Readings & Reflections: Tuesday of the Second Week of Advent & Blessed Adolph Kolping, December 10,2019
The scandal of the Gospel is symbolized in the man who prefers to go in search of the sole stray sheep rather than tend to the stayed-put ninety-nine. For those who are already comfortable, the cry “Give comfort to my people” is irrelevant. If we dare to look beyond our self-contentment, we realize how much we are all like that one estranged, imperiled sheep; our burning hope is for a Shepherd who will come just for us.
AMDG+
Opening Prayer
“Lord, teach me your way of humility and simplicity of heart that I may find perfect joy in you. May your light shine through me that others may see your truth and love and find hope and peace in you.” Amen.
Reading I
Is 40:1-11
Comfort, give comfort to my people,
says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her
that her service is at an end,
her guilt is expiated;
Indeed, she has received from the hand of the LORD
double for all her sins.
A voice cries out:
In the desert prepare the way of the LORD!
Make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God!
Every valley shall be filled in,
every mountain and hill shall be made low;
The rugged land shall be made a plain,
the rough country, a broad valley.
Then the glory of the LORD shall be revealed,
and all people shall see it together;
for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.
A voice says, “Cry out!”
I answer, “What shall I cry out?”
“All flesh is grass,
and all their glory like the flower of the field.
The grass withers, the flower wilts,
when the breath of the LORD blows upon it.
So then, the people is the grass.
Though the grass withers and the flower wilts,
the word of our God stands forever.”
Go up onto a high mountain,
Zion, herald of glad tidings;
Cry out at the top of your voice,
Jerusalem, herald of good news!
Fear not to cry out
and say to the cities of Judah:
Here is your God!
Here comes with power
the Lord GOD,
who rules by his strong arm;
Here is his reward with him,
his recompense before him.
Like a shepherd he feeds his flock;
in his arms he gathers the lambs,
Carrying them in his bosom,
and leading the ewes with care.
The word of the Lord.
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 96:1-2, 3 and 10ac, 11-12, 13
R. (see Isaiah 40:10ab) The Lord our God comes with power.
Sing to the LORD a new song;
sing to the LORD, all you lands.
Sing to the LORD; bless his name;
announce his salvation, day after day.
R. The Lord our God comes with power.
Tell his glory among the nations;
among all peoples, his wondrous deeds.
Say among the nations: The LORD is king;
he governs the peoples with equity.
R. The Lord our God comes with power.
Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice;
let the sea and what fills it resound;
let the plains be joyful and all that is in them!
Then let all the trees of the forest rejoice.
R. The Lord our God comes with power.
They shall exult before the LORD, for he comes;
for he comes to rule the earth.
He shall rule the world with justice
and the peoples with his constancy.
R. The Lord our God comes with power.
Gospel
Mt 18:12-14
Jesus said to his disciples:
“What is your opinion?
If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray,
will he not leave the ninety-nine in the hills
and go in search of the stray?
And if he finds it, amen, I say to you, he rejoices more over it
than over the ninety-nine that did not stray.
In just the same way, it is not the will of your heavenly Father
that one of these little ones be lost.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
Reflection 1 – Search of the stray sheep
“What is your opinion? If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine in the hills and go in search of the stray?”
Our Lord is very much concerned with the road we take as His children. He knows that amidst suffering and trials, we may opt to decide to take the shorter and easier route in life. We may decide that being a Christian is not worth all the pain. And out of the big flock, we may decide to stray away from the path our Lord has paved for us.
In today’s gospel, Jesus revealed the importance to Him of one lost soul and the joy and happiness in his heart of bringing back into His fold one lost soul who has gone astray. This is Jesus, His love and compassion for the lost.
Have we been like Jesus in thought and in deed when one among us goes away or may seemingly have gone astray from the Lord? Since spiritual defection is something very serious, the natural tendency of a big number is to pull back from the defector. Perhaps from fear of getting tainted and being called a defector, a sinner and rebel, most people shy away from the responsibility of winning a lost soul back to our Lord.
Regrettably, we may maintain an attitude that it is not our business and we turn away from such situation. But this is not the way God’s wants us to relate with one another. He wants us to focus on others rather on ourselves. He wants us to care enough to help others regain their right perspective. God wants us to be involved because we are family and it is a privilege to be able to help a brother return to God’s flock.
God said that we need to confess our sins to one another and to pray for one another so that we may be healed implying that as Christians we should never be passive in our work for Him. We need to seek out the one who is astray and bring him back to God. We should intercede for each other.
