October 22, 2012

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Monday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 473

Reading 1 from the Letter of St. Paul to the Ephesians

Eph 2:1-10

Brothers and sisters:
You were dead in your transgressions and sins
in which you once lived following the age of this world,
following the ruler of the power of the air,
the spirit that is now at work in the disobedient.

Brethren, at one time, you were under the dominion of the Enemy, doing the works of the enemy:

Romans 6:16

King James Version (KJV)

¹⁶ Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?

All of us once lived among them in the desires of our flesh,
following the wishes of the flesh and the impulses,
and we were by nature children of wrath, like the rest.

Once we were sinners and lived according to the desires of the flesh as does the rest of the world.

But God, who is rich in mercy,
because of the great love he had for us,
even when we were dead in our transgressions,
brought us to life with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
raised us up with him,
and seated us with him in the heavens in Christ Jesus,
that in the ages to come
he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace
in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.

But in His great mercy, God the Father sent His Son to save us from our sins, even when we were still in a condition of sinfulness.

For by grace you have been saved through faith,
and this is not from you; it is the gift of God;

This, is, again, a Sacramental teaching.  Let us compare to:

Acts 2:37-39

King James Version (KJV)

³⁷ Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?
³⁸ Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
³⁹ For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.

It is the Holy Spirit (i.e. Holy Ghost) which is the Gift of God.  And it is the Holy Spirit which pours out His grace upon us in the Sacraments. In this case, Baptism.  We approach the font of grace in a state of faith, or we condemn ourselves:

Mark 16:16

King James Version (KJV)

¹⁶ He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.

it is not from works, so no one may boast.

The Sacraments now save us in this life.  Whereas, if we deny the Sacraments and attempt to be considered meritorious by living according to the Commandments alone, that is commendable:

Galatians 3:12

King James Version (KJV)

¹² And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them.

 But the Sacraments are superior, because they are the work of God in our soul:

Titus 3:5

King James Version (KJV)

⁵ Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;

For we are his handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for good works
that God has prepared in advance,
that we should live in them.

The key to understanding this passage are the words, "created in Christ Jesus for good works".

John 1:3

King James Version (KJV)

³ All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

That is a reference to Christ.  Christ is He through whom all things are made.  That means us, as well.  Note that we are all made by Christ unto good works.  WHEN WE ARE CONCEIVED IN OUR MOTHER'S WOMB.  

Note also that God prepared good works for us to do "in advance."  These are the Ten Commandments.  

We were made to walk in them folks.  But we failed.  And Christ has come to make a new Creature, that we may be born again in His image and be saved.

1 Corinthians 7:19

King James Version (KJV)

¹⁹ Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the commandments of God.

Galatians 6:15

King James Version (KJV)

¹⁵ For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.

 Do you see a resemblance between those two verses?  Those who keep the Commandments are new Creatures in Christ.

Revelation 22:14

King James Version (KJV)

¹⁴ Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.

 Responsorial Psalm Ps 100:1b-2, 3, 4ab, 4c-5

R. (3b) The Lord made us, we belong to him.
Sing joyfully to the LORD all you lands;
serve the LORD with gladness;
come before him with joyful song.
R. The Lord made us, we belong to him.
Know that the LORD is God;
he made us, his we are;
his people, the flock he tends.
R. The Lord made us, we belong to him.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
his courts with praise.
R. The Lord made us, we belong to him.
Give thanks to him; bless his name, for he is good:
the LORD, whose kindness endures forever,
and his faithfulness, to all generations.
R. The Lord made us, we belong to him.

That is a Psalm from the Old Testament.  Even in the Old Testament, the Hebrews realized that they were made by God unto good works that they should walk in them.

A reading from the Holy Gospel according to St. Luke

Lk 12:13-21

Someone in the crowd said to Jesus,
"Teacher, tell my brother to share the inheritance with me."
He replied to him,
"Friend, who appointed me as your judge and arbitrator?"

At first glance, this contradicts other Scriptures.  St. Paul says:

1 Corinthians 6:2-4

King James Version (KJV)

² Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters?
³ Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?
⁴ If then ye have judgments of things pertaining to this life, set them to judge who are least esteemed in the church.

 If St. Paul admonishes the Church to judge even the smallest matters in this life, why did Jesus refuse to judge between the two brothers?

Well, St. Paul goes on to say:

⁵ I speak to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you? no, not one that shall be able to judge between his brethren?

 That tells me that either this person or his brother or both, are not followers of Christ.  Christ, probably, would have judged between His disciples.  But, since He was not yet recognized as the King of Kings, He refused to take on the case because one or both of the subjects would probably not have abided by His decision.

Then he said to the crowd,
"Take care to guard against all greed,
for though one may be rich,
one's life does not consist of possessions."

Jesus took the opportunity to teach again, about greed.  St. Paul continues along the same vein:

⁶ But brother goeth to law with brother, and that before the unbelievers.
⁷ Now therefore there is utterly a fault among you, because ye go to law one with another. Why do ye not rather take wrong? why do ye not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded?
⁸ Nay, ye do wrong, and defraud, and that your brethren.

In other words, they go to law in order for the law to justify their greedy ambitions.

Then he told them a parable.
"There was a rich man whose land produced a bountiful harvest.
He asked himself, 'What shall I do,
for I do not have space to store my harvest?'
And he said, 'This is what I shall do:
I shall tear down my barns and build larger ones.
There I shall store all my grain and other goods
and I shall say to myself, 'Now as for you,
you have so many good things stored up for many years,
rest, eat, drink, be merry!'"

There's an old saying, "man proposes and God disposes."  This foolish man, instead of using his wealth to help his fellow man and enjoy his life, decided to hoard all his wealth for future use.  But tomorrow never comes.

But God said to him,
'You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you;
and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?'
Thus will it be for the one who stores up treasure for himself
but is not rich in what matters to God."

Therefore, those who think only about themselves, but do not help their fellow man, will be condemned to everlasting punishment.

Matthew 25:31-46

King James Version (KJV)

³¹ When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
³² And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:
³³ And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
³⁴ Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
³⁵ For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
³⁶ Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
³⁷ Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
³⁸ When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
³⁹ Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
⁴⁰ And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
⁴¹ Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
⁴² For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
⁴³ I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
⁴⁴ Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
⁴⁵ Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
⁴⁶ And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

 Sincerely,

De Maria