God and Nature

July 24, 2009 Gospel

2009-07-24T00:10:00.000-07:00

DAILY GOSPEL
«Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.» John 6,68

Friday, 24 July 2009
Friday of the Sixteenth week in Ordinary Time

Today the Church celebrates : Saint Christina, Virgin and Martyr, St. Sharbel Makhluf, monk and priest (1828-1898)

Book of Exodus 20:1-17.

Then God delivered all these commandments: "I, the LORD, am your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that place of slavery. You shall not have other gods besides me. You shall not carve idols for yourselves in the shape of anything in the sky above or on the earth below or in the waters beneath the earth; you shall not bow down before them or worship them. For I, the LORD, your God, am a jealous God, inflicting punishment for their fathers' wickedness on the children of those who hate me, down to the third and fourth generation; but bestowing mercy down to the thousandth generation, on the children of those who love me and keep my commandments. "You shall not take the name of the LORD, your God, in vain. For the LORD will not leave unpunished him who takes his name in vain. "Remember to keep holy the sabbath day. Six days you may labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD, your God. No work may be done then either by you, or your son or daughter, or your male or female slave, or your beast, or by the alien who lives with you. In six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them; but on the seventh day he rested. That is why the LORD has blessed the sabbath day and made it holy. "Honor your father and your mother, that you may have a long life in the land which the LORD, your God, is giving you. "You shall not kill. "You shall not commit adultery. "You shall not steal. "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. "You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male or female slave, nor his ox or ass, nor anything else that belongs to him."

Psalms 19:8.9.10.11.

The law of the LORD is perfect, refreshing the soul. The decree of the LORD is trustworthy, giving wisdom to the simple.
The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart. The command of the LORD is clear, enlightening the eye.
The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever. The statutes of the LORD are true, all of them just;
More desirable than gold, than a hoard of purest gold, Sweeter also than honey or drippings from the comb.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 13:18-23.

Hear then the parable of the sower. The seed sown on the path is the one who hears the word of the kingdom without understanding it, and the evil one comes and steals away what was sown in his heart. The seed sown on rocky ground is the one who hears the word and receives it at once with joy. But he has no root and lasts only for a time. When some tribulation or persecution comes because of the word, he immediately falls away. The seed sown among thorns is the one who hears the word, but then worldly anxiety and the lure of riches choke the word and it bears no fruit. But the seed sown on rich soil is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold."

Commentary of the day :

"A hundred or sixty or thirtyfold"

The sowing was carried out by the apostles and prophets, yet it is the Lord himself who sows. The Lord himself is the one present in them since it is the Lord himself who did the reaping. For without him they are nothing whereas, without them, he remains unmoved. As he said to them: «Without me you can do nothing» (Jn 15,5). And so what does Christ say as he sows among the gentiles? «A sower went out to sow» (Mt 13,3). In another text reapers were sent out to reap, but here the sower goes out to sow and does not complain of his labor. For what, indeed, does it matter if some seed falls on the path or rocky ground or among thorns? Were he to let himself be discouraged by these arid terrains he would make no progress towards the good soil!...

Now this has a bearing on ourselves: are we that pathway, those rocks, those weeds? Do we want to be good soil? Let us prepare our hearts to yield thirty, sixty, a hundred, a thousandfold. Thirtyfold or a thousandfold: in each case it is a question of wheat and nothing but wheat. Don't let us any longer be that path where our sowing is trampled on by passers-by and our enemy lays hold of us like a bird. Further, those rocks or that shallow soil cause seeds that are unable to endure the heat of the sun to shoot up too quickly. And most especially: not those weeds, the lusts of this world, a focus on wrongdoing. For what, indeed, could be worse than applying all our efforts to a life that hinders us from attaining life? What more miserable than to cultivate our lives in order to lose life? What could be sadder than to avoid death only to fall into the power of death? Let us cut off the thorns, prepare the soil, receive the seed, hold fast till the harvest and long to be taken into the barn.

2009-07-23T02:50:00.000-07:00

DAILY GOSPEL
«Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.» John 6,68

Thursday, 23 July 2009
Thursday of the Sixteenth week in Ordinary Time

Today the Church celebrates : St. Bridget of Sweden (1304-1373)

Book of Exodus 19:1-2.9-11.16-20.

In the third month after their departure from the land of Egypt, on its first day, the Israelites came to the desert of Sinai. After the journey from Rephidim to the desert of Sinai, they pitched camp. While Israel was encamped here in front of the mountain, The LORD also told him, "I am coming to you in a dense cloud, so that when the people hear me speaking with you, they may always have faith in you also." When Moses, then, had reported to the LORD the response of the people, the LORD added, "Go to the people and have them sanctify themselves today and tomorrow. Make them wash their garments and be ready for the third day; for on the third day the LORD will come down on Mount Sinai before the eyes of all the people. On the morning of the third day there were peals of thunder and lightning, and a heavy cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast, so that all the people in the camp trembled. But Moses led the people out of the camp to meet God, and they stationed themselves at the foot of the mountain. Mount Sinai was all wrapped in smoke, for the LORD came down upon it in fire. The smoke rose from it as though from a furnace, and the whole mountain trembled violently. The trumpet blast grew louder and louder, while Moses was speaking and God answering him with thunder. When the LORD came down to the top of Mount Sinai, he summoned Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up to him.

Dn 3:52.53.54.55.56.

"Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of our fathers, praiseworthy and exalted above all forever; And blessed is your holy and glorious name, praiseworthy and exalted above all for all ages.
Blessed are you in the temple of your holy glory, praiseworthy and glorious above all forever.
Blessed are you on the throne of your kingdom, praiseworthy and exalted above all forever.
Blessed are you who look into the depths from your throne upon the cherubim, praiseworthy and exalted above all forever.
Blessed are you in the firmament of heaven, praiseworthy and glorious forever.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 13:10-17.

The disciples approached him and said, "Why do you speak to them in parables?" He said to them in reply, "Because knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven has been granted to you, but to them it has not been granted. To anyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich; from anyone who has not, even what he has will be taken away. This is why I speak to them in parables, because 'they look but do not see and hear but do not listen or understand.' Isaiah's prophecy is fulfilled in them, which says: 'You shall indeed hear but not understand you shall indeed look but never see. Gross is the heart of this people, they will hardly hear with their ears, they have closed their eyes, lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and be converted, and I heal them.' But blessed are your eyes, because they see, and your ears, because they hear. Amen, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.

Commentary of the day :

"Blessed are your eyes, because they see"

Our Lord said: «Many a prophet and many a saint longed to see what you see but did not see it.» We must understand the prophets as being the great, subtle and reasoning minds who hold to the sublety of their natural reason and draw from it emptiness. Those eyes are not happy. We must understand the kings as being men who are naturally dominant, with strong and powerful energy, who are masters over themselves, their words, their works, their language, and who can do whatever they want when it comes to fasting, vigils and prayers. But they make a big thing of it, as if this were something extraordinary, and they despise the others. These are also not the eyes that see the things that make them happy.

All those people wanted to see and did not see. They wanted to see, and they held on to their own will. Evil resides in the will... Our own will covers our interior eyes like a membrane or a film covers the exterior eye and prevents it from seeing... So long as you stay within your own will, you will be deprived of the joy of seeing with your interior eye. For all true happiness comes from real abandonment, from being detached from our own will. All that is born in the depth of humility... The more a person is small and humble, the less does he have his own will.

When all has been calmed, the soul sees its own essence and all its faculties; it recognizes itself as the rational image of Him from whom it came. The eyes... that look this far can rightly be called blest because of what they see. What a person discovers then is the marvel of marvels, what is most pure, most sure... May we be able to follow this path and to see in such a way that our eyes might be blest. And may God help us in that!

July 22, 2009 Gospel

2009-07-22T02:48:00.000-07:00

DAILY GOSPEL
«Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.» John 6,68

Wednesday, 22 July 2009
Saint Mary Magdalene - Memorial

Today the Church celebrates : St. Mary Magdalene

Second Letter to the Corinthians 5:14-17.

For the love of Christ impels us, once we have come to the conviction that one died for all; therefore, all have died. He indeed died for all, so that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. Consequently, from now on we regard no one according to the flesh; even if we once knew Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know him so no longer. So whoever is in Christ is a new creation: the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come.

Psalms 63:2.3-4.5-6.8-9.

O God, you are my God-- for you I long! For you my body yearns; for you my soul thirsts, Like a land parched, lifeless, and without water.
So I look to you in the sanctuary to see your power and glory.
For your love is better than life; my lips offer you worship!
I will bless you as long as I live; I will lift up my hands, calling on your name.
My soul shall savor the rich banquet of praise, with joyous lips my mouth shall honor you!
That you indeed are my help, and in the shadow of your wings I shout for joy.
My soul clings fast to you; your right hand upholds me.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 20:1-2.11-18.

On the first day of the week, Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark, and saw the stone removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them, "They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don't know where they put him." But Mary stayed outside the tomb weeping. And as she wept, she bent over into the tomb and saw two angels in white sitting there, one at the head and one at the feet where the body of Jesus had been. And they said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?" She said to them, "They have taken my Lord, and I don't know where they laid him." When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus there, but did not know it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?" She thought it was the gardener and said to him, "Sir, if you carried him away, tell me where you laid him, and I will take him." Jesus said to her, "Mary!" She turned and said to him in Hebrew, "Rabbouni," which means Teacher. Jesus said to her, "Stop holding on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them, 'I am going to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'" Mary of Magdala went and announced to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord," and what he told her.

Commentary of the day :

"Mary Magdalene, apostle to the apostles"

According to the account given by Saint John the Theologian, the women bringing the spices sent Mary Magdalene ahead to the tomb. It was dark, but love gave her light. Thus she saw the large stone rolled away from the entrance to the tomb and returned saying: «Disciples, do you know what I saw? The stone is no longer covering the tomb. Could they have taken away my Lord? There are no guards in sight; they have fled. Could he have risen, he who brings resurrection to fallen humankind?»...

He who sees all, seeing Magdalene overcome with sobbing and weighed down by sorrow, was touched to the heart ... He who tests our innards and our heart, knowing that Mary would recognize his voice, called his little sheep - he, the true shepherd. «Mary», he said, and immediately, she recognized him. «It really is my shepherd who is calling me so that from now on he may count me among the ninety-nine sheep. I know well who it is who is calling me. I said to him: It is my Lord; it is he who brings resurrection to fallen humankind»...

The Lord said to her: «Woman, may your mouth henceforth proclaim these marvels and explain them to the children of the Kingdom who are waiting for me, the Living One, to awaken. Go quickly, Mary, gather together my disciples...; awake them all as if from sleep so they may come to meet me with torches alight. Go, tell them: the Bridegroom has awakened, he is coming out of his tomb... Apostles, drive away your mortal sorrow, for the one who brings resurrection to fallen humankind is awake...»

«Suddenly my mourning is transformed into rejoicing, everything has become joy and gladness for me. I say without wavering: I have received the same glory as Moses. I have seen - yes, I have seen! - not on the mountain, but in the tomb; not veiled with a cloud, but in my body: I have seen the Lord of all things incorporeal and their hosts, the one who is, who was, and who is to come. It is he who told me: Make haste, Mary, go to those who love me and reveal that I have risen. Carry the good news to the descendants of Noah as the dove carried them the olive branch (Gen 8:11). Tell them death has been destroyed, and he who brings resurrection to fallen humankind has risen from the tomb.»

July 21, 2009 Gospel

2009-07-21T00:49:00.000-07:00

DAILY GOSPEL
«Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.» John 6,68

Tuesday, 21 July 2009
Tuesday of the Sixteenth week in Ordinary Time

Today the Church celebrates : St. Lawrence of Brindisi, Priest and Doctor of the Church (1559-1619)

Book of Exodus 14:21-31.15:1.

Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the LORD swept the sea with a strong east wind throughout the night and so turned it into dry land. When the water was thus divided, the Israelites marched into the midst of the sea on dry land, with the water like a wall to their right and to their left. The Egyptians followed in pursuit; all Pharaoh's horses and chariots and charioteers went after them right into the midst of the sea. In the night watch just before dawn the LORD cast through the column of the fiery cloud upon the Egyptian force a glance that threw it into a panic; and he so clogged their chariot wheels that they could hardly drive. With that the Egyptians sounded the retreat before Israel, because the LORD was fighting for them against the Egyptians. Then the LORD told Moses, "Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the water may flow back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots and their charioteers." So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at dawn the sea flowed back to its normal depth. The Egyptians were fleeing head on toward the sea, when the LORD hurled them into its midst. As the water flowed back, it covered the chariots and the charioteers of Pharaoh's whole army which had followed the Israelites into the sea. Not a single one of them escaped. But the Israelites had marched on dry land through the midst of the sea, with the water like a wall to their right and to their left. Thus the LORD saved Israel on that day from the power of the Egyptians. When Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the seashore and beheld the great power that the LORD had shown against the Egyptians, they feared the LORD and believed in him and in his servant Moses. Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the LORD: I will sing to the LORD, for he is gloriously triumphant; horse and chariot he has cast into the sea.

Ex. 15:8-9.10.12.17.

At a breath of your anger the waters piled up, the flowing waters stood like a mound, the flood waters congealed in the midst of the sea.
The enemy boasted, "I will pursue and overtake them; I will divide the spoils and have my fill of them; I will draw my sword; my hand shall despoil them!"
When your wind blew, the sea covered them; like lead they sank in the mighty waters.
when you stretched out your right hand, the earth swallowed them!
And you brought them in and planted them on the mountain of your inheritance-- the place where you made your seat, O LORD, the sanctuary, O LORD, which your hands established.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 12:46-50.

While he was still speaking to the crowds, his mother and his brothers appeared outside, wishing to speak with him. (Someone told him, "Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, asking to speak with you.") But he said in reply to the one who told him, "Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?" And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my brother, and sister, and mother."

Commentary of the day :

"Whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my brother, and sister, and mother"

Predestined from eternity by that decree of divine providence which determined the incarnation of the Word to be the Mother of God, the Blessed Virgin was in this earth the virgin Mother of the Redeemer, and above all others and in a singular way the generous associate and humble handmaid of the Lord. She conceived, brought forth and nourished Christ. she presented Him to the Father in the temple, and was united with Him by compassion as He died on the Cross. In this singular way she cooperated by her obedience, faith, hope and burning charity in the work of the Saviour in giving back supernatural life to souls. Wherefore she is our mother in the order of grace.

This maternity of Mary in the order of grace... lasts until the eternal fulfillment of all the elect. Taken up to heaven she did not lay aside this salvific duty, but by her constant intercession continued to bring us the gifts of eternal salvation. By her maternal charity, she cares for the brethren of her Son, who still journey on earth surrounded by dangers and cultics, until they are led into the happiness of their true home. Therefore the Blessed Virgin is invoked by the Church under the titles of Advocate, Auxiliatrix, Adjutrix, and Mediatrix...

For no creature could ever be counted as equal with the Incarnate Word and Redeemer. Just as the priesthood of Christ is shared in various ways both by the ministers and by the faithful, and as the one goodness of God is really communicated in different ways to His creatures, so also the unique mediation of the Redeemer does not exclude but rather gives rise to a manifold cooperation which is but a sharing in this one source.

July 20, 2009 Gospel

2009-07-20T07:48:00.000-07:00

DAILY GOSPEL
«Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.» John 6,68

Monday, 20 July 2009
Monday of the Sixteenth week in Ordinary Time

Today the Church celebrates : St. Margaret of Antioch, Virgin and Martyr, St. Apollinaris, Bishop and Martyr

See commentary below or click here
Saint Ephrem : The sign of Jonah

Book of Exodus 14:5-18.

When it was reported to the king of Egypt that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his servants changed their minds about them. "What have we done!" they exclaimed. "Why, we have released Israel from our service!" So Pharaoh made his chariots ready and mustered his soldiers-- six hundred first-class chariots and all the other chariots of Egypt, with warriors on them all. So obstinate had the LORD made Pharaoh that he pursued the Israelites even while they were marching away in triumph. The Egyptians, then, pursued them; Pharaoh's whole army, his horses, chariots and charioteers, caught up with them as they lay encamped by the sea, at Pi-hahiroth, in front of Baal-zephon. Pharaoh was already near when the Israelites looked up and saw that the Egyptians were on the march in pursuit of them. In great fright they cried out to the LORD. And they complained to Moses, "Were there no burial places in Egypt that you had to bring us out here to die in the desert? Why did you do this to us? Why did you bring us out of Egypt? Did we not tell you this in Egypt, when we said, 'Leave us alone. Let us serve the Egyptians'? Far better for us to be the slaves of the Egyptians than to die in the desert." But Moses answered the people, "Fear not! Stand your ground, and you will see the victory the LORD will win for you today. These Egyptians whom you see today you will never see again. The LORD himself will fight for you; you have only to keep still." Then the LORD said to Moses, "Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to go forward. And you, lift up your staff and, with hand outstretched over the sea, split the sea in two, that the Israelites may pass through it on dry land. But I will make the Egyptians so obstinate that they will go in after them. Then I will receive glory through Pharaoh and all his army, his chariots and charioteers. The Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I receive glory through Pharaoh and his chariots and charioteers."

Ex. 15:1-2.3-4.5-6.

Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the LORD: I will sing to the LORD, for he is gloriously triumphant; horse and chariot he has cast into the sea.
My strength and my courage is the LORD, and he has been my savior. He is my God, I praise him; the God of my father, I extol him.
The LORD is a warrior, LORD is his name!
Pharaoh's chariots and army he hurled into the sea; the elite of his officers were submerged in the Red Sea.
The flood waters covered them, they sank into the depths like a stone.
Your right hand, O LORD, magnificent in power, your right hand, O LORD, has shattered the enemy.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 12:38-42.

Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to him, "Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you." He said to them in reply, "An evil and unfaithful generation seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it except the sign of Jonah the prophet. Just as Jonah was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights. At the judgment, the men of Nineveh will arise with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and there is something greater than Jonah here. At the judgment the queen of the south will arise with this generation and condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and there is something greater than Solomon here.

Copyright © Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, USCCB

Commentary of the day :

Saint Ephrem (c.306-373), deacon in Syria, Doctor of the Church
Diatessaron 11, 1-3. (SC 121, p.195f. rev.)

The sign of Jonah

After all the signs our Lord had given these blind men, who could see nothing, said to him: «We wish to see a sign from you». Our Lord left aside his witnesses, the kings and prophets, and appealed to the Ninivites... Jonah had prophesied the destruction of the Ninivites; he had put fear into them and sown consternation among them. They, in return, gave him a harvest of contrition and the fruits of repentance. Thus the Gentiles were chosen and the uncircumcised drew near to God; the pagans were given life and sinners converted...

«They asked him for a sign from heaven» (Lk 11,16), like thunder, for example, as for Samuel (cf.1Sam 7,10)...They had heard preaching from on high and had not believed it, which is why this preaching rose up form below...: «The Son of Man ... Jonah rose up out of the sea and preached to the Ninivites, who repented and were saved. Even so our Lord, when he had raised his body from the dwellings of the dead, sent out his apostles among the nations. These were completely converted and received the fullness of life.

July 19, 2009 Gospel

2009-07-19T19:43:00.000-07:00

DAILY GOSPEL
«Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.» John 6,68

Sunday, 19 July 2009
Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Today the Church celebrates : Servant of God Francis Garces and Companions, Martyrs (c. 1781)

Book of Jeremiah 23:1-6.

Woe to the shepherds who mislead and scatter the flock of my pasture, says the LORD. Therefore, thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, against the shepherds who shepherd my people: You have scattered my sheep and driven them away. You have not cared for them, but I will take care to punish your evil deeds. I myself will gather the remnant of my flock from all the lands to which I have driven them and bring them back to their meadow; there they shall increase and multiply. I will appoint shepherds for them who will shepherd them so that they need no longer fear and tremble; and none shall be missing, says the LORD. Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will raise up a righteous shoot to David; As king he shall reign and govern wisely, he shall do what is just and right in the land. In his days Judah shall be saved, Israel shall dwell in security. This is the name they give him: "The LORD our justice."

Psalms 23(22):1-2.3-4.5.6.

A psalm of David. The LORD is my shepherd; there is nothing I lack.
In green pastures you let me graze; to safe waters you lead me;
you restore my strength. You guide me along the right path for the sake of your name.
Even when I walk through a dark valley, I fear no harm for you are at my side; your rod and staff give me courage.
You set a table before me as my enemies watch; You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
Only goodness and love will pursue me all the days of my life; I will dwell in the house of the LORD for years to come.

Letter to the Ephesians 2:13-18.

But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have become near by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, he who made both one and broke down the dividing wall of enmity, through his flesh, abolishing the law with its commandments and legal claims, that he might create in himself one new person in place of the two, thus establishing peace, and might reconcile both with God, in one body, through the cross, putting that enmity to death by it. He came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near, for through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark 6:30-34.

The apostles gathered together with Jesus and reported all they had done and taught. He said to them, "Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while." People were coming and going in great numbers, and they had no opportunity even to eat. So they went off in the boat by themselves to a deserted place. People saw them leaving and many came to know about it. They hastened there on foot from all the towns and arrived at the place before them. When he disembarked and saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things.

Commentary of the day :

"He began to teach them many things"

«Tell me, O you whom my soul has loved, where you feed and where you have your couch?' I think that in Psalm 23[22] the prophet likewise is speaking of this place, concerning which the Bride desires of the Bridegroom to learn, set as he is under the same Shepherd. He says: «The Lord is my shepherd and I shall want nothing» (v.1). And because he knew that other shepherds, through sloth or inexperience, assemble their flocks in the drier places, he says about the Lord, this best of shepherds: «In a green place, there he has set me; he has brought me up to the water of refreshment» (v.2), thus making it clear that this Shepherd provides His sheep with water that is not only plentiful but also wholesome and pure and utterly refreshing ...

That first life, the pastoral, was a preparatory one, in order that, being set in a green place, he might be brought up to the water of refreshment. But the things that follow have to do with progress and perfection. And, since we have brought up the subject of pastures and of greenness, it seems fitting to support what we say out of the Gospels also. There, too, I have encountered this Good Shepherd talking about the pastures of the sheep; there is a passage where He styles Himself the Shepherd, and even calls Himself the Door, saying: I am the Door. By me, if anyone enters, he shall be saved; and he shall go in and go out, and shall find pastures» (Jn 10,9). Him, therefore, the Bride now plies with questions... And what she calls 'midday' denotes those secret places of the heart in which the soul pursues the clearer light of knowledge from the Word of God; for midday is the time when the sun is at the zenith of its course. So when Christ, the Sun of Justice (Mal 3,20), shows to his Church the high and lofty secrets of his power, then he will be teaching her where lie His pleasant pastures and his places of repose at noon.

