Quote: "Announcing the Gospel is the first and greatest act of charity."
-St. Arnold Janssen Today's Meditation "Jesus himself, after all, had given everything for the sake of the reign of God. He gave up the security and comfort of a family and a spouse. He did without a house or property or any other form of security. Still more serious: He avoided putting himself at the center of everything and thus exercising religious power... Jesus lives not for Himself, His own person, but surrendering utterly and slowly to God's cause, or more precisely to the reign of God that is now coming...Jesus possessed unheard-of freedom. He is not a model of one who is tormented, grim, dissatisfied, or who has fallen short of His goal. He is no fanatic, utterly convinced that He must force others to adopt His own position. Nor is He the type of the hero, tragic or otherwise. He remains to the end a free person...a man full of generosity and humanity." —Gerhard Lohfink, p.53-54
An excerpt from The Forty Parables of Jesus Daily Verse "For rulers are not a cause of fear to good conduct, but to evil. Do you wish to have no fear of authority? Then do what is good and you will receive approval from it, for it is a servant of God for your good. But if you do evil, be afraid, for it does not bear the sword without purpose; it is the servant of God to inflict wrath on the evildoer. Therefore, it is necessary to be subject not only because of the wrath but also because of conscience."
-Romans 12:3-5 | St Arnold Janssen St. Arnold Janssen (1837–1909) was born in Germany to a large Catholic family. He was a man of simple faith who studied theology, entered the priesthood, and served as a school teacher. He had a profound devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, which awakened in him an increasing desire for missionary work. This led him to found The Little Messenger of the Sacred Heart, a monthly magazine sharing news of the Church's missionary activities and encouraging German Catholics to do more to help the missions. This was during a time of anti-Catholic persecution in Germany, and many priests were expelled from the country. Arnold suggested that these expelled priests serve in the missions, and for this purpose he founded the Society of the Divine Word, known as the Divine Word Missionaries, a religious congregation of missionary priests and lay brothers. He also founded two Orders of religious sisters associated with this missionary activity. Today more than 6,000 Divine Word Missionaries are active in 63 countries. St. Arnold was canonized in 2003 by Pope St. John Paul II. His feast day is celebrated on January 15. | | Thursday of the First Week in Ordinary Time | | --- | The Philistines gathered for an attack on Israel.
Israel went out to engage them in battle and camped at Ebenezer,
while the Philistines camped at Aphek.
The Philistines then drew up in battle formation against Israel.
After a fierce struggle Israel was defeated by the Philistines,
who slew about four thousand men on the battlefield.
When the troops retired to the camp, the elders of Israel said
"Why has the LORD permitted us to be defeated today
by the Philistines?
Let us fetch the ark of the Lord from Shiloh
that it may go into battle among us
and save us from the grasp of our enemies." So the people sent to Shiloh and brought from there
the ark of the LORD of hosts, who is enthroned upon the cherubim.
The two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were with the ark of God.
When the ark of the LORD arrived in the camp,
all Israel shouted so loudly that the earth resounded.
The Philistines, hearing the noise of shouting, asked,
"What can this loud shouting in the camp of the Hebrews mean?"
On learning that the ark of the LORD had come into the camp,
the Philistines were frightened.
They said, "Gods have come to their camp."
They said also, "Woe to us! This has never happened before. Woe to us!
Who can deliver us from the power of these mighty gods?
These are the gods that struck the Egyptians
with various plagues and with pestilence.
Take courage and be manly, Philistines;
otherwise you will become slaves to the Hebrews,
as they were your slaves.
So fight manfully!"
The Philistines fought and Israel was defeated;
every man fled to his own tent.
It was a disastrous defeat,
.in which Israel lost thirty thousand foot soldiers.
The ark of God was captured,
and Eli's two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were among the dead. R. (27b) Redeem us, Lord, because of your mercy.
Yet now you have cast us off and put us in disgrace, and you go not forth with our armies.
You have let us be driven back by our foes; those who hated us plundered us at will.
R. Redeem us, Lord, because of your mercy.
You made us the reproach of our neighbors, the mockery and the scorn of those around us.
You made us a byword among the nations, a laughingstock among the peoples.
R. Redeem us, Lord, because of your mercy.
Why do you hide your face, forgetting our woe and our oppression?
For our souls are bowed down to the dust, our bodies are pressed to the earth.
R. Redeem us, Lord, because of your mercy. R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Jesus preached the Gospel of the Kingdom
and cured every disease among the people.
R. Alleluia, alleluia. A leper came to him and kneeling down begged him and said,
"If you wish, you can make me clean."
Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand,
touched the leper, and said to him,
"I do will it. Be made clean."
The leprosy left him immediately, and he was made clean.
Then, warning him sternly, he dismissed him at once.
Then he said to him, "See that you tell no one anything,
but go, show yourself to the priest
and offer for your cleansing what Moses prescribed;
that will be proof for them."
The man went away and began to publicize the whole matter.
He spread the report abroad
so that it was impossible for Jesus to enter a town openly.
