The Thirty-First Sunday of Ordinary Time

The Thirty-First Sunday of Ordinary Time

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November 4, 2018

Deuteronomy 6:2-6; Psalm 18; Hebrews 7:23-28; Mark 12:28-34

We are fortunate to have these particular readings to guide us into our future because Election Day is Tuesday and the month to remember our beloved dead has begun. Tribal politics separate us and cause great anxiety when friends and family gather. We quietly dismiss one another and barely tolerate each other’s viewpoints as our national discourse is far from civil, and too often we see the goal as victory for our side while the other is vanquished, and a dilemma is that at the heart of our identity is that we are Christians.

In the political realm, the goal is to influence, to state positions, to play a chess game of power, and to control how events and situations are named. Politicians are masters of framing and reframing agendas, of coining sound bites that will resonate in the media, of labeling arguments and positions with select terms. I admire how some politicians carefully execute their craft. The gift of politicians is oration, to land a lasting image or concept, to win a rhetorical battle, and speak firmly and then to restate it in an even louder voice, always being a crafty wordsmith, and yet while politicians speak, our readings ask us to listen and to hear.

The prayer that we hear today in Deuteronomy is called The Shema, which is Hebrew for the command, “Hear.” Discipleship is about hearing, and we cannot hear if we are the ones always speaking. With the many competing voices that demand our attention, we have to stop to hear God’s message for us, because it is will make a difference between life and death. We are to take this message seriously – that we are to love the Lord will all our strength, with all our heart, and with all our soul. Jesus knows this, and when he is asked by a scribe to name the greatest commandment, he restates it, and then he, like a gifted politician, goes a bit further. I paraphrase the meaning of his words to say, “This commandment is true, but it is incomplete if it does not include your neighbor. Love of God naturally includes love of neighbor, therefore love your neighbor as you love yourself. That is proof that you love God.”

 As we form our political position, love of neighbor has to enter into our consideration. Taking time to pray over issues and hearing God’s voice is part of our responsibility to God. The pursuit of the common good locally and for greater humanity has to be emphasized, but we also have to consider what this liturgical month offers for us. It is the Month of Remembrance, the month to remember our deceased loved ones in the faith. While we remember in charity the positive example of faith they gave us, it also reminds us of our inevitable mortality. We will die, and if we reckon with our mortality, death informs the way we choose to live. Death puts our actions in perspective, especially when we realize we have less control in all things than we thought we have. Confronting our death and our powerlessness before it allows us to live with greater integrity and meaning. It reorders the priorities in life and liberates us to love as God loves.

This is a crucial time to stop so we can listen to the Lord, and to take stock of how we may need to reorder and to make adjustments in our day. With the change of seasons pointing towards its winter slumber, with decreasing daylight to remind us of our diminishment and death, let’s be bold enough to consider how we will confront our own death. We remember solemnly those who have already passed from this life, and in light of that, we make choices to love those who are closest to us a little more dearly. We recognize that the whole purpose of life is to increase the care and affection that we give to our closest circle of friends and loved ones, but that this love naturally moves out to those who are our neighbors. We vote within this context where “us” and “them” do not exist because we are all part of God’s family. We increase the only force in the world that can stop the progress of evil, - magnanimous love. Our love is what others will remember about us, and it has the power to unite, heal, reconcile, and bring joy to anyone who needs hope.  “Hear, O Israel.” “Hear, O Christian.” Love your God above all things and love your neighbor as yourself.” “You are not far from the Kingdom of God.”

Scripture for Daily Mass

First Reading: 

Monday: (Philippians 2) If there is any encouragement in Christ, any solace in love, any participation in the Spirit, any compassion and mercy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, with the same love, united in heart, thinking one thing.

Tuesday: (Philippians 2) he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and, found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross.

Wednesday: (Philippians 2) Work out your salvation with fear and trembling. For God is the one who, for his good purpose, works in you both to desire and to work.

Thursday: (Philippians 3) But whatever gains I had, these I have come to consider a loss because of Christ. More than that, I even consider everything as a loss because of the supreme good of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.

Friday (Ezekiel 47) The angel brought me back to the entrance of the temple, and I saw water flowing out from beneath the threshold of the temple toward the east.

Saturday (Philippians 4) In every circumstance and in all things I have learned the secret of being well fed and of going hungry, of living in abundance and of being in need. I have the strength for everything through him who empowers me.

