Only your Love and your Grace:
The Twenty-Eighth
Sunday in Ordinary Time
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October 13, 2019
2 Kings 4:14-17;
Psalm 98; 2 Timothy 2:8-13; Luke 17:11-19
The response of Naaman the Syrian
to his healing in the Jordan River by Elisha the prophet was one of
self-offering. When one of the ten cleansed lepers realized his healing came
from Jesus, he offered himself back to the Lord in gratitude. When we are truly
grateful, we are astonished by the other person’s goodness because we realize
that this is a mercy that is welcomed but undeserved.
The Jesuits have a prayer of
self-offering that comes at the end of the Spiritual Exercises. Each Jesuit
makes a 30-day silent retreat twice in his lifetime as part of a lengthy
formation. This prayer process is designed to help a person become aware of the
depth of relationship with Jesus and God to which each is called, and then when
a person realizes the self-offering Jesus makes for our salvation, we turn
around and offer ourselves back to the Lord wholeheartedly. We say the prayer,
“Take, Lord, receive, all my liberty, my memory, my understanding, my entire
will. All that I have and possess, you have given all to me. To you, I return
it, according to your will. Give me only your love and your grace, and that’s
enough for me.”
This is a prayer of inspiration
and devotion, and it sums up the type of relationship we want to have with God
long term. We pray for the desire to want this type of friendship. When it is
prayed on a daily basis, it is a challenging one. Few of us want to give up our
freedom, memory, wisdom, and our will. Many times, we are stubborn, and we want
everything to go our way. We like to be in control, and we want something more
than love and grace as we have other needs.
When we step back and take a
look at our entire history with Jesus, we are filled with this gratitude that
leads to our self-offering. We recognize that we carry much chaos in our lives
and there is only one person who can provide meaning to our turmoil, and when
we reach a certain stage of wisdom, we know that we need Jesus to die for us.
His obedience to God is that which saves us, but as he does so, he brings all
our prayers and concerns to God so that God can hear them, be moved with
compassion towards us, and then transform them.
At this mass, I suggest that we
offer our chaos to Christ, to give over to him whatever makes us feel less like
the person we are intended to be. He understands them, and this is the reason
he goes to the Cross for us. He knows the burdens we privately carry that we do
not even tell our closest friends or family members. He knows those areas of
our lives that are locked in secret because they are painful to touch and we don’t
quite understand. Sometimes, we don’t even know how our lives developed in such
a way and we arrived at this place of turmoil and confusion that we know
shouldn’t be there, but we bring this unreconciled stuff into our day and we
act out of it. Sometimes, we even hurt others because we are not settled, and
we make others a victim of our suffering. All this stuff, this is what Jesus wants
to carry those burdens for us so our day can be a little lighter, and he does it
for one reason – because he cares for us.
Allow Jesus to care for you. After
you bring him your burdens and lay them at the altar, let him respond to you with
compassion. He certainly has a heart filled with rich emotions towards you. It
is good for you to hear how he feels. He wants to touch those areas where you
feel the deepest pain because he does not want you to stay in the place. He
wants to teach you how to be a good parent to those parts of your life that are
wounded and hurt. He wants you to accept healing and transformation, even in
those areas that you do not think are possible. He wants you to experience the inner
transformation that Naaman and the Ten Lepers felt in their exterior healing. How
did they respond? With a gratitude and increased love that binds us together.
This is what Jesus wants. He wants only our love and grace, and that is enough
for him. In return, he will give us his own love and grace, and our souls are at
peace.
Scripture for Daily Mass
First
Reading:
Monday: (Romans 1) Through him
we have received the grace of apostleship, to bring about the obedience of
faith, for the sake of his name, among all the Gentiles, among whom are you
also, who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.
Tuesday: (Romans 1) I am not
ashamed of the Gospel. It is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who
believes: for Jew first, and then Greek. For in it is revealed the
righteousness of God from faith to faith; as it is written, "The one who
is righteous by faith will live."
Wednesday: (Romans 2) We know
that the judgment of God on those who do such things is true. Do you suppose,
then, you who judge those who engage in such things and yet do them yourself,
that you will escape the judgment of God?
Thursday: (Romans 3) Now the
righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, though testified
to by the law and the prophets, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus
Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction; all have sinned and
are deprived of the glory of God.
Friday (2 Timothy 4) At my first
defense no one appeared on my behalf, but everyone deserted me. May it not be
held against them! But the Lord stood by me and gave me strength, so that
through me the proclamation might be completed and all the Gentiles might hear
it.
Saturday (Romans 4) It was not
through the law that the promise was made to Abraham and his descendants that
he would inherit the world, but through the righteousness that comes from
faith. For this reason, it depends on faith, so that it may be a gift.
