Catholic Caucus: Daily Mass Readings, 01-18-19

Reading 1 Heb 4:1-5, 11 Let us be on our guard while the promise of entering into his rest remains, that none of you seem to have failed. For in fact we have received the Good News just as our ancestors did. But the word that they heard did not profit them, for they were not united in faith with those who listened. For we who believed enter into that rest, just as he has said:

and yet his works were accomplished at the foundation of the world. For he has spoken somewhere about the seventh day in this manner, And God rested on the seventh day from all his works; and again, in the previously mentioned place, They shall not enter into my rest.

Therefore, let us strive to enter into that rest, so that no one may fall after the same example of disobedience.

Responsorial Psalm Ps 78:3 and 4bc, 6c-7, 8R. (see 7b) Do not forget the works of the Lord!

What we have heard and know, and what our fathers have declared to us, we will declare to the generation to come The glorious deeds of the LORD and his strength.

That they too may rise and declare to their sons that they should put their hope in God, And not forget the deeds of God but keep his commands.

And not be like their fathers, a generation wayward and rebellious, A generation that kept not its heart steadfast nor its spirit faithful toward God.

When Jesus returned to Capernaum after some days, it became known that he was at home. Many gathered together so that there was no longer room for them, not even around the door, and he preached the word to them. They came bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. Unable to get near Jesus because of the crowd, they opened up the roof above him. After they had broken through, they let down the mat on which the paralytic was lying. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to him, "Child, your sins are forgiven." Now some of the scribes were sitting there asking themselves, "Why does this man speak that way? He is blaspheming. Who but God alone can forgive sins?" Jesus immediately knew in his mind what they were thinking to themselves, so he said, "Why are you thinking such things in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Rise, pick up your mat and walk'? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority to forgive sins on earth" –he said to the paralytic, "I say to you, rise, pick up your mat, and go home." He rose, picked up his mat at once, and went away in the sight of everyone. They were all astounded and glorified God, saying, "We have never seen anything like this."

'My children, we are going to speak of hope: this is what makes the happiness of man on earth. Some people of this world hope too much, and others do not hope enough. Some say, "I am going to commit this sin again. It will not cost me more to confess four than three." It is like a child saying to his father, "I am going to give you four blows; it will cost me no more than to give you one: I shall only have to ask your pardon."

That is the way men behave towards the good God.

They say, "This year I shall amuse myself again; I shall go to dances and to the alehouse, and next year I will be converted. The good God will be sure to receive me, when I choose to return to Him." . . . Do you think that He will adapt Himself to everything in your will? Do you think He will embrace you after you have despised Him all your life? Oh, no, indeed! There is a certain measure of grace and of sin after which God withdraws Himself. . . God would not be just if He made no difference between those who serve Him and those who offend Him. My children, there is so little faith now in the world, that people either hope too much, or they despair. Some say, "I have done too much evil; the good God cannot pardon me." My children, this is a great blasphemy; it is putting a limit on the mercy of God, which has no limit -- it is infinite. You may have done enough to lose the souls of a whole parish, and if you confess, if you are sorry for having done this evil, and resolve not to do it again, the good God will have pardoned you.'

St. Jean Marie Baptiste Vianney, the Cure of Ars

The Angelus

The Angel of the Lord declared to Mary:
And she conceived of the Holy Spirit.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of
our death. Amen.

Behold the handmaid of the Lord: Be it done unto me according to Thy word.

Hail Mary . . .

And the Word was made Flesh: And dwelt among us.

Hail Mary . . .

Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray:

Pour forth, we beseech Thee, O Lord, Thy grace into our hearts; that we, to whom the incarnation of Christ, Thy Son, was made known by the message of an angel, may by His Passion and Cross be brought to the glory of His Resurrection, through the same Christ Our Lord.

Amen.

"Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you" (Lk 1:28)

"Blessed are you among women,
and blessed is the fruit of your womb"
(Lk 1:42).

