Readings & Reflections: Monday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time & St. Scholastica, February 10,2020

What we know of the life of Scholastica is drawn from The Dialogues, Gregory the Great’s biography of her brother, Saint Benedict, the founder of Western monasticism. Born of a noble Roman family in Nursia of Umbria, Scholastica was dedicated to God at a young age. She led a community of virgins at Plombariola, not from Monte Cassino, the monastery Benedict had founded. She visited her brother once a year, meeting for prayer and conversation, just outside the monastery walls. It was shortly after one of these meetings, in the year 542 A.D., that Benedict, looking out from the monastery, saw his sister’s soul ascend to heaven like a dove.

AMDG+

Opening Prayer

“Lord Jesus, let my heart sing for joy in your presence.  Give me eyes of faith to recognize your presence and fill me with your Holy Spirit that I may walk in your way of love and peace.” In your Name, I pray. Amen.

Reading 1
1 Kings 8:1-7, 9-13

The word of the Lord.

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 132: 6-7, 8-10

R. (8a) Lord, go up to the place of your rest!
Behold, we heard of it in Ephrathah;
we found it in the fields of Jaar.
Let us enter into his dwelling,
let us worship at his footstool.
R. Lord, go up to the place of your rest!
Advance, O LORD, to your resting place,
you and the ark of your majesty.
May your priests be clothed with justice;
let your faithful ones shout merrily for joy.
For the sake of David your servant,
reject not the plea of your anointed.
R. Lord, go up to the place of your rest!

Gospel
Mark 6:53-56

After making the crossing to the other side of the sea, Jesus and his disciples came to land at Gennesaret and tied up there. As they were leaving the boat, people immediately recognized him. They scurried about the surrounding country and began to bring in the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. Whatever villages or towns or countryside he entered, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and begged him that they might touch only the tassel on his cloak; and as many as touched it were healed.

The Gospel of the Lord.

Reflection 1 – Jesus healed their infirmities

“Whatever villages or towns or countryside he entered, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and begged him that they might touch only the tassel on his cloak; and as many as touched it were healed.”  {“All who touched him got well.”}

Reading the Holy Scripture brings into my heart the teachings of Jesus and
whatever He preached to the people of His time.  My intellect is put into good use and with the Spirit’s help I am able to receive the wisdom of His words. I believe in faith and follow Him.

Meditating on the way Jesus healed countless peoples and by the power He did them just brings into my mind and heart that Jesus could be nobody else but the Son of God Who has been anointed to do all things for the Father.

Today, countless peoples have that faith in their hearts about Jesus. The parents of disabled and mentally retarded children, the cancer patients, the emotionally disturbed, the oppressed and the poor who cannot seem to make life work for their favor, the bread winner who cannot seem to make ends met, are but quite a few of those who day after day bring their concerns to our God.

When I am confronted by people who obviously need the power of God in their lives, I at times could not bear to watch as my heart breaks for them. Often times, I ask myself and I ask God, why them Lord? Why can’t You do something for them, dear God

Although my heart prays and hopes with them, my imperfect faith
shakes me tells me to do other things within my own power. But amidst my unbelief, I see the faith of people and those close to them as they incessantly and patiently pray to God and lift their cares for healing and His blessings to be poured upon them.

This is the state of heart that has power…faith that can move mountains and make things happen in the Name of our Lord. In faith, they utter their prayers and hope that one day His blessings will be upon them and their relations. One may not see any physical change or improvement in their pitiful condition but one can just imagine how their faith in our God has worked miracles within their very own lives and how inner healing has transpired deep within their hearts and made them whole.

Today as we bring our lives to God and pray that His healing mercies may be upon all of us and upon our lands, let us always remember that we have a good and gracious God who heals the broken hearted. We have a God Who never fails us and Who is constant in His love for us. Whether we are gifted with total and complete physical healing within our own particular lives or not, let us continue to place our lives at His disposal and seek His mercies which are always new every morning. Let us pray that our faith may be perfected so that we may always recognize Him in both good and bad times.

We may never realize that God is around us and can be found in the most ordinary and simplest circumstances of life. We may fail to see Him in those situations especially if what is on hand do not necessarily come up to what we want or what we were hoping life would be. Even if we come face to face with Him, we do not see him. Not because we do not want to see Him, be touched and changed by Him but because we are weary and distracted. Because we are spiritually blinded by our worldliness and our sinfulness that we simply go wandering in our search not knowing that we have missed God and His grace.

