Oct 26 Monday: Lk 13:10-17: 10 Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. 11 And there was a woman who had had a spirit of infirmity for eighteen years; she was bent over and could not fully straighten herself. 12 And when Jesus saw her, he called her and said to her, “Woman, you are freed from your infirmity.” 13 And he laid his hands upon her, and immediately she was made straight, and she praised God. 14 But the ruler of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the people,
“There are six days on which work ought to be done; come on those days and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day.” 15 Then the Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his ass from the manger, and lead it away to water it? 16 And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?” 17 As he said this, all his adversaries were put to shame; and all the people rejoiced at all the glorious things that were done by him. USCCB video reflections: http://www.usccb.org/bible/reflections/index.cfmThe context: Today’s Gospel tells us how Jesus
healed a woman in the synagogue who had been suffering for 18 years from what
seems to have been curvature of the spine. People in those days believed that
she was possessed by a spirit which drained her strength. Jesus felt sympathy
for her, called her to his side, laid his hands on her and said: “Woman, you
are freed from your infirmity.” Immediately she was made straight,
and she praised God.
The reaction: Instead of joining the healed
woman in praising God, the ruler of the synagogue, in his zeal
for fulfilling the Law (cf. Ex 20:8; 31:14; Lv 19:3-30), publicly scolded
the people for seeking healing on a Sabbath day, indirectly blaming Jesus as a
Sabbath-breaker. Jesus reacted promptly, accusing the ruler of hypocrisy and
explaining that Sabbath rest was meant for doing acts of charity. Jesus asked
the ruler why taking out cattle and asses for drinking water was no violation
of Sabbath and releasing a poor woman from Satan’s bond was a violation of the
Sabbath ban on work.
Life messages: 1) Many of us are bowed down with
the burdens and worries of our lives. Many of us are weighed down and held
captive by terrible burdens that we carry in solitary sadness like some
terrible secrets or a paralyzing fear or some unconfessed great sins.
2) We are often affected by spiritual deafness which makes
us incapable of hearing God speaking to us, or by spiritual dumbness which
causes inability to proclaim our Faith in public.
3) We can also suffer from the spiritual leprosy of sins and
possession by the evil spirit of addiction to sinful habits.
4) Jesus is ready to place his healing hand on us and
liberate us if we approach him with expectant Faith and fervent prayer during
the Eucharistic celebration. (Fr. Tony) (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
L/20
The context: Today’s Gospel contains two of
Jesus’ one-line parables about the Kingdom of God. The parable of the
mustard seed probably shows that Gentiles in the Church will one day outnumber
Jews. The parable of the yeast indicates that all are invited to
salvation, and the Gentiles, who were considered evil, like yeast, will enable
the Church to grow.
The small beginnings and great endings: Using a pair of
mini-parables, the mustard seed and yeast, Jesus explains how the Kingdom, or
Reign, of God grows within us by the power of the Word of God and the power of
the Holy Spirit living within us. When we surrender our lives to Jesus
Christ and allow his word to take root in our hearts, we are transformed and
made holy by the power of the Holy Spirit who dwells in us. In the
parable of the mustard seed, the primary point of comparison is the contrast
between the smallness of the seed and the greatness of the result (“the largest
of plants”). The life-principle in a small mustard seed enables it to
grow into a large bush by a slow but steady process. The microscopic
yeasts within a small piece of leaven transform a thick lump of dough overnight
into soft and spongy bread. Christianity had a small beginning, like a
mustard seed or yeast, with Jesus and a band of twelve Apostles in a remote
corner of the world. But through the power of the Holy Spirit living in
individual Christians, Christianity has become the largest religion in the
world, spreading in all countries and embracing all races of people.
Life messages: 1) We need to allow the Holy
Spirit to transform us from our evil ways and tendencies to living a life of
holiness; from unjust and uncharitable conversation to speaking with God and
listening to Him (prayer); from gossiping about people and a judgmental
attitude to showing compassion for others and supporting them with consoling,
encouraging, and inspiring words and deeds.
