Saturday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 412
Lectionary: 412
Are you not from
eternity, O LORD,
my holy God, immortal?
O LORD, you have marked him for judgment,
O Rock, you have readied him punishment!
Too pure are your eyes to look upon evil,
and the sight of misery you cannot endure.
Why, then, do you gaze on the faithless in silence
while the wicked man devours
one more just than himself?
You have made man like the fish of the sea,
like creeping things without a ruler.
He brings them all up with his hook,
he hauls them away with his net,
He gathers them in his seine;
and so he rejoices and exults.
Therefore he sacrifices to his net,
and burns incense to his seine;
for thanks to them his portion is generous,
and his repast sumptuous.
Shall he, then, keep on brandishing his sword
to slay peoples without mercy?
I will stand at my guard post,
and station myself upon the rampart,
And keep watch to see what he will say to me,
and what answer he will give to my complaint.
Then the LORD answered me and said:
Write down the vision
Clearly upon the tablets,
so that one can read it readily.
For the vision still has its time,
presses on to fulfillment, and will not disappoint;
If it delays, wait for it,
it will surely come, it will not be late.
The rash man has no integrity;
but the just man, because of his faith, shall live.
my holy God, immortal?
O LORD, you have marked him for judgment,
O Rock, you have readied him punishment!
Too pure are your eyes to look upon evil,
and the sight of misery you cannot endure.
Why, then, do you gaze on the faithless in silence
while the wicked man devours
one more just than himself?
You have made man like the fish of the sea,
like creeping things without a ruler.
He brings them all up with his hook,
he hauls them away with his net,
He gathers them in his seine;
and so he rejoices and exults.
Therefore he sacrifices to his net,
and burns incense to his seine;
for thanks to them his portion is generous,
and his repast sumptuous.
Shall he, then, keep on brandishing his sword
to slay peoples without mercy?
I will stand at my guard post,
and station myself upon the rampart,
And keep watch to see what he will say to me,
and what answer he will give to my complaint.
Then the LORD answered me and said:
Write down the vision
Clearly upon the tablets,
so that one can read it readily.
For the vision still has its time,
presses on to fulfillment, and will not disappoint;
If it delays, wait for it,
it will surely come, it will not be late.
The rash man has no integrity;
but the just man, because of his faith, shall live.
Responsorial Psalm PS 9:8-9, 10-11, 12-13
R. (11b) You forsake not those who seek you, O Lord.
The LORD sits enthroned forever;
he has set up his throne for judgment.
He judges the world with justice;
he governs the peoples with equity.
R. You forsake not those who seek you, O Lord.
The LORD is a stronghold for the oppressed,
a stronghold in times of distress.
They trust in you who cherish your name,
for you forsake not those who seek you, O LORD.
R. You forsake not those who seek you, O Lord.
Sing praise to the LORD enthroned in Zion;
proclaim among the nations his deeds;
For the avenger of blood has remembered;
he has not forgotten the cry of the poor.
R. You forsake not those who seek you, O Lord.
The LORD sits enthroned forever;
he has set up his throne for judgment.
He judges the world with justice;
he governs the peoples with equity.
R. You forsake not those who seek you, O Lord.
The LORD is a stronghold for the oppressed,
a stronghold in times of distress.
They trust in you who cherish your name,
for you forsake not those who seek you, O LORD.
R. You forsake not those who seek you, O Lord.
Sing praise to the LORD enthroned in Zion;
proclaim among the nations his deeds;
For the avenger of blood has remembered;
he has not forgotten the cry of the poor.
R. You forsake not those who seek you, O Lord.
Gospel MT 17:14-20
A man came up to
Jesus, knelt down before him, and said,
“Lord, have pity on my son, who is a lunatic and suffers severely;
often he falls into fire, and often into water.
I brought him to your disciples, but they could not cure him.”
Jesus said in reply,
“O faithless and perverse generation, how long will I be with you?
How long will I endure you?
Bring the boy here to me.”
Jesus rebuked him and the demon came out of him,
and from that hour the boy was cured.
