CHRISTIAN MORNING MEDITATION:Lectio Divina: Matthew 10:34-11:1Monday, July 15, 2019Ordinary Time1) Opening prayerGod our Father,Your light of truthguides us to the way of Christ.May all who follow Himreject what is contrary to the gospel.We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit,one God, for ever and ever. Amen. 2) Gospel Reading – Matthew 10:34-11:1Jesus said to his Apostles: "Do not think that I have come to bring peace upon the earth. I have come to bring not peace but the sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and one’s enemies will be those of his household. "Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. "Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me. Whoever receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and whoever receives a righteous man because he is righteous will receive a righteous man’s reward. And whoever gives only a cup of cold water to one of these little ones to drink because he is a disciple– amen, I say to you, he will surely not lose his reward." When Jesus finished giving these commands to his Twelve disciples, he went away from that place to teach and to preach in their towns.3) Reflection• In May of last year, the V Conference of Latin American Bishops, which was held in Aparecida in the north of Brazil, wrote a very important document on the theme: “Disciples and Missionaries of Jesus Christ, so that our peoples may have life”. The discourse of the mission of chapter 10 of the Gospel of Matthew offers much light in helping to carry out the mission as disciples and missionaries of Jesus Christ. The Gospel today presents to us the last part of this discourse of the mission.• Matthew 10:34-36: I have not come to bring peace to the earth but the sword. Jesus always speaks of peace (Mt 5:9; Mk 9:50; Lk 1:79; 10:5; 19:38; 24:36; Jn 14:27; 16:33; 20:21, 26). How can we understand the statement in today’s Gospel which seems to say the contrary: “Do not think that I have come to bring peace on earth; no, I have not come to bring peace but the sword.” This affirmation does not mean that Jesus was in favor of division and the sword. No! Jesus wants neither the sword (Jn 18:11) nor division. He wants the union of all in truth (cf. Jn 17:17-23). At that time, the announcement of the truth that He, Jesus of Nazareth, was the Messiah became a reason of great division among the Jews. In the same family or community, some were in favor and others were radically contrary. In this sense the Good News of Jesus was truly a source of division, a “sign of contradiction” (Lk 2:34) or, as Jesus said, He was bringing the sword. In this way the other warning is understood: “I have come to set son against father, daughter against mother, daughter-in-law against mother-in-law; a person’s enemies will be the members of his own household”. In fact, that was what was happening in the families and in the communities: much division, much discussion, the consequence of the announcement of the Good News among the Jews of that time, because some accepted while others rejected. Today the same thing happens. Many times, when the Church renews itself, the appeal to the Good News becomes a ‘sign of contradiction’ and of division. People who for years have lived comfortably in their routine of Christian life do not want to allow themselves to be bothered by the ‘innovations’ of Vatican Council II. Disturbed by the changes, they used all their intelligence to find arguments in defense of their opinions and to condemn the changes, considering them contrary to what they thought was the true faith.• Matthew 10:37: No one who prefers father or mother to Me is worthy of Me. Luke gives this same statement, but much more demanding. Literally he says, “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, his sons and brothers, his sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple” (Lk 14:26). How can this affirmation of Jesus be combined with the other one in which He says to observe the fourth commandment: love and honor father and mother? (Mk 7:10-12; Mt 19:19). (The Greek word used in Luke is μισέω, which has slightly different meaning than how hate is used in English. It’s usage means “to love less”, to denounce (comparatively) between the two. It does not carry the animosity we commonly associate with hate.) However, two observations: (1) The fundamental criterion on which Jesus insists always is this one: the Good News of God should be the supreme value of our life. In our life there can be no greater value. (2) The economic and social situation at the time of Jesus was such that the families were obliged to close themselves up in themselves. They no longer had the conditions to respect the obligations of human community living together as, for example, sharing, hospitality, invitation to a meal, and the acceptance of the excluded. This individualistic closing up in self, caused by the national and international situation, produced distortion: (1) It made life in community impossible (2) It limited the commandment “honor father and mother” exclusively