First Reading
Joel 4:12-21
Thus says the LORD: "Let the nations be roused; let them advance into the Valley of Jehoshaphat, for there I will sit to judge all the nations on every side.
Swing the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, trample the grapes, for the winepress is full and the vats overflow— so great is their wickedness!"
Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision. The sun and moon will be darkened, and the stars no longer shine. The LORD will roar from Zion and thunder from Jerusalem; the earth and the sky will tremble. But the LORD will be a refuge for his people, a stronghold for the people of Israel.
"Then you will know that I, the LORD your God, dwell in Zion, my holy mountain. Jerusalem will be holy; never again will foreigners invade her. "In that day the mountains will drip new wine, and the hills will flow with milk; all the ravines of Judah will run with water. A fountain will flow out of the LORD's house and will water the Valley of Shittim. Egypt will be desolate, Edom a desert waste, because of violence done to the people of Judah, in whose land they shed innocent blood. Judah shall abide forever and Jerusalem through all generations. I will avenge their blood, and not leave it unpunished. The LORD dwells in Zion!
Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 97
R. Rejoice in the Lord, you just!
The LORD is king; let the earth rejoice;
let the many isles be glad.
Clouds and darkness are round about him,
justice and judgment are the foundation of his throne.
R. Rejoice in the Lord, you just!
The mountains melt like wax before the LORD,
before the LORD of all the earth.
The heavens proclaim his justice,
and all peoples see his glory.
R. Rejoice in the Lord, you just!
Light dawns for the just;
and gladness, for the upright of heart.
Be glad in the LORD, you just,
and give thanks to his holy name.
R. Rejoice in the Lord, you just!
Gospel
Luke 11:27-28
While Jesus was speaking, a woman from the crowd called out and said to him,
“Blessed is the womb that carried you and the breasts at which you nursed.”
He replied, “Rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it.”
+++ +++ +++ +++
The woman in the crowd is deeply impressed with Jesus, and his ability to hold the attention of the crowd with his healing and his story telling. She then does the most natural thing in the world: she thinks of how proud his mother must be to have raised a boy who became such a man, and she congratulates the son by blessing the mother with a beatitude: “Blessed is the womb that carried you, and the breasts at which you nursed!”
When Jesus answers -- “Rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it” – it may sound at first as if he is deflecting the complement to his mother by using it to make his own point, as if he had said that anyone who does God’s will is greater than his mother. In fact, he is honoring his mother even more highly. He is saying, in effect, “Greater even than mothering me, Mary has heard the word of God and kept it.”
It might help to recall that the daily prayer of the Jews was, and still is, the Shema (“Hear!”) which takes its name from the first word of Deuteronomy 6:4-5: “Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone! Therefore, you shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength.”
The entire covenant between God and his people could be summarized in the phrase: “to hear the word of God and keep it.” Mary exemplifies that sort of deep hearing – a total response to the word of God expressed in the Torah. It was the readiness of that deep hearing which enabled her to become his mother to begin with.
Two chapters earlier in Luke’s Gospel, we find the vision of the transfiguration, where Peter, James and John first see and hear Moses and Elijah (representing the Law and the Prophets who interpreted God’s word to Israel), speaking with Jesus. Then these two disappear, and Jesus is left standing alone, when the voice of the Father is heard, “This is my beloved son. Hear him!”
For, Jesus is the Word of God, made flesh and dwelling among us. We imitate Mary by hearing Jesus and following him. That is what these daily reflections are all about.
Blessed are they who hear the word of God and keep it!
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Friday, October 9, 2009
If It Is By The Finger Of God That I Cast Out Demons, Then The Kingdom Of God Has Come Upon You.
First Reading: Joel 1:13-15; 2:1-2
Put on sackcloth, O priests, and mourn; wail, you who minister before the altar. Come; spend the night in sackcloth, you who minister before my God! For the grain offerings and drink offerings are withheld from the house of your God.
Declare a holy fast; call a sacred assembly. Summon the elders and all who live in the land to the house of the LORD your God, and cry out to the LORD!
Alas, that day! For the day of the LORD is near; it will come like destruction from the Almighty.
Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy mountain. Let all who live in the land tremble, for the day of the LORD is coming. It is close at hand - a day of darkness and gloom, a somber and cloudy day.
Like dawn spreading across the mountains a large and mighty army comes, such as never was of old nor ever will be in ages to come.
+++
Responsorial: Psalm 9
R. The Lord will judge the word with justice.
I will praise you, O LORD, with all my heart;
I will tell of all your wonders.
I will be glad and rejoice in you;
I will sing praise to your name, O Most High. R.
You have rebuked the nations and destroyed the wicked;
you have blotted out their name forever and ever.
The nations have sunk into a pit of their own making;
Their foot is caught in the snare they had set. R.
The LORD reigns forever;
he has established his throne for judgment.
He will judge the world in justice;
he will govern the peoples with equity. R.
+++
Gospel: Luke 11:15-26
In today’s Gospel Jesus had cast out a demon from a man who could not speak; when the demon was gone, the man began to speak. Some people in the crowd (in Matthew’s version of this incident, they were Pharisees) said, “No wonder he can cast out demons. He gets his power from Beelzebub.” Beelzebub was a pagan deity, whose name became synonymous with Satan, prince of demons. Others, trying to test Jesus, demanded that he show them a sign from heaven to prove his authority. If he could not, that would prove that his power was demonic, not divine.
Jesus knew their thoughts, and said, “A kingdom divided against itself is doomed. A family splintered by feuding will fall apart. You say I get my power from Satan. But if Satan is divided against himself, how can his kingdom last? If it is by the power of Satan that I cast out demons, what about your own exorcists? They will be your judges. On the other hand, if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the Kingdom of God has arrived among you.
When a strong man is fully armed and guards his palace, his possessions are safe. But if someone even stronger attacks and overpowers him, then strips him of his weapons, and carries away the spoils. Anyone who is not with me is against me. Whoever does not gather with me, scatters.
