Memorial of Saint Irenaeus, Bishop and Martyr
Lectionary: 375
Reading 1 GN 17:1, 9-10, 15-22
When Abram was ninety-nine years old,
the LORD appeared to him
and said: “I am God the Almighty.
Walk in my presence and be blameless.”
God also said to Abraham:
“On your part, you and your
descendants after you
must keep my covenant throughout the
ages.
This is my covenant with you and your
descendants after you
that you must keep:
every male among you shall be
circumcised.”
God further said to Abraham:
“As for your wife Sarai, do not call
her Sarai;
her name shall be Sarah.
I will bless her, and I will give you
a son by her.
Him also will I bless; he shall give
rise to nations,
and rulers of peoples shall issue from
him.”
Abraham prostrated himself and laughed
as he said to himself,
“Can a child be born to a man who is a
hundred years old?
Or can Sarah give birth at ninety?”
Then Abraham said to God,
“Let but Ishmael live on by your
favor!”
God replied: “Nevertheless, your wife
Sarah is to bear you a son,
and you shall call him Isaac.
I will maintain my covenant with him
as an everlasting pact,
to be his God and the God of his
descendants after him.
As for Ishmael, I am heeding you: I
hereby bless him.
I will make him fertile and will
multiply him exceedingly.
He shall become the father of twelve
chieftains,
and I will make of him a great nation.
But my covenant I will maintain with
Isaac,
whom Sarah shall bear to you by this
time next year.”
When he had finished speaking with
him, God departed from Abraham.
Responsorial Psalm PS 128:1-2, 3, 4-5
R. (4) See how the Lord blesses those who fear him.
Blessed are you who fear the LORD,
who walk in his ways!
For you shall eat the fruit of your
handiwork;
blessed shall you be, and favored.
R. See how the Lord blesses those who fear him.
Your wife shall be like a fruitful
vine
in the recesses of your home;
Your children like olive plants
around your table.
R. See how the Lord blesses those who fear him.
Behold, thus is the man blessed
who fears the LORD.
The LORD bless you from Zion:
may you see the prosperity of
Jerusalem
all the days of your life.
R. See how the Lord blesses those who fear him.
Gospel MT 8:1-4
When Jesus came down from the
mountain, great crowds followed him.
And then a leper approached, did him
homage, and said,
“Lord, if you wish, you can make me
clean.”
He stretched out his hand, touched
him, and said,
“I will do it. Be made clean.”
His leprosy was cleansed immediately.
Then Jesus said to him, “See that you
tell no one,
but go show yourself to the priest,
and offer the gift that Moses
prescribed;
that will be proof for them.”
Meditation: "Lord, you can make
me clean"
What might hold us back from
approaching the Lord Jesus with expectant faith and confidence that he can
change us and make us holy – perhaps fear, pride, and the risk of losing one's
reputation or friends? Jesus did something which was both remarkable and unthinkable
at the same time. He approached the unapproachables – he touched the
untouchables. Lepers were outcasts of society. Their physical condition was
terrible as they slowly lost the use of their limbs and withered away with open
sores over their entire bodies. They were not only shunned but regarded as
“already dead” even by their relatives. The Jewish law forbade anyone from
touching or approaching a leper, lest ritual defilement occur.
The leper who came to Jesus did
something quite remarkable. He approached Jesus confidently and humbly,
expecting that Jesus could and would heal him. Normally a leper would be stoned
or at least warded off if he tried to come near a rabbi. Jesus not only grants
the man his request, but he demonstrates the personal love, compassion, and
tenderness of God in his physical touch. The medical knowledge of his day would
have regarded such contact as grave risk for incurring infection. Jesus met the
man’s misery with compassion and tender kindness. He communicated the love and
mercy of God in a sign that spoke more eloquently than words. He touched the
man and made him clean – not only physically but spiritually as well.
Some twelve centuries later, a man
named Francis (1181-1226 AD) met a leper on the road as he journeyed towards
Assisi. A contemporary of Francis wrote, “Though the leper caused him no small
disgust and horror, he nonetheless, got off the horse and prepared to kiss the
leper. But when the leper put out his hand as though to receive something, he
received money along with a kiss” (from the Life of St. Francis by Thomas of
Celano). Francis did what seemed humanly impossible because he was filled with
the love and compassion of Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit inflames our hearts
with the fire of Christ's love that we may reach out to others with
compassionate care and kindness, especially to those who have been rejected,
mistreated, and left utterly alone. Do you allow the Holy Spirit to fill your
heart with the love and compassion of Christ for others?
