14th Week: July 5-10:
July 5 Monday (St. Anthony Zaccaria, Priest)
The context: Today’s Gospel is a beautiful presentation of two miracles,
a healing and a revival-and-restoration-of-life. These miracles were worked by Jesus as reward for the trusting Faith of a synagogue ruler and of a woman with a haemorrhage. Though the ruler trusted Jesus out of desperation and the woman’s Faith may have been a bit superstitious, even their defective faith was amply rewarded.The ruler and the woman: The ruler of the synagogue
supported Jewish orthodoxy, and he could have despised Jesus who befriended
sinners. But he bravely approached Jesus as a last resort when all the doctors
had failed, and his daughter was dying. Since the Jews believed that one was
not actually dead until three days had passed, when word came that the child
had died, the ruler showed courage and Faith in staying with Jesus, ignoring
the ridicule of fellow-Jews. In the same way, the woman with the bleeding
disease was ritually unclean, and she was not supposed to appear in public. She
had the courage and Faith to ignore a social and religious taboo in order to
approach and touch the garment of Jesus from behind. Both the ruler’s daughter
and the sick woman were brought back to life and to the community.
Life messages: 1) Jesus accepts us as we
are. Hence, we need not wait until we have the correct motive and strong Faith
to bring our problems before Jesus. Let us bring our bodily and spiritual
wounds to Jesus asking for the Lord’s healing touch.
2) We do our share in Christ’s healing mission by visiting
the sick, by praying for their healing, by boosting their morale through our
loving presence, words of encouragement, and inspiration. (Fr. Tony) (http://frtonyshomilies.com/) L/21
July 6 Tuesday (St. Maria Goretti, Virgin, Martyr)
mute man by an
exorcism Jesus performed during one preaching and healing journey. It also
mentions the false accusation by Pharisees about Jesus’ exorcism and expresses
Jesus’ sympathy for the leaderless people.
Jesus had a double mission, of preaching the Good News of
God’s love and salvation and of liberating people from the power of sin,
illnesses and evil spirits. The first part of today’s Gospel describes the
misinterpretation of Jesus’ liberating mission by the Pharisees when Jesus
healed a mute man by exorcism. In the second part, Jesus expresses true
compassion for the shepherdless sheep of Israel because their shepherds were
more interested in the external observance of the Law and its sacrifices than
in giving people God’s words and promoting the practice of love, mercy and
justice. That is why Jesus reminds the listeners to pray for genuine shepherds
to feed them and lead them.
Life messages: We need to share Christ’s
preaching and liberating mission. Let us remember the words of St. Teresa of
Avila: “Now Jesus has no other mouths, eyes, ears, hands and feet than ours.”
Jesus places a preaching and healing mission in our care and helps us to
continue it. The most effective way of preaching Christ is by leading a
transparent Christian life, radiating Jesus’ love, mercy and forgiveness. But
we cannot liberate others as long as we are in chains. Hence, let us first
receive Jesus’ liberation of us from the chains which bind us. (http://frtonyshomilies.com/) L/21
July 7 Wednesday: Mt 10:1-7:
The context: Today’s Gospel passage gives a
short account of the call and mission of the apostles The first missionary was
sent to this world when God the Father dispatched His only-begotten Son,
Incarnate as Jesus of Nazareth into Flesh and time with the “Good News” that
God is a loving, merciful, and forgiving Father Who wants to save everyone
through His Son Jesus. Today’s Gospel describes how this first missionary
selects and empowers twelve future missionaries as apostles, sending them to
the Jewish towns and villages as heralds, announcing the Good News that God was
keeping His promises.
Special features: Jesus selected very ordinary people, most
of them hard-working fishermen with no social status, learning, or political
influence, because the Master was sure that they would be very effective
instruments in God’s hands. It was a strange mixture of people. Matthew was a hated
tax collector for a foreign power, while Simon the Cananaean was a Zealot — a
fanatical nationalist determined to destroy Roman rule by any means. The others
were mostly professional fishermen with a lot of good will, patience and
stamina. It was only their admiration and love for Jesus that united them.
Jesus selected them after a night of prayer and gave them a share in Divine
powers of healing and exorcism with the mission of announcing the coming of
preaching the “kingdom of God by “the One Who is to come”
Life messages: 1) As Christians, we have the
same mission that Jesus entrusted to the apostles. 2) We fulfil this mission by
proclaiming the word of God, primarily by our living out of Jesus’ teachings,
and by promoting and helping world-wide missionary activities of the Church
with prayer, moral support, and financial aid. (Fr. Tony) (http://frtonyshomilies.com/) L/21
July 8 Thursday: Mt 10:7-15:
The context: Today’s Gospel describes the
commissioning of the twelve apostles for the apostolic work of preparing the
towns and villages for Jesus’ coming visit to them. Sent out in pairs to preach
the coming of the Kingdom of God, repentance, forgiveness of sins, and
liberation, they were to follow Jesus’ detailed action-plan and
bear witness to Jesus by their simple lifestyle.