For when she has only begun to learn these things and is receiving from Him the rudiments, so to speak, of knowledge, then the prophet says: «And God will help her in the morning early» (Ps 46[45],6). At this time, however, because she is now seeking things that are more perfect, and desiring higher things, she asks for the noonday light of knowledge.

July 18, 2009 Gospel

2009-07-18T07:07:00.000-07:00

DAILY GOSPEL
«Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.» John 6,68

Saturday, 18 July 2009
Saturday of the Fifteenth week in Ordinary Time

Today the Church celebrates : St. Camillus de Lellis, Priest (1550-1614)

Book of Exodus 12:37-42.

The Israelites set out from Rameses for Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, not counting the children. A crowd of mixed ancestry also went up with them, besides their livestock, very numerous flocks and herds. Since the dough they had brought out of Egypt was not leavened, they baked it into unleavened loaves. They had been rushed out of Egypt and had no opportunity even to prepare food for the journey. The time the Israelites had stayed in Egypt was four hundred and thirty years. At the end of four hundred and thirty years, all the hosts of the LORD left the land of Egypt on this very date. This was a night of vigil for the LORD, as he led them out of the land of Egypt; so on this same night all the Israelites must keep a vigil for the LORD throughout their generations.

Psalms 136:1.23-24.10-12.13-15.

Praise the LORD, who is so good; God's love endures forever;
The LORD remembered us in our misery, God's love endures forever;
Freed us from our foes, God's love endures forever;
Who struck down the firstborn of Egypt, God's love endures forever;
And led Israel from their midst, God's love endures forever;
With mighty hand and outstretched arm, God's love endures forever;
Who split in two the Red Sea, God's love endures forever;
And led Israel through, God's love endures forever;
But swept Pharaoh and his army into the Red Sea, God's love endures forever;

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 12:14-21.

But the Pharisees went out and took counsel against him to put him to death. When Jesus realized this, he withdrew from that place. Many (people) followed him, and he cured them all, but he warned them not to make him known. This was to fulfill what had been spoken through Isaiah the prophet: Behold, my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved in whom I delight; I shall place my spirit upon him, and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles. He will not contend or cry out, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break, a smoldering wick he will not quench, until he brings justice to victory. And in his name the Gentiles will hope."

Commentary of the day :

"In his name the Gentiles will hope"

Who among us can know all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge hidden in Christ and buried within the poverty of his flesh? For «for your sake he became poor although he was rich, so that by his poverty, you might become rich» (2Cor 8,9). Since he came in order to assume our mortal condition and lay low death itself, he appeared as one who was poor. But he who has promised us distant riches has by no means lost those from which he is kept away. «How great is his abundant goodness which he keeps in store for those who fear him; he satisfies those who hope in him» (cf. Ps 31[30],20)...

So that we might be able to lay hold of it, he who is equal to the Father, having the nature of God, became like us by taking the nature of a servant and recreates us in God's likeness. Having become son of man, the only Son of God transforms numberless men into sons of God. And after having sustained his servants by his own visible nature of a servant, he sets them free to contemplate the nature of God. For «we are God's children; what we shall be has not yet been revealed. We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he really is» (1Jn 3,2). For in what do these treasures of wisdom and knowledge and these divine riches consist? In what this abundant goodness? All we know is that it is this that satisfies us.

July 17, 2009 Gospel

2009-07-17T03:10:00.000-07:00

DAILY GOSPEL
«Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.» John 6,68

Friday, 17 July 2009
Friday of the Fifteenth week in Ordinary Time

Today the Church celebrates : St. Alexius, Confessor (+404)

Book of Exodus 11:10.12:1-14.

Thus, although Moses and Aaron performed these various wonders in Pharaoh's presence, the LORD made Pharaoh obstinate, and he would not let the Israelites leave his land. The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, "This month shall stand at the head of your calendar; you shall reckon it the first month of the year. Tell the whole community of Israel: On the tenth of this month every one of your families must procure for itself a lamb, one apiece for each household. If a family is too small for a whole lamb, it shall join the nearest household in procuring one and shall share in the lamb in proportion to the number of persons who partake of it. The lamb must be a year-old male and without blemish. You may take it from either the sheep or the goats. You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, and then, with the whole assembly of Israel present, it shall be slaughtered during the evening twilight. They shall take some of its blood and apply it to the two doorposts and the lintel of every house in which they partake of the lamb. That same night they shall eat its roasted flesh with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. It shall not be eaten raw or boiled, but roasted whole, with its head and shanks and inner organs. None of it must be kept beyond the next morning; whatever is left over in the morning shall be burned up. "This is how you are to eat it: with your loins girt, sandals on your feet and your staff in hand, you shall eat like those who are in flight. It is the Passover of the LORD. For on this same night I will go through Egypt, striking down every first--born of the land, both man and beast, and executing judgment on all the gods of Egypt-I, the LORD! But the blood will mark the houses where you are. Seeing the blood, I will pass over you; thus, when I strike the land of Egypt, no destructive blow will come upon you. "This day shall be a memorial feast for you, which all your generations shall celebrate with pilgrimage to the LORD, as a perpetual institution.

Psalms 116(115):12-13.15-16.17-18.

How can I repay the LORD for all the good done for me?
I will raise the cup of salvation and call on the name of the LORD.
Too costly in the eyes of the LORD is the death of his faithful.
LORD, I am your servant, your servant, the child of your maidservant; you have loosed my bonds.
I will offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving and call on the name of the LORD.
I will pay my vows to the LORD in the presence of all his people,

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 12:1-8.

At that time Jesus was going through a field of grain on the sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick the heads of grain and eat them. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, "See, your disciples are doing what is unlawful to do on the sabbath." He said to them, "Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry, how he went into the house of God and ate the bread of offering, which neither he nor his companions but only the priests could lawfully eat? Or have you not read in the law that on the sabbath the priests serving in the temple violate the sabbath and are innocent? I say to you, something greater than the temple is here. If you knew what this meant, 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned these innocent men. For the Son of Man is Lord of the sabbath."

Commentary of the day :

"The Son of Man is Lord of the sabbath"

The Sabbath was instituted as a holy day; all the saints and just must observe the Sabbath... Let us see, then, in what the Sabbath observance consists for christians: on the Sabbath day we should not carry out any work here below; we are to abstain from all earthly works, do nothing that pertains to this world and give ourselves to spiritual work, go to church, listen attentively to Scripture and to the explanations given to us about it, think of heavenly things, give our minds to hope of future life, keep the judgement to come before our eyes and meditate, not present, visible realities, but the future, invisible ones.

The Jews, too, have to observe all that. And among them blacksmiths, builders and every kind of manual laborer remain without doing anything on the Sabbath day. Yet on this day the lectors who proclaim Holy Scripture and the teachers who explain God's Law never cease in their duties without, however, profaning the Sabbath. My Lord himself acknowledges this: «Have you not heard,» he said to them, «that the priests in the Temple go without resting on the Sabbath without sin?» Thus it is the person who abstains from this world's works and frees himself for spiritual activities who offers the true Sabbath sacrifice and sanctifies the Sabbath day as a festival...

During the Sabbath, all remain in their own homes and do not go out. Now what is the home of the spiritual soul? That home is justice, truth, wisdom, holiness: all those things are Christ who is, himself, the soul's home. We should never go out of that home if we would keep the true Sabbath and celebrate that day of festival with sacrifice, according to the Lord's word: «Whoever remains in me, I remain in him» (cf. Jn 15,5).

July 16, 2009 Gospel

2009-07-16T00:11:00.000-07:00

DAILY GOSPEL
«Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.» John 6,68

Thursday, 16 July 2009
Thursday of the Fifteenth week in Ordinary Time

Today the Church celebrates : Our Lady of Mount Carmel

Book of Exodus 3:13-20.

"But," said Moses to God, "when I go to the Israelites and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' if they ask me, 'What is his name?' what am I to tell them?" God replied, "I am who am." Then he added, "This is what you shall tell the Israelites: I AM sent me to you." God spoke further to Moses, "Thus shall you say to the Israelites: The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. "This is my name forever; this is my title for all generations. "Go and assemble the elders of the Israelites, and tell them: The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, has appeared to me and said: I am concerned about you and about the way you are being treated in Egypt; so I have decided to lead you up out of the misery of Egypt into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites, a land flowing with milk and honey. "Thus they will heed your message. Then you and the elders of Israel shall go to the king of Egypt and say to him: The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has sent us word. Permit us, then, to go a three days' journey in the desert, that we may offer sacrifice to the LORD, our God. "Yet I know that the king of Egypt will not allow you to go unless he is forced. I will stretch out my hand, therefore, and smite Egypt by doing all kinds of wondrous deeds there. After that he will send you away.

Psalms 105:1.5.8-9.24-25.26-27.

Give thanks to the LORD, invoke his name; make known among the peoples his deeds!
Recall the wondrous deeds he has done, his signs and his words of judgment,
He remembers forever his covenant, the pact imposed for a thousand generations,
Which was made with Abraham, confirmed by oath to Isaac,
God greatly increased his people, made them too many for their foes.
He turned their hearts to hate his people, to treat his servants unfairly.
He sent his servant Moses, Aaron whom he had chosen.
They worked his signs in Egypt and wonders in the land of Ham.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 11:28-30.

Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for your selves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light."

Commentary of the day :

"Come to me"

Let anyone who would find their soul's true rest learn humility! Let them understand that all joy, all glory, all rest are to be found in it just as the opposite is to be found in pride. For how, indeed, is it that we have come to all these tribulations? Why have we fallen into all this misery? Isn't it because of our pride, our foolishness? Isn't it because we followed our own evil counsel and were attached to the bitterness of our own wills? And why so? Wasn't man created in perfect equanimity, in complete happiness, rest and glory? Wasn't he in Paradise? He was commanded: Don't do this, yet he did it. Don't you note his pride, his arrogance, his insubordination? «Man is a foolish creature,» said God, when he saw this insolence; «he has no idea how to be happy. Unless he experiences evil days he will be lost forthwith. Unless he learns what affliction is, he will never know the meaning of rest.» And so God gave him what deserved by driving him out of Paradise...

And yet, as I often say to you, God's goodness has not failed his creature but keeps turning towards it, calling it back: «Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.» That is to say: See, how weary you are, how unhappy! You have learned by experience the evil of your disobedience. Come along then, be converted; come along, recognise your powerlessness and shame so that you can return to the rest and glory that is yours. Come on, you who were dead from pride: live by humility. «Learn from me, for I am gentle and humble of heart, and you shall find rest for your souls.»

July 15, 2009 Gospel

2009-07-15T00:21:00.000-07:00

DAILY GOSPEL
«Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.» John 6,68

Wednesday, 15 July 2009
Wednesday of the Fifteenth week in Ordinary Time

Today the Church celebrates : St. Bonaventure, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (1218-1274)

Book of Exodus 3:1-6.9-12.

Meanwhile Moses was tending the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian. Leading the flock across the desert, he came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There an angel of the LORD appeared to him in fire flaming out of a bush. As he looked on, he was surprised to see that the bush, though on fire, was not consumed. So Moses decided, "I must go over to look at this remarkable sight, and see why the bush is not burned." When the LORD saw him coming over to look at it more closely, God called out to him from the bush, "Moses! Moses!" He answered, "Here I am." God said, "Come no nearer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground. I am the God of your father," he continued, "the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob." Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God. So indeed the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have truly noted that the Egyptians are oppressing them. Come, now! I will send you to Pharaoh to lead my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt." But Moses said to God, "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and lead the Israelites out of Egypt?" He answered, "I will be with you; and this shall be your proof that it is I who have sent you: when you bring my people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this very mountain."

Psalms 103(102):1-2.3-4.6-7.

Of David. Bless the LORD, my soul; all my being, bless his holy name!
Bless the LORD, my soul; do not forget all the gifts of God,
Who pardons all your sins, heals all your ills,
Delivers your life from the pit, surrounds you with love and compassion,
The LORD does righteous deeds, brings justice to all the oppressed.
His ways were revealed to Moses, mighty deeds to the people of Israel.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 11:25-27.

At that time Jesus said in reply, "I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike. Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.

Commentary of the day :

"You have hidden these things from the wise and the learned; you have revealed them to the childlike"

Simplicity is so pleasing to God! As you know, Scripture says that his delight is to converse with the simple, with those who have simplicity of heart and who behave unaffectedly and simply: «With the upright is his friendship» (Prv 3,32). Do you want to find God? He speaks with the simple. O my Savior! O my brothers! You who feel the need to be simple; what happiness! what happiness! Take heart, because you have the assurance that God's delight is to be with the simple.

Something else that wonderfully recommends simplicity to us are these words of our Lord: «I bless you, Father, for having hidden these things from the wise and learned and revealed them to the childlike.» Father, I acknowledge and thank you that the teaching I have learned from your divine Majesty and pass on to others is known only to the simple and that you do not allow the prudent of this world to understand it. For you have concealed, if not the words then at least the spirit from them.

O my Savior and my God! This ought to astonish us. We run after knowledge as if all our happiness depended on it. Woe to us if we don't have it! We certainly need it, but in its fullness; we ought to study, but in moderation. Other people claim understanding of business and pass for people of substance and negotiation in the world. These are the ones from whom God takes away perception of Christian truths: from the learned and knowing of this world. Who does he give it to, then? To simple, ordinary people... Gentlemen, true religion is to be found among the poor. God enriches them with living faith; they believe, touch, taste the words of life... For the most part they preserve their peace in the midst of trouble and distress. What is the reason for this? Faith. Why? Because they are simple God causes those graces to abound in them that he refuses to the rich and learned of this world.

July 14, 2009 Gospel

2009-07-14T00:08:00.000-07:00

DAILY GOSPEL
«Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.» John 6,68

Tuesday, 14 July 2009
Tuesday of the Fifteenth week in Ordinary Time

Today the Church celebrates : St. Francis Solano, Priest (1549-1610)

Book of Exodus 2:1-15.

Now a certain man of the house of Levi married a Levite woman, who conceived and bore a son. Seeing that he was a goodly child, she hid him for three months. When she could hide him no longer, she took a papyrus basket, daubed it with bitumen and pitch, and putting the child in it, placed it among the reeds on the river bank. His sister stationed herself at a distance to find out what would happen to him. Pharaoh's daughter came down to the river to bathe, while her maids walked along the river bank. Noticing the basket among the reeds, she sent her handmaid to fetch it. On opening it, she looked, and lo, there was a baby boy, crying! She was moved with pity for him and said, "It is one of the Hebrews' children." Then his sister asked Pharaoh's daughter, "Shall I go and call one of the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?" "Yes, do so," she answered. So the maiden went and called the child's own mother. Pharaoh's daughter said to her, "Take this child and nurse it for me, and I will repay you." The woman therefore took the child and nursed it. When the child grew, she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter, who adopted him as her son and called him Moses; for she said, "I drew him out of the water." On one occasion, after Moses had grown up, when he visited his kinsmen and witnessed their forced labor, he saw an Egyptian striking a Hebrew, one of his own kinsmen. Looking about and seeing no one, he slew the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. The next day he went out again, and now two Hebrews were fighting! So he asked the culprit, "Why are you striking your fellow Hebrew?" But he replied, "Who has appointed you ruler and judge over us? Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian?" Then Moses became afraid and thought, "The affair must certainly be known." Pharaoh, too, heard of the affair and sought to put him to death. But Moses fled from him and stayed in the land of Midian. As he was seated there by a well,

Psalms 69:3.14.30-31.33-34.

I have sunk into the mire of the deep, where there is no foothold. I have gone down to the watery depths; the flood overwhelms me.
But I pray to you, LORD, for the time of your favor. God, in your great kindness answer me with your constant help.
But I am afflicted and in pain; let your saving help protect me, God,
That I may praise God's name in song and glorify it with thanksgiving.
"See, you lowly ones, and be glad; you who seek God, take heart!
For the LORD hears the poor, does not spurn those in bondage.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 11:20-24.

Then he began to reproach the towns where most of his mighty deeds had been done, since they had not repented. Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would long ago have repented in sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you. And as for you, Capernaum: 'Will you be exalted to heaven? You will go down to the netherworld.' For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I tell you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom on the day of judgment than for you."

Commentary of the day :

"Christ calls us all to conversion"

Christ, who always practiced in his life what he preached, before beginning his ministry spent forty days and forty nights in prayer and fasting, and began his public mission with the joyful message: "The kingdom of God is at hand." To this he added the command: "Repent and believe in the Gospel."(Mk 1,15) These words constitute, in a way, a compendium of the whole Christian life. The kingdom of God announced by Christ can be entered only by a "change of heart" ("metanoia") that is to say through an intimate and total change and renewal of the entire man... The invitation of the Son to "metanoia" becomes all the more inescapable inasmuch as he not only preaches it but himself offers an example. Christ, in fact, is the supreme model for those doing penance. He willed to suffer punishment for sins which were not his but those of others.

In the presence of Christ man is illumined with a new light and consequently recognizes the holiness of God and the gravity of sin. Through the word of Christ a message is transmitted to him that invites him to conversion and grants forgiveness of sins. These gifts he fully attains in baptism. This sacrament, in fact, configures him to the passion, death and resurrection of the Lord, and places the whole future of the life of the baptized under the seal of this mystery. Therefore, following the Master, every Christian must renounce himself, take up his own cross and participate in the sufferings of Christ. Thus transformed into the image of Christ's death, he is made capable of meditating on the glory of the resurrection. Furthermore, following the Master, he can no longer live for himself, but must live for him who loves him and gave himself for him.(Gal 2,20) He will also have to live for his brethren, completing "in his flesh that which is lacking in the sufferings of Christ...for the benefit of his body, which is the church"(Col 1,24).

July 13, 2009 Gospel

2009-07-13T00:38:00.000-07:00

DAILY GOSPEL
«Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.» John 6,68

Monday, 13 July 2009
Monday of the Fifteenth week in Ordinary Time

Today the Church celebrates : St. Henry II, the Pious (973-1024), St. Eugenius, Bishop of Carthage (+505)

Book of Exodus 1:8-14.22.

Then a new king, who knew nothing of Joseph, came to power in Egypt. He said to his subjects, "Look how numerous and powerful the Israelite people are growing, more so than we ourselves! Come, let us deal shrewdly with them to stop their increase; otherwise, in time of war they too may join our enemies to fight against us, and so leave our country." Accordingly, taskmasters were set over the Israelites to oppress them with forced labor. Thus they had to build for Pharaoh the supply cities of Pithom and Raamses. Yet the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread. The Egyptians, then, dreaded the Israelites and reduced them to cruel slavery, making life bitter for them with hard work in mortar and brick and all kinds of field work--the whole cruel fate of slaves. Pharaoh then commanded all his subjects, "Throw into the river every boy that is born to the Hebrews, but you may let all the girls live."

Psalms 124(123):1-3.4-6.7-8.

A song of ascents. Of David. I Had not the LORD been with us, let Israel say,
Had not the LORD been with us, when people rose against us,
They would have swallowed us alive, for their fury blazed against us.
The waters would have engulfed us, the torrent overwhelmed us;
seething waters would have drowned us.
Blessed be the LORD, who did not leave us to be torn by their fangs.
We escaped with our lives like a bird from the fowler's snare; the snare was broken and we escaped.
Our help is the name of the LORD, the maker of heaven and earth.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 10:34-42.11:1.

Do not think that I have come to bring peace upon the earth. I have come to bring not peace but the sword. For I have come to set a man 'against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and one's enemies will be those of his household.' Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me. Whoever receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet's reward, and whoever receives a righteous man because he is righteous will receive a righteous man's reward. And whoever gives only a cup of cold water to one of these little ones to drink because he is a disciple--amen, I say to you, he will surely not lose his reward." When Jesus finished giving these commands to his twelve disciples, he went away from that place to teach and to preach in their towns.

Commentary of the day :

"Whoever gives... one of these little ones a drink because he is a disciple... will surely not lose his reward."

So «I will entrust my soul to my most faithful God» 1Pt 4,19), whom I serve here as his «ambassador» (Eph 6,20) in spite of my shortcomings - but God doesn't use the world's standards in such matters. He chose me for this job - me, one of the least of his servants (Mt 25,40) - to be his assistant. «How shall I make a return to the Lord for all the good he has done to me?» (Ps 116[115],12). But what can I say or do for God? Everything I can do comes from him...

So may God never permit me to be separated from his people «whom he formed for himself» (Is 43,21), here at the end of the earth. I pray that God will give me perseverance and allow me to be a faithful witness for him until I die. If have ever done anything worthwhile for the God I love, I ask that I might be allowed to die here for his name with these converts and slaves... I know if that were to happen, I would gain my soul along with a new body on that day we will undoubtedly rise again like the sun in the morning, like the son, Jesus Christ, our Redeemer.

My final prayer is that all of you who believe in God and respect him, whoever you may be who read this letter that Patrick, the unlearned sinner, wrote from Ireland, that none of you will ever say that I, in my ignorance, did anything for God. You must understand - because it is the truth - that it was all the gift of God. And this is my confession before I die.

July 12, 2009 Gospel

2009-07-12T21:36:00.000-07:00

DAILY GOSPEL
«Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.» John 6,68

Sunday, 12 July 2009
Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Today the Church celebrates : St. John Gualbert, Abbot (99-1073

Book of Amos 7:12-15.

To Amos, Amaziah said: "Off with you, visionary, flee to the land of Judah! There earn your bread by prophesying, but never again prophesy in Bethel; for it is the king's sanctuary and a royal temple." Amos answered Amaziah, "I was no prophet, nor have I belonged to a company of prophets; I was a shepherd and a dresser of sycamores. The LORD took me from following the flock, and said to me, Go, prophesy to my people Israel.

Psalms 85(84):9-10.11-12.13-14.

I will listen for the word of God; surely the LORD will proclaim peace To his people, to the faithful, to those who trust in him.
Near indeed is salvation for the loyal; prosperity will fill our land.
Love and truth will meet; justice and peace will kiss.
Truth will spring from the earth; justice will look down from heaven.
The LORD will surely grant abundance; our land will yield its increase.
Prosperity will march before the Lord, and good fortune will follow behind.

Letter to the Ephesians 1:3-14.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens, as he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and without blemish before him. In love he destined us for adoption to himself through Jesus Christ, in accord with the favor of his will, for the praise of the glory of his grace that he granted us in the beloved. In him we have redemption by his blood, the forgiveness of transgressions, in accord with the riches of his grace that he lavished upon us. In all wisdom and insight, he has made known to us the mystery of his will in accord with his favor that he set forth in him as a plan for the fullness of times, to sum up all things in Christ, in heaven and on earth. In him we were also chosen, destined in accord with the purpose of the one who accomplishes all things according to the intention of his will, so that we might exist for the praise of his glory, we who first hoped in Christ. In him you also, who have heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and have believed in him, were sealed with the promised holy Spirit, which is the first installment of our inheritance toward redemption as God's possession, to the praise of his glory.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark 6:7-13.