“May the power of your love, Lord
Christ, fiery and sweet as honey, so absorb our hearts as to withdraw them from
all that is under heaven. Grant that we may be ready to die for love of your
love, as you died for love of our love."
(Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi, 1181-1226 AD)
 Built Wisely |
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Thursday of the
Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time
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Father Edward McIlmail, LC
Matthew 7:21-29
Jesus said to his
disciples: "Not everyone who says to me, ´Lord, Lord,´ will enter the
kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.
On that day many will say to me, ´Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your
name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many deeds of power in your name?´
Then I will declare to them, ´I never knew you; go away from me, you
evildoers.´ Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will
be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods
came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because
it had been founded on rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and
does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand.
The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that
house, and it fell -- and great was its fall!" Now when Jesus had
finished saying these things, the crowds were astounded at his teaching, for
he taught them as one having authority, and not as their scribes.
Introductory Prayer: Lord, before I can produce anything lasting in my life, I need
to be united to you in prayer. Aware of my weakness and inclination to sin, I
trust all the more in your forgiveness and mercy. I believe in your presence
in the Eucharist. It gives me the assurances that you really are with your
Church until the end of time.
Petition: Lord, help me to improve one point of my
life that has been neglected.
1. Lord,
Lord: "Faith without
works is useless" (James 2:20). Witnessing to our faith through our
works is crucial. It´s not enough to go to Mass on Sunday, to have the Bible
on the shelf, to hang a rosary on the rearview mirror. Faith in Christ means
daily conversion, changing our lives in conformity to his will. "Not
everyone who says to me, ´Lord, Lord,´ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but
only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven" (Matthew 7:21).
Doing the will of the Father means works of charity, of patience, of
disinterested service. Real expressions of our faith demand that we give of
ourselves. Real faith doesn´t leave us feeling smug. Do I ever feel
self-righteous because "I´m with the Pope"? Because I "never
got caught" doing something wrong? Does my faith in Christ leave me
complacent? Or does it drive me to works of charity?
2. Rock Solid: Listening to and following Christ means
living as we should. There is a truth about our being human that demands a
response. To know, love and serve God in this world, and to be happy with him
forever in the next, sums up the purpose of our lives (see Catechism, No. 1).
When we sin, we break not only with Christ but with ourselves. We feel
divided interiorly by our passions, our anger, our vanity, our greed. Christ
invites us to "come home," to be what we were meant to be. That is
the surest foundation we can have when a crisis strikes. Where am I
"building on sand"? Is my prayer life weak? Am I stingy with my
possessions? Hardhearted toward a family member?
3. Façade: We can surmise that the house built on sand
looked sturdy -- that is why no one thought to test its strength before the
big storm arrived. Our lives can be the same way. In a time of calm
everything seems OK. No cares, no fears. Everything looks good on the
outside, like those old
Conversation with
Christ: Lord, you love me
too much to stand by and let me live my life on the surface. You know it is
difficult for me to give up my mask, because it is never easy for me to face
my weaknesses. Give me the strength to confront what I need to change in my
life.
Resolution: I will note one area where I´m not living up
to the public image I present. Then I will offer up a decade of the rosary to
overcome that vice or weakness.
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FRIDAY, JUNE 28
MATTHEW 8:1-4
MATTHEW 8:1-4
(Genesis 17:1, 9-10,15-22; Psalm 128)
KEY VERSE: "He stretched out his hand, touched him, and said, `I will do it. Be made clean'" (v 3).
READING: Some Scripture scholars regard chapters 5-7 of Matthew's gospel as portraying Jesus as the "Messiah of the Word," whereas in chapters 8-9 Jesus is represented as the "Messiah of the Deed." When Jesus finished his Sermon on the Mount, he came down from the mountain and put his words into action. Jesus performed ten miracles that correspond to the ten plagues of the Exodus that vanquished Israel's enemy (Ex 7-11). These miracles signify Jesus' assault on Satan and his establishment of God's reign. The first miracle was the healing of a leper. In Jesus' day, leprosy was regarded as synonymous with sin. The diseased person was an outcast and was separated from the healthy community. Jesus came to heal and reinstate all people to full membership in God's family.
