"Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life."[John 6:68]
Friday of the Nineteenth week in Ordinary Time
Saint(s) of the day:
St. Maximilian Kolbe, Priest and Martyr (1894-1941)
Blessed Eberhard of Einsiedeln, OSB Abbot (AC)
Died 958. Born into Swabia's ducal family, Eberhard became provost of the Strasbourg's cathedral chapter. He resigned in 934 to join his friend Blessed Benno at Saint Meinrad's hermitage on Mount Etzel in Switzerland. After the death of his blinded friend, Eberhard built a Benedictine monastery--Our Lady of the Hermits, which became famous as Einsiedeln--and served as its first abbot (Benedictines, Delaney).
Friday of the Nineteenth week in Ordinary Time
Book of Joshua 24:1 Y’hoshua gathered all the tribes of Isra’el to Sh’khem; he summoned the leaders, heads, judges and officials of Isra’el; and they presented themselves before God. 2 Y’hoshua said to all the people, “This is what Adonai the God of Isra’el says: ‘In antiquity your ancestors lived on the other side of the [Euphrates] River — Terach the father of Avraham and Nachor — and they served other gods. 3 I took your ancestor Avraham from beyond the River, led him through all the land of Kena‘an, increased his descendants and gave him Yitz’chak. 4 I gave to Yitz’chak Ya‘akov and ‘Esav. To ‘Esav I gave Mount Se‘ir as his possession, but Ya‘akov and his children went down into Egypt. 5 I sent Moshe and Aharon, I inflicted plagues on Egypt in accordance with what I did among them, and afterwards I brought you out. 6 Yes, I brought your fathers out of Egypt: you arrived at the sea, and the Egyptians were pursuing your ancestors with chariots and horsemen to the Sea of Suf. 7 But when they cried out to Adonai, he put darkness between you and the Egyptians, overwhelmed them with the sea and drowned them. Your eyes saw what I did in Egypt, and then you lived in the desert for a long time. 8 I brought you into the land of the Emori living beyond the Yarden; they fought against you, but I handed them over to you. You took possession of their land, and I destroyed them ahead of you. 9 Then Balak the son of Tzippor, king of Mo’av, rose up and fought against Isra’el. He sent and summoned Bil‘am the son of B‘or to put a curse on you. 10 But I refused to listen to Bil‘am, and he actually blessed you. In this way I rescued you from him. 11 Next you crossed the Yarden and came to Yericho. The men of Yericho fought against you — the Emori, P’rizi, Kena‘ani, Hitti, Girgashi, Hivi and Y’vusi — and I handed them over to you. 12 I sent the hornet ahead of you, driving them out from ahead of you, the two kings of the Emori — it wasn’t by your sword or your bow. 13 Then I gave you a land where you had not worked and cities you had not built, and you live there. You eat fruit from vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant.’
Psalm 136:1 Give thanks to Adonai, for he is good,
St. Maximilian KolbePriest and Martyr(1894-1941)
Raymond Kolbe was born on the 8th of January 1894 in Zdunska Wola, which at that time was occupied by Russia. The Kolbe home was poor but full of love. The parents, hardworking and religious, educated their three sons with rectitude.
Around 1906, an event took place that marks a fundamental milestone in the life of the young boy. His mother herself related the event a few months after her son's martyrdom.
"I knew ahead of time, based on an extraordinary event that took place in his infancy, that Maximilian would die a martyr. I just don't recall if it took place before or after his first confession. Once I did not like one of his pranks and I reproached him for it: 'My son, what ever will become of you?!' Later, I did not think of it again, but I noticed that the boy had changed so radically, he was hardly recognizable. We had a small altar hidden between two dressers before which he used to often retire without being noticed and he would pray there crying. In general, he had a conduct superior to his age, always recollected and serious and when he prayed he would burst into tears. I was worried, thinking he had some sort of illness so I asked him: 'Is there anything wrong? You should share everything with your mommy!' Trembling with emotion and with his eyes flooded in tears, he shared: 'Mama, when you reproached me, I pleaded with the Blessed Mother to tell me what would become of me. At Church I did the same; I prayed the same thing again. So then the Blessed Mother appeared to me holding in her hands two crowns: one white the other red. She looked at me with tenderness and asked me if I wanted these two crowns. The white one signified that I would preserve my purity and the red that I would be a martyr. I answered that I accepted them...(both of them). Then the Virgin Mary looked at me with sweetness and disappeared.' The extraordinary change in the boys' behavior testified to me the truth of what he related. He was fully conscious and as he spoke to me, with his face radiating; it showed me his desire to die a martyr."
