Friday of the Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 471
Lectionary: 471
Brothers and
sisters:
What can we say that Abraham found,
our ancestor according to the flesh?
Indeed, if Abraham was justified on the basis of his works,
he has reason to boast;
but this was not so in the sight of God.
For what does the Scripture say?
Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.
A worker’s wage is credited not as a gift, but as something due.
But when one does not work,
yet believes in the one who justifies the ungodly,
his faith is credited as righteousness.
So also David declares the blessedness of the person
to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:
Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven
and whose sins are covered.
Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord does not record.
What can we say that Abraham found,
our ancestor according to the flesh?
Indeed, if Abraham was justified on the basis of his works,
he has reason to boast;
but this was not so in the sight of God.
For what does the Scripture say?
Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.
A worker’s wage is credited not as a gift, but as something due.
But when one does not work,
yet believes in the one who justifies the ungodly,
his faith is credited as righteousness.
So also David declares the blessedness of the person
to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:
Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven
and whose sins are covered.
Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord does not record.
Responsorial PsalmPS 32:1B-2, 5, 11
R. (see 7) I turn to you, Lord, in time of trouble, and
you fill me with the joy of salvation.
Blessed is he whose fault is taken away,
whose sin is covered.
Blessed the man to whom the LORD imputes not guilt,
in whose spirit there is no guile.
R. I turn to you, Lord, in time of trouble, and you fill me with the joy of salvation.
Then I acknowledged my sin to you,
my guilt I covered not.
I said, “I confess my faults to the LORD,”
and you took away the guilt of my sin.
R. I turn to you, Lord, in time of trouble, and you fill me with the joy of salvation.
Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, you just;
exult, all you upright of heart.
R. I turn to you, Lord, in time of trouble, and you fill me with the joy of salvation.
Blessed is he whose fault is taken away,
whose sin is covered.
Blessed the man to whom the LORD imputes not guilt,
in whose spirit there is no guile.
R. I turn to you, Lord, in time of trouble, and you fill me with the joy of salvation.
Then I acknowledged my sin to you,
my guilt I covered not.
I said, “I confess my faults to the LORD,”
and you took away the guilt of my sin.
R. I turn to you, Lord, in time of trouble, and you fill me with the joy of salvation.
Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, you just;
exult, all you upright of heart.
R. I turn to you, Lord, in time of trouble, and you fill me with the joy of salvation.
AlleluiaPS 33:22
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
May your kindness, O LORD, be upon us;
who have put our hope in you.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
May your kindness, O LORD, be upon us;
who have put our hope in you.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
GospelLK 12:1-7
At that time:
So many people were crowding together
that they were trampling one another underfoot.
Jesus began to speak, first to his disciples,
“Beware of the leaven–that is, the hypocrisy–of the Pharisees.
“There is nothing concealed that will not be revealed,
nor secret that will not be known.
Therefore whatever you have said in the darkness
will be heard in the light,
and what you have whispered behind closed doors
will be proclaimed on the housetops.
I tell you, my friends,
do not be afraid of those who kill the body
but after that can do no more.
I shall show you whom to fear.
Be afraid of the one who after killing
has the power to cast into Gehenna;
yes, I tell you, be afraid of that one.
Are not five sparrows sold for two small coins?
Yet not one of them has escaped the notice of God.
Even the hairs of your head have all been counted.
Do not be afraid.
You are worth more than many sparrows.”
So many people were crowding together
that they were trampling one another underfoot.
Jesus began to speak, first to his disciples,
“Beware of the leaven–that is, the hypocrisy–of the Pharisees.
“There is nothing concealed that will not be revealed,
nor secret that will not be known.
Therefore whatever you have said in the darkness
will be heard in the light,
and what you have whispered behind closed doors
will be proclaimed on the housetops.
I tell you, my friends,
do not be afraid of those who kill the body
but after that can do no more.
I shall show you whom to fear.
Be afraid of the one who after killing
has the power to cast into Gehenna;
yes, I tell you, be afraid of that one.
Are not five sparrows sold for two small coins?
Yet not one of them has escaped the notice of God.
Even the hairs of your head have all been counted.
Do not be afraid.
You are worth more than many sparrows.”
Meditation: "Do
not fear those who kill the body"
What does leaven have to do with hypocrisy?
