Posted on 01/09/2014 8:51:57 PM PST by Salvation
January 10, 2014
Reading 1 1 Jn 5:5-13
Beloved:
Who indeed is the victor over the world
but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
This is the one who came through water and Blood, Jesus Christ,
not by water alone, but by water and Blood.
The Spirit is the one who testifies,
and the Spirit is truth.
So there are three who testify,
the Spirit, the water, and the Blood,
and the three are of one accord.
If we accept human testimony,
the testimony of God is surely greater.
Now the testimony of God is this,
that he has testified on behalf of his Son.
Whoever believes in the Son of God
has this testimony within himself.
Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar
by not believing the testimony God has given about his Son.
And this is the testimony:
God gave us eternal life,
and this life is in his Son.
Whoever possesses the Son has life;
whoever does not possess the Son of God does not have life.
I write these things to you so that you may know
that you have eternal life,
you who believe in the name of the Son of God.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 147:12-13, 14-15, 19-20
R. (12a) Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Glorify the LORD, O Jerusalem;
praise your God, O Zion.
For he has strengthened the bars of your gates;
he has blessed your children within you.
R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
or:
R. Alleluia.
He has granted peace in your borders;
with the best of wheat he fills you.
He sends forth his command to the earth;
swiftly runs his word!
R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
or:
R. Alleluia.
He has proclaimed his word to Jacob,
his statutes and his ordinances to Israel.
He has not done thus for any other nation;
his ordinances he has not made known to them. Alleluia.
R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Gospel Lk 5:12-16
It happened that there was a man full of leprosy in one of the towns where Jesus was;
and when he saw Jesus,
he fell prostrate, pleaded with him, and said,
“Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean.”
Jesus stretched out his hand, touched him, and said,
“I do will it. Be made clean.”
And the leprosy left him immediately.
Then he ordered him not to tell anyone, but
“Go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing
what Moses prescribed; that will be proof for them.”
The report about him spread all the more,
and great crowds assembled to listen to him
and to be cured of their ailments,
but he would withdraw to deserted places to pray.
And I’m scrambled most of the time. LOL!
Feast Day: January 10
Born: 12th century in Nevers, France
Died: 10 January 1209 at Bourges, France
Canonized: 17 May 1217 by Pope Honorius III
St. William of Bourges
Feast Day: January 10
Born: (around)1155 :: Died:1209
St. William was born at Nevers in France and came from a wealthy French family of the Counts of Nevers. His father Baldwin wanted William to be a part of the French military. William was educated by his uncle Peter the Hermit who was archdeacon of Soissons.
Even as a boy, he did not waste time fooling around or being idle. He spent time praying every day. When he joined the Cistercian order, he tried to be a good monk. His fellow monks admired him, even though he was not trying to impress anybody.
St. William had a great devotion to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. He practiced penance without showing how hard it was. He always seemed to be happy. When he was made abbot of the community, he remained humble.
When the archbishop of Bourges died, William was chosen to take his place. He was grateful to be consecrated a bishop, but unhappy because of all the attention he would receive. He stayed humble by doing penances for his own soul and for the conversion of sinners.
Although William loved to be alone with God in the Blessed Sacrament, he knew it was his duty as archbishop to travel all over his diocese willingly. He celebrated the Eucharist and preached the faith. He visited prisoners, the poor and sick, cared for them, consoled them and helped bring them to Jesus.
Archbishop William died on January 10, 1209. He was buried in the cathedral of Bourges and many miracles were reported by people who prayed at his tomb.
Reflection: How do I respond to the attention and praise that I receive? Do I take the credit or do I thank God for what he has done through me?
Ha. Figured you were sunny-side up!
