OCTOBER 05, 2018 : FRIDA OF THE TWENTY-SIXTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

Friday of the Twenty-sixth Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 459

Reading 1JB 38:1, 12-21; 40:3-5

The LORD addressed Job out of the storm and said:

Have you ever in your lifetime commanded the morning
and shown the dawn its place
For taking hold of the ends of the earth,
till the wicked are shaken from its surface?
The earth is changed as is clay by the seal,
and dyed as though it were a garment;
But from the wicked the light is withheld,
and the arm of pride is shattered.

Have you entered into the sources of the sea,
or walked about in the depths of the abyss?
Have the gates of death been shown to you,
or have you seen the gates of darkness?
Have you comprehended the breadth of the earth?
Tell me, if you know all:
Which is the way to the dwelling place of light,
and where is the abode of darkness,
That you may take them to their boundaries
and set them on their homeward paths?
You know, because you were born before them,
and the number of your years is great!

Then Job answered the LORD and said:

Behold, I am of little account; what can I answer you?
I put my hand over my mouth.
Though I have spoken once, I will not do so again;
though twice, I will do so no more.

Responsorial PsalmPS 139:1-3, 7-8, 9-10, 13-14AB

R. (24b) Guide me, Lord, along the everlasting way.
O LORD, you have probed me and you know me;
you know when I sit and when I stand;
you understand my thoughts from afar.
My journeys and my rest you scrutinize,
with all my ways you are familiar.
R. Guide me, Lord, along the everlasting way.
Where can I go from your spirit?
From your presence where can I flee?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I sink to the nether world, you are present there.
R. Guide me, Lord, along the everlasting way.
If I take the wings of the dawn,
if I settle at the farthest limits of the sea,
Even there your hand shall guide me,
and your right hand hold me fast.
R. Guide me, Lord, along the everlasting way.
Truly you have formed my inmost being;
you knit me in my mother's womb.
I give you thanks that I am fearfully, wonderfully made; 
wonderful are your works.
R. Guide me, Lord, along the everlasting way.

AlleluiaPS 95:8

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
If today you hear his voice,
harden not your hearts.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

GospelLK 10:13-16

Jesus said to them,
"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,
sitting in sackcloth and ashes.
But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon
at the judgment than for you.
And as for you, Capernaum, 'Will you be exalted to heaven?
You will go down to the netherworld.'
Whoever listens to you listens to me.
Whoever rejects you rejects me. 
And whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me."

www.usccb.org

Meditation: "He who hears you hears me"

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 is also translated as alas. It is as much as an expression of sorrowful pity as it is of anger. 

Jesus calls us to walk in the way of truth and freedom - justice and holiness
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 soul as well as body. Jesus' anger is directed toward sin and everything which hinders us from doing the will of God and receiving his blessing. 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 submission or with doubt and indifference?

"Lord Jesus, give me the child-like simplicity and purity of faith to gaze upon your face with joy and confidence in your all-merciful love. Remove every doubt, fear, and proud thought which would hinder me from receiving your word with trust and humble submission."

Daily Quote from the early church fathers: Christ speaks through the disciples, by Cyril of Alexandria (376-444 AD)

"Christ gives those who love instruction the assurance that whatever is said concerning him by the holy apostles or evangelists is to be received necessarily without any doubt and to be crowned with the words of truth. He who hears them, hears Christ. For the blessed Paul also said, 'You desire proof that Christ is speaking in me' (2 Corinthians 13:3). Christ himself somewhere also said to the holy disciples, 'For it is not you that speak, but the Spirit of your Father that speaks in you' (Matthew 10:20). Christ speaks in them by the consubstantial Spirit. If it is true, and plainly it is, that they speak by Christ, how can they err? He affirms that he who does not hear them, does not hear Christ, and that he who rejects them rejects Christ, and with him the Father." (excerpt from COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 63)

www.dailyscripture.net

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 5, LUKE 10:13-16
Weekday
Job 38:1, 12-21, 40:3-5; Psalm 139)

