Mark
	English: Douay-Rheims	Latin: Vulgata Clementina	Greek NT: Byzantine/Majority Text (2000)
	Mark 8
27.	And Jesus went out, and his disciples, into the towns of Caesarea Philippi. And in the way, he asked his disciples, saying to them: Whom do men say that I am?	Et egressus est Jesus, et discipuli ejus in castella Cæsareæ Philippi : et in via interrogabat discipulos suos, dicens eis : Quem me dicunt esse homines ?	και εξηλθεν ο ιησους και οι μαθηται αυτου εις τας κωμας καισαρειας της φιλιππου και εν τη οδω επηρωτα τους μαθητας αυτου λεγων αυτοις τινα με λεγουσιν οι ανθρωποι ειναι
28.	Who answered him, saying: John the Baptist; but some Elias, and others as one of the prophets.	Qui responderunt illi, dicentes : Joannem Baptistam, alii Eliam, alii vero quasi unum de prophetis.	οι δε απεκριθησαν ιωαννην τον βαπτιστην και αλλοι ηλιαν αλλοι δε ενα των προφητων
29.	Then he saith to them: But whom do you say that I am? Peter answering said to him: Thou art the Christ.	Tunc dicit illis : Vos vero quem me esse dicitis ? Respondens Petrus, ait ei : Tu es Christus.	και αυτος λεγει αυτοις υμεις δε τινα με λεγετε ειναι αποκριθεις δε ο πετρος λεγει αυτω συ ει ο χριστος
30.	And he strictly charged them that they should not tell any man of him.	Et comminatus est eis, ne cui dicerent de illo.	και επετιμησεν αυτοις ινα μηδενι λεγωσιν περι αυτου
31.	And he began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the ancients and by the high priests, and the scribes, and be killed: and after three days rise again.	Et cœpit docere eos quoniam oportet Filium hominis pati multa, et reprobari a senioribus, et a summis sacerdotibus et scribis, et occidi : et post tres dies resurgere.	και ηρξατο διδασκειν αυτους οτι δει τον υιον του ανθρωπου πολλα παθειν και αποδοκιμασθηναι απο των πρεσβυτερων και των αρχιερεων και των γραμματεων και αποκτανθηναι και μετα τρεις ημερας αναστηναι
32.	And he spoke the word openly. And Peter taking him, began to rebuke him.	Et palam verbum loquebatur. Et apprehendens eum Petrus, cœpit increpare eum.	και παρρησια τον λογον ελαλει και προσλαβομενος αυτον ο πετρος ηρξατο επιτιμαν αυτω
33.	Who turning about and seeing his disciples, threatened Peter, saying: Go behind me, Satan, because thou savorest not the things that are of God, but that are of men.	Qui conversus, et videns discipulos suos, comminatus est Petro, dicens : Vade retro me Satana, quoniam non sapis quæ Dei sunt, sed quæ sunt hominum.	ο δε επιστραφεις και ιδων τους μαθητας αυτου επετιμησεν τω πετρω λεγων υπαγε οπισω μου σατανα οτι ου φρονεις τα του θεου αλλα τα των ανθρωπων

27. And Jesus went out, arid his disciples, into the towns of Caesarea Philippi: and by the way he asked his disciples, saying to them, Whom do men say that I am?
28. And they answered, John the Baptist: but some say, Elias; and others, One of the prophets.
29. And he said to them, But whom say you that I am? And Peter answered and said to him, You are the Christ.
30. And he charged them that they should tell no man of him.
31. And he began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.
32. And he spoke that saying openly. And Peter took him, and began to rebuke him.
33. But when he had turned about and looked on his disciples, he rebuked Peter, saying, Get thee behind me, Satan: for you savor not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men.

THEOPHYL. After taking His disciples afar from the Jews He then asks them concerning himself, that they might speak the truth without fear of the Jews; wherefore it is said, And Jesus entered, and his disciples, into the towns of Caesarea Philippi.

BEDE; Philip was that brother of Herod, of whom we spoke above, who in honor of Tiberius Caesar called that town, which is now called Paneas, Caesarea Philippi. It goes on, And by the way he asked his disciples, saying to them, Whom do men say that I am?

PSEUDO-CHRYS. He asks the question with a purpose, for it was right that His disciples should praise Him better than the crowd.

