NOVEMBER 12, 2019 : MEMORIAL OF SAINT JOSAPHAT, BISHOP AND MARTYR

Memorial of Saint Josaphat, Bishop and Martyr
Lectionary: 492

Reading 1WIS 2:23–3:9

God formed man to be imperishable;
the image of his own nature he made them.
But by the envy of the Devil, death entered the world,
and they who are in his possession experience it.

But the souls of the just are in the hand of God,
and no torment shall touch them.
They seemed, in the view of the foolish, to be dead;
and their passing away was thought an affliction
and their going forth from us, utter destruction.
But they are in peace.
For if before men, indeed, they be punished,
yet is their hope full of immortality;
Chastised a little, they shall be greatly blessed,
because God tried them
and found them worthy of himself.
As gold in the furnace, he proved them,
and as sacrificial offerings he took them to himself.
In the time of their visitation they shall shine,
and shall dart about as sparks through stubble;
They shall judge nations and rule over peoples,
and the Lord shall be their King forever.
Those who trust in him shall understand truth,
and the faithful shall abide with him in love:
Because grace and mercy are with his holy ones,
and his care is with his elect.

Responsorial PsalmPS 34:2-3, 16-17, 18-19

R.(2a) I will bless the Lord at all times.
I will bless the LORD at all times;
his praise shall be ever in my mouth.
Let my soul glory in the LORD;
the lowly will hear me and be glad.
R. I will bless the Lord at all times.
The LORD has eyes for the just,
and ears for their cry.
The LORD confronts the evildoers,
to destroy remembrance of them from the earth.
R. I will bless the Lord at all times.
When the just cry out, the LORD hears them,
and from all their distress he rescues them.
The LORD is close to the brokenhearted;
and those who are crushed in spirit he saves.
R. I will bless the Lord at all times.

AlleluiaJN 14:23

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Whoever loves me will keep my word,
and my Father will love him,
and we will come to him.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

GospelLK 17:7-10

Jesus said to the Apostles:
"Who among you would say to your servant
who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field,
'Come here immediately and take your place at table'?
Would he not rather say to him,
'Prepare something for me to eat.
Put on your apron and wait on me while I eat and drink.
You may eat and drink when I am finished'?
Is he grateful to that servant because he did what was commanded?
So should it be with you.
When you have done all you have been commanded, say,
'We are unprofitable servants;
we have done what we were obliged to do.'"

For the readings of the Memorial of Saint Josaphat, please go here.

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Meditation: "We have only done our duty"

Are you ready to give the Lord your best, regardless of what it might cost you? Perhaps we are like the laborer in Jesus' parable who expected special favor and reward for going the extra mile? How unfair for the master to compel his servant to give more than what was expected! Don't we love to assert our rights: "I will give only what is required and no more!" But who can satisfy the claims of love?

We are called to serve God and neighbor selflessly and generously
Jesus used this parable of the dutiful servant to explain that we can never put God in our debt or make the claim that God owes us something. We must regard ourselves as God's servants, just as Jesus came "not to be served, but to serve" (Matthew 20:28). Service of God and of neighbor is both a voluntary or free act and a sacred duty. One can volunteer for service or be compelled to do service for one's country or one's family when special needs arise. Likewise, God expects us to give him the worship and praise which is his due. And he gladly accepts the  free-will offering of our lives to him and to his service. What makes our offering pleasing to God is the love we express in the act of self-giving. True love is sacrificial, generous, and selfless.

The love of God compels us to give our best
How can we love others selflessly and unconditionally? Scripture tells us that God himself is love (1 John 4:16) - he is the author of life and the source of all true relationships of love and friendship. He created us in love for love, and he fills our hearts with the boundless love that gives whatever is good for the sake of another (Romans 5:5). If we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us (1 John 4:12).

God honors the faithful servant who loves and serves others generously. He is ever ready to work in and through us for his glory. We must remember, however, that God can never be indebted to us. We have no claim on him. His love compels us to give him our best! And when we have done our best, we have simply done our duty. We can never outmatch God in doing good and showing love. God loves us without measure. Does the love of God compel you to give your best?

"Lord Jesus, fill my heart with love, gratitude and generosity. Make me a faithful and zealous servant for you. May I generously pour out my life in loving service for you and for others, just as you have so generously poured yourself out in love for me."

Daily Quote from the early church fathers: We are called to humble service, by Ambrose of Milan, 339-397 A.D.

