Saint Ignatius: "Where did this man get such wisdom and mighty deeds?"

"A prophet is not without honor except in his native place and in his own house."

-- Mt 13:54-58

Jesus Christ is the one whom the Father anointed with the Holy Spirit and established as priest, prophet, and king. The whole People of God participates in these three offices of Christ and bears the responsibilities for mission and service that flow from them.

-- CCC 783

"When Ignatius reflected on worldly thoughts, he felt intense pleasure; but when he gave them up out of weariness, he felt dry and depressed. Yet when he thought of living the rigorous sort of life he knew the saints had lived, he not only experienced pleasure when he actually thought about it, but even after he dismissed these thoughts, he still experienced great joy." (From the life of Saint Ignatius from his own words by Luis Gonzalez.)

"The Kingdom of heaven is like a net"

"Then every scribe who has been instructed in the Kingdom of heaven is like the head of a household who brings from his storeroom both the new and the old."

-- Mt 13:47-53

For this reason bishops, personally or through delegates, should see to the promotion of sacred art, old and new, in all its forms and, with the same religious care, remove from the liturgy and from places of worship everything which is not in conformity with the truth of faith and the authentic beauty of sacred art.

-- CCC 2503

"The hand that assumed clay to make our flesh deigned to assume a body for our salvation. That the Creator is in His creature and God is in the flesh brings dignity to man without dishonor to to him who made him."

-- Saint Peter Chrysologus, Bishop and Doctor

Martha went to meet Jesus

“I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and anyone who lives and believes in me will never die."

-- Jn 11:19-27

But there is more. Jesus links faith in the resurrection to his own person: "I am the Resurrection and the life." It is Jesus himself who on the last day will raise up those who have believed in him, who have eaten his body and drunk his blood. Already now in this present life he gives a sign and pledge of this by restoring some of the dead to life, announcing thereby his own Resurrection, though it was to be of another order. He speaks of this unique event as the "sign of Jonah," the sign of the temple: he announces that he will be put to death but rise thereafter on the third day.

-- CCC 994

(Franciscan friars "Walking With Hope: A Journey of Faith and Discovery" a 300-mile pilgrimage from Virginia to Washington, DC. For more info visit their website with photo gallery here.)

Tuesday, 17th Wk Ord Time: “Explain to us the parable of the weeds"

The weeds are the children of the Evil One,
and the enemy who sows them is the Devil.
The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.
Just as weeds are collected and burned up with fire,
so will it be at the end of the age.

-- Mt 13:36-43

Jesus often speaks of "Gehenna" of "the unquenchable fire" reserved for those who to the end of their lives refuse to believe and be converted, where both soul and body can be lost. Jesus solemnly proclaims that he "will send his angels, and they will gather . . . all evil doers, and throw them into the furnace of fire," and that he will pronounce the condemnation: "Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire!"

-- CCC 1034

Monday, 17th Wk Ord Time: “The Kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed"

"It is the smallest of all the seeds,
yet when full-grown it is the largest of plants.
It becomes a large bush,
and the birds of the sky come and dwell in its branches.”

-- Mt 13:31-35

"This Kingdom shines out before men in the word, in the works and in the presence of Christ." To welcome Jesus' word is to welcome "the Kingdom itself." The seed and beginning of the Kingdom are the "little flock" of those whom Jesus came to gather around him, the flock whose shepherd he is. They form Jesus' true family. To those whom he thus gathered around him, he taught a new "way of acting" and a prayer of their own.

-- CCC 764

The kingdom of heaven was inaugurated on earth by Christ. "This kingdom shone out before men in the word, in the works and in the presence of Christ" (LG 5). The Church is the seed and beginning of this kingdom. Its keys are entrusted to Peter.

-- CCC 567

17th Sunday: “Where can we buy enough food for them to eat?"

2 Kings 4, 42-44; Psalm 145; Ephesians 4, 1-6; St. John 6, 1-15

Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

"How are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?" (John 6, 5) Test question.