REFLECTING: How can I touch those who feel despised and outcast?
PRAYING: Lord Jesus, heal me of my defects and restore me to your likeness and image.
Memorial of Irenaeus, bishop and martyr
Irenaeus, bishop of Lyons, was the most important Western ecclesiastical writer before Eusebius, and the most important theologian of the second century. Irenaeus was born in Asia Minor around the year 140. It is not known when he came to Gaul (now France). He was a priest of the Church of Lyons during the persecution of 177 when St. Pothinus, first bishop of the city and the first martyr of Lyons, was put to death. Irenaeus succeeded him as bishop and twenty-five years later was martyred during a fresh persecution. At a time when Gnostic sects threatened to undermine Christianity by a perversion of Christian thought, St. Irenaeus vigorously denounced all heresies and safeguarded unity of belief by laying down the principles of the doctrinal tradition of the Church. Irenaeus' best known writings are Against Heresiesand Proof of the Apostolic Preaching. In these works, he refuted Gnosticism,* basing his arguments on the works of St. John, whose Gospel was often cited by Gnostics. Irenaeus emphasized the unity of the Old and New Testaments, and of Christ's simultaneous human and divine nature. He was also the first person to cite reasons for admitting or rejecting books into the canon. Irenaeus died a martyr in Lyon around 202. His tomb and relics were destroyed.
* Gnosticism is the practice of various cults of late pre-Christian
and early Christian centuries distinguished by the conviction that matter is
evil and that emancipation comes through gnosis, knowledge.
See how the Lord blesses those who
fear him
The experiences of Abraham and the leper are quite similar.There is an emptiness in both lives that God, and only God, is able to touch. The divine One fills this emptiness not just by removing a handicap or limitation - in these cases disease or infertility - but by self-giving in an intimate relationship. The covenant with Abraham is not just a legal contract: it comes out of sensitivity to deep human longing.
God’s response to Abraham - and to us - is the same response as Jesus' to the leper: 'Of course I want to. Be cured!' As our intimacy with the Lord becomes increasingly the centre of our lives, we sense the many moments in which God is responding to our personal needs with those words: 'Of course I want to!'
June
28
St. Irenaeus
(130?-220)
St. Irenaeus
(130?-220)
The Church is fortunate that Irenaeus
was involved in many of its controversies in the second century. He was a
student, well trained, no doubt, with great patience in investigating,
tremendously protective of apostolic teaching, but prompted more by a desire to
win over his opponents than to prove them in error.
As bishop of Lyons he was especially
concerned with the Gnostics, who took their name from the Greek word for
“knowledge.” Claiming access to secret knowledge imparted by Jesus to only a
few disciples, their teaching was attracting and confusing many Christians.
After thoroughly investigating the various Gnostic sects and their “secret,”
Irenaeus showed to what logical conclusions their tenets led. These he
contrasted with the teaching of the apostles and the text of Holy Scripture,
giving us, in five books, a system of theology of great importance to
subsequent times. Moreover, his work, widely used and translated into Latin and
Armenian, gradually ended the influence of the Gnostics.
The circumstances and details about
his death, like those of his birth and early life in Asia Minor, are not at all
clear.
Stories:
A group of Christians in Asia Minor
had been excommunicated by Pope Victor I because of their refusal to accept the
Western church’s date for celebrating Easter. Irenaeus, the “lover of peace” as
his name indicates, interceded with the pope to lift the ban, indicating that
this was not an essential matter and that these people were merely following an
old tradition, one that men such as Saint Polycarp (February 23) and Pope
Anicetus had not seen as divisive. The pope responded favorably and the rift
was healed. Some one hundred years later, the Western practice was voluntarily
adopted.
Comment:
A deep and genuine concern for other
people will remind us that the discovery of truth is not to be a victory for
some and a defeat for others. Unless all can claim a share in that victory,
truth itself will continue to be rejected by the losers, because it will be
regarded as inseparable from the yoke of defeat. And so, confrontation,
controversy and the like might yield to a genuine united search for God's truth
and how it can best be served.
