Aug 31 Monday: Lk 4:16-30: Today’s Gospel presents
the reaction of Jesus’ fellow-townsmen to the “Inaugural Address” offered
them at a synagogue in Nazareth when Jesus visited the town as a rabbi with a
band of disciples. The reading shows us how Jesus faced skepticisms and
criticism with prophetic courage. The incident reminds us that we should have
and show the courage of our Christian convictions daily as we live in our
communities, especially when we face hatred and rejection because of our
Christian Faith and its practice.
Amazement turns to hatred. The first reaction of the people
in the synagogue to Jesus’ words was astonishment. They were amazed that one of
their fellow villagers could speak with such grace, eloquence, and authority.
But their amazement turned into displeasure when Jesus, speaking as a prophet,
(different from the image of the miracle-worker that people wished to see),
claimed identity with the Messiah described by Isaiah. That claim turned Jesus’
fellow-townsmen’s displeasure into anger, then hatred. They challenged Jesus’
Messianic claim, asking, “Isn’t this the son of Joseph?” They
could not understand how a mere carpenter from their hometown Nazareth, could
be the Messiah, who would liberate them from Roman rule and
reestablish the Davidic kingdom. Jesus’ reaction to His people’s skepticism:
Jesus reacted to their negative attitude with the comment, “No prophet is
accepted in his native place.” Next, Jesus referred to the Biblical stories
of how God had blessed two Gentiles, while rejecting the many Jews in similar
situations, precisely because those Gentiles were more open to the prophets
than the Jewish people. 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,
raised her son from death. Then Jesus described how Naaman, the pagan military
general of Syria, was healed of leprosy by Elisha, the prophet, while many in
Israel suffered from the same disease, but were not healed.
Life messages: 1) We need to face rejection with
prophetic courage and optimism, 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, like the people in Jesus’
hometown, reject God in our lives. 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 through His words in the Bible, through the teachings of
the Church, and through the advice and examples of others? 3) We must have and
use the prophetic courage of our convictions. This passage challenges us to
remember our Christian convictions and to draw on the courage God provides in
our day-to-day lives in our communities, when we face hatred and rejection
because of our Christian Faith. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
Sept 1 Tuesday: Lk 4:31-37:
Context: After the sad experience in Nazareth,
Jesus used the city of Capernaum — 30 miles away from Nazareth, planted on the
shore of the Sea of Galilee and serving as the center of the fishing business —
as a base for his teaching, healing, and preaching ministry. The people were
impressed by the authority with which Jesus taught. The Old Testament prophets
had taught using God’s delegated authority, and the scribes and Pharisees
taught quoting Moses, the prophets and the great rabbis. But Jesus, as God
Incarnate, taught using Divine authority and the Perfect knowledge of God,
acting always in complete obedience to the will of God His Father, and having
absolute confidence in God as the Source and Support of his teaching authority.
The second part of today’s Gospel describes a healing by exorcism, which Jesus
performed in the synagogue. We are told how Jesus, as God Incarnate, exercised
Divine authority to cast out the devil by just one compound command: “Be
silent, and come out of him!” The demon obeyed at once, throwing the
man it had possessed to the floor in the midst of the people in the synagogue
on its departure. The people were impressed with Jesus’ power and authority
that could command even evil spirits.
Life messages: 1) Our Faith is based on the
Divinity of Christ, demonstrated by His miracles, which in turn give authority
and validity to His teaching and promises. Hence, let us accept Jesus’
teachings, even if some of them are mysteries beyond our understanding. 2) Let
us read the authoritative word of God every day and, leaning on the Magisterium
and the Holy
Spirit for full and correct interpretation, assimilate it into our lives. 3) In
our illnesses, let us confidently approach Jesus the Healer with trusting Faith
first, then go to the doctors who are the ordinary instruments of Jesus’
healing ministry in our midst. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
Sept 2 Wednesday: Lk 4:38-44:
The context: Today’s Gospel tells us that
preaching the Good News of God’s love, mercy, and salvation, and healing the
sick were the means Jesus used to build up the Kingdom of God. By preaching and
healing, Jesus drew listeners to belief in a loving and providing God and to
loving obedience to His will. We are told that Jesus drew renewed spiritual
strength from God, His Father, every day by talking with and listening to Him,
often in a desolate place at night.
Healing mission: Jesus never tired of healing the sick, thus
demonstrating the mercy and compassion of His Heavenly Father to every sick
person who approached with trusting Faith. Having finished the day’s preaching
in the synagogue on one Sabbath, Jesus went to Simon’s home and healed Simon’s
mother-in-law of a fever. In the evening, when the Sabbath rest was over,
people brought all their sick dear ones to Jesus for healing and exorcism.
Jesus either concluded the day or, as here, began the new day, by spending time
with the Father in prayer in a lonely place.
Life messages: 1) We are called to continue Jesus’ preaching mission primarily by bearing witness to Christ through our day-to-day lives, radiating Christ’s mercy, love, forgiveness, and spirit of humble service to all around us. 2) We can participate in Jesus’ healing mission by praying for the sick and by visiting, helping, and encouraging the sick and shut-ins. 3) We, too, need to have our spiritual batteries recharged by prayer every day, as Jesus did. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
Sept 3 Thursday: St. Gregory the Great, Bishop,
Doctor of the Church: Lk 5:1-11
The context: The scene is the Sea of Galilee (Gennesaret in
Greek and Tiberius in Latin). The story of the miraculous
catch of fish described in today’s Gospel is similar to the post-Resurrection
appearance of Jesus recounted in Jn 21:4-14. It is one of the “epiphany-call
stories” which direct our attention to the fact that Jesus had distinct
criteria for selecting people to be apostles. The reading challenges us to
examine our own personal calls to conversion and discipleship.