In the spirit of gentleness we have to bring God’s Word to our brother and let God convict him of his ways. Caring for a lost and straying brother in love should be our most basic motivation and aspiration. Standing between God and a straying brother can only prevent the full wrath of God from falling on a neighbor in the same way it can only bless one who courageously and lovingly takes such a position.
Bringing back to God a straying brother can only result in tremendous blessings to everyone as it builds up God’s church and the treasure we all need to enter God’s kingdom as it restores a lost brother back into fellowship with the Lord.
As God’s community, have we seriously pursued uniting God’s people and bringing everyone back to His fold?
Today, God exhorts all of us to “give comfort to his people, speak tenderly to Jerusalem and make straight in the wasteland a highway for Him” as it is not the will of the heavenly Father that one of these little ones be lost.” And when we do, “His glory shall be revealed and all mankind shall see it together for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
Direction
Look around and determine who have decided to stay away and are no longer one with us in community. Ask God for guidance on how to bring them back to community and God’s work.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, give me the heart and the grace to draw everyone closer to You. In Jesus, I pray. Amen.
Reflection 2 – Sin separates, God restores
In Jesus’ time, shepherds were not part of the wealthy class. They had to spend nights away from home, wandering with the sheep. Often, shepherds allowed the sheep to graze on other people’s property, thus earning them the title “thief.” A shepherd did what he had to do, no matter the cost. Sheep of Jesus’ day had no better reputations. They are nervous creatures, often running away with fear. Sometimes sheep had minds of their own, leaving the flock because something seemed better “over there!” Sometimes sheep get lost. With such negative associations, why does Jesus refer to himself as the “Good Shepherd” and to us as “the sheep”? Because the analogy works!
A shepherds’ love for his sheep is not dependent upon the sheep being good. Rather, he tends them to keep them safe, because that is what a shepherd does. If one leaves the flock, a good shepherd cares about that sheep, and goes out searching for it. So it is with our loving God. God loves the ninety-nine who have stayed together, and the one who is lost. God’s love doesn’t seem to know the difference. God rejoices when the whole flock is restored.
We tend to think of ourselves as one of the ninety-nine. “We are in church today aren’t we?” “We say our prayers, don’t we?” “Who have we wronged lately?” Yet, the parable is meant for all of us, because at times in all of our lives we have been like the one sheep that has strayed from God’s flock. Whenever we sin, we stray! But God searches for us and invites us back.
The Advent season is a good time for reflection on how we might have strayed. What sins separate us from the flock? Remember this, God wants us back … all of us!
Reflection 3 – Stray
In his autobiographical reflections All the Strange Hours, Loren Eiseley, a paleontologist and a powerful prose writer, questions why humans beat and starve small things. He tells of looking into the eyes of a starved mongrel dog and being unable to forget that animal’s plight. Here is a man of compassion, sensitive to creatures who experience that painful reality of being a stray and lost.
Jesus calls our attention to a single sheep that has strayed from the flock. He poses the question of how much value this single creature has in the eyes and heart of the shepherd. We know the Lord’s response. More, we know that it is a story about us who, in sin, stray from God and distance ourselves from one another. And then the amazing lavishness of God’s love: Jesus will leave all in pursuit of us. Here is the Good Shepherd who recognizes the value and dignity of every sheep.
Isaiah (40:1-11) also refers to the shepherd/ sheep theme. The prophet informs us that God is like a shepherd who feeds the flock, gathers the lambs into his arms, and carries them close to his heart. All this is done with care and compassion. Jesus takes the image of the shepherd a step further in presenting the case of the sheep that has strayed. It is God’s will that none be lost. Such is God’s commitment that he sends his only Son to seek us out and find us. As disciples of this Beloved Son, we are to do the same: seek out and bring home those who have wandered far from the faith.
If anyone were to argue that the shepherd would be unwise to leave the ninety-nine in the hills and go in search of a single sheep, we might be reminded that in reality all of us have strayed to one degree or another. In fact, there are no ninety-nine to leave in the hills because they have all drifted to some degree from God’s loving embrace. All this translates to the fact that we all need redemption.
Meditation: What is your reaction when you see a stray dog or cat? What is your reaction to the people who are on the margins of society and are lost?
Prayer: Jesus, our Good Shepherd, gather us once again into your loving embrace. Feed us with the gift of life, the Eucharist, and fill our hearts with compassion for all who are lost. May we reach out to those who have strayed and bring them back into your presence. Help us to build your kingdom of justice and peace.
