25th Week: September 23-28:
Sept 23 Monday: Saint Pius of Pietrelcina, Priest
The context: Today’s Gospel passage is taken from Luke’s version of Jesus’ teachings following the parable of the sower. We are reminded that we are the light of the world and that our duty is to receive and radiate around us Christ’s Light of love, mercy, compassion, and forgiveness. The image of light and lamp: Lamps help people to see, move, and work in the dark, and their light prevents us from stumbling and falling down. For the Jews, light represented the inner beauty, truth, and goodness of God. God’s Light illumines our lives with spiritual light, celestial joy, and everlasting peace: the glory of the Lord shone around the shepherds at Bethlehem (Lk 2:9); Paul experienced the presence of God in a blinding Light (Acts 9:3; 22:6); God “dwells in inaccessible Light” (1 Tm 6:16). That is why Jesus claims to be the Light of the world. When the Light of Christ shines in our hearts, we will be able to recognize who we are, who our neighbors are, and who God is, and to see clearly how we are related to God and our neighbors. When we live in Christ’s Light, we will not foolishly try to hide truths about ourselves from ourselves, from our neighbors, or from God. Christ’s Light will also remind us of the consequences of our loving the darkness of sinful ways and bad habits.
The paradox of the rich getting richer: In today’s Gospel, Jesus makes the comment, “for to him who has, will more be given,” following the warning "Take heed how you hear…." Jesus is telling us that if we listen to Him with open minds and open hearts and walk in Jesus’ Light, the tiny bit of wisdom and understanding that we’ve already gained will grow and grow with God’s help. If, on the other hand, our hearts are closed to Jesus, even the little bit of wisdom that we think we’ve got will be lost. Jesus is not talking about money or wealth in any form. When we prayerfully immerse ourselves in the Scriptures, we are encountering God Himself. Jesus is talking about the extent and depth of our connectedness to God. If we are already deeply rooted in God, our spirits will grow larger, richer, and fuller by the day. But if our connection to the Lord is only superficial, that light certainly won’t grow, and it may well not last at all.
Life messages: As “light of the world” it is our duty 1) to remove the darkness from around us and 2) to show others the true Light of Jesus, His ideas and ideals through our model Christian life. (Fr. Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
Sept 24 Tuesday:
The context: As Jesus became a strong critic of the Jewish religious authorities, his cousins, bringing his Mother with them (as a wedge in the door, so Jesus would listen to them?) came to take him back to Nazareth by force, perhaps because they feared that he, and they themselves, would be arrested and put to death
Jesus’ plain statement: Today’s Gospel episode seems to suggest that Jesus ignored the request of his mother and close relatives who had traveled the long distance of twenty miles, probably on foot, to talk to him. But everyone in the audience knew how Jesus loved his mother and had taken care of her until he started his public ministry. Besides, Jesus’ plain answer, "My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it," was indeed a compliment to his mother who had always listened to the word of God and obeyed it. It also dismissed, without mentioning them, all claims kindred might make which would interfere with His Messianic Mission. In other words, Jesus was declaring, “Blessed are those who heard and kept the word of God as Mary was faithfully doing" (Vatican II, Lumen Gentium, 58). Jesus was also using the occasion to teach his listeners a new lesson in their relationship with God. Being a disciple of Jesus, or a Christian, means first and foremost having a deep, growing, personal relationship of love and unity with God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit and with all who belong to God as His children. Jesus changes the order of relationships and shows us that true kinship is not just a matter of flesh and blood. God’s gracious gift to us is His adoption of us as His sons and daughters. This gift enables us to recognize all those who belong to Christ, actually or potentially, as our brothers and sisters. Our adoption as sons and daughters of God transforms all our relationships and requires a new order of loyalty to God and His Kingdom in absolute, unquestioned, first place. Everyone who does the will of the Father, that is to say, who obeys Him, is a brother or sister of Christ, because he or she is like Jesus who always fulfilled the will of his Father.
