2012년 7월 7일 연중 제13주간 토요일
제1독서
아모스 9,11-15
주님께서 이렇게 말씀하신다. 11 “그날에 나는 무너진 다윗의 초막을 일으키리라.
벌어진 곳은 메우고, 허물어진 곳은 일으켜서 그것을 옛날처럼 다시 세우리라. 12 그리하여 그들은 에돔의 남은 자들과 내 이름으로 불린 모든 민족들을 차지하리라. ─ 이 일을 하실 주님의 말씀이다. ─
13 보라, 그날이 온다. 주님의 말씀이다. 밭 가는 이를 거두는 이가 따르고, 포도 밟는 이를 씨 뿌리는 이가 따르리라. 산에서 새 포도주가 흘러내리고, 모든 언덕에서 새 포도주가 흘러넘치리라.
14 나는 내 백성 이스라엘의 운명을 되돌리리니, 그들은 허물어진 성읍들을 다시 세워 그곳에 살면서 포도밭을 가꾸어 포도주를 마시고, 과수원을 만들어 과일을 먹으리라.
15 내가 그들을 저희 땅에 심어 주리니, 그들은 내가 준 이 땅에서 다시는 뽑히지 않으리라.” ─ 주 너의 하느님께서 말씀하신다.
복음
마태오 9,14-17
14 그때에 요한의 제자들이 예수님께 와서, “저희와 바리사이들은 단식을 많이 하는데, 스승님의 제자들은 어찌하여 단식하지 않습니까?” 하고 물었다. 15 예수님께서 그들에게 이르셨다.
“혼인 잔치 손님들이 신랑과 함께 있는 동안에 슬퍼할 수야 없지 않으냐? 그러나 그들이 신랑을 빼앗길 날이 올 것이다. 그러면 그들도 단식할 것이다.
16 아무도 새 천 조각을 헌 옷에 대고 꿰매지 않는다. 헝겊에 그 옷이 땅겨 더 심하게 찢어지기 때문이다.
17 또한 새 포도주를 헌 가죽 부대에 담지 않는다. 그렇게 하면 부대가 터져 포도주는 쏟아지고 부대도 버리게 된다. 새 포도주는 새 부대에 담아야 한다. 그래야 둘 다 보존된다.
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http://www.usccb.org/nab/index.shtml
July 7, 2012
First Reading Introduction
We hear in the first reading an appendix to Amos written probably at a later date, but in the style and perspectives of Amos; it promises a new future to those who are faithful.
Am 9:11-15
Thus says the LORD:
On that day I will raise up
the fallen hut of David;
I will wall up its breaches,
raise up its ruins,
and rebuild it as in the days of old,
That they may conquer what is left of Edom
and all the nations that shall bear my name,
say I, the LORD, who will do this.
Yes, days are coming,
says the LORD,
When the plowman shall overtake the reaper,
and the vintager, him who sows the seed;
The juice of grapes shall drip down the mountains,
and all the hills shall run with it.
I will bring about the restoration of my people Israel;
they shall rebuild and inhabit their ruined cities,
Plant vineyards and drink the wine,
set out gardens and eat the fruits.
I will plant them upon their own ground;
never again shall they be plucked
From the land I have given them,
say I, the LORD, your God.
Ps 85:9ab and 10, 11-12, 13-14
R. (see 9b) The Lord speaks of peace to his people.
I will hear what God proclaims;
the LORD–for he proclaims peace to his people.
Near indeed is his salvation to those who fear him,
glory dwelling in our land.
R. The Lord speaks of peace to his people.
Kindness and truth shall meet;
justice and peace shall kiss.
Truth shall spring out of the earth,
and justice shall look down from heaven.
R. The Lord speaks of peace to his people.
The LORD himself will give his benefits;
our land shall yield its increase.
Justice shall walk before him,
and salvation, along the way of his steps.
R. The Lord speaks of peace to his people.
Gospel Reading Introduction
Can we be people of compromise? To settle disagreement and make peace, to solve disputed matters and to become at least tolerant of one another, yes. But not with the Gospel. Not when it comes to the renewal of life, whether personal or communal, that is constantly asked of us. Jesus tells his disciples and us, who are living in messianic times, that we are new, liberated people: we cannot compromise with salvation, with our faith, with the Gospel. Young wine belongs in new wineskins. New times require new attitudes.
Mt 9:14-17
The disciples of John approached Jesus and said,
“Why do we and the Pharisees fast much,
but your disciples do not fast?”
Jesus answered them, “Can the wedding guests mourn
as long as the bridegroom is with them?
The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them,
and then they will fast.
No one patches an old cloak with a piece of unshrunken cloth,
for its fullness pulls away from the cloak and the tear gets worse.
