19th Week: August 12-17:
Aug 12 Monday: Saint Jane Frances de Chantal, Religious
The context: The first part of today’s Gospel gives Jesus’ second prediction of His sufferings, death, and Resurrection. The second part is Jesus’ explanation of why He pays the Temple tax. Today’s Gospel tells us that Jesus’ disciples were “distressed” by their master’s repeated reminders of a coming shameful death as a heretic and lawbreaker. They were distressed because the reminders shattered their dream of ruling Israel after Jesus had conquered the Romans and reestablished the Davidic kingdom. They did not understand that their master would be dying to liberate the whole of mankind from the bondage of sin. In the second part of today’s Gospel, Peter assures the Temple tax officials that the Master, Jesus, is a devout Jew and, hence, pays the Temple tax. All Jewish males 20 years old or older had to pay a half-shekel (roughly equivalent to two days’ wages), as Temple tax for the upkeep of the Temple and its sacrifices. When they reached Peter’s home, Jesus instructed Peter to go fishing, open the mouth of the first fish he caught and, with the coin he would find there, pay both Peter’s and his own tax. Jesus’ reason was that they were to give good example to others, even though, as the Son of God, Jesus was legally exempted from paying any type of tax to anyone. The Gospel passage foreshadows a dilemma that would be experienced by the first century Jewish Christians as to whether they should continue to pay the Temple tax meant for the Jews.
Life messages: 1) Let us express our gratitude to Jesus our Savior for the price of suffering and death He paid for our sins. We can do this by avoiding all occasions of sin, by offering our pains and sufferings as atonement for our sins, and by helping others sacrificially.
2) We should obey the laws of the Church and of our country as loyal Christians and loyal citizens and contribute to the needs of the Church and its mission by our tithing, while we help the government by paying our taxes. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
Aug 13 Tuesday:
Saints Pontian, Pope, and Hippolytus, Priest, Martyrs
The context: Chapter 18 of Matthew’s Gospel is a “discourse on the Church,” giving leaders of the Church instructions for administration. Jesus’ apostles shared the Jewish hope that the Messiah would be a political ruler, and that they would hold important portfolios in the Messianic kingdom. Hence, in today’s passage (vv 1-5), Jesus warned his apostles and the future hierarchy of his Church against the natural human tendencies to pride and ambition. He exhorted the spiritual leaders, as well as all believers in responsible positions, to be humble, trusting and innocent – that is, to be like children. The additional parable of the shepherd rejoicing at the recovery of his lost sheep tells us that our Heavenly Father is very particular that His little ones should not perish due to our negligence.
Child-like qualities: Children are basically innocent and honest. They are naturally humble because they depend on their parents for everything. They trust and obey their parents because they know their parents love them. Hence, Jesus advises his disciples to forget their selfish ambitions and, with trusting Faith in a loving and providing God, to spend their lives serving others in all humility. Then they will be great in the Kingdom of Heaven.
Life Messages: 1) We need to practice humility in thoughts, words, and actions. “Learn from me for I am meek and humble of heart.” “What is the essential thing in the religion and discipline of Jesus Christ?” St. Augustine asks, and then responds, “I shall reply: first humility, second humility and third humility.” 2) We should not seek recognition and recompense for the service we do for Christ and the Church as parents, teachers, pastors etc. 3) Trusting Faith resulting from true humility is essential for all corporal and spiritual works of mercy. 4) Since children reflect the innocence, purity, simplicity, and tenderness of our Lord, and since they are each given the protection of a guardian angel, we are to love them, train them and take care not to give scandal to them. 5) We need to try to treat everyone with love and respect because, “Beside each believer stands an angel as protector and shepherd leading him to life,” (St. Basil) CCC # 336. ((https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
Aug 14 Wednesday: Saint Maximilian Kolbe, Priest and Martyr
The context: The first part of today’s portion of Matthew’s Gospel is one of the passages many have found difficult to interpret. Many Bible commentators think that Jesus never said these things, that probably they were a later addition by the Church because 1) there was no organized Church at that time, 2) Jesus never considered a sinner as a hopeless case, and 3) Jesus loved Gentiles and tax collectors.
The real meaning: What Jesus actually meant was, “Do whatever you can to make the guilty person realize and confess his fault, thus helping him to repair the damage he or she has done to his or her personal and communal relationships.” Jesus seems to suggest the following steps to repair a broken personal relationship: 1) One-on-one encounter: If you are sure that somebody has wronged you, tell him lovingly and politely that he has hurt you. 2) The group encounter: If the first step does not work, meet him again in the company of two or three wise and honorable persons and try to make the culprit realize what he has done wrong. 3) Parish encounter: If steps one and two do not work, bring his case to the pastor or to the parish council or the Christian fellowship. 4) Leave him to Lord’s mercy: If the culprit remains stubborn, like a Gentile or proud tax collector, continue to pray for him and leave him to God’s mercy.
Life messages: 1) Let us have the good will and generosity to accept our mistakes and ask pardon and forgiveness from the offended victim. 2) Let us also learn to forgive and forget the offenses done against us (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
Aug 15 Thursday: The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Lk 1:39-56. Three Questions Answered:
Q 1: Do Catholics worship Mary? Fact 1: Catholics don’t worship or adore Mary because we worship only God, and Mary is not God. Fact 2: We venerate her, honor her, and love her as Jesus’ mother and our Heavenly Mother.
