Tuesday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary
Time
Lectionary: 366
Lectionary: 366
After the death of Naboth the LORD said to Elijah the Tishbite:
"Start down to meet Ahab, king of Israel,
who rules in Samaria.
He will be in the vineyard of Naboth,
of which he has come to take possession.
This is what you shall tell him,
'The LORD says: After murdering, do you also take possession?
For this, the LORD says:
In the place where the dogs licked up the blood of Naboth,
the dogs shall lick up your blood, too.'"
Ahab said to Elijah, "Have you found me out, my enemy?"
"Yes," he answered.
"Because you have given yourself up to doing evil in the LORD's sight,
I am bringing evil upon you: I will destroy you
and will cut off every male in Ahab's line,
whether slave or freeman, in Israel.
I will make your house like that of Jeroboam, son of Nebat,
and like that of Baasha, son of Ahijah,
because of how you have provoked me by leading Israel into sin."
(Against Jezebel, too, the LORD declared,
"The dogs shall devour Jezebel in the district of Jezreel.")
"When one of Ahab's line dies in the city,
dogs will devour him;
when one of them dies in the field,
the birds of the sky will devour him."
Indeed, no one gave himself up to the doing of evil
in the sight of the LORD as did Ahab,
urged on by his wife Jezebel.
He became completely abominable by following idols,
just as the Amorites had done,
whom the LORD drove out before the children of Israel.
When Ahab heard these words, he tore his garments
and put on sackcloth over his bare flesh.
He fasted, slept in the sackcloth, and went about subdued.
Then the LORD said to Elijah the Tishbite,
"Have you seen that Ahab has humbled himself before me?
Since he has humbled himself before me,
I will not bring the evil in his time.
I will bring the evil upon his house during the reign of his son."
"Start down to meet Ahab, king of Israel,
who rules in Samaria.
He will be in the vineyard of Naboth,
of which he has come to take possession.
This is what you shall tell him,
'The LORD says: After murdering, do you also take possession?
For this, the LORD says:
In the place where the dogs licked up the blood of Naboth,
the dogs shall lick up your blood, too.'"
Ahab said to Elijah, "Have you found me out, my enemy?"
"Yes," he answered.
"Because you have given yourself up to doing evil in the LORD's sight,
I am bringing evil upon you: I will destroy you
and will cut off every male in Ahab's line,
whether slave or freeman, in Israel.
I will make your house like that of Jeroboam, son of Nebat,
and like that of Baasha, son of Ahijah,
because of how you have provoked me by leading Israel into sin."
(Against Jezebel, too, the LORD declared,
"The dogs shall devour Jezebel in the district of Jezreel.")
"When one of Ahab's line dies in the city,
dogs will devour him;
when one of them dies in the field,
the birds of the sky will devour him."
Indeed, no one gave himself up to the doing of evil
in the sight of the LORD as did Ahab,
urged on by his wife Jezebel.
He became completely abominable by following idols,
just as the Amorites had done,
whom the LORD drove out before the children of Israel.
When Ahab heard these words, he tore his garments
and put on sackcloth over his bare flesh.
He fasted, slept in the sackcloth, and went about subdued.
Then the LORD said to Elijah the Tishbite,
"Have you seen that Ahab has humbled himself before me?
Since he has humbled himself before me,
I will not bring the evil in his time.
I will bring the evil upon his house during the reign of his son."
Responsorial
PsalmPS 51:3-4, 5-6AB, 11 AND
16
R. (see 3a) Be
merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness;
in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense.
Thoroughly wash me from my guilt
and of my sin cleanse me.
R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
For I acknowledge my offense,
and my sin is before me always:
"Against you only have I sinned,
and done what is evil in your sight."
R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
Turn away your face from my sins,
and blot out all my guilt.
Free me from blood guilt, O God, my saving God;
then my tongue shall revel in your justice.
R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness;
in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense.
Thoroughly wash me from my guilt
and of my sin cleanse me.
R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
For I acknowledge my offense,
and my sin is before me always:
"Against you only have I sinned,
and done what is evil in your sight."
R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
Turn away your face from my sins,
and blot out all my guilt.
