Tuesday, February 28, 2023
Spirituality: Greg Boyle, S.J.
The measure of your compassion lies not in your service of those on the margins, but in your willingness to see yourselves in kinship with them, connected to them—to move beyond the service of the other, to a solidarity, where your heart is in the right place—and, now finally, to a place of kinship, where your
feet are in the right place.
feet are in the right place.
Monday, February 27, 2023
Prayer: “Lent” by: Ann Weems
Lent is
a time to take the time
to let the power of our faith story take hold of us,
a time to let the events
get up and walk around in us,
a time to intensify
our living unto Christ,
a time to hover over
the thoughts of our hearts,
a time to place our feet
in the streets of Jerusalem or
to walk along the sea and listen to his word,
a time to touch his robe
and feel the healing surge through us,
a time to ponder and
a time to wonder …
Sunday, February 26, 2023
Prayer: A Prayer as we Begin Lent
Loving Jesus,
As we in your church continue to come into our fullness according to the promptings of your Spirit following Vatican II, help us to begin Lent with a sense that we are your beloved ones. We are fully aware that we often do not measure up to your expectations, and because of your goodness, we exist because of your mercy. Help us to move past our fixation with sinfulness so we can reside in your mercy, and to know that your mercy calls us to enter into the chaos of the lives of others. Though it is Lent, we know that you are Risen and live among and within us, and your Resurrection is to be our sign of joy. Deepen our friendship with you this young season so that we may be your companions in God's reign, and that we may find delight in the redemptive work you have done for us. Help us to be better friends. We do it all for God's glory. Amen
Fr. John Predmore, S.J.
Saturday, February 25, 2023
Spirituality: René Daumal in Mount Analogue
I am dead because I lack desire;
I lack desire because I think I possess;
I think I possess because I do not try to give.
In trying to give, you see that you have nothing;
Seeing you have nothing, you try to give of yourself;
Trying to give of yourself, you see that you are nothing;
Seeing you are nothing, you desire to become;
In desiring to become, you begin to live.
I lack desire because I think I possess;
I think I possess because I do not try to give.
In trying to give, you see that you have nothing;
Seeing you have nothing, you try to give of yourself;
Trying to give of yourself, you see that you are nothing;
Seeing you are nothing, you desire to become;
In desiring to become, you begin to live.
Friday, February 24, 2023
Spirituality: Martha Postlethwaite in Addiction and Recovery
Do not try to save the whole world
or do anything grandiose.
Instead, create a clearing
in the dense forest of your life
and wait there, patiently
until the song that is your life
falls into your own cupped hands
and you recognize and greet it.
Only then will you know how
to give yourself to this world
so worthy of rescue.
or do anything grandiose.
Instead, create a clearing
in the dense forest of your life
and wait there, patiently
until the song that is your life
falls into your own cupped hands
and you recognize and greet it.
Only then will you know how
to give yourself to this world
so worthy of rescue.
Thursday, February 23, 2023
Poem: “The World Still Knows,” by Ann Weems
The night is still dark
and a procession of Herods still terrorizes the earth,
killing the children to stay in power.
The world still knows its Herods,
but it also still knows men and women
who pack their dreams safely in their hearts
and set off to Bethlehem,
faithful against all odds,
undeterred by fatigue or rejection,
to kneel to a child.
And the world still knows those persons
wise enough
to follow a star,
those who do not consider themselves too intelligent
too powerful
too wealthy
to kneel to a child.
And the world still knows those hearts so humble
that they’re ready
to hear the word of a song
and to leave what they have, to go
to kneel to a child.
The night is still dark,
but by the light of the star,
even today
we can still see
to kneel to a child.
and a procession of Herods still terrorizes the earth,
killing the children to stay in power.
The world still knows its Herods,
but it also still knows men and women
who pack their dreams safely in their hearts
and set off to Bethlehem,
faithful against all odds,
undeterred by fatigue or rejection,
to kneel to a child.
And the world still knows those persons
wise enough
to follow a star,
those who do not consider themselves too intelligent
too powerful
too wealthy
to kneel to a child.
And the world still knows those hearts so humble
that they’re ready
to hear the word of a song
and to leave what they have, to go
to kneel to a child.
The night is still dark,
but by the light of the star,
even today
we can still see
to kneel to a child.
