The Church Amidst Persecutions
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Posted on 02/07/2014 8:11:48 PM PST by Salvation
February 8, 2014
Saturday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time
Reading 1 1 Kgs 3:4-13
Solomon went to Gibeon to sacrifice there,
because that was the most renowned high place.
Upon its altar Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings.
In Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream at night.
God said, “Ask something of me and I will give it to you.”
Solomon answered:
“You have shown great favor to your servant, my father David,
because he behaved faithfully toward you,
with justice and an upright heart;
and you have continued this great favor toward him, even today,
seating a son of his on his throne.
O LORD, my God, you have made me, your servant,
king to succeed my father David;
but I am a mere youth, not knowing at all how to act.
I serve you in the midst of the people whom you have chosen,
a people so vast that it cannot be numbered or counted.
Give your servant, therefore, an understanding heart
to judge your people and to distinguish right from wrong.
For who is able to govern this vast people of yours?”
The LORD was pleased that Solomon made this request.
So God said to him: “Because you have asked for this–
not for a long life for yourself,
nor for riches, nor for the life of your enemies,
but for understanding so that you may know what is right–
I do as you requested.
I give you a heart so wise and understanding
that there has never been anyone like you up to now,
and after you there will come no one to equal you.
In addition, I give you what you have not asked for,
such riches and glory that among kings there is not your like.”
Responsorial Psalm Ps 119:9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14
R. (12b) Lord, teach me your statutes.
How shall a young man be faultless in his way?
By keeping to your words.
R. Lord, teach me your statutes.
With all my heart I seek you;
let me not stray from your commands.
R. Lord, teach me your statutes.
Within my heart I treasure your promise,
that I may not sin against you.
R. Lord, teach me your statutes.
Blessed are you, O LORD;
teach me your statutes.
R. Lord, teach me your statutes.
With my lips I declare
all the ordinances of your mouth.
R. Lord, teach me your statutes.
In the way of your decrees I rejoice,
as much as in all riches.
R. Lord, teach me your statutes.
Gospel Mk 6:30-34
The Apostles gathered together with Jesus
and reported all they had done and taught.
He said to them,
“Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.”
People were coming and going in great numbers,
and they had no opportunity even to eat.
So they went off in the boat by themselves to a deserted place.
People saw them leaving and many came to know about it.
They hastened there on foot from all the towns
and arrived at the place before them.
When Jesus disembarked and saw the vast crowd,
his heart was moved with pity for them,
for they were like sheep without a shepherd;
and he began to teach them many things.
Feast Day: February 8
Born: 1481, Venice
Died: 8 February 1537, Somasca
Canonized: 1767 by Pope Clement XIII
Patron of: orphans
St. Jerome Emiliani
Feast Day: February 08
Born:1486 :: Died:1537
Jerome was born to a noble family of Venice, Italy. He loved the good life and spent his youth carelessly enjoying the pleasures of this world. When he grew up he became a soldier and was put in command of a fortress high in the mountains.
One day, his post was attacked by troops of Maximilian I. Jerome was taken prisoner and thrown into a dungeon. Chained in that miserable prison, he had time to think about his life. He began to regret the careless way he had been living. He was sorry that he had thought so little about God. He was sorry for wasting so many years living a wicked life.
Jerome promised the Blessed Mother that he would change his life if she would help him. His prayers were answered and by a miracle he was able to escape to safety. Jerome, with a grateful heart, went straight to a church. He hung his prison chains in front of Mary's altar.
After returning to Venice, he took charge of the education of his young nephews while he studied to be a priest. When he finally became a priest he was devoted to works of charity.
Plague and famine struck northern Italy. Jerome began feeding the sick and the hungry with whatever money he had. He was especially concerned about the many homeless orphan children he found in the streets. He rented a house for them, and gave them clothes and food. He taught them about Jesus and the Catholic faith.
St. Jerome started a religious congregation of men called the Company of the Servants of the Poor. They would care for the poor, especially orphans, and would teach youth.
He did all he could for the peasants, too. St. Jerome would work with them in the fields and would talk to them of God's goodness while he worked by their side. He died while caring for plague victims in 1537.
St. Jerome Emiliani was a gift to the people of his time and to all the Church. By totally turning his life around, he became an image of the love of God. He gave hope to those who were poor and abandoned. He is the patron saint of orphans and homeless children.