Gospel:
Monday: (Luke 11) At the
judgment the queen of the south will rise with the men of this generation and
she will condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the
wisdom of Solomon, and there is something greater than Solomon here.
Tuesday: (Luke 11) After Jesus
had spoken, a Pharisee invited him to dine at his home. He entered and reclined
at table to eat. The Pharisee was amazed to see that he did not observe the
prescribed washing before the meal.
Wednesday (Luke 11) "Woe to
you Pharisees! You pay tithes of mint and of rue and of every garden herb, but
you pay no attention to judgment and to love for God. These you should have
done, without overlooking the others.
Thursday (Luke 11) "Woe to
you who build the memorials of the prophets whom your fathers killed. Consequently,
you bear witness and give consent to the deeds of your ancestors, for they
killed them, and you do the building.
Friday (Luke 10) The Lord Jesus
appointed seventy-two disciples whom he sent ahead of him in pairs to every
town and place he intended to visit. He said to them, "The harvest is
abundant, but the laborers are few.
Saturday (Luke 12) "Everyone
who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but the one who
blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. When they take you before
synagogues and before rulers and authorities, do not worry about how or what
your defense will be or about what you are to say.
Saints of the Week
October 14: Callistus I, pope and martyr (d. 222) was a slave of a Christian
who put him in charge of a bank that failed. He was jailed and upon his release
became a deacon and counselor to Pope Zephyrinus. He became the first overseer
of the official Christian cemetery that was eventually named after him. When he
was elected Pope he introduced humanitarian reforms. He died during an uprising
against Christians.
October 15: Teresa of Avila, doctor (1515-1582), entered the Carmelites in
Avila and became disenchanted with the laxity of the order. She progressed in
prayer and had mystical visions. She introduced stricter reforms through her
guidance of John of the Cross and Peter Alcantara. They founded the Discalced
Carmelites for men and women.
October 16: Hedwig, religious, at age 12 married Henry, a prince
who would become king of Silesia. As a monarch, they built a Cistercian
monastery for women. They soon built many other religious houses and hospitals.
She chose to live in austere poverty to be in solidarity with the poor.
October 16: Margaret Mary Alocoque entered the Visitation Order at
Paray-le-Monial in 1671. She received visions of Christ's love and told her
Jesuit spiritual director, Claude la Colombiere, who asked her to write about
her experiences. They developed the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Her
community resisted her promotion of the devotion at first, but later came to
see the power of the prayers.
October 17: Ignatius of Antioch, bishop and martyr (d. 107) was born around 33
A.D. and became a leading figure in the new church at Antioch. He served as
bishop for 38 years before he was persecuted and killed under Emperor Trajan
for being a Christian leader. He wrote seven letters about church life in the
early second century and is the first-mentioned martyr of Roman heroes in the
first Eucharistic Prayer.
October 18: Luke, evangelist (first century) was the author of his version of
the Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles. He is described as a doctor and a
friend of Paul. He was a well-educated Gentile who was familiar with the Jewish
scriptures and he wrote to other Gentiles who were coming into a faith.
October 19: North American Jesuit martyrs: Isaac Jogues, John de Brebeuf, priests,
and companions (17th century) were killed between 1642 and 1649 in Canada
and the United States. Though they knew of harsh conditions among the warring
Huron and Mohawk tribes in the New World, these priests and laymen persisted in
evangelizing until they were captured, brutally tortured, and barbarically
killed.
This Week in Jesuit History
·
October
13, 1537: At Venice the Papal Nuncio published his written verdict declaring
that Ignatius Loyola was innocent of all charges which had been leveled against
him by his detractors.
·
October
14, 1774: A French Jesuit in China wrote an epitaph to the Jesuit mission in
China after the suppression of the Society. It concludes: "Go, traveler,
continue on your way. Felicitate the dead; weep for the living; pray for all.
Wonder, and be silent."
·
October
15, 1582: St Teresa of Avila died on this day -- the first day of the new
Gregorian calendar. She always wished to have a Jesuit as a confessor.
·
October
16, 1873: About two weeks after Victor Emmanuel's visit to Berlin, where he had
long conferences with Bismark, rumors reached the Society in Rome that all of
their houses in Rome were threatened.
·
October
17, 1578: St Robert Bellarmine entered the Jesuit novitiate of San Andrea in
Rome at the age of 16.
·
October
18, 1553: A theological course was opened in our college in Lisbon; 400
students were at once enrolled.
·
October
19, 1588: At Munster, in Westphalia, the Society opens a college, in spite of
an outcry raised locally by some of the Protestants.
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