Readings & Reflections: Friday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time & St. Colette, February 7,2020

Readings & Reflections: Friday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time & St. Colette, February 7,2020

The “mighty powers” at work in Jesus lead King Herod to believe that he is John the Baptist “raised up.” Herod had “liked to listen” to John speak. If only Herod had realized that God is the one who says to us: “Ask of me whatever you wish and I will grant it to you.” Herod could have prayed for a converted heart and a new life free from his sordid and selfish past. We live with the confidence that Christ’s grace and mercy if possible for Sirach’s words about David to be said of us, too: “with his whole being he loved his Maker.”

AMDG+

Opening Prayer

“Heavenly Father, form in me the likeness of your Son and deepen His life within me that I may be like Him in word and deed. Help me to live the gospel faithfully and give me strength and courage so that I may not shrink back in the face of adversity and temptation.” In Jesus’ Mighty Name, I pray. Amen.

Reading 1
Sir 47:2-11

Like the choice fat of the sacred offerings,
so was David in Israel.
He made sport of lions as though they were kids,
and of bears, like lambs of the flock.
As a youth he slew the giant
and wiped out the people’s disgrace,
When his hand let fly the slingstone
that crushed the pride of Goliath.
Since he called upon the Most High God,
who gave strength to his right arm
To defeat the skilled warrior
and raise up the might of his people,
Therefore the women sang his praises,
and ascribed to him tens of thousands
and praised him when they blessed the Lord.
When he assumed the royal crown, he battled
and subdued the enemy on every side.
He destroyed the hostile Philistines
and shattered their power till our own day.
With his every deed he offered thanks
to God Most High, in words of praise.
With his whole being he loved his Maker
and daily had his praises sung;
He set singers before the altar and by their voices
he made sweet melodies,
He added beauty to the feasts
and solemnized the seasons of each year
So that when the Holy Name was praised,
before daybreak the sanctuary would resound.
The LORD forgave him his sins
and exalted his strength forever;
He conferred on him the rights of royalty
and established his throne in Israel.

The word of the Lord.

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 18: 31, 47, 50 and 51c
R. (see 47b) Blessed be God my salvation!

God’s way is unerring,
the promise of the LORD is fire-tried;
he is a shield to all who take refuge in him.
R. Blessed be God my salvation!
The LORD live! And blessed be my Rock!
Extolled be God my savior.
Therefore will I proclaim you, O LORD, among the nations,
and I will sing praise to your name.
R. Blessed be God my salvation!
You who gave great victories to your king
and showed kindness to your anointed,
to David and his posterity forever.
R. Blessed be God my salvation!

Gospel Mk 6:14-29

King Herod heard about Jesus, for his fame had become widespread,
and people were saying,
“John the Baptist has been raised from the dead;
That is why mighty powers are at work in him.”
Others were saying, “He is Elijah”;
still others, “He is a prophet like any of the prophets.”
But when Herod learned of it, he said,
“It is John whom I beheaded. He has been raised up.”
Herod was the one who had John arrested and bound in prison
on account of Herodias,
the wife of his brother Philip, whom he had married.
John had said to Herod,
“It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.”
Herodias harbored a grudge against him
and wanted to kill him but was unable to do so.
Herod feared John, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man,
and kept him in custody.
When he heard him speak he was very much perplexed,
yet he liked to listen to him.
Herodias had an opportunity one day when Herod, on his birthday,
gave a banquet for his courtiers, his military officers,
and the leading men of Galilee.
His own daughter came in and performed a dance
that delighted Herod and his guests.
The king said to the girl,
“Ask of me whatever you wish and I will grant it to you.”
He even swore many things to her,
“I will grant you whatever you ask of me,
even to half of my kingdom.”
She went out and said to her mother,
“What shall I ask for?”
Her mother replied, “The head of John the Baptist.”
The girl hurried back to the king’s presence and made her request,
“I want you to give me at once on a platter
the head of John the Baptist.”
The king was deeply distressed,
but because of his oaths and the guests
he did not wish to break his word to her.
So he promptly dispatched an executioner
with orders to bring back his head.
He went off and beheaded him in the prison.
He brought in the head on a platter
and gave it to the girl.
The girl in turn gave it to her mother.
When his disciples heard about it,
they came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.

