EVANGELIO DEL DÍA

martes, 13 de julio de 2010

"I give praise to you, Father"

DAILY GOSPEL: 14/07/2010
«Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.» John 6,68



Wednesday of the Fifteenth week in Ordinary Time


Book of Isaiah 10:5-7.13-16.
Woe to Assyria! My rod in anger, my staff in wrath.
Against an impious nation I send him, and against a people under my wrath I order him To seize plunder, carry off loot, and tread them down like the mud of the streets.
But this is not what he intends, nor does he have this in mind; Rather, it is in his heart to destroy, to make an end of nations not a few.
and the boastfulness of his haughty eyes. For he says:) "By my own power I have done it, and by my wisdom, for I am shrewd. I have moved the boundaries of peoples, their treasures I have pillaged, and, like a giant, I have put down the enthroned.
My hand has seized like a nest the riches of nations; As one takes eggs left alone, so I took in all the earth; No one fluttered a wing, or opened a mouth, or chirped!"
Will the axe boast against him who hews with it? Will the saw exalt itself above him who wields it? As if a rod could sway him who lifts it, or a staff him who is not wood!
Therefore the Lord, the LORD of hosts, will send among his fat ones leanness, And instead of his glory there will be kindling like the kindling of fire.

Psalms 94(93):5-6.7-8.9-10.14-15.
They crush your people, LORD, torment your very own.
They kill the widow and alien; the fatherless they murder.
They say, "The LORD does not see; the God of Jacob takes no notice."
Understand, you stupid people! You fools, when will you be wise?
Does the one who shaped the ear not hear? The one who formed the eye not see?
Does the one who guides nations not rebuke? The one who teaches humans not have knowledge?
You, LORD, will not forsake your people, nor abandon your very own.
Judgment shall again be just, and all the upright of heart will follow it.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 11:25-27.
At that time Jesus said in reply, "I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike.
Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will.
All things have been handed over to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him. 
Mt 11,25-27
Commentary of the day 
Saint Augustine (354-430), Bishop of Hippo (North Africa) and Doctor of the Church
Sermon 34 ; CCL 41, 423-426.
"I give praise to you, Father"
       We are invited to sing a new song to the Lord (Ps 149,1). The new man is the man who knows this new song. Singing is joy and, if we consider the matter more closely, love. Someone who understands about loving this new life knows the new song, and so we need to be informed as to what the new life is for the sake of the new song. All these things belong to the same Kingdom: new man, new song, new covenant. The new man will sing a new song and be a member of the new covenant...

     «See!» you will say, «I am singing.» You are singing; yes, you are singing, I can hear you. But be careful that your life doesn't bear witness against your tongue. Sing with your voice, sing with your heart, sing with your mouth, sing in your conduct: «sing to the Lord a new song.» You are wondering what you are to sing for him whom you love and you cast about for the praises to sing to him. «His praise is in the assembly of the saints» (Ps 149,1). The praise to be sung is that of the singer. Do you want to sing praise to God? Be yourself what you sing. You are his praise if you live uprightly.


Wednesday, 14 July 2010

Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha, Virgin (1656-1680) - Memorial



Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha
(The first native American to be beatified)

Virgin
  (1656-1680)
        This wonderful crown of new blesseds, God's bountiful gift to his Church, is completed by the sweet, frail yet strong figure of a young woman who died when she was only twenty-four years old: Kateri Tekakwitha, the "Lily of the Mohawks", the Iroquois maiden, who in seventeenth century North America was the first to renew the marvels of sanctity of St. Scholastica, Saint Gertrude, Saint Catherine of Siena, Saint Angela Merici and Saint Rose of Lima, preceding, along the path of Love, her great spiritual sister, Therese of Child Jesus.
        She spent her short life partly in what is now the State of New York and partly in Canada. She is a kind, gentle and hardworking person, spending her time working, praying, and meditating. At the age of twenty she receives Baptism. Even when following her tribe in the hunting seasons, she continues her devotions, before a rough cross carved by herself in the forest. When her family urges her to marry, she replies very serenely and calmly that she has Jesus as her only spouse. This decision, in view of the social conditions of women in the Indian Tribes at the time, exposes Kateri to the risk of living as outcast and in poverty. It is a bold, unusual and prophetic gesture: on 25 March, 1679, at the age of twenty-three, with the consent of her spiritual director, Kateri takes a vow of perpetual virginity - as far as we know the first time that this was done among the North American Indians.
        The last months of her life are an ever clearer manifestation of her solid faith, straight-forward humility, calm resignation and radiant joy, even in the midst of terrible sufferings. Her last words, simple and sublime, whispered at the moment of her death, sum up, like a noble hymn, a life of purest charity: "Jesus, I love you....".
        The Church has declared to the world that Kateri Tekakwitha is blessed, that she lived a life on earth of exemplary holiness and that she is now a member in heaven of the Communion of Saints who continually intercede with the merciful Father on our behalf.
        Her beatification should remind us that we are all called to a life of holiness, for in Baptism, God has chosen each one of us "to be holy and spotless and to live through love in his presence". (Eph. 1:4) Holiness of life-union with Christ through prayer and works of charity - is not something reserved to a select few among the members of the Church. It is the vocation of everyone.

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