DAILY GOSPEL: 03/03/2011
«Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.» John 6,68
Thursday of the Eighth week in Ordinary Time
Book of Sirach 42:15-25.
Now will I recall God's works; what I have seen, I will describe. At God's word were his works brought into being; they do his will as he has ordained for them.
As the rising sun is clear to all, so the glory of the LORD fills all his works;
Yet even God's holy ones must fail in recounting the wonders of the LORD, Though God has given these, his hosts, the strength to stand firm before his glory.
He plumbs the depths and penetrates the heart; their innermost being he understands. The Most High possesses all knowledge, and sees from of old the things that are to come:
He makes known the past and the future, and reveals the deepest secrets.
No understanding does he lack; no single thing escapes him.
Perennial is his almighty wisdom; he is from all eternity one and the same,
With nothing added, nothing taken away; no need of a counselor for him!
How beautiful are all his works! even to the spark and the fleeting vision!
The universe lives and abides forever; to meet each need, each creature is preserved.
All of them differ, one from another, yet none of them has he made in vain, For each in turn, as it comes, is good; can one ever see enough of their splendor?
Psalms 33(32):2-3.4-5.6-7.8-9.
Give thanks to the LORD on the harp; on the ten-stringed lyre offer praise.
Sing to God a new song; skillfully play with joyful chant.
For the LORD'S word is true; all his works are trustworthy.
The LORD loves justice and right and fills the earth with goodness.
By the LORD'S word the heavens were made; by the breath of his mouth all their host.
The waters of the sea were gathered as in a bowl; in cellars the deep was confined.
Let all the earth fear the LORD; let all who dwell in the world show reverence.
For he spoke, and it came to be, commanded, and it stood in place.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark 10:46-52.
They came to Jericho. And as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a sizable crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind man, the son of Timaeus, sat by the roadside begging.
On hearing that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, "Jesus, son of David, have pity on me."
And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he kept calling out all the more, "Son of David, have pity on me."
Jesus stopped and said, "Call him." So they called the blind man, saying to him, "Take courage; get up, he is calling you."
He threw aside his cloak, sprang up, and came to Jesus.
Jesus said to him in reply, "What do you want me to do for you?" The blind man replied to him, "Master, I want to see."
Jesus told him, "Go your way; your faith has saved you." Immediately he received his sight and followed him on the way.
Now will I recall God's works; what I have seen, I will describe. At God's word were his works brought into being; they do his will as he has ordained for them.
As the rising sun is clear to all, so the glory of the LORD fills all his works;
Yet even God's holy ones must fail in recounting the wonders of the LORD, Though God has given these, his hosts, the strength to stand firm before his glory.
He plumbs the depths and penetrates the heart; their innermost being he understands. The Most High possesses all knowledge, and sees from of old the things that are to come:
He makes known the past and the future, and reveals the deepest secrets.
No understanding does he lack; no single thing escapes him.
Perennial is his almighty wisdom; he is from all eternity one and the same,
With nothing added, nothing taken away; no need of a counselor for him!
How beautiful are all his works! even to the spark and the fleeting vision!
The universe lives and abides forever; to meet each need, each creature is preserved.
All of them differ, one from another, yet none of them has he made in vain, For each in turn, as it comes, is good; can one ever see enough of their splendor?
Psalms 33(32):2-3.4-5.6-7.8-9.
Give thanks to the LORD on the harp; on the ten-stringed lyre offer praise.
Sing to God a new song; skillfully play with joyful chant.
For the LORD'S word is true; all his works are trustworthy.
The LORD loves justice and right and fills the earth with goodness.
By the LORD'S word the heavens were made; by the breath of his mouth all their host.
The waters of the sea were gathered as in a bowl; in cellars the deep was confined.
Let all the earth fear the LORD; let all who dwell in the world show reverence.
For he spoke, and it came to be, commanded, and it stood in place.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark 10:46-52.
They came to Jericho. And as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a sizable crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind man, the son of Timaeus, sat by the roadside begging.
On hearing that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, "Jesus, son of David, have pity on me."
And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he kept calling out all the more, "Son of David, have pity on me."
Jesus stopped and said, "Call him." So they called the blind man, saying to him, "Take courage; get up, he is calling you."
He threw aside his cloak, sprang up, and came to Jesus.
Jesus said to him in reply, "What do you want me to do for you?" The blind man replied to him, "Master, I want to see."
Jesus told him, "Go your way; your faith has saved you." Immediately he received his sight and followed him on the way.