There is a bread which cannot be bought and which all must eat to live: "I am the Bread of Life." (John 6, 35) Christ himself is the food for which man has always yearned. Christ is the Life for which the man seeks who knows he must die. "The bread that I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh." (John 6, 51)

From the beginning of time man has sought in vain, through what he finds in himself or in other creatures, to satisfy his yearning for life, an abundant life beyond death. Only in Christ can man attain at last that perfect communion with his Creator that bridges the chasm of death which has separated the two since the first sin of Adam and Eve. And yet, even after Christ has taught that it is by forgiveness of sins that we are fed with God's life and are saved from unhappiness, there yet remain the multitudes who see in God only someone to relieve their earthly longings, their temporary misfortunes in this life. They fail to see beyond the signs, the healings and the multiplication of loaves and fishes, to the reality of the eternal God by whose power these things are done.

“By freeing some individuals from the earthly evils of hunger, injustice, illness, and death, (Cf. John 6: 5-15; Luke 19:8; Matthew 11:5) Jesus performed messianic signs. Nevertheless he did not come to abolish all evils here below, (Cf. Luke 12:13-14; John 18:36) but to free men from the gravest slavery, sin, which thwarts them in their vocation as God's sons and causes all forms of human bondage. (Cf. John 8:34-36)” (CCC 549)

All are called to no less than total and eternal communion with God himself forever. This promise begins now in an anticipation of glory by receiving the Eucharist, the Body and Blood of Christ, the Living Bread. Our relationship with the Lord will fall short, and our happiness will remain incomplete, as long as we fail to go from the signs to the reality they signify. The Eucharist is the only perfect "sign" on earth of God for, not only is his passion and death re-presented, he is really and truly present and we do indeed receive him whole and entire in the sacred host.

To possess the life of God we must receive him as he is and not as we would have him be. The sign of the Eucharist, wherein God is so often missed and overlooked, perfectly communicates this truth because it is the very Presence of God Himself. The living God always eludes those who grasp for him as an earthly Messiah only. The Gospel relates that it was from these mistaken ones that Jesus fled: "Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the hills by himself." (John 6, 15)

If we would dwell forever in God then He, truly present in the Eucharist, must dwell within us. In the Mass and in other moments of adoration we learn to see Christ present here on earth, enjoying a communion with him in order to go "beyond the veil" of this world with its hunger and thirst, war and injustice, disease and death, to dwell with him eternally in the heavenly "communion" of perfect love and light and life.

(See also paragraphs 439, 549, 559 in the Catechism of the Catholic Church.)

I look forward to meeting you here again next week as, together, we "meet Christ in the Liturgy", Fr Cusick

Meeting Christ in the Liturgy (Publish with permission.)

Friday, 17th Wk Ord Time: "Hear the parable of the sower."

The seed sown on rocky ground
is the one who hears the word and receives it at once with joy.
But he has no root and lasts only for a time.
When some tribulation or persecution comes because of the word,
he immediately falls away.

-- Mt 13:18-23

Everyone is called to enter the kingdom. First announced to the children of Israel, this messianic kingdom is intended to accept men of all nations. To enter it, one must first accept Jesus' word:

The word of the Lord is compared to a seed which is sown in a field; those who hear it with faith and are numbered among the little flock of Christ have truly received the kingdom. Then, by its own power, the seed sprouts and grows until the harvest.

-- CCC 543

Before Christ's second coming the Church must pass through a final trial that will shake the faith of many believers. The persecution that accompanies her pilgrimage on earth will unveil the "mystery of iniquity" in the form of a religious deception offering men an apparent solution to their problems at the price of apostasy from the truth. The supreme religious deception is that of the Antichrist, a pseudo-messianism by which man glorifies himself in place of God and of his Messiah come in the flesh.

-- CCC 675

Thursday, 17th Wk Ord Time: "Why do you speak to the crowd in parables?"

"Because knowledge of the mysteries of the Kingdom of heaven
has been granted to you, but to them it has not been granted.
To anyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich;
from anyone who has not, even what he has will be taken away.

-- Mt 13:10-17

Jesus' invitation to enter his kingdom comes in the form of parables, a characteristic feature of his teaching. Through his parables he invites people to the feast of the kingdom, but he also asks for a radical choice: to gain the kingdom, one must give everything. Words are not enough, deeds are required. The parables are like mirrors for man: will he be hard soil or good earth for the word? What use has he made of the talents he has received? Jesus and the presence of the kingdom in this world are secretly at the heart of the parables. One must enter the kingdom, that is, become a disciple of Christ, in order to "know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven". For those who stay "outside", everything remains enigmatic.

