Divine defense - 14

Reading 1

1 COR 1:26-31

Consider your own calling, brothers and sisters.
Not many of you were wise by human standards,
not many were powerful,
not many were of noble birth.
Rather, God chose the foolish of the world to shame the wise,
and God chose the weak of the world to shame the strong,
and God chose the lowly and despised of the world,
those who count for nothing,
to reduce to nothing those who are something,
so that no human being might boast before God.
It is due to him that you are in Christ Jesus,
who became for us wisdom from God,
as well as righteousness, sanctification, and redemption,
so that, as it is written,
Whoever boasts, should boast in the Lord.

Divine defense - Thirteen

Reading 1 DN 13:1-9, 15-17, 19-30, 33-62

In Babylon there lived a man named Joakim,

who married a very beautiful and God-fearing woman, Susanna,

the daughter of Hilkiah;

her pious parents had trained their daughter

according to the law of Moses.

Joakim was very rich;

he had a garden near his house,

and the Jews had recourse to him often

because he was the most respected of them all.

That year, two elders of the people were appointed judges,

of whom the Lord said, "Wickedness has come out of Babylon:

from the elders who were to govern the people as judges."

These men, to whom all brought their cases,

frequented the house of Joakim.

When the people left at noon,

Susanna used to enter her husband's garden for a walk.

When the old men saw her enter every day for her walk,

they began to lust for her.

They suppressed their consciences;

they would not allow their eyes to look to heaven,

and did not keep in mind just judgments.

One day, while they were waiting for the right moment,

she entered the garden as usual, with two maids only.

She decided to bathe, for the weather was warm.

Nobody else was there except the two elders,

who had hidden themselves and were watching her.

"Bring me oil and soap," she said to the maids,

"and shut the garden doors while I bathe."

As soon as the maids had left,

the two old men got up and hurried to her.

"Look," they said, "the garden doors are shut, and no one can see us;

give in to our desire, and lie with us.

If you refuse, we will testify against you

that you dismissed your maids because a young man was here with you."

"I am completely trapped," Susanna groaned.

"If I yield, it will be my death;

if I refuse, I cannot escape your power.

Yet it is better for me to fall into your power without guilt

than to sin before the Lord."

Then Susanna shrieked, and the old men also shouted at her,

as one of them ran to open the garden doors.

When the people in the house heard the cries from the garden,

they rushed in by the side gate to see what had happened to her.

At the accusations by the old men,

the servants felt very much ashamed,

for never had any such thing been said about Susanna.

When the people came to her husband Joakim the next day,

the two wicked elders also came,

fully determined to put Susanna to death.

Before all the people they ordered:

"Send for Susanna, the daughter of Hilkiah,

the wife of Joakim."

When she was sent for,

she came with her parents, children and all her relatives.

All her relatives and the onlookers were weeping.

In the midst of the people the two elders rose up

and laid their hands on her head.

Through tears she looked up to heaven,

for she trusted in the Lord wholeheartedly.

The elders made this accusation:

"As we were walking in the garden alone,

this woman entered with two girls

and shut the doors of the garden, dismissing the girls.

A young man, who was hidden there, came and lay with her.

When we, in a corner of the garden, saw this crime,

we ran toward them.

We saw them lying together,

but the man we could not hold, because he was stronger than we;

he opened the doors and ran off.

Then we seized her and asked who the young man was,

but she refused to tell us.

We testify to this."

The assembly believed them,

since they were elders and judges of the people,

and they condemned her to death.

But Susanna cried aloud:

"O eternal God, you know what is hidden
and are aware of all things before they come to be:
you know that they have testified falsely against me.
Here I am about to die,
though I have done none of the things
with which these wicked men have charged me."

The Lord heard her prayer.

As she was being led to execution,

God stirred up the holy spirit of a young boy named Daniel,

and he cried aloud:

"I will have no part in the death of this woman."

All the people turned and asked him, "What is this you are saying?"

