Memorial of Saint Benedict, Abbot
Lectionary: 386
Lectionary: 386
Judah approached Joseph and said: “I beg you, my lord,
let your servant speak earnestly to my lord,
and do not become angry with your servant,
for you are the equal of Pharaoh.
My lord asked your servants, ‘Have you a father, or another brother?’
So we said to my lord, ‘We have an aged father,
and a young brother, the child of his old age.
This one’s full brother is dead,
and since he is the only one by that mother who is left,
his father dotes on him.’
Then you told your servants,
‘Bring him down to me that my eyes may look on him.
Unless your youngest brother comes back with you,
you shall not come into my presence again.’
When we returned to your servant our father,
we reported to him the words of my lord.
“Later, our father told us to come back and buy some food for the family.
So we reminded him, ‘We cannot go down there;
only if our youngest brother is with us can we go,
for we may not see the man if our youngest brother is not with us.’
Then your servant our father said to us,
‘As you know, my wife bore me two sons.
One of them, however, disappeared, and I had to conclude
that he must have been torn to pieces by wild beasts;
I have not seen him since.
If you now take this one away from me, too,
and some disaster befalls him,
you will send my white head down to the nether world in grief.’“
Joseph could no longer control himself
in the presence of all his attendants,
so he cried out, “Have everyone withdraw from me!”
Thus no one else was about when he made himself known to his brothers.
But his sobs were so loud that the Egyptians heard him,
and so the news reached Pharaoh’s palace.
“I am Joseph,” he said to his brothers.
“Is my father still in good health?”
But his brothers could give him no answer,
so dumbfounded were they at him.
“Come closer to me,” he told his brothers.
When they had done so, he said:
“I am your brother Joseph, whom you once sold into Egypt.
But now do not be distressed,
and do not reproach yourselves for having sold me here.
It was really for the sake of saving lives
that God sent me here ahead of you.”
let your servant speak earnestly to my lord,
and do not become angry with your servant,
for you are the equal of Pharaoh.
My lord asked your servants, ‘Have you a father, or another brother?’
So we said to my lord, ‘We have an aged father,
and a young brother, the child of his old age.
This one’s full brother is dead,
and since he is the only one by that mother who is left,
his father dotes on him.’
Then you told your servants,
‘Bring him down to me that my eyes may look on him.
Unless your youngest brother comes back with you,
you shall not come into my presence again.’
When we returned to your servant our father,
we reported to him the words of my lord.
“Later, our father told us to come back and buy some food for the family.
So we reminded him, ‘We cannot go down there;
only if our youngest brother is with us can we go,
for we may not see the man if our youngest brother is not with us.’
Then your servant our father said to us,
‘As you know, my wife bore me two sons.
One of them, however, disappeared, and I had to conclude
that he must have been torn to pieces by wild beasts;
I have not seen him since.
If you now take this one away from me, too,
and some disaster befalls him,
you will send my white head down to the nether world in grief.’“
Joseph could no longer control himself
in the presence of all his attendants,
so he cried out, “Have everyone withdraw from me!”
Thus no one else was about when he made himself known to his brothers.
But his sobs were so loud that the Egyptians heard him,
and so the news reached Pharaoh’s palace.
“I am Joseph,” he said to his brothers.
“Is my father still in good health?”
But his brothers could give him no answer,
so dumbfounded were they at him.
“Come closer to me,” he told his brothers.
When they had done so, he said:
“I am your brother Joseph, whom you once sold into Egypt.
But now do not be distressed,
and do not reproach yourselves for having sold me here.
It was really for the sake of saving lives
that God sent me here ahead of you.”
Responsorial PsalmPS 105:16-17, 18-19,
20-21
R. (5a) Remember
the marvels the Lord has done.
or:
R. Alleluia.
When the LORD called down a famine on the land
and ruined the crop that sustained them,
He sent a man before them,
Joseph, sold as a slave.
R. Remember the marvels the Lord has done.
or:
R. Alleluia.
They had weighed him down with fetters,
and he was bound with chains,
Till his prediction came to pass
and the word of the LORD proved him true.
