Blessed Junipero Serra: "I was a shepherd"

The Lord said to me ... "Go, prophesy to my people"

-- Amos 7: 10-17

Already dedicated to him through Baptism, the person who surrenders himself to the God he loves above all else thereby consecrates himself more intimately to God's service and to the good of the Church1. By this state of life consecrated to God, the Church manifests Christ and shows us how the Holy Spirit acts so wonderfully in her. And so the first mission of those who profess the evangelical counsels is to live out their consecration. Moreover, "since members of institutes of consecrated life dedicate themselves through their consecration to the service of the Church they are obliged in a special manner to engage in missionary work, in accord with the character of the institute."

-- CCC 931

First Martyrs of the Church of Rome: "Seek good and not evil"

But if you would offer me burnt offerings,
then let justice surge like water,
and goodness like an unfailing stream.

-- Am 5:14-15, 21-24

Outward sacrifice, to be genuine, must be the expression of spiritual sacrifice: "The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit. . . . " The prophets of the Old Covenant often denounced sacrifices that were not from the heart or not coupled with love of neighbor. Jesus recalls the words of the prophet Hosea: "I desire mercy, and not sacrifice." The only perfect sacrifice is the one that Christ offered on the cross as a total offering to the Father's love and for our salvation. By uniting ourselves with his sacrifice we can make our lives a sacrifice to God.

-- CCC 2100

S Irenaeus. "Foxes have lairs"

...and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head.

-- Mt 8:18-22

"The Church's love for the poor . . . is a part of her constant tradition." This love is inspired by the Gospel of the Beatitudes, of the poverty of Jesus, and of his concern for the poor. Love for the poor is even one of the motives for the duty of working so as to "be able to give to those in need." It extends not only to material poverty but also to the many forms of cultural and religious poverty.

-- CCC 2444

"The glory of God is in man fully alive." - St. Irenaeus

13th Sunday Ordinary Time: "For freedom Christ has set us free": Through anointing and mercy, unburdened of the past and forward to the Kingdom

Sadness and inertia are often brought on by morbid delectation of the sins and problems of the past. Such a spiritual condition is akin to death and can result in a falling away from the practice of the Faith. It is an enslavement which vitiates our freedom. Today we hear about the work of Christ in us, anointed for life and for the kingdom, because "for freedom Christ has set us free."

Elijah calls Elisha to go forward, to receive anointing for a new life as prophet of God. But Elisha's first reaction is to go backward, back to his family instead of forward in trust with God. And in the Gospel, those privileged to hear the call of the Lord to join Him in the life of the kingdom respond by saying that they would rather bury the dead. "Let the dead bury the dead!"

For more on today's homily suggestion, please visit A Priest Life ((((..))) by clicking here.

The LORD said to Elijah: “You shall anoint Elisha.."

-- 1 Kgs 19:16b, 19-21

The word "Christ" comes from the Greek translation of the Hebrew Messiah, which means "anointed". It became the name proper to Jesus only because he accomplished perfectly the divine mission that "Christ" signifies. In effect, in Israel those consecrated to God for a mission that he gave were anointed in his name. This was the case for kings, for priests and, in rare instances, for prophets. This had to be the case all the more so for the Messiah whom God would send to inaugurate his kingdom definitively. It was necessary that the Messiah be anointed by the Spirit of the Lord at once as king and priest, and also as prophet. Jesus fulfilled the messianic hope of Israel in his threefold office of priest, prophet and king.

-- CCC 436

you will not abandon my soul to the netherworld, nor will you suffer your faithful one to undergo corruption.

-- Ps 16:1-2, 5, 7-8, 9-10, 11

Christ's death was a real death in that it put an end to his earthly human existence. But because of the union which the person of the Son retained with his body, his was not a mortal corpse like others, for "it was not possible for death to hold him" and therefore "divine power preserved Christ's body from corruption." Both of these statements can be said of Christ: "He was cut off out of the land of the living", and "My flesh will dwell in hope. For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, nor let your Holy One see corruption." Jesus' Resurrection "on the third day" was the sign of this, also because bodily decay was held to begin on the fourth day after death.

-- CCC 627

For freedom Christ set us free

-- Gal 5:1, 13-18

Liberation and salvation. By his glorious Cross Christ has won salvation for all men. He redeemed them from the sin that held them in bondage. "For freedom Christ has set us free." In him we have communion with the "truth that makes us free." The Holy Spirit has been given to us and, as the Apostle teaches, "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom." Already we glory in the "liberty of the children of God."

-- CCC 1741

When the days for Jesus’ being taken up were fulfilled, he resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem

-- Lk 9:51-62

"When the days drew near for him to be taken up Jesus set his face to go to Jerusalem." By this decision he indicated that he was going up to Jerusalem prepared to die there. Three times he had announced his Passion and Resurrection; now, heading toward Jerusalem, Jesus says: "It cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem."

-- CCC 557

“Lord, I am not worthy"

... to have you enter under my roof; only say the word and my servant will be healed. For I too am a man subject to authority, with soldiers subject to me.

-- Mt 8:5-17

Those who exercise authority should do so as a service. "Whoever would be great among you must be your servant." The exercise of authority is measured morally in terms of its divine origin, its reasonable nature and its specific object. No one can command or establish what is contrary to the dignity of persons and the natural law.

-- CCC 2235

“Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean.”

He stretched out his hand, touched him, and said, “I will do it. Be made clean.”

-- Mt 8:1-4

Often Jesus asks the sick to believe. He makes use of signs to heal: spittle and the laying on of hands, mud and washing. The sick try to touch him, "for power came forth from him and healed them all." And so in the sacraments Christ continues to "touch" us in order to heal us.

-- CCC 1504

"Beware of false prophets"

Every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire

-- Mt 7:15-20

Throughout the ages, there have been so-called "private" revelations, some of which have been recognized by the authority of the Church. They do not belong, however, to the deposit of faith. It is not their role to improve or complete Christ's definitive Revelation, but to help live more fully by it in a certain period of history. Guided by the Magisterium of the Church, the sensus fidelium knows how to discern and welcome in these revelations whatever constitutes an authentic call of Christ or his saints to the Church.

Christian faith cannot accept "revelations" that claim to surpass or correct the Revelation of which Christ is the fulfillment, as is the case in certain non-Christian religions and also in certain recent sects which base themselves on such "revelations".

-- CCC 67