Daily Gospel for Tuesday, 4 March 2014
"Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to
whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life." John 6:68
Tuesday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary
Time
Saint(s) of the day:
SAINT CASIMIR
Prince
(1458-1484)
Casimir, the second son of Casimir III,
King of Poland was born A. D. 1458. From the custody of a most virtuous mother,
Elizabeth of Austria, he passed to the guardianship of a devoted master, the
learned and pious John Dugloss. Thus animated from his earliest years by
precept and example, his innocence and piety soon ripened into the practice of
heroic virtue.
At the age of twenty-five, sick of a
lingering illness, he foretold the hour of his death, and chose to die a virgin
rather than take the life and health which the doctors held out to him in the
married state. In an atmosphere of luxury and magnificence the young prince had
fasted, worn a hair-shirt, slept upon the bare earth, prayed by night, and
watched for the opening of the church doors at dawn. He had become so tenderly
devoted to the Passion of Our Lord that at Mass he seemed quite rapt out of
himself, and his charity to the poor and afflicted knew no bounds. His love for
our blessed Lady he expressed in a long and beautiful hymn, familiar to us in
our own tongue.
The miracles wrought by his body after
death fill a volume. The blind saw, the lame walked, the sick were healed, a
dead girl was raised to life. And once the Saint in glory led his countrymen to
battle, and delivered them by a glorious victory from the schismatic Russian
hosts.
One hundred and twenty-two years after
his death the Saint's tomb in the cathedral of Vienna was opened, that the holy
body might be transferred to the rich marble chapel where it now lies. The
place was damp, and the very vault crumbled away in the hands of the workmen;
yet the Saint's body, wrapped in robes of silk, was found whole and incorrupt,
and emitted a sweet fragrance, which filled the church and refreshed all who
were present. Under his head was found his hymn to Our Lady, which he had had
buried with him. The following night three young men saw a brilliant light
issuing from the open tomb and streaming through the windows of the chapel.
Lives of the Saints, by Alban Butler,
Benziger Bros. ed. [1894]
Tuesday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary
Time
First Letter of Peter 1: 10 Concerning this salvation, the prophets sought and searched
diligently, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, 11 searching
for who or what kind of time the Spirit of Christ, which was in them, pointed
to, when he predicted the sufferings of Christ, and the glories that would
follow them. 12 To them it was revealed, that not to themselves, but to you,
they ministered these things, which now have been announced to you through those
who preached the Good News to you by the Holy Spirit sent out from heaven;
which things angels desire to look into.
13 Therefore prepare your minds for
action,[a] be sober, and set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought
to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ— 14 as children of obedience, not
conforming yourselves according to your former lusts as in your ignorance, 15
but just as he who called you is holy, you yourselves also be holy in all of
your behavior; 16 because it is written, “You shall be holy; for I am holy.”[b]
Footnotes:
a. 1 Peter 1:13 literally, “gird up the
waist of your mind” or “put on the belt of the waist of your mind”
b. 1 Peter 1:16 Leviticus 11:44-45
Psalm 98: A Psalm.
1 Sing to Yahweh a new song,
for he has done marvelous things!
His right hand, and his holy arm, have worked salvation for him.
2 Yahweh has made known his salvation.
He has openly shown his righteousness in the sight of the nations.
3 He has remembered his loving kindness
and his faithfulness toward the house of Israel.
All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
4 Make a joyful noise to Yahweh, all the
earth!
Burst out and sing for joy, yes, sing praises!
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to
Saint Mark 10: 28 Peter began to tell him, “Behold, we
have left all, and have followed you.”
29 Jesus said, “Most certainly I tell
you, there is no one who has left house, or brothers, or sisters, or father, or
mother, or wife, or children, or land, for my sake, and for the sake of the
Good News, 30 but he will receive one hundred times more now in this time,
houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and land, with persecutions; and
in the age to come eternal life. 31 But many who are first will be last; and
the last first.”
Tuesday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary
Time
Commentary of the Day:
Blessed Teresa of Calcutta (1910-1997),
founder of the Missionary Sisters of Charity
No Greater Love, p. 95-96
Leaving everything to follow him
Riches, both material and spiritual, can
choke you if you do not use them fairly. For not even God can put anything in a
heart that is already full. One day there springs up the desire for money and
for all that money can provide - the superfluous, luxury in eating, luxury in
dressing, trifles. Needs increase because one thing calls for another. The result
is uncontrollable dissatisfaction. Let us remain as empty as possible so that
God can fill us up.
Our Lord gives us a living example: From
the very first day of His human existence He was brought up in a poverty which
no human being will ever be able to experience, because "being rich He
made Himself poor" (2Cor 8,9). Christ being rich emptied Himself. This is
where the contradiction lies. If I want to be poor like Christ, who became poor
even though He was rich, I must do the same. It would be a shame for us to be
richer than Jesus, who for our sake endured poverty.
On the cross Christ was deprived of
everything. The cross itself had been given Him by Pilate; nails and the crown,
by the soldiers. He was naked. When He died He was stripped of the cross, the
nails, and the crown. He was wrapped in a piece of canvas donated by a
charitable soul, and He was buried in a tomb that did not belong to Him.
Despite all that, Jesus could have died like a king and could even have been
spared death. He chose poverty because He knew that it was the genuine means to
possess God and to bring His love to the earth
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