The Armor of God
Reflections and Prayers for Wartime
CHAPTER VII
The Eucharist
...The supernatural life has two sides: the building up of the Christ pattern and the tearing down of the old Adam.
Communion therefore implies not only a "receiving" but also a "giving." There can be no ascent to a higher life without death to a lower one.
Does not an Easter Sunday presuppose a Good Friday?
Does not all love imply mutual self-giving which ends in self-recovery?
This being so, should not the Communion rail be a place of exchange, instead of a place of exclusive receiving?...
[Continued tomorrow]
_____________
From:
The Armor of God
Reflections and Prayers for Wartime
by Rt. Rev. Msgr. Fulton J. Sheen
(C) 1943, P.J. Kenedy & Sons
This site is dedicated to promoting and defending the Catholic Faith, in union with Christ and His Church and in union with the authentic Holy Father, the faithful successor of St. Peter.
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Friday, February 25, 2011
Gospel for Saturday, 7th Week in Ordinary Time
From: Mark 10:13-16
Jesus and the Children
[13] And they were bringing children to Him, that He might touch them; and the disciples rebuked them. [14] But when Jesus saw it He was indignant, and said to them, "Let the children come to Me, do not hinder them; for to such belongs the Kingdom of God. [15] Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the Kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it." [16] And He took them in His arms and blessed them, laying His hands upon them.
_______________________
Commentary:
13-16. This Gospel account has an attractive freshness and vividness about it which may be connected with St. Peter, from whom St. Mark would have taken the story. It is one of the few occasions when the Gospels tell us that Christ became angry. What provoked His anger was the disciples' intolerance: they felt that these people bringing children to Jesus were a nuisance: it meant a waste of His time; Christ had more serious things to do than be involved with little children. The disciples were well-intentioned; it was just that they were applying the wrong criteria. What Jesus had told them quite recently had not registered: "Whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me, receives not Me but Him who sent Me" (Mark 9:37).
Our Lord also stresses that a Christian has to become like a child to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. "To be little you have to believe as children believe, to love as children love, to abandon yourself as children do..., to pray as children pray" ([St] J. Escriva, "Holy Rosary", Prologue).
Our Lord's words express simply and graphically the key doctrine of man's divine sonship: God is our Father and we are His sons and daughters, His children; the whole of religion is summed up in the relationship of a son with His good Father. This awareness of God as Father involves a sense of dependence on our Father in Heaven and trusting abandonment to His loving providence--in the way a child trusts its father or mother; the humility of recognizing that we can do nothing by ourselves; simplicity and sincerity, which make us straightforward and honest in our dealings with God and man.
_____________________
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland. Reprinted with permission from Four Courts Press and Scepter Publishers, the U.S. publisher.
Jesus and the Children
[13] And they were bringing children to Him, that He might touch them; and the disciples rebuked them. [14] But when Jesus saw it He was indignant, and said to them, "Let the children come to Me, do not hinder them; for to such belongs the Kingdom of God. [15] Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the Kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it." [16] And He took them in His arms and blessed them, laying His hands upon them.
_______________________
Commentary:
13-16. This Gospel account has an attractive freshness and vividness about it which may be connected with St. Peter, from whom St. Mark would have taken the story. It is one of the few occasions when the Gospels tell us that Christ became angry. What provoked His anger was the disciples' intolerance: they felt that these people bringing children to Jesus were a nuisance: it meant a waste of His time; Christ had more serious things to do than be involved with little children. The disciples were well-intentioned; it was just that they were applying the wrong criteria. What Jesus had told them quite recently had not registered: "Whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me, receives not Me but Him who sent Me" (Mark 9:37).
Our Lord also stresses that a Christian has to become like a child to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. "To be little you have to believe as children believe, to love as children love, to abandon yourself as children do..., to pray as children pray" ([St] J. Escriva, "Holy Rosary", Prologue).
Our Lord's words express simply and graphically the key doctrine of man's divine sonship: God is our Father and we are His sons and daughters, His children; the whole of religion is summed up in the relationship of a son with His good Father. This awareness of God as Father involves a sense of dependence on our Father in Heaven and trusting abandonment to His loving providence--in the way a child trusts its father or mother; the humility of recognizing that we can do nothing by ourselves; simplicity and sincerity, which make us straightforward and honest in our dealings with God and man.
_____________________
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland. Reprinted with permission from Four Courts Press and Scepter Publishers, the U.S. publisher.
Prayers & Reflections for February 25
The Armor of God
Reflections and Prayers for Wartime
CHAPTER VII
The Eucharist
...But there is another aspect of Communion of which we but rarely think.
Communion implies not only receiving Divine Life, it means also God giving human life.
All love is reciprocal.
There is no one-sided love, for love by its nature demands mutuality.
God thirsts for us, but that means that man must also thirst for God.
