Friar’s Corner #740: 7/19/15: Sixteenth of OT; 4th Week of Christian Prayer
Sunday, July 16 of OT: Jeremiah 23:1-6 (I will gather the remnant of My flock and appoint shepherds for them.); Ps 23:1-6 (The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.); Ephesians 2:13-18 (Christ is our peace who made both one.); Alleluia, alleluia! My sheep hear My voice, says the Lord; I know them, and they follow Me. Alleluia, alleluia! Mark 6:30-34 (They were like sheep without a shepherd.)
Theme: The Lord is my shepherd.
I want to ask the Holy Spirit to increase our gifts of wisdom and understanding. "Come, Holy Spirit come! And from Your clear celestial home, shed a ray of Light Divine!"
Here is a little story about the Good Shepherd. A great Protestant preacher was delivering a lecture about Psalm 23 in a very large auditorium. Toward the end an old man near the front of the crowd kept waving his hand, which disturbed the presentation. Finally the preacher stopped and asked the man what he wanted. The old man stood up and asked if he could read that psalm. He came up and slowly read Psalm 23. Many started to weep openly. The preacher was shocked. As the old man finished, the preacher asked why his presentation was not enough. The old man simply said: "You know the psalm; I know the shepherd."
Do we know the shepherd? Throughout the Old Testament God our Father was basically guiding events. Because of the continued disobedience of the Jewish people, the Father send His Son into the world to show us how much God loves all of His children. Jesus came to love us, teach us, heal us and die on the cross to take away the punishment for our sins and bring us back into good graces in God’s family, into the kingdom of God as opposed to the kingdom of satan. Jesus was only here for thirty-three years and went back to heaven. The Father and the Son then sent their Holy Spirit to guide us to Jesus Who leads us to the fullness of the Trinity in heaven. Our response is to be obedient to God’s plan and follow it in our daily life.
We learn how to follow by reading our Scriptures daily especially at daily Mass and the Prayer of Christians. Especially we see Who Jesus is, how He healed thousands, went to find the lost sheep and taught us how to live. As we follow Jesus guided by His Holy Spirit daily we get filled with some degree of God’s joy amidst the evil of the world evil each day.
Psalm 23:
"The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
In verdant pastures He gives me repose;
beside restful waters He leads me;
He refreshes my soul.
He guides me in right paths
for His name’s sake.
Even though I walk in the dark valley
I fear no evil; for You are at my side
With Your rod and Your staff
that give me courage.
You spread the table before me
in the sight of my foes;
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
Only goodness and kindness follow me
all the days of my life;
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
for years to come."
We see in Mark’s gospel passage today the apostles reporting back to Jesus all that they had done on mission. Jesus took them across the lake to rest alone. Some people noticed what direction the boat was headed and they went around the lake to get there before the apostles got off the boat. There was "a vast crowd." Jesus’ heart was moved with pity for "they were like sheep without a shepherd; and He began to teach them many things." I invite you to come to Jesus often and allow Him to heal, teach and fill you with comfort and joy. Have a blessed week, + Fr. Bob Hilz.
Monday, July 20: (optional memorial of St. Apollinaris, Bishop and martyr, death unknown. Tradition indicates that he was from Antioch, Syria, and a disciple of St. Peter, who ordained him as the first Bishop of Ravenna during the reign of Emperor Claudius. Renowned for his powers to heal in Jesus’ Name, he was frequently exiled, tortured and imprisoned for the faith and finally martyred.) Exodus 14:5-18 (They will know that I Am the Lord when I receive glory through Pharaoh.), Responsory, Exodus 15:1bc-6 (Let us sing to the Lord; He has covered Himself in glory.), Mt 12:38-42 (At the judgment the queen of the south will arise with this generation and condemn it.)
Tuesday, July 21: Ex 14:21-15:1 (The children of Israel marched into the midst of the sea on dry land.), Responsory from Exodus 15:8-12, 17 (Let us sing to the Lord; He has covered Himself in glory.), Mt 12:46-50 (Stretching out His hands toward His disciples, Jesus said, "Here are My mother and my brothers.")
