Saturday, Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint Callistus I

Readings of the day: RB 11

Mass: Joel 4:12-21; Resp. Psalm 97; Luke 11:27-28

We are gifted with two profound verses in today’s Gospel; both point to the announcement of the birth of Jesus:

First, “Blessed is the womb that carried you and the breasts at which you nursed.”

Second, “Blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe.”

“Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you.”

“Let it be done to me according to your word.”

The greatness of our Lady was in her humility. No wonder Jesus, who lived so close to her, seemed to be so anxious that we learn from him and from her but one lesson:

to be meek and humble of heart.

(Saint Teresa of Calcutta)

Mary, Mother of our Savior, pray for us.

Friday, Twenty-Seventh Week in Ordinary Time

Readings of the day: RB 10

Mass: Joel 1:13-15; 2:1-2; Resp. Psalm 9; Luke 11:15-26

The gospel passage proclaimed at today’s Mass leaves out the whole of verse 14:

When Jesus had driven out a demon that was mute, the demon came out,

the mute person spoke, and the crowds were amazed.

How do you suppose the previously mute person felt after being relieved of the demon?

I will give thanks to you, O Lord, with all my heart;

I will declare all you wondrous deeds.

I will be glad and exult in you;

I will sing praise to your name, Most High.

Psalm 9

 

Christ the Healer through the hand of Mary Katsilometes

Thursday, Twenty-Seventh Week in Ordinary Time

Readings of the day: RB 9

Mass: Malachi 3:13-20b; Resp. Psalm 1; Luke 11:5-13

Today’s commentary brought to you by Cardinal Basil Hume (1923-1999).

“How often have we prayed for something, and our prayer has been ignored, or so it would seem. And how irritating this is when we have been told quite clearly: ‘Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you’ (Mt 7:7/Luke 11:9-10).

Is there such a thing as unanswered prayer? I am not able to give an answer that convinces me completely. The Gospel passage about asking is clear enough. I am helped by two things:

The first is this: just outside Fribourg in Switzerland there is an ancient shrine to Our Lady. It is a holy place and one where it is easy to pray. The walls are covered with expressions of gratitude for answers to prayers said in the chapel. One plaque caught my eye especially. It said: ‘Thank you for not answering my prayer’. What had that person in mind? Did he or she realise how the answer required might have turned out to be harmful? Did that person realise that God’s way of handling the problem was wiser or better? I do not know, but that prayer chipped into a stone hanging on a chapel wall was, for me at any rate, an important lesson. God’s ways are not mine. He knows best. I do not know His plans, I do not understand them. I must learn to trust.

How often have we prayed for, say, the recovery of a sick child, and the prayer seems to have been unheard. The child has died. There is no easy explanation of that. But we do have to trust, and that will mean in a situation of this kind, walking on in the darkness and in pain. God had a plan for that child and we do not know and we cannot understand.

The second aid to understanding apparent failure to answer my prayer of petition is to reflect on what God really wants for all of us. He had one over-riding wish for us, and that is union with Him. Everything else is subordinated to that. So I would think that any request made, which will lead to union with God, either here or now or later on when I shall see Him face to face, will most certainly be answered. Perhaps much that we ask for will not be helpful. But even the asking draws me closer to Him. 

I remain a bit uneasy. I do think that what I have written above in these notes is true. Why, then, am I uneasy? It is because the prayer of petition come from a heart that trusts, from the kind of faith that is strong enough to move mountains. I have to add this reflection. My explanation of why prayers remain unanswered is in many situations true and valid; at other times, though, there may be too little faith” (To Be a Pilgrim: A Spiritual Notebook, 135-136).

Prayer—dialogue with the God who saves—will save the world.

(E. Bianchi, Echoes of the Word: A New Kind Monk on the Meaning of Life, 99)

Saint John XXIII

Readings of the day: RB 8

Mass: Jonah 4:1-11; Resp. Psalm 86; Luke 11:1-4

Jesus taught the disciples many things, sometimes using words, other times not. As far as I know the disciples only asked Jesus once to teach them anything at all. Today they ask the Lord to teach them to pray. It seems a reasonable request considering they, with us, don’t know how to pray as we ought (Romans 8:26). Jesus doesn’t waste time, stating clearly,

When you pray, say:

Father, hallowed by your name,

your Kingdom come.

Give us each day our daily bread

and forgive us our sins

for we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us,

and do not subject us to the final test.

