body indeed is not divided, so that one part indeed should be exposed to torments, the other escape. For this is a fable, nor is it a part of just judgment when the whole has offended that half only should suffer punishment; nor is the soul cut in sunder, seeing that the whole possesses a guilty consciousness, and cooperates with the body to work evil; but its division is the eternal severing of the soul from the Spirit. For now although the grace of the Spirit is not in the unworthy, yet it seems ever to be at hand expecting their turning to salvation, but at that time it will be altogether cut off from the soul. The Holy Spirit then is the prize of the just, and the chief condemnation of sinners, since they who are unworthy will lose Him.

BEDE; Or He will cut him in sunder, by separating him from the communion of the faithful, and dismissing him to those who have never attained to the faith. Hence it follows, And will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers; for he who has no care for his own and those of his own house, has denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.

THEOPHYL., Rightly also shall the unbelieving steward receive his portion with the unbelievers, because he was without true faith.

47. And that servant, which knew his lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.
48. But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall he beaten with few stripes. For to whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.

THEOPHYL. Our Lord here points to something still greater and more terrible, for the unfaithful steward shall not only be deprived of the grace he had, so that it should profit him nothing in escaping punishment, but the greatness of his dignity shall the rather become a cause of his condemnation. Hence it is said, And that servant who knew his lord's will and did it not, shall be beaten with many stripes.

CHRYS. For all things are not judged alike in all, but greater knowledge is an occasion of greater punishment. Therefore shall the Priest, committing the same sin with the people, suffer a far heavier penalty.

CYRIL; For the man of understanding who has given up his will to baser things will shamelessly implore pardon, because he has committed an inexcusable sin, departing as it were maliciously from the will of God, but the rude or unlearned man will more reasonably ask for pardon of the avenger. Hence it is added, But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes

THEOPHYL. Here some object, saying, He is deservedly punished who, knowing the will of His Lord, pursues it not; but why is the ignorant punished? Because when he might have known, he would not, but being himself slothful, was the cause of his own ignorance.

BASIL; But you will say, If the one indeed received many stripes, and the other few, how do some say He assigns no end to punishments? But we must know, that what is here said assigns neither measure nor end of punishments, but their differences. For a man may deserve unquenchable fire, to either a slight or more intense degree of heat, and the worm that dies not with greater or more violent gnawings.

THEOPHYL. But he goes on to show why teachers and learned men deserve a severer punishment, as it is said, For to whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required. Teachers indeed are given the grace to perform miracles, but entrusted the grace of speech and learning. But not in that which is given, He says, is any thing more to be sought, but in that which is entrusted or deposited; for the grace of the word needs increase. But from a teacher more is required, for he should not lie idle, but improve the talent of the word.

BEDE; Or else, much is often given also to certain individuals, upon whom is bestowed the knowledge of God's will, and the means of performing what they know; much also is given to him to whom, together with his own salvation, is committed the care also of feeding our Lord's flock. Upon those then who are gifted with more abundant grace a heavier penalty falls; but the mildest punishment of all will be theirs, who, beyond the guilt they originally contracted, have added none besides; and in all who have added, theirs will be the more tolerable who have committed fewest iniquities.

Catena Aurea Luke 12

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The Second Coming of Christ

12c. St. Catherine Monastery, Mt. Sinai

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The Heavenly Kingdom

First half of 19 c. St. Petersburg

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The Last Judgment
The Second Coming of Christ to Judge the Living and the Dead

Studio of Protoiereus Nicholai Chernyshev
Modern icon, Moscow

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Catholic Almanac

Sunday, August 11

Liturgical Color: White

Today is the Memorial of St. Clare of Assisi.
She loved the Mass and an image of the
Mass appeared each day on the wall by her
bedside when she was too sick to attend.
Because of this, she is the patron of
television workers.

[Salvation]

href="http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm">Catholic Culture

 

Daily Readings for: August 11, 2013
(Readings on USCCB website)

Collect: Almighty ever-living God, whom, taught by the Holy Spirit, we dare to call our Father, bring, we pray, to perfection in our hearts the spirit of adoption as your sons and daughters, that we may merit to enter into the inheritance which you have promised. 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

RECIPES

o    Late Summer into Fall Sample Menu

ACTIVITIES

o    Religion in the Home for Elementary School: August

PRAYERS

o    Blessing of Food or Drink or Other Elements Connected with Devotion

Ordinary Time: August 11th

Nineteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time

Old Calendar: Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost

Jesus said to his disciples: "Do not be afraid any longer, little flock, for your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your belongings and give alms. Provide money bags for yourselves that do not wear out, an inexhaustible treasure in heaven that no thief can reach nor moth destroy. For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be."

Click here for commentary on the readings in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite.

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Sunday Readings
The first reading is taken from the Book of Wisdom 18:6-9 and refers to the events of the Exodus, in which God showed his mighty power to save his chosen ones from their cruel enemies.

The second reading is from St. Paul to the Hebrews 11:1-2, 8-11 and gives a definition of the virtue of faith, and an example of true faith as it can be seen to be active in Abraham and Sarah.