Free me from blood guilt, O God, my saving God;
then my tongue shall revel in your justice.
R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
AlleluiaJN 13:34
R. Alleluia,
alleluia.
I give you a new commandment;
love one another as I have loved you.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
I give you a new commandment;
love one another as I have loved you.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
GospelMT 5:43-48
Jesus said to his disciples:
"You have heard that it was said,
You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.
But I say to you, love your enemies
and pray for those who persecute you,
that you may be children of your heavenly Father,
for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good,
and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust.
For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have?
Do not the tax collectors do the same?
And if you greet your brothers only,
what is unusual about that?
Do not the pagans do the same?
So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect."
"You have heard that it was said,
You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.
But I say to you, love your enemies
and pray for those who persecute you,
that you may be children of your heavenly Father,
for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good,
and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust.
For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have?
Do not the tax collectors do the same?
And if you greet your brothers only,
what is unusual about that?
Do not the pagans do the same?
So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect."
Meditation: Love
your enemies and pray for them
What makes the disciples of Jesus different from
others and what makes Christianity distinct from any other religion? It
is grace - treating others, not as they deserve, but as God
wishes them to be treated - with loving-kindness, forbearance, and mercy. God
is good to the unjust as well as the just. His love embraces saint and sinner
alike. God seeks our highest good and teaches us to seek the greatest good of
others, even those who hate and abuse us.
Overcome evil with good
Our love for others, even those who are ungrateful and selfish towards us, must be marked by the same kindness and mercy which God has shown to us. It is easier to show kindness and mercy when we can expect to benefit from doing so. How much harder when we can expect nothing in return. Our prayer for those who do us ill both breaks the power of revenge and releases the power of love to do good in the face of evil.
Our love for others, even those who are ungrateful and selfish towards us, must be marked by the same kindness and mercy which God has shown to us. It is easier to show kindness and mercy when we can expect to benefit from doing so. How much harder when we can expect nothing in return. Our prayer for those who do us ill both breaks the power of revenge and releases the power of love to do good in the face of evil.
Christ's redeeming love and mercy frees us from all
hatred and malice towards others
How can we possibly love those who cause us harm or ill-will? With God all things are possible. He gives power and grace to those who believe and accept the gift of the Holy Spirit. His love conquers all, even our hurts, fears, prejudices and griefs. Only the cross of Jesus Christ can free us from the tyranny of malice, hatred, revenge, and resentment and gives us the courage to return evil with good. Such love and grace has power to heal and to save from destruction. Do you know the power of Christ’s redeeming love and mercy?
How can we possibly love those who cause us harm or ill-will? With God all things are possible. He gives power and grace to those who believe and accept the gift of the Holy Spirit. His love conquers all, even our hurts, fears, prejudices and griefs. Only the cross of Jesus Christ can free us from the tyranny of malice, hatred, revenge, and resentment and gives us the courage to return evil with good. Such love and grace has power to heal and to save from destruction. Do you know the power of Christ’s redeeming love and mercy?
Allow the Holy Spirit to change and transform the way
you think, judge, and treat others
Was Jesus exaggerating when he said we must be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect? The original meaning of "perfect" in Aramaic is "completeness" or "wholeness - not lacking in what is essential." God gives us every good gift in Jesus Christ so that we may not lack anything we need to do his will and to live as his sons and daughters (2 Peter 1:3). He knows our weakness and sinfulness better than we do. And he assures us of his love, mercy, and grace to follow in his ways. Do you want to grow in your love for God and for your neighbor? Ask the Holy Spirit to change and transform you in the image of the Father that you may walk in the joy and freedom of the Gospel.
Was Jesus exaggerating when he said we must be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect? The original meaning of "perfect" in Aramaic is "completeness" or "wholeness - not lacking in what is essential." God gives us every good gift in Jesus Christ so that we may not lack anything we need to do his will and to live as his sons and daughters (2 Peter 1:3). He knows our weakness and sinfulness better than we do. And he assures us of his love, mercy, and grace to follow in his ways. Do you want to grow in your love for God and for your neighbor? Ask the Holy Spirit to change and transform you in the image of the Father that you may walk in the joy and freedom of the Gospel.
