August 7, 2021 Saturday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time

2021년 8월 7일 연중 제 18주간 토요일 

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

제1독서

<너희는 마음을 다하여 주 너희 하느님을 사랑해야 한다.>

신명기. 6,4-13
 모세가 백성에게 말하였다.

4 “이스라엘아, 들어라! 주 우리 하느님은 한 분이신 주님이시다.
5 너희는 마음을 다하고 목숨을 다하고 힘을 다하여
주 너희 하느님을 사랑해야 한다.
6 오늘 내가 너희에게 명령하는 이 말을 마음에 새겨 두어라.
7 너희는 집에 앉아 있을 때나 길을 갈 때나, 누워 있을 때나 일어나 있을 때나,
이 말을 너희 자녀에게 거듭 들려주고 일러 주어라.
8 또한 이 말을 너희 손에 표징으로 묶고 이마에 표지로 붙여라.
9 그리고 너희 집 문설주와 대문에도 써 놓아라.
10 주 너희 하느님께서
너희 조상 아브라함과 이사악과 야곱에게 맹세하신 땅을 너희에게 주시려고,
너희를 그곳으로 데려가실 것이다.
거기에는 너희가 세우지 않은 크고 좋은 성읍들이 있고,
11 너희가 채우지 않았는데도 이미 온갖 좋은 것으로 가득 찬 집들과,
너희가 파지 않았는데도 이미 파인 저수 동굴들과,
너희가 가꾸지도 않은 포도밭과 올리브 밭이 있다.
거기에서 너희가 마음껏 먹게 될 때,
12 너희를 이집트 땅, 종살이하던 집에서 이끌어 내신 주님을
잊지 않도록 조심하여라.
13 너희는 주 너희 하느님을 경외하고 그분을 섬기며,
그분의 이름으로만 맹세해야 한다.”

 

복음

<믿음이 있으면 너희가 못할 일은 하나도 없을 것이다.>

마태오. 17,14-20
 그때에 14 어떤 사람이 예수님께 다가와 무릎을 꿇고 15 말하였다.

“주님, 제 아들에게 자비를 베풀어 주십시오.
간질병에 걸려 몹시 고생하고 있습니다.
자주 불 속으로 떨어지기도 하고 또 자주 물속으로 떨어지기도 합니다.
16 그래서 주님의 제자들에게 데려가 보았지만 그들은 고치지 못하였습니다.”
17 그러자 예수님께서 “아, 믿음이 없고 비뚤어진 세대야!
내가 언제까지 너희와 함께 있어야 하느냐?
내가 언제까지 너희를 참아 주어야 한다는 말이냐?
아이를 이리 데려오너라.” 하고 이르셨다.
18 그런 다음 예수님께서 호통을 치시자 아이에게서 마귀가 나갔다.
바로 그 시간에 아이가 나았다.
19 그때에 제자들이 따로 예수님께 다가와,
“어찌하여 저희는 그 마귀를 쫓아내지 못하였습니까?” 하고 물었다.
20 예수님께서 대답하셨다.
“너희의 믿음이 약한 탓이다. 내가 진실로 너희에게 말한다.
너희가 겨자씨 한 알만 한 믿음이라도 있으면,
이 산더러 ‘여기서 저기로 옮겨 가라.’ 하더라도 그대로 옮겨 갈 것이다.
너희가 못할 일은 하나도 없을 것이다.”

 

August 7, 2021

Saturday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Daily Readings — Audio

Daily Reflections — Video

http://www.usccb.org/bible/ 

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

Reading 1 

Dt 6:4-13

Moses said to the people:
“Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone!
Therefore, you shall love the LORD, your God,
with all your heart,
and with all your soul,
and with all your strength.
Take to heart these words which I enjoin on you today.
Drill them into your children.
Speak of them at home and abroad, whether you are busy or at rest.
Bind them at your wrist as a sign
and let them be as a pendant on your forehead.
Write them on the doorposts of your houses and on your gates.

“When the LORD, your God, brings you into the land which he swore
to your fathers: Abraham, Isaac and Jacob,
that he would give you,
a land with fine, large cities that you did not build,
with houses full of goods of all sorts that you did not garner,
with cisterns that you did not dig,
with vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant;
and when, therefore, you eat your fill,
take care not to forget the LORD,
who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that place of slavery.
The LORD, your God, shall you fear;
him shall you serve, and by his name shall you swear.”
 

