Memorial of Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, Virgin
Lectionary: 390
Lectionary: 390
A certain man of
the house of Levi married a Levite woman,
who conceived and bore a son.
Seeing that he was a goodly child, she hid him for three months.
When she could hide him no longer, she took a papyrus basket,
daubed it with bitumen and pitch,
and putting the child in it,
placed it among the reeds on the river bank.
His sister stationed herself at a distance
to find out what would happen to him.
Pharaoh’s daughter came down to the river to bathe,
while her maids walked along the river bank.
Noticing the basket among the reeds, she sent her handmaid to fetch it.
On opening it, she looked, and lo, there was a baby boy, crying!
She was moved with pity for him and said,
“It is one of the Hebrews’ children.”
Then his sister asked Pharaoh’s daughter,
“Shall I go and call one of the Hebrew women
to nurse the child for you?”
“Yes, do so,” she answered.
So the maiden went and called the child’s own mother.
Pharaoh’s daughter said to her,
“Take this child and nurse it for me, and I will repay you.”
The woman therefore took the child and nursed it.
When the child grew, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter,
who adopted him as her son and called him Moses;
for she said, “I drew him out of the water.”
On one occasion, after Moses had grown up,
when he visited his kinsmen and witnessed their forced labor,
he saw an Egyptian striking a Hebrew, one of his own kinsmen.
Looking about and seeing no one,
he slew the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.
The next day he went out again, and now two Hebrews were fighting!
So he asked the culprit,
“Why are you striking your fellow Hebrew?”
But the culprit replied,
“Who has appointed you ruler and judge over us?
Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian?”
Then Moses became afraid and thought,
“The affair must certainly be known.”
Pharaoh, too, heard of the affair and sought to put Moses to death.
But Moses fled from him and stayed in the land of Midian.
who conceived and bore a son.
Seeing that he was a goodly child, she hid him for three months.
When she could hide him no longer, she took a papyrus basket,
daubed it with bitumen and pitch,
and putting the child in it,
placed it among the reeds on the river bank.
His sister stationed herself at a distance
to find out what would happen to him.
Pharaoh’s daughter came down to the river to bathe,
while her maids walked along the river bank.
Noticing the basket among the reeds, she sent her handmaid to fetch it.
On opening it, she looked, and lo, there was a baby boy, crying!
She was moved with pity for him and said,
“It is one of the Hebrews’ children.”
Then his sister asked Pharaoh’s daughter,
“Shall I go and call one of the Hebrew women
to nurse the child for you?”
“Yes, do so,” she answered.
So the maiden went and called the child’s own mother.
Pharaoh’s daughter said to her,
“Take this child and nurse it for me, and I will repay you.”
The woman therefore took the child and nursed it.
When the child grew, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter,
who adopted him as her son and called him Moses;
for she said, “I drew him out of the water.”
On one occasion, after Moses had grown up,
when he visited his kinsmen and witnessed their forced labor,
he saw an Egyptian striking a Hebrew, one of his own kinsmen.
Looking about and seeing no one,
he slew the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.
The next day he went out again, and now two Hebrews were fighting!
So he asked the culprit,
“Why are you striking your fellow Hebrew?”
But the culprit replied,
“Who has appointed you ruler and judge over us?
Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian?”
Then Moses became afraid and thought,
“The affair must certainly be known.”
Pharaoh, too, heard of the affair and sought to put Moses to death.
But Moses fled from him and stayed in the land of Midian.
Responsorial PsalmPS 69:3, 14, 30-31, 33-34
R. (see 33) Turn to the Lord in your need, and you will
live.
I am sunk in the abysmal swamp
where there is no foothold;
I have reached the watery depths;
the flood overwhelms me.
R. Turn to the Lord in your need, and you will live.
But I pray to you, O LORD,
for the time of your favor, O God!
In your great kindness answer me
with your constant help.
R. Turn to the Lord in your need, and you will live.
But I am afflicted and in pain;
let your saving help, O God, protect me;
I will praise the name of God in song,
and I will glorify him with thanksgiving.
R. Turn to the Lord in your need, and you will live.
“See, you lowly ones, and be glad;
you who seek God, may your hearts revive!
For the LORD hears the poor,
and his own who are in bonds he spurns not.”
R. Turn to the Lord in your need, and you will live.
I am sunk in the abysmal swamp
where there is no foothold;
I have reached the watery depths;
the flood overwhelms me.
R. Turn to the Lord in your need, and you will live.
But I pray to you, O LORD,
for the time of your favor, O God!
In your great kindness answer me
with your constant help.
