Oct 9 Monday (St. Denis, Bishop and Companions, Martyrs); St. John Leonardi, Priest):
The context: A scribe asked Jesus a very basic religious question: “What should I do to inherit eternal life?” In answer to the question, Jesus directed the scribe’s attention to the Sacred Scriptures. The Scriptural answer is, “Love God and express it by loving your neighbor.” However, to the scribe, the word “neighbor” meant another scribe or Pharisee, never a Samaritan or a Gentile. Hence, the scribe insisted on further clarification of the word “neighbor.” So, Jesus told him the parable of the Good Samaritan. The parable clearly indicates that a “neighbor” is anyone who needs help. Thus, the correct approach is not to ask who our neighbor is, but instead, to ask, “Am I a good neighbor to those I meet, helping them in their needs?” The Good Samaritan is a symbol of Jesus, himself, in his role as Savior of the world. The parable: In the parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus presents three philosophies of life concerning our relationship with our neighbor: 1) the philosophy of the thieves who robbed the Samaritan: “What is yours is mine; I will take it by force. 2) the philosophy of the Jewish priest and the Levite: “What is mine is mine; I won’t part with it.” 3) the philosophy of the Samaritan: “What is mine is yours as well. I shall share it with you.
Life message: We need to have hearts of mercy:
We need to remember that the road from Jerusalem to Jericho passes right
through our home, parish and workplace. Jesus is inviting us to show mercy and
kindness to those who are being hurt or mistreated on any of the “Jericho
Roads” of our lives in our family, neighborhood, school, workplace, and parish.
(Fr. Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
Oct 10: Tuesday:
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 of the multitudes of people
who came to hear the Good News. 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, while her
sister Mary spent her time in talking and listening to Jesus.
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, minds, and living.
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) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
Oct 11 Wednesday (St. John XXIII, Pope)
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 the
apostles, 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). The great mystical Doctor of the
Church Saint Teresa of Ávila gave this advice while praying the Lord’s Prayer:
“Much more is accomplished by a single word of the Our Father said, now and
then, from our heart, than by the whole prayer repeated many times in haste and
without attention.” And Saint Thérèse of Lisieux said that the “Our Father” was
one of the prayers she prayed when she felt so spiritually barren that she
could not summon up a single worthwhile thought.
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 ask Him that His Holy Will may be done by us 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) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
Oct 12 Thursday: 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 that both Abraham and the “friend in need” in the parable used.
Jesus 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 that persistent and persevering prayer
which acknowledges 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, woke him up, and asked him for a
loaf of bread. Because of the persistence of his neighbor, Jesus says, the
householder though not willing to get up for friendship’s sake, would get up
and give him the bread he needed for his guest. This parable of Friend at
Midnight is both an assurance that prayer is always answered and 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” (Rom 12:12), “pray at all times” (Eph
6:18), “be steadfast in prayer” (Col 4:2), and
“pray constantly” (2 Thes 5:17). Jesus assures us, “Knock
and the door will be opened”(Lk 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.” This excuse should send us to our priorities
list, where God needs to be first of all, if we are to be able to live in His
peace. That settled, we will find that prayer in every form is our living
connection with Him through which He gives us Grace, fills us with His love for
us, and helps us to become our true selves. Then, with His help, we will be
able to discern the truly important things in our lives and eliminate the
unimportant and/or distracting, debilitating, and useless items. 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
– and He does! Prayer is not meant to inform God; it expresses our awareness of
our need for God Who loves us unconditionally, and of our trusting dependence
upon Him. Further, if we haven’t asked Him for what we need, we may well not
recognize it when He gives it to us! 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. ((https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
Oct 13 Friday:
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 rhetorical question “By whom do your sons
(the Jewish exorcists), cast them out?” The implication is that, if what they
say about Him, Who casts them out with a single command, is true, the Jewish
exorcists, who require so much more prayer and so many more exercises to do
exorcisms, must certainly have to seek the help of the big devil to exorcise
minor devils. Then Jesus asserts that no kingdom, divided against itself, can
survive for long. Obviously, then, the chief devil will not help any exorcists
to cast out devils. Jesus then claims that His exorcisms are 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 Pt 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. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
Oct 14 Saturday: (St. Callistus I, Pope, Martyr):
The context: A woman in the audience was so
impressed by Jesus’ powerful refutation of the slander (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. Jesus tells her that His mother is more blessed for obeying the word of
God throughout her life.
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” (Lk
1:38). That is why she could boldly proclaim to her cousin Elizabeth
in her canticle, “All generations will call me blessed”(Lk
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” (Lk
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 (Lk 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 messages: 1) We become the members of the Heavenly family of the Triune God, that is, we are made 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. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
