Carry the gospel with you

Gospel reading of the day:

Luke 11:27-28

While Jesus was speaking, a woman from the crowd called out and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that carried you and the breasts at which you nursed.” He replied, “Rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.”

Reflection on the gospel reading: A woman in the crowd cries, “Blessed is the womb that carried you and the breasts at which you nursed.” It seems unlikely that the woman who said these words would have known who Jesus’ mother was. It was almost as though she were saying, “Bless the woman who had such a fine son.” Jesus, always looking to the moment for an opportunity to teach, replied, “Rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.” In other words, Mary is blessed not because of the gifts God gave her but because of her response to God’s word. And so it is with us. Some of us may run fast; some of us may have fair features; some of us may be good at scholarship: none of the gifts we have received make us blessed. It is our, “Yes,” to God’s invitations to us, like Mary’s yes at the annunciation and Mary’s yes at the foot of the cross, that make us blessed.

Saint of the day: Called in many part of the Church, “the Solemnity of the Assumption,” the sacred Feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos (mother of God) marks Mary’s death and her Son’s generous favor to his mother that she might share in his resurrection in the manner to which we all are destined. This feast, therefore, marks her being commended into her Son’s hands. Unlike the Resurrection of Christ, the mysterious character of her death, burial, resurrection, and ascension were not the subject of apostolic teachings, yet they were recorded by the tradition of the Holy Orthodox Church and writings of the Church Fathers. How these events, either in the life of Our Lord or Our Lady, unfolded remains the focus of immense speculation by theologians across the dimensions of Christian experience. What we can say about this feast ultimately lies in the assurance that Mary exists in her Son’s presence. Concerning that matter, no Christian would give dispute.

Spiritual reading: The moment when you hear God’s call is a moment of recognition, a moment of receptivity and of deep openness. It is the moment when all we have to do is realize that we are creatures, and that is God who calls us. What is he calling us to? He is calling us to what each of us most deeply desires. He is calling us to a life that will bear fruit, for sterility is the most tragic thing that can happen to us. (Soul of My Soul, Reflections from a Life of Prayer by Catherine de Hueck Doherty)

Homily for the 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

Homily for the 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

Once an English teacher, always an English teacher, I guess.  One of the things I have learned in teaching English literature is that I must constantly step back with my students and look at the whole picture because they get so bogged down in the little things – the metaphors, the images, the themes – that they lose site of why a particular work is written and what overall it is trying to do.  I think the same thing is true of the Bible, especially the way we take bits and pieces of it each week and examine smaller parables or even single sentences.

So…..Let’s look at the big picture.  What was it that Jesus was trying to do in his preaching?  Almost every parable, every story he tells, his entire message is really about one thing – the kingdom of heaven.  Think about it. Each parable begins with the words “The kingdom of heaven is like……” When he teaches us to pray, the first thing he has us ask for is “The kingdom come”. In today’s reading he gives the Apostles the ‘keys to the kingdom’. So today, let’s first review the big picture before we get into the little section of today’s readings.

What is the kingdom of God?  Well, obviously if all of Jesus’ teaching was about it, it must not be an easy concept or one which is easy to summarize.  Maybe even more confusing is that our American culture really has no idea of kings and kingdoms.  But let’s try to look at the big picture of the kingdom of God. First of all, it is a future event – at least the conclusion of it.  But we also know that the kingdom of God is in the present if we allow it to be.

In the mouth of Christ the “kingdom” means not so much a goal to be attained or a place — though those meanings are by no means excluded – it is rather a way of thinking; it stands for an influence which must permeate our minds if we would be one with God and attain to God’s ideals. It is only by realizing these shades of meaning that we can do justice to the parables of the kingdom with their endless variety. Sometimes the kingdom of God means the movement of grace in our hearts; at another time it is the goal at which we are to aim. The Church has also come to realize the the kingdom and reign of God is also that of Christ’s and that his behavior models  what will happen in the kingdom of God.

The kingdom of God means, then, the ruling of God in our hearts; it means those principles which separate us from the kingdom of the world and the devil; it means the gentle influence of grace to help us do better and be better persons; it means the Church as that Divine institution whereby we may make sure of attaining the spirit of Christ and so win that ultimate kingdom of God.

So now that we are reminded of Jesus overall message, let’s look at today’s readings in light of it.

