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The Catholic Leader, November 12, 2017
www.catholicleader.com.auYour Daily Bread
SAINTLY LIFE
St Margaret of Scotland
33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time
November 19
1st Reading: Prov. 31:10-13, 19-20, 30-31
2nd Reading: 1 Thess. 5:1-6
Gospel: Matthew 25:14-30
32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time
November 12
1st Reading: Wisdom 6:12-16
2nd Reading: 1 Thess. 4:13-18
Gospel: Matthew 25:1-13
NEXT Sunday’s
First Reading
is extracts
from a poem praising the ideal wife in the final
chapter of the Book of Proverbs.
The Book of Proverbs is a collection of
brief wise sayings, mostly secular rather than
religious.
It is a collection of Israelite wisdom gathered
over several centuries.
Many of the sayings are attributed to Solo-
mon, the wise son who succeeded David as
King of Israel in the 10th century BC.
The Response and the Psalm after the
reading remind us that true wisdom comes to
those who “fear the Lord”, surrender to God in
reverent faith.
The
Second Reading
is from the final
chapter of Paul’s First Letter to the Thessalo-
nians.
First Thessalonians is the earliest of the
twenty-seven books in the New Testament,
before any of the four Gospels.
It was probably written around the year 50
AD, less than twenty years after the death of
Jesus.
St Paul tells us not to be anxious about the
future.
Live with an awareness that this life is but a
preparation for our true life after death.
Such awareness comes from faith in God, a
light that enables us to see even in the darkness
and distress of our present life.
To see our wonderful future that God has
already prepared for us in Christ.
In the
Gospel Reading
from the Gospel of
Matthew, we have another parable.
This time, it is a parable Jesus tells his disci-
ples, those who have begun to believe in him.
Jesus uses parables to help his listeners
search more deeply into their own experience
to discover what he is talking about.
What is Jesus talking about?
Jesus talks primarily about God, how God
gifts our lives.
Jesus is first and foremost the prophet of
God, one who reveals God.
Only secondarily is Jesus a moral teacher,
one who tells us how we are to behave.
How to behave not as a “should”, but as a
“could”.
What we could do as a consequence of what
God desires to give us in our lives.
Jesus is trying to share with us his own
experience of God at the centre of his life, how
he experiences the mystery of God gifting him
in his human life.
He wants to stimulate us to seek and to
discover the same mystery of God gifting us in
our lives.
It is the mystery of God speaking silently
and loving gently.
The parables of Jesus are primarily about
what God desires to do in our lives.
What Jesus wants us to do is always a result
of first welcoming God’s word and action.
Where is this word and action?
God’s word and action are in everything
we do, in all the events and experiences of our
lives.
We respond to God’s personal word and
action by using the gifts and opportunities, the
“golden talents”, God gives differently to each
of us.
We begin to experience the fullness and the
joy that filled Jesus in his lifetime.
Fr John Reilly
was a writer for The
Catholic Leader. He died earlier this year.
He wrote this commentary in 2011.
Next Sunday’s readings
BY FR john reilly SJ
MARGARET of Scotland was a liberated
woman in the sense that she was free to be
herself. For her, that meant freedom to love
God and serve others.
Not Scottish by birth, Margaret was the
daughter of Princess Agatha of Hungary and
the Anglo-Saxon Prince Edward Atheling.
She spent much of her youth in the court of
her great-uncle, the English king, Edward the
Confessor. Her family fled from William the
Conqueror and was shipwrecked off the coast
of Scotland.
King Malcolm befriended them and was
captivated by the beautiful Margaret. They
were married at the castle of Dunfermline in
1070.
Margaret tried to improve her adopted
country by promoting the arts and education.
For religious reform she encouraged synods
and was present for the discussions which
tried to correct religious abuses common
among priests and laypeople, such as simony,
usury, and incestuous marriages. With her
husband, she founded several churches.
Margaret was not only a queen, but a
mother. She and Malcolm had eight children.
Still, she remained detached from the world.
Her private life was austere. She had cer-
tain times for prayer and reading Scripture.
Royal saint:
St
Margaret of
Scotland.