But do we ever think of Christ receiving Communion from us?...
[Continued tomorrow]
_____________
From:
The Armor of God
Reflections and Prayers for Wartime
by Rt. Rev. Msgr. Fulton J. Sheen
(C) 1943, P.J. Kenedy & Sons
Reflections and Prayers for Wartime
CHAPTER VII
The Eucharist
...But there is another aspect of Communion of which we but rarely think.
Communion implies not only receiving Divine Life, it means also God giving human life.
All love is reciprocal.
There is no one-sided love, for love by its nature demands mutuality.
God thirsts for us, but that means that man must also thirst for God.
But do we ever think of Christ receiving Communion from us?...
[Continued tomorrow]
_____________
From:
The Armor of God
Reflections and Prayers for Wartime
by Rt. Rev. Msgr. Fulton J. Sheen
(C) 1943, P.J. Kenedy & Sons
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Gospel for Friday, 7th Week in Ordinary Time
From: Mark 10:1-12
The Indissolubility of Marriage
[1] And He (Jesus) left there and went to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan, and crowds gathered to Him again; and again, as His custom was, He taught them.
[2] And Pharisees came up and in order to test Him asked, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?" [3] He answered them, "What did Moses command you?" [4] They said, "Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of divorce, and to put her away." [5] But Jesus said to them, "For your hardness of heart he wrote this commandment. [6] But from the beginning of creation, 'God made them male and female.'; [7] `For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, [8] and the two shall become one.' So they are no longer two but one. [9] What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder."
[10] And in the house the disciples asked Him about this matter. [11] And He said to them, "Whoever divorces his wife and marries another, commits adultery against her; 12] and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery."
_______________
Commentary:
1-12. This kind of scene occurs often in the Gospel. The malice of the Pharisees contrasts with the simplicity of the crowd, who listen attentively to Jesus' teaching. The Pharisees' question aimed at tricking Jesus into going against the Law of Moses. But Jesus Christ, Messiah and Son of God, has perfect understanding of that Law. Moses had permitted divorce because of the hardness of that ancient people: women had an ignominious position in those primitive tribes (they were regarded almost as animals or slaves); Moses, therefore, protected women's dignity against these abuses by devising the certificate of divorce; this was a real social advance. It was a document by which the husband repudiated his wife and she obtained freedom. Jesus restores to its original purity the dignity of man and woman in marriage, as instituted by God at the beginning of creation. "A man leaves his father and his mother and cleaves to his wife, and they become one flesh" (Genesis 2:24): in this way God established from the very beginning the unity and indissolubility of marriage. The Church's Magisterium, the only authorized interpreter of the Gospel and of the natural law, has constantly guarded and defended this teaching and has proclaimed it solemnly in countless documents (Council of Florence, "Pro Armeniis"; Council of Trent, "De Sacram. Matr."; Pius XI, "Casti Connubi"; Vatican II, "Gaudium Et Spes", 48; etc.).
Here is a good summary of this doctrine: "The indissolubility of marriage is not a caprice of the Church nor is it merely a positive ecclesiastical law. It is a precept of natural law, of divine law, and responds perfectly to our nature and to the supernatural order of grace" (St J. Escriva, "Conversations", 97). Cf. note on Matthew 5:31-32.
5-9. When a Christian realizes that this teaching applies to everyone at all times, he should not be afraid of people reacting against it: "It is a fundamental duty of the Church to reaffirm strongly [...] the doctrine of the indissolubility of marriage. To all those who, in our times, consider it too difficult, or indeed impossible, to be bound to one person for the whole of life, and to those caught up in a culture that rejects the indissolubility of marriage and openly mocks the commitment of spouses to fidelity, it is necessary to reaffirm the good news of the definitive nature of that conjugal love that has in Christ its foundation and strength (cf. Ephesians 5:25).
"Being rooted in the personal and total self-giving of the couple, and being required by the good of the children, the indissolubility of marriage finds its ultimate truth in the plan that God has manifested in His revelation: He wills and He communicates the indissolubility of marriage as a fruit, a sign and a requirement of the absolutely faithful love that God has for man and that the Lord Jesus has for the Church.
"Christ renews the first plan that the Creator inscribed in the hearts of man and woman, and in the celebration of the sacrament of matrimony offers `a new heart': thus the couples are not only able to overcome `hardness of heart' (Matthew 19:8), but also and above all they are able to share the full and definitive love of Christ, the new and eternal Covenant made flesh. Just as the Lord Jesus is the `faithful witness' (Revelation 3:14), the `yes' of the promises of God (cf. 2 Corinthians 1:20) and thus the supreme realization of the unconditional faithfulness with which God loves His people, so Christian couples are called to participate truly in the irrevocable indissolubility that binds Christ to the Church, His bride, loved by Him to the end (cf. John 13:1).
