Tuesday, 3 August 2010

Manna Benedict xvi


Monday 2nd July  Mass
The Gospel, Mt. 14:13-21, on the multiplication of the loaves finds an enlightening comment by Benedict xvi from “Jesus of Nazareth", 'Bread', passim pp. 265-272. (Bloomsbury, UK)  

 
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew 14:18
 • Looking up to heaven, he said the blessing and gave the loaves to the disciples, who in turn gave them to the crowds. 



Gospel Harmony (e-Sword)
72. The first retirement; Feeding of the five thousand
Mat 14:13-21
Mar 6:30-44
Luk 9:10-17
Joh 6:1-13




The Meaning of the Manna
At the end of Jesus' activity in Galilee, he performs the multiplication of the loaves; on one hand, it is an unmistakable sign of Jesus' messianic mission, while on the other, it is also the crossroads of his public ministry, which from this point leads clearly to the cross ...

The great gift, ...
which stood out in the people's memory, was the manna. Moses gave bread from heaven; God himself fed the wandering people of Israel with heavenly bread. For a people who often went hungry and struggled to earn their daily bread, this was the promise of promises, which somehow said everything there was to say: relief of every want - a gift that satisfied hunger for all and forever ...

Jesus begins by pointing out that they have failed to understand the multiplication of the loaves as a "sign," which is its true meaning. Rather, what inter­ested them was eating and having their fill (see Jn 6: 26). They have been looking at salvation in purely material terms, as a matter of universal wellbeing, and they have therefore reduced man, leaving God out altogether. But if they see the manna only as a means of satisfying their hunger, they need to realize that even the manna was not heavenly bread, but only earthly bread. Even though it came from "heaven," it was earthly food - or rather a food substitute that would necessarily cease when Israel emerged from the desert back into inhabited country.

But man hungers for more. He needs more. The gift that feeds man as man must be greater, must be on a wholly different level. ..

When we encounter Jesus, we feed on the living God himself, so to speak; we truly eat "bread from heaven." By the same token, Jesus has already made it clear that the only work God demands is the work of believing in him..;
Jesus' listeners are ready to work, to do something, to perform "works," in order to receive this bread. But it cannot be "earned" by human work, by one's own achievement. It can only come to us as a gift from God, as God's work.
Benedict XVI  “Jesus of Nazareth” ’


Sunday, 1 August 2010

Jesus of Nazareth, Vol. 2



See AMAZON COM 
Customers 182 Reviews (Vol 1)  

News of the publication of Vol 2 of Benedict's "Jesus of Nazareth" due in 2011.
The Pope is working on Vol 3 during in his vacation at Castel Gandolfo.
The first volume, "Jesus of narareth", has been  a best seller. Some of the Reviews are extremely enlightening. 
See to the select for Amazon Com. (presently)
% % % % % % % % % % 
Ignatius Press to Publish Vol. 2 of Pope's Book SAN FRANCISCO, JULY 30, 2010 (Zenit.org).- The Vatican Publishing House has awarded publishing rights of the English version of Benedict XVI's "Jesus of Nazareth, Vol. 2" to Ignatius Press.


The second volume of the bestseller is expected in spring of 2011. This installment focuses on the Passion and Resurrection and continues from where Vol. 1 left off.

"We are eagerly awaiting Vol. 2 because it will contain the Holy Father’s reflections on the central mysteries of our faith," Jesuit Father Joseph Fessio, founder and editor of Ignatius, said.

This volume is expected to cover questions such as if Jesus established the Church and if he really rose from the dead.

“Jesus remains controversial,” noted Ignatius Press President Mark Brumley. “Christians believe he is the Son of God, the founder of the Church, and the Savior of the world. For non-Christians, Jesus is almost anything else -- a myth, a revolutionary, or a prophet whose teaching was misunderstood or distorted by his followers.”

Benedict XVI finished the first volume of "Jesus of Nazareth" in late 2006. That edition focuses on Jesus' public ministry and was quickly an international bestseller.

During his time at the papal summer residence in Castel Gandolfo this year, the Pope has been working on the third and final volume of the work, which will cover Christ's childhood.

Rich Fool Lk 1213...



