Gospel Reflection

October 15, 2012

Monday - Year of Faith

St. Teresa of Jesus, Virgin, Doctor of the Church (Memorial)

by Rev. Fr. Prudencio 'Jun' T. Solomon (Rector and Parish Priest)

(Archdiocesan Shrine of the Our Lady of Loreto Parish, Sampaloc Manila)Guest Priest, Lunch Mass at EDSA Shrine/Shire of Mary, Queen of Peace/Our Lady of Peace Quasi-Parish

Reading 1 Gal 4:22-24, 26-27, 31-5:1

Brothers and sisters: It is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the freeborn woman. The son of the slave woman was born naturally, the son of the freeborn through a promise. Now this is an allegory. These women represent two covenants. One was from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery; this is Hagar. But the Jerusalem above is freeborn, and she is our mother. For it is written: Rejoice, you barren one who bore no children; break forth and shout, you who were not in labor; for more numerous are the children of the deserted one than of her who has a husband. Therefore, brothers and sisters, we are children not of the slave woman but of the freeborn woman. For freedom Christ set us free; so stand firm and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery.

Responsorial Psalm Ps 113:1b-2, 3-4, 5a and 6-7

R. (see 2) Blessed be the name of the Lord forever.

or:

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Praise, you servants of the LORD,

praise the name of the LORD.

Blessed be the name of the LORD

both now and forever.

R. Blessed be the name of the Lord forever.

or:

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

From the rising to the setting of the sun

is the name of the LORD to be praised.

High above all nations is the LORD;

above the heavens is his glory.

R. Blessed be the name of the Lord forever.

or:

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Who is like the LORD, our God,

who looks upon the heavens and the earth below?

He raises up the lowly from the dust;

from the dunghill he lifts up the poor.

R. Blessed be the name of the Lord forever.

or:

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel Lk 11:29-32

While still more people gathered in the crowd, Jesus said to them, "This generation is an evil generation; it seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it, except the sign of Jonah. Just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation.

At the judgment the queen of the south will rise with the men of this generation and she will condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and there is something greater than Solomon here. At the judgment the men of Nineveh will arise with this generation and condemn it, because at the preaching of Jonah they repented, and there is something greater than Jonah here."

HOMILY

Masama bang maghanap ng tanda? Sa Ebanghelyo ngayon, sinabi ni Hesus na "ang lahing ito ay napakasama, sapagkat naghahanap pa sila ng tanda".

Mga kapatid, hindi masama ang maghanap ng tanda, sapagkat ang tanda ay isang simbulo, isang sagisag na kumakatawan sa isang bagay, tao o lugar, upang malaman kung ano ang ibig sabihin o kahulugan nito. Ano ang sinasabi ni Hesus na napakasama? Hindi po ang paghahanap ng tanda - kundi ang kakulangan natin na makilala at mapansin ang tandang nasa harapan na natin. Ibinibigay na ang tanda, ngunit hindi pa rin pinapansin. Naririyan ang tanda, ngunit hindi pa rin tinitignan. Naririyan na ang simbulo o sagisag, pero hindi pinipilit unawain.

Mga kapatid, ito ang sinasabi ni Hesus sa mga tao, lalong lalo na noong kanyang panahon. Napakasama ng lahing 'yon sapagkat naroon na ang tanda sa kanila, sa gitna nila. At ang tanda ay walang iba kundi ang anak ng tao - si Hesus. Ang Kanyang buhay, ang Kanyang salita, ang Kanyang mga ginagawang kababalaghan ay mga tandang sapat upang ipaalam sa kanila na ang Diyos ay naririyan. Ngunit ito ay hindi nakikita ng mga tao. Humihingi pa sila ng tanda mula sa langit.

Mga kapatid, hindi masamang maghanap ng tanda. Ang masama ay kung nariyan na ay hindi pinapansin, hindi tinitignan, hindi ginagawan ng paraan upang maunawaan o maintindihan. Ang atin pong banal na pagdiriwang ay punong-puno ng tanda at mga simbulo. Ang tanong - ilan sa atin ang gumagawa ng paraan upang maintindihan ito? Ilan sa atin ang nagtatanong upang kahit papaano ay maunawaan nang mabuti ang kahulugan at yaman ng pagdiriwang na ito?

