Greetings on this the Memorial of Saint Clare, Virgin
Readings: Dt 4:32-40; Ps 77:12-13, 14-15, 16 and 21; Mt 16:24-28
Notes: Sometimes we need to reset out expectations and pre-supposed answers we have already formed.
A common question to ask someone who has completed the Camino is: What have you learned? Or what was the most memorable? Or what did you acquire from it?
My answer disappoints often.
My answer is nothing.
Literally, nothing.
Said in a more scriptural way: Vanity of vanities, says Qoheleth, vanity of vanities! All things are vanity! (Ecc 1:2).
I started with little.
I ended with less.
Throughout I gave away and shared.
My command of things, time and space, was and is a hard fought illusion.
I want the illusion no more.
I want the life of Camino with Jesus.
Today, Moses asks us to reconsider all the LORD has done for us.
He wants us to go more deeply into the events and the movements of the divine life around us and within us. This is why you must now know, and fix in your heart, that the LORD is God in the heavens above and on earth below, and that there is no other.
These are the words that Moses spoke to all Israel beyond the Jordan in the wilderness.
First reading – Moses’ questions to the People (after the Exodus):
- Did anything so great ever happen before?
- Was it ever heard of?
- Did a people ever hear the voice of God speaking from the midst of fire, as you did, and live?
- Or did any god venture to go and take a nation for himself from the midst of another nation, by testings, by signs and wonders, by war, with his strong hand and outstretched arm, and by great terrors, all of which the LORD, your God, did for you in Egypt before your very eyes?
When Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi he asked his disciples questions.
Jesus’ questions to the Disciples: (after the multiplication of the loaves)
- When Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”
0.5 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
Gospel – Jesus’ questions for all of us:
- What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?
- Or what can one give in exchange for his life?
Choose holiness.
Reflection
The 41 years of Clare’s religious life are scenarios of sanctity: an indomitable resolve to lead the simple, literal gospel life as Francis taught her; courageous resistance to the ever-present pressure to dilute the ideal; a passion for poverty and humility; an ardent life of prayer; and a generous concern for her sisters.
Source: https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/saint-clare-of-assisi/
First Reading
Moses said to the people: “Ask now of the days of old, before your time, ever since God created man upon the earth; ask from one end of the sky to the other.
This is why you must now know, and fix in your heart, that the LORD is God in the heavens above and on earth below, and that there is no other. You must keep his statutes and commandments which I enjoin on you today, that you and your children after you may prosper, and that you may have long life on the land which the LORD, your God, is giving you forever.”
Responsorial
I remember the deeds of the Lord.
Gospel Acclamation
Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness; for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.
Gospel
Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
For the Son of Man will come with his angels in his Father’s glory, and then he will repay each according to his conduct.
Peace be with you,
Deacon Gerry