Saint Martin de Porres, religious
Biographical Information about St. Martin de Porres[1]
Readings for Saturday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time[2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Commentary:
Reading 1 Rom 11:1-2a, 11-12, 25-29
St. Paul asks his Jewish audience if God has rejected them. The answer “Of course not!” identifies the Evangelist as an Israelite and begins his ironic description of how God used the rejection of the Messiah as a reason to invite the Gentiles to participate in his salvation. He goes on, in the passages omitted, to indicate that the Israel remains holy in the eyes of God but the majority that has rejected the Lord paved the way for God’s plan to invite the world into that favored status.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 94:12-13a, 14-15, 17-18
R. The Lord will not abandon his people.
Psalm 94 is an individual lament. The strophes used today reflect the faith and confidence in God who will continue to support (linking to St. Paul above) them in the face of their enemies.
Gospel Lk 14:1, 7-11
This parable, found only in the Gospel of St. Luke, gives us Jesus teaching the need for humility. The Lord’s indirect criticism of those who seek the attention of the rich and ignore the poor sets the stage for the next passage and the parable of the great banquet.
Reflection:
After the feasts of the past two days we are acutely aware of the examples of faith around us and especially in those who have gone before us in faith. Today we remember especially St. Martin de Porres, the first black saint in the Americas. He is also called St. Martin the Broom because of the way he accepted and thrived on labor. St. Martin is placed against a back drop of scripture that provides a lesson on humility. Today’s honored saint exemplified that virtue to the point of being named a patron of social justice.
The scene painted in St. Luke’s Gospel is one where Jesus again is invited to dine with the “leading” Pharisees. As the guests file in, he notices that many of the guests are trying to get close to the host as places of honor are the seats at the head of the table. Haven’t we all seen this at social gatherings? It is typical, guests quietly measuring the status of the attendees, gathering around the more prominent guests.
Into this socio-political setting comes Jesus who sees the attention paid to status as a reflection of the ambivalence these religious people have for the poor and marginalized members of their society. Always the “life of the party”, the Lord takes them to task. He tells them that, if they wish to lead in the kingdom of God they must first serve. If they wish to be exalted, they must humble themselves.
This message comes to us with the exclamation point of St. Martin de Porres and we ask for his intercession today. We pray today that our service to God may never be a source of pride but rather a humble offering to His greater glory, a service that pales in comparison to the gift he left for us in his Son, Jesus, the Savior.
Pax
[1] The icon used today is of St. Martin de Porres by Robert Lentz, OFM contemporary artist
[2] After Links to Readings Expire
Biographical Information about St. Martin de Porres[1]
Readings for Saturday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time[2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Commentary:
Reading 1 Rom 11:1-2a, 11-12, 25-29
St. Paul asks his Jewish audience if God has rejected them. The answer “Of course not!” identifies the Evangelist as an Israelite and begins his ironic description of how God used the rejection of the Messiah as a reason to invite the Gentiles to participate in his salvation. He goes on, in the passages omitted, to indicate that the Israel remains holy in the eyes of God but the majority that has rejected the Lord paved the way for God’s plan to invite the world into that favored status.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 94:12-13a, 14-15, 17-18
R. The Lord will not abandon his people.
Psalm 94 is an individual lament. The strophes used today reflect the faith and confidence in God who will continue to support (linking to St. Paul above) them in the face of their enemies.
Gospel Lk 14:1, 7-11
This parable, found only in the Gospel of St. Luke, gives us Jesus teaching the need for humility. The Lord’s indirect criticism of those who seek the attention of the rich and ignore the poor sets the stage for the next passage and the parable of the great banquet.
Reflection:
After the feasts of the past two days we are acutely aware of the examples of faith around us and especially in those who have gone before us in faith. Today we remember especially St. Martin de Porres, the first black saint in the Americas. He is also called St. Martin the Broom because of the way he accepted and thrived on labor. St. Martin is placed against a back drop of scripture that provides a lesson on humility. Today’s honored saint exemplified that virtue to the point of being named a patron of social justice.
The scene painted in St. Luke’s Gospel is one where Jesus again is invited to dine with the “leading” Pharisees. As the guests file in, he notices that many of the guests are trying to get close to the host as places of honor are the seats at the head of the table. Haven’t we all seen this at social gatherings? It is typical, guests quietly measuring the status of the attendees, gathering around the more prominent guests.
Into this socio-political setting comes Jesus who sees the attention paid to status as a reflection of the ambivalence these religious people have for the poor and marginalized members of their society. Always the “life of the party”, the Lord takes them to task. He tells them that, if they wish to lead in the kingdom of God they must first serve. If they wish to be exalted, they must humble themselves.
This message comes to us with the exclamation point of St. Martin de Porres and we ask for his intercession today. We pray today that our service to God may never be a source of pride but rather a humble offering to His greater glory, a service that pales in comparison to the gift he left for us in his Son, Jesus, the Savior.
Pax
[1] The icon used today is of St. Martin de Porres by Robert Lentz, OFM contemporary artist
[2] After Links to Readings Expire
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