27th Week in Ordinary Time A
October 5, 2008
Theme for the Week: Peace cannot exist without justice.
The Joyful Mysteries.
Sunday Readings
Is. 5:1-7 The vineyard of the Lord God of hosts is the house of Israel.
Phil 4:6-9 The God of peace be with you.
Mt. 21:33-43 He leased his vineyards to other farmers.
Homiletic Ideas for the Sunday Gospel
The
gospel speaks about the struggle of making true THE dream: God and man,
one in love. At first, man refers to the Hebrew-Israelites, and then the
Jews, and later on, all nations. The first reading affectionately refers
to the house of Israel as God’s possession. Although, this love is
repaid by unfaithfulness, even in our time.
(cf.
CSDC, #2; PCPII Acts and Decrees, #12)
There is a hope in the readings that peace can be restored with justice
for a relationship gone awry. The joyful mysteries proclaim God’s
goodness.
(Rosarium
Virginis Mariae,
The Joyful Mysteries,
20. The first five
decades, the “joyful mysteries”, are marked by the joy radiating from
the event of the Incarnation. This is clear from the very first mystery,
the Annunciation, where Gabriel's greeting to the Virgin of Nazareth is
linked to an invitation to messianic joy: “Rejoice, Mary”. The whole of
salvation history, in some sense the entire history of the world, has
led up to this greeting. If it is the Father's plan to unite all things
in Christ (cf. Eph 1:10), then the whole of the universe is in some way
touched by the divine favour with which the Father looks upon Mary and
makes her the Mother of his Son. The whole of humanity, in turn, is
embraced by the fiat with which she readily agrees to the will of God.
Exultation is the keynote of the encounter with Elizabeth, where the
sound of Mary's voice and the presence of Christ in her womb cause John
to “leap for joy” (cf. Lk 1:44). Gladness also fills the scene in
Bethlehem, when the birth of the divine Child, the Saviour of the world,
is announced by the song of the angels and proclaimed to the shepherds
as “news of great joy” (Lk 2:10).
The final two
mysteries, while preserving this climate of joy, already point to the
drama yet to come. The Presentation in the Temple not only expresses the
joy of the Child's consecration and the ecstasy of the aged Simeon; it
also records the prophecy that Christ will be a “sign of contradiction”
for Israel and that a sword will pierce his mother's heart (cf Lk
2:34-35). Joy mixed with drama marks the fifth mystery, the finding of
the twelve-year-old Jesus in the Temple. Here he appears in his divine
wisdom as he listens and raises questions, already in effect one who
“teaches”. The revelation of his mystery as the Son wholly dedicated to
his Father's affairs proclaims the radical nature of the Gospel, in
which even the closest of human relationships are challenged by the
absolute demands of the Kingdom. Mary and Joseph, fearful and anxious,
“did not understand” his words (Lk 2:50).
To meditate upon the “joyful” mysteries, then, is to enter into the
ultimate causes and the deepest meaning of Christian joy. It is to focus
on the realism of the mystery of the Incarnation and on the obscure
foreshadowing of the mystery of the saving Passion. Mary leads us to
discover the secret of Christian joy, reminding us that Christianity is,
first and foremost, euangelion, “good news”, which has as its heart and
its whole content the person of Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh, the
one Saviour of the world.
Monday: On the Good Samaritan. Some rights can be sold or granted, and so alienable. In politics, these may be called civil rights. There are also inalienable rights: these may be called civil liberties, or God-given rights (Cf. Detrimental and Benificial Social Doctrine, Chapter 3; Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, Chapter 3). These are based on based on de facto inalienable capacities, like freedom. Without recognizing these, man is not far from trouble. (The Mystery of the Annunciation, God respected Mary’s freedom to answer “Fiat mihi.”)