KEY VERSE: "Whoever listens to you listens to me. Whoever rejects you rejects me" (v. 16).
TO KNOW: Jesus centered much of his ministry in the cities around the Sea of Galilee. Like the ancient prophets, Jesus expressed profound displeasure with those who rejected God's truth. He gave the obstinate cities of Chorazin and Bethsaida a warning, saying that the Gentiles living in Tyre and Sidon never saw such mighty deeds. If they had, they would have repented in sackcloth and ashes as did the Ninevites in Jonah's day (Jon 3:1-10). Capernaum, Jesus’ “headquarters” in Galilee, fared no better. There would be harsh consequences for those who closed their ears and hearts to the message Jesus preached. The mission of his disciples was Jesus’ mission: to bring forth God’s reign on earth. Because the gospel was the word of God, it was not to be treated lightly. Whoever heard the words of his disciples also heard Jesus. Whoever rejected them rejected Jesus and the one who sent him.
TO LOVE: In what ways am a messenger of good news to others?
TO SERVE: Lord Jesus, help me to hear your voice spoken by the servants of your Church.​

Optional Memorial of Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos, Priest

Francis Xavier Seelos, was born in Füssen, Germany in 1819, and named for St. Francis Xavier. He entered the diocesan seminary, and was attracted to the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, and their mission to work with the poorest, the abandoned. Feeling a call to minister to German immigrants, he left the seminary, sailed for America in 1843, and was ordained a priest in the Redemptorist Church of Saint James in Baltimore in 1844. He began his pastoral ministry in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania as assistant pastor of his confrere Saint John Neumann, serving also as Master of Novices and dedicating himself to preaching. He became a full-time itinerant missionary preacher, preaching in both English and German in a number of different states. Hearing of an influx of German immigrants to New Orleans, Louisiana, he pastored a Redemptorist church there beginning in 1866. He worked with yellow fever victims until he was taken by the illness and died on October 4, 1867.

www.togetherwithgodsword.com

Friday 5 October 2018

Job 38:1, 12-21; 40:3-5. Psalm 138(139):1-3, 7-10, 13-14. Luke 10:13‑16.

Guide me, Lord, along the everlasting way – Psalm 138(139):1-3, 7-10, 13-14.

‘Which is the way to the home of the Light?’

There is a strong tone of rebuke in this reading from Luke. The image of sackcloth and ashes is invoked, and a call to repentance is issued to whole cities. But, there is a deeper message of invitation here.

A life without Christ, a life without God is the most severe punishment, and so in fact there is a choice and invitation extended in the words of this Gospel from Jesus: ‘Whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me’.

We all have those times when we turn away. Let us look at ways in which we are rejecting God in our lives and invite him back in. Let us return to the presence of the Lord into our hearts.

www.pray.com.au

Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska

Saint of the Day for October 5

(August 25, 1905 – October 5, 1938)

 

Saint Faustyna and Jesus, I Trust in You sculpture | Piotrków Trybunalski

Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska’s Story

Saint Faustina’s name is forever linked to the annual feast of the Divine Mercy, the Divine Mercy chaplet, and the Divine Mercy prayer recited each day at 3 p.m. by many people.

Born in what is now west-central Poland, Helena Kowalska was the third of 10 children. She worked as a housekeeper in three cities before joining the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy in 1925. She worked as a cook, gardener and porter in three of their houses.

In addition to carrying out her work faithfully, generously serving the needs of the sisters and the local people, Sister Faustina also had a deep interior life. This included receiving revelations from the Lord Jesus, messages that she recorded in her diary at the request of Christ and of her confessors.

At a time when some Catholics had an image of God as such a strict judge that they might be tempted to despair about the possibility of being forgiven, Jesus chose to emphasize his mercy and forgiveness for sins acknowledged and confessed. “I do not want to punish aching mankind,” he once told Saint Faustina, “but I desire to heal it, pressing it to my merciful heart.” The two rays emanating from Christ’s heart, she said, represent the blood and water poured out after Jesus’ death.

Because Sister Maria Faustina knew that the revelations she had already received did not constitute holiness itself, she wrote in her diary: “Neither graces, nor revelations, nor raptures, nor gifts granted to a soul make it perfect, but rather the intimate union of the soul with God. These gifts are merely ornaments of the soul, but constitute neither its essence nor its perfection. My sanctity and perfection consist in the close union of my will with the will of God.”

Sister Maria Faustina died of tuberculosis in Krakow, Poland, on October 5, 1938. Pope John Paul II beatified her in 1993, and canonized her seven years later.

