November 13, 2019 Wednesday of the Thirty-second Week in Ordinary Time

2019년 11월 13일 연중 제32주간 수요일 

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

제1독서

지혜서. 6,1-11
1 임금들아, 들어라. 그리고 깨달아라. 세상 끝까지 통치하는 자들아, 배워라. 2 많은 백성을 다스리고, 수많은 민족을 자랑하는 자들아, 귀를 기울여라.
3 너희의 권력은 주님께서 주셨고, 통치권은 지극히 높으신 분께서 주셨다. 그분께서 너희가 하는 일들을 점검하시고, 너희의 계획들을 검열하신다. 4 너희가 그분 나라의 신하들이면서도 올바르게 다스리지 않고, 법을 지키지 않으며, 하느님의 뜻을 따르지 않았기 때문이다. 5 그분께서는 지체 없이 무서운 모습으로 너희에게 들이닥치실 것이다. 정녕 높은 자리에 있는 자들은 엄격한 심판을 받을 것이다.
6 미천한 이들은 자비로 용서를 받지만, 권력자들은 엄하게 재판을 받을 것이다. 7 만물의 주님께서는 누구 앞에서도 움츠러들지 않으시고, 누가 위대하다고 하여 어려워하지도 않으신다. 작거나 크거나 다 그분께서 만드셨고, 모두 똑같이 생각해 주신다. 8그러나 세력가들은 엄정하게 심리하신다.
9 그러니 군주들아, 내가 너희에게 하는 말을 듣고, 지혜를 배워 탈선하는 일이 없도록 하여라. 10 거룩한 것을 거룩하게 지키는 이들은 거룩한 사람이 되고, 거룩한 것을 익힌 이들은 변호를 받을 것이다. 11 그러므로 너희가 나의 말을 갈망하고 갈구하면, 가르침을 얻을 것이다.

 

복음

루카. 17,11-19
그때에 11 예수님께서 예루살렘으로 가시는 길에 사마리아와 갈릴래아 사이를 지나가시게 되었다.
12 그분께서 어떤 마을에 들어가시는데, 나병 환자 열 사람이 그분께 마주 왔다. 그들은 멀찍이 서서 13 소리를 높여 말하였다. “예수님, 스승님! 저희에게 자비를 베풀어 주십시오.”
14 예수님께서는 그들을 보시고, “가서 사제들에게 너희 몸을 보여라.” 하고 이르셨다. 그들이 가는 동안에 몸이 깨끗해졌다.
15 그들 가운데 한 사람은 병이 나은 것을 보고 큰 소리로 하느님을 찬양하며 돌아와, 16 예수님의 발 앞에 엎드려 감사를 드렸다. 그는 사마리아 사람이었다.
17 그러자 예수님께서 말씀하셨다. “열 사람이 깨끗해지지 않았느냐? 그런데 아홉은 어디에 있느냐? 18 이 외국인 말고는 아무도 하느님께 영광을 드리러 돌아오지 않았단 말이냐?” 19 이어서 그에게 이르셨다. “일어나 가거라. 네 믿음이 너를 구원하였다.” 

 

November 13, 2019

Wednesday of the Thirty-second Week in Ordinary Time

Memorial of Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini, Virgin

Daily Readings — Audio

Daily Reflections — Video

http://www.usccb.org/bible/ 

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

Reading 1
Wis 6:1-11
Hear, O kings, and understand;
learn, you magistrates of the earth’s expanse!
Hearken, you who are in power over the multitude
and lord it over throngs of peoples!
Because authority was given you by the Lord
and sovereignty by the Most High,
who shall probe your works and scrutinize your counsels.
Because, though you were ministers of his kingdom, you judged not rightly,
and did not keep the law,
nor walk according to the will of God,
Terribly and swiftly shall he come against you,
because judgment is stern for the exalted–
For the lowly may be pardoned out of mercy
but the mighty shall be mightily put to the test.
For the Lord of all shows no partiality,
nor does he fear greatness,
Because he himself made the great as well as the small,
and he provides for all alike;
but for those in power a rigorous scrutiny impends.
To you, therefore, O princes, are my words addressed
that you may learn wisdom and that you may not sin.
For those who keep the holy precepts hallowed shall be found holy,
and those learned in them will have ready a response.
Desire therefore my words;
long for them and you shall be instructed.