The Gospel is from St. Luke 12:32-48 and in a few vivid and expressive similes, our Lord tells the disciples and through them, all his followers, how they should conduct their lives on earth so that they would always be found in God's friendship when their call to judgment comes. In answer to a question put to him by Peter, our Lord says that more will be expected of those who have received greater gifts from God than of those who received lesser gifts.

This teaching of our Lord should make us all sit up and take serious notice. He has taken us into his household. He has made us his "little flock." We are invited guests in his home, his Church, rather than mere servants. He warns us today that we must always be busy about our vocation, about the reason why he invited us into his home. If we grasped clearly what that call of Christ means, what our Christian vocation is, we would hardly need today's warning. We are Christians, we are members of his Church, for our own eternal good. God, through Christ's Incarnation, has put us on the road to heaven. He is ever helping us on the way. Could we be so blind to our own welfare that we would risk losing the eternal life that God has in store for us, and for which He went to the extreme lengths of love? In our saner moments we would give an emphatic no to this question. Yet, we must look the real facts of life in the face. There are many Christians who are destined for heaven but who, in their folly, have left the only road which leads there, and are now traveling in the opposite direction.

Some of us here present may be among these foolish ones. We may have let this world get such a grip on us that we have no time or thought for the world that is to come. For such foolish people, and indeed for all of us, today's warning is that our call to judgment will come on each one of us like a thief in the night, at a moment when we least expect it. This need not be a sudden death. Of every thousand who die after long illnesses in our hospitals, there rarely is one who knows and admits he is about to die, so actually all deaths are sudden, that is, unexpected.

However the unexpected death, which we are sure to get, need not worry the ordinary good Christian. It is the unprepared, the unprovided death which must cause us anxiety. It need not, if, when it comes, it finds us living in God's grace, living the ordinary Christian life, doing our daily tasks but doing them as part of our duty to God. We have to take an interest in the affairs of this world, but the interest must never exclude our eternal interest. Instead it can and must help us toward the one real interest that man has in this life, that is, to earn his eternal life.

Take a serious look at your way of living today. Is your behavior in the home, in your place of work, in your recreation, in your relations with God—prayers and church attendance—and with your neighbor, it is such that you would change nothing in it, if you were told by God that you were to die tonight? If it is, thank God for it and keep on going; you are on the right road. If it is not, don't wait for God to tell you when or where you will die; he will not tell you. Put things right today, and then you need not worry when your call to judgment comes. Death will be graduation day for the good Christian—not examination day.

— Excerpted from The Sunday Readings Cycle C, Fr. Kevin O' Sullivan, O.F.M.

[Salvation]

The Word Among Us

Meditation: Hebrews 11:1-2, 8-19

19th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1)

In a practical way, we live by faith all the time. We have faith that our doctors are competent. That’s why we let them prescribe medicines and operate on us. Every time we board a plane, we are placing our faith in a pilot we don’t even know. Without faith life would be very difficult. We wouldn’t be able to trust anyone.

Similarly, faith on a spiritual level has to do with confidence and trust. Commenting on today’s second reading, St. John Chrysostom said that faith is “a confidence that allows us to make our daily decisions about future hopes based on a certain amount of present evidence.”

In other words, faith allows us to take the evidence that is right before our eyes—evidence of God’s presence, his goodness, and his love—and trust that our Father will not abandon us. Still, in the back of our minds, there’s always a voice telling us that there are no guarantees. “Cover your bases,” it whispers. “Keep your options open. What if God doesn’t come through?”

Don’t listen to it! The faith that the author of Hebrews extols here is not the limited faith we have in doctors and bankers. It’s a radical, all-encompassing faith. It’s a gift from God—the supernatural grace to trust in the unseen just as Abraham, Moses, Ruth, and David did. It’s the spiritual influence that that convinces us that Jesus is who he says he is. It tells us that there will be a new heaven and a new earth and that we will be raised up to be with Jesus forever as long as we stay faithful here and now.

Let the gift of faith move you today. Let it help you place your trust in things that are, for now, only a hope. And try your best to let the evidence that Jesus has already given you become the foundation for your trust in all of his future promises.

“Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief!”

Wisdom 18:6-9; Psalm 33:1, 12, 18-19, 20-22; Luke 12:32-48

Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion

1. The first reading today speaks of awaiting the salvation of the just. How patient are you in waiting for (and on) the Lord? What are the circumstances when you aren’t?

2. The responsorial psalm talks of those who “hope” for God’s kindness. The psalmist also prays: “May your kindness, O Lord, be upon us who have put our hope in you” (Psalm 33:22). Our Catechism says that hope is both “the confident expectation of divine blessing” and “the fear of offending God’s love”. We sin against hope by despair. In what ways can our view of the nature and character of God, and his disposition towards us, contribute to this despair? Were there any circumstances in your life where you despaired of hope, and in receiving God’s love? What was the final outcome?