"Lord Jesus, your love brings freedom and pardon.
Fill me with your Holy Spirit and set my heart ablaze with your love that
nothing may make me lose my temper, ruffle my peace, take away my joy, nor make
me bitter towards anyone."
Daily Quote from the early church fathers: Pray for those who persecute you, by
John Chrysostom, 347-407 A.D.
"For neither did Christ simply command to love
but to pray. Do you see how many steps he has ascended and how he has set us on
the very summit of virtue? Mark it, numbering from the beginning. A first step
is not to begin with injustice. A second, after one has begun, is not to
vindicate oneself by retaliating in kind. A third, to refuse to respond in kind
to the one who is injuring us but to remain tranquil. A fourth, even to offer
up one's self to suffer wrongfully. A fifth, to give up even more than the
wrongdoer wishes to take. A sixth, to refuse to hate one who has wronged us. A
seventh, even to love such a one. An eighth, even to do good to that one. A
ninth, to entreat God himself on our enemy's behalf. Do you perceive how
elevated is a Christian disposition? Hence its reward is also glorious. (excerpt from THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY
18.4)
TUESDAY, JUNE 19, MATTHEW 5:43-48
Weekday
(1 Kings 21:17-29; Psalm 51)
Weekday
(1 Kings 21:17-29; Psalm 51)
KEY VERSE: "But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you" (v. 44).
TO KNOW: Israel believed that their enemies were also the enemies of God (Ps 139:21), but God did not command Israel to hate their enemies (Lev 19:17-18). Neither were they allowed to mistreat a resident alien, that is, someone who dwelled in the land but was not a member of the nation or religion of the Jews (v. 34). Israel ought to remember that they too were once aliens in the land of Egypt. But Jesus took the law further. He said that it was no virtue to love only those who loved them; nonbelievers could do as much. His disciples should imitate their loving God who gave gifts of sun and rain to the just and unjust alike. Christians must never seek retaliation for any insult no matter how hostile. They must strive to love even those who persecuted them (Mt 5:11). Jesus showed us the supreme example of enemy love when he asked God to forgive those who were putting him to death (Lk 23:34).
TO LOVE: Do we as individuals or as a nation measure up to Jesus' command to forgive and pray for our enemies?
TO SERVE: Lord Jesus, help me to forgive those who have injured me and to pray for their welfare.
Optional Memorial of Saint
Romuald, abbot
In 976, Sergius, a nobleman of Ravenna, Italy, quarreled with a relative about an estate, and slew him in a duel. His son Romuald, horrified at his father's crime, entered the Benedictine monastery at Classe, to do a forty days’ penance for him. This penance ended in his own vocation to religion. After three years, Romuald went to live as a hermit near Venice. He founded many monasteries, the chief of which was that at Camaldoli, a wild desert place. There he built a church, which he surrounded with a number of separate cells for the solitaries who lived under his rule. His disciples were hence called Camaldolese. Among his first disciples were Saint Adalbert and Saint Boniface apostles of Russia, and Saint John and Saint Benedict of Poland, martyrs for the faith. He was an intimate friend of the Emperor Saint Henry, and was reverenced and consulted by many great men of his time.
Tuesday 19 June
2018
1 Kings 21:17-29. Psalm 50(51):3-6, 11, 16. Matthew
5:43-48.
Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned—Psalm 50(51):3-6, 11, 16.
‘He has humbled himself before me.’
A lack of forgiveness towards someone constricts the flow of our
love towards God. When Jesus makes the love of him and the love of others –
even our enemies – inseparable, he is not uttering a threat, nor offering a
bribe to induce us to love our neighbour.
He is simply stating a fact.
To love one’s enemies does not equate necessarily with liking
them or what they do. Such love points to a deeper insight into why people act
the way they do. Jesus’ words from the cross, ‘Father forgive them for they
know not what they do,’ capture the essence of this love.
It is an acceptance that we are all sinners who are
unconditionally loved by God.