LUKE 12:13-21
EIGHTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
(Ecclesiastes 1:2, 2:21-23; Psalm 90; Colossians 3:1-5, 9-11) 
KEY VERSE: 
"Take care to guard against all greed, for though one may be rich, one's life does not consist of possessions" (v15). :

From a homily by Saint Basil the Great (Homelies sur la richesse, Courtonne, pages 15-19)
Seeking to form a Christian social conscience, Basil stresses that the rich have no right to use their property as they please, but must regard themselves as God's stewards.
The land of a rich man produced abundant harvests, and he thought to himself:
"What am I to do? I will pull down my barns, and build larger ones."
Now why did that land bear so well, when it belonged to a man who would make no good use of its fertility? It was to show more clearly the forbearance of God, whose kindness extends even to such people as this. He sends rain on both the just and the unjust, and makes the sun rise on the wicked and the good alike.
But what do we find in this man? A bitter disposition, hatred of other people, unwillingness to give. This is the return he made to his Benefactor. He forgot that we all share the same nature; he felt no obligation to distribute his surplus to the needy. His barns were full to bursting point, but still his miserly heart was not satisfied. Year by year he increased his wealth, always adding new crops to the old. The result was a hopeless impasse: greed would not permit him to part with anything he possessed, and yet because he had so much there was no place to store his latest harvest And so he was incapable of making a decision and could find no escape from his anxiety. What am I to do?
Who would not pity a man so oppressed? His land yields him no profit but only sighs; it brings him no rich returns but only cares and distress and a terrible helplessness. He laments in the same way as the poor do. Is not his cry like that of one hard pressed by poverty? What am I to do? How can I find food and clothing?
You, who have wealth, recognize who has given you the gifts you have received. Consider yourself, who you are, what has been committed to your charge, from whom you have received it, why you have been preferred to most other people. You are the servant of the good God, a steward on behalf of your fellow servants. Do not imagine that everything has been provided for your own stomach. Take decisions regarding your property as though it belonged to another. Possessions give you pleasure for a short time, but then they will slip through your fingers and be gone, and you will be required to give an exact account of them.
What am I to do? It would have been so easy to say: "I will feed the hungry, I will open my barns and call in all the poor. I will imitate Joseph in   proclaiming my good will toward everyone. I will issue the generous invitation: 'Let anyone who lacks bread come to me. You shall share, each according to need, in the good things God has given me, just as though you were drawing from a common well'."    

Thursday, 29 July 2010

Lazarus Martha Mary


29 July,
ST MARTHA, ST MARY AND ST LAZARUS, hosts of the Lord.
This Memorial  is marked in our Cistercian Rite.
The General Sanctoral Calendar has the Memorial names only St. Martha.
The Cistercian Prayer after Communion mention Lazarus, Martha and Mary as the Saints by whom we grow in sincere love for you in this life,
and for ever be gladdened by your presence in heaven.

ENTRANCE ANTIPHON
As Jesus entered a certain village, a woman called Martha welcomed him into her house. [see Lk 10,38]

OPENING PRAYER
Heavenly Father,
your Son called Lazarus from the grave
and sat at table in the house of Bethany.
May we serve him faithfully in our sisters and brothers
and with Mary ponder and feed upon his word.
Grant . . .

PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION
Heavenly Father,
may this sharing in the body and blood of your only-begotten Son
lessen our taste for all passing things.
By the example of your saints,
Lazarus, Martha and Mary,
may we grow in sincere love for you in this life,
and for ever be gladdened by your presence in heaven.
Grant this through Christ our Lord
www.ocso.org Cistercian Ritual - Ordo
 + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +

 
Our sincere thanks to the Editor. We express our ever growing appreciation of the outstanding work by the team of MAGNIFICAT – www.magnificat.com.

To “seek first the kingdom of God” among life's daily activities is a constant challenge for the spiritual life. One Gospel passage that invites us to fix our gaze on Christ comes from the tenth chapter of Luke. There Christ is welcomed into the home of two sisters, Mary and Martha. Jan Vermeer, tile master painter from Delft, bathes this domes­tic scene in radiant light and deep shadows. The immediacy of Vermeer's composition is a visual invitation into the home of Mary and Martha. There we too taste not only the hospitality of these friends of Jesus, but the wisdom they savor in the presence of their Divine Guest.   