BEDE; Wherefore He first asks what is the opinion of men, in order to try the faith of the disciples, lest their confession should appear to be founded on the common opinion. It goes on, And they answered, saying, Some say John the Baptist, some Elias, and others, One of the prophets.

THEOPHYL. For many thought that John had risen from the dead, as even Herod believed, and that he had performed miracles after his resurrection. After how ever having inquired into the opinion of others, He asks them what was the belief of their own minds on this point; wherefore it continues, And he said to them, But whom say you that I am?

CHRYS. From the manner, however, itself, of the question, He heads them to a higher feeling, and to higher thoughts, concerning Him, that they might not agree with the multitude. But the next words show what the head of the disciples, the mouth of the Apostles, answered; when all were asked, Peter answers and said to to him, You are the Christ.

THEOPHYL. He confesses indeed that He is the Christ announced by the Prophets; but the Evangelist Mark passes over what the Lord answered to his confession, and how He blessed him, lest by this way of relating it, he should seem, to be favoring his Master Peter; Matthew plainly goes through the whole of it.

ORIGEN; Or else, Mark and Luke, as they wrote that Peter answered, You are the Christ, without adding what is put down in Matthew, the Son of the living God, so they omitted to relate the blessing which was conferred on this confession. It goes on, And he charged them that they should tell no man of him.

THEOPHYL. For He wished in the mean time to hide His glory, lest many should be offended because of Him, and so earn a worse punishment.

CHRYS. Or else, that He might wait to fix the pure faith in their minds, till the Crucifixion, which was an offense to them, was over for after it was once perfected, about the time of His ascension, He said unto the Apostles, Go you and teach all nations.

THEOPHYL. But after the Lord had accepted the confession of the disciples, who called Him the true God, He then reveals to them the mystery of the Cross. Wherefore it goes on, And he began to teach them that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders and of the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again; and he spoke that saying openly, that is, concerning His future passion. But His disciples did not understand the order of the truth, neither could they comprehend His resurrection, but thought it better that He should not suffer.

CHRYS. The reason, however, why the Lord told them this, was to show, that after His cross and resurrection, Christ must be preached by His witnesses. Again, Peter alone, from the fervor of his disposition had the boldness to dispute about these things. Wherefore it goes on, And Peter took him up, and began to rebuke him.

BEDE; This, however, he speaks with the feelings of a man who loves and desires; as if he said, Thus cannot he, neither can my ears receive that the Son of God us to be slain.

CHRYS. But how is this, that Peter, gifted with a revelation from the Father, has so soon fallen, and become unstable? Surely, however, it was not wonderful that one who had received no revelation concerning the Passion should be ignorant of this. For that He was the Christ the Son of the living God, he had learnt by revelation, but the mystery of His cross and resurrection had not yet been revealed to him. He Himself, however, showing that He must come to His Passion, rebuked Peter; wherefore there follows, And when he had turned about and looked on his disciples, he rebuked Peter, &c.

THEOPHYL. For the Lord, wishing to show that His Passion was to take place on account of the salvation of men, and that Satan alone was unwilling that Christ should suffer, and the race of man be saved, called Peter Satan, because he savored the things that were of Satan, and, from unwillingness that Christ should suffer, became His adversary; for Satan is interpreted 'the adversary.'

PSEUDO-CHRYS. But He said not to the devil, when tempting Him, Get you behind me, but to Peter He said, Get you behind me, that is, follow Me, and resist not the design of My voluntary Passion. There follows, For you savour not the things which be of God, but which be of men.

THEOPHYL. He says that Peter savors the things which be of men, in that he in some way savored carnal affections, for Peter wished that Christ should spare Himself and riot be crucified.

Catena Aurea Mark 8

Holy Spirit Interactive Kids: A Saint a Day

St. Onesimus

Feast Day: February 16
Born/Died: First Century

Onesimus was born in Phrygia and was a slave who robbed his master Philemon and ran away to Rome. In Rome he went to see the great apostle, St. Paul, who was a prisoner for his faith.

Paul received Onesimus with the kindness and love of a good father. Paul helped the young man realize he had done wrong to steal. But more than that, he led Onesimus to believe in Jesus and baptized him.

After Onesimus became a Christian, Paul sent him back to his master. Philemon had earlier been converted by Paul and was Paul's friend. But Paul did not send the slave back alone and defenseless.