The miraculous catch followed by the call: After teaching
the crowd from a seat in the boat of Simon, Jesus said to him “Put out
into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” And Simon answered, “Master,
we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the
nets.” Simon and his companions were stunned by the biggest catch of
their lives. This event led Simon to acknowledge his unworthiness, as a sinner,
even to stand before the Divine Presence of Jesus. Recognizing in Simon’s
obedience and confession of unworthiness, the genuineness of their Faith, Jesus
immediately invited Simon, Andrew, James and John to become close disciples and
so to “catch men” instead of fish.
Life Messages: 1) Our encounter with the
Holiness of God is meant to lead us to recognize our sinfulness. The Good News
of today’s Gospel is that our sinfulness — our pride and self-centeredness –
does not repel God. That is why we offer this Mass asking God’s pardon and
forgiveness, and why we receive Jesus in Holy Communion only after
acknowledging our unworthiness.
2) With Jesus, the seemingly impossible becomes possible. Today’s Gospel passage tells us an important truth about how God works in and through us for His glory. God chooses ordinary people – people like you and me – as His ambassadors. He uses the ordinary circumstances of our daily lives and our responses to open the minds and hearts of those to whom we minister. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
Sept 4 Friday: Lk 5:33-39:
The context: Today’s Gospel passage gives Jesus’
reply to the question asked by a few disciples of John the Baptist about
fasting and feasting. Prayer, fasting, and almsgiving were three cardinal works
of Jewish religious life. Hence, John’s disciples wanted to know why they and
the Pharisees fasted while Jesus’ disciples were seen feasting with him and
never fasting.
Jesus’ reply: Jesus responds to their sincere question using
three metaphors: the metaphor of the “children of the bridal chamber,” the
metaphor of patching torn cloth, and the metaphor of wineskins. First, Jesus
compares the apostles to the friends of the bride and groom who feasted in the
company of bride and groom during a week of honeymoon. Nobody expected them to
fast. Jesus explains that the apostles will fast when Jesus, the Bridegroom,
has been taken away from them. In the same way, we are to welcome both the joys
of Christian life and the crosses it offers us. Jesus uses the comparisons of
the danger of using new, unshrunken cloth to make a patch for an old garment
and of using old wineskins to store freshly fermented wine, to tell the
questioners that they must have more elastic and open minds and larger hearts
to understand and follow the new ideas they are hearing, which are in many
cases different from (and fulfilment of) the traditional Jewish teachings.
Life messages: 1) We need to be adjustable,
responsive Christians with open and elastic minds: The Holy Spirit, working
actively in the Church and guiding the Church’s teaching authority (Magisterium), enables
the Church to have new visions, new ideas, and new adaptations and to refresh
old ways of worship with new. In the same way, we should have the generosity
and good will to follow the teachings of the Church.
2) At the same time, we need the assistance of the Holy Spirit, Who works through the Church’s Magisterium to interpret and apply Scripture – the Old Testament revelations and the New Testament teachings — and Sacred Tradition to our daily lives. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
Sept 5 Saturday: St. Teresa of Calcutta, Virgin:
(Mother Teresa): Lk 6:1-5:
The context: Today’s Gospel passage gives Jesus’
teaching on the purpose of the Sabbath and on its proper observance. This was
Jesus’ response to a criticism and a silly accusation made by some Pharisees
against the apostles who, to satisfy their hunger on a Sabbath, had plucked
ears of grain from a field for their snack, removed the husks by rubbing the
grain between their palms and blowing away the chaff. The Pharisees accused
them of violating Sabbath laws by performing three items of work forbidden on
Sabbath, namely, harvesting, threshing and winnowing!
Counter-arguments: Jesus gives three counter-arguments from
Holy Scripture defending the apostles. (1) Basic human needs, like hunger, take
precedence over Divine worship and Sabbath observance. Jesus cites from
Scripture the example of the hungry David and his selected soldiers. They
approached Abimelech, the priest of Nob, who gave them for food the “offering
bread” which only the priests were allowed to eat (1 Sm 21:1-6).
(2) No law can stand against Divine worship. That is why the priests were not
considered as violating Sabbath laws, although they did the work of preparing
two rams for sacrifice in the Temple (Nm 28:9-10). (3) Jesus
quotes the prophet Hosea to remind the accusers of God’s words: “I want
mercy, not sacrifice” (Hos 6:6). Further augmenting the
counter-arguments, Jesus, as Son of Man (a Messianic title), claims Lordship
over the Sabbath itself.
Life messages: Like the Jewish Sabbath, the
Christian Sunday is to be 1) a day of rest and refreshment with members of the
family; 2) a day for thanksgiving and the recharging of spiritual batteries,
(through participation in the Eucharistic celebration, for Catholics); 3) a day
for parents to teach religious Faith and the Bible to their children; 4) a day
to do works of charity in the neighborhood and in the parish and 5) a day for
socializing with family members, neighbors and fellow-parishioners.
