20th Week: Aug 19-24:
Aug 19 Monday: St John Eudes, Priest
The context: Today’s Gospel reminds us that we do
not possess anything in our life that we refuse to surrender to the Lord.
Rather, it often possesses us, and we become the prisoner of our possessions,
violating the First Commandment, which demands that we give unconditional
priority to God. Jesus reminds the rich young man of the Commandments that deal
with his relationships with other people and challenges him to sell what he has
and give it to the poor. Jesus’ challenge exposed what was missing in the young
man’s life: a sense of compassion for the poor and the willingness to share his
blessings with the needy.
The incident of the rich, young ruler: The rich young man
who came to Jesus in search of eternal life really wanted to be accepted by
Jesus as a disciple. The young man claimed that from childhood he had observed
all the Commandments Jesus mentioned. His tragedy, however, was that he loved
“things” more than people, and his possessions “possessed him.” Jesus told him
that keeping the Commandments, while enough for salvation, was not enough for
perfection and challenged him to share his riches with the poor. “There
is one thing lacking. Sell all you have and give to the poor, and then you will
have real treasure. After that, come and be with me.” Jesus asked him
to break his selfish attachment to wealth by sharing it. But “when the
young man heard this, he went away sorrowful; for he had great
possessions.” (This young man has become a symbol of the kind of
Christian whose mediocrity and shortsightedness prevent him from turning his
life into a generous, fruitful self-giving to the service of God and neighbor.
(Navarre Bible commentary).
Life messages: 1) Jesus makes the same challenge
to each of us today. Our following of Jesus has to be totally and absolutely
unconditional. Our “attachment” may not be to money or to material goods, but
to another person, a job, one’s health, position, or reputation. We must be
ready to cut off any such attachment in order to become true Christian
disciples, sharing our blessings with others. 2) To follow Jesus, we must have
generous hearts and the willingness to share our blessings with others to show
our generosity. St. Teresa of Calcutta (Mother Teresa) puts it in her own
style: “Do SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL for God. Do it with your life. Do it
every day. Do it in your own way. But do it!” (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
Aug 20 Tuesday: St Bernard, Abbot and Doctor of the
Church
The context: Jesus told a rich, young man who
had expressed his desire to follow Jesus as a disciple that he had to share his
possessions with the less fortunate as a condition for becoming a perfect
disciple. But “when the young man heard this, he went away sorrowful; for he
had great possessions.” It was then that Jesus made the comment given
in today’s Gospel. Jesus uses a vivid hyperbole or “word cartoon” to show how
riches bar people from Heaven. The camel was the largest animal the Jews knew,
and the eye of a needle the smallest hole. “The needle’s eye” is
variously interpreted. a) Most probably Jesus used the image literally. b) The
little, low, narrow pedestrian gate on the outer wall of the city of Jerusalem
through which even a man could hardly pass erect was called, “The Needle’s Eye”
in Jesus’ time. c) The Greek word used in the passage for camel is kamelos, which
can also mean a ship’s thick cable or hawser rope. In any case, Jesus is saying
that it is not impossible, by the grace of God, for a wealthy person to keep
his spiritual integrity, but it is extremely difficult and uncommon. Why do
riches prevent one from reaching God? First, the rich think that they can buy
their way out of sorrow and into happiness, so they don’t need God. Second,
riches shackle one to this earth, and one ignores an afterlife.; taught by
Scriptures (Mt 6:21). Third, riches tend to make one selfish. The Bible doesn’t
say that money is the root of all evil; it says that “the love
of money is the root of all evil” (1 Tm
6:10). Jesus also challenges the Jewish belief that material wealth and
prosperity are signs of God’s blessings, and poverty is the sign of His
punishment. Jesus condemns a value system that makes “things” more valuable
than people.
Life messages: 1) We need to accept God’s
invitation to generosity. Jesus’ Infinitely generous Self-gift to us has the
crucifix as “Exhibit A,” and in the Eucharist Jesus actually becomes our
spiritual Food and Drink. To follow Jesus, we must have a generous, self-giving
heart, and we should be willing to use it by sharing our blessings with others.
God does not ask us to give up our riches, but He does ask us to use them
wisely in His service. How do we use our talents? What about time –
do we use it for God? We each get 168 hours every week. How do we use our time?
Are we too busy to pray each day? (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
Aug 21 Wednesday: Saint Pius X, Pope
The context: The parable described in today’s
Gospel is known as the “Parable of Workers in the Vineyard” or the “Parable
of the Generous Landlord.” This remarkable and rather startling parable is
found only in Matthew. There is Gospel, or “Good News,” in this parable because
it is the story of the landlord’s love and generosity, representing God’s love
and generosity. The question in God’s mind is not, “How much do these
people deserve?” but rather, “How can I help them? How can I save
them before they perish?” It’s all about grace and blessings. God is
presented in the parable as a loving mother who cares about each of her
children equally. The parable in a nutshell: The Kingdom of Heaven, says Jesus,
is like a landowner who goes out early in the morning to hire laborers for his
vineyard. He rounds up a group at 6 AM, agrees to pay them the usual daily wage
and then puts them into action. At 9 AM, he rounds up another group, saying He
wil give them what is just. At noon, he recruits a third team, and then at 3 PM,
a fourth. Finally, at 5 PM, he finds still more laborers who are willing and
able to work. He sends them into the vineyard to do what they can before
sundown. As the day ends, the landowner instructs his manager to pay each of
the workers one denarius, the daily living wage, and to begin with those who
started at 5 PM.
