†Quote of the Day "Friendship is the source of the greatest pleasures, and without friends even the most agreeable pursuits become tedious."
–St. Thomas Aquinas Today's Meditation "The Eucharist is alive. If a stranger who knew nothing about the Eucharist were to watch the way we receive, would he know this? When you and I approach the Eucharist, does it look like we believe we are about to take into our bodies the living person, Jesus Christ, true God and true man? How many times, Lord, have I forgotten that the Eucharist is alive! As I wait in line to receive you each day, am I thinking about how much you want to unite yourself with me? Am I seeing your hands filled with the graces you want to give me? Am I filled with awe and gratitude that you love me so much as to actually want to come to me in this incredibly intimate way? Or am I distracted, busy with other thoughts, preoccupied with myself and my agendas for the day? How many times, Jesus, have I made you sad, mindlessly receiving you into my body, into my heart, with no love and no recognition of your love? How many times have I treated you as a dead object? The Host that we receive is not a thing! It's not a wafer! It's not bread! It's a person – He's alive!"
—Vinny Flynn, p. 8 An Excerpt From
7 Secrets of the Eucharist Daily Verse "In the same way, the Spirit too comes to the aid of our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit itself intercedes with inexpressible groanings. And the one who searches hearts knows what is the intention of the Spirit, because it intercedes for the holy ones according to God's will."
–Romans 8:26-27 | St. Adrian of Canterbury St. Adrian of Canterbury (d. 710 A.D.), also known as St. Hadrian, was a native of North Africa who was sent to England to accompany his friend, Theodore of Tarsus, who was appointed to the prestigious archbishopric of Canterbury. St. Adrian was originally offered and turned down the ecclesiastical position, and instead was made abbot of St. Augustine's Abbey at Canterbury (originally called the Monastery of St. Peter). The monastic school grew and thrived under his leadership, and became an important center of learning where many future scholars, bishops, and abbots were educated in Latin, Greek, scripture, theology, Roman law, arithmetic, and other subjects. St. Adrian himself was well known for being a great teacher of religion, math, science, and literature. He also served as the Holy Father's assistant and adviser. During the lives of Adrian and Theodore, education and learning flourished in England. After his death, his tomb became famous for miracles. His feast day is January 9th. | Tuesday of the First Week in Ordinary Time Lectionary: 306
Reading I 1 Sm 1:9-20 Hannah rose after a meal at Shiloh,
and presented herself before the LORD;
at the time, Eli the priest was sitting on a chair
near the doorpost of the LORD's temple.
In her bitterness she prayed to the LORD, weeping copiously,
and she made a vow, promising: "O LORD of hosts,
if you look with pity on the misery of your handmaid,
if you remember me and do not forget me,
if you give your handmaid a male child,
I will give him to the LORD for as long as he lives;
neither wine nor liquor shall he drink,
and no razor shall ever touch his head."
As she remained long at prayer before the LORD,
Eli watched her mouth, for Hannah was praying silently;
though her lips were moving, her voice could not be heard.
Eli, thinking her drunk, said to her,
"How long will you make a drunken show of yourself?
Sober up from your wine!"
"It isn't that, my lord," Hannah answered.
"I am an unhappy woman.
I have had neither wine nor liquor;
I was only pouring out my troubles to the LORD.
Do not think your handmaid a ne'er-do-well;
my prayer has been prompted by my deep sorrow and misery."
Eli said, "Go in peace,
and may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of him."
She replied, "Think kindly of your maidservant," and left.
She went to her quarters, ate and drank with her husband,
and no longer appeared downcast.
Early the next morning they worshiped before the LORD,
and then returned to their home in Ramah. When Elkanah had relations with his wife Hannah,
the LORD remembered her.
She conceived, and at the end of her term bore a son
whom she called Samuel, since she had asked the LORD for him. Responsorial Psalm 1 Samuel 2:1, 4-5, 6-7, 8abcd R. (see 1) My heart exults in the Lord, my Savior.
"My heart exults in the LORD, my horn is exalted in my God.
I have swallowed up my enemies; I rejoice in my victory."
R. My heart exults in the Lord, my Savior.
"The bows of the mighty are broken, while the tottering gird on strength.
The well-fed hire themselves out for bread, while the hungry batten on spoil.
The barren wife bears seven sons, while the mother of many languishes."
R. My heart exults in the Lord, my Savior.
"The LORD puts to death and gives life; he casts down to the nether world; he raises up again.
The LORD makes poor and makes rich; he humbles, he also exalts."
R. My heart exults in the Lord, my Savior.
"He raises the needy from the dust; from the dung heap he lifts up the poor,
To seat them with nobles and make a glorious throne their heritage."
R. My heart exults in the Lord, my Savior. Alleluia See 1 Thes 2:13 R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Receive the word of God, not as the word of men,
but as it truly is, the word of God.
R. Alleluia, alleluia. Gospel Mk 1:21-28 Jesus came to Capernaum with his followers,
and on the sabbath he entered the synagogue and taught.
The people were astonished at his teaching,
for he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes.
In their synagogue was a man with an unclean spirit;
he cried out, "What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?
Have you come to destroy us?
I know who you are–the Holy One of God!"
Jesus rebuked him and said, "Quiet! Come out of him!"
The unclean spirit convulsed him and with a loud cry came out of him.
All were amazed and asked one another, "What is this?
A new teaching with authority.