R. Remember the marvels the Lord has done.
or:
R. Alleluia.
The king sent and released him,
the ruler of the peoples set him free.
He made him lord of his house
and ruler of all his possessions.
R. Remember the marvels the Lord has done.
or:
R. Alleluia.
or:
R. Alleluia.
When the LORD called down a famine on the land
and ruined the crop that sustained them,
He sent a man before them,
Joseph, sold as a slave.
R. Remember the marvels the Lord has done.
or:
R. Alleluia.
They had weighed him down with fetters,
and he was bound with chains,
Till his prediction came to pass
and the word of the LORD proved him true.
R. Remember the marvels the Lord has done.
or:
R. Alleluia.
The king sent and released him,
the ruler of the peoples set him free.
He made him lord of his house
and ruler of all his possessions.
R. Remember the marvels the Lord has done.
or:
R. Alleluia.
GospelMT 10:7-15
Jesus said to his Apostles:
“As you go, make this proclamation:
‘The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.’
Cure the sick, raise the dead,
cleanse the lepers, drive out demons.
Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give.
Do not take gold or silver or copper for your belts;
no sack for the journey, or a second tunic,
or sandals, or walking stick.
The laborer deserves his keep.
Whatever town or village you enter, look for a worthy person in it,
and stay there until you leave.
As you enter a house, wish it peace.
If the house is worthy,
let your peace come upon it;
if not, let your peace return to you.
Whoever will not receive you or listen to your words—
go outside that house or town and shake the dust from your feet.
Amen, I say to you, it will be more tolerable
for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment
than for that town.”
“As you go, make this proclamation:
‘The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.’
Cure the sick, raise the dead,
cleanse the lepers, drive out demons.
Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give.
Do not take gold or silver or copper for your belts;
no sack for the journey, or a second tunic,
or sandals, or walking stick.
The laborer deserves his keep.
Whatever town or village you enter, look for a worthy person in it,
and stay there until you leave.
As you enter a house, wish it peace.
If the house is worthy,
let your peace come upon it;
if not, let your peace return to you.
Whoever will not receive you or listen to your words—
go outside that house or town and shake the dust from your feet.
Amen, I say to you, it will be more tolerable
for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment
than for that town.”
Meditation: "Freely have you received – freely give"
Do
you believe that the gospel has power to change your life and the lives of
others? Jesus gave his
disciples a two-fold commission to speak in his name and to act with his power.
The core of the gospel message is quite simple: the kingdom (or reign) of God is
imminent! What is the kingdom
of God? It is that society of men and women who freely submit to God and who
honor him as their Lord and King. In the Lord’s prayer we pray for God to reign
in our lives and in our world: May
your kingdom come and your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Jesus also commissioned his disciples
to carry on the works which he did – bringing the healing power of God to the
weary and oppressed. The gospel has power to set people free from sin,
sickness, fear, and oppression. The Lord will free us from anything that keeps
us from loving him and our neighbor with joy and confidence.Jesus said to his disciples: Freely you have received, freely give. What they have received from Jesus they must now pass on to others without expecting a favor in return, whether it be in form of a gift or payment. They must show by their attitude that their first interest is in serving God, not receiving material gain. They must serve without guile, full of charity and peace, and simplicity. They must give their full attention to the proclamation of God’s kingdom and not be diverted by other lesser things. They must travel light – only take what was essential and leave behind whatever would distract them – in order to concentrate on the task of speaking the word of the God. They must do their work, not for what they can get out of it, but for what they can give freely to others, without expecting special privileges or reward. “Poverty of spirit” frees us from greed and preoccupation with possessions and makes ample room for God’s provision. The Lord wants his disciples to be dependent on him and not on themselves.
