Mark
	English: Douay-Rheims	Latin: Vulgata Clementina	Greek NT: Byzantine/Majority Text (2000)
	Mark 7
24.	And rising from thence he went into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon: and entering into a house, he would that no man should know it, and he could not be hid.	Et inde surgens abiit in fines Tyri et Sidonis : et ingressus domum, neminem voluit scire, et non potuit latere.	και εκειθεν αναστας απηλθεν εις τα μεθορια τυρου και σιδωνος και εισελθων εις οικιαν ουδενα ηθελεν γνωναι και ουκ ηδυνηθη λαθειν
25.	For a woman as soon as she heard of him, whose daughter had an unclean spirit, came in and fell down at his feet.	Mulier enim statim ut audivit de eo, cujus filia habebat spiritum immundum, intravit, et procidit ad pedes ejus.	ακουσασα γαρ γυνη περι αυτου ης ειχεν το θυγατριον αυτης πνευμα ακαθαρτον ελθουσα προσεπεσεν προς τους ποδας αυτου
26.	For the woman was a Gentile, a Syrophenician born. And she besought him that he would cast forth the devil out of her daughter.	Erat enim mulier gentilis, Syrophœnissa genere. Et rogabat eum ut dæmonium ejiceret de filia ejus.	ην δε η γυνη ελληνις συραφοινικισσα τω γενει και ηρωτα αυτον ινα το δαιμονιον εκβαλη εκ της θυγατρος αυτης
27.	Who said to her: Suffer first the children to be filled: for it is not good to take the bread of the children, and cast it to the dogs.	Qui dixit illi : Sine prius saturari filios : non est enim bonum sumere panem filiorum, et mittere canibus.	ο δε ιησους ειπεν αυτη αφες πρωτον χορτασθηναι τα τεκνα ου γαρ καλον εστιν λαβειν τον αρτον των τεκνων και βαλειν τοις κυναριοις
28.	But she answered and said to him: Yea, Lord; for the whelps also eat under the table of the crumbs of the children.	At illa respondit, et dixit illi : Utique Domine, nam et catelli comedunt sub mensa de micis puerorum.	η δε απεκριθη και λεγει αυτω ναι κυριε και γαρ τα κυναρια υποκατω της τραπεζης εσθιει απο των ψιχιων των παιδιων
29.	And he said to her: For this saying go thy way, the devil is gone out of thy daughter.	Et ait illi : Propter hunc sermonem vade : exiit dæmonium a filia tua.	και ειπεν αυτη δια τουτον τον λογον υπαγε εξεληλυθεν το δαιμονιον εκ της θυγατρος σου
30.	And when she was come into her house, she found the girl lying upon the bed, and that the devil was gone out.	Et cum abiisset domum suam, invenit puellam jacentem supra lectum, et dæmonium exiisse.	και απελθουσα εις τον οικον αυτης ευρεν το δαιμονιον εξεληλυθος και την θυγατερα βεβλημενην επι της κλινης

24. And from thence he arose, and sent into the borders of Tyre and Sidon, and entered into an house, and would have no man know it: but he could not be hid.
25. For a certain woman, whose young daughter had an unclean spirit, heard of him, and came and fell at his feet:
26. The woman was a Greek, a Syrophenician by nation; and she besought him that he would cast forth the devil out of her daughter.
27. But Jesus said to her, Let the children first be filled: for it is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it unto the dogs.
28. And she answered and said to him, Yes, Lord: yet the dogs under the table eat of the children's crumbs.
29. And he said unto her, For this saying go your way; the devil is gone out of your daughter.
30. And when she was come to her house, she found the devil gone out, and her daughter laid upon the bed.

THEOPHYL. After that the Lord had finished His teaching concerning food, seeing that the Jews wore incredulous, He enters into the country of the Gentiles, for the Jews being unfaithful, salvation turns itself to the Gentiles; wherefore it is said, And from thence he arose, and went into the borders of Tyre and Sidon.

