August 20, 2021Friday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

2021년 8월 20일 연중 제20주간 금요일 

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

제1독서

<나오미는 모압 출신 룻과 함께 돌아와 베들레헴에 도착하였다.>

룻기. 1,1.3-6.14ㄴ-16.22
판관들이 다스리던 시대에, 나라에 기근이 든 일이 있었다.
그래서 유다 베들레헴에 살던 한 사람이 모압 지방에서
나그네살이를 하려고 아내 나오미와 두 아들과 함께 길을 떠났다.
3 그러다가 나오미의 남편 엘리멜렉이 죽어서
나오미와 두 아들만 남게 되었다.
4 이들은 모압 여자들을 아내로 맞아들였는데
한 여자의 이름은 오르파이고 다른 여자의 이름은 룻이었다.
그들은 거기에서 십 년쯤 살았다.
5 그러다가 두 사람도 죽었다.
그래서 나오미는 두 자식과 남편을 여읜 채 혼자 남게 되었다.
6 나오미는 며느리들과 함께 모압 지방을 떠나 돌아가기로 하였다.
주님께서 당신 백성을 돌보시어
그들에게 양식을 베푸셨다는 소식을 모압 지방에서 들었기 때문이다.
14 오르파는 시어머니에게 작별을 고하며 입 맞추었다.
그러나 룻은 시어머니에게 바싹 달라붙었다.
15 나오미가 말하였다.
“보아라, 네 동서는 제 겨레와 신들에게로 돌아갔다.
너도 네 동서를 따라 돌아가거라.”
16 그러자 룻이 말하였다.
“어머님을 두고 돌아가라고 저를 다그치지 마십시오.
어머님 가시는 곳으로 저도 가고, 어머님 머무시는 곳에 저도 머물렵니다.
어머님의 겨레가 저의 겨레요, 어머님의 하느님이 제 하느님이십니다.”
22 이렇게 하여 나오미는 모압 출신 며느리 룻과 함께
모압 지방에서 돌아왔다.
그들이 베들레헴에 도착한 것은 보리 수확이 시작될 무렵이었다. 

 

복음

<주 너의 하느님을 사랑해야 한다. 네 이웃을 너 자신처럼 사랑해야 한다.>

마태오 22,34-40
 그때에 34 예수님께서 사두가이들의 말문을 막아 버리셨다는 소식을 듣고

바리사이들이 한데 모였다.
35 그들 가운데 율법 교사 한 사람이 예수님을 시험하려고 물었다.
36 “스승님, 율법에서 가장 큰 계명은 무엇입니까?”
37 예수님께서 그에게 말씀하셨다.
“‘네 마음을 다하고 네 목숨을 다하고 네 정신을 다하여
주 너의 하느님을 사랑해야 한다.’
38 이것이 가장 크고 첫째가는 계명이다.
39 둘째도 이와 같다. ‘네 이웃을 너 자신처럼 사랑해야 한다.’는 것이다.
40 온 율법과 예언서의 정신이 이 두 계명에 달려 있다.”

August 20, 2021

Friday of the Twentieth 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
Ru 1:1, 3-6, 14b-16, 22
Once in the time of the judges there was a famine in the land;
so a man from Bethlehem of Judah
departed with his wife and two sons
to reside on the plateau of Moab.
Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died,
and she was left with her two sons, who married Moabite women,
one named Orpah, the other Ruth.
When they had lived there about ten years,
both Mahlon and Chilion died also,
and the woman was left with neither her two sons nor her husband.
She then made ready to go back from the plateau of Moab
because word reached her there
that the LORD had visited his people and given them food.

Orpah kissed her mother-in-law good-bye, but Ruth stayed with her.

Naomi said, “See now! 
Your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and her god.
Go back after your sister-in-law!”
But Ruth said, “Do not ask me to abandon or forsake you!
For wherever you go, I will go, wherever you lodge I will lodge,
your people shall be my people, and your God my God.”

Thus it was that Naomi returned
with the Moabite daughter-in-law, Ruth,
who accompanied her back from the plateau of Moab.
They arrived in Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest.

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 146:5-6ab, 6c-7, 8-9a, 9bc-10
R.  (1b)  Praise the Lord, my soul!
Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the LORD, his God,
Who made heaven and earth,
the sea and all that is in them.
R. Praise the Lord, my soul!
The LORD keeps faith forever,
secures justice for the oppressed,
gives food to the hungry.
The LORD sets captives free.
R. Praise the Lord, my soul!
The LORD gives sight to the blind.
The LORD raises up those who were bowed down;
The LORD loves the just.
The LORD protects strangers.
R. Praise the Lord, my soul!
The fatherless and the widow he sustains,
but the way of the wicked he thwarts.
The LORD shall reign forever;
your God, O Zion, through all generations. Alleluia.
R.  Praise the Lord, my soul!

