Tuesday - September 11, 2018
When I consider Jesus' love on the one hand and my own ingratitude on the other, I should like to tell him that if I cannot correspond to his love he should stop loving me; only in this way do I feel less guilty. But this is too terrifying a thing for me, and hence it makes me invariably pray Jesus to continue to love me and to help me himself if I do not succeed in loving him as much as he deserves.
-- St. Padre Pio
September 11, 2018
Tuesday of the Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 438
Reading 11 COR 6:1-11
Brothers and sisters:
How can any one of you with a case against another
dare to bring it to the unjust for judgment
instead of to the holy ones?
Do you not know that the holy ones will judge the world?
If the world is to be judged by you,
are you unqualified for the lowest law courts?
Do you not know that we will judge angels?
Then why not everyday matters?
If, therefore, you have courts for everyday matters,
do you seat as judges people of no standing in the Church?
I say this to shame you.
Can it be that there is not one among you wise enough
to be able to settle a case between brothers?
But rather brother goes to court against brother,
and that before unbelievers?
Now indeed then it is, in any case,
a failure on your part that you have lawsuits against one another.
Why not rather put up with injustice?
Why not rather let yourselves be cheated?
Instead, you inflict injustice and cheat, and this to brothers.
Do you not know that the unjust will not inherit the Kingdom of God?
Do not be deceived;
neither fornicators nor idolaters nor adulterers
nor boy prostitutes nor sodomites nor thieves
nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor robbers
will inherit the Kingdom of God.
That is what some of you used to be;
but now you have had yourselves washed, you were sanctified,
you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ
and in the Spirit of our God.
How can any one of you with a case against another
dare to bring it to the unjust for judgment
instead of to the holy ones?
Do you not know that the holy ones will judge the world?
If the world is to be judged by you,
are you unqualified for the lowest law courts?
Do you not know that we will judge angels?
Then why not everyday matters?
If, therefore, you have courts for everyday matters,
do you seat as judges people of no standing in the Church?
I say this to shame you.
Can it be that there is not one among you wise enough
to be able to settle a case between brothers?
But rather brother goes to court against brother,
and that before unbelievers?
Now indeed then it is, in any case,
a failure on your part that you have lawsuits against one another.
Why not rather put up with injustice?
Why not rather let yourselves be cheated?
Instead, you inflict injustice and cheat, and this to brothers.
Do you not know that the unjust will not inherit the Kingdom of God?
Do not be deceived;
neither fornicators nor idolaters nor adulterers
nor boy prostitutes nor sodomites nor thieves
nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor robbers
will inherit the Kingdom of God.
That is what some of you used to be;
but now you have had yourselves washed, you were sanctified,
you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ
and in the Spirit of our God.
Responsorial PsalmPS 149:1B-2, 3-4, 5-6A AND 9B
R. (see 4) The Lord takes delight in his people.
Sing to the LORD a new song
of praise in the assembly of the faithful.
Let Israel be glad in their maker,
let the children of Zion rejoice in their king.
R. The Lord takes delight in his people.
Let them praise his name in the festive dance,
let them sing praise to him with timbrel and harp.
For the LORD loves his people,
and he adorns the lowly with victory.
R. The Lord takes delight in his people.
Let the faithful exult in glory;
let them sing for joy upon their couches;
Let the high praises of God be in their throats.
This is the glory of all his faithful. Alleluia.
R. The Lord takes delight in his people.
Sing to the LORD a new song
of praise in the assembly of the faithful.
Let Israel be glad in their maker,
let the children of Zion rejoice in their king.
R. The Lord takes delight in his people.
Let them praise his name in the festive dance,
let them sing praise to him with timbrel and harp.
For the LORD loves his people,
and he adorns the lowly with victory.
R. The Lord takes delight in his people.
Let the faithful exult in glory;
let them sing for joy upon their couches;
Let the high praises of God be in their throats.
This is the glory of all his faithful. Alleluia.
