21st Week: Aug 22-27:
Aug 22 Monday: (The Queenship of Blessed Virgin Mary): Lk 1:26-38:
This special Liturgical Feast was proclaimed by Pope Pius XII on October 11, 1954 through his Encyclical Letter Ad Caeli Reginam. But Mary’s title as “Queen of Heaven and Earth” is a great scandal to many non-Catholic Christians. Here is the Biblical argument supporting her Queenship.Biblical basis of the feast: Since Holy
Scripture presents Jesus Christ as a king, his mother Mary is the Queen-Mother.
Jesus is King by Nature, as God; she is Queen by “Divine relationship,” that
is, by being the Mother of God. In most of the Messianic prophecies given in
the Old Testament books of Samuel, Micah (5:1), Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Daniel
(7: 13-14), Christ, the Messiah, is represented as a King, an identity given to
Jesus in the New Testament: Lk 1:32-33, Mt 2:2, Lk 19:38, Jn 18:37. The
beginning of the concept that Mary is a Queen is found in the Annunciation
narrative, given in today’s Gospel (Lk 1:26-38). For the angel tells Mary that
her Son will be King over the house of Jacob forever. So, she, His Mother,
would be a Queen. Mary is also Queen by grace. She is full of grace, the
highest in the category of grace, next to her Son. She is Queen by singular
choice of God the Father. If a mere human can become King or Queen by choice of
the people how much greater a title is the choice of the Father Himself! Mary’s
Queenship can be seen in the great vision described in Revelation: “And a
great portent appeared in Heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon
under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars; she was with child and
she cried out in her pangs of birth, in anguish for delivery” (Rv
12:1–2). Revelation 12 portrays Mary as the new Queen-Mother in the Kingdom of
God, sharing in her Son’s rule over the universe.
Role of Queen-mother in the Bible: In the monarchy of
King David, as well as in other ancient kingdoms of the Near East, the mother
of the ruling king held an important office in the royal court and played a key
part in the process of dynastic succession. In fact, the king’s mother ruled
as queen, not his wife or one of his wives. The prophet Jeremiah tells how the
queen-mother possessed a throne and a crown, symbolic of her position of
authority in the kingdom (Jer 13:18, 20). Probably the clearest example of the
queen-mother’s role is that of Bathsheba, wife of David and mother of Solomon
(1 Kgs 1:16–17, 31; 1 Kgs 2:19–20; 1 Kgs 2:19–20). Some Old Testament
prophecies incorporate the queen-mother tradition when telling of the future
Messiah. One example is Isaiah 7:13-14.
Life message: 1) Understanding Mary as
Queen-Mother explains her important intercessory role in the Christian life.
(Once, King Solomon responded to a request made by the queen-mother of the
Davidic kingdom , Bathsheba, with “Ask it, my Mother, for I will not refuse
you”1 Kings 2:20), In this case, though, hearing the petition and
discovering that the real petitioner, was a rival who desired to kill him and
usurp the Kingdom entrusted to him by God through David, Solomon refused, not
his Mother (whose will was always one with her son’s,) but the real petitioner
whom he had killed at once (1 Kgs 2:21-25). So Jesus the king of the universe,
responds to Mary, his Mother, whose will is completely one with that of God,
and who serves Him in acting as our advocate before her Divine Son. Hence, we
should approach our Queen-Mother with confidence, provided our requests are
consonant with the Will of God, of course, knowing that she carries our
petitions to her Royal Son.
Aug 23 Tuesday: (St. Rose of Lima, Virgin):
The context: Chapter 23 of Matthew’s Gospel
presents the rolling thunder of Jesus’ anger and sorrow at the blatant
hypocrisy of the Pharisees, in the form of a series of eight denunciations.
Today’s Gospel passage contains the fourth, fifth, and sixth charges:
unauthorized extra tithing, exaggerated zeal for the Law and undue emphasis on
external cleanliness as a cheap substitute for internal purity. For Jesus, the
essence of religion is offering a clean heart to God, a heart filled with love,
mercy, compassion, and forgiveness. Mere external observance of rituals without
cleansing the heart is hypocrisy.
