Memorial of Our Lady of Lourdes
World Day of the Sick
Additional information about Our Lady of Lourdes[1]
Additional Information about Word Day of the Sick
Readings for Monday of the First Week of Lent[2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Commentary:
Reading 1 Leviticus 19:1-2, 11-18
We are given today rules of conduct from Leviticus, the third book of the Torah or Pentateuch. The book was so named because its contents are almost entirely legislative probably written by and for the priestly tribe of Levi.
This passage from the Book of Leviticus is part of what is known as the “Code of Legal Holiness.” Echoed here are statues that incorporate and expand the “Ten Commandments”, the Decalogue. Today we are given rules for relationships with others that begins with a phrase that is repeated many times in Leviticus; “Be holy, for I, the Lord, your God am holy.” It continues with the ban against stealing, lying defrauding, having unfair business relationships. Perhaps most significant in this passage is v. 18b; “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Christ uses this law as the second most important but while it is defined here as dealing only with one’s countrymen, Christ defines it to include even our enemies.
Responsorial Psalm Psalm 19:8, 9, 10, 15
R. Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life.
The psalm is a song of praise. It rejoices in the laws and precepts set down by God and asks the Lord to find favor in those who follow them.
Gospel Matthew 25:31-46
Jesus, in this reading, is telling his disciples what will be judged at the end times, the eschaton. The reading gives us a vision of what will be asked and how judgment will be passed. This image is used as a teaching tool, to focus those who wish to follow Jesus on loving those who are in need of help; the hungry, the stranger, the naked, the ill, the imprisoned.
The concluding answer “‘Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me.’” links this reading to the one from Leviticus from above as St. Matthew defines “neighbor” in a broader sense.
Reflection:
We begin our first week of Lent with the basics, the hard basics. You may be surprised to see in the Leviticus reading a familiar phrase; “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” It is what the Lord would later link with the Love of God to form the Great Commandment. If we ever wondered why the Lord was so harsh with the Pharisees and scribes, the fact that they were supposed to be living under the “Law of Moses”, a small part of which we see in that first reading today, should tell us. They clearly did not understand the spirit of that law.
As if to explain the Law more deeply, we are given the familiar Gospel from St. Matthew. This Gospel too is the genesis of an axiom; the “Golden Rule” although it started with; “Do unto others as you would do for me.”
We are reminded what the great football coach Vince Lombardi is said to have told his players on the first day of training camp. He would hold up the football and announce; “This is a football.” The implication was clear, to become expert at something, we must constantly go back to the basics. That is were we are lead today.
Today we are asked to look at our own relationships with others, our friends, our business associates, and acquaintances. We ask ourselves, how do we treat and feel about them? Are we dealing fairly with them, are we truthful? Are we following God’s law of love? The answer is, for everyone, even the best intentioned, not as well as we should. Today we are told; “this is a football”, “This is love.” We are reminded that, as Christians we are called to that standard and cannot afford to miss the point as the Pharisees did. Today we look at our lives and reform.
We cannot leave today, however, without a comment on what Pope John Paul the Great asked to remember on this day, February 11th. Today it is fitting that the Church, as it recalls the healing miracles of Our Lady of Lourdes, looks to all of the sick with special compassion. Today, as we pray to be conformed to Christ let us also reach out with the healing touch of prayer to those who suffer and are infirmed and in a special way, those who care for them. We leave today with the following
Hail Mary, poor and humble Woman, Blessed by the Most High! Virgin of hope, dawn of a new era, We join in your song of praise, to celebrate the Lord’s mercy, to proclaim the coming of the Kingdom and the full liberation of humanity.
Hail Mary, lowly handmaid of the Lord, Glorious Mother of Christ! Faithful Virgin, holy dwelling-place of the Word, Teach us to persevere in listening to the Word, and to be docile to the voice of the Spirit, attentive to his promptings in the depths of our conscience and to his manifestations in the events of history.
Hail Mary, Woman of sorrows, Mother of the living! Virgin spouse beneath the Cross, the new Eve, Be our guide along the paths of the world. Teach us to experience and to spread the love of Christ, to stand with you before the innumerable crosses on which your Son is still crucified.
Hail Mary, woman of faith, First of the disciples! Virgin Mother of the Church, help us always to account for the hope that is in us, with trust in human goodness and the Father’s love. Teach us to build up the world beginning from within: in the depths of silence and prayer, in the joy of fraternal love, in the unique fruitfulness of the Cross.
Holy Mary, Mother of believers, Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us.
Amen.