R. The Lord takes delight in his people.
AlleluiaSEE JN 15:16
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
I chose you from the world,
That you may go and bear fruit that will last, says the Lord.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
I chose you from the world,
That you may go and bear fruit that will last, says the Lord.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
GospelLK 6:12-19
Jesus departed to the mountain to pray,
and he spent the night in prayer to God.
When day came, he called his disciples to himself,
and from them he chose Twelve, whom he also named Apostles:
Simon, whom he named Peter, and his brother Andrew,
James, John, Philip, Bartholomew,
Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus,
Simon who was called a Zealot,
and Judas the son of James,
and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.
And he came down with them and stood on a stretch of level ground.
A great crowd of his disciples and a large number of the people
from all Judea and Jerusalem
and the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon
came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases;
and even those who were tormented by unclean spirits were cured.
Everyone in the crowd sought to touch him
because power came forth from him and healed them all.
and he spent the night in prayer to God.
When day came, he called his disciples to himself,
and from them he chose Twelve, whom he also named Apostles:
Simon, whom he named Peter, and his brother Andrew,
James, John, Philip, Bartholomew,
Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus,
Simon who was called a Zealot,
and Judas the son of James,
and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.
And he came down with them and stood on a stretch of level ground.
A great crowd of his disciples and a large number of the people
from all Judea and Jerusalem
and the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon
came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases;
and even those who were tormented by unclean spirits were cured.
Everyone in the crowd sought to touch him
because power came forth from him and healed them all.
******************************
FINDING TRUE JUSTICE
Since the beginning of civilization, God has given earthly leaders a portion of his authority to maintain law and order and to determine how disagreements and injustices should be handled -- even though he knew that many would mishandle this authority. Saint Paul informs us in today's first reading that we should keep disputes with other Christians within the Christian community rather than take the case to those who judge by the world's standards.
God-inspired judgments always include mercy and forgiveness, reconciliation, humility, honoring the needs of others, selflessness, and unconditional love. Civil law, in contrast, provides retaliation. If I fall down at your house and break my leg, I can make you pay my hospital bill. In fact, civil law in my country allows me to sue you for the cost of the emotional suffering that began when my happy plans got ruined because of the cast on my leg -- as if we could put a price tag on that!
God's laws are contrary to this worldly way of meting out justice. His law dictates that I forgive you and make no financial demands on you, even letting myself get cheated (as Jesus said, turning the other cheek). God's justice means I let him take charge of my hospital bill. If you decide to help me, it's not because I've forced it upon you -- it's because you're doing God's work.
Note that Paul is instructing the Christian community on how to solve internal injustices by converting problems into loving solutions. He is not suggesting that this is how a Christian resolves a problem with a non-Christian. It's not a sin to deal with non-Christians using their own worldly sense of justice. But what a horror it is for Christians to treat each other in worldly ways!
The difference is that Christians have already been justified by Jesus Christ. Plus, we have received the Holy Spirit and are therefore capable of making right judgments for resolving disputes. Because of this, we can even judge the deeds of angels! And what do angels do that necessitate judgment from us? Well, we can judge the holy angels as good and give them permission to continue doing more good in our lives, and we can judge the fallen angels -- demons -- as wrong and sentence them to the imprisonment of silence and inactivity.
And whenever we make judgments without the Holy Spirit, fallen angels are free to make matters worse.
In today's Gospel passage, Jesus cured people who were troubled by evil spirits. He pronounced judgments against their interference and sentenced them to impotence to make them stop. He has given us the authority to do the same. As long as we're living by heavenly standards, we can, in the name of Jesus and by the power of the triumph of his cross, take a successful stand against evil. Demons must submit to our authority, for it is Jesus who enforces the sentence.
Today's Prayer
You have called me by my name, Lord Jesus, and You've sent me with the Holy Spirit's power to do the same loving works You did. Heal me and deliver me from all my fears and complications that prevent me from obeying Your calling. Amen.
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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