Memorial of Saints John de Brébeuf and Isaac
Jogues, Priests, and Companions, Martyrs
Lectionary: 472
Lectionary: 472
Brothers and sisters:
It was not through the law
that the promise was made to Abraham and his descendants
that he would inherit the world,
but through the righteousness that comes from faith.
For this reason, it depends on faith,
so that it may be a gift,
and the promise may be guaranteed to all his descendants,
not to those who only adhere to the law
but to those who follow the faith of Abraham,
who is the father of all of us, as it is written,
I have made you father of many nations.
He is our father in the sight of God,
in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead
and calls into being what does not exist.
He believed, hoping against hope,
that he would become the father of many nations,
according to what was said, Thus shall your descendants be.
It was not through the law
that the promise was made to Abraham and his descendants
that he would inherit the world,
but through the righteousness that comes from faith.
For this reason, it depends on faith,
so that it may be a gift,
and the promise may be guaranteed to all his descendants,
not to those who only adhere to the law
but to those who follow the faith of Abraham,
who is the father of all of us, as it is written,
I have made you father of many nations.
He is our father in the sight of God,
in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead
and calls into being what does not exist.
He believed, hoping against hope,
that he would become the father of many nations,
according to what was said, Thus shall your descendants be.
Responsorial
PsalmPS 105:6-7, 8-9, 42-43
R.(8a) The
Lord remembers his covenant for ever.
You descendants of Abraham, his servants,
sons of Jacob, his chosen ones!
He, the LORD, is our God;
throughout the earth his judgments prevail.
R. The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.
He remembers forever his covenant
which he made binding for a thousand generations –
Which he entered into with Abraham
and by his oath to Isaac.
R. The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.
For he remembered his holy word
to his servant Abraham.
And he led forth his people with joy;
with shouts of joy, his chosen ones.
R. The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.
You descendants of Abraham, his servants,
sons of Jacob, his chosen ones!
He, the LORD, is our God;
throughout the earth his judgments prevail.
R. The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.
He remembers forever his covenant
which he made binding for a thousand generations –
Which he entered into with Abraham
and by his oath to Isaac.
R. The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.
For he remembered his holy word
to his servant Abraham.
And he led forth his people with joy;
with shouts of joy, his chosen ones.
R. The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.
AlleluiaJN 15:26B, 27A
R. Alleluia,
alleluia.
The Spirit of truth will testify to me, says the Lord,
and you also will testify.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The Spirit of truth will testify to me, says the Lord,
and you also will testify.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
GospelLK 12:8-12
Jesus said to his disciples:
"I tell you,
everyone who acknowledges me before others
the Son of Man will acknowledge before the angels of God.
But whoever denies me before others
will be denied before the angels of God.
"Everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven,
but the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit
will not be forgiven.
When they take you before synagogues and before rulers and authorities,
do not worry about how or what your defense will be
or about what you are to say.
For the Holy Spirit will teach you at that moment what you should say."
"I tell you,
everyone who acknowledges me before others
the Son of Man will acknowledge before the angels of God.
But whoever denies me before others
will be denied before the angels of God.
"Everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven,
but the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit
will not be forgiven.
When they take you before synagogues and before rulers and authorities,
do not worry about how or what your defense will be
or about what you are to say.
For the Holy Spirit will teach you at that moment what you should say."
Meditation:
"The
Holy Spirit will teach you what to say"
What
is the unforgivable sin which Jesus warns us to avoid? Jesus knows that his
disciples will be tested and he assures them that the Holy Spirit will give
them what they need in their time of adversity and temptation. He warns them,
however, that it's possible to reject the grace of God - his favor, blessing,
and help - and to fall into apostasy - giving up our faith and loyalty to Jesus
Christ out of fear (being a coward), pride, or disbelief (refusing to believe
and trust in the Lord Jesus). The scriptural expression to deny someone means
to disown them - to have nothing to do with them anymore.
Do
not reject the gift and help of the Holy Spirit
Jesus also speaks against blaspheming the Holy Spirit. What is blasphemy and why is it reprehensible (extremely bad and deserving severe rebuke)? Blasphemy consists in uttering against God, inwardly or outwardly, words of hatred, reproach, or defiance. It's contrary to the honor and respect we owe to God (who is our Father, Creator, and Savior) and to his holy name. Jesus speaks of blaspheming against the Holy Spirit as the unforgivable sin. Jesus spoke about this sin immediately after the scribes and Pharisees had attributed his miracles to the work of the devil instead of to God.