Luke | |||
English: Douay-Rheims | Latin: Vulgata Clementina | Greek NT: Byzantine/Majority Text (2000) | |
Luke 5 |
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12. | And it came to pass, when he was ina certain city, behold a man full of leprosy, who seeing Jesus, and falling on his face, besought him, saying: Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. | Et factum est, cum esset in una civitatum, et ecce vir plenus lepra, et videns Jesum, et procidens in faciem, rogavit eum, dicens : Domine, si vis, potes me mundare. | και εγενετο εν τω ειναι αυτον εν μια των πολεων και ιδου ανηρ πληρης λεπρας και ιδων τον ιησουν πεσων επι προσωπον εδεηθη αυτου λεγων κυριε εαν θελης δυνασαι με καθαρισαι |
13. | And stretching forth his hand, he touched him, saying: I will. Be thou cleansed. And immediately the leprosy departed from him. | Et extendens manum, tetigit eum dicens : Volo : mundare. Et confestim lepra discessit ab illo. | και εκτεινας την χειρα ηψατο αυτου ειπων θελω καθαρισθητι και ευθεως η λεπρα απηλθεν απ αυτου |
14. | And he charged him that he should tell no man, but, Go, shew thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing according as Moses commanded, for a testimony to them. | Et ipse præcepit illi ut nemini diceret : sed, Vade, ostende te sacerdoti, et offer pro emundatione tua, sicut præcepit Moyses, in testimonium illis. | και αυτος παρηγγειλεν αυτω μηδενι ειπειν αλλα απελθων δειξον σεαυτον τω ιερει και προσενεγκε περι του καθαρισμου σου καθως προσεταξεν μωσης εις μαρτυριον αυτοις |
15. | But the fame of him went abroad the more, and great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by him of their infirmities. | Perambulabat autem magis sermo de illo : et conveniebant turbæ multæ ut audirent, et curarentur ab infirmitatibus suis. | διηρχετο δε μαλλον ο λογος περι αυτου και συνηρχοντο οχλοι πολλοι ακουειν και θεραπευεσθαι υπ αυτου απο των ασθενειων αυτων |
16. | And he retired into the desert, and prayed. | Ipse autem secedebat in desertum, et orabat. | αυτος δε ην υποχωρων εν ταις ερημοις και προσευχομενος |
Friday, January 10
Liturgical Color: Green
On this day in 1969, Pope Paul VI He stated adoration outside of Mass is
important because it brings down many
special graces to help the faithful grow in
their faith and become closer to Christ.
>
Daily Readings for:January 10, 2014
(Readings on USCCB website)
Collect: Cast your kindly light upon your faithful, Lord, we pray, and with the splendor of your glory set their hearts ever aflame, that they may never cease to acknowledge their Savior and may truly hold fast to him. Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
RECIPES
ACTIVITIES
o Day Seventeen ~ Activities for the Seventeenth Day of Christmas
PRAYERS
o Book of Blessings: Blessing Before and After Meals: Christmas Season (2nd Plan)
o Book of Blessings: Blessing Before and After Meals: Christmas (1st Plan)
o Collect Prayer for Feast of St. William of Bourges
· Christmas: January 10th
· Friday Christmas Weekday
Old Calendar: St. William of Bourges (Hist)
Historically today is the feast of St. William of Bourges, Cistercian bishop who distinguished himself by his austerities, concern for the poor, the defense of the rights of the Church against the French crown, and his success in converting many members of the Albigensian heresy.
The Seventeenth Day of Christmas
Meditation on the Baptism of Christ
And Jesus being baptized, forthwith came out of the water; and lo, the heavens were opened to Him and He saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and coming upon Him. And behold a voice from heaven saying, "This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased."
Jesus stoops so low as to mingle with the multitude of sinners, and forthwith the heavens are opened to magnify Him — He acknowledges Himself worthy of the strokes of divine justice, and behold, the Father declares that He takes all His delight in Him: Humiliavit semetipsom... propter quod et Deus exaltavit illum.
It is at this moment that the mission of Jesus, as One sent by God, is declared authentic. The Father's testimony accredits, so to speak, His Son before the world, and hence this testimony relates to one of the characters of Christ's work as regards ourselves.
The mission of Jesus has a double aspect: it bears at the same time the character of redemption and of sanctification. It is to redeem souls, and, this done, to infuse life into them. That is the whole work of the Savior.