When he was 13 years old he entered the Franciscan Fathers Seminary in the polish city of Lvov, which was at that time occupied by Austria. It was in the seminary where he adopted the name Maximilian. He completed his studies in Rome. Before his ordination as a priest in 1918, Maximilian founded the Immaculata Movement devoted to our Lady. He spread the movement through a magazine entitled "The Knight of the Immaculata". "We should conquer the universe and each soul, now and in the future until the end of time, for the Immaculata and through her for the Sacred Heart of Jesus." (St. Maximilian Maria Kolbe, The Knight of the Immaculata)
Maximilian went to Japan and then on to India where he furthered the Movement. After a few years in Japan, St. Maximilian was summoned back to Poland, largely due to his ever-declining health.
Three years later, in the midst of the Second World War, he was imprisoned along with other friars and sent to concentration camps in Germany and Poland. In February of 1941 he was again made a prisoner and sent to the concentration camp in Auschwitz, where in spite of the terrible living conditions he continued his ministry.
On July 31st, 1941, in reprisal for one prisoner's escape, ten men were chosen to die. Father Kolbe offered himself in place of a young husband and father. And he was the last to die, enduring two weeks of starvation, thirst, and neglect. He was canonized by Pope John Paul II in 1982 as a Martyr of Charity.
Blessed EberhardBlessed Eberhard of Einsiedeln, OSB Abbot (AC)
Died 958. Born into Swabia's ducal family, Eberhard became provost of the Strasbourg's cathedral chapter. He resigned in 934 to join his friend Blessed Benno at Saint Meinrad's hermitage on Mount Etzel in Switzerland. After the death of his blinded friend, Eberhard built a Benedictine monastery--Our Lady of the Hermits, which became famous as Einsiedeln--and served as its first abbot (Benedictines, Delaney).
Friday of the Nineteenth week in Ordinary Time
Book of Joshua 24:1 Y’hoshua gathered all the tribes of Isra’el to Sh’khem; he summoned the leaders, heads, judges and officials of Isra’el; and they presented themselves before God. 2 Y’hoshua said to all the people, “This is what Adonai the God of Isra’el says: ‘In antiquity your ancestors lived on the other side of the [Euphrates] River — Terach the father of Avraham and Nachor — and they served other gods. 3 I took your ancestor Avraham from beyond the River, led him through all the land of Kena‘an, increased his descendants and gave him Yitz’chak. 4 I gave to Yitz’chak Ya‘akov and ‘Esav. To ‘Esav I gave Mount Se‘ir as his possession, but Ya‘akov and his children went down into Egypt. 5 I sent Moshe and Aharon, I inflicted plagues on Egypt in accordance with what I did among them, and afterwards I brought you out. 6 Yes, I brought your fathers out of Egypt: you arrived at the sea, and the Egyptians were pursuing your ancestors with chariots and horsemen to the Sea of Suf. 7 But when they cried out to Adonai, he put darkness between you and the Egyptians, overwhelmed them with the sea and drowned them. Your eyes saw what I did in Egypt, and then you lived in the desert for a long time. 8 I brought you into the land of the Emori living beyond the Yarden; they fought against you, but I handed them over to you. You took possession of their land, and I destroyed them ahead of you. 9 Then Balak the son of Tzippor, king of Mo’av, rose up and fought against Isra’el. He sent and summoned Bil‘am the son of B‘or to put a curse on you. 10 But I refused to listen to Bil‘am, and he actually blessed you. In this way I rescued you from him. 11 Next you crossed the Yarden and came to Yericho. The men of Yericho fought against you — the Emori, P’rizi, Kena‘ani, Hitti, Girgashi, Hivi and Y’vusi — and I handed them over to you. 12 I sent the hornet ahead of you, driving them out from ahead of you, the two kings of the Emori — it wasn’t by your sword or your bow. 13 Then I gave you a land where you had not worked and cities you had not built, and you live there. You eat fruit from vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant.’
