Oct 14 Monday (St. Callistus I, Pope, Martyr) https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-callistus-i/ : Lk
11:29-32: 29 When the crowds were increasing, he began to say,
“This generation is an evil generation; it seeks a sign, but no sign shall be
given to it except the sign of Jonah. 30 For as Jonah became a sign to the
men of Nineveh, so will the Son of man be to this generation. 31 The queen of
the South will arise at the judgment with the men of this generation and
condemn them; for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of
Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here. 32 The men of Nineveh
will arise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they
repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is
here. USCCB reflections: https://youtu.be/Km3lgo0S6y4?list=PLpTzvCOJa7DD9TgXScDzmUNxVbbSBuOSi
The context: Since there had been many false
prophets and false messiahs in the past, and since their pride and prejudice
did not permit them to see the Messiah in a carpenter from Nazareth turned
wandering preacher, the Jewish religious leaders demanded that Jesus show some
“Messianic” signs and miracles taken from their list. They would not
accept that Jesus’ numerous miraculous healings were the Messianic signs
foretold by the prophets.
Jesus’ negative response: Calling them an apostate
generation who refused to believe in their own prophets and denied the hand of
God in the miracles he worked, Jesus warned these religious leaders that they
would be condemned on the Day of Judgment by the people of Nineveh and by the
Queen of Sheba from the South. This is one of the instances in which
Jesus held up Gentiles as models of Faith and goodness (other examples: the
Canaanite woman in Matthew 15, the centurion in Luke 7, the Good Samaritan
story in Luke 10; etc.). The pagan Ninevites heard the voice of the Lord
God in the prophet Jonah, repented, and were spared. The Queen of Sheba
recognized God’s Wisdom in King Solomon and traveled to Israel to receive more
of it. Nevertheless, Jesus gave the religious leaders challenging him,
“the sign of Jonah.” It was the undeniable Messianic sign of his own
Resurrection from the tomb on the third day after his death, just as Jonah had
spent three days in the belly of the giant fish before finally going to Nineveh
to accomplish the mission God had originally given him.
Life messages: We need to recognize
God-given signs in our lives: 1) Let us examine our conscience and see if we
are able to see God’s presence in ourselves and in others, His hands behind the
small and big events of our lives and His provident care in our lives. 2) Let us
open our ears to hear God’s message given to us by others and by nature.
3) Let us read God’s message in the Bible and adjust our lives accordingly. 4)
Let us try our best to be open to God and receptive to His Spirit through our
active participation in the liturgy instead of looking for signs in weeping
Madonnas, bleeding crucifixes and visionaries. (Fr. Tony) (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
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Oct 15 Tuesday (St. Teresa of Jesus,(Avila) Virgin,
Doctor of the Church) https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-teresa-of-avila/ :
Lk 11:37-41: 37 While he was speaking, a Pharisee asked him to dine
with him; so he went in and sat at table. 38 The Pharisee was astonished to see
that he did not first wash before dinner. 39 And the Lord said to him, “Now you
Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside you are
full of extortion and wickedness. 40 You fools! Did not he who
made the outside make the inside also? 41 But give for alms those things
which are within; and behold, everything is clean for you. USCCB
reflections: https://youtu.be/7UWbWlplvEs?list=PLpTzvCOJa7DD9TgXScDzmUNxVbbSBuOSi
The context: In today’s Gospel passage, Jesus
accuses the Pharisees of hypocrisy. Jesus was invited by a Pharisee for a
dinner at which Jesus violated the ceremonial law by purposely omitting the
ritual washing of hands before the meals and between the courses. Pious
Jews were expected on each occasion to wash their hands by pouring two ounces
of water from fingertips to wrist and in the reverse order, and then to cleanse
each palm by rubbing the fist of the other hand. Water was stored in big stone
jars for this washing ceremony. Omitting the ceremony was considered a
sin and that is why Jesus’ host was astonished.
