The Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Wisdom 18:6-9; Psalm 32; Hebrews 11:1-2, 8-19; Luke 12:32-48

In our first reading today from the book of Wisdom we see that the virtuous will have the Lord on their side. When they turn to the Lord in sincerity and seek his help and protection he will be there to guard them. In our gospel, Jesus tells us to always stand ready and uses different examples to re-enforce his point. He tells us that if our treasure is to be found in worldly possession then our heart will be there rather than focused on the things of heaven where it belongs. We are also told that we are responsible for the things and people that are placed in our care and by this he includes the Good News of the kingdom. As baptised Christians we each have a duty to spread the news of the kingdom throughout the world in whatever way we can. One important point which the Lord brings out is that we do not know when we will be called to give an account of our stewardship and so we must always be ready whether we are called tomorrow or next year.

We now turn to the Letter to the Hebrews for our second reading for the coming weeks and in today’s passage we are reminded of the faith of Abraham who went where the Lord asked him to go though he did not know what he would find there. If we have faith and live a life of faith then we will have nothing to worry about for the Lord will always be with us and our sights will always be firmly fixed on the kingdom. In this way, when the Lord comes, he will find us ready and waiting to enter our eternal inheritance.

Monday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Ezekiel 1:2-5, 24-28; Psalm 148; Matthew 17:22-27

Today we begin reading from the prophet Ezekiel and in today’s text the prophet is describing what appears to be the glory of the Lord. The encounter takes place about the year 593 BC during the Babylonian captivity and sees God calling the Jewish priest, Ezekiel, to be his prophet. Ezekiel is to prepare the people for the destruction of Jerusalem and for its future glory. In our Gospel passage we see Jesus again telling his followers that he will soon be put to death but that he will rise again to life. His listeners are saddened by this for they do not fully understand the meaning of his words.

Memorial of St Dominic, Priest

Born in Spain about the year 1170, Dominic first became an Augustinian canon regular. Throughout this time the Albigensian heresy was prevalent across southern France due to a lack of proper teaching and preaching. As a result, Dominic founded the Friars Preachers (Order of Preachers – O.P.), more commonly known as the Dominicans, for the purpose of preaching the true faith and in particular to combat Albigensianism. He died in 1221.

Feast of St Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein), Martyr & Patroness of Europe

Hosea 2:16-17, 21-22; Psalm 44; Matthew 25:1-13

In our first reading we see that the Lord will lure his faithful one and betroth himself to her forever. This is appropriate for this feast for we remember that Edith Stein was Jewish by birth and over time she sought to give herself to God through the Christian Church while not forgetting her Jewish heritage. In our gospel we have the parable of the ten bridesmaids who were waiting for the bridegroom’s return. Some were foolish and were not ready for his return and so were left outside in the cold. Edith was ready when it came to her own death in the concentration camp and as that time loomed she also gave strength and solace to those around her. So today would be a good time to ask ourselves if we are ready for when the Lord calls us and have we done all that we could do to deepen our faith and to make God’s presence visible in our world.

Edith Stein was born on October 12, 1891, the eleventh child of a Jewish family living in Breslau in what was then Germany (today Poland). She studied and became a lecturer of philosophy and knew many of the leading philosophers of her day including Edmund Husserl (for whom she was an assistant) and Martin Heidegger. She became a Catholic in 1922 having been moved by the life of St Teresa of Avila. Eleven years later she entered the Carmel at Cologne and took the name Teresa Benedicta of the Cross. During the Nazi persecution she moved to the Carmel in Echt, Holland, to ease things for the Carmel in Cologne but was arrested there and sent to Auschwitz. There she was gassed on August 9, 1942, offering up her holocaust for the people of Israel. Her writings are noted for their doctrinal richness and spirituality including ‘The Hidden Life’ and ‘The Science of the Cross.’ She was beatified by Pope John Paul II at Cologne on May 1, 1987, and canonized at Rome twelve years later. She was also named Co-Patroness of Europe.