Gospel: 

Monday: (Luke 14) When you hold a lunch or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or sisters or your relatives or your wealthy neighbors, in case they may invite you back and you have repayment.

Tuesday: (Luke 14) The master then ordered the servant, 'Go out to the highways and hedgerows and make people come in that my home may be filled. For, I tell you, none of those men who were invited will taste my dinner.'"

Wednesday (Luke 14) If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.

Thursday (Luke 15) 'Rejoice with me because I have found what was lost.' In just the same way, I tell you, there will be rejoicing among the angels of God over one sinner who repents."

Friday (John 2) Jesus answered and said to them, "Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up." The Jews said, "This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and you will raise it up in three days?"

Saturday (Luke 16) The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all these things and sneered at him. And he said to them, "You justify yourselves in the sight of others, but God knows your hearts; for what is of human esteem is an abomination in the sight of God."

Saints of the Week

November 4: Charles Borromeo, bishop (1538-1584), was made Bishop of Milan at age 22. He was the nephew of Pope Pius IV. He was a leading Archbishop in the Catholic Reformation that followed the Council of Trent. During a plague epidemic, Borromeo visited the hardest hit areas so he could provide pastoral care to the sick.

November 5: All Saints and Blessed of the Society of Jesus are remembered by Jesuits on their particularized liturgical calendar. We remember not only the major saints on the calendar, but also those who are in the canonization process and hold the title of Blessed. We pray for all souls of deceased Jesuits in our province during the month by using our necrology (listing of the dead.)

November 9: The dedication of Rome's Lateran Basilica was done by Pope Sylvester I in 324 as the pope's local parish as the bishop of Rome. It was originally called the Most Holy Savior and was built on the property donated by the Laterani family. It is named John Lateran because the baptistry was named after St. John. Throughout the centuries, it was attacked by barbarians, suffered damage from earthquakes and fires, and provided residence for popes. In the 16th century, it went through Baroque renovations.

November 10: Leo the Great, pope and doctor (d. 461) tried to bring peace to warring Roman factions that were leaving Gaul vulnerable to barbarian invasions. As pope, he tried to keep peace again - in particular during his meeting with Attila the Hun, whom he persuaded not to plunder Rome. However, in Attila's next attack three years later, Rome was leveled. Some of Leo's writings on the incarnation were influential in formulating doctrine at the Council of Chalcedon.

This Week in Jesuit History

·      Nov 4, 1768. On the feast of St Charles, patron of Charles III, King of Spain, the people of Madrid asked for the recall of the Jesuits who had been banished from Spain nineteen months earlier. Irritated by this demand, the king drove the Archbishop of Toledo and his Vicar General into exile as instigators of the movement.

·      Nov 5, 1660. The death of Alexander de Rhodes, one of the most effective Jesuit missionaries of all time. A native of France, he arrived in what is now Vietnam in 1625.

·      Nov 6, 1789. Fr. John Carroll of Maryland was appointed to be the first Bishop of Baltimore.

·      Nov 7, 1717. The death of Antonio Baldinucci, an itinerant preacher to the inhabitants of the Italian countryside near Rome.

·      Nov 8, 1769. In Spain, Charles III ordered all of the Society's goods to be sold and sent a peremptory demand to the newly elected Pope Clement XIV to have the Society suppressed.

·      Nov 9, 1646. In England, Fr. Edmund Neville died after nine months imprisonment and ill-treatment. An heir to large estates in Westmoreland, he was educated in the English College and spent forty years working in England.

·      Nov 10, 1549. At Rome, the death of Paul III, to whom the Society owes its first constitution as a religious order.  

El trigésimo primer domingo del tiempo ordinario

El trigésimo primer domingo del tiempo ordinario

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4 de noviembre de 2018

Deuteronomio 6: 2-6; Salmo 18; Hebreos 7: 23-28; Marcos 12: 28-34

Somos afortunados de tener estas lecturas particulares para guiarnos hacia nuestro futuro porque el día de las elecciones es el martes y el mes para recordar a nuestros queridos muertos ha comenzado. Las políticas tribales nos separan y causan gran ansiedad cuando los amigos y la familia se reúnen. Nos despedimos silenciosamente y apenas nos toleramos los puntos de vista de los demás, ya que nuestro discurso nacional está lejos de ser civil, y muy a menudo vemos el objetivo como una victoria para nuestro lado, mientras que el otro es vencido, y un dilema es que en el fondo de nuestra identidad está que somos cristianos