As we journey back to our true home with the Father, let us keep in our hearts that we have a God Who is beyond what our human hearts and minds can comprehend.  He is a God Who is so good and Who gives life and is hidden in the surface of the most ordinary things. He constantly builds new bridges to connect us with Himself and His people.

Today, let us not go far in our search for God and His healing grace.  Instead let us look deep into our hearts as He has been there waiting for us. We have to open our inner gates in order for us to realize and recognize that He has been patiently waiting for us, has been faithfully filling us with His strength and His blessings, and has brought us out of our enslavement to sin. God has warmed us with his love and Who in time will perfect us and accordingly transform us back to His likeness and goodness.

In the silence of our hearts God is right now speaking to us ever so quietly. Let us listen to Him. But we will only be able to recognize Him only if we open our hearts to Him.
Direction

In faith, let us surrender everything to our God. From our most difficult life situation to the most minor concern, lay them at the foot of the Cross of Jesus and let Him address them according to His will. Faith in itself will create miracles within us.

Prayer

Lord, give me the faith to believe in Your power. Make my faith firm and fixed as the earth is upon its foundation, not to be moved forever. In Jesus I pray that my faith be perfected. Amen.

Reflection 2 – Many were made well

Do you recognize the Lord’s presence in your life? The Gospel records that when Jesus disembarked from the boat the people immediately recognized him. What did they recognize in Jesus? A prophet, a healer, the Messiah, the Son of God? For sure they recognized that Jesus had power from God to heal and to make whole bodies, limbs, minds, and hearts that were beset with disease, affliction, and sin. What happened when they pressed upon him and touched the fringe of his garment? They were made well. The Lord Jesus is ever ready to meet our needs as well. Do you approach him with expectant faith?

Do you recognize the Lord’s presence with you and the power of his word for your life?
Faith is an entirely free gift which God makes to us through the power of the Holy Spirit. Believing and trusting in God to act in our lives is only possible by the grace and help of the Holy Spirit who moves the heart and converts it to God. The Holy Spirit opens the eyes of the mind and helps us to understand, accept, and believe God’s word. How do we grow in faith? By listening to God’s word with trust and submission. Faith also grows through testing and perseverance. The Lord wants to teach us how to pray in faith for his will for our lives and for the things he wishes to give us to enable us to follow him faithfully and serve him generously.

Do you seek the Lord Jesus and put his kingdom first?
Jesus gave his disciples the perfect prayer which acknowledges God as our Father who provides generously for his children. The Lord’s prayer teaches us to seek first the kingdom of God and to pray that God’s will be accomplished in our lives. The Lord in turn, gives us what we need to live each day for his glory. The Lord is never too distant nor too busy to meet us and to give his blessing. Do you pray to the Father with confidence that he will show you his will and give you what you need to follow him? Ask the Lord to increase your faith and gratitude for his merciful love and provision for your life.

“Lord Jesus, let my heart sing for joy in your presence. Give me eyes of faith to recognize your presence and fill me with your Holy Spirit that I may walk in your way of love and peace.” – Read the source: http://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/readings/2020/feb10.htm

Reflection 3 – The source of life

Tradition has it that in the late 1500s and early 1600s, the Spanish explorer Ponce de Leon was seeking the Fountain of Youth and discovered Florida instead. The Fountain of Youth has captured the imagination of many for centuries. A source of water that keeps people from growing old would be a valuable possession for anyone. And although Florida has turned out to be a refuge for many who seek to live out their golden years in warmth and peace, it does not provide the eternal youth sought by early explorers.

Christians may not have located that Fountain of Youth, but we have something even better; the Source of all Life. Today’s first reading describes all life springing from God, the Creator who was before all things came into being. Nothing exists except from the hand of God, and God, in mercy, saw that everything created was good.

Followers of Jesus found that the same source of life flowed through him. They flocked to Jesus for healing; wherever he went, people followed him and brought their sick to be cured. The Gospel depicts people simply touching his cloak and having their health restored, so great was the power of that source of life and the mercy which allowed the people to partake of it.

Today’s readings remind us that God is the source of life for us as well. When we are in need of healing, when we are in pain or feel lifeless, we, too, can find new life in God, through Christ. We cannot touch the cloak of Jesus, but as participants in his church, his Body, we are constantly nourished by the life that flows through him. For our part, we must allow that life to continue to flow, feeding and healing all those we meet. (Source: Cecilia A. Felix, Weekday Homily Helps. Ohio: St. Anthony Messenger Press, February 9, 2009).

