June 13, 2013

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Memorial of Saint Anthony of Padua, Priest and Doctor of the Church 
Lectionary: 362

Read more about St. Anthony Padua.  And I am a witness, if you need to find something that you lost, he is the Saint to pray for assistance.  He is still in the miracle business.

Reading 12 COR 3:15—4:1, 3-6

Brothers and sisters:
To this day, whenever Moses is read,
a veil lies over the hearts of the children of Israel,
but whenever a person turns to the Lord the veil is removed.

This is the reason that we can pray to the Saints.  We, who are baptized, walk with the Saints in heaven.  We see, as though in a mirror darkly, but we see because we have been enlightened by the Sanctifying grace poured into our souls in the Sacraments.

Now the Lord is the Spirit and where the Spirit of the Lord is,
there is freedom.

And the Spirit is in us.  We received the Spirit in Baptism.  And the Kingdom of God is within us.

All of us, gazing with unveiled face on the glory of the Lord,
are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory,
as from the Lord who is the Spirit.

This is a reference to the Eucharist.  Although Eucharistic adoration was not yet established, the Church has always come before the presence of the Lord in the Mass.  From that moment, we are being transformed from the glory of normal man to the glory of deified man.  God became man so that man could become God.  

CCC#460 The Word became flesh to make us "partakers of the divine nature":"For this is why the Word became man, and the Son of God became the Son of man: so that man, by entering into communion with the Word and thus receiving divine sonship, might become a son of God." "For the Son of God became man so that we might become God." "The only-begotten Son of God, wanting to make us sharers in his divinity, assumed our nature, so that he, made man, might make men gods."

Therefore, since we have this ministry through the mercy shown us,
we are not discouraged.
And even though our Gospel is veiled,
it is veiled for those who are perishing,
in whose case the god of this age
has blinded the minds of the unbelievers,

Those who do not believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ have not thrown aside the shackles of Satan.

so that they may not see the light of the Gospel
of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
For we do not preach ourselves but Jesus Christ as Lord,
and ourselves as your slaves for the sake of Jesus.

The Bishops and priests of the Catholic Church are the Servants of the servants of the Lord.  But we are all called to minister to one another in love according to the Commandment of Jesus Christ.

For God who said, Let light shine out of darkness,
has shone in our hearts to bring to light
the knowledge of the glory of God
on the face of Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ came into the world to be the light of the world.  So that any who believe in Him, could be saved.

Responsorial Psalm PS 85:9AB AND 10, 11-12, 13-14

R. (see 10b) The glory of the Lord will dwell in our land.
I will hear what God proclaims;
the LORD–for he proclaims peace to his people.
Near indeed is his salvation to those who fear him,
glory dwelling in our land.
R. The glory of the Lord will dwell in our land.
Kindness and truth shall meet;
justice and peace shall kiss.
Truth shall spring out of the earth,
and justice shall look down from heaven.
R. The glory of the Lord will dwell in our land.
The LORD himself will give his benefits;
our land shall yield its increase.
Justice shall walk before him,
and salvation, along the way of his steps.
R. The glory of the Lord will dwell in our land.

Jesus Christ is the glory of the Lord.  Jesus Christ is our salvation.  Jesus Christ is God incarnate.  Jesus Christ is love incarnate.  Jesus dwells in our land if he dwells in our hearts.  Jesus is Lord.

GospelMT 5:20-26

Jesus said to his disciples: 

“I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that

of the scribes and Pharisees,

you will not enter into the Kingdom of heaven.

This is daunting.  For all their weaknesses, the Pharisees and scribes sought to keep the Commandments of God.  But it speaks to the ministration of the New Testament which is in the Spirit and not in the letter as we read in yesterday's reading.

Unfortunately, too many of them thought that the mere action sufficed without considering the love of God and the faith which was the basis of the action.  Therefore in another place, Jesus said to them:

Matthew 23:23 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.

“You have heard that it was said to your ancestors,

You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment.

But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother

will be liable to judgment,

and whoever says to his brother,

Raqa, will be answerable to the Sanhedrin,

and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ will be liable to fiery Gehenna.

Jesus is not speaking literally here.  Because St. Paul calls the Galatians foolish even in Scripture (Gal 3:1).  And we believe there is such a thing as righteous anger as He, Himself expressed when He threw the money changers out of the Temple (John 2:13-17).

What I think it means is that we should strive to be at peace with one another and make certain that if we are angry, it is for a just cause.  

Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar,

and there recall that your brother

has anything against you,

leave your gift there at the altar,

go first and be reconciled with your brother,

and then come and offer your gift.

We can recall that Jesus said that we must forgive 7X70 times.  Have you ever noticed, in the Mass, that the sign of peace is said, before we approach the altar to receive Communion?  When we approach the altar to receive communion, we are offering our lives to God.  But, our offering will not be accepted if we do not reconcile without brothers first.  Of course, if our brother does not accept our earnest offer of reconciliation, that is his problem.

Settle with your opponent quickly while on the way to court with him.

Otherwise your opponent will hand you over to the judge,

and the judge will hand you over to the guard,

and you will be thrown into prison.

Amen, I say to you,

you will not be released until you have paid the last penny.”

Any grudges that we hold are an impediment to our entering into heaven.  If we do not remove them from our hearts, we will be condemned to purgatory until we have expiated our sin.