12 Tue Weekday[ Holy Name of Mary] Col 2:6-15/Lk 6:12-19
13 Wed St John Chrysostom, Col 3:1-11/Lk 6:20-26
14 Thu Exaltation of the Cross Nm 21:4b-9/Phil 2:6-11/Jn 3:13-17
15 Fri Our Lady of Sorrows 1 Tm 1:1-2, 12-14 (441)/Jn 19:25-27
16 Sat Sts Cornelius and Cyprian, Bishop 1 Tm 1:15-17/Lk 6:43-49
17 24TH SUNDAY Sir 27:30—28:7/Rom 14:7-9/Mt 18:21-35
Two important feasts for the Passionists this week. The Exaltation of the Cross and Our Lady of Sorrows, September 14 and 15.
We celebrate the Feast of John Chrysostom September 13 and Cornelius and Cyprian on September 16.
Pope Francis in his letter Desiderio Desideravi spoke of exploring the mysteries of faith through the liturgy and through feasts like these.
The feasts of the Exaltation and Our Lady of Sorrows offer insight into the mystery of the death and resurrection of Jesus, a central mystery of our faith.
John Chrysostom was engaged in the sticky question of church and state. Like so many of the early bishops he dealt with governments and authorities who tried to absorb the church into their world.
Cornelius and Cyprian were not only martyrs, but they dealt with the great question of God’s mercy and forgiveness after the period of persecution when many defected from the church.
These feasts help us understand the historical dimension of our faith.
Learning takes place day by day; it goes on and on. That’s true about faith as well. We’re learning each day, which is why our church calendar is so important.
John Chrysostom, one of this month’s saints, complained that people of his time didn’t know much about the church’s calendar; they were hardly aware of it: “Many people today just about know the names of the feasts we celebrate in church. They know hardly anything about their history and meaning…What a shame.”
Chrysostom loved the feasts of our Lord and his saints, seasons like Lent and Advent, which teach us how to live and what to hope for. They’re an ongoing school; they “teach us to number our days aright and gain wisdom of heart.”
September’s a good example, with a parade of interesting saints, like Gregory the Great, John Chrysostom himself, Peter Claver, Matthew the tax collector, Cornelius and Cyprian, Vincent De Paul, Jerome. All important teachers of faith.
There are two big feasts of Mary, the mother of Jesus, this month, her birth on September 8th and her sorrows on September 15, right after the great feast of the Triumph of the Cross, September 14.
I like the way the Feast of our Mother of Sorrows, September 15th, follows the Lord’s Triumph of the Cross. Mary’s greatest sorrow was standing beneath the cross of her Son, but sorrow spanned her whole life. She teaches that bearing the Lord’s cross is not the same as sharing his physical sufferings. Her patient waiting, her struggle to understand God’s plan, her experience of faith’s darkness show the mystery of the cross in other forms.
I just got from the printer this week our new 2024 Passionist Calendar (above). It combines the 2024 Roman Calendar, the 2024 USA Liturgical Calendar, and the 2024 Passionist Calendar and lists the feasts, seasons, saints, and scripture readings for the year. The 2024 Passionist Calendar is linked to this blog www.vhoagland.com which follows the liturgy through the year.
The 2024 Passionist Calendar features reflections by Pope Francis on the environment. It’s a calendar for laypeople, religious and priests. It’s sponsored by the Confraternity of the Passion. $7.00
At the altar we place the small cup of water that’s mixed with the wine at the Eucharist and the water for blessing all things.
“When God created water he was thinking of the Baptism of each of us, and this same thought was his in the history of salvation every time he used water for his saving work.”(Pope Francis ) Water is a sign that the Holy Spirit is “poured out” and creates in us a thirst for God, our Creator.
Jesus entered the waters of the Jordan to begin his life-giving ministry. Water from his side flowed upon the earth at his death on the Cross. Water has a place in the sacraments, the saving signs of his love. Through water and the power of the Holy Spirit we are born again in Baptism. We bless ourselves and others with water “In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.”
“Praise be to you, my Lord, for Sister Water, she is very useful and humble and precious and pure.” (Francis of Assisi, Canticle of the Sun)
Like our ancestors, we live near water. The Genesis story describes water welling up from the earth bringing a garden to life: plants, animals, human beings. From the garden four mighty rivers bring life to other parts of the earth (Genesis 2), even reaching New York, NY.