Reflection 4 – Why did Jesus heal the sick?

Here’s a story. Once upon a time there lived a mean old woman. Throughout her whole life she had never done a single good deed. When she died the devil came, picked her up and threw her into the fiery sea. Her guardian angel stood by in sadness. As his last resort he went to God saying, “I will be never happy again in all eternity because I lost the woman you entrusted to me. Is there other way that could still be done to save her?” The Lord replied, “If you find a single deed – no matter how insignificant – that woman has done during her life, I will save her.” The guardian angel searched all the books of her life and all he could find was that a long time ago she had pulled a green onion out of her vegetable patch and had thrown it at a poor beggar woman just to get rid of her. The angel returned to God and told him what he had found. God replied, “Though it is no much, take that very same onion and hold it out to her in the fiery sea so that she can grasp it and you may pull her out.”

The angel went on his way and held out the onion to her crying, “Come, catch hold and I will pull you out.” The woman followed the angel’s instruction and the angel began pulling her out of the fire. Just as she was being lifted above the flames, the other inhabitants of hell, seeing her escape, began grabbing hold of her so that they too would be released. When the old woman realized what was happening and in keeping with her wicked ways, she started kicking them and shouted, “I am to be pulled out, not you! It’s my onion, not yours!” The moment she said this, the onion split in two and the old woman fell back into the fiery sea. The angel went away and wept.

God’s plan for the world is perceived not in terms of total destruction but in terms of transformation aiming at the salvation of all. This is the purpose of Jesus’ healing of the sick and that all be in heaven.

The new heaven and new earth are understood as being this world transformed, renewed, cleansed and made new. It is this old, sin-permeated, corrupt world, a world in which there is so much hatred, egoism, oppression, despair and suffering, that will be the object of transformation. It will become something totally new. Our world is the arena where God’s ultimate plan for creation unfolds.

Being saved does not mean being taken out of this world and transferred to another place. Being saved means remaining part of the whole creation that has been transformed into the new Heaven and the new Earth. I will be saved because creation as a whole will be saved. My salvation is imbedded in the salvation of all human beings. As St. Paul said, “God wants all people to be saved” (1 Tim 2:4).

Reflection 5 – You are a tassel on the cloak of Jesus

Our goal as Christians should be to unite ourselves so closely to Christ that people who touch our lives are healed by him, because we are cloaked with his holiness. We wear his garment of love.

I’m not talking about giving others a touch of Jesus. No, this is about being touched by others. Today’s Gospel reading says that all who touched Jesus were healed.

Are there people where you live or work or worship who are trying to touch the Jesus in you? Are you letting them? Or is there something in you that blocks their approach? Do you seem closed off in your own world of concerns? Are they afraid that you’ll get annoyed? Do you intimidate them or make them feel inferior? Are you distracted by your own agenda? Do you tend to push people away because you’re afraid of getting hurt?

(Sometimes we have to set boundaries against being touched in the wrong way. If another’s touch on your life is destructive, that person is not going to get well through you no matter how much Jesus shines in you. God is going to make himself available through someone else, not you.)

When people encounter us they should also encounter Jesus and his love, his smile, his joy, his peace, his healing, and all the good news of the Gospel truth. If we are truly Christian, when people touch our lives, they touch the tassel of the cloak that Jesus wears.

You never know how it’s going to happen. Be ready! One day in the church parking lot, as my husband and I got out of the car, a stranger ran over to us and said, “Give me a hug!” So we did. We both gave her a big, warm embrace and I said, “Jesus loves you.” She replied, “I know! I was in an accident on the way home from church last Sunday. A truck plowed into me. It could have been terrible, but I’m fine!”

Then she added, “I was in your class when you gave that Bible Conference a few years ago.” Apparently, we had touched her back then with the love of Jesus, and now in appreciation for the protection God had given her, she wanted to touch the presence of Jesus in us again. Praise God we hadn’t rushed into church when she came at us!

You are a tassel on the cloak of Jesus, too. Don’t be afraid of the hands that come at you. Be in awe; praise God. People who see that you love Jesus instinctively realize that when they touch you, they touch him — even those who seemingly want nothing to do with Christ and his Church. – Read the source: https://gnm.org/good-news-reflections/?useDrDate=2020-02-10

Reflection 6 – Adoring the precious gifts of God’s creations

One of my patron saints is Francis of Assisi. He reminds me of what today’s first reading and responsorial Psalm teach us: All creation is sacred. God made everything and declared it “good.”

