Summer is now near

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 21:29-33.

He taught them a lesson. "Consider the fig tree and all the other trees.
When their buds burst open, you see for yourselves and know that summer is now near;
in the same way, when you see these things happening, know that the kingdom of God is near.
Amen, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place.
Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.


Commentary of the day : Origen
"Summer is now near"

«Let me know, O Lord, my end and what is the number of my days, that I may learn what it is I lack» (Ps 38[39],5). If you let me know my end, the psalmist says, and if you let me know the number of my days then by that alone I shall know what it is I am lacking. Or, possibly, he may be indicating this by these words: every occupation has an end; for example, the end of a building business is to build a house; the end of a naval yard is to build a ship capable of surmounting the waves of the sea and resisting the winds' assaults; and the end of every occupation is something similar for which the occupation itself seems to have been conceived. In the same way there may also be a certain end to our life and to the world as a whole for which all that happens in our life takes place or for which the world itself was created or subsists. Concerning this end the apostle Paul is also thinking when he says: «Then comes the end when he hands over the Kingdom to God his Father» (1Cor 15,24). Now to this end we must most certainly hasten since it is itself the reward of the work, it is what we were created by God for.

Just as our bodily organism, which in the beginning is small and reduced at its birth, nevertheless grows and reaches towards its full height as it increases in age; and as our soul, too, ... is first of all given a stammering speech that then becomes more clear so as to come finally to a means of expressing itself perfectly and correctly, so too, certainly, all our life begins now as if stammering among people on earth, but it is brought to completion and attains its full capacity in the heavens with God.

For this reason, therefore, the prophet wants to know the end for which he was made so that by looking towards the end, examining his days and considering his perfection he may see what it is he still lacks regarding the end to which he is moving... It is just as if those who went out from Egypt had said: «Let me know, O Lord, my end», a good and holy land, «and the number of my days» to where I am travelling, «so that I may know what I still lack», how much there remains for me to do before I reach that holy land promised to me.

"He had the servants called"

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 19:11-28.

While they were listening to him speak, he proceeded to tell a parable because he was near Jerusalem and they thought that the kingdom of God would appear there immediately.
So he said, "A nobleman went off to a distant country to obtain the kingship for himself and then to return.
He called ten of his servants and gave them ten gold coins and told them, 'Engage in trade with these until I return.'
His fellow citizens, however, despised him and sent a delegation after him to announce, 'We do not want this man to be our king.'
But when he returned after obtaining the kingship, he had the servants called, to whom he had given the money, to learn what they had gained by trading.
The first came forward and said, 'Sir, your gold coin has earned ten additional ones.'
He replied, 'Well done, good servant! You have been faithful in this very small matter; take charge of ten cities.'
Then the second came and reported, 'Your gold coin, sir, has earned five more.'
And to this servant too he said, 'You, take charge of five cities.'
Then the other servant came and said, 'Sir, here is your gold coin; I kept it stored away in a handkerchief,
for I was afraid of you, because you are a demanding person; you take up what you did not lay down and you harvest what you did not plant.'
He said to him, 'With your own words I shall condemn you, you wicked servant. You knew I was a demanding person, taking up what I did not lay down and harvesting what I did not plant;
why did you not put my money in a bank? Then on my return I would have collected it with interest.'
And to those standing by he said, 'Take the gold coin from him and give it to the servant who has ten.'
But they said to him, 'Sir, he has ten gold coins.'
'I tell you, to everyone who has, more will be given, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.
Now as for those enemies of mine who did not want me as their king, bring them here and slay them before me.'"
After he had said this, he proceeded on his journey up to Jerusalem.

Commentary of the day
Saint Gertrude of Helfta (1256-1301), Benedictine nun
Exercises, 7, Prime (trans. cf. Thomas Alder Pope; SC 127, p. 265 rev.)