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 82:3-4, 6-7
R. (8a) Rise up, O God, bring judgment to the earth.
Defend the lowly and the fatherless;
render justice to the afflicted and the destitute.
Rescue the lowly and the poor;
from the hand of the wicked deliver them.
R. Rise up, O God, bring judgment to the earth.
I said: “You are gods,
all of you sons of the Most High;
yet like men you shall die,
and fall like any prince.”
R. Rise up, O God, bring judgment to the earth.

Gospel
Lk 17:11-19
As Jesus continued his journey to Jerusalem,
he traveled through Samaria and Galilee.
As he was entering a village, ten lepers met him.
They stood at a distance from him and raised their voice, saying,
“Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!”
And when he saw them, he said,
“Go show yourselves to the priests.”
As they were going they were cleansed. 
And one of them, realizing he had been healed,
returned, glorifying God in a loud voice;
and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him. 
He was a Samaritan.
Jesus said in reply,
“Ten were cleansed, were they not?
Where are the other nine? 
Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?” 
Then he said to him, “Stand up and go; 

 

your faith has saved you.” 

http://evangeli.net/gospel/tomorrow

 «Throwing himself on his face before Jesus, he gave him thanks»

Fr. Conrad J. MARTÍ i Martí OFM
(Valldoreix, Barcelona, Spain)

Today, Jesus passes by close to us so that we can actually relive the above mentioned passage in the shape of so many people relegated to an outer edge by our society, and who look at us Christians as their only possibility to find Jesus' love and goodness. In the days of the Lord, lepers were totally marginalized. In fact, those ten lepers met Jesus «as He entered a village» (Lk 17:12), as they were not allowed in the villages, nor could they get any close to people («keeping their distance, they called to him»).

With some imagination, each one of us can reproduce the image of those outcasts in our own society, who also have names and surnames, like we do: immigrants, drug addicts, wrongdoers, AIDS victims, unemployed, destitute... Jesus wants to heal them, to remedy their suffering, to solve their problems; and He expects our unselfish, free, efficient collaboration... for love.

We can also assume Jesus' lesson for us. For we are sinners and in need of forgiveness, we are beggars who depend totally on him. Would we be able to say like the leper «Jesus, Master, have pity on me!» (cf. Lk 17:13)? Do we know how to turn to Jesus with a profound and confident prayer?

Do we imitate the cleansed leper that goes back to Jesus thanking him out loud? In fact, only «one of them, as soon as he saw he was cleansed, turned back praising God in a loud voice» (Lk 17:15). Jesus finds the other nine missing: «Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine?» (Lk 17:17). St. Augustine gave the following sentence: «‘Thanks God!’: nothing shorter can be said (...) or made more efficiently than with these words». Accordingly, how do we thank God for the great gift of our life, and that of our family; for the grace of the faith, the Holy Eucharist, the forgiveness of sins...? Is it not true that quite often we do not thank him for the Eucharist, even though we may be frequently participating of it? The Eucharist is, no doubt, our best daily experience.

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

 

Shakespeare’s line in King Henry IV, “Heavy is the head that wears the crown,” came to mind when I read the passage from the Book of Wisdom. Beware the wrath God was about to bring down on the kings, magistrates, ministers and judges who had misplaced the peoples’ trust, or in this case, God’s trust, and abused the power they were given.

The reading seems apropos for us today, based on our political climate. As we read the passage, it is easy to come up with examples of members from both sides of the aisle who have abused and misused the power and trust they were given. And in our subsequent conversations with friends, many of us have probably stood back and mocked the disgraced with lines like, “Well, the bigger they are, the harder they fall,” or “With great power, comes great responsibility, and they blew it.”