— Excerpted from Christ in His Mysteries by Dom Columba Marmion
St. William of Bourges
William Berruyer, of the illustrious family of the ancient Counts of Nevers, was educated by Peter the Hermit, Archdeacon of Soissons, his uncle by the mother's side.
From his infancy William learned to despise the folly and emptiness of the world, to abhor its pleasures, and to tremble at its dangers. His only delight was in exercises of piety and in his studies, in which he employed his whole time with indefatigable application. He was made canon, first of Soissons, and afterwards of Paris; but he soon resolved to abandon the world, and retired into the solitude of Grandmont, where he lived with great regularity in that austere Order until finally he joined the Cistercians, then in wonderful odor of sanctity. After some time he was chosen prior of the Abbey of Pontigny, and afterwards became Abbot of Chaalis.
On the death of Henri de Sully, Archbishop of Bourges, William was chosen to succeed him. The announcement of this new dignity which had fallen on him overwhelmed him with grief, and he would not have accepted the office had not the Pope and his general, the Abbot of Citeaux, commanded him to do so. His first care in his new position was to conform his life to the most perfect rules of sanctity. He redoubled all his austerities, saying it was incumbent on him now to do penance for others as well as for himself. He always wore a hair-shirt under his religious habit, and never added to his clothing in winter or diminished it in summer; he never ate any flesh-meat, though he had it at his table for strangers.
When he drew near his end, he was, at his request, laid on ashes in his hair-cloth, and in this posture expired on the l0th of January, 1209. His body was interred in his cathedral, and being honored by many miracles, was taken up in 1217, and in the year following, William was canonized by Pope Honorius III.
Christmas Weekday
Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean. (Luke 5:12)
To be an outcast, banished from society, must be a disastrous experience. Can you even imagine what it would be like to be told, “You don’t belong here anymore”? Yet this was the lot of those afflicted with skin diseases like leprosy in the time of Jesus. Having to live outside of town, these people were deprived of friends, family, and even religious observance. And this was on top of the physical suffering and decay of their diseases.
We can see one result of this devastating experience in today’s Gospel reading. The leprous man had no doubt heard talk of this young rabbi, of his ability and disposition to heal, of his kindness to those cast out by society. So when he had the chance to meet Jesus, he knew just what to do. He prostrated himself and proclaimed that he knew Jesus was able to heal him. He knew what he needed, he knew Jesus could help him, and he wasn’t about to miss his chance.
Praise God, his hope was not disappointed! While the people around Jesus may have cringed or turned away, Jesus didn’t hesitate. No, he reached out and touched the man, even though he was “full of leprosy” (Luke 5:12). He seems to be saying, “Of course I want to heal you. That’s why I’m here!” In that moment, Jesus gave back to the man all that he had lost: his health, his home, his family, and his right to worship at the Temple. It didn’t take convincing, bargaining, pleading, or perseverance. With one simple cry to Jesus, he was healed!
How about us? We all have the disease of sin, and it threatens to isolate us just as much as that skin disease isolated the man in today’s Gospel passage. But remember Jesus’ response to him: “I do will it. Be made clean” (Luke 5:13). This is how he sees us when we come to him in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. “Of course I’ll forgive you!” He is always willing to touch us, to heal us, and to bring us back to our Father. So no matter how “leprous” your sin may make you feel, throw yourself at Jesus’ feet. You won’t be disappointed.
“Lord, teach me my need for you. Help me to put myself fully in your hands.”
Psalm 147:12-15, 19-20; 1 John 5:5-13
Daily Marriage Tip for January 10, 2014:
Did you know that your marriage gladdens the hearts of the bishops? We rejoice that so many couples are living in fidelity to their marital commitment, the bishops wrote in Marriage: Love and Life in the Divine Plan. Your marriage matters!