Saint Romuald
Saint of the Day for June 19
(c. 950 – June 19, 1027)
 |
| Fresco of Saint Romuald | In the Dominican Cloister of Saint Mark, Florence, Italy | Fra Angelico |
Saint Romuald’s Story
In the midst of a wasted youth, Romuald watched his father kill
a relative in a duel over property. In horror he fled to a monastery near
Ravenna. After three years, some of the monks found him to be uncomfortably
holy and eased him out.
Romuald spent the next 30 years going about Italy, founding
monasteries and hermitages. He longed to give his life to Christ in martyrdom,
and got the pope’s permission to preach the gospel in Hungary. But he was
struck with illness as soon as he arrived, and the illness recurred as often as
he tried to proceed.
During another period of his life, Romuald suffered great
spiritual dryness. One day as he was praying Psalm 31 (“I will give you
understanding and I will instruct you”), he was given an extraordinary light
and spirit which never left him.
At the next monastery where he stayed, Romuald was accused of a scandalous
crime by a young nobleman he had rebuked for a dissolute life. Amazingly, his
fellow monks believed the accusation. He was given a severe penance, forbidden
from offering Mass, and excommunicated—an unjust sentence that he endured in
silence for six months.
The most famous of the monasteries Romuald founded was that of
the Camaldoli in Tuscany. Here began the Order of the Camaldolese Benedictines,
uniting the monastic and eremetical lives. In later life Romuald’s own father
became a monk, wavered, and was kept faithful by the encouragement of his son.
Reflection
Christ is a gentle leader, but he calls us to total holiness.
Now and then, men and women are raised up to challenge us by the absoluteness
of their dedication, the vigor of their spirit, the depth of their conversion.
The fact that we cannot duplicate their lives does not change the call to us to
be totally open to God in our own particular circumstances.
LECTIO DIVINA: MATTHEW 5:43-48
Lectio Divina:
Tuesday, June 19, 2018
1) OPENING PRAYER
Almighty God,
our hope and our strength,
without You we falter.
Help us to follow Christ
and to live according to Your will.
Who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
our hope and our strength,
without You we falter.
Help us to follow Christ
and to live according to Your will.
Who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
2) GOSPEL READING - MATTHEW
5:43-48
Jesus said to his disciples: "You
have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.
But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that
you may be children of your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise on the
bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust. For if
you love those who love you, what recompense will you have? Do not the tax
collectors do the same? And if you greet your brothers only, what is unusual
about that? Do not the pagans do the same? So be perfect, just as your heavenly
Father is perfect."
3) REFLECTION
• In today’s Gospel we get to the summit
of the Mount of the Beatitudes, where Jesus proclaimed the Law of the kingdom
of God, the ideal of which can be summarized in this phrase: “Be
perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect” (Mt 5:48) Jesus was
correcting the Law of God! Five times, one after another, He had already
affirmed: “It was said, but I say to you!” (Mt 5:21,27,31,33,38).
This was a sign of great courage on His part, in public, before all the people
gathered there, to correct the most sacred treasure of the people, the origin
of their identity, which was the Law of God. Jesus wants to communicate a new
way of looking and of practicing the Law of God. The key, so as to be able to
get this new perspective, is the affirmation: “Be perfect as your
Heavenly Father is perfect.” Never will anyone be able to say, “Today
I have been perfect as the Heavenly Father is perfect!” We are always below the
measure which Jesus has placed before us. Perhaps, because of this, He has
placed before us an ideal which is impossible for us mortal beings to attain?
• Matthew 5:43-45: It was said:
You will love your neighbor and hate your enemy.In this sentence Jesus
explains the mentality with which the scribes explained the Law - a mentality
which resulted from the divisions among the Jews and the non-Jews, between
neighbor and non-neighbor, between saint and sinner, between the clean and the
unclean, etc. Jesus commands the overthrow of this pretense, these interested
divisions. He orders us to overcome divisions. “But I say to you, love
your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. So that you may be children
of your Father in Heaven, for He causes His sun to rise on the bad as well as
the good, and sends down rain to fall on the upright and the wicked
alike.” And from here we draw from the source from which springs the
newness of the Kingdom. This source is proper to God who is recognized as
Father, who causes His sun to rise on the bad as well as the good. Jesus orders
that we imitate this God: “Be perfect as your Heavenly Father is
perfect” (5:48). And, it is in imitating this God that we can create a
just society, radically new.