Life messages: (1) We need to follow God’s
example and show grace to our neighbor. When someone else is more successful
than we are, let us rejoice with him and assume he has earned the success. When
someone who does wrong manages to escape discovery, let us remember the many
times we have done wrong and gotten off free. We mustn’t wish pain on people
for the sake of “fairness,” for that is envy, and we become envious of others
because of our lack of generosity of heart. 2) We need to express our gratitude
to God in our daily lives. God personally calls each of us to a particular
ministry. He shows his care by giving us His grace and eternal salvation. All
our talents and blessings are freely given us by God, so we should thank Him by
avoiding sins, by rendering loving service to others, and by listening and
talking to Him. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
Aug 22 Thursday: The Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary:
This special Liturgical Feast was proclaimed by Pope Pius
XII on October 11, 1954 through his Encyclical Letter Ad Caeli Reginam.
Pius XII points out that Mary deserves the title because she is Mother of God,
because she is closely associated as the New Eve with Jesus’ redemptive work,
because of her preeminent perfection, and because of her intercessory power.
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.
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 the incarnate God. In
most of the messianic prophecies given in the Old Testament books of Samuel,
Micah (5:1), Isaiah (7:13, 14), Jeremiah (13:18, 20), 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. For the angel tells Mary that her Son will be King over the
house of Jacob forever. So, she, His Mother, would be his Queen-mother. 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 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!
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 the 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. In the fourth century Saint Ephrem called Mary “Lady” and
“Queen.” Later Church fathers and doctors continued to use the title. As Jesus
exercised his kingship on earth by serving his Father and his fellow human
beings, so Mary exercised her queenship.
Finally, Mary’s Queenship can be seen in the great vision
described in Revelation 12: “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.
Life message: Understanding Mary as Queen-Mother
explains her important intercessory role in the Christian life. Just as the
King responded to the Queen-mother of the Davidic kingdom (“Ask it, my
Mother, for I will not refuse you”1 Kgs 2:20), 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, knowing that she
carries our petitions to her royal son. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
Aug 23 Friday: Saint Rose of Lima, Virgin:
The context: The Pharisees, who believed in both
the written Law and the oral tradition, were pleased to see how Jesus defeated
the Sadducee who had tried to humiliate him with the hypothetical case of a
woman who married seven husbands in succession. So, a lawyer challenged Jesus
to summarize the most important of the Mosaic Laws into one sentence. Jesus’
answer teaches us that the most important Commandment isto love God in loving
others and to love others in loving God. In other words, we are to love God completely,
and express our love by loving our neighbor who is a son or daughter of God in
whom God lives.
Jesus’ novel contribution: Jesus gives a
straightforward answer, quoting directly from the Law itself and startling his
listeners with his profound simplicity and mastery of the law of God and its
purpose. He cites the first sentence of the Jewish Shema prayer
(Dt 6:4-5) “…Therefore, you shall love the Lord, your God, with all your
heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength.” Then He
adds its complementary law (Lv 19:18): “You
shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus combines the originally
separate commandments and presents them as the essence of true religion. We are
to love our neighbor as our self because this is a way to love God: God gives
us our neighbors to love and be loved by, so that we may learn to love Him.
Life messages: 1) How do we love God? There
are several means by which we can express our love for God: a) by thanking God
daily for His blessings and expressing our gratitude by obeying His
Commandments; b) by being reconciled with God daily, confessing our sins, and
asking His forgiveness; c) by acknowledging our total dependence on God,
presenting our needs before Him with trusting Faith; d) by keeping friendship
with God, daily talking to Him in prayer and listening to Him in reading the
Bible; and e) by recharging our spiritual batteries through participating in
Sunday Mass, receiving Jesus in Holy Communion, and leading a Sacramental life.
2) How do we love our neighbor? Since every
human being is the child of God and the dwelling place of the Spirit of God,
created in the “image and likeness of God” and saved by the precious Blood of
Christ, we are actually giving expression to our love of God by loving our
neighbor as Jesus loves him, and by loving Jesus in our neighbor. This means we
need to help, support, encourage, forgive, and pray for every one of God’s
children patiently, without discrimination based on attractiveness,
responsiveness, color, race, creed, gender, age, wealth, or social
status.
(https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
Aug 24 Saturday: Saint 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, a 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/)