Quote:
A group of Christians in Asia Minor
had been excommunicated by Pope Victor I because of their refusal to accept the
Western church's date for celebrating Easter. Irenaeus, the "lover of
peace" as his name indicates, interceded with the pope to lift the ban.
Irenaeus indicated that this was not an essential matter and that these people
were merely following an old tradition, one that men such as Saint Polycarp
(February 23) and Pope Anicetus had not seen as divisive. The pope responded
favorably and the rift was healed. Some 100 years later, the Western practice
was voluntarily adopted.
LECTIO: MATTHEW 8,1-4
Lectio:
Friday, June 28,
2013
Ordinary Time
1) Opening prayer
Father,
guide and protector of your people,
grant us an unfailing respect for your name,
and keep us always in your love.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
guide and protector of your people,
grant us an unfailing respect for your name,
and keep us always in your love.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
2) Gospel Reading -
Matthew 8,1-4
After Jesus had come
down from the mountain large crowds followed him. Suddenly a man with a
virulent skin-disease came up and bowed low in front of him, saying, 'Lord, if
you are willing, you can cleanse me.' Jesus stretched out his hand and touched
him saying, 'I am willing. Be cleansed.' And his skin-disease was cleansed at
once. Then Jesus said to him, 'Mind you tell no one, but go and show yourself
to the priest and make the offering prescribed by Moses, as evidence to them.'
3) Reflection
•In chapters 5 to 7 we
have heard the words of the New Law proclaimed on the Mountain by Jesus. Now,
in chapters 8 and 9, Matthew indicates how Jesus put into practice that which
he had just taught. In today’s Gospel (Mt 8, 1-4) and of tomorrow (Mt 8, 5-17),
we see closely the following episodes which reveal how Jesus practiced the Law:
the cure of a leper (Mt 8, 1-4), the cure of the servant of the Roman soldier
(Mt 8, 5-13), the cure of Peter’s mother-in law (Mt 8, 14-15) and the cure of
numerous sick people (Mt 8, 14-17).
• Matthew 8, 1-2: The leper asks: “Lord, if you are willing you can cleanse me”. A leper comes close to Jesus. He was one who was excluded. Anybody who would touch him would remain unclean! This is why the lepers had to remain far away (Lv 13, 45-46). But that leper had great courage. He transgresses the norms of religion in order to be able to enter into contact with Jesus. Getting close to him he says: If you are willing you can cleanse me! That is: “It is not necessary for you to touch me! It suffices that the Lord wants it and he will be cured”. This phrase reveals two things: 1) the sickness of leprosy which made people unclean; 2) the sickness of solitude to which the person was condemned, separated from society and from religion. It reveals also the great faith of the man in the power of Jesus.
• Matthew 8, 3: Jesus touches him and says: I am willing. Be cleansed. Filled with compassion, Jesus cures two sicknesses. In the first place, in order to cure solitude, loneliness, before saying any word, he touches the leper. It is as if he would say: “For me, you are not excluded. I am not afraid to become unclean by touching you! And I accept you as a brother!” Then he cures the leper saying: I am willing! Be cleansed! The leper, in order to be able to enter in contact with Jesus, had transgressed the norms of the Law. Thus Jesus, in order to help that excluded person and reveal the new face of God, transgresses the norms of his religion and touches the leper.
• Matthew 8, 4: Jesus orders the man to go and show himself to the priest. At that time, a leper in order to be reintegrated into the community needed a certificate of healing confirmed by the priest. It is the same thing today. The sick person gets out of the hospital only if he has a certificate signed by the doctor of the department. Jesus obliges the person to look for that document, in order to be able to live normally. He obliges the authority to recognize that the man had been cured. Jesus not only heals but wants the healed person to be able to live with others. He reintegrates the person in the fraternal life of the community. The Gospel of Mark adds that the man did not present himself to the priest. Instead, “He went away and started freely proclaiming and telling the story everywhere, so that Jesus could no longer go openly into the town, but stayed outside in deserted places (Mk 1, 45). Why could Jesus no longer enter openly into the town? Because he had touched the leper and had become unclean before the religious authority who embodied the law of that time. And now, because of this, Jesus was unclean and had to be away far from everybody. He could no longer enter into the city. But Mark shows that people cared very little for these official norms, because people came to Jesus from all pats! This was totally overthrowing things! The message which Mark gives us is the following: In order to take the Good News of God to the people, we should not be afraid to transgress the religious norms which are contrary to God’s project and which prevent a fraternal spirit and love. Even if this causes some difficulty to the people, as it did to Jesus.