He commands even the unclean spirits and they obey him."
His fame spread everywhere throughout the whole region of Galilee. | Daily Meditation: Mark 1:7-11 He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit. (Mark 1:8) If you were standing in line at the River Jordan and heard John the Baptist say these words, what would you have thought? Perhaps you would have been confused—what did John mean? But what if you had actually witnessed Jesus coming out of the water, and "the Spirit, like a dove, descending upon him" (Mark 1:10)? Then you might have understood that Jesus was the One who was being baptized in the Spirit and who would, in turn, baptize his followers. The word "baptize" in Greek means to "immerse" or to "plunge." As the Second Person of the Trinity, Jesus was already united with the Spirit. But this "plunging" at the beginning of his ministry empowered him to go out and preach, teach, and heal—and eventually to fulfill his mission to offer his life on the cross and reconcile us to his Father. As he promised, after his resurrection, he would send the Spirit to his disciples and all who would believe in him (John 14:15-17). That's what happened to you at your Baptism, even if you were too young to remember it. You received the Holy Spirit. But Baptism is just the beginning of our journey with the Lord. In order to follow Jesus, we all need to be immersed in the Spirit again and again. That's because, as he himself told us, "It is the spirit that gives life" (John 6:63). How does the Spirit give us life? He fills us with joy and animates our prayer and worship. He helps us see our sin and repent. He gives us the strength and grace to be a disciple. And he gives us the gifts we need to share the good news. Jesus said that God "does not ration his gift of the Spirit" (John 3:34). God always has more for us. There's no limit to how many times you can ask to be immersed into the life of the Spirit. Today, on this feast celebrating the Baptism of the Lord, ask the Holy Spirit to once again plunge you more deeply into his life. Pray expectantly, and believe that the One who gives all good gifts—especially the gift of the Spirit—will give you what you ask for! "Holy Spirit, fill me with more of your life today." Isaiah 42:1-4, 6-7
Psalm 29:1-4, 9-10 |  click to hear 2cents | Reflections with Brother Adrian:
Audio English | In the Gospel today we heard:
_"Jesus rebuked him and said, "Quiet! Come out of him!"
The unclean spirit convulsed him and with a loud cry came out of him.
All were amazed and asked one another, "What is this?
A new teaching with authority.
He commands even the unclean spirits and they obey him."......"_ end of Gospel verse.
. . . | From Bishop Barron today:
"Friends, in today's Gospel, Jesus drives out an unclean spirit from a man in the Capernaum synagogue. And he wants to perform the same cleansing operation in our lives.
What God intended from the beginning is that our hearts be temples of his presence. So Christ comes into our world. What does he find? He finds that the temple of our heart is filled up with all sorts of things that are not the divine power. Money, worldly success, the esteem of others, sex—whatever it is, it has now taken the place that rightfully belongs to God. Therefore, when Christ comes into your life, he will always have a cleansing role to play.
Fulton J. Sheen once talked about the "expulsive power" of Christ. When you place him in the center of your soul, he will expel all those things that don't belong in that center and make them find their proper place.
And so Jesus the nonviolent warrior, Jesus the judge, God's own mind, now comes into our hearts when we invite him through conversion. He will have this cleansing authority and cleansing power." end quote Bishop Barron.
What in the world did the evil spirit blast out in the middle of the temple? Why did our Lord say "Be Quiet!" and then proceed to expel the evil spirit?
"What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?
Have you come to destroy us?
I know who you are–the Holy One of God!" Can you imagine a man screaming this out in the crowd to the Lord?
Nobody knew what in the world that man was talking about, but our Lord did.
We should take note on how evil works. With a well formed conscious, we should know immediately when evil is directing itself towards us. Evil spirits always chide, they try to reproach you, but the way you know they are evil is that there is an act against God.
Most often it is an act against love and life. Let's not talk about feelings because often we can be fooled by feelings, and the senses can fool us too, what we see is not always what is actually there.
And so our well formed conscious is to live a life that is Christ centered, where His way must reign and reign supreme over all others.
"Have you come to destroy us!" was more of an accusation. It wasn't a question. The fear mongrels always work with accusations and are on the offensive. Think of a proud person always lashing out...it is mostly because they are insecure. Think of King Herod who killed all the toddlers. Think of the pride movement today always lashing out and with violence, and often this is seen at death camps like abortion clinics.
Our Lord demands silence. And this is hard, for me. It means I have to be quiet, and let Him speak, and let Him Be.
So often we try to have control over everything, because we are so insecure.
But He tells us too, to be quiet. This means let Him run the show, with your humility. Such is the life of most saints. They are silenced by their superiors, even Padre Pio. But in the end, the fruit comes out. Obedience allows God's fruit to grow.
The evil spirits come out kicking and screaming, they hate to listen.
How can we let evil spirits out of us today? Pray them away, yes, but the easiest and most effective way is through a visit to the Lord in the temple...a Holy Confession and Reconciliation.
Our Lord speaks:
"Be Still,
And Know,
That I AM GOD!". Pray with me:
Lord I do believe! Help my unbelief! Help me be quiet, to stop yelling, to stop fighting, to stop arguing with You. Help me love Thee humbly and sincerely, in true contrition. |  Click To Hear | Random Bible Verse 1
Ephesians 4:31–32 31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. | If one day you don't receive these, just visit Going4th.com
God Bless You! Peace | | |