Life messages: 1) Let us remember that by Baptism we become the children of God, brothers and sisters of Jesus, and members of the Heavenly family of the Triune God. Hence, we have a two-fold obligation to treat others with love and respect and to share our love with them by corporal and spiritual works of mercy. 2) Let us grow as true disciples of Jesus by becoming doers as well as hearers of the word of God, for thus we will be welcomed to God’s Everlasting Family Reunion in Heaven.
(Fr. Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
Sept 25 Wednesday:
The context: Today’s Gospel describes the commissioning of the twelve Apostles. Sent out with “power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases,” they exercised their preaching and healing mission according to the detailed action-plan given by Jesus.
Jesus’ instructions and travel tips. By these instructions, it is clear that Jesus meant the apostles to take no supplies for the road. They were simply to trust that God, the Provider, would open the hearts of believers to take care of their needs. The Jews supported their rabbis, and judged doing so a privilege as well as an obligation, because hospitality was an important religious tradition in Palestine. Jesus’ instructions also suggest that the apostles should not be like the acquisitive Jewish priests of the day, who were interested only in gaining riches. They should be walking examples of God’s Love and Providence in action. They should choose temporary accommodation in a reputable household, they should bless the residents with God’s peace, and they should be satisfied with whatever food and accommodation they receive, and not search for better.
Life messages: 1) We, too, have a witness-bearing mission: Each Christian is called not only to be a disciple but also to be an apostle. As apostles, we are sent out to evangelize the world by sharing with others, not just words, or ideas, or doctrines, but our experiences of God and His Son, Jesus. It is through our transparent Christian lives that we are to show the love, mercy and concern of Jesus to the people around us.
2) We also have a liberating mission: There are many demons which can control the lives of people around us, making them helpless slaves —the demon of nicotine, the demon of alcohol, the demon of gambling, the demons of pornography and promiscuous sex, the demons of materialism and consumerism. We need the help of Jesus both to be liberated from these demons ourselves, and to help Jesus to liberate others from their bondage in the chains of self-centering selfishness and addictive evil habits (Fr. Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
Sept 26 Thursday: [Saints Cosmas and Damian, Martyrs]
The context: Although King Herod respected and feared John the Baptist as a great prophet, he was not converted, and he was maneuvered into beheading John by his vengeful, intolerant, immoral, jealous wife Herodias. When his personal staff started reporting stories to Herod about the new prophet, Jesus, as the reappearance of Elijah the prophet, Herod expressed his fear that Jesus was the reincarnation of John the Baptist whom he had unjustly killed. He wanted to see Jesus — not to hear Jesus preaching of the Good News, but in order to get rid of his fear and feelings of guilt.
The haunting conscience: Herod Antipas was one of the several sons of Herod the Great, the King of Israel who had divided his kingdom among four of his sons. Herod Antipas ruled over Galilee and Perea from 2 BC to 37 AD, when he was exiled by the Roman emperor. (It was his father, Herod the Great who ordered the massacre of the Holy Innocents). The conscience of this immoral oriental tyrant, Herod Antipas, started destroying his peace of mind when he realized the heinousness of his crimes of an illicit and immoral relationship with his niece and sister-in-law, Herodias, in gross violation of Mosaic laws, and his cooperation in the murder of John the Baptist. His discomfort led him, not to repentance, but to the fear that John had come back from the dead to punish him, a fear that might have prompted Herod’s wish to see Jesus in person. His wish was finally realized when Jesus was dragged to him during Jesus’ trial before Pilate. But Jesus did not yield to Herod’s demand for a miracle and kept silence.