"To bear witness to the inestimable value of the indissolubility and fidelity of marriage is one of the most precious and most urgent tasks of Christian couples in our time" (John Paul II, "Familiaris Consortio", 20).
___________________________
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland. Reprinted with permission from Four Courts Press and Scepter Publishers, the U.S. publisher.
The Indissolubility of Marriage
[1] And He (Jesus) left there and went to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan, and crowds gathered to Him again; and again, as His custom was, He taught them.
[2] And Pharisees came up and in order to test Him asked, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?" [3] He answered them, "What did Moses command you?" [4] They said, "Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of divorce, and to put her away." [5] But Jesus said to them, "For your hardness of heart he wrote this commandment. [6] But from the beginning of creation, 'God made them male and female.'; [7] `For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, [8] and the two shall become one.' So they are no longer two but one. [9] What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder."
[10] And in the house the disciples asked Him about this matter. [11] And He said to them, "Whoever divorces his wife and marries another, commits adultery against her; 12] and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery."
_______________
Commentary:
1-12. This kind of scene occurs often in the Gospel. The malice of the Pharisees contrasts with the simplicity of the crowd, who listen attentively to Jesus' teaching. The Pharisees' question aimed at tricking Jesus into going against the Law of Moses. But Jesus Christ, Messiah and Son of God, has perfect understanding of that Law. Moses had permitted divorce because of the hardness of that ancient people: women had an ignominious position in those primitive tribes (they were regarded almost as animals or slaves); Moses, therefore, protected women's dignity against these abuses by devising the certificate of divorce; this was a real social advance. It was a document by which the husband repudiated his wife and she obtained freedom. Jesus restores to its original purity the dignity of man and woman in marriage, as instituted by God at the beginning of creation. "A man leaves his father and his mother and cleaves to his wife, and they become one flesh" (Genesis 2:24): in this way God established from the very beginning the unity and indissolubility of marriage. The Church's Magisterium, the only authorized interpreter of the Gospel and of the natural law, has constantly guarded and defended this teaching and has proclaimed it solemnly in countless documents (Council of Florence, "Pro Armeniis"; Council of Trent, "De Sacram. Matr."; Pius XI, "Casti Connubi"; Vatican II, "Gaudium Et Spes", 48; etc.).
Here is a good summary of this doctrine: "The indissolubility of marriage is not a caprice of the Church nor is it merely a positive ecclesiastical law. It is a precept of natural law, of divine law, and responds perfectly to our nature and to the supernatural order of grace" (St J. Escriva, "Conversations", 97). Cf. note on Matthew 5:31-32.
5-9. When a Christian realizes that this teaching applies to everyone at all times, he should not be afraid of people reacting against it: "It is a fundamental duty of the Church to reaffirm strongly [...] the doctrine of the indissolubility of marriage. To all those who, in our times, consider it too difficult, or indeed impossible, to be bound to one person for the whole of life, and to those caught up in a culture that rejects the indissolubility of marriage and openly mocks the commitment of spouses to fidelity, it is necessary to reaffirm the good news of the definitive nature of that conjugal love that has in Christ its foundation and strength (cf. Ephesians 5:25).
"Being rooted in the personal and total self-giving of the couple, and being required by the good of the children, the indissolubility of marriage finds its ultimate truth in the plan that God has manifested in His revelation: He wills and He communicates the indissolubility of marriage as a fruit, a sign and a requirement of the absolutely faithful love that God has for man and that the Lord Jesus has for the Church.
"Christ renews the first plan that the Creator inscribed in the hearts of man and woman, and in the celebration of the sacrament of matrimony offers `a new heart': thus the couples are not only able to overcome `hardness of heart' (Matthew 19:8), but also and above all they are able to share the full and definitive love of Christ, the new and eternal Covenant made flesh. Just as the Lord Jesus is the `faithful witness' (Revelation 3:14), the `yes' of the promises of God (cf. 2 Corinthians 1:20) and thus the supreme realization of the unconditional faithfulness with which God loves His people, so Christian couples are called to participate truly in the irrevocable indissolubility that binds Christ to the Church, His bride, loved by Him to the end (cf. John 13:1).
"To bear witness to the inestimable value of the indissolubility and fidelity of marriage is one of the most precious and most urgent tasks of Christian couples in our time" (John Paul II, "Familiaris Consortio", 20).
___________________________
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland. Reprinted with permission from Four Courts Press and Scepter Publishers, the U.S. publisher.
Prayers & Reflections for February 24
The Armor of God
Reflections and Prayers for Wartime
CHAPTER VII
The Eucharist
Communion is first of all the receiving of Divine Life, a life to which we are no more entitled than marble is entitled to blooming.
It is a pure gift of an all-merciful God who so loved us that He willed to be united with us, not in the bonds of flesh, but in the ineffable bonds of the Spirit where love knows no satiety, but only rapture and joy.