People do not put new wine into old wineskins.
Otherwise the skins burst, the wine spills out, and the skins are ruined.
Rather, they pour new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved.”
Commentary
Just as fresh wine requires new wineskins, so does the Good News of Jesus require the right kind of vessels. Through the Sacrament of Baptism, we are remade. We are, in fact, reborn so as to be made capable of containing the fullness of grace that God intends for us.
May we always be conscious of the great gift that God gives to us through baptism, the sacrament that remits original sin and configures us to the Lord Jesus, thus giving us access to the "new wine" of the Kingdom of God.
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http://www.staygreat.com/
wrong strategy
Jesus said, "You don't patch an
old coat with a piece of new cloth.
It will shrink and make the hole
bigger hole in the coat. Matthew 9:16
A cowhand had six drinks and
went to the cinema to see "The
Peril's of Pauline". Just as he
walked in, the villain was pursuing
the lovely Pauline. The cowhand
drew his gun and emptied it into
the villain on the screen. But the
only thing he achieved was to rid-
dle the screen with holes. Later,
someone said, "The guy's heart
was in the right place, but his strat-
egy was all wrong. If he wanted to
stop the villain, he should've shot
the projector--the source of the
problem--not its shadow.
How flawed is my strategy for try-
ing to turn my life over to Jesus?
Am I, perhaps, failing to attack
the source of the problem?
It is never too late to be
what you might have been.
Author George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans)
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http://www.evangeli.net/gospel/gospel.html
«Time will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them»
Today, we see how Jesus brought new times with him and a new doctrine, which He taught with authority; and we also realize how, as usual with new things, they clash with prevailing praxis and environment. Thus, in the pages preceding today's Gospel, we see Jesus forgiving the paralytic of his sins and healing his disease while the scribes are shocked; or, Jesus telling Matthew, a tax collector, to follow him, and eating with him and other publicans and sinners, while the Pharisees were “going up the walls”; and, in today's Gospel, John's disciples are the ones to approach Jesus, because they do not understand that He and his disciples do not fast.
Jesus, who never lets anyone without an answer, will reply: «How can you expect wedding guests to mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? Time will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, then they will fast» (Mt 9:15). Fasting was, and still is, a penitential practice «which prepares us for the liturgical feasts and help us acquire mastery over our instincts and freedom of heart» (Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 2043) and requests the Divine Mercy. But in those moments, God's infinite mercy and love was amidst them with Jesus' presence, the Incarnated Verb. How could they fast? There was only one possible attitude: joy, while enjoying the presence of God made man. How could they fast when Jesus had discovered for them a new way to relate to God, a new spirit that was breaking all those old manners and customs?
Today Jesus is here: «And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age» (Mt 28:20), and He is not because He went back to his Father, and thus, we cry out: Come, O Lord Jesus!.
We are living times of expectation. This is why it is convenient to renew ourselves every day with the new spirit of Jesus, to give up our old routines, to abstain from what may prevent us from advancing towards a full identification of Christ, towards sanctity. «Fair is our crying —our fasting— if we have a burning desire to see him» (St. Augustine).
We pray the Virgin Mother to grant us the grace we need to live the joy of knowing we are her beloved children.
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http://www.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html
“Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is present?”
In today’s gospel Jesus presents himself to his disciples -- and to us -- as our bridegroom. Jesus says he desires to relate to them as a bridegroom relates to a bride!
I have to confess the invitation to such intimacy makes me uncomfortable.
I seem to be more comfortable focusing on what Jesus does for us, that is, when he presents himself to us as our savior, shepherd and friend -- our way, our truth our life. I am comfortable acknowledging Jesus as savior of humanity, and for saving me as part of the human race.
But I am taken aback when Jesus reveals what he desires from us individually, that is, when he invites us to be with him in the most intimate human relationship — bridegroom and bride. I am daunted by the invitation to respond to Jesus with the intimacy of bridegroom and bride.
But he is outspoken to his disciples. He asserts that he does not want them simply to “patch up” their former relationship with God -- patching up old cloth and old wineskins won’t do. Jesus invites his disciples to a new relationship — new cloth, new wineskins.
Can he really mean it? What do we do now? Can we accept the invitation?
But what Jesus asks Jesus gives. We can only pray for the grace to remove our resistance and to allow Jesus to draw us into this spousal intimacy.
Lord, teach us how to let you be our bridegroom!
