19th Week: August 12-17:
Aug 12 Monday: Saint Jane Frances de Chantal, Religious
The context: The first part of today’s Gospel
gives Jesus’ second prediction of His sufferings, death, and Resurrection. The
second part is Jesus’ explanation of why He pays the Temple tax. Today’s Gospel
tells us that Jesus’ disciples were “distressed” by their master’s repeated
reminders of a coming shameful death as a heretic and lawbreaker. They were
distressed because the reminders shattered their dream of ruling Israel after
Jesus had conquered the Romans and reestablished the Davidic kingdom. They did
not understand that their master would be dying to liberate the whole of
mankind from the bondage of sin. In the second part of today’s Gospel, Peter
assures the Temple tax officials that the Master, Jesus, is a devout Jew and,
hence, pays the Temple tax. All Jewish males 20 years old or older had to pay a
half-shekel (roughly equivalent to two days’ wages), as Temple tax for the
upkeep of the Temple and its sacrifices. When they reached Peter’s home, Jesus
instructed Peter to go fishing, open the mouth of the first fish he caught and,
with the coin he would find there, pay both Peter’s and his own tax. Jesus’
reason was that they were to give good example to others, even though, as the
Son of God, Jesus was legally exempted from paying any type of tax to anyone.
The Gospel passage foreshadows a dilemma that would be experienced by the first
century Jewish Christians as to whether they should continue to pay the Temple
tax meant for the Jews.
Life messages: 1) Let us express our gratitude
to Jesus our Savior for the price of suffering and death He paid for our sins.
We can do this by avoiding all occasions of sin, by offering our pains and
sufferings as atonement for our sins, and by helping others sacrificially.
2) We should obey the laws of the Church and of our country
as loyal Christians and loyal citizens and contribute to the needs of the
Church and its mission by our tithing, while we help the government by paying
our taxes. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
Aug 13 Tuesday:
Saints Pontian, Pope, and Hippolytus, Priest, Martyrs
The context: Chapter 18 of Matthew’s Gospel is a
“discourse on the Church,” giving leaders of the Church instructions for
administration. Jesus’ apostles shared the Jewish hope that the Messiah would
be a political ruler, and that they would hold important portfolios in the
Messianic kingdom. Hence, in today’s passage (vv 1-5), Jesus warned his
apostles and the future hierarchy of his Church against the natural human
tendencies to pride and ambition. He exhorted the spiritual leaders, as well as
all believers in responsible positions, to be humble, trusting and innocent –
that is, to be like children. The additional parable of the shepherd rejoicing
at the recovery of his lost sheep tells us that our Heavenly Father is very
particular that His little ones should not perish due to our negligence.
Child-like qualities: Children are basically innocent and
honest. They are naturally humble because they depend on their parents for
everything. They trust and obey their parents because they know their parents
love them. Hence, Jesus advises his disciples to forget their selfish ambitions
and, with trusting Faith in a loving and providing God, to spend their lives
serving others in all humility. Then they will be great in the Kingdom of
Heaven.
Life Messages: 1) We need to practice humility in thoughts, words, and actions. “Learn from me for I am meek and humble of heart.” “What is the essential thing in the religion and discipline of Jesus Christ?” St. Augustine asks, and then responds, “I shall reply: first humility, second humility and third humility.” 2) We should not seek recognition and recompense for the service we do for Christ and the Church as parents, teachers, pastors etc. 3) Trusting Faith resulting from true humility is essential for all corporal and spiritual works of mercy. 4) Since children reflect the innocence, purity, simplicity, and tenderness of our Lord, and since they are each given the protection of a guardian angel, we are to love them, train them and take care not to give scandal to them. 5) We need to try to treat everyone with love and respect because, “Beside each believer stands an angel as protector and shepherd leading him to life,” (St. Basil) CCC # 336. ((https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
Aug 14 Wednesday: Saint Maximilian Kolbe, Priest and
Martyr
The context: The first part of today’s portion
of Matthew’s Gospel is one of the passages many have found difficult to
interpret. Many Bible commentators think that Jesus never said these things,
that probably they were a later addition by the Church because 1) there was no
organized Church at that time, 2) Jesus never considered a sinner as a hopeless
case, and 3) Jesus loved Gentiles and tax collectors.
The real meaning: What Jesus actually meant was, “Do
whatever you can to make the guilty person realize and confess his fault, thus
helping him to repair the damage he or she has done to his or her personal and
communal relationships.” Jesus seems to suggest the following steps to repair a
broken personal relationship: 1) One-on-one encounter: If you are sure that
somebody has wronged you, tell him lovingly and politely that he has hurt you.
2) The group encounter: If the first step does not work, meet him again in the
company of two or three wise and honorable persons and try to make the culprit
realize what he has done wrong. 3) Parish encounter: If steps one and two do
not work, bring his case to the pastor or to the parish council or the
Christian fellowship. 4) Leave him to Lord’s mercy: If the culprit remains
stubborn, like a Gentile or proud tax collector, continue to pray for him and
leave him to God’s mercy.
Life messages: 1) Let us have the good will and
generosity to accept our mistakes and ask pardon and forgiveness from the
offended victim. 2) Let us also learn to forgive and forget the offenses done
against us (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
Aug 15 Thursday: The Assumption of the Blessed
Virgin Mary
Lk 1:39-56. Three Questions Answered:
Q 1: Do Catholics worship Mary? Fact 1: Catholics
don’t worship or adore Mary because we worship only God, and Mary is not
God. Fact 2: We venerate her, honor her, and love her as
Jesus’ mother and our Heavenly Mother.