[Continued tomorrow]
_____________
From:
The Armor of God
Reflections and Prayers for Wartime
by Rt. Rev. Msgr. Fulton J. Sheen
(C) 1943, P.J. Kenedy & Sons
Reflections and Prayers for Wartime
CHAPTER VII
The Eucharist
Communion is first of all the receiving of Divine Life, a life to which we are no more entitled than marble is entitled to blooming.
It is a pure gift of an all-merciful God who so loved us that He willed to be united with us, not in the bonds of flesh, but in the ineffable bonds of the Spirit where love knows no satiety, but only rapture and joy.
[Continued tomorrow]
_____________
From:
The Armor of God
Reflections and Prayers for Wartime
by Rt. Rev. Msgr. Fulton J. Sheen
(C) 1943, P.J. Kenedy & Sons
Dr Edward Peters: My brief replies to Albany's brief response
Dr Peters writes:
A political wag once observed that the fastest way to start a ruckus on Capitol Hill is to point out what the Constitution actually says. In the Church, it seems, the fastest way to start a ruckus is to point out what the Code of Canon Law actually says.See them here
The Diocese of Albany has responded, briefly, to my comments regarding the eligibility of Gov. Andrew Cuomo for holy Communion under Canon 915 of the Code of Canon Law.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Gospel for Thursday, 7th Week in Ordinary Time
From: Mark 9:41-50
Scandal
[41] "For truly, I say to you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose his reward.
[42] "Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea. [43] And if your hand causes you to sin cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. [45] And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame than with two feet to be thrown into hell. [47] And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell, [48] where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched. [49] For every one will be salted with fire. [50] Salt is good; but if the salt has lost its saltiness, how will you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another."
____________________
Commentary:
41. The value and merit of good works lies mainly in the love of God with which they are done: "A little act, done for love, is worth so much" (J. Escriva, "The Way", 814). God regards in a special way acts of service to others, however small: "Do you see that glass of water or that piece of bread which a holy soul gives to a poor person for God's sake; it is a small matter, God knows, and in human judgment hardly worthy of consideration: God, notwithstanding, recompenses it, and forthwith gives for it some increase of charity" (St Francis de Sales, "Treatise on the Love of God", book 2, chap. 2).
42. "Scandal is anything said, done or omitted which leads another to commit sin" ("St Pius X Catechism", 417). Scandal is called, and is, diabolical when the aim of the scandal-giver is to provoke his neighbor to sin, understanding sin as offense against God. Since sin is the greatest of all evils, it is easy to understand why scandal is so serious and, therefore, why Christ condemns it so roundly. Causing scandal to children is especially serious, because they are so less able to defend themselves against evil. What Christ says applies to everyone, but especially to parents and teachers, who are responsible before God for the souls of the young.
43. "Hell", literally "Gehenna" or "Ge-hinnom", was a little valley south of Jerusalem, outside the walls and below the city. For centuries it was used as the city dump. Usually garbage was burned to avoid it being a focus of infection. Gehenna was, proverbially, an unclean and unhealthy place: our Lord used this to explain in a graphic way the unquenchable fire of hell.
43-48. After teaching the obligation everyone has to avoid giving scandal to others, Jesus now gives the basis of Christian moral teaching on the subject of "occasions of sin"--situations liable to lead to sin. He is very explicit: a person is obliged to avoid proximate occasions of sin, just as he is obliged to avoid sin itself; as God already put it in the Old Testament: "Whoever lives in dangerwill perish by it" (Sir 3:26-27). The eternal good of our soul is more important than any temporal good. Therefore, anything that places us in proximate danger of committing sin should be cut off and thrown away. By putting things in this way our Lord makes sure we recognize the seriousness of this obligation.
The Fathers see, in these references to hands and eyes and so forth, people who are persistent in evil and ever-ready to entice others to evil behavior and erroneous beliefs. These are the people we should distance ourselves from, so as to enter life, rather than accompany them to hell (St Augustine, "De Consensu Evangelistarum", IV, 16; St John Chrysostom, "Hom. on St Matthew", 60).
44. "Where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched": these words constituting v. 44 are not in the better manuscripts. They are taken from Isaiah 66:24 and are repeated as a kind of refrain in vv. 46 (omitted for the same reason as v. 44) and 48. Our Lord uses them to refer to the torments of hell. Often "the worm that does not die" is explained as the eternal remorse felt by those in hell; and the "fire which is not quenched," as their physical pain. The Fathers also say that both things may possibly refer to physical torments. In any case, the punishment in question is terrible and unending.