Let’s talk about keys first.  In the first reading we are shown the importance of keys in the Biblical era.  The king’s right hand man has lost his job because of greed, and his position, symbolized by his keys, has been taken away, and given to another. In that period keys were very very large and worn over the shoulder. Common people didn’t have keys and locks, but the king’s palace did, and to only one completely trusted person was the key to the palace given. It was a great honor.

Even today, I think, we look upon getting a key as a trust – parents feel a child is old enough and trustworthy enough to be given a key to the house; we offer dignitaries keys to the city; our employers trust us enough to give us a key to get into the office, and so on. Getting a key, even today, is a sign of honor and responsibility.

In the Gospel today Peter and the apostles are given the trust, the responsibility of the keys to the kingdom – whatever doors they open, remain open, and whatever does they lock, remain shut. It is a huge honor and also a huge responsibility. They are still men – they still make mistakes – but somehow Jesus trusts them.  And what is it they have done to inspire such trust, to give them the keys which will allow them to pass on the teachings of Jesus, to forgive sins like Jesus, to be the rock or stone – the trusted representatives of the kingdom of God on earth?

Basically, they answered the question that ultimately each of us has to answer for ourselves: who do you say that I am?  Surprisingly there are many answers to that question today.  If I asked each of you that question right now, I might get many different answers – Jesus is the messiah, Jesus is the Son of God, Jesus was a great man, Jesus was a great thinker.

Similarly Jesus was the role model for how we are to live our lives.  How many times do we hear the phrase “What would Jesus do?” today?  For some he was the great rebel, for others, the good shepherd, for others the great judge of mankind, for others the sensitive feminist or the great advocate for the poor.  Who do you say that I am?

In the Mediterranean culture people got their identities from what others thought about them, not like in our culture in the United States which is more based on the individual and his or her rights. They tended to group people more – can anything good come from Nazareth? He’s just the carpenter’s son. So when Jesus asks the question who do you say that I am, he is, in a sense, struggling himself with who he is – coming to terms with his identity. The apostles let Jesus know who others say that he is – the reincarnation of John the Baptist, a prophet like the prophets of old.  But Jesus wants to know from those closest to him, those who have had a chance to observe him every day, to live with him, travel with him, hear him – who do YOU say that I am. And Peter’s answer is “You are the Christ (the Messiah, the promised one of Israel), the Son of the living God.” And for Jesus, that is proof that God has touched Peter and the Apostles and allowed them to see a truth which is not self-evident, which cannot be known through our reason alone. God has somehow revealed this to them. And for that revelation, that knowledge, he says “I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven” I will give you, my apostles, the responsibility, the honor, the ability to lock and unlock.” This passage has often been used to validate the idea of a Pope, but it is clear from the other Gospels that this was meant for all the apostles and that together they would be the rock on which the human church, the human kingdom of God would rest.

So what we can we learn from these readings that might help us this week.  First of all, I think we need to know that we can unlock the kingdom of heaven here on earth, and although it will not be fully realized till the second coming of Jesus, it is available to us now. We simply have to answer the question: who do you say that I am? Our belief in Jesus as our God, and our savior, our messiah, is enough to give us the grace to be better persons, allow us to be forgiven of our sins and then this leads to make us aware of the other people around us, our neighbors, who may need our help and consolation. Following through on that can make the kingdom of heaven a reality.  And this is the good news of  Our Lord Jesus Christ and the main thing he was presenting in his teaching to us!

Fr. Ron Stephens, St. Andrew’s Church, Warrenton VA

Carry the gospel with you

Gospel reading of the day:

Matthew 15:21-28

At that time Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a Canaanite woman of that district came and called out, “Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is tormented by a demon.” But he did not say a word in answer to her.

His disciples came and asked him, “Send her away, for she keeps calling out after us.” He said in reply, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But the woman came and did him homage, saying, “Lord, help me.” He said in reply, “It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs.” She said, “Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters.” Then Jesus said to her in reply, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed from that hour.

Reflection on the gospel reading: We read this passage several days ago during the weekday cycle of reading. In in my own life, there has been a trick that I have used repeatedly and persistently, and since it has worked in my life, I thought I would share it with you. No matter how I fail, no matter what run of bad luck I encounter, I simply never give up. I fall down; I get dirty; I pick myself up; I dust myself off; and I get on with it. And this is the lesson of today’s gospel. The Canaanite woman had a petition for the Master, who in his turn was disinclined to indulge her request, but she nevertheless persisted. And her persistence despite an initial failure earned her the reward she sought. After the passage of so many centuries, this woman has much to teach us.

