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TRÁI TIM
MẸ: NƠI CON NƯƠNG NÁU - ĐƯỜNG ĐẾN VỚI CHÚA |
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"Chúa Giêsu muốn dùng con để làm
cho Mẹ được nhận biết và yêu mến" |
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November 21/2009 - Saturday
33rd Week
of
Ordinary Time
LITURGICAL/THEME MEDITATION:
"He is not God of the dead, but of the
living; for all live to him"
UNIVERSAL CHURCH/WORLD EVENT(S):
Vatican Alerts Doctors to
Anti-Life Mindset;
56 Churches Damaged in '09
in Karnataka, India
SAINT OF THE DAY
Feast of the Presentation of Mary
GENERAL
MARIOLOGY
Nativity of the
Virgin Mary
DIVINE MERCY
Divine Mercy in My Soul
My
Preparation for Holy Communion
TEACHING/TESTIMONY/CONVICTION:
Mass: Gathering, Sharing,
Eating, Drinking, Praying, and Celebrating
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DAILY LITURGICAL MEDITATION |
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Saturday (11/21): "He is not God of the dead,
but of the living; for all live to him"
Scripture: Luke 20:27-40
27 There came to him some Sadducees, those who say that there is no
resurrection, 28 and they asked him a question, saying, "Teacher, Moses
wrote for us that if a man's brother dies, having a wife but no
children, the man must take the wife and raise up children for his
brother. 29 Now there were seven brothers; the first took a wife, and
died without children; 30 and the second 31 and the third took her, and
likewise all seven left no children and died. 32 Afterward the woman
also died. 33 In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman
be? For the seven had her as wife." 34 And Jesus said to them, "The sons
of this age marry and are given in marriage; 35 but those who are
accounted worthy to attain to that age and to the resurrection from the
dead neither marry nor are given in marriage, 36 for they cannot die any
more, because they are equal to angels and are sons of God, being sons
of the resurrection. 37 But that the dead are raised, even Moses showed,
in the passage about the bush, where he calls the Lord the God of
Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. 38 Now he is not God
of the dead, but of the living; for all live to him." 39 And some of the
scribes answered, "Teacher, you have spoken well." 40 For they no longer
dared to ask him any question.
Meditation: Is your life earthbound or heavenbound? The
Sadducees had one big problem – they could not conceive of heaven beyond
what they could see with their naked eyes! Aren't we often like them? We
don't recognize spiritual realities because we try to make heaven into
an earthly image. The Sadducees came to Jesus with a test question to
make the resurrection look ridiculous. The Sadducees, unlike the
Pharisees, did not believe in immortality, nor in angels or evil
spirits. Their religion was literally grounded in an earthly image of
heaven. Jesus retorts by dealing with the fact of the resurrection. The
scriptures give proof of it. In Exodus 3:6, when God manifests his
presence to Moses in the burning bush, the Lord tells him that he is
the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He shows that the patriarchs who
died hundreds of years previously were still alive in God. Jesus defeats
their arguments by showing that God is a living God of a living people.
God was the friend of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob when they lived. That
friendship could not cease with death. As Psalm 73:23-24 states: "I
am continually with you; you hold my right hand. You guide me with your
counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory." The ultimate
proof of the resurrection is the Lord Jesus and his victory over death
when he rose from the tomb. Before Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead,
he exclaimed: "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes
in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and whoever lives and believes
in me shall never die. Do you believe this?" (John 11:25). Jesus
asks us the same question. Do you believe in the resurrection and in the
promise of eternal life with God?
The Holy Spirit reveals to us the eternal truths of God's unending
love and the life he desires to share with us for all eternity. Paul the
Apostle, quoting from the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 64:4; 65:17) states:
"What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived,
what God has prepared for those who love him," God has revealed to us
through the Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:9-10). The promise of paradise –
heavenly bliss and unending life with an all-loving God – is beyond
human reckoning. We have only begun to taste the first-fruits! Do you
live now in the joy and hope of the life of the age to come?
"May the Lord Jesus put his hands on our eyes also, for then we too
shall begin to look not at what is seen but at what is not seen. May he
open the eyes that are concerned not with the present but with what is
yet to come, may he unseal the heart's vision, that we may gaze on God
in the Spirit, through the same Lord, Jesus Christ, whose glory and
power will endure throughout the unending succession of ages."
(Prayer of Origen, c. 185-254)
Psalm 144:1-10
1 Blessed be the LORD, my rock, who trains my hands for war, and my
fingers for battle;
2 my rock and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield and
he in whom I take refuge, who subdues the peoples under him.
3 O LORD, what is man that you regard him, or the son of man that you
think of him?
4 Man is like a breath, his days are like a passing shadow.
5 Bow your heavens, O LORD, and come down! Touch the mountains that they
smoke!