Jesus also speaks against blaspheming the Holy Spirit. What is blasphemy and why is it reprehensible (extremely bad and deserving severe rebuke)? Blasphemy consists in uttering against God, inwardly or outwardly, words of hatred, reproach, or defiance. It's contrary to the honor and respect we owe to God (who is our Father, Creator, and Savior) and to his holy name. Jesus speaks of blaspheming against the Holy Spirit as the unforgivable sin. Jesus spoke about this sin immediately after the scribes and Pharisees had attributed his miracles to the work of the devil instead of to God.
Do
you trust in God's help and deliverance?
A sin can only be unforgivable if repentance (admitting wrongdoing and asking forgiveness) is impossible. If someone repeatedly closes his or her heart to God and shuts their ear to his voice, they come to a point where they can no longer recognize God even when God makes his word and presence known to them. Such a person ends up perceiving evil as good and good as evil (Isaiah 5:20). To fear such a sin, however, signals that one is not dead to God and is conscious of the need for God's merciful help and strength.
A sin can only be unforgivable if repentance (admitting wrongdoing and asking forgiveness) is impossible. If someone repeatedly closes his or her heart to God and shuts their ear to his voice, they come to a point where they can no longer recognize God even when God makes his word and presence known to them. Such a person ends up perceiving evil as good and good as evil (Isaiah 5:20). To fear such a sin, however, signals that one is not dead to God and is conscious of the need for God's merciful help and strength.
There
are no limits to the mercy of God, but we can reject his mercy by refusing to
ask God's pardon for our wrongdoing and by refusing to accept the help he gives
us to turn away from sin and from whatever would keep us from doing his will.
God gives sufficient grace (his favor and mercy towards us) and he gives
sufficient help (his wisdom and strength) to all who humbly call upon him.
Giving up on God and refusing to turn away from sin and disbelief results from
our own sinful pride, stubborn will, and the loss of hope in God's promises.
God never turns a deaf ear to those who seek his help and listen to his voice -
his word of hope, pardon, and freedom from sin and oppression.
Our
hope and confidence come from God
What is the basis of our hope and confidence in God? It is the free gift of his beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave his life for our sake and who now intercedes for us at the right hand of the throne of God's mercy (Hebrews 4:14-15). John the Evangelist tells us that "God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16).
What is the basis of our hope and confidence in God? It is the free gift of his beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave his life for our sake and who now intercedes for us at the right hand of the throne of God's mercy (Hebrews 4:14-15). John the Evangelist tells us that "God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16).
Jesus'
death on the cross won for us new life and freedom to live as men and women of
faith, hope, and love. That is why Jesus offers us the gift and power of the
Holy Spirit (Luke 11:13) who enables us to live each day as
God's beloved children - his sons and daughters. The love and mercy of Jesus
Christ, the forgiveness of sins, and the gift of the Holy Spirit are freely
given to all who acknowledge Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Is your hope
securely placed in the Lord Jesus and in the victory he won for us on the
cross?
"Lord
Jesus, you are my hope and my salvation. May I never waver in my hope and trust
in your merciful help and strength. Let the fire of your Holy Spirit burn in my
heart and fill me with a consuming love for you."
Daily
Quote from the early church fathers: The Holy Spirit will inspire martyrs
and teach believers, by Cyril of Jerusalem, 430-543 A.D.
"You
must also know that the Holy Spirit empowers the martyrs to bear witness... A
person cannot testify as a martyr for Christ's sake except through the Holy
Spirit. If 'no man can say "Jesus is Lord" except in the Holy Spirit'
(1 Corinthians 12:3), will any man give his life for Jesus' sake except through
the Holy Spirit?" (excerpt from CATECHETICAL LECTURES 16.21)
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 19, LUKE 12:8-12
(Romans 4:13, 16-18; Psalm 105)
(Romans 4:13, 16-18; Psalm 105)
KEY VERSE: "For the holy Spirit will teach you at that moment what you should say" (v. 12).
