Thursday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary
Time
Lectionary: 476
Lectionary: 476
Brothers and sisters:
I kneel before the Father,
from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named,
that he may grant you in accord with the riches of his glory
to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner self,
and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith;
that you, rooted and grounded in love,
may have strength to comprehend with all the holy ones
what is the breadth and length and height and depth,
and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge,
so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Now to him who is able to accomplish far more than all we ask or imagine,
by the power at work within us,
to him be glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus
to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
I kneel before the Father,
from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named,
that he may grant you in accord with the riches of his glory
to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner self,
and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith;
that you, rooted and grounded in love,
may have strength to comprehend with all the holy ones
what is the breadth and length and height and depth,
and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge,
so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Now to him who is able to accomplish far more than all we ask or imagine,
by the power at work within us,
to him be glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus
to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
Responsorial
PsalmPS 33:1-2, 4-5, 11-12,
18-19
R. (5b) The
earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.
Exult, you just, in the LORD;
praise from the upright is fitting.
Give thanks to the LORD on the harp;
with the ten stringed lyre chant his praises.
R. The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.
For upright is the word of the LORD,
and all his works are trustworthy.
He loves justice and right;
of the kindness of the LORD the earth is full.
R. The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.
But the plan of the LORD stands forever;
the design of his heart, through all generations.
Blessed the nation whose God is the LORD,
the people he has chosen for his own inheritance.
R. The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.
But see, the eyes of the LORD are upon those who fear him,
upon those who hope for his kindness,
To deliver them from death
and preserve them in spite of famine.
R. The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.
Exult, you just, in the LORD;
praise from the upright is fitting.
Give thanks to the LORD on the harp;
with the ten stringed lyre chant his praises.
R. The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.
For upright is the word of the LORD,
and all his works are trustworthy.
He loves justice and right;
of the kindness of the LORD the earth is full.
R. The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.
But the plan of the LORD stands forever;
the design of his heart, through all generations.
Blessed the nation whose God is the LORD,
the people he has chosen for his own inheritance.
R. The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.
But see, the eyes of the LORD are upon those who fear him,
upon those who hope for his kindness,
To deliver them from death
and preserve them in spite of famine.
R. The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.
AlleluiaPHIL 3:8-9
R. Alleluia,
alleluia.
I consider all things so much rubbish
that I may gain Christ and be found in him.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
I consider all things so much rubbish
that I may gain Christ and be found in him.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
GospelLK 12:49-53
Jesus said to his disciples:
"I have come to set the earth on fire,
and how I wish it were already blazing!
There is a baptism with which I must be baptized,
and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished!
Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth?
No, I tell you, but rather division.
From now on a household of five will be divided,
three against two and two against three;
a father will be divided against his son
and a son against his father,
a mother against her daughter
and a daughter against her mother,
a mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law
and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law."
"I have come to set the earth on fire,
and how I wish it were already blazing!
There is a baptism with which I must be baptized,
and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished!
Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth?
No, I tell you, but rather division.
From now on a household of five will be divided,
three against two and two against three;
a father will be divided against his son
and a son against his father,
a mother against her daughter
and a daughter against her mother,
a mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law
and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law."
Meditation: "I came to cast fire upon the
earth"
Do you want to be on fire for God? Jesus shocked his disciples
when he declared that he would cast fire and cause division rather than peace
upon the earth. What kind of fire did Jesus have in mind here?
The fire of God's purifying love and cleansing
word
The image of fire in biblical times was often associated with God and with his action in the world and in the lives of his people. God sometimes manifested his presence by use of fire, such as God's revelation to Moses through the burning bush in the wilderness which was not consumed by the flames (Exodus 3:2). God assured the Hebrew people of his continual presence, guidance, and protection for them through the wilderness for forty years with the pillar of fire by night and a pillar of cloud by day (Exodus 13:21-22). The prophet Elijah called down fire from heaven to reveal God's presence and power and to purify the people of false idols (1 Kings 18:36-39). The image of fire was also used as a sign of God's glory (Ezekiel 1:4, 13) and holiness (Deuteronomy 4:24), his protective presence (2 Kings 6:17), and his righteous judgment (Zechariah 13:9) and holy wrath against sin (Isaiah 66:15-16).
