maronite readings

Some people draw glory from their knowledge, but the apostle Paul finds supreme knowledge in the cross. “No, he says, I desired to know nothing among you but Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ crucified” (1Cor 2,2). Is not the cross the fulfilment of the whole law and art of living well? To those who glory in their own power, Paul can answer that he draws matchless power from the cross: “The language of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (1Cor 1,18). Do you draw glory from the freedom you have gained? Paul draws his from the cross: “Our old self was crucified with him… that we might no longer be in slavery to sin” (Rm 6,6). Yet others draw their glory from being chosen as members of some famous group or other ; but as for us, through Christ’s cross we are invited to the congregation of heaven. “Reconciling all things, whether those on earth or those in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross” (Col 1,20). And finally, some people glory in the insignia of victory bestowed on the victorious, but the cross is the triumphal standard of Christ’s victory over demons: “He destroyed Principalities and Powers, making a public spectacle of them, leading them away in his triumphal procession” (Col 2,15)… What is it that the apostle Paul wants to glory in above all else ? In that which can unite him to Christ. What he desires is to be with Christ.
maronite readings – rosary,team

In spite of their marvels, none of the days of creation can be compared with the seventh day on which no work was done and God rested after completing his handiwork. “And on the seventh day,” the book of Genesis tells us, “God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done” (Gen 2,2). Here we are told the two requirements of the Sabbath: it must be a day, and at the same time there is to be rest. This seventh day, however, does not seem to me to be measured in time between sunrise and sunset, to be bright in the morning and dusk in the evening (cf. Gen 1,5)… Listen to him who welcomes us into his rest: “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest” (Mt 11,28). This is the preparation for the Sabbath. As for the Sabbath itself, listen once more: “Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves” (v.29). Here indeed is rest, calm and true Sabbath. For this yoke does not weigh us down but unites; this burden lifts us up, it does not press on us. This yoke is charity and this burden, brotherly love. There we find rest; there we celebrate the Sabbath; there we are delivered from slavery… And if it happens that our weakness succumbs to some fault, the feasting of this Sabbath has no interruption, since “love covers a multitude of sins” (1Pt 4,8).
maronite readings – rosary,team

When we meditate on this parable we should not forget the figure of the elder son. From one point of view it is no less important than that of his younger brother, so much so that we might even – and perhaps more accurately – speak of the parable of two brothers. But with its picture of two brothers the text situates itself at the heart of a long, biblical history beginning from the story of Cain and Abel, continued in the brothers Isaac and Ishmael, Jacob and Esau, and interpreted through various parables of Jesus. In Jesus’ preaching the image of two brothers above all reflects the problem of Israel and the pagan nations… When it finds out that the pagans are called without being subject to the obligations of the Law, Israel expresses its resentment: “Look, all these years I served you and not once did I disobey your orders”. With the words: “My son, you are here with me always; everything I have is yours”, God’s mercy invites Israel to enter in. But the significance of the elder brother has an even wider scope. In a certain sense he represents the pious man, all those who have remained with the Father without disobeying his commandments. When the sinner returns, jealousy awakes – the venom that, until then, remained hidden in the depth of their souls. Why this jealousy? It shows that many “pious” people, too, have a desire for the distant country and its attractions concealed within them. This jealousy reveals that these people have failed really to understand the beauty of our homeland, the happiness of “everything I have is yours”, the freedom of son and householder. Thus it appears that they, too, secretly desire the happiness of the distant country… In the end, they do not enter into the feast; in the end, they remain outside… The figure of the elder brother forces us to examine our consciences: it is a figure that allows us to understand the reinterpretation of the ten commandments in the Sermon on the Mount (Mt 5,27-28). Not just adultery outwardly but also inwardly is what distances us from God. We can remain in the house and leave it at the same time. This is the way in which we should also understand “abundance”, the structure of Christian justice: it is expressed by a “no” to jealousy and a “yes” to divine mercy.
maronite readings – rosary,team

“You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you; and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?” This man’s behavior is more to be mocked than eternal punishment is severe. Indeed, what sort of plans are jostling within the mind of this man who is going to be taken from this world so soon? “I will pull down my barns and build bigger ones.” Now, I would gladly say to him: Well done! For the barns of unrighteousness are only worth pulling down. Destroy from top to bottom what you have built up dishonestly. Let those wheat stocks of yours, that have never brought comfort to anyone, disintegrate. Do away with all the buildings that shelter your greed, pull down their roofs, overturn their walls, expose the mouldering grain to the sun, bring the wealth imprisoned within it out of its prison… “I shall tear down my barns and build even larger ones.” Once you have filled these up in their turn, then what are you going to do? Will you pull them down to rebuild others once more? Is this a worse madness than to be endlessly tormented: to build tenaciously and at once pull down? If that is what you want, you have the houses of the poor for your barns. “Build up treasures in heaven” : what is stored there “neither moth nor decay destroy, nor thieves break in and steal” (Mt 6,20).

maronite readings – rosary,team

Noah, the wise… went into the ark at God’s orders together with his sons and their wives, a mere eight souls in all. With constant groans this servant prayed thus: “Let me not perish with sinners, my Savior, for already I see chaos swamping creation and the elements shaken with fear… The clouds are ready, the sky stormy, angels run before your wrath.” At these words, God shut the ark and sealed it as his faithful one cried out: “Save mankind from wrath, O redeemer of the world, may you protect us with your love.” Then, from the heights of heaven, the judge gives the order: immediately the floodgates open, pouring down rain and hail in torrents from one end of the world to the other; fear causes the springs of the abyss to gush forth, flooding the earth in every quarter… Such were the results of God’s anger because humankind had persisted in its hardness of heart instead of hastening to cry out to him with faith: “Save all humankind from wrath in the love you have for us, O Redeemer of the world”… Then the choir of angels cried out, seeing carnal men destroyed: “Now let the just possess the length and breadth of the earth!” For the Creator delights to behold those made in his own image (Gn 1,26); this is why he set aside his saints to save them. Noah… released the dove and in the evening it returned, bearing an olive branch in its beak, symbolically announcing God’s mercy. Then Noah came out of the ark as from the tomb, according to the command he had received…, not, as formerly, like Adam, who had eaten of the tree that brings death, for Noah had brought forth the fruits of repentance, saying: “Save all humankind from wrath in the love you have for us, O Redeemer of the world.” Corruption and wickedness have perished; the man of upright heart is victorious by his faith for he has found grace… Then the just man (Gn 6,9) offers an unblemished sacrifice to the Lord… The Creator, smelling the sweet-smelling odor, declares: “Nevermore will the world perish in a flood, even should all men lead a life of wickedness. Today I will make with them a binding covenant. I will show my bow as a sign to all the dwellers on earth, that thus they may call upon my name: “Save all humankind from wrath in the love you have for us, O Redeemer of the world.”
maronite readings – rosary,team