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Thứ Tư, 16 tháng 10, 2013

OCTOBER 17, 2013 : MEMORIAL OF SAINT IGNATIUS OF ANTIOCH, BISHOP AND MARTYR

Memorial of Saint Ignatius of Antioch, Bishop and Martyr 
Lectionary: 470

Reading 1ROM 3:21-30
Brothers and sisters:
Now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law,
though testified to by the law and the prophets,
the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ
for all who believe.
For there is no distinction;
all have sinned and are deprived of the glory of God.
They are justified freely by his grace
through the redemption in Christ Jesus,
whom God set forth as an expiation,
through faith, by his Blood, to prove his righteousness
because of the forgiveness of sins previously committed,
through the forbearance of God–
to prove his righteousness in the present time,
that he might be righteous
and justify the one who has faith in Jesus.

What occasion is there then for boasting? It is ruled out.
On what principle, that of works?
No, rather on the principle of faith.
For we consider that a person is justified by faith
apart from works of the law.
Does God belong to Jews alone?
Does he not belong to Gentiles, too?
Yes, also to Gentiles, for God is one
and will justify the circumcised on the basis of faith
and the uncircumcised through faith.
Responsorial PsalmPS 130:1B-2, 3-4, 5-6AB
R. (7) With the Lord there is mercy, and fullness of redemption.
Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD;
LORD, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive
to my voice in supplication.
R. 
With the Lord there is mercy, and fullness of redemption.
If you, O LORD, mark iniquities,
Lord, who can stand?
But with you is forgiveness,
that you may be revered.
R. 
With the Lord there is mercy, and fullness of redemption.
I trust in the LORD;
my soul trusts in his word.
My soul waits for the LORD
more than sentinels wait for the dawn.
R. 
With the Lord there is mercy, and fullness of redemption.
The Lord said:
“Woe to you who build the memorials of the prophets
whom your fathers killed.
Consequently, you bear witness and give consent
to the deeds of your ancestors,
for they killed them and you do the building.
Therefore, the wisdom of God said,
‘I will send to them prophets and Apostles;
some of them they will kill and persecute’
in order that this generation might be charged
with the blood of all the prophets
shed since the foundation of the world,
from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah
who died between the altar and the temple building.
Yes, I tell you, this generation will be charged with their blood!
Woe to you, scholars of the law!
You have taken away the key of knowledge.
You yourselves did not enter and you stopped those trying to enter.”
When Jesus left, the scribes and Pharisees
began to act with hostility toward him
and to interrogate him about many things,
for they were plotting to catch him at something he might say.


Meditation: "You have taken away the key of knowledge"
Do you believe God's word and obey it? God sent his prophets to open the ears of his people to hear and understand God's word and intention for their lives. God's wisdom is personified in the voice of the prophets, a voice that usually brought rejection and martyrdom because they spoke for God rather than for human approval and favor. Jesus chastised many of the religious leaders of his day for being double-minded and for demanding from others standards which they refused to satisfy. They professed admiration for the prophets by building their tombs while at the same time they opposed their message and closed their ears to the word of God.
What does Jesus mean when he says they have taken away the key of knowledge? The religious lawyers and scribes held the "office of the keys" since they were the official interpreters of the scriptures. Unfortunately their interpretation of the scriptures became so distorted and difficult to understand that others were "shut off" to the scriptures. They not only shut themselves to heaven; they also hindered others from understanding God's word. Through pride and envy, they rejected not only the prophets of old, but God's final prophet, the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus is the "key of David" (see Isaiah 22:22; Revelations 3:7) who opens heaven to those who accept him as Lord and Savior. He is the "Wisdom of God" and source of everlasting life. Only the humble of heart – those who thirst for God and acknowledge his word as true – can truly understand this wisdom. [See Psalm 119:99ff: "I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation."] God is ever ready to speak his word to us and to give us true wisdom and understanding. Do you hunger for the wisdom which comes from above?
"Lord Jesus, may your word take root in my heart and transform all my thoughts and actions. Give me wisdom and understanding that I may know your will for my life and have the courage to live according to it."