Spiritual reading: All those to whom Eternal Wisdom gave himself have desired the cross, sought after it, welcomed it. Whenever sufferings came their way, they exclaimed from the depths of their hearts with Saint Andrew, “O wonderful cross, so long have I yearned for you.” (St. Louis de Montfort)

Carry the gospel with you

Gospel reading of the day:

Matthew 19:13-15

Children were brought to Jesus that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples rebuked them, but Jesus said, “Let the children come to me, and do not prevent them; for the Kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” After he placed his hands on them, he went away.

Reflection on the gospel reading: In the passage that we receive today from the Church, the disciples, apparently to save the Lord the trouble of bothersome encounters, try to keep children at a distance from Jesus. But Jesus invites the children to come to him for the Kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these. Of course, Jesus isn’t speaking just of literal children; he speaks of all those who are openhearted, gentle, simple, teachable, and trusting. It is to all the children, by age and by disposition, that Jesus in today’s gospel offers his invitation to come to him.

Saint of the day: Born on March 25, 1882 at Piller, Austria, Otto Neururer was the twelfth and youngest child of a peasant family; raised on a small farm with a mill. Otto’s father died when the boy was still young. His mother was devout, but suffered periodic bouts of depression. Otto was known as a brilliant but timid young man who also battled depression. He attended seminary at Brixen and was ordained a priest. He became a curate and religion teacher who served in several places in the diocese. At the turn of the 20th century, ideological and social tensions arose in Tirol both in political and ecclesiastical circles. Otto joined the Christian Social Movement which caused problems with his more conservative superiors.

Nazis occupied the Tirol in 1938, at a time when Otto Neururer was parish priest in Gotzens, a village near Innsbruck. The occupation triggered a bloody persecution of the Church in Austria. Thousands of the faithful were harassed, interrogated by the Gestapo, imprisoned, and thrown into concentration camps. Many of these faithful were murdered. Otto, in his capacity as spiritual advisor to his parish, advised a local girl not to marry a man who was leading a dissolute life. The man was a personal friend of the Gauleiter, the highest Nazi authority in Tirol, and Otto’s intervention brought down the wrath of the Nazis.

Neururer was arrested for “slander to the detriment of German marriage,” and imprisoned in Dachau and Buchenwald. He suffered the abuse that was standard in these places, and was routinely tortured, but ministered to his new flock of fellow sufferers, even sharing his scant rations with prisoners weaker than himself. In Buchenwald, he was approached by a prisoner who asked to be baptized. Otto suspected a trap but felt he could not refuse. Two days later he was transferred to the “bunker,” the place of extreme punishment, where he was hanged upside down until he died, the first priest killed in a concentration camp. The execution occurred May 30, 1940.

Spiritual reading: We are in a world of freedom and greatness in which humility is not a shriveling-up process. It is only the gaze of a love which can no longer be turned on itself because it no longer knows what it is. (Fr. Maurice Zundel)

Carry the gospel with you

Gospel reading of the day:

Matthew 19:3-12

Some Pharisees approached Jesus, and tested him, saying, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause whatever?” He said in reply, “Have you not read that from the beginning the Creator made them male and female and said, For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, man must not separate.” They said to him, “Then why did Moses command that the man give the woman a bill of divorce and dismiss her?” He said to them, “Because of the hardness of your hearts Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. I say to you, whoever divorces his wife (unless the marriage is unlawful) and marries another commits adultery.” His disciples said to him, “If that is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry.” He answered, “Not all can accept this word, but only those to whom that is granted. Some are incapable of marriage because they were born so; some, because they were made so by others; some, because they have renounced marriage for the sake of the Kingdom of heaven. Whoever can accept this ought to accept it.”

Reflection on the gospel reading: Jesus provides in this passage a hard teaching about divorce, but when his disciples question him about it, Jesus does not paint this teaching in white and black. He acknowledges that not everyone can live by this teaching because the Master understands the ambiguity of our existence. We do well to imitate him. Jesus in this passage describes an ideal, but he urges his followers in this passage to implement the ideal with compassion and flexibility.