Tuesday: (Memorial of the Holy Rosary) Jesus calls Martha back to the basics. The Holy Rosary calls us back to the basics. Peace is calling us back to the basics of justice for it to be born and thrive. CSDC, #142:Those who proclaim themselves to be the sole measure of realities and of truth cannot live peacefully in society with their fellow men and cooperate with them. (The Mystery of the Finding of Jesus in the Temple is a “going back home,” before doing real mission.)
Wednesday: The Our Father is going back to the basics with the sight on the future: worship of the true God who is a Father, acknowledging His Providence, His dominion over all (which demands justice), with the sight on life of everlasting peace. CSDC, #159, §2 The Church trusts above all in the help of the Lord and his Spirit who, poured forth into human hearts, is the surest guarantee for respecting justice and human rights, and for contributing to peace. “The promotion of justice and peace and the penetration of all spheres of human society with the light and the leaven of the Gospel have always been the object of the Church's efforts in fulfillment of the Lord's command”. (The Mystery of the Visitation: Magnificat)
Thursday: “Ask and you shall receive..” In economics, there is equilibrium when quantity supplied equals quantity demanded. Roughly, there is peace when there is justice. CSDC, #157, §2 The international order requires a balance between particularity and universality, which all nations are called to bring about, for their primary duty is to live in a posture of peace, respect and solidarity with other nations. (The Mystery of the Visitation: Magnificat)
Friday: Beelzebul. Animal Farm is a novella by George Orwell, and is the most famous satirical allegory of Soviet totalitarianism. Published in 1945, the book reflects events leading up to and during the Stalin era before World War II. A famous quote is "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others". For peace, demons must be expelled as they (as “more equal than others”) grab more than they deserve when they possess a human being. CSDC #157: Peace is founded not only on respect for human rights but also on respect for the rights of peoples, in particular the right to independence. (The Mystery of the Annunciation: “...and the power of the Most High will overshadow you…”)
Saturday: Blessed is the womb that carried you. Peace does not necessarily rise from “blessed beginnings,” but with a life of justice when listening to the word of God and keeping it. CSDC, #203: The goal of peace, in fact, “will certainly be achieved through the putting into effect of social and international justice, but also through the practice of the virtues which favour togetherness, and which teach us to live in unity, so as to build in unity, by giving and receiving, a new society and a better world”. (The Mystery of the Nativity)
Complimentary Social Teachings:
CSDC, #494, §3. “Peace is the fruit of justice,[1020] (cf. Is 32:17) understood in the broad sense as the respect for the equilibrium of every dimension of the human person. Peace is threatened when man is not given all that is due him as a human person, when his dignity is not respected and when civil life is not directed to the common good. The defence and promotion of human rights is essential for the building up of a peaceful society and the integral development of individuals, peoples and nations.
CSDC #494, §2. “Peace is also the fruit of love. “True and lasting peace is more a matter of love than of justice, because the function of justice is merely to do away with obstacles to peace: the injury done or the damage caused. Peace itself, however, is an act and results only from love.”
Readings:
Peace: Fruit of Justice and Love, pp 297-300
The Philippine Situationer: DBSD, pp13-21.
Rosarium Virginis Mariae, Apostolic Letter on the Most Holy Rosary, The Joyful Mysteries
Parallel Commandment
Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep.
28th Week in Ordinary Time A
October 12, 2008
Theme for the Week: Retribution: a just repayment. The Sorrowful Mysteries.
Sunday Readings
Is. 25:6-10 The Lord will prepare a feast and will wipe away the tears from every cheek.
Phil 4,12-14, 19-20 I am able to do all these things in him who strengthens me.
Mt. 22,1-14 or 22,1-10 Whosoever you find invite to the wedding.