He "armed" Onesimus with a short, powerful but beautiful letter that we know as the Epistle to Philemon. Paul hoped his letter would set everything right for his new friend, Onesimus.

Paul wrote to Philemon: "I plead with you for my own son, for Onesimus. I am sending him back to you. Welcome him as though he were my very heart." Paul asked Philemon to accept him "no longer as a slave, but more than a slave, a brother, beloved especially to me, but even more so to you, as a man in the Lord. So if you regard me as a partner, welcome him as you would me. And if he has done you any injustice or owes you anything, charge it to me".

That touching letter is in the New Testament of the Bible. Philemon accepted Paul's letter and Paul's advice. When Onesimus returned to his master, he was set free. Afterwards, he went back to St. Paul and became his faithful helper.

St. Paul made Onesimus a priest and then a bishop. Later, as Saint Jerome and other Fathers tell us, he became a fervent preacher of the Good News that had changed his life forever.

He was cruelly tortured in Rome, for eighteen days, by a governor of that city, who became angry by his preaching of the Gospel. His legs were broken and he was then stoned to death.

Catholic Culture

Ordinary Time: February 16th

Thursday of the Sixth Week of Ordinary Time

MASS READINGS

February 16, 2017 (Readings on USCCB website)

COLLECT PRAYER

O God, who teach us that you abide in hearts that are just and true, grant that we may be so fashioned by your grace as to become a dwelling pleasing to you. 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.

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Accept the call to be virtuous, for happiness is achieved by sacrifice | Pope John Paul II

Old Calendar: St. Juliana (Hist); St. Onesimus (Hist)

Historically today is the feast of St. Juliana, a Christian virgin of Cumae, Italy, martyred for the faith when she refused to marry a Roman prefect. She suffered terrible ordeals and was finally beheaded. One tradition reports that Juliana actually suffered martyrdom at Nicomedia and that her relics were transferred to Cumae. It is also the feast of St. Onesimus martyr and former slave. He is mentioned in St. Paul's Letter to Philemon as the slave of Philemon in Colossae, Phrygia, who ran away.

St. Juliana
St. Juliana suffered martyrdom during the Diocletian persecution. Both the Latin and Greek Churches mention a holy martyr Juliana in their lists of saints. The oldest historical notice of her is found in the "Martryologium Hieronymianum" for 16 February, the place of birth being given as Cumae in Campania (In Campania Cumbas, natale Julianae). It is true that the notice is contained only in the one chief manuscript of the above-named martyrology (the Codex Epternacensis), but that this notice is certainly authentic is clear from a letter of St. Gregory the Great, which testifies to the special veneration of St. Juliana in the neighbourhood of Naples. A pious matron named Januaria built a church on one of her estates, for the consecration of which she desired relics (sanctuaria, that is to say, objects which had been brought into contact with the graves) of Sts. Severinus and Juliana. Gregory wrote to Fortunatus, Bishop of Naples, telling him to accede to the wishes of Januaria ("Gregorii Magni epist.", lib. IX, ep. xxxv, in Migne P.L., LXXXVII, 1015).

The Acts of St. Juliana used by Bede in his "Martyrologium" are purely legendary. According to the account given in this legend, St. Juliana lived in Nicomedia and was betrothed to the Senator Eleusius. Her father Africanus was a pagan and hostile to the Christians. In the persecution of Maximianus, Juliana was beheaded after suffering frightful torturers. Soon after a noble lady, named Sephonia, came through Nicomedia and took the saint's body with her to Italy, and had it buried in Campania. Evidently it was this alleged translation that caused the martyred Juliana, honoured in Nicomedia, to be identified with St. Juliana of Cumae, although they are quite distinct persons. The veneration of St. Juliana of Cumae became very widespread, especially in the Netherlands. At the beginning of the thirteenth century her remains were transferred to Naples. The description of this translation by a contemporary writer is still extant. The feast of the saint is celebrated in the Latin Church on 16 February, in the Greek on 21 December. Her Acts describe the conflicts which she is said to have with the devil; she is represented in pictures with a winged devil whom she leads by a chain.