History Need Not Repeat Itself
Memorial of Saint Ignatius of Antioch, bishop and martyr
Father Daniel Ray, LC

Luke 11: 47-54
The Lord said: "Woe to you! You build the memorials of the prophets whom your ancestors killed. Consequently, you bear witness and give consent to the deeds of your ancestors, for they killed them and you do the building. Therefore, the wisdom of God said, ´I will send to them prophets and apostles; some of them they will kill and persecute´ in order that this generation might be charged with the blood of all the prophets shed since the foundation of the world, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah who died between the altar and the temple building. Yes, I tell you, this generation will be charged with their blood! Woe to you, scholars of the law! You have taken away the key of knowledge. You yourselves did not enter and you stopped those trying to enter." When he left, the scribes and Pharisees began to act with hostility toward him and to interrogate him about many things, for they were plotting to catch him at something he might say.
Introductory Prayer: Lord, I believe that you are present here as I turn to you in prayer. I trust and have confidence in your desire to give me every grace I need to receive today. Thank you for your love, thank you for your immense generosity toward me. I give you my life and my love in return.
Petition: Lord Jesus Christ, help me to follow your example and set a good example for others.
1. History Will Teach Us Something: Israel’s response to God’s love, as seen in the Old Testament, is pocked and pitted with infidelity, abuse, and ingratitude. At times the people outright reject God and whomever he sends to guide them back to his loving care. These falls from God’s grace are instructive for us today. We see the grandeur of what God did for the people of Israel and marvel at it. We should be aghast at how a people who received so much could respond so little. But more than this, we need to use this history of Israel as a mirror in which to regard our own lives: to recognize the same patterns of failure and lack of fidelity in our own lives and use this self-reflection to inspire us to return to the Lord. If we fail to admit our weaknesses and failures, however, we will be like the Pharisees to whom Christ spoke, who brought the blood of the prophets upon their own heads because of their stubbornness and hardness of heart.
2. History Repeats Itself: On one occasion Christ warns the disciples that if this is the way he is treated, they should expect no less themselves (cf. John 15:20). Do we honestly expect not to have to face some difficulty as disciples of the Lord? Of course not. But what if that difficulty comes from within? This is from where the most serious menaces to our discipleship come. Our pride, our vanity, our love of comfort: these are the battlegrounds and the martyrs’ fields where first and foremost we need to suffer for being a disciple of the Lord. The prophets and martyrs who suffered for their zeal for the Lord did so even up to the cost of their lives. He might not need us to lay our lives on the line in quite the same way, but an interior sacrifice is what Christ does ask of everyone whom he calls.
3. Stoppage Time: One of the key moments in Edith Stein’s conversion happened when she went into a Catholic Church to see what it was like, and as she sat there in silence, an older woman came in to spend a few moments with Christ in the Eucharist. She had groceries in her hand and was obviously on her way home to prepare dinner. For young Edith, still struggling with belief in God, it was an example of just how grounded in day-to-day reality the Catholic faith is. There is little chance that woman ever knew the importance her example played in helping form this future saint and patroness of Europe, but the woman’s authentic faith was just what Edith needed to see. Our living witness is critical for those around us, whether or not we ever see or hear of the consequence. We can serve as an occasion of grace, or we can be a stumbling block on the path that delays someone from arriving at the place God wants to lead them.
Conversation with Christ: Lord, I know that I am an integral part in your plan to save souls. You have the confidence to use me as a channel of your grace for those around me, particularly those closest to me. I offer you my life today. Use me as a channel of grace and a testimony to your love.
Resolution: I will offer to God today the sacrifice necessary to change something in my behavior that might be an obstacle for someone else coming to know Christ better. 

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 17, LUKE 11:47-54
(Romans 3:21-30; Psalm 130)

KEY VERSE: "Woe to you! You build the memorials of the prophets whom your ancestors killed" (v 47). 
READING: 
Jesus continued his tirade against the scribes, the "scholars of the law" (v 45). By their superficial religiosity, they were following in the footsteps of their ancestors who killed the prophets. While they piously built memorials to the prophets, they refused to do what the prophets required: "to do right...love goodness, and to walk humbly with God" (Micah 6:8). The blood of those who died for the truth stretched from "A-Z": Abel to Zechariah, the first and last murders in the Hebrew canon of scripture (Gn 4:8; 2 Chr 24:20-22). Jesus charged the Scribes of depriving people of the key to the knowledge of God's kingdom by distorting God's word and not practicing it themselves. 
REFLECTING: 
Do I support the struggle of today's prophets and martyrs?
PRAYING: 
Lord Jesus, I pray for all who faithfully witness to the Gospel even to the point of death.

