OCTOBER 22, 2019 : TUESDAY OF THE TWENTY-NINTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

Tuesday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 474

Reading 1ROM 5:12, 15B, 17-19, 20B-21

Brothers and sisters:
Through one man sin entered the world,
and through sin, death,
and thus death came to all men, inasmuch as all sinned.

If by that one person's transgression the many died,
how much more did the grace of God
and the gracious gift of the one man Jesus Christ
overflow for the many.
For if, by the transgression of the one,
death came to reign through that one,
how much more will those who receive the abundance of grace
and the gift of justification
come to reign in life through the one Jesus Christ.
In conclusion, just as through one transgression
condemnation came upon all,
so, through one righteous act
acquittal and life came to all.
For just as through the disobedience of one man
the many were made sinners,
so, through the obedience of the one
the many will be made righteous.
Where sin increased, grace overflowed all the more,
so that, as sin reigned in death,
grace also might reign through justification
for eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Responsorial PsalmPS 40:7-8A, 8B-9, 10, 17

R.(8a and 9a) Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.
Sacrifice or oblation you wished not,
but ears open to obedience you gave me.
Burnt offerings or sin offerings you sought not;
then said I, "Behold I come."
R. Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.
"In the written scroll it is prescribed for me,
To do your will, O my God, is my delight,
and your law is within my heart!"
R. Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.
I announced your justice in the vast assembly;
I did not restrain my lips, as you, O LORD, know.
R. Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.
May all who seek you
exult and be glad in you,
And may those who love your salvation
say ever, "The LORD be glorified."
R. Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.

AlleluiaLK 21:36

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Be vigilant at all times and pray
that you may have the strength to stand before the Son of Man.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

GospelLK 12:35-38

Jesus said to his disciples:
"Gird your loins and light your lamps
and be like servants who await their master's return from a wedding,
ready to open immediately when he comes and knocks.
Blessed are those servants
whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival.
Amen, I say to you, he will gird himself,
have them recline at table, and proceed to wait on them.
And should he come in the second or third watch
and find them prepared in this way,
blessed are those servants."

For the readings of the Optional Memorial of Saint John Paul II, please go here.

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Meditation: "When the Master knocks - open at once"

If the Lord Jesus knocked on your door today would you be ready and eager to receive him? He wants us to be prepared for his coming - today, tomorrow, at the hour of our departure from this life (our death), and when he comes again at the end of this present world to reward those who have believed in him - the only begotten Son of the Father in heaven who was sent to deliver us from sin and death. The Lord Jesus calls to us each and every day. He says, "Listen! I am standing and knocking at your door. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in and we will eat together" (Revelations 3:20).

Be watchful and ready to serve the Lord when he calls
Jesus told his followers a parable from everyday life that illustrated the necessity of being prepared to open the door at once when the Master of the house knocks and calls for his servants to let him in. Doors in the ancient world were often bolted from the inside, especially at night, to keep out thieves and troublemakers. Servants who knew their master's voice were expected to be vigilant and prepared to unbolt the door and let him in without a moment's delay. This required a listening ear and attentive spirit that could block out other noises and distractions. If the servants refused to answer the door or delayed too long, they could expect a rebuke or punishment from the master.

The Lord and Master serves us
But Jesus' story adds an unexpected reward for those who open at once - even in the middle of the night when everyone is fast asleep. The master who returns from a wedding feast to his home late at night does the unthinkable when his servants greet him at the door. He puts on a servant's uniform and apron and seats his servants at his own table. And then - to their astonishment no doubt - the master himself waits on his servants at table by serving them his choice food and drink. Jesus' parable turns the world's way of thinking upside-down. The master rewards his faithful servants by serving them himself with the best provision, care, and service he can offer.

The Lord Jesus became a servant for our sake
This story illustrates the amazing generous spirit, servant-hearted love, and profound humility of God who is the exalted Lord and Master over all he has created. The Father sent his only begotten Son to become a man for our sake who shed his blood for us on the cross to save us from slavery to sin and Satan and victory over death through his resurrection power that gives us new abundant life in his Spirit. Paul the Apostle tells us that Jesus who was equal with the Father, nonetheless, humbled himself and became a servant for our sake (Philippians 2:5-8).