Whenever an unclean spirit leaves someone, it roams through the desert searching for rest. But if it finds none, it says, “I will go back to the person I came from.” But when it returns, it finds that its former home is swept clean and put in order. So, the spirit goes out and finds seven other spirits even more wicked than itself. They all move in an settle there, and the last condition of the person is worse than the first.
+++ +++ +++ +++
The typical image of Hell is heat, but in ancient Ireland, it was cold. I suppose it depends on what part of the world you live in. But the worst cold is not related to climate, but is emotional and spiritual. Abbé Huvelin, a spiritual writer of the 19th century, wrote, “The devil appeared to Saint Bridget, and she asked him ‘What is your name?’ ‘Cold itself!” he answered. It suits him much better than heat, since he is the prince of darkness, and he lacks every kind of love except self-love.
How could the people in the crowd imagine that Jesus was in league with Satan? The Pharisees were eager to silence him, and eventually, would have their way. They were never willing to enter the mystery; they were fleeing from it. Many explanations are just that: a flight from ignorance into greater ignorance. A false or shallow theory is a worse form of ignorance than a simple lack of knowledge. It is a defense against understanding. “I don’t know” is a perfectly honest and humble position; it is the ideal position from which learning begins. If only we could accept “I don’t know” fully, our minds would be as fresh as the minds of children, and we would learn as rapidly as they do.
Instead we clutter the path of knowledge with theories and explanations, which we mistake for knowledge. It’s full of danger, because it sometimes leads us, like that crowd long ago, to calling bad what is actually good. It is a very present danger: today you hear Christians denigrating other Christians because the other’s views are not an exact replica of their own. The implications are drastic: they are mistaking Jesus for Beelzebub.
Donagh O'Shea, O.P
Put on sackcloth, O priests, and mourn; wail, you who minister before the altar. Come; spend the night in sackcloth, you who minister before my God! For the grain offerings and drink offerings are withheld from the house of your God.
Declare a holy fast; call a sacred assembly. Summon the elders and all who live in the land to the house of the LORD your God, and cry out to the LORD!
Alas, that day! For the day of the LORD is near; it will come like destruction from the Almighty.
Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy mountain. Let all who live in the land tremble, for the day of the LORD is coming. It is close at hand - a day of darkness and gloom, a somber and cloudy day.
Like dawn spreading across the mountains a large and mighty army comes, such as never was of old nor ever will be in ages to come.
+++
Responsorial: Psalm 9
R. The Lord will judge the word with justice.
I will praise you, O LORD, with all my heart;
I will tell of all your wonders.
I will be glad and rejoice in you;
I will sing praise to your name, O Most High. R.
You have rebuked the nations and destroyed the wicked;
you have blotted out their name forever and ever.
The nations have sunk into a pit of their own making;
Their foot is caught in the snare they had set. R.
The LORD reigns forever;
he has established his throne for judgment.
He will judge the world in justice;
he will govern the peoples with equity. R.
+++
Gospel: Luke 11:15-26
In today’s Gospel Jesus had cast out a demon from a man who could not speak; when the demon was gone, the man began to speak. Some people in the crowd (in Matthew’s version of this incident, they were Pharisees) said, “No wonder he can cast out demons. He gets his power from Beelzebub.” Beelzebub was a pagan deity, whose name became synonymous with Satan, prince of demons. Others, trying to test Jesus, demanded that he show them a sign from heaven to prove his authority. If he could not, that would prove that his power was demonic, not divine.
Jesus knew their thoughts, and said, “A kingdom divided against itself is doomed. A family splintered by feuding will fall apart. You say I get my power from Satan. But if Satan is divided against himself, how can his kingdom last? If it is by the power of Satan that I cast out demons, what about your own exorcists? They will be your judges. On the other hand, if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the Kingdom of God has arrived among you.
When a strong man is fully armed and guards his palace, his possessions are safe. But if someone even stronger attacks and overpowers him, then strips him of his weapons, and carries away the spoils. Anyone who is not with me is against me. Whoever does not gather with me, scatters.
Whenever an unclean spirit leaves someone, it roams through the desert searching for rest. But if it finds none, it says, “I will go back to the person I came from.” But when it returns, it finds that its former home is swept clean and put in order. So, the spirit goes out and finds seven other spirits even more wicked than itself. They all move in an settle there, and the last condition of the person is worse than the first.
+++ +++ +++ +++
The typical image of Hell is heat, but in ancient Ireland, it was cold. I suppose it depends on what part of the world you live in. But the worst cold is not related to climate, but is emotional and spiritual. Abbé Huvelin, a spiritual writer of the 19th century, wrote, “The devil appeared to Saint Bridget, and she asked him ‘What is your name?’ ‘Cold itself!” he answered. It suits him much better than heat, since he is the prince of darkness, and he lacks every kind of love except self-love.
How could the people in the crowd imagine that Jesus was in league with Satan? The Pharisees were eager to silence him, and eventually, would have their way. They were never willing to enter the mystery; they were fleeing from it. Many explanations are just that: a flight from ignorance into greater ignorance. A false or shallow theory is a worse form of ignorance than a simple lack of knowledge. It is a defense against understanding. “I don’t know” is a perfectly honest and humble position; it is the ideal position from which learning begins. If only we could accept “I don’t know” fully, our minds would be as fresh as the minds of children, and we would learn as rapidly as they do.
Instead we clutter the path of knowledge with theories and explanations, which we mistake for knowledge. It’s full of danger, because it sometimes leads us, like that crowd long ago, to calling bad what is actually good. It is a very present danger: today you hear Christians denigrating other Christians because the other’s views are not an exact replica of their own. The implications are drastic: they are mistaking Jesus for Beelzebub.
Donagh O'Shea, O.P
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Ask And You Will Receive. Seek And You Will Find. Knock, And The Door Will Be Opened To You.
