October
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Cycle B
Year I
Thursday, October 1, 2015THURSDAY OF
(Lec. 458)26TH WEEK
1) Nehemiah 8:1-4a, 5-6, 7b-12IN ORDINARY TIME
2) Luke 10:1-12(OBL. MEM.
Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus,
Virgin and Doctor of the Church)
FOCUS:Great things can happen when we let God direct our lives and our work.
In this passage, Jesus sends out seventy-two disciples to spread the Gospel. According to an earlier account in the Gospel of Luke, Jesus had already sent out the twelve Apostles to do the same. Although we do not hear it today, Luke goes on to say that, like the apostles' mission, this one was successful, with cures and good results. Jesus is pleased with the news, but, again, as he did with the apostles, he reflects less on the results than on the fact that the disciples were out doing this good work.
When we look at the details of Christ's instructions to the seventy-two disciples, it appears that he is making it hard for his followers. They are to take no money, no extra clothes; they are not to make arrangements for their food or lodging in advance. They are not even to greet people along the way. In reality, though, these instructions make the job of evangelization easier. To to be effective in carrying out the mission, the disciples had to rely upon God to be their strength and to provide for their needs. Finally, by sending the seventy-two out on mission as he did, Jesus was preparing the disciples for the mission and work he would entrust to them once he had risen from the dead and ascended into heaven.
Turning to the first reading, we find a somewhat similar dynamic to the Gospel. The priest Ezra refocused the people of Israel on what their lives were to be about as God’s chosen people. Ezra did this by gathering the people of Israel together and then reading from the book of the law and interpreting it for them so they understood what it meant.The people wept and rejoiced as they recommitted themselves to God, and to living according to the terms of the covenant that he had made with them.
Tying things together, today’s readings remind us of three essential components for growing in our faith in God and living as faithful disciples of Jesus: We must place our lives into the hands of God each day, go where he leads us, and generously and joyfully share the love of God with all those we encounter. May God bless you this day and always.
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Friday, October 2, 2015FRIDAY OF
(Lec. 459)26TH WEEK
1) Baruch 1:15-22IN ORDINARY TIME
(Lec. 650)(OBL. MEM. The Holy
2) Matthew 18:1-5, 10*Guardian Angels)
Gospel related: CCC 329, 336, 526, 2785
FOCUS:Their angels in heaven always look upon the face of my heavenly Father.
“Angel of God,
My Guardian dear,
To whom God’s love
Commits me here;
Ever this day,
Be at my side,
To light and guard,
To rule and guide.
Amen”
The Guardian Angel Prayer is often one of the first prayers a young child is taught. It is gentle and sweet. Unfortunately, trust in one’s guardian angel seems to be something that people grow out of as they become teens and adults. But why?
For God sends us both natural and supernatural protection when we enter this world. Parents are that first line of provision and protection, but along with parents come our angelic guardians, grandparents, patron saints, godparents, extended family and friends, eventually teachers and doctors and many others.
As we grow, we are thrust into taking responsibility for our lives and the choices we make, but we must not buy into the notion that we can get by all on our own. Continuing to pray to our guardian angel requires humility on our part, and can be a source of comfort during times of decision-making.
When we consider ourselves completely independent and self-reliant, we have usually shifted our attention away from God and focused instead on satisfying our own wants and desires.
Our first reading from Baruch is a lengthy prayer of repentance from God’s chosen people after they had been taken into captivity in Babylon – far from the Promised Land. They recognize their generations of personal and communal sin –perhaps their most serious sin being worship of other gods. The reading is a sort of communal examination of conscience.
Today’s readings, then, present us with challenges. First, we are challenged to rely upon God and the many ways he offers us his help and protection, such as through our guardian angels. Second, we are invited to look with fresh eyes upon our lives to try to identify any pattern of sin that may hinder us growing in our love for the Lord Jesus.
When we are able to identify our sin, we then turn to the Lord, Jesus, and ask him to help and forgive us. We may need to go to confession, and receive the grace need to live our faith with greater fervor. Finally, to make sure we are staying on the right path, it is important not only to pray to Jesus each day but also to pray to our guardian angel, who is assigned personally to watch over, guide and protect us that we may continue to grow in faith.
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Saturday, October 3, 2015SATURDAY OF
(Lec. 460)26TH WEEK
1) Baruch 4:5-12, 27-29IN ORDINARY TIME
2) Luke 10:17-24(Saturday in honor
Gospel related: CCC 787, 1083, 2603of BVM)
FOCUS:God is with us in who we are and in all that we do for one another.