Mc 10,46-52
Saint Gregory the Great (c.540-604), Pope, Doctor of the Church
Homilies on the Gospel, no.13 ; PL 76, 1081 (©Cistercian publications 1990)
« He shouted all the louder»
If anyone recognizes the darkness of his blindness... let him cry with his whole mind, let him say: «Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me!» But let us hear what happened when the blind man was crying out: «And the people ahead rebuked him, that he should be silent» (Lk 18,39). What is meant by 'the people ahead' as Jesus comes if not the crowds of bodily desires and the uproar caused by our vices? Before Jesus comes into our hearts they disturb our thoughts by tempting us, and they thoroughly muddle the words in our hearts as we pray. We often wish to be converted to the Lord when we have committed some wrong. When we try to pray earnestly against the wrongs we have committed, images of our sins come into our hearts. They obscure our inner vision, they disturb our minds and overwhelm the sound of our petition...
But let us hear what the blind man, still unenlightened, did. «But he cried out all the more: 'Son of David, have mercy on me'»... In proportion to the tumult of our unspiritual thoughts must be our eagerness to persist in prayer... It is surely necessary that the more harshly our heart's voice is repressed, the more firmly it must persist to overcome the uproar of forbidden thoughts and break in on our Lord's gracious ears by its intrepid perseverance. I believe that everyone observes what I am saying in himself, and herself. When we turn our minds from this world to God, when we are converted to the work of prayer, what we once enjoyed doing we later endure in our prayer as demanding and burdensome. Holy desire only with difficulty banishes the recollection of them from our hearts... But when we persist ardently in our prayer, we fix Jesus to our hearts as he passes by. Hence: «But Jesus stopped and ordered him to be brought to him» (v.40).
But let us hear what the blind man, still unenlightened, did. «But he cried out all the more: 'Son of David, have mercy on me'»... In proportion to the tumult of our unspiritual thoughts must be our eagerness to persist in prayer... It is surely necessary that the more harshly our heart's voice is repressed, the more firmly it must persist to overcome the uproar of forbidden thoughts and break in on our Lord's gracious ears by its intrepid perseverance. I believe that everyone observes what I am saying in himself, and herself. When we turn our minds from this world to God, when we are converted to the work of prayer, what we once enjoyed doing we later endure in our prayer as demanding and burdensome. Holy desire only with difficulty banishes the recollection of them from our hearts... But when we persist ardently in our prayer, we fix Jesus to our hearts as he passes by. Hence: «But Jesus stopped and ordered him to be brought to him» (v.40).
 St. Cunegundes, Empress (+ 1040)SAINT CUNEGUNDES Empress (+1040) Saint Cunegundes was the daughter of Siegfried, the first Count of Luxemburg, and Hadeswige, his pious wife. They instilled into her from her cradle the most tender sentiments of piety, and married her to St. Henry, Duke of Bavaria, who, upon the death of the Emperor Otho III., was chosen king of the Romans, and crowned on the 6th of June, 1002. She was crowned at Paderborn on St. Laurence's day. In the year 1014 she went with her husband to Rome, and received the imperial crown with him from the hands of Pope Benedict VIII. She had, by St. Henry's consent, before her marriage made a vow of virginity. Calumniators afterwards made vile accusations against her, and the holy empress, to remove the scandal of such a slander, trusting in God to prove her innocence, walked over red-hot ploughshares without being hurt. The emperor condemned his too scrupulous fears and credulity, and from that time they lived in the strictest union of hearts, conspiring to promote in everything God's honor and the advancement of piety. Going once to make a retreat in Hesse, she fell dangerously ill, and made a vow to found a monastery, if she recovered, at Kaffungen, near Cassel, in the diocese of Paderborn, which she executed in a stately manner, and gave it to nuns of the Order of St. Benedict. Before it was finished St. Henry died, in 1024. She earnestly recommended his soul to the prayers of others, especially to her blear nuns, and expressed her longing desire of joining them. She had already exhausted her treasures in founding bishoprics and monasteries, and in relieving the poor, and she had therefore little left now to give. But still thirsting to embrace perfect evangelical poverty, and to renounce all to serve God without obstacle, she assembled a great number of prelates to the dedication of her church of Kaffungen on the anniversary day of her husband's death, 1025; and after the gospel was sung at Mass she offered on the altar a piece of the true cross, and then, putting off her imperial robes, clothed herself with a poor habit; her hair was cut off, and the bishop put on her a veil, and a ring as a pledge of her fidelity to her heavenly Spouse. After she was consecrated to God in religion, she seemed entirely to forget that she had been empress, and behaved as the last in the house, being persuaded that she was 30 before God. She prayed and read much, worked with her hands, and took a singular pleasure in visiting and comforting the sick. Thus she passed the last fifteen years of her life. Her mortifications at length reduced her to a very weak condition, and brought on her last sickness. Perceiving that they were preparing a cloth fringed with gold to cover her corpse after her death, she changed color and ordered it to be taken away; nor could she be at rest till she was promised she should be buried as a poor religious in her habit. She died on the 3d of March, 1040. Her body was carried to Bamberg and buried near that of her husband. She was solemnly canonized by Innocent III. in 1200. Lives of the Saints, by Alban Butler, Benziger Bros. ed. [1894] | |
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