S Hedwig: "I do not cease giving thanks for you"

remembering you in my prayers

-- Eph 1:15-23

Prayer is both a gift of grace and a determined response on our part. It always presupposes effort. The great figures of prayer of the Old Covenant before Christ, as well as the Mother of God, the saints, and he himself, all teach us this: prayer is a battle. Against whom? Against ourselves and against the wiles of the tempter who does all he can to turn man away from prayer, away from union with God. We pray as we live, because we live as we pray. If we do not want to act habitually according to the Spirit of Christ, neither can we pray habitually in his name. The "spiritual battle" of the Christian's new life is inseparable from the battle of prayer.

-- CCC 2725

S Edward the Confessor: "Blessed the man who follows not the counsel of the wicked"

Nor walks in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the company of the insolent,
But delights in the law of the LORD
and meditates on his law day and night.

-- Ps 1

The duty of obedience requires all to give due honor to authority and to treat those who are charged to exercise it with respect, and, insofar as it is deserved, with gratitude and good-will.

Pope St. Clement of Rome provides the Church's most ancient prayer for political authorities: "Grant to them, Lord, health, peace, concord, and stability, so that they may exercise without offense the sovereignty that you have given them. Master, heavenly King of the ages, you give glory, honor, and power over the things of earth to the sons of men. Direct, Lord, their counsel, following what is pleasing and acceptable in your sight, so that by exercising with devotion and in peace and gentleness the power that you have given to them, they may find favor with you."

-- CCC 1900

S Wilfrid: "for freedom Christ set us free"

so stand firm and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery

-- Gal 5:1-6

1221 But above all, the crossing of the Red Sea, literally the liberation of Israel from the slavery of Egypt, announces the liberation wrought by Baptism:

You freed the children of Abraham from the slavery of Pharaoh,
bringing them dry-shod through the waters of the Red Sea,
to be an image of the people set free in Baptism.

-- CCC 1221

Sunday 28C: "give glory to God"

2 Kings 5, 14-17; Psalm 98, 1.2-3.3-4; 2 Timothy 2, 8-13; Gospel: St. Luke 17. 11-19

Jesus cures ten, but only one returns to give thanks. "Were not all ten made clean? The other nine, where are they? No one, it seems, has come back to give glory to God but this foreigner." Perhaps this percentage of thankfulness continues among God's children today. All have abundant and infinite reason to give thanks yet very few turn to the Lord with words and hearts expressive of gratitude.

The teaching of Christ here is not about the healing of the flesh; it is of a far greater and more precious gift: the grace of God by faith in Christ Jesus. God's gift of faith in the Son of Man is poured out freely for all, regardless of race, language, or place. The working of his grace is seen here in the gratitude of the Samaritan. He who was thought to be socially repulsive, and an outcast even before he contracted leprosy, shows the dignity of faith in returning to give thanks to Christ. "Rise, and go your way, your faith has saved you."
How often do our prayers turn to the theme of thanksgiving to God? Does our concern for present needs and wants cloud our remembrance of past gifts and blessings? Do we forget that all we have and are is "gift" - what then should be our response to the Giver?

Giving thanks is at the heart, and gives its name to, the most important act of the Church: the offering of the holy Eucharist in the sacrifice of the Mass.

"Thanksgiving characterizes the prayer of the Church which, in celebrating the Eucharist, reveals and becomes more fully what she is. Indeed, in the work of salvation, Christ sets creation free from sin and death to consecrate it anew and make it return to the Father, for his glory. The thanksgiving of the members of the Body participates in that of their Head." (CCC 2637)

The Scriptures are our model of prayer and illustrate for us the many reasons and occasions on which we can and should render thanks to God "from whom all blessings flow."

"As in the prayer of petition, every event and need can become an offering of thanksgiving. The letters of St. Paul often begin and end with thanksgiving, and the Lord Jesus is always present in it: 'Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you'; 'Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.' (1 Thess 5:18; Col 4:2)" (CCC 2638)

Refusal to thank another may imply one deserves the gift. Entitlement is an illusion to which all humans can fall prey. This dishonors the generosity and virtue of the giver and shows sinful pride in the receiver. Failure to thank God makes the creature equal to the Creator. Reality is distorted and pride reaches even greater heights: the finite pretends to infinity.

Pride is to be shunned by the baptized believer as a sin against divine love which puts salvation at risk if unrepented.