PSEUD-CHRYS. Tyre and Sidon were places of the Canaanites, therefore the Lord comes to them, not as to His own, but as to men, who had nothing in common with the fathers to whom the promise was made. And therefore He comes in such a way, that His coming should not be known to the Tyrians and Sidonians. Wherefore it continues: And entered into a house, and would have no man know it. For the time had not come for His dwelling with the Gentiles and bringing them to the faith, for this was not to be, till after His cross and resurrection.

THEOPHYL. Or else His reason for coming in secret was that the Jews should not find occasion of blame against Him, as if He bad passed over to the unclean Gentiles. It goes on, But he could not be hid.

PSEUDO-AUG. But if He wished to do so and could not, it appears as if His will was impotent; it is not possible however that our Savior's will should not be fulfilled, nor can He will a thing, which He knows ought not be. Therefore when a thing has taken place, it may be asserted that He has willed it. But we should observe that this happened amongst the Gentiles, to whom it was not time to preach; nevertheless not to receive them, when they came to the faith of their own accord, would have been to grudge them the faith. So then it came to pass that the Lord was not made known by His disciples; others, however, who had seen Him entering the house, recognized Him, and it began to be known that He was there. His will therefore was that He should not be proclaimed by His own disciples, but that others should come to seek Him, and so it took place.

BEDE; Having entered also into the house, He commanded His disciples not to betray who He was to any one in this unknown region, that they, on whom He had bestowed the grace of healing, might learn by His example, as far as they could, to shrink from the glory of human praise in the showing forth of their miracles; yet they were not to cease from the pious work of virtue, when either the faith of the good justly deserved that miracles should be done, or the unfaithfulness of the wicked might necessarily compel them. For He Himself made known His entry into that place to the Gentile woman, and to whomsoever lie would.

PSEUDO-AUG. Lastly, the Canaanitish woman came in to Him, on hearing of Him; if she had not first submitted herself to the God of the Jews, she would not have obtained their benefit. Concerning her it continues: For a woman , whose daughter had an unclean spirit, as soon as she had heard of him, came in and fell at his feet.

PSEUD-CHRYS. Now by this the Lord wished to show His disciples that He opened the door of faith even to the Gentiles, wherefore also the nation of the woman is described when it is added, The woman was a Gentile, a Syrophenician by nation, that is, from Syria of Phaenice. It goes on: And she besought him that he would cast forth the devil out of her daughter.

AUG. It appears however, that some question about a discrepancy may be raised, because it is said that the Lord was in the house when the woman came to her, asking about her daughter. When, however, Matthew says that His disciples had suggested to Him, Send her away, for she cries after us, he appears to imply nothing less than that the woman uttered supplicating cries after the Lord, as He walked. How then do we infer that she was in the house, except by gathering it from Mark, who says that she came in to Jesus, after having before said that He was in the house? But Matthew in that he says, He answered her not a word, gave its to understand that He went out, during that silence, from the house; thus too the other events are connected together, so that they now in no way disagree.

It continues; But He said unto her, Let the children be first filled.

BEDE; The time will come when even you who are Gentiles will obtain salvation; but it is right that first the Jews who deservedly are wont to he called by the name of children of God's ancient election, should be refreshed with heavenly bread, and that so at length, the food of life should be ministered to the Gentiles. There follows: For it is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to the dogs.

PSEUD-CHRYS. These words He uttered not that there is in Him a deficiency of virtue, to prevent His ministering to all, but because His benefit, if ministered to both Jews and Gentiles who had no communication with each other, might he a cause of jealousy.

THEOPHYL. He calls the Gentiles dogs, as being thought wicked by the Jews; and He means by bread the benefit which the Lord promised to the children, that is, to the Jews. The sense therefore is, that it is not right for the Gentiles first to be partakers of the benefit, promised principally to the Jews. The reason, therefore, why the Lord does not immediately hear, but delays His grace, is, that He may also show that the faith of the woman was firm, and that we may learn not at once to grow weary in prayer, but to continue earnest till we obtain.