Wednesday, July 22: (memorial of St. Mary Magdalene, no date of death. Magdala was a town near the Lake of Galilee. It is believed that she was a prostitute there. The identity of Mary Magdalene is disputed. Although many of the Western theologians maintained that she and Mary of Bethany were the same person, others such as St. Jerome, Ambrose, Augustine and Thomas Aquinas, leave the question unresolved. The Greeks distinguish between the two Marys and have separate feasts for each one. The Gospel story relates that Jesus drove 7 demons out of her, Mark 6:9. This Mary washed Jesus’ feet with her tears, dried them with her hair and anointed them with costly oil. And it was to her, according to John 20:17f and Matthew 28:1 and 9, and a few other women, that Jesus first appeared on Easter Sunday morning outside of the tomb.) Ex 16:1-5, 9-15 (I will rain down break from heaven for you.), Ps 78:18-19, 23-28 (The Lord gave them bread from heaven.), Mt 13:1-9 (The seed produced grain a hundredfold.)
Thursday, July 23: (optional memorial of St. Bridget of Sweden, Religious Foundress,1303-1373. Here is an exciting visionary, mother, prophetess and foundress of a Third Order Regular group of Franciscan women called the Order of the Most Holy Savior. Bridget was born in Sweden, married at 14 and had 8 children. Her last daughter became St. Catherine of Sweden. She became part of the Third Order of St. Francis. After her husband’s death she began to live a more austere life receiving prophetic messages for popes, royalty and others. Bridget worked to end the popes living in Avignon, France. God wanted them to go back to Rome. She founded the Bridgettines and went to Rome where she was an example of heroic virtue to all. Bridget wrote a great deal about the mystical life and died in Rome.) Ex 19:1-2, 9-11, 16-20b (The Lord descended on Mt. Sinai before the eyes of all the people.), Responsory, Daniel 3:52-56 (Glory and praise forever!), Mt 13:10-17 (Because knowledge of the mysteries of the Kingdom of heaven has been granted to you, but to them it has not been granted.)
Friday, July 24: (optional memorial of St. Sharbel Makhluf, Priest, 1828-1898. He was born in a remote Lebanese village and became a Marionite monk. Sharbel was ordained a priest in 1858 and 15 years later moved to a hermitage where for 23 years he meditated on the celebration of daily Mass. Sharbel resisted temptations to wealth and comfort and taught the value of poverty and self-sacrifice. He was beatified at the Second Vatican Council, December 9, 1965, and canonized in 1977 by Pope Paul VI.) Ex 20:1-17 (The law was given through Moses.), Ps 19:8-11 (Lord, You have the words of everlasting life.), Mt 13:18-23 (The one who hears the word and understands it will bear much fruit.)
Saturday, July 25: (Feast of St. James the Great, Apostle. martyred about 42 A.D. He is the older brother of St. John and son of the fisherman, Zebedee and Salome, who was the sister of the Blessed Virgin. He, Andrew, John and Peter were the first followers of Jesus. Some time after Pentecost James and some disciples went to evangelize the Jews in Spain with little success. It was revealed to a 17th century still incorrupt mystic, Venerable Mother Mary Agreda, in a four-volume work, "The Mystical City of God," that the Blessed Virgin while still living on earth went to comfort James in a vision near the Elbro River. Mary, accompanied by legions of angels, gave James a pillar of jasper marble and told him to build a chapel there so that people could venerate her there. James did build the chapel called Our Lady of the Pillar at Saragossa, Spain. Within the chapel is the marble pillar with an image of our Lady on it. Mary told James to go back to Jerusalem. There King Herod Agrippa had him beheaded. James was the first apostle to be martyred. His disciples took his body back to Spain where it was buried and lost for hundreds of years. Now the place is known as Compostela, "field of the stars," where his body had been discovered.) 2 Corinthians 4:7-15 (We always carry about in our body the dying of Jesus.), Ps 126:1bc-2-6 (Those who sow in tears shall reap rejoicing.), Mt 20:20-28 (You will drink My chalice.)
Sunday, July 26: 17th of OT: 2 Kings 4:42-44 (They shall eat and there shall be some left over.); Ps 145:10-11, 15-18 (The hand of the Lord feeds us; He answers all our needs.); Ephesians 4:1-6 (There is one body, one Lord, one faith and one baptism.); Alleluia, alleluia! A great prophet has risen in our midst. Alleluia, Alleluia! John 6:1-15 (He distributed as much as they wanted to those who were reclining.)