He stood in their midst and continued,

"Are you such fools, O children of Israel! 

To condemn a woman of Israel without examination

and without clear evidence?

Return to court, for they have testified falsely against her."

Then all the people returned in haste.

To Daniel the elders said,

"Come, sit with us and inform us,

since God has given you the prestige of old age."

But he replied,

"Separate these two far from each other that I may examine them."

After they were separated one from the other,

he called one of them and said:

"How you have grown evil with age!

Now have your past sins come to term:

passing unjust sentences, condemning the innocent,

and freeing the guilty, although the Lord says,

'The innocent and the just you shall not put to death.'

Now, then, if you were a witness,

tell me under what tree you saw them together."

"Under a mastic tree," he answered.

Daniel replied, "Your fine lie has cost you your head,

for the angel of God shall receive the sentence from him

and split you in two."

Putting him to one side, he ordered the other one to be brought.

Daniel said to him,

"Offspring of Canaan, not of Judah, beauty has seduced you,

lust has subverted your conscience.

This is how you acted with the daughters of Israel,

and in their fear they yielded to you;

but a daughter of Judah did not tolerate your wickedness.

Now, then, tell me under what tree you surprised them together."

"Under an oak," he said.

Daniel replied, "Your fine lie has cost you also your head,

for the angel of God waits with a sword to cut you in two

so as to make an end of you both."

The whole assembly cried aloud,

blessing God who saves those who hope in him.

They rose up against the two elders,

for by their own words Daniel had convicted them of perjury.

According to the law of Moses,

they inflicted on them

the penalty they had plotted to impose on their neighbor:

they put them to death.

GospelJN 8:12-20

Jesus spoke to them again, saying,

"I am the light of the world.

Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness,

but will have the light of life." 

So the Pharisees said to him,

"You testify on your own behalf,

so your testimony cannot be verified."

Jesus answered and said to them,

"Even if I do testify on my own behalf, my testimony can be verified,     

because I know where I came from and where I am going.

But you do not know where I come from or where I am going.

You judge by appearances, but I do not judge anyone.
And even if I should judge, my judgment is valid,
because I am not alone,
but it is I and the Father who sent me.

Even in your law it is written

that the testimony of two men can be verified.

I testify on my behalf and so does the Father who sent me."

So they said to him, "Where is your father?"

Jesus answered, "You know neither me nor my Father.

If you knew me, you would know my Father also."

He spoke these words

while teaching in the treasury in the temple area.

But no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come.

source: usccb.org

Divine defense - Twelve

Reading 1SIR 27:4-7

When a sieve is shaken, the husks appear;
so do one's faults when one speaks.
As the test of what the potter molds is in the furnace,
so in tribulation is the test of the just.
The fruit of a tree shows the care it has had;
so too does one's speech disclose the bent of one's mind.
Praise no one before he speaks,
for it is then that people are tested.

GospelLK 6:39-45

Jesus told his disciples a parable,
"Can a blind person guide a blind person?
Will not both fall into a pit?
No disciple is superior to the teacher;
but when fully trained,
every disciple will be like his teacher.
Why do you notice the splinter in your brother's eye,
but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own?
How can you say to your brother,
'Brother, let me remove that splinter in your eye,'
when you do not even notice the wooden beam in your own eye?
You hypocrite!  Remove the wooden beam from your eye first;
then you will see clearly
to remove the splinter in your brother's eye.
"A good tree does not bear rotten fruit,
nor does a rotten tree bear good fruit.
For every tree is known by its own fruit.
For people do not pick figs from thornbushes,
nor do they gather grapes from brambles.
A good person out of the store of goodness in his heart produces good,
but an evil person out of a store of evil produces evil;
for from the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks."

source: usccb.org

Divine defense - Eleven

Reading 1WIS 1:13-15; 2:23-24

God did not make death,
nor does he rejoice in the destruction of the living.
For he fashioned all things that they might have being;
and the creatures of the world are wholesome,
and there is not a destructive drug among them
nor any domain of the netherworld on earth,
for justice is undying.
For God formed man to be imperishable;
the image of his own nature he made him.
But by the envy of the devil, death entered the world,
and they who belong to his company experience it.