Then the disciples approached Jesus in private and said,
“Why could we not drive it out?”
He said to them, “Because of your little faith.
Amen, I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed,
you will say to this mountain,
‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move.
Nothing will be impossible for you.”
“Lord, have pity on my son, who is a lunatic and suffers severely;
often he falls into fire, and often into water.
I brought him to your disciples, but they could not cure him.”
Jesus said in reply,
“O faithless and perverse generation, how long will I be with you?
How long will I endure you?
Bring the boy here to me.”
Jesus rebuked him and the demon came out of him,
and from that hour the boy was cured.
Then the disciples approached Jesus in private and said,
“Why could we not drive it out?”
He said to them, “Because of your little faith.
Amen, I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed,
you will say to this mountain,
‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move.
Nothing will be impossible for you.”
Meditation: "Nothing will be impossible to you"
What kind of faith does the Lord expect of us, especially when
we meet set-backs and trials? Inevitably there are times when each of us
disappoint others or disappoint ourselves when we suffer some kind of set-back
or failure. In this Gospel incident the disciples of Jesus fail to heal an
epileptic boy. Jesus' response seems stern; but it is really tempered with love
and compassion. We see at once Jesus' dismay with the disciples' lack of faith
and his concern to meet the need of this troubled boy and his father. With one
word of command Jesus rebukes the evil spirit that has caused this boy's
affliction and tells the spirit to "never enter him again".
Pray with expectant faith
Jesus tells his disciples that they can "remove mountains" if they have faith in God. The expression to "remove mountains" was a common Jewish phrase for removing difficulties. A wise teacher who could solve difficulties was called a "mountain remover". If we pray with expectant faith God will give us the means to overcome difficulties and obstacles. When you meet trials and disappointments how do you respond? With faith and trust in Jesus?
Jesus tells his disciples that they can "remove mountains" if they have faith in God. The expression to "remove mountains" was a common Jewish phrase for removing difficulties. A wise teacher who could solve difficulties was called a "mountain remover". If we pray with expectant faith God will give us the means to overcome difficulties and obstacles. When you meet trials and disappointments how do you respond? With faith and trust in Jesus?
"Lord Jesus, help my unbelief! Increase my faith and trust
in your saving power. Give me confidence and perseverance, especially in
prayer. And help me to bring your healing love and truth to those I meet".
 Turn to Jesus |
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August 9, 2014. Saturday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary
Time
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Matthew 17: 14-20
A man came up to Jesus, knelt down before him, and said,
"Lord, have pity on my son, for he is a lunatic and suffers severely;
often he falls into fire, and often into water. I brought him to your
disciples, but they could not cure him." Jesus said in reply, "O
faithless and perverse generation, how long will I be with you? How long will
I endure you? Bring him here to me." Jesus rebuked him and the demon
came out of him, and from that hour the boy was cured. Then the disciples
approached Jesus in private and said, "Why could we not drive it
out?" He said to them, "Because of your little faith. Amen, I say
to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this
mountain, ´Move from here to there,´ and it will move. Nothing will be
impossible for you."
Introductory Prayer: Lord Jesus, I believe you want me to have faith in you,
faith that hearkens to your words without any second guessing. I hope in your
words, not relying solely on my own strength or reasoning. I love you. You
continue to astonish me by showing me that your ways are not my ways.
Petition: Lord, give me the grace to trust you.
1. Never a Dull Moment: Just before this event, the apostles
were with Christ at the Transfiguration. Have you ever come out of a retreat
on fire to change the world, and then the unexpected cross comes your way – a
negative comment, a temptation you have not had before, a tragedy in the
family? You were in the clouds surrounded by God’s glory, and then you came
crashing down to the reality of this world. Let the moments of glory be your
strength to face and persevere through all the challenges that lie ahead. We
have to be strong. We have to keep moving ahead even though we seem to have
bullets flying by our heads, as do soldiers in war. We have to have faith.
