Readings & Reflections: Thursday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time & St. Agnes, January 21,2016
Agnes was a virgin martyred during the Diocletian persecution around the year 304 A.D. She has been hailed throughout Church history as one of the holy virgin martyrs who gave up their lives out of love for Christ, the Bridegroom. In Greek, her name means “pure, chaste.” In Latin, Agnes suggests agnus, meaning “lamb.” Since the 6th century, artists have depicted Agnes with a lamb in her arms, evoking her humility, purity, and innocence. On the feast of Saint Agnes, two lambs are presented in Rome. From their wool are woven the palliums sent to newly consecrated archbishops “from the body of Blessed Peter,” a sign of their communion with the Pope.read more
Readings & Reflections: Wednesday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time & St. Sebastian, January 20,2016
Probably a native of Milan, Sebastian was martyred around the year 300 A.D. during the Diocletian persecutions. Renaissance painters portraying Sebastian focused on the story that he was found out to be a Christian and shot with arrows repeatedly by his fellow soldiers. He is said to have survived this torture, nursed back to health by Saint Irene. When he confronted Diocletian, clubbing killed him. Because Sebastian’s many wounds evoked the physiognomy of plague victims, he was invoked against that scourge. Later, he was called upon as a patron saint of physicians.read more
Readings & Reflections: Tuesday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time & St. Fabian, January 19,2016
Samuel sat at table looking for the Lord’s anointed. The Lord said to him, “Not as man sees does God see, because he sees the appearance but the Lord looks into the heart.” Jesus wants the Pharisees to see the Sabbath the way that God sees. We learn to see God’s way at the table of the Last Supper.
AMDG+
Opening Prayer
Heavenly Father, Make me a flexibleinstrument through which your grace will flow. Let me be open to your call to discipleship and be a committed and dedicated follower of your Son, our Lord Jesus. In Him, we pray, we move and have our being. Amen.read more
Readings & Reflections: Monday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time & St. Charles of Sezze, January 18,2016
Our actions should correspond to the reality in front of us: an old cloak cannot take a new patch or old wineskins new wine. The presence of the Bridegroom in our midst calls for a feast. The Lord delights in obedience reckoned by going “the right way I will show.”
AMDG+
Opening Prayer
“Lord, fill me with your Holy Spirit, that I may grow in the knowledge of your great love and truth. Help me to seek you earnestly in prayer and fasting that I may turn away from sin and willfulness and conform my life more fully to your will. May I always find joy in knowing, loving, and serving you.” Amen.read more
Readings & Reflections with Cardinal Tagle’s Video on Santo Niño: Second Sunday in Ordinary Time C & St. Anthony of Egypt, January 17,2016
At the wedding feast at Cana, Christ performed the first of the seven signs (miracles) recounted in the Gospel of John. The wanting wine threatens to spoil the celebration of new love. But the Mother of God notices the need and speaks to her Son. With one word from his Mother, Jesus reveals his divinity so that, just as a bridegroom rejoices in his bride, all people can realize just how much our God rejoices in us. Just as it did for his first disciples, this revelation of glory leads us to deeper belief in Christ. The miracle of “good wine” continues through the outpouring of the spiritual gifts of the Spirit to each individual.read more
Readings & Reflections: Saturday of the First Week in Ordinary Time & St. Berard & Companions, January 16,2016
Jesus says to Levi, “Follow me.” Christ “makes a blessing” of former sinners whom he enlists “to call sinners.” What Samuel says to the newly anointed Saul is true of every apostle: “You are to save them from the group of their enemies.” In the Lord’s strength we are glad.
AMDG+
Opening Prayer
Heavenly Father, we may have missed the essential quality of being a true follower of your Son. No matter how many times and in how many different ways we have received the message of Jesus to love one another and to act lovingly toward one another, we continue to fail in loving our neighbor. As anointed followers of Jesus, bless us with the grace to be able to invite and welcome the stranger, the lonely, and the one who seems different and in some way unacceptable. Remind us always that we are not commissioned to judge, ostracize or disparage anyone. Amen.read more
Readings & Reflections: Friday of the First Week in Ordinary Time & St. Paul the Hermit, January 15,2016
Fallen human beings try to refashion reality. That is why the people of Israel defiantly demand that Samuel appoint for them a king; that is why the scribes repudiate Christ’s genuine authority to forgive sins. The “splendor of our strength” is walking in the light of the Lord’s countenance.
AMDG+
Opening Prayer
Heavenly Father, we sometimes lose sight of what is going on around us and we forget that it is our mission to be witnesses of the Good News. A lot of times, we overlook the human suffering around us. We forget Christ’s preferential option for the marginalized and suffering. Lord, give us the grace to focus on Christ and be united in faith when we gather for religious services and pray together. Being united in faith with each other, sharpen our eyes to see the human suffering around us and increase our desire to alleviate it, and to commit ourselves to serve the marginalized in our society and globally. In Jesus’ Name, we pray. Amen.read more
Readings & Reflections: Thursday of the First Week in Ordinary Time & St. Gregory of Nazianzen, January 14,2016
Beaten Israel asks, “Why has the Lord permitted us to be defeated?” The leper probably asked himself the same question. But if he had not been “defeated” by leprosy, he never would have attracted the attention and the pity of Jesus. “Our woe and oppression” disposes us to God’s mercy.
AMDG+
Opening Prayer
Heavenly Father, You have guided us directly through our consciences! You have invited us to listen and to respond to your call yet we have been cold and indifferent. Lord God, give us the grace to soften our hearts and enable us to re-arrange our busy schedules and priorities to include regular rhythms of withdrawal and retreat from activity to be in silence and solitude with You. Amen.read more
Readings & Reflections: Wednesday of the First Week in Ordinary Time & St. Hilary, January 13,2016
Hilary was dubbed the “Athanasius of the West” because, like the great doctor from Alexandria, he worked tirelessly to uphold the truth of the divinity of the Son of God in an age dominated by the Arian heresy. Only three years after being elected bishop of Poitiers, France, Hilary was sent into exile in Phrygia, present-day Turkey, because he refused to condemn Athanasius. There Hilary composed his great doctrinal work On the Trinity. Hilary governed his diocese from afar, thwarted only the slow mail delivery. He returned to Poitiers and died in 367 A.D. Hilary was hailed by Saint Augustine as “the most illustrious doctor of the churches.”read more
Readings & Reflections: Tuesday of the First Week in Ordinary Time & St. Marguerite Bourgeoys, January 12,2016
Hannah, in her “deep sorrow and misery,” long for the authority that amazes the people in the synagogue. For the divine power at work in Jesus “raises the needy from the dust” and makes “the barren wife” fertile. Our astonishment moves us to beg, “Remember me, do not forget me.”
AMDG+
Opening Prayer
Lord, enable me to respond with my whole heart with to the question: “How shall I make a return to the Lord for all the good He has done for me?” Enable me to reciprocate in my service for You and your people. In your Name, I pray. Amen.read more
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