to the small family nucleus and no longer to the larger family of the community (3) It prevented the full manifestation of the Good News of God, because if God is Father/Mother we are brothers and sisters of one another. And this truth should be expressed in the life of the community. A living and fraternal community is the mirror of the face of God. Living together without community is a mirror which disfigures the face of God. In this context, the request of Jesus, “to hate father and mother” means that the disciples should overcome the individualistic closing up of the small family on itself, and extend it to the community dimension, preferring to communal love to limiting it to familial love. Jesus Himself put into practice what He taught others. His family wanted to call Him to close Himself up in self. When they told Him, “Look, Your mother and Your brothers are outside and they are looking for You”, He answered: “Who is My mother, and who are My brothers?” Looking at the people around Him He said: “Behold, My mother and My brothers. Anyone who does the will of God is My brother, My sister and My mother” (Mk 3:32-35). He extends the family! This was and continues to be, even today for the small family, the only way to be able to keep and transmit the values which He believes.• Matthew 10:38-39: The demands of the mission of the disciples. In these two verses, Jesus gives important and demanding advice: (a) To take up the cross and follow Jesus: Anyone who does not take his cross and follow in My footsteps is not worthy of Me. In order to perceive all the significance and importance of this first advice, keep in mind the witness of Saint Paul: “But as for me, it is not of the question that I should boast at all, except of the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom the world has been crucified to me and I to the world” (Gal 6:14). To carry the cross presupposes, even now, a radical drawing away from the sinful system which reigns in the world. (b) To have the courage to give one’s life: “Anyone who finds his life will lose it; anyone who loses his life for My sake will find it”. Only the one who in life has been capable of giving himself totally to others will feel fulfilled. This second piece of advice confirms the deepest human experience; the source of life is in the gift of life. In giving one receives. “If the grain of wheat does not die …” (Jn 12, 24). • Matthew 10:40: The identification of the disciple with Jesus and with God Himself. This human experience of contribution and of the gift received has a clarification, a deepening: “Anyone who welcomes you welcomes Me: and anyone who welcomes Me welcomes the One who sent Me.” In the total gift of self, the disciple identifies himself with Jesus; there the encounter with God takes place, and God allows Himself to be found by the one who seeks Him. • Matthew 10:41-42: The reward of the prophet, of the just and of the disciple. The discourse of the Mission ends with one sentence on reward: “Anyone who welcomes a prophet because he is a prophet will have a prophet’s reward; and anyone who welcomes an upright person because he is upright will have the reward of an upright person. If anyone gives so much as a cup of cold water to one of these little ones, because he is a disciple, then in truth I tell you, he will most certainly not go without reward”. In this statement the sequence is very meaningful: the prophet is recognized because of his mission as one sent by God. The upright person is recognized by his behavior, by his perfect way of observing the law of God. The disciple is recognized by no quality or mission, but simply by his social condition of being least among the people. The Kingdom is not made of great things. It is like a very big house which is constructed with small bricks. Anyone who despises the brick will have great difficulty in constructing the house. Even a glass of water serves as a brick for the construction of the Kingdom.• Matthew 11:1: The end of the discourse of the mission. When Jesus had finished instructing His twelve disciples He moved from there to teach and preach in their towns. Now Jesus leaves to put into practice what He has taught. We will see this in chapters 11 and 12 of the Gospel of Matthew. 4) Personal questions• To lose life in order to gain life. Have you had some experience of having felt rewarded for an act of donation or gratuity for others? • He who welcomes you welcomes Me, and who welcomes Me, welcomes the One who sent Me. Stop and think about what Jesus says here: He and God Himself identify themselves with you. 5) Concluding PrayerHow blessed are those who live in Your house;they shall praise You continually.Blessed those who find their strength in You,whose hearts are set on pilgrimage. (Ps 84:4-5)dailymeditations www.stswithuns.org.uk/event/dr-15072019 … See MoreSee Less

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stswithuns.org.uk/newsletter-NL_14072019Keep up to date with what’s going on in our ParishMass Time Our Lady of Lourdes for 6pm Mass on Saturdays for Sunday Mass at St Swithun’s RC Church Southsea. Mass Times at 8:30am , 10:15am (family mass ) and 1pm (Mass in Polish)We wish you all a blessed and peaceful weekend – Fr Marcin … See MoreSee Less