PSEUD-CHRYS. In like manner also to show the Jews that He did not confer healing on foreigners in the same degree as to them, and that by the discovery of the woman's faith, the faithfulness of the Jews might be the more laid bare. For the woman did not take it in, but with much reverence assented to what the Lord had said. Wherefore it goes on, And she answered and said unto him, Truth, Lord, but the dogs under the table eat of the children's crumbs.

THEOPHYL. As if she had said, The Jews have the whole of that bread which comes down from heaven, and you benefit also; I ask for the crumbs, that is, a small portion of the benefit.

PSEUD-CHRYS. Her placing herself therefore in the rank of dogs is a mark of her reverence; as if she said, I hold it as a favor to be even in the position of a dog, and to eat not from another table but from that of the Master himself.

THEOPHYL. Because therefore the woman answered with much wisdom, she obtained what she wanted; wherefore there follows, And he said unto her, &c. He said not, My virtue has made you whole, but for this saying, that is, for your faith, which is shown by this saying, go your way, the devil is gone out of your daughter.

It goes on, And when she was come into her house, she found her daughter laid upon the bed, and the devil gone out.

BEDE; On account then of the humble and faithful saying of her mother, the devil left the daughter; here is given a precedent for catechizing and baptizing infants, seeing that by the faith and the confession of the parents, infants are freed in baptism from the devil, though they can neither have knowledge in themselves, or do either good or evil.

PSEUDO-JEROME; Mystically however the Gentile woman, who prays for her daughter, is our mother the Church of Rome. Her daughter afflicted with a devil, is the barbarian western race, which by faith has been turned from a dog into a sheep. She desires to take the crumbs of spiritual understanding, not the unbroken bread of the letter.

THEOPHYL. The soul of each of us also, when he falls into sin, becomes a woman; and this soul has a daughter who is sick, that is, evil actions; this daughter again has a devil, for evil actions arise from devils. Again, sinners are called dogs, being filled with uncleanness. For which reason we are not worthy to receive the bread of God, or to be made partakers of the immaculate mysteries of God; if however in humility, knowing ourselves to be dogs, we confess our sins, then the daughter, that is, our evil life, shall be healed.

Catena Aurea Mark 7

Christ and the Canaanite Woman

Germain-Jean Drouais

1784
Louvre, Paris

Saint Josephine Bakhita

Franciscan Media

Image: Stained Glass of St. Josephine Bakhita, Saint John Paul II Chapel, Mundelein | photo by Fr. Gaurav Shroff | flickr

Saint Josephine Bakhita

Saint of the Day for February 8

(c. 1869 – February 8, 1947)

Saint Josephine Bakhita’s Story

For many years, Josephine Bakhita was a slave but her spirit was always free and eventually that spirit prevailed.

Born in Olgossa in the Darfur region of southern Sudan, Josephine was kidnapped at the age of 7, sold into slavery and given the name Bakhita, which means fortunate. She was resold several times, finally in 1883 to Callisto Legnani, Italian consul in Khartoum, Sudan.

Two years later, he took Josephine to Italy and gave her to his friend Augusto Michieli. Bakhita became babysitter to Mimmina Michieli, whom she accompanied to Venice’s Institute of the Catechumens, run by the Canossian Sisters. While Mimmina was being instructed, Josephine felt drawn to the Catholic Church. She was baptized and confirmed in 1890, taking the name Josephine.

When the Michielis returned from Africa and wanted to take Mimmina and Josephine back with them, the future saint refused to go. During the ensuing court case, the Canossian Sisters and the patriarch of Venice intervened on Josephine’s behalf. The judge concluded that since slavery was illegal in Italy, she had actually been free since 1885.

Josephine entered the Institute of St. Magdalene of Canossa in 1893 and made her profession three years later. In 1902, she was transferred to the city of Schio (northeast of Verona), where she assisted her religious community through cooking, sewing, embroidery, and welcoming visitors at the door. She soon became well loved by the children attending the sisters’ school and the local citizens. She once said, “Be good, love the Lord, pray for those who do not know Him. What a great grace it is to know God!”

The first steps toward her beatification began in 1959. She was beatified in 1992 and canonized eight years later.

