Memorial of Saint Francis of Assisi

Proper for the Memorial of St. Francis of Assisi 

Biographical Information about St. Francis of Assisi

“Saint Francis Receiving the Stigmata”
by El Greco, 1585-90

 
Readings for Monday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time [1]
 
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible [2]
 
Readings and Commentary: [3]
 
Reading 1: Jonah 1:1–2:1-2, 11
 
This is the word of the LORD that came to Jonah, son of Amittai:
 
“Set out for the great city of Nineveh, and preach against it;
their wickedness has come up before me.”
But Jonah made ready to flee to Tarshish away from the LORD.
He went down to Joppa, found a ship going to Tarshish,
paid the fare, and went aboard to journey with them to Tarshish,
away from the LORD.
 
The LORD, however, hurled a violent wind upon the sea,
and in the furious tempest that arose
the ship was on the point of breaking up.
Then the mariners became frightened and each one cried to his god.
To lighten the ship for themselves, they threw its cargo into the sea.
Meanwhile, Jonah had gone down into the hold of the ship,
and lay there fast asleep.
The captain came to him and said, “What are you doing asleep?
Rise up, call upon your God!
Perhaps God will be mindful of us so that we may not perish.”
 
Then they said to one another, “Come, let us cast lots
to find out on whose account we have met with this misfortune.”
So they cast lots, and thus singled out Jonah.
“Tell us,” they said, “what is your business?
Where do you come from?
What is your country, and to what people do you belong?”
Jonah answered them, “I am a Hebrew,
I worship the LORD, the God of heaven,
who made the sea and the dry land.”
 
Now the men were seized with great fear and said to him,
“How could you do such a thing!–
They knew that he was fleeing from the LORD,
because he had told them.–
They asked, “What shall we do with you,
that the sea may quiet down for us?”
For the sea was growing more and more turbulent.
Jonah said to them, “Pick me up and throw me into the sea,
that it may quiet down for you;
since I know it is because of me
that this violent storm has come upon you.”
 
Still the men rowed hard to regain the land, but they could not,
for the sea grew ever more turbulent.
Then they cried to the LORD: “We beseech you, O LORD,
let us not perish for taking this man’s life;
do not charge us with shedding innocent blood,
for you, LORD, have done as you saw fit.”
Then they took Jonah and threw him into the sea,
and the sea’s raging abated.
Struck with great fear of the LORD,
the men offered sacrifice and made vows to him.
 
But the LORD sent a large fish, that swallowed Jonah;
and Jonah remained in the belly of the fish
three days and three nights.
From the belly of the fish Jonah prayed
to the LORD, his God.
Then the LORD commanded the fish to spew Jonah upon the shore.
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Commentary on Jon 1:1–2:1-2, 11
 
We begin the Book of the Prophet Jonah with the command from God that the prophet must go to the Assyrian town of Nineveh. Jonah represents a narrow-minded group of Jews who believe that, as God’s chosen people, the Lord does not care about other nations. He is afraid of going to this town, so he runs in the opposite direction, to the far west, to Tarshish (believed to have been southwest of modern Spain).
 
The ship Jonah has sailed on runs into a serious storm and the sailors (although not identified as Jews) have the mindset that the storm is a punishment sent by God for someone on board. Jonah knows he is the one they suspect and tells the sailors to cast him over the side, which they do after praying to God not to punish them.
 
The story tells how Jonah is swallowed up by a giant fish and kept in its belly for three days (significant from a Christian perspective). Jonah is then spewed out on dry land. Note, the prayer uttered by Jonah while inside the fish is the psalm response we use today.
 
CCC: Jon 1:3 29; Jon 2:1 627; Jon 2:3-10 2585
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Responsorial Psalm: Jonah 2:3, 4, 5, 8
 
R. You will rescue my life from the pit, O Lord.
 
Out of my distress I called to the LORD,
and he answered me;
From the midst of the nether world I cried for help,
and you heard my voice.
R. You will rescue my life from the pit, O Lord.
 
For you cast me into the deep, into the heart of the sea,
and the flood enveloped me;
All your breakers and your billows
passed over me.
R. You will rescue my life from the pit, O Lord.
 
Then I said, “I am banished from your sight!
yet would I again look upon your holy temple.”
R. You will rescue my life from the pit, O Lord.
 
When my soul fainted within me,
I remembered the LORD;
My prayer reached you
in your holy temple.
R. You will rescue my life from the pit, O Lord.
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Commentary on Jon 2:3, 4, 5, 8
 
Jonah’s prayer, from inside the giant fish that swallowed him, is an individual lament. The prophet calls to God out of fear, pleading to be restored to favor, and asking the Lord that he might “look upon your holy temple” once more.
 
CCC: Jon 2:3-10 2585
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Gospel: Luke 10:25-37
 
There was a scholar of the law who stood up to test Jesus and said,
“Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
Jesus said to him, “What is written in the law?
How do you read it?”
He said in reply,
“You shall love the Lord, your God,
with all your heart,
with all your being,
with all your strength,
and with all your mind,
and your neighbor as yourself.”
He replied to him, “You have answered correctly;
do this and you will live.”
 
