Navarre Bible Commentary:Saturday, 26th Week in Ordinary Time

St. Faustina

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam

Saturday, October 6, 2012

26th Week in Ordinary Time

Memorial: St. Faustina

Luke 10:17-24

The Seventy Return From Their Mission

[17] The seventy returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name!" [18] And He (Jesus) said to them, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from Heaven. [19] Behold, I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing shall hurt you. [20] Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you; but rejoice that your names are written in Heaven."

Jesus Gives Thanks

[21] In that same hour He rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, "I thank Thee, Father, Lord of Heaven and earth, that thou hast hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to babes; yea, Father, for such was Thy gracious will. [22] All things have been delivered to Me by My Father; and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him."

[23] Then turning to the disciples He said privately, "Blessed are the eyes which see what you see! [24] For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it."

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 the Catechism, paragraphs 787, 1083 and 2603.

Commentary:

20. Our Lord corrects His disciples, making them see that the right reason for rejoicing lies in hope of reaching Heaven, not in the power to do miracles which He gave them for their mission. As He said on another occasion, "On that day many will say to Me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and cast out demons in Your name, and do many mighty works in Your name?' And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you evildoers'" (Matthew 7: 22-23). In other words, in the eyes of God doing His holy will at all times is more important than working miracles.

21. This passage of the Gospel is usually called our Lord's "hymn of joy" and is also found in St. Matthew (11:25-27). It is one of those moments when Jesus rejoices to see humble people understanding and accepting the word of God.

Our Lord also reveals one of the effects of humility--spiritual childhood. For example, in another passage He says: "Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven" (Matthew 18: 3). But spiritual childhood does not involve weakness, softness or ignorance: "I have often meditated on this life of spiritual childhood, which is not incompatible with fortitude, because it demands a strong will, proven maturity, an open and firm character [...]. To become children we must renounce our pride and self-sufficiency, recognizing that we can do nothing by ourselves. We must realize that we need grace, and the help of God our Father to find our way and keep it. To be little, you have to abandon yourself as children do, believe as children, beg as children beg" [St. J. Escriva, Christ Is Passing By, 10 and 143).

22. "This statement is a wonderful help to our faith," St. Ambrose comments, "because when you read 'all' you realize that Christ is all-powerful, that He is not inferior to the Father, or less perfect than He; when you read 'have been delivered to me', you confess that Christ is the Son, to whom everything belongs by right of being one in substance [with the Father] and not by grace of gift" (Expositio Evangelii Sec. Lucam, in loc.).

Here we see Christ as almighty Lord and God, consubstantial with the Father, and the only one capable of revealing who the Father is. At the same time, we can recognize the divine nature of Jesus only if the Father gives us the grace of faith--as He did to St. Peter (cf. Matthew 16:17).

23-24. Obviously, seeing Jesus with one's own eyes was a wonderful thing for people who believed in him. However, our Lord will say to Thomas, "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe" (John 20:29). St. Peter, for his part, tells us: "Without having seen Him you love Him; though you do not see Him you believe in Him and rejoice with unutterable and exalted joy. As the outcome of your faith you obtain the salvation of your souls" (1 Peter 1:8-9).

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

The Road to Emmaus

Road to Emmaus, Jon McNaughton

A Familiar Reading
Today's Gospel reading from Luke 24:13- 35 portrays the encounter between two disciples and Jesus as they walked on the road to Emmaus. This is one of those Easter time readings that we are all so familiar with that we make take its meaning for granted.

Liturgy of the Word
If we reflect on the passage carefully, we will discover that the story is more than two sad disciples encountering the resurrected Christ. It is also depicts imagery of the Holy Mass. Jesus, still not revealed to them, chastises the disciples for being discouraged: "O foolish men, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken!" (Luke 24:26, Navarre Bible). He then gives a recollection on salvation history by "beginning with Moses and all the prophets, He interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself." (Luke 24:27, Navarre Bible).  In other words, he breaks open the Liturgy of the Word, which makes up the first part of the Mass.

Liturgy of the Eucharist
After concluding His homily, Christ then stays with the two disciples, whose hearts are now burning. "When He was at table with them, He took the bread and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened and they recognized Him" (Luke 24: 29-31, Navarre Bible). This is clearly a depiction of the Liturgy of the Eucharist.

Participation in the Mass
In 2008 while praying the Regina Coeli, Pope Benedict XVI encouraged us to encounter Christ in the Word and in the Eucharist through our participation in Mass:

Today too we can enter into dialogue with Jesus, listening to His Word. Today too He breaks the bread for us and gives Himself as our bread. And thus the encounter with the risen Christ, which is also possible today, gives us a more profound and authentic faith, tempered so to say by the fire of the events of Easter. A robust faith because it is nourished not by human ideas by the Word of God and His real presence in the Eucharist.

Eucharistic-Gospel Lives
St. Josemaria saw in this Gospel reading a demonstration that we are all on the road to Emmaus. When we partake of Our Lord in the Mass, we are sent out to proclaim the Gospel with our lives.

