(Optional Memorial for Saint Paulinus of Nola, Bishop) or
(Optional Memorial for Saint John Fisher, Bishop and Martyr and Saint Thomas More, Martyr) or
(Optional Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary)
On Saturdays in Ordinary Time when there is no obligatory memorial, an optional memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary is allowed.[1] Mass texts may be taken from the Common of the Blessed Virgin Mary, from a Votive Mass, or from the special collection of Masses for the Blessed Virgin Mary. (USCCB recommends: #32. The Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother and Teacher in the Spirit)
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| “Behold the Lilies” by Leslie Wilson, 1943 |
Commentary:
Reading 1: 2 Corinthians 12:1-10
Commentary on 2 Cor 12:1-10
As part of his defense of his own apostolate, St. Paul describes, in rather convoluted terms, an out-of-body experience (when he says “a man in Christ” he is referring to himself) where he was taken to heaven (the “third heaven” is the place where God dwells –the first is earth, the second the stars), in which he was given “ineffable things,” privileged information that could not be repeated. Rather than helping him, these revelations brought persecution “a thorn in the flesh.” The Apostle uses the Christ-like response to physical and rhetorical challenges by saying that through his weakness and humility he is given the power of the Holy Spirit to carry on the Lord’s work.
CCC: 2 Cor 12:9 268, 273, 1508
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 34:8-9, 10-11, 12-13
R. (9a) Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.
Commentary on Ps 34:8-9, 10-11, 12-13
Psalm 34 is a song of thanksgiving. The psalmist sings of God’s salvation and how he raises up the lowly (earlier references indicate the singer has suffered – v. 5, 7). It becomes an invitation to the people to become instruments of God.
CCC: Ps 34:8 336
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Gospel: Matthew 6:24-34
Commentary on Mt 6:24-34
Jesus continues his Sermon on the Mount being very clear about what must be placed first in the life of his disciples. Here the word mammon is used, an Aramaic word meaning wealth. The Lord does not deny that people need the physical things of the world (i.e. food, clothing, and water), but tells them that, if they have faith in God and pursue the things of God’s Kingdom, the heavenly Father will provide for them. He goes further to say that, if they are constantly focused on material goods, they will not extend their lives even a little.
CCC: Mt 6:24 2113, 2424, 2729, 2821, 2848; Mt 6:25-34 2547, 2830; Mt 6:25 2608; Mt 6:26-34 322; Mt 6:26 2416; Mt 6:31-33 305; Mt 6:32 270; Mt 6:33 1942, 2604, 2608, 2632; Mt 6:34 2659, 2836
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Reflection:
Today we return to the subject of what we must focus on in our lives. The key instruction in scripture comes in the last paragraph of the Gospel “But seek first the Kingdom of God
Let’s think about that for a minute. It is important that we try to capture an image of what this must be like in its absolute application. Let us suppose that our focus in all that we do is solely for God’s glory. Suppose we did not worry about getting paid so we could pay the mortgage, put food on the table, pay the utilities, make the car payment, oh, and save money (or spend it) so our children could go to college. If we concerned ourselves only with that one thing, how well would we accomplish that which God has given us gifts to accomplish? If whatever we do, we did only for God’s glory; if we thought about it in those terms and were driven to excellence by our insurmountable love for God; then our performance would be nothing short of incredible.
Guess what? If our performance of tasks, again using God’s gifts which we have discerned, is incredible, then those who profit from those gifts will be grateful. Their gratitude will extend itself to us and, through the Father’s influence, the things he knows we need. Those blessing will come to us.
Our difficulty, of course, is twofold. First, it is easy to say that the daily work we do is done ONLY for God’s glory. We might think it and pray it the first thing in the morning as we go off to the office, factory, store or school. But once there, it becomes labor, hard work and our focus and motivation becomes the task for the sake of the task or for how much compensation we will see from our employer. If these things were done with constant prayer and the love of God before us, would not our whole outlook change? We would be constantly cheerful; concerned only with pleasing the Father and the gifts he has given us would bear fruit like never before.
The second problem is if something goes wrong in our lives and financial pressures begin to mount, our focus on doing God’s will becomes distracted to getting more money (mammon). Once off track it’s hard to get back on.
Today we are reminded once more that we must keep the Lord squarely in front of us as we strive to make our lives pleasing to Him. Let us redouble our efforts to do so.
Pax
[1] General Norms for the Liturgical Year and the Calendar Miscellaneous Notes no. 5: “Outside Advent, Christmas Time, Lent, and Easter Time, on Saturdays which have no
commemoration having the rank of Obligatory Memorial or higher, a Mass in honor of the
Blessed Virgin Mary may be celebrated. This is indicated in the calendar by “BVM.” The
readings and prayers may be selected from the Collection of Masses of the Blessed Virgin
Mary.”
[2] The picture used today is “Behold the Lilies” by Leslie Wilson, 1943.
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