Catholic Caucus: Daily Mass Readings, 7-31-03, Memorial of St Ignatius of Loyola

Reading I
Ex 40:16-21, 34-38

Moses did exactly as the LORD had commanded him.
On the first day of the first month of the second year
the Dwelling was erected.
It was Moses who erected the Dwelling.
He placed its pedestals, set up its boards, put in its bars,
and set up its columns.
He spread the tent over the Dwelling
and put the covering on top of the tent,
as the LORD had commanded him.
He took the commandments and put them in the ark;
he placed poles alongside the ark and set the propitiatory upon it.
He brought the ark into the Dwelling and hung the curtain veil,
thus screening off the ark of the commandments,
as the LORD had commanded him.

Then the cloud covered the meeting tent,
and the glory of the LORD filled the Dwelling.
Moses could not enter the meeting tent,
because the cloud settled down upon it
and the glory of the LORD filled the Dwelling.
Whenever the cloud rose from the Dwelling,
the children of Israel would set out on their journey.
But if the cloud did not lift, they would not go forward;
only when it lifted did they go forward.
In the daytime the cloud of the LORD was seen over the Dwelling;
whereas at night, fire was seen in the cloud
by the whole house of Israel
in all the stages of their journey.

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 84:3, 4, 5-6a and 8a, 11

R (2) How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord, mighty God!
My soul yearns and pines
for the courts of the LORD.
My heart and my flesh
cry out for the living God.
R How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord, mighty God!
Even the sparrow finds a home,
and the swallow a nest
in which she puts her young–
Your altars, O LORD of hosts,
my king and my God!
R How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord, mighty God!
Blessed they who dwell in your house!
continually they praise you.
Blessed the men whose strength you are!
They go from strength to strength.
R How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord, mighty God!
I had rather one day in your courts
than a thousand elsewhere;
I had rather lie at the threshold of the house of my God
than dwell in the tents of the wicked.
R How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord, mighty God!

Gospel
Mt 13:47-53

Jesus said to the disciples:
"The Kingdom of heaven is like a net thrown into the sea,
which collects fish of every kind.
When it is full they haul it ashore
and sit down to put what is good into buckets.
What is bad they throw away.
Thus it will be at the end of the age.
The angels will go out and separate the wicked from the righteous
and throw them into the fiery furnace,
where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth."

"Do you understand all these things?"
They answered, "Yes."
And he replied,
"Then every scribe who has been instructed in the Kingdom of heaven
is like the head of a household who brings from his storeroom
both the new and the old."
When Jesus finished these parables, he went away from there.

From: Exodus 40:16-21, 34-38

Moses' Obedience to God's Commands

[16] Thus did Moses; according to all that the Lord commanded him, so he
did. [17] And in the first month in the second year, on the first day of the
month, the tabernacle was erected. [18] Moses erected the tabernacle; he
laid its bases, and set up its frames, and put in its poles, and raised up
its pillars; [19] and he spread the tent over the tabernacle, and put the
covering of the tent over it, as the Lord had commanded Moses. [20] And he
took the testimony and put it into the ark, and put the poles on the ark,
and set the mercy seat above on the ark; [21] and he brought the ark into
the tabernacle, and set up the veil of the screen, and screened the ark of
the testimony; as the Lord had commanded Moses.

The Glory of God Fills the Tabernacle

[34] Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of' the Lord
filled the tabernacle. [35] And Moses was not able to enter the tent of
meeting, because the cloud abode upon it, and the glory of the Lord filled
the tabernacle. [36] Throughout all their journeys, whenever the cloud was
taken up from over the tabernacle, the people of Israel would go onward;
[37] but if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not go onward till the
day that it was taken up. [38] For throughout all their journeys the cloud
of the Lord was upon the tabernacle by day, and fire was in it by night, in
the sight of all the house of Israel.

