The Daily Gospel for Wednesday, 18 November 2015

The Daily Gospel for Wednesday, 18 November 2015
"Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life."[John 6:68]
Wednesday of the Thirty-third week in Ordinary Time
Feast of the Church:

Dedication of the Basilicas of Peter and Paul

Dedication of the Basilicas
of the Apostles Peter and Paul
in Rome

Among the holy places venerated by the Christians from the beginning, the chief has always been the Confession of St. Peter on Vatican Hill, hallowed by the tomb of the Prince of the Apostles. Here the Emperor Constantine is said to have come and, taking a shovel and a two-pronged fork, to have broken the sod to designate the site of the basilica which he built at his own expense. Pope Sylvester dedicated it on the fourteenth of the Calends of December and decreed that from that time henceforth all altars must be of stone. In later years when it became ruinous with age, it was rebuilt from the foundations through the piety and zeal of several Pontiffs. Urban VIII solemnly dedicated it on this same day in the year 1626.

Sylvester, likewise, dedicated the basilica of St. Paul the Apostle on the Ostian Way. It had been most sumptuously built by the same Emperor Constantine. After it was completely destroyed by fire, it was rebuilt more magnificently than before through the tireless efforts of four Pontiffs. Pius IX, taking advantage of the most auspicious occasion of the definition of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, surrounded by a host of bishops, solemnly consecrated it.

O God, 
who for us bring each year 
the recurrence of the consecration day of this your holy temple,
and always bring us back safely to the sacred rites, hear the payers of your people
and grant that whoever enters this temple to pray for blessings, 
may rejoice in having obtained whatever he sought.

Saints of the day:

St. Rose Philippine Duchesne, Religious (1769-1852)

Rose Philippine Duchesne 
Religious, of the Society of the Sacred Heart of Jesus  
(1769-1852)

Rose Philippine Duchesne was born August 29, 1769 in Grenoble, France. She was baptized in the Church of St. Louis and received the name of Philip, the apostle, and Rose of Lima, first saint of the new continent. She was educated at the Convent of the Visitation of Ste. Marie d'en Haut, then, drawn to the contemplative life, she became a novice there when she was 18 years old.

At the time of the Revolution in France, the community was dispersed and Philippine returned to her family home, spending her time nursing prisoners and helping others who suffered. After the Concordat of 1801, she tried with some companions to reconstruct the monastery of Ste. Marie but without success.

In 1804, Philippine learned of a new congregation, the Society of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and offered herself and the monastery to the Foundress, Mother Madeleine Sophie Barat. Mother Barat visited Ste. Marie in 1804 and received Philippine and several companions as novices in the Society.

Even as Philippine's desire deepened for the contemplative life, so too her call to the missions became more urgent - a call she had heard since her youth. In a letter she wrote to Mother Barat, she confided a spiritual experience she had had during a night of adoration before the Eucharist on Holy Thursday: "I spent the entire night in the new World ... carrying the Blessed Sacrament to all parts of the land ... I had all my sacrifices to offer: a mother, sisters, family, my mountain! When you say to me 'now I send you', I will respond quickly 'I go"'. She waited, however, another 12 years.

In 1818 Philippine's dream was realized. She was sent to respond to the bishop of the Louisiana territory, who was looking for a congregation of educators to help him evangelize the Indian and French children of his diocese. At St. Charles, near St. Louis, Missouri, she founded the first house of the Society outside France. It was in a log cabin - and with it came all the austerities of frontier life: extreme cold, hard work, lack of funds. She also had difficulty learning English. Communication at best was slow; news often did not arrive from her beloved France. She struggled to remain closely united with the Society in France.

Philippine and four other Religious of the Sacred Heart forged ahead. In 1820 she opened the first free school west of the Mississippi. By 1828 she had founded six houses. These schools were for the young women of Missouri and Louisiana. She loved and served them well, but always in her heart she yearned to serve the American Indians. When she was 72 and no longer superior, a school for the Potawatomi was opened at Sugar Creek, Kansas. Though many thought Philippine was too sick to go, the Jesuit head of the mission insisted: "She must come; she may not be able to do much work, but she will assure success to the mission by praying for us. Her very presence will draw down all manner of heavenly favors on the work".