Treasure Hidden, Pearl of Price



Greatest Treasure of Great Value
Readings. Jer. 15:10, 16-21
Mt. 13: 44-46
To day the Bible Readings speak about the greatest treasure of great value.
In the first reading: the prophet Jeremiah found his treasure in preaching the Word of God. As a consequence, he suffered abuse and offense. God tells Jeremiah to take his call as a challenge and trust God and He’ll be with him. 
In the second reading: Jesus tells two parables about the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God being like a treasure hidden in the field and the Kingdom of God is like a pearl of great value.
The treasure in the field was hidden and therefore they needed concentration and discerning eye to find the treasure. The Gospel challenges us who is the Kingdom of God and it also challenges us what is our response to that Kingdom of God.
The Catechism teaches us (CCC 2816) the Kingdom of God means Christ Himself. Jesus said, “The Kingdom of God is in you”.
The Kingdom of God has arrived in Incarnation, Passion, death and Resurrection of Jesus and therefore Jesus says, “Seek first the Kingdom” (Mt. 6:33) and his righteousness and all things will be given to you as well”. What we are asked to do is to give first place in our hearts to Jesus.
The Gospel says when these two people found out the treasure and the pearl of enormous value of joy, they sold everything they owned and acquired it. Contrast this with the rich young man Jesus met who was unable to give away all he possessed and went away sorrowful. (Mt. 19:22).
-                     Let us look at the Saints in heaven. When they experienced the sweetness of the Lord, they sacrificed everything in order to gain heaven and the eternal life the pearl of enormous value which Christ wants to offer to them.
-                     Jesus, the Kingdom of God comes to us in the Eucharist. Our response to Him would be, “ Lord, you are my treasure, my pearl, my delight of soul, my life, my salvation and my only hope.
-                     Help me to meet life’s demands. Amen.
Fr. Santosh

Tuesday, 27 July 2010

'Father' (Lord's Prayer Lk 11:2)

COMMENT
LUKE'S GOSPEL SIMPLY SAYS “FATHER” (LK 11:2)

COMMENT
Thank you, William.
Your reading of the book highlights some of the path of this “Jesus of Nazareth”. Benedict XVI is unique among so many ‘lives’ of Jesus.
And, as you say, it is he is the perfect introduction for the Pope’s visit to Scotland
Donald
From: William J
Subject: Pope Benedict's book - one (or more) gems
Dear Father Donald,

It is a delight to see Joseph Ratzinger's text from "Jesus of Nazareth" on your Blog. What a perfect introduction to Pope Benedict's visitation to read of his exquisite reflections on Jesus. There is a wonderful directness in his writing, as if he were speaking directly to us.

May I just share one other 'gem' from his book. Writing on the "Our Father", he takes us first to Luke's text (Sunday's Gospel), before studying the fuller text of Matthew's Gospel, and the reason for this - is beautiful: the highlighting is mine...

"Luke prefaces the Lord's Prayer with the following remark: Jesus "was praying in a certain place, and when he ceased, one of his disciples said to him, 'Lord, teach us to pray..' " (Lk 11:1). .. The fact that Luke places the Our Father in the context of Jesus' own praying is significant. Jesus thereby involves us in his own prayer; he leads us into the interior dialogue of triune love; he draws our human hardships deep into God's heart, as it were. This also means, however, that the words of the Our Father are signposts to interior prayer, they provide a basic direction for our being, and they aim to configure us to the image of the Son... to train us in the inner attitude of Jesus... We must strive to recognise the thoughts Jesus wished to pass on to us in these words, but we must also keep in mind that the Our Father originates from his own praying, from the Son's dialogue with the Father."
My highlights bring me to the 'gem' of thought - that Jesus can hardly be more present to us in prayer than by inviting us to pray with him.
The reflections that flow from Pope Benedict's reflections capture the mind directly... the Our Father is always a prayer of Jesus and communion with him is what opens it up for us... [Father] the Our Father does not project a human image onto heaven, but shows us from heaven - from Jesus - what we as human beings can and should be like... if earthly fatherhood divides, hevenly fatherhood unites..[Our] overcomes all boundaries and makes us one family..[Hallowed be Thy Name] God establishes a relationship between himself and us, putting himself within reach of our invocation.. he enters into a relationship with us and enables us to be in relationship with him...he assumes the risk of relationship, of communion, with us - and the more he gives himself into our hands, the more we can obscure his light.. [Thy Kingdom come] the first and essential thing is a listening heart, so that God, not we, may reign...Jesus is the Kingdom of God in person, and the Kingdom of God is present wherever he is present... this request, for a listening heart, becomes a request for communion with Jesus Christ, the petition that we increasingly become 'one' with him...[Thy Will be done.. as in Heaven]...the essence of 'heaven' is that it is where God's will is unswervingly done. Or, where God's will is done is heaven... Earth becomes 'heaven' when and insofar as God's will is done there...

