15th Week: July 13-18
July 13: Monday: for a brief account, click on: St.
Henry: Mt 10:34–11:1:
The context: Jesus makes the controversial
statement that he has come to inaugurate a series of divisions in families and
in the society as a whole between those who accept him as Lord and Savior and
those who oppose him, his ideas and his ideals. He concludes his great “missionary
discourse” with an instruction to his twelve Apostles on the cost and
the reward found in the commitment to be his disciple. The first half of these
sayings of Jesus is about the behavior expected from his disciples, and the
second half is about the behavior of others towards the disciple. “I have
not come to bring peace, but a sword”: Jesus clarifies that he came to
give people lasting peace, not temporary, worldly peace — the simple absence of
war and freedom from all conflicts in the family and society. Our role is to
keep fighting against our evil habits and addictions using the spiritual sword
of the word of God which is “lively and active, sharper than any
two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and
marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Heb 4:12). “Whoever
loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me….” : What Jesus
means is that all loyalties must give place to loyalty to God. In other words,
we cannot condone immoral practices, even in members of our own family. Jesus
is not speaking against the family, but rather reminding us that we are part of
the larger family of our fellow-Christians and, hence, we have more
responsibilities. We must be ready to lose our lives for Christ: By “losing
one’s life” Jesus means, not only suffering death rather than betray
him, but also that, daily, we must stop living for ourselves alone. Instead, we
must spend our lives for others and care for those who are sick and hungry. We
are to give hospitality to strangers in Jesus’ name. (“offering a cup
of cold water”): There are four main links in the chain of salvation:
i) God who has sent Jesus with His message, ii) Jesus who has preached the
“Good News,” iii) the human messenger who preaches Jesus’ message through his
words and life, and iv) the believer who welcomes the message and the
messengers. Hence, giving hospitality to a preacher or a believer is the same
as welcoming Jesus himself. The basis of all hospitality is that we all belong
to God’s family, and that every person is our brother or sister.
Life message: 1) We need to be hospitable and
generous: Hospitality allows us to encounter the presence of God in others,
usually in those in whom we least expect to find Him, and to share our love
with them. We become fully alive as Christians through the generous giving of
ourselves to others. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
July 14 Tuesday: St. Kateri Tekakwitha, Virgin
(U.S.A.):
Mt 11:20-24:
The context: Jesus reminds these cities that they
deserve God’s punishment because they have forgotten the responsibilities which
their numerous meetings with the Messiah in their midst have laid upon them.
They should have listened to his message, put it into practice, and borne
witness to the miracles he had worked for them.
Chorazin, Bethsaida, Capernaum: Nothing is
mentioned in any of the Gospels about the “wonders” Jesus worked in these
cities. Bethsaida was a fishing village on the west bank of Jordan at the
northern end of the lake. Chorazin was a town one hour’s walking distance north
of Capernaum. Jesus expresses his holy anger and sorrowful pity from a heart
broken at the irresponsible disregard and indifference these three ungrateful
cities have shown to the Good News. Jesus warns them, “it shall be more
tolerable on the Day of Judgment for Tyre and Sidon … [and] the
land of Sodom” than for them, because Tyre, Sidon, and Sodom were not
fortunate enough to hear Jesus and to receive the opportunity for conversion
given to Bethsaida, Chorazin, and Capernaum.
Life Messages: Privileges always carry
responsibilities: 1) We are privileged to have the Holy Bible, so we have the
responsibility of making use of it. 2) We are privileged to have the
Eucharistic celebration every day in our Churches, so we have the responsibility
of participating in it when we are able to do so. 3) We are privileged to have
the Sacrament of Reconciliation, so we have the responsibility of using it to
be reconciled with Jesus and his Church. 4) We are blessed to have the Holy
Spirit guiding the teaching authority in the Church, so we have the
responsibility of studying and following the Church’s directives and teachings.