"You do not say to your servant, 'Sit down,' but require more service from him and do not thank him. The Lord also does not allow only one work or labor for you, because so long as we live we must always work.
    "Know that you are a servant overwhelmed by very much obedience. You must not set yourself first, because you are called a son of God. Grace must be acknowledged, but nature not overlooked. Do not boast of yourself if you have served well, as you should have done. The sun obeys, the moon complies (Joshua 10:12-13; Baruch 6:60), and the angels serve... Let us not require praise from ourselves nor prevent the judgment of God and anticipate the sentence of the Judge but reserve it for its own time and Judge." (excerpt from EXPOSITION OF THE GOSPEL OF LUKE 8.31-32)

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TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 12, LUKE 17:7-10
(Wisdom 2:23―3:9; Psalm 34)

KEY VERSE: "We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we were obliged to do" (v. 10).
TO KNOW: The demands of discipleship weighed heavily on Jesus' followers and they begged for an increase of faith. Jesus told them that they only needed a small amount of faith, the size of a tiny mustard seed, to accomplish seemingly impossible tasks. Jesus told them that the road ahead would be difficult, but they must be faithful servants and follow him in obedience. A servant must not take advantage of his master's benevolence, expecting special favors or rewards. In discharging their duties, servants must do what was expected of them. A true servant perseveres in good times and in bad times. At the Last Supper, Jesus gave his disciples a model to follow. Although he was their teacher and master, he was among them "as the one who serves" (Lk 22:27).
TO LOVE: Am I a servant of the gospel, or do I expect others to serve me?
TO SERVE: Lord Jesus, help me to "labor without reward save that of knowing I do your will" (St. Ignatius Loyola)​

Memorial of Saint Josaphat, bishop and martyr

Josaphat, a monk in the Ukrainian Order of Saint Basil, was ordained in the Byzantine Rite in 1609. Josaphat's superior Samuel never accepted unity with Rome, and looked for a way to fight against Roman Catholicism and the Uniats, the name given those in union with the Church. The archbishop of Kiev removed Samuel from his post, replacing him with Josaphat. His work to bring unity among the faithful by clerical reform and personal example won the greater part of the Orthodox in Lithuania. When Josaphat attended the Diet of Warsaw in 1620, a dissident group supported by Cossacks spread the accusation that Josaphat had "gone Latin." Late in 1623 an anti-Uniat priest tried to force his way into Josaphat's residence. Mob mentality took over, and Josaphat tried to insure the safety of his servants before fleeing himself. He did not get out in time and was martyred by the mob. His death was a shock to both sides of the dispute, and brought some sanity to the conflict. He was the first Eastern saint canonized by Rome (1876). 

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Tuesday 12 November 2019

St Josaphat

Wisdom 2:23 – 3:9. Psalm 33(34):2-3, 16-19. Luke 17:7-10.

I will bless the Lord at all times – Psalm 33(34):2-3, 16-19

‘We are merely servants: we have done no more than our duty’

Raoul Wallenberg, our first honorary Australian citizen, may well have said just that about his heroic actions. As a Swedish diplomat posted to Nazi-occupied Budapest in 1944, he saved thousands of Jewish people by issuing protective passports and sheltering them in diplomatic buildings. Allowed to issue only 500 passports, he simply started again at number 1 when the quota was exhausted. Confronting firing squads, he persuaded soldiers to let the condemned people go with him.

Wallenberg could have done his duty by filling out paperwork and tending files. He could have closed his eyes to the horror unfolding around him. Instead of dying in a Soviet prison camp, he may have had a comfortable life.

Jesus, help me to look around and see what I can do for others. Be my inspiration to act justly and love tenderly; walk alongside me when I cannot see the way.

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Saint Josaphat

Saint of the Day for November 12

(c. 1580 –  November 12, 1623)

 

Icon of St. martyr Josaphat Kutsevych, Archbishop of Polotsk | photo by Mykola Swarnyk

Saint Josaphat’s Story

In 1964, newspaper photos of Pope Paul VI embracing Athenagoras I, the Orthodox patriarch of Constantinople, marked a significant step toward the healing of a division in Christendom that has spanned more than nine centuries.

In 1595, the Orthodox bishop of Brest-Litovsk in present-day Belarus and five other bishops representing millions of Ruthenians, sought reunion with Rome. John Kunsevich—who took the name Josaphat in religious life—was to dedicate his life, and die for the same cause. Born in what is now Ukraine, he went to work in Wilno and was influenced by clergy adhering to the 1596 Union of Brest. He became a Basilian monk, then a priest, and soon was well known as a preacher and an ascetic.

He became bishop of Vitebsk at a relatively young age, and faced a difficult situation. Most monks, fearing interference in liturgy and customs, did not want union with Rome. By synods, catechetical instruction, reform of the clergy, and personal example, however, Josaphat was successful in winSt

ning the greater part of the Orthodox in that area to the union.

But the next year a dissident hierarchy was set up, and his opposite number spread the accusation that Josaphat had “gone Latin” and that all his people would have to do the same. He was not enthusiastically supported by the Latin bishops of Poland.

