June 21, 2022Memorial of Saint Aloysius Gonzaga, Religious]

 2022년 6월 21일 연중 제12주간 화요일 

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

제1독서

열왕기 하. 19,9ㄴ-11.14-21.31-35ㄱ.36

그 무렵 아시리아 임금 산헤립은

9 히즈키야에게 사신들을 보내며 이렇게 말하였다.
10 “너희는 유다 임금 히즈키야에게 이렇게 말하여라.
‘네가 믿는 너의 하느님이,
′예루살렘은 아시리아 임금의 손에 넘어가지 않는다.′ 하면서,
너를 속이는 일이 없게 하여라.
11 자, 아시리아 임금들이 다른 모든 나라를 전멸시키면서 어떻게 하였는지
너는 듣지 않았느냐?
그런데도 너만 구원받을 수 있을 것 같으냐?’”
14 히즈키야는 사신들의 손에서 편지를 받아 읽었다.
그런 다음 히즈키야는 주님의 집으로 올라가서,
그것을 주님 앞에 펼쳐 놓았다.
15 그리고 히즈키야는 주님께 이렇게 기도하였다.
“커룹들 위에 좌정하신 주 이스라엘의 하느님,
세상의 모든 왕국 위에 당신 홀로 하느님이십니다.
당신께서는 하늘과 땅을 만드셨습니다.
16 주님, 귀를 기울여 들어 주십시오.
주님, 눈을 뜨고 보아 주십시오.
살아 계신 하느님을 조롱하려고 산헤립이 보낸 이 말을 들어 보십시오.
17 주님, 사실 아시리아 임금들은 민족들과 그 영토를 황폐하게 하고,
18 그들의 신들을 불에 던져 버렸습니다.
그것들은 신이 아니라 사람의 손으로 만든 작품으로서
나무와 돌에 지나지 않았으므로,
사람들이 그것들을 없애 버릴 수 있었습니다.
19 그러나 이제 주 저희 하느님, 부디 저희를 저자의 손에서 구원하여 주십시오.
그러면 세상의 모든 왕국이, 주님, 당신 홀로 하느님이심을 알게 될 것입니다.”
20 아모츠의 아들 이사야가 히즈키야에게 사람을 보내어 말하였다.
“주 이스라엘의 하느님께서 이렇게 말씀하십니다.
‘아시리아 임금 산헤립 때문에 네가 나에게 바친 기도를 내가 들었다.’
21 주님께서 그를 두고 하신 말씀은 이러합니다.
‘처녀 딸 시온이 너를 경멸한다, 너를 멸시한다.
딸 예루살렘이 네 뒤에서 머리를 흔든다.

31 남은 자들이 예루살렘에서 나오고 생존자들이 시온산에서 나올 것이기 때문이다.
만군의 주님의 열정이 이를 이루시리라.’
32 그러므로 주님께서 아시리아 임금을 두고 이렇게 말씀하셨습니다.
‘그는 이 도성에 들어오지 못하고, 이곳으로 활을 쏘지도 못하리라.
방패를 앞세워 접근하지도 못하고, 공격 축대를 쌓지도 못하리라.
33 자기가 왔던 그 길로 되돌아가고 이 도성에는 들어오지 못하리라.
주님의 말씀이다.
34 나는 이 도성을 보호하여 구원하리니
이는 나 자신 때문이며 나의 종 다윗 때문이다.’”
35 그날 밤 주님의 천사가 나아가 아시리아 진영에서 십팔만 오천 명을 쳤다.
36 아시리아 임금 산헤립은 그곳을 떠나 되돌아가서 니네베에 머물렀다.  

복음

마태오. 7,6.12-14
 그때에 예수님께서 제자들에게 말씀하셨다.

6 “거룩한 것을 개들에게 주지 말고, 너희의 진주를 돼지들 앞에 던지지 마라.
그것들이 발로 그것을 짓밟고 돌아서서 너희를 물어뜯을지도 모른다.
12 남이 너희에게 해 주기를 바라는 그대로 너희도 남에게 해 주어라.
이것이 율법과 예언서의 정신이다.
13 너희는 좁은 문으로 들어가라.
멸망으로 이끄는 문은 넓고 길도 널찍하여 그리로 들어가는 자들이 많다.
14 생명으로 이끄는 문은 얼마나 좁고 또 그 길은 얼마나 비좁은지,
그리로 찾아드는 이들이 적다.”