Psalm 136:1 Give thanks to Adonai, for he is good,
for his grace continues forever.
2 Give thanks to the God of gods,
for his grace continues forever.
3 Give thanks to the Lord of lords,
for his grace continues forever;
16 to him who led his people through the desert,
for his grace continues forever;
17 to him who struck down great kings,
for his grace continues forever;
18 yes, he slaughtered powerful kings,
for his grace continues forever;
21 then he gave their land as a heritage,
for his grace continues forever;
22 to be possessed by Isra’el his servant,
for his grace continues forever;
24 and rescues us from our enemies,
for his grace continues forever;
The Holy Gospel of Yeshua the Messiah according to Saint Matthew 19:3 Some P’rushim came and tried to trap him by asking, “Is it permitted for a man to divorce his wife on any ground whatever?” 4 He replied, “Haven’t you read that at the beginning the Creator made them male and female,[Matthew 19:4 Genesis 1:27, 5:2] 5 and that he said, ‘For this reason a man should leave his father and mother and be united with his wife, and the two are to become one flesh’?[Matthew 19:5 Genesis 2:24] 6 Thus they are no longer two, but one. So then, no one should split apart what God has joined together.”
7 They said to him, “Then why did Moshe give the commandment that a man should hand his wife a get and divorce her?”[Matthew 19:7 Deuteronomy 24:1, 3] 8 He answered, “Moshe allowed you to divorce your wives because your hearts are so hardened. But this is not how it was at the beginning. 9 Now what I say to you is that whoever divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery!”
10 The talmidim said to him, “If that is how things are between husband and wife, it would be better not to marry!” 11 He said to them, “Not everyone grasps this teaching, only those for whom it is meant. 12 For there are different reasons why men do not marry — some because they were born without the desire, some because they have been castrated, and some because they have renounced marriage for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven. Whoever can grasp this, let him do so.”
Friday of the Nineteenth week in Ordinary Time
Commentary of the day:
Saint John-Paul II, Pope from 1978 to 2005
Angelus, February 6, 1994
“At the beginning the Creator made them male and female.”
Saint John-Paul II, Pope from 1978 to 2005
Angelus, February 6, 1994
According to his plan from the beginning, God created man and woman in his image. Scripture says: “In the divine image he created him; male and female he created them.” (Gen 1:27) In the book of Genesis it is thus important to understand this great truth: the image of himself, which God placed in the human person, is also given in the complementarity of the sexes. The man and the woman who unite in marriage reflect the image of God and are in some way the “revelation” of his love. Not only of the love which God has for the human being, but also of the mysterious communion, which characterizes the intimate life of the three divine persons.
Moreover, one can consider the act of begetting itself to be the image of God, who makes of the family a sanctuary of life. The apostle Paul said that all parenthood derives its name from God (Eph 3:15). He is the ultimate source of life. We can thus affirm that the genealogy of every person plunges its roots into the eternal. By begetting a child, the parents act as God’s collaborators. A truly sublime mission! It is thus not surprising that Jesus wanted to raise marriage to the dignity of a sacrament, and that Saint Paul spoke of it as a “great mystery”, seeing it in relation to Christ’s union with his Church (Eph 5:32).
Moreover, one can consider the act of begetting itself to be the image of God, who makes of the family a sanctuary of life. The apostle Paul said that all parenthood derives its name from God (Eph 3:15). He is the ultimate source of life. We can thus affirm that the genealogy of every person plunges its roots into the eternal. By begetting a child, the parents act as God’s collaborators. A truly sublime mission! It is thus not surprising that Jesus wanted to raise marriage to the dignity of a sacrament, and that Saint Paul spoke of it as a “great mystery”, seeing it in relation to Christ’s union with his Church (Eph 5:32).
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