September 26, 2014

Sept. 26

September 26, 2014:  Friday, 25th week, Ordinary Time

Look

  • 'Clock/s' tie/bar:  "There's an appointed time for everything" (1st reading)
  • 'Rock/stone' tie pin:  "Blessed be the Lord, my Rock" (psalm); "There's a time to scatter, and gather, stones" (1st reading)
  • 'Peace sign' tie bar:  "There's a time of peace" (1st reading)
  • 'Question mark' tie pin (can you find it?):  "Who do the crowds say I am?  What about you?"  (gospel)
  •   Red stripe in suspenders (not shown):  SS. Cosmas and Damian, martyrs
Listen
Pope Francis homily
To be a Christian means to be a “[Simon of] Cyrene,” bearing the Cross with Jesus.  Jesus guarded his true identity, stopping people and demons coming close to divulging it, because people misunderstood the Messiah as a military leader.  He only taught his identity to the Twelve:  "The Son of Man must suffer and be rejected, killed, and raised."  This is the path of your liberation, the path of the Messiah:  the Passion, the Cross.
Sin is ugly, but God’s love is so great that he saves us in the Cross.  You can’t understand Christ the Redeemer without the Cross!  The people didn’t understand the prophecies, that Jesus himself was the sacrificial Lamb.  Only on Palm Sunday did Jesus allow the crowds to cry out, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” and only because if they didn't, the stones would have.  But after His death, his identity appeared, starting with the centurion's confession.  Jesus prepares us to accompany him with our crosses, along his path to Redemption.  He prepares us to be ‘Cyrenes’ to help him bear the Cross; without this, we're not Christians.  Christianity is grace, a spiritual path of perfection, not merit.
Read
    "A time for everything"
    Words from today's readings
    Click here for animation
  • Eccl 3:1-11  There is an appointed time for everything:  to be born/die, plant/uproot, kill/heal, tear down/build, weep/laugh, mourn/dance, scatter/gather stones, embrace/not embrace, seek/lose, keep/cast away, rend/sew, be silent/speak, love/hate, be at war/peace.  God has made everything appropriate to its time, and put the timeless into our hearts, without our discovering his work.
  • Ps 144:1b, 2abc, 3-4  "Blessed be the Lord, my Rock!"  God is my mercy, fortress, stronghold, deliverer, shield.  We're like a breath...
  • Lk 9:18-22  Jesus / disciples:  “Who do the crowds say I am?” / “John the Baptist, Elijah, or an ancient prophet.’” / “But who do you say I am?”  Peter: “The Christ of God.”  He directed them not to tell anyone.  “The Son must suffer, be rejected, be killed, and be raised.”
Reflect
    • Creighton:  We don't control time; God does.  Jesus admonishes his disciples “it's not his time.”  Time can transcend clock measurement to become oneness with the Creator.  The 'timeless' in our hearts is a yearning for God.  May we discern whether we're in line with God’s timing, so we may be guided by God's timeless love.
    • Passionist:  The first reading is about acceptance of time, God's will, the futility of our plans, and our limitations.  It's counter-cultural; we frenzied multitaskers find it hard to slow down and realize there's a time for everything and that our plans or schedule may not be God's.  Similarly, in the Gospel we hear Jesus' acceptance of his mission, bewildering his apostles that his plans weren't theirs.
    • DailyScripture.net:  Why did Jesus tell the disciples to keep quiet about his identity?  "Things yet unfulfilled must be included in their preaching about [Jesus]:  cross, passion, death, resurrection.  He abolished death, robbed hell, overthrew the enemy, took away sin, opened heaven's gates to us, and united earth to heaven.  These things proved him to be God.  So he commanded them to guard the mystery until the plan should arrive at a suitable conclusion." (Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on Luke, Homily 49, paraphrased) 
    Posted by at

    No comments:

    Post a Comment

    Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)