"He had the servants called"

O beloved Truth, O calmest equity of my God, how shall I dare to appear in your presence, bowed down as I am beneath the load of my iniquity..., the crushing weight of all my negligence? I have not been faithful, nor have I traded with the talent you entrusted me, the priceless treasure of Christian faith and the spiritual life. I ought to have committed your money to the bankers of your charity so that I might draw abundant interest of perfection from it and so give you back what belongs to you with interest. And not only have I spent your precious talent, my time, but I have wasted it, squandered it utterly away. Where shall I go? Who shall I turn to? «From your presence, where shall I flee?» (Ps 139[138],7).

O Truth, you have justice and equity as your inseparable judges... Woe to me if, when I come before you, I lack an advocate to plead my cause. O Love, come forward on my behalf; answer for me; sue for my pardon. If you plead my cause, I know I still have hope of life.

I know what I will do: «The cup of salvation I will take up» (Ps 116[115],13). I will lay it upon the empty scale of Truth's balance. So I shall supply all that is lacking and outweigh all my sins. That cup will raise up again all my ruins; with that cup I shall worthily overbalance all my unworthiness.

O beloved Truth, I could not, dare not stand before you without my Jesus; but with him, my Jesus, I will come with joy and gladness. Then sit on your judgement seat, O Truth...: «I fear no evil» (Ps 23[22],4).

"Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me!"

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 18:35-43.

Now as he approached Jericho a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging,
and hearing a crowd going by, he inquired what was happening.
They told him, "Jesus of Nazareth is passing by."
He shouted, "Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me!"
The people walking in front rebuked him, telling him to be silent, but he kept calling out all the more, "Son of David, have pity on me!"
Then Jesus stopped and ordered that he be brought to him; and when he came near, Jesus asked him,
What do you want me to do for you? He replied, "Lord, please let me see."
Jesus told him, "Have sight; your faith has saved you."
He immediately received his sight and followed him, giving glory to God. When they saw this, all the people gave praise to God.

Commentary of the day
Saint Gregory the Great (c.540-604), Pope, Doctor of the Church
Homily 13 on the Gospel (©Cistercian publications)

"Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me!"

We must note that the blind man was enlightened while Jesus is said to be drawing near Jericho. Jericho is interpreted 'moon'. In sacred scripture the moon symbolizes the weakness of our body, since as it wanes in its monthly changes it depicts the weakness of our mortal nature. The blind man came to the light when our Creator drew near Jericho, because when a divine person undertook the weakness of body the human race recovered the light that it had lost. God suffered as a human being, and humans are raised up to divinity.

The humanity represented by this blind man is rightly described as sitting at the wayside and as begging. Truth himself told us: «I am the way» (Jn 14,6). Anyone ignorant of the brightness of eternal light is blind. If he already believes in his Redeemer he is «sitting at the
wayside». If he already believes but only pretends to ask for eternal light, if he refrains from praying, he is indeed a blind man sitting at the wayside... If anyone recognizes the darkness of his blindness, if anyone understands that the light of truth is wanting to him, ket him cry from the bottom of his heart, let him cry also with his whole mind, let him say: «Jesus, son of David, have pity on me!»

"The kingdom of God is among you."

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 17:20-25.

Asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he said in reply, "The coming of the kingdom of God cannot be observed,
and no one will announce, 'Look, here it is,' or, 'There it is.' For behold, the kingdom of God is among you."
Then he said to his disciples, "The days will come when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it.
There will be those who will say to you, 'Look, there he is,' (or) 'Look, here he is.' Do not go off, do not run in pursuit.
For just as lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be (in his day).
But first he must suffer greatly and be rejected by this generation.

Commentary of the day
Saint Isaac the Syrian (7th Century), monk near Mosul
Ascetical Discourses, 1st part

"The kingdom of God is among you."

The demons dread, but God and his angels desire the one who fervently seeks God day and night in his heart and repels far away the enemy's attacks. The spiritual country of this person who is pure in soul is within himself: the sun that shines within him is the light of the Holy Trinity; the air breathed by the thoughts within him is the holy Spirit, the Comforter; and the holy angels abide with him. Their life, their joy, their gladness is Christ, light of the Father's light. Such a one continually enjoys the contemplation of his soul, marvelling at the beauty he sees there, shining a hundred times more powerfully than the brightness of the sun.

