Saturday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time
Saint Anthony Mary Claret, Bishop
Alternate Proper for the Memorial of St. Anthony Mary Claret
Readings for Saturday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time[1][2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Readings and Commentary:[3]
Reading 1: Romans 8:1-11
Brothers and sisters:
Now there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
For the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus
has freed you from the law of sin and death.
For what the law, weakened by the flesh, was powerless to do,
this God has done:
by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh
and for the sake of sin, he condemned sin in the flesh,
so that the righteous decree of the law might be fulfilled in us,
who live not according to the flesh but according to the spirit.
For those who live according to the flesh
are concerned with the things of the flesh,
but those who live according to the spirit
with the things of the spirit.
The concern of the flesh is death,
but the concern of the spirit is life and peace.
For the concern of the flesh is hostility toward God;
it does not submit to the law of God, nor can it;
and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
But you are not in the flesh;
on the contrary, you are in the spirit,
if only the Spirit of God dwells in you.
Whoever does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.
But if Christ is in you,
although the body is dead because of sin,
the spirit is alive because of righteousness.
If the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you,
the one who raised Christ from the dead
will give life to your mortal bodies also,
through his Spirit that dwells in you.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Rom 8:1-11
In the first section of this passage from St Paul’s letter to the Romans the Evangelist differentiates between the disconnected Law that leads to death and the Law connected and fulfilled in Christ that leads to salvation. He goes on to say that those who concern themselves more with the material world have chosen death while those who have elected to pursue life in the spirit have chosen live eternal.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 24:1b-2, 3-4ab, 5-6
R. (see 6) Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face.
The LORD’s are the earth and its fullness;
the world and those who dwell in it.
For he founded it upon the seas
and established it upon the rivers.
R. Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face.
Who can ascend the mountain of the LORD?
or who may stand in his holy place?
He whose hands are sinless, whose heart is clean,
who desires not what is vain.
R. Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face.
He shall receive a blessing from the LORD,
a reward from God his savior.
Such is the race that seeks for him,
that seeks the face of the God of Jacob.
R. Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Ps 24:1b-2, 3-4ab, 5-6
Psalm 24 was probably used as part of a high celebration that both commemorates God’s creative power and provides a formula for a profession of faith.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gospel: Luke 13:1-9
Some people told Jesus about the Galileans
whose blood Pilate had mingled with the blood of their sacrifices.
He said to them in reply,
“Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way
they were greater sinners than all other Galileans?
By no means!
But I tell you, if you do not repent,
you will all perish as they did!
Or those eighteen people who were killed
when the tower at Siloam fell on them—
do you think they were more guilty
than everyone else who lived in Jerusalem?
By no means!
But I tell you, if you do not repent,
you will all perish as they did!”
And he told them this parable:
“There once was a person who had a fig tree planted in his orchard,
and when he came in search of fruit on it but found none,
he said to the gardener,
‘For three years now I have come in search of fruit on this fig tree
but have found none.
So cut it down.
Why should it exhaust the soil?’
He said to him in reply,
‘Sir, leave it for this year also,
and I shall cultivate the ground around it and fertilize it;
it may bear fruit in the future.
If not you can cut it down.’”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Lk 13:1-9
In the story from St. Luke there is once more reminder that there is urgency required for repentance. The story begins with an explanation by the Lord that victims of Roman punishment and God did not single out victims of an accident for punishment. He uses the parable of the barren fig tree as a way of saying that God, at some point will become impatient and will call sinners to account for their actions.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reflection:
There was recently a news report about an unusual car chase. A woman was captured on camera driving down a freeway during the day. She was driving erratically and when the person in another car pulled up next to her, she was clearly asleep at the wheel. The observing car honked at her and while she jerked away for a short time, soon she was weaving again. This incredible saga lasted for 58 miles until a highway petrol vehicle finally pulled her over.
Anyone who has been driving for a number of years has probably had a situation where they caught themselves nodding off. We all know how dangerous it can be to fall asleep at the wheel. The Lord is making that same point in the Gospel. We cannot afford to fall asleep at the wheel of our faith and we all know that happens as well.
When we are driving and begin to get drowsy, we know we need to pull over and get some sleep. When we feel ourselves weaving on the road of faith it’s time to stop what we are doing and spend some time with the Lord. That can be in prayer, in meditation, with the Holy Scripture or with the sacraments. The point is that we need to be constantly vigilant.
Today we thank God for watching over us and keeping us safe. We thank the Lord in a special way when he sends us reminders like the one we received today. We vow to remain awake and vigilant and continue to fill up our spiritual selves as we continue our journey in life to the one who promises us eternal life.
Pax
[1] ALTRE
[2] The picture is “St Giustina and the Guardian Angel Commending the Soul of an Infant to the Madonna and Child” by Gaetano Gandolfi, 1792-93
[3] Text of Readings is taken from the New American Bible, Copyright © Libreria Editrice Vaticana, Excerpts from the English translation of The Roman Missal © 1973, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved.