Gospel
Mt 22:34-40
When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees,
they gathered together, and one of them,
a scholar of the law, tested him by asking,
“Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?”
He said to him,
“You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart,
with all your soul, and with all your mind.
This is the greatest and the first commandment.
The second is like it:
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”

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

 The Pharisees in Jesus’ time were considered law abiding citizens. In today’s Gospel they come to Jesus after He had silenced the Sadducees in the previous verses of Matthew. They intend to silence Jesus with a rather loaded question: “Which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” This was a usual topic of arguing among themselves. Jesus, in reply, gave the standard line from Deuteronomy chapter six, verse five. Jesus then adds His usual stinger, something new, but old as well.

The Law defined the Jewish people as the Holy People of God, by their observing, performing and living with God as their center. The prescriptions were exact and generally related to activities between, among and within the boundaries of the Jewish tribes.

Jesus advances the “greatest” law to include, and here’s the kicker, “your neighbor”. For Jesus this meant more than the neighbors who kept the law. This seems to have silenced His lawyer-friends, at least for a while.

I choose not to ask who your “neighbor” might be within the teaching of Jesus. She, he, or they, just might be the ones for whom affection is not quite yet experienced. The loving of God with the totality of all that we are, now that is a question my pharisaical-self asks Jesus. “All” is kind-of a word-trap. We cannot do anything with such “allness”, because we cannot give what we do not have. Our selfishness, so natural to us, prevents our even giving all that we do possess. This, for me, is the cause of Christian “Spiritual inferiority.”

We cannot love God, neighbor, spouses, puppies or anyone or anything totally, whole-heartedly. Thus we miss the mark; we, it seems, are not “totally” His followers.  
We are invited to love ourselves as God loves us in Jesus. We are invited to allow the Christ-loved self to go and extend that love to our “neighbor” as well as we can. The Pharisees didn’t appreciate that second part of Jesus’ response and we can pray gracefully with our response as well. I cannot love whom I do not know. Loving begins with the risks of climbing over self-established fences made precisely to separate us from “those who are different from us and so frightening to us.”

Today I reflect that Jesus would say, “Love God Who loves the different, including me.”  We are all more than His neighbor!   

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

 

BEING A GOOD NEIGHBOR

“The second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments the whole law is based, and the prophets as well.” —Matthew 22:39-40

The second commandment and part of the basis for the whole Christian life is: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Mt 22:39). Only by inviting neighbors to give their lives to Christ can we truly love them. A total commitment to Jesus is the greatest need of a human person, for without Jesus we can do nothing (Jn 15:5). Therefore, if we fail to share Jesus with our neighbor, we are refusing to give them the greatest necessity of life. This is surely not love, no matter how many other nice things we do for them.

After we share the Lord with our neighbors, we are called to serve them in many ways. This is the follow-up of our evangelizing. We are practicing what we preach. Nonetheless, no amount of service can ever substitute for loving people enough to tell them the truth about Jesus. Even if our neighbors reject the Gospel message and us, we must love them enough to accept their rejection. Although evangelization is not all there is to loving our neighbor, it is the essence of obeying the second commandment. For Christians there can be no love without evangelization.

Prayer:  Father, give me a deep concern for the salvation of those I see every day.

Promise:  “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with your whole heart, with your whole soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment.” —Mt 22:37-38

Praise:  St. Bernard’s parents taught him piety by their holy example. Their holy lives likewise ministered to his brothers, sister, and friends, who also followed Bernard and became Cistercians.

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

What is the purpose of God's law and commandments? The Pharisees prided themselves in the knowledge of the law of Moses and the ritual requirements of the law. They made it a life-time practice to study the 613 precepts of the Torah - the books of the Old Testament containing the Law of Moses - along with the numerous rabbinic commentaries on the law. The religious authorities tested Jesus to see if he correctly understood the law as they did. Jesus startled them with his profound simplicity and mastery of the law of God and its purpose.

God's love rules all
Jesus summarized the whole of the law in two great commandments found in Deuteronomy 6:5 - "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might" - and Leviticus 19:18 - "you shall love your neighbor as yourself". God's love directs all that he does - His love is holy, just, and pure because it seeks only what is good, beneficial, and life-giving - rather than what is destructive, evil, or deadly. That is why he commands us to love - to accept and to give only what is good, lovely, just, and pure and to reject whatever is contrary.

