Posted on 09/24/2013 9:17:18 PM PDT by Salvation
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September 25, 2013
Wednesday of the Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time
Reading 1 Ezr 9:5-9
At the time of the evening sacrifice, I, Ezra, rose in my wretchedness,
and with cloak and mantle torn I fell on my knees,
stretching out my hands to the LORD, my God.
I said: “My God, I am too ashamed and confounded to raise my face to you,
O my God, for our wicked deeds are heaped up above our heads
and our guilt reaches up to heaven.
From the time of our fathers even to this day
great has been our guilt,
and for our wicked deeds we have been delivered up,
we and our kings and our priests,
to the will of the kings of foreign lands,
to the sword, to captivity, to pillage, and to disgrace,
as is the case today.
“And now, but a short time ago, mercy came to us from the LORD, our God,
who left us a remnant and gave us a stake in his holy place;
thus our God has brightened our eyes
and given us relief in our servitude.
For slaves we are, but in our servitude our God has not abandoned us;
rather, he has turned the good will
of the kings of Persia toward us.
Thus he has given us new life
to raise again the house of our God and restore its ruins,
and has granted us a fence in Judah and Jerusalem.”
Responsorial Psalm Tb 13:2, 3-4a, 4befghn, 7-8
R. (1b) Blessed be God, who lives for ever.
He scourges and then has mercy;
he casts down to the depths of the nether world,
and he brings up from the great abyss.
No one can escape his hand.
R. Blessed be God, who lives for ever.
Praise him, you children of Israel, before the Gentiles,
for though he has scattered you among them,
he has shown you his greatness even there.
R. Blessed be God, who lives for ever.
So now consider what he has done for you,
and praise him with full voice.
Bless the Lord of righteousness,
and exalt the King of ages.
R. Blessed be God, who lives for ever.
In the land of my exile I praise him
and show his power and majesty to a sinful nation.
R. Blessed be God, who lives for ever.
Bless the Lord, all you his chosen ones,
and may all of you praise his majesty.
Celebrate days of gladness, and give him praise.
R. Blessed be God, who lives for ever.
Gospel Lk 9:1-6
Jesus summoned the Twelve and gave them power and authority
over all demons and to cure diseases,
and he sent them to proclaim the Kingdom of God
and to heal the sick.
He said to them, “Take nothing for the journey,
neither walking stick, nor sack, nor food, nor money,
and let no one take a second tunic.
Whatever house you enter, stay there and leave from there.
And as for those who do not welcome you,
when you leave that town,
shake the dust from your feet in testimony against them.”
Then they set out and went from village to village
proclaiming the good news and curing diseases everywhere.
Hello Salvation, thanks for replying. Yes, I’m Catholic and would like to be added to the Catholic ping list.
Btw, I am somewhat new to Free Republic; I tried to reply to your mail that you sent me, but I got “Sorry, your account is too new to use this feature”. Actually I get that message on almost everything I try to do on Freep. If you know what I need to do to get rid of that message so I can send mail and do other basic user activities, please let me know. Thanks!
Wednesday,September 25
Liturgical Color: Green
Pope Clement VII died on this day in
1524. He is best known for refusing to
grant an annulment to King Henry VIII.
When Henry married again without the
annulment, Pope Clement
excommunicated him.
Daily Readings for: September 25, 2013
(Readings on USCCB website)
Collect: O God, who founded all the commands of your sacred Law upon love of you and of our neighbor, grant that, by keeping your precepts, we may merit to attain eternal life. 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 County Cork Irish Stew Recipe
ACTIVITIES
o Religion in the Home for Elementary School: September
o Religion in the Home for Preschool: September
PRAYERS
o September Devotion: Our Lady of Sorrows
Old Calendar: St. Finbar, bishop (Hist); Bl. Herman the Cripple (Hist)
Historically today is the Feast of St. Finbar who lived in the sixth century in Ireland. He was a native of Connaught, and instituted a monastery or school at Lough Eirc, to which such numbers of disciples flocked, that it changed a desert into a large city. This was the origin of the city of Cork, which was built chiefly upon stakes, in marshy little islands formed by the river Lea. His baptismal name was Lochan; the surname Finbarr, or Barr the White, was given to him after. He was Bishop of Cork seventeen years, and died in the midst of his friends at Cloyne, fifteen miles from Cork. His body was buried in his own cathedral at Cork, and his relics, some years after, were put in a silver shrine, and kept there, this great church bearing his name to this day. St. Finbarr's cave or hermitage was shown in a monastery which seems to have been begun by our Saint, and stood to the west of Cork.
