Oct 7 Monday: (Lk 10: 25-37) (Our Lady of the
Rosary)
https://www.franciscanmedia.org/our-lady-of-the-rosary/ USCCB
video reflections: To be added Lk 1: 26-38: This feast was
established by Pope St. Pius V in thanksgiving for the victory at Lepanto, 7
Oct 1571, which stopped the Turkish invasion of Europe. Importance: The
word Rosary means “Crown of Roses” and each prayer in the Rosary is considered
a flower presented to Mary. It is called the “Breviary of the Common People”
and the “Psalms of the Illiterate.” The prayers we repeat are Biblical and
hence “inspired,” and the mysteries we meditate upon are taken from the lives
of Jesus and Mary. The “Our Father” is a prayer taught by Jesus himself.
The “Hail Mary” is also rooted in the Scriptures. Its first half echoes the
words of the Archangel Gabriel and those of Elizabeth, both addressed to Mary.
The third prayer — the “Glory be to the Father” — ancient in its wording,
surely reflects the unceasing prayer of adoration and praise found in the Book
of Revelation. The various events in the lives of Jesus and Mary on which we
meditate during the Rosary are expressions of the Paschal Mystery, that is, the
Life, Death and Resurrection of Jesus, in which Mary shared.
History: Prayer using rosary beads is as old as
mankind. The Hindus in India used to recite the thousand names of their
gods and goddesses and their “mantra” prayers using multi-beaded rosaries, and
their sages wear such rosaries around the neck, constantly rolling the beads in
prayer. The Jews used beads to repeat the psalms, the Laws of Moses and
the memorized sayings of the prophets. The Muslims use rosaries with a hundred
beads for their prayer. In the ninth century, the Christian monks who
recited the 150 psalms instructed the illiterate common people to recite
the Our Father 150 times. It was in the eleventh century
that the Europeans added the Hail Mary to the Our
Father. According to a legend, in 1214, the Blessed Virgin Mary
appeared to St. Dominic Guzman and instructed him to pray the Rosary in a new
form as an effective antidote against the Albigensian heresy. The Rosary
devotion attained its present form by 1500 A.D. An additional boost to the
Rosary devotion was given in 1917, when our Blessed Mother, in her sixth
apparition to the three shepherd children, on the thirteenth of September,
asked them to, “Say the Rosary every day… Pray, pray a lot and offer
sacrifices for sinners… I’m Our Lady of the Rosary.” The “Fatima
prayer” “O, my Jesus” was added in the twentieth century. Pope St. John
Paul II enriched the Rosary by adding the “Luminous Mysteries” (Rosarium
Virginis Mariae).
How to pray the Rosary: The ideal is to recite
at least five decades of the Rosary (and if possible, the entire twenty), with
one’s whole family daily. We need to say the Rosary slowly enough to make
its recitation devout and reverent. We are to reflect for a minute or two on
the mystery, and then concentrate on the meaning of the prayers as we say them,
to avoid distractions. Besides saying the Rosary with others in the family
before bedtime, let us make it a habit of reciting the Rosary during our
journey to the workplace and during our exercises. (Fr. Tony) (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
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Oct 8 Tuesday (St. Denis, Bishop and Companion
Martyrs; St. John Leonardi, Priest): https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-denis-and-companions/ Lk
10:38-42: 38 Now as they went on their way, he entered a
village; and a woman named Martha received him into her house. 39 And she had a
sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. 40
But Martha was distracted with much serving; and she went to him and said,
“Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then
to help me.” 41 But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and
troubled about many things; 42 one thing is needful. Mary has chosen the good
portion, which shall not be taken away from her.” USCCB video
reflections:
The context: Today’s readings are about
hospitality and the necessity of listening to God before acting. Jesus
welcomed and tended to the needs of all, reflecting in his actions the very
hospitality of God. All four Gospels recount Jesus’ welcoming and feeding
the multitudes of people who came to hear his teachings. The Gospel
passage describes how Martha, a true child of Abraham, wanted to extend the
traditional generous hospitality of her people to Jesus, the true Messiah, by
preparing an elaborate meal for him, while her sister Mary spent her time in
talking to him and listening to him.
Jesus’ advice: The episode is also intended to teach us
where we should place our priorities. Presenting Martha as a dynamo of
action and Mary as a true listener to the word of God, today’s Gospel invites
us to serve others with Martha’s diligence, after recharging our spiritual
batteries every day by prayer — listening to God and talking to God — as
Mary did. We are able to minister truly to the needs of others only after
welcoming God’s words into our hearts and minds.
