July 25, 2019 Feast of Saint James, apostle

2019년 7월 25일 성 야고보 사도 축일

오늘의 복음 : http://info.catholic.or.kr/missa/default.asp 

제1독서

코린토 2서. 4,7-15
형제 여러분, 7 우리는 보물을 질그릇 속에 지니고 있습니다. 그 엄청난 힘은 하느님의 것으로, 우리에게서 나오는 힘이 아님을 보여 주시려는 것입니다.
8 우리는 온갖 환난을 겪어도 억눌리지 않고, 난관에 부딪혀도 절망하지 않으며, 9 박해를 받아도 버림받지 않고, 맞아 쓰러져도 멸망하지 않습니다. 10 우리는 언제나 예수님의 죽음을 몸에 짊어지고 다닙니다. 우리 몸에서 예수님의 생명도 드러나게 하려는 것입니다.
11 우리는 살아 있으면서도 늘 예수님 때문에 죽음에 넘겨집니다. 우리의 죽을 육신에서 예수님의 생명도 드러나게 하려는 것입니다. 12 그리하여 우리에게서는 죽음이 약동하고 여러분에게서는 생명이 약동합니다.
13 “나는 믿었다. 그러므로 말하였다.”고 성경에 기록되어 있습니다. 이와 똑같은 믿음의 영을 우리도 지니고 있으므로 “우리는 믿습니다. 그러므로 말합니다.” 14 주 예수님을 일으키신 분께서 우리도 예수님과 함께 일으키시어 여러분과 더불어 당신 앞에 세워 주시리라는 것을 알고 있기 때문입니다.
15 이 모든 것은 다 여러분을 위한 것입니다. 그리하여 은총이 점점 더 많은 사람에게 퍼져 나가 하느님의 영광을 위하여 감사하는 마음이 넘치게 하려는 것입니다.

복음

마태오 20,20-28
20 그때에 제베대오의 두 아들의 어머니가 그 아들들과 함께 예수님께 다가와 엎드려 절하고 무엇인가 청하였다.
21 예수님께서 그 부인에게 “무엇을 원하느냐?” 하고 물으시자, 그 부인이 “스승님의 나라에서 저의 이 두 아들이 하나는 스승님의 오른쪽에, 하나는 왼쪽에 앉을 것이라고 말씀해 주십시오.” 하고 말하였다.
22 예수님께서 “너희는 너희가 무엇을 청하는지 알지도 못한다. 내가 마시려는 잔을 너희가 마실 수 있느냐?” 하고 물으셨다.
그들이 “할 수 있습니다.” 하고 대답하자, 23 예수님께서 그들에게 말씀하셨다. “너희는 내 잔을 마실 것이다. 그러나 내 오른쪽과 왼쪽에 앉는 것은 내가 허락할 일이 아니라, 내 아버지께서 정하신 이들에게 돌아가는 것이다.”
24 다른 열 제자가 이 말을 듣고 그 두 형제를 불쾌하게 여겼다. 25 예수님께서는 그들을 가까이 불러 이르셨다. “너희도 알다시피 다른 민족들의 통치자들은 백성 위에 군림하고, 고관들은 백성에게 세도를 부린다.
26 그러나 너희는 그래서는 안 된다. 너희 가운데에서 높은 사람이 되려는 이는 너희를 섬기는 사람이 되어야 한다. 27 또한 너희 가운데에서 첫째가 되려는 이는 너희의 종이 되어야 한다. 28 사람의 아들도 섬김을 받으러 온 것이 아니라 섬기러 왔고, 또 많은 이들의 몸값으로 자기 목숨을 바치러 왔다.” 

July 25, 2019

Feast of Saint James, apostle

Daily Readings — Audio

Daily Reflections — Video

http://www.usccb.org/bible/ 

Daily Mass : http://www.catholictv.com/shows/daily-mass 

Reading 1

2 Cor 4:7-15
Brothers and sisters:
We hold this treasure in earthen vessels,
that the surpassing power may be of God and not from us.
We are afflicted in every way, but not constrained;
perplexed, but not driven to despair;
persecuted, but not abandoned;
struck down, but not destroyed;
always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus,
so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our body.
For we who live are constantly being given up to death
for the sake of Jesus,
so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh.

So death is at work in us, but life in you.
Since, then, we have the same spirit of faith,
according to what is written, I believed, therefore I spoke,
we too believe and therefore speak, 
knowing that the one who raised the Lord Jesus
will raise us also with Jesus
and place us with you in his presence.
Everything indeed is for you,
so that the grace bestowed in abundance on more and more people
may cause the thanksgiving to overflow for the glory of God.