It is also the feast day of Blessed Herman the Cripple (also known as Hermannus Contractus, or Herman of Reichenau, 1013-1054), monk, 11th century scholar, composer, musical theorist, mathematician, and astronomer. Blessed Herman composed the Marian prayers Alma Redemptoris Mater, and the Salve Regina (also known as the “Hail Holy Queen”) which we pray each time we pray the Holy Rosary. Despite significant physical limitations and suffering, the bright and contemplative mind of Blessed Herman advanced not only our understanding of the physical world, but furthered our devotion to Our Blessed Mother. His contributions to both science and faith remind us that regardless of appearance or apparent physical abilities, we each possess immense God-given gifts and talents! He was called "The Wonder of His Age."
St. Finbarr
The patron saint of Cork, was born in Achaid Duborcon near Crookstown, Co. Cork, the son of a Connacht father, a metalworker, who moved to Munster to find work and married a slave girl.
Finbarr left home with three unidentified ascetics and spent much time in Scotland before establishing various hermitages in his native area, notably at Kilclooney and on an island in Gougane Barra, which bears his name.
Among many wondrous tales associated with him is, one in which he is led by an angel from the source of the river Lee at Gougane Barra to its marshy mouth, where he founded his most important monastery, out of which grew the see and the city of Cork. Another of Finbarr's great legends was the chase and expulsion of the great lake serpent from the lake in Gougane, which created the channel that is now the river Lee.
Finbarr died at Cloyne in 633 ad and his remains were taken to Cork to be enclosed in a silver shrine. A pattern is made to Gougane Barra on the Sunday nearest to the feast of St Finbarr which falls on the 25th of September.
Blessed Herman the Cripple
Herman was born into royalty, the son of a duke of Altshausen. From birth, it was apparent that he would be horribly crippled and disfigured, earning him the less-than-pleasant name of “Hermannus Contractus” (or “Herman the Twisted”). Sources suggest he was born with a cleft palate, cerebral palsy and spina bifida. Without assistance, he could not move, and could barely speak, but within his body was a keen mind and iron will.
At the age of seven, Herman’s parents left him at the Benedictine monastery of Reichenau, where they arranged for him to be raised and educated. Situated on the shores of Lake Constance, it was expected that this location would be ideal for Herman’s health, but also for his developing intellect. Abbot Berno, the monk who led the community, took Herman under his wing, educating him with kindness and compassion.
Despite his obvious intellect, Herman struggled to read and write at first, his physical limitations difficult to overcome. Once he mastered the basics, the academic world opened to him, and he impressed all with the breadth and depth of his subsequent studies. Not only did he immerse himself in the sciences, but also in languages, music and theology. Herman became fluent in Latin, Greek, and Arabic. He wrote extensively on mathematical and astronomical topics, as well as volumes on the history of the world. He was professed a monk at the age of 30, and continued to write, producing works of great spiritual depth. Of note, his treatise “On the Eight Principal Vices,” which he wrote in a poetic style.
More than his writings, however, Herman was known for his gentleness, joy, and sweet disposition. Never was he heard to complain, despite the fact that most activities were painful and difficult. Rather, he was recognized to have a smile for all, and became a beacon of hope and joy throughout the monastery. Students traveled great distances to study with him, learning not only their academic subjects but also strength of character, perseverance, and humility through his model.
Blessed Herman’s contributions to academics were great, as were his contributions to sacred tradition. He wrote many hymns which continue to be sung today, as well as portions of the Mass. His greatest contributions may be his hymns of devotion and love for Our Blessed Mother: Alma Redemptoris Mater and Salve Regina. The confidence and hope we place in Mary is eloquently and simply captured in his writings.
Blessed Herman died at the young age of 40, having succumbed to the symptoms of his many afflictions. He was beatified in 1863. He was a man who took joy in his struggles, and looked at each difficult day as an opportunity to grow closer to the Lord. Every time we pray the Holy Rosary, we end in prayer with Blessed Herman. The Salve Regina (Hail Holy Queen) reminds us of our deep connection not only to Our Blessed Mother, but to all those who suffer alongside us in the world.