En el ámbito político, el objetivo es influir, establecer posiciones, jugar un juego de ajedrez de poder y controlar cómo se nombran los eventos y las situaciones. Los políticos son expertos en encuadrar y replantear agendas, acuñar fragmentos de sonido que resonarán en los medios de comunicación, etiquetar argumentos y posiciones con términos selectos. Admiro cómo algunos políticos ejecutan cuidadosamente su oficio. El don de los políticos es la oración, para obtener una imagen o un concepto duraderos, para ganar una batalla retórica, y hablar con firmeza y luego repetirlo en voz aún más fuerte, siempre siendo un hábil orador de las palabras, y sin embargo, mientras los políticos hablan, nuestras lecturas preguntan Nosotros para escuchar y escuchar.

La oración que escuchamos hoy en Deuteronomio se llama Shema, que es hebreo para el comando, "Oiga". El discipulado se trata de escuchar, y no podemos escuchar si somos los que siempre hablamos. Con las muchas voces que compiten que requieren nuestra atención, debemos detenernos para escuchar el mensaje de Dios para nosotros, ya que esto hará una diferencia entre la vida y la muerte. Debemos tomar en serio este mensaje, que debemos amar al Señor, con todas nuestras fuerzas, con todo nuestro corazón y con toda nuestra alma. Jesús sabe esto, y cuando un escriba le pide que nombre el mandamiento más grande, lo reitera, y luego él, como un político dotado, va un poco más lejos. Parafraseo el significado de sus palabras para decir: “Este mandamiento es verdadero, pero está incompleto si no incluye a tu prójimo. El amor de Dios incluye naturalmente el amor al prójimo, por lo tanto ama a tu prójimo como te amas a ti mismo. Esa es la prueba de que amas a Dios ".

 Cuando formamos nuestra posición política, el amor al prójimo debe entrar en nuestra consideración. Tomar tiempo para orar por los problemas y escuchar la voz de Dios es parte de nuestra responsabilidad para con Dios. La búsqueda del bien común a nivel local y para una mayor humanidad debe ser enfatizada, pero también debemos considerar lo que este mes litúrgico nos ofrece. Es el Mes del Recuerdo, el mes para recordar a nuestros seres queridos fallecidos en la fe. Si bien recordamos en la caridad el ejemplo positivo de fe que nos dieron, también nos recuerda nuestra inevitable mortalidad. Moriremos, y si contamos con nuestra mortalidad, la muerte informa la forma en que elegimos vivir. La muerte pone en perspectiva nuestras acciones, especialmente cuando nos damos cuenta de que tenemos menos control sobre todas las cosas de lo que pensábamos. Enfrentar nuestra muerte y nuestra impotencia antes de que nos permita vivir con mayor integridad y significado. Reordena las prioridades en la vida y nos libera para amar como Dios ama.

Este es un momento crucial para detenernos, para que podamos escuchar al Señor y hacer un balance de cómo necesitamos reordenar y hacer ajustes en nuestros días. Con el cambio de estaciones apuntando hacia su sueño invernal, con la disminución de la luz del día para recordarnos nuestra disminución y muerte, seamos lo suficientemente audaces como para considerar cómo enfrentaremos nuestra propia muerte. Recordamos solemnemente a aquellos que ya han pasado de esta vida y, a la luz de eso, tomamos decisiones para amar a los que están más cerca de nosotros un poco más caros. Reconocemos que todo el propósito de la vida es aumentar el cuidado y el afecto que brindamos a nuestro círculo más cercano de amigos y seres queridos, pero que este amor se mueve naturalmente hacia aquellos que son nuestros vecinos. Votamos en este contexto donde "nosotros" y "ellos" no existen porque todos somos parte de la familia de Dios. Aumentamos la única fuerza en el mundo que puede detener el progreso del mal, el amor magnánimo. Nuestro amor es lo que los demás recordarán de nosotros, y tiene el poder de unirnos, sanar, reconciliarnos y traer alegría a cualquiera que necesite esperanza. "Escucha, oh Israel." "Escucha, oh cristiano." Ama a tu Dios sobre todas las cosas y ama a tu prójimo como a ti mismo "." No estás lejos del Reino de Dios ".

