Readings & Reflections: Wednesday after Epiphany & St. Angela of Foligno, January 8,2020

The Infant Jesus cannot yet speak, yet when the day comes that he can, no force of nature will prevent him from coming to us tossed about in the storms of our life to reassure us with the words, “Take courage, it is I, do not be afraid!” As we “acknowledge that Jesus is the Son of God,” the love that sends him over the water to us is brought to perfection in us.

AMDG+

Opening Prayer

“Lord, may I never doubt your saving help and your ever watchful presence, especially in times of adversity. Fortify my faith with courage and my hope with perseverance that I may never waver in my trust in you”. In Jesus’ Mighty Name, I pray. Amen.

Reading 1
1 Jn 4:11-18

Beloved, if God so loved us,
we also must love one another.
No one has ever seen God.
Yet, if we love one another, God remains in us,
and his love is brought to perfection in us.

This is how we know that we remain in him and he in us,
that he has given us of his Spirit.
Moreover, we have seen and testify
that the Father sent his Son as savior of the world.
Whoever acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God,
God remains in him and he in God.
We have come to know and to believe in the love God has for us.

God is love, and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him. In this is love brought to perfection among us,
that we have confidence on the day of judgment
because as he is, so are we in this world.
There is no fear in love,
but perfect love drives out fear
because fear has to do with punishment,
and so one who fears is not yet perfect in love.

The word of the Lord.

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 72:1-2, 10, 12-13

R.(see 11) Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
O God, with your judgment endow the king,
and with your justice, the king’s son;
He shall govern your people with justice
and your afflicted ones with judgment.
R. Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
The kings of Tarshish and the Isles shall offer gifts;
the kings of Arabia and Seba shall bring tribute.
R. Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
For he shall rescue the poor when he cries out,
and the afflicted when he has no one to help him.
He shall have pity for the lowly and the poor;
the lives of the poor he shall save.
R. Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.

Alleluia  See 1 Tm 3:16

Alleluia, alleluia.
Glory to you, O Christ, proclaimed to the Gentiles.
Glory to you, O Christ, believed in throughout the world.
Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel
Mk 6:45-52

After the five thousand had eaten and were satisfied,
Jesus made his disciples get into the boat
and precede him to the other side toward Bethsaida,
while he dismissed the crowd.
And when he had taken leave of them,
he went off to the mountain to pray.
When it was evening,
the boat was far out on the sea and he was alone on shore.
Then he saw that they were tossed about while rowing,
for the wind was against them.
About the fourth watch of the night,
he came toward them walking on the sea.
He meant to pass by them.
But when they saw him walking on the sea,
they thought it was a ghost and cried out.
They had all seen him and were terrified.
But at once he spoke with them,
“Take courage, it is I, do not be afraid!”
He got into the boat with them and the wind died down.
They were completely astounded.
They had not understood the incident of the loaves.
On the contrary, their hearts were hardened.

The Gospel of the Lord.

Reflection 1 – God is love

Waves of nostalgia may come to our hearts whenever we look back and recall the sweet memories of people who have touched our lives. In my case I can only look back on my childhood and recall two orphaned sisters who were welcomed by my parents, worked for our family and became very much part of us.  And when I had a family of my own, they took care of my family’s domestic needs and likewise parented my children. They have been faithful to us and to this day still continue to take care of whatever we left behind in my home country. They have a special place in my heart and are family to me.  Through the ups and downs of life they have been with us, they loved and cared for us.

These reflections crossed my mind and continue to touch me and make me realize the true meaning of caring and loving and that to love and care, one needs dedication, sacrifice and commitment.  I realize that such nostalgic memories of relationships may be quite common to a big number yet to some it could also be foreign and non-existent.  As time passed and my hair has somehow turned gray and my steps no longer as precise, God slowly set in place the puzzle of life into my heart.  It was not until Christ found me, entered my life and won me over to his side did I have a better understanding of what loving is all about.

Today, as God comes to us with His call to LOVE one another, we should all be reminded that as people of faith and as Christians, we are the embodiment of God’s love. We serve as His instruments to learn from and to be counted upon as God’s ambassadors of good will within His church. Just like Jesus who founded a close bond with His friends and co-workers, we too should be able to form that strong bond with one another. Jesus went as far as calling His friends “my mother and my brothers”; why can’t we make it happen today? Rather than being rigid in our ways and partial in our dealings with our neighbor, we ought to open the doors of love and grace to everyone and lift each other up to the Lord. We should be able to witness to all (through our daily lives of self-giving & self denial, sacrifice, mercy & compassion) that God’s love is for all and not only for a chosen few.