Saint of the day: Born February 28, 1915 at Rees, Germany, Karl Leisner studied theology in Munster and tried to establish Catholic youth groups. However, the Nazis sought control of all work with youth, and he had to take teenagers “camping” in Belgium and the Nederlands in order to freely discuss Catholicism.

He spent six months in compulsory agricultural work during which, despite Nazi opposition, he organized Sunday Mass for his fellow workers. His home was raided by the Gestapo who seized his diaries and papers. These meticulously preserved documents tell how the spiritual young man became a heroic religious leader.

Ordained deacon by Bishop von Galen in 1939, he was imprisoned in Freiburg, Mannheim, and Sachsenhausen for criticizing Hitler. Transferred on December 14, 1941 to Dachau, where he was secretly ordained a priest on December 17, 1944 by French bishop Gabriel Piquet, a fellow prisoner, Leisner was so sick he had to postpone his first Mass for over a week.

Still in the camp when it was liberated on May 4, 1945, he was immediately transferred to tuberculosis sanitarium of Planegg, near Munich for the remaining months of his life. He died August 12, 1945 of tuberculosis.

Spiritual reading: Unfortunately, in seeing ourselves as we truly are, not all that we see is beautiful and attractive. This is undoubtedly part of the reason we flee silence. We do not want to be confronted with our hypocrisy, our phoniness. We see how false and fragile is the false self we project. We have to go through this painful experience to come to our true self. It is a harrowing journey, a death to self—the false self—and no one wants to die. But it is the only path to life, to freedom, to peace, to true love. And it begins with silence. We cannot give ourselves in love if we do not know and possess ourselves. This is the great value of silence. It is the pathway to all we truly want. (Father M. Basil Pennington, OCSO)

Carry the gospel with you

Gospel reading of the day:

Matthew 18:21–19:1

Peter approached Jesus and asked him, “Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus answered, “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times. That is why the Kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who decided to settle accounts with his servants. When he began the accounting, a debtor was brought before him who owed him a huge amount. Since he had no way of paying it back, his master ordered him to be sold, along with his wife, his children, and all his property, in payment of the debt. At that, the servant fell down, did him homage, and said, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full.’ Moved with compassion the master of that servant let him go and forgave him the loan. When that servant had left, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a much smaller amount. He seized him and started to choke him, demanding, ‘Pay back what you owe.’ Falling to his knees, his fellow servant begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’ But he refused. Instead, he had the fellow servant put in prison until he paid back the debt. Now when his fellow servants saw what had happened, they were deeply disturbed, and went to their master and reported the whole affair. His master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to. Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant, as I had pity on you?’ Then in anger his master handed him over to the torturers until he should pay back the whole debt. So will my heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you forgives his brother from his heart.”

When Jesus finished these words, he left Galilee and went to the district of Judea across the Jordan.

Reflection on the gospel reading: The parable that we have in today’s gospel speaks to our debt to God and our debts to one another. The amount that the servant owes the king is inestimable: in the hundreds of millions of dollars. The amount that the servant is owed is trivial by comparison: just a few months’ wages. The king, like God, forgives his servant much, but the servant fails to do likewise. The passage makes clear that God is willing to forgive us much but asks that we show the same generosity to one another. Just as God never tires of forgiving us, we must never tire of forgiving one another.

In Matthew’s account of Jesus’ teaching of the “Our Father” to his disciples, he makes a point about one of the last lines in the prayer, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” The instruction that immediately follows upon the teaching about how we are to pray is, “If you forgive others their transgressions, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your transgressions.” It is passages like today’s parable and events like the 10th anniversary of 9/11 that challenge us to remember just how radical is the nature of Jesus’ message.

Saint of the day: August 11 is the memorial of St. Clare. Clare was born in the late 12th century in Assisi, Italy. She lived at the time of St. Francis. Clare became the foundress of an order of nuns called the “Poor Clares.” When she was 18, she heard St. Francis preach. Her heart burned with a great desire to imitate him. She also wanted to live a poor, humble life for Jesus. So one evening, she ran away from home. In a little chapel outside Assisi, she gave herself to God. St. Francis cut off her hair and offered her a rough brown habit to wear. She stayed with the Benedictine nuns until more nuns would join her. Her parents tried in every way to make her return home, but Clare would not. Soon her 15-year-old sister Agnes joined her. Other young women wanted to join her way of life, too. Before long, a small religious community formed.