Homiletic Ideas for the Sunday Gospel
RSVP means répondez s'il vous plait. In the case of God, good will must b e repaid with goodness. Hell is not only retribution, it is also asking for it. We cannot imagine that the goodness of God in the first reading could be ignored or rejected. Only a fool can do so. But for Paul in the second reading, it is possible to respond in a positive way because of Jesus who strengthens him. How apt for the glorious mysteries of the Rosary. Rosarium Virginis Mariae, #23. The Sorrowful Mysteries. “The contemplation of Christ's face cannot stop at the image of the Crucified One. He is the Risen One!”(29) The Rosary has always expressed this knowledge born of faith and invited the believer to pass beyond the darkness of the Passion in order to gaze upon Christ's glory in the Resurrection and Ascension. Contemplating the Risen One, Christians rediscover the reasons for their own faith (cf. 1Cor 15:14) and relive the joy not only of those to whom Christ appeared – the Apostles, Mary Magdalene and the disciples on the road to Emmaus – but also the joy of Mary, who must have had an equally intense experience of the new life of her glorified Son. In the Ascension, Christ was raised in glory to the right hand of the Father, while Mary herself would be raised to that same glory in the Assumption, enjoying beforehand, by a unique privilege, the destiny reserved for all the just at the resurrection of the dead. Crowned in glory – as she appears in the last glorious mystery – Mary shines forth as Queen of the Angels and Saints, the anticipation and the supreme realization of the eschatological state of the Church.”
Monday: This generation is an evil generation. No sign will be given except retribution. DBSD, p24: “There is a saying that people get the government they deserve. And this reality is eventually brought into living actuality the moment people by and large allow and/or even accept crooked and corrupt public officials to exercise governance over them. The easiest way for a little wound to be deadly is precisely not to cure it. (In the Mystery of the Crucifixion and Death of the Lord: “…If he is really the son of God, let him come down from the cross, then we will believe.”)
Tuesday: The ritual of washing. Do not expect a reward for hypocrisy, lying, cheating and stealing. Pope Benedict XVI, Cologne, August, 2005: Freedom is not simply about enjoying life, but rather about living by the measure of truth and goodness" (The Mystery of the Scourging at the Pillar: Jesus took the blame)
Wednesday: Woe to you Pharisees and lawyers. No one is exempt from retribution. DBSD, p 130: One thing is definite and defined: Woe to the Church in the Philippines more concretely in the persons of the Hierarchy with its Clergy, the men and women Religious particularly those running schools, colleges and universities, the competent and able lay leaders included specially those in the business and industry sectors, if she were to confine herself to purely spiritual ministries and exclusively devotional observances — with the complete exclusion of proclaiming and teaching the imperatives of truth that promotes social justice which in turn affirms social peace. (The Mystery of the Crowning with Thorns: Everybody wants to rule the world)
Thursday: “This generation will be charged with their blood!” Blood money, blood diamonds, blood-tax: all are payments for something. Injustice will be paid in blood. Genesis 6:5-7 And GOD saw that the wickedness of man [was] great in the earth, and [that] every imagination of the thoughts of his heart [was] only evil continually. And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them. (The Mystery of the Agony in the Garden: Father take this cup away from me, your will be done not mine)
Friday: Beware of the leaven of hypocrisy. Retribution most surely will come. DBSD, p. 11: “...Why is it that even non-Christian and definitely non-Catholic nations in Asia at least, have honorable political leaders and upright economic personalities compared to their counterparts in the Philippines? Why is it that a good number of Filipino Catholics find the continued existence of disgusting socio-moral maladies and socio-political depravities in both the local and national scenes as nothing extraordinary and therefore something normal and wherefore acceptable realities in this Country—while the same are definitely taboo in other non-Christian Countries? CSDC, #561: Faced with grave injustices, the decision to ignore completely certain aspects of human suffering reflects an indefensible selectivity. (The Mystery of the Carrying of the Cross: Blind guides)
Saturday: 72 appointed (Feast of Luke). The Church’s role as prophet to bring people to consciousness. PCP II, Decree 20#1, The Church must exert effort to reduce the gap between faith and practice in the area of social justice by working for greater justice and equality in Philippine Society.” (The Mystery of the Crucifixion and Death of Jesus on the Cross: “I thirst.”)
