Sept 16 Monday (St. Cornelius, Pope and St. Cyprian
Bishop, martyrs= https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-cornelius/ ):
Lk 7:1-10: 1 After he had ended all his sayings in the hearing of
the people, he entered Capernaum. 2 Now a centurion had a slave who was dear to
him, who was sick and at the point of death. 3 When he heard of Jesus, he sent
to him elders of the Jews, asking him to come and heal his slave. 4 And when
they came to Jesus, they besought him earnestly, saying, “He is worthy to have
you do this for him, 5 for he loves our nation, and he built us our
synagogue.”6 And Jesus went with them. When he was not far from the house, the
centurion sent friends to him, saying to him, “Lord, do not trouble yourself,
for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; 7 therefore I did not
presume to come to you.
But say the word, and let my servant be healed. 8 For I
am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me: and I say to one, `Go,’
and he goes; and to another, `Come,’ and he comes; and to my slave, `Do
this,’ and he does it.” 9 When Jesus heard this he marveled at him, and turned
and said to the multitude that followed him, “I tell you, not even in Israel
have I found such faith.” 10 And when those who had been sent returned to
the house, they found the slave well.
USCCBvideo reflections: https://youtu.be/LgdWdYpeSGw?list=PLpTzvCOJa7DD-uFtIWwJSoiHMmBgqLd9d
Context: Jesus’ healing of the centurion’s
slave, described in today’s Gospel, shows us how God listens to our
Faith-filled prayers and meets our needs. Centurions were reliable, commanding
officers, brave captains in charge of 100 soldiers. They were the backbone of
the Roman army. According to Luke’s account (Lk 7:1-10), this
centurion loved the Jews, respected their religious customs, built a
synagogue for them, loved his sick servant, trusted in Jesus’ power of healing
and was ready to face the ridicule of his fellow-centurions by pleading before
a Jewish rabbi.
The remote healing: The centurion asked Jesus to shout a
command, as the centurion did with his soldiers, so that the illness might
leave his servant by the power of that order. Jesus was moved by the
centurion’s Faith-filled request and rewarded the trusting Faith of this
Gentile officer by performing a telepathic healing.
Life message: 1) We need to grow to
the level of the Faith of the centurion by knowing and personally experiencing
Jesus in our lives. We do so by daily meditative reading of the Bible, by our
daily personal and family prayers and by frequenting the Sacraments, especially
the Eucharistic celebration. The next step to which the Holy Spirit brings us
is the complete surrender of our whole being and life to Jesus whom we have
experienced, by rendering loving service to others seeing Jesus in them. (Fr.
Tony) (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
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Sept 17 Tuesday (St. Robert Bellarmine, Bishop, Doctor of
the Church= https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-robert-bellarmine/ ):
Lk 7:11-17: 11 Soon afterward he went to a city called Nain, and
his disciples and a great crowd went with him. 12 As he drew near to the gate
of the city, behold, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of
his mother, and she was a widow; and a large crowd from the city was with her.
13 And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not
weep.” 14 And he came and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he
said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” 15 And the dead man sat up, and began
to speak. And he gave him to his mother. 16 Fear seized them all; and they
glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and “God has
visited his people!” 17 And this report concerning him spread through the whole
of Judea and all the surrounding country.
USCCB video reflections: https://youtu.be/LgdWdYpeSGw?list=PLpTzvCOJa7DD-uFtIWwJSoiHMmBgqLd9d
The context: Today’s Gospel presents one of the
three stories in the Gospel where Jesus brings a dead person back to life. The
other stories are those of Lazarus and of the daughter of Jairus, the synagogue
leader. Today’s story is found only in Luke. Nain is a village six miles SE of
Nazareth, and it is mentioned nowhere else in the Bible. The scene is
particularly sad because the mother in this story, who had already lost her
husband, has now lost her only son and her only means of support.
Jesus’ touch of human kindness: Jesus was visibly moved by
the sight of the weeping widow, perhaps because he could foresee his own mother
in the same position at the foot of his cross. His compassionate heart prompted
him to console the widow saying: “Do not weep.” Then Luke reports, “He
touched the bier and when the bearers stood still, he said, ‘Young man,
I say to you, arise.’ And the dead man sat up and began to speak.
And he gave him to his mother,” and participated in her indescribable joy.
There were instances in the Old Testament of people being raised from death, by
Elijah (1 Kings 17:17-24), and Elisha (2 Kings 4:32-37). Jesus’ miracle took
place near the spot where the prophet Elisha had brought another mother’s son
back to life again (see 2 Kings 4:18-37). These miracles were signs of the
power of God working through His prophets. In the case of the widow’s son
in today’s Gospel, the miracle showed the people that Jesus, like Elijah and
Elisha, was, at the least, a great prophet.
