Catholic Caucus: Daily Mass Readings, 10-06-03, Optional, St. Bruno, Blsd. Marie-Rose Durocher

Reading I
Jon 1:1–2:1-2, 11

This is the word of the LORD that came to Jonah, son of Amittai:

"Set out for the great city of Nineveh, and preach against it;
their wickedness has come up before me."
But Jonah made ready to flee to Tarshish away from the LORD.
He went down to Joppa, found a ship going to Tarshish,
paid the fare, and went aboard to journey with them to Tarshish,
away from the LORD.

The LORD, however, hurled a violent wind upon the sea,
and in the furious tempest that arose
the ship was on the point of breaking up.
Then the mariners became frightened and each one cried to his god.
To lighten the ship for themselves, they threw its cargo into the sea.
Meanwhile, Jonah had gone down into the hold of the ship,
and lay there fast asleep.
The captain came to him and said, "What are you doing asleep?
Rise up, call upon your God!
Perhaps God will be mindful of us so that we may not perish."

Then they said to one another, "Come, let us cast lots
to find out on whose account we have met with this misfortune."
So they cast lots, and thus singled out Jonah.
"Tell us," they said, "what is your business?
Where do you come from?
What is your country, and to what people do you belong?"
Jonah answered them, "I am a Hebrew,
I worship the LORD, the God of heaven,
who made the sea and the dry land."

Now the men were seized with great fear and said to him,
"How could you do such a thing!–
They knew that he was fleeing from the LORD,
because he had told them.–
They asked, "What shall we do with you,
that the sea may quiet down for us?"
For the sea was growing more and more turbulent.
Jonah said to them, "Pick me up and throw me into the sea,
that it may quiet down for you;
since I know it is because of me
that this violent storm has come upon you."

Still the men rowed hard to regain the land, but they could not,
for the sea grew ever more turbulent.
Then they cried to the LORD: "We beseech you, O LORD,
let us not perish for taking this man's life;
do not charge us with shedding innocent blood,
for you, LORD, have done as you saw fit."
Then they took Jonah and threw him into the sea,
and the sea's raging abated.
Struck with great fear of the LORD,
the men offered sacrifice and made vows to him.

But the LORD sent a large fish, that swallowed Jonah;
and Jonah remained in the belly of the fish
three days and three nights.
From the belly of the fish Jonah prayed
to the LORD, his God.
Then the LORD commanded the fish to spew Jonah upon the shore.

Responsorial Psalm
Jonah 2:3, 4, 5, 8

R You will rescue my life from the pit, O Lord.
Out of my distress I called to the LORD,
and he answered me;
From the midst of the nether world I cried for help,
and you heard my voice.
R You will rescue my life from the pit, O Lord.
For you cast me into the deep, into the heart of the sea,
and the flood enveloped me;
All your breakers and your billows
passed over me.
R You will rescue my life from the pit, O Lord.
Then I said, "I am banished from your sight!
yet would I again look upon your holy temple."
R You will rescue my life from the pit, O Lord.
When my soul fainted within me,
I remembered the LORD;
My prayer reached you
in your holy temple.
R You will rescue my life from the pit, O Lord.

Gospel
Lk 10:25-37

There was a scholar of the law who stood up to test Jesus and said,
"Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
Jesus said to him, "What is written in the law?
How do you read it?"
He said in reply,
"You shall love the Lord, your God,
with all your heart,
with all your being,
with all your strength,
and with all your mind,
and your neighbor as yourself."
He replied to him, "You have answered correctly;
do this and you will live."

But because he wished to justify himself, he said to Jesus,
"And who is my neighbor?"
Jesus replied,
"A man fell victim to robbers
as he went down from Jerusalem to Jericho.
They stripped and beat him and went off leaving him half-dead.
A priest happened to be going down that road,
but when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side.
Likewise a Levite came to the place,
and when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side.
But a Samaritan traveler who came upon him
was moved with compassion at the sight.
He approached the victim,
poured oil and wine over his wounds and bandaged them.
Then he lifted him up on his own animal,
took him to an inn, and cared for him.
The next day he took out two silver coins
and gave them to the innkeeper with the instruction,
‘Take care of him.
If you spend more than what I have given you,
I shall repay you on my way back.'
Which of these three, in your opinion,
was neighbor to the robbers' victim?"
He answered, "The one who treated him with mercy."
Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise."