He summoned the Twelve and began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over unclean spirits. He instructed them to take nothing for the journey but a walking stick--no food, no sack, no money in their belts. They were, however, to wear sandals but not a second tunic. He said to them, "Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave from there. Whatever place does not welcome you or listen to you, leave there and shake the dust off your feet in testimony against them." So they went off and preached repentance. They drove out many demons, and they anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.

Commentary of the day :

"He began to send them out two by two"

Dearly beloved brethren, our Lord and Savior teaches us sometimes by his words and sometimes by his actions. His actions themselves are commandments, for when he does something without saying anything, he shows us how we must act. So here he is sending his disciples out two by two to preach, because there are two commandments of love: love of God and of the neighbor. The Lord sent his disciples to preach two by two to suggest to us without saying it that the person who does not have love for the other must absolutely not take on the ministry of preaching.

It is very good that he «sent them in pairs before him to every town and place he intended to visit.» (Lk 10:1) For the Lord comes after his preachers, because preaching is a prerequisite: the Lord comes to dwell in our soul when the words of exhoration have come as a forerunner and have caused us to welcome the truth in our soul. That is why Isaiah said to the preachers: «Prepare the way of the Lord! Make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God!» (Isa 40:3) And the psalmist also told them: «Prepare the way for him who rises up to the west.» (Ps 67:5 Vulgate) The Lord rises up to the west [the lying down of the sun] because in lying down in his passion, he showed himself in greater glory in his resurrection. He rose up to the lying down, because in rising, he trampled underfoot the death that he suffered. Thus, we prepare the way for him who rises up to the lying down when we preach his glory to your souls, so that when he comes after, he might enlighten them by the presence of his love.

July 11, 2009 Gospel

2009-07-11T21:35:00.000-07:00

DAILY GOSPEL
«Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.» John 6,68

Saturday, 11 July 2009
Saturday of the Fourteenth week in Ordinary Time

Today the Church celebrates : St. Benedict, Abbot (c. 480-547), Patron of Europe

Book of Genesis 49:29-32.50:15-26.

Then he gave them this charge: "Since I am about to be taken to my kindred, bury me with my fathers in the cave that lies in the field of Ephron the Hittite, the cave in the field of Machpelah, facing on Mamre, in the land of Canaan, the field that Abraham bought from Ephron the Hittite for a burial ground. There Abraham and his wife Sarah are buried, and so are Isaac and his wife Rebekah, and there, too, I buried Leah-- the field and the cave in it that had been purchased from the Hittites." Now that their father was dead, Joseph's brothers became fearful and thought, "Suppose Joseph has been nursing a grudge against us and now plans to pay us back in full for all the wrong we did him!" So they approached Joseph and said: "Before your father died, he gave us these instructions: 'You shall say to Joseph, Jacob begs you to forgive the criminal wrongdoing of your brothers, who treated you so cruelly.' Please, therefore, forgive the crime that we, the servants of your father's God, committed." When they spoke these words to him, Joseph broke into tears. Then his brothers proceeded to fling themselves down before him and said, "Let us be your slaves!" But Joseph replied to them: "Have no fear. Can I take the place of God? Even though you meant harm to me, God meant it for good, to achieve his present end, the survival of many people. Therefore have no fear. I will provide for you and for your children." By thus speaking kindly to them, he reassured them. Joseph remained in Egypt, together with his father's family. He lived a hundred and ten years. He saw Ephraim's children to the third generation, and the children of Manasseh's son Machir were also born on Joseph's knees. Joseph said to his brothers: "I am about to die. God will surely take care of you and lead you out of this land to the land that he promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob." Then, putting the sons of Israel under oath, he continued, "When God thus takes care of you, you must bring my bones up with you from this place." Joseph died at the age of a hundred and ten. He was embalmed and laid to rest in a coffin in Egypt.

Psalms 105(104):1-4.6-7.

Give thanks to the LORD, invoke his name; make known among the peoples his deeds!
Sing praise, play music; proclaim all his wondrous deeds!
Glory in his holy name; rejoice, O hearts that seek the LORD!
Rely on the mighty LORD; constantly seek his face.
You descendants of Abraham his servant, offspring of Jacob the chosen one!
The LORD is our God who rules the whole earth.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 10:24-33.

No disciple is above his teacher, no slave above his master. It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher, for the slave that he become like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more those of his household! Therefore do not be afraid of them. Nothing is concealed that will not be revealed, nor secret that will not be known. What I say to you in the darkness, speak in the light; what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna. Are not two sparrows sold for a small coin? Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father's knowledge. Even all the hairs of your head are counted. So do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. Everyone who acknowledges me before others I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father. But whoever denies me before others, I will deny before my heavenly Father.

Commentary of the day :

«What you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops»

It is not I who undertook this work, but it is Christ the Lord who commanded me to come to be with these Irish pagans for the rest of my life, if the Lord shall will it and shield me from every evil... But I do not trust myself «as long as I am in this mortal body» (2P 1:13; Rm 7:24)... I did not lead a perfect life like other believers, but I confess to my Lord and do not blush in his sight, because I am not lying; from the time when I came to know him in my youth, the love of God and fear of him increased in me, and right up until now, by God's favour, «I have kept the faith» (2Tm 4:7).

What is more, let anyone laugh and taunt if he so wishes. I am not keeping silent, nor am I hiding «the signs and wonders» (Dn 6:27) that were shown to me by the Lord many years before they happened, he who knew everything, even before the beginning of time. Thus, I should give thanks unceasingly to God, who has frequently forgive my folly and my negligence, in more than one instance, and has never been angry with me, who am placed as his helper, though I did not easily assent to what had been revealed to me, as the Spirit was urging. The Lord «took pity» on me «thousands upon thousands» of times, (Ex 20:6) because he saw within me that I was prepared to serve him... Many were trying to prevent this mission; they were talking among themselves behind my back and saying, «Why is this fellow throwing himself into danger among enemies who do not know God?» Not from malice did they say this; as I myself can testify, they perceived my rusticity. And I was not quick to recognize the grace that was then in me; I now know that I should have done so earlier.

Now I have put it frankly to my brothers and co-workers, who have believed me because of what «I have proclaimed and still proclaim» (2Co 13:2) to strengthen and reinforce your faith. I wish only that you, too, would make greater and better efforts. This will be my pride, for "a wise son makes a proud father". (Pr 10:1)

July 10, 2009

2009-07-10T21:28:00.000-07:00

DAILY GOSPEL
«Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.» John 6,68

Friday, 10 July 2009
Friday of the Fourteenth week in Ordinary Time

Today the Church celebrates : Sts. Rufina & Secunda, Virgins and Martyrs (3rd century)

Book of Genesis 46:1-7.28-30.

Israel set out with all that was his. When he arrived at Beer-sheba, he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. There God, speaking to Israel in a vision by night, called, "Jacob! Jacob!" "Here I am," he answered. Then he said: "I am God, the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for there I will make you a great nation. Not only will I go down to Egypt with you; I will also bring you back here, after Joseph has closed your eyes." So Jacob departed from Beer-sheba, and the sons of Israel put their father and their wives and children on the wagons that Pharaoh had sent for his transport. They took with them their livestock and the possessions they had acquired in the land of Canaan. Thus Jacob and all his descendants migrated to Egypt. His sons and his grandsons, his daughters and his granddaughters--all his descendants--he took with him to Egypt. Israel had sent Judah ahead to Joseph, so that he might meet him in Goshen. On his arrival in the region of Goshen, Joseph hitched the horses to his chariot and rode to meet his father Israel in Goshen. As soon as he saw him, he flung himself on his neck and wept a long time in his arms. And Israel said to Joseph, "At last I can die, now that I have seen for myself that Joseph is still alive."

Psalms 37(36):3-4.18-19.27-28.39-40.

Trust in the LORD and do good that you may dwell in the land and live secure.
Find your delight in the LORD who will give you your heart's desire.
The LORD watches over the days of the blameless; their heritage lasts forever.
They will not be disgraced when times are hard; in days of famine they will have plenty.
Turn from evil and do good, that you may inhabit the land forever.
For the LORD loves justice and does not abandon the faithful. When the unjust are destroyed, and the children of the wicked cut off,
The salvation of the just is from the LORD, their refuge in time of distress.
The LORD helps and rescues them, rescues and saves them from the wicked, because in God they take refuge.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 10:16-23.

Behold, I am sending you like sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and simple as doves. But beware of people, for they will hand you over to courts and scourge you in their synagogues, and you will be led before governors and kings for my sake as a witness before them and the pagans. When they hand you over, do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say. You will be given at that moment what you are to say. For it will not be you who speak but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. Brother will hand over brother to death, and the father his child; children will rise up against parents and have them put to death. You will be hated by all because of my name, but whoever endures to the end will be saved. When they persecute you in one town, flee to another. Amen, I say to you, you will not finish the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.

Commentary of the day :

"When they hand you over, do not worry"

Turning my thoughts in on myself and on the varied events of humble life, I must admit that hitherto the Lord has spared me tribulations which make the service of truth, justice and charity hard distasteful for so many souls... O God, how can I thank you for the kindness always shown to me wherever I went in your name, always in simple obedience, not to do my own will but yours? «What shall I render to the Lord for all the things that he has rendered to me?» (Ps 116[115],12). I know that my answer, to myself and to the Lord, is always the same: «I will take the chalice salvation, and I will call upon the name of the Lord» (v.13).

As I have already indicated in these pages: if and when the great tribulation befalls me, I must accept it willingly; and if it delays its coming a little longer, I must continue to nourish myself with the Blood of Jesus, with the addition of all those great and little tribulations which the good Lord may send me. The short Psalm 131[130] has always made, and still makes, a great impression on me: «O Lord, my heart is not lifted up, my eyes are not raised too high; I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvellous for me. But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a child quieted at its mother's breast.» Oh, how I love these words! But even if they were to lose their comfort for me towards the end of my life, Lord Jesus, you will strengthen me in my suffering. Your blood, your blood which I shall continue to drink from your chalice, that is, from your Heart, shall be for me a pledge of eternal salvation and happiness. «For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory, beyond all comparison» (2 Cor 4,17).

July 9, 2009 Gospel

2009-07-09T00:56:00.000-07:00

DAILY GOSPEL
«Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.» John 6,68

Thursday, 09 July 2009
Thursday of the Fourteenth week in Ordinary Time

Today the Church celebrates : Sts. Agostino Zhao Rong (+ 1815) and Companions, Martyrs in China

Book of Genesis 44:18-21.23-29.45:1-5.

Judah then stepped up to him and said: "I beg you, my lord, let your servant speak earnestly to my lord, and do not become angry with your servant, for you are the equal of Pharaoh. My lord asked your servants, 'Have you a father, or another brother?' So we said to my lord, 'We have an aged father, and a young brother, the child of his old age. This one's full brother is dead, and since he is the only one by that mother who is left, his father dotes on him.' Then you told your servants, 'Bring him down to me that my eyes may look on him.' But you told your servants, 'Unless your youngest brother comes back with you, you shall not come into my presence again.' When we returned to your servant our father, we reported to him the words of my lord. "Later, our father told us to come back and buy some food for the family. So we reminded him, 'We cannot go down there; only if our youngest brother is with us can we go, for we may not see the man if our youngest brother is not with us.' Then your servant our father said to us, 'As you know, my wife bore me two sons. One of them, however, disappeared, and I had to conclude that he must have been torn to pieces by wild beasts; I have not seen him since. If you now take this one away from me too, and some disaster befalls him, you will send my white head down to the nether world in grief.' Joseph could no longer control himself in the presence of all his attendants, so he cried out, "Have everyone withdraw from me!" Thus no one else was about when he made himself known to his brothers. But his sobs were so loud that the Egyptians heard him, and so the news reached Pharaoh's palace. "I am Joseph," he said to his brothers. "Is my father still in good health?" But his brothers could give him no answer, so dumbfounded were they at him. "Come closer to me," he told his brothers. When they had done so, he said: "I am your brother Joseph, whom you once sold into Egypt. But now do not be distressed, and do not reproach yourselves for having sold me here. It was really for the sake of saving lives that God sent me here ahead of you.

Psalms 105(104):16-17.18-19.20-21.

Then he called down a famine on the land, destroyed the grain that sustained them.
He had sent a man ahead of them, Joseph, sold as a slave.
They shackled his feet with chains; collared his neck in iron,
Till his prediction came to pass, and the word of the LORD proved him true.
The king sent and released him; the ruler of peoples set him free.
He made him lord over his palace, ruler over all his possessions,

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 10:7-15.

As you go, make this proclamation: 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand.' Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, drive out demons. Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give. Do not take gold or silver or copper for your belts; no sack for the journey, or a second tunic, or sandals, or walking stick. The laborer deserves his keep. Whatever town or village you enter, look for a worthy person in it, and stay there until you leave. As you enter a house, wish it peace. If the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it; if not, let your peace return to you. Whoever will not receive you or listen to your words--go outside that house or town and shake the dust from your feet. Amen, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town.

Commentary of the day :

"If the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it"

«On entering any house, first say, 'Peace to this house,'» (Lk 10:5) so that the Lord himself might enter and remain there, like with Mary... This greeting is the mystery of faith, which shines forth in the world. Through it, enmity is stifled, war is stopped, and men acknowledge one another. The effect of that greeting was hidden by a veil, in spite of the fact that the mystery of the resurrection is prefigured... when the light rises and dawn chases away the night. From the moment when Christ sent his disciples, men began to give and to receive this greeting, a source of healing and of blessing...

This greeting with its hidden power... is amply sufficient for all men. That is why Our Lord sent it together with his disciples as a forerunner, so that it might bring about peace and that, carried by the voice of the apostles, whom he sent, it might prepare the way before them. It was sown into all the houses...; it entered into all who heard it, so as to separate and to put aside its children, whom it recognized. It remained in them, but it denounced those who were foreign to it, for they did not welcome it.

This greeting of peace did not dry up; it began in the apostles and then sprang up in their brothers, revealing the Lord's inexhaustible treasures... Present in those who greeted in this way and in those who welcomed the greeting, this announcement of peace was neither diminished nor divided. It announced that the Father is near and in everyone; it revealed that the Son's mission is entirely with everyone, even if its goal is to be with his Father. It will not cease to proclaim that the images are now fulfilled and that the truth will finally chase away all shadows.

July 8, 2009 Gospel

2009-07-08T00:01:00.000-07:00

DAILY GOSPEL
«Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.» John 6,68

Wednesday, 08 July 2009
Wednesday of the Fourteenth week in Ordinary Time

Today the Church celebrates : St. Edgar the Peaceful (c.943-975)

Book of Genesis 41:55-57.42:5-7.17-24.

When hunger came to be felt throughout the land of Egypt and the people cried to Pharaoh for bread, Pharaoh directed all the Egyptians to go to Joseph and do whatever he told them. When the famine had spread throughout the land, Joseph opened all the cities that had grain and rationed it to the Egyptians, since the famine had gripped the land of Egypt. In fact, all the world came to Joseph to obtain rations of grain, for famine had gripped the whole world. Thus, since there was famine in the land of Canaan also, the sons of Israel were among those who came to procure rations. It was Joseph, as governor of the country, who dispensed the rations to all the people. When Joseph's brothers came and knelt down before him with their faces to the ground, he recognized them as soon as he saw them. But he concealed his own identity from them and spoke sternly to them. "Where do you come from?" he asked them. They answered, "From the land of Canaan, to procure food." With that, he locked them up in the guardhouse for three days. On the third day Joseph said to them: "Do this, and you shall live; for I am a God-fearing man. If you have been honest, only one of your brothers need be confined in this prison, while the rest of you may go and take home provisions for your starving families. But you must come back to me with your youngest brother. Your words will thus be verified, and you will not die." To this they agreed. To one another, however, they said: "Alas, we are being punished because of our brother. We saw the anguish of his heart when he pleaded with us, yet we paid no heed; that is why this anguish has now come upon us." "Didn't I tell you," broke in Reuben, "not to do wrong to the boy? But you wouldn't listen! Now comes the reckoning for his blood." They did not know, of course, that Joseph understood what they said, since he spoke with them through an interpreter. But turning away from them, he wept. When he was able to speak to them again, he had Simeon taken from them and bound before their eyes.

Psalms 33(32):2-3.10-11.18-19.

Give thanks to the LORD on the harp; on the ten-stringed lyre offer praise.
Sing to God a new song; skillfully play with joyful chant.
The LORD foils the plan of nations, frustrates the designs of peoples.
But the plan of the LORD stands forever, wise designs through all generations.
But the LORD'S eyes are upon the reverent, upon those who hope for his gracious help,
Delivering them from death, keeping them alive in times of famine.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 10:1-7.

Then he summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits to drive them out and to cure every disease and every illness. The names of the twelve apostles are these: first, Simon called Peter, and his brother Andrew; James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John; Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James, the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddeus; Simon the Cananean, and Judas Iscariot who betrayed him. Jesus sent out these twelve after instructing them thus, "Do not go into pagan territory or enter a Samaritan town. Go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. As you go, make this proclamation: 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand.'

Commentary of the day :

"And Judas Iscariot who betrayed him"

«Christ summoned his disciples and chose twelve of them» to send them out as sowers of the faith and to shed abroad his help and healing for humankind in all the world. Take good note of this divine plan: these were not the wise, nor the wealthy, nor those of high standing, but sinners and publicans whom he chose for sending out lest they might seem to have been drawn by natural ability, bought by riches, or drawn to his grace by the status attached to power and notoriety. This he did so that victory might come from the soundness of truth and not from the acclaim of speech.

Judas himself was chosen, not by oversight but in full knowledge of the implications. What greatness do we see in that truth that not even a traitorous servant can weaken! What a mark of our Lord's character that he should prefer, from our point of view, to compromise his judgement rather than his love! He had taken human weakness on himself and did not refuse even this aspect of human weakness. He sought to be forsaken, betrayed and delivered up by his apostle so that you, should a friend abandon you, a friend betray you, might take peacefully this error of judgement and the squandering of your goodness.

July 7, 2009 Gospel

2009-07-07T00:38:00.000-07:00

DAILY GOSPEL
«Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.» John 6,68

Tuesday, 07 July 2009
Tuesday of the Fourteenth week in Ordinary Time

Today the Church celebrates : St. Pantaenus, Father of the Church, (+ c. 216)

Book of Genesis 32:23-33.

In the course of that night, however, Jacob arose, took his two wives, with the two maidservants and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. After he had taken them across the stream and had brought over all his possessions, Jacob was left there alone. Then some man wrestled with him until the break of dawn. When the man saw that he could not prevail over him, he struck Jacob's hip at its socket, so that the hip socket was wrenched as they wrestled. The man then said, "Let me go, for it is daybreak." But Jacob said, "I will not let you go until you bless me." "What is your name?" the man asked. He answered, "Jacob." Then the man said, "You shall no longer be spoken of as Jacob, but as Israel, because you have contended with divine and human beings and have prevailed." Jacob then asked him, "Do tell me your name, please." He answered, "Why should you want to know my name?" With that, he bade him farewell. Jacob named the place Peniel, "Because I have seen God face to face," he said, "yet my life has been spared." At sunrise, as he left Penuel, Jacob limped along because of his hip. That is why, to this day, the Israelites do not eat the sciatic muscle that is on the hip socket, inasmuch as Jacob's hip socket was struck at the sciatic muscle.

Psalms 17:1.2-3.6-7.8.15.

A prayer of David. Hear, LORD, my plea for justice; pay heed to my cry; Listen to my prayer spoken without guile.
From you let my vindication come; your eyes see what is right.
You have tested my heart, searched it in the night. You have tried me by fire, but find no malice in me. My mouth has not transgressed
I call upon you; answer me, O God. Turn your ear to me; hear my prayer.
Show your wonderful love, you who deliver with your right arm those who seek refuge from their foes.
Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings
I am just--let me see your face; when I awake, let me be filled with your presence.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 9:32-38.

As they were going out, a demoniac who could not speak was brought to him, and when the demon was driven out the mute person spoke. The crowds were amazed and said, "Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel." But the Pharisees said, "He drives out demons by the prince of demons." Jesus went around to all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and curing every disease and illness. At the sight of the crowds, his heart was moved with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest."

Commentary of the day :

"Ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers"

One day I was pondering over what I could do to save souls; a phrase from the Gospel showed me a clear light: Jesus said to his disciples, pointing to the fields of ripe corn, «Look up and see the fields ripe for harvest» (Jn 4,35) and a little later, "The harvest is abundant, but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers". How mysterious it is! Is not Jesus all-powerful? Do not creatures belong to Him who made them? Why then does Jesus say: "Pray the master of the harvest to send out laborers ... "? Why? ...

Ah! Jesus has so incomprehensible a love for us, that He wants us to have a share with Him in the salvation of souls. He wants to do nothing without us. The creator of the universe waits for the prayer of a poor little soul to save other souls redeemed like itself at the price of all His blood.
Our vocation, yours and mine, is not to go harvesting in the fields of ripe corn; Jesus does not say to us; "Lower your eyes, look at the fields, and go and reap them"; our mission is still loftier. Here are Jesus' words: "Lift up your eyes and see .... " See how in my Heaven there are places empty; it is for you to fill them ... each one of you is my Moses praying on the mountain (Ex 17,8f.); ask Me for laborers and I shall send them, I await only a prayer, a sigh from your heart!

July 6, 2009 Gospel

2009-07-06T03:03:00.000-07:00

DAILY GOSPEL
«Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.» John 6,68

Monday, 06 July 2009
Monday of the Fourteenth week in Ordinary Time

Today the Church celebrates : St. Maria Goretti, Virgin and Martyr (1890-1902), St. Palladius, Bishop and Apostle of the Scots, (+ c. 450)

Book of Genesis 28:10-22.