Responsorial Psalm 

PS 18:2-3a, 3bc-4, 47 and 51

R. (2) I love you, Lord, my strength.
I love you, O LORD, my strength,
O LORD, my rock, my fortress, my deliverer.
R. I love you, Lord, my strength.
My God, my rock of refuge,
my shield, the horn of my salvation, my stronghold!
Praised be the LORD, I exclaim!
And I am safe from my enemies.
R. I love you, Lord, my strength.
The LORD live! And blessed be my Rock!
Extolled be God my savior!
You who gave great victories to your king,
and showed kindness to your anointed,
to David and his posterity forever.
R. I love you, Lord, my strength.

Alleluia See

 2 Tm 1:10

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Our Savior Jesus Christ has destroyed death
and brought life to light through the Gospel.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
 

Gospel 

Mt 17:14-20

A man came up to Jesus, knelt down before him, and said,
“Lord, have pity on my son, who is a lunatic and suffers severely;
often he falls into fire, and often into water.
I brought him to your disciples, but they could not cure him.”
Jesus said in reply,
“O faithless and perverse generation, how long will I be with you?
How long will I endure you? 
Bring the boy here to me.”
Jesus rebuked him and the demon came out of him,
and from that hour the boy was cured.
Then the disciples approached Jesus in private and said,
“Why could we not drive it out?”
He said to them, “Because of your little faith.
Amen, I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed,
you will say to this mountain,
‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move.
Nothing will be impossible for you.”

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

 As I reviewed the readings for today, especially the gospel, I was struck by the emphasis on FAITH.  I reflected on the many faith stories I have shared over the years (I realized this week that I’ve been writing reflections for over 17 years!).  It seems that the journey of life is replete with such stories (my own and others) if we just open our hearts to see them.  As is the case lately, I seem to start my reflections and am stymied as to where to go with it.  Some may think I am way off in my thinking, but I feel that my “blocks” are deliberate – a deterrent to getting out a message of Good News. But in my prolonged pondering, a silver lining occurred – I seemed to be bombarded with stories of faith and miracles. 

I searched online for how faith is defined and discussed – I found the following that most fit for me:

FAITH means- belief, firm persuasion, assurance, firm conviction, faithfulness. Faith is confidence in what we hope for and the assurance that the Lord is working, even though we cannot see it. Faith knows that no matter what the situation, in our lives or someone else's that the Lord is working in it.

I find that while Faith may not be able to be seen empirically, it is, indeed, evident all around us.  I remember as a very small child having a chain necklace with a small glass ball and inside that glass ball was a mustard seed.  As I recall, it came with a card that said something like If ye have faith like a mustard seed, nothing shall be impossible until ye.  I think my mother explained it to me about the size of a mustard bush/tree all from this tiny seed.  So, having and believing in miracles was ingrained in me . . .  

Since tomorrow marks 60 years of my brother’s passing at the age of 20, it was clearly on my mind as I did these readings.  I recall one of his random acts of faith before he entered the military (so about a year before he died) when he went to a Shrine (Our Lady of La Salette) and climbed the steps to Mary on his knees.  It seemed uncharacteristic of him at the time and I often have wondered what motivated him.  I remarked about this once to a close relative and the rather cynical response was what good did it do him, he died!  Perhaps some new-found faith for him that brought him closer to Jesus.  Perhaps in the seconds of his accident when he died, he found comfort in the arms of Mary and Jesus.  I truly believe it made a difference. . .

One of these new faith stories that filled my heart this week as I struggled to write this also involved the death of a very young man.  A tragic sudden death that left a father heart-broken yet because the young man was at a Jesuit university, he (the father) found himself surrounded by Jesuits who provided great comfort.  Not unlike St. Ignatius who we just celebrated at the end of last month, this father found transformation through the tragedy and his life has taken on new meaning and direction.  The young man was an organ donor, and his lungs gave renewed life to a man who then generously donated money for a home by a large medical center that would support families in their struggles and named the home in honor of this young man.  The domino effect of all the good that emerged from the tragedy is ongoing to this day.  FAITH is alive and well as the legacy lives on.

We will not ever be free from tragedy and hurt while we walk this earth, but we will never have to face that hurt alone.  We are always in the arms of our Father and comforted by our loving Mother and the numerous angels on earth.  The ordinary people who cross our lives, share their stories, listen to ours, and together our lives are changed forever . . .

