June 15, 2013

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Saturday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time 
Lectionary: 364

Reading 12 COR 5:14-21

Brothers and sisters:

The love of Christ impels us,

once we have come to the conviction that one died for all;

therefore, all have died.

He indeed died for all,

so that those who live might no longer live for themselves

but for him who for their sake died and was raised.

Christ died that we might live and live more abundantly.  We live more abundantly when we live in His grace.  And when we live in His grace, we participate in the Divine Nature.

CCC#1997 Grace is a participation in the life of God. It introduces us into the intimacy of Trinitarian life: by Baptism the Christian participates in the grace of Christ, the Head of his Body. As an "adopted son" he can henceforth call God "Father," in union with the only Son. He receives the life of the Spirit who breathes charity into him and who forms the Church. 

Consequently, from now on we regard no one according to the flesh;

even if we once knew Christ according to the flesh,

yet now we know him so no longer.

Jesus Christ is resurrected therefore He is in the Spirit now:

1 Corinthians 15:45  And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.

So whoever is in Christ is a new creation:

the old things have passed away;

behold, new things have come.

When we are Baptized, we are born again of the Holy Spirit.  We are remade in the image of God.

And all this is from God,

who has reconciled us to himself through Christ

and given us the ministry of reconciliation,

namely, God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ,

not counting their trespasses against them

and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.

This is why we are the Body of Christ.  All of us who believe in Christ are members of His Body.  We are literally Christ.  As the CCC says:

1267 Baptism makes us members of the Body of Christ: "Therefore . . . we are members one of another." Baptism incorporates us into the Church. From the baptismal fonts is born the one People of God of the New Covenant, which transcends all the natural or human limits of nations, cultures, races, and sexes: "For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body."

This is not taken lightly.  Some people think this is only "so to speak".  No.  The Church teaches we are one with Christ. 

795 Christ and his Church thus together make up the "whole Christ" (Christus totus). The Church is one with Christ. The saints are acutely aware of this unity:

Let us rejoice then and give thanks that we have become not only Christians, but Christ himself. Do you understand and grasp, brethren, God's grace toward us? Marvel and rejoice: we have become Christ. For if he is the head, we are the members; he and we together are the whole man. . . . The fullness of Christ then is the head and the members. But what does "head and members" mean? Christ and the Church.

Our redeemer has shown himself to be one person with the holy Church whom he has taken to himself.

Head and members form as it were one and the same mystical person.

A reply of St. Joan of Arc to her judges sums up the faith of the holy doctors and the good sense of the believer: "About Jesus Christ and the Church, I simply know they're just one thing, and we shouldn't complicate the matter." 

So we are ambassadors for Christ,

as if God were appealing through us.

We implore you on behalf of Christ,

be reconciled to God.

The Church has now inherited this ministry.  And this ministry is accomplished in the preaching of the Word and in the administration of the Sacraments.  By which the grace of Jesus Christ is poured into our souls and we are renewed and regenerated in the Holy Spirit.

For our sake he made him to be sin who did not know sin,

so that we might become the righteousness of God in him.

Christ never sinned.  But He payed the price for our sin by sacrificing Himself to God in complete obedience to His Will and to the will of the men whom God had appointed to rule His people:

John 11:49 And one of them, named Caiaphas, being the high priest that same year, said unto them, Ye know nothing at all, 50 Nor consider that it is expedient for us, that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not.  51 And this spake he not of himself: but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation;

Responsorial PsalmPS 103:1-2, 3-4, 9-10, 11-12

R. (8a) The Lord is kind and merciful.
Bless the LORD, O my soul;
and all my being, bless his holy name.
Bless the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful.
He pardons all your iniquities,
he heals all your ills.
He redeems your life from destruction,
he crowns you with kindness and compassion.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful.
He will not always chide,
nor does he keep his wrath forever.
Not according to our sins does he deal with us,
nor does he requite us according to our crimes.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful.
For as the heavens are high above the earth,
so surpassing is his kindness toward those who fear him.
As far as the east is from the west,
so far has he put our transgressions from us.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful.

It isn't because of our works that God saves us.  Don't get me wrong, God will not save those who do evil.  And God will not save those who refuse to do His works.  So, only those who do the works of God will be saved.  But they are not saved because of their works.  They are saved because of the mercy of God. 

GospelMT 5:33-37

Jesus said to his disciples:

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

Do not take a false oath,
but make good to the Lord all that you vow.

But I say to you, do not swear at all;

not by heaven, for it is God’s throne;

nor by the earth, for it is his footstool;

nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King.

Do not swear by your head,

for you cannot make a single hair white or black.

Let your ‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No’ mean ‘No.’

Anything more is from the Evil One.”

Consider carefully what Jesus is saying.  He is not saying that we can go around saying meaningless things which we don't intend to keep.  We need to consider every word that comes out of our mouths.

Jesus is saying that our word is our bond.  He is saying that we don't need to make any further promises.  Our word should be enough for all men to count on us.  

Matthew 12:35 A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.  36 But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.  37 For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.

If you think talk is cheap and you can say whatever you want without consequences, think again.