Jacob departed from Beer-sheba and proceeded toward Haran. When he came upon a certain shrine, as the sun had already set, he stopped there for the night. Taking one of the stones at the shrine, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep at that spot. Then he had a dream: a stairway rested on the ground, with its top reaching to the heavens; and God's messengers were going up and down on it. And there was the LORD standing beside him and saying: "I, the LORD, am the God of your forefather Abraham and the God of Isaac; the land on which you are lying I will give to you and your descendants. These shall be as plentiful as the dust of the earth, and through them you shall spread out east and west, north and south. In you and your descendants all the nations of the earth shall find blessing. Know that I am with you; I will protect you wherever you go, and bring you back to this land. I will never leave you until I have done what I promised you." When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he exclaimed, "Truly, the LORD is in this spot, although I did not know it!" In solemn wonder he cried out: "How awesome is this shrine! This is nothing else but an abode of God, and that is the gateway to heaven!" Early the next morning Jacob took the stone that he had put under his head, set it up as a memorial stone, and poured oil on top of it. He called that site Bethel, whereas the former name of the town had been Luz. Jacob then made this vow: "If God remains with me, to protect me on this journey I am making and to give me enough bread to eat and clothing to wear, and I come back safe to my father's house, the LORD shall be my God. This stone that I have set up as a memorial stone shall be God's abode. Of everything you give me, I will faithfully return a tenth part to you."

Psalms 91(90):1-2.3-4.14-15.

You who dwell in the shelter of the Most High, who abide in the shadow of the Almighty,
Say to the LORD, "My refuge and fortress, my God in whom I trust."
God will rescue you from the fowler's snare, from the destroying plague,
Will shelter you with pinions, spread wings that you may take refuge; God's faithfulness is a protecting shield.
Whoever clings to me I will deliver; whoever knows my name I will set on high.
All who call upon me I will answer; I will be with them in distress; I will deliver them and give them honor.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 9:18-26.

While he was saying these things to them, an official came forward, knelt down before him, and said, "My daughter has just died. But come, lay your hand on her, and she will live." Jesus rose and followed him, and so did his disciples. A woman suffering hemorrhages for twelve years came up behind him and touched the tassel on his cloak. She said to herself, "If only I can touch his cloak, I shall be cured." Jesus turned around and saw her, and said, "Courage, daughter! Your faith has saved you." And from that hour the woman was cured. When Jesus arrived at the official's house and saw the flute players and the crowd who were making a commotion, he said, "Go away! The girl is not dead but sleeping." And they ridiculed him. When the crowd was put out, he came and took her by the hand, and the little girl arose. And news of this spread throughout all that land.

Commentary of the day :

"He came and took her by the hand, and the little girl arose"

The incorporeal and incorruptible and immaterial Word of God came to our realm, although he was not far from us before. For no part of Creation is left void of him: he has filled all things everywhere, remaining present with his own Father. But he came in condescension to show us loving-kindness and visit us... He took pity on our race, and had mercy on our infirmity, and condescended to our corruption, and, unable to bear it that death should have the mastery— lest the creature should perish, and his Father's handiwork be spent in vain — he took to himself a body no different from ours. For He did not simply will to become embodied, or will merely to appear. For if he had willed merely to appear, he would have been able to effect his divine appearance by some other and higher means as well. But he took a body of our kind...

The Word took a body capable of death so that it... might remain incorruptible because of the Word which had come to dwell in it and, from now on, all might be delivered from corruption by the grace of the Resurrection. Whence, by offering to death the body he himself had taken, as an offering and sacrifice free from stain, the Word straightway obliterated death by delivering from death all those who shared his likeness by the offering of that body like theirs.

For it is only right that the Word of God, who is above all, and who offered his own temple, his body, for the life of all, should satisfy our debt by His death. And thus he, the incorruptible Son of God, being united with all by a like nature, naturally clothed all with incorruption by the promise of the resurrection. For the actual corruption in death has no power against us any longer by reason of the Word that by has come to dwell among us in his singular body.

July 4, 2009

2009-07-06T02:54:00.000-07:00

DAILY GOSPEL
«Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.» John 6,68

Saturday, 04 July 2009
Saturday of the Thirteenth week in Ordinary Time

Today the Church celebrates : St. Elizabeth of Portugal (1271-1336)

Book of Genesis 27:1-5.15-29.

When Isaac was so old that his eyesight had failed him, he called his older son Esau and said to him, "Son!" "Yes, father!" he replied. Isaac then said, "As you can see, I am so old that I may now die at any time. Take your gear, therefore--your quiver and bow--and go out into the country to hunt some game for me. With your catch prepare an appetizing dish for me, such as I like, and bring it to me to eat, so that I may give you my special blessing before I die." Rebekah had been listening while Isaac was speaking to his son Esau. So when Esau went out into the country to hunt some game for his father, Rebekah then took the best clothes of her older son Esau that she had in the house, and gave them to her younger son Jacob to wear; and with the skins of the kids she covered up his hands and the hairless parts of his neck. Then she handed her son Jacob the appetizing dish and the bread she had prepared. Bringing them to his father, Jacob said, "Father!" "Yes?" replied Isaac. "Which of my sons are you?" Jacob answered his father: "I am Esau, your first-born. I did as you told me. Please sit up and eat some of my game, so that you may give me your special blessing." But Isaac asked, "How did you succeed so quickly, son?" He answered, "The LORD, your God, let things turn out well with me." Isaac then said to Jacob, "Come closer, son, that I may feel you, to learn whether you really are my son Esau or not." So Jacob moved up closer to his father. When Isaac felt him, he said, "Although the voice is Jacob's, the hands are Esau's." (He failed to identify him because his hands were hairy, like those of his brother Esau; so in the end he gave him his blessing.) Again he asked him, "Are you really my son Esau?" "Certainly," he replied. Then Isaac said, "Serve me your game, son, that I may eat of it and then give you my blessing." Jacob served it to him, and Isaac ate; he brought him wine, and he drank. Finally his father Isaac said to him, "Come closer, son, and kiss me." As Jacob went up and kissed him, Isaac smelled the fragrance of his clothes. With that, he blessed him, saying, "Ah, the fragrance of my son is like the fragrance of a field that the LORD has blessed! "May God give to you of the dew of the heavens And of the fertility of the earth abundance of grain and wine. "Let peoples serve you, and nations pay you homage; Be master of your brothers, and may your mother's sons bow down to you. Cursed be those who curse you, and blessed be those who bless you."

Psalms 135(134):1-2.3-4.5-6.

Hallelujah! Praise the name of the LORD! Praise, you servants of the LORD,
Who stand in the house of the LORD, in the courts of the house of our God!
Praise the LORD; the LORD is good! Sing to God's name; it is gracious!
For the LORD has chosen Jacob, Israel as a treasured possession.
I know that the LORD is great, our Lord is greater than all gods.
Whatever the LORD wishes he does in heaven and on earth, in the seas and in all the deeps.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 9:14-17.

Then the disciples of John approached him and said, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast (much), but your disciples do not fast?" Jesus answered them, "Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. No one patches an old cloak with a piece of unshrunken cloth, for its fullness pulls away from the cloak and the tear gets worse. People do not put new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise the skins burst, the wine spills out, and the skins are ruined. Rather, they pour new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved."

Commentary of the day :

Saint John of the Cross (1542-1591), Carmelite, Doctor of the Church
Living Flame of Love, st. 3, 6 (©Institute of Carmelite Studies)

"The bridegroom is with them"

When one loves and does good to another, he loves and does good to him in the measure of his own nature and properties. Thus your Bridegroom, dwelling within you, grants you favors according to his nature. Since he is omnipotent, he omnipotently loves and does good to you.

Since he is wise, you feel that he loves and does good to you with wisdom; since he is infinitely good, you feel that he loves you with goodness; since he is holy, you feel that with holiness he loves and favors you; since he is just, you feel that in justice he loves and favors you; since he is merciful, mild, and clement, you feel his mercy, mildness, and clemency; since he is a strong, sublime, and delicate being, you feel that his love for you is strong, sublime, and delicate; since he is pure and undefiled, you feel that he loves you in a pure and undefiled way; since he is truth, you feel that he loves you in truthfu1ness; since he is liberal, you feel that he liberally loves and favors you, without any personal profit, only in order to do good to you; since he is the virtue of supreme humility, he loves you with supreme humility and esteem.

He makes you his equal, gladly revealing himself to you in these ways of knowledge, in this his countenance filled with graces, and telling you in this his union, not without great rejoicing: "I am yours and for you and delighted to be what I am so as to be yours and give myself to you." Who, then, will be able to express your experience, O happy soul, since you know that you are so loved and with such esteem exalted?

July 5, 2009 Gospel

2009-07-05T03:03:00.000-07:00

DAILY GOSPEL
«Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.» John 6,68

Sunday, 05 July 2009
Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Today the Church celebrates : St. Anthony Mary Zaccaria, Priest (1502-1539)

Book of Ezekiel 2:2-5.

As he spoke to me, spirit entered into me and set me on my feet, and I heard the one who was speaking say to me: Son of man, I am sending you to the Israelites, rebels who have rebelled against me; they and their fathers have revolted against me to this very day. Hard of face and obstinate of heart are they to whom I am sending you. But you shall say to them: Thus says the Lord GOD! And whether they heed or resist--for they are a rebellious house--they shall know that a prophet has been among them.

Psalms 123:1.2.3-4.

A song of ascents. To you I raise my eyes, to you enthroned in heaven.
Yes, like the eyes of a servant on the hand of his master, Like the eyes of a maid on the hand of her mistress, So our eyes are on the LORD our God, till we are shown favor.
Show us favor, LORD, show us favor, for we have our fill of contempt.
We have our fill of insult from the insolent, of disdain from the arrogant.

Second Letter to the Corinthians 12:7-10.

because of the abundance of the revelations. Therefore, that I might not become too elated, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, an angel of Satan, to beat me, to keep me from being too elated. Three times I begged the Lord about this, that it might leave me, but he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness." I will rather boast most gladly of my weaknesses, in order that the power of Christ may dwell with me. Therefore, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and constraints, for the sake of Christ; for when I am weak, then I am strong.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark 6:1-6.

He departed from there and came to his native place, accompanied by his disciples. When the sabbath came he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished. They said, "Where did this man get all this? What kind of wisdom has been given him? What mighty deeds are wrought by his hands! Is he not the carpenter, the son of Mary, and the brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?" And they took offense at him. Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor except in his native place and among his own kin and in his own house." So he was not able to perform any mighty deed there, apart from curing a few sick people by laying his hands on them. He was amazed at their lack of faith. He went around to the villages in the vicinity teaching.

Commentary of the day :

Believing in Jesus today

Many people never stop saying - I have heard them myself - "If only we had lived in the days of the apostles, and been counted worthy to gaze upon Christ as they did, we should have become holy like them." Such people do not realize that the Christ who spoke then and the Christ who speaks now throughout the whole world is one and the same... The position now is not the same as it was then, but our situation now, in the present day, is very much better. It leads us more easily to a deeper faith and conviction than seeing and hearing him in the flesh would have done.

Then he appeared to the uncomprehending as a man of lowly station: now he is proclaimed to us as true God. Then in his body he associated with tax collectors and sinners and ate with them: now he is seated at the right hand of God the Father, and is never in any way separated from him... Then even those of lowliest condition held him in contempt. They said: «Is not this the son of Mary, and of Joseph the carpenter?» (Mk 6,3; Jn 6,42) Now kings and rulers worship him as Son of the true God, and himself true God... Then he was thought to be mortal and corruptible like the rest of humankind. He was no different in appearance from other men. The formless and invisible God, without change or alteration, assumed a human form and showed himself to be a normal human being. He ate, he drank, he slept, he sweated, and he grew weary. He did everything other people do, except that he did not sin.

For anyone to recognize him in that human body, and to believe that he was the God who made heaven and earth and everything in them was very exceptional... It is certain, therefore, that anyone who now hears Christ cry out daily through the holy gospels and proclaim the will of his blessed Father, but does not obey him with fear and trembling and keep his commandments: it is certain that such a person would have refused to believe in him then.

July 4, 2009 Gospel

2009-07-04T02:54:00.000-07:00

DAILY GOSPEL
«Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.» John 6,68

Saturday, 04 July 2009
Saturday of the Thirteenth week in Ordinary Time

Today the Church celebrates : St. Elizabeth of Portugal (1271-1336)

Book of Genesis 27:1-5.15-29.

When Isaac was so old that his eyesight had failed him, he called his older son Esau and said to him, "Son!" "Yes, father!" he replied. Isaac then said, "As you can see, I am so old that I may now die at any time. Take your gear, therefore--your quiver and bow--and go out into the country to hunt some game for me. With your catch prepare an appetizing dish for me, such as I like, and bring it to me to eat, so that I may give you my special blessing before I die." Rebekah had been listening while Isaac was speaking to his son Esau. So when Esau went out into the country to hunt some game for his father, Rebekah then took the best clothes of her older son Esau that she had in the house, and gave them to her younger son Jacob to wear; and with the skins of the kids she covered up his hands and the hairless parts of his neck. Then she handed her son Jacob the appetizing dish and the bread she had prepared. Bringing them to his father, Jacob said, "Father!" "Yes?" replied Isaac. "Which of my sons are you?" Jacob answered his father: "I am Esau, your first-born. I did as you told me. Please sit up and eat some of my game, so that you may give me your special blessing." But Isaac asked, "How did you succeed so quickly, son?" He answered, "The LORD, your God, let things turn out well with me." Isaac then said to Jacob, "Come closer, son, that I may feel you, to learn whether you really are my son Esau or not." So Jacob moved up closer to his father. When Isaac felt him, he said, "Although the voice is Jacob's, the hands are Esau's." (He failed to identify him because his hands were hairy, like those of his brother Esau; so in the end he gave him his blessing.) Again he asked him, "Are you really my son Esau?" "Certainly," he replied. Then Isaac said, "Serve me your game, son, that I may eat of it and then give you my blessing." Jacob served it to him, and Isaac ate; he brought him wine, and he drank. Finally his father Isaac said to him, "Come closer, son, and kiss me." As Jacob went up and kissed him, Isaac smelled the fragrance of his clothes. With that, he blessed him, saying, "Ah, the fragrance of my son is like the fragrance of a field that the LORD has blessed! "May God give to you of the dew of the heavens And of the fertility of the earth abundance of grain and wine. "Let peoples serve you, and nations pay you homage; Be master of your brothers, and may your mother's sons bow down to you. Cursed be those who curse you, and blessed be those who bless you."

Psalms 135(134):1-2.3-4.5-6.

Hallelujah! Praise the name of the LORD! Praise, you servants of the LORD,
Who stand in the house of the LORD, in the courts of the house of our God!
Praise the LORD; the LORD is good! Sing to God's name; it is gracious!
For the LORD has chosen Jacob, Israel as a treasured possession.
I know that the LORD is great, our Lord is greater than all gods.
Whatever the LORD wishes he does in heaven and on earth, in the seas and in all the deeps.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 9:14-17.

Then the disciples of John approached him and said, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast (much), but your disciples do not fast?" Jesus answered them, "Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. No one patches an old cloak with a piece of unshrunken cloth, for its fullness pulls away from the cloak and the tear gets worse. People do not put new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise the skins burst, the wine spills out, and the skins are ruined. Rather, they pour new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved."

Commentary of the day :

"The bridegroom is with them"

When one loves and does good to another, he loves and does good to him in the measure of his own nature and properties. Thus your Bridegroom, dwelling within you, grants you favors according to his nature. Since he is omnipotent, he omnipotently loves and does good to you.

Since he is wise, you feel that he loves and does good to you with wisdom; since he is infinitely good, you feel that he loves you with goodness; since he is holy, you feel that with holiness he loves and favors you; since he is just, you feel that in justice he loves and favors you; since he is merciful, mild, and clement, you feel his mercy, mildness, and clemency; since he is a strong, sublime, and delicate being, you feel that his love for you is strong, sublime, and delicate; since he is pure and undefiled, you feel that he loves you in a pure and undefiled way; since he is truth, you feel that he loves you in truthfu1ness; since he is liberal, you feel that he liberally loves and favors you, without any personal profit, only in order to do good to you; since he is the virtue of supreme humility, he loves you with supreme humility and esteem.

He makes you his equal, gladly revealing himself to you in these ways of knowledge, in this his countenance filled with graces, and telling you in this his union, not without great rejoicing: "I am yours and for you and delighted to be what I am so as to be yours and give myself to you." Who, then, will be able to express your experience, O happy soul, since you know that you are so loved and with such esteem exalted?

July 3, 2009 Gospel

2009-07-03T00:26:00.000-07:00

DAILY GOSPEL
«Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.» John 6,68

Friday, 03 July 2009
Saint Thomas, apostle - Feast

Today the Church celebrates : St. Thomas, Apostle

Letter to the Ephesians 2:19-22.

So then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the holy ones and members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the capstone. Through him the whole structure is held together and grows into a temple sacred in the Lord; in him you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

Psalms 117:1.2.

Praise the LORD, all you nations! Give glory, all you peoples!
The LORD'S love for us is strong; the LORD is faithful forever. Hallelujah!

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 20:24-29.

Thomas, called Didymus, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples said to him, "We have seen the Lord." But he said to them, "Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nailmarks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe." Now a week later his disciples were again inside and Thomas was with them. Jesus came, although the doors were locked, and stood in their midst and said, "Peace be with you." Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe." Thomas answered and said to him, "My Lord and my God!" Jesus said to him, "Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed."

Commentary of the day :

Saint Augustine (354-430), Bishop of Hippo (North Africa) and Doctor of the Church
Sermon 88 (©Augustinian Heritage Institute)

"Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed"

The disciples were so shaky in their faith that even though they had actually seen that he was risen, they didn't think they could believe unless they touched him. They weren't satisfied with what they could see with their eyes, unless they could stretch out their hands as well to his body, and touch the scars of his recent wounds; so that the disciple who doubted, as soon as he had touched and recognized the scars, cried out «My Lord and my God !» He had healed all the wounds of other people, and yet he showed him his own scars. Couldn't the Lord have risen without any scars? But he knew an about the wounds in the minds of his disciples, and it was to cure these that he preserved the scars in his own body.

And how did the Lord answer him when he confessed and said, «My Lord and my God?» - «Because you have seen me,» he said, you have believed. Blessed are those who do not see, and yet believe.» Who was he referring to, brothers and sisters, if not us? Not only us, of course, but also those who come after us. It wouldn't be long, after all, before he withdrew from mortal eyes in order to consolidate faith in people's minds, and whoever believed after that believed without seeing, and their faith had great merit. To acquire this faith all they stretched out was a true and loyal heart, not a groping hand as well.

July 2, 2009 Gospel

2009-07-02T00:11:00.000-07:00

DAILY GOSPEL
«Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.» John 6,68

Thursday, 02 July 2009
Thursday of the Thirteenth week in Ordinary Time

Today the Church celebrates : St. Bernardino Realino, Priest (1530-1616)

Book of Genesis 22:1-19.

Some time after these events, God put Abraham to the test. He called to him, "Abraham!" "Ready!" he replied. Then God said: "Take your son Isaac, your only one, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah. There you shall offer him up as a holocaust on a height that I will point out to you." Early the next morning Abraham saddled his donkey, took with him his son Isaac, and two of his servants as well, and with the wood that he had cut for the holocaust, set out for the place of which God had told him. On the third day Abraham got sight of the place from afar. Then he said to his servants: "Both of you stay here with the donkey, while the boy and I go on over yonder. We will worship and then come back to you." Thereupon Abraham took the wood for the holocaust and laid it on his son Isaac's shoulders, while he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two walked on together, Isaac spoke to his father Abraham. "Father!" he said. "Yes, son," he replied. Isaac continued, "Here are the fire and the wood, but where is the sheep for the holocaust?" "Son," Abraham answered, "God himself will provide the sheep for the holocaust." Then the two continued going forward. When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. Next he tied up his son Isaac, and put him on top of the wood on the altar. Then he reached out and took the knife to slaughter his son. But the LORD'S messenger called to him from heaven, "Abraham, Abraham!" "Yes, Lord," he answered. "Do not lay your hand on the boy," said the messenger. "Do not do the least thing to him. I know now how devoted you are to God, since you did not withhold from me your own beloved son." As Abraham looked about, he spied a ram caught by its horns in the thicket. So he went and took the ram and offered it up as a holocaust in place of his son. Abraham named the site Yahweh-yireh; hence people now say, "On the mountain the LORD will see." Again the LORD'S messenger called to Abraham from heaven and said: "I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that because you acted as you did in not withholding from me your beloved son, I will bless you abundantly and make your descendants as countless as the stars of the sky and the sands of the seashore; your descendants shall take possession of the gates of their enemies, and in your descendants all the nations of the earth shall find blessing--all this because you obeyed my command.' Abraham then returned to his servants, and they set out together for Beer-sheba, where Abraham made his home.

Psalms 115(113B):1-2.3-4.5-6.8-9.

Not to us, LORD, not to us but to your name give glory because of your faithfulness and love.
Why should the nations say, "Where is their God?"
Our God is in heaven; whatever God wills is done.
Their idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands.
They have mouths but do not speak, eyes but do not see.
They have ears but do not hear, noses but do not smell.
Their makers shall be like them, all who trust in them.
The house of Israel trusts in the LORD, who is their help and shield.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 9:1-8.

He entered a boat, made the crossing, and came into his own town. And there people brought to him a paralytic lying on a stretcher. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Courage, child, your sins are forgiven." At that, some of the scribes said to themselves, "This man is blaspheming." Jesus knew what they were thinking, and said, "Why do you harbor evil thoughts? Which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Rise and walk'? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins" --he then said to the paralytic, "Rise, pick up your stretcher, and go home." He rose and went home. When the crowds saw this they were struck with awe and glorified God who had given such authority to human beings.

Commentary of the day :

"The crowd glorified God who had given such authority to human beings"

The incurable paralytic was lying on his stretcher. Having exhausted medical art he was carried by his relatives to the only true physician: the physician who comes from heaven. But when he had been set down in front of him who could cure him, it was his faith that drew the Lord's attention. To demonstrate that this faith destroyed sin, Jesus at once said: «Your sins are forgiven.» Now perhaps you will say to me: «This man wanted to be cured of his sickness, so why did Christ make known to him the remission of his sins?» This was so you might learn that God sees man's heart in silence, soundlessly, and beholds the paths of all the living. For, as scripture says: «Each man's ways are plain to the Lord's sight; all their paths he surveys» (Prv 5,21)...

All the same, when Christ said: «Your sins are forgiven», he left the field open to the incredulity of those standing by; the forgiveness of sins cannot be seen by eyes of flesh. So when the paralytic rose and walked, he gave proof that Christ possesses the power of God...

Who has this power? He alone, or ourselves too? We also have it along with him. He, on his part, forgives sins because he is both man and God and Lord of the Law. But we, on our side, have received this splendid and wonderful grace from him since it was his will to give this power to humankind. For he said to the apostles: «Whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven» (Mt 18,18). And again: «Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them» (Jn 20,23).