Escritura para la misa diaria

Primera lectura:
Lunes: (Filipenses 2) Si hay algún estímulo en Cristo, cualquier consuelo en el amor, cualquier participación en el Espíritu, cualquier compasión y misericordia, completa mi alegría siendo de la misma mente, con el mismo amor, unidos de corazón, pensando una cosa.

Martes: (Filipenses 2) se vació a sí mismo, tomando la forma de un esclavo, llegando a semejanza humana; y, al parecer humano en apariencia, se humilló a sí mismo, haciéndose obediente a la muerte, incluso a la muerte en una cruz.

Miércoles: (Filipenses 2) Ejercita tu salvación con temor y temblor. Porque Dios es quien, para su buen propósito, trabaja en ti tanto para desear como para trabajar.

Jueves: (Filipenses 3) Pero cualquier ganancia que obtuve, he llegado a considerar una pérdida por causa de Cristo. Más que eso, incluso considero que todo es una pérdida debido al bien supremo de conocer a Cristo Jesús, mi Señor.

Viernes (Ezequiel 47) El ángel me trajo de vuelta a la entrada del templo, y vi agua saliendo por debajo del umbral del templo hacia el este.

Sábado (Filipenses 4) En todas las circunstancias y en todas las cosas he aprendido el secreto de estar bien alimentado y pasar hambre, de vivir en abundancia y de estar en necesidad. Tengo la fuerza para todo a través de él que me da poder.

Evangelio:
Lunes: (Lucas 14) Cuando celebre un almuerzo o una cena, no invite a sus amigos o a sus hermanos o hermanas o a sus parientes o vecinos ricos, en caso de que puedan invitarlo de nuevo y tenga un reembolso.

Martes: (Lucas 14) El maestro entonces ordenó al sirviente: 'Salgan a las carreteras y los setos y hagan que la gente entre para que mi hogar esté lleno. Porque, les digo, ninguno de esos hombres que fueron invitados probarán mi cena ".

Miércoles (Lucas 14) Si alguien viene a mí sin odiar a su padre y madre, esposa e hijos, hermanos y hermanas, e incluso a su propia vida, no puede ser mi discípulo. Quien no lleve su propia cruz y venga detrás de mí, no puede ser mi discípulo.

Jueves (Lucas 15) "Alégrate conmigo porque he encontrado lo que se perdió". De la misma manera, les digo, habrá regocijo entre los ángeles de Dios por un pecador que se arrepiente ".

Viernes (Juan 2) Jesús respondió y les dijo: "Destruid este templo y en tres días lo levantaré". Los judíos dijeron: "¿Este templo ha estado en construcción durante cuarenta y seis años, y lo levantarás en tres días?"

Sábado (Lucas 16) Los fariseos, que amaban el dinero, escucharon todas estas cosas y se burlaron de él. Y él les dijo: "Se justifican a los ojos de los demás, pero Dios conoce sus corazones; porque lo que es de estima humana es una abominación a los ojos de Dios".

Santos de la semana

4 de noviembre: Charles Borromeo, obispo (1538-1584), fue nombrado obispo de Milán a los 22 años. Era el sobrino del papa Pío IV. Fue un destacado arzobispo en la Reforma católica que siguió al Concilio de Trento. Durante una epidemia de peste, Borromeo visitó las áreas más afectadas para poder brindar atención pastoral a los enfermos.

5 de noviembre: Todos los santos y beatos de la Compañía de Jesús son recordados por los jesuitas en su particular calendario litúrgico. Recordamos no solo a los santos principales en el calendario, sino también a aquellos que están en el proceso de canonización y tienen el título de Beato. Oramos por todas las almas de los jesuitas fallecidos en nuestra provincia durante el mes usando nuestra necrología (listado de los muertos).

9 de noviembre: la dedicación de la Basílica de Letrán de Roma fue hecha por el Papa Silvestre I en 324 como parroquia local del Papa como obispo de Roma. Originalmente se llamaba el Santísimo Salvador y se construyó en la propiedad donada por la familia Laterani. Se llama Juan de Letrán porque el bautisterio lleva el nombre de San Juan. A lo largo de los siglos, fue atacado por bárbaros, sufrió daños por terremotos e incendios, y fue residencia de los papas. En el siglo XVI, pasó por reformas barrocas.

