Independence Day [In Dioceses of the United States]
Alternate Texts may be taken from the Masses for Various Needs and Occasions, II. For Civil Needs: 13. For the Nation, nos. 882-886; or 14. For Peace and Justice, nos. 887-891. Author’s selection – Independence Day.
On this Independence Day, for the General Intercessions one may use an adaptation of the prayer composed by Archbishop John Carroll for the inauguration of George Washington as found in the Book of Blessings (#1965): [1]
We [likewise] commend to your unbounded mercy
all citizens of the United States,
that we may be blessed in the knowledge and sanctified in
the observance of your holy law.
May we be preserved in union and that peace which the
world cannot give;
And, after enjoying the blessings of this life,
be admitted to those which are eternal.
We pray to you, who are Lord and God
for ever and ever.
R. Amen
* (Optional Memorial for Saint Elizabeth of Portugal)
Proper readings for the Memorial of St. Elizabeth of Portugal
* In the United States, this memorial is perpetually transferred to July 5th.
 |
“Woman Healed Touching Jesus”
by Alexandre Bida 1874 |
Readings for Monday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time [2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible [3]
Readings and Commentary: [4]
: Hosea 2:16, 17c-18, 21-22
Thus says the Lord:
I will allure her;
I will lead her into the desert
and speak to her heart.
She shall respond there as in the days of her youth,
when she came up from the land of Egypt.
On that day, says the Lord,
She shall call me “My husband,”
and never again “My baal.”
I will espouse you to me forever:
I will espouse you in right and in justice,
in love and in mercy;
I will espouse you in fidelity,
and you shall know the Lord.
-------------------------------------------
Commentary on Hos 2:16, 17c-18, 21-22
The Prophet Hosea, voicing God’s hope for the people of Israel as a husband might speak to a wife who was unfaithful, exhorts the people to turn from idolatry (the worship of Baal). He tells them that if they will be faithful, God’s love and mercy will be theirs: it is eternal, and God is always faithful. In Hebrew tradition "espousing" would include the gifts for the bride (cf. Genesis 24:53). It is thought by many scholars that the prophet went through a personal trial with an unfaithful spouse which colored his prophetic writings, using the analogy of Israel as the espoused people throughout this book.
CCC: Hos 2 218; Hos 2:21-22 2787
-------------------------------------------
Psalm 145:2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9
R. (8a) The Lord is gracious and merciful.
Every day will I bless you,
and I will praise your name forever and ever.
Great is the Lord and highly to be praised;
his greatness is unsearchable.
R. The Lord is gracious and merciful.
Generation after generation praises your works
and proclaims your might.
They speak of the splendor of your glorious majesty
and tell of your wondrous works.
R. The Lord is gracious and merciful.
They discourse of the power of your terrible deeds
and declare your greatness.
They publish the fame of your abundant goodness
and joyfully sing of your justice.
R. The Lord is gracious and merciful.
The Lord is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger and of great kindness.
The Lord is good to all
and compassionate toward all his works.
R. The Lord is gracious and merciful.
-------------------------------------------
Commentary on Ps 145:2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9
Psalm 145 is a hymn of praise. These strophes (because it is in the acrostic form, each verse beginning with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet) although loosely assembled, praise God for his mercy and compassion and give thanks for his creation and redemption.
CCC: Ps 145:3 300; Ps 145:9 295, 342
-------------------------------------------
Matthew 9:18-26
While Jesus was speaking, an official came forward,
knelt down before him, and said,
“My daughter has just died.
But come, lay your hand on her, and she will live.”
Jesus rose and followed him, and so did his disciples.
A woman suffering hemorrhages for twelve years came up behind him
and touched the tassel on his cloak.
She said to herself, “If only I can touch his cloak, I shall be cured.”
Jesus turned around and saw her, and said,
“Courage, daughter! Your faith has saved you.”
And from that hour the woman was cured.