Responsorial Psalm

126:1bc-2ab, 2cd-3, 4-5, 6

R. (5) Those who sow in tears shall reap rejoicing.
When the LORD brought back the captives of Zion,
we were like men dreaming.
Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
and our tongue with rejoicing. 
R. Those who sow in tears shall reap rejoicing.
Then they said among the nations,
“The LORD has done great things for them.”
The LORD has done great things for us;
we are glad indeed.
R. Those who sow in tears shall reap rejoicing.
Restore our fortunes, O LORD,
like the torrents in the southern desert.
Those that sow in tears
shall reap rejoicing.
R. Those who sow in tears shall reap rejoicing.
Although they go forth weeping,
carrying the seed to be sown,
They shall come back rejoicing,
carrying their sheaves. 
R. Those who sow in tears shall reap rejoicing.

Gospel

Mt 20:20-28

The mother of the sons of Zebedee approached Jesus with her sons
and did him homage, wishing to ask him for something.
He said to her,
“What do you wish?”
She answered him,
“Command that these two sons of mine sit,
one at your right and the other at your left, in your Kingdom.”
Jesus said in reply,
“You do not know what you are asking.
Can you drink the chalice that I am going to drink?”
They said to him, “We can.”
He replied,
“My chalice you will indeed drink,
but to sit at my right and at my left, this is not mine to give
but is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.”
When the ten heard this,
they became indignant at the two brothers.
But Jesus summoned them and said,
“You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them,
and the great ones make their authority over them felt.
But it shall not be so among you.
Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant;
whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave.
Just so, the Son of Man did not come to be served

but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

http://evangeli.net/gospel/tomorrow

 «Can you drink the cup that I am about to drink?»

Mons. Octavio RUIZ Arenas Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelization
(Città del Vaticano, Vatican)

Today’s fragment of the Gospel narrates an episode that places us in front of a situation which is not unusual in the various Christian communities. Indeed, John and James have been very generous leaving behind their households and their nets to follow Jesus the Christ. They have heard the Lord announce a Kingdom and offer eternal life but they still fail to understand the new dimension the Lord puts forward to them. It is because of this that their mother is going to ask for something which is good enough, but which doesn’t go beyond a simple human ambition: «Grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on thy right hand, and the other on the left, in thy kingdom» (Mt 20,21).

Similarly, we listen to the Lord and follow Him, like the first disciples, but not always do we fully understand his message; we then sometimes follow our personal interests and ambitions within the Church. We forget that when we accept the Lord we have to give ourselves wholly and with full trust in Him; that we cannot think in obtaining the glory without having accepted the cross.

The answer Jesus gives them puts the stress precisely on this aspect: in order to have a share in his Kingdom what matters is to drink from his same «cup» (see Mt 20, 22), i.e. to be ready and willing to give our own life for the love of God and dedicate ourselves to the service of our brethren with the same merciful attitude that Jesus showed. In his first homily Pope Francis emphasized that in order to follow Jesus we have to carry our cross, because «when we make our way without the cross, when we confess a Christ without his cross, we are not disciples of the Lord».

As a consequence, following Christ demands from us great humility. From the minute of our Baptism we have been called to be his witnesses in order to transform the world. But this transformation will only be achieved if we are able to be servants of our brethren, with a spirit of great generosity and self-giving, but always joyful because we are following and making the Lord present.

«You do not know what you are asking (…) .That will be for those for whom the Father has prepared it»

+ Fr. Antoni ORIOL i Tataret
(Vic, Barcelona, Spain)

Today, in the fragment of St. Matthew's Gospel we can find many teachings. I will however limit myself to underline just one, which refers to God's total control of events throughout time: whether of all men together (mankind), or of each and every human group (in our case, for instance, the family group of the Zebedees), or of any individual person. This is why Jesus clearly tells them: «You do not know what you are asking» (Mt 20:22).

To sit at Jesus Christ's right is for those his Father has prepared it: «To sit at my right or at my left is not for me to grant. That will be for those for whom the Father has prepared it» (Mt 20:23). Just like that, in a clear-cut way. There is an English saying that goes «Man proposes and God disposes». And it is so, precisely because God is God. Or we could also say it the other way round: if it was not so, God would not be God.