Wednesday, February 22, 2023
Observing Jesus: The First Sunday of Lent
Observing Jesus:
The First Sunday of Lent
February 26, 2023
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Leviticus 19:1-2, 17-18; Psalm 103; 1 Corinthians 3:16-23; Matthew 5:38-48
The point of the Genesis reading is to show that God wants us to be in such a close relationship where there are no boundaries as it was in the Garden, and our human nature caused a rupture in that friendship, and we have been yearning for the nearness of God ever since. Saint Paul in Romans 5 describes theologically what happened through the centuries, and he describes the importance of the one act of Jesus of Nazareth to reverse the effects of our human nature and to hold out salvation for believers. The obedience of faith of Jesus that led him to the Cross is what saves us. We relive that journey as we begin that season of Lent.
Lent begins with Jesus being sent into the desert to deal with the very real temptations of human nature, and he shows us how he confronts the same types of decisions that we do. Each of us is tempted by honor, riches, and glory in different forms, and Jesus remains steadfast to his fundamental decision to act in accord with the reign of God. We must figure out how we are going to enter Lent with Jesus. Sometimes we set goals or practices for ourselves that come from our personal devotions. Those are quite fine if it helps one to align her or his life with Jesus as he teaches us about the obedience of faith.
We are supposed to observe how Jesus relates to the people he encounters. We watch his interactions with his adversaries and friends alike, we notice how he spends his time, and we see how he stays faithful to his proclamation of faith, that God’s rule is already present in the world. When we became his friends, we decided fully and ultimately that we would join in choosing what he chooses, acts as he acts, and live as he lived, which means surrendering our humanity to God’s rule so that God may rule within us.
So, Lent isn’t necessarily about what we can do to show that we are faithful disciples. Lent is about learning from Jesus himself how we are to live out the kingdom in our particular day and time. We do that by really unpacking Scripture, by dissecting it to see how Jesus may be speaking to us. We have to ask those types of questions in Scripture like we were lawyers, not as an intellectual pursuit, but so that we understand more fully the presence of Jesus, as a guide and friend, in our discernment and choices. He is continuing his work of saving souls and strengthening already formed friendships.
We are not to suffer with Christ unless he asks us. We are not to carry the cross unless he asks us. We are not Christ. It is his Lent, his journey, and he simply wants us to be his companion on his mission. Our best response to him is to pray with him and ask such questions like, “What was it like?” or “What are you experiencing?” We are to simply walk with him and to be his friend, knowing that friendship places demands upon us, and we know that if Jesus asks us to do something, we must be ready to respond, “yes.” Are we ready to be the type of friend he seeks?
Scripture for Daily Mass
First Reading:
Monday: (Leviticus 19) The Lord gives Moses ten commandments that he inscribes on stone tablets.
Tuesday: (Isaiah 55) God’s word will issue forth from his mouth and shall not return until it has fulfilled his will.
Wednesday: (Jonah 3) Jonah set out to Nineveh asking them to proclaim a fast and then repent. The king does repent and the Lord dropped his threat because they turned from evil.
Thursday: (Esther 3) Queen Esther appeals to God for help in converting the king’s heart for hatred of the enemy that threatens them.
Friday: (Ezekiel 18) If the wicked turns from sinfulness and keeps the Lord’s statutes, he will surely live. Likewise, if a virtuous man becomes wicked, he shall die.
Saturday: (Deuteronomy 26) Moses tells the people to observe the Lord’s statutes and decrees with their whole heart and soul. The Lord will stand by you.
Gospel:
Monday: (Matthew 25) Jesus tells his disciples about the last judgment when the goats and sheep will be separated. The measuring stick is the mercy shown to the most vulnerable.
Tuesday: (Matthew 6) The disciples ask Jesus to teach them to pray. He tells them not to pray like the pagans, who seek honor and glory, and then gives them the Lord’s prayer.
Wednesday: (Luke 11) Jesus chastises the crowd that seeks a sign, but none will be given to them. Because of Jonah’s preaching, the king and people repented.
Thursday: (Matthew 7) Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened. The Father is generous, especially to those who love him.
Friday: (Matthew 5) Your righteousness must surpass the levels of the scribes and Pharisees in order to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Show righteousness by quickly settling disputes.
Saturday: (Matthew 5) Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Heavenly Father. Be perfect as the Father is perfect.
Saints of the Week
March 1: Katherine Drexel (1858-1955), was from a wealthy Philadelphian banking family and she and her two sisters inherited a great sum of money when her parents died. She joined the Sisters of Mercy and wanted to found her own order called the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament to work among the African and Native Americans. Her inheritance funded schools and missions throughout the South and on reservations. A heart attack in 1935 sent her into retirement.
