The sign of Jonah

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 11:29-32.
While still more people gathered in the crowd, he said to them, "This generation is an evil generation; it seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it, except the sign of Jonah.
Just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation.
At the judgment the queen of the south will rise with the men of this generation and she will condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and there is something greater than Solomon here.
At the judgment the men of Nineveh will arise with this generation and condemn it, because at the preaching of Jonah they repented, and there is something greater than Jonah here.

Commentary of the day
Saint Irenaeus of Lyons (c.130-c.208), Bishop, theologian and martyr
Against the heresies III, 20, 1 (cf SC 34, p. 339)

The sign of Jonah

God showed patience in the face of man's weakness because he saw beforehand the victory he would eventually give him through his Word. For, when «power was made perfect in weakness» (2Cor 12,9), the Word caused God's goodness and tremendous power to be made manifest.

Indeed, it was the same with man as it was with the prophet Jonah. God permitted Jonah to be swallowed by a sea-monster, not to make him altogether vanish away and die but so that when he had been vomited out by the monster he would become more subject to God and would give all the more glory to him who had given him this unexpected deliverance. It was, too, to lead the Ninevites to firm repentance and to convert them to him who would deliver them from death, amazed as they were by the sign accomplished in Jonah... In the same way, God permitted man to be swallowed by that great monster, the author of disobedience, not so that he should altogether vanish away and die but because God had prepared beforehand the salvation fulfilled by his Word by means of the «sign of Jonas». This salvation has been prepared for those who have the same feelings for God as Jonah did and who confess him in the same words: «I am the servant of the Lord and I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land» (Jon 1,9).

God desired that man, by receiving an unanticipated salvation from him, would rise from the dead and worship God, saying with Jonah: «Out of my distress I called to the Lord; from the midst of the nether world he heard my voice» (Jon 2,2). God desired, too, that man would always remain faithful in giving him worship and unceasing thanks for the salvation he has received from him.

courtesy of the daily gospel

Persecutor transformed into preacher

Marcos 16: 15-18

15 At sinabi ni Jesus sa kanila, "Habang kayo'y humahayo sa buong mundo, ay ipangaral ninyo sa lahat ng tao ang Magandang Balita. 16 Ang sinumang sumampalataya at mabautismuhan ay maliligtas, ngunit ang ayaw sumampalataya ay paparusahan. 17 Ang mga sumasampalataya ay bibigyan ng kapangyarihang gumawa ng mga himala: sa pangalan ko'y magpapalayas sila ng mga demonyo at magsasalita ng iba't ibang wika. 18 Hindi sila maaano kahit dumampot sila ng ahas o uminom ng lason; at gagaling ang mga maysakit na papatungan nila ng kamay."

(English Version)
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark 16:15-18.

He said to them, "Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature.
Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned.
These signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will drive out demons, they will speak new languages.
They will pick up serpents (with their hands), and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not harm them. They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover."

Commentary:

From heaven's height Christ's voice overturned Saul. He received a command to carry out his persecutions no more and fell face downwards to the ground. He had first to be knocked down and afterwards raised up; first struck, then healed. For Christ would never have come to live in him if Saul had not died to his former life of sin. Cast down to the earth in this way, what was it he heard? «Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goad» (Acts 26,14). And he replied: «Who are you, Lord?» Then the voice from on high continued: «I am Jesus of Nazareth whom you are persecuting». The members are still on the ground while the head cries out from the heights of heaven. It is not saying: «Why are you persecuting my servants?» but «Why are you persecuting me?»

And Paul, who had put all his energy into his persecuting, is already preparing to obey: «What do you want me to do?» The persecutor is already transformed into preacher, the wolf has become a sheep, the enemy a defender. Paul learns what he is to do: if he has become blind, if this world's light is held back from him for a while, it is so as to make the light within shine in his heart. Light is taken away from the persecutor so that it may be given to the preacher; at the very moment he no longer saw anything of this world, he saw Jesus. This symbolizes the believer: those who believe in Christ must fix the eyes of their soul on him without paying attention to outward things...

So Saul was led to Ananias; the ravaging wolf is led to the sheep. But the Shepherd, who guides everything from heaven above, reassures it...: «Don't worry. I will show him what he will have to suffer for my name» (Acts 9,16). What wonder is this! The wolf is led, a captive, to the sheep... The Lamb who died for the sheep teaches them not to be afraid any more.

"Who do the crowds say that I am?"

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 9:18-22.
Once when Jesus was praying in solitude, and the disciples were with him, he asked them, "Who do the crowds say that I am?"
They said in reply, "John the Baptist; others, Elijah; still others, 'One of the ancient prophets has arisen.'"
Then he said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter said in reply, "The Messiah of God."
He rebuked them and directed them not to tell this to anyone.
He said, "The Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised."

Commentary of the day
Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus (1873-1897), Carmelite, Doctor of the Church
Poem 52 « L'Abandon est le fruit délicieux de l'amour »

« 'And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself.' He said this indicating the kind of death he would die» (Jn 12 ,32-33)

There is on this earth
A marvelous Tree,
Its root, O mystery!
Is in Heaven...

In its shade
Never could anything cause pain.
One can rest there
Without fearing the storm.

Love is the name
Of this ineffable Tree,
And its delectable fruit
Is called Abandonment.

Even in this life this fruit
Gives me happiness.
My soul delights
In its divine fragrance.

It seems a treasure.
Putting it to my mouth,
It is sweeter still.

It gives me in this world
An ocean of peace.
In this deep peace
I rest forever...

Abandonment alone brings me
Into your arms, O Jesus.
It alone makes me live
The life of the Elect.

