July 5, 2014: Saturday, 13th week, Ordinary Time
Readings
Pope Francis
- Am 9:11-15 I will rebuild David's fallen hut. All the nations shall bear my name. The plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the vintager, the sower. The juice of grapes shall drip down the mountains. I'll restore my people; they shall rebuild and inhabit their ruined cities, plant vineyards and drink the wine, set out gardens and eat the fruits.
- Ps 85:9ab, 10-14 "The Lord speaks of peace to his people." His salvation is near to all who fear him. Kindness and truth shall meet; justice and peace shall kiss. Truth shall spring from the earth and justice from heaven. The Lord will give his benefits...
- Mt 9:14-17 John's disciples / Jesus: “Why do we fast but not your disciples?” / “Wedding guests don't mourn when the groom is there, but when he's taken away, they'll fast. If you patch an old cloak with new cloth, the tear worsens. If you put new wine into old skins, the wine spills and the skins are ruined. New wine, fresh skins!”
Pope Francis
- Homily: Divine wisdom liberates those in the Lord's service. He's close to people who are fragile, discriminated against and oppressed, who trust in him. We're a people who serves God. Service is realized in prayer, adoration, proclaiming the Gospel, and acting in charity. The icon of the Church is the Virgin Mary, handmaid of the Lord, who after receiving the angel's message and conceiving Jesus, left quickly to help her elderly relative Elizabeth; she showed the preferred way to serve God is to serve our brothers and sisters in need. We learn to become the Lord's handmaid, to care for the small and the excluded. We're called to live charity in ordinary life: in family, in the parish, at work, with neighbors.... Charity is the main path of evangelization; in this, the Church has always shared people's difficulties and frailties and sought to instill hope. Persevere on this path, serving God in serving others. Put human dignity at the center of every action, because the human person is in the image of God!
The Church is the people who serve the Lord, experiencing and living in the freedom he gives. The Lord frees us from sin and selfishness to give ourselves with joy, like Mary who, free in God's freedom realized in love, thought of those with greater need. God has given us freedom to adore God, to serve God, and to serve him even in our brothers and sisters. This is the freedom we experience in Christian community; when we serve one another, the Lord frees us from ambition and rivalry, which undermine unity. He frees us from distrust, sadness, fear, emptiness, isolation, regret, complaints, and negative attitudes that make us more concerned with self-defending than self-giving. We're the Lord's disciples, though weak and sinners, called to live our faith with joy, courage, communion with God and others, adoration of God, and to face life's labors and trials.
Music
- Creighton: Our world is crying out for the justice and peace. As we cultivate them in our lives and relationships, we become people of peace and justice. What old skins need to be abandoned and new ones used for that?
- One Bread One Body: Amos concludes with a prophecy of hope. Hope won't disappoint.
- Passionist: Amos follows his prophecies of doom with a God's promise of fulfillment: vineyards, wine, abundance. / Jesus told parables of wedding banquets to convey the truths of his father. Wine symbolizes the new age; in the pouring of wine Jesus reveals himself as savior. Similarly, the wedding is a symbol of salvation; cf. the wedding feast of the Lamb re the end times (Rev 19:6-9); weddings are times for feasts, not fasts.
The Kingdom is now; we're in the end times. [Thinking about the eschaton reminds me of the 1993 lecture of Fr. Michael Suarez, SJ at the Weston School of Theology identifying the Christian mission as "to prolepticize the eschaton and to eff the ineffable".]
- Universalis: St. Antony Mary Zaccaria, priest, founded Clerks Regular of St. Paul ("Barnabites") to reform clergy and laity; St. Modwen, virgin, hermit; BB. George Nichols*, Richard Yaxley*, Thomas Belson, Humphrey Pritchard, martyrs, *priests: “What I can't say in words, I'll seal with my blood.”
Apparel
- "Grapes," "fruit" pins: The juice of grapes shall drip down the mountains. They shall plant vineyards and drink the wine, set out gardens and eat the fruits. (1st reading); people put new wine into fresh, not old, skins. (gospel)
- "Peace sign" tie bar: "The Lord speaks of peace to his people." (psalm)
- "Justice scales" pin: Justice shall walk before him. (psalm)
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