Ordinary Time: January 18th

Friday of the First Week of Ordinary Time

MASS READINGS
January 18, 2019 (Readings on USCCB website)
COLLECT PRAYER
Attend to the pleas of your people with heavenly care, O Lord, we pray, that they may see what must be done and gain strength to do what they have seen. 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. Prisca, virgin and marty; St. Peter’s Chair at Rome (Hist)

According to the 1962 Missal of St. John XXIII the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, today is the feast of St. Peter’s Chair at Rome and the commemoration of St. Prisca, virgin and martyr. The Feast of the Chair of St. Peter in the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite is celebrated on February 22.
Regarding St. Prisca, the Martyrology reads: “In the city of Rome, the holy virgin and martyr Prisca; after many tortures she gained the crown of martyrdom under Emperor Claudius II (about 270).” Prisca should not be confused with Priscilla, the wife of Aquila, mentioned in the Acts, whose feast dates to the earliest days of Christianity.
The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

St. Prisca
Prisca, who is also known as Priscilla, was a child martyr of the early Roman Church. Born to Christian parents of a noble family, Prisca was raised during the reign of the Roman emperor Claudius. While Claudius did not persecute Christians with the same fervor as other Roman emperors, Christians still did not practice their faith openly. In fact, Prisca’s parents went to great lengths to conceal their faith, and thus they were not suspected of being Christians.
Prisca, however, did not feel the need to take precaution. The young girl openly professed her dedication to Christ, and eventually, she was reported to the emperor. Claudius had her arrested, and commanded her to make a sacrifice to Apollo, the pagan god of the sun.
According to the legend, Prisca refused and was tortured for disobeying. Then, suddenly, a bright, yellow light shone about her, and she appeared to be a little star.
Claudius ordered that Prisca be taken away to prison, in the hopes that she would abandon Christ. When all efforts to change her mind were unsuccessful, she was taken to an amphitheatre and thrown in with a lion.
As the crowd watched, Prisca stood fearless. According to legend, the lion walked toward the barefoot girl, and then gently licked her feet. Disgusted by his thwarted efforts to dissuade Prisca, Claudius had her beheaded.
Seventh-century accounts of the grave sites of Roman martyrs refer to the discovery of an epitaph of a Roman Christian named Priscilla in a large catacomb and identifies her place of interment on the Via Salaria as the Catacomb of Priscilla.
— Excerpted from Ordinary People Extraordinary Lives.

The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity
BIBLICAL REFLECTIONS AND PRAYERS FOR THE EIGHT DAYS: Justice and Only Justice You Shall Pursue
Day One: Let justice roll down like water (Amos 5: 24)
God of the widow, the orphan and the stranger, You have shown us the path of justice. Help us to follow your way by doing justice as our worship of you. As Christians together, may we worship you not only with our hearts and minds, but also by our deeds. May the Holy Spirit help and guide us to work for justice wherever we are, so that many people may be strengthened through our works. In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Vatican Resources

href=”http://wau.org/meditations/current/

Meditation: Mark 2:1-12

1st Week in Ordinary time

When Jesus saw their faith . . . (Mark 2:5)

This is such a familiar story about healing that we often miss another important lesson: the link between our generosity and God’s mercy. It’s a link that the poor fellow lying on the mat—as well as his four friends—learned in a dramatic fashion.

Imagine what it took for these men to haul their friend up onto that roof and lower him down to Jesus. They could have slipped and fallen. They could have upset the man’s stretcher and watched him end up splayed out on the floor. They could even have been arrested for property damage and breaking and entering! But it didn’t matter. They were willing to take the risks for the sake of their friend.

Seeing such an act of love, Jesus was filled with compassion. How could he not heal the man? How could he not assure the man that his sins had been forgiven?

This is just one of many stories that show how God responds when we go out of our way to seek help for our loved ones. Think of the Canaanite woman who wouldn’t rest until Jesus healed her daughter (Matthew 15:21-28). Or think of the way Moses pleaded with God to spare the Israelites after they had made a molten calf (Exodus 32:7-14). Or think about Jesus telling his disciples that some situations need extra prayer and fasting (Mark 9:28-29). God may not always do exactly what we are asking for, but he does pour out his grace—just the right amount at just the right time and in just the right way.

Today begins the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. Imagine what could happen if each of us were generous enough to devote just ten minutes each day to praying for reconciliation between the churches. Imagine how much grace God would pour out if we were to give up our lunchtime or our TV time or our Internet time and spend it interceding for our divided Church. Let’s imitate these four friends and band together to pray for the body of Christ. Let’s bring this wounded body before the Lord so that he can tell all of us: Your sins of division are forgiven. Rise up and walk together as one.

“Jesus, we bring our divisions and disagreements to you. Lord, heal us and unite us as your one, holy, catholic, apostolic Church!”

Hebrews 4:1-5, 11
Psalm 78:3-4, 6-8

Daily Gospel Commentary

Saint Hilary (c.315-367)
Bishop of Poitiers, Doctor of the Church
Commentary on Saint Matthew's gospel, 8:5 (cf. SC 254, p. 199 rev.)