3. In the Letter to the Hebrews we read the story of Abraham, who did not presume upon his own ideas or his own abilities. He confidently placed his trust in God. What are some times in your life when you stepped out in faith, trusting God that he would protect and sustain you? Is there anything in your life right now that you are fearful of doing—something that God may be asking of you? If so, are you willing to ask the Lord for the faith to say yes to him? If not, why not?

4. The Gospel begins with the words: “Do not be afraid”. Jesus tells us why: “for your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom”. What steps can you take to open yourself more to receive all that your Heavenly Father wants to give you? What might be holding you back?

5. What is your understanding of St. John Chrysostom words, quoted in the meditation, that faith is “a confidence that allows us to make our daily decisions about future hopes based on a certain amount of present evidence”? How would you describe the ways your faith effects your “daily decisions”?

6. Take some time now to pray and ask the Lord to increase your faith in him, and for the grace to allow your trust and confidence in his love and his promises to have an even greater impact on how you live out each day. Use the prayer at the end of the meditation as a starting point.

[Salvation]

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

Daily Marriage Tip for August 11, 2013:

Ads remind us that it’s back-to-school time. Is there a resolution you need to make to help the new school year go more smoothly?

[Salvation]

Is Your Tree Sick or Dying?

Pastor’s Column

19^th Sunday in Ordinary Time

August 11, 2013

 

          This mountain ash is in the back of the rectory. Although I do have a green thumb and most of the backyard is flourishing (if not overgrown!) this tree appears to be slowly dying. At one time, it held so many red berries in the fall that whole flocks of robins would descend on it. But, for the last few years, things have gotten more sparse; the flowers were fewer, the berries only a shadow of the past. This spring the crown began dying and now it has spread even further.

          Long before this rot became visible, no doubt the tree was quite sick, though not yet visibly so.  I see this image as a metaphor for our spiritual lives on earth, body and soul.  If we do not take care of our body or soul, sooner or later the disorder that lies within us will become more and more visible, like my tree! I was reminded of a scripture from the book of Revelation (3:1-3) when I meditated on this:

          “Here is the message of the one who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars: I know all about you: how you appear to be alive and yet are dead. Wake up! Revive what little you have left: it is dying fast...repent! If you do not wake up, I shall come to you like a thief, without telling you at what hour to expect me.”

          In this Sunday’s Gospel (Luke 12:32-48), Jesus advises us that we are all in his employment, and he is likely to call us to account at a time we are not expecting, like a thief in the night. Are there any parts of your “tree” that may be sick or even dying? The Lord wants to apply the remedies to fix these illnesses: a good confession, the other sacraments, repentance, better habits of food and drink, more selflessness in our lives. Sometimes radical pruning may be necessary! But the Lord loves us and will do everything to save the tree that is our soul.

                                                                                      Father Gary

[Salvation]

St. Paul Center Blog

Faith of Our Fathers: Scott Hahn Reflects on the 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Posted by Dr. Scott Hahn on 08.09.13 |

Wisdom 18:6-9
Psalm 33:1,12,18-22
Hebrews 11:1-2, 8-19
Luke 12:35-40

We are born of the faith of our fathers, descending from a great cloud of witnesses whose faith is attested to on every page of Scripture (see Hebrews 12:1). We have been made His people, chosen for His own inheritance, as we sing in this Sunday’s Psalm.

The Liturgy this week sings the praises of our fathers, recalling the defining moments in our “family history.” In the Epistle, we remember the calling of Abraham; in the First Reading we relive the night of the Exodus and the summons of the holy children of Israel.

Our fathers, we are told, trusted in the Word of God, put their faith in His oaths, convinced that what He promised, He would do.

None of them lived to see His promises made good. For it was not until Christ and His Church that Abraham’s descendants were made as countless as the stars and sands (see Galatians 3:16-17,29). It was not until His Last Supper and the Eucharist that “the sacrifice…the divine institution” of that first Passover was truly fulfilled.

And we now too await the final fulfillment of what God has promised us in Christ. As Jesus tells us in this week’s Gospel, we should live with our loins girded - as the Israelites tightened their belts, cinched up their long robes and ate their Passover standing, vigilant and ready to do His will (see Exodus 12:11; 2 Kings 4:29).

The Lord will come at an hour we do not expect - will knock on our door (see Revelation 3:20), inviting us to the wedding feast in the better homeland, the heavenly one that our fathers saw from afar, and which we begin to taste in each Eucharist.

As they did, we can wait with “sure knowledge,” His Word like a lamp lighting our path (see Psalm 119:105). Our God is faithful and if we wait in faith, hope in His kindness, and love as we have been loved, we will receive His promised blessing, be delivered from death.

[Salvation]

Sunday Scripture Study

Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Cycle C

August 11, 2013

Click here for USCCB readings

Opening Prayer  

First Reading: Wisdom 18:6-9

Psalm: 33:1,12,18-22

Second Reading: Hebrews 11:1-2,8-19

Gospel Reading: Luke 12:32-48

• The first part of this Sunday’s Gospel (verses 32-34) continues the theme from last week where Jesus emphasized to his disciples detachment from worldly goods and the necessity for dependence on God alone. In the passage between last week’s reading and this week’s he goes into much more detail on this subject (see Luke 12:22-31).

