Memorial of Saint Clare, virgin
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
PsalmPS 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.
AlleluiaSEE 2 TM 1:10
R. Alleluia,
alleluia.
Our Savior Jesus Christ has destroyed death
and brought life to light through the Gospel.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Our Savior Jesus Christ has destroyed death
and brought life to light through the Gospel.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
GospelMT 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".
Daily Quote from the early church fathers: Faith as a grain of mustard seed, by
Origen of Alexandria (185-254 AD)
"The mountains here spoken of, in my opinion, are
the hostile powers that have their being in a flood of great wickedness, such
as are settled down, so to speak, in some souls of various people. But when
someone has total faith, such that he no longer disbelieves in anything found
in holy Scripture and has faith like that of Abraham, who so believed in God to
such a degree that his faith was reckoned to him as righteousness (Genesis
15:6), then he has all faith like a grain of mustard seed. Then such a man will
say to this mountain - I mean in this case the deaf and dumb spirit in him who
is said to be epileptic - 'Move from here to another place.' It will move. This
means it will move from the suffering person to the abyss. The apostle, taking
this as his starting point, said with apostolic authority, 'If I have all
faith, so as to remove mountains' (1 Corinthians 13:2). For he who has all
faith - which is like a grain of mustard seed - moves not just one mountain but
also more just like it. And nothing will be impossible for the person who has
so much faith. Let us examine also this statement: 'This kind is not cast out
except through prayer and fasting' (Mark 9:29). If at any time it is necessary
that we should be engaged in the healing of one suffering from such a disorder,
we are not to adjure nor put questions nor speak to the impure spirit as if it
heard. But [by] devoting ourselves to prayer and fasting, we may be successful
as we pray for the sufferer, and by our own fasting we may thrust out the
unclean spirit from him." (excerpt
from COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 13.7.19)
SATURDAY,
AUGUST 11, MATTHEW 17:14-20
(Hebrews 1:12 -- 2:4; Psalm 9)
(Hebrews 1:12 -- 2:4; Psalm 9)
KEY VERSE: "Nothing will be impossible for you" (v. 20).
TO KNOW: 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 in one’s life. 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.
TO LOVE: What obstacles stand in the way of my serving the Lord?
TO SERVE: Lord Jesus, increase my faith when I face overwhelming problems.
Memorial of Saint Clare, virgin
Clare was the eldest daughter of Favorino Scifi, a wealthy member of an ancient Roman family. From her earliest years Clare was devoted to prayer and to practices of mortification. As she grew older, her yearning for a more spiritual life increased. She was eighteen years of age when Saint Francis came to preach in the church of San Giorgio at Assisi. Francis kindled a flame in the heart of Clare, and she begged him to help her live "after the manner of the holy Gospel". By Francis's advice, Clare secretly left her father's house, and, accompanied by her aunt Bianca and another companion, proceeded to the chapel of the Porziuncula, where Francis and his disciples met her. Clare then laid aside her rich dress, and Francis cut off her hair and clothed her in a rough tunic and a thick veil, and she vowed herself to the service of Jesus Christ. Eventually, Clare founded the Order of Poor Ladies (Poor Clares) at San Damiano, and led it for 40 years. Clare's mother and sisters later joined the order, and today there are thousands of members living lives of prayer in silence.
Saturday 11
August 2018
St Clare.
Habakkuk 1:12 – 2:4. Psalm 9A:8-13. Matthew 17:14-20.
You will never abandon those who seek you, Lord—Psalm 9A:8-13.
‘The upright will live through faithfulness.’
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 of which they seem incapable. Jesus’ power is very evident, and
even in a moment of frustration he does not waver.
He knows what is best for the disciples – and the world.
Saint Clare of Assisi
Saint of the Day for August 11
(July 16, 1194 – August 11, 1253)
 |
| Saint Clare | original painting for the Poor Clares in Cincinnati, OH |
Saint Clare of Assisi’s Story
One of the more sugary movies made about Francis of Assisi
pictures Clare as a golden-haired beauty floating through sun-drenched fields,
a sort of one-woman counterpart to the new Franciscan Order.
The beginning of her religious life was indeed movie material.
Having refused to marry at 15, Clare was moved by the dynamic preaching of
Francis. He became her lifelong friend and spiritual guide.
At 18, Clare escaped from her father’s home one night, was met
on the road by friars carrying torches, and in the poor little chapel called
the Portiuncula received a rough woolen habit, exchanged her jeweled belt for a
common rope with knots in it, and sacrificed her long tresses to Francis’
scissors. He placed her in a Benedictine convent, which her father and uncles
immediately stormed in rage. Clare clung to the altar of the church, threw
aside her veil to show her cropped hair, and remained adamant.
Sixteen days later her sister Agnes joined her. Others came.
They lived a simple life of great poverty, austerity, and complete seclusion
from the world, according to a Rule which Francis gave them as a Second Order.
At age 21, Francis obliged Clare under obedience to accept the office of
abbess, one she exercised until her death.
The Poor Ladies went barefoot, slept on the ground, ate no meat,
and observed almost complete silence. Later Clare, like Francis, persuaded her
sisters to moderate this rigor: “Our bodies are not made of brass.” The
greatest emphasis, of course, was on gospel poverty. They possessed no
property, even in common, subsisting on daily contributions. When even the pope
tried to persuade Clare to mitigate this practice, she showed her
characteristic firmness: “I need to be absolved from my sins, but I do not wish
to be absolved from the obligation of following Jesus Christ.”
Contemporary accounts glow with admiration of Clare’s life in
the convent of San Damiano in Assisi. She served the sick and washed the feet
of the begging nuns. She came from prayer, it was said, with her face so
shining it dazzled those about her. She suffered serious illness for the last
27 years of her life. Her influence was such that popes, cardinals, and bishops
often came to consult her—Clare herself never left the walls of San Damiano.
Francis always remained her great friend and inspiration. Clare
was always obedient to his will and to the great ideal of gospel life which he
was making real.
A well-known story concerns her prayer and trust. Clare had the
Blessed Sacrament placed on the walls of the convent when it faced attack by
invading Saracens. “Does it please you, O God, to deliver into the hands of
these beasts the defenseless children I have nourished with your love? I
beseech you, dear Lord, protect these whom I am now unable to protect.” To her
sisters she said, “Don’t be afraid. Trust in Jesus.” The Saracens fled.
Reflection
The 41 years of Clare’s religious life are scenarios of
sanctity: an indomitable resolve to lead the simple, literal gospel life as
Francis taught her; courageous resistance to the ever-present pressure to
dilute the ideal; a passion for poverty and humility; an ardent life of prayer;
and a generous concern for her sisters.
Saint Clare is the Patron Saint of:
Eye disorders
Television
Television
LECTIO DIVINA: MATTHEW 17,
14-20
Lectio Divina:
Saturday, August 11, 2018
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 ...
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 his 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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