Monday - September 07, 2020
Certainly nothing can so effectually humble us before the mercy of God as the multitude of his benefits. Nor can anything so much humble us before His justices as the enormity of our innumerable offences. Let us consider what He has done for us and what we have done against Him.
-- St. Francis de Sales
Certainly nothing can so effectually humble us before the mercy of God as the multitude of his benefits. Nor can anything so much humble us before His justices as the enormity of our innumerable offences. Let us consider what He has done for us and what we have done against Him.
-- St. Francis de Sales
Monday of the Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 437
Reading 1
Brothers and sisters:
It is widely reported that there is immorality among you,
and immorality of a kind not found even among pagans–
a man living with his father’s wife.
And you are inflated with pride.
Should you not rather have been sorrowful?
The one who did this deed should be expelled from your midst.
I, for my part, although absent in body but present in spirit,
have already, as if present,
pronounced judgment on the one who has committed this deed,
in the name of our Lord Jesus:
when you have gathered together and I am with you in spirit
with the power of the Lord Jesus,
you are to deliver this man to Satan
for the destruction of his flesh,
so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord.
It is widely reported that there is immorality among you,
and immorality of a kind not found even among pagans–
a man living with his father’s wife.
And you are inflated with pride.
Should you not rather have been sorrowful?
The one who did this deed should be expelled from your midst.
I, for my part, although absent in body but present in spirit,
have already, as if present,
pronounced judgment on the one who has committed this deed,
in the name of our Lord Jesus:
when you have gathered together and I am with you in spirit
with the power of the Lord Jesus,
you are to deliver this man to Satan
for the destruction of his flesh,
so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord.
Your boasting is not appropriate.
Do you not know that a little yeast leavens all the dough?
Clear out the old yeast, so that you may become a fresh batch of dough,
inasmuch as you are unleavened.
For our Paschal Lamb, Christ, has been sacrificed.
Therefore, let us celebrate the feast,
not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness,
but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
Do you not know that a little yeast leavens all the dough?
Clear out the old yeast, so that you may become a fresh batch of dough,
inasmuch as you are unleavened.
For our Paschal Lamb, Christ, has been sacrificed.
Therefore, let us celebrate the feast,
not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness,
but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
Responsorial Psalm
R. Lead me in your justice, Lord.
For you, O God, delight not in wickedness;
no evil man remains with you;
the arrogant may not stand in your sight.
You hate all evildoers.
R. Lead me in your justice, Lord.
You destroy all who speak falsehood;
The bloodthirsty and the deceitful
the LORD abhors.
R. Lead me in your justice, Lord.
But let all who take refuge in you
be glad and exult forever.
Protect them, that you may be the joy
of those who love your name.
R. Lead me in your justice, Lord.
For you, O God, delight not in wickedness;
no evil man remains with you;
the arrogant may not stand in your sight.
You hate all evildoers.
R. Lead me in your justice, Lord.
You destroy all who speak falsehood;
The bloodthirsty and the deceitful
the LORD abhors.
R. Lead me in your justice, Lord.
But let all who take refuge in you
be glad and exult forever.
Protect them, that you may be the joy
of those who love your name.
R. Lead me in your justice, Lord.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
My sheep hear my voice, says the Lord;
I know them, and they follow me.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
My sheep hear my voice, says the Lord;
I know them, and they follow me.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
On a certain sabbath Jesus went into the synagogue and taught,
and there was a man there whose right hand was withered.
The scribes and the Pharisees watched him closely
to see if he would cure on the sabbath
so that they might discover a reason to accuse him.
But he realized their intentions
and said to the man with the withered hand,
“Come up and stand before us.”
And he rose and stood there.
Then Jesus said to them,
“I ask you, is it lawful to do good on the sabbath
rather than to do evil,
to save life rather than to destroy it?”
Looking around at them all, he then said to him,
“Stretch out your hand.”
He did so and his hand was restored.
But they became enraged
and discussed together what they might do to Jesus.
and there was a man there whose right hand was withered.
The scribes and the Pharisees watched him closely
to see if he would cure on the sabbath
so that they might discover a reason to accuse him.
But he realized their intentions
and said to the man with the withered hand,
“Come up and stand before us.”
And he rose and stood there.
Then Jesus said to them,
“I ask you, is it lawful to do good on the sabbath
rather than to do evil,
to save life rather than to destroy it?”
Looking around at them all, he then said to him,
“Stretch out your hand.”
He did so and his hand was restored.
But they became enraged
and discussed together what they might do to Jesus.
******************************
Protecting Ourselves from Poison
Paul was concerned about how the sinner's behavior was infecting others. To understand this, though, we need to first be aware of the definition of "sinner." Those who are not living as followers of Christ are sinners, and those who unite themselves to Christ are saints (i.e., sanctified although still unperfected and capable of sinning).
Paul began his letter to the church at Corinth: "To you who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be holy ..." The saints at Corinth had adopted the attitude of "I'm safe, because I'm with Jesus; I'm not like that other guy, who's a sinner."
Do we put up with the sins of others because we believe that it's not going to infect us? We think: Their sins are between them and God; it's not for us to judge them or speak up and tell them how to live.
Poison kills best in tiny doses. Initially, the victim doesn't notice that anything's wrong. When repeated doses cause stomach cramps, the victim merely thinks he has the flu. By the time he realizes that his life is in danger, it's too late. If we're not grieving the immorality we witness and if we're not offering God's antidote, we're contributing to the spread of evil. A small problem in a parish, for example, that seemingly affects only a few, is really arsenic that's poisoning all the members of the Body of Christ. Only God knows how many have left the Church or chose not to get involved in a parish ministry or turned away from a religious vocation because of one person's bad example.
In today's Gospel reading, the Pharisees have an opportunity to be inoculated with the antidote of goodness and compassion, but they reject it. They've been poisoned for so long that they can't recognize love when it's right in front of them. Do you know anyone like this? We need to care so much about these people that we mourn their sinfulness while at the same time maintaining holy, healthy boundaries to protect ourselves and our families and our parishes from infection.
As it says in the responsorial Psalm, no one who does evil remains with God. Holiness is a boundary that separates saints from sinners. Notice the strong antidote that St. Paul prescribes for the adulterous Corinthian: "Deliver him to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, so that his spirit may be saved." It's an enforcement of the boundary for the sake of the saints and a final, desperate attempt to alert the sinner that he's on the wrong side of the boundary. Excommunication might sound evil, but the sinner has already separated himself from the community.
Such people need to reap what they've sown so that they can learn from the consequences of their decisions. We're not supposed to save them from it -- Jesus is the Savior, not us. We're called to use every means to reveal the truth and invite them to become holy, but when that fails to produce repentance, the best way to love them is to let them follow their demons into deeper misery where, we pray, they will finally cry out to God.
Today's Prayer
Thank You, Lord, because Your love heals all our wounds. Give me courage to let myself be loved by You and to love my neighbors as You love us, beyond consequences. Amen.
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God Bless You.....
The 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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