Fr. Roger J. Landry
Chapel of the Vincentian Seminary, Krakow
Tertio Millennio Seminar
Wednesday of the 14th Week in Ordinary Time, Year II
Memorial of St. Maria Goretti, Virgin and Martyr
Hos 10:1-3.7-8.12, Ps 105, Mt 10:1-7
To listen to an audio recording of the homily, please click below:
The following points were attempted in the homily:
- Today we pondered the characteristics of the multivalent soul of St. John Paul II — Polish, Carmelite, Marian, Dramatic, Priestly and humanistic — but all of these are crowned in what we could call his apostolic, evangelical and missionary soul. He longed to share with others what we had received so that God might strengthen others’ souls like God did his own.
- In the Gospel, we see Jesus call the apostles by name, just as he did Karol Wojtyla, just as he does us. He sent them to the “slain” and “suffering” sheep of the House of Israel — the Greek word is far more powerful than “lost.” These were not the pretty people or the rich and famous but those who are wounded. And he sent them with his own power to exorcise demons and heal of every disease and illness, to illustrate what he put on their lips later, that the Kingdom of God, which is God, had drawn near. In upgrading them from disciples to apostles, Jesus was helping them become more fully evangelized. In the landmark 2007 Aparecida document co-authorized by the future Pope Francis, the process of evangelization was described in five stages: encounter, conversion, discipleship, communion and mission. Mission is the full flourishing of the seed having grown within so that the fruit we bear has seeds to plant in others. They were sent on own to show first and then to proclaim the Kingdom and to encourage others to enter into the process of growth in that kingdom, from encounter through Mission.
- When Jesus preached about the kingdom he used images of a vineyard with frequency, like when he said that the Kingdom is like a vineyard a master planted, put a tower in it and put a hedge around it, or even used the image of the Vine and the Branches. It is precisely the fulfillment of the “luxuriant vine Isaiah described in today’s first reading. The Israelites, however, bore fruit not for the kingdom but for themselves and, after sending the prophets to them to call them to conversion, God then mentioned the consequences of their action and they would cry for the mountains to collapse on them to kill them. But the vengeance God took was to “rain down justice upon” them, namely, the Just One, Jesus himself, whom we invoke every Advent when we say, “Rorate Caeli Desuper and tubes pluant Iustum.” Jesus, the Just one, would come, but he would in his mercy suffer the justice the sins of Israel deserved. The fulfillment of the process of evangelization is precisely in letting that mercy so transform us that we will share that mercy with others.
- This is illustrated in the life of St. Maria Goretti, who forgave her attempted rapist and murder Alessandro Serenelli in such a way that her mother Assunta could forgive him and later all the people of the parish and village. Today as we celebrate her feast we ask her to intercede for us to be capable of such mercy. And we ask for it in the context of the Mass, as we become one with the King who in this holy city revealed to St. Faustina that he was mercy incarnate.
The readings for today’s Mass were:
Reading 1
Israel is a luxuriant vine
whose fruit matches its growth.
The more abundant his fruit,
the more altars he built;
The more productive his land,
the more sacred pillars he set up.
Their heart is false,
now they pay for their guilt;
God shall break down their altars
and destroy their sacred pillars.
If they would say,
“We have no king”—
Since they do not fear the LORD,
what can the king do for them?
The king of Samaria shall disappear,
like foam upon the waters.
The high places of Aven shall be destroyed,
the sin of Israel;
thorns and thistles shall overgrow their altars.
Then they shall cry out to the mountains, “Cover us!”
and to the hills, “Fall upon us!”
“Sow for yourselves justice,
reap the fruit of piety;
break up for yourselves a new field,
for it is time to seek the LORD,
till he come and rain down justice upon you.”
Responsorial Psalm
or:
R. Alleluia.
Sing to him, sing his praise,
proclaim all his wondrous deeds.
Glory in his holy name;
rejoice, O hearts that seek the LORD!
R. Seek always the face of the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Look to the LORD in his strength;
seek to serve him constantly.
Recall the wondrous deeds that he has wrought,
his portents, and the judgments he has uttered.
R. Seek always the face of the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
You descendants of Abraham, his servants,
sons of Jacob, his chosen ones!
He, the LORD, is our God;
throughout the earth his judgments prevail.
R. Seek always the face of the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Alleluia
The Kingdom of God is at hand:
repent and believe in the Gospel.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
Jesus summoned his Twelve disciples
and gave them authority over unclean spirits to drive them out
and to cure every disease and every illness.
The names of the Twelve Apostles are these:
first, Simon called Peter, and his brother Andrew;
James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John;
Philip and Bartholomew,
Thomas and Matthew the tax collector;
James, the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddeus;
Simon the Cananean, and Judas Iscariot
who betrayed Jesus.
Jesus sent out these Twelve after instructing them thus,
“Do not go into pagan territory or enter a Samaritan town.
Go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
As you go, make this proclamation: ‘The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.’”
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