March 4 Monday (St. Casimir):
Mk 10:17-27: 17 And as he was setting out on
his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, “Good Teacher,
what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 18 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you
call me good? No one is good but God alone. 19 You know the commandments: `Do
not kill, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do
not defraud, Honor your father and mother.'” 20 And he said to him, “Teacher,
all these I have observed from my youth.” 21 And Jesus looking upon him loved
him, and said to him, “You lack one thing; go, sell what you have, and give to
the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” 22 At
that saying his countenance fell, and he went away sorrowful; for he had great
possessions. 23 ..27
The context: A rich young man comes to Jesus in
search of eternal life and expresses his genuine desire to be accepted by Jesus
as a disciple. Jesus’ shocking challenge refused: Jesus
reminds the rich man of the commandments that deal with his relationships
with other people and challenges him to sell what he has and give to the
poor. The young man fails to realize that his riches have really
built a wall between himself and God. His possessions “possess
him.” Jesus’ challenge exposes what is missing in his life, (a
sense of compassion for the poor), and what blocks him from the goodness he
seeks (his unwillingness to share his blessings with the needy). Jesus
thus makes it clear that a true follower of His who wants to possess
eternal life must not only be a respectable person who hurts nobody, but
also someone who shares his riches, talents and other blessings with the
less fortunate. Unfortunately, the rich man is unwilling to accept Jesus’
idea that wealth is something to be shared with others and not just something
to be owned. So Jesus uses a vivid hyperbole or “word cartoon” to show how
riches bar people from Heaven by presenting a big camel trying to pass through
the eye of a needle. The disciples are shocked when Jesus challenges the Jewish
belief that material wealth and prosperity are signs of God’s blessings by
declaring that true religion consists in sharing our blessings with others
without getting inordinately attached to them.
Life messages: 1) Jesus uses the premature
farewell of the rich young man to teach the lesson that we do not possess in
our life anything which we refuse to surrender to the Lord. Instead, that
thing often possesses us, and we become the prisoners of our possessions,
thereby violating the First Commandment, which demands that we give
unconditional priority to God. 2) Our following of Jesus has to be totally and
absolutely unconditional. Our attachment may not be to money, but to material
goods, to another person, a job, health, or reputation. We must be
ready to cut off any such attachment in order to become true Christian
disciples, sharing our blessings with others. St. Teresa of Calcutta, (Mother
Teresa), gives the message of today’s Gospel thus: “Do something
Beautiful for God.” Do it with your life. Do it every day. Do it in your own
way. But do it!” (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
L/19
March 5 Tuesday: Mk 10:28-31:
28 Peter began to say to him, “Lo, we have left
everything and followed you.” 29 Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no
one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children
or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, 30 who will not receive a hundredfold
now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and
lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life. 31 But many that
are first will be last, and the last first.”
The context: A rich young man approached Jesus
asking how to gain eternal life. Jesus asked him to sell his possessions share
the money with the poor and then become his disciple. But the rich man went
away refusing Jesus’ terms and conditions. Watching this scene Peter declares
that he and his fellow Apostles, all Jesus’ followers, have left everything and
followed Jesus, and he asks what their reward will be.
Jesus’ warning and promise: Jesus wants every Christian to
embrace the virtue of poverty of spirit by practicing real and effective
austerity in the possession and use of material things. But those who are
specially called to Christian ministry, particularly the Apostles and their
successors in priestly and religious ministry, should practice absolute
detachment from property, time, family, etc. so that they can be fully
available to everyone, imitating Jesus himself. Such detachment gives them
lordship over all things. They are no longer the slaves of things and the
burden things involve. They will be able to share St. Paul’s attitude and live,
“As having nothing, and yet possessing everything” (Corinthians
6:10). Jesus also considers persecutions and troubles as rewards because
they help us to give powerful witness to the Good News and opportunities to
grow in maturity and responsibility. Jesus assures Peter and the Apostles (and
us), that anyone who has generously left behind his possessions will be
rewarded a hundred times over in this life and will have eternal bliss in the
next life. By shedding their selfishness in this way, they will acquire
charity, and, having charity, they will gain everything. In place of material
wealth, Jesus promises all his disciples the blessing and joy of rich
fellowship with the community of believers. These words of our Lord
particularly apply to those who by Divine vocation embrace celibacy, giving up
their right to form a family. They will become members of every family,
and they will have many brothers, sisters and spiritual children.