Reflection

Josephine’s body was mutilated by those who enslaved her, but they could not touch her spirit. Her Baptism set her on an eventual path toward asserting her civic freedom and then service to God’s people as a Canossian Sister.

She who worked under many “masters” was finally happy to address God as “master” and carry out everything that she believed to be God’s will for her.

For more on Saint Josephine Bakhita, click here!

A Saint for Africa, and for the West
From Slave to Saint: The Story of St. Josephine Bakhita [Catholic Caucus]
Josephine Bakhita - an African Saint [from Sudan]
From Slave to Saint: The Story of St. Josephine Bakhita
A Saint For Those Who Are Prisoners of Their Past [St. Josephine Bakhita] (Catholic Caucus)
St. Josephine Bakhita Was a Humble Witness to God's Love

Saint Jerome Emiliani
July 20, St Jerome Emiliani, Confessor (1962 Breviary and Kalendar)

Information: St. Jerome Emiliani

Feast Day: February 8

Born: 1481, Venice

Died: 8 February 1537, Somasca>{? Canonized: 1767 by Pope Clement XIII

Patron of: orphans

Holy Spirit Interactive Kids: A Saint a Day

St. Jerome Emiliani

Feast Day: February 08
Born:1486 :: Died:1537

Jerome was born to a noble family of Venice, Italy. He loved the good life and spent his youth carelessly enjoying the pleasures of this world. When he grew up he became a soldier and was put in command of a fortress high in the mountains.

One day, his post was attacked by troops of Maximilian I. Jerome was taken prisoner and thrown into a dungeon. Chained in that miserable prison, he had time to think about his life. He began to regret the careless way he had been living. He was sorry that he had thought so little about God. He was sorry for wasting so many years living a wicked life.

Jerome promised the Blessed Mother that he would change his life if she would help him. His prayers were answered and by a miracle he was able to escape to safety. Jerome, with a grateful heart, went straight to a church. He hung his prison chains in front of Mary's altar.

After returning to Venice, he took charge of the education of his young nephews while he studied to be a priest. When he finally became a priest he was devoted to works of charity.

Plague and famine struck northern Italy. Jerome began feeding the sick and the hungry with whatever money he had. He was especially concerned about the many homeless orphan children he found in the streets. He rented a house for them, and gave them clothes and food. He taught them about Jesus and the Catholic faith.

St. Jerome started a religious congregation of men called the Company of the Servants of the Poor. They would care for the poor, especially orphans, and would teach youth.

He did all he could for the peasants, too. St. Jerome would work with them in the fields and would talk to them of God's goodness while he worked by their side. He died while caring for plague victims in 1537.

St. Jerome Emiliani was a gift to the people of his time and to all the Church. By totally turning his life around, he became an image of the love of God. He gave hope to those who were poor and abandoned. He is the patron saint of orphans and homeless children.

CATHOLIC ALMANAC

Thursday, February 8

Liturgical Color: Green

St. Josephine Bakhita died on
this day in 1947. She was
abducted and sold as a slave in
Sudan where she was badly
abused. Never losing her faith,
she gained her freedom and
became a nun. She lived her
remaining life in humble service
to God.

Catholic Culture

Ordinary Time: February 8th

Optional Memorials of St. Jerome Emiliani, priest; St. Josephine Bakhita, virgin

MASS READINGS

February 08, 2018 (Readings on USCCB website)

COLLECT PRAYER

O God, Father of mercies, who sent Saint Jerome Emiliani as a helper and father to orphans, grant through his intercession, that we may preserve faithfully the spirit of adoption, by which we are called, and truly are, your children. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

O God, who led Saint Josephine Bakhita from abject slavery to the dignity of being your daughter and a bride of Christ, grant, we pray, that by her example we may show constant love for the Lord Jesus crucified, remaining steadfast in charity and prompt to show compassion. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

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Old Calendar: St. John of Matha, confessor

St. Jerome Emiliani was born in Venice in 1486. He converted to Christianity after a rather dissolute youth, and dedicated himself to the service of the poor, the sick, and abandoned children. He founded a congregation (Somaschi) which looked after the education of children, especially orphans. He died of the plague while serving the afflicted.