Memorial of Ignatius of Antioch, bishop and martyr


Ignatius was born in Syria, around the year 50. He was a convert from paganism to Christianity. If we include St. Peter, Ignatius was the third Bishop of Antioch and the immediate successor of Evodius. All the qualities of an ideal pastor were possessed by the Bishop of Antioch. When the persecution of the Emperor Domitian broke in its full fury upon the Christians of Syria, it found their faithful leader unremitting in his efforts to inspire hope and to strengthen his flock against the terrors of the persecution. An enthusiastic devotion to duty, a passionate love of sacrifice, and an utter fearlessness in the defense of Christian truth proves that in every sense Ignatius was a true pastor of souls, the good shepherd who lay down his life for his sheep. During the persecution of the Emperor Trajan, he was taken to Rome. On the journey, which took months, he wrote a series of encouraging letters to the churches under his care. Ignatius of Antioch was the first writer to use the term the "catholic" Church. He died a martyr c.107 at Rome, killed by wild animals. His relics are at Saint Peter's, Rome. "I am writing to all the churches to let it be known that I will gladly die for God if only you do not stand in my way. I plead with you: show me no untimely kindness. Let me be food for the wild beasts, for they are my way to God. I am God's wheat and bread. 

With the Lord there is mercy, and fullness of redemption. 
Today is the feast of Ignatius of Antioch, a first century bishop and martyr.
Ignatius was a key witness to the basic elements of the faith, especially the centrality of the Eucharist and the role of the local bishop as a source of unity and leadership. His steadfast proclamation of the Gospel led to his martyrdom. In the gospel, Jesus reminds us that the persecution of prophets and apostles is a reality when people are closed to the Good News. While Jesus addresses the hypocrisy of the leaders and lawyers among the Jews, his words remind us that we can all drift into such hypocrisy and be deaf to the prophets in our midst. 

October 17
St. Ignatius of Antioch
(d. 107?)

Born in Syria, Ignatius converted to Christianity and eventually became bishop of Antioch. In the year 107, Emperor Trajan visited Antioch and forced the Christians there to choose between death and apostasy. Ignatius would not deny Christ and thus was condemned to be put to death in Rome.
Ignatius is well known for the seven letters he wrote on the long journey from Antioch to Rome. Five of these letters are to Churches in Asia Minor; they urge the Christians there to remain faithful to God and to obey their superiors. He warns them against heretical doctrines, providing them with the solid truths of the Christian faith.
The sixth letter was to Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna, who was later martyred for the faith. The final letter begs the Christians in Rome not to try to stop his martyrdom. "The only thing I ask of you is to allow me to offer the libation of my blood to God. I am the wheat of the Lord; may I be ground by the teeth of the beasts to become the immaculate bread of Christ."
Ignatius bravely met the lions in the Circus Maximus.


Comment:

Ignatius's great concern was for the unity and order of the Church. Even greater was his willingness to suffer martyrdom rather than deny his Lord Jesus Christ. Not to his own suffering did Ignatius draw attention, but to the love of God which strengthened him. He knew the price of commitment and would not deny Christ, even to save his own life.
Quote:

"I greet you from Smyrna together with the Churches of God present here with me. They comfort me in every way, both in body and in soul. My chains, which I carry about on me for Jesus Christ, begging that I may happily make my way to God, exhort you: persevere in your concord and in your community prayers" (Ignatius of Antioch, Letter to the Church at Tralles).

LECTIO: LUKE 11,47-54
Lectio: 
 Thursday, October 17, 2013  
Ordinary Time


1) Opening prayer
Lord,
our help and guide,
make your love the foundation of our lives.
May our love for you express itself
in our eagerness to do good for others.
You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

2) Gospel Reading - Luke 11,47-54
Jesus said: 'Alas for you because you build tombs for the prophets, the people your ancestors killed! In this way you both witness to what your ancestors did and approve it; they did the killing, you do the building.
'And that is why the Wisdom of God said, "I will send them prophets and apostles; some they will slaughter and persecute, so that this generation will have to answer for every prophet's blood that has been shed since the foundation of the world, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the Temple." Yes, I tell you, this generation will have to answer for it all.
'Alas for you lawyers who have taken away the key of knowledge! You have not gone in yourselves and have prevented others from going in who wanted to.'
When he left there, the scribes and the Pharisees began a furious attack on him and tried to force answers from him on innumerable questions, lying in wait to catch him out in something he might say.

