25/10/2015 Ambrose Ps. 118:151

 

Sunday, 27 October 2013

Psalm 118 by Saint Ambrose

Monastic Office of Vigils.   

Psalm 118: 151 by Saint Ambrose

Monastic Office of Vigils.  

THIRTIETH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME  SUNDAY

First Reading

Jeremiah 23:9-17.21-29

Responsory   Lam 2:14; Jer 23:21

The visions your prophets saw for you were false and deceptive.

+They did not expose your sin, so as to reverse your fortunes.

V. I did not send these prophets; I did not speak to them. +They did not ...

Second Reading

From a commentary on Psalm 118 by Saint Ambrose Expositio in Psalmum 118, 19, 36-39: CSEL 62, 440-442

You are near, Lord, and all your commandments are true. The Lord is near to all of us, because he is everywhere. We cannot escape him if we offend him, nor deceive him if we sin, nor lose him if we worship him. God watches everything, he sees every­thing. He is close to each one of us; as he says: I am a God who is close at hand. How can God fail to be everywhere, when you read of the Spirit of God that the Spirit of the Lord has filled the whole world? For where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is the Lord God. I fill heaven and earth, says the Lord. Where then can he fail to be who fills everything? Or how can we all share in his fullness unless he is near all of us?

So, knowing that God is everywhere, and fills the sky, the earth, and the sea, David says: Where can I escape from your Spirit, where flee from your face? If I go up to heaven you are there; if I go down to Sheol you are there; if I take flight before dawn to dwell at the sea's furthest end, even there your hand will lead me and your right hand hold me fast. In what few words he has shown that God is everywhere, and that wherever the Spirit of God is, there is God, and where God is there is his Spirit! The union of the indivisible Trinity is portrayed here, since it is the Son of God who pro­nounced these words through the mouth of the prophet. He spoke in his human nature, for he descended to earth in the incarnation, ascended to heaven in the resurrection, and through his bodily death went down to the underworld to free the prisoners. Or if you prefer to ascribe these words to the

prophet, you notice it is clearly shown that wherever God the Father and God's Holy Spirit are, Christ is near as the hand, and the right hand of God.

Since we know that the sun shines everywhere, can we doubt that the splendor of God's glory and the image of his being shines everywhere? What could the Word of God, the eternal splendor, not penetrate, when he illuminates even the hidden mind, which the sun itself cannot penetrate?

He penetrates the soul, then, and illuminates it as with the brightness of eternal light. But although his virtue is poured out among all and into all and over all, since he was born of the Virgin for the sake of all, both good and bad, just as he com­mands his sun to rise over good and bad, nevertheless he warms only those who come near to him. For just as people shut out the sun's brightness when they close the windows of their houses and choose to live in darkness, so those who turn their backs on the Sun of Righteousness cannot see its splendor. They walk in darkness, and it is plain to everyone that they them­selves are the cause of their blindness. Open your windows, then, so that your whole house shines with the brightness of the true Sun; open your eyes so that you can see the Sun of Righteousness rising for you.

Responsory   Jer 23:23-24; Ps 139:7

Am I a God when near at hand, and not a God when far away? Can anyone hide in a dark corner without my seeing him? + Do I not fill heaven and earth?

V. Where can I escape from your Spirit? Where flee from your face? + Do I not fill ...

Good Gospell - iPad transfer

         