We don’t worship creation, but by appreciating it and protecting it we worship the Creator. This is why St. Francis could genuflect before every person he met, even very un-Christian folks. He bowed to honor the creation God had made, no matter how unlike God the person behaved, and in doing so, he worshipped the Lord in every person.

Imagine what would happen if all of us starting doing this today and it became a new Christian fad! Respect for one another would increase dramatically. Eventually it would spread to produce a culture of respect even for the unborn and the elderly and the handicapped who seem to have no value in this world.

All of creation is a reflection of God and an opportunity to worship him. Why waste time in front of the artificial world of the television screen when we can be delightfully entertained in our back yards watching the shows that God produces? They’re all commercial-free!

For example, after a rain or in the early morning mist, go find the dew drops. Simple, little dew drops are far more enjoyable than early morning TV gossip shows. When the sun touches these tiny globes of water, they sparkle like shiny diamonds, and when God touches them with a gentle breeze, they glitter with bursts of rainbow colors. Each one is a precious gift from the Creator. God placed those dew drops there for our benefit! Sadly, we miss a lot of his shows. So many dew drops never get appreciated.

Well, that’s not true. God sees every dew drop in the entire world, and he thoroughly enjoys watching them. He started entertaining himself with dew drops long before he created people who could appreciate them.

If he gets this delighted over simple dew drops, imagine how wonderfully happy he feels about you! You are far more delightful to him than mere bits of water. He smiles over every nice gesture, every kind deed, every helpful outreach, every use of your gifts and talents, even the tiniest ones. And when you do something that displeases him, he’s still thrilled by everything that’s good about you.

As reflections of God, let’s follow his example. Even if we don’t genuflect when we meet his creations, we can silently (or not so silently) say, “Wow Lord!” in every encounter with people, with dew drops, and with all the gifts of creation through which he likes to delight us. – Read the source: http://gnm.org/good-news-reflections/?useDrDate=2019-02-11

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Reflection 7 – St. Scholastica (480-542? A.D.)

Twins often share the same interests and ideas with an equal intensity. Therefore, it is no surprise that Scholastica and her twin brother, Benedict (July 11), established religious communities within a few miles from each other.

Born in 480 of wealthy parents, Scholastica and Benedict were brought up together until he left central Italy for Rome to continue his studies.

Little is known of Scholastica’s early life. She founded a religious community for women near Monte Cassino at Plombariola, five miles from where her brother governed a monastery.

The twins visited each other once a year in a farmhouse because Scholastica was not permitted inside the monastery. They spent these times discussing spiritual matters.

According to the Dialogues of St. Gregory the Great, the brother and sister spent their last day together in prayer and conversation. Scholastica sensed her death was close at hand and she begged Benedict to stay with her until the next day.

He refused her request because he did not want to spend a night outside the monastery, thus breaking his own Rule. Scholastica asked God to let her brother remain and a severe thunderstorm broke out, preventing Benedict and his monks from returning to the abbey.

Benedict cried out, “God forgive you, Sister. What have you done?” Scholastica replied, “I asked a favor of you and you refused. I asked it of God and he granted it.”

Brother and sister parted the next morning after their long discussion. Three days later, Benedict was praying in his monastery and saw the soul of his sister rising heavenward in the form of a white dove. Benedict then announced the death of his sister to the monks and later buried her in the tomb he had prepared for himself.

Comment:

Scholastica and Benedict gave themselves totally to God and gave top priority to deepening their friendship with him through prayer. They sacrificed some of the opportunities they would have had to be together as brother and sister in order better to fulfill their vocation to the religious life. In coming closer to Christ, however, they found they were also closer to each other. In joining a religious community, they did not forget or forsake their family but rather found more brothers and sisters.

Quote:

“All religious are under an obligation, in accordance with the particular vocation of each, to work zealously and diligently for the building up and growth of the whole mystical body of Christ and for the good of the particular churches. It is their duty to foster these objectives primarily by means of prayer, works of penance, and by the example of their own lives” (Vatican II, Decree on the Pastoral Office of Bishops, 33, Austin Flannery translation).

Patron Saint of: Nuns

Read the source: http://www.americancatholic.org/features/saints/saint.aspx?id=1287

SAINT OF THE DAY
Catholic saints are holy people and human people who lived extraordinary lives. Each saint the Church honors responded to God’s invitation to use his or her unique gifts. God calls each one of us to be a saint. Click here to receive Saint of the Day in your email.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scholastica

This article is about the Catholic saint. For other uses, see Scholastica (disambiguation).