Secondly, Jesus said: the worker deserves his sustenance. Here we see a double-truth: the worker of God must not be overly-concerned with material things, but the people of God must never fail in their duty to give the worker of God what he or she needs to sustain themselves in the Lord's service. Do you pray for the work of the gospel and do you support it with your material and financial resources? Jesus ends his instructions with a warning: If people reject God’s invitation and refuse his word, then they bring judgment and condemnation on themselves. When God gives us his word there comes with it the great responsibility to respond. Indifference will not do. We are either for or against God in how we respond to his word. God gives us his word that we may have life – abundant life – in him. He wills to work in and through each of us for his glory. God shares his word with us and he commissions us to speak it boldly and simply to others. Do you witness the truth and joy of the gospel by word and example to those around you?
“Lord Jesus, may the joy and truth of the gospel transform my life that I may witness it to those around me. Grant that I may spread your truth and your light wherever I go.”
 Go, Spread the Kingdom |
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Memorial of Saint
Benedict, abbot
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Matthew 10:7-15
Jesus sent out the
Twelve with the following instructions, “As you go, make this proclamation:
´The kingdom of heaven is at hand.´ Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse
lepers, drive out demons. Without cost you have received; without cost you
are to give. Do not take gold or silver or copper for your belts; no sack for
the journey, or a second tunic, or sandals, or walking stick. The laborer
deserves his keep. Whatever town or village you enter, look for a worthy
person in it, and stay there until you leave. As you enter a house, wish it
peace. If the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it; if not, let your
peace return to you. Whoever will not receive you or listen to your words --
go outside that house or town and shake the dust from your feet. Amen, I say
to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the
Day of Judgment than for that town.”
Introductory Prayer: Lord, in your presence I break away from the spiritual
laziness and indifference that deprives me of the fruit of this prayer which
I need so much. I know my poverty, and you are immensely rich in all that I
need. I am so slow to give, whereas you are prompt and total in your gifts to
me. I offer you this unruly heart of mine to do all that you wish of me
today.
Petition: Lord, please grant me the grace to be a
better apostle today than I was yesterday.
1. Go Out: The command is “Go.” The Kingdom cannot be
spread while sitting in an easy chair. We cannot wait for the world that
needs Christ to come to our door. Letting opportunities where we can serve
pass by, hoping someone else will take the initiative, is simply a “no” to
Christ’s command. “Go” means sensitizing our heart and eyes to those who are
hungry for Christ, seeing in the faces of our family members and co-workers a
hunger for his power and grace. In this culture that is sick and waning, “go”
means reaching out to those who need to know Christ, so that his Kingdom will
expand. We cannot take the easy route of preaching to the choir; we must
reach out to those professions and fields of study that have lost all sense
of the dignity of the human person – especially medicine, law, politics and
education. This is what the King is asking. What is the response which I am
giving to my King?
2. “Nobody Gives
What He Doesn’t Possess”: Christ’s
command is to give from what we have received. If every day we make ourselves
more aware of the gifts we have been given through Christ’s power, we will be
better at giving Christ to others. As apostles, we go not with our own power;
rather, we carry Christ’s power to heal, save and conquer evil. It is he who
drives the mission, who makes the apostles a team. How often do I calculate
what I can contribute to the mission based only on the strength of my human
qualities? How often do I give only from what is just me, rather than from
the graces I have received from the Holy Spirit? Moreover, do I measure my
effectiveness solely from an individual perspective, rather than from that of
the whole body of the Church, in which other apostles are locked arm-in-arm
with me for the cause of Christ? God’s saving power is found where obedience
and unity are, not where only natural talents, gifts and abilities are at
play.
3. Failures and
Disappointments: Christ
affirms that when we reach an impasse in our lives, this is, in and of
itself, no sign of the lack of the authenticity of our mission. Its results
are tied to the free-will choices of others, as well as to a plan where
apparent barrenness is part of God’s economy of salvation. A period of few
fruits in the mission can be a period of consolidation of our commitment to
follow him in season and out of season. Take this time to repel all
discouragement and doubt and to prove how authentic our “yes” is. A pure
“yes” will seek God’s will and the mission at hand simply because he wants
it, not for any easy or short-term results.