St. Clare and her nuns were discalced, that is, they were shoeless. They abstained from meat. They lived in a poor house and kept silent most of the time. As with St. Francis, many pious stories abound about Clare. One legend tells of how an army of rough soldiers came to attack Assisi. They planned to raid the convent first. Although she was very sick, St. Clare asked to be carried to the wall. She had the Blessed Sacrament placed right where the soldiers could see it. Then she knelt and begged God to save the nuns. “O Lord, protect these sisters whom I cannot protect now,” she prayed. And a voice within her seemed to say, “I will keep them always in my care.” At the same time, a sudden fright struck the attackers, and they fled.

St. Clare was abbess of her convent for 40 years. Twenty-nine of those years she was sick. But she said that she was joyful anyway because she was serving the Lord. Some people worried that the nuns were suffering because they were so poor. “They say that we are too poor, but can a heart which possesses the infinite God be truly poor?” St. Clare died on August 11, 1253.

Spiritual reading: There is no good trying to be more spiritual than God. God never meant man to be a purely spiritual creature. That is why He uses material things like bread and wine to put the new life in us. We may find this rather crude and unspiritual. God does not: He invented eating. He likes matter. He invented it. (Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis)

Carry the gospel with you

Gospel reading of the day:

Matthew 18:15-20

Jesus said to his disciples: “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have won over your brother. If he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, so that every fact may be established on the testimony of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell the Church. If he refuses to listen even to the Church, then treat him as you would a Gentile or a tax collector. Amen, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again, amen, I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything for which they are to pray, it shall be granted to them by my heavenly Father. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”

Reflection on the gospel reading: God is no respecter of size. There are perhaps 500 billion galaxies in the universe, but to God, all of them are less than a single prick of light. Yet even so, God attends a blade of grass when it bows down after a summer breeze. In the Babylonian Talmud, it is written, “Whoever saves a life saves the world entire.” God’s sense of proportion is entirely different than our own. We may worship in great communities filled with people, and we may worship with just one or two others. But to God, it is all the same. This is why we should ever strive to live lives of quality for quantity does not impress the Lord of the bent blade of grass.

Saint of the day: Lawrence Martyr was a Roman who lived in the third century. He was one of seven deacons who were in charge of giving help to the poor and the needy. When a persecution broke out, Sixtus, bishop of Rome, was condemned to death. As he went to execution, Lawrence followed him weeping. “Father, where are you going without your deacon?” “I am not leaving you, my son,” Sixtus answered. “In three days you will follow me.” Full of joy, Lawrence gave to the poor the rest of the money he had on hand. He even sold expensive church vessels to have more to give away.

The prefect of Rome, a greedy man, thought the Church had a great fortune hidden away. He ordered Lawrence to bring the Church’s treasure to him. The saint said he would, in three days. Then he went through the city and gathered together all the poor and sick people whom the Church supported. He showed them to the prefect and said: “This is the Church’s treasure.” The prefect was furious. In his anger, he condemned Lawrence to a slow, cruel death. The saint was tied on top of an iron grill over a slow fire that roasted him. Lawrence joked to the judge, “Turn me over.” Before he died, he prayed that the city of Rome might be converted to Jesus. He prayed that the holy faith would spread all over the world. Lawrence died on August 10, 158. His feast spread throughout Italy and northern Africa.

Spiritual reading: God is love. We are made to his image and likeness. We are all that we are to be, to the extent that we are love, lovers, sharing in the love of God become man’s in his Son. The greatest act of creation is the greatest act of love in creation, that act whereby the Son offered the Father the greatest thing in creation: his human life. Greater love than this no man has than to lay down his life. All our love has its meaning and fullness only to the extent it participate in his supreme act of love. (A Place Apart by M. Basil Pennington, OCSO)

Carry the gospel with you

Gospel reading of the day:

Matthew 18:1-5, 10, 12-14

The disciples approached Jesus and said, “Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven?” He called a child over, placed it in their midst, and said, “Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the Kingdom of heaven. Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven. And whoever receives one child such as this in my name receives me.

“See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven always look upon the face of my heavenly Father. What is your opinion? If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine in the hills and go in search of the stray? And if he finds it, amen, I say to you, he rejoices more over it than over the ninety-nine that did not stray. In just the same way, it is not the will of your heavenly Father that one of these little ones be lost.”