Saint Josephine was a young Sudanese girl sold into slavery and brought to Italy where, while serving as a nanny, she was sent to live with the Canossian Sisters of the Institute of the Catechumens in Venice. There she was baptized, and, having reached majority age, was granted her freedom by Italian law. In 1896 she joined the Canossian Daughters of Charity where she served humbly for the next twenty five years. She died after a long and painful illness, during which she would cry out to the Lord: "Please loosen the chains... they are so heavy!" Her dying words were "Our Lady! Our Lady!"

According to the 1962 Missal of Bl. John XXIII the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, today is the feast of St. John of Matha, who came from Provence, France and was ordained a priest in Paris. He retired to a solitary life conscious that God was calling him to a special mission, and spent three years in prayer and recollection. He then founded the Trinitarian Order for the ransom of Christians held by the Mohammedans. A great number of houses were founded and innumerable prisoners set free. St. John spent the last two years of his life in Rome, where he died.

St. Jerome Emiliani
A careless and irreligious soldier for the city-state of Venice, Jerome was captured in a skirmish at an outpost town and chained in a dungeon. In prison Jerome had a lot of time to think, and he gradually learned how to pray. When he escaped, he returned to Venice where he took charge of the education of his nephews—and began his own studies for the priesthood.

In the years after his ordination, events again called Jerome to a decision and a new lifestyle. Plague and famine swept northern Italy. Jerome began caring for the sick and feeding the hungry at his own expense. While serving the sick and the poor, he soon resolved to devote himself and his property solely to others, particularly to abandoned children. He founded three orphanages, a shelter for penitent prostitutes and a hospital.

Around 1532 Jerome and two other priests established a congregation dedicated to the care of orphans and the education of youth. Jerome died in 1537 from a disease he caught while tending the sick. He was canonized in 1767. In 1928 Pius XI named him the universal patron of orphans and abandoned children.

— Excerpted from Saint of the Day, Leonard Foley, O.F.M.

Patron: Abandoned people; orphans.

Symbols: Ball and chain; man shackled with a ball and chain who is attending the sick; man wearing a ball and chain, and receiving an apparition of Mary and the Child Jesus.

Things to Do:

Read more about St. Jerome: Life of St. Jerome
Meditate on these words: "Before dying, Jerome gives to his own a testament that is not only the synthesis of his spiritual experience, but also an itinerary of Christian life: Follow the way of the Crucified, despise the world, love one another, serve the poor. The life of love for the poor is born from a community of people who live the commandment of the reciprocal love, after having decided to have, as a goal, only God. The cross becomes the expression of this dedication and love, on the example of Jesus Christ."
We suggest you visit the Somascan Fathers and Brothers' website where you can read St. Jerome's letters written in 1535 as well as other documents and you can also learn more about this religious community.

St. Josephine Bakhita
For many years, Josephine Bakhita was a slave, but her spirit was always free and eventually that spirit prevailed. Born in Olgossa in the Darfur region of southern Sudan, Josephine was kidnapped at the age of seven, sold into slavery and given the name Bakhita, which means fortunate. She was resold several times, finally in 1883 to Callisto Legnani, Italian consul in Khartoum, Sudan.

Two years later he took Josephine to Italy and gave her to his friend Augusto Michieli. Soon Bakhita became babysitter to Mimmina Michieli, whom she accompanied to Venice's Institute of the Catechumens, run by the Canossian Sisters. While Mimmina was being instructed, Josephine felt drawn to the Catholic Church. She was baptized and confirmed in 1890, taking the name Josephine.

When the Michielis returned from Africa and wanted to take Mimmina and Josephine back with them, the future saint refused to go. During the ensuing court case, the Canossian sisters and the patriarch of Venice intervened on Josephine's behalf. The judge concluded that since slavery was illegal in Italy, she had actually been free since 1885.

Josephine entered the Institute of Saint Magdalene of Canossa in 1893 and made her profession three years later. In 1902, she was transferred to the city of Schio (northeast of Verona), where she assisted her religious community through cooking, sewing, embroidery and welcoming visitors at the door. She soon became well loved by the children attending the sisters' school and the local citizens. She once said, "Be good, love the Lord, pray for those who do not know Him. What a great grace it is to know God!"

