Daily Gospel for Friday, 17 October 2014

Daily Gospel for Friday, 17 October 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)
Friday of the Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time
Feast of the Church:
Saints of the Day:
SAINT IGNATIUS OF ANTIOCH
Bishop and Martyr
(† c. 107)
St. Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch, was the disciple of St. John. When Domitian persecuted the Church, St. Ignatius obtained peace for his own flock by fasting and prayer. But for his part he desired to suffer with Christ, and to prove himself a perfect disciple.
In the year 107, Trajan came to Antioch, and forced the Christians to choose between apostasy and death. "Who art thou, poor devil," the emperor said when Ignatius was brought before him, "who settest our commands at naught?" "Call not him 'poor devil,'" Ignatius answered, "who bears God within him." And when the emperor questioned him about his meaning, Ignatius explained that he bore in his heart Christ crucified for his sake. Thereupon the emperor condemned him to be torn to pieces by wild beasts at Rome. St. Ignatius thanked God, who had so honored him, "binding him in the chains of Paul, His apostle."
He journeyed to Rome, guarded by soldiers, and with no fear except of losing the martyr's crown. He was devoured by lions in the Roman amphitheatre. The wild beasts left nothing of his body, except a few bones, which were reverently treasured at Antioch, until their removal to the Church of St. Clement at Rome, in 637.
After the martyr's death, several Christians saw him in vision standing before Christ, and interceding for them.
Lives of the Saints, by Alban Butler, Benziger Bros. ed. [1894]

Friday of the Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time

Letter to the Ephesians 1:11-12 It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone.
13-14 It’s in Christ that you, once you heard the truth and believed it (this Message of your salvation), found yourselves home free—signed, sealed, and delivered by the Holy Spirit. This signet from God is the first installment on what’s coming, a reminder that we’ll get everything God has planned for us, a praising and glorious life.
Psalm 33:1-3 Good people, cheer God!
    Right-living people sound best when praising.
Use guitars to reinforce your Hallelujahs!
    Play his praise on a grand piano!
Invent your own new song to him;
    give him a trumpet fanfare.
4-5 For God’s Word is solid to the core;
    everything he makes is sound inside and out.
He loves it when everything fits,
    when his world is in plumb-line true.
Earth is drenched
    in God’s affectionate satisfaction.
10-12 God takes the wind out of Babel pretense,
    he shoots down the world’s power-schemes.
God’s plan for the world stands up,
    all his designs are made to last.
Blessed is the country with God for God;
    blessed are the people he’s put in his will.
13-15 From high in the skies God looks around,
    he sees all Adam’s brood.
From where he sits
    he overlooks all us earth-dwellers.
He has shaped each person in turn;
    now he watches everything we do.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 12: Can’t Hide Behind a Religious Mask
1-3 By this time the crowd, unwieldy and stepping on each other’s toes, numbered into the thousands. But Jesus’ primary concern was his disciples. He said to them, “Watch yourselves carefully so you don’t get contaminated with Pharisee yeast, Pharisee phoniness. You can’t keep your true self hidden forever; before long you’ll be exposed. You can’t hide behind a religious mask forever; sooner or later the mask will slip and your true face will be known. You can’t whisper one thing in private and preach the opposite in public; the day’s coming when those whispers will be repeated all over town.
4-5 “I’m speaking to you as dear friends. Don’t be bluffed into silence or insincerity by the threats of religious bullies. True, they can kill you, but then what can they do? There’s nothing they can do to your soul, your core being. Save your fear for God, who holds your entire life—body and soul—in his hands.
6-7 “What’s the price of two or three pet canaries? Some loose change, right? But God never overlooks a single one. And he pays even greater attention to you, down to the last detail—even numbering the hairs on your head! So don’t be intimidated by all this bully talk. You’re worth more than a million canaries.
Friday of the Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time
Commentary of the Day:
Saint Raphael Arnaiz Baron (1911-1938), a Spanish Trappist monk 
Spiritual writings, 11/08/1934 
"Even the hairs of your head have all been counted. Do not be afraid"
God is sending me the cross… May it be blessed, as Job says, « We accept good things from God and should we not accept evil?” (2,10). Everything comes to us from him, health and sickness, earthly goods, difficulties and misfortunes; everything, absolutely everything, is perfectly ordered. If at times the creature rebels against God’s design it commits a sin, for everything is necessary, everything is well done, and laughter is as necessary as tears. We can draw profit for our perfection from everything provided we see, in a spirit of faith, God’s work in it all and remain in the hands of the Father like little children. Because all by ourselves, where would we go?... 
Obviously, I’m not trying to free myself from the feelings [my trials inspire in me]: but what God wants is to bring them to perfection in me. For this purpose he leads me hither and thither like a plaything, causing me to let go, just about everywhere, of pieces of my heart. God is great and accomplishes everything perfectly! How much he loves me, and how badly I repay him! His providence is infinite and we must entrust ourselves to it unconditionally. 
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