"Rise, pick up your mat, and go home"

[In Matthew's gospel Jesus has just cured two foreigners in pagan territory.] In this one paralytic all the pagans are presented before Christ to be healed. But even the terms of the healing need to be studied: what he says to the paralysed man is not: “Be healed” nor “Get up and walk” but “Courage, child, your sins are forgiven” (Mt 9:2). Sin had been transmitted among all nations in one man, Adam, and that is why he who is called "child" is presented to be healed...: because he is God's first work... he now receives the mercy that comes from the forgiveness of that first disobedience. Indeed, we don't see that this paralytic had committed any sin; and the Lord also said that blindness from birth had not been contracted as a result of a personal or hereditary sin (Jn 9:3)...

None can forgive sins except God alone, and so he who healed them is God... And so that people might understand that he had taken flesh for the remission of their sins and to gain resurrection for their bodies, he said: “That you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins on earth” – he then said to the paralytic: “Rise, pick up your stretcher”. It would have been enough to have said: “Rise”, but... he added: “Pick up your stretcher and go home.” First he granted remission of sins, then he manifested the power of the resurrection, and then, by making him take up his stretcher, he taught that weakness and pain will no longer afflict the body. Finally, by sending this man home healed, he showed that believers must rediscover the road to paradise, the same road that Adam, the father of all, abandoned when he was spoiled by the stain of sin.

http://www.regnumchristi.org/en/daily-meditation/

January 18, 2019 – A Man and His Friends

Friday of the First Week in Ordinary Time

Father Paul Campbell, LC
Mark 2:1-12

When Jesus returned to Capernaum after some days, it became known that he was at home. Many gathered together so that there was no longer room for them, not even around the door, and he preached the word to them. They came bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. Unable to get near Jesus because of the crowd, they opened up the roof above him. After they had broken through, they let down the mat on which the paralytic was lying. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Child, your sins are forgiven.” Now some of the scribes were sitting there asking themselves, “Why does this man speak that way? He is blaspheming. Who but God alone can forgive sins?” Jesus immediately knew in his mind what they were thinking to themselves, so he said, “Why are you thinking such things in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, pick up your mat and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority to forgive sins on earth”—he said to the paralytic, “I say to you, rise, pick up your mat, and go home.” He rose, picked up his mat at once, and went away in the sight of everyone. They were all astounded and glorified God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this.”

Introductory Prayer: Jesus, thank you for this time to be with you. I humbly offer you my intention to set all my distractions aside so that I can encounter you, my Lord and my God. I hope in you and know that you could never let me down. I love you and long to love you with all of my strength. Aware of my misery and weakness, I trust in your mercy and love.

Petition: Lord, increase my zeal for souls.

The Paralytic: One day, four men carried a friend to Jesus. It made all the difference in the world to the friend, for he was paralyzed and was unable to approach Jesus on his own. He had heard of the miracles Jesus had performed but had never seen them. His own healing was out of the question: he couldn’t go to Jesus on his own. Had his four friends not stepped in and brought him to Jesus, he would never have been cured. Their faith and love made his healing possible. Who does Jesus want me to bring to him? Do I invite people to prayer and adoration? Do I invite people to Mass and confession?

The Four Friends: These four men were not stopped by the obstacles in their way. How long they traveled isn’t mentioned, but even a short distance is tiring when carrying a man on a mat. When they arrived at the house, it was full of people who had traveled to hear and see Jesus and to be cured by him. It was impossible for the men to get inside the house through the door, but they didn’t give up. They didn’t quit. They carried their friend up to the rooftop and lowered him down into the house. By persevering we can achieve anything. Love knows no boundaries or limits.

Jesus: God wants to save so many people. He wants to bring real healing into their lives, but he wants to heal them through us. Jesus could have found the paralyzed man. He chose, rather, to let the others bring the man to him. Jesus wanted to heal him, but without the charity in the hearts of the four men, the healing might never have been accomplished. Who does Jesus wish to encounter through me? How can I be a better instrument of his love?

Conversation with Christ: Lord, help me to realize more deeply that you want me involved in salvation history. I’m on the front lines. You entrust souls to me, and you want to bless their lives through my prayers, my sacrifices and my work. Increase my love for these souls. They need my help and my fidelity. I don’t want to let them down. Help me to be faithful.