• Jesus then tells a parable about leadership and responsibility. The apostles are compared to domestic servants who are charged with duties in the household of God. When he tells them to “gird up their loins” he was alluding to the practice of gathering up their long flowing garments in preparation for difficult work—rather like us rolling up our sleeves.

• They must complete these tasks diligently before the sudden return of Christ. As was pointed out in the parable of the rich fool last week, Jesus will come when we least expect it. Be ready! (see Matthew 24:42, 25:13; Mark 14:34).

 

QUESTIONS:

• How did Moses, Abraham and all the saints of old (as we see in the first two Readings) wait on the Lord and place his trust in him? In what ways can they be an example to us?

• Explain the role reversal described in verse 37 of the Gospel Reading. Why does Peter ask the question in verse 41? Why does Jesus answer as he does?

• Why does Jesus say they should be ready (verses 39-40)? Who is the thief?

• What should be the attitude and actions of the faithful and prudent servant (verses 42-43)? What could tempt the servants to do wrong (verse 45)?

• What is the meaning of verse 48? How would the disciples have interpreted it?

• What dangers is Jesus warning you about in this passage? Which danger is most likely to be a problem for you?

• What has God entrusted to you as his steward? If you knew that in 30 days Jesus was returning to see how you were coming along, what would you do to get things ready for the inspection?

Closing Prayer

Catechism of the Catholic Church:  §§ 764, 2849, 2612

 

Oh what remorse we shall feel at the end of our lives, when we look back upon the great number of instructions and examples afforded by God and the Saints for our perfection, and so carelessly received by us! If this end were to come to you today, how would you be pleased with the life you have led this year?                                                                                                             -St. Francis de Sales

[Salvation]

19^th Sunday – By Faith We Live

 

 

 



Sunday Scriptures: http://usccb.org/bible/readings/081113.cfm

Ws 18: 6-9
Hb 11: 1-2, 8-19
Lk 12: 32 – 48

Unlike our own modern times, particularly in this country, the ancient people of the Middle East were far more concerned about the past and the present than they were about the future.  Our sense of time is very future oriented.  We plan for our future retirement, we encourage our grade school and high school students to begin thinking about college and careers, and we long for the next I-phone, I-pad, or the next “generation” of computers rather than enjoy the one we have, not to mention the next model of car to be produced.  

 

While some of this does have value, I think we can tend to easily forget or minimize the importance of the present moment and any sense of serious reflection on the experiences of the past.  Our prevailing culture moves from one thing to the next with little memory of the past.  “Ok, that’s done, now on to the next thing.”  It’s no wonder we are never satisfied, always wanting an upgrade or a more refined model.  

 

However, the people of Jesus’ time had a very different concept of the importance of time.  Far too many of them were concerned about where the next meal would come from than to give any serious concern about next month or next year.  It was a day to day existence, living for the moment. The leaders of the Jews tended to be more focused on things of the past.  How each of us measures up to the lessons of our ancestors.  

 

Our readings this Sunday begin with a well-known proverb: “Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen.” (Heb 11: 1) An important element of faith is the hope and trust it generates.  We live each day, for example, in a disposition of trust in God that whatever curve ball life may throw at us, all will ultimately be well.  So, we hope in the God who called us in to life. But, how confident can we be that “all will be well?” We want both a secure present with little angst about the future so we plan accordingly to avoid preventable problems.   

 

Using the word “evidence” in the proverb above may sound to a very scientific and technical age as somewhat squishy!  In other words, evidence is something tangible, measureable, concrete, and that which is perceived by our sense of smell, taste, sight, or touch. “Faith” is not that way necessarily.  It is not scientific or measureable or tangible but rather based in experience and one’s own conviction. In one sense, faith comes before proof and as the saying goes, “for those who believe, no proof is necessary.”  

 

Christian history has shown us time and again, that we believe because others before us have believed - and others before them, and others before them.  The very deposit of “faith” is passed down from generation to generation and every new generation needs to hear once again the good news.  In that sense, it is both ancient and ever new. So, while it isn’t science or technology that will prove the life of the spirit, it is faith that has the power to convict us.  Religion answers the deeper questions of life about meaning and purpose that science cannot. So, faith is indeed powerful for those who seek it.

 

The second reading from Hebrews, then, is proof to us of what others believed and why we ourselves should be, in the words of the Gospel ready to: “Gird your loins and light your lamps and be like servants who await their master’s return from a wedding, ready to open immediately when he comes and knocks.” (Lk 12: 35). We wait for God each day in faith – or at least that is the goal of our life; to live in trust of God’s promise. While concern about the future is not necessarily a bad thing, we only live in the present moment and God speaks to us in the here and the now.

 

Others believed before us, as Hebrews reminds us, which uses this Sunday the example of Abraham, who we refer to as “our Father in faith.  “Abraham obeyed . . .  By faith he sojourned in the promised land as in a foreign country . . . By faith he received power to generate, even though he was past the normal age . . . “(Hb 11: 8-12).  