Prayer at Lourdes – Pope John Paul the Great, 2004
Pax
[1] The picture today is “Our Lady of Lourdes”, traditional Holy Card, artist and date UNKNOWN
[2] After Links to Readings Expire
World Day of the Sick
Additional information about Our Lady of Lourdes[1]
Additional Information about Word Day of the Sick
Readings for Monday of the First Week of Lent[2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Commentary:
Reading 1 Leviticus 19:1-2, 11-18
We are given today rules of conduct from Leviticus, the third book of the Torah or Pentateuch. The book was so named because its contents are almost entirely legislative probably written by and for the priestly tribe of Levi.
This passage from the Book of Leviticus is part of what is known as the “Code of Legal Holiness.” Echoed here are statues that incorporate and expand the “Ten Commandments”, the Decalogue. Today we are given rules for relationships with others that begins with a phrase that is repeated many times in Leviticus; “Be holy, for I, the Lord, your God am holy.” It continues with the ban against stealing, lying defrauding, having unfair business relationships. Perhaps most significant in this passage is v. 18b; “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Christ uses this law as the second most important but while it is defined here as dealing only with one’s countrymen, Christ defines it to include even our enemies.
Responsorial Psalm Psalm 19:8, 9, 10, 15
R. Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life.
The psalm is a song of praise. It rejoices in the laws and precepts set down by God and asks the Lord to find favor in those who follow them.
Gospel Matthew 25:31-46
Jesus, in this reading, is telling his disciples what will be judged at the end times, the eschaton. The reading gives us a vision of what will be asked and how judgment will be passed. This image is used as a teaching tool, to focus those who wish to follow Jesus on loving those who are in need of help; the hungry, the stranger, the naked, the ill, the imprisoned.
The concluding answer “‘Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me.’” links this reading to the one from Leviticus from above as St. Matthew defines “neighbor” in a broader sense.
Reflection:
We begin our first week of Lent with the basics, the hard basics. You may be surprised to see in the Leviticus reading a familiar phrase; “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” It is what the Lord would later link with the Love of God to form the Great Commandment. If we ever wondered why the Lord was so harsh with the Pharisees and scribes, the fact that they were supposed to be living under the “Law of Moses”, a small part of which we see in that first reading today, should tell us. They clearly did not understand the spirit of that law.
As if to explain the Law more deeply, we are given the familiar Gospel from St. Matthew. This Gospel too is the genesis of an axiom; the “Golden Rule” although it started with; “Do unto others as you would do for me.”
We are reminded what the great football coach Vince Lombardi is said to have told his players on the first day of training camp. He would hold up the football and announce; “This is a football.” The implication was clear, to become expert at something, we must constantly go back to the basics. That is were we are lead today.
Today we are asked to look at our own relationships with others, our friends, our business associates, and acquaintances. We ask ourselves, how do we treat and feel about them? Are we dealing fairly with them, are we truthful? Are we following God’s law of love? The answer is, for everyone, even the best intentioned, not as well as we should. Today we are told; “this is a football”, “This is love.” We are reminded that, as Christians we are called to that standard and cannot afford to miss the point as the Pharisees did. Today we look at our lives and reform.
We cannot leave today, however, without a comment on what Pope John Paul the Great asked to remember on this day, February 11th. Today it is fitting that the Church, as it recalls the healing miracles of Our Lady of Lourdes, looks to all of the sick with special compassion. Today, as we pray to be conformed to Christ let us also reach out with the healing touch of prayer to those who suffer and are infirmed and in a special way, those who care for them. We leave today with the following
Hail Mary, poor and humble Woman, Blessed by the Most High! Virgin of hope, dawn of a new era, We join in your song of praise, to celebrate the Lord’s mercy, to proclaim the coming of the Kingdom and the full liberation of humanity.
Hail Mary, lowly handmaid of the Lord, Glorious Mother of Christ! Faithful Virgin, holy dwelling-place of the Word, Teach us to persevere in listening to the Word, and to be docile to the voice of the Spirit, attentive to his promptings in the depths of our conscience and to his manifestations in the events of history.
Hail Mary, Woman of sorrows, Mother of the living! Virgin spouse beneath the Cross, the new Eve, Be our guide along the paths of the world. Teach us to experience and to spread the love of Christ, to stand with you before the innumerable crosses on which your Son is still crucified.
Hail Mary, woman of faith, First of the disciples! Virgin Mother of the Church, help us always to account for the hope that is in us, with trust in human goodness and the Father’s love. Teach us to build up the world beginning from within: in the depths of silence and prayer, in the joy of fraternal love, in the unique fruitfulness of the Cross.
Holy Mary, Mother of believers, Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us.
Amen.
Prayer at Lourdes – Pope John Paul the Great, 2004
Pax
[1] The picture today is “Our Lady of Lourdes”, traditional Holy Card, artist and date UNKNOWN
[2] After Links to Readings Expire
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