Daily Gospel for Monday, 30 June 2014

Daily Gospel for Monday, 30 June 2014
"Simon Peter answered him, 'Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life.'"(John 6:68)
Monday of the Thirteenth week in Ordinary Time
Saints of the Day:

The FIRST MARTYRS of the CHURCH of ROME

(+ 1st century)

The first persecution against the Church began by the Emperor Nero, after the burning of the City of Rome in 64, for which many of the faithful were tortured and slain. Some martyrs were burned as living torches at evening banquets, some crucified and others were fed to wild animals.
Their death is recorded by the pagan writer, Tacitus in his Annales (15, 44), and also by Pope Clement I in his letter to the Corinthians chapters 5-6).
*******

Prayer

Father,

you sanctified the Church of Rome

with the blood of its first martyrs.

May we find strength from their courage

and rejoice in their triumph.

Monday of the Thirteenth week in Ordinary Time
Book of Amos 2:6 Yahweh says:
“For three transgressions of Israel, yes, for four,
    I will not turn away its punishment;
    because they have sold the righteous for silver,
    and the needy for a pair of shoes;
7     They trample on the dust of the earth on the head of the poor,
    and deny justice to the oppressed;
    and a man and his father use the same maiden, to profane my holy name;
8     and they lay themselves down beside every altar on clothes taken in pledge;
    and in the house of their God[Amos 2:8 The Hebrew word rendered “God” is “אֱלֹהִ֑ים” (Elohim).
13-16] they drink the wine of those who have been fined.
9 Yet I destroyed the Amorite before them,
    whose height was like the height of the cedars,
    and he was strong as the oaks;
    yet I destroyed his fruit from above,
    and his roots from beneath.
10 Also I brought you up out of the land of Egypt,
    and led you forty years in the wilderness,
    to possess the land of the Amorite.
13 Behold,[Amos 2:13 “Behold”, from “הִנֵּה”, means look at, take notice, observe, see, or gaze at. It is often used as an interjection.] I will crush you in your place,
    as a cart crushes that is full of grain.
14 Flight will perish from the swift;
    and the strong won’t strengthen his force;
    neither shall the mighty deliver himself;
15     neither shall he stand who handles the bow;
    and he who is swift of foot won’t escape;
    neither shall he who rides the horse deliver himself;
16 and he who is courageous among the mighty will flee away naked on that day,”
says Yahweh.
Psalms 50:16 But to the wicked God says,
    “What right do you have to declare my statutes,
    that you have taken my covenant on your lips,
17     since you hate instruction,
    and throw my words behind you?
18 When you saw a thief, you consented with him,
    and have participated with adulterers.
19 “You give your mouth to evil.
    Your tongue frames deceit.
20 You sit and speak against your brother.
    You slander your own mother’s son.
21 You have done these things, and I kept silent.
    You thought that I was just like you.
    I will rebuke you, and accuse you in front of your eyes.
22 “Now consider this, you who forget God,
    lest I tear you into pieces, and there be no one to deliver.
23 Whoever offers the sacrifice of thanksgiving glorifies me,
    and prepares his way so that I will show God’s salvation to him.”
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 8:18 Now when Jesus saw great multitudes around him, he gave the order to depart to the other side.
19 A scribe came, and said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.”
20 Jesus said to him, “The foxes have holes, and the birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”
21 Another of his disciples said to him, “Lord, allow me first to go and bury my father.”
22 But Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead.”
Monday of the Thirteenth week in Ordinary Time
Commentary of the Day:

Blessed Teresa of Calcutta (1910-1997), founder of the Missionary Sisters of Charity 

Jesus, the Word to Be Spoken, 31st day of the 8th month

"The Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head"

Our Savior's poverty is greater even than that of the poorest of the world's beasts. "The foxes have holes and birds of the air their nests but the Son of Man h as nowhere to lay his head." So it was in fact. He had no house of his own, no fixed abode. The Samaritans had just turned him away and he must seek for shelter. Everything was uncertain: lodging, food. He received whatever he used as alms from the charity of others.
Such  is  indeed great poverty: how touching it is when we think who he is, the God-Man, the Lord of heaven and earth, and what he might have possessed! But it is this which makes his poverty majestic and rich, that it is a voluntary poverty chosen out of love for us and with the intention of enriching us. 
We are blessed in being called to share in our own little way the great poverty of this great God. We are thrilled also at the magnificent vagabondage of our life. We do not roam, but we cultivate the vagabond spirit of abandonment. We have nothing to live on, yet we live splendidly; nothing to walk on, yet we walk fearlessly; nothing to lean on, but yet we lean on God confidently; for we are his own and he is our provident Father.
-------