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Catholic Caucus: Daily Mass Readings, 02-12-13
USCCB.org/RNAB ^ | 02-12-13 | Revised New American Bible

Posted on 02/11/2013 10:40:15 PM PST by Salvation

February 12, 2013

 

Tuesday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time

 

Reading 1 Gn 1:20—2:4a

God said,
“Let the water teem with an abundance of living creatures,
and on the earth let birds fly beneath the dome of the sky.”
And so it happened:
God created the great sea monsters
and all kinds of swimming creatures with which the water teems,
and all kinds of winged birds.
God saw how good it was, and God blessed them, saying,
“Be fertile, multiply, and fill the water of the seas;
and let the birds multiply on the earth.”
Evening came, and morning followed–the fifth day.

Then God said,
“Let the earth bring forth all kinds of living creatures:
cattle, creeping things, and wild animals of all kinds.”
And so it happened:
God made all kinds of wild animals, all kinds of cattle,
and all kinds of creeping things of the earth.
God saw how good it was.
Then God said:
“Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.
Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea,
the birds of the air, and the cattle,
and over all the wild animals
and all the creatures that crawl on the ground.”

God created man in his image;
in the divine image he created him;
male and female he created them.

God blessed them, saying:
“Be fertile and multiply;
fill the earth and subdue it.
Have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air,
and all the living things that move on the earth.”
God also said:
“See, I give you every seed-bearing plant all over the earth
and every tree that has seed-bearing fruit on it to be your food;
and to all the animals of the land, all the birds of the air,
and all the living creatures that crawl on the ground,
I give all the green plants for food.”
And so it happened.
God looked at everything he had made, and he found it very good.
Evening came, and morning followed–the sixth day.

Thus the heavens and the earth and all their array were completed.
Since on the seventh day God was finished with the work he had been doing,
he rested on the seventh day from all the work he had undertaken.
So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy,
because on it he rested from all the work he had done in creation.

Such is the story of the heavens and the earth at their creation.

Responsorial Psalm Ps 8:4-5, 6-7, 8-9

R. (2ab) O Lord, our God, how wonderful your name in all the earth!
When I behold your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars which you set in place—
What is man that you should be mindful of him,
or the son of man that you should care for him?
R. O Lord, our God, how wonderful your name in all the earth!
You have made him little less than the angels,
and crowned him with glory and honor.
You have given him rule over the works of your hands,
putting all things under his feet.
R. O Lord, our God, how wonderful your name in all the earth!
All sheep and oxen,
yes, and the beasts of the field,
The birds of the air, the fishes of the sea,
and whatever swims the paths of the seas.
R. O Lord, our God, how wonderful your name in all the earth!

Gospel Mk 7:1-13

When the Pharisees with some scribes who had come from Jerusalem
gathered around Jesus,
they observed that some of his disciples ate their meals
with unclean, that is, unwashed, hands.
(For the Pharisees and, in fact, all Jews,
do not eat without carefully washing their hands,
keeping the tradition of the elders.
And on coming from the marketplace
they do not eat without purifying themselves.
And there are many other things that they have traditionally observed,
the purification of cups and jugs and kettles and beds.)
So the Pharisees and scribes questioned him,
“Why do your disciples not follow the tradition of the elders
but instead eat a meal with unclean hands?”
He responded,
“Well did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites,
as it is written:

This people honors me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me;
in vain do they worship me,
teaching as doctrines human precepts.


You disregard God’s commandment but cling to human tradition.”
He went on to say,
“How well you have set aside the commandment of God
in order to uphold your tradition!
For Moses said,
Honor your father and your mother,
and Whoever curses father or mother shall die.
Yet you say,
‘If someone says to father or mother,
“Any support you might have had from me is qorban”’
(meaning, dedicated to God),
you allow him to do nothing more for his father or mother.
You nullify the word of God
in favor of your tradition that you have handed on.
And you do many such things.”


TOPICS: Catholic; General Discusssion; Prayer; Worship
KEYWORDS: catholic; ordinarytime; prayer
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To: All
 
Catholic
Almanac:

Tuesday, February 12

Liturgical Color: Green


February is dedicated to the Holy Family. In 2001, Pope John Paul II said the future of humanity passes through the family. The Holy Family’s mutual understanding and respect is a model for all families to follow.


21 posted on 02/12/2013 2:37:42 PM PST by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: All
Catholic Culture

Ordinary Time: February 12th

Tuesday of the Fifth Week of Ordinary Time

Daily Readings for: February 12, 2013
(Readings on USCCB website)

Collect: Keep your family safe, O Lord, with unfailing care, that, relying solely on the hope of heavenly grace, they may be defended always by your protection. 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.