The Gospel of the Lord.

Reflection 1 – Herod’s ambivalence to God’s Word

What can ambivalence to God’s Word bring you? In the case of Herod, it brought him deeper into sin. It did not only make him pursue his relationship with Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife but made him silence the voice that brought him God’s Word. It made him imprison John, the Baptist and eventually execute him even though he respected John as a holy man. Herod could not spare him from persecution even if he somehow liked to listen to what he has to say. He knew John spoke the truth but he was torn between his sinful ways and the good John brought him.

Herod’s ambivalence to God’s Word did not bring him any closer to God. It drew him farther away. The most it did for him was make him feel upset and guilty but not good enough for him to turn around and do God’s will. His ambivalence made him indifferent to what is obviously good. He became cold to what was morally acceptable.

Jesus came not to impose a set of rules but He brought us His Word to help us understand that there’s only one way of living that will fill all our hearts’ desires. Jesus came with His Word to give us back our future by getting us to look at our present lives. He is trying to open our erroneous lives, make us accept our mistakes and give us a way of addressing them according to the Father’s plan and will for everyone.

Most of us have made choices in life on the basis of our values or goals we no longer hold. Most of them were and are real mistakes in the light of what Jesus has brought into our hearts. Many of our choices cannot get us where we should be as they were not founded on God and His Word because we were like Herod quite ambivalent to God’s Word. We were neither here nor there. We somehow know what is right in the eyes of God but we cannot totally accept them. When we are ambivalent in our ways, we can easily fall into the enemy’s trap and forsake God.

So why do we continue to linger in our old sinful ways? Why do we follow Herod’s example? Afraid to admit we were wrong for so long? Afraid to change? Afraid to start over at this late date? Understandable reactions but rather useless.

Have we totally accepted Jesus and His Word? Or have we been ambivalent in our reaction towards God’s Word especially if it does not agree with our present lives? Are we like Herod who received God’s Word yet was not quite happy with it? Have we been ambivalent to God and everything He has sowed in our hearts?

Ambivalence to God’s Word keeps us mired in our mistakes. It can only keep us from using God’s gifts as thoroughly and happily as He has intended. Ambivalence to God and His ways is one sure path to sin and destruction. Instead let us free ourselves of the world and avoid the example set by Herod but be firmly rooted on the Word.

In Hebrews 13 it is said: “Let your life be free from love of money but be content with what you have, for he has said, I will never forsake you or abandon you. Thus we may say with confidence: The Lord is my helper, and I will not be afraid. What can anyone do to me? Remember your leaders who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”
Direction

Discard ambivalence to God’s Word. Take on faith and obedience.
Prayer

Heavenly Father, bless my heart with perfected faith so that I may
hear your Word and act on it. In Jesus, I pray. Amen.

Reflection 2 – Resisting the world’s temptations

Herod was caught up between the devil and the deep blue sea. While he was angered by John’s accusations, he felt strangely attracted to John’s words. It appears that John’s bold words were getting at Herod’s soul. The king was spellbound by this wild prophet. Yet, what ever seeds John planted quickly withered in the face of the pleasures of his wife, his rich surroundings and his hardness of heart. John didn’t have a chance once Herod realized the cost of accepting John’s warning.

All of us have been in the same pickle as Herod. We are attracted to God’s word. We change our lives for good. We embrace the ways of the kingdom. Then, out of the blue, a temptation lands in our path. Our culture makes living the gospel look foolish. We are tempted by material gain that is unethical. We encounter people who don’t believe in God. Just like Herod we turn our backs on God. Herod chooses the dark path. Perhaps we can resist that slippery slope.

It is time to realize that God’s words bring peace and life. We are to take them to heart and live them, no matter how difficult they might sound on the surface. Each time we gather for Mass, the Scriptures speak to our hearts. Let us learn from Herod’s mistake and choose to walk in the word of God. (Source: Jeanne Hunt. Weekday Homily Helps. Ohio: St. Anthony Messenger Press, February 5, 2010).