Experiment transfer iPad 'Daily Gospel' to Blogspot- - -  

DAILY GOSPEL Sunday, 06 September 2015 Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time See commentary below or click here Saint Lawrence of Brindisi : "He has done all things well" Book of Isaiah 35:4-7a. Thus says the Lord: "Say to those whose hearts are frightened: Be strong, fear not! Here is your God, he comes with vindication; With divine recompense he comes to save you. Then will the eyes of the blind be opened, the ears of the deaf be cleared; Then will the lame leap like a stag, then the tongue of the dumb will sing. Streams will burst forth in the desert, and rivers in the steppe. The burning sands will become pools, and the thirsty ground, springs of water. Letter of James 2:1-5. My brothers, show no partiality as you adhere to the faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ. For if a man with gold rings on his fingers and in  Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark 7:31-37. Jesus left the district of Tyre and went by way of Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, into the district of the Decapolis. And people brought to him a deaf man who had a speech impediment and begged him to lay his hand on him. He took him off by himself away from the crowd. He put his finger into the man's ears and, spitting, touched his tongue; then he looked up to heaven and groaned, and said to him, "Ephphatha!" (that is, "Be opened!") And (immediately) the man's ears were opened, his speech impediment was removed, and he spoke plainly. He ordered them not to tell anyone. But the more he ordered them not to, the more they proclaimed it. They were exceedingly astonished and they said, "He has done all things well. He makes the deaf hear and (mute)... Commentary of the day : Saint Lawrence of Brindisi (1559-1619), Capuchin, Doctor of the Church 11th Sunday after Pentecost, First homily, 1.9.11-12; Opera omnia, 8, 124.134.136-138 (©Friends of Henry Ashworth) "He has done all things well" Just as the divine law says that when God created the world “he saw all that he had made and it was very good,” (Gn 1,31) so the gospel speaking of our redemption and re-creation, affirms: “He has done all things well” (Mk 7,37)... As fire can give out nothing but heat and is incapable of giving out cold; and as the sun gives out nothing but light and is incapable of giving out darkness, so God is incapable of doing anything but good. For he is infinite goodness and light, a sun giving out endless light, a fire producing endless warmth. “He has done all things well.” The law says that all God did was good; the gospel says he has done all things well. Doing a good deed is not quite the same as doing it well. Many do good deeds but fail to do them well. The deeds of hypocrites, for example, are good, but they are done in the wrong spirit, with a perverse and defective intention. Everything God does, however, is not only good but is also done well. “The Lord is just in all his ways and holy in all his deeds. With wisdom you have done them all” (Ps 145[144].17)... Now if God has done all his good works and done them well for our sake, knowing that we take pleasure in goodness, why, I ask, do we not endeavor to make all our works good and to do them well, knowing that such works are pleasing to God?          www.dailygospel.org. Thank you and God bless you.

   

Sent from my iPad

Mark 6:7-13 Jesus Needs Help - 'my will is not with me any longer - it is risen again in the Fiat.'

COMMENT:

15TH SUNDAY

Gospel Mark 6:7-13.

Homily of Fr. William MMM; most important message was 'the sandal'.

The Homily for our Mass gave the most important message of Jesus was about the  "the staff". 

I am still looking for the mystic significance "in this Life, she finds our operating, conquering, triumphant Will".   

Later 15th Sunday view of Youtubes. ...

Mark 6:7-13 Jesus Needs Help - Homily Sunday 2015-07-12

Chuck Lentine

 

Published on 11 Jul 2015

Jesus Needs Help - Homily Sunday July 12, 2015

Sunday's Mass is published at:
http://dioceseofvenice.org/diocese-of...

This week's topic --- Jesus Needs Help
Given by ----- Rev. John Deary
St. Katharine Drexel Parish
Cape Coral, Florida
Sunday ------ July 12, 2015

Diocese of Venice Florida
Bishop Frank J. Dewane
http://dioceseofvenice.org/

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2015-07-10 

Prior Christian Leisy, OSB, Monastery of Christ in the Desert, Abiquiu, New Mexico

  http://christdesert.org/About_Us/Abbot_s_and_Prior_s_Pages/Prior_s_Page/ 

Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B, July 12, 2015

Scripture Readings: Amos 7:12-15; Ephesians 1:3-14, Gospel of Mark 6:7-13

In the field of athletic competition there is normally a coach behind every good team. The coach or trainer says what needs to be done in order to win. The team takes heeds and strives to do what is being asked.

Similarly, the Lord indicates in the Gospel how he wants to organize his team of followers and instructs them about succeeding in the spiritual realm, especially combating the spirit of evil and adhering completely to God.

Like a good coach, the Lord gathers and gives clear instructions. He indicates as well that some things, such as money, external appearances, food and the like, are not what life is all about. In fact they are of little value in comparison with acquiring a place in God's Kingdom.

A good coach also tells his team to be realistic, to keep their feet on the ground and to do their best. The Lord says the same using a comparison of wearing sandals and carrying a walking stick, keeping things to a minimum so as not to be bogged down.

In modern terms, it might be something along the lines of not worrying about Gucci shoes when simple sandals will do just as well. The image is actually not about brand names, but a reminder to be alert and on the go, ready to follow where God leads and never being attached to one way of doing things.

What the Lord teaches is first disciples is of course words for us as well regarding the proper attitude toward material things if we wish to be free in working for good and fighting against evil.