5) We have the inestimable gift of Mary, the mother of Jesus, as our Heavenly
Mother, and the company of numerous saints who serve as our role models, so we
have the responsibility of following Jesus in their footsteps. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
July 15 Wednesday: St. Bonaventure, Bishop, Doctor
of the Church:
Mt 11:25-27:
The context: Jesus knew that ordinary people
with large, sensitive hearts, rather than proud intellectuals like the Scribes
and the Pharisees, were able accept the “Good News” he
preached. Such people would inherit Heaven rather than the learned and the wise
who prided themselves on their intellectual achievements. Hence, in the first
part of today’s Gospel Jesus praises God for revealing Himself to the
simple-hearted, thus condemning intellectual pride. A person who is full of
self-centeredness fails to perceive supernatural things as real.
Jesus’ unique claim of being God’s perfect
reflection: “No one really knows the Father except the Son,
and him to whom the Son wishes to reveal Him” (Mt 11:27). The claim
that Jesus alone can reveal God to men forms the center of the Christian Faith.
John records Jesus’ claim in different words which He spoke at the Last
Supper: “He who has seen me has seen the Father” (Jn 14:9). What
Jesus says is, in effect, “If you want to see what God is like, if you want to
see the mind of God, the heart of God, the nature of God, if you want to see
God’s whole attitude to men–look at Me!”
Life message: 1) We need to learn how to know and
love God better by studying Jesus’ revelations of God his Father. We do this by
daily reading the Holy Bible, especially the Gospels, by meditating on the
passages read and by applying them to our lives. The more we study the Bible,
the more we learn about the Triune God, and especially about Jesus our Savior.
This knowledge will help us to love Jesus more, experience his presence in our
daily lives, see his face in everyone around us and surrender our lives to Jesus
by rendering humble service to everyone around us. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
July 16 Thursday: Our Lady of Mount Carmel: Mt
11:28-30: Mount Carmel, a mountain in northern Palestine about twenty
miles from Nazareth and overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, lies three miles
south of Haifa in modern Israel. 1 Kgs 18 describes how the prophet Elijah’s
prayer on Mount Carmel for rain was answered and how he defeated the 450 pagan
priests of Baal on the same mountain, challenging them to bring fire from
Heaven to burn the sacrificed bulls placed on the altar. Thus he proved that
only Yahweh, Whom he invoked and Who resonded with a blast of fire that reduced
everything to dust, was the true God. According to the most ancient Carmelite
chronicles, the Order had its origins with the disciples of the prophets Elijah
and Eliseus on Mount Carmel. They lived very ascetic lives in caves on Mount
Carmel honoring the “Holy Virgin” of the Messianic prophecies
who would give birth to the promised Messiah. When the Apostles
started preaching Jesus, the pious ascetics of Carmel accepted the Christian
Faith. In the 13th century, a group of pilgrims who followed the Crusaders was
impressed by the lifestyle of the disciples of Elijah. Hence, they set up a
religious community on the western slopes of Mount Carmel and started living
very ascetic lives. This was the beginning of the modern Carmelite Order, whose
members started leading a contemplative life under the patronage of Mary,
honoring her as the Mother of God and Our Lady of Mount Carmel. The people
began to call them Friars of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount
Carmel. Pope Honorius III approved the order’s rule in 1232 (or
1236?). Since the Turks had started conquering Palestine by 1235, the hermits
decided to go back to Europe, where they built monasteries in Cyprus, Italy,
France, and England. St. Simon Stock, an English Carmelite, became the superior
of all the Carmelites in 1247. He helped the order expand and adapt to the
times, patterning the order on the Dominicans and Franciscans. The feast of Our
Lady of Mount Carmel was instituted first for the Carmelites in 1332 to
commemorate the 100th anniversary of the approval of the rule of the Carmelite
Order. The Order of Discalced Carmelites of the Blessed
Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel (OCD) resulted from 16th century reforms
of the Carmelites by St. Teresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross, and the
order Carmelites of Mary Immaculate (CMI) still later in
Kerala state of India.