— Excerpted from The Catholic Encyclopedia

St. Onesimus
St. Onesimus was a slave to Philemon, an influential man who had been converted by St. Paul. Onesimus offended Philemon and fled in order to escape any sort of retribution. He then met St. Paul while Paul was in a Roman prison. Shortly after, Onesimus was baptized.

Paul then sent a letter to Philemon asking for Onesimus' freedom, so Onesimus could become one of his own assistants. This letter is the Epistle to Philemon and entreats Philemon to accept Onesimus “no longer as a slave, but more than a slave, a brother, beloved especially to me.”

Philemon pardoned Onesimus and he returned to faithfully serve St. Paul. We know that St. Paul made him, with Tychicus, the bearer of his Epistle to the Colossians. (Col. 4:7-9)

Later, as St. Jerome and other fathers testify, he became an ardent preacher of the Gospel and succeeded St. Timothy as bishop of Ephesus.

He was cruelly tortured in Rome, for 18 days, by a governor who was infuriated by his preaching on the merit of celibacy. Onesimus' legs and thighs were broken with bludgeons before he was stoned to death.

His martyrdom occurred under Domitian in the year 90.

Excerpted from Catholic News Agency

The Word Among Us

Meditation: Genesis 9:1-13

6th Week in Ordinary Time

I set my bow in the clouds to serve as a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. (Genesis 9:13)

When Noah and his family left the ark, they confronted a scene of wholesale destruction—an earth that had been ravaged by a violent flood. Imagine how they must have felt when God gave them a colossal commission: “Be fertile, then, and multiply; abound on earth and subdue it” (Genesis 9:7). Seriously? This earth?

But God didn’t leave Noah and his family to stumble along doing the best they could. He gave them the sign of a rainbow, an arch in the sky whose beginning and end cannot be pinpointed. By choosing this sign, God promised that his boundless strength would stretch over Noah and his descendants forever.

That assurance is for us too. God doesn’t expect us to follow his commands solely according to our own strength and wit. We are children of the same covenant that God made through the sign of a rainbow. His strength is over our lives to protect us, guide us, and empower us as we go about our days.

So remember that when you feel weak, God can be strong for you. When you feel incapable of holding fast to your end of the covenant, he is there to guide you and give you the perseverance you need to live faithfully. When you feel distracted, beset by temptation, or paralyzed by worry, he can carry you with his strong and tireless arms. Noah and his small family carried out God’s command to subdue the ravaged earth, not because they were determined and energetic, but because God’s strength arched over their lives.

Think about how Noah might have felt at the first rainfall after he left the ark—nervous, apprehensive, and unsure. Now imagine how he felt when he saw the rainbow—relieved, encouraged, even elated.

Where do you need to experience God’s strength today? Imagine a rainbow arching over you in that very situation, and ask the Holy Spirit to fill you with his strength. The promise made to Noah is for you too, so don’t let fear keep you from fulfilling God’s commands. Instead, rejoice along with Noah that you have been called to bring God’s peace to a hurting world.

“Father, help me to see your strength at work in the weakest areas of my life today.”

Psalm 102:16-21, 29, 22-23
Mark 8:27-33

Regnum Christi

February 16, 2017 – Can Christ Count on Me?

15 Feb 2017

Thursday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time

Mark 8:27-33

Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” And they answered him, “John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.” He asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Messiah.” And he sternly ordered them not to tell anyone about him. Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”

Introductory Prayer: Lord, reveal to me the awesome mystery of your person. In you is hidden my beginning; in you is hidden the mission for my life; in you is hidden my future happiness. Let me not measure the future by what I think I can do for you, but rather by what your power can do with my generosity. May this prayer convince me of the necessity of welcoming you daily through prayer, contemplation, and a sacramental life of grace and conversion.

Petition: Lord, grant me an experience of you strong enough to overcome all spiritual laziness and tepidity.

1. Who Has Christ Been for You? – Our prayer must lead us to respond to Christ’s question, “Who do you say that I am?” This is the only test, the only examination question we need to pass in life. We must reflect and respond to the question from this perspective: “Who has Christ been for you?” This question does not so much define Christ, but the one who answers it. What experiences have we had of him? What have we been learning about Christ personally, through experiences that we cannot have known by solemn definitions, by routine external piety or by what others say? Christ’s history and our personal history must intertwine to become a single chapter which we both share.