Excerpted from 365 Rosaries
Luke | |||
English: Douay-Rheims | Latin: Vulgata Clementina | Greek NT: Byzantine/Majority Text (2000) | |
Luke 9 |
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1. | THEN calling together the twelve apostles, he gave them power and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases. | Convocatis autem duodecim Apostolis, dedit illis virtutem et potestatem super omnia dæmonia, et ut languores curarent. | συγκαλεσαμενος δε τους δωδεκα εδωκεν αυτοις δυναμιν και εξουσιαν επι παντα τα δαιμονια και νοσους θεραπευειν |
2. | And he sent them to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick. | Et misit illos prædicare regnum Dei, et sanare infirmos. | και απεστειλεν αυτους κηρυσσειν την βασιλειαν του θεου και ιασθαι τους ασθενουντας |
3. | And he said to them: Take nothing for your journey; neither staff, nor scrip, nor bread, nor money; neither have two coats. | Et ait ad illos : Nihil tuleritis in via, neque virgam, neque peram, neque panem, neque pecuniam, neque duas tunicas habeatis. | και ειπεν προς αυτους μηδεν αιρετε εις την οδον μητε ραβδους μητε πηραν μητε αρτον μητε αργυριον μητε ανα δυο χιτωνας εχειν |
4. | And whatsoever house you shall enter into, abide there, and depart not from thence. | Et in quamcumque domum intraveritis, ibi manete, et inde ne exeatis. | και εις ην αν οικιαν εισελθητε εκει μενετε και εκειθεν εξερχεσθε |
5. | And whosoever will not receive you, when ye go out of that city, shake off even the dust of your feet, for a testimony against them. | Et quicumque non receperint vos : exeuntes de civitate illa, etiam pulverem pedum vestrorum excutite in testimonium supra illos. | και οσοι εαν μη δεξωνται υμας εξερχομενοι απο της πολεως εκεινης και τον κονιορτον απο των ποδων υμων αποτιναξατε εις μαρτυριον επ αυτους |
6. | And going out, they went about through the towns, preaching the gospel, and healing every where. | Egressi autem circuibant per castella evangelizantes, et curantes ubique. | εξερχομενοι δε διηρχοντο κατα τας κωμας ευαγγελιζομενοι και θεραπευοντες πανταχου |
25th Week in Ordinary Time
Mercy came to us from the Lord. (Ezra 9:8)
Ezra was a priest and scribe during the time when the Jewish people were rebuilding Jerusalem after many long years in exile. Through Ezra’s ministry, the people came together and recommitted themselves to their covenant with God. No longer would they follow after false idols! They would once more be the people God had called them to be.
Just before today’s reading, Ezra receives news that many of the people have been marrying foreigners—pagans—which was against the Law of Moses. Devastated at this latest setback, he turns to the Lord and asks for his help. But Ezra doesn’t jump right in and make his petition. Instead, he recounts all the ways God has been merciful in the past. He talks about how the people’s sins have led them to the humiliation of their exile, and he recalls how God has brought them back home. He doesn’t let the people remain in their lowly state. He forgives them and gives them a second chance. And now, Ezra prays that God will give them yet another chance. He begs the Lord to forgive them again and pour his grace upon them, despite all they haved done wrong.
What a model of trust in the mercy of God! Ezra shows that it’s okay to turn to the Lord again and again and again. We may feel wretched because of what we have done, even to the point of not wanting to confess our sins. We may fear a spiritual tongue-lashing or condemnation. But that’s not how the Lord works. In a homily last spring, Pope Francis spoke of the true grace of Confession:
“Go to Jesus. He would be happy if you told him! He forgets, he kisses you, he embraces you, and he says to you: ‘Neither do I condemn you; go and from now on sin no more.’ That is the only counsel he gives you. After a month, if we are in the same situation, let us go back to the Lord. The Lord never tires of forgiving: never! It is we who tire of asking his forgiveness. Let us ask for the grace not to tire of asking forgiveness, because he never tires of forgiving.”
“Thank you, Father, for your endless mercy. Help me never to shy away from the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Help me instead to see it as a precious instrument of your love and healing!”
(Psalm) Tobit 13:2-4, 7-8; Luke 9:1-6
Daily Marriage Tip for September 25, 2013:
Humility is a great asset in marriage provided it is not laziness disguised as humility. I dont care. Whatever you want can be gracious or it can mean you are overly passive. Check it out.
Father Blake gets it right!