Readings:
Detrimental and Beneficial SD, Chapter One: The Philippine Situation
Rosarium Virginis Mariae, Apostolic Letter on the Most Holy Rosary, The Sorrowful Mysteries
Parallel Gospel Commandment
Take up your cross and follow me.
29th Week in Ordinary Time A
October 19, 2008
Theme for the Week: Start a green revolution, not about agriculture, but “soul-culture.” The Glorious Mysteries.
Sunday Readings
Is. 45,1,4-6 I have taken the hand of Cyrus to subdue nations before his countenance.
1 Thes 1,1-5 We are mindful of your faith, hope and love.
Mt. 22:15-21 Give to Caesar the things that belong to Caesar and to God the things that are God’s.
Homiletic Ideas for the Sunday Gospel
The gospel is not only about proper gift to the proper guy. It is also about cultivation of a certain life of justice. This is not a case-to-case scenario, it is a moment-by-moment challenge to be just in every way. This is not a relativist “Do what you think is best for you at this minute…” but a “Do the right thing all the time.” As God has dominion over all rulers and kings in the first reading, man can also have dominion over his life through faith, hope and love expressed in a just life. CSDC, #580ff: “Building the ‘Civilization of Love’”
Monday: Share inheritance, do not be greedy. Start a green revolution against greed. CSDC, #481: As regards the ecological question, the social doctrine of the Church reminds us that the goods of the earth were created by God to be used wisely by all. They must be shared equitably, in accordance with justice and charity. This is essentially a question of preventing the injustice of hoarding resources: greediness, be it I individual or collective, is contrary to the order of creation.[1005] Modern ecological problems are of a planetary dimension and can be effectively resolved only through international cooperation capable of guaranteeing greater coordination in the use of the earth's resources. CSDC, #482: The environmental crisis and poverty are connected by a complex and dramatic set of causes that can be resolved by the principle of the universal destination of goods, which offers a fundamental moral and cultural orientation. (The Mystery of the Ascension: set your hearts on things that are above)
Tuesday: Watchfulness, a green revolution. CSDC, #134: Authentic social changes are effective and lasting only to the extent that they are based on resolute changes in personal conduct. An authentic moralization of social life will never be possible unless it starts with people and has people as its point of reference: indeed, “living a moral life bears witness to the dignity of the person”[250]. It is obviously the task of people to develop those moral attitudes that are fundamental for any society that truly wishes to be human (justice, honesty, truthfulness, etc.), and which in no way can simply be expected of others or delegated to institutions. It is the task of everyone, and in a special way of those who hold various forms of political, judicial or professional responsibility with regard to others, to be the watchful conscience of society and the first to bear witness to civil social conditions that are worthy of human beings. (The Mystery of the Descent of the Holy Spirit Upon the Apostles)
Wednesday: Faithfulness, a green revolution. CSDC, #135. Man can turn to good only in freedom, which God has given to him as one of the highest signs of his image[251]: “For God has willed that man remain ‘under the control of his own decisions' (Sir 15:14), so that he can seek his Creator spontaneously, and come freely to utter and blissful perfection through loyalty to Him. Hence man's dignity demands that he act according to a knowing and free choice that is personally motivated and prompted from within, neither under blind internal impulse nor by mere external pressure”. The Mystery of the Coronation of the Blessed Virgin Mary).
Thursday: Truthfulness, a green revolution. CSDC, #139: The truth concerning good and evil is recognized in a practical and concrete manner by the judgment of conscience, which leads to the acceptance of responsibility for the good accomplished and the evil committed. “Consequently in the practical judgment of conscience, which imposes on the person the obligation to perform a given act, the link between freedom and truth is made manifest. Precisely for this reason conscience expresses itself in acts of ‘judgment' which reflect the truth about the good, and not in arbitrary ‘decisions'. The maturity and responsibility of these judgments — and, when all is said and done, of the individual who is their subject — are not measured by the liberation of the conscience from objective truth, in favor of an alleged autonomy in personal decisions, but, on the contrary, by an insistent search for truth and by allowing oneself to be guided by that truth in one's actions” The Mystery of the Assumption: let truth assume a body in us.)