Saturday, February 8
Liturgical Color: Green
St. Josephine Bakhita died on this day in
1947. She was abducted and sold as a
slave in Sudan where she was badly
abused. Never losing her faith, she
gained her freedom and became a nun.
She lived her remaining life in humble
service to God.
| Mark | |||
| English: Douay-Rheims | Latin: Vulgata Clementina | Greek NT: Byzantine/Majority Text (2000) | |
| Mark 6 |
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| 30. | And the apostles coming together unto Jesus, related to him all things that they had done and taught. | Et convenientes Apostoli ad Jesum, renuntiaverunt ei omnia quæ egerant, et docuerant. | και συναγονται οι αποστολοι προς τον ιησουν και απηγγειλαν αυτω παντα και οσα εποιησαν και οσα εδιδαξαν |
| 31. | And he said to them: Come apart into a desert place, and rest a little. For there were many coming and going: and they had not so much as time to eat. | Et ait illis : Venite seorsum in desertum locum, et requiescite pusillum. Erant enim qui veniebant et redibant multi : et nec spatium manducandi habebant. | και ειπεν αυτοις δευτε υμεις αυτοι κατ ιδιαν εις ερημον τοπον και αναπαυεσθε ολιγον ησαν γαρ οι ερχομενοι και οι υπαγοντες πολλοι και ουδε φαγειν ευκαιρουν |
| 32. | And going up into a ship, they went into a desert place apart. | Et ascendentes in navim, abierunt in desertum locum seorsum. | και απηλθον εις ερημον τοπον τω πλοιω κατ ιδιαν |
| 33. | And they saw them going away, and many knew: and they ran flocking thither on foot from all the cities, and were there before them. | Et viderunt eos abeuntes, et cognoverunt multi : et pedestres de omnibus civitatibus concurrerunt illuc, et prævenerunt eos. | και ειδον αυτους υπαγοντας και επεγνωσαν αυτον πολλοι και πεζη απο πασων των πολεων συνεδραμον εκει και προηλθον αυτους και συνηλθον προς αυτον |
| 34. | And Jesus going out saw a great multitude: and he had compassion on them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd, and he began to teach them many things. | Et exiens vidit turbam multam Jesus : et misertus est super eos, quia erant sicut oves non habentes pastorem, et cœpit docere multa. | και εξελθων ειδεν ο ιησους πολυν οχλον και εσπλαγχνισθη επ αυτοις οτι ησαν ως προβατα μη εχοντα ποιμενα και ηρξατο διδασκειν αυτους πολλα |
Daily Readings for:February 08, 2014
(Readings on USCCB website)
Collect: O God, Father of mercies, who sent Saint Jerome Emiliani as a helper and father to orphans, grant through his intercession, that we may preserve faithfully the spirit of adoption, by which we are called, and truly are, your children. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
O God, who led Saint Josephine Bakhita from abject slavery to the dignity of being your daughter and a bride of Christ, grant, we pray, that by her example we may show constant love for the Lord Jesus crucified, remaining steadfast in charity and prompt to show compassion. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
RECIPES
o Mafé
ACTIVITIES
o Namedays
PRAYERS
o Collect for Feast of St. John of Matha
o Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes
o Prayer to St. Jerome Emiliani
o Prayer in Honor of St. Josephine Bakhita
LIBRARY
o A Theologian of Humility | Mariapia Bonanate
o Order of the Most Holy Trinity | Helen Walker Homan
o St. Josephine Bakhita Was a Humble Witness to God's Love | Unknown
· Ordinary Time: February 8th
· Optional Memorials of St. Jerome Emiliani, priest; St. Josephine Bakhita, virgin
Old Calendar: St. John of Matha, confessor
St. Jerome Emiliani was born in Venice in 1486. He converted to Christianity after a rather dissolute youth, and dedicated himself to the service of the poor, the sick, and abandoned children. He founded a congregation (Somaschi) which looked after the education of children, especially orphans. He died of the plague while serving the afflicted.
Saint Josephine was a young Sudanese girl sold into slavery and brought to Italy where, while serving as a nanny, she was sent to live with the Canossian Sisters of the Institute of the Catechumens in Venice. There she was baptized, and, having reached majority age, was granted her freedom by Italian law. In 1896 she joined the Canossian Daughters of Charity where she served humbly for the next twenty five years. She died after a long and painful illness, during which she would cry out to the Lord: "Please loosen the chains... they are so heavy!" Her dying words were "Our Lady! Our Lady!"
