This week’s Gospel message for Sunday, September 19th is from Mark 9:30-37.
“[Jesus] was teaching his disciples and telling them, ‘The Son of Man is to be handed over to men and they will kill him, and three days after his death the Son of Man will rise.’ But they did not understand the saying, and they were afraid to question him. . .Then he called the Twelve, and said to them, ‘If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all.’ Taking a child, he placed it in their midst, and putting his arms around it, he said to them, ‘Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me; and whoever receives me, receives not me but the One who sent me.’”
“Children can also teach the disciples what it was like to feel free to reveal one’s own ignorance. The disciples did not understand Jesus’ prediction, but they were afraid to let him know this, so they remained in the dark. As James put it, they asked wrongly—just to sound knowledgeable, not to really be enlightened.” SOURCE: Pastoral Patterns, Autumn 2021
DAILY READINGS FOR THE WEEK
Monday Ezra 1:1-6; Luke 8:16-18
Saints Andrew Kim Tae-gŏn, Priest, and Paul Chŏng Ha-sang, and Companions, Martyrs (Memorial) – “In the early 1800s, Christian communities began to flourish in Korea, under the leadership of laity. In 1836, missionaries from the Parish Foreign Mission Society secretly entered the country. The Christian communities encountered hostility. Over 10,000 Christians were killed. Among them were the layman Paul Chŏng Ha-sang and Andrew Kim Tae-gŏn.”
Tuesday Eph 4:1-7, 11-13; Matt 9:9-13
Saint Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist (Feast) – “The apostle Matthew appears in the list of the twelve apostles in all three synoptic gospels, but only in Matthew’s gospel is he identified as a tax collector (the other gospels call this man Levi). Matthew, the gospel author, invites his community of Jewish-Christians to embrace their Jewish tradition and participate in the Church’s evangelizing mission to the Gentiles.”
Wednesday Ezra 9:5-9; Luke 91-6
Thursday Haggai 1:1-8; Luke 9:7-9
Saint Pio of Pietrelcina, Priest (Memorial) – “Padre Pio was born as Francesco Forgione in the Italian village of Pietrelcina. He joined the Capuchin Friars and was ordained a priest. While praying before a cross, he received the stigmata—the bodily experience of the crucifixion wounds of Jesus. He founded a hospital, the House for the Relief of Suffering. He was a spiritual advisor, confessor, and intercessor, whose life was devoted to the Eucharist and prayer.”
Friday Haggai 2:1-9; Luke 9:18-22
Saturday Zech 2:5-9, 14-15a; Luke 9:43b-45
SOURCE: Living With Christ, September 2021