This Week in Jesuit History
- February 26, 1611. The death of Antonio Possevino, sent by Pope Gregory XIII on many important embassies to Sweden, Russia, Poland, and Germany. In addition to founding colleges and seminaries in Cracow, Olmutz, Prague, Braunsberg, and Vilna, he found time to write 24 books.
- February 27, 1767. Charles III banished the Society from Spain and seized its property.
- February 28, 1957. The Jesuit Volunteer Corps began.
- March 1, 1549. At Gandia, the opening of a college of the Society founded by St Francis Borgia.
- March 2, 1606. The martyrdom in the Tower of London of St Nicholas Owen, a brother nicknamed "Little John." For 26 years he constructed hiding places for priests in homes throughout England. Despite severe torture he never revealed the location of these safe places.
- March 3, 1595. Clement VIII raised Fr. Robert Bellarmine to the Cardinalate, saying that the Church had not his equal in learning.
March 4, 1873. At Rome, the government officials presented themselves at the Professed House of the Gesu for the purpose of appropriating the greater part of the building.
Observando a Jesús: El primer domingo de Cuaresma
Observando a Jesús:
El primer domingo de Cuaresma
26 de febrero de 2023
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predmoresj@yahoo.com | 617.510.9673
Levítico 19:1-2, 17-18; Salmo 103; 1 Corintios 3:16-23; Mateo 5:38-48
El punto de la lectura de Génesis es mostrar que Dios quiere que estemos en una relación tan cercana donde no hay límites como lo fue en el Jardín, y nuestra naturaleza humana causó una ruptura en esa amistad, y hemos estado anhelando el cercanía de Dios desde entonces. San Pablo en Romanos 5 describe teológicamente lo que sucedió a través de los siglos, y describe la importancia del acto único de Jesús de Nazaret para revertir los efectos de nuestra naturaleza humana y ofrecer la salvación a los creyentes. La obediencia de la fe de Jesús que lo llevó a la Cruz es lo que nos salva. Revivimos ese viaje al comenzar esa temporada de Cuaresma.
La Cuaresma comienza cuando Jesús es enviado al desierto para enfrentar las tentaciones muy reales de la naturaleza humana , y nos muestra cómo confronta el mismo tipo de decisiones que nosotros. Cada uno de nosotros es tentado por el honor, la riqueza y la gloria en diferentes formas, y Jesús se mantiene firme en su decisión fundamental de actuar de acuerdo con el reino de Dios. Debemos averiguar cómo vamos a entrar en Cuaresma con Jesús. A veces nos fijamos metas o prácticas que provienen de nuestras devociones personales. Esos están bastante bien si ayudan a alinear su vida con la de Jesús mientras nos enseña acerca de la obediencia de la fe.
Se supone que debemos observar cómo Jesús se relaciona con las personas con las que se encuentra. Observamos sus interacciones con sus adversarios y amigos por igual, notamos cómo pasa su tiempo y vemos cómo se mantiene fiel a su proclamación de fe, que el gobierno de Dios ya está presente en el mundo. Cuando nos convertimos en sus amigos, decidimos total y finalmente que nos uniríamos para elegir lo que él elige, actuar como él actúa y vivir como él vivió, lo que significa entregar nuestra humanidad al gobierno de Dios para que Dios pueda gobernar dentro de nosotros.
Entonces, la Cuaresma no se trata necesariamente de lo que podemos hacer para demostrar que somos discípulos fieles. La Cuaresma se trata de aprender de Jesús mismo cómo debemos vivir el reino en nuestro día y tiempo en particular. Hacemos eso realmente desempacando las Escrituras, analizándolas para ver cómo Jesús puede estar hablándonos. Tenemos que hacer ese tipo de preguntas en las Escrituras como si fuéramos abogados, no como una búsqueda intelectual, sino para que comprendamos más plenamente la presencia de Jesús, como guía y amigo, en nuestro discernimiento y elecciones. Continúa su obra de salvar almas y fortalecer amistades ya formadas.