TO KNOW: Jesus encouraged his disciples to be fearless in their proclamation of the gospel. The disciples need not worry about how they should defend themselves when brought before the authorities. The Holy Spirit would enlighten and strengthen them as they bore witness to their faith. Jesus did not promise to save them from suffering, or even death, but he did guarantee that he would testify to their fidelity before God. Jesus warned his followers of blaspheming against the Holy Spirit. These sins despairs of salvation, presumes on God's mercy, envies another's spiritual good, resists known truths of faith, and is obstinate and impenitent at death. Although each sin puts an obstacle in the way of God's mercy, God's grace could overcome even these sins. But if the unrepentant refused God's power to save them, they also denied the possibility of mercy and forgiveness of sin.
TO LOVE: Do I thank God for the grace of faith?
TO SERVE: Holy Spirit, strengthen me when I am too weak to defend myself.
Memorial of Saints John de Brebeuf and Isaac Jogues, priests and
martyrs, and their companions, martyrs
John de Brebeuf was a French Jesuit. He was sent as a missionary to the frontier of Canada at age 32, and spent the rest of his life there. Brebeuf had great difficulty learning the Huron Indian language. However, he eventually wrote a catechism in Huron, and a French-Huron dictionary for use by other missionaries. It was John de Brebeuf who named the present day version of the Indian game lacrosse because the stick used reminded him of a bishop's crosier (la crosse). John was martyred in 1649, tortured to death by the Iroquois. His martyrdom created a wave of vocations and missionary fervor in France, and gave new heart to the missionaries in New France in Canada.
Isaac Jogues was a missionary to New France in Canada, working among the Huron Indians. This was a rough assignment - not only because the living conditions were difficult, but because the locals blamed the "Blackrobes" for any disease, ill luck, or other problems that occurred. Jogues was captured in 1642 by the Mohawks, and tortured for 13 months. He taught the faith to any who would listen, and finally escaped. Jogues recuperated in France, but returned to the New World to continue his work with the natives. Jogues was martyred with fellow Jesuit priest John de Brebeuf and several lay missionaries while on a peace mission to the Iroquois. He was one of the North American Martyrs.
Saturday 19 October 2019
Sts John De Brébeuf, Isaac Jogues and Companions
Romans 4:13, 16-18. Psalm 104(105):6-9, 42-43. Luke 12:9-12.
The Lord remembers his covenant for ever – Psalm 104(105):6-9,
42-43
‘The Lord remembers his covenant forever’
Faith is unfashionable in our modern society. These days it
seems there is a rational, logical explanation for just about everything. We
like to think we have complete control over our destinies. Today’s readings
remind us of the value of hope, faith and trust in God’s care for us.
Abraham’s story is just one of many stories in our tradition
where one person’s faith leads to the most unlikely of outcomes. Do we believe
in a God who calls into existence things that do not exist? A God who gives
life to the dead? Do we trust that the Holy Spirit will teach us what we need
to know?
Dare we imagine a future beyond our own dreams? What might God’s
dream be for me? In humility, let us turn to our God with reverence, praying
for the grace of a new attentiveness to the movements of the Holy Spirit.
Saints Isaac Jogues, Jean de Brébeuf, and Companions
Saint of the Day for October 19
(d. 1642 – 1649)
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| Martyrdom of Father Isaac Jogues S.J. | Engraving by A. Malaer | Wellcome Images |
Saints Isaac Jogues, Jean de Brébeuf, and Companions’ Story
Isaac Jogues and his companions were the first martyrs of the
North American continent officially recognized by the Church. As a young
Jesuit, Isaac Jogues, a man of learning and culture, taught literature in
France. He gave up that career to work among the Huron Indians in the New
World, and in 1636, he and his companions, under the leadership of Jean de
Brébeuf, arrived in Quebec. The Hurons were constantly warred upon by the
Iroquois, and in a few years Father Jogues was captured by the Iroquois and
imprisoned for 13 months. His letters and journals tell how he and his
companions were led from village to village, how they were beaten, tortured,
and forced to watch as their Huron converts were mangled and killed.
An unexpected chance for escape came to Isaac Jogues through the
Dutch, and he returned to France, bearing the marks of his sufferings. Several
fingers had been cut, chewed, or burnt off. Pope Urban VIII gave him permission
to offer Mass with his mutilated hands: “It would be shameful that a martyr of
Christ not be allowed to drink the Blood of Christ.”