 

The point is that the inspiration and example of Abraham is meant to be for all of us a call to deeper faith based in trust of God in the daily present moments of our life.  

 

In our weekly celebration of the Eucharist, we hear an ancient word and remember an ancient meal celebrated by Jesus with his Apostles.  But the Eucharist is not like watching a news report of something already past or recounting a past historical event reported in a book.  It is an invitation to encounter the risen Christ in the present moment where we live.  Like all relationships, this one is meant to give meaning to our present lives that the future may also be secure by hope and trust in God’s daily care.

 

Not easy, to be sure, but think about the times you have had to rely on faith without tangible proof.  Were you disappointed?  Were you made stronger and able to say, “God got me through this!  I could never have done it without my faith.”  

 Let nothing trouble you. Let nothing scare you.
All is fleeting. God alone is unchanging.
Patience, everything obtains.
Who possesses God, wants for nothing.
God alone suffices.

(St. Teresa of Avila Bookmark)

 

[Salvation]

Insight Scoop

The Vigilant and Faithful Disciple

A Scriptural Reflection on the Readings for Sunday, August 11, 2013 | Carl E. Olson

Readings:
• Wis 18:6-9
• Ps 33:1, 12, 18-19, 20-22
• Heb 11:1-2, 8-19
• Lk 12:32-48

“What is the mark of a Christian?” asked St. Basil in his work, Moralia, which is a guide living a morally upright life in the world. How might we answer this question? To be kind. To be charitable. To give to the poor. These are all good answers, but St. Basil’s answer emphasized something else: “It is to watch daily and hourly and to stand prepared in that state of total responsiveness pleasing to God, knowing that the Lord will come at an hour that he does not expect.” A true Christian is vigilant, meaning he is ready to hear God’s word and to respond accordingly.

Today’s readings are about vigilance, especially as they relate to the virtues of faith and hope. In fact, vigilance is really impossible with faith and hope, for the disciple of Christ stands prepared because he believes in faith that the Lord has come and will come, and because he believes in hope that Christ will fulfill the promises granted through the new covenant, the Church, and the sacraments.

The Book of Wisdom was written by a well-educated, anonymous Jewish author living around Alexandria, Egypt, between 180 and 50 B.C. The “night of the Passover” was, of course, a definitive moment for the Israelites. “It was a night of watching by the LORD, to bring them out of the land of Egypt” (Ex. 12:42). The vigilance kept on the night of Passover was based on the promise and the “knowledge of the oaths in which they put their faith,” which had been given to them by God through Moses.

This vigilance was not just a matter of waiting and watching, however, for it also involved the sacrifice of an unblemished lamb. The blood of the lamb was to be put on the doorposts as a sign of their faith, and then the lamb was to be eaten (Ex. 12:3-14). This led, then, to two essential acts: the liberation of the people and the destruction of their enemies.

Hebrews 11 is a powerful, even poetic, celebration of vigilant, active faith. It opens by stating that faith “is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things no seen.” Faith is rooted in God’s actions and words in the past and looks with hope toward the future and “a better homeland, a heavenly one” (Heb. 11:16). Abraham, filled with faith, obeyed when he was called to go to the promised land. Vigilant, he responded, even though he was not certain of where God was leading him, but believing that God had a prepared a city for him.

That city is heaven, the new Jerusalem, the dwelling place of God. There is but one holy land, and it was inaugurated by Jesus Christ, who is the new Moses, “the pioneer and perfecter of our faith” (Heb. 12:2). He inaugurated the kingdom through preaching and teaching, and by establishing the Church, the “little flock” referred to in today’s Gospel. “The Word of the Lord,” states Lumen Gentium, “is compared to a seed which is sown in a field; those who hear the Word with faith and become part of the little flock of Christ, have received the Kingdom itself” (par. 5).

Again, vigilance and obedience are essential; those who listen with anticipation and respond in faith will receive the Kingdom. Jesus’ exhortation to alert faith is meant for all Christians, but he explained to Peter that his words held a special gravity for the apostles and their successors. The master, Jesus, has given his servants, the apostles, unique authority in the household of God. The slothful or ignorant servant will suffer severely. “Much will be required of the person entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more.” 

Our prayer should echo that uttered by Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity, that we will be “completely vigilant in my faith, entirely adoring, and wholly given over to your creative action” (CCC 260).

(This "Opening the Word" column originally appeared in the August 8, 2010, issue of Our Sunday Visitor newspaper.)

