Daily Gospel (Friday 28/3/2014)

Friday of the Third week of Lent 
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark 12:28b-34. 

One of the scribes, when he came forward and heard them disputing and saw how well he had answered them, asked him, "Which is the first of all the commandments?"
Jesus replied, "The first is this: 'Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! 
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.' 
The second is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these." 
The scribe said to him, "Well said, teacher. You are right in saying, 'He is One and there is no other than he.' 
And 'to love him with all your heart, with all your understanding, with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself' is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices." 
And when Jesus saw that (he) answered with understanding, he said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." And no one dared to ask him any more questions.

Commentary of the day:
Saint Anthony of Padua (c.1195-1231), Franciscan, Doctor of the Church 
Sermons for Sundays and feast days

"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart"

“You shall love the Lord your God.” 'Your' God is what is said and this is a reason for loving him even more, for we love what is our own more than what is not ours. It is certainly the case that the Lord your God is worthy of being loved. He became your servant so that you might belong to him and not be ashamed of serving him... Your God became your servant for thirty whole years because of your sins, to snatch you away from slavery to the devil. Therefore you shall love the Lord your God. He who made you became your servant on your account; he has been wholly given to you that you might be given to yourself. When you were miserable he restored your happiness, giving himself to you to bring you back to yourself.

And so you shall love the Lord your God “with all your heart”. 'All': you may not keep any part of yourself for yourself. He desires an offering of the whole of yourself. He wholly bought you with all of himself that he alone might possess you, the whole of you. Therefore you will love the Lord your God with all your heart. Don't, like Ananias and Sapphira, keep part of yourself for yourself for then you will perish as they did (Acts 5,1ff.). Love wholly, then, not in part. For God has no parts but exists wholly in every part. He wants no share in your being who is wholly in his own Being. If you keep back a part of yourself then you belong to yourself and not to him.

Do you want to possess everything, then? Give him what you are and he will give you what he is. You will have nothing more of yourself, but you will have all of him together with all yourself.

Today's Prayer

Let us pray:
Our Father in Heaven, we thank you for the gift of life.
We ask that you would allow your healing touch to rest upon every person that is in need.We thank you in advance. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.

Daily Gospel (Wednesday 26/3/2014)

Wednesday of the Third week of Lent 

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 5:17-19. 
Jesus said to his disciples: «Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.
Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter will pass from the law, until all things have taken place.
Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be called greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 

Commentary of the day: 
Saint Cyprian (c.200-258), Bishop of Carthage and martyr 
Jealousy and envy, 12-15; CSEL 3, 427-430 (trans. ©Friends of Henry Ashworth)

The fulfilment of the Law : loving in deed

To assume the name of Christ without following the way of Christ -what else is that but to make a sham of the divinely given name and to abandon the path of salvation? When Christ himself teaches that the person who keeps his commandments will have life (Mt 19,17) and that wisdom belongs to the one who not only listens to his words but acts on them (Mt 7,24), that the distinction of being called the greatest teacher in the kingdom of heaven is awarded to the one who not only teaches but acts in accordance with his teaching, then he means that if anything good and useful has been preached it will benefit the preacher only insofar as he lives by what he preaches.

Now is there anything the Lord more frequently urged on his disciples, any salutary counsel or heavenly precept he wanted them to cherish and observe more assiduously than his commandment that we should love one another with the same love as he himself showed for his disciples? (Jn 13,34; 15,12) Yet how can anyone preserve the peace and love of the Lord if jealousy has rendered him incapable of being either peaceable or loving toward his neighbor?

This is why the apostle Paul gave a eulogy of peace and charity and made an uncompromising assertion that neither faith nor alms nor even the suffering of the confessor or martyr would be of any value unless we observe the claims of love in their entirety (1Cor 13,1-3).

Today's Prayer

Let us pray:
Lord, help me to be fully alive to your holy presence.
Enfold me in your love.
Let my heart become one with yours. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.