Friday: Don’t be lost in translation! Green revolution. CSDC, #320. To these men and women falls the important task of reading and interpreting the social phenomena with wisdom and with love of truth, leaving behind concerns imposed by special or personal interests. (The Mystery of Descent of the Holy Spirit Upon the Apostles).
Saturday: You can always start anew says our faith. Green revolution. CSDC, #381. Praying for rulers, which Saint Paul recommended even as he was being persecuted, implicitly indicates what political authority ought to guarantee: a calm and tranquil life led with piety and dignity (cf. 1 Tim 2:1-2). Christians must “be ready for any honest work” (Tit 3:1), showing “perfect courtesy towards all” (Tit 3:2), in the awareness that they are saved not by their own deeds but by God's mercy. Without “the washing of regeneration and renewal in the Holy Spirit, which he poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior” (Tit 3:5-6), all people are “foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing [their] days in malice and envy, hated by men and hating one another” (Tit 3:3). We must not forget the miserable state of the human condition marred by sin, but redeemed by God's love. (The Mystery of the Resurrection)
Complimentary Social Teachings:
Pope Paul VI, expanding the concept to cover the many modern aspects of the social question, speaks of a ‘civilization of love”'.
CSDC, #391. A community has solid foundations when it tends toward the integral promotion of the person and of the common good. In such cases, law is defined, respected and lived according to the manner of solidarity and dedication towards one's neighbor. Justice requires that everyone should be able to enjoy their own goods and rights; this can be considered the minimum measure of love.[794] Social life becomes more human the more it is characterized by efforts to bring about a more mature awareness of the ideal towards which it should be oriented, which is the “civilization of love”.
CSDC, #580ff. “Building the ‘civilization of love’.”
READINGS
Rosarium Virginis Mariae, Apostolic Letter on the Most Holy Rosary, The Glorious Mysteries
Parallel Commandment
Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean.
30th Week in Ordinary Time A
October 26, 2008
Theme for the Week: Justice leads to love. Luminous mysteries.
Sunday Readings
Ez 22,20-26 If you are harsh with the widow or the orphan, my anger will rage against you..
1 Thes 1,5-10 You turned away from idols to serve God and await his Son..
Mt. 22:34-40 You shall love the Lord your God and your neighbor as yourself.
Homiletic Ideas for the Sunday Gospel
Justice is giving what another deserves. Love is based on justice because it is giving more than what the other deserves. But without simple justice, no love can happen. CSDC, # 391: Justice requires that everyone should be able to enjoy their own goods and rights; this can be considered the minimum measure of love. Since love is also giving to the other according to justice and more. The first reading issues a warning. The second reading exemplifies an enlightenment to do good to others even when “your time is up” is not yet come.