Life messages: 1) St. Augustine compares the joy
of that widow to the joy of our Mother the Church when her sinful children
return to the life of grace: “Our Mother the Church rejoices every day when
people are raised again in spirit.” 2) The event also reminds us to have
the same love and compassion for those who suffer that Jesus had. (Fr. Tony) (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
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Sept 18 Wednesday (Saint
Joseph of Cupertino=https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-joseph-of-cupertino/ ) :
Lk 7: 31-35: 31 “To what then shall I compare the men of this
generation, and what are they like? 32 They are like children sitting in the
market place and calling to one another, `We piped to you, and you did not
dance; we wailed, and you did not weep.’ 33 For John the
Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine; and you say, `He has a
demon.’ 34 The Son of man has come eating and drinking; and you say, `Behold, a
glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ 35 Yet wisdom
is justified by all her children.”
USCCB video reflections: https://youtu.be/LejUKevXcpc?list=PLpTzvCOJa7DD-uFtIWwJSoiHMmBgqLd9d
The context: The message of John the Baptist and
the message of Jesus fell on deaf ears and met with stiff resistance from the
scribes and the Pharisees because of their pride, jealousy, prejudice and
spiritual blindness. Hence, they attributed the austerities of John the Baptist
to the devil and saw Jesus’ table fellowship with sinners as evidence that he
was a glutton and a drunkard – both evidence that Jesus’ reputation and silent
Messianic were patently false. In today’s Gospel, Jesus compares these Scribes
and Pharisees with irresponsible and immature street-children.
Dog-in-the-manger attitude: Jesus compares the attitude of
the Scribes and the Pharisees with that of street-children who want to
entertain themselves by acting out wedding and funeral songs. They divide
themselves into two groups. But when one group proposes to sing wedding songs
and asks the other group to dance, the second group will refuse, proposing
funeral songs instead, and asking the first group to act as a funeral
procession, carrying one of them on their shoulders. In the end both groups
will be frustrated. Jesus states that the scribes and Pharisees, because of
their pride and prejudice, act exactly like these irresponsible and immature
children. Jesus criticizes the unbelieving Jews for not listening either to
John the Baptist, who preached a message of austerity, repentance, and God’s
judgement on unrepentant sinners, or to Jesus, who preached the Good News of
God’s love, mercy, forgiveness and salvation.
Life messages: 1) Ignore and correct: Some
people will criticize us as they criticized Jesus and John the Baptist, even
when we do good, correct things with the best of intentions. The best response
is to ignore the critics, while examining our actions and correcting anything
we may find in them. 2) Hearing the Gospel implies the total
acceptance and assimilation of what we hear and the incorporation of it into
our daily lives. We should not be “selective listeners,” hearing only what we
want and doing only what we like. 3) Like the generation of Jesus’ time, our
age is marked by indifference and contempt, especially in regard to the things
of Heaven. Indifference dulls our ears to God’s voice and to the Good
News of the Gospel. Only the humble of heart can find joy and favor
in God’s grace. (Fr. Tony) (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
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Sept 19 Thursday (St. Januarius, Bishop, Martyr)= https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-januarius/ :
Luke 7: 36-50: 36 One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with
him, and he went into the Pharisee’s house, and took his place at table. 37 And
behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was at
table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, 38 and
standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her
tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head, and kissed his feet, and
anointed them with the ointment 39 Now when the Pharisee who had invited him
saw it, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known
who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a
sinner.” 40 And Jesus answering said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to
you.” And he answered, “What is it, Teacher?” 41 …43
USCCB video reflections: https://youtu.be/LgdWdYpeSGw?list=PLpTzvCOJa7DD-uFtIWwJSoiHMmBgqLd9d
The context: The central theme of today’s Gospel
is an invitation to repent, do penance and renew our lives instead of
continuing to carry the heavy baggage of our sins. It celebrates the gift of
God’s forgiveness. Our God is a God Who always tries not to punish but to
rehabilitate, so that we may be made whole and experience inner peace and
harmony. The sinner at the feet of Jesus: The Gospel story tells of a
woman of the street who washes Jesus’ feet with her tears, wipes them with her
hair, and perfumes them with costly oil. In sharp contrast, the host, Simon the
Pharisee, has purposely omitted these Jewish customs of welcoming a
guest. When one invited a Rabbi to one’s house, it was normal to
place one’s hand on his shoulder and give him the kiss of peace, to bathe
his feet (Palestine is a very dusty country), and to burn a grain of
incense or put a drop of attar of roses on his head. Jesus
contrasts Simon’s rudeness with the prostitute’s public expression of
repentance and says that her sins are forgiven because of her love. By telling
the short parable of the two debtors, Christ teaches us two things–his own
Divinity and his power to forgive sins. The parable also shows the merit the
woman’s love deserves and underlines the discourtesy implied in Simeon’s
neglecting to receive Jesus in the conventional way.
