Daily Gospel for Saturday, 26 July 2014

Daily Gospel for Saturday, 26 July 2014
"Peter replied, 'Master, to whom would we go? You have the words of real life, eternal life. We’ve already committed ourselves, confident that you are the Holy One of God.'"(John 6:68-69)
Saint Joachim and Saint Ann, parents of the blessed Virgin Mary - Memorial 
Feast of the Church: In Canada: Feast of Saint Anne, patron saint of Canada - proper readings
Readings for the Feast in Canada
Book of Sirach 44: PRAISE OF ISRAEL’S GREAT ANCESTORS*
1 I will now praise the godly,
our ancestors, in their own time,*
10 Yet these also were godly;
their virtues have not been forgotten.
11 Their wealth remains in their families,
their heritage with their descendants.
12 Through God’s covenant their family endures,
and their offspring for their sake.
13 And for all time their progeny will endure,
their glory will never be blotted out;
14 Their bodies are buried in peace,
but their name lives on and on.c
15 At gatherings their wisdom is retold,
and the assembly proclaims their praises.
Psalm 131:11-14,17-18
The LORD swore an oath to David in truth,
he will never turn back from it:
“Your own offspring I will set upon your throne.
If your sons observe my covenant,
and my decrees I shall teach them,
Their sons, in turn,
shall sit forever on your throne.”
Yes, the LORD has chosen Zion,
desired it for a dwelling:
“This is my resting place forever;
here I will dwell, for I desire it.
I will bless Zion with provisions;
its poor I will fill with bread.
I will clothe its priests with salvation;

its devout shall shout for joy.”
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 13:11-15 He replied, “You’ve been given insight into God’s kingdom. You know how it works. Not everybody has this gift, this insight; it hasn’t been given to them. Whenever someone has a ready heart for this, the insights and understandings flow freely. But if there is no readiness, any trace of receptivity soon disappears. That’s why I tell stories: to create readiness, to nudge the people toward receptive insight. In their present state they can stare till doomsday and not see it, listen till they’re blue in the face and not get it. I don’t want Isaiah’s forecast repeated all over again:
Your ears are open but you don’t hear a thing.
    Your eyes are awake but you don’t see a thing.
The people are blockheads!
They stick their fingers in their ears
    so they won’t have to listen;
They screw their eyes shut
    so they won’t have to look,
    so they won’t have to deal with me face-to-face
    and let me heal them.
16-17 “But you have God-blessed eyes—eyes that see! And God-blessed ears—ears that hear! A lot of people, prophets and humble believers among them, would have given anything to see what you are seeing, to hear what you are hearing, but never had the chance.
SAINT JOACHIM and SAINT ANNE 
Parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary 
Memorial
These names are given to the mother and father of the Blessed Virgin by a tradition dating back to the second century.
As St. John Damascene wrote: "Joachim and Ann, how blessed a couple! All creation is indebted to you. For at your hands the Creator was offered a gift excelling all other gifts: a chaste mother, who alone was worthy of him."
The Weekday Missal -Collins- Breviary
Saint Joachim and Saint Ann, parents of the blessed Virgin Mary - Memorial
Book of Jeremiah 7: The Nation That Wouldn’t Obey God
1-2 The Message from God to Jeremiah: “Stand in the gate of God’s Temple and preach this Message.
2-3 “Say, ‘Listen, all you people of Judah who come through these gates to worship God. God-of-the-Angel-Armies, Israel’s God, has this to say to you:
3-7 “‘Clean up your act—the way you live, the things you do—so I can make my home with you in this place. Don’t for a minute believe the lies being spoken here—“This is God’s Temple, God’s Temple, God’s Temple!” Total nonsense! Only if you clean up your act (the way you live, the things you do), only if you do a total spring cleaning on the way you live and treat your neighbors, only if you quit exploiting the street people and orphans and widows, no longer taking advantage of innocent people on this very site and no longer destroying your souls by using this Temple as a front for other gods—only then will I move into your neighborhood. Only then will this country I gave your ancestors be my permanent home, my Temple.