Today is the day before Ash Wednesday, called Mardi Gras or Fat Tuesday. Traditionally, it is the last day for Christians to indulge before the sober weeks of fasting that come with Lent. Formally known as Shrove Tuesday, Mardi Gras has long been a time of extravagant fun for European Christians. In many southern states of the USA Mardi Gras is a traditional holiday. The most famous celebration takes place in New Orleans, Louisiana. It has been celebrated there on a grand scale, with masked balls and colorful parades, since French settlers arrived in the early 1700s.

On April 17th, 1958, His Holiness Pope Pius XII confirmed the Feast of the Holy Face of Jesus on Shrove Tuesday (Tuesday before Ash Wednesday) for all the dioceses and religious orders who would ask for the Indult from Rome in order to celebrate it. You can learn more about this devotion at Holy Face Devotion and at the Holy Face Association.

According to the 1962 Missal of Bl. John XXIII the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, today is the feast of Seven Founders of the Servite Order. Their feast in the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite is celebrated on February 17th. Historically today is the feast of St. Eulalia the most celebrated virgin martyr of Spain. She was a native of Merida, thirteen years of age, and was burnt at the stake in her native city under Diocletian.


St. Eulalia
Prudentius has celebrated the triumph of this holy virgin who was a native of Merida, then the capital city of Lusitania in Spain now a declining town in Estremadura, the archiepiscopal dignity having been translated to Compostella. Eulalia, descended from one of the best families in Spain, was educated in the Christian religion, and in sentiments of perfect piety, from her infancy distinguished herself by an admirable sweetness of temper, modesty, and devotion, showed a great love of the holy state of virginity, and by her seriousness and her contempt of dress, ornaments diversions, and worldly company, gave early proofs of her sincere desire to lead on earth a heavenly life. Her heart was raised above the world before she was thought capable of knowing it, so that its amusements, which usually fill the minds of young persons, had no charms for her, and every day of her life made an addition to her virtues.

She was but twelve years old when the bloody edicts of Dioclesian were issued, by which it was ordered that all persons, without exception of age, sex, or profession, should be compelled to offer sacrifice to the gods of the empire. Eulalia, young as she was, took the publication of this order for the signal of battle; but her mother, observing her impatient ardor for martyrdom, carried her into the country. The saint found means to make her escape by night, and after much fatigue arrived at Merida before break of day. As soon as the court sat, the same morning, she presented herself before the cruel judge, whose name was Dacianus, and reproached him with impiety in attempting to destroy souls, by compelling them to renounce the only true God. The governor commanded her to be seized, and first employing caresses, represented to her the advantages which her birth, youth and fortune gave her in the world, and the grief which her disobedience would bring to her parents. Then he had recourse to threats, and caused the most dreadful instruments of torture to be placed before her eyes, saying to her, "All this you shall escape if you will but touch a little salt and frankincense with the tip of your finger."

Provoked at these seducing flatteries, she threw down the idol, trampled upon the cake which was laid for the sacrifice, and, as Prudentius relates, spat at the judge; an action only to be excused by her youth and inattention under the influence of a warm zeal, and fear of the snares which were laid for her. At the judge's order two executioners began to tear her tender sides with iron hooks, so as to leave the very bones bare. In the mean time she called the strokes so many trophies of Christ. Next, lighted torches were applied to her breasts and sides: under which torment, instead of groans, nothing was heard from her mouth but thanksgivings. The fire at length catching her hair, surrounded her head and face, and the saint was stifled by the smoke and flame. Prudentius tells us, that a white dove seemed to come out of her mouth, and to wing its way upward when the holy martyr expired: at which prodigy the executioners were so much terrified that they fled and left the body.

A great snow that fell covered it and the whole forum where it lay; which circumstance shows that the holy martyr suffered in winter. The treasure of her relics was carefully entombed by the Christians near the place of her martyrdom: afterwards a stately church was erected on the spot, and the relics were covered by the altar which was raised over them, before Prudentius wrote his hymn on the holy martyr in the fourth century He assures us that "pilgrims came to venerate her bones; and that she, near the throne of God, beholds them, and, being made propitious by hymns, protects her clients. Her relics are kept with great veneration at Oviedo, do, where she is honored as patroness. The Roman Martyrology mentions her name on the 10th of December.

Excerpted from Butler's Lives of the Saints

Patron: Merida, Spain; Oviedo, Spain, runaways; torture victims; widows

Symbols: Maiden with a cross, stake, and dove; naked maiden lying in the snow


Preparing for Lent
No Lent is worthy of the name without a personal effort of self-reformation, of leading a life more in accordance with God's commands and an attempt by some kind of voluntary self-denial to make reparation for past negligence. But the Church, together with the personal effort which she requires of all of us, her children, sets up in the sight of God the cross of Christ, the Lamb of God who took upon Himself the sins of man and who is the price of our redemption. As Holy Week approaches the thought of the passion becomes increasingly predominant until it occupies our whole attention, but from the very beginning of Lent it is present, for it is in union with the sufferings of Christ that the whole army of Christians begins on the holy "forty days", setting out for Easter with the glad certitude of sharing in His resurrection.