She was with the Potawatomi but a year; however, her pioneer courage did not weaken, and her long hours of contemplation impelled the Indians to name her, Quah-kah-ka-num-ad,
"Woman-Who-Prays-Always". But Philippine's health could not sustain the regime of village life. In July 1842, she returned to St. Charles, although her heart never lost its desire for the missions: "I feel the same longing for the Rocky Mountain missions and any others like them, that I experienced in France when I first begged to come to America...".

Philippine died at St. Charles, Missouri, November 18, 1852 at the age of 83.[© Copyright 2000 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana]

St. Odo of Cluny († 942)

SAINT ODO OF CLUNY
(† 942)

On Christmas-eve, 877, a noble of Aquitaine implored Our Lady to grant him a son. His prayer was heard; Odo was born, and his grateful father offered him to St. Martin. Odo grew in wisdom and in virtue, and his father longed to see him shine at court. But the attraction of grace was too strong. Odo's heart was sad and his health failed, until he forsook the world and sought refuge under the shadow of St. Martin at Tours.

Later on he took the habit of St. Benedict at Baume, and was compelled to become abbot of the great abbey of Cluny, which was then building. He ruled it with the hand of a master and the winningness of a Saint.

The Pope sent for him often to act as peacemaker between contending princes, and it was on one of those missions of mercy that he was taken ill at Rome. At his urgent entreaty he was borne back to Tours, where he died at the feet of «his own St. Martin," in 942.

Lives of the Saints, by Alban Butler, Benziger Bros. ed. [1894]
Wednesday of the Thirty-third week in Ordinary Time
The Second Boodk of  Maccabees 7:1 There were also seven brothers who were arrested along with their mother. The king was trying to compel them to eat the forbidden pork by torturing them with whips and cords.20 The mother was particularly amazing and worthy of an honorable memory. She watched her seven sons die in the course of a single day but accepted it with a stout heart because of her hope in the Lord. 21 She encouraged each of them in their native language. Filled with noble thoughts, she fired up her womanly reasoning with manly courage, saying to them, 22 “I don’t know how you grew in my womb, nor did I grant the breath of life to you or arrange what makes you who you are. 23 For this reason, the creator of the world—who brought about the beginning of humanity and searched out the origin of all things—will again mercifully give you both spirit and life, since you disregard yourselves because of his laws.”

24 Antiochus thought that he was being treated with contempt and was suspicious of the tone of her voice. So he appealed to the youngest son, since he was still alive, not only through words but also through solemn pledges. If the young man turned from his ancestral practices, Antiochus promised him, he would make him both rich and prosperous, he would be considered a political advisor,[2 Maccabees 7:24 Or Friend] and he would be entrusted with public affairs. 25 When the young man wouldn’t accept the offer by any means, the king appealed to the mother to counsel the boy to save himself. 26 After a great deal of urging, she agreed to try to persuade her son. 27 By leaning toward her son and mocking the savage tyrant, she spoke in their native language: “Son, pity me who carried you in the womb nine months, nursed you for three years, nurtured you, and brought you into this stage of life with care. 28 I beg you, child, to look at heaven and earth. See everything that is in them and know that God made these things from nothing, and created humankind in the same way. 29 Don’t fear this killer but prove worthy of your brothers. Accept death so that in God’s mercy I should recover you with your brothers.”

30 Just at the moment when she finished speaking,[2 Maccabees 7:30 Correction; Gk uncertain] the young man said, “What are you all waiting for? I don’t intend to obey the king’s order, but I hear the command of the Law given to our ancestors through Moses. 31 But you, King, who have invented all sorts of evil against the Hebrews, will by no means escape God’s power.

Psalm 17:(0) A prayer of David:

(1) Hear a just cause, Adonai, heed my cry;

listen to my prayer from honest lips.