-- CCC 546

"Mary Magdalene came to the tomb"

Jesus said to her, "Mary!"
She turned and said to him in Hebrew,
"Rabbouni," which means Teacher.
Jesus said to her,
"Stop holding on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father.
But go to my brothers and tell them,
'I am going to my Father and your Father,
to my God and your God.'"

-- Jn 20:1-2, 11-18

The veiled character of the glory of the Risen One during this time is intimated in his mysterious words to Mary Magdalene: "I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brethren and say to them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God." This indicates a difference in manifestation between the glory of the risen Christ and that of the Christ exalted to the Father's right hand, a transition marked by the historical and transcendent event of the Ascension.

-- CCC 660

Art: Noli me tangere, Hans Holbein the Younger, c.1524, Royal Collection, Hampton Court.

Tuesday, 16th Wk Ord Time: "Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?"

"Here are my mother and my brothers.
For whoever does the will of my heavenly Father
is my brother, and sister, and mother."

-- Mt 12:46-50

Becoming a disciple of Jesus means accepting the invitation to belong to God's family, to live in conformity with His way of life: "For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother, and sister, and mother." Parents should welcome and respect with joy and thanksgiving the Lord's call to one of their children to follow him in virginity for the sake of the Kingdom in the consecrated life or in priestly ministry.

-- CCC 2233

Monday, 16th Wk Ord Time: "Teacher, we wish to see a sign"

"An evil and unfaithful generation seeks a sign,
but no sign will be given it except the sign of Jonah the prophet.

-- Mt 12:38-42

But there is more. Jesus links faith in the resurrection to his own person: "I am the Resurrection and the life." It is Jesus himself who on the last day will raise up those who have believed in him, who have eaten his body and drunk his blood. Already now in this present life he gives a sign and pledge of this by restoring some of the dead to life, announcing thereby his own Resurrection, though it was to be of another order. He speaks of this unique event as the "sign of Jonah," the sign of the temple: he announces that he will be put to death but rise thereafter on the third day.

-- CCC 994

Celebrating the Year for Priests: Prayer for Priests

Lord Jesus,

In Saint John Mary Vianney you have deigned to give the Church a living image of yourself and a personification of your pastoral charity.

Help us during this Year for Priests to live good lives by being close to him and his example.

Grant that we may learn from the saintly Curé of Ars how to rest contentedly before the Holy Eucharist; to know that only your Word enlightens us each day; to know how tender is the love with which you welcome repentant sinners; how consoling is the confident abandonment to the care of the Holy and Immaculate Mother; how necessary is the ever-vigilant battle against Evil.

16th Sunday in Ordinary Time: "Rest a while."

Jeremiah 23, 1-6; Psalm 23; Ephesians 2, 13-18; St. Mark 6, 30-34

Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

"Come away by yourselves to a lonely place, and rest a while." (Mark 6, 31) Rest is part of the cycle of our existence: those who work in the day rest at night, and vice versa; each week we rest from unnecessary labor and shopping on the Lord's Day and share in worship; each year we seek vacation time to rest from work for a period and to spend time with family and loved ones. Our lives show the pattern of seeking rest and throughout it all we look to the eternal rest of heavenly joy.

God's action is the model for human action. If God "rested and was refreshed" on the seventh day, man too ought to "rest" and should let others, especially the poor, "be refreshed." (Exodus 31:17; cf. 23:12) The sabbath brings everyday work to a halt and provides a respite. It is a day of protest against the servitude of work and the worship of money. (Cf. Nehemiah 13:15-22; 2 Chronicles 36:21) (CCC 2172)

The great cultural phenomenon of dissatisfaction and frustration because of life without God has erupted in physical and sexual abuse, an escalating dependence on drugs and alcohol to achieve an illusory sense of peace and well-being, an increasing fixation on the acquisition of money and material goods even through the most violent means, and the great attack on the sacredness of human life in all its stages. All these trends provide abundant evidence that something is missing in the contemporary take on life and work.

Perhaps the greatest sign that human creatures have ruptured their bond with the Creator of life is the increasing custom of working seven days a week. Some people are forced to work seven days a week, and these should seek to take the necessary time on Sunday, or Saturday evening, to worship at Mass. But it is the great number who choose to work on Sunday with no thought of the commandment to rest that undermine their spiritual and physical well-being by disregarding the Creator's instructions for the happiness of we who are made in His image and likeness. Our exhaustion and confusion, "like sheep without a shepherd" can very often be traced to our own disregard for the law of rest, a universal law grounded in our creatureliness which we disregard to our own peril.