2. Genuine Faith: The apostles go out and think they can cure people, but
they forget the secret ingredient – faith. It is not the apostles who are
doing the work; it is God working through them. Could it be that they had
forgotten this fact and fell into presumption? How often do we have a great
time at prayer, only to walk out the door and return to our
self-centeredness? We have no power aside from Christ. Put your faith into
action. Make sure your actions are done with Christ and through Christ.
3. Looking Back: Let’s move forward to the time when Peter looked back on
all these occurrences and realized how patient our Lord had been with him. He
also saw Christ’s merciful love to all people. Do I find daily nourishment in
seeing how patient and merciful our Lord is? Do I often lose my cool and get
anxious simply because I do not know how to deal with others’ faults or with
people who clash with me? Is it tough for me when people do not see the
obvious? Am I short with others, not dealing well with their shortcomings and
failures? Turn to Christ. Look at him, see his simple smile and recall how
long he waited for you to look him in the eyes and change your ways.
Conversation with Christ: Lord Jesus, you always had your hand
stretched out to me, but often I used my hands for my own endeavors. Take me
by the hand now, and lead me where you want me to go.
Resolution: Today when I go to prayer, I will look back on the road
traveled thus far and be grateful.
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SATURDAY, AUGUST 9, MATTHEW 17:14-20
(Habakkuk 1:12--2:4; Psalm 9)
(Habakkuk 1:12--2:4; Psalm 9)
KEY VERSE: "Nothing will be impossible for you" (v 20).
READING: No sooner had Jesus come down from the heavenly glory on the mountain of the Transfiguration (Mt 17:1-13), than he was confronted with an earthly problem. He encountered a lack of faith, even among his own disciples. They were unable to heal a young man suffering from epilepsy, and his father begged Jesus to cure him. Jesus reproached the unbelievers in the same way that Moses rebuked the people when he returned from the mountain of Sinai and saw the people's lack of faith (Ex 32:19). Jesus healed the boy with a simple command, and then told his disciples that with enough faith, they could move mountains, a well-known metaphor for removing difficulties. Jesus meant that with faith in God, even the hardest tasks could be accomplished. He told his humbled disciples that they only needed the smallest amount of faith, the size of a tiny mustard seed, to remove immense obstacles that blocked their path to God.
REFLECTING: What obstacles stand in the way of my serving the Lord?
PRAYING: Lord Jesus, increase my faith when I face overwhelming problems.
Optional Memorial of Teresa Benedicta of the
Cross (Edith Stein), virgin and martyr
Edith Stein was the youngest of seven children in a Jewish family. She was a brilliant student and philosopher. Witnessing the faith of her Catholic friends led her to studying the catechism on her own, "reading herself into" the Faith. Edith was converted to Catholicism in Cologne, Germany, and was baptized in 1922. She became a Carmelite nun in 1934, taking the name Teresa Benedicta of the Cross. She was a teacher in the Dominican school in Speyer, and lecturer at the Educational Institute in Munich. However, anti-Jewish pressure from the Nazis forced her to resign both positions. Both Jewish and Catholic, she was smuggled out of Germany, and assigned to Echt, Holland in 1938. When the Nazis invaded Holland, she and her sister Rose, also a convert to Catholicism, were captured and sent to the concentration camp at Auschwitz where they died in the ovens like countless others.
You will never abandon those who seek you, Lord
‘If you had faith...nothing would be impossible for you.’Living alongside the disciples and teaching them must have at times been frustrating for Jesus. There were moments when they seemed to get it and to be following God’s way in faith. But today’s gospel shows us that there were times when he became frustrated with their lack of focus. Through their inconsistency, the disciples make the gift of Jesus so much more profound. His total commitment to faith and connection to God changes lives in ways that they seem incapable of. Jesus’ power is very evident, and even in a moment of frustration he does not waver. Jesus’ frustration is great, because of his deep love and care. He knows what is best for the disciples—and the world. Do we allow ourselves to tap into the restorative power that comes from God?
MINUTE MEDITATIONS
Mature Prayer Life
Most of us have had experiences when we knew God was saying
something specific to us, even though we heard the words only in our hearts.