Today’s First Reading is from the Book of the Prophet Malachi
(3:13-20b, or 3:13-18; 4 1-2).
“You have said harsh things against me”, says the LORD. Various translations render the original word as “cruel”, “hard”, or “unkind”. The message is clear: these people find the LORD’s will difficult to accept. And yet they ask, “What have we ever said against you?” What they have said is this: “It is futile to serve God. What good has it done us to obey his commandments, and go about like mourners before the LORD of Hosts?” What they were disturbed about is this: “Evildoers prosper, and those who challenge God are not punished.”
Then, those who truly respected the LORD got together, and spoke to God directly: and He listened attentively. In the presence of the LORD, a scroll of remembrance was prepared as a record, listing the names of all those who honor the LORD and place their trust in Him.
The LORD answered their plea. “They will be mine, on the day I take action. They will be my special possession. I will spare them, just as a man is compassionate toward the son who serves him. Then you will once more see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God, and those who do not.
“For behold, the day is coming”, says the LORD of Hosts, "a day blazing like an oven, when the arrogant and the evildoers shall be reduced to stubble. That day is coming when I shall set them afire when they will be bereft of both roots and branches.” And then the LORD says, “But to you who respect my name, the sun of justice shall arise, with healing in its wings.”
From the earliest days of the Christian church, this prophesy of Malachi has been seen as a description of the coming of Jesus Christ. In fact, it is likely that you may have sung it at Christmas time, if you have gone past the first two verses of the poem of Charles Wesley set to music by Felix Mendelssohn:
(3:13-20b, or 3:13-18; 4 1-2).
“You have said harsh things against me”, says the LORD. Various translations render the original word as “cruel”, “hard”, or “unkind”. The message is clear: these people find the LORD’s will difficult to accept. And yet they ask, “What have we ever said against you?” What they have said is this: “It is futile to serve God. What good has it done us to obey his commandments, and go about like mourners before the LORD of Hosts?” What they were disturbed about is this: “Evildoers prosper, and those who challenge God are not punished.”
Then, those who truly respected the LORD got together, and spoke to God directly: and He listened attentively. In the presence of the LORD, a scroll of remembrance was prepared as a record, listing the names of all those who honor the LORD and place their trust in Him.
The LORD answered their plea. “They will be mine, on the day I take action. They will be my special possession. I will spare them, just as a man is compassionate toward the son who serves him. Then you will once more see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God, and those who do not.
“For behold, the day is coming”, says the LORD of Hosts, "a day blazing like an oven, when the arrogant and the evildoers shall be reduced to stubble. That day is coming when I shall set them afire when they will be bereft of both roots and branches.” And then the LORD says, “But to you who respect my name, the sun of justice shall arise, with healing in its wings.”
From the earliest days of the Christian church, this prophesy of Malachi has been seen as a description of the coming of Jesus Christ. In fact, it is likely that you may have sung it at Christmas time, if you have gone past the first two verses of the poem of Charles Wesley set to music by Felix Mendelssohn:
Hark, the Herald Angels Sing!
Verse III
Hail the Heaven-born Prince of Peace!
Hail the Sun of Righteousness!
Light and life to all he brings,
risen with healing in his wings.
Mild he lays his glory by,
born that man no more may die,
born to raise the sons of earth,
born to give us second birth.
Hark! the herald angels sing:
"Glory to the newborn King!"
+++
Today’s Gospel is taken from Luke (11: 5-13):
In the Holy Land at the time when Jesus was teaching his disciples, travellers preferred to travel late in the day, in order to avoid the heat of the midday sun. In the cities and some of the towns, there were inns. Otherwise, a traveller would stop at the home of a friend, and ask for shelter overnight. Hospitality was practiced by just about everyone, since the guest you welcomed into your home overnight today, might be your host when you are on the road. Jesus refers to this practice in teaching his disciples this parable:
“Suppose that you go to a friend’s house at midnight, and you say to him, 'Friend, please lend me three loaves of bread. A friend of mind is on a journey, and he just stopped at my house, but I don’t have any food to lend him.' But your friend doesn’t come to the door. Instead, he calls out from inside the house, 'Don’t bother me! My door is already locked, and my children are with me in bed. I can’t get up to give you anything.' Let me tell you this: If he doesn’t get up and give you what you’re asking for because of your friendship, you can be sure he will give you whatever you need if you are persistent.”
Jesus goes on to say: “You will get what you need if you keep on asking. You will find what you’re looking for if you don’t stop looking. If you persist in knocking, the door will be opened for you. Those who ask will receive. Those who seek will find. Those who knock will have the door opened for them."
The next images Jesus uses make it clear that he’s talking to folks who are fishermen by trade. “What father among you would give your son a snake, when he asks for a fish,or a scorpion when he asks for an egg?” Fishermen sometimes found water snakes in their nets, or scorpions that, when they rolled themselves up, took the shape of an egg. But any fisherman worth his salt knew the difference and would not harm the children. Jesus concludes: “If you who are by no means perfect, know enough to give good things to their children, how much more with the Father in Heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?”
+++ +++ +++ +++
Do you get the impression that God is reluctant to give us what we ask for? No, because Jesus is not comparing the reluctant giver and the Father, but contrasting the two. St. Augustine wrote, “If a man is awakened from sleep, and is forced to give unwillingly in response to a request, then God, who never sleeps and who awakens us from sleep so that we might ask, gives even more graciously.” Venerable Bede (672-735) wrote, “Any human – mortal, weak, burdened with sinful flesh – does not refuse to give the good things he possesses to the children whom he loves. More than this man, our heavenly Father lavishes the good things of heaven – on us.”
But, what if our prayer is not answered? Our prayer is always answered, but not always in the way we want or expect. Cyril of Alexandria (375 - 444): “Sometimes we pray without thinking about what we are praying for will be good for us. If God were to grant us what we ask, we do not know whether it will prove to be a blessing or an injury. A thoughtless impulse of fancy can cause us to fall into desires that thrust the soul into the snares of death and the meshes of hell. When we ask God anything of this kind, we surely will not receive it.”
