| Our Responsibility |  |
Because Christ died for us, the cross calls us to responsibility. The resurrection reveals and empowers our vocation to forgive and be forgiven freely, to live in a Spirit-filled responsibility, and to call others to the "way."
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St. Apollonia
(d. 249)
The persecution of Christians began in Alexandria during the reign of the Emperor Philip. The first victim of the pagan mob was an old man named Metrius, who was tortured and then stoned to death. The second person who refused to worship their false idols was a Christian woman named Quinta. Her words infuriated the mob and she was scourged and stoned.
While most of the Christians were fleeing the city, abandoning all their worldly possessions, an old deaconess, Apollonia, was seized. The crowds beat her, knocking out all of her teeth. Then they lit a large fire and threatened to throw her in it if she did not curse her God. She begged them to wait a moment, acting as if she was considering their requests. Instead, she jumped willingly into the flames and so suffered martyrdom. There were many churches and altars dedicated to her. Apollonia is the patroness of dentists, and people suffering from toothache and other dental diseases often ask her intercession. She is pictured with a pair of pincers holding a tooth or with a golden tooth suspended from her necklace. St. Augustine explained her voluntary martyrdom as a special inspiration of the Holy Spirit, since no one is allowed to cause his or her own death.
Dentists
Toothache
 Saint of the DayLives, Lessons and FeastBy Leonard Foley, O.F.M.; revised by Pat McCloskey, O.F.M.
Presence I pause for a moment and think of the love and the grace that God showers on me, creating me in his image and likeness, making me his temple.... Freedom Your death on the cross has set me free.
I can live joyously and freely
without fear of death.
Your mercy knows no bounds. Consciousness I exist in a web of relationships - links to nature, people, God. I trace out these links, giving thanks for the life that flows through them.
Some links are twisted or broken: I may feel regret, anger, disappointment. I pray for the gift of acceptance and forgiveness.
The Word of God
The LORD God said:
"It is not good for the man to be alone.
I will make a suitable partner for him."
So the LORD God formed out of the ground
various wild animals and various birds of the air,
and he brought them to the man to see what he would call them;
whatever the man called each of them would be its name.
The man gave names to all the cattle,
all the birds of the air, and all the wild animals;
but none proved to be the suitable partner for the man.
So the LORD God cast a deep sleep on the man,
and while he was asleep, he took out one of his ribs
and closed up its place with flesh.
The LORD God then built up into a woman
the rib that he had taken from the man.
When he brought her to the man, the man said:
"This one, at last, is bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
this one shall be called 'woman,'
for out of 'her man' this one has been taken."
That is why a man leaves his father and mother
and clings to his wife,
and the two of them become one flesh.
The man and his wife were both naked, yet they felt no shame. R. (see 1a) Blessed are those who fear the Lord.
Blessed are you who fear the LORD,
who walk in his ways!
For you shall eat the fruit of your handiwork;
blessed shall you be, and favored.
R. Blessed are those who fear the Lord.
Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine
in the recesses of your home;
Your children like olive plants
around your table.
R. Blessed are those who fear the Lord.
Behold, thus is the man blessed
who fears the LORD.
The LORD bless you from Zion:
may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem
all the days of your life.
R. Blessed are those who fear the Lord. R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Humbly welcome the word that has been planted in you
and is able to save your souls.
R. Alleluia, alleluia. Jesus went to the district of Tyre.
He entered a house and wanted no one to know about it,
but he could not escape notice.
Soon a woman whose daughter had an unclean spirit heard about him.
She came and fell at his feet.
The woman was a Greek, a Syrophoenician by birth,
and she begged him to drive the demon out of her daughter.
He said to her, "Let the children be fed first.
For it is not right to take the food of the children
and throw it to the dogs."
She replied and said to him,
"Lord, even the dogs under the table eat the children's scraps."
Then he said to her, "For saying this, you may go.
The demon has gone out of your daughter."
When the woman went home, she found the child lying in bed
and the demon gone.
Listen to audio of this reading
Watch a video reflection Conversation How has God's Word moved me? Has it left me cold?
Has it consoled me or moved me to act in a new way?
I imagine Jesus standing or sitting beside me,
I turn and share my
feelings with him.
Conclusion Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end.