Come ye to adore me
Friday, 10 January 2014 20:19
Here is the conclusion of Mother Mectilde’s Epiphany conference of 1694. Mother Mectilde wisely counsels against seeking extraordinary sensible manifestations of God’s will, subject to illusion and to deception. Instead, she invites her Benedictines to incline the ear of their heart to the quiet inward inspiration of the Holy Spirit and to respond to the voice of Christ who speaks in silence, saying, “Adore Me in spirit and in truth.”
Adore Me in Spirit and in Truth
God has bestowed this grace upon you, preferring you to so many other holy souls who are more worthy than you and who would carry out this duty better if Our Lord would show them the mercy that He has granted you, and if they were to hear His voice say to them: “Come ye to adore me. Come ye to be my perpetual adorers.” How they would run [to Him]! And you also, if you were to hear these words, would you not all be transported out of yourselves for sheer joy? And even so, He has spoken these words to you in the depths of your heart, by means of the appeal of His grace, more really than if you had heard them by means of a voice’s distinct sound, which could be subject to illusion and to deception. Instead, the movement of His grace and the inspiration of His Spirit within you, by which you have been called to the vocation in which you find yourselves, should give you the assurance that He has spoken these words, and that day after day He repeats them, saying to you at every moment, “Adore Me in spirit and in truth.”
One of the most remarkable characteristics of Mother Mectilde’s teaching is her conviction that all the baptized are called to holiness. This is borne out in her rich correspondence with laymen and laywomen living in the world. She never hesitates to invite them to the same life of victimhood through Jesus, with Jesus, and in Jesus that she presents to her daughters in so compelling a way. The life of perpetual adoration is not for a coterie of elite souls; it belongs to the life of all who, being baptized, are called to become the adorers in spirit and in truth whom the Father seeks.
Tend to It with All your Heart
Oh, what a boon God has given us in choosing us! I shall never be able to repeat it enough. Our hearts must remain immersed in a continual thanksgiving towards this God of goodness. All our care must be to please Him, to serve Him, and to satisfy Him. Given that we owe Him all our very selves, is it not then just that we should give ourselves to Him, continuing faithfully to free ourselves of ourselves and of creatures, so to devote ourselves to Him alone? This is our obligation, this is the perfection to which God calls us. But, for your consolation, I want to say to you that if you have not yet attained this perfection, it is enough that you should tend to it with all your heart. We are not, in fact, bound to be perfect all at once, but — under pain of mortal sin — we are bound to tend to perfection. Indeed, some theologians think this of all Christians. If this is so how few will be those who are saved, given that so few think of this! But let us reflect upon ourselves since we are doubly bound to this by our profession. Let us, then, work seriously to become faithful to what we have promised to God. It is up to us to think on these things and to examine ourselves in consequence.
Here, Mother Mectilde’s teaching corresponds to that of Saint Paul: “Whatever you are about, in word and action alike, invoke always the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, offering your thanks to God the Father through him” (Colossians 3:17). And again this text must be read in the light of Saint Paul’s injunction to the Romans: “And now, brethren, I appeal to you by God’s mercies to offer up your bodies as a living sacrifice, consecrated to God and worthy of his acceptance; this is the worship due from you as rational creatures” (Romans 12:1).
Always and Everywhere
Oh, let us begin seriously to adore Jesus Christ in spirit and in truth, to be true perpetual adorers. Let us adore Him in all places and in all that we do. There is not a single action that can dispense us from this. You will say to me, “What, then, even while eating?” Yes, because you do not eat as animals do, only to satisfy yourselves but, rather, by way of homage and submission to the will of God, to renew your necessary strength and to sacrifice yourselves anew to His majesty. Doing this with these intentions, sanctify this action and others like it that, of themselves, are merely natural. In this way, you will maintain in these [actions] that spirit of adoration that, if you are faithful, will lead you on to the highest holiness, moving you to the perpetual sacrifice of yourselves. This will cause you to die to your passions, to your disordered inclinations and to all that is opposed to your sanctification, making you, at the same time, true victims, ever immolated to His glory and to His honour.
When God So Wills | ||
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Friday after Epiphany
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Luke 5:12-16 It happened that there was a man full of leprosy in one of the towns where he was; and when he saw Jesus, he fell prostrate, pleaded with him, and said, "Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean." Jesus stretched out his hand, touched him, and said, "I do will it. Be made clean." And the leprosy left him immediately. Then he ordered him not to tell anyone, but "Go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses prescribed; that will be proof for them." The report about him spread all the more, and great crowds assembled to listen to him and to be cured of their ailments, but he would withdraw to deserted places to pray. Introductory Prayer: Lord, I approach you today with a heart as humble as this leper’s, who can claim no beauty apart from what you can give him. My willful defects have disfigured your plan for me, and I seek from you today the power to make all my works and words clean. I hope in you and trust in your infinite mercy. Petition:Lord, grant me an unshakeable confidence in your infinite mercy. 1. "Lord, If You Wish, You Can Make Me Clean": If God so wills.... This marks a disposition of soul that says the leper wants God more than he wants his cure. By demonstrating patience and acceptance, he shows he is ready to live his cross according to God’s plan for him. Being self-absorbed and not accepting problems and defects is, in itself, an obstacle to being cured of them. Some lose patience in the fight because they want the cure more than they want the one who cures. Such cures may heal the body, but leave the soul diseased and unattractive to God. Openness to God’s time, detachment from an easy life, and total abandonment into Our Lord hands permits illness to cure the soul long before it is freed from the body. How beautiful the soul of this humble leper was in Christ’s eyes! May I let this prayer today open my heart to accept all trials of the moment with humility and love for the God who guides me. 2. "I Do Will It. Be Made Clean": The disfigurement of leprosy becomes a symbol for the soul of a sinner in need of redemption. Suffering the miserable and disfiguring effects of sin provokes man to begin the path to conversion and change. There is something of disbelief in a new life for those who still feel the sting of a grievous sin of their past. They work to draw close to God, but find it hard to believe he would ever want to be close to them. The intervention of God––definitive, eternal, absolute––moves Christ’s hand, which reaches out to touch the leper saying, “I do will it!” From his flesh to his soul––God’s will to forgive and heal surpasses our human comprehension! When we stop measuring our failures from wounded self-love and accept with living faith the decisive will of the redemptive God, we will find ourselves fully immersed in the life of the new man in Christ, dead to sin and dead to the world. 3. Then He Ordered Him Not to Tell Anyone: Our Lord imposes silence. Not all that is known needs to be said, and prudence is demanded from a disciple of Christ. How often do we slow down God’s work by speaking too much, manifesting too much of our knowledge for vanity’s sake? Christ is secure in himself because he lives his mission face-to-face with his Father, and the time and place of his formal manifestation to the Jews will come at his bidding. Discretion, as a virtue, is a self-giving work, not in the least self-serving. We speak so as to maximize the good we wish to do for others. Our Lord’s discretion proves such a posture. When will his identity be formerly declared? “When I am raised up, then I will draw all men to myself” (John 12:32). Only in his passion, from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday, will he fully show his hand. May I communicate my experience of Christ, my knowledge of him, with the humility, charity and restraint that prudence imposes, so that I may maximize the effect of Christ’s truth in the world. Conversation with Christ:Lord, I see your hand moving from the leper to my soul, showing its power to transform. No sin should ever break my fighting spirit; no longtime defect should ever weaken my hope in victory. Your hand but moves and all is cured, forgiven, and redeemed. Today I anchor my program of holiness with confidence in your grace and unconditional love. Resolution:I will entrust someone I know to be living a bad life to the power of Our Lord’s mercy. |
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All Issues > Volume 30, Issue 1
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Were you aware of these statistics?
Deaths in America per year
1,400,000 people die from abortion
650,000 people die of heart disease
560,000 people die of cancer
143,000 people die of stroke
75,000 people die of diabetes
Another perspective:
18,000 - Deaths by death penalty in American history (all the way back to the 1600s).
1,315,000 - Deaths in all American wars combined.
55,000,000 - Deaths by abortion since Roe v Wade
Pray for an end to abortion
in the United States of America.
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