The first steps toward her beatification began in 1959. She was beatified in 1992 and canonized eight years later.

— Excerpted from Saint of the Day, Leonard Foley, O.F.M.

"Be good, love the Lord, pray for those who do not know him. What a great grace it is to know God!". — St. Josephine Bakhita

Things to Do:

Visit these websites for more about the life of St. Josephine: Josephine Bakhita (Vatican's biography); Josephine Bakhita - an African Saint (Has links to information about the Faith in Africa and the persecution which continues).
The Canossian Daughters of Charity are called to contemplate, experience and share God's love for every person and to participate in Christ's mission of salvation in a life of total dedication to God, communion and humble service with Mary, mother of love beneath the cross. Learn more about the Canossian Daughters of Charity, the order in which St. Josephine became a professed religious.
A Sister seeing St. Josephine so peaceful and always in prayer, asked, "Do you wish to go to heaven?" "I wish neither to go nor to stay. God knows where to find me, when He wants me." To another who asked how she was going on, she answered, "I am going slowly, step by step, because I have two heavy bags to carry - one containing my own sins, the other Christ's merits. When I get to the other side, I will open my bags and say, 'Eternal Father, now judge!' and to St Peter, 'You can close that door of yours, for I'm going to stay.'" More autobiographical excerpts from St. Josephine's wonderful story can be found here.
Pray for those suffering persecution in Sudan. Read what Bishop Macram Max Gassis says in this article, Sudan: Country of Terrorism, Religious Persecution, Slavery, Rape, Genocide, and Man-Made Starvation and this statement from the Sudan Catholic Bishops' Regional Conference.

St. John of Matha
John of Matha, the founder of the Trinitarian Order, was born at Faucon, on the borders of Provence, in France. He was trained as a young noble in horsemanship and the use of arms, decided to study for the priesthood, and was ordained in Paris. After some years in solitude, he conceived the idea of founding an order to ransom Christian captives from the Muslims and went to Rome to obtain the blessing of Pope Innocent III.

Houses of the order were established at Cerfroid and Rome and in Spain. He was very successful in the work of ransoming captives and his order spread. Very little is known for certain about his life, and in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, to bolster his reputation, certain members of his order fabricated stories about him, filled his life with miracles and amazing adventures, and connected the beginnings of his order with St. Felix of Valois.

The Trinitarian Order had not preserved any archives of their order and had little knowledge of the life of their founder. Another order, the Order of Mercy, was founded for the same reason as their own, and they compiled a fictitious record of the beginnings of their order. This takes nothing away from the achievements of St. John of Matha, but it does obscure the true story of his life and work.

We do know that he received approval of his order from Pope Innocent III in 1198 and that he died in Rome in 1213. His relics were taken to Madrid in 1655, and he was recognized as a saint in 1694. At his death, there were thirty-five houses of the order throughout Europe. The Trinitarians were one of the first religious orders to combine monastic discipline with pastoral work and one of the first to become international in its work. The order flourishes today in several countries and in 1906 made a foundation in the United States.

Excerpted from The One Year Book of Saints, Rev. Clifford Stevens

Patron: Against lightning; against pestilence; archers; automobile drivers; automobilists; bachelors; Baden, Germany; boatmen; bookbinders; Brunswick, Germany; bus drivers; cab drivers; epilepsy; epileptics; floods; fruit dealers; fullers; gardeners; hailstorms; holy death; lightning; lorry drivers; mariners; market carriers; Mecklenburg, Germany; motorists; pestilence; porters; Rab Croatia; sailors; Saint Christopher's Island; Saint Kitts; storms; sudden death; taxi drivers; toothache; Toses, Girona, Catalonia, Spain; transportation; transportation workers; travellers; truck drivers; truckers; watermen.

Symbols: Branch; giant; torrent; tree; man with Christ on his shoulders.