July 1, 2009 Gospel

2009-07-01T19:10:00.000-07:00

DAILY GOSPEL
«Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.» John 6,68

Wednesday, 01 July 2009
Wednesday of the Thirteenth week in Ordinary Time

Today the Church celebrates : St. Gal, Bishop (c. 489-553)

Book of Genesis 21:5.8-20.

Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. Isaac grew, and on the day of the child's weaning, Abraham held a great feast. Sarah noticed the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham playing with her son Isaac; so she demanded of Abraham: "Drive out that slave and her son! No son of that slave is going to share the inheritance with my son Isaac!" Abraham was greatly distressed, especially on account of his son Ishmael. But God said to Abraham: "Do not be distressed about the boy or about your slave woman. Heed the demands of Sarah, no matter what she is asking of you; for it is through Isaac that descendants shall bear your name. As for the son of the slave woman, I will make a great nation of him also, since he too is your offspring." Early the next morning Abraham got some bread and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar. Then, placing the child on her back, he sent her away. As she roamed aimlessly in the wilderness of Beer-sheba, the water in the skin was used up. So she put the child down under a shrub, and then went and sat down opposite him, about a bowshot away; for she said to herself, "Let me not watch to see the child die." As she sat opposite him, he began to cry. God heard the boy's cry, and God's messenger called to Hagar from heaven: "What is the matter, Hagar? Don't be afraid; God has heard the boy's cry in this plight of his. Arise, lift up the boy and hold him by the hand; for I will make of him a great nation." Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. She went and filled the skin with water, and then let the boy drink. God was with the boy as he grew up. He lived in the wilderness and became an expert bowman,

Psalms 34(33):7-8.10-11.12-13.

In my misfortune I called, the LORD heard and saved me from all distress.
The angel of the LORD, who encamps with them, delivers all who fear God.
Fear the LORD, you holy ones; nothing is lacking to those who fear him.
The powerful grow poor and hungry, but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.
Come, children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD.
Who among you loves life, takes delight in prosperous days?

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 8:28-34.

When he came to the other side, to the territory of the Gadarenes, two demoniacs who were coming from the tombs met him. They were so savage that no one could travel by that road. They cried out, "What have you to do with us, Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the appointed time?" Some distance away a herd of many swine was feeding. The demons pleaded with him, "If you drive us out, send us into the herd of swine." And he said to them, "Go then!" They came out and entered the swine, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea where they drowned. The swineherds ran away, and when they came to the town they reported everything, including what had happened to the demoniacs. Thereupon the whole town came out to meet Jesus, and when they saw him they begged him to leave their district.

Commentary of the day :

«Let the peace of Christ control your hearts, the peace into which you were also called» (Col 3,15)

The characteristic effect produced by God and His angels in their spiritual operations is a genuine lightness of heart and spiritual joy, eliminating all the disturbing sadness engendered by the enemy, whilst his characteristic activity is to resist such lightness of heart and spiritual comfort, alleging specious reasons, subtle suggestions and sophistries without end. Spiritual comfort with no previous occasion giving rise to it comes from our Lord God alone. It is the Creator's prerogative to come into and leave the soul, to move it with inspirations of love for His Divine Majesty. "With no previous occasion" means without any preceding awareness or knowledge of anything which might induce such comfort in the soul...

It is typical of the evil spirit to transform himself into an angel of light, to go in by the devout soul's way but to come out his own way; I mean he introduces sound and pious thoughts, suited to the piety of that soul; but then, little by little, he tries to achieve his own purposes, by dragging the soul down to his secret designs and corrupt purposes.

We should pay great attention to the entire train of thought. If beginning, middle and end are wholly sound, tending to what is completely innocent, this is a sign of the good angel; but the train of thought suggested sometimes leads to something that is bad or at least distracting, or less good than what the soul had originally proposed to do; sometimes it undermines our strength of mind or disturbs us by destroying our peace and tranquillity of mind and the unperturbed condition already obtaining: these are clear signs that the thoughts come from the evil spirit, the enemy of our progress and everlasting salvation... When souls are advancing from good to better, the touch of the good angel is soft, light and gentle, like a drop of water making its way into a sponge. The touch of the evil angel is rough, accompanied by noise and disturbance, like a drop of water falling on stone.

June 30, 2009 Gospel

2009-06-30T00:01:00.000-07:00

DAILY GOSPEL
«Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.» John 6,68

Tuesday, 30 June 2009
Tuesday of the Thirteenth week in Ordinary Time

Today the Church celebrates : 1st Martyrs of Rome (+ 1st century)

Book of Genesis 19:15-29.

As dawn was breaking, the angels urged Lot on, saying, "On your way! Take with you your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away in the punishment of the city." When he hesitated, the men, by the LORD'S mercy, seized his hand and the hands of his wife and his two daughters and led them to safety outside the city. As soon as they had been brought outside, he was told: "Flee for your life! Don't look back or stop anywhere on the Plain. Get off to the hills at once, or you will be swept away." "Oh, no, my lord!" replied Lot. "You have already thought enough of your servant to do me the great kindness of intervening to save my life. But I cannot flee to the hills to keep the disaster from overtaking me, and so I shall die. Look, this town ahead is near enough to escape to. It's only a small place. Let me flee there--it's a small place, isn't it?--that my life may be saved." "Well, then," he replied, "I will also grant you the favor you now ask. I will not overthrow the town you speak of. Hurry, escape there! I cannot do anything until you arrive there." That is why the town is called Zoar. The sun was just rising over the earth as Lot arrived in Zoar; at the same time the LORD rained down sulphurous fire upon Sodom and Gomorrah (from the LORD out of heaven). He overthrew those cities and the whole Plain, together with the inhabitants of the cities and the produce of the soil. But Lot's wife looked back, and she was turned into a pillar of salt. Early the next morning Abraham went to the place where he had stood in the LORD'S presence. As he looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and the whole region of the Plain, he saw dense smoke over the land rising like fumes from a furnace. Thus it came to pass: when God destroyed the Cities of the Plain, he was mindful of Abraham by sending Lot away from the upheaval by which God overthrew the cities where Lot had been living.

Psalms 26(25):2-3.9-10.11-12.

Test me, LORD, and try me; search my heart and mind.
Your love is before my eyes; I walk guided by your faithfulness.
Do not take me away with sinners, nor my life with the violent.
Their hands carry out their schemes; their right hands are full of bribes.
But I walk without blame; redeem me, be gracious to me!

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 8:23-27.

He got into a boat and his disciples followed him. Suddenly a violent storm came up on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by waves; but he was asleep. They came and woke him, saying, "Lord, save us! We are perishing!" He said to them, "Why are you terrified, O you of little faith?" Then he got up, rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was great calm. The men were amazed and said, "What sort of man is this, whom even the winds and the sea obey?"

Commentary of the day :

"Lord, save us!"

O my God, my heart is like an immense sea, constantly tossed about by storms: may it find its peace and rest in you. You commanded the winds and the sea to be calm and they were stilled at the sound of your voice; come, still my heart's restlessness so that everything within me may be calm and peaceful and so that I may possess you, O my only good, and contemplate you, O sweet light of my eyes, free from disturbance or darkness. O my God, may my soul, set free from restless thoughts of this world, «hide under the shadow of your wings» (Ps 17[16],8). May it find its place of refreshment and peace close to you; wholly carried out of itself with joy, may it sing: «In you alone I lie down and fall peacefully asleep» (Ps 4,9).

Let it rest, I pray, my God, let it rest from the remembrance of all that lies beneath the heaven, awake to you alone, as it is written: «I sleep, but my heart keeps vigil» (Sg 5,2). O my God, my heart cannot rest in peace or safety except beneath the wings of your protection (Ps 91[90],4). Let it therefore remain in you forever and be kindled by your fire. Rising above itself, may it contemplate you and joyfully sing your praises. In the midst of all the difficulties that disturb me, may your gifts be my sweet consolation until I come to you, O my true peace.

June 29, 2009 Gospel

2009-06-29T00:01:00.000-07:00

DAILY GOSPEL
«Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.» John 6,68

Monday, 29 June 2009
Saint Peter and Saint Paul, apostles - Solemnity

Today the Church celebrates : Saints Peter and Paul - Solemnity

Acts of the Apostles 12:1-11.

About that time King Herod laid hands upon some members of the church to harm them. He had James, the brother of John, killed by the sword, and when he saw that this was pleasing to the Jews he proceeded to arrest Peter also. (It was (the) feast of Unleavened Bread.) He had him taken into custody and put in prison under the guard of four squads of four soldiers each. He intended to bring him before the people after Passover. Peter thus was being kept in prison, but prayer by the church was fervently being made to God on his behalf. On the very night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter, secured by double chains, was sleeping between two soldiers, while outside the door guards kept watch on the prison. Suddenly the angel of the Lord stood by him and a light shone in the cell. He tapped Peter on the side and awakened him, saying, "Get up quickly." The chains fell from his wrists. The angel said to him, "Put on your belt and your sandals." He did so. Then he said to him, "Put on your cloak and follow me." So he followed him out, not realizing that what was happening through the angel was real; he thought he was seeing a vision. They passed the first guard, then the second, and came to the iron gate leading out to the city, which opened for them by itself. They emerged and made their way down an alley, and suddenly the angel left him. Then Peter recovered his senses and said, "Now I know for certain that (the) Lord sent his angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people had been expecting."

Psalms 34(33):2-3.4-5.6-7.8-9.

I will bless the LORD at all times; praise shall be always in my mouth.
My soul will glory in the LORD that the poor may hear and be glad.
Magnify the LORD with me; let us exalt his name together.
I sought the LORD, who answered me, delivered me from all my fears.
Look to God that you may be radiant with joy and your faces may not blush for shame.
In my misfortune I called, the LORD heard and saved me from all distress.
The angel of the LORD, who encamps with them, delivers all who fear God.
Learn to savor how good the LORD is; happy are those who take refuge in him.

Second Letter to Timothy 4:6-8.17-18.

For I am already being poured out like a libation, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith. From now on the crown of righteousness awaits me, which the Lord, the just judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me, but to all who have longed for his appearance. But the Lord stood by me and gave me strength, so that through me the proclamation might be completed and all the Gentiles might hear it. And I was rescued from the lion's mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil threat and will bring me safe to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory forever and ever. Amen.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 16:13-19.

When Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" They replied, "Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets." He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter said in reply, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God." Jesus said to him in reply, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."

Commentary of the day :

«I have prayed that your faith may not fail; and once you have turned back, you must strengthen your brothers » (Lk 22,32)

Christ the Mediator «committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth» (1Pt 2,22). How could I venture to draw near him, I who am a sinner, a grievous sinner whose sins are more numerous than the sands of the sea? He is all that is most pure, I am all that is most impure...This is the reason why God has given me these apostles, men and sinners – very grievous sinners – who learnt for themselves, through their own experience, how merciful they should be to others. Guilty themselves of great offences, they will grant a ready pardon to great offences and repay us according to the measure meted out to them (Lk 6,38).

The apostle Peter committed a very great sin, possibly the greatest of all. He received a forgiveness for it that was as swift as it was ready, even to not losing anything of the privilege of his primacy. And Paul, who unleashed unrestrained aggression against the newborn Church, was brought to faith at the call of God's Son himself. In return for so many evils he was filled with such great blessings that he became «a chosen instrument to carry the Lord's name before Gentiles, kings and Israelites» (Acts 9,15)...

Peter and Paul are our teachers: they learned the way of life fully from the one Teacher of all and continue to teach us today.

June 28, 2009 Gospel

2009-06-28T18:29:00.000-07:00

DAILY GOSPEL
«Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.» John 6,68

Sunday, 28 June 2009
Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Today the Church celebrates : St. Irenaeus, Bishop and Martyr (+ 202)

Book of Wisdom 1:13-15.2:23-24.

Because God did not make death, nor does he rejoice in the destruction of the living. For he fashioned all things that they might have being; and the creatures of the world are wholesome, And there is not a destructive drug among them nor any domain of the nether world on earth, For justice is undying. For God formed man to be imperishable; the image of his own nature he made him. But by the envy of the devil, death entered the world, and they who are in his possession experience it.

Psalms 30:2.4.5-6.11.12.13.

I praise you, LORD, for you raised me up and did not let my enemies rejoice over me.
LORD, you brought me up from Sheol; you kept me from going down to the pit.
Sing praise to the LORD, you faithful; give thanks to God's holy name.
For divine anger lasts but a moment; divine favor lasts a lifetime. At dusk weeping comes for the night; but at dawn there is rejoicing.
Hear, O LORD, have mercy on me; LORD, be my helper."
You changed my mourning into dancing; you took off my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness.
With my whole being I sing endless praise to you. O LORD, my God, forever will I give you thanks.

Second Letter to the Corinthians 8:7.9.13-15.

Now as you excel in every respect, in faith, discourse, knowledge, all earnestness, and in the love we have for you, may you excel in this gracious act also. For you know the gracious act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that for your sake he became poor although he was rich, so that by his poverty you might become rich. not that others should have relief while you are burdened, but that as a matter of equality your surplus at the present time should supply their needs, so that their surplus may also supply your needs, that there may be equality. As it is written: "Whoever had much did not have more, and whoever had little did not have less."

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark 5:21-43.

When Jesus had crossed again (in the boat) to the other side, a large crowd gathered around him, and he stayed close to the sea. One of the synagogue officials, named Jairus, came forward. Seeing him he fell at his feet and pleaded earnestly with him, saying, "My daughter is at the point of death. Please, come lay your hands on her that she may get well and live." He went off with him, and a large crowd followed him and pressed upon him. There was a woman afflicted with hemorrhages for twelve years. She had suffered greatly at the hands of many doctors and had spent all that she had. Yet she was not helped but only grew worse. She had heard about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak. She said, "If I but touch his clothes, I shall be cured." Immediately her flow of blood dried up. She felt in her body that she was healed of her affliction. Jesus, aware at once that power had gone out from him, turned around in the crowd and asked, "Who has touched my clothes?" But his disciples said to him, "You see how the crowd is pressing upon you, and yet you ask, 'Who touched me?'" And he looked around to see who had done it. The woman, realizing what had happened to her, approached in fear and trembling. She fell down before Jesus and told him the whole truth. He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has saved you. Go in peace and be cured of your affliction." While he was still speaking, people from the synagogue official's house arrived and said, "Your daughter has died; why trouble the teacher any longer?" Disregarding the message that was reported, Jesus said to the synagogue official, "Do not be afraid; just have faith." He did not allow anyone to accompany him inside except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James. When they arrived at the house of the synagogue official, he caught sight of a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. So he went in and said to them, "Why this commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but asleep." And they ridiculed him. Then he put them all out. He took along the child's father and mother and those who were with him and entered the room where the child was. He took the child by the hand and said to her, "Talitha koum," which means, "Little girl, I say to you, arise!" The girl, a child of twelve, arose immediately and walked around. (At that) they were utterly astounded. He gave strict orders that no one should know this and said that she should be given something to eat.

Commentary of the day :

"The child is not dead but asleep"

Every gospel reading, Beloved, is most helpful both for our present life and for the attainment of the life to come. Today's reading, however, sums up the whole of our hope, banishing all grounds for despair. Let us consider the synagogue official who took Christ to his daughter and in so doing gave the woman with a hemorrhage an opportunity to approach him... Christ could foresee the future and he knew this woman would approach him. Through her the Jewish official was to learn that there is no need to move God to another place, take him on a journey, or attract him by a physical presence. One must only believe that he is present in the whole of his being always and everywhere, and that he can do all things effortlessly by a simple command; that far from depriving us of strength, he gives it; that he puts death to flight by a word of command rather than by physical touch, and gives life by his mere bidding, without need of any art...

So when Christ reached the house and saw the mourners lamenting as though the girl were dead, he declared that she was not dead but sleeping, in order to move their unbelieving minds to faith and convince them that one can rise from death more easily than from sleep. «The girl is not dead,» he told them, «but asleep.»

And indeed, for God death is nothing but sleep, since he can raise the dead to life more quickly than we can rouse a sleeper... Listen to the Apostle Paul: «In an instant, in the twinkling of an eye, the dead will rise» (1Cor 15,52)... How could he explain its swiftness verbally when divine power outstrips the very notion of swiftness? How could time enter the picture when an eternal gift is given outside of time?

June 27, 2009 Gospel

2009-06-27T18:28:00.000-07:00

DAILY GOSPEL
«Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.» John 6,68

Saturday, 27 June 2009
Saturday of the Twelfth week in Ordinary Time

Today the Church celebrates : , , St. Cyril of Alexandria, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (+ 444), St. Lasdilas, King (1041-1095)

Book of Genesis 18:1-15.

The LORD appeared to Abraham by the terebinth of Mamre, as he sat in the entrance of his tent, while the day was growing hot. Looking up, he saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he ran from the entrance of the tent to greet them; and bowing to the ground, he said: "Sir, if I may ask you this favor, please do not go on past your servant. Let some water be brought, that you may bathe your feet, and then rest yourselves under the tree. Now that you have come this close to your servant, let me bring you a little food, that you may refresh yourselves; and afterward you may go on your way." "Very well," they replied, "do as you have said." Abraham hastened into the tent and told Sarah, "Quick, three seahs of fine flour! Knead it and make rolls." He ran to the herd, picked out a tender, choice steer, and gave it to a servant, who quickly prepared it. Then he got some curds and milk, as well as the steer that had been prepared, and set these before them; and he waited on them under the tree while they ate. "Where is your wife Sarah?" they asked him. "There in the tent," he replied. One of them said, "I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah will then have a son." Sarah was listening at the entrance of the tent, just behind him. Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in years, and Sarah had stopped having her womanly periods. So Sarah laughed to herself and said, "Now that I am so withered and my husband is so old, am I still to have sexual pleasure?" But the LORD said to Abraham: "Why did Sarah laugh and say, 'Shall I really bear a child, old as I am?' Is anything too marvelous for the LORD to do? At the appointed time, about this time next year, I will return to you, and Sarah will have a son." Because she was afraid, Sarah dissembled, saying, "I didn't laugh." But he said, "Yes you did."

Lk 1:46-47.48-49.50.53.54-55.

And Mary said: "My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;
my spirit rejoices in God my savior.
For he has looked upon his handmaid's lowliness; behold, from now on will all ages call me blessed.
The Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name.
His mercy is from age to age to those who fear him.
The hungry he has filled with good things; the rich he has sent away empty.
He has helped Israel his servant, remembering his mercy,
according to his promise to our fathers, to Abraham and to his descendants forever."

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 8:5-17.

When he entered Capernaum, a centurion approached him and appealed to him, saying, "Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, suffering dreadfully." He said to him, "I will come and cure him." The centurion said in reply, "Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof; only say the word and my servant will be healed. For I too am a person subject to authority, with soldiers subject to me. And I say to one, 'Go,' and he goes; and to another, 'Come here,' and he comes; and to my slave, 'Do this,' and he does it." When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, "Amen, I say to you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith. I say to you, many will come from the east and the west, and will recline with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the banquet in the kingdom of heaven, but the children of the kingdom will be driven out into the outer darkness, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth." And Jesus said to the centurion, "You may go; as you have believed, let it be done for you." And at that very hour (his) servant was healed. Jesus entered the house of Peter, and saw his mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever. He touched her hand, the fever left her, and she rose and waited on him. When it was evening, they brought him many who were possessed by demons, and he drove out the spirits by a word and cured all the sick, to fulfill what had been said by Isaiah the prophet: "He took away our infirmities and bore our diseases."

Commentary of the day :

"Many will come from the east and the west, and will recline... at the banquet in the kingdom of heaven"

I have seen our Lord in the Gospel accomplish many miracles and, reassured by them, have strengthened my fearful words. I have seen the centurion throw himself at the Lord's feet, nations send their firstfruits to Christ. The cross has not yet been erected and already pagans hasten towards their master. The words «Go, teach all nations» have not yet been heard (Mt 28,19) but the nations are already hastening. Their race precedes their call, they are burning with desire for the Lord. The sound of preaching has not yet been heard but they are hurrying towards the one who preaches. Peter... has now been instructed and they gather around the one who is teaching him; the light of Paul has not yet blazed beneath Christ's standard and nations are coming with incense to adore the king (Mt 2,11).

And now, see how a centurion begs him and says to him: «Lord, my servant is lying at home paralysed, suffering dreadfully». Here is a new miracle indeed! The servant whose limbs are paralysed leads his master to the Lord; the slaves' sickness gives health to his owner. Seeking his servant's healing he finds our Lord; and while he is seeking out his slave's cure he becomes Christ's conquest.

June 26, 2009

2009-06-26T03:06:00.000-07:00

DAILY GOSPEL
«Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.» John 6,68

Friday, 26 June 2009
Friday of the Twelfth week in Ordinary Time

Today the Church celebrates : St. Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer - Priest, Founder of Opus Dei - (1902-1975), SS. John and Paul, Martyrs

Book of Genesis 17:1.9-10.15-22.

When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said: "I am God the Almighty. Walk in my presence and be blameless. God also said to Abraham: "On your part, you and your descendants after you must keep my covenant throughout the ages. This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you that you must keep: every male among you shall be circumcised. God further said to Abraham: "As for your wife Sarai, do not call her Sarai; her name shall be Sarah. I will bless her, and I will give you a son by her. Him also will I bless; he shall give rise to nations, and rulers of peoples shall issue from him." Abraham prostrated himself and laughed as he said to himself, "Can a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Or can Sarah give birth at ninety?" Then Abraham said to God, "Let but Ishmael live on by your favor!" God replied: "Nevertheless, your wife Sarah is to bear you a son, and you shall call him Isaac. I will maintain my covenant with him as an everlasting pact, to be his God and the God of his descendants after him. As for Ishmael, I am heeding you: I hereby bless him. I will make him fertile and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall become the father of twelve chieftains, and I will make of him a great nation. But my covenant I will maintain with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you by this time next year." When he had finished speaking with him, God departed from Abraham.

Psalms 128(127):1-2.3.4-5.

A song of ascents. Happy are all who fear the LORD, who walk in the ways of God.
What your hands provide you will enjoy; you will be happy and prosper:
Like a fruitful vine your wife within your home, Like olive plants your children around your table.
Just so will they be blessed who fear the LORD.
May the LORD bless you from Zion, all the days of your life That you may share Jerusalem's joy

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 8:1-4.

When Jesus came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him. And then a leper approached, did him homage, and said, "Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean." He stretched out his hand, touched him, and said, "I will do it. Be made clean." His leprosy was cleansed immediately. Then Jesus said to him, "See that you tell no one, but go show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses prescribed; that will be proof for them."

Commentary of the day :

"I will do it. Be made clean"

Like action, suffering [in all its forms] is a part of our human existence. Suffering stems partly from our finitude, and partly from the mass of sin which has accumulated over the course of history, and continues to grow unabated today.