Despite warnings, he went to Vitebsk, still a hotbed of trouble. Attempts were made to foment trouble and drive him from the diocese: A priest was sent to shout insults to him from his own courtyard. When Josaphat had him removed and shut up in his house, the opposition rang the town hall bell, and a mob assembled. The priest was released, but members of the mob broke into the bishop’s home. Josaphat was struck with a halberd, then shot, and his body thrown into the river. It was later recovered and is now buried in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. He was the first saint of the Eastern Church to be canonized by Rome.

Josaphat’s death brought a movement toward Catholicism and unity, but the controversy continued, and the dissidents, too, had their martyr. After the partition of Poland, the Russians forced most Ruthenians to join the Russian Orthodox Church.

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Reflection

The seeds of separation were sown in the fourth century when the Roman Empire was divided into East and West. The actual split came over customs such as using unleavened bread, Saturday fasting, and celibacy. No doubt the political involvement of religious leaders on both sides was a large factor, and doctrinal disagreement was present. But no reason was enough to justify the present tragic division in Christendom, which is 64 percent Roman Catholic, 13 percent Eastern—mostly Orthodox—Churches, and 23 percent Protestant, and this when the 71 percent of the world that is not Christian should be experiencing unity and Christ-like charity from Christians!

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Lectio Divina: Luke 17:7-10

Lectio Divina

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Ordinary Time

1) Opening prayer

God of power and mercy,
protect us from all harm.
Give us freedom of spirit
and health in mind and body
to do Your work on earth.
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 17:7-10

Jesus 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.’”

3) Reflection

• The Gospel today narrates a parable which is found only in Luke’s Gospel and has no parallel in the other Gospels. The parable teaches that our life has to be characterized by an attitude of service. It begins with three questions which are ultimately answered by Jesus.
• Luke 17:7-9: The three questions of Jesus. It asks three questions taken from daily life, and therefore the listeners have to think about each one from their own experience to give a response according to that experience. In the first question, Jesus asks “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?” All will answer “No!” The second question asks 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?” All will answer: “Yes! Certainly!” Finally, the third question inquires “must he be grateful to the servant for doing what he was told?” All will answer “No!” The way in which Jesus asks the questions orientates people to his way of thinking. He wants us to be servants to one another.
• Luke 17:10: The response of Jesus. At the end Jesus draws a conclusion which was already implicit in the questions: “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”. This applies to all Christians, to serve the Master and to avoid pride in doing so. Jesus has told us what to do,  and we must do it with the humility of one who sees himself as a useless servant, expecting to have our reward after doing the Master’s work. He has given us an example of service when He said: “The Son of Man has not come to be served, but to serve” (Mk 10:45). Service is a theme which Luke likes. Service represents the form in which the poor in the time of Jesus, the anawim, were waiting for the Messiah. Not like a royal and glorious Messiah, high priest or judge, but rather as the Servant of Yahweh, announced by Isaiah (Isa 42:1-9). Mary, the Mother of Jesus, says to the angel, “Behold the handmaid of the Lord, may it be done to me according to your word!” (Lk 1:38). In Nazareth, Jesus presents Himself as the Servant described by Isaiah (Lk 4:18-19 and Isa 61:1-2). In Baptism and in the Transfiguration, He was confirmed by the Father who quotes the words addressed by God to the Servant (Lk 3: 22; 9:35 and Isa 42:1). Jesus tells His followers, “Anyone who wants to be first among you must be your slave” (Mt 20:27). Useless servants! This is the definition of the Christian. Paul speaks about this to the members of the community of Corinth when he writes, “I did the planting, Apollos did the watering, but God gave the growth. In this, neither the planter nor the waterer counts for anything, only God who gave growth” (1Cor 3:6-7). Paul and Apollos are nothing, only simple instruments. The only one who counts is God. He alone! (1Cor 3:7).
• To serve and to be served. Here in this text, the servant serves the master and not the master the servant. But in the other text of Jesus the contrary is said: “Blessed are 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” (Lk 12:37). In this text, the master serves the servant and not the servant the master. In the first text, Jesus spoke in the present. In the second text, Jesus is speaking in the future. This contrast is simply another way of saying that the one who is ready to lose his life out of love for Jesus and the Gospel will find it (Mt 10:39; 16:25). Anyone who serves God in this present life will be served by God in the future life!

4) Personal questions

• How do I define my life?
• Do I ask myself the three questions that Jesus asks? Do I live like a useless servant?

5) Concluding prayer

The lives of the just are in Yahweh's care.
Their birthright will endure forever.
Yahweh guides a strong man's steps and keeps them firm
and takes pleasure in him. (Ps 37:18, 23)

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