2) We need to act like yeast influencing the lives of others
around us: Just as Christianity in the past transformed the status of women,
children, slaves, the sick, and the poor by the power of Jesus’ Gospel, so we,
as Christians in our time, have the duty to transform the lives of people
around us by leading exemplary lives through the grace of God, according to the
promptings of the Holy Spirit. (Fr. Tony) (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
L/20
Oct 28 Wednesday (Saints Simon and Jude, Apostles) https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saints-simon-and-jude/ :
Lk 6:12-16 12 In those days he went out to the mountain to pray;
and all night he continued in prayer to God. 13 And when it was day, he called
his disciples, and chose from them twelve, whom he named apostles; 14 Simon,
whom he named Peter, and Andrew his brother, and James and John, and Philip,
and Bartholomew, 15 and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and
Simon who was called the Zealot, 16 and Judas the son of James, and Judas
Iscariot, who became a traitor. USCCB video reflections: http://www.usccb.org/bible/reflections/index.cfm
Simon the Zealot was the brother of Jude and
James the Lesser and, with them, was chosen by Jesus to become an apostle. His
name appears in all four Gospels in the list of apostles. In order to
distinguish him from Simon Peter, this Simon is called Simon the Zealot,
probably because of his great zeal for the Jewish Law and its practice. The
Zealots among the Jews were a Maccabaean rebel group of patriotic Jews who
would only acknowledge Yahweh as their King. Therefore, they refused to pay
taxes to the Roman Empire and were determined to fight against any foreign
rule. Some of the Fathers of the Church think that it was Simon’s
marriage celebration in Cana of Galilee at which Jesus transformed water into
wine. As an apostle and admirer of Jesus, Simon was transformed into a zealous
evangelizer who preached in Egypt, Ethiopia and Persia and, along with his
brother Jude, suffered martyrdom.
Jude or Judas Thaddeus: He was the brother of
James the Lesser and Simon the Zealot. The three were probably cousins of Jesus
on his mother’s side. Jude was the one who asked Jesus at the Last Supper why
he did not manifest himself to the world as Jesus had done to his disciples.
Jude wrote one Epistle to the Churches in the East and preached in Judea,
Samaria, Idumea, Syria, Mesopotamia and Libya. He was martyred by stoning. He
is venerated as the patron saint of seemingly impossible cases because a) in
his Epistle he stresses the importance of perseverance in harsh and difficult
circumstances; b) he was a close relative of Jesus; and c) he was ignored
(since he shared the name “Judas” with Judas Iscariot who betrayed Jesus).
According to some first century Mesopotamian legends, he performed miracles
that outshone those of the local sorcerers and magicians and cured a local king
of leprosy.
Life message: We share the mission of the
Apostles – the mission of preaching the Good News by bearing witness to
Christ’s love and mercy and his spirit of forgiveness and loving service to
all, through our transparent Christian lives. (Fr. Tony) (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
L/20
Oct 29 Thursday: Luke 13: 31-35: 31 At that
very hour some Pharisees came, and said to him, “Get away from here, for Herod
wants to kill you.” 32 And he said to them, “Go and tell that fox, `Behold, I
cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I
finish my course. 33 Nevertheless I must go on my way today and tomorrow
and the day following; for it cannot be that a prophet should perish away from
Jerusalem.’ 34 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, killing the prophets and stoning those
who are sent to you! How often would I have gathered your children together as
a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not! 35 Behold, your
house is forsaken. And I tell you, you will not see me until you say, `Blessed
is he who comes in the name of the Lord!'” USCCB video reflections: http://www.usccb.org/bible/reflections/index.cfm
The context: Some Pharisees warned Jesus that he
was in imminent danger of arrest by Herod. They might have been either his
friends among the Pharisees or Jesus’ enemies who wanted him to leave their
territory.
Jesus’ reaction: Jesus called Herod a fox – a cunning,
fearful, and dangerous animal. But with prophetic courage, Jesus was determined
to do the Messianic work entrusted to him by God his Father. Hence, Jesus sent
the message to Herod that he would continue with his preaching and healing
ministry. Prophesying his death in Jerusalem, Jesus expressed his love and
longing for the Holy City of Jerusalem, using the image of a mother hen
gathering all her chicks under her protective wings. Across the valley from the
city of Jerusalem there is a church called Dominus flevit, which
means, “The Lord wept.” On the base of the altar of that Church, there is
a small mosaic showing a mother hen with her chicks. They are under her
wings for protection, some of them peering out in the way that chicks do.
“The image of being protected by wings, which occurs often in the Old
Testament, refers to God’s love and protection of his people. It is to be found
in the prophets, in the canticles of Moses (cf. Dt 32:11), and in many Psalms”
(cf. 17:8; 36:8; 57:2; 61:5; 63:8). That mosaic is the representation of
today’s Gospel text expressing God’s warm and protective maternal love. Jesus
loved Jerusalem and its inhabitants. Hence, he felt deep sorrow at its lack of
response to his message, a lack which would continue when he preached there in
the last week of his earthly life. Finally, he said to those who had warned
him, “Behold, your House is forsaken. And I tell you, you will not see
me until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the
Lord'”(Luke 13:35) – either at Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem
on Palm Sunday or at his final coming as Judge and Lord of all.
Life messages: 1) As Christians we should have
the courage of our religious convictions, and the good will to practice them.