10 de noviembre: León el Grande, el papa y el doctor (d. 461) intentaron llevar la paz a las facciones romanas en conflicto que estaban dejando a la Galia vulnerable a las invasiones bárbaras. Como Papa, trató de mantener la paz nuevamente, en particular durante su reunión con Atila el Huno, a quien persuadió de no saquear a Roma. Sin embargo, en el próximo ataque de Atila tres años después, Roma fue derribada. Algunos de los escritos de Leo sobre la encarnación influyeron en la formulación de la doctrina en el Concilio de Calcedonia.

Esta semana en la historia jesuita

• 4 de noviembre de 1768. En la fiesta de San Carlos, patrón de Carlos III, rey de España, el pueblo de Madrid solicitó el retiro de los jesuitas que habían sido desterrados de España diecinueve meses antes. Irritado por esta demanda, el rey condujo al arzobispo de Toledo y su vicario general al exilio como instigadores del movimiento.
• 5 de noviembre de 1660. La muerte de Alexander de Rhodes, uno de los misioneros jesuitas más efectivos de todos los tiempos. Nacido en Francia, llegó a lo que hoy es Vietnam en 1625.
• 6 de noviembre de 1789. p. John Carroll de Maryland fue designado para ser el primer obispo de Baltimore.
• 7 de noviembre de 1717. La muerte de Antonio Baldinucci, predicador itinerante de los habitantes de la campiña italiana cerca de Roma.
• 8 de noviembre de 1769. En España, Carlos III ordenó que se vendieran todos los bienes de la Sociedad y envió un pedido perentorio al recién elegido Papa Clemente XIV para que suprimiera a la Sociedad.
• 9 de noviembre de 1646. En Inglaterra, el p. Edmund Neville murió después de nueve meses de prisión y malos tratos. Heredero de grandes propiedades en Westmoreland, fue educado en el Colegio Inglés.

• 10 de noviembre de 1549. En Roma, la muerte de Pablo III, a quien la Sociedad le debe su primera constitución como orden religiosa.

Prayer: Charles Borromeo

Almighty God, you have generously made known to human beings the mysteries of your life through Jesus Christ. Enlighten my mind to know these mysteries. Move my heart to love them and my will to live in accord with them. Give me the ability to share this faith with others without pride, without ostentation, and without personal gain. Let me realize that I am simply your instrument for bringing others to the knowledge of the wonderful things you have done for all your creatures. Help me to be faithful to this task that you have entrusted to me.

Prayer: Paul Bernier, SSS

A Eucharist is not a passive, comforting merchant alone with God, something which allows us to escape the cares and concerns of our everyday life. Eucharist is where all these cares and concerns come to a focus, and where we are asked to measure them against the standard lived by Jesus when he proclaimed for all to hear that the bread that he would give would provide life for the entire world. But it will do so only if, finding ourselves with a basket of bread, we have peered deeply enough into the heart of Christ to know what to do with it.

Prayer: Robert Bellarmine

Your God is gentle and mild. God does not command that while you are a pilgrim on earth you must utterly forgo creaturely consolations; indeed, God created all things to serve you. But God did command that you use them with moderation, sobriety, and temperance, that you share them cheerfully with the needy, that your possessions not be your master but you theirs, and that you use them to attain God.

Prayer: Francis de Sales

Our possessions are not our own; God has given them to us that we may cultivate them, and it is his will that we should render them useful and fruitful. By our care thereof we render to him an acceptable service.

Prayer: Teresa of Calcutta

Love cannot remain by itself - it has no meaning. Love has to be put into action and that action is service. A mission of love can come only from union with God. From that union, love for the family, love for one's neighbor, love for the poor is the natural fruit.

Prayer: John XXIII

What matters is that I should never be ashamed of my poverty. indeed I should be proud of it, just as the lords of this world are proud of their noble lineage, their title of nobility, their liveries. I am of the same family as Christ - what more can I want?

The Thirtieth Sunday of Ordinary Time

The Thirtieth Sunday of Ordinary Time

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October 28, 2018

Jeremiah 31:7-9; Psalm 126; Hebrews 5:1-6; Mark 10:46-52

The blind Bartimaeus is one of the last people Jesus meets on his ascent to Jerusalem. It signals to us that the ministry of Jesus is coming to an end as he faces his ordeals in Jerusalem. Bartimaeus is instructive for us because he connects with Jesus and is given faith, given sight, given belief, and then he follows him along the way. He is an example of a model disciple who meets Jesus and is changed. He is a good example because he plainly asks for what he wants, he speaks of his most pressing desires, and it is given to him.