49-50. "Every one will be salted with fire." St Bede comments on these words: "Everyone will be salted with fire, says Jesus, because spiritual wisdom must purify all the elect of any kind of corruption through carnal desire. Or he may be speaking of the fire of tribulation, which exercises the patience of the faithful to enable them to reach perfection" (St Bede, "In Marci Evangelium expositio, in loc.").
Some codexes add: "and every sacrifice will be salted with salt". This phrase in Leviticus (2:12), prescribed that all sacrificial offerings should be seasoned with salt to prevent corruption. This prescription of the Old Testament is used here to teach Christians to offer themselves as pleasing victims, impregnated with the spirit of the Gospel, symbolized by salt. Our Lord's address, which arises out of a dispute over who is the greatest, ends with a lesson about fraternal peace and charity. On salt which has lost its taste cf. note on Mt 5:13.
___________________________
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland. Reprinted with permission from Four Courts Press and Scepter Publishers, the U.S. publisher.
Scandal
[41] "For truly, I say to you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose his reward.
[42] "Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea. [43] And if your hand causes you to sin cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. [45] And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame than with two feet to be thrown into hell. [47] And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell, [48] where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched. [49] For every one will be salted with fire. [50] Salt is good; but if the salt has lost its saltiness, how will you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another."
____________________
Commentary:
41. The value and merit of good works lies mainly in the love of God with which they are done: "A little act, done for love, is worth so much" (J. Escriva, "The Way", 814). God regards in a special way acts of service to others, however small: "Do you see that glass of water or that piece of bread which a holy soul gives to a poor person for God's sake; it is a small matter, God knows, and in human judgment hardly worthy of consideration: God, notwithstanding, recompenses it, and forthwith gives for it some increase of charity" (St Francis de Sales, "Treatise on the Love of God", book 2, chap. 2).
42. "Scandal is anything said, done or omitted which leads another to commit sin" ("St Pius X Catechism", 417). Scandal is called, and is, diabolical when the aim of the scandal-giver is to provoke his neighbor to sin, understanding sin as offense against God. Since sin is the greatest of all evils, it is easy to understand why scandal is so serious and, therefore, why Christ condemns it so roundly. Causing scandal to children is especially serious, because they are so less able to defend themselves against evil. What Christ says applies to everyone, but especially to parents and teachers, who are responsible before God for the souls of the young.
43. "Hell", literally "Gehenna" or "Ge-hinnom", was a little valley south of Jerusalem, outside the walls and below the city. For centuries it was used as the city dump. Usually garbage was burned to avoid it being a focus of infection. Gehenna was, proverbially, an unclean and unhealthy place: our Lord used this to explain in a graphic way the unquenchable fire of hell.
43-48. After teaching the obligation everyone has to avoid giving scandal to others, Jesus now gives the basis of Christian moral teaching on the subject of "occasions of sin"--situations liable to lead to sin. He is very explicit: a person is obliged to avoid proximate occasions of sin, just as he is obliged to avoid sin itself; as God already put it in the Old Testament: "Whoever lives in dangerwill perish by it" (Sir 3:26-27). The eternal good of our soul is more important than any temporal good. Therefore, anything that places us in proximate danger of committing sin should be cut off and thrown away. By putting things in this way our Lord makes sure we recognize the seriousness of this obligation.
The Fathers see, in these references to hands and eyes and so forth, people who are persistent in evil and ever-ready to entice others to evil behavior and erroneous beliefs. These are the people we should distance ourselves from, so as to enter life, rather than accompany them to hell (St Augustine, "De Consensu Evangelistarum", IV, 16; St John Chrysostom, "Hom. on St Matthew", 60).
44. "Where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched": these words constituting v. 44 are not in the better manuscripts. They are taken from Isaiah 66:24 and are repeated as a kind of refrain in vv. 46 (omitted for the same reason as v. 44) and 48. Our Lord uses them to refer to the torments of hell. Often "the worm that does not die" is explained as the eternal remorse felt by those in hell; and the "fire which is not quenched," as their physical pain. The Fathers also say that both things may possibly refer to physical torments. In any case, the punishment in question is terrible and unending.
49-50. "Every one will be salted with fire." St Bede comments on these words: "Everyone will be salted with fire, says Jesus, because spiritual wisdom must purify all the elect of any kind of corruption through carnal desire. Or he may be speaking of the fire of tribulation, which exercises the patience of the faithful to enable them to reach perfection" (St Bede, "In Marci Evangelium expositio, in loc.").
Some codexes add: "and every sacrifice will be salted with salt". This phrase in Leviticus (2:12), prescribed that all sacrificial offerings should be seasoned with salt to prevent corruption. This prescription of the Old Testament is used here to teach Christians to offer themselves as pleasing victims, impregnated with the spirit of the Gospel, symbolized by salt. Our Lord's address, which arises out of a dispute over who is the greatest, ends with a lesson about fraternal peace and charity. On salt which has lost its taste cf. note on Mt 5:13.
