June 20, 2013

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Thursday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time 
Lectionary: 368

Reading 12 COR 11:1-11

Brothers and sisters:

If only you would put up with a little foolishness from me!

St. Paul is about to make a remark which seems foolish to people even today.

Please put up with me.

For I am jealous of you with the jealousy of God,

since I betrothed you to one husband

to present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.

St. Paul reveals that in our Baptism, we, men and women, are united to Christ in the same manner as a man and woman are married.  We become 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."

Even today, Protestants ridicule us for believing that we are one with Christ. 

But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning,

your thoughts may be corrupted

from a sincere and pure commitment to Christ.

For if someone comes and preaches another Jesus than the one we preached,

or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received

or a different gospel from the one you accepted,

you put up with it well enough.

For I think that I am not in any way inferior to these “superapostles.”

Even if I am untrained in speaking, I am not so in knowledge;

in every way we have made this plain to you in all things.

In my opinion, it is evident from a close reading of the New Testament, that St. Paul seemed to believe that some of the Apostles, especially St. James, were teaching error.  And, it is equally evident, that St. James thought that St. Paul was teaching error.  The "super apostles" to which he refers here, are, in my opinion, those he calls the "pillars" in Galatians 2:

6 But of these who seemed to be somewhat, (whatsoever they were, it maketh no matter to me: God accepteth no man's person:) for they who seemed to be somewhat in conference added nothing to me:7 But contrariwise, when they saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto me, as the gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter;  8 (For he that wrought effectually in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision, the same was mighty in me toward the Gentiles:)  9 And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship; that we should go unto the heathen, and they unto the circumcision

This is a very interesting subject and in order not to get too sidetracked, you might want to read my take on it, here and here. 

Did I make a mistake when I humbled myself so that you might be exalted,

because I preached the Gospel of God to you without charge?

St. Paul seems concerned that the Corinthians have lost faith in him.

I plundered other churches by accepting from them

in order to minister to you.

And when I was with you and in need, I did not burden anyone,

for the brothers who came from Macedonia

supplied my needs.

So I refrained and will refrain from burdening you in any way.

By the truth of Christ in me,

this boast of mine shall not be silenced

in the regions of Achaia.

And why? Because I do not love you?

God knows I do!

He pleads with them to understand that all which he has done has been out of love for them.

Responsorial PsalmPS 111:1B-2, 3-4, 7-8

R. (7a) Your works, O Lord, are justice and truth.
or:
R. Alleluia.
I will give thanks to the LORD with all my heart
in the company and assembly of the just.
Great are the works of the LORD,
exquisite in all their delights.
R. Your works, O Lord, are justice and truth.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Majesty and glory are his work,
and his justice endures forever.
He has won renown for his wondrous deeds;
gracious and merciful is the LORD.
R. Your works, O Lord, are justice and truth.
or:
R. Alleluia.
The works of his hands are faithful and just;
sure are all his precepts,
Reliable forever and ever,
wrought in truth and equity.
R. Your works, O Lord, are justice and truth.
or:
R. Alleluia.

The works of the Lord have to do with our salvation.  He mightily showed His power when He saved Noah and his family from the Flood.  He mightily showed His power when He saved the Hebrews from the Egyptians in the Exodus.   And now He mightily shows His power when we are made new creatures in Christ, in the Sacraments of the Catholic Church.

GospelMT 6:7-15

Jesus said to his disciples:
“In praying, do not babble like the pagans,
who think that they will be heard because of their many words.

We must understand what we are saying in our prayers.  Frequently, because we memorize many prayers, we say them without thinking.  Sometimes without even understanding what we are saying.  I remember a child who prayed, "Our Father who art in heaven, halloween they name…."  and another who said, "Hail Mary full of grass…."

Just as we understand what we are saying when we speak to each other, we need to know what we are saying when we speak to God.  It is good practice to turn our eyes to heaven, frequently, and simply talk to God as though He were standing beside us.  Because He is.

Do not be like them.
Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

“This is how you are to pray:

‘Our Father who art in heaven,

God you are our Father because you created us.  And you live in a spiritual place we call heaven where we all wish to go when we die and be united to you.

hallowed be thy name,

Dear God, your name is holy beyond all other names.  You are the Saint of saints because you created them and made them holy.  Holy means that you are completely without sin.  And everything you do is right.   Therefore you are holy and your name represents you and reminds everyone of your holiness.  

thy Kingdom come,

We await the coming of your reign on earth.  When all men will recognize that your Kingdom is in the Church where you already reign in the Holy Eucharist.

thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.

We also await the time when all men will obey you here on earth as the Saints and Angels already obey you in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread;

Dear God give us the physical sustenance we need to live day by day and the spiritual food, the Eucharist, which we need to become holier day by day in order to achieve that holiness without which no man can see you.

and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us;

And dear Lord, when we ask forgiveness, please wash away our sins as we have also cast away the sins of those who have asked us to forgive them.

and lead us not into temptation,

And protect us from every temptation to do evil and walk not your straight and narrow path.  Keep us in your light and open our eyes that we may see how to follow and stay close to you.

but deliver us from evil.’

And protect us Lord from the Enemy and all who would do us harm.  Protect us also from doing any evil to others.

“If you forgive others their transgressions,
your heavenly Father will forgive you.
But if you do not forgive others,
neither will your Father forgive your transgressions.”

Remember that in order to be forgiven of your sins, you must first forgive the sins of others against you.