No debemos sufrir con Cristo a menos que él nos lo pida. No debemos llevar la cruz a menos que él nos lo pida. No somos Cristo. Es su Cuaresma, su camino, y simplemente quiere que seamos sus compañeros en su misión. Nuestra mejor respuesta para él es orar con él y hacerle preguntas como: "¿Cómo fue?" o "¿Qué estás experimentando?" Simplemente debemos caminar con él y ser su amigo, sabiendo que la amistad nos impone demandas , y sabemos que si Jesús nos pide que hagamos algo, debemos estar listos para responder, “sí”. ¿Estamos listos para ser el tipo de amigo que él busca?
Escritura para la misa diaria
Primera lectura:
Lunes: (Levítico 19) El Señor le da a Moisés diez mandamientos que él inscribe en tablas de piedra.
Martes: (Isaías 55) La palabra de Dios saldrá de su boca y no volverá hasta que se haya cumplido su voluntad.
Miércoles: (Jonás 3) Jonás partió hacia Nínive pidiéndoles que proclamaran un ayuno y luego se arrepintieran. El rey se arrepiente y el Señor abandonó su amenaza porque se apartaron del mal.
Jueves: (Ester 3) La reina Ester pide ayuda a Dios para convertir el corazón del rey del odio al enemigo que los amenaza.
Viernes: (Ezequiel 18) Si el impío se aparta del pecado y guarda los estatutos del Señor, ciertamente vivirá. Asimismo, si un hombre virtuoso se vuelve malvado, morirá.
Sábado: (Deuteronomio 26) Moisés le dice al pueblo que observe los estatutos y decretos del Señor con todo su corazón y alma. El Señor estará a tu lado.
Evangelio:
Lunes: (Mateo 25) Jesús les dice a sus discípulos sobre el juicio final cuando las cabras y las ovejas serán separadas. La vara de medir es la misericordia mostrada a los más vulnerables.
Martes: (Mateo 6) Los discípulos le piden a Jesús que les enseñe a orar. Les dice que no oren como los paganos, que buscan el honor y la gloria, y luego les da la oración del Señor.
Miércoles: (Lucas 11) Jesús castiga a la multitud que busca señal, pero no se la darán. Debido a la predicación de Jonás, el rey y el pueblo se arrepintieron.
Jueves: (Mateo 7) Pedid y se os dará; Busca y encontraras; llama y la puerta se abrirá. El Padre es generoso, especialmente con los que le aman.
Viernes: (Mateo 5) Tu justicia debe sobrepasar los niveles de los escribas y fariseos para poder entrar al Reino de los Cielos. Muestra rectitud resolviendo rápidamente las disputas.
Sábado: (Mateo 5) Amad a vuestros enemigos y orad por los que os persiguen, para que seáis hijos de vuestro Padre Celestial. Sed perfectos como el Padre es perfecto.
santos de la semana
1 de marzo: Katherine Drexel (1858-1955), pertenecía a una rica familia de banqueros de Filadelfia y ella y sus dos hermanas heredaron una gran suma de dinero cuando sus padres murieron. Se unió a las Hermanas de la Misericordia y quería fundar su propia orden llamada Hermanas del Santísimo Sacramento para trabajar entre los africanos y los nativos americanos. Su herencia financió escuelas y misiones en todo el sur y en las reservas. Un infarto en 1935 la envió al retiro.
Esta semana en la historia jesuita
- 26 de febrero de 1611. Muerte de Antonio Possevino , enviado por el Papa Gregorio XIII en muchas embajadas importantes a Suecia, Rusia, Polonia y Alemania. Además de fundar colegios y seminarios en Cracovia, Olmutz , Praga, Braunsberg y Vilna, encontró tiempo para escribir 24 libros.
- 27 de febrero de 1767. Carlos III destierra la Sociedad de España y se apodera de sus bienes.
- 28 de febrero de 1957. Se inicia el Cuerpo de Voluntarios Jesuitas.
- 1 de marzo de 1549. En Gandia , apertura de un colegio de la Compañía fundada por San Francisco de Borgia.
- 2 de marzo de 1606. El martirio en la Torre de Londres de San Nicolás Owen, un hermano apodado "Pequeño Juan". Durante 26 años construyó escondites para sacerdotes en hogares de toda Inglaterra. A pesar de las severas torturas, nunca reveló la ubicación de estos lugares seguros.
- 3 de marzo de 1595. Clemente VIII levantó al P. Roberto Belarmino al Cardenalato, diciendo que la Iglesia no tenía igual en saber.
4 de marzo de 1873. En Roma, los funcionarios del gobierno se presentan en la Casa Profesa del Gesú con el propósito de apropiarse de la mayor parte del edificio.
