Wednesday of the Thirty-second week in Ordinary Time
Commentary of the day
Life of St Francis of Assisi known as the “Compilation of Pérouse” : “Give thanks to God”
Reading
Wisdom 6,2-11.
Hearken, you who are in power over the multitude and lord it over throngs of peoples! Because authority was given you by the LORD and sovereignty by the Most High, who shall probe your works and scrutinize your counsels! Because, though you were ministers of his kingdom, you judged not rightly, and did not keep the law, nor walk according to the will of God, Terribly and swiftly shall he come against you, because judgment is stern for the exalted- For the lowly may be pardoned out of mercy but the mighty shall be mightily put to the test. For the Lord of all shows no partiality, nor does he fear greatness, Because he himself made the great as well as the small, and he provides for all alike; but for those in power a rigorous scrutiny impends. To you, therefore, O princes, are my words addressed that you may learn wisdom and that you may not sin. For those who keep the holy precepts hallowed shall be found holy, and those learned in them will have ready a response. Desire therefore my words; long for them and you shall be instructed.
Ps 82(81),3-4.6-7.
Defend the lowly and fatherless; render justice to the afflicted and needy. Rescue the lowly and poor; deliver them from the hand of the wicked." I declare: "Gods though you be, offspring of the Most High all of you, Yet like any mortal you shall die; like any prince you shall fall."
Lk 17,11-19.
As he continued his journey to Jerusalem, he traveled through Samaria and Galilee. As he was entering a village, ten lepers met (him). They stood at a distance from him and raised their voice, saying, "Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!" And when he saw them, he said, "Go show yourselves to the priests." As they were going they were cleansed. And one of them, realizing he had been healed, returned, glorifying God in a loud voice; and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him. He was a Samaritan. Jesus said in reply, "Ten were cleansed, were they not? Where are the other nine? Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?" Then he said to him, "Stand up and go; your faith has saved you."
Copyright © Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, USCCB
Commentary of the day
Life of St Francis of Assisi known as the “Compilation of Pérouse” (c.1311)
§ 43
“Give thanks to God”
Two years before his death the blessed Francis was already ill, suffering especially from his eyes… He had been fifty days or more without being able to stand the sunlight by day nor the brightness of the fire by night. He remained continually in his cell, in the gloom at the interior of the house… One night, while he was thinking about all the trials he was enduring, he felt sorry for himself and said interiorly: “Lord, help me in my infirmities so that I can have the strength to bear them patiently!” And suddenly, in his mind, he heard a voice: “Tell me, brother: if you were to be given a great and precious treasure in return for your sufferings and trials…, would you not rejoice?… Be joyful and happy in the midst of your infirmities and trials: from now on live in as much peace as if you were already sharing my Kingdom.” The next day he said to his companions…: “God has given me such grace and blessing that, in his pity, he has deigned to assure me – me, his poor, unworthy servant still living here below – that I shall share in his Kingdom. Therefore, for his glory, for my own consolation and the edification of my neighbour, I should like to compose a new “Praise of the Lord” for his creatures. Every day these serve our needs; without them we should not be able to live, and humankind greatly offends the Creator with them. Every day, too, we fail to acknowledge so great a blessing by not praising the Creator and Dispenser of all these gifts as we should…”. These “Praises of the Lord”, which begin with: “Most high, most powerful and good Lord”, he called the “Canticle of Brother Sun”. For indeed, it is the most beautiful of all creatures, that which, more than any other, we might compare to God. And he said: “At sunrise everyone ought to praise God for having created this star that gives light to our eyes by day; in the evening, everyone should praise God for that other creature, our brother Fire, who enables our eyes to see clearly in the darkness. We are all like blind men and it is through these two creatures that God gives us light. That is why we ought to praise most particularly their glorious Creator for these creatures and for those others that serve us each day.”
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