Before this fact, unquestionably overpowering any human determining factor, at the beginning, men are left with nothing else but acceptance and worship (because God has revealed himself to us as the Absolute); while marching on, with confidence and love (because God has revealed himself to us as a Father, too); and at the end..., that grand and definite end: to sit at Jesus' side (whether at his right or at his left, it does not matter at all).

on our side, the enigma of divine election and predestination can only be solved with confidence. A milligram of confidence placed in God's heart is worth more than all the weight of the world put on our poor little scale pan. In fact, «St. James did not live long: this is because from the very beginning he was already burning with a great vehemence: he scorned all human things and climbed to such ineffable ceilings that he died immediately» (St. John Chrysostom).

http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html

 

When Jesus first called James and his brother John to follow Him, they were seated in their father’s boat mending nets. In today’s Gosple their mother asks Jesus to have these same two brothers seated on thrones of power up there close to Jesus. Now why did their mother ask for this and why did the other ten disciples become indignant at the two brothers? Stop reading here and check out your responses, just for prayerful-fun. Okay, continue reading unless your own selfishness needs a little grace.

We have a greeting-statement when meeting someone, “So what’s new?” I wonder often what we don’t want to know, what’s old. Why do we crave the new, the different, the possible. When reading these Daily Reflections you might find yourself hoping for some new insight, idea, way of praying or figuring out God. We might call that progress or growth, achievement. Well the remainder of this Reflection is “what’s old” and it is what Jesus offers to James, John and their dear mother.

Often, at the ending of my morning’s prayer-time, I find myself asking God, “Why do You keep giving the old me back to me and telling me to live with it.”A new me would be so much better! In the First Reading of today’s Eucharistic liturgy, we hear about a “treasure” in our old “earthen vessles.” The “treasure” is the riches of our being in Christ and that within the poverty of our humanity. It is Paul saying again that there is no boasting of anything except the gifts of being in Him and in His doings. I want a new and improved me to be worthy? No, probably because I could trust my doings or at least live in that illusion.

Now here is something very old, but may seem new. Jesus invites James and John to take their old selves and enter into Jesus’ being Servant. The human James and John, and their mother, would be more attracted to their being in positions of possessions. Here is what is really important now. Jesus invites these two not to being servants, serving God, but following Jesus in serving God’s people. Jesus has come and continues His coming to be the Servant sent to care or, lead, find and unite God’s family, God’s creation. This is the “treasure” then, not to sit judging how others are serving or not, but accompanying Jesus and His sisters and brothers in caring, nourishing and healing. We serve within the context of earthiness which can grow old. What is new are the ways He invites us to live with the old and face the new opportunities to assist Jesus in the Creator’s constant re-creation.

The new eventually grows old. What does assist our living with the old, is allowing Jesus to tend to us, find us, en-hearten us and then what’s new is the spirit that moves us out of our “seats” or “thrones” and out into the adventure and mystery of the new day, today, tomorrow!

What’s new? What is new is every day we are not burden or confined by the image of our Christ-loved earthen vessil and the discovery of how Jesus can and does serve His brothers and sisters, through such as our new/old selves.The “Challace” which Jesus is drinking and which He offers to James and John, is the chalice He sips daily, by embracing all that is human in Him and in us. He invites them and us to keep sipping the sacred chalice  which encases the “treasure” not made of Gold, but inconsistent, fragile, but blessed flesh.   

 http://www.presentationministries.com/obob/obob.asp

CROSSMEMBER

"While we live we are constantly being delivered to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus may be revealed in our mortal flesh." �2 Corinthians 4:11

Mary and a very few others were "near the cross" (Jn 19:25). Almost all of Jesus' disciples were nowhere near the cross. A few disciples were "looking on from a distance" (Mt 27:55). However, Jesus wants us to be as close to the cross as Simon of Cyrene, Veronica, and Mary were. The Lord wants us to be near the cross spiritually. The Lord wants us continually carrying "about in our bodies the dying of Jesus" (2 Cor 4:10) and "constantly being delivered to death for Jesus' sake" (2 Cor 4:11). The Lord keeps pushing us closer and closer to the cross while we, like Peter (see Mt 16:22), James, and John (see Mt 20:21ff) tend to put as much distance between us and the cross as possible. Will you quit running from the cross and run to the cross? Will you embrace the cross as the sign of perfect love and the way of your salvation? Will you boast of nothing but the cross of Jesus? (Gal 6:14) Will you pray with St. Francis of Assisi: "We adore You, O Christ, and we praise You because by Your holy cross You have redeemed the world"? Near the cross is the fountain of grace and love. Near the cross are Mary, James, and all the saints. You belong near the cross.