FEAST DAYS THIS WEEK
Nature setting an example for us
She was always surrounded by beggars in
public and never refused them. It is recorded that
she never sat down to eat without first feeding
nine orphans and 24 adults.
In 1093, King William Rufus made a surprise
attack on Alnwick castle.
King Malcolm and his oldest son Edward
were killed. Margaret, already on her deathbed,
died four days after her husband.
Wednesday -
St Albert the Great
Patron of scientists and philosophers
Thursday -
St Margaret of Scotland
Patron of Scotland
Friday -
St Elizabeth of Hungary
Patron of bakers and brides
Saturday -
Basilicas of Sts Peter and Paul
Mark the place of each apostle’s martyrdom
Example:
“Just as the currawong knows its place in the flock, so in a school,
social graces are also learnt.”
By Sr Elvera Sesta
THE other day when visiting my brother
down the coast, I noticed that I was not his
only visitor. Perched on the railing of his
balcony was a pied currawong.
This is mainly a black bird with a bit of white, about
45cm long and with a sharply pointed beak that has a
hooked tip, and a yellow eye.
We sat staring at each other, this beautiful creature with
its striking yellow eye and myself.
The currawong and I had a long chat and then I went
inside to Google the bird to check that I had the correct
species.
We began to play some of the currawong bird calls.
Within a short space of time, there were about 24 cur-
rawongs either on his balcony or on the hedge just outside.
I wondered just what message I had played to this flock
of birds.
They waited for a bit, but when we ceased playing their
call, they soon disbanded.
Had I played a mating call or to tell them that there was
a good feed around; that this area was safe? Do human
beings have similar patterns of behaviour?
Our homes should be places of safety where our young
are able to feel protected.
When we read of evil happening in these places, it
seems as if that part of the world has become rotten and
needs to be excised.
A family or a school should also be a place where our
young are able to have their physical needs met. They
know that there are adults there who care for them and
look out for them.
Not only are their needs met, but they are able to test
themselves.
Mother eagles whose nests are made in high places,
push their young out of their eyrie and then they quickly
dive down to catch the eaglet on its back, if it has not
begun, for it, the natural process of flying.
As our children move through their schooling, each year
has its own challenges.
If it did not, then they would never grow mentally and
spiritually. They would remain as mental babies for their
entire lives.
I remember the first time my school gave each of its pu-
pils in Prep or Grade 1 an exercise book – their first one.
I raced home and put the exercise book on my mother’s
bed as she was not home at the time.
I was so proud of my achievement.
Just as the currawong knows its place in the flock, so in
a school, social graces are also learnt.
Once, this happened in the home but with smaller fami-
lies, the school has taken over this role.
There is a beautiful story told of an injured currawong
which was placed in a cage by its carers. Currawongs in
the wild came daily with small morsels to feed this injured
bird until it was able to be released into the wild.
The other currawongs came to the aid of the captive
currawong whose call they had heard.
Their arrival was almost instantaneous and there were
so many of them.
There seemed to be no hesitation.
We so often read about the bad that one person inflicts
on another, not the good. Here is nature setting an exam-
ple for us.
We see a similar scene in the school set-up. One student
is not managing or coping.
There always is some other student who will come with
the comforting word or hand.
It is said that when disaster strikes, it brings out both
the good and the bad in people. However, I would like to
think that it is the good that predominates.
If we expect that young people will do the right thing
then they usually rise to the occasion.
To a certain extent we are able to control what hap-
pens in a school. It is a place of learning and testing the
boundaries in a safe environment.
Sometimes we fail, but it is a case of picking ourselves
up and trying yet again. Trials come our way, to the young
as well as to the more mature.
We thought that we could never do it, but St Paul tells
us that “if God is on our side can anyone be against us?”
(Romans 8:31)
How difficult it must be for people who have no belief
in God.
I believe that what happens to me in life – in good times
and bad – is in accord with the will of God. God is always
there.
Isaiah tells us: For I, the Lord your God, who hold your
right hand; it is I who say to you, “Do not fear, I will help
you.” (Isaiah 41:13)