Reflection 4 – God carries us in his bosom
Do you know what it’s like to lose your bearings and to be hopelessly adrift in a sea of uncertainty? To be alone, lost, and disoriented without a sense of direction is one of the worst fears we can encounter. What we would give to have a guide who would show us the way to safety and security, the way to home and family. Scripture comforts us with the assurance that God will not rest until we find our way home to him. The Scriptures use the image of a shepherd who cares for his sheep to describe what God is like. God promised that he would personally shepherd his people and lead them to safety (Isaiah 40:11). That is why God sent his only begotten son as the Messiah King who would not only restore peace and righteousness to the land, but who would also shepherd and care for his people with love and compassion. Jesus describes himself as the good shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep (John 10:11).
The Good Shepherd feeds, protects, and provides the best care possible for his flock
What can we learn from the lesson of Jesus’ parable about a lost sheep? This parable gives us a glimpse of the heart of a true shepherd, and the joy of a community reunited with its lost members. Shepherds not only had to watch over their sheep by day and by night; they also had to protect them from wolves and lions who preyed upon them, and from dangerous terrain and storms. Shepherds often had large flocks, sometimes numbering in the hundreds or thousands. It was common to inspect and count the sheep at the end of the day. You can imagine the surprise and grief of the shepherd who discovers that one of his sheep is missing! Does he wait until the next day to go looking for it? Or does he ask a neighboring shepherd if he might have seen the stray sheep? No, he goes immediately in search of this lost sheep. Delay for even one night could mean disaster leading to death. Sheep by nature are very social creatures. An isolated sheep can quickly become bewildered, disoriented, and even neurotic. Easy prey for wolves and lions!
Jesus, the Good Shepherd, watches over every step we take – do we follow him?
The shepherd’s grief and anxiety is turned to joy when he finds the lost sheep and restores it to the fold. The shepherd searches until what he has lost is found. His persistence pays off. What was new in Jesus’ teaching was the insistence that sinners must be sought out time and time again. How easy to forget and be distracted with other matters while the lost become prey for devouring wolves of the soul. The Apostle Peter reminds us that the “devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking some one to devour” (1 Peter 5:8).
God does not rejoice in the loss of anyone, but desires that we be brought back and restored to friendship with him. That is why the whole community of heaven rejoices when one sinner is found and restored to fellowship with God. God is on a rescue mission today to save us from the destructive forces of sin and evil. Jesus, the Good Shepherd, watches over every step we take. Do you listen to his voice and heed his wise counsel? Do you follow the path he has set for you – a path that leads to life rather than death?
“Lord Jesus, nothing escapes your watchful gaze and care. May I always walk in the light of your truth and never stray from your loving presence.” – Read the source: http://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/readings/2018/dec11.htm
Reflection 5 – Faith that rescues the lost
Jesus came to rescue those who are lost in the darkness of the sinful traps of an evil world. As today’s first reading points out, the Father doesn’t want anyone to die without first being rescued from the deadliness of their sins, which is why he sent his Son into the world to go find them and substitute himself for them on the cross to redeem them.
When you lose sight of something in the dark, can you find it? Perhaps if you stub your toe on it, yeah, but you won’t know you actually found what you’re looking for – you won’t know what’s making your toe ache – until you turn on the light.
Jesus entered into our darkness to find us when we were lost, but he only succeeded because he turned on the light.
But God is all-knowing and all-seeing, right? Right! He didn’t turn on the light so that he could see us. He turned on the light so that we could see him!
In the darkness and worry of the trials and damages that swirl around our sins, Jesus shows us how to grow in faith. He illuminates our lives with the light of his love. He makes his love visible to us. He reveals the truth, and even when we reject the truth, it remains directly in front of our faces, shining a contradiction onto our wrong beliefs.
Jesus also turns on the light for us to see his forgiveness. Guilt and fear blind us so that we cannot see God’s mercy, but guilt and fear also make us want to escape into the light, because it makes us long for peace within our souls.
Look back into your past and observe how this has happened to you before. How has Christ already presented the light of love to you, the light of truth, and the light of forgiveness? What has he done to show you the way to true inner peace? How has he increased your faith?
Now consider the people you know who are still walking in darkness. Pray that the Father will not allow them to die before the light gets turned on so brightly that they cannot help but realize why they want to enter into it. This is a prayer that definitely works, as promised by today’s scripture (although sometimes it happens only at the last minute).