"Behold, now is the acceptable time, behold, now is the day of salvation." The Church puts Lent before us in the very same terms that formerly she put it before the catechumens and public penitents who were preparing for the Easter graces of baptism and sacramental reconciliation. For us, as it was for them, Lent should be a long retreat, one in which under the guidance of the Church we are led to the practice of a more perfect Christian life. She shows us the example of Christ and by fasting and penance associates us with his sufferings that we may have a share in His redemption.

We should remember that Lent is not an isolated personal affair of our own. The Church avails herself of the whole of the mystery of redemption. We belong to an immense concourse, a great body in which we are united to the whole of humanity which has been redeemed by Christ. The liturgy of this season does not fail to remind us of it.

This, then, is the meaning of Lent for us: a season of deepening spirituality in union with the whole Church which thus prepares to celebrate the Paschal mystery. Each year, following Christ its Head, the whole Christian people takes up with renewed effort its struggle against evil, against Satan and the sinful man that each one of us bears within himself, in order at Easter to draw new life from the very springs of divine life and to continue its progress towards heaven.

Excerpted from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal


Shrove Tuesday
Here are a few suggestions to help you celebrate the final day before Lent.

  • Today is Fat Tuesday, or Mardi Gras! Try some of the traditional recipes linked here. When eggs were among the foods that were forbidden by the Church during Lent, people would use them up on Fat Tuesday by mixing up large quantities of pancakes or doughnuts (also known as fastnachts).

  • Read Maria von Trapp's explanation of the traditions associated with Carnival, or Fat Tuesday here.

  • Sing this American favorite, Turkey in the Straw, with your children as part of your Mardi Gras celebrations.

  • Discuss Jesus' Gospel teaching for today, He who would be first must be last, with your children and ask them how they can put others in the family before themselves. Keep it simple and practical — setting the table, washing the dishes, folding laundry, watching the littler ones, doing homework right away.

  • What does it mean to become a child spiritually, that we may enter Heaven and be received by Christ Himself? We can learn much from St. Therese of the Child Jesus about spiritual childhood. Begin reading her Story of a Soul.

  • Read Fr. William Saunder's article, Shrove Tuesday and Shrovetide, from the Catholic Culture Library.

22 posted on 02/12/2013 5:11:30 PM PST by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: Salvation

Thanks for posting this.

Someone at work today brought in fastnachts. I didn’t have one b/c I just started a diet :-(.


