Churches of the Day

Tuesday of the Twenty-Fourth Week in Ordinary Time, Year 1

St Paul calls for high standards in the ministerial office of the church.

Saint of the Day: Sept 16;  Memorials of St Cornelius, made pope in 251, died in exile at Civitvecchia in 252, martyr
and St Cyprian, bishop of Cartage, teacher and preacher, martyred in 258.
C/f A short life story of these saints can be found below today’s Readings and Reflection.       

FIRST READING

A reading from the first letter of St Paul to Timothy       3:1-13
The president must have an impeccable character and deacons must be conscientious believers in the mystery of the faith.

Here is a saying that you can rely on: To want to be a presiding elder is to want to do a noble work. That is why the president must have an impeccable character. He must not have been married more than once, and he must be temperate, discreet and courteous, hospitable and a good teacher; not a heavy drinker, nor hot-tempered, but kind and peaceable. He must not be a lover of money.
He must be a man who manages his own family well and brings his children up to obey him and be well-behaved: how can any man who does not understand how to manage his own family have responsibility for the church of God? He should not be a new convert, in case pride might turn his head and then he might be condemned as the devil was condemned. It is also necessary that people outside the Church should speak well of him, so that he never gets a bad reputation and falls into the devil's trap.

In the same way, deacons must be respectable men whose word can be trusted, moderate in the amount of wine they drink and with no squalid greed for money. They must be conscientious believers in the mystery of the faith. They are to be examined first, and only admitted to serve as deacons if there is nothing against them.

In the same way, the women must be respectable, not gossips but sober and quite reliable. Deacons must not have been married more than once, and must be men who manage their children and families well. Those of them who carry out their duties well as deacons will earn a high standing for themselves and be rewarded with great assurance in their work for the faith in Christ Jesus.

The Word of the Lord.               Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm             Ps  100:1-3, 5, 6. R/v 2
Response                                  I will walk with blameless heart.

1. My song is of mercy and justice; I sing to you, a Lord.
I will walk in the way of perfection. O when, Lord, will you come?             Response

2. I will walk with blameless heart within my house;
I will not set before my eyes whatever is base.                                                  Response

3. The man who slanders his neighbour in secret I will bring to silence.
The man of proud looks and haughty heart I will never endure.                  Response

4. I look to the faithful in the land that they may dwell with me.
He who walks in the way of perfection shall be my friend.                             Response

Gospel  Acclamation           2 Tim 1:10
Alleluia, alleluia!
Our saviour Christ Jesus abolished death,
and he has proclaimed life and immortality through the Good News.
Alleluia!

Or                                              Lk 7: 16
Alleluia, alleluia!
A great prophet has appeared among us;  God has visited his people.
Alleluia!

GOSPEL

The Lord be with you              And with your spirit.
A reading from the Gospel according to Luke    7:11-17           Glory to you, O Lord
Young man, I tell you to get up.

Jesus went to a town called Nain, accompanied by his disciples and a great number of people. When he was near the gate of the town it happened that a dead man was being carried out for burial, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a considerable number of the townspeople were with her.

When the Lord saw her he felt sorry for her. 'Do not cry' he said.
Then he went up and put his hand on the bier and the bearers stood still, and he said,
'Young man, I tell you to get up'.
And the dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him to his mother.
Everyone was filled with awe and praised God saying,
'A great prophet has appeared among us; God has visited his people'.
And this opinion of him spread throughout Judaea and all over the countryside.

The Gospel of the Lord.            Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.



Gospel Reflection     Tuesday,      Twenty Fourth Week in Ordinary Time    Luke 7:11-17

When we hear the term ‘visitation’ in the context of the gospels, we probably think of the visitation of Mary to her cousin Elizabeth which is found in the first chapter of Luke’s gospel. There is another, more fundamental, visitation in the gospel of Luke, which is referred to by people in today’s gospel reading. When Jesus restored the only son of a widow to life, everyone who witnessed it praised God saying, ‘A great prophet has appeared among us; God has visited his people’. The most important visitation in Luke’s gospel is God’s visitation of his people through his Son, Jesus. Mary visited Elizabeth to be with her in her need. God visited his people through Jesus to be with them in their need.