And Jesus stays. Our eyes are opened, as were those of Cleopas and his companion, when Christ breaks the bread; and, though He vanishes once more from sight, we too will find strength to start out once more -- though night is falling -- to tell the others about Him, because so much joy cannot be kept in one heart alone. The road to Emmaus--our God has filled this name with sweetness. Now the entire world has become an Emmaus, for the Lord has opened up all the divine paths of the earth (St. J. Escriva, Friends of God, 313f).

Holy Thursday: The Institution of the Eucharist

Image captured from The Passion of the Christ

The Holy Thursday liturgy is rich and full of many symbols and teachings. One element of the events of the evening that is often overlooked is that it is the night in which our Lord instituted the priesthood and the sacrament of the Eucharist. While it may sound grammatically incorrect to include the two institutions (Priesthood and Eucharist) as one element, I think it is fitting because we can not have the Eucharist without the priesthood.

St. Josemaria says:

This is the source of the joy we feel on Holy Thursday — the realization that the creator has loved his creatures to such an extent. Our Lord Jesus Christ, as though all the other proofs of his mercy were insufficient, institutes the Eucharist so that he can always be close to us. We can only understand up to a point that he does so because Love moves him, who needs nothing, not to want to be separated from us. The Blessed Trinity has fallen in love with man, raised to the level of grace and made to God's image and likeness. (St Josemaria Escriva, Christ is Passing By, 84)

Spiritual Toolbox: What is the Triduum?

Holy Thursday marks the beginning of the shortest season on the Catholic Liturgical Calendar - The Triduum and the end of Lent. The term literally means "three days" and refers to the the three days of Christ's passion and death leading up to his glorious resurrection on Easter. The main lesson we can draw about this season is that we should experience it in its the totality. I recently wrote in a post on holiness, in which I argued that God provides us with all the tools necessary to answer the call to be holy. One of those tools is the liturgy. I cannot think of a richer liturgy than that celebrated on the three days of the Triduum.

Perhaps, like me, you found yourself lacking this Lenten season. Maybe you failed to practice all the good intentions of more prayer, daily Mass, or some other spiritual exercise. While all those practices are all important to our spiritual growth, we can still realign ourselves through the liturgy of the Triduum. It's not too late. Isn't incredible that the Lord is constantly giving us opportunities to reorient ourselves to Him?

Here is a video of Pope Benedict explaining the meaning of Triduum last year:

Here are some additional resources to use in reflection for the next three days:

• Holy Week Retreat, Father Pablo Straub
• The Easter Triduum: Entering into the Paschal Mystery, Carl E. Olson
• 18 Questions on the Paschal Triduum, USCCB

I still think Father Corapi's Triduum talks were some of the best on the subject. While he may no longer be in public ministry, that does not undermine the truth of what he taught. Regardless of what the real circumstances of his case were, he was never accused of teaching falsehood. If you do an Internet search (keywords: Father Corapi + Triduum), the talks can still be located.

Bookends: Palm Sunday & The Passion of Christ

Palm Sunday, Octavio Ocampo

NOTE on the Art: This unusual artwork, categorized by some as surrealism, is the work of Octavio Ocampo, a Mexican artist trained at the Fine Art Institute, Mexico City and the San Francisco Art Institute. He paints in what has been described as "the metamorphic style - using a technique of superimposing and juxtaposing realistic and figurative details within the images that he creates." I discovered his work while on a pilgrimage to the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Alabama (EWTN). He has a wonderful painting of Our Lady of Guadalupe called the Miracle of Roses that we purchased in Alabama and have over our fire place. Click on the image to enlarge it to see all the details.

Gospel Bookends
I have always found the Palm Sunday Mass to be an interesting one for it is rightly also called Passion Sunday and within this unique Liturgy we see two Gospel bookends that represent our treatment of Christ. We begin the Mass with a the Gospel reading done from the back of the Church. This passage describes the joyous scene as Jesus enters Jerusalem on a colt/donkey and the people cheering him on with palms. This is followed by the distribution of the palms and on to the regular part of the Liturgy. We conclude the Liturgy of the Word with a (long) Gospel reading detailing the passion of Christ, ending with His death on the cross. All of this is done in one Mass, in a matter of minutes.

The juxtaposition of these two Gospel scenes represent our relationship with Christ.  When our prayer lives are going well. when we are more aware of the presence of God, when our lives reflect the cardinal virtues of faith, hope and charity then we are like those who raised their palms to glorify God. When we turn our backs on God, when we turn our back on our fellow man then we are like the one's who cried out "Crucify him!"

A Saint's Reflection
St. Josemaria explained in one of his homilies that the violence that we need to demonstrate in our lives is one against our own weaknessess:

We read today the joyful words: “The sons of the Hebrews, raising olive branches, went out to meet the Lord, crying out, Glory in high heaven.”