But because he wished to justify himself, he said to Jesus,
“And who is my neighbor?”
Jesus replied,
“A man fell victim to robbers
as he went down from Jerusalem to Jericho.
They stripped and beat him and went off leaving him half-dead.
A priest happened to be going down that road,
but when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side.
Likewise a Levite came to the place,
and when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side.
But a Samaritan traveler who came upon him
was moved with compassion at the sight.
He approached the victim,
poured oil and wine over his wounds and bandaged them.
Then he lifted him up on his own animal,
took him to an inn, and cared for him.
The next day he took out two silver coins
and gave them to the innkeeper with the instruction,
‘Take care of him.
If you spend more than what I have given you,
I shall repay you on my way back.’
Which of these three, in your opinion,
was neighbor to the robbers’ victim?”
He answered, “The one who treated him with mercy.”
Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”
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Commentary on Lk 10:25-37
 
In this passage from St. Luke’s Gospel, we find Jesus being challenged by a person referred to as a “scholar.” It seems clear that this man has a good idea of how Jesus is likely to respond to his initial question about what he must do to inherit eternal life. As soon as the man tells Jesus what the law says, the scholar asks for still more clarification asking: “And who is my neighbor?”
 
"In this passage, Jesus praises and accepts the summary of the Law given by the Jewish scribe. This reply, taken from Deuteronomy (6:4ff), was a prayer which the Jews used to say frequently. Our Lord gives the very same reply when He is asked which is the principal commandment of the Law and concludes His answer by saying, "On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets" (Matthew 22:40; cf. also Romans 13:8-9; Galatians 5:14).
 
 "There is a hierarchy and order in these two commandments constituting the double precept of charity: before everything and above everything comes loving God in Himself. In the second place, and as a consequence of the first commandment, comes loving one's neighbor, for God explicitly requires us to do so (1 John 4:21; cf. notes on Matthew 22:34-40 and 22:37-38)."[4]
 
The illustration Jesus uses in answering him does clarify the answer, and at the same time, uses a cultural tension to heighten the lesson. First a priest of the Jewish temple passes the victim of robbery (one who is most scrupulous in observing the letter of the Law); next a member of the priestly class, a Levite, does the same. The one who helps the victim (presumably a Jew) is a member of the Samaritan culture, antagonists of the Jewish people. In this way, the Lord provides a moral lesson along with an explanation of the Law.
 
CCC: Lk 10:25-37 2822; Lk 10:27-37 1825; Lk 10:27 2083; Lk 10:34 1293
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Reflection:
 
The message today is very clear: God is the Father of all mankind, and his expectation is that the love he has shown for us is the same love we should show to each other.  The message comes at us hard from both the Old and the New Testaments. 
 
We begin with the story of Jonah, a prophet called by God to take a warning to Nineveh.  Because that town was in Assyria, enemy of the Jews, Jonah, like many of his contemporaries, could not believe God would help non-Jews.  On top of that, since they were hostile to the Jews, what kind of a reception would he receive, and why would they even listen to him?  Faced with these views and feelings, Jonah did the logical thing, he ran in the opposite direction. 
 
If we read the whole story, the lesson to be learned is clear. God did not come “just” for one group of people, he came for the whole human race, all of his children.
 
Moving ahead from the story of Jonah and his prayer from inside the giant fish (which is used as the responsorial psalm) to the Gospel, where we examined events which took place some seven hundred years before the Lord walked the earth: We are given a more pointed and personal story with the same message, the story of the Good Samaritan.  Here, a person hoping to “justify himself” before Jesus as a faithful member of the Jewish community, asks Jesus to explain the Lord’s own Great Commandment by asking: “who is my neighbor?”
 
The Lord answers this question with a parable that can be seen as analogous or parallel to the Jonah tale.  The parable of the Good Samaritan, also a group known as hostile to the Jews, explains to the questioner that all peoples of all races are his neighbors. And like the story of Jonah, the parable of the Good Samaritan should be an example for him to follow. 
 
This pair of examples should be reminders to all of us.  In the world climate in which we find ourselves, it is easy to develop stereotypes and biases that would lead us to behave as if some groups are not worthy of our love.  When we run into a vocal group whose message is hate and violence it is easy to forget the Good Samaritan.
 
Our prayer today must be that we, as faithful followers of the Lord who spent three days in a tomb that we might find a path to eternal life, might emulate the Good Samaritan.  We pray that all those we meet today will see in our actions that we treat them as “neighbors” and extend to them the love of Christ.
 
Pax
 

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[1] The picture is “Saint Francis Receiving the Stigmata” by El Greco, 1585-90.
[2] S.S Commemoratio
[3] The readings are taken from the New American Bible, with the exception of the psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for English in Liturgy (ICEL). This republication is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.
[4] The Navarre Bible, “Gospels and Acts,” Scepter Publishers, Princeton, NJ, © 2002, p. 423.