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Reflection

Devotion to God’s Divine Mercy bears some resemblance to devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. In both cases, sinners are encouraged not to despair, not to doubt God’s willingness to forgive them if they repent. As Psalm 136 says in each of its 26 verses, “God’s love [mercy] endures forever.”

www.franciscanmedia.org

LECTIO DIVINA: LUKE 10:13-16

Lectio Divina: 

 Friday, October 5, 2018

Ordinary Time

1) Opening prayer

Father,
you show your almighty power
in your mercy and forgiveness.
Continue to fill us with your gifts of love.
Help us to hurry towards the eternal life your promise
and come to share in the joys of your kingdom.
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 - Luke 10,13-16

Jesus said: '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, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. And still, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon at the Judgement than for you. And as for you, Capernaum, did you want to be raised high as heaven? You shall be flung down to hell.
'Anyone who listens to you listens to me; anyone who rejects you rejects me, and those who reject me reject the one who sent me.'

3) Reflection

● The Gospel today continues speaking about the sending out of the seventy-two disciples (Lk 10,1-12). At the end, after sending them out, Jesus speaks about shaking off the dust from their shoes if the missionaries are not welcomed or accepted (Lk 10,10-12). Today's Gospel stresses and extends the threats upon those who refuse to receive the Good News.
● Luke 10, 13-14: Alas for you, Chorazin! Alas for you, Bethsaida! The place which Jesus travelled or covered in the three years of his missionary life was small. It measures only a few square kilometres along the Sea of Galilee around the cities of Capernaum, Bethsaida, and Chorazin. In precisely this very small space Jesus works the majority of his miracles and presents his discourses. He has come to save the whole of humanity, and He hardly went out of the limited space of his land. But, tragically, Jesus had to see that the people of those cities do not want to accept the message of the Kingdom and are not converted. The cities fixed themselves in the rigidity of their beliefs, traditions and customs and they do not accept the invitation of Jesus to change their life. Alas for you, Chorazin; Alas for you Bethsaida! For if the miracle done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes". Jesus compares the two cities with Tyre and Sidon which in the past were unyielding enemies of Israel, ill-treating the people of God. For this reason they were cursed by the Prophets: (Is 23, 1; Jr 25, 22; 47, 4; Ez 26, 3; 27, 2; 28, 2; Jl 4, 4; Am 1, 10). And now Jesus says that these same cities, symbols of all the evil done to the people in the past, would have already converted if so many miracles would have been worked in them as in Chorazin and in Bethsaida.
● Luke 10, 15: And you Capernaum. "Did you want to be raised high as Heaven? You shall be flung down to hell. Jesus recalls the condemnation which Isaiah, the Prophet launched against Babylonia. Proud and arrogant, Babylonia thought: "I shall scale the heavens; higher than the stars of God I shall set my throne. I shall sit on the Mount of the Assembly far away to the north. I shall climb high above the clouds, I shall rival the Most High" (Is 14, 13-14). That is what it thought! But it completely deceived itself! The contrary happened. The Prophet says: "Now you have been flung down to Sheol, into the depths of the abyss!" (Is 14, 15). Jesus compares Capernaum with that terrible Babylonia which destroyed the monarchy and the temple and took the people as slaves, from which it never recovered. Like Babylonia, Capernaum thought it was something important, but it fell into the most profound hell. The Gospel of Matthew compares Capernaum with the city of Sodom, the symbol of the worse perversion, which was destroyed by God's anger (Gen 18, 16 to 19, 29). Sodom would have converted if it had seen the miracles which Jesus worked in Capernaum (Mt 11, 23-24). Today, the same paradox continues to exist. Many of us, Catholics since we were children, have such consolidated convictions that nobody is capable of converting us. In some places, Christianity, instead of being a source of change and of conversion, has become the refuge of the most reactionary forces of politics of the country.
● Luke 10, 16: "Anyone who listens to you listens to me; anyone who rejects you rejects me. And those who reject me reject the one who has sent me". This phrase places the accent on the identification of the disciples with Jesus, in so far as He is despised by the authorities. In Matthew the same phrase of Jesus, placed in another context, underlines the identification of the disciples with Jesus accepted by the people (Mt 10, 40). In both cases, the disciples identify themselves with Jesus as total gift, and through this gift realize their encounter with God, that God allows himself to be found by those who seek him.

4) Personal questions

● Does my city and my country deserve the warning of Jesus against Capernaum, Corazin and Bethsaida?
● How do I identify myself with Jesus?

5) Concluding prayer

Protect me, O God, in you is my refuge.
To Yahweh I say,
'You are my Lord, my happiness is in none.'
My birthright, my cup is Yahweh;
you, you alone, hold my lot secure. (Ps 16,1-2,5)

www.ocarm.org