Nov 16 Monday: St. Margaret of Scotland: https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-margaret-of-scotland/ Lk 18: 35-43: 35 As he drew near to Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging; 36 and hearing a multitude going by, he inquired what this meant. 37 They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.” 38 And he cried, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 39 And those who were in front rebuked him, telling him to be silent; but he cried out all the more,
“Son of David, have mercy on me!” 40 And Jesus stopped, and commanded him to be brought to him; and when he came near, he asked him, 41 “What do you want me to do for you?” He said, “Lord, let me receive my sight.” 42 And Jesus said to him, “Receive your sight; your faith has made you well.” 43 And immediately he received his sight and followed him, glorifying God; and all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God. USCCB video reflections: http://www.usccb.org/bible/reflections/index.cfm The context: Jesus was going to Jerusalem
to participate in the feast of Passover. When he reached Jericho, there was a
big crowd of pilgrims walking along with him and listening to his
teaching. Beggars used to sit on both sides of the road, as the pilgrims
were very generous, and the people used to line up on the roadside to greet the
pilgrims. A blind beggar on the roadside was told by his friends that
Jesus of Nazareth, the miracle-worker, was passing by. So, the blind man
repeatedly cried out at the top of his voice, “Jesus, Son of David,
have mercy on me!” The pilgrims listening to Jesus’ teaching tried to
stop the beggar’s loud cry, but in vain. Jesus stopped, called the beggar
to him and asked him his need, then gave him eyesight by a single command, “Receive
your sight; your Faith has made you well!” This miracle was Jesus’
reward to the blind man for his trusting Faith in the healing power and
compassionate heart of the Messiah. St. Augustine described the urgency
with which we should respond to God’s gift, to His passing us on the road: “I
fear Jesus may pass by and not come back.”
Life messages: 1) We, too, need healing from our
spiritual blindness which makes us incapable of seeing and appreciating the
living presence of God within ourselves and others. For that healing, we
also require the same trusting Faith the blind man displayed in the healing
power and mercy of Jesus, and the same persevering persistence in our
prayers. We need to pray with conviction, urgency and constancy. 2)
We need to repeat the prayer of the blind man, “Lord, let me receive my
sight,” when our Faith is feeble, when we cannot understand the reason
behind God’s plans and when our commitments become shaky. God gave us eyes so
that we can see. God gave us a heart so that we can see better. Let us use them
all the time. (Fr. Tony) (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
L/20
The context: The theme of today’s Gospel is the
benevolent and forgiving mercy of God for sinners and the response of
repentance and conversion expected from us. The story is that of the
instantaneous conversion of the tax-collector, Zacchaeus. As the chief
tax-collector in Jericho, Zacchaeus was probably a man of much wealth and few
friends. Since he worked for the Romans and extracted more tax money than
required by the law, he was probably hated by the Jews who considered all
tax-collectors as public sinners. The account describes how Jesus
recognized Zacchaeus for exactly who he was – a lost sinner in need of a
Savior. Jesus’ response lets us see how God’s grace worked in
Zacchaeus to lead him from idle curiosity to repentance, conversion
and the making of restitution. The episode emphasizes the fact that such
a conversion can only result from a person’s fully receiving the love,
acceptance and grace of a merciful Lord. The story of Zacchaeus reinforces
the lessons of the fifteenth chapter of Luke in which a lost sheep and a
lost coin are found, and a lost son is embraced. It also
demonstrates the fact that nobody is beyond the possibility of conversion.
Life messages: 1) We need to accept the Divine
invitation to repentance. We are all sinners to a greater or lesser
degree. Jesus is inviting each one of us to total conversion today by
means of this Gospel lesson. Let us remember that Jesus loves us, in
spite of our ugly thoughts, broken promises, and sullied ideals, our lack of
prayer, and of Faith, our resentments, and our lusts. Hence, let us
confess to Him all our weaknesses and sins, repenting, and ask Him
trustfully for his Mercy.
2) We need to love others in spite of their sins, as Jesus
loves us. Jesus loved Zacchaeus—a great sinner — and by that
love, Zacchaeus was transformed. As parents or teachers, can we lovingly
accept our children without first setting up for them
standards of behavior as conditions for being loved?
Just as Jesus loved Zacchaeus, even though he was a public sinner, so
we must love others in spite of their sins.
Jesus expects this of us. 3) We need to be set free from selfishness
and choose generosity: Zacchaeus was changed from being greedy to being
generous, from selfishness to selflessness. When we feel the warmth of
God’s presence within us, that warmth will, in itself, melt our coldness
and selfishness, leading us to repentance and generosity. (Fr. Tony) (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
L/20
The context: The central theme of today’s Gospel
is an invitation to live in such a way that we make the best use of the talents
God has given us, so that at the hour of our death Our Lord will
say: “Well done, My good and faithful servant! Come and share the
joy of your Master.” The parable of the talents challenges us to do
something positive, constructive, and life-affirming with our talents here and
now.
The parable: A very rich Master, about to set off on a
journey, entrusted very large sums of money (talents), to three of his
servant-slaves (10 according to Luke 19), each according to his personal
ability: five, two, and one. He wanted them to do business with the money
in his absence. Through skillful trading and investing, the
servant-slaves with the five talents and the two talents managed to double
their master’s money. But the servant-slave with one talent buried it in
the ground for fear of loss in business. On the day of accounting, the
Master rewarded the two clever servant-slaves and punished the third
servant-slave whom he called “wicked and slothful.” He took the third
servant-slave’s talent and gave it to the first servant-slave.
