"Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life."[John 6:68]
Tuesday of the Fifth week in Ordinary Time
Saints of the day:
SAINT SCHOLASTICA
Abbess
(+ c. 543)
(+ c. 543)
Of this Saint but little is known on earth, save that she was the sister of the great patriarch St. Benedict, and that, under his direction, she founded and governed a numerous community near Monte Casino.
St. Gregory sums up her life by saying that she devoted herself to God from her childhood, and that her pure soul went to God in the likeness of a dove, as if to show that her life had been enriched with the fullest gifts of the Holy Spirit.
Her brother was accustomed to visit her every year, for "she could not be sated or wearied with the words of grace which flowed from his lips." On his last visit, after a day passed in spiritual converse, the Saint, knowing that her end was near, said, "My brother, leave me not, Ipray you, this night, but discourse with me till dawn on the bliss of those who see God in heaven." St. Benedict would not, break his rule at the bidding of natural affection; and then the Saint bowed her head on her hands and prayed; and there arose a storm so violent that St. Benedict could not return to his monastery, and they passed the night in heavenly conversation.
Three days later St. Benedict saw in a vision the soul of his sister going up in the likeness of a dove into heaven. Then he gave thanks to God for the graces He had given her, and for the glory which had crowned them. When she died, St. Benedict, her spiritual daughters, and the monks sent by St. Benedict mingled their tears and prayed, "Alas! alas! dearest mother, to whom dost thou leave us now? Pray for us to Jesus, to Whom thou art gone." They then devoutly celebrated holy Mass, "commending her soul to God;" and her body was borne to Monte Casino, and laid by her brother in the tomb he had prepared for himself." And they bewailed her many days;" and St. Benedict said, "Weep not, sisters and brothers; for assuredly Jesus has taken her before us to be our aid and defence against all our enemies, that we may stand in the evil day and be in all things perfect."
She died about the year 543.
Lives of the Saints, by Alban Butler, Benziger Bros. ed. [1894]Tuesday of the Fifth week in Ordinary Time
Book of Genesis 1:20 God said, “Let the waters swarm with living things, and let birds fly above the earth up in the dome of the sky.” 21 God created the great sea animals and all the tiny living things that swarm in the waters, each according to its kind, and all the winged birds, each according to its kind. God saw how good it was. 22 Then God blessed them: “Be fertile and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let the birds multiply on the earth.”
23 There was evening and there was morning: the fifth day.
24 God said, “Let the earth produce every kind of living thing: livestock, crawling things, and wildlife.” And that’s what happened. 25 God made every kind of wildlife, every kind of livestock, and every kind of creature that crawls on the ground. God saw how good it was. 26 Then God said, “Let us make humanity in our image to resemble us so that they may take charge of the fish of the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the earth, and all the crawling things on earth.”
27 God created humanity in God’s own image,
in the divine image God created them,[a]
male and female God created them.
28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fertile and multiply; fill the earth and master it. Take charge of the fish of the sea, the birds in the sky, and everything crawling on the ground.” 29 Then God said, “I now give to you all the plants on the earth that yield seeds and all the trees whose fruit produces its seeds within it. These will be your food. 30 To all wildlife, to all the birds in the sky, and to everything crawling on the ground—to everything that breathes—I give all the green grasses for food.” And that’s what happened. 31 God saw everything he had made: it was supremely good.
There was evening and there was morning: the sixth day.[Footnotes:
Genesis 1:27 Heb has singular him, referring to humanity.]
2:1 The heavens and the earth and all who live in them were completed. 2 On the sixth [a] day God completed all the work that he had done, and on the seventh day God rested from all the work that he had done. 3 God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all the work of creation.[b] 4 This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created.
World’s creation in the garden
On the day the Lord God made earth and sky—[Footnotes:
Genesis 2:2 LXX, Sam, Syr; MT seventh
Genesis 2:3 Or from all his work, which God created to do]
Psalms 8:4 what are human beings
that you think about them;
what are human beings
that you pay attention to them?
5 You’ve made them only slightly less than divine,
crowning them with glory and grandeur.
6 You’ve let them rule over your handiwork,
putting everything under their feet—
7 all sheep and all cattle,
the wild animals too,
8 the birds in the sky,
the fish of the ocean,
everything that travels the pathways of the sea.
9 Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name throughout the earth!
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark 7: What contaminates a life?
1 The Pharisees and some legal experts from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus. 2 They saw some of his disciples eating food with unclean hands. (They were eating without first ritually purifying their hands through washing. 3 The Pharisees and all the Jews don’t eat without first washing their hands carefully. This is a way of observing the rules handed down by the elders. 4 Upon returning from the marketplace, they don’t eat without first immersing themselves. They observe many other rules that have been handed down, such as the washing of cups, jugs, pans, and sleeping mats.) 5 So the Pharisees and legal experts asked Jesus, “Why are your disciples not living according to the rules handed down by the elders but instead eat food with ritually unclean hands?”
6 He replied, “Isaiah really knew what he was talking about when he prophesied about you hypocrites. He wrote,
This people honors me with their lips,
but their hearts are far away from me.
7 Their worship of me is empty
since they teach instructions that are human words.[a]
8 You ignore God’s commandment while holding on to rules created by humans and handed down to you.” 9 Jesus continued, “Clearly, you are experts at rejecting God’s commandment in order to establish these rules. 10 Moses said, Honor your father and your mother,[b] and The person who speaks against father or mother will certainly be put to death.[c] 11 But you say, ‘If you tell your father or mother, “Everything I’m expected to contribute to you is corban (that is, a gift I’m giving to God),” 12 then you are no longer required to care for your father or mother.’ 13 In this way you do away with God’s word in favor of the rules handed down to you, which you pass on to others. And you do a lot of other things just like that.”[Footnotes:
Mark 7:7 Isa 29:13
Mark 7:10 Exod 20:12; Deut 5:16
Mark 7:10 Exod 21:17; Lev 20:9]
Tuesday of the Fifth week in Ordinary Time
Commentary of the day:Saint Clement of Alexandria (150- c.215), theologian
The Instructor ]Paedagogus], III 89, 94, 98-99
The new law written in people’s hearts
We have the ten commandments Moses gave… and everything recommended to us by the reading of the holy books, of which this has been communicated by Isaiah: “Wash yourselves clean! Put away your misdeeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil; learn to do good. Make justice your aim: redress the wronged, hear the orphan’s plea, defend the widow. Come now, let us set things right, says the Lord.” (Is 1,16f.)… But we have, too, the law of God’s Word, the words of encouragement, not written on tablets of stone by the finger of the Lord (Ex 24,12) but on the human heart (2Cor 3,3)… These two laws were used by the Word for the instruction of humanity, first by the mouth of Moses and then by that of the apostles…
However, we need a teacher to explain these holy words… ; he is the one who will teach us about the words of God. The school is our Church; our only Teacher is the Bridegroom, the good will of a good Father, original wisdom, holiness and knowledge. “He is the expiation for our sins,” Saint John says (1Jn 2,2); it is he who heals our bodies and souls, our whole person; he, Jesus, is “the expiation for our sins, and not for our sins only but for those of the whole world. The way that we may be sure we know him is to keep his commandments” (vv.2-3)… “Whoever claims to abide in him ought to live just as he lived” (v.6).
We who are pupils of this blessed instruction are bringing the Church’s beautiful appearance to completion and running towards this kindly mother like little children. Let us listen to the Word of God and give glory to the happy disposition that guides us by means of this Teacher and sanctifies us as God’s children. We will be citizens of heaven if we are pupils of this Teacher on earth. There above we shall understand everything he has taught us concerning the Father.
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