God can speak in this way even when we are not at prayer. But a mature prayer
life will make our souls more sensitive to these direct inspirations, and
create more room for God to speak directly more often.
August
9
St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein)
(1891-1942)
St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein)
(1891-1942)
A brilliant philosopher who stopped believing in God when she was
14, Edith Stein was so captivated by reading the autobiography of Teresa of
Avila (October 15) that she began a spiritual journey that led to her Baptism
in 1922. Twelve years later she imitated Teresa by becoming a Carmelite, taking
the name Teresa Benedicta of the Cross.
Born into
a prominent Jewish family in Breslau (now Wroclaw, Poland), Edith abandoned
Judaism in her teens. As a student at the University of Göttingen, she became
fascinated by phenomenology, an approach to philosophy. Excelling as a protégé
of Edmund Husserl, one of the leading phenomenologists, Edith earned a
doctorate in philosophy in 1916. She continued as a university teacher until
1922 when she moved to a Dominican school in Speyer; her appointment as
lecturer at the Educational Institute of Munich ended under pressure from the
Nazis.
After
living in the Cologne Carmel (1934-38), she moved to the Carmelite monastery in
Echt, Netherlands. The Nazis occupied that country in 1940. In retaliation for
being denounced by the Dutch bishops, the Nazis arrested all Dutch Jews who had
become Christians. Teresa Benedicta and her sister Rosa, also a Catholic, died
in a gas chamber in Auschwitz on August 9, 1942.
Blessed
John Paul II beatified Teresa Benedicta in 1987 and canonized her 12 years
later.
Comment:
The writings of Edith Stein fill 17 volumes, many of which have been translated into English. A woman of integrity, she followed the truth wherever it led her. After becoming a Catholic, Edith continued to honor her mother’s Jewish faith. Sister Josephine Koeppel, O.C.D. , translator of several of Edith’s books, sums up this saint with the phrase, “Learn to live at God’s hands.”
The writings of Edith Stein fill 17 volumes, many of which have been translated into English. A woman of integrity, she followed the truth wherever it led her. After becoming a Catholic, Edith continued to honor her mother’s Jewish faith. Sister Josephine Koeppel, O.C.D. , translator of several of Edith’s books, sums up this saint with the phrase, “Learn to live at God’s hands.”
Quote:
In his homily at the canonization Mass, Pope John Paul II said: “Because she was Jewish, Edith Stein was taken with her sister Rosa and many other Catholics and Jews from the Netherlands to the concentration camp in Auschwitz, where she died with them in the gas chambers. Today we remember them all with deep respect. A few days before her deportation, the woman religious had dismissed the question about a possible rescue: ‘Do not do it! Why should I be spared? Is it not right that I should gain no advantage from my Baptism? If I cannot share the lot of my brothers and sisters, my life, in a certain sense, is destroyed.’”
In his homily at the canonization Mass, Pope John Paul II said: “Because she was Jewish, Edith Stein was taken with her sister Rosa and many other Catholics and Jews from the Netherlands to the concentration camp in Auschwitz, where she died with them in the gas chambers. Today we remember them all with deep respect. A few days before her deportation, the woman religious had dismissed the question about a possible rescue: ‘Do not do it! Why should I be spared? Is it not right that I should gain no advantage from my Baptism? If I cannot share the lot of my brothers and sisters, my life, in a certain sense, is destroyed.’”
Addressing himself to
the young people gathered for the canonization, the pope said: “Your life is
not an endless series of open doors! Listen to your heart! Do not stay on the
surface but go to the heart of things! And when the time is right, have the
courage to decide! The Lord is waiting for you to put your freedom in his good
hands.”
LECTIO DIVINA:
MATTHEW 17, 14-20
Lectio:
Saturday, August 9, 2014
Ordinary Time
1) Prayer
Show us your continued kindness, Father,
and watch your people,
as we acknowledge your guide and your lead.
renews the work of your creation
and guard what you have renewed.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ ...