23 posted on 02/12/2013 5:13:48 PM PST by sauropod (I will not comply)
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To: Salvation
Mark
  English: Douay-Rheims Latin: Vulgata Clementina Greek NT: Byzantine/Majority Text (2000)
  Mark 7
1 AND there assembled together unto him the Pharisees and some of the scribes, coming from Jerusalem. Et conveniunt ad eum pharisæi, et quidam de scribis, venientes ab Jerosolymis. και συναγονται προς αυτον οι φαρισαιοι και τινες των γραμματεων ελθοντες απο ιεροσολυμων
2 And when they had seen some of his disciples eat bread with common, that is, with unwashed hands, they found fault. Et cum vidissent quosdam ex discipulis ejus communibus manibus, id est non lotis, manducare panes, vituperaverunt. και ιδοντες τινας των μαθητων αυτου κοιναις χερσιν τουτ εστιν ανιπτοις εσθιοντας αρτους εμεμψαντο
3 For the Pharisees, and all the Jews eat not without often washing their hands, holding the tradition of the ancients: Pharisæi enim, et omnes Judæi, nisi crebro laverint manus, non manducant, tenentes traditionem seniorum : οι γαρ φαρισαιοι και παντες οι ιουδαιοι εαν μη πυγμη νιψωνται τας χειρας ουκ εσθιουσιν κρατουντες την παραδοσιν των πρεσβυτερων
4 And when they come from the market, unless they be washed, they eat not: and many other things there are that have been delivered to them to observe, the washings of cups and of pots, and of brazen vessels, and of beds. et a foro nisi baptizentur, non comedunt : et alia multa sunt, quæ tradita sunt illis servare, baptismata calicum, et urceorum, et æramentorum, et lectorum : και απο αγορας εαν μη βαπτισωνται ουκ εσθιουσιν και αλλα πολλα εστιν α παρελαβον κρατειν βαπτισμους ποτηριων και ξεστων και χαλκιων και κλινων
5 And the Pharisees and scribes asked him: Why do not thy disciples walk according to the tradition of the ancients, but they eat bread with common hands? et interrogabant eum pharisæi et scribæ : Quare discipuli tui non ambulant juxta traditionem seniorum, sed communibus manibus manducant panem ? επειτα επερωτωσιν αυτον οι φαρισαιοι και οι γραμματεις δια τι οι μαθηται σου ου περιπατουσιν κατα την παραδοσιν των πρεσβυτερων αλλα ανιπτοις χερσιν εσθιουσιν τον αρτον
6 But he answering, said to them: Well did Isaias prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. At ille respondens, dixit eis : Bene prophetavit Isaias de vobis hypocritis, sicut scriptum est : Populus hic labiis me honorat, cor autem eorum longe est a me : ο δε αποκριθεις ειπεν αυτοις οτι καλως προεφητευσεν ησαιας περι υμων των υποκριτων ως γεγραπται ουτος ο λαος τοις χειλεσιν με τιμα η δε καρδια αυτων πορρω απεχει απ εμου
7 And in vain to they worship me, teaching doctrines and precepts of men. in vanum autem me colunt, docentes doctrinas, et præcepta hominum. ματην δε σεβονται με διδασκοντες διδασκαλιας ενταλματα ανθρωπων
8 For leaving the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men, the washing of pots and of cups: and many other things you do like to these. Relinquentes enim mandatum Dei, tenetis traditionem hominum, baptismata urceorum et calicum : et alia similia his facitis multa. αφεντες γαρ την εντολην του θεου κρατειτε την παραδοσιν των ανθρωπων βαπτισμους ξεστων και ποτηριων και αλλα παρομοια τοιαυτα πολλα ποιειτε
9 And he said to them: Well do you make void the commandment of God, that you may keep your own tradition. Et dicebat illis : Bene irritum facitis præceptum Dei, ut traditionem vestram servetis. και ελεγεν αυτοις καλως αθετειτε την εντολην του θεου ινα την παραδοσιν υμων τηρησητε
10 For Moses said: Honor thy father and thy mother; and He that shall curse father or mother, dying let him die. Moyses enim dixit : Honora patrem tuum, et matrem tuam. Et : Qui maledixerit patri, vel matri, morte moriatur. μωσης γαρ ειπεν τιμα τον πατερα σου και την μητερα σου και ο κακολογων πατερα η μητερα θανατω τελευτατω
11 But you say: If a man shall say to his father or mother, Corban, (which is a gift,) whatsoever is from me, shall profit thee. Vos autem dicitis : Si dixerit homo patri, aut matri, Corban (quod est donum) quodcumque ex me, tibi profuerit : υμεις δε λεγετε εαν ειπη ανθρωπος τω πατρι η τη μητρι κορβαν ο εστιν δωρον ο εαν εξ εμου ωφεληθης
12 And further you suffer him not to do any thing for his father or mother, et ultra non dimittitis eum quidquam facere patri suo, aut matri, και ουκετι αφιετε αυτον ουδεν ποιησαι τω πατρι αυτου η τη μητρι αυτου
13 Making void the word of God by your own tradition, which you have given forth. And many other such like things you do. rescindentes verbum Dei per traditionem vestram, quam tradidistis : et similia hujusmodi multa facitis. ακυρουντες τον λογον του θεου τη παραδοσει υμων η παρεδωκατε και παρομοια τοιαυτα πολλα ποιειτε

24 posted on 02/12/2013 5:25:30 PM PST by annalex (fear them not)
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To: annalex
1. Then came together unto him the Pharisees, and certain of the Scribes, which came from Jerusalem.
2. And when they saw some of his disciples eat bread with defiled, that is to say, with unwashed, hands, they found fault.
3. For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, except they wash their hands off, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders.
4. And when they come from the market, except they wash, they eat not. And many other things there be, which they have received to hold, as the washing of cups, and pots, brasen vessels, and of tables.
5. Then the Pharisees and Scribes asked him, Why walk not you disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashed hands?
6. He answered and said unto them, Well has Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.
7. However in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
8. For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things you do.
9. And he said unto them, Full well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your own tradition.
10. For Moses said, Honor your father and your mother; and, Whoever curse father or mother, let him die the death:
11. But you say, If a man shall say to his father or mother, It is Corban, that is to say, a gift, by whatever you might be profited by me; he shall be free.
12. And you suffer him no more to do ought for his father or his mother;
13. Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which you have deliverd: and many such like things do you.

BEDE; The people of the land of Gennesareth, who seem to be unlearned men, not only come themselves, but also bring their sick to the Lord, that they may but succeed in touching the hem of His garment. But the Pharisees and Scribes, who ought to have been the teachers of the people, run together to the Lord, not to seek for healing but to move captions questions; wherefore it ms said, Then there came together to him the Pharisees and certain of the Scribes, coming from Jerusalem; and when they saw some of his disciples eat bread with common, that is, with unwashed hands, they found fault.