___________________________
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland. Reprinted with permission from Four Courts Press and Scepter Publishers, the U.S. publisher.
Prayers & Reflections for February 23
The Armor of God
Reflections and Prayers for Wartime
CHAPTER VII
The Eucharist
In the Offertory we offered ourselves to God through Christ.
In the Consecration God accepted our offering in Christ and changes us into Christ.
Now in the Communion, Christ gives Himself back to me.
All life is sustained by communion with a higher life.
If the plants could speak they would say to the moisture and sunlight, "Unless you enter into communion with me, become possessed of my higher laws and powers, you shall not have life in you."
If the animals could speak, they would, say to the plants: "Unless you enter into communion with me, you shall not have my higher life in you."
We say to all lower creation: "Unless you enter into communion with me, you shall not share in my human life."
Why then should not our Lord say to us: "Unless you enter into communion with Me, you shall not have life in. you"?
The lower is transformed into the higher, plants into animals, animals into man, and man, in a more exalted way, becomes "divinized," if I may use that expression, through and through by the life of Christ.
[Continued tomorrow]
_____________
From:
The Armor of God
Reflections and Prayers for Wartime
by Rt. Rev. Msgr. Fulton J. Sheen
(C) 1943, P.J. Kenedy & Sons
Reflections and Prayers for Wartime
CHAPTER VII
The Eucharist
In the Offertory we offered ourselves to God through Christ.
In the Consecration God accepted our offering in Christ and changes us into Christ.
Now in the Communion, Christ gives Himself back to me.
All life is sustained by communion with a higher life.
If the plants could speak they would say to the moisture and sunlight, "Unless you enter into communion with me, become possessed of my higher laws and powers, you shall not have life in you."
If the animals could speak, they would, say to the plants: "Unless you enter into communion with me, you shall not have my higher life in you."
We say to all lower creation: "Unless you enter into communion with me, you shall not share in my human life."
Why then should not our Lord say to us: "Unless you enter into communion with Me, you shall not have life in. you"?
The lower is transformed into the higher, plants into animals, animals into man, and man, in a more exalted way, becomes "divinized," if I may use that expression, through and through by the life of Christ.
[Continued tomorrow]
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From:
The Armor of God
Reflections and Prayers for Wartime
by Rt. Rev. Msgr. Fulton J. Sheen
(C) 1943, P.J. Kenedy & Sons
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Gospel for Feb 23, Memorial: St Polycarp, bishop and martyr
Wednesday, 7th Week in Ordinary Time
From: Mark 9:38-40
Being the Servant of All
[38] John said to Him (Jesus), "Teacher, we saw a man casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him, because he was not following us." [39] But Jesus said, "Do not forbid him; for no one who does a mighty work in My name will be able soon after to speak evil of Me. [40] For he that is not against us is for us."
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Commentary:
38-40. Our Lord warns the Apostles, and through them all Christians, against exclusivism in the apostolate--the notion that "good is not good unless I am the one who does it." We must assimilate this teaching of Christ's: good is good, even if it is not I who do it. Cf. note on Luke 9:49-50.
[The note on Luke 9:49-50 states:
49-50. Our Lord corrects the exclusivist and intolerant attitude of the Apostles. St Paul later learned this lesson, as we can see from what he wrote during his imprisonment in Rome: "Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will [...]. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed; and in that I rejoice" (Philippians 1:15, 18). "Rejoice, when you see others working in good apostolic activities. And ask God to grant them abundant grace and that they may respond to that grace. Then, you, on your way: convince yourself that it's the only way for you" (St J. Escriva, "The Way", 965).]
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Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland. Reprinted with permission from Four Courts Press and Scepter Publishers, the U.S. publisher.
From: Mark 9:38-40
Being the Servant of All
[38] John said to Him (Jesus), "Teacher, we saw a man casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him, because he was not following us." [39] But Jesus said, "Do not forbid him; for no one who does a mighty work in My name will be able soon after to speak evil of Me. [40] For he that is not against us is for us."
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Commentary:
38-40. Our Lord warns the Apostles, and through them all Christians, against exclusivism in the apostolate--the notion that "good is not good unless I am the one who does it." We must assimilate this teaching of Christ's: good is good, even if it is not I who do it. Cf. note on Luke 9:49-50.
[The note on Luke 9:49-50 states:
49-50. Our Lord corrects the exclusivist and intolerant attitude of the Apostles. St Paul later learned this lesson, as we can see from what he wrote during his imprisonment in Rome: "Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will [...]. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed; and in that I rejoice" (Philippians 1:15, 18). "Rejoice, when you see others working in good apostolic activities. And ask God to grant them abundant grace and that they may respond to that grace. Then, you, on your way: convince yourself that it's the only way for you" (St J. Escriva, "The Way", 965).]