2) Reading
From the Gospel according to Matthew 17.14-20
At that time, when they came to the crowd a
man approached, knelt down before Jesus, and said, "Lord, have pity on my
son, for he is a lunatic and suffers severely; often he falls into fire, and
often into water. I brought him to your disciples, but they could not cure
him." Jesus said in reply, "O faithless and perverse generation, how
long will I be with you? How long will I endure you? Bring him here to
me." Jesus rebuked him and the demon came out of him, and from that hour
the boy was cured. Then the disciples approached Jesus in private and said,
"Why could we not drive it out?" He said to them, "Because of
your little faith. Amen, I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard
seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will
move. Nothing will be impossible for you."
3) Reflection
• Context. Our passage has Jesus in his work
of healing. After having stayed with the disciples alone in the region of
Caesarea Philippi (16.13 to 28) Jesus climbs a high mountain and is transfigured
before three disciples (from 17.1 to 10) and then reaches the crowd (17.14 -
21) attempts a new approach to Galilee to regain (7.22). What to think of these
geographical shifts of Jesus? It is not excluded that they could have a value
of geographical, but Matthew press submit their role of spiritual journey. In
his journey of faith community is increasingly called upon to retrace that
spiritual which marked the life of Jesus from Galilee of his public and that
his resurrection by way of the cross. A spiritual journey in which the power of
faith plays a crucial role.
• The power of faith. Jesus, after his
transfiguration, with its small community of disciples returned from the crowd,
before returning to Galilee (v. 22) and arrive in Capernaum (v.24). And while
in the crowd a man approached him and begged him to urgently intervene in the
evil that keeps her imprisoned son. The description preceding the intervention
of Jesus really clear: this is a case of epilepsy with all its pathological
consequences on the psychic level. At the time of Jesus, this type of illness
was traced to evil forces and specifically the action of Satan, enemy of God
and man, and therefore the origin of evil and all evil. Faced with such a
situation arise in which evil forces far beyond human capabilities to the
disciples find themselves powerless to heal the child (vv.16-19) and because of
their lack of faith (V.20). For the evangelist, this young epileptic is a
symbol of those who devalue the power of faith (V.20), not mindful of the
presence of God in their midst (V.17). The presence of God in Jesus, Emmanuel,
is not recognized, the fact understand something of Jesus is not enough, we
need the true faith. After Jesus rebuked the crowd, you bring the boy:
"Bring him here" (V.17), heals and frees it when rebuked the devil.
Not simply the miracle of healing a single person "" you must also
heal the weak and uncertain faith of the disciples. Jesus approaches them who
are confused or dazed for their impotence: "Because we could not throw it
out?" (V.20). Jesus' answer is clear: "For your wavering faith".
Jesus calls for faith that can move mountains of his heart to identify with his
person, his mission, his divine power. It is true that the disciples have left
everything to follow Jesus but have failed to heal the epileptic boy because of
"little faith." It is not lack of faith, only that it is weak,
vacillating for sure, with a predominance of mistrust and doubt. It is a faith
that is rooted entirely in relationship with Christ. Jesus goes beyond the
language when he says: "if you have faith like a mustard seed" can
move mountains, is an exhortation to be guided by the power of faith in action,
which becomes especially strong in times of trial and suffering and attains maturity
when no offense most of the scandal of the cross. Faith can do anything,
provided waivers to rely on their human capacity, can move mountains. The
disciples, the early community have experienced that unbelief can not be won by
prayer and fasting, but you must join the death and resurrection of Jesus
4) Personal questions
• Through musical meditation we observed that
the disciples are placed in relation to epileptic and Jesus himself. You also
find your way relationship with Jesus and with others using the power of faith?
• On the cross Jesus gives witness to the
Father and reveals completely. Jesus' words that you thought you asked the
total membership: you feel every day committed to move the heart of the
mountains that stand between your self-interest and the will of God?
5) Final Prayer
The LORD is a stronghold for the oppressed,
stronghold in times of trouble. Those who honor your name trust in you; you
never forsake those who seek you, LORD. (Psalm 9)
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