From: Luke 10:25-37

Parable of the Good Samaritan

[25] And behold, a lawyer stood up to put Him (Jesus) to the test,
saying, "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" [26] He
said to him, "What is written in the law? How do you read?" [27] And
he answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and
with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your
mind: and your neighbor as yourself." [28] And He said to him, "You
have answered right; do this, and you will live." [29] But he,
desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"
[30] Jesus replied, "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho,
and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him, and departed,
leaving him half dead. [31] Now by chance a priest was going down that
road; and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. [32] So
likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on
the other side. [33] But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where
he was; and when he saw him, he had compassion, [34] and went to him
and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; then he set him on
his own beast and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. [35]
And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the
inn-keeper, saying, "Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, I
will repay you when I come back.' [36] Which of these three, do you
think, proved neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?" [37] He
said, "The one who showed mercy on him." And Jesus said to him, "Go
and do likewise."

Commentary:

25-28. Our Lord's teaching is that the way to attain eternal life is
through faithful fulfillment of the Law of God. The Ten Commandments,
which God gave Moses on Mount Sinai (Exodus 20:1-17), express the
natural law in a clear and concrete way. It is part of Christian
teaching that the natural law exists, that it is a participation by
rational creatures in the Eternal Law and that it is impressed on the
conscience of every man when he is created by God (cf. Leo XIII,
"Libertas Praestantissimum"). Obviously, therefore, the natural law,
expressed in the Ten Commandments, cannot change or become outdated,
for it is not dependent on man's will or on changing circumstances.

In this passage, Jesus praises and accepts the summary of the Law given
by the Jewish scribe. This reply, taken from Deuteronomy (6:4ff), was
a prayer which the Jews used to say frequently. Our Lord gives the
very same reply when He is asked which is the principal commandment of
the Law and concludes His answer by saying, "On these two commandments
depend all the law and the prophets" (Matthew 22:40; cf. also Romans
13:8-9; Galatians 5:14).

There is a hierarchy and order in these two commandments constituting
the double precept of charity: before everything and above everything
comes loving God in Himself; in the second place, and as a consequence
of the first commandment, comes loving one's neighbor, for God
explicitly requires us to do so (1 John 4:21; cf. notes on Matthew
22:34-40 and 22:37-38).

This passage of the Gospel also included another basic doctrine: the
Law of God is not something negative--"Do not do this"--but something
completely positive--love. Holiness, to which all baptized people are
called, does not consist in not sinning, but in loving, in doing
positive things, in bearing fruit in the form of love of God. When our
Lord describes for us the Last Judgment He stresses this positive
aspect of the Law of God (Matthew 25:31-46). The reward of eternal
life will be given to those who do good.

27. "Yes, our only occupation here on earth is that of loving God--that
is, to start doing what we will be doing for all eternity. Why must we
love God? Well, because our happiness consists in love of God; it can
consist in nothing else. So, if we do not love God, we will always be
unhappy; and if we wish to enjoy any consolation and relief in our
pains, we will attain it only by recourse to love of God. If you want
to be convinced of this, go and find the happiest man according to the
world; if he does not love God, you will find that in fact he is an
unhappy man. And, on the contrary, if you discover the man most
unhappy in the eyes of the world, you will see that because he loves
God he is happy in every way. Oh my God!, open the eyes of our souls,
and we will seek our happiness where we truly can find it" (St. John
Mary Vianney, "Selected Sermons", Twenty-second Sunday after
Pentecost).

29-37. In this moving parable, which only St. Luke gives us, our Lord
explains very graphically who our neighbor is and how we should show
charity towards him, even if he is our enemy.

Following other Fathers, St. Augustine ("De Verbis Domini Sermones",
37) identifies the Good Samaritan with our Lord, and the waylaid man
with Adam, the source and symbol of all fallen mankind. Moved by
compassion and piety, He comes down to earth to cure man's wounds,
making them His own (Isaiah 53:4; Matthew 8:17; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John
3:5). In fact, we often see Jesus being moved by man's suffering (cf.
Matthew 9:36; Mark 1:41; Luke 7:13). And St. John says: "In this the
love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent His only Son into
the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that
we loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the expiation
for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one
another" (1 John 4:9-11).

This parable leaves no doubt about who our neighbor is--anyone (without
distinction of race or relationship) who needs our help; nor about how
we should love him--by taking pity on him, being compassionate towards
his spiritual and corporal needs; and it is not just a matter of having
the right feelings towards him; we must do something, we must
generously serve him.