Saint Anthony Mary Claret, Bishop
Alternate Proper for the Memorial of St. Anthony Mary Claret
Readings for Saturday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time[1][2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Readings and Commentary:[3]
Reading 1: Romans 8:1-11
Brothers and sisters:
Now there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
For the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus
has freed you from the law of sin and death.
For what the law, weakened by the flesh, was powerless to do,
this God has done:
by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh
and for the sake of sin, he condemned sin in the flesh,
so that the righteous decree of the law might be fulfilled in us,
who live not according to the flesh but according to the spirit.
For those who live according to the flesh
are concerned with the things of the flesh,
but those who live according to the spirit
with the things of the spirit.
The concern of the flesh is death,
but the concern of the spirit is life and peace.
For the concern of the flesh is hostility toward God;
it does not submit to the law of God, nor can it;
and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
But you are not in the flesh;
on the contrary, you are in the spirit,
if only the Spirit of God dwells in you.
Whoever does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.
But if Christ is in you,
although the body is dead because of sin,
the spirit is alive because of righteousness.
If the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you,
the one who raised Christ from the dead
will give life to your mortal bodies also,
through his Spirit that dwells in you.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Rom 8:1-11
In the first section of this passage from St Paul’s letter to the Romans the Evangelist differentiates between the disconnected Law that leads to death and the Law connected and fulfilled in Christ that leads to salvation. He goes on to say that those who concern themselves more with the material world have chosen death while those who have elected to pursue life in the spirit have chosen live eternal.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 24:1b-2, 3-4ab, 5-6
R. (see 6) Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face.
The LORD’s are the earth and its fullness;
the world and those who dwell in it.
For he founded it upon the seas
and established it upon the rivers.
R. Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face.
Who can ascend the mountain of the LORD?
or who may stand in his holy place?
He whose hands are sinless, whose heart is clean,
who desires not what is vain.
R. Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face.
He shall receive a blessing from the LORD,
a reward from God his savior.
Such is the race that seeks for him,
that seeks the face of the God of Jacob.
R. Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Ps 24:1b-2, 3-4ab, 5-6
Psalm 24 was probably used as part of a high celebration that both commemorates God’s creative power and provides a formula for a profession of faith.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gospel: Luke 13:1-9
Some people told Jesus about the Galileans
whose blood Pilate had mingled with the blood of their sacrifices.
He said to them in reply,
“Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way
they were greater sinners than all other Galileans?
By no means!
But I tell you, if you do not repent,
you will all perish as they did!
Or those eighteen people who were killed
when the tower at Siloam fell on them—
do you think they were more guilty
than everyone else who lived in Jerusalem?
By no means!
But I tell you, if you do not repent,
you will all perish as they did!”
And he told them this parable:
“There once was a person who had a fig tree planted in his orchard,
and when he came in search of fruit on it but found none,
he said to the gardener,
‘For three years now I have come in search of fruit on this fig tree
but have found none.
So cut it down.
Why should it exhaust the soil?’
He said to him in reply,
‘Sir, leave it for this year also,
and I shall cultivate the ground around it and fertilize it;
it may bear fruit in the future.
If not you can cut it down.’”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Lk 13:1-9
In the story from St. Luke there is once more reminder that there is urgency required for repentance. The story begins with an explanation by the Lord that victims of Roman punishment and God did not single out victims of an accident for punishment. He uses the parable of the barren fig tree as a way of saying that God, at some point will become impatient and will call sinners to account for their actions.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reflection:
There was recently a news report about an unusual car chase. A woman was captured on camera driving down a freeway during the day. She was driving erratically and when the person in another car pulled up next to her, she was clearly asleep at the wheel. The observing car honked at her and while she jerked away for a short time, soon she was weaving again. This incredible saga lasted for 58 miles until a highway petrol vehicle finally pulled her over.
Anyone who has been driving for a number of years has probably had a situation where they caught themselves nodding off. We all know how dangerous it can be to fall asleep at the wheel. The Lord is making that same point in the Gospel. We cannot afford to fall asleep at the wheel of our faith and we all know that happens as well.
When we are driving and begin to get drowsy, we know we need to pull over and get some sleep. When we feel ourselves weaving on the road of faith it’s time to stop what we are doing and spend some time with the Lord. That can be in prayer, in meditation, with the Holy Scripture or with the sacraments. The point is that we need to be constantly vigilant.
Today we thank God for watching over us and keeping us safe. We thank the Lord in a special way when he sends us reminders like the one we received today. We vow to remain awake and vigilant and continue to fill up our spiritual selves as we continue our journey in life to the one who promises us eternal life.
Pax
[1] ALTRE
[2] The picture is “St Giustina and the Guardian Angel Commending the Soul of an Infant to the Madonna and Child” by Gaetano Gandolfi, 1792-93
[3] Text of Readings is taken from the New American Bible, Copyright © Libreria Editrice Vaticana, Excerpts from the English translation of The Roman Missal © 1973, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved.
No comments:
Post a Comment