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Daily Gospel Commentary

Thursday of the Second week in Ordinary Time
Commentary of the day
Saint Alphonsus Maria de Liguori (1696-1787), Bishop and Doctor of the Church
5th Discourse for the Octave of Christmas

"All those who had diseases were pressing upon him to touch him"

“Say to those whose hearts are frightened: Be strong; fear not...God himself will come to save you” (Is 35:4). This prophecy has come to pass; allow me, therefore, to shout aloud for joy: Rejoice, you sons of Adam! Rejoice! Cast aside all discouragement. When you see your weakness and inability to stand up to so many enemies: “Fear not! God himself will come to save you.” In what way has he come himself and saved you? By giving you the strength you need to confront and overcome everything that stands in the way of your salvation. And how has our Redeemer gained this strength for you? By making himself weak, strong and almighty though he was. He has taken our weakness on himself and granted us his strength...

God is all-powerful: “Lord,” cried Isaiah, “who could withstand the strength of your arm?”... Yet the wounds caused by sin to humankind have so weakened us that we were unable to resist our enemies. What, then, has the eternal Word, the Word of God, done? From being strong and powerful he made himself weak; he put on our bodily weakness to gain for us through his merits the strength of soul we need ...; he became a child...; and finally, at the end of his life, in the Garden of Olives, he was loaded with bonds from which he was unable to be set free... Are we weak? Let us put our trust in Jesus Christ and we will be able to do everything: “I have the strength for everything through him who empowers me” said the apostle Paul (Phil 4:13). I have the strength for everything, not by my own strength but by the strength won for me through my Redeemer's merits.

18 posted on 01/17/2018 10:06:15 PM PST by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: All
“The Rosary is the most excellent form of prayer and the most efficacious means of attaining eternal life. It is the remedy for all our evils, the root of all our blessings. There is no more excellent way of praying.”

Pope Leo XIII

19 posted on 01/17/2018 10:15:24 PM PST by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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