Daily Gospel for Friday, 22 November 2013

Daily Gospel for Friday, 22 November 2013

John 6:68Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life. (Messianic World English Bible)

Friday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time

Saint of the Day:

SAINT CECILIA 
Virgin and Martyr
(† 230)

In the evening of her wedding-day, with the music of the marriage-hymn ringing in her ears, Cecilia, a rich, beautiful, and noble Roman maiden, renewed the vow by which she had consecrated her virginity to God. "Pure be my heart and undefiled my flesh; for I have a spouse you know not of—an angel of my Lord."

The heart of her young husband Valerian was moved by her words; he 'received Baptism, and within a few days he and his brother Tiburtius, who had been brought by him to a knowledge of the Faith, sealed their confession with their blood. Cecilia only remained. "Do you not know," was her answer to the threats of the prefect, "that I am the bride of my Lord Jesus Christ?" The death appointed for her was suffocation, and she remained a day and a night in a hot-air bath, heated seven times its wont. But "the flames had no power over her body, neither was a hair of her head singed." The lictor sent to dispatch her struck with trembling hand the three blows which the law allowed, and left her still alive. For two days and nights Cecilia lay with her head, half severed on the pavement of her bath, fully sensible, and joyfully awaiting her crown; on the third the agony was over, and in 177 the virgin Saint gave back her pure spirit to Christ.

Lives of the Saints, by Alban Butler, Benziger Bros. ed. [1894]

Friday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time

Book of 2nd book of Maccabees 4:36-37,52-59Judas and his brothers said, “Now that our enemies have been crushed, let us go up to purify the sanctuary and rededicate it.” So the whole army assembled, and went up to Mount Zion. Early in the morning on the twenty-fifth day of the ninth month, that is, the month of Chislev, in the year one hundred and forty-eight, they arose and offered sacrifice according to the law on the new altar of holocausts that they had made. On the anniversary of the day on which the Gentiles had defiled it, on that very day it was reconsecrated with songs, harps, flutes, and cymbals. All the people prostrated themselves and adored and praised Heaven, who had given them success. For eight days they celebrated the dedication of the altar and joyfully offered holocausts and sacrifices of deliverance and praise. They ornamented the facade of the temple with gold crowns and shields; they repaired the gates and the priests' chambers and furnished them with doors. There was great joy among the people now that the disgrace of the Gentiles was removed. Then Judas and his brothers and the entire congregation of Israel decreed that the days of the dedication of the altar should be observed with joy and gladness on the anniversary every year for eight days, from the twenty-fifth day of the month Chislev.(New American Bible)

1st book of Chronicles 29: David blessed God in full view of the entire congregation:

Blessed are you, God of Israel, our father

    from of old and forever.

To you, O God, belong the greatness and the might,

    the glory, the victory, the majesty, the splendor;

Yes! Everything in heaven, everything on earth;

    the kingdom all yours! You’ve raised yourself high over all.

Riches and glory come from you,

    you’re ruler over all;

You hold strength and power in the palm of your hand

    to build up and strengthen all.

And here we are, O God, our God, giving thanks to you,

    praising your splendid Name.(The Message)

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 19: Going into the Temple he began to throw out everyone who had set up shop, selling everything and anything. He said, “It’s written in Scripture,

My house is a house of prayer;

You have turned it into a religious bazaar.”

From then on he taught each day in the Temple. The high priests, religion scholars, and the leaders of the people were trying their best to find a way to get rid of him. But with the people hanging on every word he spoke, they couldn’t come up with anything.(The Message)

Friday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time

Commentary of the Day:

Pope Francis

General Audience of 26/06/2013 (trans. © copyright Libreria Editrice Vaticana)

"All the people were hanging on his words"

Today I would like to mention briefly another image that helps us describe the mystery of the Church: the temple (cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium 6)... Solomon’s great Temple in Jerusalem was the place for the encounter with God in prayer. Inside the Temple was the Ark of the Covenant... This was a reminder that God had always been in the history of his People... When we go to the Temple we too must remember this history, each one of us our own history, how Jesus met me, how Jesus walked beside me, how Jesus loves and blesses me.

It is this that was prefigured in the ancient Temple and brought about in the Church by the power of the Holy Spirit: the Church is “God’s house”, the place of his presence, where we can find and encounter the Lord; the Church is the Temple in which the Holy Spirit dwells. It is he who gives life to her, who guides and sustains her. Let us ask ourselves: where can we meet God? Where can we enter into communion with him through Christ? Where can we find the light of the Holy Spirit to light up our life? The answer is: in the People of God, among us who are the Church...

And it is the Holy Spirit with his gifts who designs the variety. This is important: what does the Holy Spirit do among us? He designs the variety which is a wealth in the Church and unites us, each and every one, to constitute a spiritual temple in which we do not offer material sacrifices but ourselves, our life (cf. 1 Pt 2:4-5). The Church is not a fabric woven of things and interests; she is the Temple of the Holy Spirit, the Temple in which God works, the Temple of the Holy Spirit, the Temple in which God works, the Temple in which, with the gift of Baptism, each one of us is a living stone... For... we are all necessary for building this Temple! No one is secondary. No one is the most important person in the Church, we are all equal in God’s eyes. Some of you might say “Listen, Mr Pope, you are not our equal”. Yes, I am like each one of you, we are all equal, we are brothers and sisters! No one is anonymous.

-------