Reflection 3 –Herod’s guilty conscience

Do you ever feel haunted by a past failure or a guilty conscience? The Lord Jesus came to set us free from the oppression of sin and guilt. King Herod, the most powerful and wealthy man in Judea, had everything he wanted, except a clear conscience and peace with God. Herod had respected and feared John the Baptist as a great prophet and servant of God. John, however did not fear to rebuke Herod for his adulterous relationship with his brother’s wife, Herodias. John ended up in prison because of Herodias’ hatred and jealousy. Herod, out of impulse and a desire to please his family and friends, had John beheaded. Now Herod’s conscience is pricked when he hears that some think that the Baptist has risen.

When Herod heard the fame of Jesus he supposed that John the Baptist, whom he had beheaded, had returned from the dead. Unfortunately for Herod, he could not rid himself of sin by ridding himself of the man who confronted him with his sin. Herod was a weak man. He could take a strong stand on the wrong things when he knew the right. Such a stand, however, was a sign of weakness and cowardice. The Lord gives grace to the humble, to those who acknowledge their sins and who seek God’s mercy and pardon. His grace and pardon not only frees us from a guilty conscience, it enables us to pursue holiness in thought and action as well. God’s grace enables us to fight fear with faith and to overcome the temptation to compromise goodness and truth with wrongdoing and falsehood.

John Chrysostom describes John’s death as a crown:

In what way, then, was this just man harmed by this demise, this violent death, these chains, this imprisonment? Who are those he did not set back on their feet – provided they had a penitent disposition – because of what he spoke, because of what he suffered, because of what he still proclaims in our own day – the same message he preached while he was living. Therefore, do not say: “Why was John allowed to die?” For what occurred was not a death, but a crown, not an end, but the beginning of a greater life. Learn to think and live like a Christian. You will not only remain unharmed by these events, but will reap the greatest benefits.(ON THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD 22.10)

Do you rely on God’s grace and help to choose his way of holiness and to reject whatever would compromise your faith and loyalty to Jesus Christ?

“Heavenly Father, form in me the likeness of your Son that I may imitate him in word and deed. Help me to live the Gospel faithfully and give me the strength and courage I need to not shrink back in the face of adversity and temptation.” – Read the source: http://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/readings/2020/feb7.htm

Reflection 4 – It takes faith to love despite our ears

What causes us to be afraid? Basically, the root of every fear is the assumption that we are not loved, not really-really loved. We’re afraid of being open and honest with others because they might take advantage of it to hurt us. We’re afraid our prayers won’t be answered because God doesn’t care. And we’re afraid we’re not worthy of being loved, because deep down we’re afraid to love ourselves.

Hebrew (13:1-8) describes the various ways that we act in love, and then it points out that by relying on the help of God who is love, we have nothing to fear. Elsewhere in scripture, we’re told that “there is no fear in love, because perfect love drives out fear….” (1 John 4:18).

Overcoming fear takes faith. It takes faith to “let brotherly love continue” when the brother is irritating us and we’re afraid of getting hurt again. It takes faith to “not neglect hospitality” when we’re tired of unpleasant people and we’re afraid of what our kindnesses might lead to.

It takes faith to “be mindful of prisoners as if sharing their imprisonment” when we know they violated the law and we wouldn’t want to bump into them in a dark alley. It takes faith to not fear being overwhelmed by the neediness of the abused and others who’ve been ill-treated.

It takes faith to persevere in a marriage when stresses in the relationship make us afraid of the spouse’s rejection or misunderstanding or betrayal or emotional outbursts. It takes faith to keep the marriage bed undefiled instead of turning to a substitute for the spouse when we feel neglected.

It takes faith to stay free of the love of money and be content with what we already have when we’re afraid it’s not going to be enough. It takes faith to use our money and possessions for the benefit of others when we’re afraid it will be misused.