Welcomed home as a hero, Father Jogues might have sat back,
thanked God for his safe return, and died peacefully in his homeland. But his
zeal led him back once more to the fulfillment of his dreams. In a few months
he sailed for his missions among the Hurons.
In 1646, he and Jean de Lalande, who had offered his services to
the missioners, set out for Iroquois country in the belief that a recently
signed peace treaty would be observed. They were captured by a Mohawk war
party, and on October 18, Father Jogues was tomahawked and beheaded. Jean de
Lalande was killed the next day at Ossernenon, a village near Albany, New York.
The first of the Jesuit missionaries to be martyred was René
Goupil who with Lalande, had offered his services as an oblate. He was tortured
along with Isaac Jogues in 1642, and was tomahawked for having made the sign of
the cross on the brow of some children.
Father Anthony Daniel, working among Hurons who were gradually
becoming Christian, was killed by Iroquois on July 4, 1648. His body was thrown
into his chapel, which was set on fire.
Jean de Brébeuf was a French Jesuit who came to Canada at the
age of 32 and labored there for 24 years. He went back to France when the
English captured Quebec in 1629 and expelled the Jesuits, but returned to his
missions four years later. Although medicine men blamed the Jesuits for a
smallpox epidemic among the Hurons, Jean remained with them.
He composed catechisms and a dictionary in Huron, and saw 7,000
converted before his death in 1649. Having been captured by the Iroquois at
Sainte Marie, near Georgian Bay, Canada, Father Brébeuf died after four hours
of extreme torture.
Gabriel Lalemant had taken a fourth vow—to sacrifice his life
for the Native Americans. He was horribly tortured to death along with Father
Brébeuf.
Father Charles Garnier was shot to death in 1649 as he baptized
children and catechumens during an Iroquois attack.
Father Noel Chabanel also was killed in 1649, before he could
answer his recall to France. He had found it exceedingly hard to adapt to
mission life. He could not learn the language, and the food and life of the
Indians revolted him, plus he suffered spiritual dryness during his whole stay
in Canada. Yet he made a vow to remain in his mission until death.
These eight Jesuit martyrs of North America were canonized in
1930.
Reflection
Faith and heroism planted belief in Christ’s cross deep in our
land. The Church in North America sprang from the blood of martyrs, as has been
true in so many places. The ministry and sacrifices of these saints challenges
each of us, causing us to ask just how deep is our faith and how strong our
desire to serve even in the face of death.
Saints Isaac Jogues, Jean de Brébeuf, and Companions are the
Patron Saints of:
North America
Norway
Norway
Lectio: Luke 12:8-12
Lectio Divina
Saturday, October 19, 2019
Ordinary Time
1) Opening prayer
Lord,
our help and guide,
make your love the foundation of our lives.
May our love for you express itself
in our eagerness to do good for others.
You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
our help and guide,
make your love the foundation of our lives.
May our love for you express itself
in our eagerness to do good for others.
You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
2) Gospel Reading - Luke 12: 8-12
Jesus said to his disciples: 'I tell you, if anyone openly
declares himself for me in the presence of human beings, the Son of man will
declare himself for him in the presence of God's angels. But anyone who disowns
me in the presence of human beings will be disowned in the presence of God's
angels.
'Everyone who says a word against the Son of man will be
forgiven, but no one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will be forgiven.
'When they take you before synagogues and magistrates and authorities, do not
worry about how to defend yourselves or what to say, because when the time
comes, the Holy Spirit will teach you what you should say.'
3) Reflection
• Context. While Jesus is on the way toward Jerusalem, we read
in Luke, chapter 11, that precedes our passage, presenting Him as having the
intention to reveal the abyss of the merciful acting of God and at the same
time the profound misery hidden in the heart of man. Particularly in revealing
this to those who have the task of being witnesses of the Word and of the work
of the Holy Spirit in the world. Jesus presents such realities with a series of
reflections which provoke effects in the reader, such as to feel attracted by
the force of his Word to the point of feeling judged interiorly and detached
from all desires of greatness which shake and agitate man (9, 46). The reader
identifies himself with various attitudes that the teaching of Jesus arouses.