"One can sin against God's love in various ways:

"- indifference neglects or refuses to reflect on divine charity; it fails to consider its prevenient goodness and denies its power.
"- ingratitude fails or refuses to acknowledge divine charity and to return him love for love.
"- lukewarmness is hesitation or negligence in responding to divine love; it can imply refusal to give oneself over to the prompting of charity.
"- acedia or spiritual sloth goes so far as to refuse the joy that comes from God and to be repelled by divine goodness.
"- hatred of God comes from pride. It is contrary to love of God, whose goodness it denies, and whom it presumes to curse as the one who forbids sins and inflicts punishments." (CCC 2094)

Thankfulness is a necessary component and expression of our love for God who has loved us in Christ to His death on the Cross. What can we do but give thanks every day to God who has put to death our death by the death of His own Son and, by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, given us a share in His own life which never ends? If we open our hearts and minds to this perspective of faith, how could we fail to begin and end every prayer and offering in heartfelt and loving thanks to our heavenly Father?

http://www.christusrex.org/www1/mcitl/ (Publish with permission. )

Friday, 27C: "those who have faith are blessed"

For all who depend on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, "Cursed be everyone who does not persevere in doing all the things written in the book of the law."

And that no one is justified before God by the law is clear, for "the one who is righteous by faith will live."

--- Gal 3:7-14

The perfect fulfillment of the Law could be the work of none but the divine legislator, born subject to the Law in the person of the Son. In Jesus, the Law no longer appears engraved on tables of stone but "upon the heart" of the Servant who becomes "a covenant to the people", because he will "faithfully bring forth justice". Jesus fulfills the Law to the point of taking upon himself "the curse of the Law" incurred by those who do not "abide by the things written in the book of the Law, and do them", for his death took place to redeem them "from the transgressions under the first covenant".

-- CCC 580

Sunday, 27C. "Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving": the obligations of servanthood are the door to the love of God's friendship

"... do not be ashamed of your testimony to our Lord"

-- 2 Tm 1:6-8, 13-14

"Participation in the communal celebration of the Sunday Eucharist is a testimony of belonging and of being faithful to Christ and to his Church. The faithful give witness by this to their communion in faith and charity. Together they testify to God's holiness and their hope of salvation. They strengthen one another under the guidance of the Holy Spirit."

-- CCC 2182

" 'Sunday . . . is to be observed as the foremost holy day of obligation in the universal Church' (CIC, can. 1246 § 1). 'On Sundays and other holy days of obligation the faithful are bound to participate in the Mass' (CIC, can. 1247)."

-- CCC 2192

"The first precept ('You shall attend Mass on Sundays and holy days of obligation and rest from servile labor') requires the faithful to sanctify the day commemorating the Resurrection of the Lord as well as the principal liturgical feasts honoring the Mysteries of the Lord, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the saints; in the first place, by participating in the Eucharistic celebration, in which the Christian community is gathered, and by resting from those works and activities which could impede such a sanctification of these days.

"The second precept ('You shall confess your sins at least once a year') ensures preparation for the Eucharist by the reception of the sacrament of reconciliation, which continues Baptism's work of conversion and forgiveness.

"The third precept ('You shall receive the sacrament of the Eucharist at least during the Easter season') guarantees as a minimum the reception of the Lord's Body and Blood in connection with the Paschal feasts, the origin and center of the Christian liturgy."

-- CCC 2042

" 'We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we were obliged to do.' "

-- Lk 17:5-10

"The affirmations of Sacred Scripture and the teachings of the Church on the subject of hell are a call to the responsibility incumbent upon man to make use of his freedom in view of his eternal destiny. They are at the same time an urgent call to conversion: 'Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is easy, that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard, that leads to life, and those who find it are few.'

"Since we know neither the day nor the hour, we should follow the advice of the Lord and watch constantly so that, when the single course of our earthly life is completed, we may merit to enter with him into the marriage feast and be numbered among the blessed, and not, like the wicked and slothful servants, be ordered to depart into the eternal fire, into the outer darkness where 'men will weep and gnash their teeth.' "

-- CCC 1036

"Faith in God's love encompasses the call and the obligation to respond with sincere love to divine charity. The first commandment enjoins us to love God above everything and all creatures for him and because of him."

-- CCC 2093

Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus, virgin and doctor of the Church: “The harvest is abundant"

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

-- Lk 10:1-12

The origin and purpose of mission. The Lord's missionary mandate is ultimately grounded in the eternal love of the Most Holy Trinity: "The Church on earth is by her nature missionary since, according to the plan of the Father, she has as her origin the mission of the Son and the Holy Spirit." The ultimate purpose of mission is none other than to make men share in the communion between the Father and the Son in their Spirit of love.

-- CCC 850

By her very mission, "the Church . . . travels the same journey as all humanity and shares the same earthly lot with the world: she is to be a leaven and, as it were, the soul of human society in its renewal by Christ and transformation into the family of God." Missionary endeavor requires patience. It begins with the proclamation of the Gospel to peoples and groups who do not yet believe in Christ, continues with the establishment of Christian communities that are "a sign of God's presence in the world," and leads to the foundation of local churches. It must involve a process of inculturation if the Gospel is to take flesh in each people's culture. There will be times of defeat. "With regard to individuals, groups, and peoples it is only by degrees that [the Church] touches and penetrates them and so receives them into a fullness which is Catholic."

-- CCC 854