DAILY GOSPEL: 04/03/2011
«Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.» John 6,68
Book of Sirach 44:1.9-13.
Now will I praise those godly men, our ancestors, each in his own time.
But of others there is no memory, for when they ceased, they ceased. And they are as though they had not lived, they and their children after them.
Yet these also were godly men whose virtues have not been forgotten;
Their wealth remains in their families, their heritage with their descendants;
Through God's covenant with them their family endures, their posterity, for their sake.
And for all time their progeny will endure, their glory will never be blotted out;
Psalms 149(148):1-2.3-4.5-6.9.
Hallelujah! Sing to the LORD a new song, a hymn in the assembly of the faithful.
Let Israel be glad in their maker, the people of Zion rejoice in their king.
Let them praise his name in festive dance, make music with tambourine and lyre.
For the LORD takes delight in his people, honors the poor with victory.
Let the faithful rejoice in their glory, cry out for joy at their banquet,
With the praise of God in their mouths, and a two-edged sword in their hands,
To execute the judgments decreed for them-- such is the glory of all God's faithful. Hallelujah!
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark 11:11-26.
Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the temple area. He looked around at everything and, since it was already late, went out to Bethany with the Twelve.
The next day as they were leaving Bethany he was hungry.
Seeing from a distance a fig tree in leaf, he went over to see if he could find anything on it. When he reached it he found nothing but leaves; it was not the time for figs.
And he said to it in reply, "May no one ever eat of your fruit again!" And his disciples heard it.
They came to Jerusalem, and on entering the temple area he began to drive out those selling and buying there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves.
He did not permit anyone to carry anything through the temple area.
Then he taught them saying, "Is it not written: 'My house shall be called a house of prayerfor all peoples'? But you have made it a den of thieves."
The chief priests and the scribes came to hear of it and were seeking a way to put him to death, yet they feared him because the whole crowd was astonished at his teaching.
When evening came, they went out of the city.
Early in the morning, as they were walking along, they saw the fig tree withered to its roots.
Peter remembered and said to him, "Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered."
Jesus said to them in reply, "Have faith in God.
Amen, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it shall be done for him.
Therefore I tell you, all that you ask for in prayer, believe that you will receive it and it shall be yours.
When you stand to pray, forgive anyone against whom you have a grievance, so that your heavenly Father may in turn forgive you your transgressions." )
Now will I praise those godly men, our ancestors, each in his own time.
But of others there is no memory, for when they ceased, they ceased. And they are as though they had not lived, they and their children after them.
Yet these also were godly men whose virtues have not been forgotten;
Their wealth remains in their families, their heritage with their descendants;
Through God's covenant with them their family endures, their posterity, for their sake.
And for all time their progeny will endure, their glory will never be blotted out;
Psalms 149(148):1-2.3-4.5-6.9.
Hallelujah! Sing to the LORD a new song, a hymn in the assembly of the faithful.
Let Israel be glad in their maker, the people of Zion rejoice in their king.
Let them praise his name in festive dance, make music with tambourine and lyre.
For the LORD takes delight in his people, honors the poor with victory.
Let the faithful rejoice in their glory, cry out for joy at their banquet,
With the praise of God in their mouths, and a two-edged sword in their hands,
To execute the judgments decreed for them-- such is the glory of all God's faithful. Hallelujah!
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark 11:11-26.
Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the temple area. He looked around at everything and, since it was already late, went out to Bethany with the Twelve.
The next day as they were leaving Bethany he was hungry.
Seeing from a distance a fig tree in leaf, he went over to see if he could find anything on it. When he reached it he found nothing but leaves; it was not the time for figs.
And he said to it in reply, "May no one ever eat of your fruit again!" And his disciples heard it.
They came to Jerusalem, and on entering the temple area he began to drive out those selling and buying there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves.
He did not permit anyone to carry anything through the temple area.
Then he taught them saying, "Is it not written: 'My house shall be called a house of prayerfor all peoples'? But you have made it a den of thieves."
The chief priests and the scribes came to hear of it and were seeking a way to put him to death, yet they feared him because the whole crowd was astonished at his teaching.
When evening came, they went out of the city.
Early in the morning, as they were walking along, they saw the fig tree withered to its roots.
