Today we honor St. Augustine, bishop and doctor of the Church.
One of my favorite saints.
Friday, 28 August 2009
Friday of the Twenty-first week in Ordinary Time
St. Augustine, bishop and doctor of the Church
Commentary of the day
Saint Gregory of Nazianzen : "Behold, the bridegroom!"
Reading
1 Thess. 4:1-8.
Finally, brothers, we earnestly ask and exhort you in the Lord Jesus that,
as you received from us how you should conduct yourselves to please
God--and as you are conducting yourselves--you do so even more.
For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus.
This is the will of God, your holiness: that you refrain from immorality,
that each of you know how to acquire a wife for himself in holiness and
honor,
not in lustful passion as do the Gentiles who do not know God;
not to take advantage of or exploit a brother in this matter, for the Lord
is an avenger in all these things, as we told you before and solemnly
affirmed.
For God did not call us to impurity but to holiness.
Therefore, whoever disregards this, disregards not a human being but God,
who (also) gives his holy Spirit to you.
Mt 25:1-13.
Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps
and went out to meet the bridegroom.
Five of them were foolish and five were wise.
The foolish ones, when taking their lamps, brought no oil with them,
but the wise brought flasks of oil with their lamps.
Since the bridegroom was long delayed, they all became drowsy and fell
asleep.
At midnight, there was a cry, 'Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet
him!'
Then all those virgins got up and trimmed their lamps.
The foolish ones said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil, for our lamps
are going out.'
But the wise ones replied, 'No, for there may not be enough for us and you.
Go instead to the merchants and buy some for yourselves.'
While they went off to buy it, the bridegroom came and those who were ready
went into the wedding feast with him. Then the door was locked.
Afterwards the other virgins came and said, 'Lord, Lord, open the door for
us!'
But he said in reply, 'Amen, I say to you, I do not know you.'
Therefore, stay awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour.
Copyright © Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, USCCB
Commentary of the day
Saint Gregory of Nazianzen (330-390), Bishop and Doctor of the Church
On holy baptism, Oratio 40, 46 ; PG 36, 425 (©Friends of Henry Ashworth)
"Behold, the bridegroom!"
The place before the great sanctuary in which you will stand immediatelly
after your baptism symbolizes the glory of the world to come. The singing
of psalms with which you will be received is a prelude to the hymns of
heaven. The lamps you will light prefigure that great procession of lights
in which we shall go to meet the Bridegroom with the bright lamps of faith,
our souls radiant and pure. Very careful shall we be not to
fall asleep, in case the awaited One should arrive unexpectedly. Nor shall
we come without the oil of good works, for fear of being excluded from the
bridal chamber... Swiftly the Bridegroom will enter and the wise will go in
with him, but the foolish will be shut out because when it was time to
enter they were still busy preparing themselves. They will lament bitterly
when they learn too late the penalty for their carelessness... In another way, they resemble the guests who failed to attend the wedding
feast a noble father gave for a noble bridegroom. One did not come because
he had recently married, another because he had just bought a field, a
third because he had bought a yoke of oxen... There is no place in heaven
for the arrogant and careless, nor yet for one dressed in rags instead of a
wedding garment, even though while on earth such a one may think himself
fit for the resplendence of the world to come and, deceived by vain hopes,
slip in among the faithful without their knowledge.What will
the next world be like? Once we are within the Bridegroom knows what he
will teach the souls that have entered with him, and how he will be united
with them. I believe that he will live with them and teach them yet higher
and holier mysteries.
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--
Nam-Phong Le
" NAKED I CAME FROM MY MOTHER'S WOMB,
NAKED I SHALL RETURN.
THE LORD GAVE, THE LORD HAS TAKEN BACK,
BLESSED BE THE NAME OF THE LORD."
JOB. 1: 21
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