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This is from
FaithFirst, a source for Gospel Reflections
for Catholic Families.
Please visit that site. |
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Parents often
live this Gospel well. Better than most people,
they know what it means to serve without
expecting a reward. For many, parenthood is
reward enough. Jesus explained to the disciples
in this passage that service was a requirement
of discipleship. When the disciples asked how
they could have more faith, Jesus explained that
faith was a gift. Faith is not something we
control, but only something we can appreciate as
a gift from God. To show our appreciation,
however, Jesus demonstrated through a lesson of
service how we can show our thankfulness to God
for the gift of faith. When we share our faith
with others and demonstrate it by showing the
love of God to those we meet, we proclaim our
gratitude.
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Celebrations of the Week |
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Memorial of Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus,
virgin and doctor of the Church
October 1 |
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In the brief 24
years that she lived on this earth, her graces
touched the lives of so many. She was devoted to
simplicity and in the service of God
accomplishment of small duties. She is better
known as the Little Flower of Jesus. 28 years
after her death, the public demand was so great
that Saint Therese of the Child Jesus was
canonized.
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Memorial of the Guardian Angels
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October 2 |
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In the Old
Testament the name holy angels applied to
certain spiritual beings or intelligences of
heavenly residence, employed by God as the
ministers of His will.
The English word "angels" comes from the Greek
angelos, which means 'messenger'. In the Bible,
the word "angel" nearly always applies to
heavenly beings.
These heavenly beings do supernatural things as
messengers of God. Angels work for God and for
the ultimate benefit of mankind.
God created angels without our shortcomings and
so they can act for and represent God to us,
bridging the gap between God in heaven and the
shortcomings of people on earth.
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Memorial of Saint Francis of Assisi |
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October 4 |
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Saint Francis of Assisi (September 26, 1181
– October 3, 1226) was a friar and the
founder of the Order of Friars Minor, more
commonly known as the Franciscans.
He is
known as the patron saint of animals, birds,
and the environment, and it is customary for
Catholic churches to hold ceremonies
honoring animals around his feast day of
October 4.
Francis, a son of a wealthy cloth
merchant in the town of Assisi, was one of
several children. He was baptized Giovanni,
which his father, Pietro Bernardone later
changed to Francis. In his youth Francis
indulged in revelry and fights, which later
caused him to be imprisoned for about a
year.
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Ezra
The Return
From Captivity |
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Return
to Israel |
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In his
first year as king of Persia Cyrus
proclaims throughout his kingdom that he
will a build the house of the LORD in
Jerusalem, in fulfillment of the
prophecy of Jeremiah.
So he
summons all descendants of Israel to go
to Jerusalem and build the house of the
LORD. He supplies them with silver,
gold, goods, and cattle, together with
free-will offerings for the house of God
in Jerusalem.
King
Cyrus, too, has the utensils of the
house of the LORD brought forth, which
Nebuchadnezzar had taken away from
Jerusalem and placed in the house of his
god.
Then
the family heads of Judah and Benjamin
and the priests and Levites--everyone,
that is, whom God |
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had inspired
to do so--prepare to go up to build the
house of the LORD in Jerusalem. |
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The
Israelites arrive and settle in their
cities, and they gather at Jerusalem to
set about rebuilding the altar of the
God of Israel in order to offer on it
the holocausts prescribed in the Law of
Moses, the man of God.
Despite
their fear of the peoples of the land,
they replace the altar on its
foundations and offer holocausts to the
LORD on it.
They
also keep the feast of Booths in the
manner prescribed, and they offer the
daily holocausts in the proper number
required for each day, although the
foundation of the temple of the
LORD has not yet been laid. |
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The
Start of the Rebuilding
Then they hire stonecutters and carpenters,
and send food and drink and oil to the
Sidonians and Tyrians that they might ship
cedar trees from the Lebanon to the port of
Joppa, as Cyrus, king of Persia, had
authorized.
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A year
after their arrival at the house of God
in Jerusalem the Levites twenty years of
age and over are appointed to supervise
the work on the house of the LORD.
When
the builders lay the foundation of the
LORD'S temple, the vested priests with
the trumpets and the Levites, stationed
at the temple sing praise to the LORD in
the manner laid down by David, king of
Israel.
They
alternate in songs of praise and
thanksgiving to the LORD, "for he is
good, for his kindness to Israel endures
forever"; and all the people raise a
great shout of joy, praising the LORD.