THEOPHYL. For the disciples of the Lord, who were taught only the practice of virtue, used to eat in a simple way, without washing their hands; but the Pharisees, wishing to find an occasion of blame against them, took it up; they did not indeed, blame them as transgressors of the law, but for transgressing the traditions of the elders.

Wherefore it goes on: For the Pharisees and all the Jews, except they wash their hands oft, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders.

BEDE; For taking the spiritual words of the Prophets in a carnal sense, they observed, by washing the body alone, commandments which concerned the chastening of the heart and deeds, saying, Wash you, make you clean; and again, Be you clean that bear the vessels of the Lord. It is therefore a superstitious human tradition, that men who are clean already, should wash oftener because they eat bread, and that they should not eat on leaving the market, without washing. But it is necessary for those who desire to partake of the bread which comes down from heaven, often to cleanse their evil deeds by alms, by tears, and the other fruits of righteousness. It is also necessary for a man to wash thoroughly away the pollutions which he has contracted from the cares of temporal business, by being afterwards intent on good thoughts and works. In vain, however, do the Jews wash their hands, and cleanse themselves after the market, so long as they refuse to be washed in the font of the Savior; in vain do they observe the washing of their vessels, who neglect to wash away the filthy sins of their bodies and of their hearts.

It goes on: Then the Scribes and Pharisees asked him, Why walk not your disciples after the tradition of the elder's, but eat bread with common hands?

JEROME; Wonderful is the folly of the Pharisees and Scribes; they accuse the Son of God, because He keeps not the traditions and precepts of men. But common is here put for unclean; for the people of the Jews, boasting that they were the portion of God, called those meats common, which all made use of.

PSEUDO-JEROME; He beats back the vain words of the Pharisees with His arguments, as men drive back dogs with weapons, by interpreting Moses and Isaiah, that we too by the word of Scripture may conquer the heretics, who oppose us; wherefore it goes on: Well has Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites; as it is written, This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.

PSEUD-CHRYS. For since they unjustly accused the disciples not of transgressing the law, but the commands of the elders, He sharply confounds them, calling them hypocrites, as looking with reverence upon what was not worthy of it. He adds, however, the words of Isaiah the prophet, as spoken of them; as though He would say, As those men, of whom it is said, that they honor God with their lips, whilst their heart is far from him, in vain pretend to observe the dictates of piety, whilst they honor the doctrines of men, so you also neglect your soul, of which you should take care, and blame those who live justly.

PSEUDO-JEROME; But Pharisaical tradition, as to tables and vessels, is to be cut off, and cast away. For they often make the commands of God yield to the traditions of men; wherefore it continues, For laying aside the commandments of God, you hold to the traditions of men, as the washing of pots and cups.

PSEUD-CHRYS. Moreover, to convict them of neglecting the reverence due to God, for the sake of the tradition of the elders which was opposed to the Holy Scriptures. He subjoins, For Moses said, Honor your father and your mother; and Whoever curse father or mother, let him die the death.

BEDE; The sense of the word honor in Scripture us not so much the saluting and paying court to men, as alms-giving, and bestowing gifts; honor, says the Apostle, widows who are widows indeed.

PSEUD-CHRYS. Notwithstanding the existence of such a divine law, and the threats against such as break it, you lightly transgress the commandments of God, observing the traditions of the Elders. Wherefore there follows, But you say, If a man shall say to his father or mother, It is Corban, that is to say, a gift, by whatever you might be profited by me; understand, he will be freed from the observation of the foregoing command.

Wherefore it continues, And you suffer him no more to do ought for his father or his mother.

THEOPHYL. For the Pharisees, wishing to devour the offerings, instructed sons, when their parents asked for some of their property, to answer them, what you have asked of us is corban, that is, a gift, I have already offered it up to the Lord; thus the parents would not require it, as being offered up to the Lord, (and in that way profitable for their own salvation). Thus they deceived the sons into neglecting their parents, whilst they themselves devoured the offerings; with this therefore the Lord reproaches them, as transgressing the law of God for the sake of gain.

Wherefore it goes on, Making the word of God of none effect through your traditions, which you have delivered: and many such like things do you; transgressing, that is, the commands of God, that you may observe the traditions of men.

PSEUD-CHRYS. Or else it may he said, that the Pharisees taught young persons, that if a man offered a gift in expiation of the injury done to his father or mother, he was free from sin, as having given to God the gifts which are owed to a parent; and in saying this, they did not allow parents to be honored.