When Jesus arrived at the official’s house
and saw the flute players and the crowd who were making a commotion,
he said, “Go away! The girl is not dead but sleeping.”
And they ridiculed him.
When the crowd was put out, he came and took her by the hand,
and the little girl arose.
And news of this spread throughout all that land.
-------------------------------------------
Commentary on Mt 9:18-26
Jesus continues his journey in this passage from Matthew’s Gospel. Again, he engages in healing those who have faith in him. First, in a situation similar to the incident with the centurion's servant (Matthew 8:5-11; Luke 7:1-10), he is asked to help an official. As he is responding to that request, a woman with a hemorrhage approaches Jesus and reaches out to him. As she touches the tassel of his cloak, she experiences healing in that touch. In Mark and Luke the story is much more detailed. The Lord feels this touch and seeks out the woman (see Mark 5:25-34; Luke 8:43-48).
It is important to note that the woman, because of her hemorrhage, would have been considered "ritually impure" and excluded from all communal worship (Leviticus 15:19-23). Through Christ's touch, she would have been allowed to return to God in worship.
Jesus arrives at the official's home (it is Mark’s Gospel that gives us the name Jairus) and heals his daughter. In Mark’s Gospel (Mark 5:23) she was at the point of death, here she had already “fallen asleep,” meaning she had died. Again, Jesus, seeing the faith of the requester, raises her from her deathbed to new life.
-------------------------------------------
Reflection:
If we truly believe in the authority of Christ over death, death itself ceases to be a cause for fear. If we truly believe Christ can heal us, a touch of his cloak will accomplish that healing. How difficult it is to take that leap of faith. The Lord was wise indeed when he said, “whoever does not accept the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it." (Mark 10:15)
Once more I borrow from Fr. Simeon’s Fire of Mercy as he says in speaking of the official Jairus’ approach to the Messiah: “He is an archon—a principal official, a guide among men, an establisher of order and a representative of the ideal Jew in the synagogue community. But he comes to the Archon of all, to the Logos who is the foundation of all, and not only an image of the source. “In the beginning (ἄϱχή) was the Word” (Jn 1:1) is not primarily a temporal statement. The Word is at the head of all things, at the Origin itself. While this archon keeps order in his local synagogue, Christ the Word establishes the whole cosmos in harmony. For resurrection, the mourning father wisely comes to the very source of life, whom the liturgy often addresses as the Ἀϱχηγὸς τῆς ζωῆς—the first cause, author, and king of life.” [5]
How can we come to such faith? We know and understand that faith is a gift from God, and that through it flows all the grace and strength we need. We know that faith, like physical strength, can be grown through proper exercise and diet (exercise for faith is prayer and diet is the Word and sacraments). And herein lies the paradox. As we mature in our faith, we see all the depth and complexity of the truth Christ was pleased to reveal to us. We hear his command to love God and others. We can comprehend that this is done most completely by an innocent child (before they are taught by us not to trust or even speak to strangers). How insidious is the evil one, who forces us to take away that innocence for their protection?
Yet our own experiences of life force us to take a more mature view of the world and people around us. Our experiences of being hurt, having our trust violated, and being hated by others causes us to reject the innocent faith we need to embrace Christ’s teachings. Always it seems that even as we reach out to touch that tassel of Jesus’ cloak, we pull back, afraid of what will happen (or what will not).
Today we pray for faith, the innocent faith of a child, that through it we might experience the healing miracle of the woman with a hemorrhage, who through her faith was cured. May God grant us trust in his infinite love and compassion this day.
Pax
[1] Book of Blessings, by the Order of St. Benedict, Inc., Collegeville, MN © 1989, p. 747.
[2] The picture used today is “Woman Healed Touching Jesus” by Alexandre Bida 1874.
[3] S.S. Commemoratio[4] 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.
[5] Fire of Mercy Heart of the Word Volume I, Erasmo Leiva-Merikakis, Ignatius Press, San Francisco, CA, © 1996 p. 372.
No comments:
Post a Comment