Jesus said to his apostles:
“Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me,
and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me;
and whoever does not take up his cross
and follow after me is not worthy of me.
Whoever finds his life will lose it,
and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
“Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me,
and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me;
and whoever does not take up his cross
and follow after me is not worthy of me.
Whoever finds his life will lose it,
and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
"Whoever receives you receives me,
and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.
Whoever receives a prophet because he is a prophet
will receive a prophet’s reward,
and whoever receives a righteous man
because he is a righteous man
will receive a righteous man’s reward.
And whoever gives only a cup of cold water
to one of these little ones to drink
because the little one is a disciple—
amen, I say to you, he will surely not lose his reward.”
and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.
Whoever receives a prophet because he is a prophet
will receive a prophet’s reward,
and whoever receives a righteous man
because he is a righteous man
will receive a righteous man’s reward.
And whoever gives only a cup of cold water
to one of these little ones to drink
because the little one is a disciple—
amen, I say to you, he will surely not lose his reward.”
Yesterday,
June 27th was the feast of Our Mother of Perpetual Help. Since we weren’t able
to celebrate together yesterday and since we are a Redemptorist Parish we have
decided to take some liberty and to celebrate Our Mother of Perpetual Help
today.
The
readings are for Sunday of the 13th week though, but I feel that they are
appropriate for Our Blessed Mother. Today’s Gospel is from the 10th chapter of
Matthew’s gospel. In the 10th Chapter we have the call and sending of the
disciples. What better example of a disciple than the Blessed Mother.
There
is a Lutheran Minister, Nadia Bolz-Weber who writes beautifuly on the Blessed
Mother. She says that Protestants seem to be reluctant to consider Mary. She
says they get her out for the nativity scene at Christmas and then quickly put
her away. She says she needs to stay out because she is the one who teaches us
how to be a disciple.
Mary
is the ideal disciple. She alone was there at all the key moments of Jesus’ life.
Obviously she was there when he was concieved in her womb. She was there at his
birth, the presentation and finding in the temple, the wedding feast of Cana.
She seems to fade into the background during much of his ministry but we know
that she was still there. Unlike Peter
she did not deny him at his crucifixion but she stayed at his side. She
witnessed the resurrection and was there when the Holy Spirit descended upon
the Apostles at Pentecost. No, we don’t need to be embarrased of our love of
the Blessed Mother, because she can teach us to love her son, she can teach us
to be disciples of Jesus.
As
I said, today’s Gospel is about the sending of the disciples. In Today’s Gospel
Jesus says that if you want to be his disciple you must be willing to take up
your cross and follow Jesus.
In
the Icon we have the two angels Michael holding the lance and the sponge and
Raphael holding the cross and nails. If you notice the angels have a cloth
wrapped around their hands, Raphael is not touching the cross but holding it
like a priest holds on a monstrance. For the Disciple the cross is not an
instrument of death and failure but of life and victory. The most sacred event
in salvation history is the passion and the offering of Jesus’ life for our
Redemption.
We
know that Mary took up her cross as she followed her son Jesus. We too pick up
our crosses, not in resignation and sorrow but in joy, knowing that the cross
is the way to our salvation.
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