He who wants to win the world for Christ must have the courage to come in conflict with it.
~~Blessed Titus Brandsma
He who wants to win the world for Christ must have the courage to come in conflict with it.
~~Blessed Titus Brandsma
November 19 2020
Thursday of the
Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 497
I, John, saw a scroll in the right hand of the one who sat on the throne.
It had writing on both sides and was sealed with seven seals.
Then I saw a mighty angel who proclaimed in a loud voice,
“Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?”
But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth
was able to open the scroll or to examine it.
I shed many tears because no one was found worthy
to open the scroll or to examine it.
One of the elders said to me, “Do not weep.
The lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has triumphed,
enabling him to open the scroll with its seven seals.”
Then I saw standing in the midst of the throne
and the four living creatures and the elders
a Lamb that seemed to have been slain.
He had seven horns and seven eyes;
these are the seven spirits of God sent out into the whole world.
He came and received the scroll from the right hand
of the one who sat on the throne.
When he took it,
the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders
fell down before the Lamb.
Each of the elders held a harp and gold bowls filled with incense,
which are the prayers of the holy ones.
They sang a new hymn:
“Worthy are you to receive the scroll
and break open its seals,
for you were slain and with your Blood you purchased for God
those from every tribe and tongue, people and nation.
You made them a kingdom and priests for our God,
and they will reign on earth.”
Responsorial Psalm PS 149:1B-2, 3-4, 5-6A AND 9B
R. (Rev. 5:10) The Lamb has made us a
kingdom of priests to serve our God.
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 Lamb has made us a kingdom of priests to serve our God.
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 Lamb has made us a kingdom of priests to serve our God.
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 Lamb has made us a kingdom of priests to serve our God.
Alleluia PS 95:8
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
If today you hear
his voice,
harden not your hearts.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel LK 19:41-44
As Jesus drew near Jerusalem,
he saw the city and wept over it, saying,
“If this day you only knew what makes for peace–
but now it is hidden from your eyes.
For the days are coming upon you
when your enemies will raise a palisade against you;
they will encircle you and hem you in on all sides.
They will smash you to the ground and your children within you,
and they will not leave one stone upon another within you
because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.”
The Catechism of the Catholic Church, para. #1591, explains: "The whole Church is a priestly people. Through Baptism all the faithful share in the priesthood of Christ. This participation is called the 'common priesthood of the faithful.'"
Jesus is the High Priest. With him, we should all be offering sacrifices for the sake of the kingdom. And we all have a ministry of praying and interceding for others, even tearfully at times as we see Jesus doing in the Gospel passage. With Jesus, we cry for those who are facing difficulties but have not yet turned their lives over to God: "If you only knew what makes for peace...." This priesthood of tears is a sharing in the Passion of Christ.
Para. #1547 of the Catechism says that the ministerial (ordained) priests and the common (lay) priesthood work together, "each in its own proper way, in the one priesthood of Christ." Priests and laity are yoked together, and the yoke of Jesus is easy and light because the burden of the work is reduced when it's shared. When each of us - clergy and laity together - share our gifts and talents collaboratively, much more is accomplished and with greater energy than when we serve God separately.
Vatican Council II restored the Church to this original vision of Christ and the Apostles and the new parishes they founded. Tragically, many of our parishes today lack the implementation of this vision.
When ordained priests flourish in their ministry, empowering their parishioners to use their talents and skills in the Church freely, the common priesthood of the laity flourishes, and the parish comes alive, donations increase, and much good is accomplished.
Likewise, when the laity help their clergy by freeing them from the business of the church so they can thrive in their sacramental duties, the ministerial priesthood also flourishes. Most vocations to the priesthood come from the example of priests who are flourishing, and the new vocations that are most pastoral used to be laity who were empowered by their priests to come alive in the spirit of service.
By working together in the priesthood of Christ, there is no vocation shortage. We might not have enough ordained priests to fill every parish, but our Lord is a God of sufficiency. He provides, not through individuals, but through community. He provides, not through the clergy alone, but through community. Every need can be met if clergy and religious and laity serve in partnership, unified by the priesthood of Christ.
Where there is insufficiency in getting the Lord's work done, it's because the laity have not yet fully accepted their own calling to ministry and/or their priests have not yet fully empowered them (or they've empowered them but then blocked their potential by trying to control them). Ordained priests are freer to carry out the mission of their Holy Orders when the laity are free to use, in collaboration with them, the gifts that God has given to them.
The vocations of the laity are not only, as we've heard many years in a limiting way, "the vocation of marriage" and "the vocation of living a chaste life as a single." The vocations of the laity are the rightful, empowered use of whatever their gifts and talents are, for the sake of the Church.
Have you been praying for an increase in holy vocations? God is answering that prayer - and you are part of the solution. We cannot merely pray about it; God is tapping each of us on our shoulders and saying, "Okay, I am calling you, too. Get busy! Work with the rest of the priestly people."
Open my spiritual eyes and ears, Lord, to know how to recognize and take advantage of Your presence in my life. Amen.
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God Bless You.....
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