The Lord is giving an important instruction worth hearing over and again; namely, that there is more to life than often meets the eye. We are accustomed in the human realm to give a lot of value to what is material.

Jesus teaches that there are more important aspects for going to God and for conquering whatever is opposed to God's ways in the world.

In order to redeem us, God took on our human condition and reality in the person of Jesus Christ, who suffered and died for us, that we might live in him. For us the important thing is drawing near to immortal life in Christ in this journey through life.

The image of walking in God's ways is taken up in Jesus' image of followers in sandals walking the earth and the inevitable retaining of dust they pass over, but readily shaking off what is not of God.

We all must live in the midst of trial and distress, yet are never to be overcome by it. We also need to be sensitive to the sorrow of others along the same path, enduring with them the heat of day, the cold of night, and learn how to walk with them and how to wait and to hope. "Saber esperar," as they say in Spanish, that is, to know how to wait, but equally meaning to know how to hope.

Our walking stride through life should make us recall the blind as well. Perhaps the walking stick is a reminder of this. The blind usually need some form of extension, such as a walking stick, to help them perceive and to stay on the path. We too need such help from God and others.

To save us Jesus was not content to merely speak words, but to live them to the full. In taking on our humanity, Jesus experienced firsthand our reality, of limitations, of anguish, of experiences, as one of us. Christ's shining example of giving all to do God's will is a model for us as well.

The Lord explained in regards to his mission that sometimes the message would be received with joy and at other times completely rejected. That shouldn't surprise us. This is because salvation in Christ is not imposed or forced, by freely offered as a gift. With free well, people always have the capacity to reject the gift or embrace it.

Think of the example of Judas Iscariot, one of Jesus' twelve apostles, who rejected the offer of fidelity to the Lord. Some of the religious leaders at the time of Jesus wanted to accept, and others of no particular position, received the message with joy. 

So also today, some chose to heed the Lord's call and others do not. People who do are often ridiculed or persecuted. It is a risk to believe in good and put it into practice.

Jesus said, "When they reject you, shake the dust from your sandals in protest." Might this mean that the light of the Gospel is to burn in one's conscience so that God's ways triumph in the world and what is not of God is to be soundly rejected? Speaking and doing good are a constant challenge but never to be given up on.

The disciples sent out eventually returned to Jesus and recount their experiences. When we "return to the Lord" in the celebration of the sacraments of the Church and in prayer, we need to bring our experiences to the Lord and ask for new strength to understand how we are to act. 

We are called to be on fire for the things of God, even in the face of contradiction or opposition in our daily life, believing the Lord bestows grace to assist us in the daily call of living for God.

If things at home or in community are not going so well, if relations with others are off kilter, if paths taken seem to be dead ends, if we sense that evil is not being overcome, we still need to bring to the Lord our experiences each day. And if with our words and deeds we seem to be helping others, we rejoice to live the Christian experience and to be seeing some results. 

If a car is never taken to the gas station for refueling, it will not properly function as a car. Similarly, followers of Christ are to cultivate God's life within by a life of prayer, participation in the sacraments of the Church and doing good to others. Otherwise we are only half alive or spiritually dead. 

We want to cultivate God's life within and not fail in the ability to fight against evil and do what is right.

When we celebrate the Sunday or daily Eucharist, Holy Mass, the Lord offers anew the wonderful opportunity to collaborate with God in making known the ways of the Lord in the world. The simple gifts of bread and wine remind us of God's coming in daily, hidden, yet real ways. And this is part of the light for our path. Living "in Christ," as Saint Paul calls it.

May gathering together with others to celebrate the Mystery of Faith, the Holy Eucharist, and a life of prayer, fill us with energy to be instruments of God in the life of others and in ourselves, productive followers of Christ in the spread of Christ's message and presence in the world today.

Prior Christian Leisy, OSB, Monastery of Christ in the Desert, Abiquiu, New Mexico

+++++++++++

 COMMENT:

15TH SUNDAY

Gospel Mark 6:7-13.

Homily of Fr. William MMM; most important message was 'the sandal'.

The Homily for our Mass gave the most important message of Jesus was about the  "the staff". 

I am still looking for the mystic significance "in this Life, she finds our operating, conquering, triumphant Will".   

Later 15th Sunday view of Youtubes. ...