And consider the areas of your own life that are still in darkness. Where do you keep stubbing your toe? Where are you prevented from moving forward because you can’t see which way to go?
What current sinful tendencies and past sins have you not yet taken to God in the Sacrament of Reconciliation or in the Penitential Rite at the beginning of Mass?
Ask Jesus to increase the wattage of the light that’s already glowing in your life so that you can see his love and his truth more clearly. And – equally important – ask Jesus to brighten his light within you so much that others are drawn to the faith through your example and your testimony. – Read the source: http://gnm.org/good-news-reflections/?useDrDate=2018-12-11
Reflection 6 – Helping the lost sheep
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Who are the lost sheep in your life? Today’s Gospel reading assures us that Jesus is the Good Shepherd and he will not quit going after them. However, he won’t be able to reach them until (1) they’re ready to be found, and (2) he has our hands and feet and voice through which to minister to them.
Sometimes the lost have to experience a very troubling hardship from which they cannot recover by themselves. Even while demonic forces are using misconceptions, hurts, and false theologies to keep them from recognizing their need for Christ, this is nothing to fear. Jesus is pursuing them, seeking out any openness they have toward him, waiting at their side for them to ask for his help, and preparing one (or more) of us to step in to help them turn to the healing love of Jesus.
Meanwhile, we can help this along by praying for them and by being a good example of what it’s like to belong to the Good Shepherd’s flock. Never mind how dark and hopeless it looks. The holy light of Christ has already infiltrated Satan’s darkness.
Consider the power of light. Imagine two adjoining rooms, one in total darkness and the other lit brightly by a lamp. If you were to poke a hole in the wall that divides these two rooms, will darkness flow through the hole into the lit room or will light pour into the dark room? See, the power of light is completely stronger than the power of darkness! This is the power of Christ. This is what we are called to give birth to by the way we live our lives and reveal Jesus as the source of our faith.
I’ve seen it happen. Back in the year 2000, a dear family member was sucked deeper and deeper into the world of darkness by getting involved in vampire role playing games. Many prayed for her, and we enlisted the help of the Blessed Mother, the girl’s Confirmation Saint, and other Saints.
During Advent, the problems worsened, but on Christmas Eve, Jesus drilled a hole in the wall that had been dividing the family. God’s light penetrated into her darkness, and by the following year, she became a shining light that drew others to Christ — and she still is.
It can take years for some of those who live in darkness to realize that they’re in a bad place. Today’s first reading gives us a dose of God’s comfort. Consider how these verses can give you strength, endurance, courage, and hope.
Use this scripture to recommit yourself to “making straight in the wasteland a highway for God” by choosing to love the lost sheep unconditionally; treating them the way Jesus would (which sometimes includes tough love and boundaries set firmly to keep their sins from causing more harm). In this way, you will give Jesus to them whether they realize it or not.
Pray daily for Christ’s holy light to spread into their lives through many and various holes that get poked into their self-made prisons.
Ask the Holy Spirit to transform you into a better lamp that shines brighter with Christ’s holiness and healing love. Ask the Blessed Mother to help you give birth to Jesus in their lives through the way you behave around them. And trust that the Good Shepherd is doing more to rescue them than what you can see. – Read the source: https://gnm.org/good-news-reflections/?useDrDate=2019-12-10
Reflection 7 – Blessed Adolph Kolping (1813-1865 A.D.)
The rise of the factory system in 19th-century Germany brought many single men into cities where they faced new challenges to their faith. Father Adolph Kolping began a ministry to them, hoping that they would not be lost to the Catholic faith, as was happening to workers elsewhere in industrialized Europe.
Born in the village of Kerpen, Adolph became a shoemaker at an early age because of his family’s economic situation. Ordained in 1845, he ministered to young workers in Cologne, establishing a choir, which by 1849 had grown into the Young Workmen’s Society. A branch of this began in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1856. Nine years later there were over 400 Gesellenvereine (workman’s societies) around the world. Today this group has over 450,000 members in 54 countries across the globe.
More commonly called the Kolping Society, it emphasizes the sanctification of family life and the dignity of labor. Father Kolping worked to improve conditions for workers and greatly assisted those in need. He and St. John Bosco in Turin had similar interests in working with young men in big cities. He told his followers, “The needs of the times will teach you what to do. Father Kolping once said, “The first thing that a person finds in life and the last to which he holds out his hand, and the most precious that he possesses, even if he does not realize it, is family life.”
