Daily Gospel for Saturday, 25 October 2014

Daily Gospel for Saturday, 25 October 2014
"Peter replied, 'Master, to whom would we go? You have the words of real life, eternal life. We’ve already committed ourselves, confident that you are the Holy One of God.'"(John 6:68-69)
Saturday of the Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Feast of the Church:
Saints of the Day:
SAINTS CRISPIN and CRISPINIAN 
Martyrs
(† c. 287)
These two glorious martyrs came from Rome to preach the Faith in Gaul toward the middle of the third century. Fixing their residence at Soissons, they instructed many in the Faith of Christ, which they preached publicly in the day, and at night they worked at making shoes, though they are said to have been nobly born, and brothers.
The infidels listened to their instructions, and were astonished at the example of their lives, especially of their charity, disinterestedness, heavenly piety, and contempt of glory and all earthly things; and the effect was the conversion of many to the Christian faith.
The brothers had continued their employment several years when a complaint was lodged against them. The emperor, to gratify their accusers and give way to his savage cruel, gave orders that they should be convened before Biotin's Varus, the most implacable enemy of the Christians.
The martyrs were patient and constant under the most cruel torments, and finished their course by the sword about the year 287.
Lives of the Saints, by Alban Butler, Benziger Bros. ed. [1894]
Saint Gaudentius
Feastday: January 5
Death: 1004

Benedictine bishop and friend of St. Adalbert. While going to Prussia with St. Adalbert, Gaudentius escaped a massacre that claimed his brother,s life. He became the first bishop of Gnesen, appointed by Emperor Otto III in 1000.
Saturday of the Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Letter to the Ephesians 4:7-13 But that doesn’t mean you should all look and speak and act the same. Out of the generosity of Christ, each of us is given his own gift. The text for this is,
He climbed the high mountain,
He captured the enemy and seized the booty,
He handed it all out in gifts to the people.
Is it not true that the One who climbed up also climbed down, down to the valley of earth? And the One who climbed down is the One who climbed back up, up to highest heaven. He handed out gifts above and below, filled heaven with his gifts, filled earth with his gifts. He handed out gifts of apostle, prophet, evangelist, and pastor-teacher to train Christ’s followers in skilled servant work, working within Christ’s body, the church, until we’re all moving rhythmically and easily with each other, efficient and graceful in response to God’s Son, fully mature adults, fully developed within and without, fully alive like Christ.
14-16 No prolonged infancies among us, please. We’ll not tolerate babes in the woods, small children who are an easy mark for impostors. God wants us to grow up, to know the whole truth and tell it in love—like Christ in everything. We take our lead from Christ, who is the source of everything we do. He keeps us in step with each other. His very breath and blood flow through us, nourishing us so that we will grow up healthy in God, robust in love.
Psalms 122: A Pilgrim Song of David
1-2 When they said, “Let’s go to the house of God,”
    my heart leaped for joy.
And now we’re here, O Jerusalem,
    inside Jerusalem’s walls!
3-5 Jerusalem, well-built city,
    built as a place for worship!
The city to which the tribes ascend,
    all God’s tribes go up to worship,
To give thanks to the name of God—
    this is what it means to be Israel.
Thrones for righteous judgment
    are set there, famous David-thrones.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 13: Unless You Turn to God
1-5 About that time some people came up and told him about the Galileans Pilate had killed while they were at worship, mixing their blood with the blood of the sacrifices on the altar. Jesus responded, “Do you think those murdered Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans? Not at all. Unless you turn to God, you, too, will die. And those eighteen in Jerusalem the other day, the ones crushed and killed when the Tower of Siloam collapsed and fell on them, do you think they were worse citizens than all other Jerusalemites? Not at all. Unless you turn to God, you, too, will die.”
6-7 Then he told them a story: “A man had an apple tree planted in his front yard. He came to it expecting to find apples, but there weren’t any. He said to his gardener, ‘What’s going on here? For three years now I’ve come to this tree expecting apples and not one apple have I found. Chop it down! Why waste good ground with it any longer?’
8-9 “The gardener said, ‘Let’s give it another year. I’ll dig around it and fertilize, and maybe it will produce next year; if it doesn’t, then chop it down.’”
Saturday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time
Commentary of the Day:
Julian of Norwich (1342-after 1416), recluse 
Revelations of divine love, ch. 39 (trans. James Walsh, SJ)
Be converted and do not perish
Sin is the sharpest scourge that any chosen soul can be smitten with — a scourge which greatly afflicteth a man or woman, breaketh him in pieces and purgeth him of his self-love; to the extent that at times he thinketh himself fit for nothing but to sink into hell; until such time as, by the touching of the Holy Ghost, contrition overtaketh him and turneth his bitterness into hope in God's mercy. Then his wounds begin to heal and his soul to revive as he is converted to the life of Holy Church. The Holy Ghost leadeth him to confession to reveal his sins willingly, nakedly and truly; with great sorrow and with great shame for having so befouled the fair image of God. Then he undertaketh the penance for all his sins enjoined by his confessor, who is instructed in Holy Church by the teaching of the Holy Ghost. This is a meekness that greatly pleaseth God.
Most preciously our good Lord keepeth us when it seemeth to us that we are well nigh forsaken and cast away for our sins. And because we see that we have deserved it, and because of the meekness that we get thereby, we are raised high in God's sight, by his grace. Then also, when our Lord will, he visiteth us with his special grace, with such contrition and also with compassion and true longing to God that we are at once delivered of sins and pain, and lifted up to bliss, equal with the saints.
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