Trouble is Afoot
When the enemies of Judah and Benjamin
hear that the exiles are building a
temple for the LORD, |
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the God of
Israel, they approach the family heads of
Judah and Benjamin to tell them that they
want to build together with them. But the
family heads of Israel tell them that it is
not their responsibility to build with them
a house for their God as King Cyrus of
Persia has commanded them. |
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Thereupon
the people of the land begin to
intimidate and dishearten the people of
Judah so as to keep them from building.
They also
suborn the counselors to work against
them and thwart their plans during the
remaining years of Cyrus, king of
Persia, and until the reign of Darius,
king of Persia.
The
Rebuilding Stops
At the beginning of the reign of
Ahashuerus they prepare a written
accusation against the inhabitants of
Judah and Jerusalem, that the Israelites
are rebuilding a rebellious and evil
city and that once its walls are raised
up again, they will no longer pay taxes,
tributes, or tolls. They conclude that
this can only result in harm to the
throne. |
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The king then
responds by ordering to stop the work
immediately. Thus the work on the house of
God in Jerusalem stop. This inaction last
until the second year of the reign of
Darius, king of Persia.
Rebuilding
Resumes
At this time the prophets Haggai and
Zechariah, son of Iddo, begin to prophesy to
the Jews in Judah and Jerusalem in the name
of the God of Israel. Thereupon Zerubbabel,
son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua, son of Jozadak,
begin again to build the house of God in
Jerusalem, with the prophets of God giving
them support.
Again a
governor of West-of-Euphrates, and
Shethar-bozenai, and their fellow officials,
come to Jerusalem asking who gave them
permission to build this house and raise
this edifice.
The
Israelites tell them that in the first year
of his reign King Cyrus, king of Babylon,
issued a decree for the rebuilding of this
house of God. They also plead with the king
to search the archives of Babylon to
discover whether a decree really was issued
by King Cyrus for the rebuilding of this
house of God in Jerusalem.
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Thereupon
King Darius orders to search the
archives of Babylon and finds the decree
to build the house of the LORD the cost
of which are to be borne by the royal
palace.
He also
finds the decree to return of the gold
and silver utensils of the house of God
which Nebuchadnezzar took from the
temple of Jerusalem and brought to
Babylon, and return them to their place
in the house of God.
King
Darius then orders the governor of
West-of-Euphrates, and Shethar-bozenai,
and their fellow officials in
West-of-Euphrates, not to interfere in
that place. Further he decrees that from
the royal revenue, the taxes of
West-of-Euphrates, the men rebuilding
the temple be repaid for their expenses,
in full and without delay.
He also
orders to provide whatever is necessary
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for
the holocausts to the God of heaven and to
deliver to them day by day without fail.
Then he also decrees that any man who
violates this edict, a beam is to be taken
from his house, and he is to be lifted up
and impaled on it; and his house is to be
reduced to rubble for this offense.
And thus the rebuilding of the house of the
LORD begins again.
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They
complete this house in the sixth year of the
reign of King Darius. Then the
Israelites--priests, Levites, and the other
returned exiles--celebrate the dedication of
this house of God with joy, following all
that was prescribed in the book of Moses.
Ezra
Appears
After this
time, during the reign of Artaxerxes,
king of Persia, Ezra, a direct
descendant of Eleazar, son of the high
priest Aaron, comes up from Babylon.
Ezra is a
scribe, well-versed in the Law of Moses
which was given by the LORD, the God of
Israel. Because the hand of the LORD,
his God, is upon him, the king grants
him all that he requests.
Ezra
has set his heart on the study and
practice of the law of the LORD and on
teaching statutes and ordinances in
Israel. King Artaxerxes appoints Ezra
the envoy from the king and his seven
counselors to
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supervise Judah
and Jerusalem in respect of the law of God,
which is in his possession. |
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The king
further orders Ezra to bring with him the
silver and gold which the king and his
counselors have freely contributed to the
God of Israel, whose dwelling is in
Jerusalem. The king
also orders Ezra to use this money to
buy bulls, rams, lambs, and the cereal
offerings and libations and to offer
them on the altar of the house of his
God in Jerusalem. For everything else
that they need the king orders to be
drawn from the royal treasury.
