2nd book of Kings 4,8-11.14-16a. One day Elisha came to Shunem, where there was a woman of influence, who urged him to dine with her. Afterward, whenever he passed by, he used to stop there to dine. So she said to her husband, "I know that he is a holy man of God. Since he visits us often, let us arrange a little room on the roof and furnish it for him with a bed, table, chair, and lamp, so that when he comes to us he can stay there." Sometime later Elisha arrived and stayed in the room overnight. Later Elisha asked, "Can something be done for her?" "Yes!" Gehazi answered. "She has no son, and her husband is getting on in years." "Call her," said Elisha. When she had been called, and stood at the door, Elisha promised, "This time next year you will be fondling a baby son." "Please, my lord," she protested, "you are a man of God; do not deceive your servant."
Psalms 89(88)
The favors of the LORD I will sing forever; through all generations my mouth shall proclaim your faithfulness. For you have said, “My kindness is established forever”; in heaven you have confirmed your faithfulness.
Blessed the people who know the joyful shout; in the light of your countenance, O LORD, they walk. At your name they rejoice all the day, and through your justice they are exalted.
For you are the splendor of their strength, and by your favor our horn is exalted. For to the LORD belongs our shield, and to the Holy One of Israel, our King.
Letter of St. Paul to the Romans 6,3-4.8-11. Brothers and sisters: Are you unaware that we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were indeed buried with him through baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might live in newness of life. If, then, we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him. We know that Christ, raised from the dead, dies no more; death no longer has power over him. As to his death, he died to sin once and for all; as to his life, he lives for God. Consequently, you too must think of yourselves as (being) dead to sin and living for God in Christ Jesus.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 10,37-42. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me. Whoever receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet's reward, and whoever receives a righteous man because he is righteous will receive a righteous man's reward. And whoever gives only a cup of cold water to one of these little ones to drink because he is a disciple--amen, I say to you, he will surely not lose his reward."
POPE FRANCIS ANGELU 28 June 2020 Dear Brothers and Sisters, Good morning!
This Sunday, the Gospel ( Mt 10:37-42) forcefully echoes the invitation to live out our bond with the Lord fully and without hesitation. Jesus asks his disciples to take the demands of the Gospel seriously, even when that requires sacrifice and effort.
The first demanding request that he addresses to those who follow him is that of putting love for him above family affection. He says: “He who loves father or mother… son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me” (v. 37). Jesus certainly does not intend to undervalue love for parents and children, but he knows that if family bonds are put in first place, they can deviate from the true good. We see this: some forms of corruption in governments come about precisely because love for family is greater than love for country, and so they put family members in charge. It is the same with Jesus: when love [for family] is greater than [it is] for him, it is not good. All of us can give many examples in this regard, not to mention those situations in which family affections are intermingled with choices that are contrary to the Gospel. When, instead, love for parents and children is inspired and purified by love for the Lord, it then becomes wholly fruitful and produces good fruits within the family itself and well beyond it. Jesus says this phrase in this sense. Let us also remember how Jesus rebukes the doctors of the law who cause their parents to lack what is necessary to them on the pretext of offering it at the altar, of giving it to the Church (cf. Mk 7:8-13). He rebukes them! True love for Jesus requires a true love for parents and children, but if we seek out family interests first, this always leads to the wrong path.
Then, Jesus says to his disciples: “he who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me” (Mt 10:38). This means following him along the path that he himself trod, without looking for shortcuts. There is no true love without the cross, that is, without a personal price to pay. Many mothers, many fathers who sacrifice a great deal for their children, and bear true sacrifices, crosses, because they love them, say this. And the cross is not frightening when borne with Jesus, because he is always at our side to support us in the hour of the most difficult trial, to give us strength and courage. Nor is it helpful to get agitated to preserve one’s own life through fearful or egotistical behaviour. Jesus admonishes: “He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for my sake” — that is, for love, for love of Jesus, love for one’s neighbour, for service towards others — “will find it” (v. 39). This is the Gospel paradox. But we have many, many examples of this too, thank God! We see it in these days. How many people, how many people, are bearing crosses to help others; they sacrifice themselves to help others who are in need in this pandemic. But, always with Jesus, it can be done. The fullness of life and of joy is found by giving oneself for the Gospel and for our brothers and sisters, with openness, welcoming and goodness.
In so doing, we can experience God’s generosity and gratitude. Jesus reminds us of this: “He who receives you receives me… And whoever gives to one of these little ones even a cup of cold water… shall not lose his reward” (vv. 40, 42). God’s generous gratitude takes into account even the smallest gesture of love and service given to our brothers and sisters.