BEDE; The passage may in a few words have this sense, Every gift which I have to make, will go to do you good; for you compel children, it is meant, to say to their parents, that gift which I was going to offer to God, I expend on feeding you, and does you good, oh father and mother, speaking this ironically. Thus they would be afraid to accept what had been given into the hands of God, and might prefer a life of poverty to living on consecrated property.

PSEUDO-JEROME; Mystically, again, the disciples eating with unwashed hands signifies the future fellowship of the Gentiles with the Apostles. The cleansing and washing of the Pharisees is barren; but the fellowship of the Apostles, though without washing, has stretched out its branches as far as the sea.

Catena Aurea Mark 7
25 posted on 02/12/2013 5:26:01 PM PST by annalex (fear them not)
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To: annalex


A pharisee and a publican

Basilica of St. Apollinare Nuovo

late 5th-early 6th century
Ravenna

26 posted on 02/12/2013 5:26:45 PM PST by annalex (fear them not)
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To: All
Shrove Tuesday: What is Shrove Tuesday? A Pancake Dinner?
Shrove Tuesday: 'Pancake Day' Explained
MARDI GRAS PARADE CAM - Live Webcam of New Orleans Uptown Streetcar and Mardi Gras Parades
On Pancakes [for Shrove Tuesday]
The Day After Fat Tuesday [Ash Wednesday, Beginning of Lent]
Pre-Lenten Days -- Family activities-Shrove Tuesday (Mardi Gras)[Catholic/Orthodox Caucus]
And so it begins - The Questions, the questions... [Shrove Tuesday]
On Pancakes
Mardi Gras' Catholic Roots [Shrove Tuesday]
New Orleans: A Tale of Two Cities (Rosary Walk Before Mardi Gras)
27 posted on 02/12/2013 5:29:59 PM PST by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: All
The Word Among Us

Meditation: Genesis 1:20–2:4

5th Week in Ordinary Time

“God looked at everything he had made, and he found it very good.” (Genesis 1:31)

What a good reading for the day before Lent begins! This passage shows us how our Father saw that everything he had created was good—and that it became “very good” once he created man and woman (Genesis 1:31). As far as God is concerned, we are the pinnacle of his creation!

Even with our fall from grace, we remain his favored, treasured creation. He valued us so much that he even promised us a Savior. Take a moment and savor the love God has for you: even in your sin, he loves you deeply and longs to bring you closer to his heart. He went so far as to send Jesus to give up his life for you!

Lent is the perfect time to ask God to work wonders in your life so that you can reflect the “very good” he wants for you more and more. It’s the perfect opportunity to let your heart be pierced by God’s love for you—and not only to have your heart pierced but softened as well. That way, he can mold you into that image more fully.

Let this truth sink in: God never tires of offering you his grace. He never tires of working with you so that you become more like him. In fact, he delights in taking his time with you! He wants to bring to perfection the work that he began with you, and he is willing to devote all the time necessary to do that—year after year, Lent after Lent.

So as Lent begins again this year, try your best to enter the season willing to change. Tell yourself that your heavenly Father wants to bring you into a deeper relationship with him. Trust that he wants to shape you so that you can reflect his goodness to the people around you. And most of all, know that if you want to receive these blessings, you will need to soften your heart toward him.

Come to the Lord today in prayer, open and ready to be taught. For the more open you are, the greater the blessings of God will flow in you.

“Father, I am amazed that you call me ‘very good!’ Come, Lord, and continue to form me in your own image and likeness.”

Psalm 8:4-9; Mark 7:1-13


28 posted on 02/12/2013 5:53:12 PM PST by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: All
 
Marriage = One Man and One Woman
Til' Death Do Us Part

Daily Marriage Tip for February 12, 2013:

(Mardi Gras) Today is Mardi Gras – the feast before the fast. There are times of feasting and fasting in marriage also. What’s your favorite way to celebrate good times in your marriage? Can you surprise your honey with a treat today?


29 posted on 02/12/2013 7:21:29 PM PST by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: All
Vultus Christi

 

Vir Dei, Benedictus

 on February 12, 2013 3:56 PM |
oremus.jpg

Votive Mass of Saint Benedict

We had the Votive Mass of Saint Benedict today, offering the Holy Sacrifice, in a special way, for our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI. The Introit of the Mass, taken from Pope Saint Gregory the Great's Life of Saint Benedict in the Second Book of the Dialogues seemed to say as much about Pope Benedict XVI as about the Patriarch of Monks:

Vir Dei Benedictus
mundi gloriam despexit et reliquit:
quoniam Dei Spiritus erat in eo.

The man of God, Benedict,
looked from above upon the world
and forsook it:
because the Spirit of God was in him.