Tuesday, February 21, 2023
Prayer: Katherine Drexel
It is a lesson we all need – to let alone the things that do not concern us. God has different ways for others to follow God; all do not go by the same path. It is for each of us to learn the path by which God requires us to follow, and to follow God in that path.
Monday, February 20, 2023
Spirituality: Listening to Those Voices who did not Speak
…In the consultation we were able to hear all voices, except the voice of those who did not speak, because they could not or did not want to. We also listened to the silence! We also listened to the empty chair! If one could not because we have failed to listen, we are called upon to verify what we have failed in. But if he did not want to, we must understand the reasons why. The truest way, which avoids easy shortcuts, is to create ‘places’ where everyone can speak; places of confrontation, where everyone feels they are heard. Truth in the Church does not depend on the tone and volume of statements, but on the consensus it is able to create precisely from listening to each other. On such a decisive issue as the ‘constitutively synodal Church’, we must not be afraid to confront each other: it is not our arguments that will convince us, but the Holy Spirit who leads the Church to the whole truth.
Sunday, February 19, 2023
Poem: Listening to Winter – Macrina Wiederkehr
The trees have shed their colorful autumn robes.
Winter is raging through the dark, empty branches and I am listening.
I am listening to the roar and to the quiet of winter.
I am listening to a beauty that sometimes remains unseen.
I am listening.
I am listening to the seed hidden in the earth.
I am listening to the dark swallowing up the light
I am listening to faith rising out of doubt.
I am listening to the need to believe without seeing.
I am listening.
I am listening to the season of contemplation, to the urgency of our
world’s need for reflection.
I am listening to all that waits within the earth, to the bulbs and seeds,
to deep roots dreaming.
I am listening to the sacred winter rest.
I am listening.
I am listening to long nights, comforting darkness, fruitful darkness,
beautiful darkness.
I am listening to the darkness of the winter season.
I am listening to the sparks of hope within the darkness.
I am listening.
I am listening to the storms raging out my window, to storms raging in
my heart.
I am listening to all that makes me pull my cloak a little tighter.
I am listening to trust buried deep in the ground of my being.
I am listening.
I am listening to the kind permission of the season to rest more often, to
reflect more deeply, to pray without words.
I am listening to the sacrament of non-doing.
I am listening.
I am listening to my dreams and inner visions, to the unknown wrapped
in the mystery of my life, to tears trapped in underground streams
of my being, to seeds watered daily by those tears.
I am listening.
I am listening to the quiet life in winter’s womb.
I am listening to winter, nurturing spring.
I am listening to brilliant winter sunsets and lovely frosty mornings.
I am listening to snowflakes flying through the air, to the cold winds
that often blow out there, to bare trees, so lovely in their
emptiness, to the one leaf that never did let go.
I am listening.
I am listening to winter handing over to spring.
I am listening to the poetry of winter.
I am listening.
Saturday, February 18, 2023
Spirituality: Thomas Keating, OSB, in Contemplative Outreach
Powerlessness is our greatest treasure. Don’t try to get rid of it. Everything in us wants to get rid if it. Grace is sufficient for you, but not something you can understand. To be in too big a hurry to get over our difficulties is a mistake because you don’t know how valuable they are from God’s perspective, for without them you might never be transformed as deeply and as thoroughly
Spirituality: Online Lenten Programs
Online Lenten Programs: Mondays during Lent from 4:00-5:00 pm
February 27th – What is the Synod and how does it affect me?
The Church across the world is engaged in a process of dialogue and listening called a Synod. It is designed to be a way of walking and praying together to discuss our challenges and suffering of the day considering our faith. This time together will discuss what is the synod, we are we in the process, what are the expectations, and what happens next.
March 13, 20, 27th – Guided Meditation and Ignatian Prayer practices
We will experience a scripturally based Guided Meditation that showcases Ignatian spiritual practices. We will read scripture, focus upon breath exercises, relax our body, set our imagination upon Gospel passages as they unfold through the heart of Ignatian spirituality – the conversation.
April 3rd – Poetry and Prayer for Holy Week
We will use poetry to enhance our religious imagination as we enter into the heart of Holy Week, examining the Paschal experience and resurrection through poetry and prayer.
