Daily Gospel for Tuesday, 18 March 2014
"Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to
whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life." John 6:68
Tuesday of the Second Week of Lent
SAINT PATRICK
ST. CYRIL OF JERUSALEM
Bishop and Doctor of the Church
(+386)
Cyril was born at or near the city of
Jerusalem, about the year 315. He was ordained priest by St. Maximus, who gave
him the important charge of instructing and preparing the candidates for
Baptism. This charge he held for several years, and we still have one series of
his instructions, given in the year 347 or 318. They are of singular interest
as being the earliest record of the systematic teaching of the Church on the
creed and sacraments, and as having been given in the church built by
Constantine on Mount Calvary. They are solid, simple, profound; saturated with
Holy Scripture; exact, precise, and terse; and, as a witness and exposition of
the Catholic faith, invaluable.
On the death of St. Maximus, Cyril was
chosen Bishop of Jerusalem. At the beginning of his episcopate a cross was seen
in the air reaching from Mount Calvary to Mount Olivet, and so bright that it
shone at noonday. St. Cyril gave an account of it to the emperor; and the
faithful regarded it as a presage of victory over the Arian heretics.
While Cyril was bishop, the apostate
Julian resolved to falsify the words of Our Lord by rebuilding the Temple at
Jerusalem. He employed the power and resources of a Roman emperor; the Jews
thronged enthusiastically to him and gave munificently. But Cyril was unmoved.
" The word of God abides," he said; "one stone shall not be laid
on another." When the attempt was made, a heathen writer tells us that
horrible flames came forth from the earth, rendering the place inaccessible to
the scorched and scared workmen. The attempt was made again and again, and then
abandoned in despair. Soon after, the emperor perished miserably in a war
against the Persians, and the Church had rest.
Like the other great bishops of his time,
Cyril was persecuted, and driven once and again from his see; but on the death
of the Arian Emperor Valens he returned to Jerusalem. He was present at the
second General Council at Constantinople, and died in peace in 386, after a
troubled episcopate of thirty-five years.
Lives of the Saints, by Alban Butler,
Benziger Bros. ed. [1894]
Tuesday of the Second Week of Lent
Isaiah 1: 10 Hear
Yahweh’s word, you rulers of Sodom!
Listen to the law of our God,[a] you people of Gomorrah!
Footnotes:
a. Isaiah 1:10 The Hebrew word rendered
“God” is “אֱלֹהִ֑ים” (Elohim).
16 Wash yourselves, make yourself clean.
Put away the evil of your doings from before my eyes.
Cease to do evil.
17 Learn to do well.
Seek justice.
Relieve the oppressed.
Judge the fatherless.
Plead for the widow.”
18 “Come now, and let us reason
together,” says Yahweh:
“Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.
Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
19 If you are willing and obedient,
you shall eat the good of the land;
20
but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured with the sword;
for the mouth of Yahweh has spoken it.”
Psalm 50:8 I don’t rebuke you for your
sacrifices.
Your burnt offerings are continually before me.
9 I have no need for a bull from your
stall,
nor male goats from your pens.
16 But to the wicked God says,
“What right do you have to declare my statutes,
that you have taken my covenant on your lips,
17
since you hate instruction,
and throw my words behind you?
21 You have done these things, and I kept
silent.
You thought that I was just like you.
I will rebuke you, and accuse you in front of your eyes.
23 Whoever offers the sacrifice of
thanksgiving glorifies me,
and prepares his way so that I will show God’s salvation to him.”
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint
Matthew 23:1 Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to his disciples, 2 saying,
“The scribes and the Pharisees sat on Moses’ seat. 3 All things therefore
whatever they tell you to observe, observe and do, but don’t do their works;
for they say, and don’t do. 4 For they bind heavy burdens that are grievous to
be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not lift a
finger to help them. 5 But all their works they do to be seen by men. They make
their phylacteries[a] broad, enlarge the fringes[b] of their garments, 6 and
love the place of honor at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues, 7 the
salutations in the marketplaces, and to be called ‘Rabbi, Rabbi’ by men. 8 But
don’t you be called ‘Rabbi,’ for one is your teacher, the Christ, and all of
you are brothers. 9 Call no man on the earth your father, for one is your
Father, he who is in heaven. 10 Neither be called masters, for one is your
master, the Christ. 11 But he who is greatest among you will be your servant.
12 Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be
exalted.
Footnotes:
a. Matthew 23:5 phylacteries (tefillin in
Hebrew) are small leather pouches that some Jewish men wear on their forehead
and arm in prayer. They are used to carry a small scroll with some Scripture in
it. See Deuteronomy 6:8.
b. Matthew 23:5 or, tassels
Tuesday of the Second Week of Lent
Commentary of
the Day:
Blessed Teresa
of Calcutta (1910-1997), founder of the Missionary Sisters of Charity
No Greater
Love, p. 3f.
"Whoever
humbles himself will be exalted"
I don't think
there is anyone who needs God's help and grace as much as I do. Sometimes I
feel so helpless and weak. I think that is why God uses me. Because I cannot
depend on my own strength, I rely on Him twenty-four hours a day. If the day
had even more hours, then I would need His help and grace during those hours as
well. All of us must cling to God through prayer. My secret is very simple: I
pray. Through prayer I become one in love with Christ. I realize that praying
to Him is loving Him...
People are
hungry for the Word of God that will give peace, that will give unity, that
will give joy. But you cannot give what you don't have. That's why it is
necessary to deepen your life of prayer. Be sincere in your prayers. Sincerity
is humility, and you acquire humility only by accepting humiliations. All that
has been said about humility is not enough to teach you humility. All that you
have read about humility is not enough to teach you humility. You learn
humility only by accepting humiliations. And you will meet humiliation all
through your life. The greatest humiliation is to know that you are nothing.
This you come to know when you face God in prayer.
Often a deep
and fervent look at Christ is the best prayer: I look at Him and He looks at
me. When you come face to face with God, you cannot but know that you are
nothing, that you have nothing.
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