But can we be safe in assuming this reading is only about officials who are constantly in the public view, issuing orders and deciding guilt or innocence, or is there a deeper meaning? Is it also a cautionary tale for how we, as everyday citizens, are to lead our lives? Do only kings, magistrates, ministers and judges, wear crowns, or do we, as ministers of his kingdom, also wear crowns?

We all wear crowns, be it the crown of a spouse, a parent, a friend, a co-worker or even the crown of a stranger. And our heads may also be heavy with the responsibility that comes with a crown, but there a way to lessen its weight and burden.

St. Ignatius tackled this issue almost 500 years ago and gave us a roadmap to lightening the weight of the crown. From the beginning of the Jesuit order, Ignatius believed all members of the Society of Jesus were called to lead. But to be an effective leader, certain skills needed to be developed. What Ignatius said then is still true today: The key to leading is in understanding our own strengths and weaknesses. That knowledge and deeper understanding come through daily reflection – looking for God’s presence in our lives and asking for the help of the Spirit to guide our interactions.

Ignatius also stressed that leaders were those who engaged others with dignity, a positive attitude and an open heart, ready to love and accept. He charged the Society to govern using "all the love and modesty and charity possible." Ignatius knew that fear was not how one leads, but rather, by being mutually supportive and creating positive environments fueled by acceptance and affection. 

Like it or not, we are all leaders who impact those around us. As we go about our busy lives, we need to stop frequently and reflect on the impact of our words and actions or inactions. We may not lead on the grand scale of a pope, president or premier, but we are equally as powerful to those who look to us for guidance, counsel and love. 

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

THE DEGREES OF THANKSGIVING

"He threw himself on his face at the feet of Jesus and spoke His praises." �Luke 17:16

We start off in life thanking others in order to be polite. Then we thank others, even God, in order to be just. We say such things as: "At least you can say 'Thanks.' " Then the Lord calls us to thank God by faith rather than by sight (2 Cor 5:7) � to thank God when we don't see a reason to thank Him. Then the Lord calls us to live lives of such profound and constant thanksgiving that our thanksgiving is an act of faith by which we accept salvation (see Lk 17:19). For Christians, thanksgiving is not just a day, or even many actions; it is the atmosphere in which we live, the very fabric of the Christian life. Because God became a human being, died on the cross for us, and rose from the dead for us, we have reasons to be thankful which will always take precedence over even the worst circumstances. Thus, we should give "thanks to God the Father always and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Eph 5:20). We should never stop thanking God � to the point that we thank our way right through death and enter the courts of heaven with thanksgiving (Ps 100:4). There we will prostrate ourselves before God's throne, worship Him forever, and exclaim: "Amen. Praise and glory, wisdom and thanks춇iving...to our God forever and ever. Amen!" (Rv 7:12) Today, let us accept God's grace to move our thanksgiving up a notch. Then let us keep increasing our thanksgiving to the Lord to the point that we will thank our way into the heaven of eternal thanksgiving.

Prayer: Father, send the Holy Spirit to teach me new dimensions of thanksgiving.

Promise: "Authority was given you by the Lord and sovereignty by the Most High, Who shall probe your works and scrutinize your counsels!" —Wis 6:3

Praise: Mother Cabrini, the first canonized U.S. citizen, founded 67 institutions to care for the sick, poor, and abandoned.

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

 "He fell at Jesus' feet giving thanks"

What can adversity teach us about the blessing of thanksgiving and the healing power of love and mercy? The Book of Proverbs states: A friend loves at all times; and a brother is born for adversity (Proverbs 17:17). When adversity strikes you find out who truly is your brother, sister, and friend. The Gospel records an unusual encounter between two peoples who had been divided for centuries. The Jews and Samaritans had no dealings with one another even though Samaria was located in the central part of Judaea. Both peoples were openly hostile whenever their paths crossed. In this Gospel narrative we see one rare exception - a Samaritan leper in company with nine Jewish lepers. Sometimes adversity forces people to drop their barriers or to forget their prejudices. When this band of Jewish and Samaritan lepers saw Jesus they made a bold request. They didn't ask for healing, but instead asked for mercy.