To the Jews leaven was a sign of evil. It was a piece of dough
from left-over bread which fermented. Fermentation was associated with decay
and rotting - the state of foul-smelling decomposition. Why did Jesus warn his
disciples to avoid the ways of the Pharisees? The Pharisees wanted everyone to
recognize that they were pious and good Jews because they meticulously and
scrupulously performed their religious duties. Jesus turned the table on them
by declaring that outward appearance doesn't always match the inward intentions
of the heart. Anyone can display outward signs of goodness while inwardly
harboring evil thoughts and intentions.
God's light exposes darkness and transforms our minds and hearts
The word hypocrite means actor - someone who pretends to be what he or she is not. But who can truly be good, but God alone? Hypocrisy thrives on making a good appearance and masking what they don't want others to see. The good news is that God's light exposes the darkness of evil and sin in our hearts, even the sin which is unknown to us. And God's light transforms our hearts and minds and enables us to overcome hatred with love, pride with humility, and pretense with integrity and truthfulness. God gives grace to the humble and contrite of heart to enable us to overcome the leaven of insincerity and hypocrisy in our lives.
The word hypocrite means actor - someone who pretends to be what he or she is not. But who can truly be good, but God alone? Hypocrisy thrives on making a good appearance and masking what they don't want others to see. The good news is that God's light exposes the darkness of evil and sin in our hearts, even the sin which is unknown to us. And God's light transforms our hearts and minds and enables us to overcome hatred with love, pride with humility, and pretense with integrity and truthfulness. God gives grace to the humble and contrite of heart to enable us to overcome the leaven of insincerity and hypocrisy in our lives.
Godly fear draws us to God's love and truth
What does fear have to do with the kingdom of God? Fear is a powerful force. It can lead us to panic and flight or it can spur us to faith and action. The fear of God is the antidote to the fear of losing one's life. "I sought the Lord, and he answered me, and delivered me from all my fears... O fear the Lord, you his saints, for those who fear him have no want! ..Come, O sons, listen to me, I will teach you the fear of the Lord." (Psalm 34:4,9,11)
What does fear have to do with the kingdom of God? Fear is a powerful force. It can lead us to panic and flight or it can spur us to faith and action. The fear of God is the antidote to the fear of losing one's life. "I sought the Lord, and he answered me, and delivered me from all my fears... O fear the Lord, you his saints, for those who fear him have no want! ..Come, O sons, listen to me, I will teach you the fear of the Lord." (Psalm 34:4,9,11)
What is godly fear? It is reverence for the One who made us in
love and who sustains us in mercy and kindness. The greatest injury or loss
which we can experience is not physical but spiritual - the loss of one's soul
and life to the power of hell. A healthy fear of God leads to spiritual
maturity, wisdom, and right judgment and it frees us from the tyranny of sinful
pride, deceit, and cowardice - especially in the face of evil, falsehood, and
deception. Do you trust in God's grace and mercy and do you submit to his
life-giving word of truth and righteousness (moral goodness)?
"Lord Jesus, may the light of your word free my heart from
the deception of sin and consume me with a burning love for your truth and
righteousness."
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 16, LUKE 12:1-7
Weekday
(Romans 4:1-8; Psalm 32)
Weekday
(Romans 4:1-8; Psalm 32)
KEY VERSE: "Do not be afraid of those who kill the body and can do no more" (v 4).
TO KNOW: In the face of growing opposition to Jesus' proclamation of the gospel, he turned to his disciples whom he called "friends" (the only time in the synoptics―see Jn 15:14). Jesus warned his followers to be on guard against Pharisaical hypocrisy that subtly eroded the truth. His disciples should not be afraid of physical suffering. The only one they ought to fear was the Almighty God, the author and judge of their eternal destiny. Yet God was not a harsh magistrate; God was concerned about the welfare of every creature. God knew the worth of each little bird sold for sacrificial offering, and the number of hairs on each person's head. Since that was so, Jesus' followers should be assured of divine protection during times of persecution.
TO LOVE: Does fear keep me from openly proclaiming my faith?
TO SERVE: Lord Jesus, help me to have confidence in God's care for me.