As you may guess, I can't halt my pencil from jotting quotes when I read such words!
… in Our Lord,
William.

Book of Job


TUESDAY SEVENTEENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
Job 31:1-8.13-23.35-37

It was turn for me as Reader of the 2nd Nocturn of Night Office. It was from the writings of Saint Gregory the Great
(Moralia in Job 22, 17: PL 76, 237-238) and earlier it made difficult reading. It became more clear in the public reading.
That suggested checking how St. Gregory on Job might show up in Blogs. And sure enough it uncovered another unexpected Resource, aptly called
“Summa Minutiae” - Patristics
[A facility for quotation covers the absence of original thought.—Lord Peter Wimsey].

Year II  Second Reading
From the writings of Saint Gregory the Great
(Moralia in Job 22, 17: PL 76, 237-238)
(This passage translation 1999 Friends of Henry Ashworth)

Job seeks a helper
After revealing his sublime feats of heroism the saintly Job seeks a helper, knowing as he does that his own merits do not avail for him to reach the highest peak. And on whom indeed does he rest his gaze but the only-begotten Son of God, who took a human nature, labouring in mortality, and in so doing brought nature his saving help? For he it was who, once made man, brought us men his help so that, since the way back to God did not lie open to man, left to himself, it might become so through God-made-man. We are a long way from being just and immortal, unjust and mortal as we are. But between him who is immortal and just and us, who are neither the one nor the other, the Mediator of God and man has appeared: and he is both mortal and just, having death in common with men and justice with God. And because through our baseness we are far from the heights he occupies, he joins in his own person the lowest with the highest, to make a way for us back to God, so combining the highest with the lowest. 

Monday, 26 July 2010

COMMENT Jesus of Nazareth

COMMENT - LATER there follows the passage from the book, 'Jesus of Nazareth'

by Pope Benedict XVI.
Matthew 12:43-45


From: William J …
Previous
Sent: Tue, 20 July, 2010 21:24:43
Subject: Mtt 12: 47 omission / Joseph Ratzinger
Dear Father Donald,
… (Pope Benedict -referring directly to verse 47).
While reading (Joseph Ratzinger's) Pope Benedict's book, "Jesus of Nazareth", and relating to this passage, he has a very interesting comment (on which he expands, page 112ff, having written on the Sermon on the Mount). He writes of Israel's view of the Fourth Commandment anchoring the heart of the social order, the rationale for Israel's social existence, saying that this is exactly the connection that Jesus calls into question (when Jesus is "told that his mother and brothers are outside"... referring directly to verse 47). Pope Benedict writes that while the Torah presents a very definite social order, discipleship of Jesus offers no politically concrete program for structuring society, saying that Jesus' new interpretation of the fourth commandment affects not only the parent-child relation, but the entire scope of the social structure of the people of Israel. His analysis is very penetrating... but it is his inclusion of verse 47 that weights in favour of the inclusion for me of the missing verse!

% % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % %


Jesus of Nazareth
by Pope Benedict xvi 2007

The Fourth Commandment: The Family, the People, and the Community of Jesus’ Disciples (pp.112-123)
"Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land which the Lord your God gives you" (Ex 20:12 )-this is the version of the fourth commandment that is given in the Book of Exodus. The commandment is addressed to sons and it speaks of parents. It thus strengthens the relationship between generations and the community of the family as an order both willed and protected by God. It speaks of the land and of the stable continuance of life in the land. In other words, it connects the land, as the place for the people to live, with the basic order of the family. It binds the continued existence of people and land to the coexistence of the generations that is built up within the family structure.
Now, Rabbi Neusner rightly sees this commandment as anchoring the heart of the social order, the cohesion of the "eternal Israel"- this real, living, ever-present family of Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, Jacob, Leah, and Rachel (pp. 58, 70). According to Neusner, it is this family of Israel that is threatened by Jesus' message, and the foundations of Israel's social order are thrust aside by the primacy of his person. "We pray to the God we know, to begin with, through the testimony of our family, to the God of Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, Jacob and Leah and Rachel. So to explain who we are, eternal Israel, sages appeal to the metaphor of genealogy .... to the fleshly connection, the family, as the rationale for Israel's social existence" (p. 58).
But this is exactly the connection that Jesus calls into question. He is told that his mother and brothers are outside waiting to speak to him. His answer: "Who is my mother and who are my brothers?" And he stretches out his hand over his disciples and says: "Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother, and sister, and mother" (Mt 12:46-50).
Faced with this text, Neusner asks: "Does Jesus not teach me to violate one of the two great commandments .... that concern the social order?" (p. 59). The accusation here is a twofold one. The first problem is the seeming individualism of Jesus' message. While the Torah presents a very definite social order, giving the people a juridical and social framework for war and peace, for just politics and for daily life, there is nothing like that to be found in Jesus' teaching. Discipleship of Jesus offers no politically concrete program for structuring society. The Sermon on the Mount cannot serve as a foundation for a state and a social order, as is frequently and correctly observed. Its message seems to be located on another level. Israel's ordinances have guaranteed its contin­ued existence through the millennia and through all the vicissitudes of history, yet here they are set aside. Jesus' new interpretation of the fourth commandment affects not only the parent-child relation, but the entire scope of the social structure of the people of Israel.