Mercy is heartfelt sorrow at another's misfortune
The word mercy literally means "sorrowful at heart". But mercy is something more than compassion, or heartfelt sorrow at another's misery and misfortune. Compassion empathizes with the sufferer. But mercy goes further - it removes suffering. A merciful person shares in another's misfortune and suffering as if it were his or her own. And such a person will do everything in his or her power to dispel that misery.

Mercy is also connected with justice. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), a great teacher and scripture scholar, said that mercy "does not destroy justice, but is a certain kind of fulfillment of justice. ..Mercy without justice is the mother of dissolution; (and) justice without mercy is cruelty." Mercy.."moves us to do what we can do to help the other." Mercy seeks to remedy the weakness of others, and where sin is involved to lead others to recognize their need for repentance and turning away from wrongdoing. Pardon without repentance negates justice.

God's mercy brings healing of mind, heart, and body
So what is the significance of these ten lepers asking Jesus to show them mercy? They know they are in need of healing, not just physical, but spiritual healing as well. They approach Jesus with faith and with sorrow for their sins because they believe that he can release the burden of their guilt and suffering and restore both soul and body. Their request for mercy is both a plea for pardon and release from suffering. Jesus gives mercy to all who ask with faith and contrition (true sorrow for sin).

Why did only one leper out of ten return to show gratitude? Gratefulness, a word which expresses gratitude of heart and a thankful disposition, is related to grace - which means the release of loveliness. Gratitude is the homage of the heart which responds with graciousness in expressing an act of thanksgiving. The Samaritan approached Jesus reverently and gave praise to God.

Ingratitude leads to lack of love and kindness, and intolerance towards others
If we do not recognize and appreciate the mercy and help shown to us, we will be ungrateful and unkind towards others. Ingratitude is forgetfulness or a poor return for kindness received. Ingratitude easily leads to lack of charity and intolerance towards others, as well as to other vices, such as complaining, grumbling, discontentment, pride, and presumption. How often have we been ungrateful to our parents, pastors, teachers, and neighbors? Do you express gratitude to God for his abundant help and mercy towards you and are you gracious, kind, and merciful towards your neighbor in their time of need and support?

"Lord Jesus, may I never fail to recognize your loving kindness and mercy. Fill my heart with compassion and thanksgiving, and free me from ingratitude and discontentment. Help me to count my blessings with a grateful heart and to give thanks in all circumstances."

Psalm 82:3-4,6-8

3 Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute.
4 Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked."
6 I say, "You are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you;
7 nevertheless, you shall die like men, and fall like any prince."
8 Arise, O God, judge the earth; for to you belong all the nations!

Daily Quote from the early church fathers: Cleansing of the ten lepers, by Cyril of Alexandria (376-444 AD)

"Why did [Jesus] not say, 'I will, be cleansed,' as he did in the case of another leper (Luke 5:13), instead of commanding them to show themselves to the priests? It was because the law gave directions to this effect to those who were delivered from leprosy (Leviticus 14:2). It commanded them to show themselves to the priests and to offer a sacrifice for their cleansing. He commanded them to go as being already healed so that they might bear witness to the priests, the rulers of the Jews and always envious of his glory. They testified that wonderfully and beyond their hope, they had been delivered from their misfortune by Christ's willing that they should be healed. He did not heal them first but sent them to the priests, because the priests knew the marks of leprosy and of its healing." (excerpt from COMMENTARY on LUKE, HOMILIES 113-16)

  

More Homilies

 November 15, 2017 Wednesday of the Thirty-second Week in Ordinary Time