This acclamation reminds us of how Jesus was greeted at his birth in Bethlehem. As Jesus moved off, St Luke tells us, “people spread their cloaks in the road, and now, as he was approaching the downward slope of the Mount of Olives, the whole group of disciples joyfully began to praise God at the top of their voices for all the miracles they had seen. They cried out: Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord, peace in heaven and glory in the highest heaven.” (…)

On this Palm Sunday, when our Lord begins the week which is so decisive for our salvation, let us put aside the more superficial aspects of the question and go right to the core, to what is really important. Look: what we have to try to do is to get to heaven. If we don’t, nothing is worth while. Faithfulness to Christ’s doctrine is absolutely essential to our getting to heaven. To be faithful it is absolutely essential to strive doggedly against anything that blocks our way to eternal happiness. (…)

A Christian can rest completely assured that if he wants to fight, God will take him by the right hand, as we read in today’s Mass. It is Jesus the king of peace who says on entering Jerusalem astride a miserable donkey: “The kingdom of heaven has been subjected to violence and the violent are taking it by storm.” This violence is not directed against others. It is a violence used to fight your own weaknesses and miseries, a fortitude which prevents you from camouflaging your own infidelities, a boldness to own up to the faith even when the environment is hostile. (Christ is passing by, 73-83)

A Priest, Two Deacons and Acolytes

Last week I posted that seven men in our parish would be installed by Bishop Kevin Vann as Acolytes. Six of the seven (one had a work conflict) were installed Saturday and served at Mass this Sunday. It was great to see Father Mathew have a complete team of helpers. At the 5pm Mass yesterday we had two deacons, two acolytes and three altar servers. This coupled with the chanting of many of the prayers, added a nice solemn touch deserving of the Mass.

I am proud to say that five of the six acolytes are regular attendees at Joe Catholic and the other has attended some of the gatherings. More importantly, I am thankful that these men answered the call to serve the Lord and our parish in this capacity. I can only think that they will serve as role models for boys to become altar servers. Perhaps some young men may even become open to the vocation to the priesthood.

The Minor Order of the Acolytes

Photo by Archdiocese of Washington

This past Saturday, Tom Jaconette (our media specialist), gave a brief talk on the installation of men into the Minor Order of the Acolytes. Essentially there are two types of acolytes: seminarians on their way to the priesthood and lay men who have been chosen by their pastors to be installed by the diocesan bishop. Our parish will have seven men installed by Bishop Kevin Vann next week.

In the last few years we have seen an increase in the number of adults who are altar servers. These adults help the children that serve on the altar, what we would have called altar boys in the old days. These men will be distinguished from the other adult servers in what they wear and the duties they perform. Our new acolytes will wear a black cassock covered with a white surplice as seen above. They have the responsibility of directly helping the priest and deacon during Mass. In the absence of a deacon they are able to take on many of those duties, including purifying the sacred vessels used in Communion. Because the acolyte is a minor order only men can serve in that capacity.

The functions of the acolyte are set forth in the General Instruction of the Roman Missal:

The Functions of the Acolyte
187. The functions that the acolyte may carry out are of various kinds and several may occur at the same moment. Hence, it is desirable that these duties be suitably distributed among several acolytes. If, in fact, only one acolyte is present, he should perform the more important duties while the rest are to be distributed among several ministers. 

The Introductory Rites
188. In the procession to the altar, the acolyte may carry the cross, walking between two ministers with lighted candles. Upon reaching the altar, however, the acolyte places the cross upright near the altar so that it may serve as the altar cross; otherwise, he puts it away in a dignified place. Then he takes his place in the sanctuary. 

189. Through the entire celebration, it is for the acolyte to approach the Priest or the Deacon, whenever necessary, in order to present the book to them and to assist them in any other way required. Thus it is appropriate that, in so far as possible, the acolyte should occupy a place from which he can easily carry out his ministry either at the chair or at the altar. 

The Liturgy of the Eucharist
190. In the absence of a Deacon, after the Universal Prayer and while the Priest remains at the chair, the acolyte places the corporal, the purificator, the chalice, the pall, and the Missal on the altar. Then, if necessary, the acolyte assists the Priest in receiving the gifts of the people and, if appropriate, brings the bread and wine to the altar and hands them to the Priest. If incense is being used, the acolyte presents the thurible to the Priest and assists him while he incenses the offerings, the cross, and the altar. Then the acolyte incenses the Priest and the people. 

191. A duly instituted acolyte, as an extraordinary minister, may, if necessary, assist the Priest in distributing Communion to the people.[99] If Communion is given under both kinds, in the absence of a Deacon, the acolyte administers the chalice to the communicants or holds the chalice if Communion is given by intinction. 

192. Likewise, after the distribution of Communion is complete, a duly instituted acolyte helps the Priest or Deacon to purify and arrange the sacred vessels. In the absence of a Deacon, a duly instituted acolyte carries the sacred vessels to the credence table and there purifies them, wipes them, and arranges them as usual. 

193. After the celebration of Mass, the acolyte and other ministers return together with the Deacon and the Priest in procession to the sacristy, in the same manner and in the same order in which they entered.