" '...he saw a great throng, and he had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things.' (Mark 6, 34) 'Come to me, all who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.' (Matthew 11, 28) In the liturgy our divine and merciful Lord fulfills these and all his promises. Heaven alone is the place of perfect rest and peace. The sacramental liturgy satisfies our hunger for rest through the teaching and presence of Christ, 'seated at the right hand of the Father' in glory. Through the proclamation of the Word and our sharing in the Body and Blood of the Lord in the Eucharistic Sacrifice our Sunday rest becomes a perfect anticipation of eternal rest and peace.

"In the earthly liturgy we share in a foretaste of that heavenly liturgy which is celebrated in the Holy City of Jerusalem toward which we journey as pilgrims, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God, Minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle. With all the warriors of the heavenly army we sing a hymn of glory to the Lord; venerating the memory of the saints, we hope for some part and fellowship with them; we eagerly await the Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ, until he, our life, shall appear and we too will appear with him in glory." (SC 8; LG 50.) (CCC 1090)

I look forward to meeting you here again next week as, together, we "meet Christ in the liturgy", Father Cusick

Meeting Christ in the Liturgy www.christusrex.org/www1/mcitl/ (Publish with permission.)

"Faith & Family", an apostolate of the Family Life Center International, supports spouses and families who are called to help each other build a culture of love and life one family at a time. Visit the "Faith & Family" site for more information at www.familylifecenter.net.

Saturday, 15th Wk Ord Time: "And in his name the Gentiles will hope."

The Pharisees went out and took counsel against Jesusto put him to death.

-- Mt 12:14-21

From the beginning of Jesus' public ministry, certain Pharisees and partisans of Herod together with priests and scribes agreed together to destroy him. Because of certain acts of his expelling demons, forgiving sins, healing on the sabbath day, his novel interpretation of the precepts of the Law regarding purity, and his familiarity with tax collectors and public sinners -- some ill-intentioned persons suspected Jesus of demonic possession. He is accused of blasphemy and false prophecy, religious crimes which the Law punished with death by stoning.

-- CCC 574

Friday, 15th Wk Ord Time: "the Son of Man is Lord of the sabbath."

"See, your disciples are doing what is unlawful to do on the sabbath."

-- Mt 12:1-8

The Gospel reports many incidents when Jesus was accused of violating the sabbath law. But Jesus never fails to respect the holiness of this day. He gives this law its authentic and authoritative interpretation: "The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath." With compassion, Christ declares the sabbath for doing good rather than harm, for saving life rather than killing. The sabbath is the day of the Lord of mercies and a day to honor God. "The Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath."

-- CCC 2173

Thursday, 15th Wk Ord Time: "Come to me"

Jesus said: "Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.

-- Mt 11:28-30

This unequivocal insistence on the indissolubility of the marriage bond may have left some perplexed and could seem to be a demand impossible to realize. However, Jesus has not placed on spouses a burden impossible to bear, or too heavy - heavier than the Law of Moses. By coming to restore the original order of creation disturbed by sin, he himself gives the strength and grace to live marriage in the new dimension of the Reign of God. It is by following Christ, renouncing themselves, and taking up their crosses that spouses will be able to "receive" the original meaning of marriage and live it with the help of Christ. This grace of Christian marriage is a fruit of Christ's cross, the source of all Christian life.

-- CCC 1615

Saint Bonavenure, Bishop and Doctor: "I give praise to you, Father"

for although you have hidden these things
from the wise and the learned
you have revealed them to the childlike."

-- Mt 11:25-27

God's truth is his wisdom, which commands the whole created order and governs the world. God, who alone made heaven and earth, can alone impart true knowledge of every created thing in relation to himself.

-- CCC 216

Man participates in the wisdom and goodness of the Creator who gives him mastery over his acts and the ability to govern himself with a view to the true and the good. The natural law expresses the original moral sense which enables man to discern by reason the good and the evil, the truth and the lie:

The natural law is written and engraved in the soul of each and every man, because it is human reason ordaining him to do good and forbidding him to sin . . . But this command of human reason would not have the force of law if it were not the voice and interpreter of a higher reason to which our spirit and our freedom must be submitted.

-- CCC 1954

The Catholic University of America has a launched a web site dedicated to celebrating the Year for Priests. The University will also host a symposium on Oct. 6 and 7, 2009, that will explore the mystery of the priesthood in light of the Church's theological and spiritual heritage. For more information visit the CUA web site here.

Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha

Jesus began to reproach the towns
where most of his mighty deeds had been done,
since they had not repented.

-- Mt 11:20-24

Interior repentance is a radical reorientation of our whole life, a return, a conversion to God with all our heart, an end of sin, a turning away from evil, with repugnance toward the evil actions we have committed. At the same time it entails the desire and resolution to change one's life, with hope in God's mercy and trust in the help of his grace. This conversion of heart is accompanied by a salutary pain and sadness which the Fathers called animi cruciatus (affliction of spirit) and compunctio cordis (repentance of heart).

-- CCC 1431

Repentance (also called contrition) must be inspired by motives that arise from faith. If repentance arises from love of charity for God, it is called "perfect" contrition; if it is founded on other motives, it is called "imperfect."

-- CCC 1492

Art: The oldest known portrait of Kateri Tekakwitha, painted after her death by Father Chauchetière. (Source: Wikipedia.)

Monday, 15th Wk Ord Time: "I have come to bring not peace"

"Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it."

-- Mt 10:34-11:1

The way of perfection passes by way of the Cross. There is no holiness without renunciation and spiritual battle. Spiritual progress entails the ascesis and mortification that gradually lead to living in the peace and joy of the Beatitudes:

He who climbs never stops going from beginning to beginning, through beginnings that have no end. He never stops desiring what he already knows.

-- CCC 2015

(Photo by author: Christ offers Himself as the Way of perfection through His death on the Cross and His Resurrection in every holy Mass. Visit A Priest Life to view a pictorial guide to offering holy Mass in the hermeneutic of continuity. Special thanks to Father Charles Johnson.)

FIFTEENTH Sunday: "What you have received, give as a gift."

Amos 7, 12-15; Psalm 84; Ephesians 1, 3-14; St. Mark 6, 7-13

Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

"What you have received, give as a gift." The Church is the Body of Christ not just in receiving his divine life and love, but in giving it as well. Christ sent the Twelve out "two by two" and he also sends us forth. The Church is perpetually on mission to evangelize all nations.

The sacramental liturgy takes its name of the "Mass" from this reality. The word derives from the Latin "missa" when, at the conclusion of the liturgy, the priest says "Ite, missa est", meaning "Go, it is sent forth." The people have heard the Word, prayed and received the Eucharist and are now prepared to take these gifts out to the world. Our everyday lives should include a continual reaching out, a going forth to proclaim the truth to the world, to call all mankind to Christ. The physical healings recorded in the Gospel are of God's power made manifest through the Apostles sent out to teach and baptize all nations.

Christ invites his disciples to follow him by taking up their cross in their turn. (Cf. Matthew 10:38) By following him they acquire a new outlook on illness and the sick. Jesus associates them with his own life of poverty and service. He makes them share in his ministry of compassion and healing: "So they went out and preached that men should repent. And they cast out many demons and anointed with oil many that were sick and healed them." (CCC 1506)

Healings of the body are signs only of the necessity of faith and the healing of the ravages of sin through the mercy of God. It is not physical blindness that shuts us out of heaven, but spiritual blindness to the evil of sin. For a world that is obsessed with physical appearances and habitually neglects the matters of the spirit, it is hard to hear the truth that God is concerned most with the appearance of the soul. The human soul in a state of grace is the most beautiful of all creatures and radiates with the beauty of divine love. Authentic compassion always requires that we care for and tend the ill and the disabled, but even more that we attend to their salvation. Knowing of heaven and the way to get there is the only sure source of comfort to those weighed down by the sorrows and burdens of this world.

We meet Christ in the liturgy so that we may be sent out healed of the effects of sin, strengthened and made new by God's Word and the Body of Christ. In this way we are equipped to preach and teach the truth by which Christ is made known to the world. We love best when we speak and act with the charity of Christ himself, desiring the salvation of the world.

The initiative of lay Christians is necessary especially when the matter involves discovering or inventing the means for permeating social, political, and economic realities with the demands of Christian doctrine and life. This initiative is a normal element of the life of the Church: Lay believers are in the front line of Church life; for them the Church is the animating principle of human society. Therefore, they in particular ought to have an ever-clearer consciousness not only of belonging to the Church, but of being the Church, that is to say, the community of the faithful on earth under the leadership of the Pope, the common Head, and of the bishops in communion with him. They are the Church. (Pius XII, Discourse, February 20, 1946: AAS 38 (1946) 149; quoted by John Paul II, Christifideles Laici 9.) (CCC 899)

I look forward to meeting you here again next week as, together, we "meet Christ in the liturgy", Father Cusick

(For further reading on today's Gospel see also CCC 765, 1511 and 1673.)