6 Flash forth the lightning and scatter them, send out your arrows and
rout them!
7 Stretch forth your hand from on high, rescue me and deliver me from
the many waters, from the hand of aliens,
8 whose mouths speak lies, and whose right hand is a right hand of
falsehood.
9 I will sing a new song to you, O God; upon a ten-stringed harp I will
play to you,
10 who gives victory to kings, who rescues David your servant.
www.dailyscripture.net
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UNIVERSAL CHURCH/WORLD EVENTS |
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Vatican Alerts Doctors to Anti-Life Mindset
Cardinal Bertone Urges Education in the Culture of Life
By Antonio Gaspari
ROME, NOV. 20, 2009 ( Zenit.org).- There is an urgency today to educate society in the culture of life, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone told a gathering of Italian physicians.
Benedict XVI's secretary of state said this last week during a homily he gave to members of the National Council of Italian Catholic Medical Associations, held in the Pauline Chapel of the Apostolic Palace.
Addressing the challenges of modernity, the cardinal noted that "medicine itself, which by its nature should tend to the defense and care of human life, in some of its sectors lends itself increasingly to carry out acts against the person."
The secretary of state affirmed an "urgency to educate in the culture of life."
"Witnessed on one hand is the elimination of nascent human lives or those that are close to their end; on the other, it is increasingly difficult for conscience to distinguish good from evil in what affects the very fundamental value of human life," he explained.
Cardinal Bertone reminded his listeners that "the activity of the Catholic doctor is revealed useful not only for the purpose of physical health, but also, in a certain sense, for the moral and spiritual health of the patient."
This is true, he said, because "body and spirit are so united in man that one influences the other, and your main task is to watch over and promote life in its integral realization."
Reductions
Referring to the encyclical "Caritas in Veritate," the secretary of state criticized the material and mechanical concept of human life," which reduces love without truth to "an empty shell to be filled arbitrarily" and can entail negative effects for integral human development.
According to the cardinal, to educate in the culture of life it is necessary "to be able to contemplate in every human being the reflection of the beauty and love of God."
"Without God, man no longer perceives himself as 'mysteriously other' in relation to the various earthly creatures, and is considered as one of many living beings, as an organism that, at best, has reached a very high level of perfection," he said.
Referring to the encyclical "Evangelium Vitae" of John Paul II, Cardinal Bertone pointed out that it is "precisely in the distance between God and man" where "the motive is found that leads to losing the value of human life with the consequent presumption of being able to manage it, ignoring the Creator."
In this context, the secretary of state denounced abortion and deaths due to hunger: "There are lives that aren't news and whose loss does not cause shock.
"There are sacrosanct battles to save the life of those sentenced to death and also to safeguard the right to life of those who have committed serious crimes, while the death of innocents is considered legal and just, with laws approved by majorities in civil Parliaments."
"Emotion, ideologies, and political reasons," he added, "substitute in practice the correctly illumined conscience."
56 Churches Damaged in '09 in Karnataka, India
Christian Leader Says Government Is Failing in Its Duties
BANGALORE, India, NOV. 20, 2009 ( Zenit.org).- A Church of God facility broken into and damaged Tuesday night is the 56th Christian church to be attacked this year in the southern Indian state of Karnataka.
Sajan George, president of the Global Council of Indian Christians, said the "spate of incidents against Christians is increasing in Karnataka and other states ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party, reflecting a growing religious intolerance," AsiaNews reported.
"The government is failing in its duty to protect Christian minorities and keep at bay the Hindu radicals," he added. "[...] The chain of political acquittals [...] has made it clear to fundamentalists that they can get away with anything, without having to face justice."
Anti-Christian violence in India has been particularly fierce in the past two years, with a strong wave hitting the eastern state of Orissa in 2008.
Hindu fundamentalists protest what they say are forced conversions, while Christian leaders maintain that their social services for India's poor attract people to the faith.
In June, there was a Christian-Hindu summit in Mumbai, which the president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue said opened a new chapter in relations between the two faiths. However, he acknowledged that local communities have to be responsible for bringing about dialogue.
Last month, Cardinal Oswald Gracias, archbishop of Mumbai, addressed the "fear of conversions" in Indian society and how some government authorities wish to introduce anti-conversion laws. He stressed the fact that "forced conversions," often blamed on Christians, "are meaningless" for the Catholic Church. Not only does the Second Vatican Council speak "clearly" against them, the prelate said, but also, "for Christians, conversion is primarily a transformation of the heart."