R. Turn to the Lord in your need, and you will live.
But I am afflicted and in pain;
let your saving help, O God, protect me;
I will praise the name of God in song,
and I will glorify him with thanksgiving.
R. Turn to the Lord in your need, and you will live.
“See, you lowly ones, and be glad;
you who seek God, may your hearts revive!
For the LORD hears the poor,
and his own who are in bonds he spurns not.”
R. Turn to the Lord in your need, and you will live.
AlleluiaPS 95:8
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
If today you hear his voice,
harden not your hearts.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
If today you hear his voice,
harden not your hearts.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
GospelMT 11:20-24
Jesus began to
reproach the towns
where most of his mighty deeds had been done,
since they had not repented.
“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida!
For if the mighty deeds done in your midst
had been done in Tyre and Sidon,
they would long ago have repented in sackcloth and ashes.
But I tell you, it will be more tolerable
for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you.
And as for you, Capernaum:
Will you be exalted to heaven?
You will go down to the netherworld.
For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Sodom,
it would have remained until this day.
But I tell you, it will be more tolerable
for the land of Sodom on the day of judgment than for you.”
where most of his mighty deeds had been done,
since they had not repented.
“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida!
For if the mighty deeds done in your midst
had been done in Tyre and Sidon,
they would long ago have repented in sackcloth and ashes.
But I tell you, it will be more tolerable
for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you.
And as for you, Capernaum:
Will you be exalted to heaven?
You will go down to the netherworld.
For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Sodom,
it would have remained until this day.
But I tell you, it will be more tolerable
for the land of Sodom on the day of judgment than for you.”
Meditation: "Will you be exalted to heaven?"
If Jesus were to visit your community today, what would he say?
Would he issue a warning like the one he gave to Chorazin and Bethsaida? And
how would you respond? Wherever Jesus went he did mighty works to show the
people how much God had for them. Chorazin and Bethsaida had been blessed with
the visitation of God. They heard the good news and experienced the wonderful
works which Jesus did for them. Why was Jesus upset with these communities? The
word woe can mean misfortune, calamity, distress, sorrow, sadness, misery,
grief, or wretchedness. It is as much an expression of sorrowful pity and grief
as it is of dismay over the calamity and destruction which comes as a result of
human folly, sin, and ignorance.
Why does Jesus lament and issue a stern warning? The people who
heard the Gospel here very likely responded with indifference. Jesus upbraids
them for doing nothing! Repentance demands change - a change of heart and way
of life. God's word is life-giving and it saves us from destruction - the
destruction of heart, mind, and soul as well as body. Jesus' anger is directed
toward sin and everything which hinders us from doing the will of God. In love
he calls us to walk in his way of truth and freedom, grace and mercy, justice
and holiness. Do you receive his word with faith and obedience or with doubt
and indifference?
"Most High and glorious God, enlighten the darkness of our
hearts and give us a true faith, a certain hope and a perfect love. Give us a
sense of the divine and knowledge of yourself, so that we may do everything in
fulfilment of your holy will; through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Prayer
of Francis of Assisi, 1182-1226)
TUESDAY, JULY 14, MATTHEW 11:20-24
(Exodus 2:1-15a; Psalm 69)
(Exodus 2:1-15a; Psalm 69)
KEY VERSE: "Then he began to reproach the towns where most of his mighty deeds had been done, since they had not repented" (v 20).
TO KNOW: The miracles that Jesus worked in Chorazin and Bethsaida were manifestations of God's power. These "mighty deeds" were meant to turn the people away from their sins and point them toward salvation; nevertheless, many people refused to repent (Greek, metanoia; Hebrew, t’shuvah). Jesus grimly reminded the crowds who gathered to hear his message that the pagan cites of Tyre and Sidon were denounced by the prophets for their wickedness (Joel 4:4-7). Jesus then reproached Capernaum, the center of his own ministry. If such miracles had been worked in Sodom, the people would have repented and that corrupt city would still be standing (Gn 19:1-29). Jesus lamented the fact that the people of Sodom would be judged less severely than his own people because he was in their midst. Yet they closed their eyes and ears to his message.
TO LOVE: What do I need to do to change my life?
TO SERVE: Lord Jesus, help me to see the miracles that you work in my life.