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Donald .....
Sent: Sunday, 12 July 2015, 10:12
Subject: Divine Will Vol 36

Divine Will Volume Thirty-Six

Volume 36

In Voluntate Dei

  "Catholic Divine Will " ... in thirty-six volumes by Luisa Piccarreta: Divine Will Volume Thirty-Six   

				"Catholic Divine Will " ... in thirty-six volumes by Lui... Volume 36 In Voluntate Dei! April 12, 1938 One who lives in the Divine Will pronounces his Fiat in every act he does and forms many divine lives.
				View on catholicdivinewill.blo...	Preview by Yahoo

April 12, 1938
One who lives in the Divine Will pronounces his Fiat in every act he does and forms many divine lives.  The difference between living in the Divine Will and being resigned to it. ......

 Fiat! 

April 20, 1938
How Jesus on the cross still cries to every heart "I thirst".    How the true Resurrection consists in rising in the Divine Will.  How nothing is denied to one who lives in It.
My flight in the Divine Will continues and I feel the need to make all that It has done my own, placing there my little love, my loving kisses, my deep adoration, and my 'thank you' for everything It did - everything It suffered, for me and for all. As I reached the point at which my dear Jesus was crucified and lifted on the cross in atrocious agonies and unspeakable pains, with heartbreaking tenderness and compassion He told me: "My good daughter! The pain that most transfixed me on the cross was my ardent thirst. I felt I was burning alive since all the vital humors had gone out through my wounds, which were burning and wanted to quench, like many mouths, their terrible thirst. I just couldn't contain myself anymore, so I shouted: 'I thirst!'. 

          "I THIRST"  

 This, 'I thirst', remained and is always in the act of saying: 'I thirst!' I never stop saying it. With my open wounds, with my burnt lips, I am always repeating: 'I am burning - I thirst! Please, Give me a little drop of your love to soothe my ardent thirst.'

In everything the creature does I keep repeating with my mouth, opened and burned: 'Let me drink. I'm burning of thirst.' My dislocated and wounded Humanity had only one cry: 'I thirst!' Therefore, as the creature walks, I shout to her steps with my dry mouth, 'give me your steps - done for love of me, to quench my thirst.' If she works, I ask for her works - made only for love of me, to cool my burning thirst; if she speaks, I ask for her words; if she thinks, I ask for her thoughts - as many little drops to refresh my ardent thirst. It wasn't just my mouth that was burning, but all my Most Holy Humanity felt the urgent need of a refreshing bath for the ardent fire of love that burned within me; and since it was for the creatures that I was burning in excruciating pains, only creatures, with their love, could quench my ardent thirst and give to my Humanity a refreshing bath. Now, I left this cry: 'I thirst!' inside my Will and I made the commitment to make the creatures hear it over and over again - to move them to compassion for my burning thirst; to give them my bath of love and receive theirs - though being just little drops - to quench my devouring thirst. But who is listening to me? Who has compassion for me? Only the one who lives in my Will. All the others play deaf and even increase my thirst with their ingratitude - making me restless and with no hope of refreshment.
And not only my 'I thirst', but all that I did and said in my Will, is always in the act of saying to my sorrowful Mother: 'Mother, here are your children.' I place her at their side as help and guide, to be loved by her children; every instant She feels Her own Son close to all the children. Oh! how much She loves them giving them her Maternity, to make Myself loved as She loves me. Not only this, but by offering her Maternity she offers perfection also among creatures, so that they love each other with maternal love, which is a constant, sacrificing, unselfish love. But who receives all this good? Only the one who lives in our Fiat feels the Maternity of the Queen. She feeds her children with her Maternal Heart, to let them suck and receive the maternity of her love, her sweetness, and all the riches of her Maternal Heart.

My daughter, one who wants to find me - who wants to receive all our goods and my very Mother, must enter our Will and remain there. Our Will is not only our life, but It forms around us - with Its immensity - our house, in which It keeps all our acts, words and being, always in action. Our things never get out of our Will; one who wants It can only live together with It, and then she possesses everything - nothing is denied. If we give our things to one who is not living in our Will, she will neither appreciate them, nor love them; she won't feel the right to make them his own, and when things are not possessed, love does not arise - it dies."