[Salvation]

Regnum Christi

Prepare for the Unexpected Hour

| SPIRITUAL LIFE | SPIRITUALITY

Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

 

Luke 12: 32-48

Jesus said to his disciples, "Do not be afraid any longer, little flock, for your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your belongings and give alms. Provide money bags for yourselves that do not wear out, an inexhaustible treasure in heaven that no thief can reach nor moth destroy. For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be. Gird your loins and light your lamps and be like servants who await their master´s return from a wedding, ready to open immediately when he comes and knocks. Blessed are those servants whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival. Amen, I say to you, he will gird himself, have them recline at table, and proceed to wait on them. And should he come in the second or third watch and find them prepared in this way, blessed are those servants. Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour when the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come." Then Peter said, "Lord, is this parable meant for us or for everyone?" And the Lord replied, "Who, then, is the faithful and prudent steward whom the master will put in charge of his servants to distribute the food allowance at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master on arrival finds doing so. Truly, I say to you, he will put him in charge of all his property. But if that servant says to himself, ´My master is delayed in coming,´ and begins to beat the menservants and the maidservants, to eat and drink and get drunk, then that servant´s master will come on an unexpected day and at an unknown hour and will punish him severely and assign him a place with the unfaithful. That servant who knew his master´s will but did not make preparations nor act in accord with his will shall be beaten severely; and the servant who was ignorant of his master´s will but acted in a way deserving of a severe beating shall be beaten only lightly. Much will be required of the person entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more."

Introductory Prayer: Father, I believe in you with all my heart. I trust in your infinite goodness and mercy. Thank you for so patiently guiding me along the pathway to everlasting life. I love you and offer all that I have and all that I do to you, for your glory and the salvation of souls.

Petition: Lord Jesus, keep me vigilant and committed in doing your most holy will.

1. Occupations and Preoccupations: We are often so preoccupied and anxious about the things of this world that we forget about pursuing the treasure of the next, “an inexhaustible treasure in heaven that no thief can reach nor moth destroy.” In working so hard, we fall into another trap of pursuing every little entertainment and escapism to compensate such dedication. All the while, we easily forget about our real purpose and the real relationship we ought to be fostering each day with God our Father who loves us and “is pleased to give you the kingdom.” What are the best excuses I use that prevent me from having a deeper committed relationship with God? Do I give as much dedication, money and time to loving God and serving my neighbor as I do to pursuing entertainments?

2. Pleased to Give You the Kingdom: Am I convinced God is truly “pleased to give you the kingdom,” that he loves me and is interested in me? Why don’t I always want what God wants for me? What things and activities in my life are emptying me and distracting me from developing a better relationship with Christ? In order to maintain a healthy spiritual life, we must often reassess our attitudes and change our priorities so as to safeguard our hearts from being swindled and robbed of our true treasure, which is God. Do my priorities and decisions reflect to those around me that Christ is the true love of my heart, my true treasure?

3. The Devil’s Strategy Revealed: Once upon a time, Satan called an end-of-the-fiscal-year meeting to go over the year’s results. He was not pleased, and he demanded to know what new strategies he could employ to guarantee success in moving men’s hearts away from their Creator. Sending men distractions in prayer and contemplation came just ahead of tempting men to greed and lust. Infiltrating and corrupting the music industry increased the numbers. Developing the multibillion-dollar pornography industry brought in great results. Yet, Satan was still not satisfied. Then one suggestion was brought to his attention: “We must convince the men of earth that they have a lot of time!” We all tend to think we will continue in this earthly life for many years to come. This may not be the case, for we know not the day or the hour. We must awake from our slumber, for “blessed are those servants whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival.”

Conversation with Christ: Lord, strengthen me in times of temptation and distraction, so I may never sell my inheritance for a bowl of lentils (see Genesis 25:34). Help me, Lord, to rededicate my life to you in a more committed way that builds your kingdom in me and in those around me.

Resolution: I will do a good examination of conscience to see what more I can do to keep Christ and his interests at the top of my priorities and in the allocation of my time.

[Salvation]

Scripture Speaks: Expect the Unexpected

by Gayle Somers on August 9, 2013 · 0 Comments

Today, Jesus gives His followers instructions about vigilance in their obedience to Him.  The message:  expect the unexpected.

Gospel (Read Lk 12:32-48)

Our reading today follows Jesus’ earlier exhortation to His disciples about anxiety:  “Don’t be anxious about your life, what you shall eat … or what you shall put on …  Instead, seek [God’s] kingdom, and these things shall be yours as well” (read Lk 12:22-31).  Warning them again against fear in our verses, He says:  “Do not be afraid any longer, little flock, for your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom.”  When we desire the right thing first (God’s kingdom), we can be confident He will give it to us with pleasure.  As for the rest (earthly needs), we get those, too.

So, how do we seek God’s kingdom?  Jesus says it begins with letting go of what we can see (“sell your belongings”) and practicing charity, which will give us treasure we can’t now see in heaven.  We will need a detachment from the visible world so that we can attach to the invisible world to come.  It takes enormous effort to live for a world we cannot see!  Jesus gives us some help with a parable.

