#catholicliturgy

Reading 1

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Nehemiah 2:1-8

In the month Nisan of the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes,

when the wine was in my charge,

I took some and offered it to the king.

As I had never before been sad in his presence,

the king asked me, "Why do you look sad?

If you are not sick, you must be sad at heart."

Though I was seized with great fear, I answered the king:

"May the king live forever!

How could I not look sad

when the city where my ancestors are buried lies in ruins,

and its gates have been eaten out by fire?"

The king asked me, "What is it, then, that you wish?"

I prayed to the God of heaven and then answered the king:

"If it please the king,

and if your servant is deserving of your favor,

send me to Judah, to the city of my ancestors' graves,

to rebuild it."

Then the king, and the queen seated beside him,

asked me how long my journey would take

and when I would return.

I set a date that was acceptable to him,

and the king agreed that I might go.

I asked the king further: "If it please the king,

let letters be given to me for the governors

of West-of-Euphrates,

that they may afford me safe-conduct until I arrive in Judah;

also a letter for Asaph, the keeper of the royal park,

that he may give me wood for timbering the gates

of the temple-citadel and for the city wall

and the house that I shall occupy."

The king granted my requests,

for the favoring hand of my God was upon me.

Responsorial Psalm

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Psalm 137:1-2, 3, 4-5, 6

R. (6ab) Let my tongue be silenced if I ever forget you!

By the streams of Babylon

we sat and wept

when we remembered Zion.

On the aspens of that land

we hung up our harps.

R. Let my tongue be silenced if I ever forget you!

Though there our captors asked of us

the lyrics of our songs,

And our despoilers urged us to be joyous:

"Sing for us the songs of Zion!"

R. Let my tongue be silenced if I ever forget you!

How could we sing a song of the LORD

in a foreign land?

If I forget you, Jerusalem,

may my right hand be forgotten!

R. Let my tongue be silenced if I ever forget you!

May my tongue cleave to my palate

if I remember you not,

If I place not Jerusalem

ahead of my joy.

R. Let my tongue be silenced if I ever forget you!

Alleluia

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Philippians 3:8-9

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

I consider all things so much rubbish

that I may gain Christ and be found in him.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel

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Luke 9:57-62

As Jesus and his disciples were proceeding

on their journey, someone said to him,

"I will follow you wherever you go."

Jesus answered him,

"Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests,

but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head."

And to another he said, "Follow me."

But he replied, "Lord, let me go first and bury my father."

But he answered him, "Let the dead bury their dead.

But you, go and proclaim the Kingdom of God."

And another said, "I will follow you, Lord,

but first let me say farewell to my family at home."

Jesus answered him, "No one who sets a hand to the plow

and looks to what was left behind is fit for the Kingdom of God.

**

FOCUS AND LITURGY OF THE WORD

I will never forget the opportunity I turned down.

Our son was driving halfway across the country. The car was packed, he in the driver’s seat, arm resting on the windowsill, beaming his usual expansive smile, a twinkle of adventure in his eyes. As always, he had planned an interesting route. Halfway out the driveway, he reversed and roared back in. His head out the window, beaming, “Mom, why don’t you come with me! It will be fun! Three or four days out, and you can fly home. Come on – what’s keeping you?” I knew immediately how badly I wanted to go with him. I am not spontaneous. Begin with him was/is always an adventure of the highest order! “But I am not packed.” My head and heart were swirling with desire, but I just could not take the leap and go with him. His eyes coaxing – I still could not go with him. I watched him leave full of joy and adventure. By the time he got to the end of the block and turned the corner, I regretted not going with him. I missed an adventure and an opportunity. I missed precious time with him.

Twenty years later, I got a second chance! “Mom, let’s go on a trip together!” Without a second’s hesitation, “yes, I’d love to.” “You sure you really will go?” He remembered. I did go. We had a fabulous time together.

Today’s gospel reading has always been challenging for me. Before the men could commit to “follow” Jesus, one wanted to “…go first to bury my father.”

And another: “I will follow you Lord, but first let me say farewell to my family at home.”

Reasonable requests, especially considering the society of the time. It was expected of a son to care for his widowed mother. Jesus knew this.

To the first man, Jesus says, “…you go and proclaim the Kingdom of God.” And to the second man: “No one who…looks to what was left behind is fit for the kingdom of God.”

These words of Jesus sound very harsh. Where is the Jesus who speaks of mercy and demonstrates compassion? The Jesus I am used to hearing. In the reading just a few days ago, we heard of Jesus “moved with pity” (Luke 7), raising the son of a widowed woman so her son could care for her.

Harsh and callous – not the Jesus I know. Thinking through this reading made no sense to me. Praying with these verses opened my ears and heart– I began to hear Jesus differently.

Possibly, these verses are about the urgency of the Kingdom and the spiritual family of Jesus. Numerous times throughout scripture, we hear references to who is part of Jesus’ family. “…those who do the will of my Father…are (His) Jesus’ brothers, sisters and mother.” (Matthew 12:48-50). This verse, among others, gives meaning to spiritual kinship over blood relationship. “Follow me”

“The kingdom is at hand,” and I want you with me. We have to be about it now. Make up your mind. Possibly harsh and callous, but carries a sense of urgency and opportunity. Jesus calls and will gently reveal my personal role in the building of the Kingdom. Will I take this opportunity or not? So….

**

SAINT OF THE DAY

Saint Thérèse of Lisieux

(January 2, 1873 – September 30, 1897)

Saint Thérèse of Lisieux’s Story

“I prefer the monotony of obscure sacrifice to all ecstasies. To pick up a pin for love can convert a soul.”

These are the words of Thérèse of Lisieux, a Carmelite nun called the “Little Flower,” who lived a cloistered life of obscurity in the convent of Lisieux, France. And her preference for hidden sacrifice did indeed convert souls. Few saints of God are more popular than this young nun. Her autobiography, The Story of a Soul, is read and loved throughout the world. Thérèse Martin entered the convent at the age of 15 and died in 1897 at the age of 24.

Life in a Carmelite convent is indeed uneventful and consists mainly of prayer and hard domestic work. But Thérèse possessed that holy insight that redeems the time, however dull that time may be. She saw in quiet suffering a redemptive suffering, suffering that was indeed her apostolate. Thérèse said she came to the Carmel convent “to save souls and pray for priests.” And shortly before she died, she wrote: “I want to spend my heaven doing good on earth.”

Thérèse of Lisieux was canonized in 1925. On October 19, 1997, Pope John Paul II proclaimed her a Doctor of the Church, the third woman to be so recognized in light of her holiness and the influence of her teaching on spirituality in the Church.

Her parents, Louis and Zélie, were beatified in 2008 and canonized in 2015.

Reflection

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Thérèse has much to teach our age of the image, the appearance, the “self.” We have become a dangerously self-conscious people, painfully aware of the need to be fulfilled, yet knowing we are not. Thérèse, like so many saints, sought to serve others, to do something outside herself, to forget herself in quiet acts of love. She is one of the great examples of the gospel paradox that we gain our life by losing it, and that the seed that falls to the ground must die in order to live.

Preoccupation with self separates modern men and women from God, from their fellow human beings, and ultimately from themselves. We must re-learn to forget ourselves, to contemplate a God who draws us out of ourselves, and to serve others as the ultimate expression of selfhood. These are the insights of Saint Thérèse, and they are more valid today than ever.

Saint Thérèse is the Patron Saint of:

Florists

Missionaries

Pilots

Priests

***