Jesus teaches the essence of religion: Jesus tells his host
that the essence of religion is offering to God a clean heart filled with love,
mercy, compassion and forgiveness. Mere external observance of rituals
without a cleansing of the heart is hypocrisy, which God hates. Jesus
uses the occasion to accuse the Pharisees of harboring evil thoughts like
greed, pride, bitterness, envy and arrogance in their hearts. Jesus
concludes by suggesting that one method of expressing real love of God and neighbor
originating from a compassionate heart and making one pure and clean is giving
alms to the poor. Almsgiving in the proper sense means realizing the
needs of others and letting them share in one’s own goods, especially by way of
spiritual help, financial and emotional support, consolation, fraternity and
love. St. John of the Cross explains this passage, remarking that in the
evening of our lives we will be judged on our love expressed by works of
charity.
Life messages: 1) In order to have interior
cleanliness, let us do some charitable acts which externally express our loving
relationship with God and our eagerness to do His will. Since we are offering
our hearts and lives on the altar, let us expel everything evil from our hearts
by true repentance 2) Love is what we have to give others – love with
understanding, mercy, respect for their freedom, and deep concern for their
spiritual and material welfare. Giving this gift requires that we have love in
our thoughts, words and actions always. (Fr. Tony) (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
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Oct 16 Wednesday (St. Hedwig, Religious, St.
Margaret Mary Alacoque, Virgin) https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-margaret-mary-alacoque/ : Lk
11:42-46: 42 “But woe to you Pharisees! for you tithe mint and rue
and every herb, and neglect justice and the love of God; these you ought to
have done, without neglecting the others. 43 Woe to you Pharisees! for you love
the best seat in the synagogues and salutations in the market places. 44 Woe to
you! for you are like graves which are not seen, and men walk over them without
knowing it.” 45 One of the lawyers answered him, “Teacher, in saying this you reproach
us also.” 46 And he said, “Woe to you lawyers also! for you load men with
burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one
of your fingers.” USCCB reflections: https://youtu.be/FQ-FMOrIC6M?list=PLpTzvCOJa7DD9TgXScDzmUNxVbbSBuOSi
The context: In today’s text, taken from Luke’s
Gospel, Jesus expresses his moral indignation and sorrow at the hypocrisy of
the scribes and the Pharisees who have put obstacles between the common people
and God by overburdening them with unnecessary, impractical and limitless
interpretations of Mosaic laws. In today’s text, Jesus leveled three
accusations against these religious leaders, naming particular misbehaviors:
1) They had misinterpreted the spirit of the Law, making the Law a heavy
burden for the God-fearing common people. Jesus gave the Law of tithing as an
example. God intended tithing for His people as an expression of their
gratitude to a providing God (Dt 14:22; Lv 27:30). The scribes instructed the
people to pay tithes on insignificant things, such as kitchen-garden plants,
with great mathematical accuracy, but they themselves neglected justice
and love of God in their private lives. 2) The second accusation was
that the scribes and the Pharisees were notorious for their status-seeking.
They demanded that the common people give them special honors because of their
expertise in Mosaic Law and faithful religious observance. As a mark of
respect, they were to be given front seats in the synagogue and public greeting
in the streets. 3) Jesus compared the scribes and Pharisees to the white-washed
tombs on the sides of the road leading to Jerusalem. In preparation for the
three major Jewish feasts, Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles, the scribes and
Pharisees used to have the tombs whitewashed, so that the pilgrims would not be
ritually defiled by unknowingly walking over one. Jesus accused the
Pharisees of moral filth, of hiding injustice and immorality inside themselves
and of covering the corruption with pretensions of piety and religious
fervor. Thus, they contaminated others with their rotten and dangerous
ideas of God’s demands.
Life messages: 1) The essence of religion is to
love God, discovering Him in everyone. The basic principles of the Ten
Commandments are respect and reverence based on love of God and neighbor. When
we learn to reverence God, His holy Name and His holy Day and to respect our
parents, elders and all others, their lives, their goods and their good names,
we practice true religion without hypocrisy or selfish interests. True love is
sacrificial, encouraging us to help lift the burdens of others. (Fr.
