DAILY GOSPEL: 27/09/2010
«Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.» John 6,68
Monday of the Twenty-sixth week in Ordinary Time
Book of Job 1:6-22.
But you, man of God, pursue righteousness, devotion, faith, love, patience, and gentleness.
And the LORD said to Satan, "Whence do you come?" Then Satan answered the LORD and said, "From roaming the earth and patrolling it."
And the LORD said to Satan, "Have you noticed my servant Job, and that there is no one on earth like him, blameless and upright, fearing God and avoiding evil?"
But Satan answered the LORD and said, "Is it for nothing that Job is God-fearing?
Have you not surrounded him and his family and all that he has with your protection? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his livestock are spread over the land.
But now put forth your hand and touch anything that he has, and surely he will blaspheme you to your face."
And the LORD said to Satan, "Behold, all that he has is in your power; only do not lay a hand upon his person." So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD.
And so one day, while his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in the house of their eldest brother,
a messenger came to Job and said, "The oxen were plowing and the asses grazing beside them,
and the Sabeans carried them off in a raid. They put the herdsmen to the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you."
While he was yet speaking, another came and said, "Lightning has fallen from heaven and struck the sheep and their shepherds and consumed them; and I alone have escaped to tell you."
While he was yet speaking, another came and said, "The Chaldeans formed three columns, seized the camels, carried them off, and put those tending them to the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you."
While he was yet speaking, another came and said, "Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in the house of their eldest brother,
when suddenly a great wind came across the desert and smote the four corners of the house. It fell upon the young people and they are dead; and I alone have escaped to tell you."
Then Job began to tear his cloak and cut off his hair. He cast himself prostrate upon the ground,
and said, "Naked I came forth from my mother's womb, and naked shall I go back again. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD!"
In all this Job did not sin, nor did he say anything disrespectful of God.
Psalms 17:1.2-3.6-7.
A prayer of David. Hear, LORD, my plea for justice; pay heed to my cry; Listen to my prayer spoken without guile.
From you let my vindication come; your eyes see what is right.
You have tested my heart, searched it in the night. You have tried me by fire, but find no malice in me. My mouth has not transgressed
I call upon you; answer me, O God. Turn your ear to me; hear my prayer.
Show your wonderful love, you who deliver with your right arm those who seek refuge from their foes.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 9:46-50.
An argument arose among the disciples about which of them was the greatest.
Jesus realized the intention of their hearts and took a child and placed it by his side
and said to them, "Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me. For the one who is least among all of you is the one who is the greatest."
Then John said in reply, "Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow in our company."
Jesus said to him, "Do not prevent him, for whoever is not against you is for you."
But you, man of God, pursue righteousness, devotion, faith, love, patience, and gentleness.
And the LORD said to Satan, "Whence do you come?" Then Satan answered the LORD and said, "From roaming the earth and patrolling it."
And the LORD said to Satan, "Have you noticed my servant Job, and that there is no one on earth like him, blameless and upright, fearing God and avoiding evil?"
But Satan answered the LORD and said, "Is it for nothing that Job is God-fearing?
Have you not surrounded him and his family and all that he has with your protection? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his livestock are spread over the land.
But now put forth your hand and touch anything that he has, and surely he will blaspheme you to your face."
And the LORD said to Satan, "Behold, all that he has is in your power; only do not lay a hand upon his person." So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD.
And so one day, while his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in the house of their eldest brother,
a messenger came to Job and said, "The oxen were plowing and the asses grazing beside them,
and the Sabeans carried them off in a raid. They put the herdsmen to the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you."
While he was yet speaking, another came and said, "Lightning has fallen from heaven and struck the sheep and their shepherds and consumed them; and I alone have escaped to tell you."
While he was yet speaking, another came and said, "The Chaldeans formed three columns, seized the camels, carried them off, and put those tending them to the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you."
While he was yet speaking, another came and said, "Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in the house of their eldest brother,
when suddenly a great wind came across the desert and smote the four corners of the house. It fell upon the young people and they are dead; and I alone have escaped to tell you."
Then Job began to tear his cloak and cut off his hair. He cast himself prostrate upon the ground,
and said, "Naked I came forth from my mother's womb, and naked shall I go back again. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD!"
In all this Job did not sin, nor did he say anything disrespectful of God.
Psalms 17:1.2-3.6-7.
A prayer of David. Hear, LORD, my plea for justice; pay heed to my cry; Listen to my prayer spoken without guile.
From you let my vindication come; your eyes see what is right.
You have tested my heart, searched it in the night. You have tried me by fire, but find no malice in me. My mouth has not transgressed
I call upon you; answer me, O God. Turn your ear to me; hear my prayer.
