19th Week: Aug 11-16
The context: In Matthew 23:34-39, Jesus laments over Jerusalem’s rejection of God’s messengers and predicts their impending destruction, emphasizing the city’s responsibility for the blood of prophets and the righteous, and foretelling a time when they will not see him again until they acknowledge him as their King.
Jesus, in a powerful and emotional speech, expresses his
sorrow and condemnation over Jerusalem’s actions. He states, "Jerusalem,
Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How
often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her
chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling".
The image of a hen gathering her chicks is a powerful symbol
of God’s protective love and desire for his people, contrasted with their
rejection of his offer of grace. Jesus accuses Jerusalem of being responsible
for the blood of all the prophets and righteous people who have been killed,
from Abel to Zechariah, highlighting the city’s long history of rejecting God’s
messengers. Jesus declares that because of their rejection, Jerusalem’s
"dwelling will be left empty" and they will not see him again until
they say, "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord". This
signifies the destruction of the temple and the city, as well as the end of
Jesus’ personal ministry to them until they acknowledge him as their Messiah.
While the passage focuses on Jerusalem’s judgment, it also
serves as a call to repentance for all who hear it. It reminds us of the
importance of listening to God’s messengers and embracing his love and
protection. This passage is relevant to all Christians, as it reminds us of the
importance of listening to God’s word and following his teachings. It also
serves as a warning against rejecting God’s grace and the consequences of such
rejection.
Life message: Catholic commentators often
emphasize the need for humility and obedience to God’s will, as well as the
importance of seeking forgiveness and reconciliation. The passage is seen as a
reminder of the need to live in accordance with God’s will and to avoid the
path of disobedience and judgment.
Aug 11 Monday: Feast of St. Clare (1194-1253):
One of the more sugary movies made about Francis of Assisi
pictures Clare as a golden-haired beauty floating through sun-drenched fields,
a sort of one-girl counterpart to the new Franciscan Order.
The beginning of her religious life was indeed movie
material. Having refused to marry at 15, she was moved by the dynamic preaching
of Francis. He became her lifelong friend and spiritual guide.
At 18, she escaped one night from her father’s home, was met
on the road by friars carrying torches, and in the poor little chapel called
the Portiuncula received a rough woollen habit, exchanged her jewelled belt for
a common rope with knots in it, and sacrificed the long tresses to Francis’
scissors. He placed her in a Benedictine convent, which her father and uncles
immediately stormed in rage. She clung to the altar of the church, threw aside
her veil to show her cropped hair, and remained adamant.
End of movie material. Sixteen days later, her sister Agnes
joined her. Others came. They lived a simple life of great poverty, austerity,
and complete seclusion from the world, according to a Rule which Francis gave
them as a Second Order (Poor Clares). Francis obliged her under obedience at
age 21 to accept the office of abbess, one she exercised until her death.
The nuns went barefoot, slept on the ground, ate no meat,
and observed almost complete silence. (Later, Clare, like Francis, persuaded
her sisters to moderate this rigor: “Our bodies are not made of brass.”) The
greatest emphasis, of course, was on gospel poverty. They possessed no
property, even in common, subsisting on daily contributions. When even the pope
tried to persuade her to mitigate this practice, she showed her characteristic
firmness: “I need to be absolved from my sins, but I do not wish to be absolved
from the obligation of following Jesus Christ.”
Contemporary accounts glow with admiration of her life in
the convent of San Damiano in Assisi. She served the sick, waited on table,
washed the feet of the begging nuns. She came from prayer, it was said, with
her face so shining it dazzled those about her. She suffered serious illness
for the last 27 years of her life. Her influence was such that popes, cardinals,
and bishops often came to consult her—she never left the walls of San Damiano.
Francis always remained her great friend and inspiration.
She was always obedient to his will and to the great ideal of gospel life which
he was making real.
A well-known story concerns her prayer and trust. She had
the Blessed Sacrament placed on the walls of the convent when it faced attack
by invading Saracens. “Does it please you, O God, to deliver into the hands of
these beasts the defenseless children I have nourished with your love? I
beseech you, dear Lord, protect these whom I am now unable to protect.” To her
sisters, she said, “Don’t be afraid. Trust in Jesus.” The Saracens fled.