2. Who Have You Been for Christ? – If I have little to say as far as my firsthand knowledge of Jesus, if my interior experiences have been eclipsed by a mundane and materialistic spirit, I must take Christ’s question to the next level: “Who have I been for Christ?” Who I have been for Christ will be determined largely by who I have been for him in prayer. The “inner Christ” is known only by those to whom it is revealed. It will not happen by a merely flesh-and-blood approach, nor by just going with the flow of human events. Peter’s interior life was fertile ground for the Father. His testimony was not luck, but was a divine intervention in his soul from which his faith drew its strength. “For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven” (Matthew 16:17). May I seek in a special way the grace of greater sensitivity to let my interior life of prayer define me and shape my character.

3. Can Christ Count on Me? – Poor Peter! In one moment he is revealing the thoughts of the Father, in the next, Satan’s. Peter’s living experience of Christ is the target of Satan’s attempts to break his faith. Christ’s suffering will be the pledge that the faith of the apostle will not fail: “I have prayed for you…” (Luke 22:32). Ultimately Christ’s prayer would prevail: Peter is reborn on Pentecost, fearlessly accepting and launching the mission of the Church. A strong interior foundation in Christ ultimately leads to one last reality check of the spiritual life: Can Christ build on me because I am built on him? Christ’s fidelity will uphold me if I stay in the battle, if I hold firm and don’t let the reality of my falls keep me from advancing. Satan cannot break my faith if I keep fighting, and for this I always have to have new goals, to begin fresher, better and more generously than before.

Conversation with Christ: Lord, according to the riches of your glory, grant that I may be strengthened in my inner being with power through your Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in my heart through faith. Being rooted and grounded in love, I pray that I may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that I may be filled with all the fullness of you. (Cf. Ephesians 3:16-20)

Resolution: I will spend some time before our Lord in the Eucharist today, asking that he deepen my experience of him.

Homily of the Day

February 16, 2017

Jesus calls each one of us to a journey of faith in and with him. In this journey he reveals himself to us a bit at a time. We do not see the complete picture at once but, with faith and trust in him and his goodness, we continue journeying with him even in difficult times.

In the Gospel reading, Jesus cures the blind man in stages: first, the blind man begins to see men like walking trees and, after Jesus touches his eyes, he could see perfectly. Why a miracle in steps? Perhaps Jesus wanted to teach us how he deals with us.

Some say, “Faith is believing in what we do not see, and the result of faith is seeing what we believe in.”

In my own life, faced with the difficult situation of the death of my husband, I had to hang on in faith that God would take care of me. And indeed with new beginnings and challenges, with new opportunities to love and be loved, somehow the death of my loved husband has brought me into a closer and deeper relationship with God.

Although I continued to struggle with the loss of my husband and with loneliness, this journey with God has been beautiful, with God leading and showing himself day by day.

One Bread, One Body

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<< Thursday, February 16, 2017 >>

Genesis 9:1-13
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Psalm 102:16-21, 29, 22-23

Mark 8:27-33
Similar Reflections

FRUIT STAND

"Be fertile, then, and multiply; abound on earth and subdue it." �Genesis 9:7

The first recorded words to human beings are the words of the following blessing from God: "Be fertile and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it" (Gn 1:28; see also 1:22). After the flood, "God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them: 'Be fertile and multiply and fill the earth' " (Gn 9:1, 7).

Jesus said:

"I am the Vine, you are the branches. He who lives in Me and I in him, will produce abundantly" (Jn 15:5).
"My Father has been glorified in your bearing much fruit and becoming My disciples" (Jn 15:8).
"It was not you who chose Me, it was I Who chose you to go forth and bear fruit. Your fruit must endure" (Jn 15:16).

God has made it abundantly clear that we His children must be like Him and bear fruit abundantly. Otherwise, we will be "picked up to be thrown in the fire and burnt" (Jn 15:6). Therefore, let us bear the fruit of evangelization and of holiness. Let us lead others to new birth (see Jn 3:3, 5) by manifesting the fruit of the Holy Spirit (Gal 5:22-23).

Prayer: Father, prune me to bear more fruit (Jn 15:2).

Promise: "The nations shall revere Your Name, O Lord, and all the kings of the earth Your glory." �Ps 102:16

Praise: By praying as a family, the Thompsons have all remained in the Faith for generations.

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