This is Jerusalem. And it is «the Kingdom of God concealed within us», to use the Lord's own words. This country is the cloud of the glory of God into which only pure hearts can enter to behold their Master's face (Mt 5,8). Their understanding will be enlightened by the rays of his light.

"We are unprofitable servants"

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 17:7-10.

Who among you would say to your servant who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field, 'Come here immediately and take your place at table'?
Would he not rather say to him, 'Prepare something for me to eat. Put on your apron and wait on me while I eat and drink. You may eat and drink when I am finished'?
Is he grateful to that servant because he did what was commanded?
So should it be with you. When you have done all you have been commanded, say, 'We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we were obliged to do.'"

Commentary of the day
Blessed Teresa of Calcutta (1910-1997), founder of the Missionary Sisters of Charity
A Simple Path

"We are unprofitable servants"

Do not worry about why problems exist in the world – just respond to people's needs. Some say to me that if we give charity to others it'll diminish the responsibility of government towards the needy and the poor. I don't concern myself with this, because governments do not usually offer love. I just do what I can do: the rest is not my business.

God has been so good to us: works of love are always a means of becoming closer to God. Look at what Jesus did in His life on earth! He spent it just doing good (Acts 10,38). I remind the sisters that three years of Jesus's life were spent healing the sick and the lepers, children and other people; and that's exactly what we're doing, preaching the Gospel through our actions.

It is a privilege for us to serve, and it's a real, wholehearted service that we try and give. We feel what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean, but that ocean would be less without that drop.

The holy Temple, the Body of Christ

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 2:13-22.

Since the Passover of the Jews was near, Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
He found in the temple area those who sold oxen, sheep, and doves, as well as the money-changers seated there.
He made a whip out of cords and drove them all out of the temple area, with the sheep and oxen, and spilled the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables,
and to those who sold doves he said, "Take these out of here, and stop making my Father's house a marketplace."
His disciples recalled the words of scripture, "Zeal for your house will consume me."
At this the Jews answered and said to him, "What sign can you show us for doing this?"
Jesus ansCommentary of the day
Saint Augustine (354-430), Bishop of Hippo (North Africa) and Doctor of the Church
Sermon on Psalm 130, § 1-2

The holy Temple, the Body of Christ

The apostle Paul says: «The Temple of God, which you are, is holy» (1Cor 3,17), that is to say: all you who believe in Christ, believing even to loving... All who thus believe are the living stones of which God's temple is built (1Pt 2,5); they are like the imperishable wood of which the ark was built that the flood could not overwhelm (Gn 6,14). This temple - the people of God, human persons themselves – is the place where God answers those who pray. People who pray to God outside this temple cannot have their prayers for the peace of the Jerusalem above answered even though they are answered regarding particular material things that God grants even to pagans... But it is an altogether different thing to have one's prayers answered in the matter of eternal life. This is only granted to those who pray inside God's temple.

For someone who prays within God's temple prays within the peace of the Church, in the unity of Christ's body, since the Body of Christ is built up of the multitude of believers spread over all the world... And someone who prays in the peace of the Church prays «in spirit and in truth» (Jn 4,23) of which the former Temple was only a symbol. In fact it was for our instruction that our Lord cast out of the Temple those men who were only seeking their own interest and who only went there to buy and sell. If that first Temple had to undergo this purification then it is clear that the Body of Christ too, the true temple, also contains buyers and sellers among those who pray there, that is to say, people only seeking «their own interests and not those of Jesus Christ» (Phil 2,21)... But the time will come when the Lord will cast out all those sins.
wered and said to them, "Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up."
The Jews said, "This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and you will raise it up in three days?"
But he was speaking about the temple of his body.
Therefore, when he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they came to believe the scripture and the word Jesus had spoken.