Peter remembered and said to him, "Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered."
Jesus said to them in reply, "Have faith in God.
Amen, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it shall be done for him.
Therefore I tell you, all that you ask for in prayer, believe that you will receive it and it shall be yours.
When you stand to pray, forgive anyone against whom you have a grievance, so that your heavenly Father may in turn forgive you your transgressions." )
Mc 11,11-26
Saint Jerome (347-420), priest, translator of the Bible, Doctor of the Church
Homilies on Saint Mark's Gospel, no.9
"Stop making my Father's house a marketplace" (Jn 2,16)
«On entering the Temple area Jesus began to drive out those selling and buying there.» Some people were astonished by the resurrection of Lazarus (Jn 11,44), some were overcome with amazement that a widow's son should be raised to life (Lk 7,15), yet others were struck by other miracles. There is no question that it is a wonderful thing to restore a dead body to life. But on my part I am even more struck by the present incident. This man who was the son of a carpenter, a poor fellow without anywhere to live, without shelter to rest, with no army and who was neither leader nor judge – what power had enabled him to... drive out such a large crowd when he himself stood alone? No one protested, no one dared put up a resistance since no one dared resist the Son who was making good the wound inflicted on his Father...
«He began to drive out those selling and buying in the Temple.» If this was possible among the Jews then why should it not be even more so among ourselves? If this could happen in the context of the Law why should it not be even more likely in that of the Gospel?... Christ, a poor man, drives out the buyers and sellers who are rich. The one who sells is thrown out for the same reason as the one who buys. Let no one say: «Look at me, I hold out all I possess, I make offerings to the priests as God commanded.» We read this in a passage from Saint Matthew: «Freely you received, freely give» (Mt 10,8). God's grace is not for sale, it is given.
«He began to drive out those selling and buying in the Temple.» If this was possible among the Jews then why should it not be even more so among ourselves? If this could happen in the context of the Law why should it not be even more likely in that of the Gospel?... Christ, a poor man, drives out the buyers and sellers who are rich. The one who sells is thrown out for the same reason as the one who buys. Let no one say: «Look at me, I hold out all I possess, I make offerings to the priests as God commanded.» We read this in a passage from Saint Matthew: «Freely you received, freely give» (Mt 10,8). God's grace is not for sale, it is given.
St. Casimir, King (1458-1484) - Memorial
SAINT CASIMIR
King
(1458-1484)
King
(1458-1484)
Casimir, the second son of Casimir III., King of Poland was born A. D. 1458. From the custody of a most virtuous mother, Elizabeth of Austria, he passed to the guardianship of a devoted master, the learned and pious John Dugloss. Thus animated from his earliest years by precept and example, his innocence and piety soon ripened into the practice of heroic virtue.
At the age of twenty-five, sick of a lingering illness, he foretold the hour of his death, and chose to die a virgin rather than take the life and health which the doctors held out to him in the married state. In an atmosphere of luxury and magnificence the young prince had fasted, worn a hair-shirt, slept upon the bare earth, prayed by night, and watched for the opening of the church doors at dawn. He had become so tenderly devoted to the Passion of Our Lord that at Mass he seemed quite rapt out of himself, and his charity to the poor and afflicted knew no bounds. His love for our blessed Lady he expressed in a long and beautiful hymn, familiar to us in our own tongue.
The miracles wrought by his body after death fill a volume. The blind saw, the lame walked, the sick were healed, a dead girl was raised to life. And once the Saint in glory led his countrymen to battle, and delivered them by a glorious victory from the schismatic Russian hosts.
One hundred and twenty-two years after his death the Saint's tomb in the cathedral of Vienna was opened, that the holy body might be transferred to the rich marble chapel where it now lies. The place was damp, and the very vault crumbled away in the hands of the workmen; yet the Saint's body, wrapped in robes of silk, was found whole and incorrupt, and emitted a sweet fragrance, which filled the church and refreshed all who were present. Under his head was found his hymn to Our Lady, which he had had buried with him. The following night three young men saw a brilliant light issuing from the open tomb and streaming through the windows of the chapel.
Lives of the Saints, by Alban Butler, Benziger Bros. ed. [1894]