We bless water in our prayers,: “All you waters above the heavens, bless the Lord…All you seas and rivers, bless the Lord.” (Daniel, 3, 57-58) The baptismal fount in our churches honors water. Some say it’s from the faraway Jordan River. We take it in our hand and bless ourselves with it as we go in and out of church. Water brings blessings from God.
We need “ to thank the Creator for the impressive and marvellous gift of the great waters and all that they contain (cf. Gen 1:20-21; Ps 146:6), and to praise him for covering the earth with the oceans (cf. Ps 104:6), “ Pope Francis says.
Unfortunately, we lose the blessings of water when drought dries up our lands and pollution poisons our rivers and oceans.
Now, wars and disputes over territorial waters increasingly threaten the waters uniting the peoples of the world, endangering the 90% of the world’s trade that takes place by sea– much of it food and necessities for life. We’re also seeing an increase in plunder of the seas as resources become scarce on the land.
“We cannot allow our seas and oceans to be littered by endless fields of floating plastic”, Pope Francis says. He calls for the ” development and application of international regulations on the seas in order to safeguard individuals, countries, goods, natural resources – I think, for example, of marine fauna and flora, and coral reefs or sea beds – and to guarantee an integral development in view of the common good of the entire human family and not particular interests.”
Map of Water Sources. USGS
The map above shows the intricate water system that enables life on the land where I live, the United States of America.The waters near us here in New York are part of that intricate water system. They should bring life. Do they bring about a garden of life?
In my 91 years I’ve watched the waters of New York harbor suffer from massive industrialization during World War 11, unregulated real estate development afterwards along the Newark Bay, the Passaic and Hackensack Rivers. The waters have experienced human greed and neglect. I can remember, way back as a little boy, when you could fish and swim in those waterways. No more.
“Blessed be God for Seas and Rivers.” Pope Francis asks for more than words of a prayer. “Here too, our active commitment is needed to confront this emergency. We need to pray as if everything depended on God’s providence, and work as if everything depended on us.”
We have the precious gift of water that we drink each day before the altar today and tomorrow. Pope Francis offered this important reflection on water during the Season of Creation in 2018:
“ I would like to draw attention to the question of water, a very simple and precious element, yet access to it is, sadly, for many people difficult if not impossible. Nonetheless, “access to safe drinkable water is a basic and universal human right, since it is essential to human survival and, as such, is a condition for the exercise of other human rights. Our world owes a great social debt towards the poor who lack access to drinking water, because they are denied the right to a life consistent with their inalienable dignity” (Laudato si’ 30).
Water invites us to reflect on our origins. The human body is mostly composed of water, and many civilizations throughout history arose near great rivers that marked their identity. In an evocative image, the beginning of the book of Genesis states that, in the beginning, the spirit of the Creator “swept over the face of the waters (1:2)”.
In considering the fundamental role of water in creation and in human development, I feel the need to give thanks to God for “Sister Water”, simple and useful for life like nothing else on our planet. Precisely for this reason, care for water sources and water basins is an urgent imperative. Today, more than ever, we need to look beyond immediate concerns (cf. Laudato Si’, 36) and beyond a purely utilitarian view of reality, “in which efficiency and productivity are entirely geared to our individual benefit” (ibid., 159). We urgently need shared projects and concrete gestures that recognize that every privatization of the natural good of water, at the expense of the human right to have access to this good, is unacceptable.
For us Christians, water represents an essential element of purification and of life. We think immediately of baptism, the sacrament of our rebirth. Water made holy by the Spirit is the matter by which God has given us life and renewed us; it is the blessed source of undying life. For Christians of different confessions, baptism also represents the real and irreplaceable point of departure for experiencing an ever more authentic fraternity on the way to full unity. Jesus, in the course of his mission, promised a water capable of quenching human thirst for ever (cf. Jn 4:14). He prophesied, “If any one thirst, let him come to me and drink (Jn 7:37). To drink from Jesus means to encounter him personally as the Lord, drawing from his words the meaning of life. May the words he spoke from the cross – “I thirst” (Jn 19:28) – echo constantly in our hearts. The Lord continues to ask that his thirst be quenched; he thirsts for love. He asks us to give him to drink in all those who thirst in our own day, and to say to them, “I was thirsty and you gave me to drink” (Mt 25:35). To give to drink, in the global village, does not only entail personal gestures of charity, but also concrete choices and a constant commitment to ensure to all the primary good of water.
