Daily Readings September 15, 2012

Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows

Remembering the Seven Sorrows of Mary is one of my favorite reflections. Read more.

Today, the Church reminds us that there were two people on the Cross on that fateful day when our Lord was crucified.  Read more.

Lectionary: 442/ 639

First Reading from St. Paul's 1st letter to the Corinthians

1 Cor 10:14-22

Protestants frequently accuse Catholics of idolatry because we believe in the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist.  So it is interesting how St. Paul begins this lesson:

My beloved ones, avoid idolatry.

Avoid idolatry, he says.

I am speaking as to sensible people;
judge for yourselves what I am saying.

He says. he is addressig, he is talking to, reasonable people.   And then he begins to talk about the Eucharist.

The cup of blessing that we bless,
is it not a participation in the Blood of Christ?

First he asks, "is not the cup of wine which we bless a real involvement in the Blood of Christ?"

The bread that we break,
is it not a participation in the Body of Christ?

Then, he asks, "is not the bread which we break a real involvment in the Body of Christ?"

Because the loaf of bread is one,
we, though many, are one Body,
for we all partake of the one loaf.

Then he says, "don't you know that just as we are one Body in Christ, we are one loaf n Christ because we share in that one loaf."

Look at Israel according to the flesh;
are not those who eat the sacrifices participants in the altar?

Now, he compares the Jewish sacrifice to the Christian sacrifice.  He says, "Those who eat the sacrifice do they not participate in the sacrifice from the moment it is offered in the altar to the moment that they consume it on the dinner table?"

So what am I saying?
That meat sacrificed to idols is anything?
Or that an idol is anything?
No, I mean that what they sacrifice,
they sacrifice to demons, not to God,
and I do not want you to become participants with demons.

So, he is saying, if you eat of the meat sacrificed on the altar, you participate in the meat sacrificed to demons.  And he doesn't want them to do that.

You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and also the cup of demons.
You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and of the table of demons.
Or are we provoking the Lord to jealous anger?
Are we stronger than him?

So, don't partake of any other sacrifice.  Because if you do, you will provoke Our Lord into jealous anger.  And we are not stronger than God.

Responsorial Psalm Ps 116:12-13, 17-18

R. To you, Lord, I will offer a sacrifice of praise.

How shall I make a return to the LORD
for all the good he has done for me?
The cup of salvation I will take up,
and I will call upon the name of the LORD.

R. To you, Lord, I will offer a sacrifice of praise.

To you will I offer sacrifice of thanksgiving,
and I will call upon the name of the LORD.
My vows to the LORD I will pay
in the presence of all of his people.

R. To you, Lord, I will offer a sacrifice of praise.

What a Eucharistic Psalm!  The cup of salvation, the Eucharist.  The sacrifice of Thanksgiving, the Eucharist.  God wants us to partake of His Divine Being, in the Holy Eucharist.

A reading from the Holy Gospel of St. John

 Jn 19:25-27

Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother
and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas,
and Mary Magdalene.
When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved
he said to his mother, "Woman, behold, your son."
Then he said to the disciple,
"Behold, your mother."
And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.

Protestants frequently question why the Catholic Church teaches that Mary is our Mother.  Here's what I tell them.

First, Scripture tells us to go beyond the letter to the Spirit of the Word:
2 Corinthians 3:6 (KJV)
6 Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.

Because the truths of Scripture are spiritually discerned:
1 Corinthians 2:14
King James Version (KJV)
14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

So, let us go to the spirit of the text in question. 

2nd:
John 19:26-28
26 When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son! 27 Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home. 28 After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst.

Catholics are taught to read Scripture as though God was speaking to us. Now, are you a beloved disciple of Christ? To put it differently, are you a disciple whom Jesus loves?

Catholics would answer, "Yes" to that question and therefore accept Jesus command to take Mary as our mother and bring her into our home (i.e. heart).

Then, you need to be aware of other verses in Scripture. 
Genesis 3:15
15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

The seed of the Woman is not just Jesus. Let me show you:
Revelation 12:17
17 And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

Do you consider yourself someone who keeps the Commandments of God and the testimony of Jesus? If so, then you are seed or a child of the Woman. That Woman is Mary. And therefore, Scripture says that all who fight the good fight on behalf of God in Christ, are children of Mary.

Or alternate reading from the Holy Gospel of St. Luke

Lk 2:33-35

Jesus' father and mother were amazed at what was said about him;
and Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother,
"Behold, this child is destined
for the fall and rise of many in Israel,
and to be a sign that will be contradicted
and you yourself a sword will pierce
so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed."

St. Simeon, to whom God had revealed that Jesus was to be born in his lifetime, told Our Blessed Mother, that a sword would pierce her heart as a result of the joyous birth of her Son.  This, of course, came to pass, when the Jews rejected their God and submitted Him to much pain and suffering and eventually to death on the Cross.

Sincerely,

De Maria