Hidden, Silent, Present

The Holy Father has freely renounced his place on the Chair of Peter. Being on the Chair of Peter gave him a unique perspective on the world and on its transient glories, and on the Church universal and her sufferings. Obedient to the Spirit of God in him, he has chosen to forsake the public eye in order to live now "hid with Christ in God" (Colossians 3:2-3). This is the very essence of the monastic life: to be, like the Host, hidden, silent and, for all of that, intensely present.

Blessed John Paul II, in the public eye until the end, showed the Church and the world the power of suffering, fraility, and old age, assumed in union with the Cross of Jesus. Pope Benedict XVI, by disappearing from the public eye, will show us the inestimable value of silence, of separation from the world, and of remaining hidden with Christ in God.

The Pope of the Face of God

Pope Benedict XVI will be remembered, I think, as the Pope of the Face of God. He has, from the very beginning of his pontificate until as recently as February 2nd, enjoined the faithful of the Church to fix their gaze upon the Human Face of God, the countenance of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The consecrated life is a pilgrimage of the spirit in quest of a Face that is sometimes revealed and sometimes veiled: Faciem tuam, Domine, requiram (Psalm 26:8). May this be the constant yearning of your heart, the fundamental criterion that guides you on your journey, both in small daily steps and in the most important decisions.

Eight Years Ago at Subiaco

I will never forget the stunning address he gave at Subiaco, the cradle of Benedictine life, on April 1, 2005, the very day before the death of Blessed John Paul II. His words were a powerful affirmation of the monastic vocation. Here is the relevant passage:

We need men who have their gaze directed to God, to understand true humanity. We need men whose intellects are enlightened by the light of God, and whose hearts God opens, so that their intellects can speak to the intellects of others, and so that their hearts are able to open up to the hearts of others.
Only through men who have been touched by God, can God come near to men. We need men like Benedict of Norcia, who at a time of dissipation and decadence, plunged into the most profound solitude, succeeding, after all the purifications he had to suffer, to ascend again to the light, to return and to found Monte Cassino, the city on the mountain that, with so many ruins, gathered together the forces from which a new world was formed.
In this way Benedict, like Abraham, became the father of many nations. The recommendations to his monks presented at the end of his "Rule" are guidelines that show us also the way that leads on high, beyond the crisis and the ruins.
"Just as there is a bitter zeal that removes one from God and leads to hell, so there is a good zeal that removes one from vices and leads to God and to eternal life. It is in this zeal that monks must exercise themselves with most ardent love: May they outdo one another in rendering each other honor, may they support, in turn, with utmost patience their physical and moral infirmities ... May they love one another with fraternal affection ... Fear God in love ... Put absolutely nothing before Christ who will be able to lead all to eternal life" (Rule of Saint Benedict, Chapter 72).

30 posted on 02/12/2013 7:30:32 PM PST by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: All
Regnum Christi

True Worship
| SPIRITUAL LIFE | SPIRITUALITY
Tuesday of the Fifth Week of Ordinary Time

Mark 7:1-13

Now when the Pharisees with some scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around him, they observed that some of his disciples ate their meals with unclean, that is, unwashed, hands. [For the Pharisees and, in fact, all Jews, do not eat without carefully washing their hands, keeping the tradition of the elders. And on coming from the marketplace they do not eat without purifying themselves. And there are many other things that they have traditionally observed, the purification of cups and jugs and kettles (and beds).] So the Pharisees and scribes questioned him, "Why do your disciples not follow the tradition of the elders but instead eat a meal with unclean hands?" He responded, "Well did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites, as it is written: ´This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; In vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines human precepts.´ You disregard God´s commandment but cling to human tradition." He went on to say, "How well you have set aside the commandment of God in order to uphold your tradition! For Moses said, ´Honor your father and your mother,´ and ´Whoever curses father or mother shall die.´ Yet you say, ´If a person says to father or mother, "Any support you might have had from me is qorban"´ (meaning, dedicated to God), you allow him to do nothing more for his father or mother. You nullify the word of God in favor of your tradition that you have handed on. And you do many such things."

Introductory Prayer: Lord, thank you for your Gospel and for all the truth it teaches me. Thank you for warning me of attitudes and dispositions that could become temptations for me. I love you for your goodness and mercy, and I entrust myself into your loving hands.  

Petition: Lord, help me to serve you sincerely, in truth and in love.

1. “This people honors me only with lip service, while their hearts are far from me.” Jesus calls his disciples to authenticity. Too often so-called disciples give the impression of following him, while at the same time accepting sensual loves and lusts in their heart. Although the Pharisees display the outward trappings of holiness, the way they treat Jesus and others betrays their true character. Jesus would call them “whitewashed tombs” (Matthew 15:27): clean and bright on the outside, but full of dead men’s bones within. Self-righteousness would be their downfall. Such dispositions may lend the proud man certain short-term security, but it will always be illusory since it is not rooted in the truth. Is there any way in which I also pay tribute to God with my lips but say something else in my heart, or behave contrariwise in my actions?