Commentary:

40:34-38. The book of Exodus ends by speaking once again about the Lord's
presence among his people, mentioning the cloud and the glory of God (cf. Ex
13:21-22). The cloud will stay with the people throughout their journey in
the desert (cf. Num 9:15ff), showing them the way to go. In Christian
tradition the cloud is seen as an image of faith, which guides the Christian
night and day as he makes his pilgrim way to the promised land. The Fathers
also saw this cloud as a figure of Christ: "He is the pillar who, keeping
himself upright and strong, cures our infirmity. By night he sheds light, by
day he becomes opaque, so that those who do not see are enabled to see and
those who see become blind" (St Isidore of Seville, "Quaestiones In Exodum",
18, 1).

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

From: Matthew 13:47-53

The Net
-------
(Jesus said to His disciples,) [47] "Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like
a net which was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind;
[48] when it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the
good into vessels but threw away the bad. [49] So it will be at the
close of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from
the righteous, [50] and throw them into the furnace of fire; there men
will weep and gnash their teeth.

[51] "Have you understood all this?" They said to Him, "Yes." [52] And
He said to them, "Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the
Kingdom of Heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure
what is new and what is old."

[53] And when Jesus had finished these parables He went away from there.

Commentary:

47. "Fish of every kind": almost all the Greek manuscripts and early
translations say "All kinds of things". A dragnet is very long and
about two meters wide; when it is extended between two boats it forms
double or triple mesh with the result that when it is pulled in it
collects all sorts of things in addition to fish--algae, weeds, rubbish,
etc.

This parable is rather like the parable of the cockle, but in a fishing
context: the net is the Church, the sea the world.

We can easily find in this parable the dogmatic truth of the Judgment:
at the end of time God will judge men and separate the good from the
bad. It is interesting to note our Lord's repeated references to the
last things, especially Judgment and Hell: He emphasizes these truths
because of man's great tendency to forget them: "All these things are
said to make sure that no one can make the excuse that he does not know
about them: this excuse would be valid only if eternal punishment were
spoken about in ambiguous terms" (St. Gregory the Great, "In Evangelia
Homilae", 11).

52. "Scribe": among the Jews a scribe was a religious teacher, a
specialist in sacred Scripture and its application to life. Our Lord
here uses this word to refer to the Apostles, who will have the role of
teachers in His Church. Thus, the Apostles and their successors, the
Bishops, are the "Ecclesia docens", the teaching Church; they have the
authority and the mission to teach. The Pope and the Bishops exercise
this authority directly and are also helped in this by priests. The
other members of the Church form the "Ecclesia discens", the learning
Church. However, every disciple of Christ, every Christian who has
received Christ's teaching, has a duty to pass this teaching on to
others, in language they can understand; therefore, he should make sure
he has a good grasp of Christian doctrine. The treasure of Revelation
is so rich that it can provide teaching which applies to all times and
situations. It is for the word of God to enlighten all ages and
situations--not the other way around. Therefore, the Church and its
pastors preach, not new things, but a single unchanging truth contained

in the treasure of Revelation: for the past two thousand years the
Gospel has always been "good news".

FEAST OF THE DAY

St. Ignatius was born in the town of Loyola in Cantabria. He spent his
early years in the court and in the military. He was forced to give up
a promising military career after receiving a hit in the leg from a
cannon ball. While he was recovering in the hospital, the only
reading available to him was religious reading focusing on the life of
Christ and the lives of various saints.

This reading sparked a conversion in Ignatius and he began to study
theology in Paris, later moving to Rome to continue his studies. In
1534, Ignatius and 6 other men banded together vowing to live in
poverty, chastity and obedience, while also having a special vow to
serve the pope. This group grew and was approved as the Society of
Jesus by Pope Paul III.

This society was instrumental in the years of the Counter
Reformation and did much to combat ignorance and abuse in the
Church. The motto of the order is "ad majorem Dei gloriam", for the
greater glory of God.