June 21, 2022

Memorial of Saint Aloysius Gonzaga, Religious]

Daily Readings — Audio

Daily Reflections — Video

http://www.usccb.org/bible/ 

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

Reading 1

2 Kgs 19:9b-11, 14-21, 31-35a, 36

Sennacherib, king of Assyria, sent envoys to Hezekiah
with this message:
"Thus shall you say to Hezekiah, king of Judah:
'Do not let your God on whom you rely deceive you
by saying that Jerusalem will not be handed over
to the king of Assyria.
You have heard what the kings of Assyria have done
to all other countries: they doomed them!
Will you, then, be saved?'"

Hezekiah took the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it;
then he went up to the temple of the LORD,
and spreading it out before him,
he prayed in the LORD's presence:
"O LORD, God of Israel, enthroned upon the cherubim!
You alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth.
You have made the heavens and the earth.
Incline your ear, O LORD, and listen!
Open your eyes, O LORD, and see!
Hear the words of Sennacherib which he sent to taunt the living God.
Truly, O LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations
and their lands, and cast their gods into the fire;
they destroyed them because they were not gods,
but the work of human hands, wood and stone.
Therefore, O LORD, our God, save us from the power of this man,
that all the kingdoms of the earth may know
that you alone, O LORD, are God."

Then Isaiah, son of Amoz, sent this message to Hezekiah:
"Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel,
in answer to your prayer for help against Sennacherib, king of Assyria:
I have listened!
This is the word the LORD has spoken concerning him:

"'She despises you, laughs you to scorn,
the virgin daughter Zion!
Behind you she wags her head,
daughter Jerusalem.

"'For out of Jerusalem shall come a remnant,
and from Mount Zion, survivors.
The zeal of the LORD of hosts shall do this.'

"Therefore, thus says the LORD concerning the king of Assyria:
'He shall not reach this city, nor shoot an arrow at it,
nor come before it with a shield,
nor cast up siege-works against it.
He shall return by the same way he came,
without entering the city, says the LORD.
I will shield and save this city for my own sake,
and for the sake of my servant David.'"

That night the angel of the LORD went forth and struck down
one hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the Assyrian camp.
So Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, broke camp,
and went back home to Nineveh.

 

Responsorial Psalm

 Ps 48:2-3ab, 3cd-4, 10-11

R. (see 9d) God upholds his city for ever.
Great is the LORD and wholly to be praised
in the city of our God.
His holy mountain, fairest of heights,
is the joy of all the earth.
R. God upholds his city for ever.
Mount Zion, "the recesses of the North,"
is the city of the great King.
God is with her castles;
renowned is he as a stronghold.
R. God upholds his city for ever.
O God, we ponder your mercy
within your temple.
As your name, O God, so also your praise
reaches to the ends of the earth.
Of justice your right hand is full.
R. God upholds his city for ever.

 

Gospel

Mt 7:6, 12-14

Jesus said to his disciples:
"Do not give what is holy to dogs, or throw your pearls before swine,
lest they trample them underfoot, and turn and tear you to pieces.

"Do to others whatever you would have them do to you.
This is the Law and the Prophets.

"Enter through the narrow gate;
for the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction,
and those who enter through it are many.
How narrow the gate and constricted the road that leads to life.
And those who find it are few."

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

 

 We are reading from the last chapter of Matthew’s account of Jesus’ “Sermon of the Mount.” Jesus is placed by Matthew as the new Moses, or leader of a larger People of God. Instead of the Law being engraved in stone, the New Law is the Person of Jesus extending His teachings to be written in His followers hearts.

The first line of today’s Reading from the Gospel is a real ear-catcher. Hidden within this one line is a subtle prediction of Jesus’ fortelling His way of presenting sacred gifts, (His teachings).   some, (the Pharisees) will trample His words under their feet of power and then turn on Jesus Himself.

The image is taken from the practice of sacrificing sheep and goats in the temple which then is “holy” and not to be thrown to common dogs and pigs. These are indeed hard words for the authorities to hear, but Jesus has only just begun to provoke them and they will eventually have heard enough.

I am moved by the other verses of today’s Gospel to ponder some, on the “road” and “narrow gate” as an image of the Spiritual Life. It seems that the “road” which leads to destruction is paved with self-expectations, self-satisfying self-constructing. If it is all about me, then that’s what I get, just an isolated me and a quite negative-me.  I could do very good things so as to feel very good about this “self.” The “prediction” is not hell or damnation, but eventually some forms of chaos or un-creation.

At the center of the spirituality of Jesus is a self, centered in our being created in Christ, to continue God’s creation within us and through us to all of God’s Family. It is a life of being constantly created in my soul, my spirit, my heart and my relationships. Ah, not enough, yet, there is an entering into the creational relationships which I enter into as a real blessing of creation in the lives of others. Yup! The Spiritual Life is actually a lively life flowing into us and then out all as the creative Love of the Creatively Infinite Mystery we call God.