2. “The worship they offer me is worthless.” True worship begins with humility, when the soul recognizes that it possesses no good in and of itself, but that all of its goodness comes from God. The Pharisees offered no real worship to God since, in effect, they worshipped only themselves by relying more on their talents and goodness than on the goodness that comes from God. It is not insignificant that when Jesus describes a Pharisee’s prayer in the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector, he says “The Pharisee prayed this prayer to himself” (Luke 18:11).  How can I make sure that my prayer is truly devoted, meaning that I am addressing Our Lord with the words of my heart?

3. "You make God’s word null and void.” The Pharisees used the talents and gifts God had given them not for God’s glory, but for their own personal gain, whether that gain consisted of praise and admiration or personal comfort and ease. True worship of God, truly placing God above all else, involves using the things God created as means to reaching him. As number 226 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church states, “It means making good use of created things: faith in God, the only One, leads us to use everything that is not God only insofar as it brings us closer to him, and to detach ourselves from it insofar as it turns us away from him:  
            My Lord and my God, take from me everything that distances me from you.
            My Lord and my God, give me everything that brings me closer to you.
            My Lord and my God, detach me from myself to give my all to you.”

Conversation with Christ: Lord, thank you for my life and all the good things you have given me. Help me to realize that you have created everything and that all I have is from you. May I use all I have to serve others and as a means to come closer to you, the source of all good.

Resolution: I will examine my conscience to see if I am using any of my gifts and talents to glorify or serve only myself. If so, I’ll strive to put these same gifts at the service of God 


31 posted on 02/12/2013 7:37:08 PM PST by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: All

God Cannot Be Limited

by Food For Thought on February 12, 2013 · 

One need not go to Jerusalem, Lourdes or Fatima to find God and discover his presence among us. Solomon realized this when he offered his prayer at the dedication of the Temple he built for God to dwell in: “If the highest heavens cannot contain you, my God,” Solomon prayed, “how much less this Temple that I have built.”

God is everywhere in his creation, for all things come from God and bear his creative presence. All things are sacred. God is present in the Book of Sacred Scripture; we know this for ultimately he is the author of Scripture. But is he not the author of all the books that men and women publish, of all the music they compose?

All things are sacred. The ground we stand and walk on today is holy ground, the air we breathe is the breath of God, the sunrise and sunset we delight in, he paints. Simple bread and ordinary wine are holy even before they become food and drink for eternity, before they re-create in our midst the Christian Passover. All we touch today and use are hallowed things.

God is not and cannot be limited. We need only set free the senses of our souls to taste and feel and smell and hear and perceive the spiritual reality embedded in the material world in the midst of which we live.


32 posted on 02/12/2013 7:45:03 PM PST by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: All
One Bread, One Body

One Bread, One Body

 


<< Tuesday, February 12, 2013 >>
 
Genesis 1:20—2:4
View Readings
Psalm 8:4-9 Mark 7:1-13
 

EYES OF HOPE

 
"You have given him rule over the works of Your hands." —Psalm 8:7
 

God created people, the crown of His creation, and God found it very good — that He has created man (Gn 1:31). God even has given man rule over His creation (Ps 8:7). Yet it often seems that man has made a mess of what God created, warping God's good creation with exploitation, perversion, and disorder.

It's easy to be skeptical about the future of this earth and of mankind when we consider the problems man has created. I have six children, and there were times when I would think: "What kind of miserable world is left for my children in which to live?" My hope in the future would wane. After years of prayer, God has changed my musings to hope. When my skepticism returns, I now think: "What kind of wonderful children have I left to this world!" I see once again with eyes of hope that each new human life is God's investment of hope in the world.

Yes, what our eyes naturally see is a world warped by human sin and selfishness. "But hope is not hope if its object is seen" (Rm 8:24). Hope in God, Who is greater than the spirit of this age (see 2 Cor 4:4; 1 Jn 5:5). Ask the Lord for "a birth unto hope which draws its life from the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead" (1 Pt 1:3). "This hope will not leave us disappointed" (Rm 5:5).

 
Prayer: Father, may I keep my eyes fixed on Jesus (Heb 12:2) and never let go of the hope He is giving me.
Promise: "God looked at everything He had made, and He found it very good." —Gn 1:31
Praise: With God's grace, Rick was able to forgive a neighbor who literally transgressed him and was rewarded with a special friendship with the former transgressor.

33 posted on 02/12/2013 7:49:08 PM PST by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: All
 

34 posted on 02/12/2013 7:50:25 PM PST by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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