As God’s family what can we do so that we are able to share God’s love with all? What can we do as a community to build a memory among God’s people, so that God through us, will be able to leave an unforgettable impression of love and care among His beloved?  Remember, we also “ought to love one another… no one has ever seen God but if we love one another God lives in union with us and his love is made perfect in us.”

Let us all give it a try and truly love another. He who loves has our Lord in his heart.   “Get hold of yourselves! God is love and he who abides in love abides in God and God in him.”

Direction

Find a way to bring God’s love to someone who is in need.  In God’s church and community, love and compassion to our brothers and sisters are far more important than a set of guidelines and policies.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, always make me aware and sensitive of my brothers and sisters that I may always show them love and compassion.  Always make me realize that to love is to commit to you and your people amidst the difficulties and the obstacles that may come my way. In Jesus, I hope, love and pray. Amen.

Reflection 2 – Fears

In his biography on St. Augustine, Peter Brown states, “Yet, like so many men, Augustine feared the sea.” There is a wise fear here. The sea can be treacherous and deadly. Only those who lack experience of the sea or are simply ignorant of its dangers lack respect for large bodies of water.

In the gospel (Mk 6:45-52), the disciples are out at sea and confront a double fear: fear of the stormy sea itself and fear of an apparent ghost. Then, they hear those glorious words that ring down through the ages in the hearts of all believers: “Take courage, it is I, do not be afraid!” (Mk 6:50). These phrases were embedded in the heart of Pope John Paul II as he traveled the world far and wide and instructed youths that they ought not to be afraid.

There is a graced, reverential fear, one that is concerned with offending God in any way. But there are other fears that flow from a lack of trust in God’s providential care. What is needed is love, a self-giving that relies on grace and God’s abiding presence.

One need but think of a mother who rush into the burning home to rescue her children. Her love drives out all fear and enables her to risk her life in the face of almost certain death. It is this type of love, one that knows no limits that God gives to us. Jesus rushes into history, into certain death, in order to save us from sin and death. Divine courage does not hesitate before all the evil in the world. As disciples of this Lord, we are invited to follow in his way and live courageous lives. It is in the paschal mystery, this living and dying with Jesus, that we find our joy and peace.

Meditation: What are the fears in your life? What is the relationship between love and courage? Why is the practice of presence of God so important in dealing with the trials and temptations of life?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, you tell us not to fear. Yet, there are so many dangers on this human journey. Too often we forget your presence and feel abandoned and vulnerable. Deepen your gift of faith in our hearts; deepen your gift of trust that fear might be banished once for all.

Reflection 3 – Take heart, it is I; have no fear

Does the Lord Jesus ever seem distant when trials or difficulties come your way? Right after Jesus performed the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes, he left his disciples by themselves so he could go to a remote place to pray alone.It was at Jesus’ initiative that the disciples sailed across the lake of Galilee, only to find themselves in a life-threatening storm. Although they were experienced fishermen, they feared for their lives. The Lake of Galilee was known for its sudden storms whipped up by strong winds which swept down from the nearby mountains. The disciples must have cried out for help when they recognized that their boat was about to be capsized by the threatening waves.

Jesus always intercedes for us
Although Jesus was not physically with them in the boat, he nonetheless had been keeping vigilant watch for them in earnest prayer. When Jesus perceived their trouble he came to them walking on the sea and startled them with his sudden appearance. The disciples were terrified rather than joyful when they saw Jesus’ presence on the water. They thought a ghost had appeared to seal their doom. They couldn’t believe it was really him until he spoke words of assurance: “Don’t give in to fear or panic, but take courage and be calm, because I am here for you and ready to help you in your need.” Jesus not only calmed their fears, but the threatening waves and storm as well.

Do you recognize the Lord’s abiding presence with you?
Does the Lord Jesus seem distant when trials and difficulties come your way? The Lord never leaves us alone, but keeps constant watch over us at all times, especially when we are tempted and feel weak or helpless. Do you look to the Lord Jesus to give you his strength and help when you are in need? Jesus assures us that we do not have to give into fear or discouragement if we put our trust in Him and remember his great love for us. He will see us through any trial that comes our way. When calamities and trials threaten to overwhelm you, do you respond with faith and hope in God’s love and presence with you?

“Lord Jesus, may I never doubt your saving help and your ever watchful presence, especially in times of adversity. Fortify my faith with courage and my hope with steady perseverance that I may never waver in placing all my trust in you who are my all.” – Read the source: http://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/readings/2020/jan8.htm

Reflection 4 – How to handle fear?

