September 17, 2004 - Friday, 24th Week in Ordinary Time
ROBERT BELLARMINE, bishop and doctor
(1542–1621)

COMPANIONS ALL

Readings:
1 Cor 15:12-20; Ps 17:1bcd, 6 –7, 8b and 15; Lk 8:1-3

Introduction

Robert Bellarmine exemplifies an important aspect of the Society of Jesus: intellectual service to the Church. Born in Italy, he entered the Jesuits at age 18. He taught theology at Louvain and Rome, developed the theological basis for the Catholic Reformation, and became a pastoral bishop and cardinal. His influence on Catholic
intellectual life and the Gregorian University in Rome has been extensive. This great theologian also wrote catechisms that were widely used in Europe.

Opening Prayer

God our Father,
you gave Robert Bellarmine wisdom and goodness
to defend the faith of your Church.
By his prayers
may we always rejoice in the profession of our faith.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.

Liturgy of the Word

First Reading Introduction:
       Indeed, Christ is alive. He is risen. And if he is risen, we too will rise. The two go together. Without the resurrection of Christ and ours, we believe in vain.

First Reading: 1 Cor 15:12 – 20

Brothers and sisters:
If Christ is preached as raised from the dead, how can some
among you say there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is
no resurrection of the dead, then neither has Christ been raised.
And if Christ has not been raised, then empty too is our preaching;
empty, too, your faith. Then we are also false witnesses to
God, because we testified against God that he raised Christ,
whom he did not raise if in fact the dead are not raised. For if
the dead are not raised, neither has Christ been raised, and if
Christ has not been raised, your faith is vain; you are still in
your sins. Then those who have fallen asleep in Christ have
perished. If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are
the most pitiable people of all.
But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits
of those who have fallen asleep.

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 17:1bcd, 6 –7, 8b and 15

R. Lord, when your glory appears, my joy will be full.

Hear, O LORD, a just suit;
attend to my outcry;
hearken to my prayer from lips without deceit.
R. Lord, when your glory appears, my joy will be full.

I call upon you, for you will answer me, O God;
incline your ear to me; hear my word.
Show your wondrous mercies, O savior of those who flee
from their foes to refuge at your right hand.
R. Lord, when your glory appears, my joy will be full.

Hide me in the shadow of your wings,
But I in justice shall behold your face;
on waking, I shall be content in your presence.
R. Lord, when your glory appears, my joy will be full.

Gospel Introduction:
       Luke is the evangelist who describes the contribution of women in the apostolate of Jesus. Christ has liberated them from the alienations of Jewish society. They accompanied Jesus since the beginning of his ministry and had a status not far remote from that of the Twelve; after the resurrection they were the first to proclaim that Christ was risen. Together with the Twelve, they are companions of Jesus as he goes from town to town to bring the good news. Companions are people who share the same table.

Gospel Reading: Lk 8:1-3

Jesus walked through towns and countryside, preaching and giving the good news of the kingdom of God. The Twelve followed him, and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and diseases: Mary called Magdalene, who had been freed of seven demons; Joanna, wife of Chuza, Herod's steward; Suzanna and others who provided for them out of their own funds.

Commentary

EVERY morning of life Jewish men gave thanks to God for not having been born Gentiles, nor slaves, nor women. The power of the revolution unleashed by Jesus is seen at one remove in St. Paul, who (though he never knew Jesus in the flesh) could write, "There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus" (Gal 3:28). It takes nothing less than an inner revolution to bring a person to deny, phrase by phrase, the prayer he or she learned as a child. Try to imagine doing that to the Our Father or the Hail Mary! I find it impossible to imagine.

A rabbi would not be seen speaking to a woman in public; a strict one would not even be seen speaking to his own wife. But Jesus was followed around the country by a mixed band of men and women. Compounding it, he even spoke with Gentile women: the Samaritan woman and the Syro-Phoenician woman.
Luke's gospel particularly teems with women: it is in Luke that we read of Elizabeth, and Anna, and the widow of Naim, and the woman who anointed Jesus' feet in the house of Simon the Pharisee; it is Luke who gives us the scene of Jesus in the house of Mary and Martha. And see the litany of names in today's reading. Scholars say that Luke was probably from Macedonia, where women were more emancipated than elsewhere.

Intentions

- That the contribution of women to the building up of the community of the Church may be appreciated more, and as well as that of men, we pray:

- That women in the Church may continue to enrich us with the warmth of their gentleness, we pray:

- That women in the Church may inspire us by their sense of welcome, faith and fidelity, we pray:

Prayer over the Gifts

Lord our God,
let us be companions of your Son
who share his table.
and become with him
one in mind and heart.
Let fathers and mothers in our families
make their gifts of mind and heart available
and nourish their children
with the food of faith
and the warmth of love and compassion.
Let them make their children
close to Jesus Christ our Lord.

Prayer after Communion

Lord our God,
we have been companions of your Son
as we have eaten from his table.
Make us also his companions
on the journey of life
that we may we bring to the people we encounter
the good news of forgiveness and life
that make our communities
signs of the kingdom of God.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.

Blessing

The women who accompanied Jesus "served him," says the gospel. Jesus was among us as the one who serves, and we, men and women, serve with him. May almighty God bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

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