The Spiritual Life is not, no! never totally about “me” and my self- improvement. Forget self-improvement.  That is the wide road which wanders from side to side getting us nowhere except self-preoccupied spiritual-inferiority.

All prayer, devotion, sacraments included, are gifts designed exclusively as experiences of our being prepared to be a creational presence and gift from God to God’s family. Amazing! A “narrow way,” yes, because it is so counter-cultural, so opposed to self- perfection as a spiritual ideal. After we pray, after receiving any of the sacraments, we leave to live; we receive to donate; we say “yes” so as to say “here.” The more I say “yes” to the creation I am, the less I am mine and more your’s.      

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

FROM DREAD TO SPREAD

“Hezekiah took the letter...then he went up to the temple of the Lord, and spreading it out before Him, He prayed in the Lord’s presence.” —2 Kings 19:14

Sennacherib, king of Assyria, trusted in earthly power and particularly in his strong army of 185,000 soldiers (2 Kgs 19:9ff, 35). Hezekiah, king of Judah, trusted in the power and protection of God (2 Kgs 19:14-19). Hezekiah spread out his problems before the Lord and surrendered all to the mercy of God (2 Kgs 19:14ff). Many kings of Judah did not trust God as did Hezekiah. King Hezekiah entered “through the narrow gate,” as Jesus commands in today’s Gospel reading (see Mt 7:13). Then God answered Hezekiah, saying “I have listened” (2 Kgs 19:20). The Lord, acting in mighty power, rescued the people of Jerusalem from destruction (2 Kgs 19:35-36).

Jesus says: “Come to Me” (Mt 11:28). Hezekiah did this, bringing it all to the altar of God and trusting in His providence (2 Kgs 19:14). He prefigured Jesus in the garden, asking for God’s will to be done rather than his own (see Mt 26:39). He withheld nothing from the Lord, and his trust was repaid.

Can you do as did King Hezekiah? Write down your problems on paper. Bring that paper to the Lord and spread it out before Him. Pray to God with Hezekiah and all the holy ones throughout the ages. “Trust in Him at all times” (Ps 62:9).

Prayer:  Father, may I be far more confident in You than in all the forces of this world.

Promise:  “Great is the Lord and wholly to be praised in the city of our God.” —Ps 48:2

Praise:  St. Aloysius disliked the royal courts of his youth and preferred to read the lives of the saints. He died at the age of 23 after caring for plague victims in Rome.

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

 

 What can pearls and narrow gates teach us about God's truth and holiness? In the ancient world pearls were of very great value and were even considered priceless. They were worn as prized jewels to make a person appear more beautiful and magnificent to behold. Holiness, likewise, is a very precious jewel that radiates the beauty of God's truth, goodness, and glory. God offers us the precious gift of his holiness so that we may radiate the splendor of his truth and goodness in the way we think, speak, act, and treat others. We can reject or ignore this great gift, or worse yet, we can drag it through the mud of sinful behavior or throw it away completely.

Pearls before dogs and swine
Why does Jesus contrast holiness and pearls with dogs and swine (Matthew 7:6)? Some things don't seem to mix or go together, like fire and water, heat and ice, sweat and perfume, pure air and poisonous vapors, freshly cleaned clothes and filthy waste. The Talmud, a rabbinic commentary on the Jewish Scriptures, uses a proverbial saying for something which appears incongruous or out of place: an ear-ring in a swine's snout. Jesus' expression about "pearls before swine" and "not giving dogs what is holy" is very similar in thought (Matthew 7:6). Jewish law regarded swine as unclean. Wild dogs were also treated as unfit for close human contact, very likely because they were dirty, unkept, lice-infested, and prone to attack or cause trouble.

What is the point of avoiding what is considered unclean? Jesus' concern here is not with exclusivity or the shunning of others (excluding people from our love, care, and concern for them). His concern is with keeping spiritual and moral purity - the purity of the faith and way of life which has been entrusted to us by an all-holy, all-loving, and all-wise God. The early church referenced this expression with the Eucharist or the Lord's Table. In the liturgy of the early church, a proclamation was given shortly before communion: Holy things to the holy. The Didache, a first century church manual stated: Let no one eat or drink of your Eucharist except those baptised into the name of the Lord; for, as regards this, the Lord has said, 'Do not give what is holy to dogs.' The Lord Jesus invites us to feast at his banquet table, but we must approach worthily.

