James H. Kurt
Word and Sacrament. This is the food that sustains us here on our pilgrimage to heaven. The Word of God and the Sacrament of the altar – this is our daily bread. What greater gift could we ask for than to hear the Word of God proclaimed and receive our Lord each day at holy Mass? This is the foundation of our faith; here is the paragon of prayer which strengthens us for our work in this world.
In this writing the author has sought to allow the Scripture readings for each Mass (and all Masses of the liturgical calendar are covered: all Sundays and weekdays of Ordinary Time, Advent, Christmas, Lent, and Easter seasons, as well as Solemnities and Feasts) speak for themselves. This is evident in his extensive quoting and paraphrasing of the Word, but perhaps more significantly in his taking as his guiding principle the Lord’s instruction not to consider beforehand what to say when brought to bear witness to Him (see Mk.13:11).
After reading the Scriptures for the day three times (before dawn), Mr. Kurt let the Spirit direct him – writing without revision, trusting entirely in the Lord. Thus “describing spiritual realities in spiritual terms” (1Cor.2:13), the message and tone of the writing reflect that of the readings themselves; the work is therefore termed an exposition of the readings of Catholic Mass.
This book has received an imprimatur from the Most Reverend John J. Meyers, J.C.D., D.D., Archbishop of Newark, New Jersey.
Author’s Website:
www.writingsofjameskurt.org
James Kurt lives much as a hermit in the city – Jersey City, New Jersey. He spends about six hours a day in prayer, including Catholic Mass, Liturgy of the Hours, full Rosary, Stations of the Cross, meditation on Scripture and the writings of the saints, and silent prayer before the Blessed Sacrament. He works another five or six hours on his writing. A website (see back of book) contains the forty-plus Catholic Christian writings he has composed over the past twenty years. Mr. Kurt also serves as an adjunct ESL instructor one day a week at a local university to support his vocation.
The author has recently published three other books with AuthorHouse: silence in the city, a series of contemplative poems on the presence of God in all places; Songs for Children of Light: Ten Albums of Lyrics, a white on black conceptual work with simple drawings for each song; and Turn of the Jubilee Year: A Conversion Song, an autobiographical prose depiction of vocation search through pilgrimage to Medugorje and stays at a hermitage or two.
He is currently preparing two other volumes for publication: YHWH: On the Divine NAME and The Cross, as well as a third – The Will to Love (and other writings of the Spirit).
O. 23. Sun. (C)
Twenty-Third Week
(Wis.9:13-18b; Ps.90:1,3-6,12-14,17; Phlm.1:9-10,12-17; Lk.14:25-33)
“Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me
cannot be my disciple.”
The wisdom of the cross, that blessed necessity for every Christian’s life. What does it teach us? How does it call us to act? Its wisdom is not of this earth, for the “corruptible body burdens the soul,” but the counsel of the “Holy Spirit from on high” brings the freedom to be sons of God. This wisdom can only be found by knowing we are but dust and renouncing all things of dust to serve the living and true God.
“Who can know God’s counsel, or who can conceive what the Lord intends?” our first reading from the Book of Wisdom inquires of us. Indeed, things before our eyes, things of this earth, “we find with difficulty,” so who can understand things of heaven? How shall we attain the vision of God, of whom our psalm states, “A thousand years in your sight, are as yesterday, now that it is passed, or as a watch in the night”? How can we who wilt and fade “like the changing grass” come to the surpassing knowledge our Lord possesses?
Jesus answers the question. He turns to the crowds who follow Him, who are excited by His presence but unaware of the demands made upon every Christian’s life, and He teaches them this wisdom that is of God. It is His essential lesson: Be prepared to give up all things for the sake of the kingdom. Put nothing before your worship of God. Renounce all your possessions and be ready to die for Him – only then can you approach the glory He brings to this earth. Only by the wisdom of His cross will you find the kingdom of God. For indeed “the earthen shelter” and all its concerns weigh down the mind, weigh down the spirit, and keep it from attaining to God; they must therefore be left behind to find the freedom of sons of the Most High.
The Lord comes to “teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain wisdom of heart.” It is this teaching Paul seeks to impart to Philemon as he asks him to forgive the slave that has wronged him and accept him back “forever, no longer as a slave but more than a slave, a brother.” This same forgiveness, which is divine not earthly, is that which is asked of us all by the Lord. For so we have been forgiven by Him, so we who were sinful slaves have been made his brother… and so we must do the same for others. It is no longer the mind of man by which we judge but the mind of God, and the grace of this wisdom we gain only by carrying our cross. It is this which shapes us in His image, which imparts to us His wisdom – and by this the work of our hands shall prosper.
