October 9, 2012

Tuesday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 462

First Reading from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Galatians

Gal 1:13-24

Brothers and sisters:
You heard of my former way of life in Judaism,
how I persecuted the Church of God beyond measure
and tried to destroy it,
and progressed in Judaism
beyond many of my contemporaries among my race,
since I was even more a zealot for my ancestral traditions.

>>>St. Paul, who was born Saul of Tarsus, was once a fiercely zealot Pharisee who would put to death all whom he thought were opposed to the teachings of Moses:

Acts 9:1-2
King James Version (KJV)
9 And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest,² And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem.

But when he, who from my mother's womb had set me apart
and called me through his grace,
was pleased to reveal his Son to me,

>>>But then he had a vision of Christ:

Acts 9
³ And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven:⁴ And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?⁵ And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.

so that I might proclaim him to the Gentiles,

>>>Sts. Peter and Paul are set aside by Christ to proclaim the Gospel to the Gentiles.

Acts 15:7
King James Version (KJV)
⁷ And when there had been much disputing, Peter rose up, and said unto them, Men and brethren, ye know how that a good while ago God made choice among us, that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel, and believe.

Acts 9¹³ Then Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem:¹⁴ And here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that call on thy name.  ¹⁵ But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel:

I did not immediately consult flesh and blood,nor did I go up to Jerusalem
to those who were Apostles before me;
rather, I went into Arabia and then returned to Damascus.

>>>After he was baptized by Ananias, St. Paul did not go directly to the Apostles but traveled through Arabia and then returned to Damascus.

Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to confer with Cephas

>>>After three years, he went to Jerusalem to consult with St. Peter or Simon barJonah.  Cephas means rock.  It is the name which Jesus gave him.

John 1:42
King James Version (KJV)
⁴² And he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone.

and remained with him for fifteen days.

>>>He stayed with Cephas fifteen days.  He reveals the purpose of the visit later in the Epistle.  He went there to determine whether he was working in vain.  In other words, he had heard that many were being confused by his message:

2 Peter 3:15-16
King James Version (KJV)
¹⁵ And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you;  ¹⁶ As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.

But I did not see any other of the Apostles,
only James the brother of the Lord.

>>>I'm only guessing, but I think he went to see St. James because he needed to make sure that they were on the same page.  Read more.

(As to what I am writing to you, behold,
before God, I am not lying.)

>>>St. Paul wants us to know that he is not making up the story he is telling us.

Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia.
And I was unknown personally to the churches of Judea
that are in Christ;
they only kept hearing that "the one who once was persecuting us
is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy."

>>>After talking to Sts. Peter and James in Jerusalem, he continued his ministry, passing on the Gospel where ever he went.

So they glorified God because of me.

>>>And the Church glorified God because of the conversion of such a powerful and holy man.

Responsorial Psalm Ps 139:1b-3, 13-14ab, 14c-15

Response. (24b) Guide me, Lord, along the everlasting way.

O LORD, you have probed me and you know me;
you know when I sit and when I stand;
you understand my thoughts from afar.
My journeys and my rest you scrutinize,
with all my ways you are familiar.

R. Guide me, Lord, along the everlasting way.

Truly you have formed my inmost being;
you knit me in my mother’s womb.
I give you thanks that I am fearfully, wonderfully made;
wonderful are your works.

R. Guide me, Lord, along the everlasting way.

My soul also you knew full well;
nor was my frame unknown to you
When I was made in secret,
when I was fashioned in the depths of the earth.

R. Guide me, Lord, along the everlasting way.

>>>Each and everyone of us was created by God.  The only difference (besides original sin) between us and Adam is that Adam was created from dust.  Whereas we are created from the flesh and blood of our parents.  If you think about it, there isn't much difference after all.

A reading from the Holy Gospel according to St. Luke

Lk 10:38-42

Jesus entered a village
where a woman whose name was Martha welcomed him.

>>>Jesus went to see the family of St. Lazarus, the elder brother of Sts. Martha and Mary.  This is a wealthy family in the town of Magdala whom Jesus loved.

She had a sister named Mary
who sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak.

>>>When they arrived there, Mary, whom today we call St. Mary Magdalen, focused entirely upon listening to Christ.

Martha, burdened with much serving, came to him and said,
"Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving?
Tell her to help me."

>>>Martha felt that this was unfair because it left her to do all the cooking, cleaning and serving.

The Lord said to her in reply,
"Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things.
There is need of only one thing.
Mary has chosen the better part
and it will not be taken from her."

>>>But Jesus said to Martha, "Woman, do you not realize who I am?  I have fed 5000 with three fishes.  Why are you running around and worried about these little things?  Mary has the right idea.

Sometimes, Protestants will use this verse to attempt to disprove the Catholic doctrine of faith and works.  They will highlight Mary and say, "See, works are not necessary."

They run into a problem, however.  They don't exactly teach that works are not necessary.  They say we are not justified by good works.  But that we are justified unto good works.  A justified person produces good works.  An unjustified person does not.  Which would mean that Mary is not justified and therefore produces no good works.  Do you see?

So, what does this teach?  It is a Sacramental Teaching.  We are taught to appear before the Sacraments in the right disposition.  In other words, we need to know when to work and when to allow God to work.  In the Sacraments, when we are standing before God, God works.  At all other times, we work.  Read more.

Sincerely,

De Maria