Celebrating 100 over years in Irondequoit
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Cycle B
- B199: Do the scriptural messages on Sundays always call for a response from us, or are they only meant for the listeners of those times?
- They abandoned their father
- Q355: Do our Readings this Sunday shed any rays of hope concerning a reversal of the evil abomination called “Abortion” that plagues our country/world?
- Q512: I fail to see a connection between the episode of the Ninevites in the “Prophet Jonah” story, and the call of four of the apostles in the Gospel. What is the link?
B199: Do the scriptural messages on Sundays always call for a response from us, or are they only meant for the listeners of those times?
Scripture always calls for a response from us. In the First Reading (Jonah 3:1-5, 10) we have a condensed version of the "Jonah story," which helps us keep our focus on the workings of the Lord. The Lord "calls" and "sends" Jonah to warn the Ninevites about their need to repent and reform their lives before it is too late. The Ninevites believed the Lord's message and responded in penitential fashion, thus softening their hearts to receive God's mercy.
In the Gospel today (Mark 1:14-20) we hear the Lord himself at the very beginning of his public ministry, warning everyone to believe the good news, repent and reform their lives. He also "calls" Peter, Andrew, James and John to "follow" him, so that they can become empowered by Jesus to bring others into the kingdom of God by following his example. As you well know, the rest of the gospel messages demonstrate the mercy of God being granted freely and extravagantly by Jesus in the form of physical healings and forgiveness of sins, for those who do believe and show a repentant heart.
Everyone remembers the "full" story of Jonah, who only reluctantly went to Nineveh to pass on God's word, and even then only after he rebelled and after he was given a second chance. The four apostles, on the other hand, abandoned everything and "immediately" followed Jesus. Who would you compare yourself with, in your own response to God's repeated daily call to reform your life: Jonah, or these four apostles?
Know Your Catechism! God is constantly calling each one of us to repent, to confess our sins, to do penance, and to amend our lives. I cannot receive communion if I have sinned mortally, without first confessing my sins and receiving absolution in the Sacrament of Penance (Confession) (CCC #1415). If I do receive communion while not in the state of grace, it is a sin of irreligion called a sacrilege which is a very serious offense against the 1st Commandment (CCC #2120). Is God calling me right now to respond to his call to repent by seeking out a priest and making a good confession?
Columban, who died in 615 A.D., was the greatest of the Irish medieval monk-missionaries. A well-educated youth, he had a very passionate nature that caused him great concern. "Flight from the world is the only solution," a holy hermitess advised him: "flight even from your own native land."
Following her counsel, he entered the monastic life and studied the spiritual way at the feet of some of the most noted - and strictest Irish monks. He lived in the monastery of Bangor until he was about forty-five. Then he sought permission of the abbot to head a group of monks as missionaries among the Germans. In germanic Burgundy he founded the monastery of Annegaray, and then the more famous one of Luxeil. To the men who flocked to become monks under his tutelage, he gave a very strict rule, heavy with penalties for even slight infractions. If his followers observed so stringent a way of life at all, it was doubtless because they saw St. Columban himself observing it to the last letter. On account of political opposition, Abbot Columban moved away from Burgundy into Switzerland, and eventually into northern Italy. Here the Germanic King Agilulf gave him land for a new monastery, and the Abbot, now in his seventies, erected the Abbey of Bobbio, where he died not long afterward.
When young Columban had first felt the call to become a monk, his mother had objected very strongly. To prevent his departure, she had even thrown herself across the doorway of their home. This did give the saint pause, but only for a moment. He stepped over her and went his way, never to return.
What did Zebedee the fisherman say when his sons, James and John, left him for good to follow Christ? The scriptures do not tell us. He quite likely grumbled for a while about the fate of the family business. What did St. Columban's mother do when he stepped over her and left? History does not tell us. Being a sensible Irishwoman, she quite likely got up, dusted off her clothes, and sought consolation in a cup of tea. Both she and Zebedee, God-fearing persons that they were, probably came to realize all the more clearly thereafter that children are a gift form God, and so He has first claim on their service.
"They abandoned their father Zebedee.. . and went off in His company." (Mark, 1:20. Today's Gospel).