The
king also allows Ezra to appoint magistrates and
judges to administer justice to all the
people in West-of-Euphrates who know the
laws of God and to instruct those who do
not know these laws.
The
king also decrees that anyone who does
not obey the law of his God and the law
of the king, |
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will either be put death, or given corporal
punishment, or a fine on his goods, or
imprisonment.
The Sins of the
People
After Ezra arrives
in Jerusalem, the leaders approach to tell
him that men and priests of Israel had not kept
pure and had taken women of the land (the
Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites,
Ammonites, Moabites, Egyptians, and Amorites)
for their wives in defiance of the commandment
of the LORD.
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Upon hearing
this Ezra tears his cloak and my mantle,
plucks hair from his head and beard, and
sits there stupefied remaining motionless
until the evening sacrifice. Around him
gather all who are in dread of the sentence
of the God of Israel on this apostasy of the
exiles.
Then, at the
time of the evening sacrifice, Ezra rises
and falls on his knees, stretching out his
hands to the LORD. He cries to the LORD of
his shame for what His people had done.
While Ezra
is praying and acknowledging their guilt,
weeping and prostrate before the house of
God, a very large assembly of Israelites
gather about him, men, women, and children,
weeping profusely. |
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Then Shecaniah,
the son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam,
appeals to Ezra that they have indeed betrayed
their God by taking as wives foreign women of
the peoples of the land. He tells Ezra that they
will make a covenant with the LORD to dismiss
all their foreign wives and the children born of
them, and begin to observe the law.
Ezra consents
and demands an oath from the chiefs of the
priests, from the Levites and from all Israel
that they would do as had been proposed; and
they swear it. Then Ezra retires from his place
before the house of God and spends the night
neither eating food nor drinking water, for he
is in mourning over the betrayal by the exiles.
Then the elders
of Israel gather all the people of Israel to
tell them to separate from the peoples of the
land and from these foreign women. And thus all
who had taken foreign wives cast them away
including their children. |
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For further
reading on the heroes of the Old Testament: |
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The Chariot of Israel: Exploits of the Prophet of Elijah
THE CHARIOT OF ISRAEL: When Elijah was caught up
to heaven, his disciple Elisha cried out, "the
chariot of Israel, and its horsemen." Elisha was
referring not to the chariot but to the prophet.
This study of Elijah’s life will captivate you
as it walks you through a pivotal period in
Israel’s history, and illustrative maps will
give you a better picture of the physical
geography of this ancient land. |
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The First Book of Kings (Cambridge Bible Commentaries on the Old Testament) This
volume of commentary on the New English Bible text of the First Book of Kings
follows the pattern of the now well-established series on the Old and New
Testaments. The main divisions of the text are those provided by the New English
Bible itself, but these are further subdivided for the purposes of the
commentary, which is printed in short sections following the relevant portion of
the text. |
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Canon Robinson suggests that the editors of I
Kings compiled their history in order to teach
the Hebrews that their existence as Israel, the
covenant people of God, depended upon their
continuing loyalty to their own religious
traditions, and their refusal to exchange them
for the very different traditions of the
Canaanites among whom they lived.
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I & II Samuel: A Commentary (Old Testament
Library)
First sentence in
the book:
""THE BOOKS OF SAMUEL contain that
part of the history of Israel which describes
the foundation of the State, running from the
close of the period of the Judges to the
establishment of the united kingdom." |
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The Sunday Readings |
October 7,
2007:
Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
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First Reading From
Habakkuk: |
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Hab 1:2-3; 2:2-4 |
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How long, O LORD? I
cry for help but you do not listen!
I cry out to you, "Violence!"
but you do not intervene.
Why do you let me
see ruin; why must I look at misery?
Destruction and violence are before me; there is
strife, and clamorous discord.
Then the LORD
answered me and said:
Write down the vision clearly upon the tablets, so
that one can read it readily.
For the vision still
has its time, presses on to fulfillment, and will
not disappoint; if it delays, wait for it, it will
surely come, it will not be late.
The rash one has no
integrity; but the just one, because of his faith,
shall live. |
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Responsorial From the Book of Psalms:
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Ps 95:1-2, 6-7, 8-9 |
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R. If today
you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Come, let us sing joyfully to the LORD;
let us acclaim the Rock of our salvation.
Let us come into his presence with
thanksgiving;
let us joyfully sing psalms to him.
R. If today you hear his voice, harden
not your hearts.