Wednesday, 25 September 2013 16:46
“It isn’t the priest but Christ who comes to save the world; if he is fortunate on a few occasions in his priesthood, when he doesn’t get in the way, he might be the occasion of Grace, even a great outpouring of God’s Grace.
This is the reason I love the old Rite, why I celebrate Mass facing the same direction as my people, why I think vestments are important, why I prefer hearing Confessions behind a grill, why, if there is a choice between the words of the Church and mine or others, I prefer the Church’s words. This is why I question my practice of preaching at every OF Mass I celebrate.
It is Jesus who brings Salvation, not the priest, bishop or pope. A priest’s spiritual maturity comes when he realises he is an unprofitable servant. . . . Something seems to have gone awry when flawed, sinful human beings are given a place where they can become a barrier rather than a bridge between God and his people. A mature Catholic is one who realises the Church is God’s not ours, and everything depends on him, not us.
The problem comes when we cannot perceive the supernatural and its importance.”
De humilitate
Wednesday, 25 September 2013 20:33
25 Jan. 26 May. 25 Sept.
The Holy Scripture crieth out to us, brethren, saying: “Every one that exalteth himself shall be humbled, and he who humbleth himself shall be exalted.” In saying this, it teacheth us that all exaltation is a kind of pride, against which the prophet sheweth himself to be on his guard when he saith: “Lord, my heart is not exalted nor mine eyes lifted up; nor have I walked in great things, nor in wonders above me.” For why? “If I did not think humbly, but exalted my soul: like a child that is weaned from his mother, so wilt Thou requite my soul.” Whence, brethren, if we wish to arrive at the highest point of humility, and speedily to reach that heavenly exaltation to which we can only ascend by the humility of this present life, we must by our ever-ascending actions erect such a ladder * as that which Jacob beheld in his dream, by which the angels appeared to him descending and ascending. This descent and ascent signifieth nothing else than that we descend by self-exaltation and ascend by humility. And the ladder thus erected is our life in the world, which, if the heart be humbled, is lifted up by the Lord to heaven. The sides of the same ladder we understand to be our body and soul, in which our divine vocation hath placed various degrees of humility or discipline, which we must ascend.
Father, Into Thy Hands
We begin today Chapter VII of the Holy Rule: On Humility. It is the heart of the Holy Rule. If all the other chapters of the Rule were somehow irretrievably lost, Chapter VII alone would be enough to rebuild Benedictine life. The monk is a man who, with fear and trembling, and with an unshakable confidence in the mercy of God, accepts to enter into the mystery of the humility — and the humiliations — of Christ. Chapter VII describes a kind of via crucis: twelve stations of the Cross by which a monk can shed every arrogance, artifice, pretension, and self–reliance, and so arrive at Calvary where, with Christ, he is able to say with the heart of a little child, “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.”
Falling and Rising Again
A monk’s descent into the humility of Christ is necessarily marked by falls beneath the weight of the cross. Some, after the humiliation of the first fall are tempted to cast aside the cross and turn back to the lights and comfort and friends left behind in the city. Some, after the humiliation of the second fall, decide to turn aside and, abandoning the cross in the dust, escape across the fields into what they perceive as freedom and respite. And some, after the humiliation of the third fall, raise their fist in anger towards heaven, and storm away to finish their lives in bitterness and discontent. It is the man who falls, and falls again, and who, by the grace of Christ, rises and rises yet again to continue his way to Golgotha, who will enter into the abyss of darkness that shrouds the mystery and emerge a new man into the most dazzling light. Falls on the way to the place of one’s crucifixion and death are moments of grace, happy faults, occasions of real participation in the Passion of Christ and in the mystery of His extreme humility.
The Host
The entire mystery of Christ’s humility is contained in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar. Look upon the Host and see the extreme humility of Christ. The Host is the Christus passus, that is, Christ in the very act of His immolation: silent, humble, obedient unto death, hidden, despised, and forsaken. Host (from the Latin hostia) means sacrificial victim, immolated Lamb. A man comes to the monastery to become a host with the Divine Host, to become a lamb meek and silent, and made ready for immolation. The immolation of the monk, however, is not wrought by a single swift stroke of the knife; it is, rather, a silent and prolonged descent into death that, paradoxically, is the surest and safest ascent into everlasting life. Benedictine humility is essentially Eucharistic; it is communicated almost imperceptibly to the man who perseveres in adoration of the Host and who partakes of the Bread of Life. He becomes what he contemplates; he becomes what he eats, and this until it is no longer he who lives but Christ who lives in him. Saint Benedict’s twelve steps of humility are already the Perfect Joy of the Poverello and the Little Way of Saint Thérèse. There is no holiness that does not, in the end, converge in the Host and radiate from it.