Memorial of Hedwig, religious
Hedwig was the daughter of the Duke of Croatia, and the aunt of St. Elizabeth of Hungary. She was married to Prince Henry I of Silesia and Poland in 1186 at age 12. The mother of seven, she cared for the sick personally and by founding hospitals. Upon her husband's death, she gave away her fortune and entered the monastery at Trebnitz. She gave aid to the needy, to the weak, to lepers, to the imprisoned, to travelers and needy women with infants. No one who came to her for help went away empty. God also conferred on her such grace that when she lacked human means to do good, and her own powers failed, she had the power of Christ to relieve the bodily and spiritual troubles of all who sought her help.
Memorial of Margaret Mary Alacoque, virgin
Healed from a crippling disorder by a vision of the Blessed Virgin, Margaret Mary was prompted to give her life to God. After receiving a vision of the scourged Christ, she was moved to join the Order of the Visitation in 1671. Margaret Mary received a revelation from our Lord in 1675, which included Twelve promises to her and to those who practiced true devotion to His Sacred Heart. The Twelve Promises of Jesus to Saint Margaret Mary for those devoted to His Sacred Heart has become widespread and popular. The Twelve Promises are:
1. I will give them all the graces necessary for their state of life.
2. I will establish peace in their families.
3. I will console them in all their troubles.
4. They shall find in My Heart an assured refuge during life and especially at the hour of their death.
5. I will pour abundant blessings on all their undertakings.
6. Sinners shall find in My Heart the source of an infinite ocean of mercy.
7. Tepid souls shall become fervent.
8. Fervent souls shall speedily rise to great perfection.
9. I will bless the homes where an image of My Heart shall be exposed and honored.
10. I will give to priests the power of touching the most hardened hearts.
11. Those who propagate this devotion shall have their names written in My Heart, never to be effaced.
12. The all-powerful love of My Heart will grant to all those who shall receive Communion on the First Friday of nine consecutive months the grace of final repentance; they shall not die under my displeasure, nor without receiving their Sacraments. My heart shall be their assured refuge at that last hour.
Friday 16 October 2015
FRI 16TH.
St Hedwig. St Margaret Mary Alacoque. Day of penance.
Romans
4:1-8. I turn to you, Lord, in time of trouble, and you fill me with the joy of
salvation—Ps 31(32):1-2, 5, 11. Luke 12:1-7.
'Do not
be afraid...'
Dear Lord
you often use these comforting words telling us not to be fearful, not to
worry, but trust the God who looks after all, including lowly forms of life
like sparrows and spiders. Certainly our lives would be different if we made an
honest effort to put everything in your hands. If we do make an honest effort
you will do the rest. How different things would be without those worries. The
difficulties would still be there but quite different if we did everything in
tandem with you. Your love and great strength is poured out on us if we ask for
it and accept it. A good prayer to say every morning is, ‘Lord I know that
nothing is going to happen to me today that you and I together can't take care
of’. Goodbye worries, come in trust.
MINUTE MEDITATIONS
|
The Fountain of Love
|
They [the lepers] asked the Lover which was the fountain of love.
He answered that it was the one where the Beloved had cleansed us from our
sins, and from which he gives us, as a free gift, that living water which
brings whoever drinks it to eternal life in endless love.
—Rámon Lull
—Rámon Lull
October
16
St. Margaret Mary Alacoque
(1647-1690)
St. Margaret Mary Alacoque
(1647-1690)
Margaret Mary was chosen by Christ to arouse the Church to a
realization of the love of God symbolized by the heart of Jesus.
Her early
years were marked by sickness and a painful home situation. "The heaviest
of my crosses was that I could do nothing to lighten the cross my mother was
suffering." After considering marriage for some time, Margaret Mary
entered the Order of Visitation nuns at the age of 24.
A
Visitation nun was "not to be extraordinary except by being
ordinary," but the young nun was not to enjoy this anonymity. A fellow
novice (shrewdest of critics) termed Margaret Mary humble, simple and frank,
but above all kind and patient under sharp criticism and correction. She could
not meditate in the formal way expected, though she tried her best to give up
her "prayer of simplicity." Slow, quiet and clumsy, she was assigned
to help an infirmarian who was a bundle of energy.
On
December 21, 1674, three years a nun, she received the first of her
revelations. She felt "invested" with the presence of God, though
always afraid of deceiving herself in such matters. The request of Christ was
that his love for humankind be made evident through her. During the next 13
months he appeared to her at intervals. His human heart was to be the symbol of
his divine-human love. By her own love she was to make up for the coldness and
ingratitude of the world—by frequent and loving Holy Communion, especially on
the first Friday of each month, and by an hour's vigil of prayer every Thursday
night in memory of his agony and isolation in Gethsemane. He also asked that a
feast of reparation be instituted.