Life messages: 1) We need to recharge our
spiritual batteries: Without the “fuel” of prayer, silence and communion with
God, service can become a crushing responsibility, a burden rather than a
vocation, an annoyed grumbling rather than a response to the invitation of God.
2) We need listening Marthas and serving Marys: Martha has
become a symbol of action-oriented, responsible people who get the job
done. Our world needs such men, women, boys and girls who get the job
done. This is certainly true in the Church where we need the active
cooperation of many parishioners in its various ministries. (Fr. Tony) (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
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Oct 9 Wednesday: Lk 11:1-4: 1 He
was praying in a certain place, and when he ceased, one of his disciples said
to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” 2 And he said
to them, “When you pray, say: “Father, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come.
3 Give us each day our daily bread; 4 and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves
forgive every one who is indebted to us; and lead us not into temptation.” USCCB
video reflections:
The context: The disciples were fascinated by
watching their master Jesus at prayer. They knew that John the Baptist
had taught his disciples how to pray. In response to the request made by
one of his disciples, Jesus taught the beautiful prayer, Our Father.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that the Our
Father “is truly the summary of the whole Gospel” (CCC #2761).
A prayer in two parts: In the first part of the prayer, we
address God, lovingly acknowledging Him as our Heavenly Father, praising and
worshipping Him. Then we promise Him that we will try to do His Holy Will
in our lives on earth as perfectly as it is done in Heaven. In the second part,
we ask our Father’s blessings on our present time (daily bread), our past
(forgiveness of sins) and our future (protection against the tempter and his
temptations). In this part we also invite the Triune God into our
lives. We bring in 1) God the Father, the Provider, by asking for daily
bread, 2) God the Son, our Savior, by asking forgiveness for our sins and 3)
God the Holy Spirit, our Guide, Advocate, Comforter and Illuminator, by asking
for protection and deliverance from evil.
Special stress on spirit of forgiveness: In this
prayer, Jesus instructs us to ask for forgiveness from others for our offenses
and to give unconditional forgiveness to others for their offenses against us
as a condition for receiving God’s forgiveness ourselves. (Fr. Tony) (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
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Oct 10 Thursday: Lk 11:5-13: 5 And he
said to them, “Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say
to him, `Friend, lend me three loaves; 6 for a friend of mine has arrived on a
journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; 7 and he will answer from
within, `Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in
bed; I cannot get up and give you anything’? ..13 USCCB video
reflections: i
The context: After teaching a model prayer,
Jesus instructs his disciples to pray to God their Heavenly Father with the
same boldness, daring, intimacy, conviction, persistence and perseverance as
Abraham did and as the friend in need in the parable did. He gives us the
assurance that God will not be irritated by our requests, nor will He be
unwilling to meet them with generosity. Jesus stresses the power of
intercessory prayer and the necessity for persistence, perseverance, trusting
Faith and the boldness of Faith in our prayer.
The parable: By presenting the parable of the friend in
need, Jesus emphasizes our need for persistent and persevering prayer,
acknowledging our total dependence on God. In the ancient Hebrew world,
hospitality was the essence of one’s goodness, and, hence, to welcome a visitor
without food and drink was unthinkable. A traveler who was traveling in
the evening to avoid the heat of the afternoon might well arrive late at
night. So in this parable, when a man received an unexpected guest
late at night and found his cupboard bare, he went to the man next door
and woke him in order to borrow a loaf of bread. Because of the
persistence of his neighbor, the unwilling householder got up and gave him the
bread he needed for his guest. This parable of Friend at Midnight is also
an assurance that prayer is always answered and also an encouragement to pray.
This parable stresses the necessity for our persisting in prayer as the
expression of our total dependence on God. St. Paul says, “Be constant
in prayer” (Romans 12:12), “pray at all times” (Ephesians
6:18), “be steadfast in prayer” (Colossians 4:2), and
“pray constantly” (2 Thessalonians 5:17). Jesus
assures us, “Knock and the door will be opened”(Luke 11: 10).
Life messages: We need to stop giving lame
excuses for not praying. Modern Christians give four lame excuses for not
praying: 1) We are too busy. 2) We don’t believe that
prayer does that much good, other than giving us the psychological motivation
to be better persons. Such people forget the fact that prayer
establishes and augments our responsive relationship with God, the Source of
our power. 3) A loving God should provide for us and protect us from the
disasters of life, such as diseases or accidents, without our asking
Him. True! Prayer does not inform God; it expresses our awareness of our
need for God and of our dependence upon Him. 4) Prayer is boring.
