MASS READINGS AND COMMENTARY | JUNE 18, 2020

Like a fire there appeared the prophet Elijah
whose words were as a flaming furnace.
Their staff of bread he shattered,
in his zeal he reduced them to straits;
By the Lord’s word he shut up the heavens
and three times brought down fire.
How awesome are you, Elijah, in your wondrous deeds!
Whose glory is equal to yours?
You brought a dead man back to life
from the nether world, by the will of the LORD.
You sent kings down to destruction,
and easily broke their power into pieces.
You brought down nobles, from their beds of sickness.
You heard threats at Sinai,
at Horeb avenging judgments.
You anointed kings who should inflict vengeance,
and a prophet as your successor.
You were taken aloft in a whirlwind of fire,
in a chariot with fiery horses.
You were destined, it is written, in time to come
to put an end to wrath before the day of the LORD,
To turn back the hearts of fathers toward their sons,
and to re-establish the tribes of Jacob.
Blessed is he who shall have seen you
And who falls asleep in your friendship.
For we live only in our life,
but after death our name will not be such.
O Elijah, enveloped in the whirlwind!

Then Elisha, filled with the twofold portion of his spirit,
wrought many marvels by his mere word.
During his lifetime he feared no one,
nor was any man able to intimidate his will.
Nothing was beyond his power;
beneath him flesh was brought back into life.
In life he performed wonders,
and after death, marvelous deeds.

R. (12a) Rejoice in the Lord, you just!
The LORD is king; let the earth rejoice;
let the many isles be glad.
Clouds and darkness are round about him,
justice and judgment are the foundation of his throne.

R. Rejoice in the Lord, you just!
Fire goes before him
and consumes his foes round about.
His lightnings illumine the world;
the earth sees and trembles.
R. Rejoice in the Lord, you just!
The mountains melt like wax before the LORD,
before the Lord of all the earth.
The heavens proclaim his justice,
and all peoples see his glory.

R. Rejoice in the Lord, you just!
All who worship graven things are put to shame,
who glory in the things of nought;
all gods are prostrate before him.

R. Rejoice in the Lord, you just!

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
You have received a spirit of adoption as sons
through which we cry: Abba! Father!
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Jesus said to his disciples:
“In praying, do not babble like the pagans,
who think that they will be heard because of their many words.
Do not be like them.
Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

“This is how you are to pray:

‘Our Father who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name,
thy Kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread;
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.’

“If you forgive others their transgressions,
your heavenly Father will forgive you.
But if you do not forgive others,
neither will your Father forgive your transgressions.”

IV. Structure of this Catechism

13 The plan of this catechism is inspired by the great tradition of catechisms which build catechesis on four pillars: the baptismal profession of faith (the Creed), the sacraments of faith, the life of faith (the Commandments), and the prayer of the believer (the Lord’s Prayer).

“For greater things you were born.” (Ven. Mother Luisita)

THURSDAY, JUNE 18^TH      Mt. 6:7-15   “Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed by thy name.”

Prayer is the opening of our mind, heart and soul in a conversation with God. It is an expression of faith in our relationship with God, a relationship of love with Abba, Father – Jesus, the Son of God – and the Holy Spirit, Sweet Guest of the Soul.

Which Person of the Blessed Trinity are you closest to? Which Person do you usually pray to? Three meditations/contemplations are provided to help us grow in our relationship with God the Father – Abba Father. Pick the one that speaks most to you of the eternal love of the Father for you! Or pray with all three!

PART 1…
What it Means to Pray “Our Father” by Catherine of Siena  

I want your security to be in Christ gentle Jesus. He has clothed us in the sturdiest garment there is, a garment of love, fastened with the clasp of free choice, so we can take it off or put it on as we wish. If we want to throw away this garment of charity we can, and if we want to keep it we can do that too. Just think! The very first garment we ever had was love, for it was only by love that we were created in God’s image and likeness.  

So we cannot exist without love since we are made of nothing less than love. So too our soul’s natural bent is to love and follow our Father Creator, God eternal. For when we see that God created us out of love alone, we feel drawn to Him and cannot bear to see Him offended. We want to avenge such offense because of our love for our Father.  

This is why our soul is constantly wanting to punish the sensual part of us, the soul’s mortal enemy. For anyone who follows this sensuality is dead with an eternal death; such a person is crucifying Christ all over again – for you know that sin alone was the cause of His death.   

So a soul in love with God our eternal Father, wants to follow its own nature: love makes it lose itself; love makes it punish itself by striking out against false sensual passions of the devil, the world, and the flesh. It strikes them with the sword of hatred and of love – hatred and contempt for sin and love for virtue – by finding pleasure in what God loves and hating what God hates. Then our soul is giving the Father His due, following its nature and never going against it. 

End St. Catherine of Siena (+1380 – Doctor of the Church, lay Dominican mystic,)

PART 2…

There are three Persons in one God – the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. “The names Creator, Redeemer, andSanctifier can be attributed to the divine Persons by appropriation, according the logic that what is common to the three Persons is attributed to one of them, in as much as it has a certain likeness to what is proper to the Person.”

(Ref: A New Response of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith on the Validity of Baptism. Msgr. Antonio Miralles)

We say Father Creator, Son Redeemer, and Holy Spirit Sancitfier. This psalm then is talking about your Father Creator who created you out of Love!

Psalm 139

You have searched me, Lord,
    and you know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise;
    you perceive my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my lying down;
    you are familiar with all my ways.
Before a word is on my tongue
    you, Lord, know it completely.
You hem me in behind and before,
    and you lay your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
    too lofty for me to attain.

Where can I go from your Spirit?
    Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
    if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
    if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me,
    your right hand will hold me fast.
If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
    and the light become night around me,”
even the darkness will not be dark to you;
    the night will shine like the day,
    for darkness is as light to you.

For you created my inmost being;
    you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
    your works are wonderful,
    I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you
    when I was made in the secret place,
    when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed body;
    all the days ordained for me were written in your book
    before one of them came to be.
How precious to me are your thoughts, God!
    How vast is the sum of them!
Were I to count them,
    they would outnumber the grains of sand—
    when I awake, I am still with you.

PART 3…
Parable of the Lost Son… or better said, Parable of the Merciful Father…

There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, “Father, give me my share of the estate.” So he divided his property between them. Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.

When he came to his senses, he said, “How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.” So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.

The son said to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.” But the father said to his servants, “Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.” So they began to celebrate.

 Jesus is telling a Parable, a story with a message for us. The prodigal son is you and it is me. The father is our heavenly Father always watching for us to return when we have strayed from Him. When He sees us returning, He is filled with compassion and runs to us, throws His arms around us, and kisses us. This is the Sacrament of Confession.

Next He has the fatted calf killed and arranges a feast to celebrate, for the one who was lost is now found. This is the feast of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, and Jesus is the lamb that was slain for our sins, that we might have eternal life with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. How good is our Heavenly Father and how much He loves each one of us!