Like all
saints, Margaret Mary had to pay for her gift of holiness. Some of her own
sisters were hostile. Theologians who were called in declared her visions
delusions and suggested that she eat more heartily. Later, parents of children
she taught called her an impostor, an unorthodox innovator. A new
confessor, St. Claude de la Colombiere, a Jesuit, recognized her
genuineness and supported her. Against her great resistance, Christ called her
to be a sacrificial victim for the shortcomings of her own sisters, and to make
this known.
After
serving as novice mistress and assistant superior, she died at the age of 43
while being anointed. "I need nothing but God, and to lose myself in the
heart of Jesus."
Comment:
Our scientific-materialistic age cannot "prove" private revelations. Theologians, if pressed, admit that we do not have to believe in them. But it is impossible to deny the message Margaret Mary heralded: that God loves us with a passionate love. Her insistence on reparation and prayer and the reminder of final judgment should be sufficient to ward off superstition and superficiality in devotion to the Sacred Heart while preserving its deep Christian meaning.
Our scientific-materialistic age cannot "prove" private revelations. Theologians, if pressed, admit that we do not have to believe in them. But it is impossible to deny the message Margaret Mary heralded: that God loves us with a passionate love. Her insistence on reparation and prayer and the reminder of final judgment should be sufficient to ward off superstition and superficiality in devotion to the Sacred Heart while preserving its deep Christian meaning.
Quote:
Christ speaks to St. Margaret Mary: "Behold this Heart which has so loved men that it has spared nothing, even to exhausting and consuming itself, in order to testify its love. In return, I receive from the greater part only ingratitude, by their irreverence and sacrileges, and by the coldness and contempt they have for me in this sacrament of love.... I come into the heart I have given you in order that through your fervor you may atone for the offenses which I have received from lukewarm and slothful hearts that dishonor me in the Blessed Sacrament" (Third apparition).
Christ speaks to St. Margaret Mary: "Behold this Heart which has so loved men that it has spared nothing, even to exhausting and consuming itself, in order to testify its love. In return, I receive from the greater part only ingratitude, by their irreverence and sacrileges, and by the coldness and contempt they have for me in this sacrament of love.... I come into the heart I have given you in order that through your fervor you may atone for the offenses which I have received from lukewarm and slothful hearts that dishonor me in the Blessed Sacrament" (Third apparition).
LECTIO DIVINA:
LUKE 12,1-7
Lectio:
Friday, October 16, 2015
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.
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 12,1-7
Meanwhile the people had gathered in their
thousands so that they were treading on one another. And Jesus began to speak,
first of all to his disciples. 'Be on your guard against the yeast of the
Pharisees -- their hypocrisy. Everything now covered up will be uncovered, and
everything now hidden will be made clear. For this reason, whatever you have
said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in
hidden places will be proclaimed from the housetops.
'To you my friends I say: Do not be afraid of
those who kill the body and after that can do no more. I will tell you whom to
fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has the power to cast into hell. Yes,
I tell you, he is the one to fear.
Can you not buy five sparrows for two pennies?
And yet not one is forgotten in God's sight. Why, every hair on your head has
been counted. There is no need to be afraid: you are worth more than many
sparrows.
3) Reflection
• Today’s Gospel presents a last criticism of
Jesus against the religious authority of his time.
• Luke 12, 1ª: Thousands were looking for
Jesus. “At that time people had gathered in their thousands so that they were
treading on one another”. This phrase allows to have a glimpse of the enormous
popularity of Jesus and the desire of the people to encounter him (cf. Mk 6,
31; Mt 13, 2). It makes us see also the abandonment in which people found
themselves. “They are like sheep without a shepherd,” said Jesus on another
occasion when he saw the crowds get close to him to listen to his words (Mk 6,
34).
• Luke 12, 1b: Attention with hypocrisy.