Do you listen for the voice of the Lord calling to you? And are you ready to receive him today so that you may be nourished with his life-giving word that has power to transform you into his likeness and way of steadfast love and merciful goodness? The Lord Jesus offers us rich food and provision for our daily lives. But we can miss his daily provision if we allow our hearts, minds, and ears to be distracted with other things - even good things that crowd out his voice and invitation to let him enter and feast with us.

The Lord loves faithfulness
Jesus' parable also has an important lesson for each one of us as well. Just as Jesus was faithful and ready to obey his Father in everything - even to the point of laying down his life for us on the cross, we, too are called to be faithful and ready to do whatever our heavenly Father commands us. How can we serve as Jesus served and be faithful to the end of our days? Only love - the love which God has poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us (Romans 5:5) - can transform us and fill us with joy and courage in offering our lives in humble service to God and one another. The Lord Jesus sets us free from fear and pride so we can love and serve one another as he has loved and served each one of us (Ephesians 5:2). Ask the Lord to give you a servant heart and a willing spirit that is ready to listen and eager to obey.

"Lord Jesus, you loved me first and you gave your life for me. Fill me with a joyful heart and a generous spirit that is ready to serve and to do whatever you command."

Daily Quote from the early church fathers: The true meaning of 'loins girded and lamps burning', by Cyril of Alexandria (376-444 AD)

"The girding of our loins (Luke 12:25) signifies the readiness of the mind to work hard in every thing praiseworthy. Those who apply themselves to bodily labors and are engaged in strenuous toil have their loins girded. The lamp apparently represents the wakefulness of the mind and intellectual cheerfulness. We say that the human mind is awake when it repels any tendency to slumber off into that carelessness that often is the means of bringing it into subjection to every kind of wickedness. When sunk in stupor, the heavenly light within the mind is liable to be endangered, or even already is in danger from a violent and impetuous blast of wind. Christ commands us to be awake. To this, his disciple also arouses us by saying, 'Be awake. Be watchful' (1 Peter 5:8). Further on, the very wise Paul also says, 'Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead: and Christ shall give you light' (Ephesians 5:14)." (excerpt from COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 92)

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TUESDAY, OCTOBER 22, LUKE 12:35-38
Weekday
(Romans 5:12, 15b. 17-19, 20b-21; Psalm 40)

KEY VERSE: “Blessed are those servants whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival” (v. 37).
TO KNOW:  The early Church expected the imminent return of Jesus Christ. In speaking of his second coming (parousia), Jesus emphasized that the time of his return would be a surprise. He made the comparison to a master coming home from a wedding, expecting to find his servants vigilant on his arrival, and to the coming of a thief, when his return would be uncertain (1Thes 5:2). He pointed to the uncertain hour of his arrival by telling his disciples to be prepared whenever he might come. The faithful servants who watched over the household (the Church) would be rewarded for their fidelity when the master returned. Unfaithful servants would be punished for their shameful behavior. Jesus warned these future leaders of the Church that they would be held more accountable than those who acted out of ignorance. Christian leaders today must continue to exercise care for the Church, which has been entrusted to them. They should never leave a task undone that ought to be finished before Christ's return.
TO LOVE: Do I use the time, treasure and talents to build up the Church?
TO SERVE: Lord Jesus, help me to be your faithful and trustworthy servant. ​

Optional Memorial of Saint John Paul II, pope

John Paul II, born Karol Józef Wojtyła in Poland, was pope of the Catholic Church from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005. He was the second longest-serving pope in modern history after Pope Pius IX who served for nearly 32 years. In light of countless requests from every part of the world, Pope Francis I approved the placing of Saints John Paul II and John XXIII on the church's universal calendar. Pope John Paul II’s feast day is observed on Oct. 22, the day of his Inaugural Mass as Bishop of Rome. During his 27 year papacy, the popular pope became remembered for his charismatic nature, zeal for families, young people and the sick, and his role in the fall of communism in Europe. He is also noted for his promotion of the Catechism of the Catholic Church and the new Code of Canon Law. In his homily at his inauguration as pope, he stressed "Do not be afraid, Open, I say open wide the doors for Christ." The message became one of the signature statements of his papacy. "Totus Tuus" (Latin meaning "totally yours") was Pope John Paul II's apostolic motto. It expressed his personal Consecration to Mary based on the spirituality of Saint Louis de Montfort.