• Matthew 5:46-48: Be perfect as
your Heavenly Father is perfect. Everything is summarized in imitating
God: "But I say to you: love your enemies and pray for those who
persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in Heaven who causes
the sun to rise on the bad as well as on the good, and sends down rain to fall
on the upright and the wicked alike. For if you love those who love you, what
reward will you get? Do not even the tax collectors do as much? And if you save
your greetings for your brothers, are you doing anything exceptional? Do not
even the gentiles do as much? Therefore, be perfect as your Heavenly Father is
perfect” (Mt 5:43-48). Love is the beginning and the end of
everything. There is no greater love than to give one’s life for one’s brother
(Jn 15:13). Jesus imitated the Father and revealed His love. Every gesture,
every word of Jesus, from His birth until the hour of His death on the cross
was an expression of this creative love, which does not depend on the gift
received, neither does it discriminate against the other because of race, sex,
religion or social class, but which comes from wishing well in a completely
gratuitous way. This was continually growing, from birth until His death on the
Cross.
• The full manifestation of
creative love in Jesus. This was when, on the Cross, He offered
forgiveness to the soldier who tortured Him and killed Him. The soldier,
employed by the Empire, placed the wrist of Jesus on the arm of the Cross,
placed a nail and began to hammer. He hammered several times. The blood fell
flowing down. The body of Jesus twisted with pain. The mercenary soldier,
ignorant of what he was doing and of what was happening around him, continued
to hammer as if it was a nail on the wall to hang a picture. At that moment Jesus
addresses this prayer to the Father: “Father, forgive them; they do not know
what they are doing!” (Lk 23:34). In spite of all the will of men, the
lack of humanity did not succeed in extinguishing humanity in Jesus. They take
Him, they mock Him, they spit on His face, they scoff Him, they make of Him a
clown king with a crown of thorns on the head, they scourged Him, tortured Him,
made Him walk on the streets as if He were a criminal. He has to listen
to the insults of the religious authority, on Calvary they leave Him completely
naked in the sight of all. But the poison of lack of humanity does not succeed
in reaching the source of humanity which sprang from the Heart of Jesus. The
water which sprang from within was stronger than the poison from without,
wanting to contaminate everything. Looking at that ignorant and rude soldier,
Jesus felt compassion for the soldier and prayed for him and for all: “Father,
forgive them!” And He even adds an excuse: “They are ignorant. They do
not know what they are doing!” Before the Father, Jesus is in solidarity with
those who torture Him and ill-treat Him. Like the brother who sees his murderer
brothers before the judge and he, victim of his own brothers, tells the judge:
“You know they are my brothers. They are ignorant. Forgive them. They will
become better!” This unbelievable gesture of humanity and of faith in the
possibility of recovering that soldier has been the greatest revelation of the
love of God. Jesus can die: “It is fulfilled!” And bowing His head He gave up
His spirit (Jn 19:30). In this way He fulfilled the prophecy of the Suffering
Servant (Is 53).
4) PERSONAL QUESTIONS
• Which is the more profound reason for
the effort which you make to observe God’s Law: to merit salvation or to thank
God, who, in His immense goodness, has created you, keeps you alive and saves
you?
• What meaning do you give to the
phrase: “to be perfect as the Heavenly Father is perfect?” Is this something
you remind yourself throughout the day?
• “Love your enemies”. Not “like” your
enemies. Not “put up with” your enemies. This is a strong word! Who are your
enemies? Is it someone who wants your job? Is it personal or is it a vague
group, like “immigrants”? Is it members of some nation or state? Do you treat
these with love? Does your community, the local or the larger community,
treat these people and groups with love?
5) CONCLUDING PRAYER
Have mercy on me, O God, in Your
faithful love,
in Your great tenderness wipe away my offenses;
wash me clean from my guilt,
purify me from my sin. (Ps 51:1-2)
in Your great tenderness wipe away my offenses;
wash me clean from my guilt,
purify me from my sin. (Ps 51:1-2)
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