THE NEEDLE'S EYE

SCRUTATIO SCRIPTURAE

THE NEEDLE'S EYE

A Scrutatio for the 20th Sunday of the CHRISTIAN SEASON OF ORDINARY TIME/TIME OF THE CHURCH 

Readings from the Anglican Book of Common Prayer

Amos 5:6-7, 10-15 / Psalm 90 / Hebrews 3:1-6 / Mark 10:17-30

Readings for the Pauline/Vatican II Rite of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass
Wisdom of King Solomon 7:7-11 / Psalm 90:12-13,14-15, 16-17 / Hebrews 4:12-13 / Mark 10:17-30

Readings for the Tridentine Rite of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass

Introit: Daniel 3:31, 39, 35 and Psalm 119:1 Epistle: Ephesians 5:15-21

Gradual and Alleluia: Psalm 145:15-16 and 108:1

Gospel 

Matthew 4:46-53

Offertory: Psalm 137:1

Communion Antiphon: Psalm 119:49-50a

The Nazi regime...

One of the most heart-breaking dictatorships of the 20th century.

Millions of Jews were exterminated because of the evil of Eugenics (this is the same philisophy that Margaret Sanger follows by the way!) an endeavor to create the so called "perfect" Aryan Race.

It was during this period that the most despised "harlot of Babylon" has become the new Queen Esther who saved the 860,000 children of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob from the new Pharaoh who wanted to eradicate them from the face of the earth.

The Pope, His Holiness, Pius XII, he who was and still is condemned by the world (well, only since 1963) for "not speaking" against the Nazis, helped the Jews of Rome on September 27, 1943, when they were demanded to pay one hundred pounds of gold within 36 hours. This same Pius XII ordered the Papal Treasury to fill the deficit with the sacred vessels!

During the 1st mass arrest of the Jews, Pope Pius vehemently condemned this inhumane act of cruelty through the L'Osservatore Romano. The Facist press even dubbed the Vatican "as the mouthpiece for the Jews."

Even before the Nazi invasion of Italy, the Pope was working clandestinely to get the Jews out of that country by immigration. During the Nazi occupation, the Pope hid some 4,000 to 7,000 Jews in 180 convents, Churches, Basilicas and even using the Papal Summer House of Castel Gandolfo  to house and feed them. Even the Papal Private Apartments, Hospitals and Nursing homes were opened for this purpose. And the Popes's helpers in these efforts are Priests and Religious who hearkened to the life-long call of JESUS in Matthew 9:11-12 and I Corinthians 7:7-8. By Christmas day of 1943, the Pope protested again through Vatican Radio against the evils of Nazism! 

In June of 1944, in His Capacity as the Sovereign Ruler of the State of the Holy See, Pius XII sent a telegram to Admiral Miklos Horthy, thus halting the deportation of 800,000 Jews from Hungary!

During these troubled times, these times where the Church seems to enter the needle's eye, the Pope, the Vicar of Christ on Earth, the Successor of the Holy Apostle Peter, the Father of the princes and kings of the world, has done everything in his power to do good, not just for the heck of it NOR BECAUSE OF PERSONAL INTERESTS AND PRESTIGE (hence the condemnation and the slander!), but all for the SELFLESS LOVE OF JESUS!

Pope Pius XII was motivated only by the power of FAITH HOPE AND SELFLESS LOVE! May we be encouraged and challenged to follow His Venerable example even in our small and meager ways.

(http://www.catholic.com/documents/how-pius-xii-protected-jews)