Comment:
The 41 years of Clare’s religious life are poor movie
material, but they are a scenario of sanctity: an indomitable resolve to lead
the simple, literal gospel life as Francis taught her; courageous resistance to
the ever-present pressure to dilute the ideal; a passion for poverty and
humility; an ardent life of prayer; and a generous concern for her sisters.
Aug 12 Tuesday: Lk 4: 25-30:
The context: Today’s Gospel presents Jesus
reacting with prophetic courage to the skepticism and criticism with which the
people of Nazareth, his hometown, responded to his “Inaugural Address” in
their synagogue that Sabbath.
Jesus’ reaction to his people’s skepticism: Jesus
reacted to the negative attitude of the Nazarenes with the comment, “No
prophet is accepted in his native place!” Next, he referred to the Biblical
stories of how God had blessed two Gentiles, while rejecting the many Jews in
similar situations, precisely because those Gentiles had been more open to the
prophets than the Jewish people were. First, Jesus reminded them of the Gentile
widow of Zarephath, in Lebanon (1 Kgs 17:7-24). The Prophet Elijah stayed with
her and her son during the three-and-a-half-year drought, fed them
miraculously, and later revived her son from death. Then Jesus pointed out that
Naaman, the pagan military general of Syria, was healed of leprosy by Elisha
the prophet (2 Kgs 5:1-19), while other lepers in Israel were not. Jesus’ words
implied that, like the people of his hometown, the Israelites of those former
days had been unable to receive miracles because of their unbelief. Jesus’
reference to the unbelief of the Jews and to the stronger Faith of the Gentiles
infuriated his listeners at Nazareth. They rushed to seize Jesus and throw him
over the edge of the cliff on which their town was built. But Jesus escaped
because, “His hour had not yet come.”
Life messages: 1) We need to face rejection
with prophetic courage and optimism especially when we experience the
pain of rejection, betrayal, abandonment, violated trust, neglect, or abuse
from our friends, families, or childhood companions. 2) Let us not
reject God in our lives, as the people in Jesus’ hometown did. Are we
unwilling to be helped by God, or by others? Does our pride prevent us from
recognizing God’s direction, help, and support in our lives, coming to us
through His words in the Bible, through the teachings of the Church and through
the advice and example of others? 3) We must have the
prophetic courage of our convictions. The passage challenges us to
have the courage of our Christian convictions in our day-to-day lives in our
communities, when we face hatred and rejection because of our Christian Faith
Aug 13 Wednesday: Mk 1: 16-20:
The context: Today’s Gospel describes the
beginning of Jesus’ preaching and healing ministry and the call of his Apostles
who were to continue that ministry.
Jesus started his public ministry immediately after John the
Baptist was arrested. Following John’s pattern, Jesus, too, invited his hearers
to repent as a preparation for believing in the Gospel, or the Good News, of
the Kingdom of God. Repentance means a about-face turn
to God resulting in a change of mind, heart, behavior and life. It also means
sorrow for having refused God’s love and a resolution to make amends. Believing in Jesus
and the Gospel demands from the hearers a resolution to take Jesus’ words
seriously, to translate them into action and to put trust in Jesus’ authority.
Jesus preached the Gospel, or Good News, that God is a
loving, forgiving, caring, merciful Father Who wants to liberate us and save us
from our sins through His son Jesus. According to Mark, Jesus selected four
fishermen, Andrew and his brother Simon (later named Peter by Jesus), with
James and his brother John, right from their fishing boats. Jesus wanted these
ordinary, hard-working people as assistants for his ministry because they would
be very responsive instruments in the hands of God.
Life messages: 1) In order to be effective
instruments in the hands of God and to continue Jesus’ preaching, healing and
saving ministry, we, too, need to repent of our sins on a daily basis and to
renew our lives by cooperating with God’s grace and relying on the power of
God.
Aug 14 Thursday: Mt 10: 5-15:
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, the 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, seeing hospitality as an important religious tradition. 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 searching 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 own 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 & drugs, 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.