___________________________
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland. Reprinted with permission from Four Courts Press and Scepter Publishers, the U.S. publisher.
Prayers & Reflections for February 22
The Armor of God
Reflections and Prayers for Wartime
CHAPTER VII
The Eucharist
...I care not if the species remain, or that, like the bread and the wine I seem to all earthly eyes the same as before.
My station in life, my routine duties, my work, my family - all these are but the species of my life which may remain unchanged; but the substance of my life, my soul, my mind, my will, my heart - "transubstantiate," transform them wholly into Thy service, so that through me all may know how sweet is the love of Christ. Amen.
[Continued tomorrow]
_____________
From:
The Armor of God
Reflections and Prayers for Wartime
by Rt. Rev. Msgr. Fulton J. Sheen
(C) 1943, P.J. Kenedy & Sons
Reflections and Prayers for Wartime
CHAPTER VII
The Eucharist
...I care not if the species remain, or that, like the bread and the wine I seem to all earthly eyes the same as before.
My station in life, my routine duties, my work, my family - all these are but the species of my life which may remain unchanged; but the substance of my life, my soul, my mind, my will, my heart - "transubstantiate," transform them wholly into Thy service, so that through me all may know how sweet is the love of Christ. Amen.
[Continued tomorrow]
_____________
From:
The Armor of God
Reflections and Prayers for Wartime
by Rt. Rev. Msgr. Fulton J. Sheen
(C) 1943, P.J. Kenedy & Sons
Vatican Canon Law Adviser: NY Governor Andrew Cuomo Should Be Denied Communion
(CNSNews.com) – In receiving communion at a Mass offered by the Roman Catholic bishop of Albany, NY, that state’s governor, Andrew Cuomo, who supports abortion, gay marriage, and lives with his girlfriend, committed an “objectively sacreligious” act that “produces grave scandal,” according to Dr. Edward Peters, a top expert in Catholic Church law and a consultant to the highest court at the Vatican.More here
Peters specifically cited Cuomo's cohabiting with Food Network hostess Sandra Lee as "publicly acting in violation of a fundamental moral expectation of the Church," and that "as long as he persists in such conduct, he should refrain from taking holy Communion" and "if he approaches for holy Communion, he should be denied the august sacrament in accord with Canon 915."...
Monday, February 21, 2011
Gospel for Feb 22, Feast: The Chair of St. Peter, Apostle
From: Matthew 16:13-19
Peter's Profession of Faith and His Primacy
[13] Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, "Who do men say that the Son of Man is?" [14] And they said, "Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets." [15] He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" [16] Simon Peter replied, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." [17] And Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in Heaven. [18] And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My Church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it. [19] I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in Heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in Heaven."
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Commentary:
13-20. In this passage St. Peter is promised primacy over the whole Church, a primacy which Jesus will confer on him after His Resurrection, as we learn in the Gospel of St. John (cf. John 21:15-18). This supreme authority is given to Peter for the benefit of the Church. Because the Church has to last until the end of time, this authority will be passed on to Peter's successors down through history. The Bishop of Rome, the Pope, is the successor of Peter.
The solemn Magisterium of the Church, in the First Vatican Council, defined the doctrine of the primacy of Peter and his successors in these terms:
"We teach and declare, therefore, according to the testimony of the Gospel that the primacy of jurisdiction over the whole Church was immediately and directly promised to and conferred upon the blessed Apostle Peter by Christ the Lord. For to Simon, Christ had said, `You shall be called Cephas' (John 1:42). Then, after Simon had acknowledged Christ with the confession, `You are the Christ, the Son of the living God' (Matthew 16:16), it was to Simon alone that the solemn words were spoken by the Lord: `Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in Heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My Church, and the powers of Hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in Heaven, and what you loose on earth shall be loosed in Heaven' (Matthew 16:17-19). And after His Resurrection, Jesus conferred upon Simon Peter alone the jurisdiction of supreme shepherd and ruler over His whole fold with the words, `Feed My lambs....Feed My sheep' (John 21:15-17) [...]___________________________
"(Canon) Therefore, if anyone says that the blessed Apostle Peter was not constituted by Christ the Lord as the Prince of all the Apostles and the visible head of the whole Church militant, or that he received immediately and directly from Jesus Christ our Lord only a primacy of honor and not a true and proper primacy of jurisdiction: let him be condemned.