Meeting Christ in the Liturgy (Publish with permission.)

Photo: The Catholic Church Extension Society "strengthens the Church's presence and mission in under-resourced and isolated communities across the United States" doing the work of Christ today who sends disciples to build up the Church here at home and all over the world. For more information about this missionary apostolate visit The Catholic Church Extension Society website.

Friday, 14th Wk Ord Time: "whoever endures to the end will be saved"

"You will be hated by all because of my name"

-- Mt 10:16-23

Believing in Jesus Christ and in the One who sent him for our salvation is necessary for obtaining that salvation. "Since "without faith it is impossible to please [God]" and to attain to the fellowship of his sons, therefore without faith no one has ever attained justification, nor will anyone obtain eternal life 'But he who endures to the end.'"

-- CCC 161

Celebrate the Year for Priests: find out how to take spiritual advantage of a plenary indulgence connected to the Church's Sacerdotal Year here.

Thursday, 14th Wk Ord Time: "Heal the sick!"

"As you go, make this proclamation:
'The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.' Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, drive out demons. Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give.

-- Mt 10:7-15

"Heal the sick!" The Church has received this charge from the Lord and strives to carry it out by taking care of the sick as well as by accompanying them with her prayer of intercession. She believes in the life-giving presence of Christ, the physician of souls and bodies. This presence is particularly active through the sacraments, and in an altogether special way through the Eucharist, the bread that gives eternal life and that St. Paul suggests is connected with bodily health.

-- CCC 1509

Priests carry out the mission of Christ today to heal the sick through the ministries of Word and Sacrament. Celebrate and welcome our newly ordained priests this year. More info can be found here.

Wednesday, 14th Wk Ord Time: "Jesus summoned his Twelve disciples"

Jesus sent out these Twelve after instructing them thus, "Do not go into pagan territory or enter a Samaritan town. Go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. As you go, make this proclamation: 'The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.'"

-- Mt 10:1-7

Christ himself chose the apostles and gave them a share in his mission and authority. Raised to the Father's right hand, he has not forsaken his flock but he keeps it under his constant protection through the apostles, and guides it still through these same pastors who continue his work today. Thus, it is Christ whose gift it is that some be apostles, others pastors. He continues to act through the bishops.

-- CCC 1575

Catholic News Service has introduced a special feature to celebrate the Year for Priests, a blog series on the Year for Priests from the perspective of priests themselves. "We have several priests who have agreed to write for us about their lives and ministry. Watch for their posts in the coming weeks and months." More info can be found here.

Note to readers: Daily postings may be later than the usual 1:00 AM Eastern Time due to Blogspot technical difficulties. Thank you for your visit today.

Tuesday, 14th Wk: "the laborers are few"

"The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few;
so ask the master of the harvest
to send out laborers for his harvest."

-- Mt 9:32-38

Parents should respect and encourage their children's vocations. They should remember and teach that the first calling of the Christian is to follow Jesus.

-- CCC 2253

Tuesday, 14th Week Ord Time: "his heart was moved with pity"

"The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest."

-- Mt 9:32-38

Everyone is called to enter the kingdom. First announced to the children of Israel, this messianic kingdom is intended to accept men of all nations. To enter it, one must first accept Jesus' word:

The word of the Lord is compared to a seed which is sown in a field; those who hear it with faith and are numbered among the little flock of Christ have truly received the kingdom. Then, by its own power, the seed sprouts and grows until the harvest.

-- CCC 543

The heart of the Lord Jesus, moved with pity for us, feeds us with the light of truth through our Holy Father who today issues a new encyclical teaching, ON INTEGRAL HUMAN DEVELOPMENT IN CHARITY AND TRUTH. Today is a day set apart for this and another reason. Find out why here.

Note to readers: Daily postings may be later than the usual 1:00 AM Eastern Time due to Blogspot technical difficulties. Thank you for your visit today.

Monday, 14th Wk Ord Time: "If only I can touch his cloak, I shall be cured."

