"Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life."[John 6:68]
Thursday of the Twenty-seventh week in Ordinary Time
Saints of the day:
St. Demetrius, Martyr († c. 306)
St. Demetrius was extremely popular in the Middle Ages and was reported to have appeared during a battle in 586, centuries after his death to help defend Thessalonika.
Over 200 churches in the Balkans are known to have been dedicated to him. His relics were said to emit holy oil.
Thursday of the Twenty-seventh week in Ordinary Time
The Book of Malachi 3:13 “You have spoken strongly against me,” says Adonai.
“Yet you say, ‘How have we spoken against you?’
14 By saying, ‘There is no point in serving God.
What good is it to obey his orders
or to walk about as mourners
before Adonai-Tzva’ot?
15 We consider the arrogant happy;
also evildoers prosper;
they put God to the test;
nevertheless, they escape.’”
16 Then those who feared Adonai spoke together;
and Adonai listened and heard.
A record book was written in his presence
for those who feared Adonai
and had respect for his name.
17 “They will be mine,” says Adonai-Tzva’ot,
“on the day when I compose my own special treasure.
I will spare them as a man spares
his own son who serves him.
18 Then once again you will see the difference
between the righteous and the wicked,
between the person who serves God
and one that doesn’t serve him.
19 (4:1) For the day is coming, burning like a furnace,
when all the proud and evildoers will be stubble;
the day that is coming will set them ablaze,”
says Adonai-Tzva’ot,
“and leave them neither root nor branch.
20 (4:2) But to you who fear my name,
the sun of righteousness will rise
with healing in its wings;
and you will break out leaping,
like calves released from the stall.
Psalm 1:1 How blessed are those
who reject the advice of the wicked,
don’t stand on the way of sinners
or sit where scoffers sit!
2 Their delight
is in Adonai’s Torah;
on his Torah they meditate
day and night.
3 They are like trees planted by streams —
they bear their fruit in season,
their leaves never wither,
everything they do succeeds.
4 Not so the wicked,
who are like chaff driven by the wind.
6 For Adonai watches over
the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked
is doomed.
The Holy Gospel of Yeshua the Messiah according to Saint Luke 11:5 He also said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend; and you go to him in the middle of the night and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, 6 because a friend of mine who has been travelling has just arrived at my house, and I have nothing for him to eat.’ 7 Now the one inside may answer, ‘Don’t bother me! The door is already shut, my children are with me in bed — I can’t get up to give you anything!’ 8 But I tell you, even if he won’t get up because the man is his friend, yet because of the man’s hutzpah he will get up and give him as much as he needs.
9 “Moreover, I myself say to you: keep asking, and it will be given to you; keep seeking, and you will find; keep knocking, and the door will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who goes on asking receives; and he who goes on seeking finds; and to him who continues knocking, the door will be opened.
11 “Is there any father here who, if his son asked him for a fish, would instead of a fish give him a snake? 12 or if he asked for an egg would give him a scorpion? 13 So if you, even though you are bad, know how to give your children gifts that are good, how much more will the Father keep giving the Ruach HaKodesh from heaven to those who keep asking him!”
Thursday of the Twenty-seventh week in Ordinary Time
Commentary of the day:
Saint Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), Dominican theologian, Doctor of the Church
Compendium theologiae, II, ch. 1
When a prayer is addressed to another person it must first of all express the desire and need of the one who prays. It also has to bend the heart of the person asked to the point of causing it to give way. But these two elements no longer have any place in prayer offered to God. When we pray we do not need to worry about making our desires or needs known to God who knows all. This is how the psalmist speaks to the Lord: “All my desire is before you” (Ps 37[38],10). And we read in the Gospel: “Your Father knows what you need” (Mt 6,8). Nor is it a question of bending the divine will with human words to want something it did not want before, for it is said in the book of Numbers: “God is not man that he should speak falsely, nor human, that he should change his mind” (23,19).
____________________________
SAINT DEMETRIUS OF SIRMIUM
Martyr
(† c. 306)
Saint Demetrius was born to a wealthy, noble family and raised Christian. He was a soldier and a Deacon. He was raised to the rank of Duke of Thessaly by the Emperor Maximian. But when he was found to be a Christian he was arrested and imprisoned in a bath-house. He was run through with spears c.306 at Sirmium (in modern Serbia).Martyr
(† c. 306)
St. Demetrius was extremely popular in the Middle Ages and was reported to have appeared during a battle in 586, centuries after his death to help defend Thessalonika.