When we do everything “in love”, we do it in Jesus Christ, who is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He will not abandon us in our needs. The risks we take for the sake of love keep us safely in God’s protective care and helpfulness. Our loving deeds won’t always produce the results that we’d like to see, and we surely will get hurt when we courageously love everyone unconditionally, but this is not what matters — not really.

What matters is that God works everything out for good. If what we’re afraid might happen does indeed happen, he will turn it into a blessing. That is the generosity of his love for us!

That’s good to remember with Lent almost here: the season of sacrifice and almsgiving. – Read the source: http://gnm.org/good-news-reflections/?useDrDate=2019-02-08

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Reflection 5 – St. Colette (1381-1447 A.D.)

Colette did not seek the limelight, but in doing God’s will she certainly attracted a lot of attention.

Colette was born in Corbie, France. At 21 she began to follow the Third Order Rule and became an anchoress, a woman walled into a room whose only opening was a window into a church.

After four years of prayer and penance in this cell, she left it. With the approval and encouragement of the pope, she joined the Poor Clares and reintroduced the primitive Rule of St. Clare in the 17 monasteries she established. Her sisters were known for their poverty—they rejected any fixed income—and for their perpetual fast. Colette’s reform movement spread to other countries and is still thriving today. Colette was canonized in 1807.

Comment:

Colette began her reform during the time of the Great Western Schism (1378-1417) when three men claimed to be pope and thus divided Western Christianity. The 15th century in general was a very difficult one for the Western Church. Abuses long neglected cost the Church dearly in the following century; the prayers of Colette and her followers may have lessened the Church’s troubles in the 16th century. In any case, Colette’s reform indicated the entire Church’s need to follow Christ more closely.

Quote:

In her spiritual testament, Colette told her sisters: “We must faithfully keep what we have promised. If through human weakness we fail, we must always without delay arise again by means of holy penance, and give our attention to leading a good life and to dying a holy death. May the Father of all mercy, the Son by his holy passion, and the Holy Spirit, source of peace, sweetness and love, fill us with their consolation. Amen.”

Read the source: http://www.americancatholic.org/features/saints/saint.aspx?id=1284

SAINT OF THE DAY
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colette_of_Corbie

SAINT COLETTE OF CORBIE, P.C.C.

ABBESS AND FOUNDRESS
BORN	Nicole Boellet 13 January 1381 Corbie, County of Amiens,Duchy of Burgundy
DIED	6 March 1447 (aged 66) Ghent, County of Flanders, Duchy of Burgundy
VENERATED IN	Roman Catholicism (Franciscan Order, especially the Colettine Poor Clares)
BEATIFIED	23 January 1740 by Pope Clement XII
CANONIZED	24 May 1807 by Pope Pius VII
MAJOR SHRINE	Monastery of Bethlehem, Ghent, Belgium
FEAST	7 February
PATRONAGE	Women seeking to conceive, expectant mothers and sick children

Colette of Corbie, P.C.C., (13 January 1381 – 6 March 1447) was a French abbess and the foundress of the Colettine Poor Clares, a reform branch of the Order of Saint Clare, better known as the Poor Clares. She is honored as a saint in the Catholic Church. Due to a number of miraculous events claimed during her life, she is venerated as the patron saintof women seeking to conceive, expectant mothers and sick children.

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Life[edit]

Early life[edit]

She was born Nicole Boellet (or Boylet) in the village of Corbie, in the Picardy region of France, on 13 January 1381, to Robert Boellet, a poor carpenter at the noted Benedictine Abbey of Corbie, and to his wife, Marguerite Moyon. Her contemporary biographers say that her parents had grown old without having children, before praying to Saint Nicholasfor help in having a child. Their prayers were answered when, at the age of 60, Marguerite gave birth to a daughter. Out of gratitude, they named the baby after the saint to whom they credited the miracle of her birth.^[1] She was affectionately called Nicolette by her parents, which soon came to be shorted to Colette, by which name she is known.