Jesus turned around and saw her, and said,
"Courage, daughter! Your faith has saved you."
And from that hour the woman was cured.

When Jesus arrived at the official's house
and saw the flute players and the crowd who were making a commotion,
he said, "Go away! The girl is not dead but sleeping."

And they ridiculed him.
When the crowd was put out, he came and took her by the hand,
and the little girl arose.
And news of this spread throughout all that land.

-- Mt 9:18-26

Moved by so much suffering Christ not only allows himself to be touched by the sick, but he makes their miseries his own: "He took our infirmities and bore our diseases." But he did not heal all the sick. His healings were signs of the coming of the Kingdom of God. They announced a more radical healing: the victory over sin and death through his Passover. On the cross Christ took upon himself the whole weight of evil and took away the "sin of the world," of which illness is only a consequence. By his passion and death on the cross Christ has given a new meaning to suffering: it can henceforth configure us to him and unite us with his redemptive Passion.

-- CCC 1505

Note to readers: Daily postings may be later than the usual 1:00 AM Eastern Time due to Blogspot technical difficulties. Thank you for your visit today.

(Liturgy of 14th Mon, Ord I)

"Why do your disciples not fast?"

Jesus answered them, "Can the wedding guests mourn
as long as the bridegroom is with them?"

-- Mt 9:14-17

The fourth precept ("You shall observe the days of fasting and abstinence established by the Church") ensures the times of ascesis and penance which prepare us for the liturgical feasts and help us acquire mastery over our instincts and freedom of heart.

-- CCC 2043

The seasons and days of penance in the course of the liturgical year (Lent, and each Friday in memory of the death of the Lord) are intense moments of the Church's penitential practice. These times are particularly appropriate for spiritual exercises, penitential liturgies, pilgrimages as signs of penance, voluntary self-denial such as fasting and almsgiving, and fraternal sharing (charitable and missionary works).

-- CCC 1438

"Thomas...was not with them when Jesus came."

"We have seen the Lord." But Thomas said to them,"Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nailmarks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe."

-- Jn 20:24-29

The first commandment requires us to nourish and protect our faith with prudence and vigilance, and to reject everything that is opposed to it. There are various ways of sinning against faith:
Voluntary doubt about the faith disregards or refuses to hold as true what God has revealed and the Church proposes for belief.

Involuntary doubt refers to hesitation in believing, difficulty in overcoming objections connected with the faith, or also anxiety aroused by its obscurity. If deliberately cultivated doubt can lead to spiritual blindness.

-- CCC 2088

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Art: Giovanni Battista Beinaschi, The Incredulity of Saint Thomas, oil on canvas, Christie's London.

(Liturgy for Feast of St. Thomas, Apostle.)

People brought a paralitic to Jesus

When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic,

"Courage, child, your sins are forgiven."

-- Mt 9:1-8

The special grace of the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick has as its effects:

- the uniting of the sick person to the passion of Christ, for his own good and that of the whole Church;

- the strengthening, peace, and courage to endure in a Christian manner the sufferings of illness or old age;

- the forgiveness of sins, if the sick person was not able to obtain it through the sacrament of Penance;

- the restoration of health, if it is conducive to the salvation of his soul;

- the preparation for passing over to eternal life.

-- CCC 1532

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Art: Netherlandish, 16th Century: The Healing of the Paralytic, c. 1560/1590. Chester Dale Collection. The National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC.

(Liturgy of Thurs, Wk 13, Yr 1.)

Two demoniacs met Jesus

They were so savage that no one could travel by that road.They cried out, "What have you to do with us, Son of God?Have you come here to torment us before the appointed time?"Some distance away a herd of many swine was feeding.The demons pleaded with him,"If you drive us out, send us into the herd of swine."And he said to them, "Go then!"They came out and entered the swine,and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the seawhere they drowned.

-- Mt 8:28-34

The coming of God's kingdom means the defeat of Satan's: "If it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you." Jesus' exorcisms free some individuals from the domination of demons. They anticipate Jesus' great victory over "the ruler of this world". The kingdom of God will be definitively established through Christ's cross: "God reigned from the wood."

-- CCC 550

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Celebrating the Sacerdotal Year: In photo Pope Benedict celebrates Vespers at the Basilica of Saint Paul-Outside-the-Walls, Rome. Read his statement for the Year for Priests here.

(Liturgy of Wk 13, Wed, Yr I)