In retrospect we can sometimes see the wisdom in this; but there are times we cannot see it. If we have prayed as never before for the recovery of a relative or friend who is seriously ill, and the person dies, then the question arises, more intensely and personally than ever, “Did God answer my prayer?” Then, all we can do is cling to the assurance of faith. Divine Providence takes us far beyond our own terms, beyond even life and death. We hear people speak of “finding comfort in God’s will.” This is not “comfort” in the ordinary, dictionary definition of the word: contented well-being. Rather, it means comfort in the original sense of the word, that goes back to its French and Latin roots: Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French conforter, from Late Latin confortare: to strengthen greatly, from Latin com-(with) + fortis (strong). [Both definitions from Merriam-Webster Online]. God answers our prayer by granting us a sort of strength we didn’t know we had – or rather, strength we did not have until the moment we needed it.
Donagh O'Shea S.J.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
October 7 -- Our Lady Of The Rosary
First Reading (Acts 1:12-14)
After Jesus ascended into heaven from the Mount of Olives, the disciples returned to the city of Jerusalem, “a Sabbath day’s walk” away. A Sabbath day’s walk was the distance that Jews were allowed to walk on the Sabbath. It is a distance of about three-quarters of a mile, a bit less than a kilometer. When they arrived, they went to the upstairs room where they were staying. This was likely the same room where they had celebrated the Passover with Jesus on the night before he died. Present were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alpheus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. Here Luke mentions the names of all the apostles except Judas Iscariot. Also there was Mary, the mother of Jesus, his brethren, and “the women” that is, they who had stood beside Mary at the foot of the cross: the mother of James and Joseph, whose name was also Mary, and the mother of James and John, the sons of Zebedee; her name is Salome.
Responsorial -- Cf. Luke 1
R. The Almighty has done great things for me, and Holy is His Name.
My soul glorifies the Lord
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior. R.
For he has been mindful of his servant in her lowliness;
henceforth, all generations will call me blessed.
The Almighty has done great things for me.
Holy is his name! R.
His mercy extends from generation to generation
upon those who fear him.
With his arm, he has performed mighty deeds,
and scattered the proud-hearted. R.
He has brought down the mighty from their thrones
but has lifted up the humble.
He has filled the hungry with good things
but has sent the rich away empty. R.
He protects his servant Israel,
mindful of his mercy,
the mercy he promised to our forefathers,
to Abraham and his descendants forever.
R. The Almighty has done great things for me, and Holy is His Name.
Gospel Luke 1:26-38
When Caesar Augustus was the Roman Empire and Quirinius was the Governor of Syria, in the town of Nazareth, a few miles south of the Sea of Galilee, a young woman named Mary was betrothed to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David.
According to the Law of Moses, a betrothal was an agreement much more serious than an engagement is in our culture. The betrothal had the same legal effects as a marriage, except one. Such an agreement could only end in an act of divorce. If the man died before the marriage, the woman was considered to be his widow, and inherited from him according to law. Either party could end the relationship freely without penalty. If the woman became pregnant before the marriage was formalized, the child was considered the man’s offspring; if he knew that he was not the father, the consequences could be fatal for the woman.
In late March of that year, the LORD God sent Gabriel, the messenger angel, to Mary, Joseph’s betrothed. The angel approached her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly honored; the Lord is with you." Mary was greatly troubled by his words, and wondered what this greeting meant.
The angel said to her: “Do not be afraid, Mary. You have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, whom you are to name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called Son of the Most High God. The LORD will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever. His Kingdom will have no end.”
Mary asked, “How can this be? I am a virgin!” The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. The holy to be born will be called the Son of God. Elizabeth your kinswoman going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God." When she heard the angel’s answer, Mary answered. "Let it be to me as you have said." And then the angel left her.
+++ +++ +++ +++
Today, we confirm that the holy rosary is not a pious practice banished to the past, like prayers of other times thoguht of with nostalgia. Instead, the rosary is experiencing a new springtime Without a doubt, this is one of the most eloquent signs of love that the young generation nourish for Jesus and his Mother, Mary.
In the current world, this prayer helps to put Christ at the center, as the Virgin did, who meditated within all that was said about her Son, and also what he did and said.
When reciting the rosary, the important and meaningful moments of salvation history are relived. The various steps of Christ's mission are traced. With Mary, the heart is oriented toward the mystery of Jesus. Christ is put at the center of our life, of our time, of our city, through the contemplation and meditation of his holy mysteries of joy, light, sorrow and glory.
May Mary help us to welcome within ourselves the grace emanating from these mysteries, so that through us we can "water" society, beginning with our daily relationships, and purifying them from so many negative forces, thus opening them to the newness of God.
Pope Benedict XVI
After Jesus ascended into heaven from the Mount of Olives, the disciples returned to the city of Jerusalem, “a Sabbath day’s walk” away. A Sabbath day’s walk was the distance that Jews were allowed to walk on the Sabbath. It is a distance of about three-quarters of a mile, a bit less than a kilometer. When they arrived, they went to the upstairs room where they were staying. This was likely the same room where they had celebrated the Passover with Jesus on the night before he died. Present were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alpheus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. Here Luke mentions the names of all the apostles except Judas Iscariot. Also there was Mary, the mother of Jesus, his brethren, and “the women” that is, they who had stood beside Mary at the foot of the cross: the mother of James and Joseph, whose name was also Mary, and the mother of James and John, the sons of Zebedee; her name is Salome.
Responsorial -- Cf. Luke 1
R. The Almighty has done great things for me, and Holy is His Name.
My soul glorifies the Lord
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior. R.
For he has been mindful of his servant in her lowliness;
henceforth, all generations will call me blessed.
The Almighty has done great things for me.
Holy is his name! R.
His mercy extends from generation to generation
upon those who fear him.
With his arm, he has performed mighty deeds,
and scattered the proud-hearted. R.