Show your wonderful love, you who deliver with your right arm those who seek refuge from their foes.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 9:46-50.
An argument arose among the disciples about which of them was the greatest.
Jesus realized the intention of their hearts and took a child and placed it by his side
and said to them, "Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me. For the one who is least among all of you is the one who is the greatest."
Then John said in reply, "Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow in our company."
Jesus said to him, "Do not prevent him, for whoever is not against you is for you."
Lc 9,46-50
John Cassian (c.360-435), founder of a monastery at Marseilles
Conferences no.15,7 (©Ancient Christian Writers; SC 54, p. 216 rev.)
"The one who is least among all of you is the one who is the greatest."
«Come,» said Christ to his apostles, «and learn from me» - not, to be sure, how to cast out demons with heavenly power, nor how to cleanse lepers, nor how to enlighten the blind, nor how to raise the dead... But you, he says, «Learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart» (Mt 11,28-29). For this can be learned and practiced by everyone in general, whereas the works of signs and mighty deeds are neither always necessary and appropriate for everyone, nor are they bestowed on everyone.
Humility, then, is the teacher of all the virtues; it is the most firm foundation of the heavenly edifice; it is the Savior's own magnificent gift. For a person may perform without danger of pride all the miracles that Christ worked if he strains after the meek Lord not because of his exalted signs but because of his patience and humility. But a person who itches to command unclean spirits, to bestow the gift of health on the sick, or to show some wondrous sign to the people is far from Christ even though he invokes the name of Christ in his displays, because by reason of his proud mind he does not follow the Teacher of humility.
Even when he was returning to his Father he prepared what I might call his testament, and he left this to his disciples: «A new commandment I give you,» he said, «that you love one another; as I have loved you, you must also love one another.» And immediately he added: «By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another» (Jn 13,34-35). He did not say: If you also perform signs and mighty deeds, but: «If you have love for one another.» Certainly no one can observe this but the gentle and the humble.
Humility, then, is the teacher of all the virtues; it is the most firm foundation of the heavenly edifice; it is the Savior's own magnificent gift. For a person may perform without danger of pride all the miracles that Christ worked if he strains after the meek Lord not because of his exalted signs but because of his patience and humility. But a person who itches to command unclean spirits, to bestow the gift of health on the sick, or to show some wondrous sign to the people is far from Christ even though he invokes the name of Christ in his displays, because by reason of his proud mind he does not follow the Teacher of humility.
Even when he was returning to his Father he prepared what I might call his testament, and he left this to his disciples: «A new commandment I give you,» he said, «that you love one another; as I have loved you, you must also love one another.» And immediately he added: «By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another» (Jn 13,34-35). He did not say: If you also perform signs and mighty deeds, but: «If you have love for one another.» Certainly no one can observe this but the gentle and the humble.
St. Vincent de Paul, Priest (1576-1660) - Memorial
SAINT VINCENT OF PAUL
Priest
(1576-1660)
Priest
(1576-1660)
St. Vincent was born in 1576. In after-years, when adviser of the queen and oracle of the Church in France, he loved to recount how, in his youth, he had guarded his father's pigs. Soon after his ordination he was captured by corsairs, and carried into Barbary. He converted his renegade master, and escaped with him to France.
Appointed chaplain-general of the galleys of France, his tender charity brought hope into those prisons where hitherto despair had reigned. A mother mourned her imprisoned son. Vincent put on his chains and took his place at the oar, and gave him to his mother. His charity embraced the poor, young and old, provinces desolated by civil war, Christians enslaved by the infidel. The poor man, ignorant and degraded, was to him the image of Him Who became as "a leper and no man." "Turn the medal," he said, "and you then will see Jesus Christ."
He went through the streets of Paris at night, seeking the children who were left there to die. Once robbers rushed upon him, thinking he carried a treasure, but when he opened his cloak, they recognized him and his burden, and fell at his feet.
Not only was St. Vincent the saviour of the poor, but also of the rich, for he taught them to do works of mercy. When the work for the foundlings was in danger of failing from want of funds, he assembled the ladies of the Association of Charity. He bade his most fervent daughters be present to give the spur to the others. Then he said, "Compassion and charity have made you adopt these little creatures as your children. You have been their mothers according to grace, when their own mothers abandoned them. Cease to be their mothers, that you may become their judges; their life and death are in your hands. I shall now take your votes: it is time to pronounce sentence" The tears of the assembly were his only answer, and the work was continued.
The Society of St. Vincent, the Priests of the Mission, and 25,000 Sisters of Charity still comfort the afflicted with the charity of St. Vincent of Paul.
He died in 1660.
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