Things to Do:

Like Mother Teresa of Calcutta, St. John of Matha saw a critical need for the Church at the time and set about doing something about it. He devoted all of his time, his efforts, and his resources to ransom his fellow Christians from slavery, and his work continued into modern times, until slavery was abolished. Like him, we should look around us and see what good has to be done and then courageously put our hand to the task.
Read a longer biography of St. John.

The Word Among Us

Meditation: Mark 7:24-30

Saint Jerome Emiliani (Optional Memorial)

She begged him. (Mark 7:26)

Some of the most emotionally powerful stories in the New Testament feature a parent begging Jesus to touch their child. From the little girl who was raised from the dead to the epileptic boy, these miracles all took place because parents pushed through the crowd on their child’s behalf.

The Syrophoenician woman in today’s Gospel reading is another example of a persistent parent who sought out Jesus, even when he seemed to want to be left alone. She pressed Jesus to heal her daughter. Even when he initially refused her request, she didn’t give up. She asked again, until Jesus relented and restored the girl.

Since New Testament times, parental guidance and prayers have made all the difference in the lives of countless saints. St. Monica spent years praying for her wayward son, Augustine, before she finally saw her prayers answered in his conversion. He went on to become one of the great early church fathers. More recently, Louis and Zelie Martin prayed constantly that all of their children would become saints. Several of their children joined religious life, and their youngest is one of our most beloved saints: Thérèse of Lisieux.

Many of us have been influenced by the prayers of our parents. And even if you never knew your parents or if your relationship is not what it could be, you can be sure that you have spiritual parents and brothers and sisters praying for you along the way. Not only do you have your guardian angel, but you also have saints who can relate to your challenges and who are praying for you. Like the Syrophoenician woman, they are wonderfully persistent in their intercession. It’s almost as if they won’t take no for an answer, even if the answer came in an unexpected way

Let’s thank the Lord for our biological and spiritual family members who have prayed for us and mentored us over the years. You may not know everything about them, and you may not even know who they are, but they have made a difference in your life. Thank the Lord for these prayer warriors. Their persistent prayers have made you the person you are today.

“Lord, thank you for giving us people who persistently pray for us.”

1 Kings 11:4-13
Psalm 106:3-4, 35-37, 40

Marriage = One Man and One Woman Until Death Do Us Part

Daily Marriage Tipfor February 8, 2018:

How do you handle business travel in your marriage? When one of you travels and the other stays home, how do you connect during your separation? Sharing stories of your time away from each other can be one of the sweetest ways to reconnect.

Regnum Christi

February 8, 2018 – Humility and Faith: Foundation and Cathedral

Thursday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time

Mark 7:24-30

Jesus went to the district of Tyre. He entered a house and wanted no one to know about it, but he could not escape notice. Soon a woman whose daughter had an unclean spirit heard about him. She came and fell at his feet. The woman was a Greek, a Syrophoenician by birth, and she begged him to drive the demon out of her daughter. He said to her, “Let the children be fed first. For it is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs.” She replied and said to him, “Lord, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s scraps.” Then he said to her, “For saying this, you may go. The demon has gone out of your daughter.” When the woman went home, she found the child lying in bed and the demon gone.

Introductory Prayer: Lord, I come before you today to learn the lessons of faith that you want to teach me. I want to learn to be patient when you test my faith. I know you want only to make it grow and bear more fruit in my life. In this prayer I desire to trust and love you as you deserve to be loved by me.

Petition: Lord, make my faith vibrant and persevering.

1. Seek Ye Higher Gifts: Our Lord is close to us in our sufferings. In this Gospel, a daughter suffered from a demonic possession, and her mother suffered with her. What most strikes us about this passage, however, is that Our Lord initially adds to the mother’s suffering by rebuking her. It seems so out of character, so foreign to the one who is “meek and humble of heart,” so unlike the gentle Jesus who is ever-sensitive to the needs of others. Yet Our Lord was about to confer upon her the greatest gift that could befall any human being: the gift of salvation represented by the healing of her daughter. Because the gift was so great, the vessel that was to contain it needed to be prepared.