According to the 1962 Missal of Bl. John XXIII the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, today is the feast of St. John of Matha, who came from Provence, France and was ordained a priest in Paris. He retired to a solitary life conscious that God was calling him to a special mission, and spent three years in prayer and recollection. He then founded the Trinitarian Order for the ransom of Christians held by the Mohammedans. A great number of houses were founded and innumerable prisoners set free. St. John spent the last two years of his life in Rome, where he died.
St. Jerome Emiliani
A careless and irreligious soldier for the city-state of Venice, Jerome was captured in a skirmish at an outpost town and chained in a dungeon. In prison Jerome had a lot of time to think, and he gradually learned how to pray. When he escaped, he returned to Venice where he took charge of the education of his nephews—and began his own studies for the priesthood.
In the years after his ordination, events again called Jerome to a decision and a new lifestyle. Plague and famine swept northern Italy. Jerome began caring for the sick and feeding the hungry at his own expense. While serving the sick and the poor, he soon resolved to devote himself and his property solely to others, particularly to abandoned children. He founded three orphanages, a shelter for penitent prostitutes and a hospital.
Around 1532 Jerome and two other priests established a congregation dedicated to the care of orphans and the education of youth. Jerome died in 1537 from a disease he caught while tending the sick. He was canonized in 1767. In 1928 Pius XI named him the universal patron of orphans and abandoned children.
— Excerpted from Saint of the Day, Leonard Foley, O.F.M.
Patron: Abandoned people; orphans.
Symbols: Ball and chain; man shackled with a ball and chain who is attending the sick; man wearing a ball and chain, and receiving an apparition of Mary and the Child Jesus.
Things to Do:
St. Josephine Bakhita
For many years, Josephine Bakhita was a slave, but her spirit was always free and eventually that spirit prevailed. Born in Olgossa in the Darfur region of southern Sudan, Josephine was kidnapped at the age of seven, sold into slavery and given the name Bakhita, which means fortunate. She was resold several times, finally in 1883 to Callisto Legnani, Italian consul in Khartoum, Sudan.
Two years later he took Josephine to Italy and gave her to his friend Augusto Michieli. Soon Bakhita became babysitter to Mimmina Michieli, whom she accompanied to Venice's Institute of the Catechumens, run by the Canossian Sisters. While Mimmina was being instructed, Josephine felt drawn to the Catholic Church. She was baptized and confirmed in 1890, taking the name Josephine.
When the Michielis returned from Africa and wanted to take Mimmina and Josephine back with them, the future saint refused to go. During the ensuing court case, the Canossian sisters and the patriarch of Venice intervened on Josephine's behalf. The judge concluded that since slavery was illegal in Italy, she had actually been free since 1885.
Josephine entered the Institute of Saint Magdalene of Canossa in 1893 and made her profession three years later. In 1902, she was transferred to the city of Schio (northeast of Verona), where she assisted her religious community through cooking, sewing, embroidery and welcoming visitors at the door. She soon became well loved by the children attending the sisters' school and the local citizens. She once said, "Be good, love the Lord, pray for those who do not know Him. What a great grace it is to know God!"
The first steps toward her beatification began in 1959. She was beatified in 1992 and canonized eight years later.
— Excerpted from Saint of the Day, Leonard Foley, O.F.M.
"Be good, love the Lord, pray for those who do not know him. What a great grace it is to know God!". — St. Josephine Bakhita
Things to Do:
St. John of Matha
John of Matha, the founder of the Trinitarian Order, was born at Faucon, on the borders of Provence, in France. He was trained as a young noble in horsemanship and the use of arms, decided to study for the priesthood, and was ordained in Paris. After some years in solitude, he conceived the idea of founding an order to ransom Christian captives from the Muslims and went to Rome to obtain the blessing of Pope Innocent III.
Houses of the order were established at Cerfroid and Rome and in Spain. He was very successful in the work of ransoming captives and his order spread. Very little is known for certain about his life, and in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, to bolster his reputation, certain members of his order fabricated stories about him, filled his life with miracles and amazing adventures, and connected the beginnings of his order with St. Felix of Valois.
The Trinitarian Order had not preserved any archives of their order and had little knowledge of the life of their founder. Another order, the Order of Mercy, was founded for the same reason as their own, and they compiled a fictitious record of the beginnings of their order. This takes nothing away from the achievements of St. John of Matha, but it does obscure the true story of his life and work.