I would like also to mention the issue of the seas and oceans. It is our duty to thank the Creator for the impressive and marvellous gift of the great waters and all that they contain (cf. Gen 1:20-21; Ps 146:6), and to praise him for covering the earth with the oceans (cf. Ps 104:6). To ponder the immense open seas and their incessant movement can also represent an opportunity to turn our thoughts to God, who constantly accompanies his creation, guiding its course and sustaining its existence (cf. St. John Paul II, Catechesis of 7 May 1986).
Constant care for this inestimable treasure represents today an ineluctable duty and a genuine challenge. There is need for an effective cooperation between men and women of good will in assisting the ongoing work of the Creator. Sadly, all too many efforts fail due to the lack of effective regulation and means of control, particularly with regard to the protection of marine areas beyond national confines (cf. Laudato Si’, 174). We cannot allow our seas and oceans to be littered by endless fields of floating plastic. Here too, our active commitment is needed to confront this emergency. We need to pray as if everything depended on God’s providence, and work as if everything depended on us.
Let us pray that waters may not be a sign of separation between peoples, but of encounter for the human community. Let us pray that those who risk their lives at sea in search of a better future may be kept safe. Let us ask the Lord and all those engaged in the noble service of politics that the more sensitive questions of our day, such as those linked to movements of migration, climate change and the right of everyone to enjoy primary goods, may be faced with generous and farsighted responsibility and in a spirit of cooperation, especially among those countries most able to help.
Let us pray too, for all those who devote themselves to the apostolate of the sea, for those who help reflect on the issues involving maritime ecosystems, for those who contribute to the development and application of international regulations on the seas in order to safeguard individuals, countries, goods, natural resources – I think, for example, of marine fauna and flora, and coral reefs (cf. ibid., 41) or sea beds – and to guarantee an integral development in view of the common good of the entire human family and not particular interests. Let us remember, too, all those who work to protect maritime areas and to safeguard the oceans and their biodiversity, that they may carry out this task with responsibility and integrity.
Finally, let us be concerned for the younger generation and pray for them, that they may grow in knowledge and respect for our common home and in the desire to care for the essential good of water, for the benefit of all. It is my prayerful hope that Christian communities may contribute more and more concretely helping everyone to enjoy this indispensable resource, in respectful care for the gifts received from the Creator, and in particular rivers, seas and oceans.
8 Fri Nativity of Mary Mi 5:1-4a or Rom 8:28-30/Mt 1:1-16, 18-23
9 Sat USA: Saint Peter Claver, Col 1:21-23/Lk 6:1-5
10 SUN TWENTY-THIRD SUNDAY Ez 33:7-9/Rom 13:8-10/Mt 18:15-20
This week we begin reading from the Gospel of Luke and continue with Luke till the beginning of Advent. Luke takes the account of Jesus in the synagogue of Nazareth from Mark’s gospel (Mark 6:1-6), a story summarizing the whole ministry of Jesus in Galilee from Mark’s gospel (Mark 6:1-6), and puts it at the beginning of Jesus Galilean ministry. Initially he was received favorably, then rejected violently. Here’s the Introduction to Luke’s Gospel from the New American Bible.
Readings from I Thessalonians end Tuesday with Paul’s teaching on the last days. Then we begin the Letter to the Colossians. Good introduction and notes from the American Bible .
St. Gregory the Great, September 3, is one of the most important popes in the history of the church and one of its great spiritual teachers. A “Servant of the Servants of God.” This year we don’t celebrate his feast because it falls on a Sunday. At a time the Roman Empire was falling apart, Gregory not only kept the church afloat but reached out to peoples afar to bring them the gospel. Reminds me of Pope Francis and his visit to Mongolia.
St. Peter Claver reminds us of the slave trade and its terrible consequences for millions of people.