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CHRISTIAN MORNING MEDITATION:Lectio Divina: 15th Sunday of ordinary time (C)Sunday, July 14, 2019The parable of the Good SamaritanWho is my neighbor?Luke 10:25-371. LECTIOa) Opening prayer:Prayers of Blessed Giorgio Preca in Il Sacrario dello spirito di CristoLord God, You are present and I am in You: Give me wisdom to know Your spirit.Lord God, You are present and I am in You: Grant me the gift of the spirit of the Master, my Christ Jesus.Lord God, You are present and I am in You: Guide my every way with Your light.Lord God, You are present and I am in You: Teach me to do Your will at all times.Lord God, You are present and I am in You: Do not let me stray from Your Spirit, the Spirit of love.Lord God, You are present and I am in You: Do not abandon me when my strength fails.b) Gospel reading:Luke 10:25-37There was a scholar of the law who stood up to test Jesus and said, "Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus said to him, "What is written in the law? How do you read it?" He said in reply, "You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself." He replied to him, "You have answered correctly; do this and you will live." But because he wished to justify himself, he said to Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" Jesus replied, "A man fell victim to robbers as he went down from Jerusalem to Jericho. They stripped and beat him and went off leaving him half-dead. A priest happened to be going down that road, but when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side. Likewise a Levite came to the place, and when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side. But a Samaritan traveler who came upon him was moved with compassion at the sight. He approached the victim, poured oil and wine over his wounds and bandaged them. Then he lifted him up on his own animal, took him to an inn, and cared for him. The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper with the instruction, ‘Take care of him. If you spend more than what I have given you, I shall repay you on my way back.’ Which of these three, in your opinion, was neighbor to the robbers’ victim?" He answered, "The one who treated him with mercy." Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise."c) Prayerful silent time:that the Word of God may enter into our hearts and enlighten our life.2. MEDITATIOa) A key to the reading:This is chapter 10 of Luke’s Gospel. It is the central part of Luke’s Gospel and it follows Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem: “Now as the time drew near for Him to be taken up to heaven, He resolutely took the road for Jerusalem” (Lk 9:51). We know that for Luke, Jerusalem is the city where salvation will take place, and Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem forms a central theme. Luke’s story begins in the holy city (Lk 1:5) and ends in the same city (Lk 24:52). In this middle section, Luke will repeatedly insist on the fact that Jesus is going towards Jerusalem (for instance in Lk 13:22; 17:11). In this text, which tells the parable of the good Samaritan in the context of a discussion with a doctor of the law concerning the greatest commandment, we again find the theme of a journey, this time from Jerusalem to Jericho (Lk 10:30). The parable is part of this middle section of the Gospel that begins with Jesus, a pilgrim together with His disciples on their way to Jerusalem. He sends them ahead to prepare for Him to stop at a Samaritan village and there they only find hostility precisely because they were on their way to Jerusalem (Lk 9:51-53). The Samaritans avoided pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem and were hostile to them. “After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them out ahead of Him, in pairs, to all the towns and places He Himself was to visit” (Lk 10:1). Seventy-two is the traditional number of pagan nations.The Fathers of the Church (Ambrose, Augustine, Jerome and others), keeping in mind all the symbolism associated with Jerusalem, the holy city of salvation, interpret this parable in a particular way. In the man who goes from Jerusalem to Jericho they see Adam who represents the whole human race expelled from Eden, the celestial paradise, because of sin. The Fathers of the Church see the thieves as the tempter who takes us away from God’s friendship with his wiles and who holds us slaves in our humanity wounded by sin. In the priest and the Levite they see the insufficiency of the old law for our salvation that will be accomplished by our Good Samaritan, Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, who, leaving the celestial Jerusalem, comes to the aid of our sinful condition and heals us with the oil of grace and the wine of the Spirit. In the inn, the Fathers see and image of the Church and in the inn-keeper they see