Mga ginigiliw na mga kapatid, tayo rin ay mga tanda sa bawat isa. Tayo'y tanda ni Kristo sa ating kapwa. Ipakilala natin Siya sa pamamagitan ng pagpapaliwanag ng ating buhay, ng ating pamumuhay at pagsunod sa Panginoon. We are all signs. Everything in our Celebration is a sign of God's presence, of God's grace, of God's love. Let us make an effort to make it known. Let us make EVERY effort to have it understood and learned by others.

Mga tanda - hindi masamang magtanong. Ngunit kung wala tayong ginagawang pamamaraan upang ito ay maintindihan, balewala ang tandang ibinibigay sa atin ng Diyos. Ang mga pagdiriwang, kabilang na tayo, ay mga tanda ng Diyos sa bawat isa. 

St. Teresa of Jesus – Pray for us

You may also want to see: A Holy Life - St. Teresa of Jesus

A Holy Life

St. Teresa of Jesus, Virgin,

Doctor of the Church (Memorial)

Feast day – October 15

St. Teresa (1515-1582) was born in Avila and died in Alba, Spain. When only a child of seven, she ran away from home in the hope of being martyred by the Moors; in this way, she said she could come to see God. At the age of eighteen she joined the Carmelite Order and chose Christ as her heavenly Spouse. With the help of St. John of the Cross she reformed most of the Carmelite convents and founded new ones. She reached the highest degree of prayer and through prayer obtained such knowledge of divine things that in 1970 Pope Paul VI named her the first woman Doctor of the Church.

St. Teresa of Jesus

St. Teresa of Jesus, honored by the Church as the "seraphic virgin," virgo seraphica, and reformer of the Carmelite Order, ranks first among women for wisdom and learning. She is called doctrix mystica, doctor of mystical theology; in a report to Pope Paul V the Roman Rota declared: "Teresa has been given to the Church by God as a teacher of the spiritual life. The mysteries of the inner mystical life which the holy Fathers propounded unsystematically and without orderly sequence, she has presented with unparalleled clarity." Her writings are still the classic works on mysticism, and from her all later teachers have drawn, e.g., Francis de Sales, Alphonsus Liguori. Characteristic of her mysticism is the subjective-individualistic approach; there is little integration with the liturgy and social piety, and thus she reflects the spirit of the sixteenth and following centuries.

Teresa was born at Avila, Spain, in the year 1515. At the age of seven she set out for Africa to die for Christ, but was brought back by her uncle. When she lost her mother at twelve, she implored Mary for her maternal protection. In 1533 she entered the Carmelite Order; for eighteen years she suffered physical pain and spiritual dryness. Under divine inspiration and with the approval of Pope Pius IV, she began the work of reforming the Carmelite Order. In spite of heavy opposition and constant difficulties, she founded thirty-two reformed convents.

Truly wonderful were the exterior and interior manifestations of her mystical union with God, especially during the last decade of her life. These graces reached a climax when her heart was transfixed (transverberatio cordis), an event that is commemorated in the Carmelite Order by a special feast on August 27. She practiced great devotion to the foster-father of Jesus, whose cult was greatly furthered throughout the Church through her efforts. When dying she often repeated the words: "Lord, I am a daughter of the Church!" Her holy body rests upon the high altar of the Carmelite church in Alba, Spain; her heart with its mysterious wound is reserved in a precious reliquary on the Epistle side of the altar.

St. Teresa composed the following well-known lines:

Let nothing affright thee,
Nothing dismay thee.
All is passing,
God ever remains.
Patience obtains all.
Whoever possesses God
Cannot lack anything
God alone suffices.

 

Sources for this article were taken from:  CatholicCulture.org

 

Prayer

O God, who through your Spirit raised up Saint Teresa of Jesus to show the Church the way to seek perfection, grant that we may always be nourished by the food of her heavenly teaching and fired with longing for true holiness. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Amen.

Saint Terese of Avila – Pray for us