Sunday, 25 July 2010

Hermit Pere Peyriguere

News from Our Lady of Atlas Morocco
The hermit of Morroco Pere Peyriguere is of great interest.

See the ppt Power Point:

http://www.authorstream.com/Presentation/aSGuest24142-227444-pere-peyriguere-kbbab-maroc-foucauld-midelt-spiritual-inspirational-ppt-powerpoint/


Thanks to the Cistercian monks of the community of Midelt, Morocco.

TRANSFERT DU PÈRE PÉYRIGUERE

Disciple du P. de Foucauld

Les frères de N.D.de l'Atlas sont heureux de vous faire part de leur joie et de leur action de grâces d'avoir pu accueillir dans l'enceinte de leur monastère à Midelt, le 20 Juillet 2010 :


Google

Translation

French to English translation

FATHER'S TRANSFER PÉYRIGUERE

Disciple P. de Foucauld

The brothers NDde Atlas are happy to share their joy and thanksgiving of them have been able to showcase the confines of their monastery in Midelt, July 20, 2010:

Father Albert Peyriguère

Died April 26, 1959

El-Kbab (in the Middle Atlas)

This is our church who we entrust with these words of our Archbishop Vincent Landel Father: "His place is with you ... you live in continuity"

But who is the Father Peyriguère?

A priest from the diocese of Bordeaux, born in 1883 ... Seriously wounded several times in the War of 1914-1918, is in a period of convalescence and rest until he discovers the Father de Foucauld's book published by Rene Bazin 1921 ... Now its way of life is all mapped out .... "This will best achieve the ideal of Foucauldian spirituality."

Arriving in Morocco in 1928, he first wanted to "experiment" for 15 years, then "teaching" the message of Charles de Foucauld. A good start drafting work is never finished: the poor without ever knocking at his door for medical care or warm clothing during the harsh winters in the Middle Atlas mountains ..

"Caring and dress" the day he was left with that night to pray ... to beg. His whole life was "eaten", "eaten", "sucked" - as he put it - by the poor. He, an intellectual, one day a "finger on" that have done good to the smallest of its brothers of the mountain was more handsome and taller than writing pages of genius on the topics most high and most exciting ...

"There is no greater love than to lay down his life for his friends," said Jesus. This is what the Father Peyriguère.

The heart worn by many labors and austerities, he entered the hospital in Casablanca, April 20, 1959 and died Sunday, April 26 to 15 hours. At the time of his burial in the middle of a crowd of mountaineers in tears, a young person read this poem of farewell:

"The marabout had no wife or children, and all his family were poor. All men were his brothers. He gave food to the hungry. He dressed people who were naked. It cared for the sick. He defended those who were unjustly treated. He welcomed those who were homeless. All his family were poor. all men were his brothers.

- God be merciful to him!

For those who want to better know the Father Peyriguère:

• His biography was written by his successor in El Kbab for 40 years, Father Michel Lafon:

"Father Peyriguère"

Editions du Seuil - 1963

• The spirituality

Especially: "Let Christ take hold of you"

For editions of the "Centurion"

(7 editions in French and other languages: German, Catalan, Italian, Spanish, English, Dutch)

• A Slideshow of the brother of Jose Luis Atlas. You can view it through this link:

http://www.authorstream.com/Presentation/aSGuest24142-227444-pere-peyriguere-kbbab-maroc-foucauld-midelt-spiritual-inspirational-ppt-powerpoint/

Contribute a better translation

©2010 Google