Prayer: Father, put me at the foot of the cross and keep me near the cross.

Promise: "Anyone among you who aspires to greatness must serve the rest, and whoever wants to rank first among you must serve the needs of all." —Mt 20:26-27

Praise: "During that period, King Herod started to harass some of the members of the Church. He beheaded James the brother of John" (Acts 12:1-2).

 http://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/readings/

 "Not to be served but to serve"

Who doesn't want to be first, and to be esteemed and honored by others? We seem to have an unquenchable thirst for recognition and fame, power and authority to rule our own lives as we please as well as the lives of others. Should we be surprised to see the disciples of Jesus thirsting for power, position, and authority? James and John, the sons of Zebedee, urged their mother to strike a deal with Jesus, their Master and Messiah. They wanted the distinction of being first and most important in position, next to Jesus, of course!

Jesus turns authority and power upside down
When Jesus called the twelve apostles to be his inner circle of disciples who would teach and exercise spiritual authority on his behalf, he did the unthinkable! Jesus taught contrary to the world's understanding of power, authority, and position, by reversing the order of master and servant, lord and subject, first and last! Jesus wedded authority with love, position with sacrifice, and service with humility. Authority without love is over-bearing and slavish. Position without respect and concern for the subordinate is demeaning and rude. And service without generosity and sacrifice is cheap and unkind.

Those who wish to serve with the Lord Jesus and to exercise authority in God's kingdom must be prepared to sacrifice - not just some of their time, money, and resources - but their whole lives and all that they possess! Jesus used stark language to explain what kind of sacrifice he had in mind. His disciples must drink his cup if they expect to reign with him in his kingdom. The cup he had in mind was a bitter one involving crucifixion. What kind of cup does the Lord have in mind for us? For some disciples such a cup entails physical suffering and the painful struggle of martyrdom. But for many, it entails the long routine of the Christian life, with all its daily sacrifices, disappointments, set-backs, struggles, and temptations.

Christ's way of love and service
A disciple of Jesus must be ready to lay down his or her life - each and every day in the little and big sacrifices required - and even to the point of shedding one's blood if necessary for the sake of Christ and his Gospel. What makes such sacrifice a joy rather than a burden? It is love - the kind of "love which God has poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us" (Romans 5:5). An early church father summed up Jesus' teaching with the ｅxpression: "to serve is to reign with Christ."  We share in God's reign by laying down our lives in humble service and love for one another, just as Jesus did for our sake. Are you ready to lay down your life and to serve others as  Jesus has taught and modeled for us?

"Lord Jesus, make me a servant of love for your kingdom, that I may seek to serve rather than be served. Inflame my heart with love that I may give generously and serve joyfully for your sake."

Psalm 126:1-6

1 When the LORD restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream.
2 Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy;  then they said among the nations, "The LORD has done great things for them."
3 The LORD has done great things for us; we are glad.
4 Restore our fortunes, O LORD, like the watercourses in the Negeb!
5 May those who sow in tears reap with shouts of joy!
6 He that goes forth weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.

Daily Quote from the early church fathers: Not to be served but to serve, by John Chrysostom (344-407 AD)

    "[Jesus] says, 'The Son of man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.' It is as if he were saying, 'I willed not even to stop at death but even in death gave my life as a ransom. For whom? For enemies. For you. If you are abused, my life is given for you. It is for you. Me for you.' So you need not be too picky if you suffer the loss of your honor. No matter how much it is lowered, you will not be descending as far as your Lord descended. And yet the deep descent of one has become the ascent of all. His glory shines forth from these very depths. For before he was made man, he was known among the angels only. But after he was made man and was crucified, so far from lessening that glory, he acquired further glory besides, even that from his personal knowledge of the world."
    "So fear not then, as though your honor were put down. Rather, be ready to abase yourself. For in this way your glory is exalted even more, and in this way it becomes greater. This is the door of the kingdom. Let us not then go the opposite way. Let us not war against ourselves. For if we desire to appear great, we shall not be great but even the most dishonored of all. Do you see how everywhere Jesus encourages them by turning things upside down? He gives them what they desire but in ways they did not expect.  (excerpt from THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 65.4.25)

  

More Homilies

 July 25, 2017 Feast of Saint James, apostle