Monday: Jesus heals a woman with bleeding for 18 years. Awareness of any kind of evil (for example, wanting, absence, lack) may lead to love if tempered with justice. CSDC, #159: This pastoral commitment develops in a twofold direction: in the proclamation of the Christian foundations of human rights and in the denunciation of the violations of these rights.[338] In any event, “proclamation is always more important than denunciation, and the latter cannot ignore the former, which gives it true solidity and the force of higher motivation”.[339] For greater effectiveness, this commitment is open to ecumenical cooperation, to dialogue with other religions, to all appropriate contacts with other organizations, governmental and non-governmental, at the national and international levels. The Church trusts above all in the help of the Lord and his Spirit who, poured forth into human hearts, is the surest guarantee for respecting justice and human rights, and for contributing to peace. “The promotion of justice and peace and the penetration of all spheres of human society with the light and the leaven of the Gospel have always been the object of the Church's efforts in fulfillment of the Lord's command”. (The Mystery of Jesus’ Baptism in the Jordan)
Tuesday: Jesus prayed and chose his disciples (Feast of Simon & Jude). Love is the full blooming of choice for the good. Jesus chose the sainthood of Simon and Jude, despite their weaknesses, and more than their merits. CSDC, #197. This pastoral commitment develops in a twofold direction: in the proclamation of the Christian foundations of human rights and in the denunciation of the violations of these rights.[338] In any event, “proclamation is always more important than denunciation, and the latter cannot ignore the former, which gives it true solidity and the force of higher motivation”.[339] For greater effectiveness, this commitment is open to ecumenical cooperation, to dialogue with other religions, to all appropriate contacts with other organizations, governmental and non-governmental, at the national and international levels. The Church trusts above all in the help of the Lord and his Spirit who, poured forth into human hearts, is the surest guarantee for respecting justice and human rights, and for contributing to peace. “The promotion of justice and peace and the penetration of all spheres of human society with the light and the leaven of the Gospel have always been the object of the Church's efforts in fulfilment of the Lord's command”. (The Mystery of Jesus’ institution of the Eucharist, as the sacramental expression of the Paschal Mystery
Wednesday: Narrow gate. Justice can be a very narrow gate, but it leads to love. CSDC, #203. The full truth about man makes it possible to move beyond a contractualistic vision of justice, which is a reductionist vision, and to open up also for justice the new horizon of solidarity and love. “By itself, justice is not enough. Indeed, it can even betray itself, unless it is open to that deeper power which is love”. (The Mystery of Jesus’ self-manifestation at the wedding in Cana).
Thursday: Jerusalem, Jerusalem. More than retribution from God, injustice is a failure. CSDC, #497. The damage caused by an armed conflict is not only material but also moral.[1041] In the end, war is “the failure of all true humanism”,[1042] “it is always a defeat for humanity”: [1043] “never again some peoples against others, never again! ... no more war, no more war!” (The Mystery of Jesus’ proclamation of the Kingdom of God, with his call to conversion)
Friday: Is it lawful to cure on the Sabbath? Laws do not make people sick nor heal them. Sick people emerge because of negligence. CSDC, #391: A community has solid foundations when it tends toward the integral promotion of the person and of the common good. In such cases, law is defined, respected and lived according to the manner of solidarity and dedication towards one's neighbor. (The Mystery of the Transfiguration)
Saturday: Beatitudes. If dead people need justice done for them, so much so for the living. CSDC, #3. To the people of our time, her traveling companions, the Church also offers her social doctrine. In fact, when the Church “fulfils her mission of proclaiming the Gospel, she bears witness to man, in the name of Christ, to his dignity and his vocation to the communion of persons. She teaches him the demands of justice and peace in conformity with divine wisdom”[3]. This doctrine has its own profound unity, which flows from Faith in a whole and complete salvation, from Hope in a fullness of justice, and from Love which makes all mankind truly brothers and sisters in Christ: it is the expression of God's love for the world, which he so loved “that he gave his only Son” (Jn 3:16). The new law of love embraces the entire human family and knows no limits, since the proclamation of the salvation wrought by Christ extends “to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). (The Mystery of the Proclamation of the Kingdom of God)
Complimentary Social Teachings:
CSDC, #391: “Social life becomes more human the more it is characterized by efforts to bring about a more mature awareness of the ideal towards which it should be oriented, which is the “civilization of love.”
CSDC, #582: “Love must thus enliven every sector of human life and extend to the international order. Only a humanity in which there reigns the ‘civilization of love' will be able to enjoy authentic and lasting peace”
READINGS
Rosarium Virginis Mariae, Apostolic Letter on the Most Holy Rosary, The Luminous Mysteries
Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, Chapter 12: Social Doctrine and Ecclesial Action
Parallel Gospel Commandment
Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
Note: This is only a guide with ideas with a head start for further development in personal reflection.