He has brought down the mighty from their thrones
but has lifted up the humble.
He has filled the hungry with good things
but has sent the rich away empty. R.
He protects his servant Israel,
mindful of his mercy,
the mercy he promised to our forefathers,
to Abraham and his descendants forever.
R. The Almighty has done great things for me, and Holy is His Name.
Gospel Luke 1:26-38
When Caesar Augustus was the Roman Empire and Quirinius was the Governor of Syria, in the town of Nazareth, a few miles south of the Sea of Galilee, a young woman named Mary was betrothed to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David.
According to the Law of Moses, a betrothal was an agreement much more serious than an engagement is in our culture. The betrothal had the same legal effects as a marriage, except one. Such an agreement could only end in an act of divorce. If the man died before the marriage, the woman was considered to be his widow, and inherited from him according to law. Either party could end the relationship freely without penalty. If the woman became pregnant before the marriage was formalized, the child was considered the man’s offspring; if he knew that he was not the father, the consequences could be fatal for the woman.
In late March of that year, the LORD God sent Gabriel, the messenger angel, to Mary, Joseph’s betrothed. The angel approached her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly honored; the Lord is with you." Mary was greatly troubled by his words, and wondered what this greeting meant.
The angel said to her: “Do not be afraid, Mary. You have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, whom you are to name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called Son of the Most High God. The LORD will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever. His Kingdom will have no end.”
Mary asked, “How can this be? I am a virgin!” The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. The holy to be born will be called the Son of God. Elizabeth your kinswoman going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God." When she heard the angel’s answer, Mary answered. "Let it be to me as you have said." And then the angel left her.
+++ +++ +++ +++
Today, we confirm that the holy rosary is not a pious practice banished to the past, like prayers of other times thoguht of with nostalgia. Instead, the rosary is experiencing a new springtime Without a doubt, this is one of the most eloquent signs of love that the young generation nourish for Jesus and his Mother, Mary.
In the current world, this prayer helps to put Christ at the center, as the Virgin did, who meditated within all that was said about her Son, and also what he did and said.
When reciting the rosary, the important and meaningful moments of salvation history are relived. The various steps of Christ's mission are traced. With Mary, the heart is oriented toward the mystery of Jesus. Christ is put at the center of our life, of our time, of our city, through the contemplation and meditation of his holy mysteries of joy, light, sorrow and glory.
May Mary help us to welcome within ourselves the grace emanating from these mysteries, so that through us we can "water" society, beginning with our daily relationships, and purifying them from so many negative forces, thus opening them to the newness of God.
Pope Benedict XVI
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
You Are Concerned And Upset About Many Things, But Only One Thing Is Necessary.
Today’s First Reading, like yesterday’s, is taken from the Book of Jonah (3:1-10):
When we left Jonah yesterday, he had been thrown into the sea by the sailors, swallowed up by a big fish, and spewed out onto the shore at a location not disclosed in the reading. Now we find that God has not forgotten the commission he had given to Jonah. He repeats his command that Jonah go to Nineveh. He wants Jonah to urge the people there to turn away from their evil ways, and turn back to God. This time Jonah is told to speak the words God will give him to say, not his own words.
This time, Jonah is obedient, and sets out for Nineveh, which was a very big city about 500 miles east of Jerusalem, on the Tigris River in Assyria (near the present city of Mosul in Iraq). The city itself was about eight miles across; but the officials of Nineveh also governed a large district surrounding the city proper. This district was about 50 miles across, and it would certainly have taken Jonah to walk from one side of the territory to the other.
On the first day, Jonah started walking into the city. When he stopped, he urged the people to repent, as the city was going to be destroyed by God in forty days. His message was a great shock to the people, who believed the words of the prophet. Realizing that they were in serious danger, they declared a fast. Everyone, from the youngest to the oldest, from the richest to the poorest, put on the traditional penitential robe of sackcloth (a type of rough burlap).
When the news reached the King of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal garments, covered himself in sackcloth, and sat down in the dust of the streets. He then issued a royal proclamation:
"By the decree of the king and his nobles: Do not let any man or beast, herd or flock, taste anything; do not let them eat or drink. But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence. Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish."
When God saw what the King and the people of Nineveh had done, how they had turned from their evil ways, he had compassion upon them, and did not bring about the destruction that He had threatened.
+++ +++ +++ +++
Today’s Gospel is taken from Luke (10:38-42): As Jesus and his disciples were on their way from Galilee to Jerusalem, they came to a village called Bethany, about two miles from the City of David, the home of Martha and Mary. While Martha was preparing a meal for her guests, Mary sat at the feet of Jesus, listening to his words. Martha came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her to help me!"
“Martha, Martha!” Jesus answered, “you are concerned and upset about many things, but only one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the better part, and it will not be taken away from her.”
This incident, which is found only in Luke, follows upon the story of the Good Samaritan which was yesterday’s Gospel reading. Both are illustrations of the Law as found in the Books of Deuteronomy and Leviticus. The parable of the Good Samaritan reminds us that we need to observe the second of the two Great Commandments: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." Today’s Gospel reminds us of both Great Commandments: Martha in preparing food for Jesus and his companions exemplifies the Second; Mary’s choice to listen to Jesus’ teaching shows that “You shall love the Lord your God with all your mind and heart and might” comes first.
When we left Jonah yesterday, he had been thrown into the sea by the sailors, swallowed up by a big fish, and spewed out onto the shore at a location not disclosed in the reading. Now we find that God has not forgotten the commission he had given to Jonah. He repeats his command that Jonah go to Nineveh. He wants Jonah to urge the people there to turn away from their evil ways, and turn back to God. This time Jonah is told to speak the words God will give him to say, not his own words.
This time, Jonah is obedient, and sets out for Nineveh, which was a very big city about 500 miles east of Jerusalem, on the Tigris River in Assyria (near the present city of Mosul in Iraq). The city itself was about eight miles across; but the officials of Nineveh also governed a large district surrounding the city proper. This district was about 50 miles across, and it would certainly have taken Jonah to walk from one side of the territory to the other.