The image of fire in biblical times was often associated with God and with his action in the world and in the lives of his people. God sometimes manifested his presence by use of fire, such as God's revelation to Moses through the burning bush in the wilderness which was not consumed by the flames (Exodus 3:2). God assured the Hebrew people of his continual presence, guidance, and protection for them through the wilderness for forty years with the pillar of fire by night and a pillar of cloud by day (Exodus 13:21-22). The prophet Elijah called down fire from heaven to reveal God's presence and power and to purify the people of false idols (1 Kings 18:36-39). The image of fire was also used as a sign of God's glory (Ezekiel 1:4, 13) and holiness (Deuteronomy 4:24), his protective presence (2 Kings 6:17), and his righteous judgment (Zechariah 13:9) and holy wrath against sin (Isaiah 66:15-16).
Fire is also a sign and symbol of the presence and power of the
Holy Spirit. John the Baptist said that Jesus would baptize with the Holy
Spirit and with fire (Matthew 3:11-12 and Luke 3:16-17). When the Holy Spirit
was poured out upon the disciples at Pentecost "tongues of fire"
appeared above their heads (Acts 2:3). We can see from both the Old and New
Testament Scriptures that God's fire purifies and cleanses to make us clean
(sins washed away) and holy (fit to offer him acceptable praise and worship),
and it inspires a reverent fear (awe in God's presence) and respect (obeying
and giving God his due) for God and for his holy word.
Loyalty unites - division separates
Why did Jesus link fire from heaven with costly division on the earth? Did he expect his followers to take his statement of "father against son and son against father" and "mother against daughter and daughter against mother" literally? Or was he intentionally using a figure of speech to emphasize the choice and cost of following him above all else? Jesus used a typical Hebrew hyperbole (a figure of speech which uses strong language and exaggeration for emphasis) to drive home an important lesson. We often do the same when we want to emphasize something very strongly. Jesus' hyperbole, however, did contain a real warning that the Gospel message does have serious consequences for our lives.
Why did Jesus link fire from heaven with costly division on the earth? Did he expect his followers to take his statement of "father against son and son against father" and "mother against daughter and daughter against mother" literally? Or was he intentionally using a figure of speech to emphasize the choice and cost of following him above all else? Jesus used a typical Hebrew hyperbole (a figure of speech which uses strong language and exaggeration for emphasis) to drive home an important lesson. We often do the same when we want to emphasize something very strongly. Jesus' hyperbole, however, did contain a real warning that the Gospel message does have serious consequences for our lives.
When Jesus spoke about division within families he likely had in
mind the prophecy of Micah: a man's enemies are the men of his own
household (Micah 7:6). The essence of Christianity is loyalty to Jesus
Christ - the Son of God and Savior of the world - a loyalty that takes
precedence over every other relationship. The love of God compels us to choose
who will be first in our lives. To place any relationship (or anything else)
above God is a form of idolatry.
Who do you love first and foremost?
Jesus challenges his disciples to examine who they love first and foremost. A true disciple loves God above all else and is willing to forsake all for Jesus Christ. Jesus insists that his disciples give him the loyalty which is only due to God, a loyalty which is higher than spouse or kin. It is possible that family and friends can become our enemies if the thought of them keeps us from doing what we know God wants us to do. Does the love of Jesus Christ compel you to put God first in all you do (2 Corinthians 5:14)?
Jesus challenges his disciples to examine who they love first and foremost. A true disciple loves God above all else and is willing to forsake all for Jesus Christ. Jesus insists that his disciples give him the loyalty which is only due to God, a loyalty which is higher than spouse or kin. It is possible that family and friends can become our enemies if the thought of them keeps us from doing what we know God wants us to do. Does the love of Jesus Christ compel you to put God first in all you do (2 Corinthians 5:14)?
The Gospel message is good news for those who seek pardon,
peace, and the abundant life which God offers us through his Son, Jesus Christ.
Jesus offers true freedom to those who believe in him - freedom from slavery to
sin, Satan, and the oppressive forces of hatred and evil that can destroy body,
mind, and spirit. Do you listen to the voice of your Savior and trust in his
word? Commit your ways to him, obey his word, and you will find true peace,
joy, and happiness in the Lord your God.
"Lord Jesus, may the fire of your love consume me and transform
my life that I may truly desire nothing more than life with you. Fill me with
the power of your Holy Spirit that I may always seek to please you and do your
will."