--->In these days, I heard from a priest who was moved because a child approached him in his parish and said, “Father, this is my savings; not very much. It is for the poor, for those who are in need today because of the pandemic”. A small thing, but a great thing. It is a contagious gratitude, which helps each of us to be grateful to those who take care of our needs. When someone offers us a service, we should not think that we deserve everything. No, many services are carried out freely. Think of volunteer work, which is one of the greatest things about Italian society. The volunteers… And how many of them have lost their lives in this pandemic. They do it out of love, simply to serve. Gratitude, appreciation is, first of all, good manners, but it is also a characteristic of a Christian. It is a simple but genuine sign of the Kingdom of God, which is the kingdom of gratuitous and grateful love.
May Mary Most Holy, who loved Jesus more than her own life and followed him even to the cross, help us to always put ourselves before God with willing hearts, allowing his Word to judge our behaviour and our choices.
H.H. PAUL VI - We preach Christ to the whole earth Jesus Christ: you have heard of Him, indeed you, most certainly, are already His, you are Christians. Well, to you Christians I repeat His Name, to all of you I proclaim it: Jesus Christ is the Beginning and the End; the Alpha and the Omega. He is the king of the new world. He is the secret of history. He is the key to our destinies. He is the mediator, the bridge between earth and heaven; He is the Son of man par excellence, because He is the Son of God, eternal, infinite; He is the Son of Mary, the Blessed One among all women, His mother in the flesh, our mother in sharing in the Spirit of the Mystical Body. Jesus Christ! Remember: this is our perennial proclamation, it is the voice that we make resound throughout the earth, and for ever and ever.
HOLY MASS AT THE CAVE OF LOURDES IN THE VATICAN GARDENS - HOMILY BY JOHN PAUL II - Sunday, June 30, 1996 I will forever sing of your mercy! These words express the gratitude of one who has experienced God's merciful love: they are the words of the prophet filled with the Holy Spirit,of the barren woman who became a mother, of the apostle chosen by the Master. They are the words of every baptized person, regenerated by the paschal mystery of Christ. Indeed, the Christian experience is a circulation of gifts that starts from God and returns to God, through Christ, in praise of His glory; a circulation of mercy and gratitude, a foretaste and prophecy of the Kingdom of Heaven. This is also the dynamic of mission and apostolate. The first reading of today's Sunday presented us, from the cycle of the prophet ELISEO narrated in the Second Book of Kings, an episode that exemplifies Jesus' saying:He who ACCEPTS a prophet as a prophet will have the reward of the prophet, ( Mt 10:41 ). ELISEO, heir of the spirit of the great prophet Elijah, is welcomed by a woman of Sunem, who acts with considerate hospitality toward him, because she recognizes him as a man of God, a saint ( 2 Kings 4:9 ). And from him he receives, as a reward, the promise of a now unhoped-for son, a son who punctually will be born and, who, later, will even be raised by ELISEO himself. What will have been the life of that woman of Sunem, if not a hymn of unceasing praise to the mercy of God, who had visited her? He who WELCOMES you WELCOMES ME ( Mt 10:40 ). The apostle of the Kingdom of Heaven is first and foremost a man of God, one who has personally experienced His love and is called to proclaim it. He first repeats every day: I will forever sing your mercy. In this way, the apostle also becomes a dispenser of God's grace and a witness to His faithfulness, so as to arouse in those who receive his message the same song of praise. The Gospel passage, which we have just heard, constitutes the final part of the so-called apostolic discourse in Matthew's Gospel. It presents the fundamental and synthetic criterion of apostolic existence, namely, the primacy of God, which has become, in the New Covenant, the primacy of Christ, the incarnate Son of God.
The apostle had lost his life ( Mt 10:39 ) for Christ; by becoming His disciple he made himself small and can now be an instrument of His mercy toward all who receive Him in the name of the Lord. 3.You, too, consider yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God, in Christ Jesus ( Rom 6:11 ) Dear brothers and sisters, every disciple is called to be an apostle of the Gospel, by virtue of the baptism, about which the apostle Paul told us in his Epistle to the Romans. Christ lost His life and received it renewed from the Father, to pour it out, in the Holy Spirit, in those who believe in Him. His baptism into death (Lk 12:50 ) is the beginning of our baptism, His resurrection the beginning for us of a journey of new life, centered on our relationship with Him, which gives fullness of meaning and value to every other human relationship. Let us turn our gaze, beloved, to the Virgin Mary: She has been baptized into the paschal mystery of Christ from the first moment of his conception: that is why She is the Immaculate One. May our invocation be addressed to Her, that She may obtain for us to sing the Lord's mercy at all times. Amen!
2nd book of Kings 4,8-11.14-16a.
RispondiEliminaOne day Elisha came to Shunem, where there was a woman of influence, who urged him to dine with her. Afterward, whenever he passed by, he used to stop there to dine.
