August 19, 2017

Aug. 19

August 19, 2017:  Saturday, 19th week, Ordinary Time




  • 'Stone' tie pin:  Stone as witness to the covenant (1st reading)
  • Heart' pin:  "My heart exhorts me" (psalm)
  • 'Children' pin, 'hands' pin:  "Children were brought to Jesus... that he might lay his hands on them and pray." (gospel)
  • Green shirt:  Ordinary Time season


 Listen

For the gospel
Read

    Wordle: Readings 8-17-13
  • Jos 24:14-29  Joshua / Israelites:  "Serve the Lord!  If it doesn't please you to, decide today whom you will serve.  My household and I will serve the Lord." / "We'll serve the Lord; he saved and protected us." / "You may not be able to.  If you forsake him, he'll destroy you." / "We'll still serve the Lord." / "Put away your other gods and turn to the Lord." / "We'll obey the Lord."  Joshua made a covenant with them, recorded it, set up a large stone under the oak in the sanctuary, told them, "This stone has heard the Lord's words to us; it'll be a witness against you if you deny God," and dismissed them.  Joshua died at 110.
  • Ps 16:1-2a, 5, 7-8, 11  "You are my inheritance, O Lord."  I take refuge in you who counsel, exhort, and guide me.
    • Mt 19:13-15  Children were brought to Jesus that he might lay his hands on them.  Jesus:  “Let them come to me, for the Kingdom belongs to such as these.”
    Reflect
      Jesus Christ with the children
      Suffer the Children/ Bloch
    • Creighton:  The Israelites, remembering all God had done for them, decided to serve the Lord.  Would it make it easier for me to choose God if I started each day remembering all God has done for me?  Jesus rebukes the disciples trying to shoo children away.  Is it because children haven't created gods to serve and can just be in the moment?  They challenge us to slow down and see things we've never appreciated.  I need to do that to choose God each day and not worship at some other altar.  Whom we choose to serve is most important. 
    • One Bread, One Body:  "The joy of being his slave":  Serving the Lord is humanly impossible; it's slavery. "Though once you were slaves of sin, you were freed from your sin and became slaves of justice." To be the Lord's slave means to be owned by him.  Slaves, unlike servants, have no independence:  they can't quit, make their own decisions, take time off, take vacation, or retire; they don't get paid.  Our greatest privilege is to be slaves of Christ, who became a Slave for us, accept his grace to be his slaves, and say, "We will" be owned by the Lord and be his slaves. Jesus: "I no longer call you slaves, for slaves don't know what their master is about.  I call you friends."
      St. John Eudes
    • Passionist:  Today's gospel is one of the few that appeals to children, who sense they need Jesus to welcome, love, bless, and protect them.  Children still run to persons who represent God and God’s way of life.  But we can rebuke them as the disciples did, feeling they're a burden.  How we treat them will either encourage them to be at home in church or just to see it as an obligation.  How we speak with children about the Church and its ministers will shape their adult beliefs.  They learn from our witness, conversations, and attitudes.  Don't prevent them from approaching Jesus!
    • DailyScripture.net:  "Let the children come to me":  Parents brought their children to Jesus for him to lay hands on them; they knew of his healing power.  Jesus rebuked his disciples for hindering them.  The disciples may have wanted to shield Jesus from the nuisance, but Jesus delighted in children and demonstrated that God's love is for everyone.  God comes to each person to touch them with his love and power....
    Pope Francis Amoris Lætitia capsule:  Discerning the body
    Paul faced the shameful situation where wealthier community members discriminated against the poorer ones, even at the agape meal that accompanied the Eucharist:  “One is hungry and another drunk....  You despise the Church of God and humiliate those with nothing.”

     The Eucharist demands we be members of the one body, the Church. Don't wound Christ's Body and Blood by creating scandalous divisions.  The celebration of the Eucharist challenges us to examine ourselves, open family doors to greater fellowship with the underprivileged, and so receive the sacrament of love that makes us one body.  he ‘mysticism’ of the sacrament has a social character.  If we turn a blind eye to the poor and suffering, or consent to division, contempt, or inequality, we receive the Eucharist unworthily, but families properly disposed who receive regularly reinforce their social consciousness and commitment to those in need. (V:185-86)
    Today's saints, from Universalis
      • Oswin, humble king regarded as martyr
    Special greetings to and prayers for the community at
    St. John Eudes parish and school in Chatsworth.
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