Jesus’ instructions and travel tips. By his instructions, it
is clear that Jesus meant his disciples to take no supplies for the road. They
were simply to trust that God, the provider, would open the hearts of
believers to take care of their needs. Jesus’ instructions also suggest that
the apostles should not be like the acquisitive priests of the day, interested
only in gaining riches. They should be walking examples of God’s love and
providence. The Jews supported their rabbis, and they judged doing so a
privilege as well as an obligation, because hospitality was an important
religious tradition in Palestine. The apostles are told they should choose
temporary accommodation in a reputable household, should bless the residents
with God’s peace, and should be satisfied with the food and accommodation they
received, not search for better. They were to preach “’the Kingdom of Heaven
is at hand,’ heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, and cast out demons.”
Life messages: 1) We, too, have a witnessing
mission: Each Christian is called not only to be a
disciple, but also to be an apostle. As apostles, we have to evangelize the
world by sharing with others, not just words, or ideas, or doctrines, but our
experience of God and His Son, Jesus. It is through our transparent Christian
lives that we must show the love, mercy, and concern of Jesus to the people
around us. 2) We also have a liberating mission: There are many
demons which can control the lives of people around us, making them helpless
slaves —the demon of nicotine, the demon of alcohol, the demon of gambling, the
demon of pornography, the demon of promiscuous sex, the demon of materialism,
and the demon of consumerism. We need the help of Jesus to liberate ourselves
and others from these things. (Fr. Tony) (http://frtonyshomilies.com/) L/21
July 9 Friday (St. Augustine Zhao Rong, Priest and
companions, Martyrs)
The context: Matthew’s Judeo-Christian community
had experienced much persecution. Jesus’ prophetic words, “You will be
dragged before governors and kings” and “brother will
deliver up brother to death, and the father his child, and children will rise
and have them put to death,” were beginning to be fulfilled. The
Apostle James had been martyred by King Herod, and the lives of other apostles
were also in danger. Hence, by repeating Jesus’ warning to the apostles,
Matthew encouraged his Judeo-Christians to rely on Jesus’ promise of the
protective power of a providing God as they persevered in Faith and its practice.
Persecutions, past and present: Jesus gave his frank warning
to the apostles that their lives and their future followers’ lives were not
going to be beds of roses. Jesus foretold three types of persecution awaiting
Christians: by the Roman government, by the local Jewish synagogues, and by
their Jewish or pagan family members. The main accusations against the
first-century Christians were that they were cannibals, atheists, and
incendiaries, that they practiced immorality during worship services, that they
caused their families to split, and that they considered slaves as equals –in
an empire with 60 million slaves!
Life messages: 1) Although we have freedom to
practice the religion of our choice, the extreme interpretation of the
“separation of Church and state” policy eliminates the religious instruction
and moral training of children in public schools, allowing youngsters who are
not given this training at home to grow up as pagans. 2) The secular media, run
by atheists and agnostics, ridicule all religious beliefs and practices,
inflicting a type of “white martyrdom” on believers and “brain-washing the
unwary and children. 2) Hence, the duty of parents to see that their children
receive religious and moral instruction from their parishes and families becomes
more important daily. (Fr. Tony) (http://frtonyshomilies.com/) L/21
July 10 Saturday:
The context: Today’s Gospel passage comes from the
end of Jesus’ instruction to the apostles, sending, them forth to carry on the
mission of preaching and healing, and instructing them to live simple lives,
expecting opposition and rejection. Predicting future opposition and
persecution, Jesus encourages the apostles to stand firm., three times urging
them, and us, “Do not fear!” “Do not be afraid!” Thus, we know that
we, too, will be successful despite the opposition we encounter.
Have no fear. Jesus gives three reasons why the apostles,
and we, should not be frightened. The first reason is that opponents will not
be able to prevent Jesus’ followers from succeeding in their mission because
God will expose their evil plans and deeds: “Nothing is covered up that will
not be uncovered.” The Lord “will bring to light the hidden things
of darkness” (1 Cor 4:5) and will vindicate the faithful. That God
will not permit evil to win is the promise of v. 26. The second reason not to
be afraid is the limited power of our opponents. They can kill the body,
which dies all too soon anyway, but have no power over the soul. The third
reason we should not be afraid is God’s compassionate love. We are more important
to God than sparrows “sold at two for a penny.” The God Who cares for a trivial
bird like the sparrow also cares about our smallest problems – even counting
the hairs on our heads. While this is an encouraging assurance, we may find it
difficult to believe in the midst of persecution.
Life message: Be not afraid: We can suffer from many fears: (A) Fear of Loss: a) Loss of life by illness or accident; b) Loss of dear ones – spouse, children, parents; c) Loss of belongings and property or savings; d) Loss of job; e) Loss of good name and reputation by slanderers (B) Baseless fears due to mental illness. C) Fears about terrorist attack, nuclear holocaust, plagues, like Corvic-19, war etc. When we are afraid let us remind ourselves that God cares – we are each a dear child of His and He cares for each of us. “Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.” (Fr. Tony) (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