My Reflection:

Who is Jesus in your life? Do you really know Him that much? As for me, being a renewed christian, I am becoming more aware of His presence. Through good times and bad times, I know that I have a BIG Jesus in my heart. Thanks for loving me Jesus!

"He has done all things well."

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark 7:31-37.
Again he left the district of Tyre and went by way of Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, into the district of the Decapolis.
And people brought to him a deaf man who had a speech impediment and begged him to lay his hand on him.
He took him off by himself away from the crowd. He put his finger into the man's ears and, spitting, touched his tongue;
then he looked up to heaven and groaned, and said to him, "Ephphatha!" (that is, "Be opened!")
And (immediately) the man's ears were opened, his speech impediment was removed, and he spoke plainly.
He ordered them not to tell anyone. But the more he ordered them not to, the more they proclaimed it.
They were exceedingly astonished and they said, "He has done all things well. He makes the deaf hear and (the) mute speak."

Commentary of the day
Saint Laurence of Brindisi (1559-1619), Capuchin, Doctor of the Church
11th Sunday after Pentecost, First homily, 1.9.11-12; Opera omnia, 8, 124.134.136-138 (©Friends of Henry Ashworth)

"He has done all things well"

Just as the divine law says that when God created the world «he saw all that he had made and it was very good,» (Gn 1,31) so the gospel speaking of our redemption and re-creation, affirms: «He has done all things well» (Mk 7,37)... As fire can give out nothing but heat and is incapable of giving out cold; and as the sun gives out nothing but light and is incapable of giving out darkness, so God is incapable of doing anything but good, for he is infinite goodness and light He is a sun giving out endless light a fire producing endless warmth. «He has done all things well.»

The law says that all God did was good; the gospel says he has done all things well. Doing a good deed is not quite the same as doing it well. Many do good deeds but fail to do them well. The deeds of hypocrites, for example, are good, but they are done in the wrong spirit, with a perverse and defective intention. Everything God does, however, is not only good but is also done well. «The Lord is just in all his ways and holy in all his deeds. With wisdom you have done them all» (Ps 145[144].17)... Now if God has done all his good works and done well for our sake, knowing that we take pleasure in goodness, why I ask do we not endeavor to make all our works good and to do them well, knowing that such works are pleasing to God?

My Reflection:
Being a Music Coordinator in our Parish, God has gave me a Mission to work in His vineyard. Opening up to Him just like in the Gospel, Jesus has healed call the areas of my life in which before I was in the darkness of sin and pride. But now, having a personal relationship with Him gave me an opening to be an instrument of peace through Music.

"While the bridegroom is with them"

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 5:33-39.
And they said to him, "The disciples of John fast often and offer prayers, and the disciples of the Pharisees do the same; but yours eat and drink."
Jesus answered them, "Can you make the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them?
But the days will come, and when the bridegroom is taken away from them, then they will fast in those days."
And he also told them a parable. "No one tears a piece from a new cloak to patch an old one. Otherwise, he will tear the new and the piece from it will not match the old cloak.
Likewise, no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins, and it will be spilled, and the skins will be ruined.
Rather, new wine must be poured into fresh wineskins.
(And) no one who has been drinking old wine desires new, for he says, 'The old is good.'"

Commentary of the day
Saint Augustine (354-430), Bishop of Hippo (North Africa) and Doctor of the Church
Homilies on the First Epistle of Saint Jean, I, 2 (©Augustinian heritage institute; SC 75, p. 115)

"While the bridegroom is with them"

«We have seen,» he says, «and we are witnesses.» Where did they see? In a manifestation. What does that mean, "in a manifestation"? In the sun -that is, in this light. But how could he who made the sun be seen in the sun if not for the fact that «he pitched his tent in the sun and, like a bridegroom coming forth from his marriage bed, rejoiced like a giant to run his course» (Ps 19,4-5)? He who made the sun was before the sun, he was before the morning star, before all the stars, before all the angels. He is the true creator, because «everything was made through him, and apart from him nothing was made» (Jn 1,3). Thus he would be seen by the fleshly eyes that see the sun. He pitched his tent itself in the sun-that is, he showed his flesh in the manifestation of this light. And the marriage bed of that bridegroom was the Virgin's womb.

For in that virginal womb two things were joined, a bridegroom and a bride, the bridegroom being the Word and the bride being flesh. For it is written, «And they shall be two in one flesh» (Gn 2,24 Vg), and the Lord says in the gospel, «Therefore they are no longer two but one flesh» (Mt 19,6). Isaiah also notes very well that these two are themselves one, for he speaks in the person of Christ and says, «He set a wreath upon me like a bridegroom, and like a bride he adorned me with an ornament» (61,10). One person appears to be speaking, and he has made himself a bridegroom and has made himself a bride, because they aren't two but one flesh, for «the Word was made flesh and dwelled among us,» (Jn 1,14) The Church is joined to that flesh, and Christ becomes the whole, head and body (Eph 1,22).

My Reflection:

The message for me in this Gospel tells me to be connected everyday, every moment and every step of the way to God. Being the Word and the Flesh is enough for me to know that He is my saviour and my God.

"Cleanse first the inside of the cup"

Tuesday of the Twenty-first week in Ordinary TimeToday the Church celebrates : St. Louis, King of France (1215-1270)

Reading
Commentary of the day : Origen "Cleanse first the inside of the cup"

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 23:23-26.

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You pay tithes of mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier things of the law: judgment and mercy and fidelity. (But) these you should have done, without neglecting the others.Blind guides, who strain out the gnat and swallow the camel!Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You cleanse the outside of cup and dish, but inside they are full of plunder and self-indulgence.Blind Pharisee, cleanse first the inside of the cup, so that the outside also may be clean.

note:this gospelreading is taken from dailygospel.org

Have a wonderful day!
God is Good all The Time!!!