The law of perfect love seeks the highest good and best interests of one another
Jesus summed up the teaching of the Old Testament law and prophets with the expression, So whatever you wish that men would do to you, do so to them (Matthew 7:12) - and in the same breath he raised the moral law to a new level of fulfillment and perfection. God's law of love requires more than simply avoiding injury or harm to one's neighbor. Perfect love - a love which is unconditional and which reaches out to all - always seeks the good of others for their sake and gives the best we can offer for their welfare. When we love our neighbors and treat them in the same way we wish to be treated by God, then we fulfill the law and the prophets, namely what God requires of us - loving God with all that we have and are and loving our neighbor as ourselves.

How can we love our neighbor selflessly, with kindness, and genuine concern for their welfare? If we empty our hearts of all that is unkind, unloving, and unforgiving, then there will only be room for kindness, goodness, mercy, and charity. Paul the Apostle reminds us that "God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us" (Romans 5:5). It is the love of God that fuels our unconditional love for others. Are you ready to let the Holy Spirit transform your life with the purifying fire of God's love?

The narrow gate and way of life
Jesus used a second illustration of a narrow gate which opens the way that leads to a life of security and happiness (Matthew 7:13-14) to reinforce his lesson about choosing the one true way which leads to peace with God rather than separation and destruction. The Book of Psalms begins with an image of a person who has chosen to follow the way of those who are wise and obedient to God's word and who refuse to follow the way of those who think and act contrary to God's law : Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night (Psalm 1:1-2). When a path diverges, such as a fork in the road, each way leads to a different destination. This is especially true when we encounter life's crossroads where we must make a choice that will affect how we will live our lives. Do the choices you make help you move towards the goal of loving God and obeying his will?

The Lord Jesus gives us freedom to choose which way we will go. Ask him for the wisdom to know which way will lead to life rather than to harm and destruction. See, I have set before you this day life and good, death and evil... Therefore choose life that you and your descendants may live (Deuteronomy 3:15-20). Choose this day whom you will serve (Joshua 24:15). Behold I set before you the way of life and the way of death (Jeremiah 21:8). If we allow God's love and wisdom to rule our hearts, then we can trust in his guidance and help to follow his path of love, truth, and holiness.

Let me love you, my Lord and my God, and see myself as I really am - a pilgrim in this world, a Christian called to respect and love all whose lives I touch, those in authority over me or those under my authority, my friends and my enemies. Help me to conquer anger with gentleness, greed by generosity, apathy by fervor. Help me to forget myself and reach out towards others. (Prayer attributed to Clement XI of Rome)

Psalm 48:1-10

1 Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised in the city of our God! His holy mountain,
2 beautiful in elevation, is the joy of all the earth, Mount Zion, in the far north, the city of the great King.
3 Within her citadels God has shown himself a sure defense.
4 For lo, the kings assembled, they came on together.
5 As soon as they saw it, they were astounded, they were in panic, they took to flight;
6 trembling took hold of them there, anguish as of a woman in travail.
7 By the east wind you did shatter the ships of Tarshish.
8 As we have heard, so have we seen in the city of the LORD of hosts, in the city of our God, which God establishes for ever. [Selah]
9 We have thought on your steadfast love, O God, in the midst of your temple.
10 As your name, O God, so your praise reaches to the ends of the earth. Your right hand is filled with victory;

Daily Quote from the Early Church Fathers: Unreadiness to receive Godly teaching, by Augustine of Hippo, 430-543 A.D.

"Now in this precept we are forbidden to give a holy thing to dogs or to cast pearls before swine. We must diligently seek to determine the gravity of these words: holy, pearls, dogs and swine. A holy thing is whatever it would be impious to profane or tear apart. Even a fruitless attempt to do so makes one already guilty of such impiety, though the holy thing may by its very nature remain inviolable and indestructible. Pearls signify all spiritual things that are worthy of being highly prized. Because these things lie hidden in secret, it is as though they were being drawn up from the deep. Because they are found in the wrappings of allegories, it is as though they were contained within shells that have been opened.(1) It is clear therefore that one and the same thing can be called both a holy thing and a pearl. It can be called a holy thing because it ought not to be destroyed and a pearl because it ought not to be despised. One tries to destroy what one does not wish to leave intact. One despises what is deemed worthless, as if beneath him. Hence, whatever is despised is said to be trampled under foot... Thus we may rightly understand that these words (dogs and swine) are now used to designate respectively those who assail the truth and those who resist it." (excerpt from SERMON ON THE MOUNT 2.20.68-69)

(1) The interpretive task is to crack through the shell of the language to its inner spiritual meaning.

  

More Homilies

June 23, 2020 Tuesday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time