October 8, 2016: Saturday, 27th week, Ordinary Time
- 'Law scroll' pin: "Before faith came, we were held in custody under the law" (1st reading)
- Clothing: "Clothe yourself with Christ" (1st reading)
- 'Heart' pin: Rejoice, O hearts that seek the Lord (psalm)
- 'Mary' pin: “Blessed is the womb that carried you and the breasts you sucked” (gospel)
- OneLife LA button: Respect Life Month
- Green in C3 logo: Ordinary Time season
- Put on Christ/ Hurd (1st reading)
- One bread, one body/ Foley: choral (1st reading)
- Pan de vida/ Hurd, Moriarty; done in 4/4 (like doing Take Five in 4/4?) (v. 3∥1st reading)
- In Christ there is no east nor west (McKee tune)/ Oxenham: St. Peter tune, lyrics+ (1st reading)
- Somos el cuerpo de Cristo/We are the body of Christ/ Cortez (gospel)
- Psalm 105:1-11/ Silver
For Manos Abiertas Encounter: The Good Samaritan's heart, like Jesus', was touched by misery. A heart united with another's misery; that's mercy. Pity is different; I can feel pity when I see a wounded animal, but mercy is when I let another's misery touch me. It's an outward journey of misery to the heart. Hands-on philanthropy and having good feelings are good, but they're not mercy either. Mercy moves my heart, sometimes so much that the heart becomes like a compass at the North Pole and doesn't know where to stop.
Ask the Lord for the grace to have mercy. The only way is to recognize your own sin, and be forgiven by the Lord. You can be merciful only if you feel you've received the Lord's mercy. The return journey is from heart to hands. Stop torturing yourself over what wounded your heart. Receive mercy and begin the return trip, giving mercy to others, spreading mercy and love.
At Marian Jubilee vigil: Mary is the Mother of Mercy. The rosary is the history of God's mercy, a history of salvation for all shaped by grace. The mysteries are concrete events God’s intervention develops by. Through prayer and meditation on Jesus' life, we see his merciful face. Mary accompanies us, pointing to her Son who radiates the Father's mercy. She is Hodegetria, the Mother who points to the path we're to take to be Jesus' disciples. In each mystery, we feel her closeness and contemplate her as the first disciple of her Son.
Praying the rosary demands that we immerse ourselves in each day, to grasp the signs of Christ’s presence. When you contemplate a mystery, reflect on how God comes into your life, and discover how to follow Christ by serving others. By making events in Jesus' life our own, we share in his work of evangelization, so God’s Kingdom can spread. We're disciples and missionaries, bringing Christ wherever he asks us to be. We can't keep his presence within us; we must share his love, tenderness, goodness, mercy, freedom, and salvation with everyone. It's the joy of sharing that stops at nothing.
Mary helps us understand what it means to be a disciple. Her first act was to listen to God. She obeyed the angel's message and opened her heart to receive divine motherhood. She followed Jesus, listened to his every word, kept everything in her heart, and became the living memory of the signs Jesus worked to awaken our faith. Listening is the first step, but it needs to be translated into action. Put your life at the service of the Gospel, as Mary went to help Elizabeth. She gave birth to the Son of God. In Cana she showed concern for newlyweds. At Golgotha she stood beneath the cross and became the Mother of the Church. She encouraged the apostles in the Upper Room as they awaited the Spirit who would make them heralds of the Gospel. She did everything the Church is asked to do. Her faith teaches us to obey God; her self-denial shows us the importance of tending to others' needs; her tears show us the strength to console those in pain. Mary expresses how God is merciful to all. Invoke her, certain of the aid of her maternal mercy, so she may protect, help, and bless us: “We fly to your protection. Scorn not our petitions, but deliver us from every peril.”
- Gal 3:22-29 Scripture confined all things under the power of sin, that believers might receive the promise through faith. Before faith, we were held under law, but now we're no longer under that disciplinarian but are God's children in Christ. You who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male and female; you're one in Christ, Abraham’s descendants, and heirs.
- Ps 105:2-7 "The Lord remembers his covenant for ever." Sing praise; recall and proclaim his wondrous deeds. Seek to serve the Lord, you descendants of Abraham, chosen ones! God's judgments prevail.
- Lk 11:27-28 Woman / Jesus: “Blessed the womb that carried you and the breasts you sucked.” / “Rather, blessed those who hear and observe God's word.”
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| The Virgin suckling the Child/ Cranach 30 more; Vatican: "Show tender images of Mary breastfeeding" |
- Creighton: I suspect Jesus is resisting a compliment, but he goes deeper, saying that blessedness is not about who you know or what you have but observing God's word, letting it transform you. May God's word penetrate into my heart so I may live it effectively....
- One Bread, One Body: "Blessed discipleship": Being a disciple of Jesus means being blessed as Mary was and saying with her, "I'm the Lord's servant; let it be done to me according to your word"; it means means having the privilege of denying ourselves and taking up our crosses daily; it means being a blessing to all by making disciples. "Blest are your eyes because they see and your ears because they hear." All ages will call Mary, and Jesus' other disciples, blessed.
- Passionist: It’s not enough to be counted among the Communion of Saints, to talk about the gospel, or even to claim blood relationship with Jesus. We must not only hear Jesus' radical words but also change our life to do God's will, as Mary did. Do I give him my life?
- DailyScripture.net: "Hear the word of God and keep it": Mary heard and believed God's word and submitted herself to God's plan. Jesus said that whoever does God's is a friend of God and member of his family; they're blessed because they know God personally and rejoice in hearing and obeying him. We were made for God and are restless till we rest in him. "A Christian's only relatives are the saints" (Lucian of Antioch). Those who follow Christ enter into a new family, of saints here and in heaven. Kinship goes beyond flesh and blood; our adoption as God's children transforms our relationships and requires loyalty to God and his kingdom.
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