Friday is one of Mary’s major feasts, her Nativity. Mary’s birth is one of three important births celebrated in the Roman calendar: the birth of Jesus (December 25), John the Baptist (June 24) and Mary (September 8). Though her birth is not mentioned in the scriptures, an early tradition of the Jerusalem church says she was born near the temple and the pool of Bethsaida (John 5, 1-9), where the church of St. Ann stands today. As far back as the 5th century a feast celebrated her birth there. By the 8th century the feast was also celebrated in Rome. Today it is celebrated by churches of the east and west.
The family record of Jesus Christ from the Gospel of Matthew (Matthew 1,1-23) is the principal reading for this feast because Mary completes “the book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David.” She conceives by the Holy Spirit and gives birth to him who is “God with us.” Generations awaited the Word who became flesh. Her birth is the “daybreak of salvation for all the world” (Prayer after Communion)
We’re reading from the 23rd Chapter of Matthew today, always a tough section to talk about.
One benefit modern scriptural studies give us– and we should be thankful for it– is a better understanding of the past. For instance, as we read from the 23rd chapter of Matthew’s gospel today, it helps to understand the times they were written. Otherwise, we can get a distorted picture of the people whom Jesus loved, the Jews, whom he seems to condemn exclusively in our gospel today.
Matthew’s gospel was written in Syria or Galilee about 40 or 50 years after Jesus had died and rose again. By then, relations between his followers and the followers of the Pharisees had soured as Pharisaic Judaism tried to pull together Jewish life after the terrible destruction of Jerusalem and its temple in 70 AD.
Relations between the two groups were not amicable, to say the least, and as we know, when tempers flare, words can become unfair.
We’re hearing some unfair words in Matthew’s gospel today. Matthew’s sharp polemic, says Rudolf Schnackenburg, a modern commentator on the gospel, “does not really do justice to the conduct of the scribes and Pharisees, not even for the time of alienation between Judaism and Christianity.“ In other words, Matthew’s exaggerating the faults and weaknesses of his opponents.
So, should we ignore these powerful “woes” Jesus speaks? Better, perhaps, to apply them to a wider audience than Matthew does. The 19th century British historian Lord Acton famously said, “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” He was speaking about the temptation that affects anybody in power to use it for his or her own aims.
Matthew’s woes apply just as well to Christians and their leaders. They can be hypocritical, proud and opinionated too. Instead of hearing Jesus’ words meant only for others, then, let’s hear them meant for his followers–and ourselves as well.
We’re reading Paul’s Second Letter to the Thessalonians and the Gospel of Matthew this week at Mass. Paul’s letter was written about the year 55 AD, 20 years or so after the death and resurrection of Jesus. The Gospel of Matthew was written about the year 85 AD, some 40 years later.
Paul’s letters illustrate his practice of going first into Jewish synagogues to preach the gospel. Before his conversion to Christianity, he went to the synagogues as a Pharisee to pursue and arrest Christians. Now members of the Pharisaic movement sharply confront him..
The Gospel of Matthew reflects this same confrontation. Matthew’s gospel was written at a highpoint of Jewish-Christian controversy, after the destruction of the temple in 70 AD. Passages from the 23rd chapter of Matthew’s gospel would lead you to think that the Pharisees were Jesus’ fiercest enemies.
In reality, a number of Pharisees, like Nicodemus and Paul himself, became his most important followers, The Pharisees were certainly antagonistic to Jesus in his lifetime; he was angry with them for their blindness to him and his message, but he didn’t see them as mortal, eternal enemies.
We have to read the scriptures with an eye on the time they were written; It helps us understand the hot rhetoric we hear in Matthew’s reading for today.
What lesson can we learn from learn from readings like these? Don’t demonize your enemies. God doesn’t do that and neither should we.
That’s an important lesson to remember today as we look at the Muslim world. Jesus didn’t demonize people; he turned to the thief on the cross, he told the story of a prodigal son, he received back the disciples who abandoned him.,
When we bring the bread and wine to the altar at Mass, we bring to God all of creation, not just a part of it. “Blessed are you, Lord God of all creation,” we say. All creation is God’s creation. He wishes to bless it and see it at peace and harmony. God wishes us to see things as he see them.
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