Contact Fr. Predmore, SJ at jpredmore@bchigh.edu for more information
Join Zoom Meeting
https://bchigh.zoom.us/j/81220593900?pwd=Q2ZZS3hCUmFqaW8wNGpXMitYNS85Zz09
Meeting ID: 812 2059 3900
Passcode: 988188
Friday, February 17, 2023
Spirituality: "Seasons," by Parker Palmer
But, for me, winter has an even greater gift to give. It comes when the sky is clear, the sun brilliant, the trees bare, and the first snow yet to come. It is the gift of utter clarity. In winter, one can walk into woods that had been opaque with summer growth only a few months earlier and see the trees clearly singly and together, and see the ground that they are rooted.
Thursday, February 16, 2023
Poem: "Alone" by Maya Angelou
Lying, thinking
Last night
How to find my soul a home
Where water is not thirsty
And bread loaf is not stone
I came up with one thing
And I don't believe I'm wrong
That nobody,
But nobody
Can make it out here alone.
Alone, all alone
Nobody, but nobody
Can make it out here alone.
There are some millionaires
With money they can't use
Their wives run round like banshees
Their children sing the blues
They've got expensive doctors
To cure their hearts of stone.
But nobody
No, nobody
Can make it out here alone.
Alone, all alone
Nobody, but nobody
Can make it out here alone.
Now if you listen closely
I'll tell you what I know
Storm clouds are gathering
The wind is gonna blow
The race of man is suffering
And I can hear the moan,
'Cause nobody,
But nobody
Can make it out here alone.
Alone, all alone
Nobody, but nobody
Can make it out here alone.
Wednesday, February 15, 2023
Called to be a community of Radical Standards: The Seventh Sunday of Ordinary Time
Called to be a community of Radical Standards:
The Seventh Sunday of Ordinary Time
February 19, 2023
www.johnpredmoresj.com | predmore.blogspot.com
predmoresj@yahoo.com | 617.510.9673
Leviticus 19:1-2, 17-18; Psalm 103; 1 Corinthians 3:16-23; Matthew 5:38-48
The Jesus sayings from Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount continues with hard lessons for discipleship. It is difficult enough to love those close to us, and now Jesus is asking us to love our enemies. It almost seems impossible to do. Yet, it is the right teaching for us as we enter Lent later this week and we examine how we are to live as the People of God under God’s rule. This Sermon lays out the groundwork for our moral life in this world.
Jesus’s preaching is about the poor, the hungry, and those who are weeping in Israel, and he is representing the needs of those who are on the margins – the hopeless, the oppressed, and the despairing. His preaching announces that God’s intervention is about to take place and is already taking place. He announces, not that the poor will have better live in this world or after death, but they will participate in the reign of God. He is reconstituting an Israel that has lost its way, and he is establishing a new society in which the poor and marginalized will have a share in the wealth of the land. This new society has a distinct set of expectations that we hear about in the Gospel.
Jesus is not focused upon reforming Israel as much as he is inviting the whole world, of whatever distinction, into this new family. Israel was always destined to make an offer of salvation to the Gentiles, and to all the nations and faiths, and to people of goodwill. We notice that God pursues, not a nation, not Israel, nor the church, but human beings – individually. God calls us into a new community in which mercy is the defining criterion for admission, and a place in which one’s sins have been forgiven through that mercy and compassion.
As we see if the Matthew’s passages today, the reign of God has consequences for human behavior. Once we are in this community of discipleship, our forgiveness, tolerance, and understanding of one another undoubtedly has to match God’s radical forgiveness. We say that we want to do it, and yet our actions and words reveal that we are not yet understanding the implications of God’s rule in our behavior. Humans have to be responsible for their actions, and God makes demands upon those who have accepted God’s invitations. Jesus points out that God’s presence and rule establishes new and definitive standards for human actions.
These standards are high for individuals, and though God calls us individually, we are called into a community so that we can rise together through the Spirit. Because of the mercy we receive, we are to practice tolerance, understanding, slow to anger, and abounding in kindness. As Saint Paul said, you are the Temple of the Holy Spirit and God dwells within you. God’s reign comes about when you act in accord with the Sermon on the Mount. God’s reign is manifest through you, your behaviors, and your words. When we are tested and at our wit’s end and do not know how to go forward, the reign of God happens because we give space to God alone, and it is God who is acting through us. The reign of God rests within you. What an awesome responsibility. What a tremendous privilege.