Conversation with
Christ: Jesus, I wish to
ignite my own zeal for your Kingdom from the furnace of divine love which
burns in your heart. I offer you the promise of a soldier in combat: to be
courageous, honorable, persevering, and worthy of the name I bear – “Apostle
of the Kingdom of Christ.” I work aware of the fact that I have only one life
to live on this earth. Not one minute must be wasted in comfort-seeking and
selfishness. My heart is ready for the mission, Lord; please sustain it today
with the strength of your own.
Resolution: Today I will review my daily and weekly time
commitments before Christ, and I will ensure that I am using my time as
fruitfully as I can to expand his Kingdom in the world.
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THURSDAY, JULY 11
MATTHEW 10:7-15
MATTHEW 10:7-15
(Genesis 44:18-21, 23b-29, 45:1-5; Psalm 105)
KEY VERSE: "Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give" (v 8).
READING: Jesus sent forth the twelve apostles he had chosen to announce the arrival of God's reign. The reign of God was made apparent in their ministry by the healing of the sick, raising of the dead, and by driving out evil. The twelve received God's gift without meriting it; therefore, they must share this gift freely with others. As the apostles went forth, they were to trust in God's providence, taking only the essentials, and depending upon the generosity of others to support them. Those who accepted the gospel of peace would be blessed. If the message was rejected, the blessing would return to the giver. The apostles must dissociate themselves from these unbelievers and leave it to God to pronounce judgment on them.
REFLECTING: Am I generous in sharing the gifts that I have been given?
PRAYING: Lord Jesus, help me to proclaim the gospel with courage as you did.
Memorial of Benedict, abbot
Benedict was the twin brother of St. Scholastica. While studying in Rome, he was dismayed by the lack of discipline of his fellow students. He fled to the mountains near Subiaco, living as a hermit in a cave for three years. It was reported that he was fed by a raven. Benedict's virtues caused a group of monks to prevail upon him to become their spiritual leader. He founded the monastery at Monte Cassino where he wrote the Rule of his order. His rule became too much for the lukewarm monks so they plotted to poison him, which failed. Benedict returned to his cave, but continued to attract followers, and eventually established twelve monasteries. It is said that Benedict had the ability to read consciences, was able to prophesy and forestall attacks of the devil. He destroyed pagan statues and altars, and drove demons from groves that were sacred to pagans. At one point there were over 40,000 monasteries guided by the Benedictine Rule. A summation of the Rule is: "Pray and work." Though Benedict was not the founder of Christian monasticism, since he lived two and a half to three centuries after its beginnings in Egypt, Palestine and Asia Minor, he had great influence on monastic life.
Remember the marvels the Lord has done
'Proclaim that the kingdom of heaven is close at hand.'Lord Jesus, I don't seem to have your attitude towards others. I don't have your urgency and desire. Often I fail to see the people around me - the people doing everyday things - as people you are desperately interested in. You want to meet them and touch them with your words of life, just as you want to meet and touch me.
Jesus, a part of me does not fully believe in you. Your word has not fully penetrated my being. So I am both blind and afraid. Your word and your work are enough to live on. Jesus, I want to be sent. As I speak, may my heart be opened and freed to receive the healing, life, wholeness and freedom you promise.
July 11
St. Benedict
(480?-543)
St. Benedict
(480?-543)
It is unfortunate that no contemporary biography was written of a
man who has exercised the greatest influence on monasticism in the West.
Benedict is well recognized in the later Dialogues of St.
Gregory, but these are sketches to illustrate miraculous elements of his
career.
Benedict was born into a distinguished family in central
Italy, studied at Rome and early in life was drawn to the monastic life. At
first he became a hermit, leaving a depressing world—pagan armies on the march,
the Church torn by schism, people suffering from war, morality at a low ebb.
He soon realized that he could not live a hidden life in a small
town any better than in a large city, so he withdrew to a cave high in the
mountains for three years. Some monks chose him as their leader for a while,
but found his strictness not to their taste. Still, the shift from hermit to
community life had begun for him. He had an idea of gathering various families
of monks into one “Grand Monastery” to give them the benefit of unity,
fraternity, permanent worship in one house. Finally he began to build what was
to become one of the most famous monasteries in the world—Monte Cassino,
commanding three narrow valleys running toward the mountains north of Naples.