• In Jesus everything is revelation of what he has within himself! He does not only announce the Good News of the Kingdom. He is an example, a living witness of the Kingdom, a revelation of God. In Him appears what happens when a human being allows God to reign, allows God to occupy the centre of his life.
• Matthew 8, 1-2: The leper asks: “Lord, if you are willing you can cleanse me”. A leper comes close to Jesus. He was one who was excluded. Anybody who would touch him would remain unclean! This is why the lepers had to remain far away (Lv 13, 45-46). But that leper had great courage. He transgresses the norms of religion in order to be able to enter into contact with Jesus. Getting close to him he says: If you are willing you can cleanse me! That is: “It is not necessary for you to touch me! It suffices that the Lord wants it and he will be cured”. This phrase reveals two things: 1) the sickness of leprosy which made people unclean; 2) the sickness of solitude to which the person was condemned, separated from society and from religion. It reveals also the great faith of the man in the power of Jesus.
• Matthew 8, 3: Jesus touches him and says: I am willing. Be cleansed. Filled with compassion, Jesus cures two sicknesses. In the first place, in order to cure solitude, loneliness, before saying any word, he touches the leper. It is as if he would say: “For me, you are not excluded. I am not afraid to become unclean by touching you! And I accept you as a brother!” Then he cures the leper saying: I am willing! Be cleansed! The leper, in order to be able to enter in contact with Jesus, had transgressed the norms of the Law. Thus Jesus, in order to help that excluded person and reveal the new face of God, transgresses the norms of his religion and touches the leper.
• Matthew 8, 4: Jesus orders the man to go and show himself to the priest. At that time, a leper in order to be reintegrated into the community needed a certificate of healing confirmed by the priest. It is the same thing today. The sick person gets out of the hospital only if he has a certificate signed by the doctor of the department. Jesus obliges the person to look for that document, in order to be able to live normally. He obliges the authority to recognize that the man had been cured. Jesus not only heals but wants the healed person to be able to live with others. He reintegrates the person in the fraternal life of the community. The Gospel of Mark adds that the man did not present himself to the priest. Instead, “He went away and started freely proclaiming and telling the story everywhere, so that Jesus could no longer go openly into the town, but stayed outside in deserted places (Mk 1, 45). Why could Jesus no longer enter openly into the town? Because he had touched the leper and had become unclean before the religious authority who embodied the law of that time. And now, because of this, Jesus was unclean and had to be away far from everybody. He could no longer enter into the city. But Mark shows that people cared very little for these official norms, because people came to Jesus from all pats! This was totally overthrowing things! The message which Mark gives us is the following: In order to take the Good News of God to the people, we should not be afraid to transgress the religious norms which are contrary to God’s project and which prevent a fraternal spirit and love. Even if this causes some difficulty to the people, as it did to Jesus.
• In Jesus everything is revelation of what he has within himself! He does not only announce the Good News of the Kingdom. He is an example, a living witness of the Kingdom, a revelation of God. In Him appears what happens when a human being allows God to reign, allows God to occupy the centre of his life.
4) Personal questions
• In the name of the
Law of God, the lepers were excluded and they could not live with others. In
our Church are there norms and customs which are not written and, which up
until now, marginalize persons and exclude them from living together with
others and from communion. Do you know any such persons? Which is your opinion
concerning this?
• Jesus had the courage to touch the leper. Would you have this courage?
• Jesus had the courage to touch the leper. Would you have this courage?
5) Concluding Prayer
I will bless Yahweh at
all times,
his praise continually on my lips.
I will praise Yahweh from my heart;
let the humble hear and rejoice. (Ps 34,1-2)
his praise continually on my lips.
I will praise Yahweh from my heart;
let the humble hear and rejoice. (Ps 34,1-2)
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