The Daily Gospel for Wednesday, 30 September 2015

The Daily Gospel for Wednesday, 30 September 2015
"Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life."[John 6:68]
Wednesday of the Twenty-sixth week in Ordinary Time
Saints of the day:

SAINT JEROME
Priest & Doctor of the Church)
(c. 340-c.420)

St. Jerome, born in Dalmatia, in 329, was sent to school at Rome. His boyhood was not free from fault. His thirst for knowledge was excessive, and his love of books a passion. He had studied under the best masters, visited foreign cities, and devoted himself to the pursuit of science.
But Christ had need of his strong will and active intellect for the service of His Church. St. Jerome felt and obeyed the call, made a vow of celibacy, fled from Rome to the wild Syrian desert, and there for four years learnt in solitude, penance, and prayer a new lesson of divine wisdom. This was his novitiate.
The Pope soon summoned him to Rome, and there put upon the now famous Hebrew scholar the task of revising the Latin Bible, which was to be his noblest work. Retiring thence to his beloved Bethlehem, the eloquent hermit poured forth from his solitary cell for thirty years a stream of luminous writings upon the Christian world.
Lives of the Saints, by Alban Butler, Benziger Bros. ed. [1894]

Wednesday of the Twenty-sixth week in Ordinary Time

The Book of Nehemiah 2:1 In the month of Nisan in the twentieth year of Artach’shashta the king, it happened that I took the wine and brought it to the king. Prior to then I had never appeared sad in his presence. 2 The king asked, “Why do you look so sad? You’re not sick, so this must be some deep inner grief.” At this, I became very fearful, 3 as I said to the king, “May the king live forever! Why shouldn’t I look sad, when the city, the place where my ancestors’ tombs are, lies in ruins; and its gates are completely burned up?” 4 The king asked me, “What is it that you want?” I prayed to the God of heaven, 5 then said to the king, “If it pleases the king, if your servant has won your favor, send me to Y’hudah, to the city of my ancestors’ tombs, so that I can rebuild it.” 6 With the queen sitting next to him, the king asked me, “How long is your trip going to take? When will you return?” So it pleased the king to send me, and I gave him a time.
7 I then said to the king, “If it pleases the king, have letters given to me for the governors of the territory beyond the [Euphrates] River, so that they will let me pass through until I reach Y’hudah; 8 and also a letter for Asaf the supervisor of the royal forests, so that he will give me timber to make beams for the gates of the fortress belonging to the house, for the city wall and for the house I will be occupying.” The king gave me these, according to the good hand of my God on me.

Psalm 137:1 By the rivers of Bavel we sat down and wept
as we remembered Tziyon.
2 We had hung up our lyres
on the willows that were there,
3 when those who had taken us captive
asked us to sing them a song;
our tormentors demanded joy from us —
“Sing us one of the songs from Tziyon!”
4 How can we sing a song about Adonai
here on foreign soil?
5 If I forget you, Yerushalayim,
may my right hand wither away!
6 May my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth
if I fail to remember you,
if I fail to count Yerushalayim
the greatest of all my joys.
The Holy Gospel of Yeshua the Messiah according to Saint Luke 9:57 As they were traveling on the road, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” 58 Yeshua answered him, “The foxes have holes, and the birds flying about have nests, but the Son of Man has no home of his own.” 59 To another he said, “Follow me!” but the man replied, “Sir, first let me go away and bury my father.” 60 Yeshua said, “Let the dead bury their own dead; you, go and proclaim the Kingdom of God!” 61 Yet another said, “I will follow you, sir, but first let me say good-by to the people at home.” 62 To him Yeshua said, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and keeps looking back is fit to serve in the Kingdom of God.”
Wednesday of the Twenty-sixth week in Ordinary Time
Commentary of the day:
Saint Athanasius (295-373), Bishop of Alexandria, Doctor of the Church
Life of St Antony, 19-20

Follow Christ along the right way

One day, all the monks came to see Anthony and begged him to speak a word to them. He said to them:.. See, we have made a beginning and are already on the way of virtue. Let us continue our pursuit toward the goal, (Phil 3,14). And let none turn back as Lot's wife did (Gen. 19,26) since the Lord has said: “Anyone who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is not worthy of the Kingdom of heaven.” To turn back is nothing other than to change one’s mind acquire a taste again for the things of this world. Have no fear when people talk about virtue and do not be astonished by these words. For virtue is not far away: it does not originate apart from us; it is our very own affair and easy to accomplish so long as we want it.
The pagans leave their country and cross the sea to gain an education. But we have no need at all to leave our country either to get to the Kingdom of heaven or to gain virtue. For the Lord has said: “The Kingdom of God is among you,” (Lk 17,21). So virtue has only need of our will since it is within us and originates from us. If only the soul preserves its intellect in conformity with its nature then virtue springs forth. The soul is in its natural state when it remains as it was made; and it was made beautiful and upright. That is why Joshua, son of Nun, exhorted the people, saying: “Turn your hearts to the lord, the God of Israel” (Jos 24,23). And John the Baptist said: “Make straight your paths” (Mt 3,3). For the soul uprightness means to keep one’s mind as it was created. By contrast, when the mind deviates and turns aside from its natural state, then we speak of vice in the soul. So, then, it is not difficult… If we had to go looking for it outside ourselves it would have been really difficult, but since it is within us , let us keep ourselves from impure thoughts and preserve our souls for the Lord as though we had received a deposit so that he may be able to recognize his work, finding our soul just as he made it.
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