Daily Quote from the early church fathers: The fire of the
Gospel and being baptized in the Holy Spirit, by Cyril of Alexandria (376-444
AD)
"We affirm that the fire that Christ sent out is for
humanity's salvation and profit. May God grant that all our hearts be full of
this. The fire is the saving message of the Gospel and the power of its
commandments. We were cold and dead because of sin and in ignorance of him who
by nature is truly God. The gospel ignites all of us on earth to a life of
piety and makes us fervent in spirit, according to the expression of blessed
Paul (Romans 12:11). Besides this, we are also made partakers of the Holy
Spirit, who is like fire within us. We have been baptized with fire and the
Holy Spirit. We have learned the way from what Christ says to us. Listen to his
words: 'Truly I say to you, that except a man be born of water and spirit, he
cannot see the kingdom of God' (John 3:5). It is the divinely inspired
Scripture's custom to give the name of fire sometimes to the divine and sacred
words and to the efficacy and power which is by the Holy Spirit by which we are
made fervent in spirit." (excerpt from COMMENTARY ON LUKE,
HOMILY 94)
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 25, LUKE 12:49-53
Weekday
(Ephesians 3:14-21; Psalm 33)
Weekday
(Ephesians 3:14-21; Psalm 33)
KEY VERSE: "There is a baptism with which I must be baptized, and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished!" (v. 49).
TO KNOW: John the Baptist told his followers that the Messiah would baptize with the purifying fire of the Holy Spirit (Lk 3:16). The fire that consumed Jesus was a passion to redeem humanity from their sins ̶ a fire that would be ignited on the cross on Calvary. St. Paul knew that baptism was not just a symbolic ritual. In baptism, the Christian died to the old life and was raised to a new life in Christ (Ro 6:4). The rite of the early Church demonstrated this truth. Proselytes entered the baptismal pool stripped of their old clothing and then were totally immersed in water. When the new Christian came out of the water, he or she was clothed in a white garment, a symbol of having risen with Christ (Rev. 19:8). Jesus demanded radical conversion and total commitment from his disciples. Their attachment to him might even require a separation from family members who did not share their Christian faith. This dissension was described by the prophet Micah who said that a person's enemies might be of one’s own household (Micah 7:6). Jesus wants to burn away everything that is opposed to God’s reign.
TO LOVE: Do I share my faith with my family even though I might face rejection?
TO SERVE: Lord Jesus, help me to live my baptismal call in everything I do.
Thursday 25 October 2018
Ephesians 3:14-21. Psalm 32(33):1-2, 4-5, 11-12, 18-19. Luke
12:49-53.
The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord – Psalm
32(33):1-2, 4-5, 11-12, 18-19.
‘Kneeling before the Father, I pray that you are filled with the
utter fullness of God.’
St Paul’s letter to the Ephesians is at once a hymn of
praise of God’s saving design for us all and a prayer that that design be
realised by us in the present.
It helps to recall that all our praying, like everything that is
good, begins with God. If praying is conversation with God, it is God who
speaks first. We do not have to wake a sleeping God or call the attention to a
God indifferent to us. At all times and in various ways God wishes to draw us
closer to himself.
Praying is taking notice of God and acting accordingly.
Saint Antônio de Sant’Anna Galvão
Saint of the Day for October 25
(1739 – December 23, 1822)
 |
| Statue of Saint Antônio de Sant’Anna Galvão | Cathedral of Saint Anthony, Guaratinguetá | photo by Zééh.mané |
Saint Antônio de Sant’Anna Galvão’s Story
God’s plan in a person’s life often takes unexpected turns which
become life-giving through cooperation with God’s grace.
Born in Guarantingueta near São Paulo, Antônio attended the
Jesuit seminary in Belem, but later decided to become a Franciscan friar.
Invested in 1760, he made final profession the following year and was ordained
in 1762.
In São Paulo, he served as preacher, confessor, and porter.
Within a few years, Antônio was appointed confessor to the Recollects of
Saint Teresa, a group of nuns in that city. He and Sister Helena Maria of
the Holy Spirit founded a new community of sisters under the patronage of Our
Lady of the Conception of Divine Providence. Sister Helena Maria’s premature
death the next year left Father Antônio responsible for the new congregation,
especially for building a convent and church adequate for their growing
numbers.
He served as novice master for the friars in Macacu and as
guardian of St. Francis Friary in São Paulo. He founded St. Clare Friary in
Sorocaba. With the permission of his provincial and the bishop, Antônio spent
his last days at the Recolhimento de Nossa Senhora da Luz, the convent of the
sisters’ congregation he had helped establish.
Antônio de Sant’Anna Galvão was beatified in Rome on October 25,
1998, and canonized in 2007.
Reflection
Holy women and men cannot help calling our attention to God, to
God’s creation, and to all the people whom God loves. The lives of holy people
are so oriented toward God that this has become their definition of “normal.”
Do people see my life or yours as a living sign of God’s steadfast love? What
might have to change for that to happen?