On the first day, Jonah started walking into the city. When he stopped, he urged the people to repent, as the city was going to be destroyed by God in forty days. His message was a great shock to the people, who believed the words of the prophet. Realizing that they were in serious danger, they declared a fast. Everyone, from the youngest to the oldest, from the richest to the poorest, put on the traditional penitential robe of sackcloth (a type of rough burlap).
When the news reached the King of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal garments, covered himself in sackcloth, and sat down in the dust of the streets. He then issued a royal proclamation:
"By the decree of the king and his nobles: Do not let any man or beast, herd or flock, taste anything; do not let them eat or drink. But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence. Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish."
When God saw what the King and the people of Nineveh had done, how they had turned from their evil ways, he had compassion upon them, and did not bring about the destruction that He had threatened.
+++ +++ +++ +++
Today’s Gospel is taken from Luke (10:38-42): As Jesus and his disciples were on their way from Galilee to Jerusalem, they came to a village called Bethany, about two miles from the City of David, the home of Martha and Mary. While Martha was preparing a meal for her guests, Mary sat at the feet of Jesus, listening to his words. Martha came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her to help me!"
“Martha, Martha!” Jesus answered, “you are concerned and upset about many things, but only one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the better part, and it will not be taken away from her.”
This incident, which is found only in Luke, follows upon the story of the Good Samaritan which was yesterday’s Gospel reading. Both are illustrations of the Law as found in the Books of Deuteronomy and Leviticus. The parable of the Good Samaritan reminds us that we need to observe the second of the two Great Commandments: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." Today’s Gospel reminds us of both Great Commandments: Martha in preparing food for Jesus and his companions exemplifies the Second; Mary’s choice to listen to Jesus’ teaching shows that “You shall love the Lord your God with all your mind and heart and might” comes first.
Monday, October 5, 2009
Who Is My Neighbor?
Today’s First Reading is taken from the Book of Jonah (1:1-2:2, 11)
The word of the LORD came to Jonah: “Go to Nineveh, and preach against it, because its wickedness has come before me.” Nineveh was a seaport, about 500 miles east of Joppa, the port of Jerusalem. The city had a large population, and all of the problems typical of seaports from time immemorial. God cared for these people, and wanted them to reform their lives.
Jonah, on the other hand, was not interested in converting the people of Nineveh to the worship of the true God. So he headed in the opposite direction – toward Tarshish, which biblical geographers tell us was on the Iberian peninsula, in what is now Spain. Jonah was running away from the mission God gave him, running away from God!
God had other plans. He sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship was in danger of breaking up. The sailors, afraid for their lives, cried out to their own gods. And they threw the cargo overboard to lighten the ship.
As for Jonah, he had gone below decks, settled down, and fell asleep. When the captain found him, he asked, “How can you sleep, with all this going on? Get up and call upon your god! Maybe he’ll listen to you, and save us.” The crew had their own ideas. “Let’s cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity.” Casting lots is mentioned many times in both the Old and the New Testament, but there is no description of the technique. The closest modern practice to casting lots is probably flipping a coin. God used this method to reveal who was responsible for their predicament. When the crew cast lots, the lot fell on Jonah.
The sailors had some difficult questions for Jonah. They wanted to know where he came from, and what god he worshiped. They understood that Jonah’s God was punishing him by sending the storm, and that Jonah was the only one who could change the outcome.
Jonah began to feel sorry for the trouble he was causing, and realized that he had to take the blame. There was only one solution: “Pick me up and throw me overboard and the sea will be calm. It is my fault that this storm has come upon you.” The crew did their best to row back to land, “digging their oars” into the waves, but it was impossible. They prayed to Jonah’s God: “LORD, please don’t let us die for taking this man’s life. Don’t hold us accountable for killing an innocent man, because we are doing as you pleased.” They then threw Jonah over the side, and the sea immediately became calm.
God was not finished with Jonah, though. A large fish came up and swallowed Jonah, and he remained in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights. From the belly of the fish Jonah prayed to the LORD, and after three days, the LORD commanded the fish to spew Jonah up onto the shore.
+++ +++ +++ +++
Today’s gospel is taken from the gospel of Luke (10:25-37)
An expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher”, he asks, “what must I do to inherit eternal life? The expression “to test Jesus” may mean to discuss the meaning of the law with Jesus. On the other hand, those words may mean “to trap” him. Jesus replies, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” Jesus avoids the trap (if there was one), by turning the question back to the questioner.
The expert answers, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength and all our might’; and ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” The teacher had used the words of Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18 in his answer. People should put God first in their life, and they should love him with their entire mind and might. They believed that the word “neighbor” referred only to other Jews. Jesus had a broader interpretation of God’s law: Your neighbor is anyone who is not yourself. But Jesus’ answer is quite simple, “You have answered correctly. Do this and you will live.”
The expert had answered his own question, but he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus another question, “Who is my neighbor?”
In reply, Jesus tells a story (a parable, to use the language of the times):
A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead.
The road between Jerusalem and Jericho goes through the desert below sea level. Thieves often hid in the caves in the cliffs alongside the road. It was a very dangerous journey.
A Temple priest happened to be going down the same road. When he saw the man, he moved to the other side of the same road. The next passer-by was a Levite. Levites helped in the Temple services. It is not clear in the story whether the Levite was going up to Jerusalem or in the opposite direction. In either case, he did not have time to help the man. Further, he could not allow himself to become “unclean”. So he passed by on the other side of the road.
A Samaritan came by, saw the man, and took pity on him. He bandaged the man’s wounds, pouring on wine to cleanse his wounds and olive oil to soothe them. He put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn, and cared for him. The following day, he gave the innkeeper two silver coins (two days wages), and told him, “Look after him, and when I come back, I will pay you for any further expense you might incur.”