Memorial of Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, Virgin
Kateri was the daughter of a Christian Algonquin woman captured by the Iroquois and married to a non-Christian Mohawk chief. Kateri was orphaned during a smallpox epidemic, which left her with a scarred face and impaired eyesight. She converted to the Christian faith and was baptized in 1676 by a Jesuit missionary. Shunned and abused by relatives for her faith, Kateri escaped through 200 miles of wilderness to the Christian Native American village of Sault-Sainte-Marie, and took a vow of chastity in 1679. Known for spirituality and an austere lifestyle, her grave became a pilgrimage site and place of miracles for Christian Native Americans and French colonists. Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, known informally as the Lilly of the Mohawks, was canonized on 10/21/2012 by Pope Benedict XVI.
Tuesday 14 July 2015
St
Camillus de Lellis. Exodus 2:1-15. Turn to the Lord in your need, and you
will live—Ps 68(69):3, 14, 30-31, 33-34. Matthew 11:20-24.
It was in
‘his own city’, his adopted Capernaum, that Jesus began to ‘say and do’.
So he
began his ministry of teaching and healing—the servant of the centurion, the
ruler’s son, the man with palsy, Peter’s mother-in-law, and so many others.
Capernaum was chosen by Jesus as his very own, with a touching human
preference. It is terrible, therefore, to hear him denounce it for its
unbelief, its indifference, for opportunities not seized.
I, too,
Lord, am the object of your deliberate choice. You have chosen me to know you
and your love and for the working in me of the wonders of your grace. Let me
not be another Capernaum, deserving your condemnation for indifference bred of
sloth or weariness, or for hardness of heart born of lukewarmness.
MINUTE MEDITATIONS
|
Everyday Pilgrimage
|
Parenting is a long-haul effort—a pilgrimage of sorts. It isn’t
easily measured by any one criterion. We are co-creators with God, and the
biblical story is a journey with which any parent can identify.
July
14
St. Kateri Tekakwitha
(1656-1680)
St. Kateri Tekakwitha
(1656-1680)
The blood of martyrs is the seed of saints. Nine years after the Jesuits
Isaac Jogues and John de Brébeuf (October 19) were tomahawked by Iroquois
warriors, a baby girl was born near the place of their martyrdom, Auriesville,
New York.
Her
mother was a Christian Algonquin, taken captive by the Iroquois and given as
wife to the chief of the Mohawk clan, the boldest and fiercest of the Five
Nations. When she was four, Kateri lost her parents and little brother in a
smallpox epidemic that left her disfigured and half blind. She was adopted by
an uncle, who succeeded her father as chief. He hated the coming of the
Blackrobes (Jesuit missionaries), but could do nothing to them because a peace
treaty with the French required their presence in villages with Christian
captives. She was moved by the words of three Blackrobes who lodged with her
uncle, but fear of him kept her from seeking instruction. She refused to marry
a Mohawk brave and at 19 finally got the courage to take the step of
converting. She was baptized with the name Kateri (Catherine) on Easter Sunday.
Now she
would be treated as a slave. Because she would not work on Sunday, she received
no food that day. Her life in grace grew rapidly. She told a missionary that
she often meditated on the great dignity of being baptized. She was powerfully
moved by God’s love for human beings and saw the dignity of each of her people.
She was
always in danger, for her conversion and holy life created great opposition. On
the advice of a priest, she stole away one night and began a 200-mile walking
journey to a Christian Indian village at Sault St. Louis, near Montreal.
For three
years she grew in holiness under the direction of a priest and an older
Iroquois woman, giving herself totally to God in long hours of prayer, in
charity and in strenuous penance. At 23 she took a vow of virginity, an
unprecedented act for an Indian woman, whose future depended on being married.
She found a place in the woods where she could pray an hour a day—and was
accused of meeting a man there!
Her
dedication to virginity was instinctive: She did not know about religious life
for women until she visited Montreal. Inspired by this, she and two friends
wanted to start a community, but the local priest dissuaded her. She humbly
accepted an “ordinary” life. She practiced extremely severe fasting as penance
for the conversion of her nation. She died the afternoon before Holy Thursday.
Witnesses said that her emaciated face changed color and became like that of a
healthy child. The lines of suffering, even the pockmarks, disappeared and the
touch of a smile came upon her lips. She was beatified in 1980 and canonized
in 2012..
Comment:
We like to think that our proposed holiness is thwarted by our situation. If only we could have more solitude, less opposition, better health. Kateri repeats the example of the saints: Holiness thrives on the cross, anywhere. Yet she did have what Christians—all people—need: the support of a community. She had a good mother, helpful priests, Christian friends. These were present in what we call primitive conditions, and blossomed in the age-old Christian triad of prayer, fasting and alms: union with God in Jesus and the Spirit, self-discipline and often suffering, and charity for her brothers and sisters.