How many of us find it easier to do than simply to be? Even asking that question may make us feel uneasy. What does it mean to be? Today’s readings should help us with that question. The prophet Baruch tells us in the first reading that the Lord can be found in the Scriptures, where we can hear his words of hope. To hear God’s word, we must read it and take it in. We must be with it. Often, we stray from God because we don’t take the time to be with God. Baruch assures us, though, that we can call out to God, and he will remember us and give us enduring joy.
In Luke’sGospel today, Jesus tells the disciples – as he tells us – that our blessedness stems from being chosen by God as workers in the kingdom, not because of the works that we do. It comes back to the age-old tension between doing and being. Another place in the Gospel where the tension between the being and doing is touched upon is the familiar story of Jesus visiting the home of Martha and Mary.
While Jesus is visiting their home, it is Mary who sits attentively at the feet of Jesus and listens, and Martha who busies herself waiting on Jesus.This is a clear reminder that we, like Mary, must slow down and take the time to sit at the feet of Jesus by spending quality time with him in prayer each day. We humans have a tendency to do things rather than taking time to be.
However, we cannot just be Mary, either. Saint James says that faith without good works is dead. In other words, just being, just praying, just believing, is not enough. One’s prayer must lead to action on behalf of the kingdom of God.
Ignatian tradition teaches the way of prayer-reflection-action. This method of doing incorporates being and vice versa. One prays, reflects on one’s life and actions, listens to what the Lord is calling him/her to do, and goes into the world to build the kingdom of God. The process repeats over and over again. Ignatius insisted that those who followed him use this method of prayer to know God’s will for their lives. Perhaps it is a process that God is calling all of us to try.
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SUNDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2015TWENTY-SEVENTH
(Lec. 140)SUNDAY
1) Genesis 2:18-24IN ORDINARY TIME
2) Hebrews 2:9-11
3) Mark 10:2-16 or 10:2-12
Gospel related: CCC 699, 1244, 1261, 1627, 1639, 1650, 2364, 2380, 2382; CSDC 217
FOCUS:God breathed his life only into humans. In doing so, he imbued us with his essence. We are made to share that love with each other.
Jewish sages wrote the Book of Genesis as a series of meditations on the origin of the universe and the genesis of humankind. A popular form of Jewish writing was employed, setting forth very profound ideas in simple forms of storytelling.
Everything happened, they told us, because a caring and loving creator in the beginning willed it so. All that has happened comes from his personal love and inner drive to share himself. All lovers know of that inner drive. God did not create anything by chance – everything is purposeful, especially man and woman who are created in God’s own image and likeness so that he can share himself with them as he does with no other creatures. He breathed his life, Genesis tells us, only into man and woman, not into his other creatures.
Note that the creation of man was prior to the creation of any other form of life. Into man God breathed his Spirit, his very life and love. God then created the garden and all of the other wonderful creations found in the universe and in our world. Then God said that it was not good that man should be alone. So he brought all sorts of creatures to Adam and had Adam name them. But none of them could overcome Adam’s aloneness. God did not go back to the soil to create a woman. No. God went into Adam’s very nature and from that part closest to his heart, Adam’s rib, God fashioned a woman.
In that moment Adam realized that his aloneness had been overcome and that he was now complete. He had found in her the other half of his heart and soul and he gave her a name that identified her as essential to his very own nature. He called her “woman,” his other half.
God, in his nature, is not solitude. God, in his nature, is driven to share love. God is so good that he cannot keep it all to himself. In making man and woman with an inner drive to find themselves in each other, each finding their self in the other, God was expressing in our humanity his own inner reality. We are made to belong. In belonging to each other we mirror our belonging to God. In belonging to each other we share in God’s love and in his own drive to belong to us.
Monday, October 5, 2015MONDAY OF
(Lec. 461)27TH WEEK
1) Jonah 1:1C2:2, 11IN ORDINARY TIME
2) Luke 10:25-37
Gospel related: CCC 1293, 1825, 2083, 2822; CSDC 112
FOCUS:Let us mirror Christ’s love for us by helping one another.
The Samaritan in today’s Gospel is a good example for us. He was a rescuer; he saved a stranger who was robbed and beaten. Upon hearing this, we cannot help but stop and think: How do we help our brothers and sisters who need us?
Notice how this Gospel began. First, the scholar of the law asked: What must I do to inherit eternal life? The scholar knew a little about salvation because he quoted the passages from Deuteronomy (6:5) and Leviticus (19:18). However, as the conversation went on, we see that there was a little more to it than this. The scholar then asked: And who is my neighbor? The scholar was wishing to “justify himself,” and so Jesus went on to clearly statein a very poignant way just who his neighbor was.
We see how the story unfolds. Yet, the point is that a couple of people had passed this person by. One person went by, then another, and finally it was the Samaritan who stopped to help this victim of a robbery. The victim was left to die, and probably would have, had the Samaritan not stopped to help.