In the gospel reading, Jesus responds with compassion to the need of a widow whose only son has just died. Without any prompting from anyone, without any plea for help from the widow, Jesus goes over to her and restores to her the son she had lost. God’s compassionate visitation of us through his Son continues in our day. The risen Lord continues to respond to us in our need. Without waiting on us to call out to him, he moves towards us out of compassion for us to heal our brokenness, to bring life out of our various deaths, to restore what we have lost. We are never alone in our times of loss, sadness and death. The Lord is always coming towards us in his compassionate love. Our calling is to recognize his coming and to welcome him.

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The Scripture Readings are taken from The Jerusalem Bible, published 1966 by Darton, Longman & Todd Ltd. and used with the permission of the publishers.  http://dltbooks.com/
The Scripture Reflection is made available with our thanks from Reflections on the Weekday Readings : Your word is a lamp for my feet and light for my path by Martin Hogan and published by Messenger Publications  c/f www.messenger.ie/bookshop/

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Saints of the Day: Sept 16: Ss Cyprian & Cornelius, martyrs

Ss Cornelius & Cyprian, martyrs who are mentioned together in the Roman Canon (First Eucharistic Prayer) indicating they had already attained a position of honour in fourth century Rome. The disputes that occurred during their time helped established principles about the unity of the Church, the practice of penance and the validity of the sacraments.

Patrick Duffy gives the background.

Dilemma Following the Decian persecution
In a year 250 AD there was no pope, because of the Decian persecution. When it became possible to hold an election, Cornelius (image left) was the leading contender. However, a counter candidate emerged called Novatian who was strongly opposed to forgiving the Church members who had apostasised in the persecution allowing them back into the Church. Cornelius , however, was for allowing them back and his candidacy was supported by a letter from Cyprian, bishop of Carthage.

A Middle Position
Cyprian was born in that city about 210 AD. He trained and practised as a lawyer before his conversion to Christianity in 245. Within two years, he was elected bishop and shortly after he went into hiding because of the Decian persecution. For this he was criticised, but he did manage to continue administering his diocese through letters. A dispute about those who had lapsed during the persecution: some said they should be allowed to come back without any demands being made on them. Cyprian opposed this and insisted they could be re-admitted - provided, and after they had completed a period of penance. This middle position was supported by the newly elected Pope Cornelius. Cornelius was sent into exile by the Emperor Gallus and he died at Civitavecchia in 253.

Baptism of Heretics
Another sacramental issue arose in 255 and this time Cyprian held a more rigorist position against that of Pope Stephen. The question was whether baptism according to the accepted form was valid if it was administered by a heretic. The new Pope Stephen held that provided the accepted form was used - in the name of Christ or in the name of the Trinity - it was valid. Cyprian held it wasn't valid and insisted on re-baptism. He did allow that heretics who had been baptized in the Church, but had temporarily fallen away and wished to return in penitence, need not be re-baptized. Eventually the Church decided in favour of the position held by Pope Stephen.

Sacramental Principles
Three principles of Church sacramental theology were established through the disputes that arose following the persecutions at this time. The first was that the Church exercises the power to remit sin, even apostasy: the second was that unworthy members can be accepted back into the Church, provided they do penance; the third is the validity of baptism by heretics.

Death and Influence
Cyprian was imprisoned under the persecution of Valerian in 257 and was exiled for refusing to participate in worshipping the Roman gods. He was put to death on 14th September 258. Since much of his writing helped to clarify issues about the sacraments, Church unity and the role of the bishop, St Cyprian figures and is quoted quite a lot in Vatican II's Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium.

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Memorable Proverbs for Today

"Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong."
- Mahatma Gandhi -

"To forgive is the highest, most beautiful form of love.
In return, you will receive untold peace and happiness."
-Robert Muller -

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The Twenty Fifth Sunday in  Ordinary Time, Year C

Jesus does not approve of the dishonesty of the steward but comments on how attentive to profit making so many people are. Christians are often apathetic about life' s true values.

FIRST READING 

A reading from the Book of the prophet  Amos        8:4-7
Against those who 'buy up the poor for money'.

Listen to this, you who trample on the needy and try to suppress the poor people of the country, you who say,
'When will New Moon be over so that we can sell our corn, and sabbath, so that we can market our wheat?
Then by lowering the bushel, raising the shekel,
by swindling and tampering with the scales,
we can buy up the poor for money,
and the needy for a pair of sandals,
and get a price even for the sweepings of the wheat.'

The Lord swears it by the pride of Jacob, 'Never will I forget a single thing you have done'

The Word of the Lord                Thanks be to God. 