Certainly we must do whatever we can to reduce suffering: to avoid as far as possible the suffering of the innocent; to soothe pain; to give assistance in overcoming mental suffering. These are obligations both in justice and in love, and they are included among the fundamental requirements of the Christian life and every truly human life. Great progress has been made in the battle against physical pain; yet the sufferings of the innocent and mental suffering have, if anything, increased in recent decades.

Indeed, we must do all we can to overcome suffering, but to banish it from the world altogether is not in our power. This is simply because we are unable to shake off our finitude and because none of us is capable of eliminating the power of evil, of sin which, as we plainly see, is a constant source of suffering. Only God is able to do this: only a God who personally enters history by making himself man and suffering within history. We know that this God exists, and hence that this power to «take away the sin of the world» (Jn 1:29) is present in the world. Through faith in the existence of this power, hope for the world's healing has emerged in history.

June 25, 2009

2009-06-25T00:01:00.000-07:00

DAILY GOSPEL
«Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.» John 6,68

Thursday, 25 June 2009
Thursday of the Twelfth week in Ordinary Time

Today the Church celebrates : St. William of Vercelli

Book of Genesis 16:1-12.15-16.

Abram's wife Sarai had borne him no children. She had, however, an Egyptian maidservant named Hagar. Sarai said to Abram: "The LORD has kept me from bearing children. Have intercourse, then, with my maid; perhaps I shall have sons through her." Abram heeded Sarai's request. Thus, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, his wife Sarai took her maid, Hagar the Egyptian, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his concubine. He had intercourse with her, and she became pregnant. When she became aware of her pregnancy, she looked on her mistress with disdain. So Sarai said to Abram: "You are responsible for this outrage against me. I myself gave my maid to your embrace; but ever since she became aware of her pregnancy, she has been looking on me with disdain. May the LORD decide between you and me!" Abram told Sarai: "Your maid is in your power. Do to her whatever you please." Sarai then abused her so much that Hagar ran away from her. The LORD'S messenger found her by a spring in the wilderness, the spring on the road to Shur, and he asked, "Hagar, maid of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?" She answered, "I am running away from my mistress, Sarai." But the LORD'S messenger told her: "Go back to your mistress and submit to her abusive treatment. I will make your descendants so numerous," added the LORD'S messenger, "that they will be too many to count. Besides," the LORD'S messenger said to her: "You are now pregnant and shall bear a son; you shall name him Ishmael, For the LORD has heard you, God has answered you. He shall be a wild ass of a man, his hand against everyone, and everyone's hand against him; In opposition to all his kin shall he encamp." Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram named the son whom Hagar bore him Ishmael. Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore him Ishmael.

Psalms 106(105):1-2.3-4.5.

Hallelujah! Give thanks to the LORD, who is good, whose love endures forever.
Who can tell the mighty deeds of the LORD, proclaim in full God's praise?
Happy those who do what is right, whose deeds are always just.
Remember me, LORD, as you favor your people; come to me with your saving help,
That I may see the prosperity of your chosen, rejoice in the joy of your people, and glory with your heritage.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 7:21-29.

Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? Did we not drive out demons in your name? Did we not do mighty deeds in your name?' Then I will declare to them solemnly, 'I never knew you. Depart from me, you evildoers.' Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock. And everyone who listens to these words of mine but does not act on them will be like a fool who built his house on sand. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. And it collapsed and was completely ruined." When Jesus finished these words, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as their scribes.

Commentary of the day :

"To enter the kingdom of heaven... you must do the will of my Father "

What can be sweeter to us, dearest brethren, than this voice of our Lord inviting us? Behold in his loving mercy the Lord shows us the way of life... And, if we wish to dwell in the tabernacle of his kingdom, unless we run there with good deeds we shall not arrive. But let us ask the Lord with the prophet: «O Lord, who shall sojourn in your tent? Who shall dwell on your holy mountain?» (Ps 15,1). Then, brethren, let us hear the Lord answering and showing us the way to that tabernacle and saying: «He who walks blamelessly and does justice; who thinks the truth in his heart..., who harms not his fellow man, nor takes up a reproach against his neighbor» (vv.2-3)...

Such men as these, fearing the Lord, are not puffed up on account of their good works, but judging that they can do no good of themselves and that all comes from God...: «Not to us, Lord, not to us but to your name give the glory» (Ps 115[114b],1). So the apostle Paul imputed nothing of his preaching to himself, but said: «By the grace of God I am what I am» (1Cor 15,10)...

Wherefore the Lord also says in the Gospel: «Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. But it did not collapse; it had been solidly set on rock». Having given us these instructions, the Lord daily expects us to make our lives correspond with his holy admonitions. And the days of our lives are lengthened and a respite allowed us for this very reason, that we may amend our evil ways. For the Apostle says: «Are you unaware that the kindness of God would lead you to repentance?» (Rm 2,4). For the merciful Lord says: «Do I not rather rejoice when the wicked turns from his evil way that he may live?» (Ez 18,23).

June 24, 2009 Gospel

2009-06-24T00:01:00.000-07:00

DAILY GOSPEL
«Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.» John 6,68

Wednesday, 24 June 2009
The Nativity of Saint John the Baptist - Solemnity

Today the Church celebrates : The Nativity of St. John the Baptist - Solemnity

Book of Isaiah 49:1-6.

Hear me, O coastlands, listen, O distant peoples. The LORD called me from birth, from my mother's womb he gave me my name. He made of me a sharp-edged sword and concealed me in the shadow of his arm. He made me a polished arrow, in his quiver he hid me. You are my servant, he said to me, Israel, through whom I show my glory. Though I thought I had toiled in vain, and for nothing, uselessly, spent my strength, Yet my reward is with the LORD, my recompense is with my God. For now the LORD has spoken who formed me as his servant from the womb, That Jacob may be brought back to him and Israel gathered to him; And I am made glorious in the sight of the LORD, and my God is now my strength! It is too little, he says, for you to be my servant, to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and restore the survivors of Israel; I will make you a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.

Psalms 139(138):1-3.13-14.15.

For the leader. A psalm of David. I LORD, you have probed me, you know me:
you know when I sit and stand; you understand my thoughts from afar.
My travels and my rest you mark; with all my ways you are familiar.
You formed my inmost being; you knit me in my mother's womb.
I praise you, so wonderfully you made me; wonderful are your works! My very self you knew;
my bones were not hidden from you, When I was being made in secret, fashioned as in the depths of the earth.

Acts of the Apostles 13:22-26.

Then he removed him and raised up David as their king; of him he testified, 'I have found David, son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will carry out my every wish.' From this man's descendants God, according to his promise, has brought to Israel a savior, Jesus. John heralded his coming by proclaiming a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel; and as John was completing his course, he would say, 'What do you suppose that I am? I am not he. Behold, one is coming after me; I am not worthy to unfasten the sandals of his feet.' "My brothers, children of the family of Abraham, and those others among you who are God-fearing, to us this word of salvation has been sent.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 1:57-66.80.

When the time arrived for Elizabeth to have her child she gave birth to a son. Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown his great mercy toward her, and they rejoiced with her. When they came on the eighth day to circumcise the child, they were going to call him Zechariah after his father, but his mother said in reply, "No. He will be called John." But they answered her, "There is no one among your relatives who has this name." So they made signs, asking his father what he wished him to be called. He asked for a tablet and wrote, "John is his name," and all were amazed. Immediately his mouth was opened, his tongue freed, and he spoke blessing God. Then fear came upon all their neighbors, and all these matters were discussed throughout the hill country of Judea. All who heard these things took them to heart, saying, "What, then, will this child be?" For surely the hand of the Lord was with him. The child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the desert until the day of his manifestation to Israel.

Commentary of the day :

"John was not the light but came to testify to the light" (Jn 1,8)

The fact that John's birth is commemorated when the days begin to shorten and the Savior's when they begin to lengthen indicates a symbolic meaning. And indeed, John himself disclosed the hidden significance of this difference between them. The crowds were taking him to be the Christ on account of his outstanding virtues, whereas some were thinking of the Lord, not as Christ, but as a prophet because of the weakness of his bodily state. So John said: «He must increase, I must decrease» (Jn 3,30). Our Lord certainly increased since, while they were looking on him as a prophet, he made known to all believers in the whole world that he was the Christ. John decreased and grew less in that he who was taken for the Christ came to be seen, not as the Christ, but as the one who proclaimed the Christ.

And so it is natural that daylight begins to decrease after John's birth because his reputation for divinity is going to vanish and his baptism will soon disappear. It is equally natural that the brightness of the shortest days begins to increase following our Lord's birth: for, in truth, he came to earth to reveal the light of his knowledge to all the pagans, of which formerly only the Jews had possessed a part, and to shed abroad the fire of his love through all the earth.

June 23, 2009 Gospel

2009-06-23T00:01:00.000-07:00

DAILY GOSPEL
«Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.» John 6,68

Tuesday, 23 June 2009
Tuesday of the Twelfth week in Ordinary Time

Today the Church celebrates : St. Etheldreda, abbess (7th century)

Book of Genesis 13:2.5-18.

Now Abram was very rich in livestock, silver, and gold. Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents, so that the land could not support them if they stayed together; their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together. There were quarrels between the herdsmen of Abram's livestock and those of Lot's. (At this time the Canaanites and the Perizzites were occupying the land.) So Abram said to Lot: "Let there be no strife between you and me, or between your herdsmen and mine, for we are kinsmen. Is not the whole land at your disposal? Please separate from me. If you prefer the left, I will go to the right; if you prefer the right, I will go to the left." Lot looked about and saw how well watered the whole Jordan Plain was as far as Zoar, like the LORD'S own garden, or like Egypt. (This was before the LORD had destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.) Lot, therefore, chose for himself the whole Jordan Plain and set out eastward. Thus they separated from each other; Abram stayed in the land of Canaan, while Lot settled among the cities of the Plain, pitching his tents near Sodom. Now the inhabitants of Sodom were very wicked in the sins they committed against the LORD. After Lot had left, the LORD said to Abram: "Look about you, and from where you are, gaze to the north and south, east and west; all the land that you see I will give to you and your descendants forever. I will make your descendants like the dust of the earth; if anyone could count the dust of the earth, your descendants too might be counted. Set forth and walk about in the land, through its length and breadth, for to you I will give it." Abram moved his tents and went on to settle near the terebinth of Mamre, which is at Hebron. There he built an altar to the LORD.

Psalms 15:2.3-4.5.

Whoever walks without blame, doing what is right, speaking truth from the heart;
Who does not slander a neighbor, does no harm to another, never defames a friend;
Who disdains the wicked, but honors those who fear the LORD; Who keeps an oath despite the cost,
lends no money at interest, accepts no bribe against the innocent. III Whoever acts like this shall never be shaken.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 7:6.12-14.

Do not give what is holy to dogs, or throw your pearls before swine, lest they trample them underfoot, and turn and tear you to pieces. Do to others whatever you would have them do to you. This is the law and the prophets. Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction, and those who enter through it are many. How narrow the gate and constricted the road that leads to life. And those who find it are few.

Commentary of the day :

"The road that leads to life"

This, beloved, is the way in which we found our salvation, Jesus Christ, the High Priest who offers our gifts, the patron and helper in our weakness (Heb 10,20; 7,27; 4,15). It is through him that we look straight at the heavens above. Through him we see mirrored God's faultless and transcendent countenance. Through him the eyes of our heart were opened. Through him our unintelligent and darkened mind shoots up into the light. Through him the Master was pleased to let us taste the knowledge that never fades; he who is «the radiance of his splendor, who towers as much above the angels as the title he has inherited is superior to theirs» (He 1,3-4)...

Let us take our body. The head is nothing without the feet, and the feet are nothing without the head. The smallest organs of our body are necessary and valuable to the whole body; in fact, all parts conspire and yield the same obedience toward maintaining the whole of the body (cf.1Co 12,12f.). Therefore let the whole of our body be maintained in Christ Jesus, and let each submit to their neighbor's rights in the measure determined by the special gift bestowed on them. Let the strong care for the weak, and the weak respect the strong; let the rich support the poor, and the poor render thanks to God for giving them the means of supplying their needs; let the wise show their wisdom not in words but in active help; the humble must not testify to themselves, but leave it to another to testify in their behalf. Those who are continent must not boast, knowing that it is another who confers on them the ability to remain continent.

Let us therefore reflect, brethren, of what clay we were made, what and who we were when we entered the world, out of what grave and darkness our Maker and Creator has brought us into the world, where he has prepared his benefits before our birth. Since, then, we owe all these blessings to him, we are obliged to thank him in every way.

June 22, 2009 Gospel

2009-06-22T02:54:00.000-07:00

DAILY GOSPEL
«Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.» John 6,68

Monday, 22 June 2009
Monday of the Twelfth week in Ordinary Time

Today the Church celebrates : St. Thomas More, St. John Fisher, Bishop and Martyr (1459-1535)

Book of Genesis 12:1-9.

The LORD said to Abram: "Go forth from the land of your kinsfolk and from your father's house to a land that I will show you. "I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you. All the communities of the earth shall find blessing in you." Abram went as the LORD directed him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran. Abram took his wife Sarai, his brother's son Lot, all the possessions that they had accumulated, and the persons they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of Canaan, Abram passed through the land as far as the sacred place at Shechem, by the terebinth of Moreh. (The Canaanites were then in the land.) The LORD appeared to Abram and said, "To your descendants I will give this land." So Abram built an altar there to the LORD who had appeared to him. From there he moved on to the hill country east of Bethel, pitching his tent with Bethel to the west and Ai to the east. He built an altar there to the LORD and invoked the LORD by name. Then Abram journeyed on by stages to the Negeb.

Psalms 33(32):12-13.18-19.20.22.

Happy the nation whose God is the LORD, the people chosen as his very own.
From heaven the LORD looks down and observes the whole human race,
But the LORD'S eyes are upon the reverent, upon those who hope for his gracious help,
Delivering them from death, keeping them alive in times of famine.
Our soul waits for the LORD, who is our help and shield.
May your kindness, LORD, be upon us; we have put our hope in you.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 7:1-5.

Stop judging, that you may not be judged. For as you judge, so will you be judged, and the measure with which you measure will be measured out to you. Why do you notice the splinter in your brother's eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me remove that splinter from your eye,' while the wooden beam is in your eye? You hypocrite, remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter from your brother's eye.

Copyright © Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, USCCB

Commentary of the day :

"Why do you not perceive the wooden beam in your own eye?"

If people would only be humble about their own shortcomings, how little it takes to disarm ill-feeling, how little it costs to put things right! It's humble people God protects and preserves, God loves and comforts; he stoops down and gives his grace lavishly, raising the humble to heights of glory, as soon as neglect has done its work. Such a one he chooses for his confidant, beckons to him gently and calls him apart. Only a humble person takes it calmly when put to the blush; what does it matter? It is God, not the world, that gives him countenance. Never think that you have made any progress, till you have learned to regard all as your betters.

Peace in your own soul first of all, then you can think about making peace between other people. Peaceable folk do more good than learned folk do. When someone is at the mercy of their own feelings, they misinterprets the most innocent actions, always ready to believe the worst; whereas the peaceable see good everywhere; at peace in themselves, they aren't suspicious of others. It's when you become discontented and unbalanced that your mind is torn by suspicions; there is no rest for you, no rest for those around you. You are always saying the wrong thing, and missing your chance of doing the right thing; you are jealous about your rights, and forget that you have duties. If you will begin by having a high standard yourself then you can afford to have a high standard for other people.

June 21, 2009 Gospel

2009-06-21T02:53:00.000-07:00

DAILY GOSPEL
«Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.» John 6,68

Sunday, 21 June 2009
Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Today the Church celebrates : St. Aloysius Gonzaga

Book of Job 38:1.8-11.

Then the LORD addressed Job out of the storm and said: And who shut within doors the sea, when it burst forth from the womb; When I made the clouds its garment and thick darkness its swaddling bands? When I set limits for it and fastened the bar of its door, And said: Thus far shall you come but no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stilled!

Psalms 107(106):23-24.25-26.28-29.30-31.

Some went off to sea in ships, plied their trade on the deep waters.
They saw the works of the LORD, the wonders of God in the deep.
He spoke and roused a storm wind; it tossed the waves on high.
They rose up to the heavens, sank to the depths; their hearts trembled at the danger.
In their distress they cried to the LORD, who brought them out of their peril,
Hushed the storm to a murmur; the waves of the sea were stilled.
They rejoiced that the sea grew calm, that God brought them to the harbor they longed for.
Let them thank the LORD for such kindness, such wondrous deeds for mere mortals.

Second Letter to the Corinthians 5:14-17.

For the love of Christ impels us, once we have come to the conviction that one died for all; therefore, all have died. He indeed died for all, so that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. Consequently, from now on we regard no one according to the flesh; even if we once knew Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know him so no longer. So whoever is in Christ is a new creation: the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark 4:35-41.

On that day, as evening drew on, he said to them, "Let us cross to the other side." Leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat just as he was. And other boats were with him. A violent squall came up and waves were breaking over the boat, so that it was already filling up. Jesus was in the stern, asleep on a cushion. They woke him and said to him, "Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?" He woke up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Quiet! Be still!" The wind ceased and there was great calm. Then he asked them, "Why are you terrified? Do you not yet have faith?" They were filled with great awe and said to one another, "Who then is this whom even wind and sea obey?"

Commentary of the day :

"Who then is this whom even wind and sea obey?"

Creation is the foundation of "all God's saving plans," the "beginning of the history of salvation" that culminates in Christ. Conversely, the mystery of Christ casts conclusive light on the mystery of creation and reveals the end for which "in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth"(Gn 1,1): from the beginning, God envisaged the glory of the new creation in Christ (Rm 8,18-23)...

The revelation of creation is inseparable from the revelation and forging of the covenant of the one God with his People. Creation is revealed as the first step towards this covenant, the first and universal witness to God's all-powerful love...

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth"... "In the beginning was the Word. . . and the Word was God. . . all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made" (Jn 1,1-3). The New Testament reveals that God created everything by the eternal Word, his beloved Son. In him "all things were created, in heaven and on earth.. . all things were created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together" (Col 1,16-17). The Church's faith likewise confesses the creative action of the Holy Spirit, the "giver of life", "the Creator Spirit", the "source of every good". The Old Testament suggests and the New Covenant reveals the creative action of the Son and the Spirit, inseparably one with that of the Father. This creative co-operation is clearly affirmed in the Church's rule of faith: "There exists but one God. . . he is the Father, God, the Creator, the author, the giver of order. He made all things by himself, that is, by his Word and by his Wisdom", "by the Son and the Spirit" who, so to speak, are "his hands". Creation is the common work of the Holy Trinity.

June 20, 2009 Gospel

2009-06-20T02:51:00.000-07:00

DAILY GOSPEL
«Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.» John 6,68

Saturday, 20 June 2009
Immaculate Heart of Mary - Memorial

Immaculate Heart of Mary, memorial
Today the Church celebrates : Ss Alban, Julius and Aaron

Book of Isaiah 61:9-11.

Their descendants shall be renowned among the nations, and their offspring among the peoples; All who see them shall acknowledge them as a race the LORD has blessed. I rejoice heartily in the LORD, in my God is the joy of my soul; For he has clothed me with a robe of salvation, and wrapped me in a mantle of justice, Like a bridegroom adorned with a diadem, like a bride bedecked with her jewels. As the earth brings forth its plants, and a garden makes its growth spring up, So will the Lord GOD make justice and praise spring up before all the nations.

1 Sam. 2:1.4-5.6-7.8.

and as she worshiped the LORD, she said: "My heart exults in the LORD, my horn is exalted in my God. I have swallowed up my enemies; I rejoice in my victory.
The bows of the mighty are broken, while the tottering gird on strength.
he well-fed hire themselves out for bread, while the hungry batten on spoil. The barren wife bears seven sons, while the mother of many languishes.
"The LORD puts to death and gives life; he casts down to the nether world; he raises up again.
The LORD makes poor and makes rich, he humbles, he also exalts.
He raises the needy from the dust; from the ash heap he lifts up the poor, To seat them with nobles and make a glorious throne their heritage. He gives to the vower his vow, and blesses the sleep of the just. "For the pillars of the earth are the LORD'S, and he has set the world upon them.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 2:41-51.

Each year his parents went to Jerusalem for the feast of Passover, and when he was twelve years old, they went up according to festival custom. After they had completed its days, as they were returning, the boy Jesus remained behind in Jerusalem, but his parents did not know it. Thinking that he was in the caravan, they journeyed for a day and looked for him among their relatives and acquaintances, but not finding him, they returned to Jerusalem to look for him. After three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions, and all who heard him were astounded at his understanding and his answers. When his parents saw him, they were astonished, and his mother said to him, "Son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been looking for you with great anxiety." And he said to them, "Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?" But they did not understand what he said to them. He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them; and his mother kept all these things in her heart.

Commentary of the day :

«Behold your mother » (Jn 19,27)

Let us strive to love our Lord Jesus with the heart of the Immaculate: to welcome him with her heart, praise him with her own dispositions, atone and give thanks, even though we have no knowledge of it, yet this is the reality. It is through her heart, with her dispositions that we give praise to the Lord Jesus. And if in fact it is she who loves and glorifies Jesus through us, yet we are her instruments.

She alone teaches us how to love the Lord Jesus, incomparably better than any book or teacher. She teaches us to love him as she herself loves him. And all our striving must aim towards her loving our Lord Jesus with our hearts.

Only the soul possessed by the love of God puts aside all that hinders it. All is centred on God's love. Now which of us loves Jesus poor, crucified, in the crib, more than his Mother most holy! There is no one in the world, not even among the angels, who has loved - and loves - the Lord Jesus as intensely as the Mother of God... The Immaculate one is the flowering of divine love in our souls and the means by which we draw near to Jesus' heart.

June 19, 2009 Gospel

2009-06-19T01:39:00.000-07:00

DAILY GOSPEL
«Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.» John 6,68

Friday, 19 June 2009
The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus - Solemnity

The Sacred Heart of Jesus, solemnity
Today the Church celebrates : St. Juliana Falconieri, (1270-1340), St. Romuald

Book of Hosea 11:1.3-4.8-9.

When Israel was a child I loved him, out of Egypt I called my son. Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk, who took them in my arms; I drew them with human cords, with bands of love; I fostered them like one who raises an infant to his cheeks; Yet, though I stooped to feed my child, they did not know that I was their healer. How could I give you up, O Ephraim, or deliver you up, O Israel? How could I treat you as Admah, or make you like Zeboiim? My heart is overwhelmed, my pity is stirred. I will not give vent to my blazing anger, I will not destroy Ephraim again; For I am God and not man, the Holy One present among you; I will not let the flames consume you.

