Gospel for October 24, 2009, Saturday
Claretian Communications Foundation, Inc. | 10/24/2009 12:00 AM
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29th Week in Ordinary Time
Anthony Mary Claret
1st Reading: Rom 8:1–11
Gospel: Lk 13:1–9
Some persons told Jesus what had occurred in the Temple: Pilate had Galileans killed and their blood mingled with the blood of their sacrifices. Jesus replied, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this? I tell you: no. But unless you change your ways, you will all perish as they did.
And those eighteen persons in Siloah who were crushed when the tower fell, do you think they were more guilty than all the others in Jerusalem? I tell you: no. But un-less you change your ways, you will all perish as they did.”
And Jesus continued with this story, “A man had a fig tree growing in his vineyard and he came looking for fruit on it, but found none. Then he said to the gardener: ‘Look here, for three years now I have been looking for figs on this tree and I have found none. Cut it down, why should it use up the ground?’ The gardener replied: ‘Leave it one more year, so that I may dig around it and add some fertilizer; and perhaps it will bear fruit from now on. But if it doesn’t, you can cut it down.”
Commentary
Anthony Mary Claret was born at Vich, in Catalonia, Spain in 1807. In 1829, he entered the seminary at Vich. Ordained to the priesthood in 1835, he went to Rome to work for the Propagation of the Faith. His apostolate consisted of rural preaching, conferences for the clergy and publications…he wrote more than 150 books. But, his patience was tested in the political upheavals of the nineteenth century. His efforts at reform stirred up a great deal of hostility. He promoted Catholic publications and founded an academy for artists and literary persons.
In 1849, Anthony gathered together five priests, who formed the basis of the Missionary Sons of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, known as Claretians. In 1869, while he was in Rome preparing for the First Vatican Council, he was placed under house arrest in the Cistercian monastery at Fontfroide, where he died at the age of 63. His major work, The Right Way, reached millions of people, promoted fidelity to the gospel among all classes of people, especially among the laity and religious.
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