He remained outside in deserted places,
and people kept coming to him from everywhere. - - - | Praise to You Oh Lord Jesus Christ! | Daily Meditation: 1 Samuel 4:1-11 Why has the Lord permitted us to be defeated? (1 Samuel 4:3) What a tragic story! Israel is defeated by the Philistines—twice! The sons of the priest Eli are killed in battle. And the ark of the covenant is captured by the enemy. The people must have been devastated. Did you notice that God doesn't seem to say or do anything in this whole episode? He doesn't offer the people any guidance. He doesn't fight on their behalf. Even when the Philistines lay hold of the ark, he doesn't strike out in retaliation. It's almost as if God wasn't a part of this story at all. Why was God silent in such a terrible situation? We will never know for sure, but we can point to one fact: the Israelites never asked him for his help! They wondered why he had let them lose the first battle—but they only asked each other, not him. As for the ark, it was their decision to bring it along to the second battle; they didn't ask God if they should. It can be easy to act like these Israelites. Something bad happens, and we react without taking the time to seek God's wisdom and guidance or his comfort. Or we formulate a plan to tackle a challenging situation and dive right in, hoping God will be with us. But the Lord is never absent! He wants to be a part of our lives. He is always with us, always ready to teach us and guide us. His arms are always open wide to us when we are hurting—even when he seems distant. And even if we have caused our own hurt by our lack of faithfulness to him, he is always eager to help us return to him and to comfort us. This is the long lesson that the Israelites learned over many years, and it's the lesson that God wants to teach us as well. Remember that years after this event, he raised up David, who recaptured the ark, routed the Philistines, and gathered the scattered tribes of Israel into one kingdom. The Lord never gave up on his people, and he won't give up on you. So always remember that you have a Father who is ready to help when you call on him. You never have to face any situation alone! "Lord, thank you for always being with me!" Psalm 44:10-11, 14-15, 24-25
Mark 1:40-45 | Reflections with Brother Adrian: |  Audio of 2 Cents | From today's Holy Gospel: "... A leper came to him and kneeling down begged him and said,
"If you wish, you can make me clean."
Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand,
touched the leper, and said to him,
"I do will it. Be made clean."
The leprosy left him immediately, and he was made clean.
Then, warning him sternly, he dismissed him at once.
Then he said to him, "See that you tell no one anything,
but go, show yourself to the priest
and offer for your cleansing what Moses prescribed;
that will be proof for them." ...." Word of the Lord. | From Bishop Barron:
"Once in the Lord's presence, the leper kneels down and begs him. The suffering man realizes who Jesus is: not one prophet among many but the incarnation of the God of Israel, the only one before whom worship is the appropriate attitude. In our sickness, our weakness, our shame, our sin, our oddness—lots of us feel like this leper. We feel as though we're just not worthy. Whatever trouble we are in, we have to come to Jesus in the attitude of worship. He is the Lord and we're not. This is the key step in getting our lives in order: right praise. Consider the leper's beautiful plea, essential in any act of petitionary prayer: "If you wish, you can make me clean." He is not demanding; he is acknowledging the lordship of Jesus, his sovereignty. "Thy will be done" is always the right attitude in any prayer." End quote.
From a spiritual reflection about a paralyzed man that was lowered from the ceiling to Jesus: ▪ "Get up." Forgiveness restores dignity and the ability to walk. Do I let myself be lifted up by the grace of God?
| ▪ | "Get up." Forgiveness restores dignity and the ability to walk. Do I let myself be lifted up by the grace of God? | ORATIO Lord Jesus,
I recognize my paralysis
and my sins. Look upon me with mercy,
Forgive my heart
and lift me up to a new life. Give me a creative and caring faith,
Capable of opening paths
to bring others to you. Amen. CONTEMPLATIO Behold the paralytic descending before Jesus. Look at his look of mercy. Listen in silence: "Son, your sins are forgiven." Stay there, letting yourself up. ACTIO ▪ Draw near to the sacrament of reconciliation.
▪ Help others encounter Jesus.
▪ Overcome with faith the obstacles that paralyze you.
▪ Live from gratitude for the forgiveness received. "Get up and start walking."
| ▪ | Draw near to the sacrament of reconciliation. | | ▪ | Help others encounter Jesus. | | ▪ | Overcome with faith the obstacles that paralyze you. | | ▪ | Live from gratitude for the forgiveness received. "Get up and start walking." |
But the Gospel talks about a man with leprosy. Yes. Yet, we are facing the same issue... a person in dire need of healing.
The paralyzed man was ousted, and the leper was ousted. They were considered "less than" and almost as if someone condemned...by God Himself.
What an obstacle to a life of grace!
Our Lord heals the man and says to go see a priest. Why?
Reconciliation.
Confession heals. But, we must do Penance. Penance makes amends. God atones, and we atone...together. Ai spells out what I am trying to say here:
"In Catholic theology, confession is the
Sacrament of Reconciliation, where Christ's atoning sacrifice on the cross is applied to individual sins, restoring communion with God, with the priest acting as Christ's agent for absolution and imposing a penance (satisfaction) to heal spiritual wounds, detach from sin, and remit temporal punishment, drawing the penitent closer to God through prayer, fasting, or almsgiving. Atonement, ultimately achieved by Christ's complete sacrifice, becomes a participatory process in confession, where the penitent makes "satisfaction" through penance, sharing in Christ's suffering to make amends and grow in holiness."
To search things of faith, please always type the word "catholic understanding" or at least "catholic", otherwise we are going to get thousands of angles from the thousands of denominations. It is amazing...that in the Holy Sacraments, we engage and participate with Christ...in Him, with Him, and through Him. There is something powerful going on here...if only we would rend ourselves to the Lord and say to Him as a servant "Lord...if YOU wish".
And whatever comes...we still rend our hearts to Him.
Humility and obedience go hand in hand....in true love. |  Click for Audio | Random Bible Verse Proverbs 3:5–6
" Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.
6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths." . . . . . . . . Word of the Lord! | If one day you don't receive these, just visit Going4th.com
God Bless You! Peace | | |
