Sunday, 23 June 2013
Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year CSt. Etheldreda, abbess (7th century)
Commentary of the day
Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross [Edith Stein] : "He must take up his cross daily and follow me"
Lk 9:18-24.
Once when
Jesus was praying in solitude, and the disciples were with him, he asked them,
"Who do the crowds say that I am?"
They said in reply, "John the Baptist; others, Elijah; still others, 'One of the ancient prophets has arisen.'"
Then he said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter said in reply, "The Messiah of God."
He rebuked them and directed them not to tell this to anyone.
He said, "The Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised."
Then he said to all, "If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.
For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.
They said in reply, "John the Baptist; others, Elijah; still others, 'One of the ancient prophets has arisen.'"
Then he said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter said in reply, "The Messiah of God."
He rebuked them and directed them not to tell this to anyone.
He said, "The Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised."
Then he said to all, "If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.
For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.
Copyright © Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, USCCB
Commentary of the day :
Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross [Edith Stein] (1891-1942), Carmelite, martyr, co-patron of Europe
«Love of the Cross», meditation of 24/11/1934 (©Washington Province of Discalced Carmelites, 2002)
The burden of the cross that Christ assumed is that of corrupted human nature,
with all its consequences in sin and suffering to which fallen humanity is
subject. The meaning of the way of the cross is to carry this burden out of
the world... But because being one with Christ is our sanctity, and
progressively becoming one with him our happiness on earth, the love of the
cross in no way contradicts being a joyful child of God. Helping Christ carry
his cross fills one with a strong and pure joy, and those who may and can do
so, the builders of God's kingdom, are the most authentic children of God. And
so those who have a predilection for the way of the cross by no means deny
that Good Friday is past and that the work of salvation has been accomplished.
Only those who are saved, only children of grace, can in fact be bearers of
Christ's cross. Only in union with the divine Head does human suffering take
on expiatory power... To have one's feet on the earth, to walk on the dirty
and rough paths of this earth and yet to be enthroned with Christ at the
Father's right hand, to laugh and cry with the children of this world and
ceaselessly to sing the praises of God with the choirs of angels, this is the
life of the Christian until the morning of eternity breaks forth.
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