the pastors into whose hands Jesus entrusts the care of His people, The departure of the Samaritan from the inn is seen by the Fathers as the resurrection and ascension of Jesus to sit at the right hand of the Father, but who promises to come back to reward each person according to his or her merit. Jesus then leaves the two denarii to the Church for our salvation, the two denarii that are the Sacred Scriptures and the Sacraments that help us on our way to holiness.This allegorical and mystical interpretation of the text helps us to accept the message of this parable. The text of the parable begins with a dialogue between a doctor of the law who stands to put the Lord to the test by asking, “Master, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” (Lk 10:25). Jesus replies with another question: “What is written in the law? What do you read there?” (Lk 10:26). We must see this dialogue as a confrontation between two masters, a thing quite common in those days as a system of clarifying and deepening points of law. The polemical tone prevailing here is different from that in Mark where the question is asked by a scribe who “had listened to them debating (Jesus and the Sadducees), and had observed how well Jesus had answered them” (Mk 12:28), then puts the question to Jesus. This scribe is well disposed to listen to Jesus, so much so that Jesus ends the dialogue with “You are not far from the Kingdom of God” (Mk 12:34). Matthew, however, places this question in the context of a debate between Jesus and the Sadducees with the Pharisees present who, when they “heard that He had silenced the Sadducees they got together and, to disconcert Him, one of them put a question…” (Mt 22:34-35). Jesus gives an immediate reply quoting the commandment of love as found in Deuteronomy and Leviticus.Only in Luke’s text is the question not about which is the greatest commandment but about how to inherit eternal life, a question dealt with again in the Synoptic Gospels on the lips of the rich young man (Mt 19:16; Mk 10:17; Lk 18:18). As in Mark, so also here, Jesus praises the doctor of the law: “You have answered right… do this and life is yours” (Lk 1:28). Except the doctor of the law was not yet satisfied with Jesus’ answer and wanting “to justify himself” (Lk 10:28) for having asked the question asks again “and who is my neighbor?” This second question introduces and connects the following parable with the dialogue between Jesus and the doctor of the law. We also notice an inclusion between verse 26 that ends the debate and leads us to the tale of the parable in verse 37, which ends the dialogue and the parable definitively. In this verse, Jesus repeats to the doctor of the law that he had defined the neighbor as one who was compassionate: “Go and do the same yourself”. This saying of Jesus reminds us of the words at the Last Supper as recorded in John, when, after the washing of the feet, Jesus invites His disciples to follow His example (Jn 13:12-15). At the Last Supper, Jesus bequeaths to His disciples the commandment of love understood as willingness “to give one’s life” in love for each other as the Lord has loved us (Jn 15:12-14).This commandment goes beyond the observance of the law. The priest and the Levite have kept the law by not approaching the poor wounded man who is left half dead, so as not to defile themselves (Lev 21:1). Jesus goes beyond the law and desires His disciples to do as He does. “By this love you have for one another, everyone will know that you are My disciples” (Jn 13:35). For the disciple of Jesus mere philanthropy is not enough. The Christian is called to something more, which he or she accomplishes in imitation of the Master, as the apostle Paul said, “We are those who have the mind of Christ” (1 Cor 2:16) “Because the love of Christ overwhelms us when we reflect that one man has died for all” (2 Cor 5:14).b) Some questions to direct our meditation and practice:* What touched you most in the parable?* With whom in the story do you identify?* Have you ever thought of Jesus as the Good Samaritan?* Do you feel the need for salvation in your life?* Can you say with the apostle Paul that you have the mind of Christ?* What urges you to love your neighbor? Is it the need to love and be loved, or is it compassion and the love of Christ?* Who is your neighbor?3. ORATIOCanticle – 1Pt 2: 21-24Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should follow in His steps. He committed no sin; no guile was found on His lips. When He was reviled, He did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten; but He trusted to Him who judges justly. He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By His wounds you have been healed.4. CONTEMPLATIOContemplation is knowing how to adhere with one’s mind and heart to the Lord who by His Word transforms us into new beings who always do His will. “Knowing these things, you will be blessed if you do them.” (Jn 13:17)dailymeditations www.stswithuns.org.uk/event/dr-14072019 … See MoreSee Less

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