    RESURRECTION FIAT   

After this, I continued my round in all that Our Lord did on earth and I stopped in the act of Resurrection. What triumph, what glory. Heaven poured Itself on earth to be spectator of such a great glory. My beloved Jesus said: "My daughter, in my Resurrection, the right was given to creatures to rise again in me to new life. It was the confirmation, the seal of my whole life, my works and my words. If I came on earth it was to give to each and every one my Resurrection, as their own - to give them life and make them rise again in my own Resurrection. But do you want to know where is the real resurrection of the creature? Not in the end of her days, but while she is still living on earth. One who lives in my Will rises again to light and says: 'my night is over.' She rises again in the love of her Creator, so that there is no more cold or snow for her, but the smile of the Heavenly Spring; she rises again to sanctity, which puts in rushed flight all weaknesses, miseries and passions; she rises again to all that is Heaven, and if she looks at the earth, Heaven and Sun, she does it to find the works of her Creator - to take the opportunity to narrate to Him His glory and His long love story. 

Therefore, one who lives in my Will can say, as the Angel said to the holy women on the way to the sepulcher, 'He is risen. He is not here any more.'   One who lives in my Will can also say, 'my will is not with me any longer - it is risen again in the Fiat.' And if the circumstances of life, opportunities and sufferings surround the creature, as if they were looking for her will, she can answer: 'my will is risen again, it is not in my power anymore. I possess, in exchange, the Divine Will, and I want to cover with Its light all things around me - circumstances and sufferings, to make them like many divine conquests.' The soul who lives in our Will finds life in the acts of her Jesus, and as always, in this Life, she finds our operating, conquering, triumphant Will. She gives us so much glory that Heaven cannot contain it.  Therefore, live always in our Will - never leave it, if you want to be our triumph and our glory." 

  

Fiat!

April 26, 1938

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Eleventh Sunday of the Year B gospel - June 14, 2015

 "Your mustard seed is what the Reign of God is about ..
...Kingdom of the Divine Will".

    

+++++++++++++ Sunday Reflection with Fr Robin Gibbons - 14 June 2015

Commententary  from ICN

Patriarch Bartholomew 11th Sunday of the year Jesus was somebody totally tuned in to the world about him, his perception of nature is acute and he often uses his insights in parables like the comparison of the Kingdom with the mustard seed that grows from a small plant to a tree hosting birds that rest and nest. It is obvious that he loves the natural world and has a care for it, something that the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew has been urging us to do for a very long time, that is take care of the environment, of living things and world. Pope Francis is just about to issue his encyclical 'Laudato si' that will commit us to action on these issues. I've long admired Patriarch Bartholomew's deep commitment and concern for the environment he's called the 'Green Patriarch' because of his work especially drawing attention to the destruction human being are capable of and the mess we leave all over our planet. It is good that the Pope is linking with him because this is an issue that affects all of our futures. I've just finished a book on perspectives on the environment for the point of view of Eastern Christianity because that tradition has a number of very good things to teach us about respect and reverence for all creation, even the least of living things! It's taken me a long time to get it finished, but I feel that it has made me reconnect with my place, my role as one simple human in a world of great wonder, but also one of damage and pain often caused alas by humans. Ezekiel reminds us that we are not the arbiter of our planets destiny nor are we ultimately in charge of living beings or our natural world, which belongs to the One who created and sustains life. This God not only deals with humans but all life, I love the way the prophet has that image of the Lord somehow communicating with the trees: "And all the trees of the field shall know that I, the LORD, bring low the high tree, lift high the lowly tree" - it is a wonderful way of bringing us right down from our pedestals and placing us alongside everything else! Jesus however reminds us we can change. Paul's lovely words to the Corinthians give us that spark of hope, for even now all is not lost, we can make a better world for those after us. Why? Because we walk by faith, trusting in the Lord. Fr Robin Gibbons is an Eastern Rite Chaplain for the Melkite Greek Catholics in Great Britain.

Third Sunday of Easter (B) - April 19, 2015

Shelter Belt - spring lambing    

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 6:16-21.

When it was evening, the disciples of Jesus went down to the sea,
embarked in a boat, and went across the sea to Capernaum. It had already grown dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them.
The sea was stirred up because a strong wind was blowing.
When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they began to be afraid.
But he said to them, "It is I. Do not be afraid."
They wanted to take him into the boat, but the boat immediately arrived at the shore to which they were heading. 

Let's face it — the Resurrection is unbelievable. Even seeing the risen Lord is not going to convince us otherwise. It's easier to believe in ghosts or to doubt one's own sanity.
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