The fourth of the eight accusations is that the Pharisees
practice non-required and silly tithing of herbs in the kitchen garden, while
they fail to observe “the weightier matters of the Law, Justice, Mercy and
Faith,” thus missing the spirit of tithing. Tithing was intended to acknowledge
God’s ownership of all our possessions, to support the Temple worship, and to
help the poor in the Jewish community. The fifth denunciation is of their
exaggerated zeal for observing the letter of the Law, for instance filtering
the drinks to avoid unclean insects, while committing serious sins without any
prick of conscience. The sixth indictment is of their exaggerated zeal for
ritual, external cleanliness while they leave their minds and hearts filled
with pride, evil intentions, prejudice and injustice and fail to practice mercy
or offer compassion to suffering people.
Life Message: 1) Let us not be pharisaic in our
religious life by meticulously practicing external observance of piety and
devotion while remaining unjust, uncharitable, arrogant, impatient, cruel,
stubborn, irritable, and judgmental. We are tempted to hide the bad things
about ourselves and advertise the good things. So, the bad things grow, and the
good things are dissipated. Let us try to have noble intentions for all our
good deeds. 4 Let us learn to love God living in others by rendering them
sacrificial service with agápe love. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
Aug 24 Wednesday: (St. Bartholomew, Apostle):
In today’s Gospel of John (John
1:43-51), Nathanael, also called Bartholomew or “son of Tholomay,” is
introduced as a friend of Philip. He is described as initially being skeptical
about the Messiah coming from Nazareth, saying: “Can anything good come out
of Nazareth?” But he accepts Philip’s invitation to meet Jesus. Jesus
welcomes him saying, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no
guile!” Jesus comment “Before Philip called you, when you were
under the fig tree, I saw you” is probably based on a Jewish figure of
speech referring to studying the Torah. Nathanael
immediately recognizes Jesus as “the Son of God” and “the King of
Israel“. Nathanael reappears at the end of John’s Gospel (John
21:2) as one of the disciples to whom Jesus appeared at the Sea
of Tiberius after his resurrection from the tomb. The Gospels
thus present Bartholomew as a man with no malice and lover of Torah with
openness to truth and readiness to accept the truth. Nathanael was the first
Apostle to make an explicit confession of faith in Jesus as the Messiah and as
the Son of God. (Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”.
Life message: Let us pray for the grace to love
the word of God as Bartholomew did and to accept the teaching of the Bible and
the Church with open heart and open mind without pride or prejudice. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
Aug 25 Thursday: (St. Louis)
The context: The central theme of today’s Gospel
passage is the necessity for Faith and vigilant preparedness in the lives of
Christ’s followers. The passage contains a pair of short parables in which the
chief characters are a master (representing the risen Jesus), and his servants
(Jesus’ followers, ourselves). Jesus warns the disciples that they must be
prepared at all times because the Son of Man will come at an unexpected hour.
According to the Fathers of the Church, Jesus’ words in this passage have two
senses. In the narrower sense, the words refer to the Second Coming of Jesus,
but in the broader sense they refer to the time of our own death, when God will
call us to meet Him and to give Him an account of our life on earth. Jesus
wants all of us to be ready at every moment to do God’s will by loving others
through humble, sacrificial service.
Steadfast Faith and eternal vigilance: In the first part of
this discourse, prior to today’s Gospel, Jesus teaches the disciples the need
for constant vigilance, using the mini parable of the thief and the treasure.
We should not lose our treasure of Divine grace or close relationship with
Jesus, like the man who awoke one morning to discover that a thief had stolen
his wealth in the night. In the second part (today’s Gospel), Jesus exhorts the
disciples to be steadfast in their Faith and ever vigilant. When he had to be
away from home, a master would make a servant his steward and entrust to him
the management of the household. A trusted steward was expected to run his
master’s house well, to govern the master’s servants, and to administer the
master’s estate. When his master was not at home, a wise and trustworthy
steward was ever vigilant. He prepared himself for his master’s return at any
time of the day or night by always doing his duties faithfully. Jesus
illustrates the same point by using another mini parable of the foolish and
wicked steward who got drunk, abused the other servants, and was caught
red-handed by his master.
