SEPTEMBER
9 SAINT PETER CLAVER, PRIEST AND RELIGIOUS, MEMORIAL
USCCB has
started publishing suggestions for saints newly added to the calendar in the U.S.
but which have not had formal "Proper" readings approved.
The
readings below are suggested by USCCB.
Others may also be taken from the Common of Pastors (#719-724), or the Common of Holy Men and Women: For
Those Who Work for the Underprivileged (#737-742).
Readings
and Commentary:[3]
FIRST
READING
Thus says the LORD:
This is the fasting that I wish:
releasing those bound unjustly,
untying the thongs of the yoke;
Setting free the oppressed,
breaking every yoke;
Sharing your bread with the hungry,
sheltering the oppressed and the
homeless;
Clothing the naked when you see
them,
and not turning your back on your
own.
Then your light shall break forth
like the dawn,
and your wound shall quickly be
healed;
Your vindication shall go before
you,
and the glory of the LORD shall be
your rear guard.
Then you shall call, and the LORD
will answer,
you shall cry for help, and he will
say: Here I am!
If you remove from your midst oppression,
false accusation and malicious
speech;
If you bestow your bread on the
hungry
and satisfy the afflicted;
Then light shall rise for you in
the darkness,
and the gloom shall become for you
like midday;
Then the LORD will guide you always
and give you plenty even on the
parched land.
He will renew your strength,
and you shall be like a watered
garden,
like a spring whose water never
fails.
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Commentary on Is
58:6-11
This passage is from what is known
as Deutero-Isaiah. It was written in the latter part of the Babylonian exile
(700 B.C.). Isaiah laments and chastises the people for missing the point of
their fasts of atonement. They perform the rituals and follow the law but then
violate the spirit of God’s Law by being uncaring and cruel to each other.
The prophet explains what that
spirit is and how it is to impact their actions and closes with the reward for
following the spirit of God’s Law – “Your integrity will go before you and the
glory of the Lord behind you. Cry, and the Lord will answer; call, and he will
say, ‘I am here.’” [4] He
goes on to describe the salvific effect of these actions of charity and
compassion as being as a light in darkness, as rain in parched land. He
concludes with what can be seen as a baptismal reference (well-spring of
holiness) that brings eternal life.
CCC: Is 58:6-7 2447
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RESPONSORIAL
PSALM
Blessed the man who follows not
the counsel of the wicked
Nor walks in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the company of the
insolent,
But delights in the law of the LORD
and meditates on his law day and
night.
R.
(40:5a) Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.
or: R.
(2a) Blessed are they who delight in the law of the Lord.
or: R.
(92:13-14) The just will flourish like the palm tree in the garden of the Lord.
He is like a tree
planted near running water,
That yields its fruit in due
season,
and whose leaves never fade.
Whatever he does, prospers.
R. Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.
or: R. Blessed are they who delight in the law of the Lord.
or: R. The just will flourish like the palm tree in the garden of the Lord.
Not so the wicked, not so;
they are like chaff which the wind
drives away.
For the LORD watches over the way
of the just,
but the way of the wicked vanishes.
R. Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.
or: R. Blessed are they who delight in the law of the Lord.
or: R. The just will flourish like the palm tree in the garden of the Lord.
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Commentary on Ps
1:1-2, 3, 4 and 6
Psalm 1 serves as a preface to the
whole book of psalms. The psalmist here exalts those who follow the Lord’s
commands, and reflects upon the blessings they will receive. As in Romans 6:19ff, this
selection emphasizes the contrast between the salvation of the just and the
punishment of the wicked.
This wisdom psalm begins by
extolling the virtue of those who follow the law. The focus is to look to God
for guidance, and not to trust only in the counsel of men. Those who reject the
law will be blown away like “chaff,” an image used in the Gospel as well (Matthew 3:12).
This portion of the psalm is later
echoed in Isaiah
48:17-19, like an overlapped formula of covenant. Blessed is the man
who “delights in the law day and night,” but “the way of the wicked vanishes.”
It also takes up the theme of following right paths and staying true to the
teachings of God: “Blessed the man who follows not the counsel of the wicked
nor walks in the way of sinners, nor sits in the company of the insolent, but
delights in the law of the Lord and meditates on his law day and night.”