We like to think that our proposed holiness is thwarted by our situation. If only we could have more solitude, less opposition, better health. Kateri repeats the example of the saints: Holiness thrives on the cross, anywhere. Yet she did have what Christians—all people—need: the support of a community. She had a good mother, helpful priests, Christian friends. These were present in what we call primitive conditions, and blossomed in the age-old Christian triad of prayer, fasting and alms: union with God in Jesus and the Spirit, self-discipline and often suffering, and charity for her brothers and sisters.
Quote:
Kateri said: “I am not my own; I have given myself to Jesus. He must be my only love. The state of helpless poverty that may befall me if I do not marry does not frighten me. All I need is a little food and a few pieces of clothing. With the work of my hands I shall always earn what is necessary and what is left over I’ll give to my relatives and to the poor. If I should become sick and unable to work, then I shall be like the Lord on the cross. He will have mercy on me and help me, I am sure.”
Kateri said: “I am not my own; I have given myself to Jesus. He must be my only love. The state of helpless poverty that may befall me if I do not marry does not frighten me. All I need is a little food and a few pieces of clothing. With the work of my hands I shall always earn what is necessary and what is left over I’ll give to my relatives and to the poor. If I should become sick and unable to work, then I shall be like the Lord on the cross. He will have mercy on me and help me, I am sure.”
LECTIO DIVINA:
MATTHEW 11,20-24
Lectio:
Tuesday, July 14, 2015
Ordinary Time
1) Opening prayer
God our Father,
your light of truth
guides us to the way of Christ.
May all who follow him
reject what is contrary to the gospel.
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.
your light of truth
guides us to the way of Christ.
May all who follow him
reject what is contrary to the gospel.
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 11,20-24
Jesus began to reproach the towns in which most of his miracles
had been worked, because they refused to repent. 'Alas for you, Chorazin! Alas
for you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles done in you had been done in Tyre and
Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. Still, I tell
you that it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on Judgement Day than for
you.
And as for you, Capernaum, did you want to be raised as high as heaven? You shall be flung down to hell. For if the miracles done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have been standing yet. Still, I tell you that it will be more bearable for Sodom on Judgement Day than for you.'
And as for you, Capernaum, did you want to be raised as high as heaven? You shall be flung down to hell. For if the miracles done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have been standing yet. Still, I tell you that it will be more bearable for Sodom on Judgement Day than for you.'
3) Reflection
• The Discourse of the Mission occupies charter 10.
Chapters 11 and 12 describe the Mission which Jesus carried out and how he did
it. The two chapters mention how the people adhered to him, doubted the
evangelizing action of Jesus, or rejected it. John the
Baptist, who looked at Jesus with the eyes of the past, does not succeed in
understanding him (Mt 11, 1-15). The people, who looked at Jesus out of
interest, were not capable to understand him (Mt 11, 16-19). The great cities
around the lake, which listened to the preaching of Jesus and saw his miracles,
did not want to open themselves up to his message (this is the text of today’s
Gospel) (Mt 11, 20-24). The wise and the doctors, who appreciated everything according
to their own science, were not capable to understand the preaching of Jesus (Mt
11, 25). The Pharisees, who trusted only in the observance of the law,
criticized Jesus (Mt 12, 1-8) and decided to kill him (Mt 12, 9-14). They said
that Jesus acted in the name of Beelzebul (Mt 12, 22-37). They wanted a proof
in order to be able to believe in him (Mt 12, 38-45). Not even his relatives
supported him (Mt 12, 46-50). Only the little ones and the simple people
understood and accepted the Good News of the Kingdom (Mt 11, 25-30). They
followed him (Mt 12, 15-16) and saw in him the Servant announced by Isaiah (Mt
12, 17-21).
• This way of describing the missionary activity of Jesus was a clear warning for the disciples who together with Jesus walked through Galilee. They could not expect a reward or praise for the fact of being missionaries of Jesus. This warning is also valid for us who today read and meditate on this discourse of the Mission, because the Gospels were written for all times. They invite us to confront the attitude that we have with Jesus with the attitude of the persons who appear in the Gospel and to ask ourselves if we are like John the Baptist (Mt 11, 1-15), like the people who were interested (Mt 11, 16-19), like the unbelieving cities (Mt 11, 20-24), like the doctors who thought they knew everything and understood nothing (Mt 11, 25), like the Pharisees who only knew how to criticize (Mt 12, 1-45) or like the simple people who went seeking for Jesus (Mt 12. 15) and that, with their wisdom, knew how to understand and accept the message of the Kingdom (Mt 11, 25-30).
