DAILY GOSPEL: 06/03/2011
«Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.» John 6,68
Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Book of Deuteronomy 11:18.26-28.32.
Moses told the people, «Take these words of mine into your heart and soul. Bind them at your wrist as a sign, and let them be a pendant on your forehead.
"I set before you here, this day, a blessing and a curse:
a blessing for obeying the commandments of the LORD, your God, which I enjoin on you today;
a curse if you do not obey the commandments of the LORD, your God, but turn aside from the way I ordain for you today, to follow other gods, whom you have not known.
be careful to observe all the statutes and decrees that I set before you today.
Psalms 31(30):2-3.4.17.25.
In you, LORD, I take refuge; let me never be put to shame. In your justice deliver me;
incline your ear to me; make haste to rescue me! Be my rock of refuge, a stronghold to save me.
You are my rock and my fortress; for your name's sake lead and guide me.
Let your face shine on your servant; save me in your kindness.
Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the LORD.
Letter to the Romans 3:21-25.28.
Brothers and sisters, now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, though testified to by the law and the prophets,
the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction;
all have sinned and are deprived of the glory of God.
They are justified freely by his grace through the redemption in Christ Jesus,
whom God set forth as an expiation, through faith, by his blood, to prove his righteousness because of the forgiveness of sins previously committed,
For we consider that a person is justified by faith apart from works of the law.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 7:21-27.
Jesus said to his disciples: «Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.
Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? Did we not drive out demons in your name? Did we not do mighty deeds in your name?'
Then I will declare to them solemnly, 'I never knew you. Depart from me, you evildoers.'
Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock.
The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock.
And everyone who listens to these words of mine but does not act on them will be like a fool who built his house on sand.
The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. And it collapsed and was completely ruined."
Moses told the people, «Take these words of mine into your heart and soul. Bind them at your wrist as a sign, and let them be a pendant on your forehead.
"I set before you here, this day, a blessing and a curse:
a blessing for obeying the commandments of the LORD, your God, which I enjoin on you today;
a curse if you do not obey the commandments of the LORD, your God, but turn aside from the way I ordain for you today, to follow other gods, whom you have not known.
be careful to observe all the statutes and decrees that I set before you today.
Psalms 31(30):2-3.4.17.25.
In you, LORD, I take refuge; let me never be put to shame. In your justice deliver me;
incline your ear to me; make haste to rescue me! Be my rock of refuge, a stronghold to save me.
You are my rock and my fortress; for your name's sake lead and guide me.
Let your face shine on your servant; save me in your kindness.
Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the LORD.
Letter to the Romans 3:21-25.28.
Brothers and sisters, now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, though testified to by the law and the prophets,
the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction;
all have sinned and are deprived of the glory of God.
They are justified freely by his grace through the redemption in Christ Jesus,
whom God set forth as an expiation, through faith, by his blood, to prove his righteousness because of the forgiveness of sins previously committed,
For we consider that a person is justified by faith apart from works of the law.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 7:21-27.
Jesus said to his disciples: «Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.
Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? Did we not drive out demons in your name? Did we not do mighty deeds in your name?'
Then I will declare to them solemnly, 'I never knew you. Depart from me, you evildoers.'
Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock.
The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock.
And everyone who listens to these words of mine but does not act on them will be like a fool who built his house on sand.
The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. And it collapsed and was completely ruined."
Mt 7,21-27
Saint Bernard (1091-1153), Cistercian monk and doctor of the Church
Sermons on the Song of Songs, no.61 (©Cistercian publications)
Set solidly on rock
«My dove in the clefts of the rock, in the crannies of the wall, show me your face, let your voice sound in my ears.» One writer... sees in the clefts of the rock the wounds of Christ. And quite correctly, for Christ is the rock. Good the clefts that strengthen our faith in the resurrection and the divinity of Christ. The apostle exclaimed: «My Lord and my God» (Jn 20,28). What was the source of these inspired words if not the clefts of the rock? Within them the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest where she may lay her young; in them the dove finds safety and fearlessly watches the circling hawk. This is why he says: «My dove in the clefts of the rock.» And the dove replies: «He has set me high upon a rock;» and again: «He set my feet upon a rock» (Ps 27[26],5; 40[39],3).