Come, let us bow down in worship;
let us kneel before the LORD who made us.
For he is our God,
and we are the people he shepherds, the
flock he guides.
R. If today you hear his voice, harden
not your hearts.
Oh, that today you would hear his voice:
"Harden not your hearts as at Meribah,
as in the day of Massah in the desert,
Where your fathers tempted me;
they tested me though they had seen my
works."
R. If today you hear his voice, harden
not your hearts.
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Second Reading from
the Letter to Timothy |
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2 Tm 1:6-8, 13-14 |
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Beloved:
I remind you, to stir into flame the gift of God
that you have through the imposition of my hands.
For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice but
rather of power and love and self-control.
So do not be ashamed
of your testimony to our Lord, nor of me, a
prisoner for his sake; but bear your share of
hardship for the gospel with the strength that
comes from God.
Take as your norm the sound words that you heard
from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ
Jesus.
Guard this rich
trust with the help of the Holy Spirit that dwells
within us. |
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Reading From
the Gospel of Luke:
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Lk 17:5-10 |
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The apostles said to
the Lord, "Increase our faith."
The Lord replied,
"If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you
would say to this mulberry tree,
'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would
obey you.
"Who among you would say to your servant who has
just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the
field,
'Come here immediately and take your place at
table'?
Would he not rather
say to him,
'Prepare something for me to eat. Put on your
apron and wait on me while I eat and drink.
You may eat and drink when I am finished'?
Is he grateful to
that servant because he did what was commanded?
So should it be with you.
When you have done
all you have been commanded,
say, 'We are unprofitable servants; we have done
what we were obliged to do.'" |
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References |
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The Chariot of Israel: Exploits of the Prophet of Elijah
THE CHARIOT OF ISRAEL: When Elijah was caught up
to heaven, his disciple Elisha cried out, "the
chariot of Israel, and its horsemen." Elisha was
referring not to the chariot but to the prophet.
This study of Elijah’s life will captivate you
as it walks you through a pivotal period in
Israel’s history, and illustrative maps will
give you a better picture of the physical
geography of this ancient land. |
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Read more about the Liturgical Year |
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The Origins of the Liturgical Year (Pueblo
Books)
by
Thomas J. Talley (Author) The Rev. Dr.
Thomas J. Talley, Professor of Liturgics
at the General Theological Seminary in New
York, is one of the leading liturgists in
the country. He gives us a fresh
examination of the complex history of the
Liturgical Year. |
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The Cultural World of Jesus: Sunday by Sunday, Cycle C. (Bestseller! the Cultural World of Jesus: Sunday by Sunday)
by
John J. Pilch (Author)
Reader
Review: The book by Pilch provides
those who not only fill the pulpits across
this country but also all interested in
the cultural world in which Jesus lived
with a lot of pertinent information that
sheds light on a lot of areas that have
been "muddled" in the past. Yes, I highly
recommend this book. - James Mauldin |
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Learn more and read the Old Testament. |
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Preaching from the Old Testament
by Elizabeth Achtemeier (Author) Reader
Review: The author of these
thirty-two short chapters begins and ends
with the assumption that problems we
experience with the Old Testament are our
problem, not the Bible's. This
subordinating of the Bible reader to the
well-weathered book he holds in his hand
opens doors, not to forced harmonisations
of problematic passages, but to fresh
reappraisal of difficult texts on their
own terms. -
David A. Baer |
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The Navarre Bible: Pentateuch (The Navarre Bible: Old Testament)
This volume helps you make the first five
books of the Old Testament a vital part of
your spiritual reading and practical
growth in the Christian life. It contains
the full English and Latin texts of these
books, along with extensive and faithfully
Catholic commentaries. Like other volumes
in the world-renowned Navarre Bible
series, these commentaries draw on Church
documents, the exegesis of Fathers and
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Doctors of the Church, and the works of contemporary
spiritual writers — particularly St. Josemaría
Escrivá, who initiated the Navarre Bible
project. |
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Comments and
Suggestions are Most Welcome.
If you have any
comments or contributions, please
use the form in this link.
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Recipes |
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Tagliatelle
with Vegetable Ribbons |
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Pictures!
with More than a Thousand Words |
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Follow me? |
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Church Sign: A Warning! |
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The Saving Place |
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Comments and Suggestions are Most Welcome.
If you have any comments or contributions,
please
use the form in this link.
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