Bartimaeus heard about Jesus and wanted to see him – with his blinded eyes. He knew Jesus was a wonder worker, that God did many miracles through him, and that he was a man of unparalleled compassion in Israel. Who would not want to be near him? Our struggle today is much like Bartimaeus’. We want to see Jesus and have greater faith and we do not often have anyone to help us with our spiritual life. We sometimes silently cry out to Jesus, “Have mercy on me,” and then we keep our needs private.

Sometimes our church acts like the disciples of Jesus when Bartimaeus first cried out. They rebuked him and told him to be silent. He was upsetting their structures of order and control and they wanted to appropriately manage the situation, but Bartimaeus persisted. We too must persist. If we want to speak with a priest, address a particular personal need, or get some relief from our suffering, do not take ‘no’ for an answer. Sometimes a priest may even say ‘no.” Do not accept it. You deserve better. Find a way forward. Perhaps it means that we somehow change the structure of the church or its ways of proceeding. I’m okay with that. The church cannot get in the way of your desire for connection with Jesus. The reason we exist as a church is that we can see Jesus together. This is about our salvation and the saving of souls for the ones whom we love.

The people of God who sit in the pews, and those who no longer sit with us but are still our brothers and sisters, are resourceful, accomplished, gifted, and quite remarkable. We are also a people who suffer. We have an abundance of talent to find clever and effective ways of recreating what it means to be church so that we once again help people connect with the very real person of Jesus. We have to be brave like Bartimaeus who raised his voice because he demanded that his status quo needed to be changed. He wanted to be reintegrated into his community of faith as an equal member, a person fully alive because he met Jesus. He needed to encounter the man. Then, his life would be changed.

Too often we do not connect with God because there is a blockage in human relationships. When aspects of those relationships are cleared, we encounter the Lord once again. God works through us, and when we connect, we see a larger process unfolding through these interactions. This is where we meet the Lord in real life. If the church is a point of blockage, let’s name it. If personal relationships are problematic, let’s find a way to reconcile and reconnect. It will make all the difference in our spiritual quests.

Yes. Absolutely, Christ is here when we celebrate mass, but do you encounter him? Does your communal and private prayer lead you to a greater connection? If not, tell us what we need to do to help you. As a priest, one of my great joys is in hearing your stories and then honoring them in my prayer afterwards. I’m always astounded at the goodness I encounter in the people of God. It is a remarkable encounter, and my fervent hope is that you realize that you are incredibly lovable to God, and desired. Jesus wants a fuller friendship with you.

Bartimaeus found a way to meet Jesus, and followed him on the way. As a priest, I want to bring you to him, to introduce you, and then walk with you on the journey from Jericho to Jerusalem. I will walk with you, and I hope our church will too, but for now, look for those outstretched hands of friendship. Mine is there; so is the hand of Jesus, our Christ. Let’s walk together because I want to hear you say, “I have seen my Lord and my God,” and he wants me to be his friend.

Scripture for Daily Mass

First Reading: 

Monday: (Ephesians 4) Be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving one another as God has forgiven you in Christ. Be imitators of God, and live in love, as Christ loved us and handed himself over for us as a sacrificial offering to God for a fragrant aroma.

Tuesday: (Ephesians 5) He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one hates his own flesh but rather nourishes and cherishes it, even as Christ does the Church, because we are members of his Body.

Wednesday: (Ephesians 6) Honor your father and mother. This is the first commandment with a promise, that it may go well with you and that you may have a long life on earth. Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up with the training and instruction of the Lord.

Thursday: (Revelation 7) I, John, saw another angel come up from the East, holding the seal of the living God. He cried out in a loud voice to the four angels who were given power to damage the land and the sea, "Do not damage the land or the sea or the trees until we put the seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God."

Friday (Wisdom 3) The souls of the just are in the hand of God, and no torment shall touch them. They seemed, in the view of the foolish, to be dead; and their passing away was thought an affliction and their going forth from us, utter destruction.

Saturday (Philippians 1) Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me life is Christ, and death is gain. If I go on living in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. And I do not know which I shall choose.