LECTIO DIVINA: LUKE 12:49-53
Lectio Divina:
Thursday, October 25, 2018
Ordinary Time
1) Opening prayer
Almighty and everlasting God,
our source of power and inspiration,
give us strength and joy
in serving you as followers of Christ,
who lives and reigns
with you and the Holy Spirit,ou
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
2) Gospel Reading - Luke 12,49-53
Jesus said to his disciples: 'I have come to bring fire to the
earth, and how I wish it were blazing already!
There is a baptism I must still receive, and what constraint I
am under until it is completed! 'Do you suppose that I am here to bring peace
on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. For from now on, a household of
five will be divided: three against two and two against three; father opposed
to son, son to father, mother to daughter, daughter to mother, mother-in-law to
daughter-in-law, daughter-in-law to mother-in-law.'
3) Reflection
• The Gospel today gives us some phrases of Jesus. The first one
on bringing fire to the earth is only in Luke’s Gospel. The others have more or
less parallel phrases in Matthew. This leads us to the problem of the origin of
the composition of these two Gospels for which much ink has already been used
throughout the past two centuries. This problem will only be solved fully when
we will be able to speak with Matthew and Luke, after our resurrection.
• Luke 12, 49-50: Jesus has come to bring fire on earth. “I have
come to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were blazing already! There
is a baptism I must still receive, and what constraint I am under until it is
completed!” The image of fire is frequently mentioned in the Bible and does not
have just one meaning. It could be the image of devastation and punishment, but
it can also be the image of purification and illumination (Is 1, 25; Zc 13, 9).
It can also express protection as it appears in Isaiah: “Should you pass
through fire, you will not suffer” (Is 43, 2). John the Baptist baptized with
water, but after him Jesus baptized with fire (Lk 3, 16). Here the image of
fire is associated to the action of the Holy Spirit who descends at Pentecost
as the image of the tongues of fire (Ac 2, 2-4). Images and symbols never have
an obligatory sense, totally defined, which does not allow some divergence. In
this case it would be neither image nor symbol. It is proper to the symbol to
arouse the imagination of the listeners and onlookers. Leaving freedom to the
listeners, the image of fire combined with the image of baptism indicates the
direction toward which Jesus wants people to turn their imagination. Baptism is
associated with the water and it is always the expression of a commitment. At
another point, Baptism appears like the symbol of the commitment of Jesus with
his Passion: “Can you be baptized with the baptism with which I will be
baptized?” (Mc 10, 38-39).
• Luke 12, 51-53: Jesus has come to bring division. Jesus always
speaks of peace (Mt 5, 9; Mk 9, 50; Lk 1, 79; 10, 5; 19, 38; 24, 36; Jn 14, 27;
16, 33; 20, 21.26). So how can we understand the phrase in today’s Gospel which
seems to say the contrary? “Do you think that I am here to bring peace on
earth? No, I tell you , but rather division”. This affirmation does not mean
that Jesus himself is in favor of division. No! Jesus did not want division.
But the announcement of truth that Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah becomes a
reason for much division among the Jews. In the same family or community, some
were in favor and others were radically against. In this sense, the Good News
of Jesus was really a source of division , a “sign of contradiction” (Lk 2,
34), or as Jesus said: “from now on a household will be divided, father opposed
to son, son to father, mother to daughter, daughter to mother, mother-in-law to
daughter-in-law, daughter-in-law to mother-in-law”. That is what was happening
in the families and in the communities Much division and much discussion as a
consequence of the Good News among the Jews of that time, with some accepting
and others denying. The same thing could be applied to the announcement of
fraternity as a supreme value of humanity living together. Not all agreed with
this announcement because they preferred to maintain their privileges. And for
this reason, they were not afraid to persecute those who announced sharing and
fraternity. This was the division which arose which was at the origin of the
Passion and death of Jesus. Jesus wants the union of all in truth (cf. Jn 17,
17-23). It is like this even now. Many times where the Church is renewed, the
call of the Good News becomes a “sign of contradiction” and division. Persons
who lived very comfortably for years in the routine of their Christian life do
not want to be disturbed or bothered by the “innovations” of Vatican Council
II. Disturbed by changes, they use all their intelligence to find arguments to
defend their own opinions and to condemn the changes, considering them contrary
to what they think is their true faith.
4) Personal questions
• Seeking union Jesus was the cause of division. Does this
happen with you today?
• How do I react before the changes in the Church?
5) Concluding prayer
Shout for joy, you upright;
praise comes well from the honest.
Give thanks to Yahweh on the lyre,
play for Him on the ten-stringed lyre. (Ps 33,1-2)
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