So she said to her husband, "I know that he is a holy man of God. Since he visits us often,
let us arrange a little room on the roof and furnish it for him with a bed, table, chair, and lamp, so that when he comes to us he can stay there."
Sometime later Elisha arrived and stayed in the room overnight.
Later Elisha asked, "Can something be done for her?" "Yes!" Gehazi answered. "She has no son, and her husband is getting on in years."
"Call her," said Elisha. When she had been called, and stood at the door,
Elisha promised, "This time next year you will be fondling a baby son." "Please, my lord," she protested, "you are a man of God; do not deceive your servant."
Psalms 89(88)
The favors of the LORD I will sing forever;
through all generations my mouth shall proclaim your faithfulness.
For you have said, “My kindness is established forever”;
in heaven you have confirmed your faithfulness.
Blessed the people who know the joyful shout;
in the light of your countenance, O LORD, they walk.
At your name they rejoice all the day,
and through your justice they are exalted.
For you are the splendor of their strength,
and by your favor our horn is exalted.
For to the LORD belongs our shield,
and to the Holy One of Israel, our King.
Letter of St. Paul
to the Romans
6,3-4.8-11.
Brothers and sisters: Are you unaware that we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?
We were indeed buried with him through baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might live in newness of life.
If, then, we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him.
We know that Christ, raised from the dead, dies no more; death no longer has power over him.
As to his death, he died to sin once and for all; as to his life, he lives for God.
Consequently, you too must think of yourselves as (being) dead to sin and living for God in Christ Jesus.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ
according to Saint Matthew
10,37-42.
Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me;
and whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me.
Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.
Whoever receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet's reward, and whoever receives a righteous man because he is righteous will receive a righteous man's reward.
And whoever gives only a cup of cold water to one of these little ones to drink because he is a disciple--amen, I say to you, he will surely not lose his reward."
POPE FRANCIS ANGELU 28 June 2020
RispondiEliminaDear Brothers and Sisters, Good morning!
This Sunday, the Gospel ( Mt 10:37-42) forcefully echoes the invitation to live out our bond with the Lord fully and without hesitation. Jesus asks his disciples to take the demands of the Gospel seriously, even when that requires sacrifice and effort.
The first demanding request that he addresses to those who follow him is that of putting love for him above family affection. He says: “He who loves father or mother… son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me” (v. 37). Jesus certainly does not intend to undervalue love for parents and children, but he knows that if family bonds are put in first place, they can deviate from the true good. We see this: some forms of corruption in governments come about precisely because love for family is greater than love for country, and so they put family members in charge. It is the same with Jesus: when love [for family] is greater than [it is] for him, it is not good. All of us can give many examples in this regard, not to mention those situations in which family affections are intermingled with choices that are contrary to the Gospel. When, instead, love for parents and children is inspired and purified by love for the Lord, it then becomes wholly fruitful and produces good fruits within the family itself and well beyond it. Jesus says this phrase in this sense. Let us also remember how Jesus rebukes the doctors of the law who cause their parents to lack what is necessary to them on the pretext of offering it at the altar, of giving it to the Church (cf. Mk 7:8-13). He rebukes them! True love for Jesus requires a true love for parents and children, but if we seek out family interests first, this always leads to the wrong path.
Then, Jesus says to his disciples: “he who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me” (Mt 10:38). This means following him along the path that he himself trod, without looking for shortcuts. There is no true love without the cross, that is, without a personal price to pay. Many mothers, many fathers who sacrifice a great deal for their children, and bear true sacrifices, crosses, because they love them, say this. And the cross is not frightening when borne with Jesus, because he is always at our side to support us in the hour of the most difficult trial, to give us strength and courage. Nor is it helpful to get agitated to preserve one’s own life through fearful or egotistical behaviour. Jesus admonishes: “He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for my sake” — that is, for love, for love of Jesus, love for one’s neighbour, for service towards others — “will find it” (v. 39). This is the Gospel paradox. But we have many, many examples of this too, thank God! We see it in these days. How many people, how many people, are bearing crosses to help others; they sacrifice themselves to help others who are in need in this pandemic. But, always with Jesus, it can be done. The fullness of life and of joy is found by giving oneself for the Gospel and for our brothers and sisters, with openness, welcoming and goodness.
In so doing, we can experience God’s generosity and gratitude. Jesus reminds us of this: “He who receives you receives me… And whoever gives to one of these little ones even a cup of cold water… shall not lose his reward” (vv. 40, 42). God’s generous gratitude takes into account even the smallest gesture of love and service given to our brothers and sisters.