During his lifetime Ignatius also wrote and instructed his followers.
One of his most known books, Spiritual Exercises, is still used as a
source for instruction in prayer and retreats. He exercised a most
fruitful apostolate both by his written works and in the training of his
disciples who won great praise for their renewal of the Church.
Ignatius died in Rome in the year 1556. Ignatius is the patron of
soldiers and retreatants.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

Receive Lord, all my liberty, my memory, my understanding and my
whole will. You have given me all that I have, all that I am, and I
surrender all to your divine will, that you dispose of me. Give me only
your love and your grace. With this I am rich enough, and I have no
more to ask. -St. Ignatius Loyola

TODAY IN HISTORY

432 Election of Sixtus III as Pope
448 Death of St, Germanus of Auxerre
1556 Death of St. Ignatius of Loyola

TODAY'S TIDBIT

The Jesuit seal is a sun inscribed with the letters "IHS." These letters
represent the first three letters of Jesus' name in Greek.

INTENTION FOR THE DAY

One of the major ministries of the Jesuit order is education. Please
pray for all students and those who teach them.

The Word Among Us

Thursday, July 31, 2003

Meditation
Matthew 13:47-53

Is death inevitable? Yes. Is there a heaven and a hell? Yes. Will there be a final judgment, a separation of good fish from bad, of goats from sheep, of weeds from wheat? Yes. All these “last things” are real, and they are sobering. However, we should be careful not to let thoughts of the end fill us with unnecessary fear. As Christians, we know that God is a loving Father who has provided us with all we need to stand confident, even on the day of judgment.

Again and again, Scripture reminds us that those who are in Christ are a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17) and that those who believe in Jesus have passed from death to life and do not come into judgment (John 5:24). The freeing truth of the gospel is that as we remain in Christ, we become the “good fish.” We become, in him, “sheep” and not “goats.” We become, in him, “wheat,” not “weeds.”

Does the inevitability of judgment scare you? Or do you avoid the topic and immerse yourself instead in the day-to-day demands of life? For both situations, the answer lies in a deeper revelation of Jesus. He will show you that you don’t have to be afraid of judgment. He will help you place the things in your life in the proper order so that you can fix your eyes on the day when you will see him face to face. As you come to him in prayer and Scripture, he will show you how great a treasure you have in him, and he will show you how to live in a way that pleases his heart.

God wants us to know that baptism is only the beginning of our relationship with him. He wants to sustain us every day by his Holy Spirit. He wants to teach us how to live “in Christ” every day so that, whatever may come our way, we can hold onto his promises of salvation and remain confident that we are redeemed in him. Every day, Jesus wants to give himself to us so that we may give ourselves to him.

“Lord Jesus, I want to be united with you. Please dispel my anxiety about death and judgment. Help me to set my heart on the goal of seeing your face and joining you in the final banquet in your heavenly kingdom.”

One Bread, One Body

<< Thursday, July 31, 2003 >>

St. Ignatius of Loyola

Exodus 40:16-21, 34-38

Psalm 84

Matthew 13:47-53

View Readings

CREATED TO WORSHIP HIM FOREVER

“On the first day of the first month of the second year the Dwelling was erected. It was Moses who erected the Dwelling.” —Exodus 40:17-18

The grand finale of the book of Exodus is the completion of the Dwelling, the place on earth where God was most powerfully and intimately present. The plagues led to the Exodus, leading to the miraculous crossing of the Red Sea. This was followed by Moses’ reception of the divine Law on Mt. Sinai. This finally culminates in the construction of the Dwelling.

The goal of life is to enter into God’s presence most deeply and to worship Him forever in heaven. The plagues, miracles, and laws of our lives are not random. They are ordered to bringing us into the holy of holies of God’s presence to worship Him. We exist “to praise His glory” (Eph 1:12).

Have you focused your life on worshipping God? Do you do “good deeds” and share what you have (Heb 13:16) so as to “continually offer God a sacrifice of praise”? (Heb 13:15) Have you offered “your bodies as a living sacrifice holy and acceptable to God, your spiritual Worship”? (Rm 12:1) You are alive today to worship the Lord. Worship is the goal of your life and the essence of eternity at God’s throne in heaven. Worship Him “in Spirit and truth” (Jn 4:23).

Prayer: Father, more and more make the desire of my heart to worship You.

Promise: “Angels will go out and separate the wicked from the just and hurl the wicked into the fiery furnace.” —Mt 13:49-50

Praise: St. Ignatius asked himself, “What if I should do what St. Francis or St. Dominic did?” and then with God’s grace he did.

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