September 19, 2017

Sept. 19

September 19, 2017:  Tuesday, 24th week, Ordinary Time



  • 'Children' tie:  Manage your children well (1st reading)
  • 'Heart' pin:  "I'll walk with blameless heart"; "I won't endure a puffed-up heart" (psalm)
  • Clear pin:  Deacons should have a clear conscience (1st reading)
  • 'Eyeball' pin:  I won't set a base thing before my eyes; I won't endure one with haughty eyes; my eyes are on the faithful (psalm)
  • Green shirt:  Ordinary Time season

Listen

Read
  • 1 Tm 3:1-13  A bishop must be irreproachable, temperate, self-controlled, hospitable, able to teach, gentle.  He must manage his own household well.  He should not be a recent convert so he won't become conceited.  He must have a good reputation.  Similarly, deacons must be dignified and hold fast to the faith with a clear conscience; they should be tested first.  Women should be dignified, temperate, and faithful.  Deacons must manage their children and households well....
  • Ps 101:1b-3ab, 5, 6  "I will walk with blameless heart."  I'll sing of mercy and judgment.  When will you come to me?  My eyes are on the faithful....
  • Lk 7:11-17  As Jesus drew near to Nain, a dead man was being carried out, son of a widow.  When the Lord saw her, he said, moved with pity, “Don't weep.”  He touched the coffin:  “Young man, arise!”  He began to speak.  They glorified God:  “A great prophet has arisen; God has visited his people.”  The news spread through Judea and beyond.


Reflect
  • Creighton:  Paul's description of a Christian leader is instructive.  First, it's OK to aspire to Christian leadership. Second, he talks more about the type of person than their tasks.  A good leader has first learned to be a good follower.  The psalm focuses on the disciple's character:  they walk blamelessly, persevere in integrity, guard their eyes from looking on something base; they don't slander or have haughty eyes or a puffed-up heart.  In the gospel Jesus does a great deed in restoring a son to his mother, but the focus is more on why he did it.  He "saw" a woman whose husband and only son had both died (and so would have been destitute), was "moved with pity," and helped by showing God's mercy.  If those called to leadership take care to be like Jesus, the tasks will take care of themselves.
  • One Bread, One Body:  "Serious business":  Deacons, their wives, and bishops must be 'serious'; here the word is translated 'dignity' and applied to bishops/overseers' parenting.  The trait is also expected of the older men, and it's a characteristic of good teaching; it's important in the Christian life.  It doesn't mean we should take ourselves too seriously; we should take God seriously.  Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and holy seriousness.  Christianity is serious love.  Jesus was "dead serious" and "live serious" about his love for us.  Are we?
    Auferweckung des Jünglings zu Nain
    Cranach
  • Passionist:  'Trustworthy' is used 21 times in the New Testament.  Paul tells Timothy to pay attention to what's trustworthy.  Timothy, and we, were/are to trust God, his Word, and his loving acts, the word of those who have taught us the Gospel, its values, way of life, sayings, and saving message.  Paul asks us to be trustworthy ourselves, and not deceived by people who aren't.  In whom do we trust?
  • DailyScripture.net:  "The Lord had compassion on her":  Jesus was often "moved to the depths of his heart"; 'compassion' doesn't convey the deeper meaning of the original expressing heartfelt sympathy and identification with the person's grief and condition.  Jesus not only grieved the man's death of a young man but was also concerned for the woman who lost husband, only child, security, and livelihood.  Jesus' physical contact with the dead man mad him ritually unclean in the Jews' eyes, but his touch and identification with the widow's loss showed love and concern for her, and his desire to free people from the power of sin, corruption, and death.  His word of command restored the young man to life.
This miracle took place near where Elisha raised another son to life.  Jesus' word restored life to one marked for death.  Jesus, Lord of the living and the dead, promises believers abundant life now and forever.
Today's saints, from Universalis
  • Theodore of Tarsus (now in Turkey), monk, ordained priest at 65 to be Archbishop of Canterbury, reformed Church life, reconciled divisions between Celtic and Roman traditions.

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