Life message: 1) These parables encouraging
“wakefulness” and “preparedness” are addressed to all believers. Since the time
of our death is quite uncertain, we, too, must be ever ready to meet our Lord
at any moment. Our Master should find us carrying out our tasks of love, mercy
and service, rather than leaving things undone or half-done or postponed. He
should also find us at peace with God, ourselves and with our fellowmen (Eph
4:26) (Fr. Tony) https://frtonyshomilies.com/
Aug 26 Friday;
The context: Today’s parable, taken from
Matthew’s Gospel, brings the usual warnings about preparation for the end of
our own world, the end of our own times, and our own passage to another world.
The parable tells us that a searching, watching, and growing heart is essential
for a lively, dynamic Faith in God; it also asks us whether we are ready for
these events and how we are preparing for them.
The parable: Since a wedding was a great occasion, the whole
village would line up at the sides of the road to wish God’s blessings on the
bride and groom in procession. The invited ones would join the procession,
which started from the bride’s house, and ended at the groom’s house to take
part in the week-long celebration. Since the bridegroom might come to the
bride’s house unexpectedly, the bridal party had to be ready at any time, with
virgins carrying lighted torches and reserve oil in jars. The five foolish
virgins who could not welcome the groom’s party lost not only the opportunity of
witnessing the marriage ceremony, but also of participating in the week-long
celebration that followed. The local meaning is that the foolish virgins
represent the “Chosen People of God” who were waiting for the Messiah but were
shut out from the Messianic banquet because they were unprepared. The universal
meaning is that the five foolish virgins represent those who fail to prepare
for the end of their lives and for the Final Judgment. They do not put their
Faith in Jesus and live it out by keeping Jesus’ Commandment to love others as
Jesus Himself did.
Life messages: 1) We must be wise enough to
remain ever prepared: Wise Christians carefully make their daily choices for
God. They are ready to put the commandment of love into practice by showing
kindness and forgiveness. 2) Let us be sure that our lamps are ready for the
end of our lives: Spiritual readiness, preparation and growth come as a result
of intentional habits built into one’s life. These include taking time for
prayer and being alone with God; reading God’s Word; leading a Sacramental
life; cooperating with God’s grace by offering acts of loving service to
others; practicing moral faithfulness, and living always in loving obedience to
Him. (Fr. Tony) https://frtonyshomilies.com/
Aug 27 Saturday: (St. Monica):
The context: The three parables in the
twenty-fifth chapter of Matthew (The Wise and Foolish Virgins, The Talents, The
Last Judgment) are about the end times, the end of the world, and the end of
our lives. The parable of the talents is an invitation for each one of us to
live in such a way that we make the best use of the talents God has given us.
Then, at the hour of our death, God will say: “Well done, My good and
faithful servant! Come and share the joy of your Master.” The parable
challenges us to ask the questions: Are we using our talents and gifts
primarily to serve God? Are we doing everything we can to carry out God’s will?
The story: A very rich person, about to set off on a journey, entrusted very
large sums of wealth (talents), to three of his slaves, each according to his
personal ability: five, two, and one. Through skillful trading and investing,
the first and second slaves managed to double their master’s money. Afraid of
taking risk and lazy by nature, the third slave buried his talent in the
ground. On the day of accounting, the master rewarded the two clever
slaves (“Come, share your master’s joy.”), but punished the third
slave whom he calls “wicked and slothful” (v. 26).
Life messages: 1) We need to trust God enough to make use of the gifts and abilities we have been given. Everyone is given different talents and blessings by God. So, we should ask ourselves how we are using our particular gifts in the service of our Christian community and the wider society. 2) We need to make use of our talents in our parish. We should be always willing to share our abilities in the liturgy, in Sunday school classes and in social outreach activities like feeding the hungry, housing the homeless, visiting the sick and the shut-ins. 3) We need to trade with our talent of Christian Faith: All of us in the Church today have received at least one talent. We have received the gift of Faith. Our responsibility as men and women of Faith is not just to preserve and “keep” the Faith but to live it out daily and pass it on faithfully to the next generation in our family and in our parish community.
(Fr. Tony) https://frtonyshomilies.com/
