Monday, September 17, 2007

Monday of the Twenty Fourth Week in Ordinary Time


Saint Robert Bellarmine, Bishop, Doctor

Biographical Information about St. Bellarmine[1]

Readings for Monday of the Twenty Fourth Week in Ordinary Time[2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible

Commentary:

Reading 1 1 Tm 2:1-8

St. Paul instructs Timothy and his followers on the communal prayers of the Church. He makes it clear that every one is to be prayed for from the King to the servants. His intentions make it clear that he came to bring the Gentiles the good news and that there should be unity in Christ.

The final verse is an instruction on the posture of communal prayer “every place the men should pray, lifting up holy hands, without anger or argument.”

Responsorial Psalm Ps 28:2, 7, 8-9
R. Blessed be the Lord, for he has heard my prayer.

The psalmist, in this selection uses language describing the posture of prayer echoed in the Letter to Timothy above “…lifting up my hands toward your holy shrine.” The holy shrine for the Christian is Christ who rules the Kingdom of Heaven. The song continues, as a lament, asking for God’s salvation.

Gospel Lk 7:1-10

The story of the healing of the Centurion’s servant is used to demonstrate that even death is subject to the will if Christ. The Centurion’s speech, through the messenger expresses this thought and communicates the humility of one who recognizes God’s authority.

Reflection:

The faith of the Centurion, a person not even of the Hebrew faith, in the divinity of Jesus serves as an example of the power of prayer. We note in this passage that the Centurion did not come to Jesus himself, but rather he sent messengers. Perhaps he was worried that his intrusion into the presence of one so holy might contaminate the Lord, or maybe he did not want to leave his beloved servants side during his apparently fatal illness.

We recognize that the messenger used by the Centurion must have been convinced of the sender’s sincerity. The Lord saw into people’s hearts like we see into a pond of clear water. When he saw that the messenger was communicating a sincere faith, the healing power of Christ flowed back through that channel of faith and the servant who was ill became well.

Whatever the reason, his plea was delivered by someone else. This encounter with Christ through an intercessor seems to tell us that we do not have to be in the actual presence of the Lord if our faith in him is firm and unwavering. We pray constantly to the Father through Jesus who is our Lord and Savior. We pray, as St. Paul instructed, lifting up “holy hands” to the Lord. We also ask those whose faith has already been proven to intercede for us, like messengers standing in the presence of Christ.

Today we ask especially for the assistance of St. Robert. One who gave his life to the service of the Gospel and the Church. He is the patron of catechists and we ask him that our efforts on behalf of the Lord today instruct others to God’s greater glory. We pray that the messengers we send the God reflect an interior faith worthy of our Saviors attention and favor.

Pax

[1] The picture of St. Robert Bellarmine is by an UNKNOWN artist, date is also not known.
[2] After Links to Readings Expire

No comments: