"THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO SALVATION OUTSIDE THE CATHOLIC CHURCH."
                                          - Saint Cosmas & Saint Damian

 

 The phrase "Outside the Church there is no salvation" means that all salvation

comes from Jesus Christ through the Catholic Church, which is His Body,

though God's grace can still reach those who are invincibly ignorant of this through no fault of their own.

 

 ＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊     

Ecclesiastes 11:9-12:8

Rejoice, young man,

In your youth and direct well your heart when you are young;

follow your desires and achieve your ambitions but recall that God will take account of all you do.

Drive sorrow from your heart and pain from your flesh, for youth and dark hair will not last.

Be mindful of your Creator when you are young,

before the time of sorrow comes when you have to say,

"This gives me no pleasure," and before the sun, moon and stars withdraw their light,

before the clouds gather again after the rain.

 

On the day when the guardians of the house tremble,

when sturdy men are bowed and those at the mill stop working because they are too few,

when it grows dim for those looking through the windows,

and the doors are shut and the noise of the mill grows faint, the sparrow stops chirping and the bird-song is silenced,

when one fears the slopes and to walk is frightening; yet the almond tree blossoms,

the grasshopper is fat and the caperberry bears fruit that serves no purpose, because man goes forwar

 

d to his eternal home and mourners gather in the street,

even before the silver chain is snapped or the golden globe is shattered,

before the pitcher is broken at the fountain or the wheel at the mill,

before the dust returns to the earth from which it came and the spirit returns to God who gave it.

Meaningless! meaningless! the Teacher says; all is meaningless!

 

Ps 90:3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 14, 17

In every age, O Lord, you have been our refuge.

 

＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊      

Luke 9:43b-45

But while all were amazed at everything Jesus did, he said to his disciples,

"Listen, and remember what I tell you now: The Son of Man will be betrayed into the hands of men."

But the disciples didn't understand this saying; something prevented them

from grasping what he meant, and they were afraid to ask him about it.

 

Gospel Reflection ：

We often do not see the true meaning of our suffering.

The disciples were unaware of the suffering and death that Jesus would suffer.

They also could not understand why Jesus had to die despite all the good he had done.

We often do not see the true meaning of our suffering in our lives, so we avoid facing it.

Today, Jesus reminds us that in the kingdom of God, suffering always comes before victory,

the cross before salvation, and death before resurrection.