The Rule that gradually developed prescribed a life of liturgical
prayer, study, manual labor and living together in community under a common
father (abbot). Benedictine asceticism is known for its moderation, and
Benedictine charity has always shown concern for the people in the surrounding
countryside. In the course of the Middle Ages, all monasticism in the West was
gradually brought under the Rule of St. Benedict.
Today the Benedictine family is represented by two branches: the
Benedictine Federation and the Cistercians.
Comment:
The Church has been blessed through Benedictine devotion to the liturgy, not only in its actual celebration with rich and proper ceremony in the great abbeys, but also through the scholarly studies of many of its members. Liturgy is sometimes confused with guitars or choirs, Latin or Bach. We should be grateful to those who both preserve and adapt the genuine tradition of worship in the Church.
The Church has been blessed through Benedictine devotion to the liturgy, not only in its actual celebration with rich and proper ceremony in the great abbeys, but also through the scholarly studies of many of its members. Liturgy is sometimes confused with guitars or choirs, Latin or Bach. We should be grateful to those who both preserve and adapt the genuine tradition of worship in the Church.
Quote:
“Rightly, then, the liturgy is considered as an exercise of the priestly office of Jesus Christ. In the liturgy the sanctification of man is manifested by signs perceptible to the senses...; in the liturgy full public worship is performed by the Mystical Body of Jesus Christ, that is, by the Head and his members.
“Rightly, then, the liturgy is considered as an exercise of the priestly office of Jesus Christ. In the liturgy the sanctification of man is manifested by signs perceptible to the senses...; in the liturgy full public worship is performed by the Mystical Body of Jesus Christ, that is, by the Head and his members.
“From this it follows that every liturgical celebration, because
it is an action of Christ the priest and of his Body the Church, is a sacred
action, surpassing all others” (Vatican II, Constitution on the Sacred
Liturgy, 7).
Patron Saint of:
Europe
Kidney disease
Poisoning
Schoolchildren
Europe
Kidney disease
Poisoning
Schoolchildren
LECTIO: MATTHEW 10,7-15
Lectio:
Thursday, July
11, 2013
Ordinary Time
1) Opening prayer
Father,
through the obedience of Jesus,
your servant and your Son,
you raised a fallen world.
Free us from sin
and bring us the joy that lasts for ever.
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.
through the obedience of Jesus,
your servant and your Son,
you raised a fallen world.
Free us from sin
and bring us the joy that lasts for ever.
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 10,7-15
Jesus said to his
disciples: "As you go, proclaim that the kingdom of Heaven is close at
hand. Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those suffering from virulent
skin-diseases, drive out devils.
You received without charge, give without charge. Provide yourselves with no gold or silver, not even with coppers for your purses, with no haversack for the journey or spare tunic or footwear or a staff, for the labourer deserves his keep.
'Whatever town or village you go into, seek out someone worthy and stay with him until you leave.
As you enter his house, salute it, and if the house deserves it, may your peace come upon it; if it does not, may your peace come back to you. And if anyone does not welcome you or listen to what you have to say, as you walk out of the house or town shake the dust from your feet. In truth I tell you, on the Day of Judgement it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town."
You received without charge, give without charge. Provide yourselves with no gold or silver, not even with coppers for your purses, with no haversack for the journey or spare tunic or footwear or a staff, for the labourer deserves his keep.
'Whatever town or village you go into, seek out someone worthy and stay with him until you leave.
As you enter his house, salute it, and if the house deserves it, may your peace come upon it; if it does not, may your peace come back to you. And if anyone does not welcome you or listen to what you have to say, as you walk out of the house or town shake the dust from your feet. In truth I tell you, on the Day of Judgement it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town."
3) Reflection
• The Gospel today
presents the second part of the sending out of the disciples. Yesterday
we have seen that Jesus insists in directing them first toward the lost sheep
of Israel. Today, we see the concrete instructions to carry out the
mission.