We do know that he received approval of his order from Pope Innocent III in 1198 and that he died in Rome in 1213. His relics were taken to Madrid in 1655, and he was recognized as a saint in 1694. At his death, there were thirty-five houses of the order throughout Europe. The Trinitarians were one of the first religious orders to combine monastic discipline with pastoral work and one of the first to become international in its work. The order flourishes today in several countries and in 1906 made a foundation in the United States.
Excerpted from The One Year Book of Saints, Rev. Clifford Stevens
Patron: Against lightning; against pestilence; archers; automobile drivers; automobilists; bachelors; Baden, Germany; boatmen; bookbinders; Brunswick, Germany; bus drivers; cab drivers; epilepsy; epileptics; floods; fruit dealers; fullers; gardeners; hailstorms; holy death; lightning; lorry drivers; mariners; market carriers; Mecklenburg, Germany; motorists; pestilence; porters; Rab Croatia; sailors; Saint Christopher's Island; Saint Kitts; storms; sudden death; taxi drivers; toothache; Toses, Girona, Catalonia, Spain; transportation; transportation workers; travellers; truck drivers; truckers; watermen.
Symbols: Branch; giant; torrent; tree; man with Christ on his shoulders.
Things to Do:
Saint Jerome Emiliani
Ask something of me and I will give it to you. (1 Kings 3:5)
Solomon had recently inherited the throne from his father, David, and had just finished shoring up his power. But he knew that he still had to show the people that he could be trusted as their new king. So he went to the shrine of the Lord at Gibeon to pray.
As Solomon offered his sacrifices and prayers, God made him a generous offer: “Ask something of me and I will give it to you” (1 Kings 3:5). Something. Anything. Just ask, and it’s yours. Surely this must have overwhelmed the new king! Moved by such generosity, Solomon asked for the one thing that he knew he needed: an “understanding heart” that was open to God’s guidance (3:9).
In today’s Gospel reading, we see a similar drama played out. Eager to see Jesus, crowds of people ran ahead of him so that they could be ready for him when he arrived. When he saw them, Jesus was deeply moved, and he spent hours teaching them. He had wanted to get away and rest with his disciples, but he knew how important his words were to the people, so he gave of himself, offering them not only his words but heavenly food as well. As his Father had done with Solomon, Jesus committed himself to giving the people what they truly needed and longed for.
Even today, Jesus is still saying, “Ask me for whatever you need.” But before you pull out your list, take some time to remember who he is and what he has already done in your life. He is holy and perfect. He has called you to be his child. He has cleansed and forgiven you. He longs to draw you close to his heart and fill you with his grace.
Ponder these truths. Let them bring forth praise from your lips. Let them soften your heart so that you begin desiring his plans and his ways over your own. Fix your eyes on him, and you will find your needs shifting and your dreams coming into alignment with his dreams. Then go ahead, and ask anything of the Lord. He will answer!
“Jesus, come and be my shepherd. In you I have everything. I lay my life before you and ask you to help me desire what you desire.”
Psalm 119:9-14; Mark 6:30-34
Daily Marriage Tip for February 8, 2014:
Fighting Fair Tip: Keep it current. One couple has the rule of thumb that any issue older than the milk in the refrigerator is no longer game. Recurring arguments usually mean that there’s something behind the present problem that irks the other.
