Readings & Reflections: Saturday after Epiphany & Blessed William Carter, January 11,2020

“No one can receive anything except what has been given from heaven.” As we prepare for Christ’s baptism, we beg that the Bridegroom will increase in our life, for “we know that we belong to God.” It is that belonging that makes us want to put out of our life anything that smacks of idolatry. We must decrease, which is to say, we empty ourselves of our false self so as to open up a space ready to receive in Christ the lavish graces of heaven.

AMDG+

Opening Prayer

“Lord, help me to fix my eyes on your kingdom and to pray with eager longing and with joyful hope for the day when your people will be fully united with you in the heavenly marriage feast. May there be no nothing in my life which might hinder me from giving you may all, you who are my joy and life”. Amen.

Reading I
1 John 5:14-21
Beloved:
We have this confidence in him that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in regard to whatever we ask, we know that what we have asked him for is ours. If anyone sees his brother sinning, if the sin is not deadly, he should pray to God and he will give him life. This is only for those whose sin is not deadly. There is such a thing as deadly sin, about which I do not say that you should pray.
All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that is not deadly.

We know that anyone begotten by God does not sin; but the one begotten by God he protects, and the Evil One cannot touch him. We know that we belong to God, and the whole world is under the power of the Evil One.
We also know that the Son of God has come and has given us discernment to know the one who is true. And we are in the one who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. Children, be on your guard against idols.

The word of the Lord.

Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 149:1-2, 3-4, 5-6a and 9b
R (see 4a) The Lord takes delight in his people.
or:
R Alleluia.
Sing to the LORD a new song
of praise in the assembly of the faithful.
Let Israel be glad in their maker,
let the children of Zion rejoice in their king.
R The Lord takes delight in his people.
or:
R Alleluia.

Let them praise his name in the festive dance,
let them sing praise to him with timbrel and harp.
For the LORD loves his people,
and he adorns the lowly with victory.
R The Lord takes delight in his people.
or:
R Alleluia.
Let the faithful exult in glory;
let them sing for joy upon their couches;
Let the high praises of God be in their throats.
This is the glory of all his faithful. Alleluia.
R The Lord takes delight in his people.
or:
R Alleluia.

Alleluia Mt 4:16

Alleluia, alleluia.
The people who sit in darkness have seen a great light,
on those dwelling in a land overshadowed by death
light has arisen.
Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel
John 3:22-30

Jesus and his disciples went into the region of Judea, where he spent some time with them baptizing. John was also baptizing in Aenon near Salim,
because there was an abundance of water there, and people came to be baptized, for John had not yet been imprisoned. Now a dispute arose between the disciples of John and a Jew about ceremonial washings.
So they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, the one who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you testified, here he is baptizing and everyone is coming to him.” John answered and said, “No one can receive anything except what has been given from heaven. You yourselves can testify that I said that I am not the Christ, but that I was sent before him.
The one who has the bride is the bridegroom; the best man, who stands and listens for him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. So this joy of mine has been made complete. He must increase; I must decrease.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

Reflection 1 – God hears us

“We have this confidence in God: that he hears us whenever we ask for anything according to his will. And since we know that he hears us whenever we ask, we know that what we have asked him for is ours.” 1John 5:14-15

But what about our unmet needs?  When God seemingly may have forgotten our petitions, we at times wonder if God truly heard us. We ask our ourselves, if He understood the depth of our need.  We begin to doubt and ask if He will ever meet our every need.

God meets all our legitimate needs. Legitimate implies acceptable and aligned according to His standards.  This does not mean that He will satisfy every desire we have but only those that live up according to His will.  He will grant them at the best and most appropriate time, in His own perfect time and not ours.

Most often, when we have unmet needs, we tend to rely on our wisdom, strength and capabilities to meet our need.  This is the time when we ask God to step aside while we do our own little thing, which can only result in more pain, frustration and eventually separation from our Lord. Despite our arrogance and pride that we can achieve whatever we need based on our own efforts and apart from His plan, God remains faithful in His love for us.

The moment we turn our backs on Him, the moment we fail and experience pain, He carries us and comforts us. He takes the broken pieces of our lives-our shattered dreams and misguided desires, our hurts and disappointments, and in love He puts them together. From a mysterious puzzle, God converts them into one lifescape that soothes, rejuvenates and heals. They become a part of His wondrous work and transform our broken lives into a priceless masterpiece that draws people closer to Him.

God Who is always with us abides in every believer’s heart. As such, He knows every need and He will provide for each one if we entrust everything to Him. We can rest even amidst our countless needs if we are with God as our God Who is constant in His love never sleeps. He knows everything that transpires in our lives and what would be best for us. Nothing escapes the awareness of our Lord. He is personally involved in all our affairs that He wants us to learn to trust Him with our lives.