Then Jesus asked the key question: “Which of these three acted like a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” The legal expert answered, “The one who had mercy on him.” Jesus said, “Go and do likewise.”
As a Jew, the expert in the law likely did not want to admit that the true neighbor was the Samaritan. Nonetheless, he gave a true answer. Jesus told the lawyer that he also must be a true neighbor to anyone who needs assistance. The Samaritan passing by did not consider the differences in nationality or in religion before he helped the man beset by robbers. To act as a neighbor means to help someone in need without raising the question, “Who is worthy of my assistance?” My neighbor is everyone who is not my self.
The word of the LORD came to Jonah: “Go to Nineveh, and preach against it, because its wickedness has come before me.” Nineveh was a seaport, about 500 miles east of Joppa, the port of Jerusalem. The city had a large population, and all of the problems typical of seaports from time immemorial. God cared for these people, and wanted them to reform their lives.
Jonah, on the other hand, was not interested in converting the people of Nineveh to the worship of the true God. So he headed in the opposite direction – toward Tarshish, which biblical geographers tell us was on the Iberian peninsula, in what is now Spain. Jonah was running away from the mission God gave him, running away from God!
God had other plans. He sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship was in danger of breaking up. The sailors, afraid for their lives, cried out to their own gods. And they threw the cargo overboard to lighten the ship.
As for Jonah, he had gone below decks, settled down, and fell asleep. When the captain found him, he asked, “How can you sleep, with all this going on? Get up and call upon your god! Maybe he’ll listen to you, and save us.” The crew had their own ideas. “Let’s cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity.” Casting lots is mentioned many times in both the Old and the New Testament, but there is no description of the technique. The closest modern practice to casting lots is probably flipping a coin. God used this method to reveal who was responsible for their predicament. When the crew cast lots, the lot fell on Jonah.
The sailors had some difficult questions for Jonah. They wanted to know where he came from, and what god he worshiped. They understood that Jonah’s God was punishing him by sending the storm, and that Jonah was the only one who could change the outcome.
Jonah began to feel sorry for the trouble he was causing, and realized that he had to take the blame. There was only one solution: “Pick me up and throw me overboard and the sea will be calm. It is my fault that this storm has come upon you.” The crew did their best to row back to land, “digging their oars” into the waves, but it was impossible. They prayed to Jonah’s God: “LORD, please don’t let us die for taking this man’s life. Don’t hold us accountable for killing an innocent man, because we are doing as you pleased.” They then threw Jonah over the side, and the sea immediately became calm.
God was not finished with Jonah, though. A large fish came up and swallowed Jonah, and he remained in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights. From the belly of the fish Jonah prayed to the LORD, and after three days, the LORD commanded the fish to spew Jonah up onto the shore.
+++ +++ +++ +++
Today’s gospel is taken from the gospel of Luke (10:25-37)
An expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher”, he asks, “what must I do to inherit eternal life? The expression “to test Jesus” may mean to discuss the meaning of the law with Jesus. On the other hand, those words may mean “to trap” him. Jesus replies, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” Jesus avoids the trap (if there was one), by turning the question back to the questioner.
The expert answers, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength and all our might’; and ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” The teacher had used the words of Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18 in his answer. People should put God first in their life, and they should love him with their entire mind and might. They believed that the word “neighbor” referred only to other Jews. Jesus had a broader interpretation of God’s law: Your neighbor is anyone who is not yourself. But Jesus’ answer is quite simple, “You have answered correctly. Do this and you will live.”
The expert had answered his own question, but he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus another question, “Who is my neighbor?”
In reply, Jesus tells a story (a parable, to use the language of the times):
A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead.
The road between Jerusalem and Jericho goes through the desert below sea level. Thieves often hid in the caves in the cliffs alongside the road. It was a very dangerous journey.
A Temple priest happened to be going down the same road. When he saw the man, he moved to the other side of the same road. The next passer-by was a Levite. Levites helped in the Temple services. It is not clear in the story whether the Levite was going up to Jerusalem or in the opposite direction. In either case, he did not have time to help the man. Further, he could not allow himself to become “unclean”. So he passed by on the other side of the road.
A Samaritan came by, saw the man, and took pity on him. He bandaged the man’s wounds, pouring on wine to cleanse his wounds and olive oil to soothe them. He put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn, and cared for him. The following day, he gave the innkeeper two silver coins (two days wages), and told him, “Look after him, and when I come back, I will pay you for any further expense you might incur.”
Then Jesus asked the key question: “Which of these three acted like a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” The legal expert answered, “The one who had mercy on him.” Jesus said, “Go and do likewise.”
As a Jew, the expert in the law likely did not want to admit that the true neighbor was the Samaritan. Nonetheless, he gave a true answer. Jesus told the lawyer that he also must be a true neighbor to anyone who needs assistance. The Samaritan passing by did not consider the differences in nationality or in religion before he helped the man beset by robbers. To act as a neighbor means to help someone in need without raising the question, “Who is worthy of my assistance?” My neighbor is everyone who is not my self.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
What God Has Joined, No Human Being Must Separate
Today's First Reading is taken from the Book of Genesis (2:18-24)
God saw that the man he had created needed a helper. A helper is not a servant or a slave, but someone who will work together with another person so that they both can accomplish a task that the first person cannot complete alone.
God had already created all sorts of animals: beasts of the fields and birds of the air. God did not give names to the animals, but allowed the man to do that. Yet none of the animals was a suitable helper to the man, because they lack one quality that human beings possess. God made man as an image of himself. Man has an immortal spirit, but animals do not. That is why man rules over the domestic animals, and uses them to make his work easier. They are the servants of man, but they are not the helpers that man needs.
So God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep, and while he was sleeping, God took one of the man’s ribs, and closed up the place with flesh. The God made a woman from the rib he had taken from the man, and brought her to him.