Responsorial Psalm            Ps 112
Response                                 Praise the Lord, who raises the poor.
Or                                               Alleluia!

1. Praise, O servants of the Lord, praise the name of the Lord!
May the name of the Lord be blessed both now and for evermore!                             Response

2. High above all nations is the Lord, above the heavens his glory.
Who is like the Lord, our God, who has risen on high to his throne
yet stoops from the heights to look down, to look down upon heaven and earth?   Response

3. From the dust he lifts up the lowly, from the dung heap he raises the poor
to set him in the company of princes, yes, with the princes of his people.                 Response


SECOND READING          

A reading from the first letter of St Paul to Timothy       2:1-8
There should be prayers offered for everyone to God who wants everyone to be saved.

My advice is that, first of all, there should be prayers offered for everyone - petitions, intercessions and thanksgiving - and especially for kings and others in authority, so that we may be able to live religious and reverent lives in peace and quiet. To do this is right, and will please God our saviour: he wants everyone to be saved and reach full knowledge of the truth. For there is only one God, and there is only one mediator between God and mankind, himself a man, Christ Jesus, who sacrificed himself as a ransom for them all. He is the evidence of this, sent at the appointed time, and I have been named a herald and apostle of it and - I am telling the truth and no lie - a teacher of the faith and the truth to the pagans.

In every place, then, I want the men to lift their hands up reverently in prayer, with no anger or argument.

The Word of the Lord                   Thanks be to God. 

Gospel  Acclamation              Acts 16: 14
Alleluia, alleluia!
Open our heart, O Lord, to accept the words of your Son.
Alleluia!

Or                                                  2 Cor 8: 9
Alleluia, alleluia!
Lord Jesus was rich, but he became poor for your sake,
to make you rich out of his poverty.
Alleluia!

GOSPEL                               

The Lord be with you.               And with your spirit
A reading from the Gospel according to Luke     16:1-13
You cannot be the slave both of God and of money.

Jesus said to his disciples,
'There was a rich man and he had a steward denounced to him for being wasteful with his property. He called for the man and said, "What is this I hear about you? Draw me up an account of your stewardship because you are not to be my steward any longer."
Then the steward said to himself, "Now that my master is taking the stewardship from me, what am I to do? Dig? I am not strong enough. Go begging? I should be too ashamed. Ah, I know what I will do to make sure that when I am dismissed from office there will be some to welcome me into their homes."

Then he called his master's debtors one by one. To the first he said, "How much do you owe my master?" "One hundred measures of oil" was the reply.
The steward said, "Here, take your bond; sit down straight away and write fifty".
To another he said, "And you, sir, how much do you owe?" "One hundred measures of wheat" was the reply.
The steward said, "Here, take your bond and write eighty".

'The master praised the dishonest steward for his astuteness. For the children of this world are more astute in dealing with their own kind than are the children of light.'

'And so I tell you this: use money, tainted as it is, to win you friends, and thus make sure that when it fails you, they will welcome you into the tents of eternity. The man who can be trusted in little things can be trusted in great; the man who is dishonest in little things will be dishonest in great. If then you cannot be trusted with money, that tainted thing, who will trust you with genuine riches? And if you cannot be trusted with what is not yours, who will give you what is your very own?

'No servant can be the slave of two masters: he will either hate the first and love the second, or treat the first with respect and the second with scorn. You cannot be the slave both of God and of money.'

The Gospel of the Lord            Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

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 Shorter  form

GOSPEL                               

A reading from the Gospel according to Luke     16:10-13
Theme: You cannot be the slave both of God and of money.

Jesus said to his disciples,
"The man who can be trusted in little things can be trusted in great; the man who is dishonest in little things will be dishonest in great. If then you cannot be trusted with money, that tainted thing, who will trust you with genuine riches? And if you cannot be trusted with what is not yours, who will give you what is your very own?

'No servant can be the slave of two masters: he will either hate the first and love the second, or treat the first with respect and the second with scorn. You cannot be the slave both of God and of money.'

The Gospel of the Lord            Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

For homily resources for this Sunday's Gospel click here:  https://www.catholicireland.net/sunday-homily/



Taken from THE JERUSALEM BIBLE, published and copyright 1966,  by Darton, Longman and Todd Ltd and Doubleday, a division of Random House Inc, and used by permission of the publishers.