Responsorial PsalmPS 30:2, 4, 5-6, 11, 12, 13

R. (2a) I will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me.
I will extol you, O LORD, for you drew me clear
and did not let my enemies rejoice over me.
O LORD, you brought me up from the netherworld;
you preserved me from among those going down into the pit.
I will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me.
Sing praise to the LORD, you his faithful ones,
and give thanks to his holy name.
For his anger lasts but a moment;
a lifetime, his good will.
At nightfall, weeping enters in,
but with the dawn, rejoicing.
R. I will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me.
Hear, O LORD, and have pity on me;
O LORD, be my helper.
You changed my mourning into dancing;
O LORD, my God, forever will I give you thanks.
R. I will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me.

source: usccb.org

Divine defense - Ten

GospelMT 20:1-16

Jesus told his disciples this parable:
"The Kingdom of heaven is like a landowner
who went out at dawn to hire laborers for his vineyard.
After agreeing with them for the usual daily wage,
he sent them into his vineyard.
Going out about nine o'clock,
he saw others standing idle in the marketplace,
and he said to them, 'You too go into my vineyard,
and I will give you what is just.'
So they went off. 
And he went out again around noon,
and around three o'clock, and did likewise.
Going out about five o'clock,
he found others standing around, and said to them,
'Why do you stand here idle all day?'
They answered, 'Because no one has hired us.'
He said to them, 'You too go into my vineyard.'
When it was evening the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman,
'Summon the laborers and give them their pay,
beginning with the last and ending with the first.'
When those who had started about five o'clock came,
each received the usual daily wage.
So when the first came, they thought that they would receive more,
but each of them also got the usual wage.
And on receiving it they grumbled against the landowner, saying,
'These last ones worked only one hour,
and you have made them equal to us,
who bore the day's burden and the heat.'
He said to one of them in reply,
'My friend, I am not cheating you.
Did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage?
Take what is yours and go.
What if I wish to give this last one the same as you?
Or am I not free to do as I wish with my own money?
Are you envious because I am generous?'
Thus, the last will be first, and the first will be last."

source: usccb.org

Reblogged: Silence: A deeper level of trust

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NOTE: The phrase "Divine defense" is taken from this particular blog post.

Divine defense - Seven

Reading 22 PT 1:16-19

Beloved:
We did not follow cleverly devised myths
when we made known to you
the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ,
but we had been eyewitnesses of his majesty.
For he received honor and glory from God the Father
when that unique declaration came to him from the majestic glory,
"This is my Son, my beloved, with whom I am well pleased."
We ourselves heard this voice come from heaven
while we were with him on the holy mountain.
Moreover, we possess the prophetic message that is altogether reliable.
You will do well to be attentive to it,
as to a lamp shining in a dark place,
until day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.

source: usccb.org

Divine defense - Six

Reading 2ROM 8:28-30

Brothers and sisters:
We know that all things work for good for those who love God,
who are called according to his purpose. 
For those he foreknew he also predestined
to be conformed to the image of his Son,
so that he might be the firstborn
among many brothers and sisters.
And those he predestined he also called;
and those he called he also justified;
and those he justified he also glorified.

source: usccb.org

Divine defense - Five

Reading 21 PT 2:20B-25

Beloved:
If you are patient when you suffer for doing what is good,
this is a grace before God.
For to this you have been called,
because Christ also suffered for you,
leaving you an example that you should follow in his footsteps.
He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.

When he was insulted, he returned no insult;
when he suffered, he did not threaten;
instead, he handed himself over to the one who judges justly.
He himself bore our sins in his body upon the cross,
so that, free from sin, we might live for righteousness.
By his wounds you have been healed.
For you had gone astray like sheep,
but you have now returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls.

source: usccb.org