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Tuesday 22 October 2019

Romans 5:12, 15, 17-21. Psalm 39(40):7-10, 17. Luke 12:35-38.

Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will – Psalm 39(40):7-10, 17

‘Have your lamps lit and be ready to open the door’

Do I watch for you each day, my God, knowing not when I shall find you, but being ever ready to respond? You come in so many varied ways, always seeking me out. I need to prepare my heart to receive you. Let me find you in the patterns and interruptions of my life. Perhaps you will come as a neighbour who needs my help, a friend who needs a listening ear, a family member who needs comfort or cheering, or a colleague calling me to understand.

Part of watching for you is the time I spend in prayer. Be present with me then, helping me to discern when best to spend time alone with you. Give me strength for my challenges and light for my path. Call me to an experience of community where I can be known and loved. Go ahead of me in my days.

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Saint John Paul II

Saint of the Day for October 22

(May 18, 1920 – April 2, 2005)

 

Pope John Paul II | old Yankee Stadium, New York City, in October 1979 | Library of Congress

Saint John Paul II’s Story

“Open wide the doors to Christ,” urged John Paul II during the homily at the Mass where he was installed as pope in 1978.

Born in Wadowice, Poland, Karol Jozef Wojtyla had lost his mother, father, and older brother before his 21st birthday. Karol’s promising academic career at Krakow’s Jagiellonian University was cut short by the outbreak of World War II. While working in a quarry and a chemical factory, he enrolled in an “underground” seminary in Kraków. Ordained in 1946, he was immediately sent to Rome where he earned a doctorate in theology.

Back in Poland, a short assignment as assistant pastor in a rural parish preceded his very fruitful chaplaincy for university students. Soon Fr. Wojtyla earned a doctorate in philosophy and began teaching that subject at Poland’s University of Lublin.

Communist officials allowed Wojtyla to be appointed auxiliary bishop of Kraków in 1958, considering him a relatively harmless intellectual. They could not have been more wrong!

Bishop Wojtyla attended all four sessions of Vatican II and contributed especially to its Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World. Appointed as archbishop of Kraków in 1964, he was named a cardinal three years later.

Elected pope in October 1978, he took the name of his short-lived, immediate predecessor. Pope John Paul II was the first non-Italian pope in 455 years. In time, he made pastoral visits to 124 countries, including several with small Christian populations.

John Paul II promoted ecumenical and interfaith initiatives, especially the 1986 Day of Prayer for World Peace in Assisi. He visited Rome’s main synagogue and the Western Wall in Jerusalem; he also established diplomatic relations between the Holy See and Israel. He improved Catholic-Muslim relations, and in 2001 visited a mosque in Damascus, Syria.

The Great Jubilee of the Year 2000, a key event in John Paul’s ministry, was marked by special celebrations in Rome and elsewhere for Catholics and other Christians. Relations with the Orthodox Churches improved considerably during his papacy.

“Christ is the center of the universe and of human history” was the opening line of John Paul II’s 1979 encyclical, Redeemer of the Human Race. In 1995, he described himself to the United Nations General Assembly as “a witness to hope.”

His 1979 visit to Poland encouraged the growth of the Solidarity movement there and the collapse of communism in central and eastern Europe 10 years later. John Paul II began World Youth Day and traveled to several countries for those celebrations. He very much wanted to visit China and the Soviet Union, but the governments in those countries prevented that.

One of the most well-remembered photos of John Paul II’s pontificate was his one-on-one conversation in 1983, with Mehmet Ali Agca, who had attempted to assassinate him two years earlier.

In his 27 years of papal ministry, John Paul II wrote 14 encyclicals and five books, canonized 482 saints and beatified 1,338 people. In the last years of his life, he suffered from Parkinson’s disease and was forced to cut back on some of his activities.

Pope Benedict XVI beatified John Paul II in 2011, and Pope Francis canonized him in 2014.