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GOSPEL
Jesus said to his disciples:
"When the Son of Man comes in
his glory,
and all the angels with him,
he will sit upon his glorious
throne,
and all the nations will be
assembled before him.
And he will separate them one from
another,
as a shepherd separates the sheep
from the goats.
He will place the sheep on his
right and the goats on his left.
Then the king will say to those on
his right,
'Come, you who are blessed by my
Father.
Inherit the kingdom prepared for
you from the foundation of the world.
For I was hungry and you gave me
food,
I was thirsty and you gave me
drink,
a stranger and you welcomed me,
naked and you clothed me,
ill and you cared for me,
in prison and you visited me.'
Then the righteous will answer him
and say,
'Lord, when did we see you hungry
and feed you,
or thirsty and give you drink?
When did we see you a stranger and
welcome you,
or naked and clothe you?
When did we see you ill or in
prison, and visit you?'
And the king will say to them in
reply,
'Amen, I say to you, whatever you
did
for one of the least brothers of
mine, you did for me.'"
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Commentary on Mt 25:31-40
Jesus, in this reading, is telling
his disciples what he will judge at the end times, the eschaton. The reading
provides a vision of what will be asked of those seeking admittance to the kingdom
of God and how judgment will be passed. This image is used as a teaching tool,
to focus those who wish to follow Jesus on loving those who are in need of
help: the hungry, the stranger, the naked, the ill, the imprisoned.
CCC: Mt 25:31-46 544, 1033, 1373, 2447,
2831; Mt 25:31-36 2443; Mt
25:31 331, 671, 679, 1038; Mt
25:32 1038; Mt
25:36 1503; Mt
25:40 678, 1397, 1825, 1932,
2449
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Reflection:
'Come, you who are blessed by my
Father.
Inherit the kingdom prepared for
you from the foundation of the world.
For I was hungry and you gave me
food,
I was thirsty and you gave me
drink,
a stranger and you welcomed me,
naked and you clothed me,
ill and you cared for me,
in prison and you visited me.' Matthew
25:34b-36
These
words were surely heard by St. Peter Claver as he entered the heavenly
kingdom. Indeed, his years of service to
the Negro slave population brought into Cartagena (he is said to have converted
and baptized around 300,000 in his years as apostle to the slaves there) earned
him that scripture passage as his defining spirituality. In today’s terms, he would be equivalent to
Martin Luther King Jr. in his influence on the slave population that poured
into the New World through that infamous port during the 1500’s and
1600’s. What strength his faith gave
him! He was not, by nature, a bold or
extroverted person. However, his call to
extreme charity to those poor souls, sold into slavery by their own leaders in
Africa and then again by amoral traders in the Caribbean was to earn him also
the enmity of the general society in which he served as missionary.
The
Lord said that it was the duty of all of his followers to express charity in
this way, looking after those imprisoned by their conditions in society as well
as those incarcerated by law. All we
need do is look at the seven corporal works of mercy: feed the hungry, give
drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, give shelter to travelers, visit the
sick, visit the imprisoned, and bury the dead. These things were written on the
heart of St. Peter Claver and those missionaries like him who sacrificed lives
of comfort to serve those without comfort.
The
Prophet Isaiah proclaimed it to the Hebrews, and Jesus confirmed his words as
being correctly iterated by God the Father.
We are called to charity. Today,
on St. Peter Claver’s feast day, we ask for his intercession. May God our Father, through his only begotten
son, Jesus, Christ, give us the strength and will to serve the needy as his Son
did, and as St. Peter Claver did.
Pax
[1]
The picture is “St. Peter Claver”; artist and date are unknown.
[2] The
readings below are suggested by USCCB, others may be taken from Common of Pastors: For Missionaries (#719-724), or the Common of Holy Men and Women: For Those Who Work for the
Underprivileged (#737-742).
[3] The
readings are taken from the New American Bible, with the exception of the psalm
and its response which were developed by the International Committee for
English in Liturgy (ICEL). This republication is not authorized by USCCB and is
for private use only.
[4] Translation from the Jerusalem Bible
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