MEMORIAL OF ST CHARLES BORROMEO, BISHOP.
MEMORIAL OF ST CHARLES BORROMEO, BISHOP.
"On a sabbath Jesus went to dine at the home of one of the leading Pharisees.
"He said to the host who invited him, “When you hold a lunch or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or sisters or your relatives or your wealthy neighbors, in case they may invite you back and you have repayment.
"Rather, when you hold a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; blessed indeed will you and because of their inability to repay you.
For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.” (Luke 14:12 - 14).
Monday November 4th the 31st Week in Ordinary TIME is the Memorial of St Charles Borromeo, Bishop. (1538 - 1584).
St Charles Borromeo was Cardinal and Archbishop of the famous See of Milan, the See of St Ambrose. Borromeo was born into wealth and splendor but was not possessed by his wealth and patrimony.
St Charles Borromeo was one of the architects of the successful conclusion of the Council of Trent. A great reformer, he worked hard for the implementation of the decrees of the Council. He established seminaries and had catechisms produced.
Thanksgiving Day is weeks away. It marks the beginning of the holiday season. Parties, dinners and invitations to family, friends and colleagues are being planned.
Jesus looks forward to dinner invitations since it gives Him a teaching opportunity to meet the kind of crowd He did not reach on daily basis. Here Jesus gives a difficult lesson to the aristocratic group gathered for the dinner and frankly to us as well.
Who do you plan to invite to your home this Thanksgiving, Christmas and parties? What are your motives behind your guest list?
"Invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind," advises Jesus.
Why this group?
"Blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you."
Jesus challenges our self-centeredness. Why are humans so self centered? Even little children act always in a quid pro quo manner. They give to only those who give them something. Jesus set a new standard in the Kingdom. Act like your Heavenly Father, who is lavishly generous to All His children, Jesus admonishes.
"All you who are thirsty, come to the water!
You who have no money, come, buy grain and eat; Come, buy grain without money, wine and milk without cost!" (Isaiah 55: 1).
Jesus offers the Bread of life free of charge.
Be generous to the poor and the disadvantaged this holiday season.
"There is no problem or difficulty that cannot be solved or resolved by faithful persevering recourse to My Mother’s most holy Rosary. The Rosary is My Mother’s gift to the poor and to the simple, to the little ones who alone are capable of hearing the Gospel in all its purity and of responding to it with a generous heart. It is to such as these—the childlike and the weak, the poor and the trusting—that the Rosary is given. It is to such as these that the Rosary belongs." (IN SINU JESU).
November is the Month we pray for the Souls in PURGATORY.
“The fire of Purgatory is the same as the fire of Hell; the difference between them is that the fire of Purgatory is not everlasting." (St John Vianney).
For Catholic Church teaching on the Souls in PURGATORY and how to help them, click the link below:
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