"Go first and be reconciled with your brother"

DAILY GOSPEL: 10/06/2010

«Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.» John 6,68

Thursday of the Tenth week in Ordinary Time

1st book of Kings 18:41-46.
Elijah then said to Ahab, "Go up, eat and drink, for there is the sound of a heavy rain."
So Ahab went up to eat and drink, while Elijah climbed to the top of Carmel, crouched down to the earth, and put his head between his knees.
"Climb up and look out to sea," he directed his servant, who went up and looked, but reported, "There is nothing." Seven times he said, "Go look again!"
And the seventh time the youth reported, "There is a cloud as small as a man's hand rising from the sea." Elijah said, "Go and say to Ahab, 'Harness up and leave the mountain before the rain stops you.'"
In a trice, the sky grew dark with clouds and wind, and a heavy rain fell. Ahab mounted his chariot and made for Jezreel.
But the hand of the LORD was on Elijah, who girded up his clothing and ran before Ahab as far as the approaches to Jezreel.

Psalms 65:10.11.12-13.
You visit the earth and water it, make it abundantly fertile. God's stream is filled with water; with it you supply the world with grain. Thus do you prepare the earth:
you drench plowed furrows, and level their ridges. With showers you keep the ground soft, blessing its young sprouts.
You adorn the year with your bounty; your paths drip with fruitful rain.
The untilled meadows also drip; the hills are robed with joy.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 5:20-26.
I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter into the kingdom of heaven.
You have heard that it was said to your ancestors, 'You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment.'
But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment, and whoever says to his brother, 'Raqa,' will be answerable to the Sanhedrin, and whoever says, 'You fool,' will be liable to fiery Gehenna.
Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against you,
leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift.
Settle with your opponent quickly while on the way to court with him. Otherwise your opponent will hand you over to the judge, and the judge will hand you over to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison.
Amen, I say to you, you will not be released until you have paid the last penny.
Mt 5,20-26

Commentary of the day
Saint Caesarius of Arles (470-543), Monk and Bishop

"Go first and be reconciled with your brother"

You know what it is we pray to God before going up to communion: «Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.» So prepare yourselves interiorly to forgive since those are the words you are going to encounter in prayer. How are you going to say them? Are you perhaps not going to say them? In the last resort this is indeed my question: are you going to say those words, yes or no? You hate your brother yet you declare: «Forgive us as we forgive.» You will say: I avoid those words. But in that case, are you really praying? Pay good attention, my brothers. In a short time you are going to pray; forgive with all your hearts!

Do you indeed want to accuse your enemy? First of all accuse your own heart. Say to that heart: «Stop hating»... But then, since you don't want to forgive, your soul is saddened when you say to it: «Stop hating». Well then, answer it: «Why are you so downcast, O my soul? Why do you sigh within me? Hope in God» (Ps 42[41],6). You are uneasy, you sigh, your sickness wounds you, you don't manage to throw off your hatred. Hope in God: that is the remedy. He was hung on the cross for your sake yet without claiming his revenge. As for you, it is your revenge you are looking for since that is the real meaning of your rancor. Look at your God on the cross: it is for your sake he suffers that his blood might become your cure. Do you want to avenge yourself? Look at Christ hanging there, hear him pray: «Father, forgive them for they know not what they do» (Lk 23,34).




Thursday, 10 June 2010
St. Margaret of Scotland, Queen (+ 1093)

Other saints of the day

SAINT MARGARET OF SCOTLAND
Queen
(+ 1093°

St. Margaret's name signifies "pearl;" "a fitting name," says Theodoric, her confessor and her first biographer, "for one such as she." Her soul was like a precious pearl. A life spent amidst the luxury of a royal court never dimmed its lustre, or stole it away from Him who had bought it with His blood. She was the grand, daughter of an English king; and in 1070 she became the bride of Malcolm, and reigned Queen of Scotland till her death in 1093.

How did she become a Saint in a position where sanctity is so difficult? First, she burned with zeal for the house of God. She built churches and monasteries; she busied herself in making vestments; she could not rest till she saw the laws of God and His Church observed throughout her realm. Next, amidst a thousand cares, she found time to converse with God-ordering her piety with such sweetness and discretion that she won her husband to sanctity like her own. He used to rise with her at night for prayer; he loved to kiss the holy books she used, and sometimes he would steal them away, and bring them back to his wife covered with jewels.

Lastly, with virtues so great, she wept constantly over her sins, and begged her confessor to correct her faults. St. Margaret did not neglect her duties in the world because she was not of it. Never was a better mother. She spared no pains in the education of her eight children, and their sanctity was the fruit of her prudence and her zeal. Never was a better queen. She was the most trusted counsellor of her husband, and she labored for the material improvement of the country.

But, in the midst of the world's pleasures, she sighed for the better country, and accepted death as a release. On her death-bed she received the news that her husband and her eldest son were slain in battle. She thanked God, who had sent this last affliction as a penance for her sins. After receiving Holy Viaticum, she was repeating the prayer from the Missal, "O Lord Jesus Christ, Who by Thy death didst give life to the world, deliver me." At the words "deliver me," says her biographer, she took her departure to Christ, the Author of true liberty.