Q 2: Why do Catholics venerate Mary? Mary
herself gives the reason in her “Magnificat” recorded in Luke (1:48-49): 48: “For
he has looked upon his handmaid’s lowliness; behold, from now on will all ages
call me blessed. 49: The Mighty One has done great things for me, and Holy is
his Name.”
1) God has honored Mary in four ways, and we honor her
because God honored her:
a) He chose her as the mother of His Son, Jesus Christ the
Messiah.
b) In preparation for this role, God made her “Full of
grace” by her Immaculate Conception.
c) He anointed her twice with His Holy Spirit: at the
Annunciation and at Pentecost, making her the most Spirit -filled of all women.
d) God allowed her to participate actively in Christ’s
suffering and death, suffering in soul all Jesus suffered in body.
2) Mary is our Heavenly Mother, given to us by Jesus from
the cross.
3) Mary is our role model for all virtues, particularly,
love, fidelity, humility, obedience, surrender to the will of God, and
patience.
Q 3: Why do we believe that Mary was taken to Heaven
after her death and burial? (“Assumption” means, after her death, Mary was
taken into Heaven, both body and soul. The word Assumption comes from the Latin
verb “assumere”, meaning “to take to oneself.” Our Lord, Jesus Christ
took Mary home to himself where he is. It was on November 1, 1950, that,
through the Apostolic Constitution Munificentimus Deus, Pope
Pius XII officially declared the Assumption as a Dogma of Catholic Faith,
giving the following reasons:
1) Uninterrupted tradition in the Catholic Church starting
from the first century AD. (The first trace of belief in the Virgin’s
Assumption can be found in the apocryphal second-to-third century AD accounts
entitled Transitus Mariae
[Latin: “The
Crossing Over of Mary” ].
2) The feast is found in all the ancient liturgies
3) The belief in the assumption of Mary is taught by all
early Fathers of the Church, e.g., Origen (died AD 253), St. Jerome (died AD
419) and St. Augustine (died AD 430).
4) Negative evidence: Mary’s tomb was never reported or
venerated.
5) Old Testament evidence of corporal assumption of Enoch
(Gn 5: 24) and Elijah (2 Kgs 2:1).
6) Theological reasons: her Immaculate Conception and
sinless life.
Life messages: 1) We are challenged to keep ourselves
pure and holy children of a Holy Mother. 2) We are challenged to accept total
liberation from all our bondages. 3) We are assured of our resurrection and
given the inspiration to face pain, suffering, despair, disappointment and
temptations as Mary did.
Aug 16 Friday: Saint Stephen of Hungary Jesus’
explanation of a Mosaic sanction: Jesus explains that Moses’
permission for divorce was only a temporary concession which was meant to
control the growing rate of divorce in Moses’ own time by introducing a law
governing divorce. Jesus adds that it was because of the hard-heartedness of
the Jewish men that Moses allowed such a concession. By denying the man’s right
to divorce, Jesus places the husband and wife on an equal footing in marriage
and teaches that no Mosaic regulation dealing with a temporary situation can
alter the permanence and unity of marriage.
Jesus’ clear teaching on divorce: Jesus reminds
us that His doctrine goes back to the original intention of God. Citing the
book of Genesis, Jesus says that God made us male and female
and commanded that “the two shall become one flesh.” He then draws
the conclusion that “they are no longer two, but one body” – partners
with equal rights – and he declares that no man is allowed to
separate what God has joined together (Mt 19:6).
Catholic teaching: Based on the NT teachings
given in Mk 10:1-12, Mt 5:31-32; Mt 19:3-9; Lk 16:18; and 1 Cor 7:10-11, the
Catholic Church teaches that marriage is a Sacrament involving both a sacred
and legal contract between a man and a woman and, at the same time, a
special Covenant with the Lord. “Divorce is also a grave offense against the
natural law. Besides, it claims to break the contract, to which the spouses
freely consented, to live with each other till death…… Divorce is immoral also
because it introduces disorder into the family and into society” (CCC #2384,
#2385).
Life messages:1) Let us keep all the families of our
parish in our daily prayers, that the spouses may have a mutual understanding
and appreciation of each other, the willingness to ask pardon and give pardon,
the generosity to forgive and forget, and the good will to serve each other,
because all these virtues help to make a marriage permanent. 2) Let us also
pray for all the divorced in the parish and welcome them as active members of
the parish, both those who have remained single and those who have remarried
without annulment. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
Aug 17 Saturday: The context: Today’s Gospel
passage describes one of the loveliest incidents in the Gospel story. Jewish
mothers used to bring their children to great rabbis to have them pray over the
little ones, especially on their first birthday. Naturally, mothers wanted the
healing touch and blessing of the most popular rabbi, Jesus. In an attempt to
protect their master from the crowd of mothers and noisy children, the apostles
started rebuking them. The passage describes Jesus’ reaction and teaching.
Childlike qualities for entrance into Heaven: By showing his
displeasure at the rough reaction of the apostles, Jesus made it clear that
everyone is equally important to him as a child of God. The mothers came to
Jesus because he was welcoming, warm, and approachable. Jesus decided to use
the occasion as a teachable moment. He taught his disciples that entry into
Heaven demands the childlike qualities of humility, innocence,
obedience,simplicity, openness, teachability, freedom from prejudice, readiness
for change and adaptation,total trust in a loving and providing God, confidence
in the essential goodness of people, and the readiness to forgive and forget.
Only such people are ready to hear the message of the Gospel in its fullness
and accept it.
Life messages: 1) Let us live in the awareness that we are the children of a loving and providing Heavenly Father and that, by Baptism, we are members of God’s family. Hence, we are expected to behave well every day, as worthy children of a Holy Father. 2) Let us pray for all the children in our families and for all our young parishioners, and let us find time to cooperate in the parish ministries meant for children and young people. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