The wise man builds his house upon a rock, because there he will fear the violence neither of storms nor of floods. Is on the rock not good? Set high on the rock, secure on the rock, I stand on the rock firmly. I am secure from the enemy, buttressed against a fall, all because I am raised up from the earth. For everything earthly is uncertain and perishable. Our homeland is in heaven, and we are not afraid of falling or being thrown down. The rock, with its durability and security, is in heaven. «The rock is a refuge for the hedgehog» (Ps 103,18). And really where is there safe sure rest for the weak except in the Saviour's wounds? There the security of my dwelling depends on the greatness of his saving power. The world rages, the body oppresses, the devil lays his snares: I do not fall because I am founded on a rock. I have sinned gravely, my conscience is disturbed but not confounded, because I shall remember the wounds of the Lord. For «he was wounded for our transgressions» (Is 53,5). What sin is so deadly as not to be forgiven in the death of Christ?
The wise man builds his house upon a rock, because there he will fear the violence neither of storms nor of floods. Is on the rock not good? Set high on the rock, secure on the rock, I stand on the rock firmly. I am secure from the enemy, buttressed against a fall, all because I am raised up from the earth. For everything earthly is uncertain and perishable. Our homeland is in heaven, and we are not afraid of falling or being thrown down. The rock, with its durability and security, is in heaven. «The rock is a refuge for the hedgehog» (Ps 103,18). And really where is there safe sure rest for the weak except in the Saviour's wounds? There the security of my dwelling depends on the greatness of his saving power. The world rages, the body oppresses, the devil lays his snares: I do not fall because I am founded on a rock. I have sinned gravely, my conscience is disturbed but not confounded, because I shall remember the wounds of the Lord. For «he was wounded for our transgressions» (Is 53,5). What sin is so deadly as not to be forgiven in the death of Christ?
 St. Colette, Virgin (+ 1447)SAINT COLETTE Virgin (+ 1447) After a holy childhood, Colette joined a society of devout women called the Beguines; but not finding their state sufficiently austere, she entered the Third Order of St. Francis, and lived in a hut near her parish church of Corbie in Picardy. Here she had passed four years of extraordinary penance when St. Francis, in a vision, bade her undertake the reform of her Order, then much relaxed. Armed with due authority, she established her reform throughout a large part of Europe, and, in spite of the most violent opposition, founded seventeen convents of the strict observance. By the same wonderful prudence she assisted in healing the great schism which then afflicted. the Church. The Fathers in council at Constance were in doubt how to deal with the three claimants to the tiara-John XXIII., Benedict XIII., and Gregory XII. At this crisis Colette, together with St. Vincent Ferrer, wrote to the Fathers to depose Benedict XIII., who alone refused his consent to a new election. This was done, and Martin V. was elected, to the great good of the Church. Colette equally assisted the Council of Basle by her advice and prayers; and when, later, God revealed to her the spirit ' of revolt that was rising, she warned the bishops and legates to retire from the council. St. Colette never ceased to pray for the Church, while the devils, in turn, never ceased to assault her. They swarmed round her as hideous insects, buzzing and stinging her tender skin. They brought into her cell the decaying corpses of public criminals, and assuming themselves monstrous forms struck her savage blows; or they would appear in the most seductive guise, and tempt her by many deceits to sin. St. Colette once complained to Our Lord that the demons prevented her from praying. "Cease, then," said the devil to her, "your prayers to the great Master of the Church, and we will cease to torment you; for you torment us more by your prayers than we do you." Yet the virgin of Christ triumphed alike over their threats and their allurements, and said she would count that day the unhappiest of her life in which she suffered nothing for her God. She died March 6, 1447, in a transport of intercession for sinners and the Church. Lives of the Saints, by Alban Butler, Benziger Bros. ed. [1894] | |
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