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Reflection

Before John Paul II’s funeral Mass in St. Peter’s Square, hundreds of thousands of people had waited patiently for a brief moment to pray before his body, which lay in state inside St. Peter’s for several days. The media coverage of his funeral was unprecedented.

Presiding at the funeral Mass, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger—then dean of the College of Cardinals and later Pope Benedict XVI—concluded his homily by saying: “None of us can ever forget how, in that last Easter Sunday of his life, the Holy Father, marked by suffering, came once more to the window of the Apostolic Palace and one last time gave his blessing urbi et orbi (‘to the city and to the world’).

“We can be sure that our beloved pope is standing today at the window of the Father’s house, that sees us and blesses us. Yes, bless us, Holy Father. We entrust your dear soul to the Mother of God, your Mother, who guided you each day and who will guide you now to the glory of her Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.”

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Lectio Divina: Luke 12:35-38

Lectio Divina

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

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,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen. 

2) Gospel Reading - Luke 12: 35-38

Jesus said to his disciples: 'See that you have your belts done up and your lamps lit. Be like people waiting for their master to return from the wedding feast, ready to open the door as soon as he comes and knocks.

Blessed those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. In truth I tell you, he will do up his belt, sit them down at table and wait on them.

It may be in the second watch that he comes, or in the third, but blessed are those servants if he finds them ready. 

3) Reflection

• By means of this parable, the gospel today exhorts us to be vigilant.

• Luke 12: 35: Exhortation to be vigilant, watchful. "Be ready and have your belts done up and your lamps lit”. To gird oneself meant to take a cloth or a cord and put it around the robe. To be girded meant to be ready, prepared for immediate action. Before the flight from Egypt, at the moment of celebrating the Passover, the Israelites had to gird themselves, that is be prepared, ready to be able to leave immediately (EX 12: 11). When someone goes to work, to fight or to execute a task he girds himself (Ct 3: 8). In the letter of Paul to the Ephesians he describes the armor of God and he says that your waist must be girded with the cord of truth (Ep 6: 14). The lamps should be lit, because to watch is the task to be carried out during the day as well as during the night. Without light one cannot go in the darkness of the night.

• Luke 12: 36: A parable. In order to explain what it means to be girded, Jesus tells a brief parable. “Be like people waiting for their master to return from the wedding feast, ready to open the door as soon as he comes and knocks”. The task of waiting for the arrival of the master demands constant and permanent vigilance, especially during the night, because one does not know at what time the master will return. The employee has to always be attentive and vigilant.

• Luke 12: 37: Promise of happiness. “Blessed those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes; In truth I tell you, he will do up his belt, sit them down at table and wait on them”. Here in this promise of happiness, things turn up side down. The master becomes the employee and begins to serve the employee who becomes the master. At the Last Supper Jesus teaches that even though He is Lord and Master, He became the servant of all (Jn 13: 4-17).The happiness promised has something to do with the future, with happiness at the end of time, as opposed to what Jesus promised in the other parable when He said: “Which of you, with a servant ploughing or minding sheep, would say to him when he returned from the fields, come and have your meal at once? Would he not be more likely to say, ‘Get my supper ready; fasten your belt and wait on me while I eat and drink. You yourself can eat and drink afterwards? Must he be grateful to the servant for doing what he was told? So with you, when you have done all you have been told to do, say, ‘we are useless servants; we have done no more than our duty” (Lk 17: 7-10).

• Luke 12: 38: He repeats the promise of happiness. “And if he comes at midnight, or at dawn, and finds those servants ready, blessed are they!” He repeats the promise of happiness which requires total vigilance. The master could return at midnight, at three o’clock in the morning, or at any other moment. The employee must be girded, ready to be able to do his work immediately.

4) Personal questions

• We are employees of God. We should be girded, ready, attentive and vigilant twenty-four hours a day. Do you succeed to do this? How do you do it?
• The promise of future happiness is the opposite of the present. What does this reveal to us of the goodness of God for us, for me?

5) Concluding prayer

I am listening. What is God's message?
Yahweh's message is peace for his people.
His saving help is near for those who fear him,
his glory will dwell in our land. (Ps 85: 8-9)

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