Christians, who are disciples of Christ, should share His love and
compassion, never distancing themselves from others' needs. One way to
express love for one's neighbor is perform the "works of mercy", which
get their name from the fact that they are not duties in justice.
There are fourteen such works, seven spiritual and seven corporal. The
spiritual are: To convert the sinner; To instruct the ignorant; To
counsel the doubtful; To comfort the sorrowful; To bear wrongs
patiently; To forgive injuries; To pray for the living and the dead.
The corporal works are: To feed the hungry; To give drink to the
thirsty; To clothe the naked; To shelter the homeless; To visit the
sick; To visit the imprisoned; To bury the dead.

31-32. Very probably one reason why our Lord used this parable was to
correct one of the excesses of false piety common among His
contemporaries. According to the Law of Moses, contact with dead
bodies involved legal impurity, from which one was cleansed by various
ablutions (cf. Numbers 19:11-22; Leviticus 21:1-4, 11-12). These
regulations were not meant to prevent people from helping the injured;
they were designed for reasons of hygiene and respect for the dead.
The aberration of the priest and the Levite in this parable consisted
in this: they did not know for sure whether the man who had been
assaulted was dead or not, and they preferred to apply a wrong
interpretation of a secondary, ritualistic precept of the Law rather
than obey the more important commandment of loving one's neighbor and
giving him whatever help one can.

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.

FEAST OF THE DAY

St. Bruno was born in the city of Cologne near the beginning of the
eleventh century. He was educated and ordained to the priesthood.
As a priest, he criticized decadence in the clergy. He served as
chancellor of the archdiocese for a while.

Once, while he was praying, he envisioned a secluded hermitage
where he could devote his life to God. He set out with a few of his
friends and founded such a hermitage on some land, which was
given to him. This hermitage became the first house of the
Carthusians. St. Bruno organized the daily activities of his for his
friends. The whole community came together for morning and
evening prayer and for meals on special feast days. The monastery
supported itself by copying manuscripts. Bruno died around 1100,
and his feast was extended to the whole Church in 1674.

Bl. Marie-Rose Durocher was born in 1811 in a little village outside
Montreal in the newly independent Canada. She was the tenth of
eleven children of a Catholic family. She received an education, and
wished to enter a religious community, but she was turned down
because she was too frail. Instead, she moved in with her brother,
who was a priest, and became his housekeeper.

At this time, Canada was considered one diocese and services
provided by the Church were sparse. Ignace Bourget, bishop of
Montreal, searched through Europe for communities willing to send
religious to his diocese especially to help in education. He was
mostly unsuccessful in bringing in existing orders, so he helped
found four new religious communities.

Bl. Marie-Rose was someone who helped him form one of these
communities. Under the guidance of her spiritual director, she
decided to follow her vocation to the religious life. Since no order
would accept her, she was encouraged by her director and the
bishop to begin a new order. At first, she was very hesitant, but soon
she had gathered several followers and began to teach an all girls
school in a town near Montreal. In the remaining six years of her life,
from the time she founded her order, she managed to give the
Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary a strong foundation.
She set up her order to provide Catholic education, and it continued
this work after she died.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

Do not imitate those persons who, after having spent a few months
as a postulant or novice in a community, dress differently, even
ludicrously. You are returning to the secular state. My advice is,
follow the styles of the day, but from afar, as it were. - Marie-Rose
Durocher (giving advice to a novice leaving the religious life)

TODAY IN HISTORY

891 Formosus begins his reign as Pope
1979 Pope John Paul II is first Pope to visit the White House

TODAY'S TIDBIT

The Carthusians were founded upon the motto "While the world
changes, the cross stands firm." They set out to "seek God
assiduously, to find God promptly, and to posses God fully."

INTENTION FOR THE DAY

October is a month dedicated to Mary and the Rosary, please pray
that all people may come to a greater appreciation of Jesus and his
Blessed Mother through the mysteries of the Rosary.

The Word Among Us

Monday, October 06, 2003

Meditation
Jonah 1:1–2:1,11

Did you know that ancient Nineveh, where God told the reluctant prophet Jonah to go, is just across the Tigris River from modern-day Mosul in Iraq? Jonah resisted God’s call at first, trying to get as far away from Nineveh as he could. But he ended up not in the safety of the distant city of Tarshish, but in the belly of a huge fish, floating precariously between life and death. Jonah didn’t want to go to Nineveh because he didn’t think the people there were worth his time or effort. In his mind, the Ninevites didn’t deserve to hear the good news of God’s mercy. He would have been much happier to see them suffer the wrath of God than hear about his mercy, repent, and be spared (Jonah 4:2-3). Jonah knew God would save the Ninevites if they repented, and that’s the very thing he wanted to avoid.