Reflection on the gospel reading: Children have a wonderful trust and openness. In today’s gospel reading, the Lord draws the little children to himself and tells us that of such as these is the kingdom of God made: people who place themselves in God’s hands with complete trust and allow themselves to be led, people who remain teachable as God whispers things to them in the stillness of their hearts. These are the people who make God’s kingdom. It isn’t so much the innocence of children that appealed to Jesus but the wisdom of children.

Saint of the day: Edith Stein, also known of Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, was a Carmelite, philosopher, and writer. She had a great influence on the women of her time and continues to influence the intellectual and philosophical circles of today’s Germany and of the whole world.

Born on October 12, 1891, of Jewish parents, Siegried Stein and Auguste Courant, in Breslau, Germany, Edith Stein from her earliest years showed a great aptitude for learning, and by the time of the outbreak of World War I, she had studied philology and philosophy at the University of Breslau and the University of Goettingen. After the war, she resumed her higher studies at the University of Freiburg and received a doctorate in philosophy Suma Cum Laude. She later became the assistant and collaborator of Professor Husserl, the famous founder of phenomenology, who greatly appreciated Edith’s brilliant mind.

In the midst of all her studies, Edith Stein was searching not only for the truth, but for Truth itself. She converted to Catholicism after reading the autobiography of Saint Teresa of Avila. She was baptized on New Year’s Day, 1922.

After her conversion, Edith spent her days teaching, lecturing, writing and translating, and she soon became known as a celebrated philosopher and author, but her own great longing was for the solitude and contemplation of Carmel, in which she could offer herself to God. It was not until the Nazi persecution of the Jews brought her public activities and her influence in the Catholic world to a sudden close that her Benedictine spiritual director gave his approval to her entering the Discalced Carmelie Nuns’ cloistered community at Cologne-Lindenthal on October 14, 1933. The following April, Edith received the Habit of Carmel and the religious name of “Teresa Benedicta of the Cross,” and on Easter Sunday, April 21, 1935, she made her Profession of Vows.

When the Jewish persecution increased in violence and fanaticism, Sister Teresa Benedicta soon realized the danger that her presence was to the Cologne Carmel, and she asked and received permission to transfer to a foreign monastery. On the night of December 31, 1938, she secretly crossed the border into Holland where she was warmly received in the Carmel of Echt. There she wrote her last work, The Science of the Cross.

Her own cross was just ahead of her, for the Nazis had invaded neutral Holland, and when the Dutch bishops issued a pastoral letter protesting the deportation of the Jews and the expulsion of Jewish children from the Catholic school system, the Nazis arrested all Catholics of Jewish ancestry in Holland. Edith was taken from the Echt Carmel on August 2, 1942, and transported by cattle train to the death camp of Auschwitz, the conditions in the box cars being so inhuman that many died or went insane on the four day trip. She died in the gas chambers at Auschwitz on August 9, 1942.

Spiritual reading: God is there in these moments of rest and can give us in a single instant exactly what we need. Then the rest of the day can take its course, under the same effort and strain, perhaps, but in peace. And when night comes, and you look back over the day and see how fragmentary everything has been, and how much you planned that has gone undone, and all the reasons you have to be embarrassed and ashamed just take everything exactly as it is, put it in God’s hands and leave it with Him. Then you will be able to rest in Him — really rest — and start the next day as a new life. (St. Edith Stein)

Carry the gospel with you

Gospel reading of the day:

Matthew 17:22-27

As Jesus and his disciples were gathering in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is to be handed over to men, and they will kill him, and he will be raised on the third day.” And they were overwhelmed with grief.

When they came to Capernaum, the collectors of the temple tax approached Peter and said, “Does not your teacher pay the temple tax?” “Yes,” he said. When he came into the house, before he had time to speak, Jesus asked him, “What is your opinion, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth take tolls or census tax? From their subjects or from foreigners?” When he said, “From foreigners,” Jesus said to him, “Then the subjects are exempt. But that we may not offend them, go to the sea, drop in a hook, and take the first fish that comes up. Open its mouth and you will find a coin worth twice the temple tax. Give that to them for me and for you.”