The lesson for us today is twofold: We must help each other; when we notice people in need, we are to do our best to help them. This is closely related to the responsorial psalm we just recited: “You will rescue my life from the pit, O Lord.” Certainly, when we are in trouble, we would hope and expect that the Lord would assist us. Suppose the Lord had the attitude of “I better not get involved.” Of course, we know that would not happen.
But sometimes, we fall into the trap of becoming preoccupied with all that we have to do and we fail to help others. Jesus challenges us today to follow the Samaritan’s example – to stop what we are doing, and help.
The Samaritan did not have to rescue the robbery victim, but seemingly moved by extraordinary compassion and love, he stopped. Similarly, Jesus calls us to have hearts that are filled with compassion and love, and to see all people near and far as our neighbor. Then we must strive to treat them with compassion and love. And we are to do so whether it is convenient or inconvenient.
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Tuesday, October 6, 2015TUESDAY OF
(Lec. 462)27TH WEEK
1) Jonah 3:1-10IN ORDINARY TIME
2) Luke 10:38-42(Opt. Mem. Saint Bruno,
Priest; Blessed Marie-Rose
Durocher, Virgin)
Gospel related: CSDC 260
FOCUS:Do not feel burdened by your service to others. Instead, choose to serve with love and peace.
There are many reflections that could result from meditating on today’s passage from Saint Luke’s Gospel account. What I want to reflect on today are Jesus’ words to Martha: There is need of only one thing.
First, we should note that Jesus was not putting Martha down. She was busy with hospitality, which was certainly a good thing. She wanted to put on a good meal and we all know that is important, especially when a significant guest is coming. No doubt Martha needed help. But Jesus seized the moment to point out the one thing that is necessary above all other necessary things. It is something we should not put aside or neglect, particularly in our busy world today that clamors for every minute of our attention.
The one necessary thing is, of course, to listen to the words and whisperings of God. We need to be more of Mary and less of Martha; we need to sit at the feet of Jesus and listen carefully to what he has to say, as did Mary.
The one necessary thing gives us purity of vision. We are all conscious of the effects of junk food, which can lead to chronic sickness and even death. But what about the junk food that our eyes feast upon? We are surrounded by images constantly. Think of the electronic devices that feed us images these days. Television, the Internet, smartphones and iPads are at our immediate disposal. Maintaining singleness of focus is nearly impossible for us.
Special moments alone with Jesus allow us to focus on what we are about. It helps us clarify singleness of purpose in what we are doing and why we are doing it. Many people are so busy that they lose focus on the big picture. They are distracted to the point that they grow weary, feel exhausted, begin to daydream and fall into escapism.
What is the meaning of my life? What is my purpose in life? What is my life all about? Why did God give me life and put me on this earth? Like the needle on a compass that always points north, we need a pointer that directs us toward God while we are constantly being pulled away from the direction we want to go.
Much of the time we are like Martha, but from time to time we need to be more like Mary. So, out of love for Jesus and out of love for our own mental and spiritual health, let’s spend some time being Mary. After all, Jesus declared that she did the one necessary thing. We, too, should do the one necessary thing.
Wednesday, October 7, 2015WEDNESDAY OF
(Lec. 463)27TH WEEK
1) Jonah 4:1-11IN ORDINARY TIME
2) Luke 11:1-4(OBL. MEM. Our Lady
of the Rosary)
Gospel related: CCC 520, 1425, 2601, 2632, 2759, 2773, 2845
FOCUS:Pray for peace and justice.
It is interesting that the rosary – a devotion we so identify with praying for peace – was used to pray for victory in war. Pope Pius V organized a coalition of Christian powers in the sixteenth century to oppose the Ottomans, who were threatening to invade Europe and bring Islam to the Christian nations. Knowing the Christian forces were at a disadvantage, Pope Pius urged all of Europe to pray the rosary for victory. He even led a rosary procession in Rome. On October 7, 1571, at the Battle of Lepanto, the Christian naval forces defeated the Ottoman navy, effectively ending the threat to Christian Europe once and for all. Pope Pius V declared this feast day to honor the victory.
Certainly, it is tragic that so many died at the Battle of Lepanto hundreds of years ago defending Christian Europe. But although we cannot undo the past, we can influence the present and the future, and we can use this devotion now to pray for peace and for justice. We know Jesus does not offer peace in the manner of the world. His peace is found in forgiveness, understanding and compassion. Along with his peace comes a search for justice – not earthly justice, but God's justice, where all have their needs met, no one has too much or too little, and all live in peace and tranquility.
Blessed Pope Paul VI once said that if we want peace we must work for justice. (Day of Peace, January 1, 1972) As we pray the rosary today, let us keep these words of Blessed Pope Paul in mind.