When the man saw the woman, he said:
“This is bone of my bones,
and flesh of my flesh:
she will be called ‘woman’
since she has been taken out of her man.”
This is why a man leaves his father and mother, and joins with his wife, and the two become one flesh.
+++ +++ +++ +++
Today’s Second Reading is taken from the Letter to the Hebrews (2:9-11):
God’s promise for humanity, which we have seen in the First Reading, was not yet complete, until Jesus, the Son of God, took human form and flesh, and so “became lower than the angels for a little while.” His purpose in doing so was “to taste death for everyone” – to die a human death so that we might gain eternal life. By his death on the Cross, Jesus brings us into the family of God, making us the sons and daughters of His Heavenly Father. That is why Jesus is not ashamed to call even the weakest and most sinful of us his brothers and sisters. As Augustine says, “God created us to forgive us”, and He sent His Son into the world not to condemn the world, but that through him all the people of the world might be saved, and have eternal life.
(cf. John 3:17)
+++ +++ +++ +++
Today’s Gospel is taken from the Gospel according to Mark (10:2-12):
The Pharisees came to Jesus and tested him with this question: “Does the Law allow a man to divorce his wife?” The question was not only a test, but a trap. If he said that divorce was wrong, they could say that he was contradicting the Law (Deuteronomy 24:1). But Jesus countered their question with another question: “What command did Moses give you?” They answered, “Moses allowed a man to write an official letter of divorce, and then he could send her away”, which is the text of that same verse of the Law of Moses.
Then Jesus said, “Moses gave you this commandment because of the hardness of your hearts. But that was not God’s purpose.” He then cited the text of Genesis 1:27: “From the beginning, ‘God made them male and female. For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be joined with his wife.’ Then the two shall become one flesh.”
When they got back to the house, the disciples again questioned Jesus about this subject. Jesus told them, “If a man divorces his wife and marries someone else, he is guilty of adultery against her. And if a woman divorces her husband and marries someone else, she also is guilty of adultery.” Then he concluded his teaching: “What God has joined together, no one must set asunder.”
+++ +++ +++ +++
“It is not good for the man to be alone.”
“If there were such as thing as loneliness which could no longer be penetrated and transformed by the word of another … then we would have real, total loneliness and frightfulness, what theology calls ‘Hell.’”. (Pope Benedict XVI).
“What God has joined, no human being must separate.”
The Sacrament of Marriage is Christ’s answer to Hell. If we have experienced a companionship that has moved our hearts to an otherwise impossible union with Jesus Christ, then our first task is to remain faithful to it with the same tenacity that little children cling to their parents.
MAGNIFICAT -- Introduction to the Mass for the 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time
God saw that the man he had created needed a helper. A helper is not a servant or a slave, but someone who will work together with another person so that they both can accomplish a task that the first person cannot complete alone.
God had already created all sorts of animals: beasts of the fields and birds of the air. God did not give names to the animals, but allowed the man to do that. Yet none of the animals was a suitable helper to the man, because they lack one quality that human beings possess. God made man as an image of himself. Man has an immortal spirit, but animals do not. That is why man rules over the domestic animals, and uses them to make his work easier. They are the servants of man, but they are not the helpers that man needs.
So God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep, and while he was sleeping, God took one of the man’s ribs, and closed up the place with flesh. The God made a woman from the rib he had taken from the man, and brought her to him.
When the man saw the woman, he said:
“This is bone of my bones,
and flesh of my flesh:
she will be called ‘woman’
since she has been taken out of her man.”
This is why a man leaves his father and mother, and joins with his wife, and the two become one flesh.
+++ +++ +++ +++
Today’s Second Reading is taken from the Letter to the Hebrews (2:9-11):
God’s promise for humanity, which we have seen in the First Reading, was not yet complete, until Jesus, the Son of God, took human form and flesh, and so “became lower than the angels for a little while.” His purpose in doing so was “to taste death for everyone” – to die a human death so that we might gain eternal life. By his death on the Cross, Jesus brings us into the family of God, making us the sons and daughters of His Heavenly Father. That is why Jesus is not ashamed to call even the weakest and most sinful of us his brothers and sisters. As Augustine says, “God created us to forgive us”, and He sent His Son into the world not to condemn the world, but that through him all the people of the world might be saved, and have eternal life.
(cf. John 3:17)
+++ +++ +++ +++
Today’s Gospel is taken from the Gospel according to Mark (10:2-12):
The Pharisees came to Jesus and tested him with this question: “Does the Law allow a man to divorce his wife?” The question was not only a test, but a trap. If he said that divorce was wrong, they could say that he was contradicting the Law (Deuteronomy 24:1). But Jesus countered their question with another question: “What command did Moses give you?” They answered, “Moses allowed a man to write an official letter of divorce, and then he could send her away”, which is the text of that same verse of the Law of Moses.
Then Jesus said, “Moses gave you this commandment because of the hardness of your hearts. But that was not God’s purpose.” He then cited the text of Genesis 1:27: “From the beginning, ‘God made them male and female. For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be joined with his wife.’ Then the two shall become one flesh.”
When they got back to the house, the disciples again questioned Jesus about this subject. Jesus told them, “If a man divorces his wife and marries someone else, he is guilty of adultery against her. And if a woman divorces her husband and marries someone else, she also is guilty of adultery.” Then he concluded his teaching: “What God has joined together, no one must set asunder.”
+++ +++ +++ +++
“It is not good for the man to be alone.”
“If there were such as thing as loneliness which could no longer be penetrated and transformed by the word of another … then we would have real, total loneliness and frightfulness, what theology calls ‘Hell.’”. (Pope Benedict XVI).
“What God has joined, no human being must separate.”
The Sacrament of Marriage is Christ’s answer to Hell. If we have experienced a companionship that has moved our hearts to an otherwise impossible union with Jesus Christ, then our first task is to remain faithful to it with the same tenacity that little children cling to their parents.
MAGNIFICAT -- Introduction to the Mass for the 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time
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