Daily Gospel (Sunday 23/3/2014)

Third Sunday of Lent - Year A 

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 4:5-42. 
Jesus came to a town of Samaria called Sychar,  near the plot of land that Jacob had given to his son Joseph.
Jacob's well was there. Jesus, tired from his journey, sat down there at the well. It was about noon.
A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, "Give me a drink."
His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.
The Samaritan woman said to him, "How can you, a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?" (For Jews use nothing in common with Samaritans.)
Jesus answered and said to her, "If you knew the gift of God and who is saying to you, 'Give me a drink,' you would have asked him and he would have given you living water."
(The woman) said to him, "Sir, you do not even have a bucket and the cistern is deep; where then can you get this living water?
Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us this cistern and drank from it himself with his children and his flocks?"
Jesus answered and said to her, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again;
but whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst; the water I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."
The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water, so that I may not be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water."
Jesus said to her, "Go call your husband and come back."
The woman answered and said to him, "I do not have a husband." Jesus answered her, "You are right in saying, 'I do not have a husband.'
For you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true."
The woman said to him, "Sir, I can see that you are a prophet.
Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain; but you people say that the place to worship is in Jerusalem."
Jesus said to her, "Believe me, woman, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.
You people worship what you do not understand; we worship what we understand, because salvation is from the Jews.
But the hour is coming, and is now here, when true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and truth; and indeed the Father seeks such people to worship him.
God is Spirit, and those who worship him must worship in Spirit and truth."
The woman said to him, "I know that the Messiah is coming, the one called the Anointed; when he comes, he will tell us everything."
Jesus said to her, "I am he, the one who is speaking with you."
At that moment his disciples returned, and were amazed that he was talking with a woman, but still no one said, "What are you looking for?" or "Why are you talking with her?"
The woman left her water jar and went into the town and said to the people,
Come see a man who told me everything I have done. Could he possibly be the Messiah?
They went out of the town and came to him.
Meanwhile, the disciples urged him, "Rabbi, eat."
But he said to them, "I have food to eat of which you do not know."
So the disciples said to one another, "Could someone have brought him something to eat?"
Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of the one who sent me and to finish his work.
Do you not say, 'In four months the harvest will be here'? I tell you, look up and see the fields ripe for the harvest.
The reaper is already receiving his payment and gathering crops for eternal life, so that the sower and reaper can rejoice together.
For here the saying is verified that 'One sows and another reaps.'
I sent you to reap what you have not worked for; others have done the work, and you are sharing the fruits of their work."
Many of the Samaritans of that town began to believe in him because of the word of the woman who testified, "He told me everything I have done."
When the Samaritans came to him, they invited him to stay with them; and he stayed there two days.
Many more began to believe in him because of his word,
and they said to the woman, "We no longer believe because of your word; for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the savior of the world."


Commentary of the day: 
Saint Maximus of Turin (?-c.420), Bishop 
CC Sermon 22 ; PL 57, 477

"The woman left her water jar and went into the town and said: ' Come see a man who told me everything I have done. Could he possibly be the Messiah? ' "

“Water quenches a flaming fire and alms atone for sin” (Sir 3,29): water is compared to mercy. But just as water flows from a source, so must I search for the source of mercy. And I have found it in the prophet: “With you is the source of life and in your light we see light” (Ps 35[36],10).

It is indeed he who in the Gospel asks for water from the Samaritan woman... Our Savior asks the woman for water and pretends to be thirsty so he can pass on eternal grace to the thirsty. For indeed, the source cannot be thirsty and he in whom living water is to be found cannot drink the polluted water of this earth. Was Christ thirsty? Indeed he was thirsty but not for our drink but for our salvation. He was thirsty, not for earth's water but for the redemption of humankind.

Christ the source, seated at the well, miraculously causes the waters of mercy to spring up from that same location. A woman who has already had six lovers is purified by the waves of living water. Oh what a wonder! A loose woman who has come to the well of Samaria returns chaste from Jesus' source! Having come in search of water, she departs with virtue. She immediately confesses to the sins to which Jesus alludes, she recognizes the Christ and proclaims the Savior. She leaves her water jar behind and... in its place brings grace back with her to the village; relieved of her burden, she returns laden with holiness... She who came a sinner returns a prophetess.

Today's Prayer

Dear Jesus, today I call on you in a special way.
Mostly I come asking for favours.
Today I'd like just to be in Your presence.
Let my heart respond to Your Love. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.

Daily Gospel (Saturday 22/3/2014)