3) Reflection
• Once again for the one hundredth time, today’s Gospel speaks about the conflict between Jesus and the religious authorities of that time.
• Luke 11, 47-48: Alas for you because you build tombs for the prophets. “Alas for you because you build tombs for the prophets, the people your ancestors killed! In this way you both witness to what your ancestors did and approve it; they did the killing, you do the building”. Mathew says that these were the Scribes and the Pharisees (Mt 23, 19). Jesus’ reasoning is clear. If the ancestors killed the prophets and the sons built the toms, it is because the sons approved the crime of their fathers; besides everybody knows that the dead prophet does not disturb anybody. In this way the sons become witnesses and accomplice of the same crime (cf. Mt 23, 29-32).
• Luke 11, 49-51: To ask for an account of the blood that has been shed since the foundation of the world. “That is why the wisdom of God said: I will send them prophets and apostles; some they will slaughter and persecute, so that this generation will have to answer for every prophet’s blood that has been shed since the foundation of the world, from the blood of Able to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the Temple. Yes, I tell you, this generation lying in wait to catch him out in something he might say”. Compared with the Gospel of Matthew, Luke usually offers a brief version of Matthew’s text. But here he increases the observations: “shed since the creation of the world, of the blood of Abel”. He did the same thing with the genealogy of Jesus. Matthew, who wrote for the converted Jews, begins with Abraham (Mt 1, 1.2.17), while Luke goes back to Adam (Lk 3, 38). Luke universalizes and includes the Pagans, then he writes his Gospel for the converted Pagans. The information about the murdering of Zechariah in the Temple is given in the Book of Chronicles: “The spirit of God then invested Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest. He stood up before the people and said, ‘God says this, ‘Why transgress Yahweh’s commands to your certain ruin? For if you abandon Yahweh, he will abandon you. Then they plotted against him and at the king’s order stoned him in the court of the Temple of Yahweh” (2Cr 24, 20-21). Jesus knew the story of his people to the minutest detail. He knew that he would be the next one on the list from Abel to Zechariah; and up until now the list continues to be open. Many people have died for the cause of justice and of truth.
• Luke 11, 52: Alas for you Doctors of the Law. “Alas for you lawyers who have taken away the key of knowledge. You have not gone in yourselves and have prevented others from going in who wanted to”. How do they close the Kingdom? They believe that they have the monopoly of knowledge in regard to God and to God’s Law and they impose on others they own way, without leaving a margin for a different idea. They present God as a severe judge and in the name of God they impose laws and norms which have nothing to do with the commandments of God, they falsify the image of the Kingdom and kill in others the desire to serve God and the Kingdom. A community which organizes itself around this false god “does not enter into the Kingdom”, neither is it an expression of the Kingdom, and prevents its members from entering into the Kingdom. It is important to notice the difference between Matthew and Luke. Matthew speaks about the entrance into the Kingdom of Heaven and the phrase is written in the verbal form in the present: "Alas for you, lawyers of the Law and Pharisees, hypocrites, who close the Kingdom of Heaven before men, because in this way you do not enter and you prevent others from going in who wanted to enter.(Mt 23, 13). The expression to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven could mean to enter in Heaven after death, but it is probable that it is a question of entering into the community, around Jesus and in the communities of the first Christians. Luke speaks about the key of knowledge and the phrase is written in the verbal form in the past. Luke simply ascertains the pretension of the Scribes to possess the key of knowledge in regard to God and to the law of God prevents them from recognizing Jesus as Messiah and prevents the Jewish people from recognizing Jesus as Messiah: You take possession of the key of knowledge. You yourselves do not enter and you prevent others to enter.
• Luke 11, 53-54: The reaction against Jesus. The reaction of the religious authority against Jesus was immediate. “When he left there, the Scribes and the Pharisees began a furious attack on hi, and tried to force answers from him on innumerable questions, lying in wait to catch him out in something he might say”. Since they considered themselves the only true interpreters of the Law of God, they tried to provoke Jesus on questions of interpretation of the Bible so as to be able to surprise him in something which he would say. Thus the opposition against Jesus and the desire to eliminate it continues to grow. (Lk 6, 11; 11, 53-54; 19, 48; 20, 19-20; 22, 2).

4) Personal questions
• Many persons who wanted to enter were prevented from doing it and they no longer believed because of the anti-evangelical attitude of the priests. Do you have any experience regarding this?
• The Scribes began to criticize Jesus who thought and acted in a different way. It is not difficult to find reasons for criticizing anyone who thinks differently from me. Do you have any experience regardi8ng this?

5) Concluding prayer
Yahweh has made known his saving power,
revealed his saving justice for the nations to see,
mindful of his faithful love
and his constancy to the House of Israel. (Ps 98,2-3)



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