Alternative Readings:

Esther 4C:12-16, 23, 25; Psalm 33; John 4:19-24

In the first reading from the book of Esther, we see Queen Esther pleading before God for her people. Her husband had been tricked into having the Jews treated badly with a view to their extermination, and so she pleaded to God for their safety before going before the king herself. Having been born a Jew, Teresa Benedicta also pleaded for her people during the Holocaust and offered her life for their salvation.

In the gospel, we see Jesus talking with a Samaritan woman at a well despite the fact that Jews and Samaritans did not associate with each other, and she was also an unaccompanied woman. In the conversation the Lord tells her that it does not matter where she worships so long as she has faith and worships the one true God – the Jews held that one could only worship in the Temple in Jerusalem, whereas the Samaritans worshipped on Mount Gerizim. As a result of the conversation, the woman came to believe in Jesus as her Messiah as did many of the people of her town following her original call to them.

Feast of St Lawrence, Deacon & Martyr 

2Corinthians 9:6-10; Psalm 111; John 12:24-26

In our first reading today St Paul exhorts his readers to give alms to the poor and to look after them in any way possible, knowing that there will be abundant blessings from the Lord for this work or mercy. In our text from St John’s Gospel the Lord tells us that we must be like a grain of wheat because unless we die to the ways of this life and are born of the true and everlasting life we will be lost for ever. Lawrence lost his life but he did so with a great heart because what he did was done for the Lord and so his name and his example lives on to this day. He is an example to us that the life to come is of far greater value than the present life we live and that we should do all we can to secure our place alongside Lawrence in the kingdom.

Laurence was one of the seven deacons in Rome under Pope St Sixtus II. Three days after Sixtus was martyred in 258, Laurence was himself martyred by being roasted alive on a grid-iron. He is remembered in the Roman Canon of the Mass (Eucharistic Prayer I).

Thursday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Ezekiel 12:1-12; Psalm 77; Matthew 18:21-19:1

In today’s first reading we see how Ezekiel is ordered by the Lord to leave the city because of its evil ways. But he is to do it in broad daylight so that the people will see what he does and may, in this way, be persuaded of their sinfulness and so return to God. These actions are to be a symbol of God’s dissatisfaction with the House of Israel in the hopes that the people will heed what is happening and return to the right path. However, the people have grown stubborn and don’t believe that God would destroy his own city. In the Gospel from St Matthew, Christ tells us that there is to be no limit to the number of times we are to forgive others if they wrong us and seek forgiveness. As the Lord is merciful with us so we must be merciful with others.

Memorial of St Clare, Virgin & Religious

Clare was born in Assisi 1193 and left home at the age of 18 to join St Francis of Assisi. Influenced by his ideas she established the first convent of Franciscan nuns, today known as the Poor Clares, at San Damiano, and spent the rest of her life in that convent. She died in 1253 and was canonized two years later.

Friday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time 

Ezekiel 16:1-15, 60, 63; Psalm – Isaiah 12; Matthew 19:3-12

The Lord speaks to Jerusalem through the Prophet Ezekiel in the first reading and tells the city – which is a symbol of the Jewish nation – how he looked after it and nurtured it. But now the city has become infatuated with itself and is no longer faithful to the one who cared for it. Now is the time for the city and its inhabitants to remember the covenant and to be ashamed. Our Gospel text is a particularly difficult one for it speaks of the Lord’s displeasure with divorce as he tells his disciples that it is not in keeping with his Law or his vision for us. At the same time, he does not condemn those whose marriages have ended in this way.

Saturday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Ezekiel 18:1-10, 13, 30-32; Psalm 50; Matthew 19:13-15

The Lord tells us in the reading from Ezekiel that he will not punish whole groups of people for the misdeeds of a few but that he will punish the individual sinners for what they have done. Ezekiel is trying to get the people to accept responsibility for their own misdeeds rather than blaming those around them, or their ancestors, for their own sins and for the punishment which has befallen them. Again today we read in the Gospel that we must become like little children in faith and trust if we are to enter the kingdom. At the time of Christ, children had no standing in society and so Christ’s inclusion of them is important and shows the importance of a child-like trust and faith rather than one which uses reason and so reduces the faith.