SAINT SCHOLASTICA
Saint Scholastica, from the San Luca Altarpiece.
VIRGIN
BORN	c. 480 AD Nursia, Umbria, Italy
DIED	10 February 543 near Monte Cassino
VENERATED IN	Roman Catholic Church Eastern Orthodox Church
CANONIZED	Pre-Congregation
FEAST	10 February
ATTRIBUTES	nun with crozier and crucifix; nun with dove flying from her mouth[1]
PATRONAGE	convulsive children; nuns; invoked against storms and rain;Le Mans

Scholastica (c. 480 – 10 February 542) is a saint of the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Churches. Born in Italy, according to a ninth century tradition, she was the twin sister of Benedict of Nursia.^[2][3] Her feast day is 10 February.

Contents

 [hide] 

• 1Life
• 2Legacy
• 3See also
• 4References
• 5External links

Life[edit]

Scholastica was born in 480 in Nursia, Umbria, of wealthy parents and according to Gregory the Great‘s Dialogues, was dedicated to God from a young age. She and her brother Benedict were brought up together until the time he left to pursue studies in Rome.

A young Roman woman of Scholastica’s class and time would likely have remained in her father’s house until marriage (likely arranged) or entry into religious life. But wealthy women could inherit property, divorce, and were generally literate. On occasion several young women would live together in a household and form a religious community.^[3]

Benedictine tradition holds that Scholastica lived in a convent at Plumbariola about five miles from Monte Cassino and that this was the first “Benedictine” convent.^[4] However, it has been suggested that it is more likely that she lived in a hermitage with one or two other religious women in a cluster of houses at the base of Mount Cassino where there is an ancient church named after her. Ruth Clifford Engs notes that since Dialogues indicates that Scholastica was dedicated to God at an early age, perhaps she lived in her father’s house with other religious women until his death and then moved nearer to Benedict.^[3]

The most commonly told story about her is that she would, once a year, go and visit her brother at a place near his abbey, and they would spend the day worshiping together and discussing sacred texts and issues.^[5]

One day they had supper and continued their conversation. When Benedict indicated it was time for him to leave, perhaps sensing the time of her death was drawing near, she asked him to stay with her for the evening so they could continue their discussions. Not wishing to break his own Rule, Benedict refused, insisting that he needed to return to his cell. At that point, Scholastica closed her hands in prayer, and after a moment, a wild storm started outside of the guest house in which they were housed. Benedict asked, “What have you done?”, to which she replied, “I asked you and you would not listen; so I asked my God and he did listen. So now go off, if you can, leave me and return to your monastery.” Benedict was unable to return to his monastery, and they spent the night in discussion.^[2]

According to Gregory’s Dialogues, three days later, from his cell, he saw his sister’s soul leaving the earth and ascending to heaven in the form of a shining white dove.^[6] Benedict had her body brought to his monastery, where he caused it to be laid in the tomb which he had prepared for himself.^[7]

Legacy[edit]

Scholastica is the foundress of the women’s branch of Benedictine Monasticism.

She was selected as the main motif for a high value commemorative coin: the Austria €50 ‘The Christian Religious Orders’, issued 13 March 2002. On the obverse (heads) side of the coin Scholastica is depicted alongside Benedict.

Scholastica is the patron saint of nuns, and convulsive children, and is invoked against storms and rain. Her memorial is 10 February. She is the Patron Saint of Nuns. She sacrificed many opportunities for her and her brother, just so they could get closer to God.

See also[edit]

Saints portal

• List of Catholic saints
• Benedictines
• St Scholastica Day riot

References[edit]

1. Jump up^ “Patron Saints Index: Saint Scholastica”. Saints.sqpn.com. Retrieved 2012-05-20.
2. ^ Jump up to:^a b Foley O.F.M., Leonard, rev. McCloskey O.F.M., Pat “Saint Scholastica”, Saint of the Day, American Catholic
3. ^ Jump up to:^a b c “Engs, Ruth Clifford. “St. Scholastica: Finding Meaning in her Story”, St. Meinrad, In: Abbey Press, 2003
4. Jump up^ “Saint Scholastica”, Order of Saint Benedict
5. Jump up^ Gregory the Great. Dialogues, Book II, Chapter 33