Tony) (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
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Oct 17 Thursday (St. Ignatius of Antioch, Bishop,
Martyr) https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-ignatius-of-antioch/;
: Luke 11:47-54 Woe to you! for you build the tombs of the prophets
whom your fathers killed. 48 So you are witnesses and consent to the
deeds of your fathers; for they killed them, and you build their tombs. 49
Therefore also the Wisdom of God said, `I will send them prophets and apostles,
some of whom they will kill and persecute,’ 50 that the blood of all the
prophets, shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this
generation, 51 from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished
between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, it shall be required
of this generation. 52 Woe to you lawyers! for you have taken away the
key of knowledge; you did not enter yourselves, and you hindered those who were
entering.” 53 As he went away from there, the scribes and the Pharisees began
to press him hard, and to provoke him to speak of many things, 54 lying in wait
for him, to catch at something he might say. USCCB reflections: https://youtu.be/gctIpIqEjlo?list=PLpTzvCOJa7DD9TgXScDzmUNxVbbSBuOSi
The context: Today’s passage, taken from chapter
11 of Luke’s Gospel, gives two more accusations which Jesus made against the
Pharisees. According to Matthew, Jesus made these accusations on the
third day of what we call Holy Week in the Temple precincts of Jerusalem.
1) Jesus criticized the blatant hypocrisy and false zeal of
the scribes and the Pharisees in decorating the old monuments and building new
monuments for the past prophets who had been persecuted and murdered by the
forefathers of these same Scribes and the Pharisees, while they themselves did
not obey the injunctions of these past prophets. Abel’s martyrdom is the
first recorded in the Bible (Gn 4:8), while Zechariah’s death centuries later
is not mentioned in the Old Testament. Jesus remarked that the bloodguilt
inherited by the ancestors of the scribes and the Pharisees throughout the Old
Testament era would spill over when the priests (most of them scribes), and the
Pharisees conspired to execute Jesus the Messiah.
2) Since the scribes (religious lawyers), were the official
interpreters of the Scriptures, they held the “office of the keys.”
Unfortunately, their interpretation of the Scriptures became so distorted and
difficult to understand that others were “shut off” from the Scriptures.
Life message: We need to be men and women of
integrity and character without any element of hypocrisy in our Christian life.
We should not make a show of holiness and religious fervor when we are not
internally holy. Holiness requires humility and giving God credit for any good
He does through us. (Fr. Tony) (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
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Oct 18 Friday: (St. Luke, the Evangelist) https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-luke/ Lk
10:1-9: 1 After this the Lord appointed seventy others, and
sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he
himself was about to come. 2 And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful,
but the laborers are few; pray therefore the Lord of the harvest to send out
laborers into his harvest. 3 Go your way; behold, I send you out as lambs in
the midst of wolves. 4 Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and salute no one on
the road. 5 Whatever house you enter, first say, `Peace be to this house!’ 6
And if a son of peace is there, your peace shall rest upon him; but if not, it
shall return to you. 7 And remain in the same house, eating and drinking what
they provide, for the laborer deserves his wages; do not go from house to
house. 8 Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before
you; 9 heal the sick in it and say to them, `The kingdom of God has come near
to you.’ For USCCB video reflections: https://youtu.be/KsoD7NCo0tY?list=PLpTzvCOJa7DD9TgXScDzmUNxVbbSBuOSi
Resume: St. Luke was a Syrian by race, born in
Antioch as a Gentile. He became a Christian and follower of St. Paul. He had a
Greek background and education. He knew Greek, spoke Aramaic in Antioch and
became a scholar in Hebrew. He was a physician by profession (Col 4:14), and
was considered an artist, probably from his graphic descriptions of the
nativity scenes with shepherds and magi, from the parable of the lost sheep and
from a sixth century copy of the portrait of Mary (kept at Santa Maria Maggiore
Church in Rome), the original of which was believed to have been drawn by Luke.
