Tuesday - September 18, 2018
Do not look forward to what may happen tomorrow; the same everlasting Father who cares for you today will take care of you tomorrow and every day. Either He will shield you from suffering, or He will give you unfailing strength to bear it.
~~St Francis de Sales
September 18, 2018
Tuesday of the Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 444
Reading 11 COR 12:12-14, 27-31A
Brothers and sisters:
As a body is one though it has many parts,
and all the parts of the body, though many, are one body,
so also Christ.
For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one Body,
whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free persons,
and we were all given to drink of one Spirit.
Now the body is not a single part, but many.
Now you are Christ's Body, and individually parts of it.
Some people God has designated in the Church
to be, first, Apostles; second, prophets; third, teachers;
then, mighty deeds;
then gifts of healing, assistance, administration,
and varieties of tongues.
Are all Apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers?
Do all work mighty deeds? Do all have gifts of healing?
Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret?
Strive eagerly for the greatest spiritual gifts.
As a body is one though it has many parts,
and all the parts of the body, though many, are one body,
so also Christ.
For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one Body,
whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free persons,
and we were all given to drink of one Spirit.
Now the body is not a single part, but many.
Now you are Christ's Body, and individually parts of it.
Some people God has designated in the Church
to be, first, Apostles; second, prophets; third, teachers;
then, mighty deeds;
then gifts of healing, assistance, administration,
and varieties of tongues.
Are all Apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers?
Do all work mighty deeds? Do all have gifts of healing?
Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret?
Strive eagerly for the greatest spiritual gifts.
Responsorial Psalm PS 100:1B-2, 3, 4, 5
R. (3) We are his people: the sheep of his flock.
Sing joyfully to the LORD, all you lands;
serve the LORD with gladness;
come before him with joyful song.
R. We are his people: the sheep of his flock.
Know that the LORD is God;
he made us, his we are;
his people, the flock he tends.
R. We are his people: the sheep of his flock.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
his courts with praise;
Give thanks to him; bless his name.
R. We are his people: the sheep of his flock.
For he is good, the LORD,
whose kindness endures forever,
and his faithfulness, to all generations.
R. We are his people: the sheep of his flock.
Sing joyfully to the LORD, all you lands;
serve the LORD with gladness;
come before him with joyful song.
R. We are his people: the sheep of his flock.
Know that the LORD is God;
he made us, his we are;
his people, the flock he tends.
R. We are his people: the sheep of his flock.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
his courts with praise;
Give thanks to him; bless his name.
R. We are his people: the sheep of his flock.
For he is good, the LORD,
whose kindness endures forever,
and his faithfulness, to all generations.
R. We are his people: the sheep of his flock.
AlleluiaLK 7:16
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
A great prophet has arisen in our midst
and God has visited his people.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
A great prophet has arisen in our midst
and God has visited his people.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
GospelLK 7:11-17
Jesus journeyed to a city called Nain,
and his disciples and a large crowd accompanied him.
As he drew near to the gate of the city,
a man who had died was being carried out,
the only son of his mother, and she was a widow.
A large crowd from the city was with her.
When the Lord saw her,
he was moved with pity for her and said to her,
"Do not weep."
He stepped forward and touched the coffin;
at this the bearers halted,
and he said, "Young man, I tell you, arise!"
The dead man sat up and began to speak,
and Jesus gave him to his mother.
Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, exclaiming,
"A great prophet has arisen in our midst,"
and "God has visited his people."
This report about him spread through the whole of Judea
and in all the surrounding region.
and his disciples and a large crowd accompanied him.
As he drew near to the gate of the city,
a man who had died was being carried out,
the only son of his mother, and she was a widow.
A large crowd from the city was with her.
When the Lord saw her,
he was moved with pity for her and said to her,
"Do not weep."
He stepped forward and touched the coffin;
at this the bearers halted,
and he said, "Young man, I tell you, arise!"
The dead man sat up and began to speak,
and Jesus gave him to his mother.
Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, exclaiming,
"A great prophet has arisen in our midst,"
and "God has visited his people."
This report about him spread through the whole of Judea
and in all the surrounding region.
******************************
The Spirit of Collaboration
St. Paul says in today's first reading that the Holy Spirit takes all of us - the many parts of the Christian body (Catholics and Protestants, liberals and conservatives) and makes us one. Isn't it interesting that this comes the day after the Church gives us a scripture about division (cf. 1 Cor. 11:17-26)!
Unity comes from the Holy Spirit. We cannot assemble as a community by our own power; left to our own willpower, we'd more likely snooze late on Sundays and then catch up on last week's chores rather than go to church. And when we do choose to attend Mass, left to our own willpower, we're likely to enter as an individual and worship as an individual and participate in communion as an individual, and then leave as an individual, even though "communion" means being community.
God designed us to live in community. That's why the bishops of Vatican Council II wrote, in the Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity(para. 18): "...it has been God's pleasure to assemble those who believe in Christ and make of them the People of God." God built into our hearts a need for community. When our faith deepens to the point of realizing this, we're dissatisfied when our faith-filled friends are too few. We don't feel loved enough when we hide behind walls of seclusion. Although we must have time alone with God to experience his supreme love, we also need to participate in community life to experience God's sufficient love.
When we feel lonely, or when our prayers are not being answered, or when God isn't giving us everything we need, it's usually because we have not availed ourselves of the people in the faith community through whom God works.
Likewise, when our ministries are not making as big of a difference as they should, or when we feel burnt out from doing the Lord's work, or when some of the needs of the parish or diocese are going unmet, it's usually because we're not collaborating with enough other servants of God. The bishops addressed that, too, in the same 18th paragraph of the decree for the laity: Since we're "social by nature" and God has assembled us into one body, we are most effective in the mission of Christ when we're collaborative: "...it offers a sign of the communion and unity of the Church in Christ."
God never calls us to serve him as loners: "For that reason Christians will exercise their apostolate in a spirit of concord. They will be apostles ... in the free associations they will have decided to form among themselves.... The apostolate calls for concerted action."
All of us in the Catholic community - priests, deacons, religious, and laity - must offer our unique, individual giftedness to each other in a spirit of collaboration for the sake of the work of the Church. And all of us in the wider Christian community - Catholics and Protestants of all denominations - must form collaborations so that we can preach to the world that Christ's love conquers all divisions.
This is only possible, however, through the Spirit of collaboration, who makes us one.
Today's Prayer
My Lord: pour Your anointing upon me, so whomever I encounter on my way may recognize Your presence amidst us. 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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