8-11 “‘Get smart! Your leaders are handing you a pack of lies, and you’re swallowing them! Use your heads! Do you think you can rob and murder, have sex with the neighborhood wives, tell lies nonstop, worship the local gods, and buy every novel religious commodity on the market—and then march into this Temple, set apart for my worship, and say, “We’re safe!” thinking that the place itself gives you a license to go on with all this outrageous sacrilege? A cave full of criminals! Do you think you can turn this Temple, set apart for my worship, into something like that? Well, think again. I’ve got eyes in my head. I can see what’s going on.’” God’s Decree!
Psalms 84:3-4 Birds find nooks and crannies in your house,
    sparrows and swallows make nests there.
They lay their eggs and raise their young,
    singing their songs in the place where we worship.
God-of-the-Angel-Armies! King! God!
    How blessed they are to live and sing there!
5-7 And how blessed all those in whom you live,
    whose lives become roads you travel;
They wind through lonesome valleys, come upon brooks,
    discover cool springs and pools brimming with rain!
God-traveled, these roads curve up the mountain, and
    at the last turn—Zion! God in full view!
8-9 God-of-the-Angel-Armies, listen:
    O God of Jacob, open your ears—I’m praying!
Look at our shields, glistening in the sun,
    our faces, shining with your gracious anointing.
10-12 One day spent in your house, this beautiful place of worship,
    beats thousands spent on Greek island beaches.
I’d rather scrub floors in the house of my God
    than be honored as a guest in the palace of sin.
All sunshine and sovereign is God,
    generous in gifts and glory.
He doesn’t scrimp with his traveling companions.
    It’s smooth sailing all the way with God-of-the-Angel-Armies.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 13:24-26 He told another story. “God’s kingdom is like a farmer who planted good seed in his field. That night, while his hired men were asleep, his enemy sowed thistles all through the wheat and slipped away before dawn. When the first green shoots appeared and the grain began to form, the thistles showed up, too.
27 “The farmhands came to the farmer and said, ‘Master, that was clean seed you planted, wasn’t it? Where did these thistles come from?’
28 “He answered, ‘Some enemy did this.’
“The farmhands asked, ‘Should we weed out the thistles?’
29-30 “He said, ‘No, if you weed the thistles, you’ll pull up the wheat, too. Let them grow together until harvest time. Then I’ll instruct the harvesters to pull up the thistles and tie them in bundles for the fire, then gather the wheat and put it in the barn.’”
Saint Joachim and Saint Ann, parents of the blessed Virgin Mary - Memorial
Commentary of the Day:
Saint John Chrysostom (c.345-407), priest at Antioch then Bishop of Constantinople, Doctor of the Church 
Homilies on Saint Matthew’s Gospel, no. 46, 1-2
The parable of the weeds
It is always the devil's way to mix the truth with errors draped in the outward appearance and hues of truth, in such a way as more easily to lead astray those who permit themselves to be deceived. That is why our Lord only speaks of weeds, since these are plants that look like wheat. He then describes how the enemy goes about deceiving “while people are sleeping”. From this we see the serious danger run by leaders in the Church, especially those to whom has been entrusted the care of the field. Moreover, this danger does not only threaten leaders but their subordinates too. And this also shows us how error follows truth; false prophets follow the true... Christ tells us this to teach us not to fall asleep..., from which there arises the need of vigilant watching. Which is why he said elsewhere: “Whoever stands firm to the end will be saved” (Mt 10,22)...
Now consider the servants' zeal: they want to pull out the weeds at once. Even if they fail to think it through this does at least prove their care for the good seed. They are only concerned about one thing: not to avenge themselves on the one who had sown the weeds but to save the harvest... What does the Lord say? “Not yet” A splendid response that forbids wars, violence, bloodshed for the sake of the Church. Yes, the life of heretics must be spared, otherwise endless wars and divisions flare up everywhere. “Wait for the right time... Be patient. For perhaps they will leave the darkness of their error and instead of weeds they will become pure wheat… So if you pull them up now you will damage the future harvest by pulling up the ones that may change to something better.”
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