Roman Catholic Ordinary Calendar

Adam’s sin was passed on to all humankind, to all his descendants… Therefore it is necessary that Christ’s righteousness be passed on to all humankind. Just as Adam, through sin, caused life to be lost to his posterity, so Christ, through his righteousness, will give life to his children (cf. Rom 5, 18f.)… At the conclusion of the ages Christ received a soul and our flesh from Mary. It was this flesh he came to save; he did not abandon it to the nether world (Ps 16[15],10); he united it to his own spirit and made it his own. Therein lies the marriage of the Lord, his union with one flesh so that, according to “that great mystery”, “the two might become one flesh: Christ and the Church” (Eph 5,31). The christian people, on whom the Spirit of the Lord descended, was born of this union. This sowing, come down from heaven, has been immediately assimilated into the substance of our souls and mixed into them. After this we develop in our Mother’s womb and, growing up within her breast, receive life in Christ. This is what made the apostle Paul say: “The first man, Adam, became a living being; the last Adam a life-giving spirit,” (1Cor 15,45). Thus it is that Christ begets children in the Church through his priests, as the same apostle says: “I became your father in Christ,” (1Cor 4,15). And in this way Christ brings the new man to birth, formed in his Mother’s womb and sent into the world in the waters of baptism through the hands of the priest, with faith for witness… So we should believe that we can be brought to birth… and that it is Christ who gives life to us. As the apostle John says: “To those who did accept him he gave power to become children of God,” (Jn 1,12).

Roman Catholic Ordinary Calendar – rosary,team

“Learn what this means: I want mercy and not sacrifice … I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners. “(Mt 9:13) Be merciful, incline your heart to all miseries, those of the body, and even more those of the soul, because the diseases of the soul are infinitely more serious than all the evils of the body, threatening the life and the happiness of a member of Christ not for a few years, but for eternity … Do not endeavor to treat the fat sheep, clean and docile, abandoning the black sheep to their unfortunate fate, but love all men for God their father and their savior gave his care especially to the sick, to sinners, since they need it much more. Jesus gives us his whole body to love; All its members deserve an equal love on our part, as being all: some are healthy, other patients: if all must also be loved, the sick members are demanding all our care, a thousand times more than the others: before annointing the others with perfumes, be careful of those who are injured, bruised, sick, that is to say all those who have needs in their body or in their soul, especially the latter, and above all, especially sinners … We can do good to all men without exception, by our prayers, our penance, our own sanctification.

Roman Catholic Ordinary Calendar – rosary,team

The scribes were saying: “This man is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins except God alone?” But how did the Saviour reply? Did he condemn such speech? If he hadn’t been God’s equal he would have had to ask: “Why are you attributing such a pretension to me?”… Yet he said nothing like that; to the contrary, he actually endorsed his enemies’ statement. Testifying to oneself is always suspect; truth is better supported when it comes from others – and not just from one’s friends but, still more, from one’s enemies… Our Lord had shown his power through his friends when he said to the leper: “I do will it. Be made clean” (Mk 1,41) and to the centurion: “In no one in Israel have I found such faith” (Mt 8,10). Now he is causing his enemies to give testimony… But in this passage there is yet another testimony to the divinity of Jesus Christ and to the fact that he is the Father’s equal. It is not just that God alone can forgive sins but that God alone can discern the secret thoughts of the heart. As it is written here: “Jesus knew what they were thinking, and said: ‘Why do you harbor evil thoughts?’” The prophet wrote: “You alone know the hearts of men” (2Chr 6,30); “It is God who searches the heart and soul” (Ps 7,10)… “Man sees the appearance but the Lord looks into the heart” (1Sam 16,7). At the same time, Christ gives us fresh evidence of his gentleness: “Why do you harbor evil thoughts?” “Which seems easier to you: to heal a sick man’s body or to forgive the sins of his soul? The soul is the superior and its ills the harder to heal. But because this particular healing cannot be seen I will carry out before your eyes a healing that can be seen, even though it is less important”… Thus Jesus caused the paralytic to rise and sent him home… It was as though he said: “Through what is happening to you I should like to heal these people here who ssem to be in good health but who, in reality, are sick in soul. But since this is not what they want, go home. There, at least, your healing will bear fruit.”
Roman Catholic Ordinary Calendar – rosary,team