• Matthew 11, 20: The word against the cities which did not receive him. The space in which Jesus moves during those three years of his missionary life was small; only a few square kilometres along the Sea of Galilee around the cities of Capernaum, Bethsaida and Chorazin. Only that! So it was in this very reduced space where Jesus made the majority of his discourses and worked his miracles. He came to save the whole of humanity, and almost did not get out of the limited space of his land. Tragically, Jesus has to become aware that the people of those cities did not want to accept the message of the Kingdom and were not converted. The cities become more rigid in their beliefs, traditions and customs and do not accept the invitation of Jesus to change life.
• Matthew 11, 21-24: Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum are worse than Tyre and Sidon. In the past, Tyre and Sidon, inflexible enemies of Israel, ill treated the People of God. Because of this they were cursed by the prophets. (Is 23, 1; Jr 25, 22; 47, 4; Ex 26, 3; 27, 2; 28, 2; Jl 4, 4; Am 1, 10). And now Jesus says that these cities, symbols of all evil, would have already been converted if in them had been worked all the miracles which were worked in Chorazin and Bethsaida. The city of Sodom, the symbol of the worse perversion, was destroyed by the anger of God (Gn 18, 16 to 19, 29). And now Jesus says that Sodom would exist up until now, because it would have been converted if it had seen the miracles that Jesus worked in Capernaum. Today we still live this same paradox. Many of us, who are Catholics since we were children, have many solid and firm convictions, so much so that nobody is capable of converting us. And in some places, Christianity, instead of being a source of change and of conversion, becomes the refuge of the most reactionary forces of the politics of the country.
• This way of describing the missionary activity of Jesus was a clear warning for the disciples who together with Jesus walked through Galilee. They could not expect a reward or praise for the fact of being missionaries of Jesus. This warning is also valid for us who today read and meditate on this discourse of the Mission, because the Gospels were written for all times. They invite us to confront the attitude that we have with Jesus with the attitude of the persons who appear in the Gospel and to ask ourselves if we are like John the Baptist (Mt 11, 1-15), like the people who were interested (Mt 11, 16-19), like the unbelieving cities (Mt 11, 20-24), like the doctors who thought they knew everything and understood nothing (Mt 11, 25), like the Pharisees who only knew how to criticize (Mt 12, 1-45) or like the simple people who went seeking for Jesus (Mt 12. 15) and that, with their wisdom, knew how to understand and accept the message of the Kingdom (Mt 11, 25-30).
• Matthew 11, 20: The word against the cities which did not receive him. The space in which Jesus moves during those three years of his missionary life was small; only a few square kilometres along the Sea of Galilee around the cities of Capernaum, Bethsaida and Chorazin. Only that! So it was in this very reduced space where Jesus made the majority of his discourses and worked his miracles. He came to save the whole of humanity, and almost did not get out of the limited space of his land. Tragically, Jesus has to become aware that the people of those cities did not want to accept the message of the Kingdom and were not converted. The cities become more rigid in their beliefs, traditions and customs and do not accept the invitation of Jesus to change life.
• Matthew 11, 21-24: Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum are worse than Tyre and Sidon. In the past, Tyre and Sidon, inflexible enemies of Israel, ill treated the People of God. Because of this they were cursed by the prophets. (Is 23, 1; Jr 25, 22; 47, 4; Ex 26, 3; 27, 2; 28, 2; Jl 4, 4; Am 1, 10). And now Jesus says that these cities, symbols of all evil, would have already been converted if in them had been worked all the miracles which were worked in Chorazin and Bethsaida. The city of Sodom, the symbol of the worse perversion, was destroyed by the anger of God (Gn 18, 16 to 19, 29). And now Jesus says that Sodom would exist up until now, because it would have been converted if it had seen the miracles that Jesus worked in Capernaum. Today we still live this same paradox. Many of us, who are Catholics since we were children, have many solid and firm convictions, so much so that nobody is capable of converting us. And in some places, Christianity, instead of being a source of change and of conversion, becomes the refuge of the most reactionary forces of the politics of the country.
4) Personal questions
• How do I place myself before the Good News of Jesus: like John
the Baptist, like the interested people, like the doctors, like the Pharisees
or like the simple and poor people?
• Do my city, my country deserve the warning of Jesus against Capernaum, Chorazion and Bethsaida?
• Do my city, my country deserve the warning of Jesus against Capernaum, Chorazion and Bethsaida?
5) Concluding Prayer
Great is Yahweh and most worthy of praise
in the city of our God, the holy mountain,
towering in beauty,
the joy of the whole world. (Ps 48,1-2)
in the city of our God, the holy mountain,
towering in beauty,
the joy of the whole world. (Ps 48,1-2)
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