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Wednesday of the Twenty-Fifth Week in Ordinary Time
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Luke 9: 1-6 Jesus summoned the Twelve and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them to proclaim the Kingdom of God and to heal the sick. He said to them, "Take nothing for the journey, neither walking stick, nor sack, nor food, nor money, and let no one take a second tunic. Whatever house you enter, stay there and leave from there. And as for those who do not welcome you, when you leave that town, shake the dust from your feet in testimony against them." Then they set out and went from village to village proclaiming the Good News and curing diseases everywhere. Introductory Prayer: Lord, you are the author of life and the giver of all that is good. You are the Prince of Peace and my mainstay. You are my healer and the cure itself. I need you, and I need to give you. I love you and commit myself to you entirely, knowing you could never let me down or deceive me. Thank you for giving me your very self. Petition: Lord, help me to rely on your grace and not on worldly things. 1. The Mission: Christ sends out his apostles to preach the good news with inadequate supplies. They are charged to trust in Providence. Jesus shrinks their suitcases to practically nothing. How could they touch people? Like St. Paul they were able to understand that Jesus was guiding their steps from a discreet distance: “I consider all as loss for the surpassing knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord” (Philippians 3:8). Jesus gave them restrictions to teach them that their strength in bearing fruit lies in their love for him rather than in their material possessions or management skills. Do I carry this same conviction in the home, in the office, or running the errands? Am I willing to go two miles if the local Church community presses me into service for one mile? 2. Detached from All Things: Christ warns us about hoarding possessions, not so much by what he says, but by what he does. He doesn’t send his friends out like sheep among wolves so he can retire to a comfortable sofa all weekend long. By giving them a good example first, Jesus has already demonstrated what is necessary for apostolic success. He was born in a musty cave. His first bed was an animal trough. His first apostolic success, at the age of twelve, was cut short by his parents who intimated to him that his timing was off. He sent Peter to pull coins out of a fish’s mouth because he had no money to pay the tax. He allowed simple things — a woman at a well, a funeral march in a village — to become moments remembered worldwide, for ages to come, by countless followers. Later, he would be laid in someone else’s grave. Material welfare alone cannot obtain what the Lord is sending us to accomplish! 3. A Free Choice: Jesus didn’t make the disciples go off to a survival camp. Nevertheless, the harder the conditions were, the more attraction they felt at being involved. These Galilean fishermen freely accepted an unknown trade. They had discovered a treasure that so filled them with enthusiasm they sold everything in order to get hold of it and share it. This treasure is Christ. The Gospel says, “Then they set out and went from village to village....” It didn’t take the apostles long to decide what they wanted to do, for within their vessels of clay they carried a treasure which needed to spread far and wide. Conversation with Christ: Lord Jesus, as wonderful as material things are, they do not amount to anything compared to possessing you and teaching others about you. See the efforts I so intensely perform for your sake and bless them. Lord, help me, as you helped St. Paul, to continue fighting for a heavenly crown that doesn’t fade or rust. Resolution: Today I will find a moment to make a visit to the Blessed Sacrament and pray earnestly for the missionary intentions of the Holy Father for this month. |
In the first reading, Ezra the priest recounts the events leading to the rebuilding of the Temple of Jerusalem. After the work was finished, the Jews celebrated exceedingly because finally, after many decades of exile, they could worship again in the Temple of God. For us now, to rebuild the Temple of God could mean to rebuild our inner selves that are broken, to rebuild our family relationships, and finally and most importantly, to rebuild the Christian community.
In the gospel, Jesus is preaching the Word of God to the people stating that the claims of physical relationship comes after the spiritual. He put all his attention in forming a community of believers dedicated to loving, worshiping and serving the God of heaven. What is important is not that we are blood brothers but that we are brothers in the faith dedicated to spreading the Good News and helping people to rebuild their lives. God is our Father so we are all brothers and sisters in Christ. We put worship of God before family, service of God before having a great career and worldly success, and obedience to God before obedience to man. Mother Mary surely knew this but some of her relatives and some of the Jews listening to Jesus did not. So Jesus made it clear when he told the people: “My mother and brothers are those who hear the Word of God and put it into practice.”
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