Life message: Let us try to become true
disciples of Jesus by sacrificially sharing our blessings with those around us,
thereby inheriting additional blessings from a generous God. (http://frtonyshomilies.com/) L/19
March 6 Ash Wednesday:
Introduction: Ash Wednesday (dies cinerum) is
the Church’s Yom Kippur or the “Day of Atonement.” Its very
name comes from the Jewish practice of doing penance wearing “sackcloth and
ashes.” The Old Testament tells us how the people of Nineveh (Jonah 3:5),
King Ben Hadad of Syria (1 Kg 20:31-34), and Queen Esther (4:16) fasted wearing
sackcloth and ashes. In the early Church, Christians who had committed serious
sins were instructed to do public penance wearing sackcloth and ashes. The
Church instructs us to observe Ash Wednesday and Good Friday as days of full
fast and abstinence. Fasting is prescribed to reinforce our penitential prayer
during the Lenten season. The prophet Joel, in the first reading, insists that
we should experience a complete conversion of heart and not simply regret for
our sins. Saint Paul, in the second reading, advises us “to become
reconciled to God.” Today’s Gospel instructs us to assimilate the true spirit
of fasting and prayer.
The blessing of the ashes and the significance of the
day: The priest dipping his thumb into ashes (collected from burnt
palms of the previous year’s Palm Sunday), marks the forehead of each with the
sign of the cross, saying the words, “Remember that you are dust and to
dust you will return” or “Repent and believe in the Gospel.” By
marking the sign of the cross with ashes on the foreheads of her children, the
Church gives us: 1- a firm conviction a) that we are mortal beings, b) that our
bodies will become dust when buried and ashes if cremated, and c) that our
life-span is very brief and unpredictable; 2- a strong warning that we will be
eternally punished if we do not repent of our sins, become reconciled with God,
asking His pardon and forgiveness, and doing penance; and 3- a loving
invitation to realize and acknowledge our sinful condition, to return to our
loving and forgiving God with true repentance as the prodigal son did and
to ask Him for the renewal of our life.
Ash Wednesday messages: # 1: We need to
purify and renew our lives during the period of Lent by
repentance, which means expressing sorrow for our sins by turning away from
occasions of sins and returning to God. We need to express our repentance by
being reconciled with God daily, by asking for forgiveness from those whom we
have offended and by giving unconditional forgiveness to those who have
offended us.
# 2: We need to do prayerful fasting and little acts
of penance for our sins, following the example of Jesus before his
public ministry. Fasting reduces our “spiritual obesity” or the excessive
accumulation of “fat” in our soul in the form of evil tendencies, evil habits
and evil addictions. It also gives us additional moral and spiritual
strength and encourages us to share our blessings with the needy. (http://frtonyshomilies.com/) L/19
March 7 Thursday (Sts Perpetua & Felicity, Martyrs):
Lk 9:22-25: 23 And he said to all, “If any man would come after me,
let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever
would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for my sake, he
will save it. 25 For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and
loses or forfeits himself?
The context: After Peter had made his famous
declaration of Faith in Jesus as God and the Messiah, Jesus plainly warned his
disciples about his suffering death and Resurrection. But the Apostles
were unwilling to accept such a fate for their master. Hence, Jesus
declared the three conditions of discipleship which he expected from his
followers, as given in today’s Gospel.
The triple conditions: 1) Deny yourself. 2)
Take up your cross. 3) Follow Me.
1) Denying oneself involves a) cleansing of
the heart by the eviction of self from the heart and the cleansing of all evil
tendencies and addictions from the heart, with the help of the Holy Spirit, b)
the enthronement of God in the heart and the dedication of oneself to Him, and
c) the surrendering of one’s life to the enthroned God through the loving,
selfless service of others for God’s glory.
2) Taking up one’s cross means, not only
accepting gracefully from God our pains and suffering, but also accepting the
pain involved in serving others, in sharing our blessings with them and in
controlling our evil tendencies. Carrying one’s cross becomes easier when
we compare our light crosses with the heavier ones given to terminally-ill
patients and to exploited people living under subhuman conditions. The
realization that Jesus carries with us the heavier part of our cross also makes
our cross-bearing easier and more salvific.
3) Follow Me means to follow Jesus by
obeying the word of God and adjusting one’s life accordingly. The
disciple should be ever ready to obey as Jesus directs him or her through His
words in the Bible and through the teaching authority He has instituted in the
Church.
The paradox of saving/losing and losing/saving life:
According to Bible commentators, the word “life” is here used, clearly, in a
double sense: the earthly life of man in flesh and time and his eternal Life of
happiness in Heaven. Hence, what Jesus means is that whoever wishes to
save his (earthly), life will lose his (eternal), Life. But whoever loses
his (earthly), life by spending it for Jesus and the Gospel, will save his (eternal),
Life.
Life message: We need to love the cross, wear
the cross, carry the crosses we are given and transform these God-given crosses
of our life into the instruments of our salvation by working with the Holy
Spirit. (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
L/19
March 8 Friday (St. John of God, Religious):
Mt
9:14-15: 14 Then the disciples of John came to him, saying,
“Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” 15 And
Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is
with them? The days will come, when the bridegroom is taken away from
them, and then they will fast.”