 Meditation: Genesis 2:18-25 View NAB Reading at USCCB.org 5th Week in Ordinary Time This one, at last, is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. (Genesis 2:23) Aren't weddings beautiful? One thing everyone can see at a wedding is the joy on the face of the groom as he sees his bride walking toward him down the aisle of the church. But no smile down through the ages has been bigger than that of Adam, when he set eyes on the woman God presented to him. Gazing on her beauty, he finally understood who he was and the purpose of his life! Up to this point, Adam was all alone. Yes, the other animals made engaging companions, but Adam knew that he was different. After all, do animals ponder the night sky or ask why things are the way they are? What's more, only Adam had the desire and capacity to interact with God. Now there was another—a woman—who shared all of this with him. As different from Adam as she was, Eve was still a suitable partner for him. Together, they learned that they were created with a unique purpose—and to be a unique and exclusive gift to each other. At retreats and youth conferences around the world, young women are learning about the dignity they have as daughters of God. Their hearts lighten at the message that the men in their lives are called to treasure and honor them. They are relieved to learn that they don't have to settle for a lesser way of relating, one based primarily on physical attractiveness or sexual performance. For their part, young men are learning of the high calling they have to honor, protect, and cherish women. They are learning that they are created to give of themselves, not to use people for their own pleasure. So it's all about self-gift, not self-gratification. It's about treasuring the gift that we are to each other. The question is, "How can I become more self-giving?" Here's one easy way to start: make it a point every day to tell your spouse how much you love and treasure him or her. Start with that, and God will bless everything else. "Father, you created me to love and be loved. Help me to break out of patterns of isolation and selfishness so that I can know deeper communion with you and those you have placed in my life." Psalm 128:1-5
Mark 7:24-30
my2cents:
Today's 1st Holy Scripture brings a man into the picture. The MAN. Do you remember in the bible how many times Jesus is referred to as the "son of Man"? He often referes to Himself as "son of Man" right? In the Hebrew bible they say it is brought up like 107 times, and signifies an eschatological figure due to come at the end of history. So once again, please, PLEASE PLEASE don't use the bible as a science book, it is purely theology, the Word of God, and it is indeed like the scripture said today "the word that has been planted in you" and we are leading to God's creation, a Kingdom...A Holy Church. Daniel 7:13-14 describes how the "Ancient of Days" (God) gives dominion over the earth to "one like a son of man,", once again, the King is Jesus. Yet, God wanted the Man to be made with...a WO-man, of Him, from Him, and through Him. And so it pleased HIM to see His divine image reflected, all of us the Bride, the Holy Church that make up one body. Stay with me, because truely, let's think about it...it's NOT About ME! LOL. We all read the bible and just keep thinking of ourselves don't we? Let's give that up for Lent...all this thinking about ourselves all the time. Let's give up selfishness. Let's try self-surrender and surrender first to God. I know my woman, my wife, I've turned a new page in love for her, and it started when I saw her singing her heart out with a group of women in an ACTS retreat, singing a song I just had to learn for myself to share from there on out, "Lord I Give You My Heart". And we are getting to the heart of the matter, and it is all about Jesus, the WORD made FLESH. Stay with me now! The Psalms pray "blessed are those who FEAR the Lord!" Blessed those afraid of God, afraid to offend Him, afraid to sin. Yet, this sin was the downfall of the wo-man, of us in His Kingdom who chose to lose the fear of God! AH! Thank you Holy Spirit because I have never thought about Genesis in this fashion. What happens in sin? As we re-iterated in the conference this weekend, sin ultimately brings spiritual death, and more immediately, mortal sin. So we could possibly be living among spiritually dead people!? Yes, but especially those that know it. For this we have a cure, for sin there is a cure, for death even, there is a cure! It started in Genesis, and ends with Revelation, and the Word is JESUS and He was made flesh. Why do I keep saying He was made flesh? Am I talking about the Holy Eucharist? Am I talking about what Lent ends with...the Resurrection? The putting of meat on bones and giving life to the dead? Yes. God can do this and much more than we can imagine. In today's Holy Gospel, Jesus proves this point. This woman comes who was apart from "God's children" and her daughter lived possessed by a demon. So they must've believed in good, and demons, because otherwise the sick wouldn't know they were sick. She comes to the Savior. He forgives an atheist. From that moment on, they would believe and transform their family, the dead came to life! This is what happens when you encounter the Lord in your journey. And speaking of journeys, I was glancing through newadvent.org on the chronology on the life of Jesus Christ, and it is amazing how the Son of Man comes so many times in Scripture healing the "WoMAN". EXACTLY. He met the "woman" at the well. He met the "woman" that touched His tassel and was healed. He met a sinful "woman" who cried and bathed His feet with tears and annointed His feet with expensive oil. He met today's "woman" that was fed scraps of food from Heaven and was saved, and saved her daughter. He met another "woman" that was in adultery, lots of husbands and living in sin. She went off to become a prophet and a saint after meeting Jesus, and this is what happens when the Son of Man comes for the Bride...His Holy Church. Genesis is revealed and fulfilled in JESUS THE CHRIST, the MESSIAH.
I am amazed at all the stuff I just typed. Sometimes I read it several times throughout the day, much like the songs I record. They are a spiritual gift from God, the Holy Spirit is alive. God is well pleased with His creation. And think about what I just said. Because God said of Jesus "Listen To Him...This is my Son in whom I AM well pleased". To listen means to do what is said. The Word says "come to me". Jesus is asking you to a loving relationship with the groom, Jesus Himself. He wants that fear of God, which means that love of God, and why? Why does He want me to love Him? The answer will be revealed when you finally do...really
 adrian
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