Daily Readings September 20, 2012

Memorial of Saint Andrew Kim Taegŏn, priest and martyr and Saint Paul Chŏng Hasang, martyr, and their companions, martyrs

Today is the memorial of the courageous Korean Saints, the companions of Sts. Andrew Kim and Paul Chong, martyrs.  Read more.

Lectionary: 446

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

 1 Cor 15:1-11

I am reminding you, brothers and sisters,
of the Gospel I preached to you,
which you indeed received and in which you also stand.

St. Paul reminds the Corinthians of the words he spoke to them when he visited them.  This is a wonderful verse to use in defense of the Protestant objections to Tradition.  As St. Paul is congratulating them for obeying the Gospel preached by word and does not mention Scripture.

Through it you are also being saved,
if you hold fast to the word I preached to you,
unless you believed in vain.

And this is a wonderful verse to use against the Protestant doctrine of absolute assurance of salvation.   Note that he says they have "believed in vain" if they had not held fast to the Traditions passed down to them.

For I handed on to you as of first importance what I also received:
that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures;
that he was buried;

And this is the essence of Tradition.  He received it and then himself handed it down further.

that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures;
that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve.
After that, he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at once,
most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.
After that he appeared to James,
then to all the Apostles.

St. Paul recounts a short history of Christianity.

Last of all, as to one born abnormally,
he appeared to me.
For I am the least of the Apostles,
not fit to be called an Apostle,
because I persecuted the Church of God.

Then, humbly, he recounts that he can hardly understand the mercy of God which made him an Apostle even though he had formerly persecuted the Church.

But by the grace of God I am what I am,

And he can't change what God has done, so he accepts it.

and his grace to me has not been ineffective.

Nor, he admits, has his preaching been of no effect.  So, he manages a small pat on the back for himself.

Indeed, I have toiled harder than all of them;

Come to think of it, he says, he has worked harder than any of the other Apostles.

not I, however, but the grace of God that is with me.

But it was God who was working through him.

Therefore, whether it be I or they,
so we preach and so you believed.

And it doesn't matter anyway, whether it was he or the other Apostles.  They are all teaching the same faith.

Responsorial Psalm Ps 118:1b-2, 16ab-17, 28

Response. (1) Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good,
for his mercy endures forever.
Let the house of Israel say,
"His mercy endures forever."

R. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.

"The right hand of the LORD is exalted;
the right hand of the LORD has struck with power."
I shall not die, but live,
and declare the works of the LORD.

R. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.

You are my God, and I give thanks to you;
O my God, I extol you.

R. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.

If you've been paying attention, the Psalms lately, have all been about giving thanks and praising God.  To some, this may seem boring.  One fellow recently said to me, "If all you do in heaven is sit around and praise God, heaven must be awfully boring."

This reaction reminds me of another verse from Scripture, when Jesus asks:

Luke 7:40-42
King James Version (KJV)
⁴⁰ And Jesus answering said unto him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And he saith, Master, say on.  ⁴¹ There was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty.  ⁴² And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most?

Those who do not get bored of thanking and praising God for His mercy are those who understand how much we owe which we can never repay.

Luke 17:15-17
King James Version (KJV)
¹⁵ And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God,  ¹⁶ And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan.  ¹⁷ And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine?

Don't ever get tired of giving God praise and thanks.  Even if you were to do it with every breath, you would never repay Him still.

A reading from the Holy Gospel according to St. Luke

Wow!  I'm good.  This is the reading I mentioned above.  I only gave a small excerpt of it.

Lk 7:36-50

A certain Pharisee invited Jesus to dine with him,and he entered the Pharisee's house and reclined at table.

An unnamed Pharisee invited Jesus to dinner at his house.

Now there was a sinful woman in the citywho learned that he was at table in the house of the Pharisee.

A certain unnamed woman of ill repute learned that Jesus would be there.

Note:  According to Catholic tradition, with a small "t", this is reputed to be St. Mary of Magdala (aka the Magdalene).  She is also the woman mentioned in Scripture from whom Jesus exorcised many demons and the woman who was to be stoned for adultery.

Bringing an alabaster flask of ointment,she stood behind him at his feet weepingand began to bathe his feet with her tears.

St. Mary is also known as the 13th Apostle because of her well known love for Jesus.  Apparently, at this time, she had received some sort of premonition of His upcoming crucifixion, because she began to prepare Him for His funeral.  And this is also the reason for her tears.

Then she wiped them with her hair,kissed them, and anointed them with the ointment.When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this he said to himself,"If this man were a prophet,he would know who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him,that she is a sinner."

The poor Pharisee was aghast that Jesus, who was reputed to be such a holy man, would permit this woman to perform all these sensual acts upon Him.  And also, her infamy was not unknown to him.

Jesus said to him in reply,

Jesus read his mind.  So He asked Simon (aka Peter) a rhetorical question.

"Simon, I have something to say to you.""Tell me, teacher," he said."Two people were in debt to a certain creditor;one owed five hundred days' wages and the other owed fifty.Since they were unable to repay the debt, he forgave it for both.Which of them will love him more?"

The question is a sort of riddle.  If two people owe someone money and they are both forgiven, who will feel more grateful.  The one who was forgiven much or the one who was forgiven only a little?

Simon said in reply,"The one, I suppose, whose larger debt was forgiven."

St. Peter guesses it was the one who was forgiven the bigger debt.

He said to him, "You have judged rightly."

"Correct!" says Jesus.

Then he turned to the woman and said to Simon,"Do you see this woman?When I entered your house, you did not give me water for my feet,but she has bathed them with her tearsand wiped them with her hair.You did not give me a kiss,but she has not ceased kissing my feet since the time I entered.You did not anoint my head with oil,but she anointed my feet with ointment.So I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven;hence, she has shown great love.But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little."

Then Jesus pointed to the woman and said, you see how lovingly she has treated me since I came in this house.  No one has even given me water for my feet, but she bathed me in her tears and wiped them with her hair and she has not stopped kissing my feet since I entered.  No one has anointed my head with oil but she anointed my feet with oil.  She has shown great love because I have forgiven all her sins.  Therefore she loves me the more.

But the one to whom little is forgiven, that one returns little love.

He said to her, "Your sins are forgiven."

Then He said to her, "Your sins are forgiven."

The others at table said to themselves,"Who is this who even forgives sins?"

The other guests were astounded that He would claim to forgive anyone's sins.

But he said to the woman,"Your faith has saved you; go in peace."

But He simply said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you, go in peace."

Faith and love.  A saving combination.

Sincerely,

De Maria