God puts us first in his thoughts
God is love and everything he does flows from his love for us (1 John 3:1, 4:7-8, 16). God puts us first in his thoughts and concerns - do we put him first in our thoughts? God loved us first (1 John 4:19) and our love for him is a response to his exceeding goodness and kindness towards us. The love of God comes first and the love of neighbor is firmly grounded in the love of God. The more we know of God's love, truth, and goodness, the more we love what he loves and reject whatever is hateful and contrary to his will. God commands us to love him first above all else - his love orients and directs our thoughts, intentions, and actions to what is wholly good and pleasing to him. He wants us to love him personally, wholeheartedly, and without any reservation or compromise.

The nature of love - giving to others for their sake
What is the nature of love? Love is the gift of giving oneself for the good of others - it is wholly other oriented and directed to the welfare and benefit of others. Love which is rooted in pleasing myself is self-centered and possessive - it is a selfish love that takes from others rather than gives to others. It is a stunted and disordered love which leads to many hurtful and sinful desires - such as jealousy, greed, envy, and lust. The root of all sin is disordered love and pride which is fundamentally putting myself above God and my neighbor - it is loving and serving self rather than God and neighbor. True love, which is wholly directed and oriented to what is good rather than evil, is rooted in God's truth and righteousness (moral goodness).

How God loves us
God loves us wholly, completely, and perfectly for our sake - there is no limit, no holding back, no compromising on his part. His love is not subject to changing moods or circumstances. When God gives, he gives generously, abundantly, freely, and without setting conditions to the gift of his love. His love does not waver, but is firm, consistent, and constant. He loves us in our weakness - in our fallen and sinful condition. That is why the Father sent his only begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to redeem us from slavery to sin and its disordered cravings, desires, passions, and addictions. God the Father always seeks us out to draw us to his throne of mercy and help. God the Father corrects and disciplines us in love to free us from the error of our wrong ways of thinking and choosing what is harmful and evil rather than choosing what is good and wholesome for us. Do you freely accept God's love and do you willingly choose to obey his commandments?

We do not earn God's love - it is freely given
How can we possibly love God above all else and obey his commandments willingly and joyfully, and how can we love our neighbor and willing lay down our life for their sake? Paul the Apostle tells us that "hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us" (Romans 5:5). We do not earn God's love - it is freely given to those who open their heart to God and who freely accept the gift of the Holy Spirit. Ask the Lord Jesus to flood your heart with his love through the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Love grows with faith and hope
What makes our love for God and his commands grow in us? Faith in God and hope in his promises strengthens us in the love of God. They are essential for a good relationship with God, for being united with him. The more we know of God the more we love him and the more we love him the greater we believe and hope in his promises. The Lord Jesus, through the gift of the Holy Spirit, gives us a new freedom to love as he loves. Paul the Apostle writes, "For freedom Christ has set us free... only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh [sinful inclinations], but through love be servants of one another" (Galatians 5:1,13). Do you allow anything to keep you from the love of God and the joy of serving others with a generous heart?

Lord Jesus, your love surpasses all. Flood my heart with your love and increase my faith and hope in your promises. Help me to give myself in generous service to others as you have so generously given yourself to me.

Psalm 146:1-2, 5-10

1 Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD, O my soul!
2 I will praise the LORD as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God while I have being.
5 Happy is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God,
6 who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them; who keeps faith for ever;
7 who executes justice for the oppressed; who gives food to the hungry. The LORD sets the prisoners free;
8 the LORD opens the eyes of the blind. The LORD lifts up those who are bowed down; the LORD loves the righteous.
9 The LORD watches over the sojourners, he upholds the widow and the fatherless; but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.
10 The LORD will reign for ever, your God, O Zion, to all generations. Praise the LORD!

Daily Quote from the Early Church Fathers: Loving God with heart, mind, and soul, by Origen of Alexandria (185-254 AD)

"Worthy is he, confirmed in all his gifts, who exults in the wisdom of God, having a heart full of the love of God, and a soul completely enlightened by the lamp of knowledge and a mind filled with the word of God. It follows then that all such gifts truly come from God. He would understand that all the law and the prophets are in some way a part of the wisdom and knowledge of God. He would understand that all the law and the prophets depend upon and adhere to the principle of the love of the Lord God and of neighbor and that the perfection of piety consists in love." (excerpt from COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 13) 

 

 

More Homilies

August 23, 2019 Friday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time