The infant Jesus cannot yet speak, yet when the day comes that he can, no force of nature will prevent him from coming to us tossed about in the storms of our life to reassure us with the words, “Take courage, it is I, do not be afraid!” As we “acknowledge that Jesus is the Son of God,” the love that sends him over the water to us is brought to perfection in us.

“When I was little, my father used to say that, if you were a real Christian, you would never be afraid of anything or anyone. For were you not, if you were in the state of grace, the temple of the Holy Spirit? And wasn’t the Blessed Mother there? For where the Trinity was, there Our Lady of the Trinity was sure to be. And naturally your patron saint would be within you too, as would your angel guardian. Furthermore, as a Christian, you had the right and the duty, when in danger or need, to call on all the heavenly spirits for help, to call on anyone in the Church Triumphant, which is all the people of God in heaven. So, living, walking, breathing in such a glorious company, how could you be afraid of anything but sin? Sin alone has the power to bring real death. It has to be feared with a great fear, but nothing else.

“You shouldn’t fear illness or even death – both are precious gifts of the Lord! Sickness can make you into his likeness, even as all pain and sorrow does, and bring deep spiritual peace and understanding that cannot be reached any other way. And death? Death is Christ calling your soul for an eternal rendezvous of love. Oh, the joy of at long last being home, in the arms of the beloved!” (Servant of God Catherine de Hueck Doherty, +1985, was born in Russia and was the foundress of Madonna House in Combermere, Canada).

Reflection 5 – The Terrifying Sea

“In you, patience, royal virtue learned in calling to mind the blood of Christ crucified, we discover life….

“This is the most essential of all the virtues, because we cannot cross this sea without troubles assaulting us no matter where we turn. This sea batters us with its waves, and the devil with all his temptations. And more: what the devil can’t do himself he does by using other people. He takes up his position on the tongues and in the hearts of his servants and before their mind’s eye. He makes them see what doesn’t exist. So they conceive within their hearts all sorts of evil thoughts and resentments regarding their neighbors – often regarding those they most love. Once they have conceived these things within, the devil takes up his position on their tongue and causes them to give birth to them in words. Words lead to actions, and this is how he divides those who love each other. This is the source of the impatience and antipathy and hatred that deprive people of the unity of love….

“We must defend ourselves against this dangerous wave with hatred and contempt for ourselves, opening our mind’s eye to know God and God’s goodness, to know his eternal will, which neither wants nor seeks anything but that we be made holy. He allows the devil to cause others to torment and harass within us, and so that our imperfect love may become perfect. For the virtue of love is proved and strengthened in interaction with our neighbors.” (Source: St. Catherine of Siena, +1380 AD Doctor of the Church).

Reflection 6 – Where To Look For Jesus

Let us run . . . , looking unto Jesus. —Hebrews 12:1-2

We read in the Gospel today that Jesus’ disciples were afraid when in the dimness of nightfall they saw a strange figure walking on the stormy Sea of Galilee. Then the disciples heard a familiar voice: “It is I. Don’t be afraid” (Mk 6:50; Jn 6:20). It was Jesus. Their fears were calmed, as well as the sea. What does this story mean for us today?

Let’s see. What is the crisis of the day? It could be terrorism and its random threat. Or the economy and the fear that we will run out of money before we run out of time. Maybe it’s a personal crisis with no foreseeable solution—a tragedy or a failure too great to bear.

Before we fall under the weight of our accumulated fears, we would do well to look back to a 20th-century woman who bore sadness, pain, and heartache with grace.

Corrie ten Boom lived through the hellish life of Nazi concentration camps—a place where hope was lost for most people. She survived to tell her story of unfaltering faith and tight-fisted hope in God.

She saw the face of evil up close and personal. She saw some of the most inhumane acts man can do to man. And when she came out of it all, she said this: “If you look at the world, you’ll be distressed. If you look within, you’ll be depressed. But if you look at Christ, you’ll be at rest.”

Where are you looking? Are you focusing on the world and its dangers? Are you gazing at yourself, hoping to find your own answers? Or are you looking to Jesus, the author and finisher of your faith? (Hebrews 12:1-2). In an uncertain world, we must keep looking to Him. And let us be challenged to fix our eyes on Jesus and say:

“Looking to Jesus, my spirit is blest,
The world is in turmoil, in Him I have rest;
The sea of my life around me may roar,
When I look to Jesus, I hear it no more.”

When your world is falling apart, trust Jesus to hold it together (Source: Our Daily Bread, RBC Ministries).

Reflection 7 – Take courage!