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http://www.rc.net/wcc/readings/
"The day will come when they will fast"
Which comes first, fasting or feasting? The disciples of John the Baptist were upset with Jesus’ disciples because they did not fast. Fasting was one of the three most important religious duties, along with prayer and almsgiving. Jesus gave a simple explanation. There’s a time for fasting and a time for feasting (or celebrating). To walk as a disciple with Jesus is to experience a whole new joy of relationship akin to the joy of the wedding party in celebrating with the groom and bride their wedding bliss. But there also comes a time when the Lord's disciples must bear the cross of affliction and purification. For the disciple there is both a time for rejoicing in the Lord's presence and celebrating his goodness and a time for seeking the Lord with humility and fasting and for mourning over sin. Do you take joy in the Lord’s presence with you and do you express sorrow and contrition for your sins?
Jesus goes on to warn his disciples about the problem of the “closed mind” that refuses to learn new things. Jesus used an image familiar to his audience — new and old wineskins. In Jesus’ times, wine was stored in wineskins, not bottles. New wine poured into skins was still fermenting. The gases exerted gave pressure. New wine skins were elastic enough to take the pressure, but old wine skins easily burst because they were hard. What did Jesus mean by this comparison? Are we to reject the old in place of the new? Just as there is a right place and a right time for fasting and for feasting, so there is a right place for the old as well as the new. Jesus says the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old (Matthew 13:52). How impoverished we would be if we only had the Old Testament or the New Testament, rather than both. The Lord gives us wisdom so we can make the best use of both the old and the new. He doesn't want us to hold rigidly to the past and to be resistant to the new work of his Holy Spirit in our lives. He wants our minds and hearts to be like new wine skins — open and ready to receive the new wine of the Holy Spirit. Are you eager to grow in the knowledge and understanding of God’s word and plan for your life?
"Lord Jesus, fill me with your Holy Spirit, that I may grow in the knowledge of your great love and truth. Help me to seek you earnestly in prayer and fasting that I may turn away from sin and wilfulness and conform my life more fully to your will. May I always find joy in knowing, loving, and serving you.”
Psalm 85:9,11-13
9 Surely his salvation is at hand for those who fear him, that glory may dwell in our land.
11 Faithfulness will spring up from the ground, and righteousness will look down from the sky.
12 Yea, the LORD will give what is good, and our land will yield its increase.
13 Righteousness will go before him, and make his footsteps a way.
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http://www.daily-meditations.org/index2.html
Today is the first Saturday of the month and many Catholics choose that day especially to honor our Blessed Mother, though one can do so any day and especially any Saturday. For those who pray the "office of the day" there is an option on Saturdays to pray the Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
It is just two months since the beautiful month of May when the Church paid special tribute to Our Lady. Many churches maintain the beautiful tradition of crowning the Blessed Mother with a wreath of flowers in May. We honor Mary, a humble, young, Jewish maiden, chosen by God to bear His Son. We thank her for her love and faithfulness to her vocation.
In the Church, the crown calls to mind the victory wreaths that await all of those in the heavenly kingdom who were faithful to their baptismal calling. Each of us has been called by God, as was Mary, for a special mission. All of us have been called to be heirs of the throne of God, but with that promise comes responsibility. Today we can turn again to Mary, our mother and role model to guide us along our journey.
Mary, help of Christians, pray for us.
- Joan of Jesus, OCDS
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http://www.contemplative.com/weekday_readings.htm
The disciples of John bring up religious observance and practice of particular followers.Jesus goes beyond the details of practices.He talks of wedding guests and bridegrooms, the patching of garments, the pouring of new wine into skins.There is where I will dwell in my prayer.My life with God is like being at a wedding feast, with the bride and the groom.I will gladly patch my garments with the old rags that God provides.I will fill my wineskins with the new wine of God's Kingdom.Soon enough will I fast when in my prayer I experience the Absence more than the Presence.Either way God comes to me.I am ready to greet the Bridegroom in whatever form He comes.
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http://goodnews.ie/calendar.php
Happiness can be manufactured to some extent, and just for short periods; but joy is a stroke from beyond. Joyless religion may be the profoundest denial of God. If there is no joy in it, it’s all your own work, so what need have you of God? If the Resurrection is not visible in you, then you are preaching death without resurrection. One of the fruits of the Spirit is joy, and it is mentioned next after love in St Paul’s list, “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Gal. 5:22). If you had no love in you, you could hardly claim to be a Christian; likewise joy (and all the others).
Joy does not come from avoiding pain and sorrow; on the contrary it is possible only when we have gone into the heart of our pain and sorrow. We have to go into the heart of it and experience a certain transformation, the characteristic shift that is the sign that the ‘chemistry’ of the Gospel is working. If we avoid the process nothing happens; we will have to continue all our lives to avoid it. That way there is no joy, only endless desperate flight.
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http://www.presentationministries.com/