What Faith Can Do by Kutless

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

 

RARE, INDISPENSABLE FAITH

“Jesus said: ‘What an unbelieving and perverse lot you are!’ ” —Matthew 17:17

Jesus called His disciples “an unbelieving lot” because they failed to drive out a demon. He implied they did not even have the minuscule faith comparable to a mustard seed (Mt 17:20). On another occasion, Jesus wondered if there would be any faith in the whole world when He returned for the second and final time (Lk 18:8).

According to these statements by Jesus, faith seems rare, even an “endangered species.” Yet, Jesus expects us to have faith, for “all depends on faith” (Rm 4:16). “Faith is confident assurance concerning what we hope for, and conviction about things we do not see” (Heb 11:1). This assurance is a result of a deep, personal relationship. When Jesus wonders if there will be any faith on earth when He returns, He is questioning whether anyone will be in a deep, personal relationship with Him at that time.

We know that at the end of the world there will be a mass apostasy (2 Thes 2:3) and the love of most will become cold (Mt 24:12). We hope, however, that at least a “remnant” (Is 1:9) will still be loving Jesus and believing in Him. Because faith can be so rare and the end of the world so challenging, we must do all we can now to strengthen our personal relationship with Jesus and thereby grow in faith.

Prayer:  Father, deepen my faith and improve my spiritual hearing as I read, pray, and live Your Word (Rm 10:17).

Promise:  “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength.” —Dt 6:5

Praise:  Pope St. Sixtus II and his six companions were martyred together after Sixtus had served just one year as Pope.

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

 What kind of faith does the Lord expect of us, especially when we meet set-backs and trials? Inevitably there are times when each of us disappoint others or disappoint ourselves when we suffer some kind of set-back or failure. In this Gospel incident the disciples of Jesus fail to heal an epileptic boy. Jesus' response seems stern; but it is really tempered with love and compassion. We see at once Jesus' dismay with the disciples' lack of faith and his concern to meet the need of this troubled boy and his father. With one word of command Jesus rebukes the evil spirit that has caused this boy's affliction and tells the spirit to "never enter him again".

Pray with expectant faith
Jesus tells his disciples that they can "remove mountains" if they have faith in God. The expression to "remove mountains" was a common Jewish phrase for removing difficulties. A wise teacher who could solve difficulties was called a "mountain remover". If we pray with expectant faith God will give us the means to overcome difficulties and obstacles. When you meet trials and disappointments how do you respond? With faith and trust in Jesus?

Lord Jesus, help my unbelief! Increase my faith and trust in your saving power. Give me confidence and perseverance, especially in prayer. And help me to bring your healing love and truth to those I meet

Psalm 98:1-3, 8-9

1 O sing to the LORD a new song, for he has done marvelous things! His right hand and his holy arm have gotten him victory.
2 The LORD has made known his victory, he has revealed his vindication in the sight of the nations.
3 He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness to the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the victory of our God!
8 Let the floods clap their hands; let the hills sing for joy together
9 before the LORD, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with equity.

Daily Quote from the Early Church Fathers: Faith as a grain of mustard seed, by Origen of Alexandria (185-254 AD)

"The mountains here spoken of, in my opinion, are the hostile powers that have their being in a flood of great wickedness, such as are settled down, so to speak, in some souls of various people. But when someone has total faith, such that he no longer disbelieves in anything found in holy Scripture and has faith like that of Abraham, who so believed in God to such a degree that his faith was reckoned to him as righteousness (Genesis 15:6), then he has all faith like a grain of mustard seed. Then such a man will say to this mountain - I mean in this case the deaf and dumb spirit in him who is said to be epileptic - 'Move from here to another place.' It will move. This means it will move from the suffering person to the abyss. The apostle, taking this as his starting point, said with apostolic authority, 'If I have all faith, so as to remove mountains' (1 Corinthians 13:2). For he who has all faith - which is like a grain of mustard seed - moves not just one mountain but also more just like it. And nothing will be impossible for the person who has so much faith. Let us examine also this statement: 'This kind is not cast out except through prayer and fasting' (Mark 9:29). If at any time it is necessary that we should be engaged in the healing of one suffering from such a disorder, we are not to adjure nor put questions nor speak to the impure spirit as if it heard. But [by] devoting ourselves to prayer and fasting, we may be successful as we pray for the sufferer, and by our own fasting we may thrust out the unclean spirit from him." (excerpt from COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 13.7.19)

 

 

More Homilies

August 12, 2017 Saturday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time