Our Lady of the Pillar, Oct. 12

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Scripture: Lectionary 469:

Romans 2:1-11. Psalm 62:2-3.6-7.9. Luke 11:42-46:

Paul gives us a great insight into his comprehension of who God is. He tells us at the end of his reasoning about those who judge others and those who are righteous and do not judge others. His words tells us that with God there is no favoritism. He divides the world into Jews and Gentiles thus covering all of the human race during the first century. God’s judgment, unlike human judgment, calls all of us to repentance through his kindness to both saints and sinners. Jesus his son will do the same.

Both Jew and Gentile are under this judgment of God and it is our love of God’s commandments that puts us under the power of God’s love and God’s justice. He encourages us to respect this judgment of God by living out the fullness of our lives in conformity with the compassionate love of God seen in the one commandment of love. Paul repeats, “…there will be glory, honor, and peace for everyone who has done good, likewise to the Jew first, then the Greek.”

Our Psalm Response is an acknowledgment of God’s righteous judgment on us all: “Lord, you give back to everyone according to their works. “ (Psalm 62:13).

The scene from the Gospel of Luke shows us that Jesus has the same authority as that of God when it comes to passing judgment on us. Whenever we are not in harmony with God’s law of love and compassion we, too, are subject to the “Woes” of the Lord. A woe is the opposite of a beatitude or blessing. Thus if we are observers of the beatitudes, we are blessed without being judged. Jesus always blesses those who see the centrality of God’s commandments of love. Amen,

OUR LADY OF THE PILLAR: Oct 12: Foundational Feast for the Marianist Family

Scripture: Judith 13:14.17-20. Psalm 27:1.3.4.5. Luke 11:27-28:

Our readings are taken from the Collection of Masses of the Blessed Virgin. The title for the feast is The Blessed Virgin Mary, the Pillar of Faith. The Preface has these thematic words: “You kept her untouched by the stain of original sin and the corruption of the grave. Spotless in her virginity she became the fitting shrine from which Christ was born to be revealed as the light of the nations and the Bridegroom of the Church. Bathed in the glory of her Son, she shines upon his people as a star of hope and a pillar of faith.”

Blessed William Joseph Chaminade, the founder of the entire Marianist Family of lay and religious members had a special experience from Mary that led him to found the two religious congregations and the foundational lay communities (Sodalities). This took place while he was in exile in Saragossa, Spain (1797-1800) at the Shrine of Our Lady of the Pillar which is based on the apparition of Mary to James, the Greater, the brother of John the beloved disciple. Like the apostle James who returned to Jerusalem to continue his mission and to be martyred, Blessed Chaminade would live a long life of mission without martyrdom in reconstructing the Church in France during the French Revolution. He too considered himself and apostle of Mary with a mission of bringing the Gospel and Jesus back to his native country, France.

For all in the Marianist Family this feast constitutes the first beginnings of Mary’s lay groups, the Daughters of Mary Immaculate, and the Society of Mary. There continues to be a great devotion and dedication to the Shrine and Cathedral in Saragossa called Our Lady of the Pillar where also St. James is revered.

Our first reading from Judith presents that heroine as blessed among all women in Israel. Mary will hear the same blessing at the visit she pays to Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist. Both Judith and Mary have conquered the enemy; for the first it is Holofernes; for Mary it is the enemy of heresy and the existence of evil. Mary is blessed by an unknown woman in our Gospel for having giving birth to Jesus and for having done God’s will at all times. Mary’s faith was a pillar of strength to overcome all forms of sin and temptation thus helping all who are her children to have a strong heroine of faith in the person of Jesus her Son and our Redeemer. She and the Marianist Family carry on the mission of bringing Jesus to everyone who has a listening heart of faith.

Mary and Judith praise God in a threefold manner. We focus on Mary who prays at the Annunciation, then in the Temple on several occasions, and in her last recorded presence in the upper room in Jerusalem where she awaited the Holy Spirit.

Thursday, October 13, Lectionary # 470

Scripture: Romans 3:21-29. Psalm 130:1-2.3-4. 5-6. Luke 11:47-54:

At the center of the Epistle to the Romans and then throughout the chapters the theme of faith in the redeeming mysteries of Jesus’ suffering, death, and resurrection are presented and developed. Paul is the Apostle of the Redeemer, Christ the Lord. He demonstrates how faith is the foundation and justification of our lives based on these redemptive mysteries of Christ. Today we listen to some of his words: “that justice of God which works through faith in Jesus Christ for those who believe… All are now undeservedly justified by the gift of God, through the redemption wrought in Christ Jesus.”

This is Paul’s doctrine of “justification by faith alone.” We respond by putting our faith in Jesus into action and becoming one with him as creative agents of God’s loving-kindness and redeeming love through our Lord Jesus Christ.

We know from the Gospels that Jesus made the Paschal Mysteries the central message of the Gospel. We hear him predicting this three times in each of these Gospels. He tells us that we are his disciples when we drink the cup of salvation that is his sufferings, death, and resurrection. At the center of each Eucharist we proclaim this mystery of faith. Thus “when we eat this bread and drink this cup, we proclaim your death Lord Jesus until you come in glory.” Amen.