“Gird your loins and light your lamp and be like servants who await their master’s return from a wedding, ready to open immediately when he comes and knocks.”  Jesus is foreshadowing a concrete historical event that will finally bring the unseen world into the seen—His Second Coming.  If we know and believe that one day Jesus will be returning to this earth He left so long ago, we at least have focus for our detachment/attachment.  If we expectJesus to appear, as the master in the parable intends to, then we have great incentive to be vigilant for His arrival, as the servants in the parable are expected to be.  This is not easy.  That must be why Jesus begins the parable with “Gird your loins,” a phrase used to describe preparation for doing something very difficult.  He also says, “light your lamp,” surely a reference to our need to keep the fire of our love for Him and others burning brightly until we see Him.  The real challenge, of course, is that we have no idea when this will happen.  In fact, “at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.”  Our only recourse is to always be prepared.  This is perhaps the hardest requirement, because we are weak and made of dust; we are easily distracted and very susceptible to laziness and impatience.  Jesus again gives us an incentive:  “Blessed are those servants whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival … he [the master] will gird himself, have them recline at table, and proceed to wait on them.”  What a tremendous reward for the work it takes to live in vigilance this way.  This love that Jesus will lavish on us when He returns was foreshadowed at the Last Supper, when He washed the feet of the disciples.  When we receive our reward, then we will know how much our Father is “pleased” to give us the kingdom.  As hard as it is to live for a kingdom we cannot yet see, we have nothing to fear when we do.

Then, Peter asks an odd question:  “Lord, is this parable meant for us or for everyone?”  We might wonder what prompted it.  Did Peter think the disciples didn’t really need a warning like this, because they weren’t in danger of losing their vigilance?  Did he think they would have insider information about Jesus’ return, enabling them to be better prepared for it?  Jesus doesn’t answer the question right away.  Instead, He tells another parable.  This one is specifically about stewards “whom the master will put in charge of his servants to distribute the food allowance at the proper time.”  Surely Jesus is speaking here to Peter and the other apostles, the ones charged with the great responsibility of administering the Eucharist and caring for His Church while He is away.  What danger do they face?  It is the dark temptation, caused by the master’s delay in coming, to act as if he will nevercome.  When that happens, abuse of authority and personal self-indulgence can run rampant.  The stewards need to know that the “master will come on an unexpected day … and will punish the servant severely and assign him a place with the unfaithful.”  This is a harsh warning.  Just like “everyone,” the apostles (and their successors) will have to live with a constant expectation of Jesus’ return, without knowing when.  All of us will need to be vigilant and faithfully obedient, no matter how long it takes.

If Peter thought the apostles were on an inside track, Jesus jolts him out of that:  “Much will be required of the person entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more.”  Here, Jesus finally answers Peter’s question.  The first parable was for “everyone,” because all of us have been given work to do in our lives as servants of Christ, for which we will be held accountable.  Our service is our appropriate response to the “much” we have received in the gift our redemption.  The second parable was for the apostles, because they have been given the additional “more” in their charism of authority over the Church.  To emphasize the gravity of the apostles’ increased responsibility, Jesus says that servants who act “in a way deserving of a severe beating shall be beaten only lightly” if they act in ignorance of their master’s will.  The apostles won’t be able to plead that case.

All of us, however, must live by faith—a willingness to obey God, even though we can’t see Him, and to wait for Jesus’ return with confidence, which could come at any time.  We must expect the unexpected.

Possible response:  Lord Jesus, I need lots of help to live with the expectant vigilance You urged upon Your followers.  Please strengthen me where I am weak.

First Reading (Read Wis 18:6-9)

Here is a reflection from one of the books of wisdom literature in the Old Testament.  It looks back on the time of the first Passover, when God delivered His people from Egypt. The author says their “fathers” in faith at that time put their trust in the oaths God had sworn to the patriarchs—Abraham, Isaac, Jacob—to make the Jews His own chosen people and give them a true homeland.  Why did they have to trust these oaths, sworn hundreds of years earlier?  It was because all they could see was their bondage and the repeated refusal of the Pharaoh to let them go.  On the strength of God’s Word alone, not on what they could see, they had “courage.”  They did exactly as Moses instructed them.  They slaughtered lambs and put the blood on the doorposts of their homes.  Did this look to them like a promising way to finally be free from the bondage of slavery?  Probably not; nevertheless, “in secret the holy children of the good were offering sacrifice and putting into effect with one accord the divine institution.”  In other words, the people silently, at night, hidden away from the eyes of the Pharaoh, obeyed God.  They had to believe God would keep His Word, and He did:  “For when You punished our adversaries, in this You glorified us whom You had summoned.”

This is a beautiful foreshadowing of what happens in every Mass.  In the quiet worship of our churches, we continually make present the one sacrifice that ended the bondage to sin for all people, in all times and places.  Even though we cannot see how this works, we believe it and obey it.  Meanwhile, who can possibly imagine what God is accomplishing in the world, invisible as it is now, through our faithful obedience?  We can only wait with expectation to find out.

Possible response:  Heavenly Father, what a privilege it is to have the gift of faith, with eyes that can “see” how mysteriously and invisibly You work in this world—and so often through our prayers and obedience.  Thank You!

