INTENTIONS OF THE HOLY FATHER FOR
OCTOBER 2008:
INTENTIONS OF THE HOLY FATHER FOR
OCTOBER 2008:
1) General Intention:
1) That the Synod of Bishops may help bishops and theologians, as well as catechists and pastoral workers, who are engaged in the service of the Word of God, to transmit with courage the truth of the Faith in communion with the entire Church;
2) Mission Intention:
2) That in this month dedicated to the missions, through the promotional activities of the Pontifical Missionary Works and other organizations, every Christian may feel the need to participate in the Church’s universal mission with prayer, sacrifice and concrete.
TWENTY-SEVENTH SUNDAY
IN ORDINARY TIME
October 5, 2008
Have no anxiety at all, but in everything,
by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving,
make your requests known to God.
~ Phil 4:6 ~
READINGS:
Daily
Bible Readings
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For VIETNAMESE
>> Bai Doc Hang
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KINH THANH : CUU UOC / TAN UOC
New
American Bible
It is one of the glories of the Bible that it can embrace many meanings in
a single passage.
— St. Thomas Aquinas —
“I am profitably engaged in reading the Bible.
Take all that you can of this book upon reason and the balance by faith,
and you will live and die a better person...
the Bible is the best book which God has given to man."
— Abraham Lincoln —
. A Few Minutes of Prayer in the Home
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. RETREAT HOUSE - USA .
. ON-LINE RETREAT .
SUNDAY READINGS REFLECTION:
Isaiah 5:1-7 The Lord seeks a harvest of justice.
Ps 80 “The vineyard of the Lord is the house of Israel.”
Philippians 4:6-9 Dwell in thoughts of purity and justice and you will know peace.
Matthew 21:33-43 “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.”
THE VINEYARD OF BEAUTY AND LIFE
The first sentence of today’s Gospel parable can be easily overlooked: “There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a hedge around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a tower” (Matthew 21:33). It is difficult for us to imagine the enormous amount of time, money, and effort it must have taken for a construction project of this kind. Once completed, the vineyard must have been a beautiful place, not unlike the vineyards one can find in places like the Napa Valley in California. Vineyards are, by their very nature, places of beauty and life. The vineyard in today’s Gospel, however, becomes the setting for treachery and murder. All too often the vineyard that is this fragile planet of ours likewise becomes a setting for treachery and murder.
STEWARDS OF THE VINEYARD
Isaiah’s marvelous description of the vineyard reminds us of the creation passages from the book of Genesis. That description generates faint echoes of the oft-repeated line from Genesis: “and God saw how good it was” (Genesis 1:25). The sad reality is that we who are called to be good stewards of this
vineyard sometimes make bad choices. Sometimes in our arrogance we fail to care for the vineyard of creation. Like the wicked tenants, we care more for our own personal gain than for the virtues of goodness and righteousness. Pope John Paul II used the term “the culture of death” to describe this kind of behavior. The parables we hear are meant to cut right to our hearts and force us to look squarely at our behaviors and attitudes. May this week’s parable open our eyes to those times when we stray away from the goodness and beauty of God’s vineyard and make decisions that support the culture of death.
May we be strengthened in our efforts to become good stewards whose actions bring forth the fruits of life and love.
READINGS FOR THE WEEKMonday: Gal 1:6-12; Lk 10:25-37
Tuesday: Gal 1:13-24; Lk 10:38-42
Wednesday: Gal 2:1-2, 7-14; Lk 11:1-4
Thursday: Gal 3:1-5; Lk 11:5-13
Friday: Gal 3:7-14; Lk 11:15-26
Saturday: Gal 3:22-29; Lk 11:27-28
Sunday: Is 25:6-10a; Ps 23; Phil 4:12-14, 19-20
Readings for next Sunday: 10/12/2008Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time
1st reading: Isaiah 25:6-10
Response: Psalm 23
2nd reading: Philippians 4:12-20
Gospel: Matthew 22:1-14
For SAINT OF THE DAY, Go to:
http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/SaintofDay/default.asp
Saint Index => http://www.catholic.org/saints/stindex.php
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