This Week’s Gospel Message for Sunday, September 13th is from Matthew 18:21-35.
“Peter approached Jesus and asked him, ‘Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive? As many as seven times?’ Jesus answered, ‘I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times.’”
“In ancient times seven was seen as the perfect number, so it was used to symbolize perfection or completeness, as in the creation story. When Peter suggests to Jesus that forgiving one’s brother or sister ‘as many as seven times’ would be sufficient, he is suggesting that seven times would amount to total forgiveness. But Jesus responds that ‘not seven times but seventy-seven times’ is the answer, implying that there is no completion to forgiveness. Seventy-seven implies boundlessness, a sense that forgiveness is not a task to be quantified and completed, but an attitude to be integrated into our way of living.” Source: Pastoral Patterns, Autumn 2020
DAILY READINGS FOR THE WEEK
Monday Numbers 21:4b-9; Phil 2:6-11; John 3:13-17
The Exaltation of the Holy Cross (Feast) – “This feast commemorates the finding of the true cross by Emperor Constantine’s mother, Helen, the dedication of the original Church of the Holy Sepulchre in 335, and Christ’s victory over death by his crucifixion and resurrection.”
Tuesday 1 Cor 12:12-14, 27-31a; John 19:25-27
Our Lady of Sorrows (Memorial) – “This memorial was started in 1668 by the Servite Friars. In 1814, Pope Pius VII extended the celebration to the whole Western Church. The seven sorrows are: Simeon’s prophecy at the presentation of Jesus in the temple, the flight into Egypt, the disappearance of the boy Jesus in Jerusalem, the road to Calvary, the crucifixion, the removal from the cross, and the entombment.”
Wednesday 1 Cor 12:31—13:13; Luke 7:31-35
Saints Cornelius, Pope, and Cyprian, Bishop, Martyrs (Memorial) – “Cornelius was elected pope during the Decian persecution. Under renewed persecution, Cornelius was arrested, banished, and died in exile. A few years later, under the Valerian persecution, Cyprian was also arrested, banished, and condemned to death.”
Thursday 1 Cor 15:1-11; Luke 7:36-50
Friday 1 Cor 15:12-20; Luke 8:1-3
Saturday 1 Cor 15:35-37, 42-29; Luke 8:4-15
Source: Living With Christ, September 2020