-Father Robert F. McNamara
Q355: Do our Readings this Sunday shed any rays of hope concerning a reversal of the evil abomination called “Abortion” that plagues our country/world?
Today is the anniversary of one of the most heinous days of disgrace ever to besmirch the honor of our country – a day terribly costly and insulting to the dignity of the human being. It is the anniversary of the incredibly shameful Roe vs. Wade decision by the Supreme Court of the USA. Because of that decision, millions and millions of unborn babies have been killed, left without the protection one would expect from a so-called “country of freedom” that started out based on commonly held, God-given natural law values. It would appear that the Magisterium (official teaching office) of the Catholic Church is the only bastion of truth left it the entire world, in the area of faith and morals. This Magisterium teaches the obvious: there are certain actions in life that are intrinsically evil. They are evil in their conception, and evil in their implementation. These include abortion and euthanasia, which Pope John Paul II included in a list of “infamies” that “poison human society” (Evangelium Vitae, #3, 1995).
Where are those “rays of hope” you ask about? In the first reading today (Jonah 3:1-5,10) God used the prophet Jonah to call the Ninevites to turn from their evil ways. They did do so, and fasted as a penance for their evil actions. God accepted their repentance, and did not permit them to suffer the destruction their previous actions had earned them. In the second reading, St. Paul reminds his listeners to choose which world they want to focus on: the earthly one, or the heavenly one, because “the time is short.” And in the gospel today (Mk 1:14-20) Jesus calls his disciples to follow Him and His way, not the way of the evil and worldly King Herod.
Those are wonderful rays of hope: all sinners, without exception, can experience God’s mercy and compassion, if they turn from their evil ways. Even those who once yielded to the abortion process can find healing, joy and forgiveness through Project Rachel, a wonderful and compassionate counseling service for those seeking a return to God’s ways.
KNOW YOUR CATECHISM! God’s mercy and compassion shine through on the sinner who approaches God in the “sacrament of conversion” – the Sacrament of Reconciliation (CCC #1422). The first goal of conversion is an interior change of heart (CCC #1430). Jesus taught us to trust completely in our Heavenly Father when he taught us, through the Lord’s Prayer, to pray with a sincere heart: “forgive us our trespasses.”
Q512: I fail to see a connection between the episode of the Ninevites in the “Prophet Jonah” story, and the call of four of the apostles in the Gospel. What is the link?
One key word is “call”; the other is “response.” Sometimes God will call individuals, as he does in our Gospel story (Mark 1:14-20). Peter, Andrew, James and John were each “called” – meaning they were invited to follow Jesus and learn from him. They responded immediately to the call, leaving behind their “old way” of life without Jesus, to embark on a “new way” of life with Jesus.
God can also issue a “call” to an entire city or nation. Through his usual prophetic method – in this case the Prophet Jonah – he calls the city of Nineveh to repent, to change its ways or face destruction (Jonah 3:1-5,10). In the scripture story, the entire city responded by immediately repenting. They also demonstrated the change in their interior attitude by depriving themselves materially with a fast, and by humbling themselves by putting on sackcloth. Sackcloth was an extremely coarse and abrasive material, usually made out of goat’s hair in Old Testament times. (Today an equivalent would be the coarse burlap bags made out of vegetable fiber.) Not only was sackcloth uncomfortable, it was intended to be an exterior sign of a person’s interior change of heart. It was a self-deprecating public display or acknowledgement of one’s sinfulness, especially the sin of pride.
Now we fast forward to you and I, today. Each one of us is being called individually by Jesus Christ, to follow him, learn from him, and become a true disciple. Then we are called to continue the mission of Jesus, passing on his truth, teachings, and love.
Our cities and nation are also called to repent. Public policies that are against truth, against life, and against love call for public repentance. Deadly legal policies have been established by our own chosen representatives, thus our entire nation shares in the sinful and prideful behavior of our politicians who have led us into a culture of death. Until the deadly self-inflicted blemishes of our society are eliminated, we are headed to self-destruction just like the Ninevites. Don’t point the finger. You are the one who put them in office. Repent and act like a true disciple of Jesus, working for a culture of life, not death.
KNOW YOUR CATECHISM! Jesus gave us a share in his mission. Only his way is the way of Truth and Life (CCC #787, 459). Follow his way or self-destruct (CCC #1033).
