Monday - October 09, 2017
"You always leave the Rosary for later, and you end up not saying it at all because you are sleepy. If there is no other time, say it in the street without letting anybody notice it. It will, moreover, help you to have presence of God."
--St. Josemaria Escriva
TODAY'S READINGS
October 9, 2017
Monday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 461
Reading 1JON 1:1–2:1-2, 11
This is the word of the LORD that came to Jonah, son of Amittai:"Set out for the great city of Nineveh, and preach against it;
their wickedness has come up before me."
But Jonah made ready to flee to Tarshish away from the LORD.
He went down to Joppa, found a ship going to Tarshish,
paid the fare, and went aboard to journey with them to Tarshish,
away from the LORD.
The LORD, however, hurled a violent wind upon the sea,
and in the furious tempest that arose
the ship was on the point of breaking up.
Then the mariners became frightened and each one cried to his god.
To lighten the ship for themselves, they threw its cargo into the sea.
Meanwhile, Jonah had gone down into the hold of the ship,
and lay there fast asleep.
The captain came to him and said, "What are you doing asleep?
Rise up, call upon your God!
Perhaps God will be mindful of us so that we may not perish."
Then they said to one another, "Come, let us cast lots
to find out on whose account we have met with this misfortune."
So they cast lots, and thus singled out Jonah.
"Tell us," they said, "what is your business?
Where do you come from?
What is your country, and to what people do you belong?"
Jonah answered them, "I am a Hebrew,
I worship the LORD, the God of heaven,
who made the sea and the dry land."
Now the men were seized with great fear and said to him,
"How could you do such a thing!–
They knew that he was fleeing from the LORD,
because he had told them.–
They asked, "What shall we do with you,
that the sea may quiet down for us?"
For the sea was growing more and more turbulent.
Jonah said to them, "Pick me up and throw me into the sea,
that it may quiet down for you;
since I know it is because of me
that this violent storm has come upon you."
Still the men rowed hard to regain the land, but they could not,
for the sea grew ever more turbulent.
Then they cried to the LORD: "We beseech you, O LORD,
let us not perish for taking this man's life;
do not charge us with shedding innocent blood,
for you, LORD, have done as you saw fit."
Then they took Jonah and threw him into the sea,
and the sea's raging abated.
Struck with great fear of the LORD,
the men offered sacrifice and made vows to him.
But the LORD sent a large fish, that swallowed Jonah;
and Jonah remained in the belly of the fish
three days and three nights.
From the belly of the fish Jonah prayed
to the LORD, his God.
Then the LORD commanded the fish to spew Jonah upon the shore.
Responsorial PsalmJONAH 2:3, 4, 5, 8
R. (cf. 7) You will rescue my life from the pit, O Lord.Out of my distress I called to the LORD,
and he answered me;
From the midst of the nether world I cried for help,
and you heard my voice.
R. You will rescue my life from the pit, O Lord.
For you cast me into the deep, into the heart of the sea,
and the flood enveloped me;
All your breakers and your billows
passed over me.
R. You will rescue my life from the pit, O Lord.
Then I said, "I am banished from your sight!
yet would I again look upon your holy temple."
R. You will rescue my life from the pit, O Lord.
When my soul fainted within me,
I remembered the LORD;
My prayer reached you
in your holy temple.
R. You will rescue my life from the pit, O Lord.
AlleluiaJN 13:34
R. Alleluia, alleluia.I give you a new commandment:
love one another as I have loved you.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
GospelLK 10:25-37
There was a scholar of the law who stood up to test Jesus and said,"Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
Jesus said to him, "What is written in the law?
How do you read it?"
He said in reply,
"You shall love the Lord, your God,
with all your heart,
with all your being,
with all your strength,
and with all your mind,
and your neighbor as yourself."
He replied to him, "You have answered correctly;
do this and you will live."
But because he wished to justify himself, he said to Jesus,
"And who is my neighbor?"
Jesus replied,
"A man fell victim to robbers
as he went down from Jerusalem to Jericho.
They stripped and beat him and went off leaving him half-dead.
A priest happened to be going down that road,
but when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side.
Likewise a Levite came to the place,
and when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side.
But a Samaritan traveler who came upon him
was moved with compassion at the sight.
He approached the victim,
poured oil and wine over his wounds and bandaged them.
Then he lifted him up on his own animal,
took him to an inn, and cared for him.
The next day he took out two silver coins
and gave them to the innkeeper with the instruction,
'Take care of him.
If you spend more than what I have given you,
I shall repay you on my way back.'
Which of these three, in your opinion,
was neighbor to the robbers' victim?"
He answered, "The one who treated him with mercy."
Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise."
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Unlikely Evangelists
Jonah was an unlikely evangelist. In today's first reading, God asked him to go into enemy territory, but Jonah did not like that idea at all. God wanted him to evangelize the Ninevites! Aside from worrying about his personal safety, Jonah preferred to see them get their just punishment, rather than escape it merely by repenting at the last minute.
What about the death-bed conversions of the irritating, stubbornly sin-filled jerks we know today? How would we feel if upon our arrival in heaven we were greeted by the ex-spouse who hurt us so much, or the priest who drove people away in an abuse of his vocation, or terrorists who killed innocent people in the name of Allah? What if they had refused to repent until their final moments when Jesus showed up to judge them? Wouldn't we prefer that Jesus, instead of embracing them, would have slapped them all the way to hell?
God had to take Jonah's "no, I won't do that" and change his direction with a ride in the belly of a big fish. Have you said no to God's plans because it requires helping someone you don't like? If so, how is he redirecting your life? What's your big fish?
In our Gospel reading today, Jesus shows us another unlikely evangelist. Have you ever thought of the Good Samaritan as an evangelist? The Samaritans and the Jews had been enemies for centuries. The Jews condemned the Samaritans because they compromised the Jewish faith with pagan beliefs. It should have been the Jews who evangelized the Samaritans, but here Jesus gives us a Samaritan evangelizing a Jew.
How? By the Samaritan's great act of love, his sacrificial act of love. What he did was inconvenient. He allowed himself to be sidetracked from his own plans, he ministered to the man's wounds, he carried his weight, and he delivered the man to someone who could help him more, covering the expenses with his own traveling money. This is evangelization. His message was: "You are loved. You matter." It describes the nature of God. It describes why Jesus went to the cross.
In today's world, this scene is replayed every time someone takes care of their aging parent who, in the decline of their health, becomes very difficult to get along with. And every time a handicapped baby is allowed to live in a caring home instead of being aborted. And every time a divorced wife takes care of her ex-husband while he's dying of cancer.
People don't hear God's message of love when we condemn them or neglect them or mistreat them. If we choose to do only what's convenient or we turn away because we don't want to say "you matter" to people who are unpleasant, our souls rot inside the belly of a smelly big fish.
Love that's given when it's inconvenient or unpleasant is true love -- it's Christ's love. If you are a repentant Jonah or a caring Samaritan, be assured that Jesus appreciates you very much.
Prayer
Forgive me Lord, for failing to notice that person whom You placed in my path to serve, for whom I could have been an instrument in Your name. Amen.
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God Bless You.....
Rosary Family
The mother of Jesus promised St. Dominic that,
“one day through the rosary & the scapular I shall save the world!”
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