Life messages: 1) We need to trust God enough to
make use of the gifts and abilities He has given us. We may be especially
talented in teaching children, or cooking meals, or repairing homes, or
programming computers. Let us use our particular gifts in the service of
our families, our Christian community, and the wider society. 2) We need
to make use of our talents in our parish. We should be always willing
to share our abilities in creative worship in the Church and in the
various ministries in our parish, such as Eucharistic minister, Lector, Usher,
Sunday school teacher, singer in the choir, volunteer, and/or member of one or
more of the various parish organizations and community outreach programs.
3) We need to trade with our talent of Christian Faith: All of us in the Church
today have received at least one talent namely, the gift of Faith. Our
responsibility is not just to preserve and “keep” the Faith, but to work with
it and grow with it We need to promote and add value to Faith by living
it out. (Fr. Tony) (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
L/20
Nov 19 Thursday: Lk 19: 41-44 41 As he drew
near and saw the city he wept over it, 42 saying, “Would that even today you
knew the things that make for peace! But now they are hid from your eyes.
43 For the days shall come upon you, when your enemies will cast up a bank
about you and surround you, and hem you in on every side, 44 and dash you to
the ground, you and your children within you, and they will not leave one stone
upon another in you; because you did not know the time of your visitation.”USCCB
video reflections: http://www.usccb.org/bible/reflections/index.cfm
Context: It was when two-and-a-half million
people were present in Jerusalem to celebrate the Jewish feast of Passover that
Jesus’ followers paraded with Him for a distance of two
miles from the Mount of Olives to the city of Jerusalem. But
when the procession reached the spot from which there was a magnificent view of
the city of Jerusalem, Jesus started to weep. Later, Jesus explained why
he loved the city, which was the center of Judaism, Yahweh’s promised place of
terrestrial residence, and the culminating point of Jesus’ public
ministry. He could not foresee without tears its destruction in A.D. 70
by Titus, who would totally demolish the Temple and the city after massacring
most of its residents. Jesus explained the destruction of the city as a
punishment from God because its inhabitants had failed to recognize the time
of their visitation. In other words, Jerusalem had closed its
doors, and her inhabitants had closed their hearts, to the salvific coming and
message of the Redeemer. In spite of Jesus’ preaching and healing
ministry among the Chosen people, they had largely rejected him, and their
leaders were planning to crucify him.
Life messages: 1) Jesus visits each one of
us as our Lord and Savior. He teaches us through the teaching and
preaching of his Church. We hear his voice when we read Holy
Scripture. He offers us forgiveness of sins and grace through the
Sacraments. So we should not reject him or his message as the Jews did,
nor remain indifferent to him. Instead, we must listen to God’s warning
about our need to repent, renew our lives, and walk in God’s ways of peace and
holiness.
2) We are the temples of the Holy Spirit, and we have no
right to desecrate God’s temple by harboring jealousy, discrimination,
injustice, and/or impurity in our hearts (Fr. Tony) (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
L/20
Context: Today’s Gospel gives us the dramatic account
of Jesus’ cleansing of the Temple in Jerusalem. He drove out its
merchants and money-changers with moral indignation at the unjust
commercialization of God’s House of Prayer and the exploitation of the poor
pilgrims in the name of religion. The merchants charged exorbitant prices
for the animals to be sacrificed, and the moneychangers charged unjust
commissions for the required exchange of pagan coins for Temple coins.
The Temple Jesus cleansed was the Temple in Jerusalem, originally built by Solomon
in 966 BC, rebuilt by Zerubbabel in 515 BC after the Babylonians had destroyed
it, and in Jesus’ day was still being renovated, a work begun by King Herod the
Great in 20 BC. The abuses which infuriated Jesus were: 1) the conversion
of a place of prayer into a noisy marketplace, and 2), the unjust business
practices of animal merchants and moneychangers, encouraged by the Temple
authorities. Hence, Jesus made a whip of cords and drove away the
animals, the dealers and the moneychangers, quoting the prophets, Isaiah and
Jeremiah, “Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace”(Lk 19:46; see
also, Is 56:7; Jer 7:11).
Life messages: 1) We need to avoid the business
mentality of loss and profit in Divine worship. Our relationship with God
must be that of a child to his parent, with no thought of loss or gain, but
only of mutual love, respect and the common good. 2) Secondly, we need to
remember that we are the temples of the Holy Spirit. Hence, we have no
right to desecrate God’s temple by acts of impurity, injustice, pride, hatred
or jealousy. 3) We need to love our parish Church and use it. Our
Church is the place where we come together as a community to praise and worship
God, to thank Him for His blessings, to ask pardon and forgiveness for our
sins, and to receive His offered healing and nourishment. Let us make our
Church an even more holy place by adding our prayers and songs to community
worship and by offering our time and talents in the various ministries of our
parish. (Fr. Tony) (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
L/20
Life message: 1) Every Holy Mass in which we participate is our presentation. Although we were officially presented to God on the day of our Baptism, we present ourselves and our dear ones on the altar before God our Father through our Savior Jesus Christ at every Holy Mass. Hence, we need to live our daily lives with the awareness both that we are dedicated people consecrated to God and, therefore, that we are obliged to lead holy lives. We offer ourselves to God, asking to be made holy under the patronage of Mary and assisted by her powerful intercession and the union of her merits. For USCCB video reflections: http://www.usccb.org/bible/reflections/index.cfm (Fr. Tony) (http://frtonyshomilies.com/) L/20