Is 12:2-3.4.5-6.

God indeed is my savior; I am confident and unafraid. My strength and my courage is the LORD, and he has been my savior.
With joy you will draw water at the fountain of salvation,
and say on that day: Give thanks to the LORD, acclaim his name; among the nations make known his deeds, proclaim how exalted is his name.
Sing praise to the LORD for his glorious achievement; let this be known throughout all the earth.
Shout with exultation, O city of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel!

Letter to the Ephesians 3:8-12.14-19.

To me, the very least of all the holy ones, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the inscrutable riches of Christ, and to bring to light (for all) what is the plan of the mystery hidden from ages past in God who created all things, so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the principalities and authorities in the heavens. This was according to the eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness of speech and confidence of access through faith in him. For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that he may grant you in accord with the riches of his glory to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner self, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the holy ones what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 19:31-37.

Now since it was preparation day, in order that the bodies might not remain on the cross on the sabbath, for the sabbath day of that week was a solemn one, the Jews asked Pilate that their legs be broken and they be taken down. So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and then of the other one who was crucified with Jesus. But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs, but one soldier thrust his lance into his side, and immediately blood and water flowed out. An eyewitness has testified, and his testimony is true; he knows that he is speaking the truth, so that you also may (come to) believe. For this happened so that the scripture passage might be fulfilled: "Not a bone of it will be broken." And again another passage says: "They will look upon him whom they have pierced."

Commentary of the day :

"Immediately blood and water flowed out"

Let us draw near to the heart of our most sweet Lord Jesus and we shall be glad and rejoice in it. How good and how sweet it is to dwell in this heart! This is the hidden treasure, the pearl of great price that we discover, O Jesus, when we dig in the field of your body (cf. Mt 13,44f.). Who, then, would cast aside this pearl? Far from it! For it I will give away all my goods and offer in exchange all my concerns and affections. I will lay down all my cares in the heart of Jesus: it is he who will suffice for me and who will, without fail, supply all I need to live on.

It is within this temple, this Holy of holies, this ark of the covenant, that I shall come to offer worship and praise to the Lord's name. «I have found a heart with which to pray to my God» said David (1Ch 17,25 Vg.). And I too have found the heart of my Lord and King, my brother and friend. Shall I not pray to him, then? Indeed I shall pray for, I dare to say it: his heart is all mine...

O Jesus, deign to receive and answer my prayer. Draw me wholly into your heart. Though the deformity of my sins prevents me from entering in yet you can receive and purify me from my impurities since, through an incomprehensible love, this heart has expanded and opened wide. O most pure Jesus, wash me from my iniquities so that, purified by you, I may dwell in your heart all the days of my life to see and do your will. If your side has been pierced, then it is so that our entrance there should be opened. If your heart has been wounded, then it is so that, sheltered from outward distress, we can make our home within it. And, too, it is so that in this visible wound we might see the invisible wound of love.

June 18, 2009 Gospel

2009-06-18T01:18:00.000-07:00

DAILY GOSPEL
«Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.» John 6,68

Thursday, 18 June 2009
Thursday of the Eleventh week in Ordinary Time

Today the Church celebrates : St. Elizabeth of Schoenau, St. Gregory Barbarigo, Bishop and Confessor (1625-1697), Sts. Marcus and Marcellianus, Martyrs (+286)

Second Letter to the Corinthians 11:1-11.

If only you would put up with a little foolishness from me! Please put up with me. For I am jealous of you with the jealousy of God, since I betrothed you to one husband to present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts may be corrupted from a sincere (and pure) commitment to Christ. For if someone comes and preaches another Jesus than the one we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it well enough. For I think that I am not in any way inferior to these "superapostles." Even if I am untrained in speaking, I am not so in knowledge; in every way we have made this plain to you in all things. Did I make a mistake when I humbled myself so that you might be exalted, because I preached the gospel of God to you without charge? I plundered other churches by accepting from them in order to minister to you. And when I was with you and in need, I did not burden anyone, for the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied my needs. So I refrained and will refrain from burdening you in any way. By the truth of Christ in me, this boast of mine shall not be silenced in the regions of Achaia. And why? Because I do not love you? God knows I do!

Psalms 111(110):1-2.3-4.7-8.

Hallelujah. I will praise the LORD with all my heart in the assembled congregation of the upright.
Great are the works of the LORD, to be treasured for all their delights.
Majestic and glorious is your work, your wise design endures forever.
You won renown for your wondrous deeds; gracious and merciful is the LORD.
The works of your hands are right and true, reliable all your decrees,
Established forever and ever, to be observed with loyalty and care.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 6:7-15.

In praying, do not babble like the pagans, who think that they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them. Your Father knows what you need before you ask him. This is how you are to pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread; and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors; and do not subject us to the final test, but deliver us from the evil one. If you forgive others their transgressions, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your transgressions.

Commentary of the day :

"Our daily bread"

«Give us this day our daily bread.» This can be understood both spiritually and materially, because either understanding is of profit in divine usefulness for salvation.

For Christ is the bread of life and the bread here is not for all, but is ours. And as we say «Our Father» because he is the Father of those who understand and believe, so too we say «our bread» because Christ is the bread of those of us who attain to his body. Moreover, we ask that this bread be given daily, lest... by the intervention of some grievous sin... we be separated from the body of Christ, as he himself declares, saying: «I am the bread of life which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of my bread he shall live forever. Moreover, the bread that I shall give is my flesh for the life of the world» (Jn 6,51)... The Lord himself warns us, saying: «Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink His blood, you shall not have life in you» (Jn 6,53). And so we petition that our bread, that is Christ, be given us daily, so that we, who abide and live in Christ, may not withdraw from His sanctification and body.

But it can also be understood that we who have renounced the world and have cast aside its riches and pomps in the faith given by spiritual grace seek only food and sustenance for ourselves... Moreover, those who have begun to be disciples of Christ according to their Master's words, renouncing all things, should ask for bread daily and not put off their petition and its desires, as the Lord himself again prescribes in these words: «Be not anxious for tomorrow, for tomorrow will have anxieties of its own. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble» (Mt 6,34). Worthily then does the disciple of Christ ask for sustenance for the day, since he is forbidden to worry about the morrow.

June 17, 2009 Gospel

2009-06-17T00:01:00.000-07:00

DAILY GOSPEL
«Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.» John 6,68

Wednesday, 17 June 2009
Wednesday of the Eleventh week in Ordinary Time

Today the Church celebrates : St. Avitus, Abbot, Ss Teresa and Sancia of Portugal

Second Letter to the Corinthians 9:6-11.

Consider this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each must do as already determined, without sadness or compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. Moreover, God is able to make every grace abundant for you, so that in all things, always having all you need, you may have an abundance for every good work. As it is written: "He scatters abroad, he gives to the poor; his righteousness endures forever." The one who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed and increase the harvest of your righteousness. You are being enriched in every way for all generosity, which through us produces thanksgiving to God,

Psalms 112(111):1-2.3-4.9.

Hallelujah! Happy are those who fear the LORD, who greatly delight in God's commands.
Their descendants shall be mighty in the land, generation upright and blessed.
Wealth and riches shall be in their homes; their prosperity shall endure forever.
They shine through the darkness, a light for the upright; they are gracious, merciful, and just.
Lavishly they give to the poor; their prosperity shall endure forever; their horn shall be exalted in honor.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 6:1-6.16-18.

(But) take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them; otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father. When you give alms, do not blow a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets to win the praise of others. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right is doing, so that your almsgiving may be secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you. When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners so that others may see them. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you. When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites. They neglect their appearance, so that they may appear to others to be fasting. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you may not appear to be fasting, except to your Father who is hidden. And your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you.

Commentary of the day :

"They have received their reward"

«Take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them.» Why not? If people see them then what will you get out of them? «You will have no recompense from your heavenly Father». My brethren, the Lord is not bringing judgement here but giving an explanation. He casts light on the wiles of our thoughts; he strips bare the secret intentions of our souls. He draws attention to the measure of a just retribution to those unrighteously pondering righteousness. Righteousness that sets itself in the sight of others can expect no divine reward from the Father. It wanted to be seen and it was seen; it wanted to please others and it pleased them. It has received the recompense it wanted; the recompense it did not want, it will not have...

«When you give alms, do not blow a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do.» «Blow your trumpet»: this is the exact phrase in that this kind of alms is more like a deed of war than of peace. It passes wholly into its sound but has nothing to do with mercy. It comes from the land of disunion but has not been nourished by goodness. It is a dealing in outward show, not a chaste commerce... «So, then, when you give alms, do not blow a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets to win the praise of others. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward.» You have taken good note: alms offered at a meeting, in public squares and street corners is not an offering made for the comforting of the poor but has been set forward in the sight of others to attract their admiration... Flee hypocrisy, my brethren, flee from it... It does not bring comfort to the poor; the groans of the homeless is only a pretext for it to seek out even more busily a spectacular glory for itself. It inflates its praise of the suffering of the poor.

June 16, 2009 Gospel

2009-06-16T18:44:00.000-07:00

DAILY GOSPEL
«Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.» John 6,68

Tuesday, 16 June 2009
Tuesday of the Eleventh week in Ordinary Time

Today the Church celebrates : St. John Francis Regis, priest (1597-1640)

Second Letter to the Corinthians 8:1-9.

We want you to know, brothers, of the grace of God that has been given to the churches of Macedonia, for in a severe test of affliction, the abundance of their joy and their profound poverty overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. For according to their means, I can testify, and beyond their means, spontaneously, they begged us insistently for the favor of taking part in the service to the holy ones, and this, not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and to us through the will of God, so that we urged Titus that, as he had already begun, he should also complete for you this gracious act also. Now as you excel in every respect, in faith, discourse, knowledge, all earnestness, and in the love we have for you, may you excel in this gracious act also. I say this not by way of command, but to test the genuineness of your love by your concern for others. For you know the gracious act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that for your sake he became poor although he was rich, so that by his poverty you might become rich.

Psalms 146:2.5-6.7.8-9.

Praise the LORD, my soul; I shall praise the LORD all my life, sing praise to my God while I live.
Happy those whose help is Jacob's God, whose hope is in the LORD, their God,
The maker of heaven and earth, the seas and all that is in them, Who keeps faith forever,
secures justice for the oppressed, gives food to the hungry. The LORD sets prisoners free;
the LORD gives sight to the blind. The LORD raises up those who are bowed down; the LORD loves the righteous.
The LORD protects the stranger, sustains the orphan and the widow, but thwarts the way of the wicked.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 5:43-48.

You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have? Do not the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brothers only, what is unusual about that? Do not the pagans do the same? So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Commentary of the day :

"Be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect"

Here John wants to say: perfect in love (1Jn 4,17). And what is the perfection of love? To love our enemies, and love them to the point of their becoming our brothers. For indeed, our love should not be according to the flesh. So love your enemies by wanting them to become your brothers; love your enemies in such a way that they may be drawn into communion with you.

This is in fact how he loved who, when hanging on the cross, said: «Father, forgive them for they know not what they do» (Lk 23,34). He wanted to snatch them away from everlasting death by this prayer utterly full of mercy and of great might. Moreover a number of them believed and were forgiven for having shed Christ's blood. They shed it when they set themselves up against him; but later on, after they had believed, they drank it. «By this sign we know that we dwell in him, if we are perfect in him.» Our Lord invites us to this perfection of love when he says: «Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.»

June 15, 2009 Gospel

2009-06-15T00:01:00.000-07:00

DAILY GOSPEL
«Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.» John 6,68

Monday, 15 June 2009
Monday of the Eleventh week in Ordinary Time

Today the Church celebrates : St Aurelian

Second Letter to the Corinthians 6:1-10.

Working together, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain. For he says: "In an acceptable time I heard you, and on the day of salvation I helped you." Behold, now is a very acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation. We cause no one to stumble in anything, in order that no fault may be found with our ministry; on the contrary, in everything we commend ourselves as ministers of God, through much endurance, in afflictions, hardships, constraints, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, vigils, fasts; by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, in a holy spirit, in unfeigned love, in truthful speech, in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness at the right and at the left; through glory and dishonor, insult and praise. We are treated as deceivers and yet are truthful; as unrecognized and yet acknowledged; as dying and behold we live; as chastised and yet not put to death; as sorrowful yet always rejoicing; as poor yet enriching many; as having nothing and yet possessing all things.

Psalms 98:1.2-3.4.

Sing a new song to the LORD, who has done marvelous deeds, Whose right hand and holy arm have won the victory.
The LORD has made his victory known; has revealed his triumph for the nations to see,
Has remembered faithful love toward the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the victory of our God.
Shout with joy to the LORD, all the earth; break into song; sing praise.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 5:38-42.

You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil. When someone strikes you on (your) right cheek, turn the other one to him as well. If anyone wants to go to law with you over your tunic, hand him your cloak as well. Should anyone press you into service for one mile, go with him for two miles. Give to the one who asks of you, and do not turn your back on one who wants to borrow.

Commentary of the day :

"I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil"

The Law used to say: «An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth» (Ex 21,24). But the Lord not only exhorts us to take patiently the blow of one who slaps us in the face but, even more, humbly to offer him the other cheek. For the purpose of the Law was to teach us not to do to others what we ourselves would not want done to us. And so it prevents us from doing evil from fear of suffering. But what is now asked of us is to reject hatred, love of pleasure, love of glory and the other evil inclinations.

Christ teaches us through the holy commandments how we are to be purified from our passions so that they no longer cause us to fall back into the same sins. He shows us the cause of our going so far as to despise and transgress from God's precepts. Thus he provides us with the cure so that we can obey and be saved.

What is this cure, then, and what is the cause of this contempt? Hear what our Lord himself says: «Learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves» (Mt 11,29). Here, very briefly and in a word, he shows us the root and cause of all our ills together with the remedy, the source of all good. He shows us that it is our haughtiness of heart that causes us to fall and that it is impossible to win mercy except by means of the opposite attitude, which is humility. In fact haughtiness begets contempt and the disobedience that leads to death, whereas humility begets obedience and the salvation of souls. (By which I mean, true humility, not an abasement in words and demeanor only, but a truly humble attitude in the interior of our heart and soul.) Hence the Lord says: «I am meek and humble of heart». So let anyone who wants to find true rest for his soul learn humility.

June 14, 2009 Gospel

2009-06-14T19:02:00.000-07:00

DAILY GOSPEL
«Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.» John 6,68

Sunday, 14 June 2009
The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi) - Solemnity

The Body and Blood of Christ, solemnity
Today the Church celebrates : St Vitus

Book of Exodus 24:3-8.

When Moses came to the people and related all the words and ordinances of the LORD, they all answered with one voice, "We will do everything that the LORD has told us." Moses then wrote down all the words of the LORD and, rising early the next day, he erected at the foot of the mountain an altar and twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel. Then, having sent certain young men of the Israelites to offer holocausts and sacrifice young bulls as peace offerings to the LORD, Moses took half of the blood and put it in large bowls; the other half he splashed on the altar. Taking the book of the covenant, he read it aloud to the people, who answered, "All that the LORD has said, we will heed and do." Then he took the blood and sprinkled it on the people, saying, "This is the blood of the covenant which the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words of his."

Psalms 116(115):12-13.15-16.17-18.

How can I repay the LORD for all the good done for me?
I will raise the cup of salvation and call on the name of the LORD.
Too costly in the eyes of the LORD is the death of his faithful.
LORD, I am your servant, your servant, the child of your maidservant; you have loosed my bonds.
I will offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving and call on the name of the LORD.
I will pay my vows to the LORD in the presence of all his people,

Letter to the Hebrews 9:11-15.

But when Christ came as high priest of the good things that have come to be, passing through the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made by hands, that is, not belonging to this creation, he entered once for all into the sanctuary, not with the blood of goats and calves but with his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls and the sprinkling of a heifer's ashes can sanctify those who are defiled so that their flesh is cleansed, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from dead works to worship the living God. For this reason he is mediator of a new covenant: since a death has taken place for deliverance from transgressions under the first covenant, those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark 14:12-16.22-26.

On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, when they sacrificed the Passover lamb, his disciples said to him, "Where do you want us to go and prepare for you to eat the Passover?" He sent two of his disciples and said to them, "Go into the city and a man will meet you, carrying a jar of water. Follow him. Wherever he enters, say to the master of the house, 'The Teacher says, "Where is my guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?"' Then he will show you a large upper room furnished and ready. Make the preparations for us there." The disciples then went off, entered the city, and found it just as he had told them; and they prepared the Passover. While they were eating, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them, and said, "Take it; this is my body." Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, and they all drank from it. He said to them, "This is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed for many. Amen, I say to you, I shall not drink again the fruit of the vine until the day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God." Then, after singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

Commentary of the day :

"This is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed for many"

Today we have gazed upon our Lord Jesus Christ on the altar.
Today we have been fed with the burning coal in whose shadow sing the Cherubim (Is 6,2).
Today we have heard the sweet and powerful voice saying to us:

This body burns away the thorns of sin; it gives light to men's souls.
This body the woman with the issue of blood touched and was delivered of her infirmity.
This body, the Canaanite woman's daughter was cured at the sight of it.
This body was approached with all her heart by the sinful woman and she was rescued from the mire of her sins.
This body Thomas touched; he acknowledged it, crying aloud: «My Lord and my God».
This body, so great and so high, is the foundation of our salvation.

In former times he who is Word and Life declared:
«This blood has been shed for you and given up for the remission of sins».
We have drunk, my beloved, the holy and immortal blood.
We have drunk, beloved, the blood flowing from the Savior's side
that heals all ills, that frees all souls.
We have drunk the blood by which we have been redeemed.
We have been bought and we have been taught; we have been enlightened.
Behold, my brethren, what body it is that we have eaten!
Behold, my children, what blood has inebriated us!
Behold the covenant sealed with our God lest we should be ashamed on that terrible day, the day of judgement (cf. 1Cor 11,29).

Who is equal to giving glory to the mystery of grace?
We have been accounted worthy of participating in this gift.
Let us keep ourselves to the end that we may hear his blessed, sweet and holy voice:
«Come you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you» (Mt 25,34)...

Beloved, we will celebrate the wonders of Jesus' baptism (cf. Mk 10,38),
his holy and life-giving resurrection,
through which salvation has been given to the world.
All of us are awaiting its happy fulfilment,
in the grace and happiness of our Lord Jesus Christ:
to him be glory, honor and adoration.

June 13, 2009 Gospel

2009-06-13T05:45:00.000-07:00

DAILY GOSPEL
«Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.» John 6,68

Saturday, 13 June 2009
Saturday of the Tenth week in Ordinary Time

Today the Church celebrates : St. Anthony of Padua, Priest and Doctor of the Church (1195-1231)

See commentary below or click here
Origen : «Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law...: I have come not to abolish but to fulfil» (Mt 5,17)

Second Letter to the Corinthians 5:14-21.

For the love of Christ impels us, once we have come to the conviction that one died for all; therefore, all have died. He indeed died for all, so that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. Consequently, from now on we regard no one according to the flesh; even if we once knew Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know him so no longer. So whoever is in Christ is a new creation: the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come. And all this is from God, who has reconciled us to himself through Christ and given us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting their trespasses against them and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. So we are ambassadors for Christ, as if God were appealing through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who did not know sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him.

Psalms 103(102):1-2.3-4.9-10.11-12.

Of David. Bless the LORD, my soul; all my being, bless his holy name!
Bless the LORD, my soul; do not forget all the gifts of God,
Who pardons all your sins, heals all your ills,
Delivers your life from the pit, surrounds you with love and compassion,
God does not always rebuke, nurses no lasting anger,
Has not dealt with us as our sins merit, nor requited us as our deeds deserve.
As the heavens tower over the earth, so God's love towers over the faithful.
As far as the east is from the west, so far have our sins been removed from us.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 5:33-37.

Again you have heard that it was said to your ancestors, 'Do not take a false oath, but make good to the Lord all that you vow.' But I say to you, do not swear at all; not by heaven, for it is God's throne; nor by the earth, for it is his footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. Do not swear by your head, for you cannot make a single hair white or black. Let your 'Yes' mean 'Yes,' and your 'No' mean 'No.' Anything more is from the evil one.

Commentary of the day :

«Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law...: I have come not to abolish but to fulfil» (Mt 5,17)

I should like to remind the disciples of Christ of God's goodness: let no one among you let yourselves be shaken by the heretics if, in controversy, they say that the God of the Law is not good but just and that the Law of Moses does not teach goodness but justice. Let these detractors of both God and the Law take note of how Moses himself and Aaron fulfilled, as precursors, what the Gospel would later teach. Consider how Moses «loves his enemies and prays for those who persecute him» (Mt 5,44)...; see how, «falling prostrate», they both pray for those who grumbled and wanted to kill them (Nb 17,10f.). Thus we find the Gospel powerfully present in the Law and should understand that the Gospels are supported on the foundation of the Law.

As for me, I do not apply the name 'Old Testament' to the Law when I consder it spiritually. The Law only becomes an 'Old Testament' for those unwilling to understand it according to the spirit. For them, it has necessarily become 'old' and has aged because it cannot preserve its strength. But for us who understand and expound it in spirit and according to the sense of the Gospel, it is always new. The two Testaments are one new Testament for us, not according to date but in the newness of their meaning.

Doesn't the apostle John also think of it in this way when he says in his epistle: «Children, I give a new commandment to you, let us love one another»? (cf. 1Jn 2,8; 4,7; Jn 13,34). He knew that the love commandment had long ago been given in the Law (1Jn 2,7f.; Lv 19,18). But since «love never fails» (1Cor 13,8)..., he asserts the perpetual newness of this precept that never grows old... For sinners, and for those who fail to keep the bond of charity, even the Gospels grow old. There can be no New Testament for anyone who does not «put away the old self and put on the new self, created in God's way» (Eph 4,22.24).

June 12, 2009 Gospel

2009-06-13T05:29:00.000-07:00

DAILY GOSPEL
«Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.» John 6,68

Friday, 12 June 2009
Friday of the Tenth week in Ordinary Time

Today the Church celebrates : St John Sahagun

See commentary below or click here
Paul VI: "God created man in his image... male and female he created them" (Gn 1,27)

Second Letter to the Corinthians 4:7-15.

But we hold this treasure in earthen vessels, that the surpassing power may be of God and not from us. We are afflicted in every way, but not constrained; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our body. For we who live are constantly being given up to death for the sake of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you. Since, then, we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, "I believed, therefore I spoke," we too believe and therefore speak, knowing that the one who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and place us with you in his presence. Everything indeed is for you, so that the grace bestowed in abundance on more and more people may cause the thanksgiving to overflow for the glory of God.

