Rogation Sunday
Malachi, Chapter 1, verse 6
6 A son honors
his father, and a servant fears his master; If, then, I am a father,
where is the honor due to me? And if I am a master, where is the fear
due to me?
To honor someone is to live by
the principles they have given us. That is we follow those doctrines whether
they are watching us or not, but a servant who fears his master will not live
by the values given but will only follow them if they are being watched or if
there is a reward. If you love someone you honor them by being true to them,
your trust and faith in them and the principles they give are incorruptible.
"In
truth, I see that God shows no partiality. Rather, in every nation whoever
fears him and acts uprightly is acceptable to him."
Rogation Sunday
It is only a few weeks since Good Friday
when we commemorated the agonizing death of Christ on Mount Calvary. This was
an excruciating, shameful death even for hardened criminals who deserved it.
But for our loving Savior, the innocent lamb of God, one who had never offended
God or neighbor, it was something of which the whole human race should be
ashamed forever. What caused Christ that torment and death on the cross was our
sins, the sins of all mankind and not the spite and hatred of his Jewish
opponents, who were only instruments in the tragedy. Atonement had to be made
to God for the sins of the world, so that men could reach the eternal
inheritance which the incarnation made available to them. However, not all the
acts of the entire human race could make a sufficient atonement to God. A
sacrifice, an expiation of infinite value was needed. The death of the Son of
God in his human nature was alone capable of making such an expiation. That
Christ willingly accepted crucifixion for our sakes, that he gave the greatest
proof of love which the world has ever known, by laying down his life for his
friends, did not make his sufferings any less, did not ease any of the pains of
Calvary. His agony in the Garden before his arrest shows this: he foresaw all
the tortures and pains which he was to undergo and sweated blood at the thought
of what awaited him. But he was to keep his Father's commandment "not my
will but thine be done." We Christians must have hearts of stone, hearts
devoid of all sense of gratitude, when we forget what Christ has done for us
and deliberately offend him! Alas, this is what all of us do sometimes, and
many of us do all the time. Christ died to bring us to heaven but we tell him,
by our sins, that he was wasting his time. We do not want to go to heaven, we
are making our happiness here! How far can human ingratitude and thanklessness
go? Christ told us, through the disciples on Holy Thursday night, that he had
made us his friends, his intimates. We are no longer servants in the household,
who merely earn their daily wage and have no intimacy with the family and no
hope of ever sharing in the family possessions. Instead, we have been adopted
into the family by Christ becoming man, we have been guaranteed all the rights
of children intimacy with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and the future
sharing in the eternal happiness of that divine household. Christ's incarnation
made us God's children; Christ's death on the cross removed sin. Sin is the one
obstacle that could prevent us reaching our eternal inheritance. Because God
gave us a free will we can in a moment of folly, a moment of madness really,
deprive ourselves of the privileges and possessions which Christ has made
available to us. We can choose to exchange an eternity of happiness for a few
fleeting years of self-indulgence on earth. We can fling Christ's gift of love
back in his face and tell him we don't want it. God forbid that we should ever
act like this, that we should ever forget God's purpose in creating us. It is a
marvelous thing to be alive, if we have hope in a future life. If nothing
awaited us but the grave, then to live on this earth, which is a valley of
sorrow and tears for the vast majority, would be the cruelest of jests. But of
this we need have no fear. Life on earth is but a short prelude to our real
existence. If we use this brief period as Christ has told us how to use it,
death for us will be the passage into the eternal mansions. Be grateful to God,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit; love the Blessed Trinity; prove your love by
loving your fellowmen. By doing this you are fulfilling the whole law and the
prophets; and you are assuring yourself of the place in heaven which Christ has
won for you.
Excerpted
from The Sunday Readings by Fr. Kevin O'Sullivan, O.F.M.
Rogation Days
THE Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday before the
Ascension are observed as days of solemn supplication, and are called Rogation
Days. These three Rogation days serve also as a preparation for the feast of
the ascension, which reminds us that we have the most powerful intercessor in
our savior, who is now enthroned at the right hand of the father. Since 1929 many churches in the United
States have observed
Rogation Sunday as Rural Life Sunday,
or Soil Stewardship Sunday. Services on this
day examine the
religious aspects of rural life. In 1969
the Roman Catholic
Church cancelled the
Rogation Days. In their place Church
authorities instituted days of prayer for
human needs, human
works, and the
fruits of the earth.
Local bishops may
now set appropriate
dates for these
observances in their dioceses.[1]
Daily Devotions
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Please
pray for me and this ministry
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