This prayer we know as the Lord’s Prayer, what Thomas Aquinas calls a most perfect prayer (Summa, II-II, q. 83, art. 9). Aquinas explains in these words: “The Lord’s Prayer is most perfect, because as Augustine says, ‘if we pray rightly and fittingly, we can say nothing else but what is contained in this prayer of Our Lord.’”

LORD, PLEASE TEACH US TO PRAY.

Speaking of prayer, today Saint Benedict begins his eleven chapters devoted to the ins and outs of praying the Divine Office in a monastic community. The Divine Office, also called the Liturgy of the Hours, is the official prayer of the Church. A beautiful and most instructive presentation on the theology of the Liturgy of the Hours can be found in the General Instruction of the Liturgy of the Hours, Ch. 1, para. 1-19, found online, or in Volume I, The Liturgy of the Hours According to the Roman Rite, pp. 21-34.

It is important that the celebration of Lauds and Vespers should never be concluded without the recitation by the Abbess of the whole of the Lord’s Prayer 

so that all may hear and attend to it.

(RB 13:12)

SAINT JOHN XXIII, PRAY FOR US.

Tuesday, Twenty-Seventh Week in Ordinary Time

Readings of the day: RB 7:62-70

Mass: Jonah 3:1-10; Resp. Psalm 130; Luke 10:38-42

Blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.

(Gospel Acclamation, Mass)

It seems dear Jonah has had a change of heart, not without God in hot pursuit. Today Jonah heeds the Lord’s bidding and sets off for Nineveh. That said, there is more to come.

We are also presented with Martha and Mary, friends of the Lord. Martha was busy asking Jesus questions and telling him what to do. Mary was busy listening to Jesus speak.

Who am I today? Jonah, Martha, or Mary?

The first step of humility is to cherish at all times the sense of awe with which we should ever turn to God. It should drive all forgetfulness away; it should keep our minds alive to God’s guidance and commandments.

(RB 7:10-11)

Saint Denis and Companions, Saint John Leonardi

Readings of the day: RB 7:60

Mass: Jonah 1:1-2:2,11; Resp. Psalm (Jonah 2); Luke 10:25-37

The story of Jonah reminds me of something Pope Francis tweeted earlier this year:

“GOD is always faithful and never stops for a moment loving us, following our steps, and running after us when we have strayed from him” (Twitter, March 2, 2017).

 You can run, dear Jonah, but you can’t hide. The same applies to us all.

Dear Jesus, grant us the grace and the courage do your will.

SAINT DENIS AND COMPANIONS, SAINT JOHN LEONARDI

PRAY FOR US.

Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

Readings of the day: RB 7:59

Mass: Isaiah 5:1-7; Resp. Psalm 80; Philippians 4:6-9; Matthew 21:33-43

Saint Paul offers sound advice, namely, “Do not be anxious at all,” while encouraging us,” Keep on doing what you have learned and received and heard and seen in me.”

With his words in mind, herewith Sunday’s musings:

I regularly hear people pray for peace, and for peacemakers. Such prayers cause me to pause and think. A few questions come to mind, none of which I claim to have the answers for. First, what exactly is being prayed for? Second, what is peace? Third, just what qualifies someone to be a peacemaker?

Saint Paul, in his Letter to the Philippians, tells us: In everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, we are to make our requests known to God. Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus. In the Gospel of Matthew (10:34), though, we hear Jesus tell us that he did come to bring peace upon earth. Instead, he came to bring the sword, pitting one against another. In the Gospel of John (14:27), we hear Jesus say: Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.

Peace abounds in the Word, yet I am still perplexed. This is a way I see it. Why shouldn’t I be troubled, afraid, or anxious? Because Jesus Christ, the Word, became flesh and dwells among us. Peace is all pervasive, for “Christ is our peace” (Eph. 2:14). When I receive the Eucharist, I receive peace. This makes me not just a peacemaker, but a bearer of peace. I bear Christ who himself caused so much division that he was rejected and put to death. Yet Christ overcame death and rose to new life. With Christ, we experience war, division, suffering, and violence. But we are peace bearers and with Christ are raised to new life.

It seems to me, then, that first, we pray for a peace that the world cannot give. Second, I have difficulty articulating just what peace is as Saint Paul says, “the peace of God surpasses all understanding.” Third, we are not peacemakers but peace bearers. I cannot make peace.

What follows is another way to pray for peace:

Please God, grant us the grace to produce peace, a fruit of the Holy Spirit. This is the peace that will guard our hearts and minds in You. May the God of peace be with us all.

I have chosen you from the world says the Lord, to go and bear fruit that will remain.

ALLELUIA.

(Gospel Acclamation, Mass)