A prolific writer: Luke could read and understand the Greek
Septuagint version of the Old Testament and the Hebrew originals. He is the
only non-Jewish Evangelist. He wrote the third Gospel and the Acts of the
Apostles, between 70 and 85 AD. These were originally one book, and, when taken
together, are longer than the fourteen epistles of St. Paul. Luke is
represented in art by an ox or calf, for he saw Jesus as a sacrifice for all
mankind and began his Gospel describing Zechariah and the Temple worship. It is
believed that Luke wrote the Gospel when he was 74 and died at Boeotia when he
was 84 years old. Luke presents Jesus as giving importance and recognition to
women and the Gentiles. Contacts: Luke had close contacts with Mary and all the
Apostles, and he would have been able to interview all of them to collect
details for his Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles. He was a constant
companion and doctor of St. Paul during Paul’s Jerusalem and Malta mission
trips and during Paul’s imprisonment, first in Caesarea, then in Rome. Probably
he was with Paul till Paul’s martyrdom.
Life messages: 1) We are to be apostles of
prayer: Luke presents Jesus as a man of prayer spending much of his time in
listening to God his Father in order to learn His will and in talking to Him in
solitude. 2) We are to be merciful and compassionate, becoming the voice of the
voiceless: Luke describes Jesus siding with the poor and marginalized in the
society (option for the poor) and trying to give a special status to women and
Gentiles. (Fr. Tony) (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
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Oct 19 Saturday (Saints John De Brebeuf and Isaac
Jogues, Priests and companions Martyrs): https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-isaac-jogues-jean-de-br-eacute-beuf-and-companions/; Lk
12:8-12: 8 “And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me
before men, the Son of man also will acknowledge before the angels of God; 9
but he who denies me before men will be denied before the angels of God. 10 And
everyone who speaks a word against the Son of man will be forgiven; but he who
blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. 11 And when they
bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not be
anxious how or what you are to answer or what you are to say; 12 for the Holy
Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.” For
USCCB video reflections: https://youtu.be/IZaH8VjnAVE?list=PLpTzvCOJa7DD9TgXScDzmUNxVbbSBuOSi
The context: The scribes and Pharisees
attributed Jesus’ miracles of driving demons out of possessed people to the
work of the devil rather than to God. Pride in their knowledge of the Hebrew
Scriptures and prejudice against Jesus, the wandering preacher, prompted them
to attribute Jesus’ exorcisms to the devil’s power and Jesus’ collaboration
with the devil. The first part of today’s Gospel is Jesus’ reply to their
false accusation.
Unpardonable sin: The Jews did not have any idea of a Triune
God. For them the Spirit of God was God Himself. It was this Divine
Spirit who spoke through Moses and the prophets and Who enabled men and women
to understand the Sacred Scriptures. So, Jesus told the unbelieving Jews
that they were refusing to believe in the Spirit of God and in the Messianic
prophecies given by Him when they attributed Jesus’ miracles to the
devil. Hence, theirs was a sin of blasphemy against the Spirit of
God. Since they remained unrepentant, thus refusing God’s mercy and
forgiveness, their sin against the Holy Spirit of God was unforgivable.
In the second part of today’s Gospel, Jesus introduced the Holy Spirit as a
Teacher and an Attorney who would help defend his disciples when they were
brought to trial before the Jewish synagogues and Roman authorities because of
their Faith in Jesus as God and Savior.
Life messages: 1) Let us have the generosity and
good will not to close our eyes to God or to shut our ears to His voice, thus
refusing the chances given us by our merciful God to repent of our sins and renew
our lives. 2) Let us ask the Holy Spirit to strengthen us in our fight
against temptations and let us pray for the illumination of the Holy Spirit
(Fr. Tony) (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
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