People who use this excuse forget the fact that prayer is a conversation with
God: listening to God speaking to us through the Bible and talking to God
through personal and family prayers. We can’t have a close relationship with
anyone, including God, without persistent and intimate conversation. (Fr. Tony)
(http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
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Oct 11 Friday (St. John XXIII, Pope) https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-john-xxiii/ :
Lk 11:15-26: 15 But some of them said, “He casts out demons by
Beelzebul, the prince of demons”; 16 while others, to test him, sought from him
a sign from heaven. 17 But he, knowing their thoughts, said to them, “Every
kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and a divided household falls. 18
And if Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For
you say that I cast out demons by Beelzebul. 19 And if I cast out demons by
Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore, they shall be your
judges. 20 But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the
kingdom of God has come upon you. 21 When a strong man, fully armed, guards his
own palace, his goods are in peace; 22 but when one stronger than he assails
him and overcomes him, he takes away his armor in which he trusted, and divides
his spoil. 23 He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather
with me scatters. 24 “When the unclean spirit has gone out of a man, he passes
through waterless places seeking rest; and finding none he says, `I will return
to my house from which I came.’ 25 And when he comes he finds it swept and put
in order. 26 Then he goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than
himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man becomes
worse than the first. USCCB video reflections:
The context: When Jesus healed a mute man by
exorcism, the jealous scribes and the Pharisees spread the malicious slander
that Jesus was collaborating with Beelzebul, the head of the devils, to cast
out smaller devils.
Jesus’ response: Jesus makes his counterattack, first by
asking the question whether their children (the Jewish exorcists), are seeking
the help of the big devil to exorcise minor devils. Then he asserts that
no kingdom, divided against itself, can survive for long. So the chief
devil will not help exorcists to cast out devils. Jesus then claims that
the fact that he has expelled demons is proof that he has brought the Kingdom
of God. When people are liberated from the control of evil spirits, it is
a sure sign that the loving power of God (the finger of God), is at
work. Then Jesus uses the image of a strong man guarding his house and keeping
his possessions safe until someone stronger attacks and overthrows him.
Jesus claims that he is the stronger one and the evil spirits are being driven
away by him. They are helpless before him. This liberation of
people and society from evil powers is one of the most dramatic proofs that the
all-powerful reign of God is present in the person of Jesus.
Life messages: 1) Jesus teaches us that the
devil is relentless in his struggle against man. The devil continues to
lay his traps, in spite of man’s rejecting him with the help of grace.
That is why St. Peter warns us to be sober and vigilant because, “your
adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to
devour. Resist him, firm in your Faith” (1 Peter 5:8-9). 2) We
have to fortify ourselves against the devil by prayer, penance, the Sacraments
and the effective use of the word of God. (Fr. Tony) (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
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Oct 12 Saturday (BVM): Lk 11:27-28: 27 As he
said this, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, “Blessed is
the womb that bore you, and the breasts that you sucked!” 28 But he said,
“Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!” USCCB
video reflections:
The context: A woman in the audience was so
impressed by Jesus’ powerful refutation of a slander against him (that Jesus
collaborated with the devil in exorcisms), that she shouted a blessing praising
the mother of Jesus: “Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the
breasts that you sucked!” She meant that any woman would be
proud to have such a great son.
The reason for real blessedness: Completing the truth of the
blessing the woman had pronounced, Jesus states that the real source of
blessedness is the willingness to hear and the readiness to obey the word of
God. Mary heard God’s message at the Annunciation, and her prompt
response was, “I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be done to me according
to your word” (Luke 1:38). That is
why she could boldly proclaim to her cousin Elizabeth in her canticle, “All
generations will call me blessed” (Luke 1:48). No one
listened more attentively to the word of God than Mary did. She “kept
all these things, reflecting on them in her heart” (Luke 2:10). Jesus
clarified the same truth on another occasion, stating that His true mother
and brothers and sisters are those who hear the word of God and do it (Luke
8:21). In today’s Gospel, Jesus declares that that those who hear God’s
word and keep it are more blessed than those who are related to him only by
blood.
Life message: 1) We become the members of
the Heavenly family of the Triune God, that is, children of God and brothers
and sisters of Jesus, by our Baptism. But it is our fidelity in hearing the
word of God and in putting that word into practice in our daily lives that
makes us really blessed. What makes a person happy in this life and in the life
to come is precisely the fulfillment of God’s will, as we learn through the
attentive reading of, and listening to, His words. (Fr. Tony) (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
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