Our Lady of Mount Carmel and the Brown scapular: According a
popular legend, Mary appeared to St. Simon Stock on July 16, 1251, and gave him
the Brown Scapular with the following words: “This will be for you and for
all Carmelites the privilege, that he who dies in this will not suffer eternal
fire.” Mary promised her protection to all those who would wear the blessed
habit and lead a life of prayer and sacrifice. Pope St. Pius X (1903 -1914)
declared that that the common people could have the same blessings if they
would wear the metallic scapular medal carrying the picture of Our Lady of the
Scapular on one side and the Sacred Heart on the other. The feast of Our Lady
of Mount Carmel challenges us both to imitate the simple and ascetic life of
the Blessed Virgin Mary with her trusting Faith in God and her humility, and to
seek her guidance and maternal protection in our Christian lives. (Fr. Tony)
July 17 Friday: Mt 12:1-8:
The context: Today’s Gospel passage gives us
Jesus’ teaching on the purpose of the Sabbath and on its proper observance.
This was his response to a criticism and a silly accusation made by Pharisees
against his disciples who, to satisfy their hunger on this Sabbath, plucked
ears of grain from a field and ate the grains after removing the husks by
rubbing the grains between their palms and blowing away the chaff. The
Pharisees accused them of violating Sabbath laws by performing three items of
work forbidden on Sabbath, namely, harvesting, threshing and winnowing.
Counter-arguments: Jesus gives three
counter-arguments from Holy Scripture defending his apostles. (1) Basic human
needs, like hunger, take precedence over Divine worship and Sabbath observance.
Jesus cites from the Scripture the example of the hungry David and his selected
soldiers. They approached Ahimelech, the priest of Nob, who gave them for food
the “offering bread” which only the priests were allowed to
eat (1 Sm 21:1-6). (2) No law can stand against Divine worship. That is why the
priests were not considered as violating Sabbath laws although they did the
work of preparing two rams for sacrifice in the Temple (Nm 28:9-10). (3) God
desires that we practice mercy: Jesus quotes the prophet Hosea to tell the
accusers God’s words: “I want mercy, not sacrifice” (Hos 6:6).
Life messages: Like the Jewish Sabbath, the
Christian Sunday is to be 1) a day for rest and refreshment with members of the
family; 2) a day for thanksgiving and the recharging of spiritual batteries
through participation in the Eucharistic celebration for Catholics and through
worship service for the Non-Catholics; 3) a day parents should use for teaching
religious Faith and Bible lessons to their children; 4) a day for doing works
of charity in the neighborhood and in the parish; 5) a day for socializing with
family members, neighbors, and fellow parishioners. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
July 18 Saturday: St Camillus de Lellis, Priest
(USA):
Mt 12:14-21 The context: The confrontation
between Jesus and the Pharisees reached its climax with Jesus’ “blasphemous” statement:
“The Sabbath is made for man and not man for the Sabbath. The Son of Man is
Lord even of the Sabbath.” Jesus realized that there was more work of
preaching and healing that needed to be done. So, withdrawing to a less-known
place to avoid a premature arrest, Jesus asked people not to give publicity to
their miraculous healings. Further, Jesus wanted to avoid being labelled a
false messiah or revolt-inducer against the Roman empire, allegations the
hostile religious and political leaders of Israel longed to make and
substantiate. Matthew interprets this temporary withdrawal of Jesus from the
crowd as a fulfilment of Isiah’s Messianic prophecy about the “Suffering
Servant” (Isaiah 42:1-4). It teaches the apostles and the people that
the Messiah’s role is not using crushing power to subdue people but offering
sacrificial service to uplift them. Isaiah 42:1-4 directly refers to the
conquering Persian king Cyrus (whom God used as His instrument to discipline
His people), but indirectly and in its full meaning, it refers to the promised
Messiah, Jesus. The prophecy also teaches that 1) the Messiah will be anointed
with God’s Spirit; 2) the Messiah will teach justice to the Gentiles in showing
them how to give to God what is due to Him and to men what is due them; 3) the
Messiah will preach gentle and forgiving love; 4) the Messiah will bring God’s
healing love of hope and encouragement to the Gentiles, even though their Faith
and witnessing may be weak as a reed or feeble as a flickering lamp.
Life messages: 1) Let us have the courage of our Christian convictions in the face of opposition to our practice of the Faith. 2) Let us keep hoping in God and trusting in His mercy and justice in the pains and suffering inflicted on us by others. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