--->In these days, I heard from a priest who was moved because a child approached him in his parish and said, “Father, this is my savings; not very much. It is for the poor, for those who are in need today because of the pandemic”. A small thing, but a great thing. It is a contagious gratitude, which helps each of us to be grateful to those who take care of our needs. When someone offers us a service, we should not think that we deserve everything. No, many services are carried out freely. Think of volunteer work, which is one of the greatest things about Italian society. The volunteers… And how many of them have lost their lives in this pandemic. They do it out of love, simply to serve. Gratitude, appreciation is, first of all, good manners, but it is also a characteristic of a Christian. It is a simple but genuine sign of the Kingdom of God, which is the kingdom of gratuitous and grateful love.
RispondiEliminaMay Mary Most Holy, who loved Jesus more than her own life and followed him even to the cross, help us to always put ourselves before God with willing hearts, allowing his Word to judge our behaviour and our choices.
H.H. PAUL VI - We preach Christ to the whole earth
RispondiEliminaJesus Christ: you have heard of Him, indeed you, most certainly, are already His, you are Christians. Well, to you Christians I repeat His Name, to all of you I proclaim it: Jesus Christ is the Beginning and the End; the Alpha and the Omega. He is the king of the new world. He is the secret of history. He is the key to our destinies. He is the mediator, the bridge between earth and heaven; He is the Son of man par excellence, because He is the Son of God, eternal, infinite; He is the Son of Mary, the Blessed One among all women, His mother in the flesh, our mother in sharing in the Spirit of the Mystical Body.
Jesus Christ! Remember: this is our perennial proclamation, it is the voice that we make resound throughout the earth, and for ever and ever.
HOLY MASS AT THE CAVE OF LOURDES IN THE VATICAN GARDENS - HOMILY BY JOHN PAUL II -
RispondiEliminaSunday, June 30, 1996
I will forever sing of your mercy!
These words express the gratitude of one who has experienced God's merciful love: they are the
words of the prophet filled with the Holy Spirit,of the barren woman who became a mother, of the apostle chosen by the Master. They are the words of every baptized person, regenerated by the paschal mystery of Christ.
Indeed, the Christian experience is a circulation of gifts that starts from God and returns to God, through Christ, in praise of His glory; a circulation of mercy and gratitude, a foretaste and prophecy of the Kingdom of Heaven.
This is also the dynamic of mission and apostolate.
The first reading of today's Sunday presented us, from the cycle of the prophet ELISEO narrated in the Second
Book of Kings, an episode that exemplifies Jesus' saying:He who ACCEPTS a prophet as a prophet will have the
reward of the prophet, ( Mt 10:41 ). ELISEO, heir of the spirit of the great prophet Elijah, is welcomed by a
woman of Sunem, who acts with considerate hospitality toward him, because she recognizes him as a man
of God, a saint ( 2 Kings 4:9 ). And from him he receives, as a reward, the promise of a now unhoped-for son,
a son who punctually will be born and, who, later, will even be raised by ELISEO himself.
What will have been the life of that woman of Sunem, if not a hymn of unceasing praise to the mercy of God, who had visited her?
He who WELCOMES you WELCOMES ME ( Mt 10:40 ).
The apostle of the Kingdom of Heaven is first and foremost a man of God, one who has personally experienced His
love and is called to proclaim it. He first repeats every day:
I will forever sing your mercy. In this way, the apostle also becomes a dispenser of God's grace and a witness to His
faithfulness, so as to arouse in those who receive his message the same song of praise.
The Gospel passage, which we have just heard, constitutes the final part of the so-called apostolic discourse in Matthew's Gospel. It presents the fundamental and synthetic criterion of apostolic existence, namely, the primacy of God, which has become, in the New Covenant, the primacy of Christ, the incarnate Son of God.
The apostle had lost his life ( Mt 10:39 )
for Christ; by becoming His disciple he made himself small and can now be an instrument of His mercy toward all who receive Him in the name of the Lord.
3.You, too, consider yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God, in Christ Jesus ( Rom 6:11 )
Dear brothers and sisters, every disciple is called to be an apostle of the Gospel, by virtue of the
baptism, about which the apostle Paul told us in his Epistle to the Romans. Christ lost His life and received it renewed from the Father, to pour it out, in the Holy Spirit, in those who believe in Him. His baptism into death (Lk 12:50 ) is the beginning of our baptism, His resurrection the beginning for us
of a journey of new life, centered on our relationship with Him, which gives fullness of meaning and value to every other human relationship.
Let us turn our gaze, beloved, to the Virgin Mary: She has been baptized into the paschal mystery of Christ from the first moment of his conception: that is why She is the Immaculate One. May our invocation be addressed to Her, that She may obtain for us to sing the Lord's mercy at all times.
Amen!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2aqFTwd1Pw
RispondiElimina