God has a plan for all of us and our responsibility is to allow Him to work in and through our circumstances so that He is glorified. Just like John the Baptist, we should be able to LET GO and LET GOD. We should be able to say: “That is my joy, and it is complete. He must increase, while I must decrease.”

Direction

Give God a chance in your life. He delivers!

Prayer

Heavenly Father, I pray that your will shall be mine forever. In Jesus, I pray. Amen.

Reflection 2 – This joy of mine is now full

Do you know the joy of the Lord? When some friends of John the Baptist complain that all the people are now going to Jesus, John in his characteristic humility exclaimed that he was not the Messiah but only the messenger sent to prepare his way. John describes the Messiah as the Bridegroom and himself as the friend of the Bridegroom. The image of the groom delighting in his bride and the joy of the wedding feast is used in the Bible as a sign or symbol of God’s covenant love and joy in being united with his people, whom he calls his bride. As the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you (Isaiah 62:5).

Through the gift of the Holy Spirit John recognized that Jesus was the anointed Messiah, sent from the Father in heaven to reunite his people to himself. John acted as the groom’s best man in arranging the marriage and in making preparations for the marriage feast. John and his disciples now rejoice that the Bridegroom has come to make his bride, the people of God, ready for the marriage feast. The New Testament tells us that Christ’s blood which was shed upon the cross as the atoning sacrifice for our sins, seals us in a new covenant between God and his people. The Book of Revelation depicts the final fulfillment and consummation of this new covenant relationship at the marriage feast of the “Lamb and his Bride”  in the New Jerusalem (see Revelations 21-22). Do you look with joyful anticipation to the consummation of God’s plan for his people at the end of the ages?

“Lord Jesus, may I never forget the love you have poured out for me when you shed your blood upon the Cross of Calvary for my sins and for my salvation. May your love always grow in me and your hope fill me with joy as I wait for your return in glory when all of your people will be fully united with you at your heavenly banquet feast in the New Jerusalem.” – Read the source: http://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/readings/2020/jan11.htm

Reflection 3 – I must decrease

The Incarnation. “I find here only self-abasement and humility. The angel humbles himself before a young girl; Mary assumes the quality of a servant; the Word become a slave, and Jesus Christ, conceived in the womb of his Mother, humbles himself before God in the most sincere and profound manner imaginable. Dear God, the beautiful sight for you to behold such excellent persons humble themselves in your eyes in so perfect a manner, and at a time when you honor them with the rarest favors! What a pleasure it was to consider the interior thoughts of these divine Persons, but above all the profound humiliation by which Jesus Christ began to glorify his Father and to repair all the wrong which the pride of men had committed against his majesty!

“I could not humiliate myself at this sight, for whereve I turned there I found Jesus Christ reduced to nothingness. Here indeed is something to humble my pride – the Son of God reduced to nothing before his Father! I never understood until this moment the word of Saint Bernard: “What insolence for a worm to swell with pride where the only Son of the Father humbles and abases himself!” (Source: St. Claude La Colombiere, +1682 A.D., Magnificat, Vol. 17, No. 11, January 2016, pp. 123-124).

Reflection 4 – Blessed William Carter (d. 1584 A.D.)

Born in London, William Carter entered the printing business at an early age. For many years he served as apprentice to well-known Catholic printers, one of whom served a prison sentence for persisting in the Catholic faith. William himself served time in prison following his arrest for “printing lewd [i.e., Catholic] pamphlets” as well as possessing books upholding Catholicism.

But even more, he offended public officials by publishing works that aimed to keep Catholics firm in their faith. Officials who searched his house found various vestments and suspect books, and even managed to extract information from William’s distraught wife. Over the next 18 months William remained in prison, suffering torture and learning of his wife’s death.

He was eventually charged with printing and publishing the Treatise of Schisme, which allegedly incited violence by Catholics and which was said to have been written by a traitor and addressed to traitors. While William calmly placed his trust in God, the jury met for only 15 minutes before reaching a verdict of “guilty.” William, who made his final confession to a priest who was being tried alongside him, was hanged, drawn and quartered the following day: January 11, 1584.

He was beatified in 1987.

Comment:

It didn’t pay to be Catholic in Elizabeth I’s realm. In an age when religious diversity did not yet seem possible, it was high treason, and practicing the faith was dangerous. William gave his life for his efforts to encourage his brothers and sisters to keep up the struggle. These days, our brothers and sisters also need encouragement—not because their lives are at risk, but because many other factors besiege their faith. They look to us.

Read the source:  http://www.americancatholic.org/features/saints/saint.aspx?id=1257

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