“Jesus began to speak first of all to his disciples: “Be on your guard against
the yeast of the Pharisees – their hypocrisy”. Mark had already spoken of the
yeast of the Pharisees and of the Herodians and had suggested that it was a
question of the mentality or of the dominant ideology of that time which
expected a glorious and powerful Messiah (Mk 8, 15; 8, 31-33). In this text
Luke identifies the yeast of the Pharisees with hypocrisy. Hypocrisy is an attitude
which turns up side down or overturns the values. It hides the truth. It shows
a beautiful cloak or cape which hides and falsifies what is the rotten that is
inside. In this case, hypocrisy was like the apparent cover of the maximum
fidelity to the word of God which hid the contradiction of their life. Jesus
wants the contrary. He wants coherence and not that which remains hidden.
• Luke 12, 2-3: That which is hidden will be
revealed. “Everything now covered up will be uncovered, and everything now hidden
will be made clear. For this reason, whatever you have said in the dark will be
heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in hidden places will be
proclaims from the housetops”. It is the second time that Luke speaks about
this theme (cf. Lc 8, 17). Instead of the hypocrisy of the Pharisees which
hides the truth, the disciples should be sincere. They should not be afraid of
truth. Jesus invites them to share with the others the teachings which they
learn from him. The disciples cannot keep these for themselves, but they should
diffuse them. One day, the masks will fall completely and everything will be
clearly revealed, and will be proclaimed on the housetops (Mt 10, 26-27).
• Luke 12, 4-5: Do not be afraid. “Do not be
afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. I will tell
you whom to fear: fear him who after he has killed has the power to cast into
hell. Yes, I tell you, he is the one to fear”. Here Jesus addresses himself to
his friends the disciples. They should not be afraid of those who kill the
body, who torture, who trample on and make one suffer. Those who torture can
kill the body, but they cannot kill liberty and the spirit. Yes, they should be
afraid that fear of suffering may lead them to hide or to deny the truth and
therefore, will lead him to offend God; because he who separates himself from
God will be lost forever.
• Luke 12, 6-7: You are worth more than many
sparrows. “Can you not buy five sparrows for two pennies? And yet not one is
forgotten in God’s sight. For every hair on hour head has been counted. Do not
fear you are worth more than many sparrows”. The disciples should not be afraid
of anything, because they are in God’s hands. Jesus asks them to look at the
sparrows. Two sparrows are sold for a few pennies and not one of them falls to
the ground without the will of the Father. Even the hair on your head is
counted. Luke says that not one hair falls from your head without the
permission of the Father (Lk 21, 18). And so many hairs fall from our head! This
is why, “Do not fear, you are worth more than many sparrows”. This is the
lesson that Jesus draws from the contemplation of nature (cf Mt 10, 29-31).
• The contemplation of nature. In the Sermon
on the Mountain, the most important message Jesus takes it from the
contemplation on nature. He says: “Have you heard that it was said, love your
neighbour and hate your enemy; but I say: love your enemies and pray for those
who persecute you so that you may be children of your Father in heaven, for he
causes his sun to rise on the bas as well as the good, and sends down rain to
fall on the upright and the wicked alike. For if you love those who love you,
what reward will you get? Do not even the tax collectors do as much? And if you
save your greetings for your brothers, are you doing anything exceptional? Do
not even the gentiles do as much? You must therefore set no bounds to your
love, just as the Heavenly Father sets non to his” (Mt 5, 43-45.48). The
observation of the rhythm of the sun and the rain lead Jesus to make that
revolutionary affirmation: “Love your enemies”. The same thing is valid
concerning the invitation to look at the flowers of the fields and the birds of
the sky (Mt 6, 25-30). This contemplative and surprising attitude before nature
led Jesus to criticize truths apparently eternal. Six times, one after another,
he had the courage to correct publicly the Law of God: “It has been said, but I
tell you...” The discovery made in the renewed contemplation of nature becomes
for him a very important light to reread history with a different look, and
discover lights which before were not perceived. Today there is new vision of
the universe which is circulating. The discoveries of science concerning the
immensity of the macro-cosmos and of the micro-cosmos are becoming sources of a
new contemplation of the universe. Many apparently eternal truths are now
beginning to be criticized.
4) Personal questions
• What is hidden will be revealed. Is there in
me something which I fear that it be revealed?
• The contemplation of the sparrows and of the
things of nature lead Jesus to have a new and surprising attitude which reveals
the gratuitous goodness of God. Do I usually contemplate nature?
5) Concluding prayer
The word of Yahweh is straightforward,
all he does springs from his constancy.
He loves uprightness and justice;
the faithful love of Yahweh fills the earth.
(Ps 33,4-5)
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