5 my steps hold steadily to your paths,

my feet do not slip.

6 Now I call on you, God, for you will answer me.

Turn your ear to me, hear my words.

8 Protect me like the pupil of your eye,

hide me in the shadow of your wings

15 But my prayer, in righteousness, is to see your face;

on waking, may I be satisfied with a vision of you.

The Holy Gospel of Yeshua the Messiah according to Saint Luke 19:11 While they were listening to this, Yeshua went on to tell a parable, because he was near Yerushalayim, and the people supposed that the Kingdom of God was about to appear at any moment. 12 Therefore he said, “A nobleman went to a country far away to have himself crowned king and then return. 13 Calling ten of his servants, he gave them ten manim [a maneh is about three months’ wages] and said to them, ‘Do business with this while I’m away.’ 14 But his countrymen hated him, and they sent a delegation after him to say, ‘We don’t want this man to rule over us.’

15 “However, he returned, having been made king, and sent for the servants to whom he had given the money, to find out what each one had earned in his business dealings. 16 The first one came in and said, ‘Sir, your maneh has earned ten more manim.’ 17 ‘Excellent!’ he said to him. ‘You are a good servant. Because you have been trustworthy in a small matter, I am putting you in charge of ten towns.’ 18 The second one came and said, ‘Sir, your maneh has earned five more manim; 19 and to this one he said, ‘You be in charge of five towns.’

20 “Then another one came and said, ‘Sir, here is your maneh. I kept it hidden in a piece of cloth, 21 because I was afraid of you — you take out what you didn’t put in, and you harvest what you didn’t plant.’ 22 To him the master said, ‘You wicked servant! I will judge you by your own words! So you knew, did you, that I was a severe man, taking out what I didn’t put in and harvesting what I didn’t plant? 23 Then why didn’t you put my money in the bank? Then, when I returned, I would have gotten it back with interest!’ 24 To those standing by, he said, ‘Take the maneh from him and give it to the one with ten manim.’ 25 They said to him, ‘Sir, he already has ten manim!’ 26 But the master answered, ‘I tell you, everyone who has something will be given more; but from anyone who has nothing, even what he does have will be taken away. 27 However, as for these enemies of mine who did not want me to be their king, bring them here and execute them in my presence!’”

28 After saying this, Yeshua went on and began the ascent to Yerushalayim.

Wednesday of the Thirty-third week in Ordinary Time

Commentary of the day:
Saint John-Paul II, Pope from 1978 to 2005
Homily for Luxemburg Workers, May 1985  “Make them bear fruit”: Human Work and the Kingdom of God

When God created humankind, man and woman, God told them: “Be fertile and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it.” (Genesis 1:28) That is, so to speak, God’s first commandment, which is connected with the very order of creation. Thus, human work corresponds with God’s will. When we say, “Thy will be done,” let us also include these words about the work which fills every day of our life. We become aware of the fact that we are in accord with that will of the Creator when our work and the human relations that it brings with it are penetrated with the values of initiative, courage, trust, solidarity, which are so many reflections of our divine resemblance… 
The Creator gave the human person the power to subdue the earth. Thus, he asks him to bring the area that has been entrusted to him under control through his own work, to exercise all his abilities so as to be able to develop his own personality and the whole community in a good way. Through his work, the human person obeys God and responds to God’s trust. That is not foreign to the request in the Our Father: “Thy kingdom come.” The human person acts in such a way that God’s plan might be realized, aware of having been made in the likeness of God and thus of having received from God his strength, his intelligence, his aptitudes for bringing about a community of life through the disinterested love he has for his brothers and sisters. All that is positive and good in the life of the person develops and connects with his true goal in the kingdom of God. You chose your motto well: “Kingdom of God, human life,” for God’s cause and the human cause are connected with one another. The world is advancing towards the kingdom of God thanks to God’s gifts, which make human dynamism possible. In other words, to pray that God’s kingdom might come is to stretch out with all one’s being towards that reality, which is the ultimate goal of human work.

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