He and Blessed John Duns Scotus are buried in Cologne’s Minoritenkirche, originally served by the Conventual Franciscans. The Kolping Society’s international headquarters are across from this church.
Kolping members journeyed to Rome from Europe, America, Africa, Asia and Oceania for Father Kolping’s beatification in 1991, the 100th anniversary of Pope Leo XIII’s revolutionary encyclical Rerum Novarum (On the Social Order). Father Kolping’s personal witness and apostolate helped prepare for that encyclical.
Comment:
Some people thought that Father Kolping was wasting his time and talents on young working men in industrialized cities. In some countries, the Catholic Church was seen by many workers as the ally of owners and the enemy of workers. Men like Adolph Kolping showed that was not true.
Quote:
“Adolph Kolping gathered skilled workers and factory laborers together. Thus he overcame their isolation and defeatism. A faith society gave them the strength to go out into their everyday lives as Christ’s witnesses before God and the world. To come together, to become strengthened in the assembly, and thus to scatter again is and still remains our duty today. We are not Christians for ourselves alone, but always for others too” (Pope John Paul II, beatification homily).
Read the source: http://www.americancatholic.org/features/saints/saint.aspx?id=1225
SAINT OF THE DAY
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| BLESSED ADOLPH KOLPING | |
|---|---|
Blessed Adolph Kolping
|
|
| FATHER OF ALL APPRENTICES | |
| BORN | 8 December 1813 Kerpen, Germany |
| DIED | 4 December 1865 (aged 51) Cologne, Germany |
| VENERATED IN | Roman Catholic Church |
| BEATIFIED | 27 October 1991 by Pope John Paul II |
| FEAST | 6 December[1] |
| PATRONAGE | World Youth Day[1] |
Adolph Kolping (December 8, 1813 in Kerpen — December 4, 1865 in Cologne) was a German Catholic priest, who has been beatified by the Catholic Church. He was a leader in providing social support for young workers in the cities ofindustrial Germany, and worldwide.
Life[edit]
Kolping grew up as the son of a shepherd. At the age of 18 he went to Cologne as a shoemaker’s assistant. He was shocked by the living conditions of most people living there, which influenced his decision to become a priest. At age 23 he attended the Dreikönigsgymnasiumand afterwards studied theology in Munich, Bonn and Cologne.
On April 13,[2] 1845 he was ordained a priest in Cologne’s Minoritenkirche.[1] First he worked in Elberfeld (now part ofWuppertal) as a chaplain and religion teacher.
In 1847 he became the second president of the Catholic Association of Journeymen (founded the preceding year by Johann Gregor Breuer), which gave young journeymen religious and social support.
Adolph Kolping Monument at Kerpen, Germany
In 1849 he returned to Cologne as vicar of the cathedral and established Cologne’s Association of Journeymen. He united the existing journeymen associations as theRheinischer Gesellenbund(“Federation of Journeymen of the Rhine Region”) in 1850. This fusion was the origin of today’s international Kolpingwerk. Until his death he labored to spread the federation of journeymen associations. By the year of his death, 1865, there were more than four hundred journeymen associations worldwide.
In 1854, Kolping founded the weekly newspaper Rheinische Volksblätter (“Rhine Region People’s Paper”), which quickly became one of the most successful press organs of his time.
In 1862, he became the rector of Saint Maria Empfängnis Church.
Death[edit]
On December 4, 1865 Kolping died. He is buried in the Minoritenkirche in Cologne.
Veneration and legacy[edit]
On October 27, 1991 he was beatified by Pope John Paul II. He is remembered as the “Father of All Apprentices” and his feast day is on December 4.[1][2]
Kolping House in New York
In Germany today, The International Kolping Society has more than 275,000 members in 2,730 localKolpingsfamilien (“Kolping families”), making it the largest social federation in the country. The organization, based in Cologne, is represented in 59 countries with more than 470,000 members around the world, divided into about 5,000 Kolpingsfamilien.[3]
Citation[edit]
Wenn der Mann wahrhaft Religion hat in Wort und Tat, dann hat die Frau auch gründlich Respekt vor ihm, dann ehrt sie ihn auch willig als ihr Oberhaupt.
References and notes[edit]
- ^ Jump up to:a b c d Jones, Terry. “Adolph Kolping”. Patron Saints Index. Archived from the original on 28 February 2007. Retrieved2007-03-23.
- ^ Jump up to:a b [1] The Life and Work of Father Adolph Kolping
- Jump up^ “All about us”. Kolping International.