SAINT QUOTE OF THE DAY : Monday - June 18, 2018

Monday - June 18, 2018

Question the beauty of the earth, question the beauty of the sea, question the beauty of the air distending and diffusing itself, question the beauty of the sky. . . question all these realities. All respond: "See, we are beautiful." Their beauty is a profession. These beauties are subject to change. Who made them if not the Beautiful One who is not subject to change?

-- St. Augustine

 

June 18, 2018

 

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Monday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 365

Reading 1 1 KGS 21:1-16

Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard in Jezreel
next to the palace of Ahab, king of Samaria.
Ahab said to Naboth, “Give me your vineyard to be my vegetable garden,
since it is close by, next to my house.
I will give you a better vineyard in exchange, or,
if you prefer, I will give you its value in money.”
Naboth answered him, “The LORD forbid
that I should give you my ancestral heritage.”
Ahab went home disturbed and angry at the answer
Naboth the Jezreelite had made to him:
“I will not give you my ancestral heritage.”
Lying down on his bed, he turned away from food and would not eat.

His wife Jezebel came to him and said to him,
“Why are you so angry that you will not eat?”
He answered her, “Because I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite
and said to him, ‘Sell me your vineyard, or,
if you prefer, I will give you a vineyard in exchange.’
But he refused to let me have his vineyard.”
His wife Jezebel said to him,
“A fine ruler over Israel you are indeed!
Get up. 
Eat and be cheerful.
I will obtain the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite for you.”

So she wrote letters in Ahab’s name and,
having sealed them with his seal,
sent them to the elders and to the nobles
who lived in the same city with Naboth.
This is what she wrote in the letters:
“Proclaim a fast and set Naboth at the head of the people.
Next, get two scoundrels to face him
and accuse him of having cursed God and king.
Then take him out and stone him to death.”
His fellow citizens—the elders and nobles who dwelt in his city—
did as Jezebel had ordered them in writing,
through the letters she had sent them.
They proclaimed a fast and placed Naboth at the head of the people.
Two scoundrels came in and confronted him with the accusation,
“Naboth has cursed God and king.”
And they led him out of the city and stoned him to death.
Then they sent the information to Jezebel
that Naboth had been stoned to death.

When Jezebel learned that Naboth had been stoned to death,
she said to Ahab,
“Go on, take possession of the vineyard
of Naboth the Jezreelite that he refused to sell you,
because Naboth is not alive, but dead.”
On hearing that Naboth was dead, Ahab started off on his way
down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite,
to take possession of it.

Responsorial PsalmPS 5:2-3AB, 4B-6A, 6B-7

R. (2b) Lord, listen to my groaning.
Hearken to my words, O LORD,
attend to my sighing.
Heed my call for help,
my king and my God!
R. Lord, listen to my groaning.
At dawn I bring my plea expectantly before you.
For you, O God, delight not in wickedness;
no evil man remains with you;
the arrogant may not stand in your sight. 
R. Lord, listen to my groaning.
You hate all evildoers.
You destroy all who speak falsehood;
The bloodthirsty and the deceitful
the LORD abhors.
R. Lord, listen to my groaning.

AlleluiaPS 119:105

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
A lamp to my feet is your word,
a light to my path.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

GospelMT 5:38-42

Jesus said to his disciples:
"You have heard that it was said,
9An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.)
But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil.
When someone strikes you on your right cheek,
turn the other one to him as well.
If anyone wants to go to law with you over your tunic,
hand him your cloak as well.
Should anyone press you into service for one mile,
go with him for two miles.
Give to the one who asks of you,
and do not turn your back on one who wants to borrow."

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MERCY SUCCEEDS WHERE LOVE FAILS

The Sermon on the Mount can seem too challenging to take seriously unless we're truly interested in growing stronger in holiness. In chapters five, six and seven of Matthew, Jesus gets down to the nitty-gritty details of how to be holy, and nearly every verse challenges us to examine how much we really do want to learn from him.

Today's Gospel reading is a good example of this. We don't really want to turn the other cheek when someone hurts us. We don't want to lose the court battle when we're sued, let alone give away more than what's been demanded from us. We don't want to give our money to those who didn't earn it. We don't want to increase our donation to the Church, because we might need that extra money to buy more clothes or a newer car, a bigger house, or a fantasy vacation. And how quickly we reduce the amount when the pastor or bishop or someone else in the Church does something wrong!

The extreme generosity that's necessary for holiness becomes easier when we understand why Jesus wants us to be holy. The reason is mercy. Think of love as the front door to people's hearts. When they close it, mercy is the love that sneaks in through the back door. Mercy succeeds where love fails.

When Jesus preached this Sermon, he raised us above the Old Testament's "eye for an eye" spirituality, which gets so easily warped into revenge-seeking. Basically, he said: When others hurt you, be merciful and love them (forgive them, do good to them, pray for them, etc.). This is how we stay united to God, who is Divine Mercy itself. In this unity, he turns our problems into blessings and produces a greater good.

People hurt us without understanding that they're actually hurting themselves. By sinning, they close the door to God's love. But if we love them, we give God to them; he reaches them through us (we become the back door to their hearts). If we refuse to give them mercy, we are refusing to give them God, and we are also closing our own doors to God and to his love.

If someone strikes out at you verbally, don't strike back; give love. If someone tries to steal from you, you can't stop his sin of greed but you can stop him from sinning against you by freely giving to him what he's taking. If an irresponsible coworker demands that you do his work for him, prevent it from being a sin by volunteering to do even more. This is mercy.

Does this sound like we're enabling sin? Well, mercy is only the first step. With good and humble discernment from the Holy Spirit, the next step is to invite the other person to grow in holiness. But even in this, mercy is key, because we must draw the line against ongoing sin -- motivated by love, not revenge or resentment.

Being merciful isn't always fun. However, think of a time when you didn't deserve God's love or act of kindness. What did it feel like when you realized that he cared about you anyway? How did it change you? This is what your mercy can do for those who sin against you.

Today's Prayer

Father, Forgive me for my pride and self-sufficiency when judging others and myself. I ask You to help me be always aware of your forgiveness for my unfaithfulness in learning how to be as merciful as You are. 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!”