Psalms 116(115):10-11.15-16.17-18.

I kept faith, even when I said, "I am greatly afflicted!"
I said in my alarm, "No one can be trusted!"
Too costly in the eyes of the LORD is the death of his faithful.
LORD, I am your servant, your servant, the child of your maidservant; you have loosed my bonds.
I will offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving and call on the name of the LORD.
I will pay my vows to the LORD in the presence of all his people,

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 5:27-32.

You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.' But I say to you, everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one of your members than to have your whole body thrown into Gehenna. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one of your members than to have your whole body go into Gehenna. It was also said, 'Whoever divorces his wife must give her a bill of divorce.' But I say to you, whoever divorces his wife (unless the marriage is unlawful) causes her to commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

June 11, 2009 Gospel

2009-06-11T01:00:00.000-07:00

DAILY GOSPEL
«Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.» John 6,68

Thursday, 11 June 2009
Saint Barnabas, apostle - Memorial

Today the Church celebrates : St. Barnabas, Apostle

See commentary below or click here
Vatican Council II: "Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give"

Acts of the Apostles 11:21-26.13:1-3.

The hand of the Lord was with them and a great number who believed turned to the Lord. The news about them reached the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas (to go) to Antioch. When he arrived and saw the grace of God, he rejoiced and encouraged them all to remain faithful to the Lord in firmness of heart, for he was a good man, filled with the holy Spirit and faith. And a large number of people was added to the Lord. Then he went to Tarsus to look for Saul, and when he had found him he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they met with the church and taught a large number of people, and it was in Antioch that the disciples were first called Christians. Now there were in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Symeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen who was a close friend of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the holy Spirit said, "Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them." Then, completing their fasting and prayer, they laid hands on them and sent them off.

Psalms 98(97):1-6.

Sing a new song to the LORD, who has done marvelous deeds, Whose right hand and holy arm have won the victory.
The LORD has made his victory known; has revealed his triumph for the nations to see,
Has remembered faithful love toward the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the victory of our God.
Shout with joy to the LORD, all the earth; break into song; sing praise.
Sing praise to the LORD with the harp, with the harp and melodious song.
With trumpets and the sound of the horn shout with joy to the King, the LORD.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 10:7-13.

As you go, make this proclamation: 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand.' Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, drive out demons. Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give. Do not take gold or silver or copper for your belts; no sack for the journey, or a second tunic, or sandals, or walking stick. The laborer deserves his keep. Whatever town or village you enter, look for a worthy person in it, and stay there until you leave. As you enter a house, wish it peace. If the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it; if not, let your peace return to you.

Commentary of the day :
Learnings:

"Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give"

Now, the Lord Jesus, before freely giving His life for the world, so arranged the Apostles' ministry and promise to send the Holy Spirit that both they and the Spirit might be associated in effecting the work of salvation always and everywhere. Throughout all ages, the Holy Spirit makes the entire Church one in communion and in ministering...

From the very beginning, the Lord Jesus "called to Himself those whom He wished; and He caused twelve of them to be with Him, and to be sent out preaching (Mk 3,13). Thus the Apostles were the first budding-forth of the New Israel, and at the same time the beginning of the sacred hierarchy. Then, when He had by His death and His resurrection completed once for all in Himself the mysteries of our salvation and the renewal of all things, the Lord, having now received all power in heaven and on earth (Mt 28,18), before He was taken up into heaven, founded His Church as the sacrament of salvation and sent His Apostles into all the world just as He Himself had been sent by His Father (Jn 20,21), commanding them: "Go, therefore, and make disciples of a nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit; teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you" (Mt 28,19f.).

Whence the duty that lies on the Church of spreading the faith and the salvation of Christ, not only in virtue of the express command which was inherited from the Apostles by the order of bishops, assisted by the priests, together with the successor of Peter and supreme shepherd of the Church, but also in virtue of that life which flows from Christ into His members... The mission of the Church, therefore, is fulfilled by that activity which makes her, obeying the command of Christ and influenced by the grace and love of the Holy Spirit, fully present to all people and nations, in order that, by the example of her life and by her preaching, by the sacraments and other means of grace, she may lead them to the faith, the freedom and the peace of Christ; that thus there may lie open before them a firm and free road to full participation in the mystery of Christ.

2009-06-10T18:51:00.000-07:00

June 10, 2009 Gospel

2009-06-10T06:00:00.000-07:00

DAILY GOSPEL
«Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.» John 6,68

Wednesday, 10 June 2009
Wednesday of the Tenth week in Ordinary Time

Today the Church celebrates : St. Getulius & Comp., St Ithamar

See commentary below or click here
Melito of Sardis : "I have come not to abolish but to fulfill the Law"

Second Letter to the Corinthians 3:4-11.

Such confidence we have through Christ toward God. Not that of ourselves we are qualified to take credit for anything as coming from us; rather, our qualification comes from God, who has indeed qualified us as ministers of a new covenant, not of letter but of spirit; for the letter brings death, but the Spirit gives life. Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, was so glorious that the Israelites could not look intently at the face of Moses because of its glory that was going to fade, how much more will the ministry of the Spirit be glorious? For if the ministry of condemnation was glorious, the ministry of righteousness will abound much more in glory. Indeed, what was endowed with glory has come to have no glory in this respect because of the glory that surpasses it. For if what was going to fade was glorious, how much more will what endures be glorious.

Psalms 99:5.6.7.8.9.

Exalt the LORD, our God; bow down before his footstool; holy is God!
Moses and Aaron were among his priests, Samuel among those who called on God's name; they called on the LORD, who answered them.
From the pillar of cloud God spoke to them; they kept the decrees, the law they received.
O LORD, our God, you answered them; you were a forgiving God, though you punished their offenses.
Exalt the LORD, our God; bow down before his holy mountain; holy is the LORD, our God.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 5:17-19.

Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter will pass from the law, until all things have taken place. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be called greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

Commentary of the day :
Learnings:

"I have come not to abolish but to fulfill the Law"

The sacrifice of the lamb, the Passover rite and the letter of the Law have reached their term in Jesus Christ, in view of whom everything in the ancient Law took place – and even more so in the new dispensation. For the Law became the Word; from being old it became new...; the commandments have been transformed into grace and the foreshadowing into truth; the lamb has become the son, the sheep has become man, and man has become God...

God though he was, the Lord put on our humanity; he suffered for him who was suffering, was bound for him who was captive, was judged for the guilty, was buried for him who was buried. He was raised from the dead and cried out in a loud voice: «If anyone wishes to oppose me, let us appear together» (Is 50,8). It is I who delivered the condemned man; I who restored life to the dead; I who raised up those in the grave. «Who disputes my right?» It is I, he says, I who am the Christ, I who destroyed death, who triumphed over the enemy, who bound the mighty enemy and carried off man to the heights of heaven; it is I, he says, who am the Christ.

Come along then, every human family, full of sin as you are, and receive the forgiveness of your sins. For I myself am your forgiveness, I am the Passover of salvation, the lamb slain for your sakes, your redemption, life and resurrection; I am your light, your salvation and your king. It is I who lead you to the heights of heaven, I who will raise you up; it is I who will bring you to see the Father who is from all eternity; it is I who will raise you up by my all-powerful hand.

June 9, 2009 Gospel

2009-06-08T21:18:00.000-07:00

DAILY GOSPEL
«Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.» John 6,68

Tuesday, 09 June 2009
Tuesday of the Tenth week in Ordinary Time

Today the Church celebrates : St. Ephrem of Syria, Deacon (c.306-373), Sts. Primus and Felicianus, martyrs (3rd century)

Second Letter to the Corinthians 1:18-22.

As God is faithful, our word to you is not "yes" and "no." For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was proclaimed to you by us, Silvanus and Timothy and me, was not "yes" and "no," but "yes" has been in him. For however many are the promises of God, their Yes is in him; therefore, the Amen from us also goes through him to God for glory. But the one who gives us security with you in Christ and who anointed us is God; he has also put his seal upon us and given the Spirit in our hearts as a first installment.

Psalms 119:129.130.131.132.133.135.

Wonderful are your decrees; therefore I observe them.
The revelation of your words sheds light, gives understanding to the simple.
I sigh with open mouth, yearning for your commands.
Turn to me and be gracious, your edict for lovers of your name.
Steady my feet in accord with your promise; do not let iniquity lead me.
Let your face shine upon your servant; teach me your laws.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 5:13-16.

You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned? It is no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. You are the light of the world. A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket; it is set on a lampstand, where it gives light to all in the house. Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father.

Commentary of the day :
"You are the salt of the earth... You are the light of the world"

Christ's redemptive work, while essentially concerned with the salvation of men, includes also the renewal of the whole temporal order. Hence the mission of the Church is not only to bring the message and grace of Christ to men but also to penetrate and perfect the temporal order with the spirit of the Gospel. In fulfilling this mission of the Church, the Christian laity exercise their apostolate both in the Church and in the world, in both the spiritual and the temporal orders. These orders, although distinct, are so connected in the singular plan of God that He Himself intends to raise up the whole world again in Christ and to make it a new creation, initially on earth and completely on the last day. In both orders the layman, being simultaneously a believer and a citizen, should be continuously led by the same Christian conscience.

The mission of the Church pertains to the salvation of men, which is to be achieved by belief in Christ and by His grace. The apostolate of the Church and of all its members is primarily designed to manifest Christ's message by words and deeds and to communicate His grace to the world. This is done mainly through the ministry of the Word and the sacraments, entrusted in a special way to the clergy, wherein the laity also have their very important roles to fulfill if they are to be "fellow workers for the truth" (3Jn v.8). It is especially on this level that the apostolate of the laity and the pastoral ministry are mutually complementary. There are innumerable opportunities open to the laity for the exercise of their apostolate of evangelization and sanctification. The very testimony of their Christian life and good works done in a supernatural spirit have the power to draw men to belief and to God; for the Lord says, "Even so let your light shine before men in order that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven".

June 8, 2009 Gospel

2009-06-07T18:52:00.001-07:00

DAILY GOSPEL
«Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.» John 6,68

Monday, 08 June 2009
Monday of the Tenth week in Ordinary Time

Today the Church celebrates : St. Medard, Bishop (c.457_545)

See commentary below or click here
Saint Augustine : "Learn from me"

Second Letter to the Corinthians 1:1-7.

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, to the church of God that is in Corinth, with all the holy ones throughout Achaia: grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and God of all encouragement, who encourages us in our every affliction, so that we may be able to encourage those who are in any affliction with the encouragement with which we ourselves are encouraged by God. For as Christ's sufferings overflow to us, so through Christ does our encouragement also overflow. If we are afflicted, it is for your encouragement and salvation; if we are encouraged, it is for your encouragement, which enables you to endure the same sufferings that we suffer. Our hope for you is firm, for we know that as you share in the sufferings, you also share in the encouragement.

Psalms 34(33):2-3.4-5.6-7.8-9.

I will bless the LORD at all times; praise shall be always in my mouth.
My soul will glory in the LORD that the poor may hear and be glad.
Magnify the LORD with me; let us exalt his name together.
I sought the LORD, who answered me, delivered me from all my fears.
Look to God that you may be radiant with joy and your faces may not blush for shame.
In my misfortune I called, the LORD heard and saved me from all distress.
The angel of the LORD, who encamps with them, delivers all who fear God.
Learn to savor how good the LORD is; happy are those who take refuge in him.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 5:1-12.

When he saw the crowds, he went up the mountain, and after he had sat down, his disciples came to him. He began to teach them, saying: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land. Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you (falsely) because of me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven. Thus they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Commentary of the day :

LEARNINGS:

What does it mean to follow if not to imitate? The proof of this is that Christ suffered for us, leaving us an example that we should follow in his footsteps (1Pt 2,21).

Blessed are the poor in spirit.
So imitate him who for your sake became poor although he was rich (2Cor 8,9).

Blessed are the meek.
Imitate him who said: learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart (2Cor 8,9).

Blessed are they who mourn.
Imitate him who will weep over Jerusalem (Lk 19,41).

Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness.
Imitate him who said: my food is to do the will of the one who sent me (Jn 4,34).

Blessed are the merciful.
Imitate him who came to the help of the man who had been wounded by robbers and lay half-dead and despairing on the ground (Lk 10,33).

Blessed are the clean in heart.
Imitate him who committed no sin and no deceit was found in his mouth (1Pt 2,22).

Blessed are the peacemakers.
Imitate him who prayed on behalf of his persecutors: Father, forgive them, they know not what they do (Lk 23,34).

Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness.
Imitate him who suffered for you , leaving you an example that you might follow in his footsteps.

O good Jesus, I see you with the eyes of faith you have opened within me. I see you calling out and saying, as though berating humankind: «Come to me and place yourselves in my school.»

Fiesta time

2009-06-06T00:25:00.000-07:00

Hello, naa me dri ila vinia karn ky namista.Busog nasad buyag.Hantod ugma me ani.Hehehe..

Today's Gospel

2009-06-04T19:24:00.000-07:00

DAILY GOSPEL

«Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.» John 6,68

Friday, 05 June 2009

Friday of the Ninth week in Ordinary Time

Today the Church celebrates : St. Boniface, Bishop and Martyr (+754)

See commentary below or click here
Saint Ambrose : "David himself calls him 'Lord'"

Book of Tobit 11:5-17.

Meanwhile, Anna sat watching the road by which her son was to come. When she saw him coming, she exclaimed to his father, "Tobit, your son is coming, and the man who traveled with him!" Raphael said to Tobiah before he reached his father: "I am certain that his eyes will be opened. Smear the fish gall on them. This medicine will make the cataracts shrink and peel off from his eyes; then your father will again be able to see the light of day." Then Anna ran up to her son, threw her arms around him, and said to him, "Now that I have seen you again, son, I am ready to die!" And she sobbed aloud. Tobit got up and stumbled out through the courtyard gate. Tobiah went up to him with the fish gall in his hand, and holding him firmly, blew into his eyes. "Courage, father," he said. Next he smeared the medicine on his eyes, and it made them smart. Then, beginning at the corners of Tobit's eyes, Tobiah used both hands to peel off the cataracts. When Tobit saw his son, he threw his arms around him and wept. He exclaimed, "I can see you, son, the light of my eyes!" Then he said: "Blessed be God, and praised be his great name, and blessed be all his holy angels. May his holy name be praised throughout all the ages, Because it was he who scourged me, and it is he who has had mercy on me. Behold, I now see my son Tobiah!" Then Tobit went back in, rejoicing and praising God with full voice. Tobiah told his father that his journey had been a success; that he had brought back the money; and that he had married Raguel's daughter Sarah, who would arrive shortly, for she was approaching the gate of Nineveh. ' Rejoicing and praising God, Tobit went out to the gate of Nineveh to meet his daughter-in-law. When the people of Nineveh saw him walking along briskly, with no one leading him by the hand, they were amazed. Before them all Tobit proclaimed how God had mercifully restored sight to his eyes. When Tobit reached Sarah, the wife of his son Tobiah, he greeted her: "Welcome, my daughter! Blessed be your God for bringing you to us, daughter! Blessed are your father and your mother. Blessed is my son Tobiah, and blessed are you, daughter! Welcome to your home with blessing and joy. Come in, daughter!" That day there was joy for all the Jews who lived in Nineveh.

Psalms 146(145):1-2.6-10.

Hallelujah!
Praise the LORD, my soul; I shall praise the LORD all my life, sing praise to my God while I live.
The maker of heaven and earth, the seas and all that is in them, Who keeps faith forever,
secures justice for the oppressed, gives food to the hungry. The LORD sets prisoners free;
the LORD gives sight to the blind. The LORD raises up those who are bowed down; the LORD loves the righteous.
The LORD protects the stranger, sustains the orphan and the widow, but thwarts the way of the wicked.
The LORD shall reign forever, your God, Zion, through all generations! Hallelujah!

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark 12:35-37.

As Jesus was teaching in the temple area he said, "How do the scribes claim that the Messiah is the son of David? David himself, inspired by the holy Spirit, said: 'The Lord said to my lord, "Sit at my right hand until I place your enemies under your feet."' David himself calls him 'lord'; so how is he his son?" (The) great crowd heard this with delight.

Today's Gospel

2009-06-03T19:19:00.000-07:00

DAILY GOSPEL
«Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.» John 6,68

Thursday, 04 June 2009
Thursday of the Ninth week in Ordinary Time

Today the Church celebrates : St. Francis Caracciolo, St Kevin

See commentary below or click here
Saint John of the Cross : "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart... with all your strength"

Book of Tobit 6:10-11.7:1.9-17.8:4-9.

When they had entered Media and were getting close to Ecbatana, Raphael said to the boy, "Brother Tobiah!" He answered, "Yes, what is it?" Raphael continued: "Tonight we must stay with Raguel, who is a relative of yours. He has a daughter named Sarah, When they entered Ecbatana, Tobiah said, "Brother Azariah, lead me straight to our kinsman Raguel." So he brought him to the house of Raguel, whom they found seated by his courtyard gate. They greeted him first. He said to them, "Greetings to you too, brothers! Good health to you, and welcome!" When he brought them into his home, Afterward, Raguel slaughtered a ram from the flock and gave them a cordial reception. When they had bathed and reclined to eat, Tobiah said to Raphael, "Brother Azariah, ask Raguel to let me marry my kinswoman Sarah." Raguel overheard the words; so he said to the boy: "Eat and drink and be merry tonight, for no man is more entitled to marry my daughter Sarah than you, brother. Besides, not even I have the right to give her to anyone but you, because you are my closest relative. But I will explain the situation to you very frankly. I have given her in marriage to seven men, all of whom were kinsmen of ours, and all died on the very night they approached her. But now, son, eat and drink. I am sure the Lord will look after you both." Tobiah answered, "I will eat or drink nothing until you set aside what belongs to me." Raguel said to him: "I will do it. She is yours according to the decree of the Book of Moses. Your marriage to her has been decided in heaven! Take your kinswoman; from now on you are her love, and she is your beloved. She is yours today and ever after. And tonight, son, may the Lord of heaven prosper you both. May he grant you mercy and peace." Then Raguel called his daughter Sarah, and she came to him. He took her by the hand and gave her to Tobiah with the words: "Take her according to the law. According to the decree written in the Book of Moses she is your wife. Take her and bring her back safely to your father. And may the God of heaven grant both of you peace and prosperity." He then called her mother and told her to bring a scroll, so that he might draw up a marriage contract stating that he gave Sarah to Tobiah as his wife according to the decree of the Mosaic law. Her mother brought the scroll, and he drew up the contract, to which they affixed their seals. Afterward they began to eat and drink. Later Raguel called his wife Edna and said, "My love, prepare the other bedroom and bring the girl there." She went and made the bed in the room, as she was told, and brought the girl there. After she had cried over her, she wiped away the tears and said: "Be brave, my daughter. May the Lord of heaven grant you joy in place of your grief. Courage, my daughter." Then she left. When the girl's parents left the bedroom and closed the door behind them, Tobiah arose from bed and said to his wife, "My love, get up. Let us pray and beg our Lord to have mercy on us and to grant us deliverance." She got up, and they started to pray and beg that deliverance might be theirs. He began with these words: "Blessed are you, O God of our fathers; praised be your name forever and ever. Let the heavens and all your creation praise you forever. You made Adam and you gave him his wife Eve to be his help and support; and from these two the human race descended. You said, 'It is not good for the man to be alone; let us make him a partner like himself.' Now, Lord, you know that I take this wife of mine not because of lust, but for a noble purpose. Call down your mercy on me and on her, and allow us to live together to a happy old age." They said together, "Amen, amen," and went to bed for the night. But Raguel got up and summoned his servants. With him they went out to dig a grave,

Psalms 128(127):1-2.3.4-5.

A song of ascents. Happy are all who fear the LORD, who walk in the ways of God.
What your hands provide you will enjoy; you will be happy and prosper:
Like a fruitful vine your wife within your home, Like olive plants your children around your table.
Just so will they be blessed who fear the LORD.
May the LORD bless you from Zion, all the days of your life That you may share Jerusalem's joy

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark 12:28-34.

One of the scribes, when he came forward and heard them disputing and saw how well he had answered them, asked him, "Which is the first of all the commandments?" Jesus replied, "The first is this: 'Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these." The scribe said to him, "Well said, teacher. You are right in saying, 'He is One and there is no other than he.' And 'to love him with all your heart, with all your understanding, with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself' is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices." And when Jesus saw that (he) answered with understanding, he said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." And no one dared to ask him any more questions.

Today's Gospel

2009-06-02T19:04:00.000-07:00

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark 12:18-27.

Some Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him and put this question to him, saying, "Teacher, Moses wrote for us, 'If someone's brother dies, leaving a wife but no child, his brother must take the wife and raise up descendants for his brother.' Now there were seven brothers. The first married a woman and died, leaving no descendants. So the second married her and died, leaving no descendants, and the third likewise. And the seven left no descendants. Last of all the woman also died. At the resurrection (when they arise) whose wife will she be? For all seven had been married to her." Jesus said to them, "Are you not misled because you do not know the scriptures or the power of God? When they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but they are like the angels in heaven. As for the dead being raised, have you not read in the Book of Moses, in the passage about the bush, how God told him, 'I am the God of Abraham, (the) God of Isaac, and (the) God of Jacob'? He is not God of the dead but of the living. You are greatly misled."

Today's Gospel

2009-06-01T22:16:00.000-07:00

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark 12:13-17.

They sent some Pharisees and Herodians to him to ensnare him in his speech. They came and said to him, "Teacher, we know that you are a truthful man and that you are not concerned with anyone's opinion. You do not regard a person's status but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not? Should we pay or should we not pay?" Knowing their hypocrisy he said to them, "Why are you testing me? Bring me a denarius to look at." They brought one to him and he said to them, "Whose image and inscription is this?" They replied to him, "Caesar's." So Jesus said to them, "Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.' They were utterly amazed at him.

Wow.China...Very nice place..

2009-05-14T22:30:00.001-07:00

Today's Gospel

2009-05-14T22:28:00.001-07:00

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 15:12-17.

This is my commandment: love one another as I love you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I no longer call you slaves, because a slave does not know what his master is doing. I have called you friends, because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father. It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you. This I command you: love one another.

Today's Gospel

2009-05-13T22:56:00.001-07:00

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 15:9-17.

As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete. This is my commandment: love one another as I love you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I no longer call you slaves, because a slave does not know what his master is doing. I have called you friends, because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father. It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you. This I command you: love one another.

2009-02-08T21:10:00.000-08:00

hello

2009-02-03T23:02:00.000-08:00

my blog