2) We need to be aware of the dire consequences of rejecting God’s graces and
the chances He gives us every day to reform our lives. (Fr. Tony) (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
L/20
Oct 30 Friday: Luke 14: 1-6: 1 One Sabbath when he went to dine at the house of a ruler who belonged to the Pharisees, they were watching him. 2 And behold, there was a man before him who had dropsy. 3 And Jesus spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?” 4 But they were silent. Then he took him and healed him, and let him go. 5 And he said to them, “Which of you, having a son or an ox that has fallen into a well, will not immediately pull him out on a Sabbath day?” 6 And they could not reply to this. USCCB video reflections: http://www.usccb.org/bible/reflections/index.cfm
The context: Since Jesus was invited to a
Pharisee’s house, and since it was the Sabbath, the food had been cooked the
day before the Sabbath (because cooking was work), and kept hot till the
Sabbath. During the meal in a Pharisees’ house Jesus felt sympathy for a
man suffering from dropsy (congestive heart failure resulting in the body’s
retaining and filling with fluid, endangering his life), and, after asking the
lawyers and Pharisees whether it was lawful to heal on the Sabbath, and getting
silence for an answer, healed him, For the Pharisees this was a gross violation
of Sabbath law. No wonder they considered Jesus as a reckless Sabbath-breaker
for doing seven healings on Sabbath! Jesus challenged them, asking if they
would not save their son or ox on a Sabbath if the child or the animal had an
accidental fall into a well, a rhetorical question for which the answer was
yes. They remained silent.
The purposes of the Sabbath: The Sabbath was intended by God
to be: 1) a day of worship and of praising and thanking God for His goodness,
providence, mercy, and blessings; 2) a day for teaching God’s law to the
children; 3) a day of rest from normal work, 4) a day for socializing with the
members of the family and neighbors and 5), a day for doing works of charity in
the community.
Life messages: 1) We need to observe
Sunday as the Lord’s Day by actively participating in the Eucharistic
celebration and various ministries in the parish, by sending the children to
Sunday schools, and by instructing them in the Catholic Faith.
2) We are also to observe this day of rest and worship of
God, Who is Love, by socializing with the members of our family and neighbors.
3) We are also encouraged to engage in active works of
charity in our parish and community – visiting the sick and praying for
their recovery, comforting them, and encouraging them with words and deeds and,
if possible and needed, with financial help. (Fr. Tony) (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
L/20
Oct 31 Saturday: Lk 14: 1, 7-11: One Sabbath
when he went to dine at the house of a ruler who belonged to the Pharisees,
they were watching him. 7 Now he told a parable to those who were invited, when
he marked how they chose the places of honor, saying to them, 8 “When you are
invited by any one to a marriage feast, do not sit down in a place of honor,
lest a more eminent man than you be invited by him; 9 and he who invited you
both will come and say to you, `Give place to this man,’ and then you will
begin with shame to take the lowest place. 10 But when you are invited, go and
sit in the lowest place, so that when your host comes he may say to you,
`Friend, go up higher’; then you will be honored in the presence of all
who sit at table with you. 11 For every one who exalts himself will be humbled,
and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” USCCB video reflections: http://www.usccb.org/bible/reflections/index.cfm
Introduction: Today’s Gospel teaches us the need
for true humility and the blessedness of generous sharing with the needy.
It warns us against all forms of pride and self-glorification. It
presents humility, not only as a virtue, but also as a means of opening our
hearts, our minds, and our hands to the poor, the needy, the disadvantaged and
the marginalized people in our society – the personal responsibility of every
authentic Christian.
At a dinner party where Jesus was a guest of honor, he
explained the practical benefits of humility, connecting it with the common
wisdom about dining etiquette. The Master advised the guests to go to the
lowest place instead of seeking places of honor, so that the host might give
them the place they really deserved. Jesus’ words concerning the seating of
guests at a banquet should prompt us to honor those whom others ignore, because
if we are generous and just in our dealings with those in need, we can be
confident of the Lord’s blessings.
Life Messages: 1) We need to practice humility in our personal and social life: Humility is based on the psychological awareness that everything I have is a gift from God and, therefore, I have no reason, on that account or any other, to elevate myself above others. On the contrary, I must use these God-given gifts to help others. 2) True humility requires us neither to overestimate nor to underestimate our worth. 3) We must admit the truths that we are sinners, that we do not know everything, and that we do not always act properly. Nevertheless, we must also recognize that we are made in the image and likeness of God, and that we are called to help build the kingdom of God with our God-given gifts. 4) We are of value, not because of those gifts, but because we are loved by God as His children and redeemed by the precious Blood of His Son Jesus. 5) The quality of humility that Jesus is talking about has a sociological dimension too. For Jesus is inviting us to associate with the so-called “lower classes” of the society — even the outcasts. Jesus invites us to change our social patterns in such a way that we connect with and serve with agape love the homeless, the handicapped, the elderly, and the impoverished — the “street people” of the world. (Fr. Tony) (http://frtonyshomilies.com/) L/20