It’s interesting that this story of Jonah is paired today with Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan. In this story, someone whom Jonah might have just as quickly condemned—a Samaritan—is the hero, showing compassion and Christlike love for a traditional enemy—a Jew—who had been robbed, beaten, and left for dead. As in the story of Jonah, in this parable, we once more see that those whom we might initially dismiss as unworthy can often surprise us—and convict us of our own lack of compassion.

What’s the best way to respond to these stories? By practicing the mercy that the Good Samaritan showed, the mercy that Jonah wanted to withhold from the Ninevites. Perhaps another way to respond would be by praying for all the people who have suffered the devastation of war. God wants us to look upon people of all backgrounds as he does: as part of his beloved creation who are just as worthy of his love and generosity as anyone else.

“Lord Jesus, teach me to love and to forgive. Let me become an instrument of your healing in every situation you place in my path.”

One Bread, One Body

<< Monday, October 6, 2003 >>

St. Bruno
Bl. Rose Marie Durocher

Jonah 1:1—2:1, 11

Jonah 2:2-5, 8

Luke 10:25-37

View Readings

WHAT TO DO WITH YOUR ENEMIES

“Now the men were seized with great fear and said to him, ‘How could you do such a thing!’ — They knew that he was fleeing from the Lord.” —Jonah 1:10

The Lord called Jonah to convert the Ninevites, the people he probably hated most (see Jon 1:1ff; Na 1:1ff). The Holy Spirit called the early Church to convert the Samaritans, who were among the people these Jewish Christians formerly had hated most (see Acts 1:8; Lk 10:33ff). The early Christians eventually converted much of the Roman empire. Christians naturally were tempted to hate Romans, since they had martyred so many Christians.

Throughout most of Christian history, there has been reason to believe that Christians are called to convert the Muslims. This has not happened to any great extent. Possibly we don’t love Muslims very much.

Why don’t more black people convert more white people to Jesus? Or why don’t more whites convert more blacks? Without love, we are nothing and “gain nothing” (1 Cor 13:3).

Why do so many Christians disobey Christ and refuse to share their faith? If we lack the love to work in what may be our most fruitful mission fields, we have deprived ourselves of the best inspiration for enthusiasm in evangelization.

We either forgive, love, and evangelize our enemies, or we warp the dynamics of life in Christ. Love the most unlovable and give them your best, that is, your faith.

Prayer: Father, open my eyes to the reasons behind my temptations to hate my enemies.

Promise: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” —Lk 10:27

Praise: Because St. Bruno stood up for truth, he made an enemy of a powerful man at whose hands he suffered persecution.

Homily of the Day

Homily of the Day

Title:	Are You Just Living on the Surface?
Author:	Monsignor Dennis Clark, Ph.D.
Date:	Monday, October 6, 2003

Jonah 1:1-2:11 / Lk 10:25-37

Educators make a key distinction between what they call "surface knowledge" as opposed to what's known as "dynamic knowledge." Surface knowledge encompasses most of what is traditionally learned in schools. For example, how many persons there are in the Trinity, or in what year Columbus first set foot in the new world. Such knowledge is easily forgotten and has little effect on life. On the other hand, there's dynamic knowledge which encompasses the information and insights - wholesome or otherwise - that actually come into play when we make choices. In that category, we'd hope to find judgments such as, "God can be trusted," and "There is life after death."

Most Catholic adults and, indeed, most of their children know the story of the Good Samaritan, which is today's gospel. And most of us would have a ready answer to the question, "According to Jesus, who is my neighbor?" Our answer would be simple and clear: "Everybody," and our answer would be right. But that doesn't close the matter. There's a further question: Is our right answer surface knowledge or dynamic knowledge? Is it strictly correct information, or does it actually affect and determine the way we live?

That's the crucial question for us all, and it can be phrased in another way: How Christian are we, in fact? Does Jesus' teaching determine our priorities, our lifestyle, the way we do business, the way we treat one another, our willingness to forgive, our readiness to help? It's a chilling thought to remember that Stalin, Hitler, and Mussolini were all baptized Christians who knew their prayers by heart.

So how Christian are you really? Check the patterns of your daily choices, and you'll know right away. The patterns never lie.

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