2. Feelings, Nothing More Than Feelings: It is important to remember two principles about our feelings. First, we are not to treat them as if they were the infallible compass of our spiritual lives. Second, their lack of support does not mean that Our Lord is abandoning us. We can easily forget these two principles and blindly follow our feelings, persuasions and seductions. We can wrongly confuse feelings with faith. This believing woman beautifully shows the attitude we must maintain. Her example of humility in the face of Jesus’ seemingly hostile rebuke truly astounds us. No rebellion, no complaints, no resentments, no pity party. She remains determinedly fixed on Christ. She maintains a spirit of humility and faith in him who has the power to deliver her daughter from the devil. Am I capable of persisting in my prayer even when it seems Our Lord is turning a deaf ear?

3. A Cathedral of Faith for All to See: If only we could learn from her example! With such a firm foundation to build on, Jesus draws out of her an even greater faith — as large as a cathedral for the entire world to see. We need to ponder and contemplate the mysterious and wise ways of Our Lord when we suffer from his rebukes. We must hold fast to humility, mindful that we are creatures always loved by Christ, our Good Shepherd. He promised he would not leave us orphans. Why then such little faith?

Conversation with Christ: Lord, let me not confuse faith with feelings. Let me not confuse trust with mere sentiment. Never let me reduce my relationship with you to feelings, no matter how pleasurable or worthy I think they may be at that moment. Help me to remain humble in my dispositions and firm in my convictions, seeking only to trust, love and please you.

Resolution: When I experience pleasant, worthy or helpful feelings, I will thank and praise God, and I will channel these feelings toward what is more relevant: living out the deeper virtue of faith.

Homily of the Day

February 8, 2018

In today’s Gospel reading Jesus rewards the faith and humility of the Syrophoenician woman by driving away the demon tormenting her daughter.

Using the image of a house-owner, his children and dogs, Jesus reiterates that his mission was primarily for the Jewish people: “Let the children be fed first, for it is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”

In utmost humility, the desperate mother counters, “Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the crumbs from the children’s bread.”

How could Jesus not give a woman with such humility and faith what she was asking for?

One Bread, One Body

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All Issues > Volume 34, Issue 2

<< Thursday, February 8, 2018 >>

St. Jerome Emiliani
St. Josephine Bakhita

1 Kings 11:4-13
View Readings

Psalm 106:3-4, 35-37, 40

Mark 7:24-30
Similar Reflections

WHEN UNITY IS IDOLATRY

"Let the sons of the household satisfy themselves at table first. It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs." �Mark 7:27

The Jewish people were to have nothing to do with Gentiles so that they would not be seduced into worshipping the false gods of the Gentiles. Solomon disregarded this prohibition. He even married Gentile wives (1 Kgs 11:4ff). This led to idolatry, which led to wars and civil war. Solomon proved the point about how destructive it was for Jews to mix with Gentiles.

Jesus called Jewish Christians not only to mix with Gentiles but also to become one with them (see Eph 3:6; 1 Cor 12:13). His healing and deliverance of the Syro-Phoenician woman's daughter was one of several prefigurements that Jews and Gentiles would be one in the body of Christ. Since mixing Jews and Gentiles had repeatedly and tragically failed for centuries, Jesus would have to be greater than Solomon for His plan of unity to work (see Lk 11:31). In fact, Jesus would have to be God for the Jews and Gentiles to be united to God's glory and not in idolatry.

Jesus is God. "It is He Who is our Peace, and Who made the two of us one by breaking down the barrier of hostility that kept us apart" (Eph 2:14). "There does not exist among you Jew or Greek" (Gal 3:28). "All are one in Christ Jesus" (Gal 3:28).

Prayer: Jesus, make all Christians one as You and the Father are one (Jn 17:21).

Promise: "When she got home, she found the child lying in bed and the demon gone." —Mk 7:30

Praise: St. Jerome wrote: "If then you remain constant in the face of trials, the Lord will give you peace and rest for a time in this world and forever in the next."

Pro-choice says a woman has a right to kill this fetus if she so chooses.

Let your own eyes decide if that is moral or immoral.