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Tuesday, October 23, 2012

October 24, 2012


Wednesday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 475


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

Eph 3:2-12

Brothers and sisters:
You have heard of the stewardship of God's grace
that was given to me for your benefit,
namely, that the mystery was made known to me by revelation,
as I have written briefly earlier.
Brethren, I have before mentioned that God appointed me the Apostle to the Gentiles (nonJews, people who are not of Jewish heritage) by a vision of our Lord Jesus Christ.

When you read this
you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ,
which was not made known to human beings in other generations
as it has now been revealed
to his holy Apostles and prophets by the Spirit,
that the Gentiles are coheirs, members of the same Body,
and copartners in the promise in Christ Jesus through the Gospel.
Therefore, you should understand how I came to know that Christ has united the Gentiles to His Body that they may be saved according to God's promise, through His Gospel.

Of this I became a minister by the gift of God's grace
that was granted me in accord with the exercise of his power.
And He accorded me the authority to bestow His Grace to you through the Sacraments.
To me, the very least of all the holy ones, this grace was given,
Even though, I once persecuted the Church and therefore consider myself the least worthy of the Apostles, Christ gave me this grace.
to preach to the Gentiles the inscrutable riches of Christ,
In order that I might instruct the Gentiles about the rituals, rites and Sacraments of the Faith of Christ, through which He pours out His grace upon us.
and to bring to light for all what is the plan of the mystery
hidden from ages past in God who created all things,
And thereby, they might understand that plan which God the Maker of all, did not reveal in the past.
so that the manifold wisdom of God
might now be made known through the Church
to the principalities and authorities in the heavens.
But now He has revealed it to the Body of Christ, His Church, so that the Church may preach the good news even to the powers in Heaven.
This was according to the eternal purpose
that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord,
in whom we have boldness of speech
and confidence of access through faith in him.
And this has been His plan from the beginning.  That by His Son, He may bring His Word to fruition.
And because of our faith in His Son, we are encouraged to speak boldly and tell all the world the good news:

Matthew 10:27

King James Version (KJV)
27 What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops.

Responsorial Psalm Is 12:2-3, 4bcd, 5-6

Response. (see 3) You will draw water joyfully from the springs of salvation.
God indeed is my savior;
I am confident and unafraid.
My strength and my courage is the LORD,
and he has been my savior.
With joy you will draw water
at the fountain of salvation.
R. You will draw water joyfully from the springs of salvation.
Give thanks to the LORD, acclaim his name;
among the nations make known his deeds,
proclaim how exalted is his name.
R. You will draw water joyfully from the springs of salvation.
Sing praise to the LORD for his glorious achievement;
let this be known throughout all the earth.
Shout with exultation, O city of Zion,
for great in your midst
is the Holy One of Israel!
R. You will draw water joyfully from the springs of salvation.
The springs of salvation, that is a veiled expression for the Sacraments of Our Lord.  Always thank God that we are now privileged to approach the fountains of His Grace and receive from Him, life everlasting.

A reading from the Holy Gospel according to St. Luke

Lk 12:39-48

Jesus said to his disciples:
"Be sure of this:
if the master of the house had known the hour
when the thief was coming,
he would not have let his house be broken into.
You also must be prepared,
for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come."
Jesus said to His students, "I assure you that if a man knew that a thief was going to break into his house at a certain hour, he would not permit it.  Therefore, you must also be prepared, because the Son of Man will come like a thief in the night."

The lesson here is that we must be prepared to receive Jesus Christ at any hour.   Not that we should resist Him. 
Then Peter said,
"Lord, is this parable meant for us or for everyone?"
This confused St. Peter.  He wasn't sure whether all people should be prepared or just those who serve Christ.  That is, the Apostles.

And the Lord replied,
"Who, then, is the faithful and prudent steward
whom the master will put in charge of his servants
to distribute the food allowance at the proper time?
I will summarize Our Lord's response in these words, "Responsibility is accepted not given."  Are the ministerial priests the only ones whom God has commanded to love their neighbor and care for the sick and poor?  NO!  We are all called to be faithful and prudent stewards of God's grace.

Blessed is that servant whom his master on arrival finds doing so.
Blessed are they who accept the responsibility to care for their fellow man.  They are imitating the Father in heaven and by their actions, demonstrate that they are children of God.

Folks, works of faith are the hidden and most profound Sacrament upon which all of God's Sacraments are based.  Jesus said elsewhere:

Luke 11:41

King James Version (KJV)
41 But rather give alms of such things as ye have; and, behold, all things are clean unto you.
Don't be fooled.  Yes, the Sacraments save.  But they only save those who keep the Commandments.  Those who, by faith, work to provide for their neighbor.  They are not magic bullets which permit the wicked man into heaven.  In fact, if a wicked, unfaithful person were to accept the Sacraments, the opposite would happen.  He would surely condemn himself to hell for sacrilege.

God only saves those who keep His Commandments, either in the Sacraments or at the day of Judgement.

Truly, I say to you, he will put him
in charge of all his property.
This is the doctrine of rewards.  Protestants seem to be conflicted about this doctrine.  Some say that the term  "God is no respecter of persons" means that God treats everyone the same, be they sinner or saint.  It goes hand in hand with their doctrine of faith alone. 

But the Scripture is clear, God loves those who keep His Commandments.  Therefore, if you want God's respect, keep His Commandments.  Faith alone is a prescription for falling out of God's favor.

But if that servant says to himself,
'My master is delayed in coming,'
and begins to beat the menservants and the maidservants,
to eat and drink and get drunk,
then that servant's master will come
on an unexpected day and at an unknown hour
and will punish the servant severely
and assign him a place with the unfaithful.
Unrepentant sinners will not inherit the Kingdom of God.  It is clear, you can't serve God and mammon.  It doesn't matter how much one claims to love God if that love is not manifest in their actions:

Revelation 22:13-15

King James Version (KJV)
13 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.
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.
15 For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.
That servant who knew his master's will
but did not make preparations nor act in accord with his will
shall be beaten severely;
That should give fallen away Catholics pause.  Because they have been brought up in the Will of the Father.  They have been brought up in the Father's household.  But they threw it all away.
and the servant who was ignorant of his master's will
but acted in a way deserving of a severe beating
shall be beaten only lightly.
However, those who have never known the fullness of truth, but receive only bits and pieces outside the Church, although they will be punished, their punishment will not be as severe as the one's whom the Father had instructed.

Much will be required of the person entrusted with much,
and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more."
More is demanded of those who receive more.

This is a teaching on Purgatory.  Here are described two levels of punishment.  One is condemnation to eternal punishment (Matt 25:46).  The other is a lighter punishment which can only be a description of Purgatory (1 Cor 3:15).

Sincerely,

De Maria

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