Above all, he recognizes himself as follower of Christ in the disciple and sent
to precede him in the role of messenger of the kingdom, in the one who
hesitates somewhat in following him, and in the Pharisee or doctor of the Law,
a slave of their interpretations and life style. In summary, the course of the
reader in chapter 11 is characterized by this encounter with the teaching of
Jesus who reveals to him the intimacy of God, the mercy of God’s heart, and the
truth of his being a man. In chapter 12, Jesus opposes the perverted judgment
of man to the goodness of God who always gives with superabundance. Man’s life
enters into play here. It is necessary to be attentive to the perversion
of the human judgment and to the hypocrisy that distorts values in order to
privilege only one’s own interests and advantages more than being interested in
life, that life which is accepted gratuitously. The Word of God gives the
reader an appeal on how to face the question regarding life: man will be judged
on his behavior at the time of threats. It is necessary to be concerned with
the men who can “kill the body” but rather to have at heart the fear of God who
judges and corrects. But Jesus does not promise the disciples that they will be
free from threats and persecutions, but He assures them that they will have
God’s help at the moments of difficulty.
• To know how to recognize Jesus. The courageous commitment to
recognize the friendship of Jesus publicly implies as a consequence a personal
communion with Him at the moment of his return to judge the world. At the same
time, the betrayal in “who will deny me”, the one who is afraid to confess and
recognize Jesus publicly, condemns himself. The reader is invited to reflect on
the crucial importance of Jesus in the history of salvation. It is necessary to
decide to be either with Jesus or against Him and of his Word of Grace.
This decision, to recognize or to reject Jesus, depends is critical to our
salvation. Luke makes it evident that the communion that Jesus gives at the
present time to his disciples will be confirmed and will become perfect at the
moment of his coming in glory (“he will come in his glory and of the Father and
of the angels”: 9: 26). The call to the Christian community is very
evident. Even if it has been exposed to the hostility of the world, it is
indispensable not to cease to give a courageous witness of Jesus, of communion
with him, to value and not to be ashamed to show one is a Christian.
• Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. Here Luke understands
blasphemy as offensive speaking or speaking against. This verb was applied to
Jesus when in 5, 21 He had forgiven sins. The question presented in this
passage may give rise in the reader to some difficulty: is blasphemy against
the Son of man less grave or serious than the one against the Holy Spirit? The
language of Jesus may seem rather strong for the reader of the Gospel of Luke.
Through the Gospel he has seen Jesus as showing the behavior of God who goes to
look for sinners, who is demanding but who knows how to wait for the moment of
return to Him, when the sinner attains maturity. In Mark and Matthew blasphemy
against the Spirit is the lack of recognizing the power of God in the exorcisms
of Jesus. But in Luke it may mean the deliberate and known rejection of the
prophetic Spirit that is working in the actions and teaching of Jesus, that is
to say, a rejection of the encounter with the merciful acting of salvation with
the Father. The lack of recognition of the divine origin of the mission of
Jesus, the direct offenses to the person of Jesus, may be forgiven, but anyone
who denies the acting of the Holy Spirit in the mission of Jesus will not be
forgiven. It is not a question of an opposition between the person of Jesus and
the Holy Spirit, or of some contrasting symbol of two diverse periods of
history, that of Jesus and that of the community after the Passover, but
rather, the evangelist wants to definitively show that to reject the Holy
Spirit in the mission of Jesus is equal to blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.
4) Personal questions
• Are you aware that to be a Christian requires the need to face
difficulties, deceit, dangers, and even to risk one’s own life to give witness
of one’s own friendship with Jesus?
• Do you become embarrassed of being a Christian? Are you more concerned about the judgments of men, their approval, are these more important for you or that of losing your friendship with Christ?
• Do you become embarrassed of being a Christian? Are you more concerned about the judgments of men, their approval, are these more important for you or that of losing your friendship with Christ?
5) Concluding Prayer
Yahweh our Lord,
how majestic is your name throughout the world!
Whoever keeps singing of your majesty higher than the heavens,
even through the mouths of children, or of babes in arms. (Ps 8: 1-2)
how majestic is your name throughout the world!
Whoever keeps singing of your majesty higher than the heavens,
even through the mouths of children, or of babes in arms. (Ps 8: 1-2)
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