Gospel: 

Monday: (Luke 13) Jesus was teaching in a synagogue on the sabbath. And a woman was there who for eighteen years had been crippled by a spirit; she was bent over, completely incapable of standing erect.

Tuesday: (Luke 13) "To what shall I compare the Kingdom of God? It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of wheat flour until the whole batch of dough was leavened."

Wednesday (Luke 13) "Lord, will only a few people be saved?" He answered them, "Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter but will not be strong enough.

Thursday (Matthew 5) Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land.

Friday (John 6) "Everything that the Father gives me will come to me, and I will not reject anyone who comes to me, because I came down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of the one who sent me.

Saturday (Luke 14) He told a parable to those who had been invited, noticing how they were choosing the places of honor at the table. "When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not recline at table in the place of honor.

Saints of the Week

October 28: Simon and Jude, apostles (first century) were two of the Twelve Disciples called by Jesus, but little is known about them. We think they are Simon the Zealot and Judas, the son of James. Simon was most likely a Zealot sympathizer who would have desired revolution against Rome; Jude is also called Thaddeus, and is patron saint of hopeless causes. Both apostles suffered martyrdom.

October 30: Dominic Collins, S.J., priest and martyr (1566-1602), was a Jesuit brother who was martyred in his native Ireland. He became a professional solider in the Catholic armies of Europe after the Desmond Rebellion was put down in 1583. He joined the Jesuits in 1584 at Santiago de Compostela and was sent back to Ireland in 1601 with a Spanish contingent. He was captured, tried for his faith, and sentenced to death.

October 31: Alphonsus Rodriguez, S.J. (1532-1617) was widowed at age 31. When his three children died, Alphonsus joined the Jesuits as a lay brother at age 40 after attempting to complete the rigors of study. He was sent to the newly opened college in Majorca where he served as a porter for 46 years. His manner of calling people to sanctification was extraordinary. He served obediently and helped others to focus on their spiritual lives.

October 31: All Hallows Eve (evening) owes its origins to a Celtic festival that marked summer's end. The term was first used in 16th century Scotland. Trick or treating resembles the late medieval practice of souling when poor people would go door to door on Hallomas (November 1) receiving food in return for prayers for the dead on All Souls Day (November 2.)

November 1: All Saints Day honors the countless faithful believers - living and dead - who have helped us along in our faith. Our liturgical calendar is filled with canonized saints, but we have many blesseds and minor saints who no longer appear on it. We have local saints across the world. We have many people who live Gospel values who we appreciate and imitate. We remember all of these people on this day.

November 2: All Souls Day is the commemoration of the faithful departed. November is known as All Souls Month. We remember those who died as we hasten towards the end of the liturgical year and the great feast of Christ the King. As a tradition, we have always remembered our dead as a way of keeping them alive to us and giving thanks to God for their lives.

November 3: Rupert Mayer, S.J., priest (1876-1945), resisted the Nazi government and died while saying Mass of a stroke. In 1937, he was placed in protective custody and was eventually released when he agreed that he would no longer preach.

November 3: Martin de Porres, religious (1579-1639) was a Peruvian born of a Spanish knight and a Panamanian Indian woman. Because he was not pure blood, he lost many privileges in the ruling classes. He became a Dominican and served the community in many menial jobs. He was known for tending to the sick and poor and for maintaining a rigorous prayer life.

This Week in Jesuit History

·      Oct 28, 1958. The death of Wilfrid Parsons, founder of Thought magazine and editor of America from 1925 to 1936.

·      Oct 29, 1645. In the General Chapter of the Benedictines in Portugal, a statement published by one of their order, that said St Ignatius had borrowed the matter in his Spiritual Exercises from a Benedictine author, was indignantly repudiated.

·      Oct 30, 1638. On this day, John Milton, the great English poet, dined with the Fathers and students of the English College in Rome.

·      Oct 31, 1602. At Cork, the martyrdom of Dominic Collins, an Irish brother, who was hanged, drawn, and quartered for his adherence to the faith.

·      Nov 1, 1956. The Society of Jesus was allowed in Norway.

·      Nov 2, 1661. The death of Daniel Seghers, a famous painter of insects and flowers.

·      Nov 3, 1614. Dutch pirates failed to capture the vessel in which the right arm of Francis Xavier was being brought to Rome.