Psalm (Read Ps 33:1, 12, 18-19)

Jesus tells us in the Gospel that our “Father is pleased to give [us] the kingdom.”  The psalmist voices a similar assurance:  “See, the eyes of the Lord are upon those who fear Him, upon those who hope for His kindness.”  He is always looking to bless us, no matter how things appear to our eyes.  Often, we will need patience and perseverance to experience this truth:  “Our soul waits for the Lord, Who is our help and our shield.”  No matter how long we must wait, when we have put our hope in the Lord, we will confidently be able to say:  “Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be His own.”

Possible response:  The psalm is, itself, a response to our other readings.  Read it again prayerfully to make it your own.

Second Reading (Read Heb 11:1-2, 8-19)

The epistle gives us perhaps the clearest, most direct definition of faith anywhere in Scripture:  “Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen.”  This theme runs through all our other readings.  The author of Hebrews now gives us a list of Old Testament people who lived solely on the strength of God’s Word, not on what they could see or know.  Interestingly, they are described as having not received “what had been promised but saw it and greeted it from afar.”  Certainly they did receive concrete signs of God’s presence with them (i.e., Abraham and Sarah saw the birth of Isaac), but all those who “died in faith … acknowledged themselves to be strangers and aliens on earth [who] desire a better homeland, a heavenly one.”  These Old Testament saints longed for the fullness of the promises God made to them to be their God and make them His people.  So do we!  For now, we must wait and live by faith, trusting that nothing is impossible with God, Who is “able to raise even from the dead.”

From the Garden of Eden, God has always wanted His creatures to live with confidence that the unseen He has promised is greater than the seen that now exists.  Adam and Eve chose the fruit they could see; Jesus chose the glory of God that was veiled and hidden to Him on the Cross (“why hast Thou abandoned Me?”).  If our readings today don’t wake us up to be more vigilant in our obedience because we believe there is more to life than what meets the eye, we are truly asleep.

Possible response:  Heavenly Father, don’t let me fall into the sleep of living only for what I can see.

[Salvation]

Faith and Belief

by Marcellino D'Ambrosio, Ph.D. on August 9, 2013 ·

 

I recently visited Italy and was reminded of the religious contrast between America and Europe.  In Europe, large numbers of people consider themselves agnostics or even atheists.

In America, something like 95% of the population “believes in God.”  Nearly as high a percentage also believes that there is a life after death and that people are rewarded or punished by God in the next life based on how they lived this life.

So does that mean that there is a higher level of Christian faith in America than in Europe?  Not necessarily.  Because true faith entails a whole lot more than belief.

Hebrews 11 is one of the classic places in the Bible that discusses the nature of faith.  “Without faith,” says the author, it is impossible to please him.”  Certainly such faith includes and presupposes convictions about things that can’t be seen or proven.  “Whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him (Hebrews 11: 6).

But mere belief can be objective and detached.  I’ve never been to China, but I believe it exists.  I don’t plan on going any time soon, and my belief that China exists has no impact on my daily life.

True faith is much more personal than this.  The New Testament authors actually came up with a new and very strange grammatical construction in Greek to try to convey the personal nature of Christian faith.  It is not about just believing that Jesus is the Son of God, or that he died for our sins or that he rose from the dead, but believing in him, or even into him.  Faith is a dynamic journey in Christ, a plunge into the depths of God.  Pope Francis’ recent encyclical, Lumen Fidei, makes this clear.  If you have conviction that God is omnipotent and all loving, then you must entrust yourself, your loved ones, and your future entirely to him.  You take a risk, assuming that he indeed is trustworthy.  In fact, that is the origin of the Hebrew word “amen” which is connected to the word for rock.  To say “amen” literally means “it is reliable, I can stand on it!”

Lovers who say they “believe in” their beloved show it by making a public pledge to be faithful to each other till death do them part.  This is the covenant of marriage.  The act of Christian faith is a lot like this.  It is a conviction that leads believers to entrust themselves in love to God in Christ and commit themselves to an exclusive relationship to this God, come what may.  In fact the verb “to believe” in Latin is “credere” which is related to the Latin words “cor” and “dare”, to give one’s heart.  Even in the English language the verb “be-lieve” is related to the German/Saxon verb to love.

So true faith can’t be cool and aloof.  It must move from conviction to confidence to commitment for it to be authentic and mature.  Do you believe that a Supreme Being exists and that he knows you better than you know yourself and loves you better than you love yourself?  Then it would make total sense for you to surrender yourself completely to him and do whatever he tells you.

That’s why Abraham is the prime model of faith in the Old Testament.  He did not have that full revelation of God in Christ that we are privileged to possess.  In fact he did not even know God’s name.  But when this Unknown God called him from the comfort of Mesopotamian civilization to wander in an unknown land, he packed up and left (Genesis 12).  And when this God required the sacrifice of his only son, the son he had waited for all his life, he did not hesitate to comply (Genesis 22).

Abraham had the courage of his convictions.  He acted on what he believed.  As for the countless Americans who believe in God  . . .  if their belief was true faith, there would not be millions of unborn babies legally murdered in this country year after year.

It is easy to shine the searchlight on our neighbors.  But how about us?  Does the way we vote, spend, work, plan and play reflect what we say we believe?