Q 2: Why do Catholics venerate Mary? Mary herself gives the reason in her “Magnificat” recorded in Luke (1:48-49): 48: “For he has looked upon his handmaid’s lowliness; behold, from now on will all ages call me blessed. 49: The Mighty One has done great things for me, and Holy is his Name.”
1) God has honored Mary in four ways, and we honor her because God honored her:
a) He chose her as the mother of His Son, Jesus Christ the Messiah.
b) In preparation for this role, God made her “Full of grace” by her Immaculate Conception.
c) He anointed her twice with His Holy Spirit: at the Annunciation and at Pentecost, making her the most Spirit -filled of all women.
d) God allowed her to participate actively in Christ’s suffering and death, suffering in soul all Jesus suffered in body.
2) Mary is our Heavenly Mother, given to us by Jesus from the cross.
3) Mary is our role model for all virtues, particularly, love, fidelity, humility, obedience, surrender to the will of God, and patience.
Q 3: Why do we believe that Mary was taken to Heaven after her death and burial? (“Assumption” means, after her death, Mary was taken into Heaven, both body and soul. The word Assumption comes from the Latin verb “assumere”, meaning “to take to oneself.” Our Lord, Jesus Christ took Mary home to himself where he is. It was on November 1, 1950, that, through the Apostolic Constitution Munificentimus Deus, Pope Pius XII officially declared the Assumption as a Dogma of Catholic Faith, giving the following reasons:
1) Uninterrupted tradition in the Catholic Church starting from the first century AD. (The first trace of belief in the Virgin’s Assumption can be found in the apocryphal second-to-third century AD accounts entitled Transitus Mariae
[Latin: “The Crossing Over of Mary” ].
2) The feast is found in all the ancient liturgies
3) The belief in the assumption of Mary is taught by all early Fathers of the Church, e.g., Origen (died AD 253), St. Jerome (died AD 419) and St. Augustine (died AD 430).
4) Negative evidence: Mary’s tomb was never reported or venerated.
5) Old Testament evidence of corporal assumption of Enoch (Gn 5: 24) and Elijah (2 Kgs 2:1).
6) Theological reasons: her Immaculate Conception and sinless life.
Life messages: 1) We are challenged to keep ourselves pure and holy children of a Holy Mother. 2) We are challenged to accept total liberation from all our bondages. 3) We are assured of our resurrection and given the inspiration to face pain, suffering, despair, disappointment and temptations as Mary did.
Aug 16 Friday: Saint Stephen of Hungary Jesus’ explanation of a Mosaic sanction: Jesus explains that Moses’ permission for divorce was only a temporary concession which was meant to control the growing rate of divorce in Moses’ own time by introducing a law governing divorce. Jesus adds that it was because of the hard-heartedness of the Jewish men that Moses allowed such a concession. By denying the man’s right to divorce, Jesus places the husband and wife on an equal footing in marriage and teaches that no Mosaic regulation dealing with a temporary situation can alter the permanence and unity of marriage.
Jesus’ clear teaching on divorce: Jesus reminds us that His doctrine goes back to the original intention of God. Citing the book of Genesis, Jesus says that God made us male and female and commanded that “the two shall become one flesh.” He then draws the conclusion that “they are no longer two, but one body” – partners with equal rights – and he declares that no man is allowed to separate what God has joined together (Mt 19:6).
Catholic teaching: Based on the NT teachings given in Mk 10:1-12, Mt 5:31-32; Mt 19:3-9; Lk 16:18; and 1 Cor 7:10-11, the Catholic Church teaches that marriage is a Sacrament involving both a sacred and legal contract between a man and a woman and, at the same time, a special Covenant with the Lord. “Divorce is also a grave offense against the natural law. Besides, it claims to break the contract, to which the spouses freely consented, to live with each other till death…… Divorce is immoral also because it introduces disorder into the family and into society” (CCC #2384, #2385).
Life messages:1) Let us keep all the families of our parish in our daily prayers, that the spouses may have a mutual understanding and appreciation of each other, the willingness to ask pardon and give pardon, the generosity to forgive and forget, and the good will to serve each other, because all these virtues help to make a marriage permanent. 2) Let us also pray for all the divorced in the parish and welcome them as active members of the parish, both those who have remained single and those who have remarried without annulment. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
Aug 17 Saturday: The context: Today’s Gospel passage describes one of the loveliest incidents in the Gospel story. Jewish mothers used to bring their children to great rabbis to have them pray over the little ones, especially on their first birthday. Naturally, mothers wanted the healing touch and blessing of the most popular rabbi, Jesus. In an attempt to protect their master from the crowd of mothers and noisy children, the apostles started rebuking them. The passage describes Jesus’ reaction and teaching.
Childlike qualities for entrance into Heaven: By showing his displeasure at the rough reaction of the apostles, Jesus made it clear that everyone is equally important to him as a child of God. The mothers came to Jesus because he was welcoming, warm, and approachable. Jesus decided to use the occasion as a teachable moment. He taught his disciples that entry into Heaven demands the childlike qualities of humility, innocence, obedience,simplicity, openness, teachability, freedom from prejudice, readiness for change and adaptation,total trust in a loving and providing God, confidence in the essential goodness of people, and the readiness to forgive and forget. Only such people are ready to hear the message of the Gospel in its fullness and accept it.
Life messages: 1) Let us live in the awareness that we are the children of a loving and providing Heavenly Father and that, by Baptism, we are members of God’s family. Hence, we are expected to behave well every day, as worthy children of a Holy Father. 2) Let us pray for all the children in our families and for all our young parishioners, and let us find time to cooperate in the parish ministries meant for children and young people. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