After her parents died in 1399, Colette joined the Beguines but found their manner of life unchallenging. She received the habit of the Third Order of St. Francis in 1402,^[2] and became a hermit under the direction of the Abbot of Corbie, living near the abbey church. After four years of following this ascetic way of life (1402–1406), through several dreams and visions she came to believe that she was being called to reform the Franciscan Second Order, and to return it to its original Franciscan ideals of absolute poverty and austerity.

Foundress[edit]

In October 1406, she turned to the Antipope Benedict XIII of Avignon who was recognized in France as the rightful pope. Benedict received her in Nice, in southern France, and allowed her to transfer to the Order of Poor Clares. Additionally, he empowered her through several papal bulls, issued between 1406 and 1412, to found new monasteries and to complete the reform of the Order.^[2]

With the approval of the Countess of Geneva and the aid of the Franciscan itinerant preacher, Henry de Beaume (her confessor and spiritual director), Colette began her work at Beaune, in the Diocese of Geneva. She remained there only a short time. In 1410, she opened her first monastery at Besançon, in an almost-abandoned house of Urbanist Poor Clares. From there, her reform spread to Auxonne (1412), to Poligny (1415), to Ghent (1412), to Heidelberg(1444), to Amiens, to Pont-à-Mousson in Lorraine and to other communities of Poor Clares. During her lifetime 18 monasteries of her reform were founded. For the monasteries which followed her reform, she prescribed extreme poverty, going barefoot, and the observance of perpetual fasting and abstinence.^[3]

In addition to the strict rules of the Poor Clares, the Colettines follow their special Constitutions, approved in 1434 by the Minister General of the friars, William of Casale, and approved in 1448 by Pope Nicholas V, again in 1458 by Pope Pius II, and in 1482 by Pope Sixtus IV.

Colette died at Ghent in March 1447.

Veneration[edit]

Colette was beatified 23 January 1740, by Pope Clement XII and was canonized 24 May 1807 by Pope Pius VII.^[4] She is invoked by childless couples desiring to become parents, and is also the patroness of expectant mothers, and sick infants.^[5]

Legacy[edit]

Colettine nuns[edit]

Currently (2011) outside France the Colettine nuns are found in Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Norway, the Philippines, Spain and throughout the United Kingdom and the United States.^[6]

Colettine friars[edit]

Together with friar Henry of Beaume, Colette also inaugurated a reform among the Franciscan friars (who were known as the Coletans), not to be confounded with the Observants. These friars formed a unique branch of the Order of Friars Minor under Henry’s authority, but remained obedient to the authority of the Minister Provincial of the Observant Franciscan friars in France, and never attained much importance, even there. In 1448 they had only thirteen friaries, all attached to monasteries of the Colettine nuns. Together with other small branches of the Friars Minor, they were merged into the wider Observant branch in 1517 by Pope Leo X.

Miracles[edit]

Helping a mother in childbirth[edit]

While traveling to Nice to meet Pope Benedict, Colette stayed at the home of a friend. His wife was in labor at that time with their third child, and was having major difficulties in the childbirth, leaving her in danger of death. Colette immediately went to the local church to pray for her.

The mother gave birth successfully, and survived the ordeal. She credited Colette’s prayers for this. The child born, a girl named Pierinne, later entered a monastery founded by Colette. She would become Colette’s secretary and biographer.

Saving a sick child[edit]

After the pope had authorized Colette to establish a regimen of strict poverty in the Poor Clare monasteries of France, she started with that of Besançon. The local populace was suspicious of her reform, with its total reliance on them for the sustenance of the monastery. One incident helped turn this around.

According to legend, a local peasant woman gave birth to a stillbornchild. In desperation, out of fear for the child’s soul, the father took the baby to the local parish priest for baptism. Seeing that the child was already dead, the priest refused to baptize the body. When the man became insistent, out of frustration, the priest told him to go to the nuns, which he did immediately. When he arrived at the monastery, Mother Colette was made aware of his situation by the portress. Her response was to take off the veil given to her by the Pope, when he gave her the habit of the Second Order, and told the portress to have the father wrap the child’s body in it and for him to return to the priest. By the time he arrived at the parish church with his small bundle, the child was conscious and crying. The priest immediately baptized the baby.^[7]