Navarre Bible Commentary:Saturday, 19th Week in Ordinary Time

Via Catholic World Art

Matthew 19:13–15

13 Then children were brought to him that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples rebuked the people; 14 but Jesus said, “Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them; for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.” 15 And he laid his hands on them and went away.

Catholic Exegesis:

The Second Vatican Council teaches  that if we are to derive the true meaning from the sacred texts,  attention must be devoted “not only to their content but to the unity of the whole of Scripture, the living tradition of the entire Church, and the analogy of faith. […] Everything to do with the interpretation of Scripture is ultimately subject to the judgment of the Church, which exercises the divinely conferred communion and ministry of watching over and interpreting the Word of God” (Dei Verbum, 12).

St. John Paul II, when he promulgated the Catechism of the Catholic Church,  explained that the Catechism "is a statement of the Church's faith and of catholic doctrine, attested to or illumined by Sacred Scripture, the Apostolic Tradition and the Church's Magisterium."  He went on to "declare it to be a sure norm for teaching the faith and thus a valid and legitimate instrument for ecclesial communion" (Fidei Depositum).

Cited in the Catechism:

Passages from this Gospel reading are not cited in the Catechism.

Commentary:

Jesus blesses the children

19:13–14. Once again (see Mt 18:1–6) Jesus shows his special love for children, by drawing them close and blessing them. The Church, also, shows special concern for children by urging the need for Baptism: “That this law extends not only to adults but also to infants and children, and that the Church has received this from Apostolic tradition, is confirmed by the unanimous teaching and authority of the Fathers.

“Besides, it is not to be supposed that Christ the Lord would have withheld the sacrament and grace of Baptism from children, of whom he said: ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them; for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven’ whom also he embraced, upon whom he imposed hands, to whom he gave his blessing” (St Pius V, Catechism, 2, 2, 32).

Source: The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries. Biblical text from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and by Scepter Publishers in the United States. We encourage readers to purchase The Navarre Bible for personal study. See Scepter Publishers for details.

"Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ." St Jerome  

Navarre Bible Commentary:Thursday, 29th Week in Ordinary Time

Holy Fire by Todd L. Thomas

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam

Thursday, October 24, 2013

29th Week in Ordinary Time

Luke 12:49-53

Jesus the Cause of Dissension

(Jesus said to His disciples,) [49] "I came to cast fire upon the earth; and would that it were already kindled! [50] I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how I am constrained until it is accomplished! [51] Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division; [52] for henceforth in one house there will be five divided, three against two and two against three; [53] they will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against her mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law."

Cited in the Catechism:  In declaring the promulgation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Blessed John Paul II explained that the Catechism "is a statement of the Church's faith and of catholic doctrine, attested to or illumined by Sacred Scripture, the Apostolic Tradition and the Church's Magisterium."  He went on to "declare it to be a sure norm for teaching the faith and thus a valid and legitimate instrument for ecclesial communion" (Fidei Depositum). Passages from this Gospel reading are cited in paragraphs 536, 607, 696, 1225 and 2804 of the Catechism.

Commentary:

49-50. In the Bible, fire is often used to describe God's burning love for men. This divine love finds its highest expression in the Son of God become man: "God so loved the world that He gave His only Son" (John 3:16). Jesus voluntarily gave up His life out of love for us, and "greater love has no man than this, that a man lays down his life for his friends" (John 15:13).

In these words reported by St. Luke, Jesus Christ reveals His abounding desire to give His life for love of us. He calls His death a baptism, because from it He will arise victorious never to die again. Our Baptism is a submersion in Christ's death, in which we die to sin and are reborn to the new life of grace: "We were buried therefore with Him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life" (Romans 6:4).

Through this new life, we Christians should become set on fire in the same way as Jesus set His disciples on fire: "With the amazing naturalness of the things of God, the contemplative soul is filled with apostolic zeal. 'My heart became hot within me, a fire blazed forth from my thoughts' (Psalm 38:4). What could this fire be if not the fire that Christ talks about: 'I came to cast fire upon the earth, and would that it were already kindled' (Luke 12:49). An apostolic fire that acquires its strength in prayer: there is no better way than this to carry on, throughout the whole world, the battle of peace to which every Christian is called to fill up what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ (cf. Colossians 1:24)" (St. J. Escriva, Christ Is Passing By, 120).

51-53. God has come into the world with a message of peace (cf. Luke 2:14) and reconciliation (cf. Romans 5:11). By resisting, through sin, the redeeming work of Christ, we become His opponents. Injustice and error lead to division and war. "Insofar as men are sinners, the threat of war hangs over them and will so continue until the coming of Christ; but insofar as they can vanquish sin by coming together in charity, violence itself will be vanquished" (Vatican II, Gaudium Et Spes, 78).

During His own life on earth, Christ was a sign of contradiction (cf. Luke 2:34). Our Lord is forewarning His disciples about the contention and division which will accompany the spread of the Gospel (cf. Luke 6:20-23; Matthew 10:24).

Source: The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries. Biblical text from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and by Scepter Publishers in the United States. We encourage readers to purchase The Navarre Bible for personal study. See Scepter Publishers for details.

"Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ." St Jerome

Pope Francis Borrows Idea From Joe Catholic

Pope Gives Homework
I have been sharing with RCIA groups and Joe Catholic for years that we should celebrate our Baptism Days as our Re-Birthdays. Today Pope Francis pretty much said the same thing in his general audience and assigned everyone listening "homework" to go and find out their Baptism dates.

Baptism is a Big Deal
It goes without saying that Baptism is a big deal and it should be treated as such. In the interest of full disclosure, the truth is I got this idea from reading an article a few years ago on Catholic Culture that talked about the practice of celebrating Baptismal days like birthdays because they are our re-birth days. Our family now celebrates the anniversary of our re-birthdays. I recommend you do the same with your family. Treat your family member to their favorite meal, make them a cake and reflect on the readings from that day. You can also use it as an opportunity to review the Church teaching on Baptism. I assure you that doing all of this will enrich your lives. In preparing for a talk I was going to give to RCIA a few years ago, I discovered I was baptized on the traditional Feast of the Epiphany, January 6th. Now this feast day has even more personal meaning to me.

Find the Date
Take some time out in the next few days to discover the dates of your Baptism and those of your family. Mark the date on your calendar and plan on celebrating. If you don't remember the date, I have a few recommendations. First, if you received your marriage certificate from you parish, they would have had to confirm your previous sacraments. Additionally, you can contact the parish or diocese in which you were baptized. I was surprised that my old parish where I was confirmed had my records. This was fortunate since the church I was baptized in no longer exists. Even if that is the case, the diocese will have a record of the Baptism. If you were not Catholic at the time of your Baptism, it may take a little bit more work. Chances are you had to do this as part of the RCIA process. If not, try talking to some of your relatives that may remember. Most churches keep records of Baptisms.

The Role of the God-Parents

Miracle of Life
I was originally going to write a post about the Superman-Christ comparison that is floating around the blogosphere. I have tabled that idea for a few days. Not because I haven't seen the new movie, but because I have a new Godson. His name is Leighton Owen Romo. He was born at 10:05 A.M. yesterday morning and I got to hold him for the first time today.

There is nothing like holding a newborn baby to appreciate the miracle of life.

No More Debate
One of the reasons I decided to quit coaching debate was all the time it took away from family. I especially want to spend time with my Godchildren: Isabelle, Luke, Alexcia and now Leighton. I want them to grow up knowing that Stacey and I are there for them if they ever need us. In particular, I want them to grow up knowing we pray for them daily and that we take seriously the  role of being Godparents. According to the Catholic Education Center, a "godparent should be a trustworthy witness of the faith who will help the godchild attain salvation." The bottom line is our job is to help their parents get them to heaven. And since we don't have any grandchildren yet, we can spoil them a little bit too.

Re-Birthday: Celebrating Our Baptismal Day

Last night our family attended the Easter Vigil and we saw a number of men, women and children entered fully into the Church. Many were baptized. Our parish has a Baptismal font that is large enough for adults to kneel within it and be covered in the pouring waters. There is no way they can forget that moment!

It goes without saying that Baptism is a big deal and it should be treated as such. A few years ago I read an article on Catholic Culture that talked about the practice of celebrating Baptismal days like birthdays because they are our re-birth days. We now celebrate the anniversary of our re-birthdays. I recommend you do the same with your family. Treat your family member to their favorite meal, make them a cake and reflect on the readings from that day. I assure you it will enrich your lives. In preparing for a talk I was going to give to RCIA a few years ago, I discovered I was baptized on the Feast of the Epiphany. Now that feast day has a more personal meaning to me.

Take some time out in the next few days to discover the date of your Baptism and mark it on your calendar.  Happy Easter!

Lights Out! Flame On!

Pope Benedict XVI, Easter Vigil 2012, photo from The Herald

We are preparing with excitement for tonight's Easter Vigil. Tonight our niece and goddaughter will be baptized, confirmed and receive the Eucharist for the fist time. We will not be alone, for many other families in our parish will be celebrating their family members' entrance into the Catholic Church. Tonight, all across the world people are being brought into the Catholic Church.

It's been almost ten years since I attended my first Easter Vigil when our son Kevin entered the Church. Since then we have attended Easter Vigil each year whether we have a family member or friend entering the Church or not. The Easter Vigil Mass is the high point of the year. It is without equivocation the most sublime liturgical celebration. Did I mention it normally lasts 3+ hours and begins when the sun sets?

We will begin our evening in darkness. As the Mass begins we all will gather around a flaming pit where Father Mathew will light the Easter Candle. We will then proceed into the sanctuary where we will have our own tapers lit as a reminder of our own baptismal promises.

Next we begin the Liturgy of the Word, which tonight, consists of ten readings and is a synthesis of the entire salvation history of man and the coming of our Lord, Jesus Christ. We begin with a reading from Genesis, "In the beginning..."  We are led into the Gospel reading of the Resurrection with a passage from the epistle letter of Saint Paul to the Romans.

The Mass continues with the administration of the initiation sacraments: Baptism, Confirmation and Communion. I hope to share pictures from this evening's Mass later tonight.