"Now, what Christ the Lord, Supreme Shepherd and watchful guardian of the flock, established in the person of the blessed Apostle Peter for the perpetual safety and everlasting good of the Church must, by the will of the same, endure without interruption in the Church which was founded on the rock and which will remain firm until the end of the world. Indeed, `no one doubts, in fact it is obvious to all ages, that the holy and most blessed Peter, Prince and head of the Apostles, the pillar of faith, and the foundation of the Catholic Church, received the keys of the kingdom from our Lord Jesus Christ, the Savior and the Redeemer of the human race; and even to this time and forever he lives,' and governs, `and exercises judgment in his successors' (cf. Council of Ephesus), the bishops of the holy Roman See, which he established and consecrated with his blood. Therefore, whoever succeeds Peter in this Chair holds Peter's primacy over the whole Church according to the plan of Christ Himself [...]. For this reason, `because of its greater sovereignty,' it was always `necessary for every church, that is, the faithful who are everywhere, to be in agreement' with the same Roman Church [...]
"(Canon) Therefore, if anyone says that it is not according to the institution of Christ our Lord himself, that is, by divine law, that St Peter has perpetual successors in the primacy over the whole Church; or if anyone says that the Roman Pontiff is not the successor of St Peter in the same primacy: let him be condemned.
"We think it extremely necessary to assert solemnly the prerogative which the only-begotten Son of God deigned to join to the highest pastoral office. "And so, faithfully keeping to the tradition received from the beginning of the Christian faith, for the glory of God our Savior, for the exaltation of the Catholic religion, and for the salvation of Christian peoples, We, with the approval of the sacred council, teach and define that it is a divinely revealed dogma: that the Roman Pontiff, when he speaks "ex cathedra", that is, when, acting in the office of shepherd and teacher of all Christians, he defines, by virtue of his supreme apostolic authority, doctrine concerning faith or morals to be held by the universal Church, possesses through the divine assistance promised to him in the person of St. Peter, the infallibility with which the divine Redeemer willed His Church to be endowed in defining doctrine concerning faith or morals; and that such definitions of the Roman Pontiff are therefore irreformable because of their nature, but not because of the agreement of the Church.
"(Canon) But if anyone presumes to contradict this our definition (God forbid him to do so): let him be condemned" (Vatican I, "Pastor Aeternus", Chaps. 1, 2 and 4).
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland. Reprinted with permission from Four Courts Press and Scepter Publishers, the U.S. publisher.
Prayers & Reflections for February 21
The Armor of God
Reflections and Prayers for Wartime
CHAPTER VII
The Eucharist
...Gather up the fragments, and as the drop of water is absorbed in Thine; let my little cross be entwined with Thy great cross so that I may purchase the joys of everlasting bappiness in union witll Thee.
Consecrate these trials of my life which would go unrewarded unless united with Thee; "transubstantiate" me so that like bread which is now Thy Body, and wine which is now Thy Blood, I too may be wholly Thine...
[Continued tomorrow]
_____________
From:
The Armor of God
Reflections and Prayers for Wartime
by Rt. Rev. Msgr. Fulton J. Sheen
(C) 1943, P.J. Kenedy & Sons
Reflections and Prayers for Wartime
CHAPTER VII
The Eucharist
...Gather up the fragments, and as the drop of water is absorbed in Thine; let my little cross be entwined with Thy great cross so that I may purchase the joys of everlasting bappiness in union witll Thee.
Consecrate these trials of my life which would go unrewarded unless united with Thee; "transubstantiate" me so that like bread which is now Thy Body, and wine which is now Thy Blood, I too may be wholly Thine...
[Continued tomorrow]
_____________
From:
The Armor of God
Reflections and Prayers for Wartime
by Rt. Rev. Msgr. Fulton J. Sheen
(C) 1943, P.J. Kenedy & Sons
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Prayers & Reflections for February 20
The Armor of God
Reflections and Prayers for Wartime
CHAPTER VII
The Eucharist
...Offer it with thyself to the Heavenly Father in order that He looking down on this great sacrifice, may see only Thee, His Beloved Son, in whom He is well pleased.
Transmute the poor bread of my life into Thy Divine Life; thrill the wine of my wasted life into Thy Divine Spirit; unite my broken heart with Thy heart; change my cross into a crucifix.
Let not my abandonment and my sorrow and my bereavement go to waste....
[Continued tomorrow]
_____________
From:
The Armor of God
Reflections and Prayers for Wartime
by Rt. Rev. Msgr. Fulton J. Sheen
(C) 1943, P.J. Kenedy & Sons
Reflections and Prayers for Wartime
CHAPTER VII
The Eucharist
...Offer it with thyself to the Heavenly Father in order that He looking down on this great sacrifice, may see only Thee, His Beloved Son, in whom He is well pleased.
Transmute the poor bread of my life into Thy Divine Life; thrill the wine of my wasted life into Thy Divine Spirit; unite my broken heart with Thy heart; change my cross into a crucifix.
Let not my abandonment and my sorrow and my bereavement go to waste....
[Continued tomorrow]
_____________
From:
The Armor of God
Reflections and Prayers for Wartime
by Rt. Rev. Msgr. Fulton J. Sheen
(C) 1943, P.J. Kenedy & Sons