The context: Today’s Gospel passage gives Jesus’
reply to the question asked by a few disciples of John the Baptist about
fasting and feasting. Prayer, fasting and almsgiving were the
three-cardinal works of Jewish religious life. Hence, John’s disciples
wanted to know why they and the Pharisees fasted, while Jesus’ disciples were
seen feasting with him and never fasting.
Jesus’ reply: Jesus responded to their sincere
question using three metaphors: the metaphor of the “children of the bridal
chamber,” the metaphor of patching torn cloth and the metaphor of wineskins
(Mark 2:18-20; Luke 5:33-35). In today’s Gospel passage taken from
Matthew, Jesus compares his disciples with the children of the bridal chamber.
These people were selected friends of the bridegroom who feasted in the company
of the bride and groom during a week of honeymoon. Nobody expected them
to fast. Jesus declares that his disciples will fast when he, the
Bridegroom, is taken away from them. One of the fruits of the Spirit is joy,
and it is mentioned next after love in St Paul’s list, “love, joy,
peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Gal.
5:22). Hence, we are to welcome the joys of Christian life as well
as the crosses it offers us. The Fathers of the Church interpret the image of
the bridegroom and bride as referring to Christ and his Church. Some explain it
tropologically: as long as the Spouse is with us we are not able to mourn; but
when by our sin he departs, then is the time for tears and fasting. Yet others
apply the words of Christ to the Holy
Eucharist. The parable does not condemn the strictness of John nor does it
condemn fasting. The disciples of Christ kept the fasts prescribed by the Law,
but they did ignore those imposed by the Pharisees.
Life messages: 1) Fasting reduces the excessive
accumulation of fat in our soul in the form of evil tendencies and evil habits
(= spiritual obesity). In addition, fasting gives us additional moral and
spiritual strength. It offers us more time to be with God in
prayer. It encourages us to share our food and goods with the needy. We fast
so as to share in the sufferings of the Body of Christ (Col 1:24).
2) We need to be adjustable Christians with open and elastic
minds and hearts: The Holy Spirit, working actively in the Church and guiding
the teaching authority in the Church, enables the Church to have new visions,
new ideas, new adaptations and new ways of worship in the place of old
ones. So we should have the generosity and good will to follow the
teachings of the Church (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
L/19
March 9 Saturday (St. Frances of Rome, Religious):
Lk 5:
27-32: 27 After this he went out, and saw a tax collector, named
Levi, sitting at the customs post; and he said to him, “Follow me.” 28 And he
left everything, and rose and followed him. 29 And Levi made him a great feast
in his house; and there was a large company of tax collectors and others
sitting at table with them. 30 And the Pharisees and their scribes murmured
against his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors
and sinners?” 31 And Jesus answered them, “Those who are well have no need of a
physician, but those who are sick; 32 I have not come to call the righteous,
but sinners to repentance.”
The context: Today’s Gospel episode of Matthew’s call
as Jesus’ Apostle reminds us of God’s love and mercy for sinners and
challenges us to practice this same love and mercy in our relations with
others.
The call and the response: Jesus went to the tax collector’s
post to invite Matthew to become his disciple. Since tax collectors
worked for a foreign power and extorted more tax money from the people than the
area owed, they were hated and despised as traitors by the Jewish people and
considered public sinners by the Pharisees. Jesus could see in Matthew a
person who needed Divine love and grace. While everyone hated Matthew, Jesus
was ready to offer him undeserved love, mercy and forgiveness. Hence,
Matthew abandoned his lucrative job, because for him, Christ’s call to follow
Him was a promise of salvation, fellowship, guidance and protection.
Scandalous partying with sinners: It was altogether natural
for Matthew to rejoice in his new calling by celebrating with his friends.
Jesus’ dining with outcasts in the house of a traitor scandalized the Pharisees
for whom ritual purity and table fellowship were important religious practices.
Hence, they asked the disciples, “Why does your master eat with tax
collectors and sinners?” In answer to their question, Jesus stressed
his ministry as healer: “Those who are well do not need a physician;
the sick do.” Then, in Matthew’s account, quoting Hosea, Jesus
challenged the Pharisees, “Go and learn the meaning of the words, ‘I desire
mercy, not sacrifice’ (Hos 6:6)” Finally, Jesus clarified his
position, “I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Life messages: 1) Jesus calls you and me for a
purpose: Jesus has called us, through our Baptism, has forgiven our sins and
has welcomed us as members of the Kingdom. In fact, He calls us daily through
the Word and through His Church to be His disciples and to turn away from all
the things that distract us and draw us away from God.
2) Just as Jesus did, and Matthew did, we, too, are expected
to preach Christ through our lives, by reaching out to the unwanted and the
marginalized in society with Christ’s love, mercy and compassion. (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