Over 200 churches in the Balkans are known to have been dedicated to him. His relics were said to emit holy oil.
Thursday of the Twenty-seventh week in Ordinary Time
The Book of Malachi 3:13 “You have spoken strongly against me,” says Adonai.
“Yet you say, ‘How have we spoken against you?’
14 By saying, ‘There is no point in serving God.
What good is it to obey his orders
or to walk about as mourners
before Adonai-Tzva’ot?
15 We consider the arrogant happy;
also evildoers prosper;
they put God to the test;
nevertheless, they escape.’”
16 Then those who feared Adonai spoke together;
and Adonai listened and heard.
A record book was written in his presence
for those who feared Adonai
and had respect for his name.
17 “They will be mine,” says Adonai-Tzva’ot,
“on the day when I compose my own special treasure.
I will spare them as a man spares
his own son who serves him.
18 Then once again you will see the difference
between the righteous and the wicked,
between the person who serves God
and one that doesn’t serve him.
19 (4:1) For the day is coming, burning like a furnace,
when all the proud and evildoers will be stubble;
the day that is coming will set them ablaze,”
says Adonai-Tzva’ot,
“and leave them neither root nor branch.
20 (4:2) But to you who fear my name,
the sun of righteousness will rise
with healing in its wings;
and you will break out leaping,
like calves released from the stall.
Psalm 1:1 How blessed are those
who reject the advice of the wicked,
don’t stand on the way of sinners
or sit where scoffers sit!
2 Their delight
is in Adonai’s Torah;
on his Torah they meditate
day and night.
3 They are like trees planted by streams —
they bear their fruit in season,
their leaves never wither,
everything they do succeeds.
4 Not so the wicked,
who are like chaff driven by the wind.
6 For Adonai watches over
the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked
is doomed.
The Holy Gospel of Yeshua the Messiah according to Saint Luke 11:5 He also said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend; and you go to him in the middle of the night and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, 6 because a friend of mine who has been travelling has just arrived at my house, and I have nothing for him to eat.’ 7 Now the one inside may answer, ‘Don’t bother me! The door is already shut, my children are with me in bed — I can’t get up to give you anything!’ 8 But I tell you, even if he won’t get up because the man is his friend, yet because of the man’s hutzpah he will get up and give him as much as he needs.
9 “Moreover, I myself say to you: keep asking, and it will be given to you; keep seeking, and you will find; keep knocking, and the door will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who goes on asking receives; and he who goes on seeking finds; and to him who continues knocking, the door will be opened.
11 “Is there any father here who, if his son asked him for a fish, would instead of a fish give him a snake? 12 or if he asked for an egg would give him a scorpion? 13 So if you, even though you are bad, know how to give your children gifts that are good, how much more will the Father keep giving the Ruach HaKodesh from heaven to those who keep asking him!”
Thursday of the Twenty-seventh week in Ordinary Time
Commentary of the day:
Saint Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), Dominican theologian, Doctor of the Church
Compendium theologiae, II, ch. 1
It is fitting to pray
According to God’s providential design it has been granted to everything that exists to attain its end according to its nature. People, too, in order to obtain what they hope from God, have received a means adapted to the human condition. This condition allows us to make use of prayer to obtain from others what we are hoping for, especially if the other whom we are addressing is superior to us. This is why it is recommended to pray in order to receive from God whatever we hope to receive from him. But the necessity of prayer differs according to whether it is a question of gaining something from another person or from God. When a prayer is addressed to another person it must first of all express the desire and need of the one who prays. It also has to bend the heart of the person asked to the point of causing it to give way. But these two elements no longer have any place in prayer offered to God. When we pray we do not need to worry about making our desires or needs known to God who knows all. This is how the psalmist speaks to the Lord: “All my desire is before you” (Ps 37[38],10). And we read in the Gospel: “Your Father knows what you need” (Mt 6,8). Nor is it a question of bending the divine will with human words to want something it did not want before, for it is said in the book of Numbers: “God is not man that he should speak falsely, nor human, that he should change his mind” (23,19).
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