Aug 14: Feast of St. Maxmillian Kolbe: (1894-1941), Lk
9: 23-26:
Kolbe’s pious mother used to ask the mischievous and overactive
son the question, “I don’t know what’s going to become of you!” How many
parents have said that? Maximilian Mary Kolbe’s reaction was, “I prayed very
hard to Our Lady to tell me what would happen to me. She appeared, holding in
her hands two crowns, one white, one red. She asked if I would like to have
them—one was for purity, the other for martyrdom. I said, ‘I choose both.’ She
smiled and disappeared.” After that he was not the same. He entered the minor
seminary of the Conventual Franciscans in Lvív (then Poland, now Ukraine) at 13
with his older brother, near his birthplace, and at 16 became a novice. Though
he later achieved doctorates in philosophy and theology in Rome, he was deeply
interested in science, even drawing plans for rocket ships.
Ordained at 24, he saw religious indifference as the
deadliest poison of the day. His mission was to combat it. He had already
founded the Militia of the Immaculata, whose aim was to fight evil with the
witness of the good life, prayer, work and suffering. He dreamed of and then
founded Knight of the Immaculata, a religious magazine under Mary’s
protection to preach the Good News to all nations. For the work of publication,
he established a “City of the Immaculata”—Niepokalanow—which housed 700 of his
Franciscan brothers. He later founded one in Nagasaki, Japan. Both the Militia
and the magazine ultimately reached the one-million mark in members and
subscribers. His love of God was daily filtered through devotion to Mary.
In 1939 the Nazi panzers overran Poland with deadly speed.
Niepokalanow was severely bombed. Kolbe and his friars were arrested, then
released in less than three months, on the feast of the Immaculate Conception.
In 1941 he was arrested again. The Nazis’ purpose was to liquidate the select
ones, the leaders. The end came quickly, in Auschwitz three months later, after
terrible beatings and humiliations. A prisoner had escaped. The commandant
announced that 10 men would die. He relished walking along the ranks. “This
one. That one.” As they were being marched away to the starvation bunkers,
Number 16670 dared to step from the line. “I would like to take that man’s
place. He has a wife and children.” “Who are you?” “A priest.” No name, no
mention of fame. Silence. The commandant, dumbfounded, perhaps with a fleeting
thought of history, kicked Sergeant Francis Gajowniczek out of line and ordered
Father Kolbe to go with the nine. In the “block of death” they were ordered to
strip naked and the slow starvation began in darkness. But there was no
screaming—the prisoners sang. By the eve of the Assumption four were left
alive. The jailer came to finish Kolbe off as he sat in a corner praying. He
lifted his fleshless arm to receive the bite of the hypodermic needle. It was
filled with carbolic acid. They burned his body with all the others. He was
beatified in 1971 and canonized in 1982.
Comment: Father Kolbe’s death was not a sudden,
last-minute act of heroism. His whole life had been a preparation. His holiness
was a limitless, passionate desire to convert the whole world to God. And his
beloved Immaculata was his inspiration.
Aug 15 Friday: Feast of Assumption of Blessed Virgin Mary:
2: 1-12; Mt 12: 46-50; Mt 13: 53-57; Lk 11: 27-28):
We honor Mary, venerate her, express our love for her and
never worship her.
Why do we honor Mary: 1) Mary herself gives the
most important reason in her “Magnificat:” “All generations (ages) will
call me blessed because the “The Mighty One has done great
things for me” a)by choosing Mary as the mother of Jesus b)
by filling her with His Holy Spirit twice, namely at the Annunciation and at
Pentecost, c) by making her “full of grace,” the paragon or embodiment of all
virtues, d) by allowing her to become the most active participant with Christ,
her Son, in our Redemption, suffering in spirit what Jesus suffered in body.
2) Mary is our Heavenly Mother. Jesus
gave us His Mother as our Mother from the cross: “Woman, behold your son.” …
“Behold your mother” (John 19: 26-27).
3) Mary is the supreme model of all virtues and
hence our role model, especially in holiness of life (“full of
grace”), obedience to the will of God (“fiat”) and true
humility (“Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me as you
have said”).
Reasons why we believe in the dogma of Assumption: Pope
Pius XII in the papal document Munificentimus Deus gives four
reasons for our belief in the Dogma of Assumption of Mary.
1) The uninterrupted tradition about Mary’s death and
Assumption starting from the first century. 2) The belief expressed in all the
ancient liturgies of the Church. 3) The negative evidence