Life messages: 1) We need to keep our conscience clean by repenting of our sins daily of Reconciliation. Otherwise, our sins will haunt us, making our lives miserable. 2) It is necessary that we should have a clear understanding of Who Jesus really IS. We need to see, experience, and accept Jesus as Son of God and Son of Man, our personal Lord and Savior. Such an acceptance should lead us to a total adoption of Jesus’ ideas and ideals and way of life. Otherwise, we will be like Herod, who resembled the people of Jesus’ day, and of our own, who flock to healing services looking for miracles, but not for Jesus. If our following of Jesus causes in us no change that transforms our souls and radiates Jesus outward from us, our attempts to have mountain-top experiences will be meaningless and vain.
(Fr. Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
Sept 27 Friday: Saint Vincent de Paul, Priest
The context: Today’s Gospel passage is the first of the three times when Jesus foretells His Passion, death and Resurrection. It consists of two sections, the Messianic confession of Peter and the prediction of the Passion by Jesus.
Jesus as the Christ, our Lord and Savior: Today’s Gospel explains the basis of our Faith as the acceptance of Jesus as the Christ, our Lord and Savior. It also tells us that Christ Jesus became our Savior by his suffering, death and Resurrection. According to Matthew (16:13-19), and Mark (8:27-30), this famous profession of Faith by Peter took place at Caesarea Philippi, at present called Banias, twenty-five miles northeast of the Sea of Galilee. Jesus realized that if the apostles did not know Who He really was, then the entire Messianic ministry, suffering and death would be useless. Hence, Jesus decided to ask a question in two parts. 1) “What is the public opinion about Me? “and 2) “What is your personal opinion? “Their answer to the first question was: “Some say John the Baptist; but others say, Elijah; and others, that one of the old prophets has risen." Peter volunteered to answer the second question, saying: “You are the Christ of God." But Jesus charged and commanded them to tell this to no one and predicted His Passion and death.
Life messages: Let us experience Jesus as our Lord: 1) We experience Jesus as our personal Savior by listening to him through the daily, meditative reading of the Bible, by talking to him through daily, personal and family prayers, by offering him our lives on the altar in frequent attendance at Holy Mass, by being reconciled with him every night, asking pardon and forgiveness for our sins, and by receiving the Sacrament of Reconciliation whenever we are in mortal sin.
2) The next step is the surrender of our lives to Jesus by rendering humble and loving service to others with the strong conviction that Jesus is present in every person. (Fr. Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
Sept 28 Saturday: Saint Wenceslaus, Martyr; Saint Lawrence Ruiz and
Companions, Martyrs
The context: Coming down from the mountain after His Transfiguration, Jesus healed an epileptic boy. Today’s Gospel begins with the reaction of the crowds to this cure: “and all were astonished at the majesty of God.” But Jesus uses this occasion of high popularity to explain that, in order to reveal Jesus’ real majesty, “the Son of Man is to be delivered into the hands of men."
Jesus’ least understood prediction: His coming suffering and death: In fact, three times Jesus foretold his coming great suffering through betrayal, rejection, and the punishment of a cruel death. The Apostles could not take in the prophecies, partly because they were dreaming of a political messiah in Jesus. Besides, Jesus had shown His Glory to three of them on the mountain and had astounded everyone by instantly healing an epileptic boy whom the Apostles could not heal. so plainly, no simply human force could even slightly harm, let along kill, Jesus without Divine permission. In addition, Jesus’ disciples were really frightened by such a prediction, perhaps fearing the same fate for themselves. They may also have been ignorant of the “Suffering Servant" prophecy of Isaiah, where the Messiah was pictured as making atonement for sins through suffering and death. When Jesus called Himself the "Son of Man," the Apostles probably got the impression of the Messiah coming in glory as described by Daniel.
Life messages: 1) Jesus paid the ransom for our sins with His blood, dying willingly on the cross, then rising from the dead, freed us from the tyranny of sin and death. Hence, it is our duty to live and die as free children of God, released from all types of slavery to sin, evil habits and addictions. 2) We should ask Jesus for help to carry our daily crosses with Jesus’ same spirit of atonement for our sins and those of others. (Fr. Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