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DAILY LITURGICAL SAINT |
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http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/SaintofDay
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GENERAL
MARIOLOGY |
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Nativity of the Virgin Mary
The Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew
Translation by Saint Jerome
CHAP. 13.--And
it came to pass some little time after, that an
enrolment was made according to the edict of
Caesar Augustus, that all the
world was to be enrolled, each man in his native
place. This enrolment was
made by Cyrinus, the governor of Syria, [1] It
was necessary, therefore,
that Joseph should enrol with the blessed Mary
in Bethlehem, because to it
they belonged, being of the tribe of Judah, and
of the house and family of
David. When, therefore, Joseph and the blessed
Mary were going along the
road which leads to Bethlehem, Mary said to
Joseph: I see two peoples
before me, the one weeping, and the other
rejoicing. And Joseph answered:
Sit still on thy beast, and do not speak
superfluous words. Then there
appeared before them a beautiful boy, clothed in
white raiment, who-said to
Joseph: Why didst thou say that the words which
Mary spoke about the two
peoples were superfluous? For she saw the people
of the Jews weeping,
because they have departed from their God; and
the people of the Gentiles
rejoicing, because they have now been added and
made near to the Lord,
according to that which He promised to our
fathers Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob: for the time is at hand when in the seed
of Abraham all nations
shall be blessed. [2]
And when he
had thus said, the angel ordered the beast to
stand, for
the time when she should bring forth was at
hand; and he commanded the
blessed Mary to come down off the animal, and go
into a recess under a
cavern, in which there never was light, but
always darkness, because the
light of day could not reach it. And when the
blessed Mary had gone into
it, it began to shine with as much brightness as
if it were the sixth hour
of the day. The light from God so shone in the
cave, that neither by day
nor night was light wanting as long as the
blessed Mary was there. And
there she brought forth a son, and the angels
surrounded Him when He was
being born. And as soon as He was born, He stood
upon His feet, and the
angels adored Him, saying: Glory to God in the
highest, and on earth peace
to men of good pleasure. [3] Now, when the birth
of the Lord was at hand,
Joseph had gone away to seek midwives. And when
he had found them, he
returned to the cave, and found with Mary the
infant which she had brought
forth. And Joseph said to the blessed Mary: I
have brought thee two
midwives--Zelomi [4] and Salome; and they are
standing outside before the
entrance to the cave, not daring to come in
hither, because of the
exceeding brightness. And when the blessed Mary
heard this, she smiled; and
Joseph said to her: Do not smile; but prudently
allow them to visit thee,
in case thou shouldst require them for thy cure.
Then she ordered them to
enter. And when Zelomi had come in, Salome
having stayed without, Zelomi
said to Mary: Allow me to touch thee. And when
she had permitted her to
make an examination, the midwife cried out with
a loud voice, and said:
Lord, Lord Almighty, mercy on us! It has never
been heard or thought of,
that any one should have her breasts full of
milk, and that the birth of a
son should show his mother to be a virgin. But
there has been no spilling
of blood in his birth, no pain in bringing him
forth. A virgin has
conceived, a virgin has brought forth, and a
virgin she remains. And
hearing these words, Salome said: Allow me to
handle thee, and prove
whether Zelomi have spoken the truth. And the
blessed Mary allowed her to
handle her. And when she had withdrawn her hand
from handling her, it dried
up, and through excess of pain she began to weep
bitterly, and to be in
great distress, crying out, and saying: O Lord
God, Thou knowest that I
have always feared Thee, and that without
recompense I have cared for all
the poor; I have taken nothing from the widow
and the orphan, and the needy
have I not sent empty away. And, behold, I am
made wretched because of mine
unbelief, since without a cause I wished to try
Thy virgin.
And while
she was thus speaking, there stood by her a
young man in
shining garments, saying: Go to the child, and
adore Him, and touch Him
with thy hand, and He will heal thee, because He
is the Saviour of the
world, and of all that hope in Him. And she went
to the child with haste,
and adored Him, and touched the fringe of the
cloths in which He was
wrapped, and instantly her hand was cured. And
going forth, she began to
cry aloud, and to tell the wonderful things
which she had seen, and which
she had suffered, and how she had been cured; so
that many through her
statements believed.
And some
shepherds also affirmed that they had seen
angels singing a
hymn at midnight, praising and blessing the God
of heaven, and saying:
There has been born the Saviour of all, who is
Christ the Lord, in whom
salvation shall be brought back to Israel. [1]
Moreover, a
great star, larger than any that had been seen
since the
beginning of the world, shone over the cave from
the evening till the
morning. And the prophets who were in Jerusalem
said that this star pointed
out the birth of Christ, who should restore the
promise not only to Israel,
but to all nations. |
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DIVINE MERCY
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Divine Mercy In my soul
The Mercy of the Lord I will sing Forever.
Divine Mercy in my soul.
Sr. Faustina, Diary
My Preparation for
Holy Communion
J.M.J.
Today, my soul is
preparing for the coming of the Lord, who can do all things, who can make me
perfect and holy. I am preparing very carefully for Him reception, but there
arose the difficulty as to how to present this to Him? I rejected this
difficulty at once. I will present it as my heart dictates.
