St. Bruno

Saturday of the Twenty-sixth week in Ordinary Time

Commentary of the day
Hermas : "Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit." "You have received the seal of the Holy Spirit: do not grieve him" (cf Eph 4,30)

Reading

Baruch 4,5-12.27-29.
Fear not, my people! Remember, Israel, You were sold to the nations not for your destruction; It was because you angered God that you were handed over to your foes. For you provoked your Maker with sacrifices to demons, to no-gods; You forsook the Eternal God who nourished you, and you grieved Jerusalem who fostered you. She indeed saw coming upon you the anger of God; and she said: "Hear, you neighbors of Zion! God has brought great mourning upon me, For I have seen the captivity that the Eternal God has brought upon my sons and daughters. With joy I fostered them; but with mourning and lament I let them go. Let no one gloat over me, a widow, bereft of many: For the sins of my children I am left desolate, because they turned from the law of God, Fear not, my children; call out to God! He who brought this upon you will remember you. As your hearts have been disposed to stray from God, turn now ten times the more to seek him; For he who has brought disaster upon you will, in saving you, bring you back enduring joy."


Ps 69(68),33-35.36-37.
"See, you lowly ones, and be glad; you who seek God, take heart! For the LORD hears the poor, does not spurn those in bondage. Let the heavens and the earth sing praise, the seas and whatever moves in them!" God will rescue Zion, rebuild the cities of Judah. God's servants shall dwell in the land and possess it; it shall be the heritage of their descendants; those who love God's name shall dwell there.


Lk 10,17-24.
The seventy (-two) returned rejoicing, and said, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us because of your name." Jesus said, "I have observed Satan fall like lightning from the sky. Behold, I have given you the power 'to tread upon serpents' and scorpions and upon the full force of the enemy and nothing will harm you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice because the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice because your names are written in heaven." At that very moment he rejoiced (in) the holy Spirit and said, "I give you praise, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike. Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him." Turning to the disciples in private he said, "Blessed are the eyes that see what you see. For I say to you, many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it."

Copyright © Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, USCCB

Commentary of the day

Hermas (2nd century)
The Shepherd, 10th precept (SC 53)

"Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit." "You have received the seal of the Holy Spirit: do not grieve him" (cf Eph 4,30)

When an indecisive man fails in some business or other, sadness fills his soul, grieving the Holy Spirit and casting it out… Drive away sadness from your heart, then, and do not quench the Holy Spirit who dwells in you (I Thes 5,19) lest he summon you before God about it and abandon you. For the Holy Spirit, placed in your flesh, cannot bear either sadness or care.Put on gladness and take your delight in it. This is what gives pleasure to God; this is what he favourably accepts. For the joyful man acts and thinks aright and treads sadness underfoot. The sad man, on the other hand, is always doing wrong . In the first place he does wrong by grieving the Holy Spirit who has been given joyously to man; then, he acts impiously by not praying to the Lord and praising him. For the prayer of a sad man has no strength to rise to the altar of God… As vinegar mixed with wine causes it to lose its taste, so sadness mixed up with the Holy Spirit weakens the efficacy of prayer. So purify your heart from this pernicious sadness and you will live for God, as will all those who have stripped sadness away and clothed themselves with joy.