Scripture for Daily Mass
First Reading:
Monday: (Sirach 1) All wisdom comes from the LORD and with him it remains forever and is before all time. Before all things else wisdom was created; and prudent understanding, from eternity.
Tuesday: (Sirach 2) My son, when you come to serve the LORD, stand in justice and fear, prepare yourself for trials. Be sincere of heart and steadfast, incline your ear and receive the word of understanding, undisturbed in time of adversity.
Wednesday: (Joel 2) Return to me with your whole heart, with fasting, and weeping, and mourning; Rend your hearts, not your garments, and return to the LORD, your God.
Thursday: (Deuteronomy 30) Today I have set before you life and prosperity, death and doom. If you obey the commandments of the LORD, your God, which I enjoin on you today, loving him, and walking in his ways, and keeping his commandments, statutes and decrees, you will live and grow numerous, and the LORD, your God, will bless you in the land you are entering to occupy.
Friday (Isaiah 58) Cry out full-throated and unsparingly, lift up your voice like a trumpet blast; Tell my people their wickedness, and the house of Jacob their sins. They seek me day after day, and desire to know my ways, Like a nation that has done what is just and not abandoned the law of their God.
Saturday (Isaiah 58) If you hold back your foot on the sabbath from following your own pursuits on my holy day; If you call the sabbath a delight, and the LORD’s holy day honorable; If you honor it by not following your ways, seeking your own interests, or speaking with malice Then you shall delight in the LORD, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth.
Gospel:
Monday: (Mark 9) They ran up to him and greeted him. He asked them, “What are you arguing about with them?” Someone from the crowd answered him, “Teacher, I have brought to you my son possessed by a mute spirit.”
Tuesday: (Mark 9) "The Son of Man is to be handed over to men and they will kill him, and three days after his death the Son of Man will rise." But they did not understand the saying, and they were afraid to question him.
Wednesday (Matthew 6) Take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them; otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father. When you give alms, do not blow a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets to win the praise of others.
Thursday (Luke 9) The Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised.
Friday (Mark 9) “Why do we and the Pharisees fast much, but your disciples do not fast?” Jesus answered them, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.”
Saturday (Luke 5) Jesus saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the customs post. He said to him, “Follow me.” And leaving everything behind, he got up and followed him. Then Levi gave a great banquet for him in his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were at table with them.
Saints of the Week
February 21: Peter Damian, bishop and Doctor (1007-1072), was orphaned and raised by his brother, Damian, a priest in Ravenna. He began as a hermit monk and was then made abbot and cardinal. He became a reformer in the church often speaking out against clerical laxness.
February 22: The Chair of Peter is celebrated on this day. Previously, both Peter and Paul were remembered until their feast was transferred to June 29th. As the custom was ingrained in practice, Christians continued to honor the contributions Peter made to the church as the first of the apostles in continuous succession.
February 23: Polycarp, bishop and martyr (69-155), was made bishop of Smyrna and was the leader of the second generation Christians. He was a disciple of the apostle John and a friend of Ignatius of Antioch. He wrote catechesis and rites for initiation into the Christian community. He was martyred in 155 and is a Father of the early church.
This Week in Jesuit History
- February 19, 1581. The election of Fr. Claude Acquaviva as fifth general in the Fourth General Congregation. He was only 37 years of age and a Jesuit for only 14 years. He was general under eight popes. He had been a fellow novice with St Stanislaus.
- February 20, 1860. Pope Pius IX visits the rooms of St Ignatius.
- February 21, 1595. At Tyburn, the martyrdom of Robert Southwell after he had suffered brutal tortures in Topcliffe's house and in prison. He embraced the jailer who brought him word that he was to be executed. As he breathed his last, Lord Mountjoy, who presided over the execution, exclaimed: "May my soul be one day with that of this man."
- February 22, 1599. By order of Pope Clement VIII, the superiors general of the Jesuits and the Dominicans, assisted by others, met to settle, if possible, the controversies about grace. Nothing came of the meeting, since the Dominicans insisted on the condemnation of the writings of Fr. Molina.
- February 23, 1551. The Roman College, the major school of the Society later to become the Gregorian University, began its first scholastic year with 15 teachers and 60 students.
- February 24, 1637. The death of Francis Pavone. Inflamed by his words and holy example, sixty members of a class of philosophy that he taught and the entire class of poetry embraced the religious state.
- February 25, 1558. St Aloysius Gonzaga received tonsure at the Lateran basilica. Within the next month he would receive the minor orders.