Reflection on the gospel reading: Today’s gospel passage is a sort of montage of three different vignettes. In the first part, we are told that Jesus’ disciples were overwhelmed with grief when he predicted his passion for the third time. Then we learn that Peter assures some inquirers that Jesus pays the temple tax. In the final scene, Jesus explains to Peter that children of the kingdom are exempt from the tax but counsels Peter to pay the tax lest they give scandal. So it is with us: we are bidden to be good citizens, but when our conscience counsels us against pursuing malignant civil interests, we can in good conscience give ourselves to protest or resistance to the evil we perceive.

Saint of the day: Also known as Santo Domingo de Guzmán, Saint Dominic was the founder of the Order of Friars Preachers. He traveled extensively himself, preaching, both before and after the Dominican order was founded. Following Dominic’s ideals, the Dominicans placed an emphasis on scholarship as well as evangelism.

Born in Castile in about 1170, Domingo de Guzmán studied at Palencia before joining the canons regular of Osma in about 1196. He became subprior only a few years later, and in 1203 he accompanied the bishop, Diego, on a royal mission through France. The trip exposed Dominic to the problems the Church faced with the Albigensian heretics, whose caste of the “perfect” led lives of extreme austerity, to the point of starvation and suicide, and who regarded ordinary people as reprobates.

Several years later, on another trip with the bishop, Dominic once again traveled to France. There, preachers who had been failing in their mission to reform the Albigensians discussed their dilemma with Dominic and Diego. Dominic reasoned that Albigensians would only turn back to Catholicism if Catholic preachers led lives of austerity that rivaled their own, traveling the roads barefoot in obvious poverty. This was the seed of Dominic’s “evangelical preaching.”

In 1208, the murder of papal legate Peter de Castelnau triggered a “crusade” called by Pope Innocent III against the Albigensians. Dominic’s work continued throughout the time of this crusade and grew slowly. After the Catholic forces had entered Tolouse, Dominic and his friends were welcomed by bishop Foulques and established as “diocesan preachers.” From this point on, Saint Dominic’s design for an order devoted to preaching grew quickly.

The Augustinian rule was adopted for Dominic’s order, which received formal sanction in December of 1216. He established two principal houses near the universities of Paris and Bologna, determining that each house should form a school of theology. In 1218 Saint Dominic began a great tour of well over 3,000 miles, entirely on foot, which included Rome, Tolouse, Spain, Paris and Milan.

General chapters of the Dominican order were held at Bologna. At the first, in 1220, a system of representative government for the order was devised; at the second, in 1221, the order was divided into provinces.

Tradition in both the Franciscan and the Dominican orders has it that St. Dominic met and became good friends with St. Francis of Assisi. The men may have met in Rome, possibly as early as 1215.

In 1221, after a visit to Vencie, Saint Dominic died at Bologna.

Spiritual reading: There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. It is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit. (The Weight of Glory and Other Addresses by C. S. Lewis)

Carry the gospel with you

Gospel reading of the day:

Matthew 14:22-33

After he had fed the people, Jesus made the disciples get into a boat and precede him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. After doing so, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When it was evening he was there alone. Meanwhile the boat, already a few miles offshore, as being tossed about by the waves, for the wind was against it. During the fourth watch of the night, he came toward them walking on the sea. When the disciples saw him walking on the sea they were terrified. “It is a ghost,” they said, and they cried out in fear. At once Jesus spoke to them, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.” Peter said to him in reply, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” He said, “Come.” Peter got out of the boat and began to walk on the water toward Jesus. But when he saw how strong the wind was he became frightened; and, beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand and caught Peter, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” After they got into the boat, the wind died down. Those who were in the boat did him homage, saying, “Truly, you are the Son of God.”

Reflection on the gospel reading: This gospel passage continues the passage we read last week where Jesus fed the multitudes with a few loaves of bread and fish. In this passage, Jesus dismisses the disciples, so he can go and pray on the mountain. When the disciples have traveled a good distance across the lake, they encounter a violent storm. The disciples are quite afraid. Suddenly, they see Jesus walking on the water on the water, and the disciples are even more terrified believing they are seeing a ghost. In the midst of their terror comes a voice to comfort them. Jesus says, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.” When the Lord uses the words, “It is I” (literally, I am in Greek: the words that the Jews associated with the name of God), he is telling them that God is there to save them (Jesus’ name means Yahweh saves). The rain may fall, the floods may come, and the winds may blow, but the disciples are safe because Jesus is with them.

Spiritual reading: May God break my heart so completely that the whole world falls in. (Mother Teresa)