13 October 2011: Jesus unmasks hypocrisy

Jesus having left Bethany, continued working many miracles, and always doing some act of mercy. “He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath. There was a woman possessed by a spirit who crippled her for eighteen years. She was badly stooped, incapable of standing erect.” (Lk 13:10-11) How humiliating; a truly pitiable state!
The status to which the Evil Spirit had reduced this poor woman fills us with compassion. Yet it is but a faint shadow of the misery to which the spirit of avarice and impurity reduces so many Christians; keeping their thoughts and affections bound to material and sensual pleasures. Thus makes them incapable of raising their heart to God, to eternity!
We see, too, in this faint but sad image some people we work with or even acquaintances whom the devil of tepidity has changed from spiritual to worldly. In these persons’ intentions, aspirations, there is nothing exalted, nothing heavenly. They are unable to remain in contemplation of God for long. An invisible hand bows them down to earth, to the flesh. Is this our portrait?
“When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, ‘Woman, you are free of your infirmity’. He laid his hand on her, and immediately she stood up straight and began thanking God.” (Lk 13:12-3)
Mark the ‘place’ and the ‘time’ at which this miracle was wrought: in the synagogue, in the place set apart for common prayer, and at the hour when the congregation assembled, that the woman was cured.
If she had not been regular in her attendance, she might have missed Jesus. She would have remained a cripple till death. Punctuality at spiritual activities is important. We know not to which of these exercises God may have attached special favors, special graces. Miss one, and we may lose an immense blessing.
Do we sometimes allow trifling matters to keep us away? The woman suffered for eighteen years before her prayers were finally heard. What perseverance!
The people rejoiced for all the things that were done by Jesus, but the Pharisees were greatly ‘indignant’ (Lk 13:14). The glory of Jesus outshone them. They would have stopped at nothing envy could suggest, provided they can make it appear as their great zeal for the law.
In this spirit, the chief of the synagogue told the multitude, “There are six days for working. Come on those days to be cured, not on the sabbath.” (Lk 13:14)
The hypocrite got the humiliation he truly deserved. “The Lord replied, ‘You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the sabbath untie his ox or ass out of the stall and lead to water? Should not this daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen years be set free from her shackles on the sabbath?’
At these words, his opponents were put to shame; meanwhile, everyone else rejoiced at the marvels Jesus was accomplishing.” (cf Lk 13:15-7) Hypocrisy will certainly be exposed some day. Beware!
Ref: Cf “Practical Meditations” by a Father of the Society of Jesus, 1964, pp638-40

The Meaning of the Holy Rosary
The evangelist Luke tells us that Mary “was troubled” at the words the archangel Gabriel addressed to her at the annunciation and wondered “what his greeting meant”.
This meditation of Mary constitutes the prime model of the prayer of the Rosary, the prayer of those who hold dear the angel’s greeting to Mary. Persons who recite the Rosary take up Mary’s meditation in their thoughts and hearts; as they recite the prayer they wonder “what his greeting meant”.
First of all, they repeat the words addressed to Mary by God himself, through his messenger. Those who hold dear the angel’s greeting to Mary repeat words ‘coming from God’.
As we recite the Rosary, we utter these words many times. This is not just simple repetition. The words addressed to Mary by God himself and announced by the divine messenger ‘contain an inscrutable content’.
“Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee ... Blessed art thou among women ...” This content is closely united with the mystery of the redemption. The words of the angel’s greeting to Mary lead into this mystery and find their explanation in it at the same time.
Ref: Cf “Prayers and Devotions from Pope John Paul II”, 1984, p351

Meditations on the Litany of Loreto
‘Virgin most merciful’ -- Mary is as clement and merciful toward those who seek her intercession as she is powerful with God. St Bernard says, ‘since the power to save us cannot be wanting to Mary, as she is the Mother of God, so neither can the will be wanting to her, for she is our Mother. Who is there that ever had recourse to Mary and was abandoned? Let him cease to praise thy mercy who remembers having ever invoked thee without being graciously heard.’
Thus, to obtain her help, we are not obliged to pray much to this Mother of mercy; it is enough to ask for it with confidence. ‘Her mercy’, says Richard of St Victor, ‘comes to our aid before we invoke it. It is because she cannot know and see our miseries without relieving them.’
See, then, O Mary, see my miseries and help me.
‘Virgin most merciful, pray for us.’
Ref: “The Glories of Mary.” In “Documentation Service”, V:322

The Church
It is most important to have a correct understanding of “Church”. Many followers of Christ develop difficulties with the Church. Part of the difficulty is that they do not understand properly what the Church is.
The best explanation of “Church” is to be read in the masterwork of the Second Vatican Council: the “Constitution on the Church”. This document explains that the idea of Church, of a community or organization of Christians, comes from Christ. The Church is a community of God’s people. It is made up of us all. It does not belong to anyone but Christ. All of us together are in it, are co-responsible for it. The Church helps us to relate to Christ, to worship, to receive the Bread of Life, to know what to believe and do. ...
Ref: In “The Vatican II Weekday Missal”, 1975, p1468

• Dedication of Clairvaux, in the diocese of Langres, in honor of the Blessed Virgin. St Bernard was the first abbot of this celebrated monastery, where he died in the year 1153, aged sixty-three years. Alphonsns I, King of Portugal, in the year 1142, bound himself and his successors to pay every year, as the vassal of Our Lady of Clairvaux, fifty gold maravedis. — Cistercian Chronicle. (“Catholic Gems or Treasures of the Church” Historical Calendar; www.bethlehemobserver.com).
• Our Lady of Clairvaux, France (12th Century). (www/divinewill.org/feastsofourlady.html); (www.iskandar.com/ourlady/ourladyfeasts.html); (www.miraclehunter.com/marian_apparitions/calendar/index.html); (maryfest.htm / www.starharbor.com/santiago/m_feasts.html)
• “Notre Dame de Clairvaux”. France, 12th Century. (www.marylinks.org/Mary-Calendar.htm)
• Seventh Fatima Apparition (Portugal, 1917). (http://www/mariedenazareth.com)
• Our Lady of Fatima. Valenzuela, Bulacan PHL. (www.miraclehunter.com/marian_apparitions/calendar/index.html)