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Saturday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time
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Mark 6:30-34 The apostles gathered together with Jesus and reported all they had done and taught. He said to them, "Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while." People were coming and going in great numbers, and they had no opportunity even to eat. So they went off in the boat by themselves to a deserted place. People saw them leaving and many came to know about it. They hastened there on foot from all the towns and arrived at the place before them. When he disembarked and saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things. Introductory Prayer: Lord, I believe that you are present here. You know me through and through, and despite my weaknesses, sins and imperfections you love me. Lord, thank you for your love. Today I give you my mind, my heart and my will. Mold me and use me as you wish. Petition: Mary, obtain for me the grace to understand and live the Christian meaning of rest. 1. A Needed Rest: Jesus knows that his disciples need to rest after returning from a long stint of missionary work. There is a need to replenish energies — physical, mental and spiritual. It is within God’s will to put moments of physical rest into our daily programs. Jesus tells the apostles to get away together and with him. Physical rest, of course, is not laziness or dissipation. It is not a place to lose the spiritual tautness of our soul towards God and his things, or the readiness to do God’s will at all times. 2. Thinking About Others: Jesus teaches us that being ready to do God’s will in everything means also being always ready to serve others. How beautiful it is when families can relax together with each member not just selfishly thinking about myself, how much fun I can have, or making sure everyone obeys my whims! In a culture where “vacation” is synonymous with “loafing,” Jesus reminds us that for a Christian, relaxing and having fun are not incompatible with thinking about and serving others. Jesus’ compassionate heart was always active, and even with rest on his mind, he was moved to give himself to the people who needed to hear the Word of God. Is my heart like Christ’s? Am I aware of the physical and spiritual needs of my family and friends even on my “day off”? 3. Thinking About God: There is a deeper meaning to “rest”: turning all our activity to glorify God and expressing our loving dependence on him. He commanded us to set apart one day of the week to “rest” in him, to direct our hearts and minds to him, to offer him the fruits of our week’s work, and to receive his grace to begin another week. Sunday must be the highlight of a Christian’s week, not just because he finds respite from his work, but because he offers all his work –– and himself –– to God the Father during the communal celebration of Mass, the heart of Sunday. This God-centered focus is extended throughout the whole Sunday rest, where “daily concerns and tasks can find their proper perspective: the material things about which we worry give way to spiritual values; in a moment of encounter and less pressured exchange, we see the true face of the people with whom we live. Even the beauties of nature — too often marred by the desire to exploit, which turns against man himself — can be rediscovered and enjoyed to the full” (John Paul II, Dies Domini, 67). Conversation with Christ: Lord Jesus, help me to find my true rest in you. You are the source of all that is good. Help me to order all my work and material things towards spiritual values. Help me make Mass the heart of my Sunday. As well, help me use Sunday to see the true face of my family, friends, colleagues and clients: they are souls which you call me to love, serve, and bring closer to you. Resolution: I will find some concrete way to prepare myself and my family for the celebration of Sunday Mass: reflecting on the Mass readings, organizing ourselves to arrive early to visit Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, doing some service of charity like visiting the sick or elderly, etc. |
Language: English | Español
All Issues > Volume 30, Issue 2
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Why is Mary a Virgin?
God willed that Jesus Christ should have a true human mother but only God himself as his Father, because he wanted to make a new beginning that could be credited to him alone and not to earthly forces.
Mary's virginity is not some outdated mythological notion but rather fundamental to the life of Jesus. He was born of a woman but had no human father. Jesus Christ is a new beginning in the world that has been instituted from on high. In the Gospel of Luke, Mary asks the angel, "How can this be, since I have no husband?" (= do not sleep with a man, Lk 1:34); the angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you" (Lk 1:35). Although the Church from the earliest days was mocked on account of her belief in Mary's virginity, she has always believed that her virginity is real and not merely symbolic. (YOUCAT question 80)
Dig Deeper: CCC section (484-486) and other references here.
Part 1: The Profession of Faith (26 - 1065)
Section 2: The Profession of the Christian Faith (185 - 1065)
Chapter 2: I Believe in Jesus Christ, the Only Son of God (422 - 682)
Article 3: "He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit, and was born of the Virgin Mary" (456 - 570)
Paragraph 2: "Conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary" (484 - 511)
I. CONCEIVED BY THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT... ⇡
The Annunciation to Mary inaugurates "the fullness of time",119 the time of the fulfillment of God's promises and preparations. Mary was invited to conceive him in whom the "whole fullness of deity" would dwell "bodily".120 The divine response to her question, "How can this be, since I know not man?", was given by the power of the Spirit: "The Holy Spirit will come upon you."121
119.
120.
121.
Lk 1:34-35 (Gk.).
The mission of the Holy Spirit is always conjoined and ordered to that of the Son.122 The Holy Spirit, "the Lord, the giver of Life", is sent to sanctify the womb of the Virgin Mary and divinely fecundate it, causing her to conceive the eternal Son of the Father in a humanity drawn from her own.
122.
Cf. Jn 16:14-15.
The Father's only Son, conceived as man in the womb of the Virgin Mary, is "Christ", that is to say, anointed by the Holy Spirit, from the beginning of his human existence, though the manifestation of this fact takes place only progressively: to the shepherds, to the magi, to John the Baptist, to the disciples.123 Thus the whole life of Jesus Christ will make manifest "how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power."124
123.
Cf. Mt 1:20; 2:1-12; Lk 1:35; 2:8-20; Jn 1:31-34; 2:11.
124.
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