• Matthew 10, 7: The objective of the mission: to reveal the presence of the Kingdom. “Go and announce the Kingdom of Heaven is close at hand”. The principal objective is that of announcing that the Kingdom is close at hand. This is the novelty which Christ brings to us. For the other Jews there was still a long time before the coming of the Kingdom. It would have come only after they would have done their own part. The coming of the Kingdom depended, according to them, on their effort. For the Pharisees, for example, the Kingdom would be attained only after the perfect observance of the Law. For the Essences, when the country would have purified itself. But Jesus thinks in a different way. He has a different way of reading the facts of life. He says that the hour has already arrived (Mk 1, 15). When he says that the Kingdom is close at hand or that the Kingdom is already among us, in our midst, he does not mean to say that the Kingdom was just arriving at that moment, but that it was already there, independently of the effort made by the people. What they all expected was already present among the people, gratuitously, but the people did not know it, nor perceived it (cf. Lk 17, 21). Jesus is aware of this, because he sees reality with different eyes. He reveals and announces to the poor of his land this hidden presence of the Kingdom in our midst (Lk 4, 18). It is the mustard seed which will receive the rain of his word and the warmth of his love.
• Matthew 10, 8: The signs of the presence of the Kingdom: accept the excluded.How should the presence of the Kingdom be announced? Only through words and discourses? No! The signs of the presence of the Kingdom are above all concrete gestures or acts, done gratuitously: “Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out the devils. You received without charge, give without charge”. This means that the disciples should accept within the community those who have been excluded. This practice of solidarity criticizes both the religion and society which exclude, and indicates concrete solutions.
• Matthew 10, 9-10: Do not take anything for the journey. Contrary to other missionaries, the disciples of Jesus should not take anything: “Provide yourselves with no gold or silver, not even with coppers for your purses, with no haversack for the journey or a spare tunic or footwear or a staff, for the labourer deserves his keep”. This means that they have to trust in the hospitality of the people. Because the disciples who go without anything, taking only peace (Mk 10, 13), show that they trust the people. It is certain that they will be welcomed, that they will be able to participate in the life and the work of the people of the place and that they will be able to survive with what they will receive in exchange, because the labourer deserves his keep. This means that the disciples should trust in sharing. By means of this practice they criticize the laws of exclusion and recover the ancient values of community living together.
• Matthew 10, 11-13: To share peace in the community. The disciples should not go from house to house, but should seek persons of peace and remain in that house. That is, they should they in a stable manner. Thus, through that new practice, they criticise the culture of accumulation which characterized the politics of the Roman Empire, and they announced a new model of living together. Once all these requirements were respected, the disciples could cry out: The Kingdom of God has arrived! To announce the Kingdom does not mean, in the first place, to teach truths and doctrine, but lead toward a new fraternal manner of living and of sharing starting from the Good News which Jesus has brought to us: God and Father and Mother of all men and women.
• Matthew 10, 14-15: The severity of the menace. How is such a severe menace to be understood? Jesus has brought us something completely new. He has come to rescue the community values of the past: hospitality, sharing, communion around the table, acceptance of the excluded. That explains the severity against those who reject the message. Because they do not reject something new, but their own past, their own culture and wisdom! The objective of the pedagogy of Jesus is to dig out from the memory, to recover the wisdom of the people, to reconstruct the community, to renew the Covenant, to reconstruct life.
4) Personal questions
• Today, how can we
put into practice the recommendation not to take anything for the journey when
going to a mission?
• Jesus orders to seek for persons of peace, so as to be able to remain in their house. Today, who would be a person of peace to whom to address oneself in the announcement of the Good News?
• Jesus orders to seek for persons of peace, so as to be able to remain in their house. Today, who would be a person of peace to whom to address oneself in the announcement of the Good News?
5) Concluding Prayer
God Sabaoth, come
back, we pray,
look down from heaven and see,
visit this vine;
protect what your own hand has planted. (Ps 80,14-15)
look down from heaven and see,
visit this vine;
protect what your own hand has planted. (Ps 80,14-15)
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