Resolution: I will make a sacrifice today for the person most in need of God’s grace.

Homily of the Day

January 18, 2019
The most advanced medicine today cannot instantly cure any illness. It takes time and effort of the physician, the cooperation of the patient and the working of any medicine or procedure to achieve a cure. Yet in today’s Gospel, the cure of the paralytic was done instantly, at the word of Jesus. Nobody can cure instantly, except God. The teachers of the Law were correct in thinking that only God can forgive sins.

Sin and forgiveness, while real, are not concrete tangible realities. Thus, when, because of the faith of the paralytic and of those who brought him, Jesus forgave the sins of the paralytic, the teachers of the Law saw him as one committing blasphemy, doing or pretending to do what only God could do.

Did the teachers of the Law believe that Jesus was indeed God when he cured the paralytic by his instant word, “but now you shall know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins,”?

In the Church, Christ has given us the Sacrament of Reconciliation where, through the action of a priest, God forgives sins. We thank God for his merciful love for us and for his never ending readiness and graciousness to forgive us.

https://www.presentationministries.com/obob/obob.asp?lang=en&d=1/18/2019
One Bread, One Body
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All Issues > Volume 35, Issue 1

<< Friday, January 18, 2019 >>

Hebrews 4:1-5, 11
View Readings Psalm 78:3-4, 6-8 Mark 2:1-12
Similar Reflections

WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO ME?

“I command you: Stand up! Pick up your mat and go home.” —Mark 2:11

Will you receive “the promise of entrance” into God’s rest (Heb 4:1), that is, will you be with the Lord forever in the perfect happiness of heaven? “Therefore, while the promise of entrance into His rest still holds, we ought to be fearful of disobeying lest any one of you be judged to have lost his chance of entering” (Heb 4:1).

By ourselves, we are unable to obey the Lord and enter eternal rest. We are spiritually paralyzed. Our only hope is to come to Jesus just as we are. We need to be carried to Jesus through the intercession, evangelization, redemptive suffering, and service of the members of His Church (see Mk 2:3ff). Jesus in His mercy will say to us in our spiritual paralysis: “Your sins are forgiven” (Mk 2:5). At this point, we can receive the grace to repent and accept Jesus as our Savior, Lord, and God on His terms. If we are freed from our paralysis and become children of God (Jn 1:12), we will enter heaven where we belong, that is, with our heavenly Father forever.

Jesus is the only Way to our Father in heaven (Jn 14:6). Accept Jesus. “Rise” and “go home” to heaven (see Mk 2:11).

Prayer: Father, may I repent and bring joy to heaven (Lk 15:7, 10).
Promise: “The Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” —Mk 2:10
Praise: Being in community has helped Dorothy grow spiritually and remain faithful to the Lord and His Church.

I am reminded of the true story of a woman who went to confession to Padre Pio. Before giving her absolution, said, ‘Try to remember the other sin.’ The woman said, ‘Padre, I think I gave you all the sins I know and I think this is it.’ Padre Pio said, ‘Then, for your penance, go to the cross to say fifteen Ave Marias and fifteen Our Fathers.’ Now the cross was at the top of the mountain. The penance was not the Aves or the Our Fathers, it was the journey to get there, as it was a very bad road... So she did that and said the prayers and went back to Padre Pio for a second confession and Padre Pio asked, ‘Do you remember all your sins?’ She said, ‘Padre Pio, I’ve confessed everything.’ Padre Pio said. ‘No, you still don’t remember all. You’ve got to go to the cross at the top of the mountain again.’

She went for the second time and when she still did not remember he sent her for the third time to the cross on the mountaintop. When she returned for the third time for confession, Padre Pio asked, ‘So, do you remember everything now?’ She replied, ‘No, Padre, I don’t have anything more to confess.’ Then Padre Pio said in a loud voice, ‘What do you mean, you don’t remember anything? Don’t you know he could have been a good priest, a bishop, even a cardinal?’ She started to think and then began to cry, ‘Father,’ she said, ‘I never knew abortion was a sin.’ ‘What do you mean,’ he said, ‘you didn’t know that this was a sin? That’s killing.’ Then she said, Nobody knows about this, only me and my mother. How could you say it would have been a priest or a cardinal?’ Padre Pio simply responded by saying, ‘But it’s a sin, a great sin.’ “

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January, 2019

The Holy Father's Prayer Intention

Evangelization – Religious Minorities in Asia, That Christians and other religious minorities in Asian countries, may be able to practice their faith in full freedom.