Life messages: 1) We can accept or
reject the mercy of God: We are challenged to accept or reject the
mercy of God. We often share Simon’s mentality by displaying an attitude of
lovelessness and harshness. We need to love Jesus because he
is the one and only Savior who has died for our sins. 2) We need to be
grateful to our forgiving God: Our serious attempts to avoid the
occasions of sin will be both the proof of our sincere repentance and the
expression of our gratitude to the merciful God who has forgiven our sins. 3)
We need to cultivate a forgiving attitude towards our
neighbor: Although it is not easy, we must learn to forgive those who hurt us
if we want to be able to receive the daily forgiveness we need from a merciful
God. (Fr. Tony) (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
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Sept 20 Friday Saints Andrew Kim Tae-gon, Priest and Paul
Chong Ha- ang and companions, martyrs= https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saints-andrew-kim-taegon-paul-chong-hasang-and-companions/ ):
Luke 8: 1-3: 1 Soon afterward he went on through
cities and villages, preaching and bringing the good news of the kingdom of
God. And the twelve were with him, 2 and also some women who had been healed of
evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons
had gone out, 3 and Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s
steward, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their
means. USCCB video reflections: L/19https://youtu.be/lc8Amx6blNQ?list=PLpTzvCOJa7DD-uFtIWwJSoiHMmBgqLd9d
The context: Today’s Gospel describes how Jesus
began his preaching and healing ministry in the company of his twelve Apostles
and a group of women volunteers. Luke’s Gospel pays special attention to
women. The female following of Jesus was out of the ordinary at the time and
place where Jesus lived. In those days, strict rabbis would not speak to a woman
in public, and very strict ones would not speak to their own wives in the
streets or public places. In his Gospel, Luke describes several women
around Jesus, like Mary’s kinswoman, Elizabeth, the prophetess Anna, the sinful
woman, Martha and Mary, the crippled woman, the woman with hemorrhage, the
women who supplied the needs of Jesus and his Apostles out of their own
resources, and, in the parables, the woman kneading yeast into the dough,
the woman with the lost coin and the woman who tamed the judge.
The ministry and the associates: Jesus started preaching the
“Good News” that God His Father is not a judging and punishing God but a loving
and forgiving God Who wants to save mankind through His Son Jesus. Luke
mentions the names of a few women who helped Jesus’ ministry by their voluntary
service and financial assistance. Some among them were rich and influential
like Joanna, the wife of King Herod’s steward, Chuza. We meet Joanna again
among the women who went to the tomb on the morning of the Resurrection (Luke
24:10). Some others like Mary of Magdala were following Jesus to express their
gratitude for the healing they had received from Jesus. It was a mixture of
different types of women volunteers who were attracted by the person and
message of Jesus. They supported the work of proclaiming the Gospel by
providing food and other material assistance to Jesus and the Apostles who
proclaimed the Gospel by word and deed and by their communal and shared life.
It is nice to know that our Lord availed Himself of their charity and that they
responded to Him with such refined and generous detachment that Christian women
feel filled with a holy and fruitful envy (St. J. Escriva). At crucial
moments, Jesus was better served by his women disciples than by his men.
Life message: The evangelization work of the
Church needs the preaching of the missionaries and preachers, feeding and
leading the believers in parishes, and the active support of all Christians by
their transparent Christian lives, fervent prayers and financial assistance.
(Fr. Tony) (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
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Sept 21 Saturday, St. Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist= https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-matthew/ :
Mt 9:9-13: 9 As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called
Matthew sitting at the tax office; and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose
and followed him. 10 And as he sat at table in the house, behold, many
tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Jesus and his
disciples. 11 And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his
disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
12 But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a
physician, but those who are sick. 13 Go and learn what this means, `I
desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but
sinners.”
USCCB video reflections: https://youtu.be/8tEP5AIsFjE?list=PLpTzvCOJa7DD-uFtIWwJSoiHMmBgqLd9d
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 office to
invite Matthew to become his disciple. Since tax-collectors worked for a
foreign power and extorted more tax money from the people than they owed, the
Jewish people, especially the Pharisees, hated and despised the tax collectors
as traitors, considered them public sinners, and ostracized them. But Jesus
could see in Matthew a person who needed Divine love and grace. That is why,
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 invitation to him, to become Jesus’ follower, 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 who were also outcasts. Jesus’ dining with all
these 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
Jesus challenged the Pharisees, quoting Hosea, “Go and learn the meaning of
the words, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice’” (Hosea 6:6). Finally,
Jesus clarified his position, “I did not come to call the righteous,
but sinners.” [After the Ascension, Saint Matthew remained for over
ten years in Judea, writing his Gospel there in about the year 44. Then he went
to preach the Faith in Egypt and especially in Ethiopia, where he remained for
twenty-three years. The relics of Saint Matthew were for many years in the city
of Naddaver in Ethiopia, where he suffered his martyrdom, but were transferred
to Salerno in the year 954].
Life messages: 1) Jesus calls you and me for a
purpose: Jesus has called us through our Baptism, forgiven us our sins, and
welcomed us as members of the Kingdom. In fact, Jesus 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 Matthew did,
we, too, are expected to proclaim Christ through our lives by reaching out to
the unwanted and the marginalized in society with Christ’s love, mercy and
compassion. (Fr. Tony) (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
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