When I had received Jesus in Holy Communion, my heart cried out with all its
might, “Jesus, transform me into another host! I want to be a living host
for You. You are a great and all powerful Lord; You can grant me this
favor.” And the Lord answered me, You are a
living host, pleasing to the Heavenly Father. But reflect: what is a host? A
sacrifice. And so…?
O my Jesus, I understand the meaning of “host”, the meaning of sacrifice. I
desire to be before Your Majesty a living host; that is, a living sacrifice
that daily burns in Your honor.
When my strength begins to fail, it is Holy Communion that will sustain me
and give me strength. Indeed, I fear the day on which I could not receive
Holy Communion. My soul draws astonishing strength from Holy Communion.
O living Host, light of my soul!
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CATHOLIC TEACHING/CONVICTION/TESTIMONY |
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Mass: Gathering, Sharing, Eating, Drinking, Praying,
and Celebrating
hen I was growing up, attending
mass was a chore that had to be done on a daily basis. Early in
the morning, my mother would wake me and my siblings up so that
we can attend mass. As a little boy, I found this to be
extremely difficult because as a rule, I would rather sleep an
extra hour or two than go to church. One would think that this
forcefulness would cause me to be repulsed towards going to
church now that I am older. But fortunately, this has not been
the case. Instead, my mother has instilled in me a sense of the
importance of attending mass.
As I come to understand the reason for going to mass, I have been able
to appreciate it greatly. Through the years, I've realized that
going to Church on Sunday is not just to show off my Tommy
jacket or to check out the girls in the choir or a time to hang
out with friends. Mass is in fact a special time when Catholics
come together in unity to celebrate and give thanks to God for
all the blessings that God has bestowed upon us.
When I was growing up and even now, I always heard Vietnamese
people say "Ði xem lễ" which means to go view a mass. This,
unfortunately, is a very erroneous term because mass is not
something we go to watch like a stage show and expect to be
entertained but rather something that we actively participate
in. The mass is a dramatic event that has music, monologues,
dialogues, and climax, etc. But instead of being in the
audience, each of us who attend mass is an actor with his/her
own part to play in this unfolding drama.
There are many ways for us to understand a mass. Below, I
would like to describe some of these ways.
First, mass is a response to God's calling. As in the
old days when God called the Israelites to assemble to worship
God, we are doing likewise. When we assemble at church, we are
displaying our obedience to God who has blessed us with the gift
of the world and of life.
Second, mass is a celebration of thanks. In mass, we
celebrate the paschal mystery of Jesus who died, rose, and will
come again. We give thanks to God for the gift of Jesus who died
on the cross for our sins. Therefore, we can rejoice and praise
God for God's tremendous goodness towards us.
Third, mass is a memorial meal. In the Last Supper,
Jesus shared with his disciples bread and wine and he asked us
to reenact this meal in his memory. In mass, we believe that
when we take part in the bread and wine, we are in fact sharing
in the body and blood of Jesus. The Eucharist that we share is
the pinnacle of our life as Christians. Therefore, it is
important that we try our best to be able to participate in
communion in every mass. Certainly, it would be strange if we
attend a dinner but refrain from receiving the food and the
drink being served. While the food and drink served at a dinner
can only nourish us physically, the body and blood of Jesus will
nourish us spiritually and emotionally.
Fourth, mass is a community gathering. It is a time
for Catholics to gather as God's unified people. Here, we sing
together, pray together, give thanks and praise together, and
eat and drink together. Mass is not a time for us to withdraw to
our own internal corner and block out all the noises around us.
Instead, it is a time when we open ourselves up to the people
around us and take part in this great fellowship. Our active
participation in this community gathering helps us to feel a
sense of belonging in this holy community of people.
Finally, mass is a commission. The end of mass is the
beginning of our mission to serve God. The final command, "Mass
is ended. Go and serve the Lord" explicitly tells us that we
have not "finished" our part by being present at mass. Going to
mass is in fact a decision on our part to be commissioned to the
ministry of being God's people. This ministry requires us serve
God by serving those around us as well as the world.
There are many ways to describe what mass is. But most
importantly, it is a time that we spend with God and with each
other. Today's world is hectic with school, work, and many
social activities. Going to mass no longer remains a priority
for many of us. It seems that week after week, there is little
change—the same people, the same celebrant, and seemingly the
same prayers. We get bored and tired of the rituals. Mass
interferes with our Sunday sleep. It takes away from our Sunday
football schedule. It has become a chore. Many of us use mass as
a yardstick to measure how good of a Catholic we are.
Nevertheless, unless we truly understand what mass is about,
we cannot actively participate in it and have it be a source of
spiritual nourishment for us.
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