Saturday of the Second week of Lent 

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 15:1-3.11-32. 
Tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to Jesus,
but the Pharisees and scribes began to complain, saying, "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them."
So to them he addressed this parable.
Then he said, "A man had two sons,
and the younger son said to his father, 'Father, give me the share of your estate that should come to me.' So the father divided the property between them.
After a few days, the younger son collected all his belongings and set off to a distant country where he squandered his inheritance on a life of dissipation.
When he had freely spent everything, a severe famine struck that country, and he found himself in dire need.
So he hired himself out to one of the local citizens who sent him to his farm to tend the swine.
And he longed to eat his fill of the pods on which the swine fed, but nobody gave him any.
Coming to his senses he thought, 'How many of my father's hired workers have more than enough food to eat, but here am I, dying from hunger.
I shall get up and go to my father and I shall say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.
I no longer deserve to be called your son; treat me as you would treat one of your hired workers."'
So he got up and went back to his father. While he was still a long way off, his father caught sight of him, and was filled with compassion. He ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him.
His son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you; I no longer deserve to be called your son.'
But his father ordered his servants, 'Quickly bring the finest robe and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.
Take the fattened calf and slaughter it. Then let us celebrate with a feast,
because this son of mine was dead, and has come to life again; he was lost, and has been found.' Then the celebration began.
Now the older son had been out in the field and, on his way back, as he neared the house, he heard the sound of music and dancing.
He called one of the servants and asked what this might mean.
The servant said to him, 'Your brother has returned and your father has slaughtered the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.'
He became angry, and when he refused to enter the house, his father came out and pleaded with him.
He said to his father in reply, 'Look, all these years I served you and not once did I disobey your orders; yet you never gave me even a young goat to feast on with my friends.
But when your son returns who swallowed up your property with prostitutes, for him you slaughter the fattened calf.'
He said to him, 'My son, you are here with me always; everything I have is yours.
But now we must celebrate and rejoice, because your brother was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.'"

Today's Prayer

Let us pray:
Heavenly Father, thank you for being my shepherd, my guardian and my guidance. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.

Daily Gospel (Friday 21/3/2014)

Friday of the Second week of Lent:
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 21:33-43.45-46. 

 Jesus said to the chief priests and the elders of the people: «Hear another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a hedge around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a tower. Then he leased it to tenants and went on a journey. When vintage time drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to obtain his produce. But the tenants seized the servants and one they beat, another they killed, and a third they stoned. Again he sent other servants, more numerous than the first ones, but they treated them in the same way. Finally, he sent his son to them, thinking, 'They will respect my son.' But when the tenants saw the son, they said to one another, 'This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and acquire his inheritance.' They seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. What will the owner of the vineyard do to those tenants when he comes?" They answered him, "He will put those wretched men to a wretched death and lease his vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the proper times." Jesus said to them, "Did you never read in the scriptures: 'The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; by the Lord has this been done, and it is wonderful in our eyes'? Therefore, I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that will produce its fruit. When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they knew that he was speaking about them. And although they were attempting to arrest him, they feared the crowds, for they regarded him as a prophet.



Commentary of the day:
 Saint Bonaventure (1221-1274), Franciscan, Doctor of the Church
 The Mystical Vine, ch. 3, § 5-10 

"They seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him"

 “I am the true vine,” Jesus says (Jn 15,1)... People dig trenches around this vine; that is to say, cunningly dig traps. When they plot to make someone fall into a snare it is as if they dug a pit in front of him. That is why he mourns about it, saying: “They have dug a pit before me” (Ps 56[57],7)... Here is one example of these snares: “They brought a woman who had been caught in adultery” to our Lord Jesus, “saying: 'Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?' ” (Jn 8,3f.)... And here is another: “Is it lawful to pay the census tax to the Emperor or not?” (cf. Mt 22,17)...
However they discovered that these traps caused no harm to the vine. To the contrary, in digging these pits they themselves fell into them (Ps 56[57],7)... Then they kept on digging: not just his hands and his feet (Ps 21[22],17) but they pierced his side with a lance (Jn 19,34) and uncovered the interior of that sacred heart, which had already been wounded by the spear of love. The Bridegroom says in the song of his love that: “You have wounded my heart, my sister, my spouse” (Sg 4,9 Vg.). O Lord Jesus, your heart has been wounded with love by your spouse, your friend, your sister. Why, then, was it necessary for your enemies to wound you again? O you enemies, what are you doing?... Do you not know that this heart of our Lord Jesus', already pierced, is already dead, already open and cannot be touched by any other suffering? The heart of the Bridegroom, our Lord Jesus, has already received the wound of love, the death of love. What other death could touch him?... The martyrs also laugh when they are threatened, rjoice when they are struck, triumph when they are killed. Why? Because they have already died through love in their hearts, “dead to sin” (Rm 6,2) and to the world...
Thus Jesus' heart has been wounded and put to death for our sake... Physical death triumphed for a moment but only to be conquered for ever. It was blotted out when Christ rose from the dead because “death has no power over him any more” (Rm 6,9).

Today's Prayer

Our Father, we thank you for your grace and mercy.
We thank you for your love and your presence in our lives.
Even when we don't deserve it, you're always good to us.
We thank you Lord for all the things you're giving to us.
In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.