Thursday - February 07, 2019
Priests have received a power which God has given neither to angels nor to archangels. It was said to them: ‘Whatsoever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever you shall loose, shall be loosed.’ Temporal rulers have indeed the power of binding; but they can only bind the body. Priests, in contrast, can bind with a bond which pertains to the soul itself and transcends the very heavens. Did [God] not give them all the powers of heaven?...What greater power is there than this? The Father has given all judgment to the Son. And now I see the Son placing all this power in the hands of men. They are raised to this dignity as if they were already gathered up to heaven.
--St. John Chrysostom
Priests have received a power which God has given neither to angels nor to archangels. It was said to them: ‘Whatsoever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever you shall loose, shall be loosed.’ Temporal rulers have indeed the power of binding; but they can only bind the body. Priests, in contrast, can bind with a bond which pertains to the soul itself and transcends the very heavens. Did [God] not give them all the powers of heaven?...What greater power is there than this? The Father has given all judgment to the Son. And now I see the Son placing all this power in the hands of men. They are raised to this dignity as if they were already gathered up to heaven.
--St. John Chrysostom
February 7 2019
Thursday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 326
Reading 1HEB 12:18-19, 21-24
Brothers and sisters:
You have not approached that which could be touched
and a blazing fire and gloomy darkness
and storm and a trumpet blast
and a voice speaking words such that those who heard
begged that no message be further addressed to them.
Indeed, so fearful was the spectacle that Moses said,
"I am terrified and trembling."
No, you have approached Mount Zion
and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem,
and countless angels in festal gathering,
and the assembly of the firstborn enrolled in heaven,
and God the judge of all,
and the spirits of the just made perfect,
and Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant,
and the sprinkled Blood that speaks more eloquently
than that of Abel.
You have not approached that which could be touched
and a blazing fire and gloomy darkness
and storm and a trumpet blast
and a voice speaking words such that those who heard
begged that no message be further addressed to them.
Indeed, so fearful was the spectacle that Moses said,
"I am terrified and trembling."
No, you have approached Mount Zion
and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem,
and countless angels in festal gathering,
and the assembly of the firstborn enrolled in heaven,
and God the judge of all,
and the spirits of the just made perfect,
and Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant,
and the sprinkled Blood that speaks more eloquently
than that of Abel.
Responsorial PsalmPS 48:2-3AB, 3CD-4, 9, 10-11
R. (see 10) O God, we ponder your mercy within your temple.
Great is the LORD and wholly to be praised
in the city of our God.
His holy mountain, fairest of heights,
is the joy of all the earth.
R. O God, we ponder your mercy within your temple.
Mount Zion, "the recesses of the North,"
the city of the great King.
God is with her castles;
renowned is he as a stronghold.
R. O God, we ponder your mercy within your temple.
As we had heard, so have we seen
in the city of the LORD of hosts,
In the city of our God;
God makes it firm forever.
R. O God, we ponder your mercy within your temple.
O God, we ponder your mercy
within your temple.
As your name, O God, so also your praise
reaches to the ends of the earth.
Of justice your right hand is full.
R. O God, we ponder your mercy within your temple.
Great is the LORD and wholly to be praised
in the city of our God.
His holy mountain, fairest of heights,
is the joy of all the earth.
R. O God, we ponder your mercy within your temple.
Mount Zion, "the recesses of the North,"
the city of the great King.
God is with her castles;
renowned is he as a stronghold.
R. O God, we ponder your mercy within your temple.
As we had heard, so have we seen
in the city of the LORD of hosts,
In the city of our God;
God makes it firm forever.
R. O God, we ponder your mercy within your temple.
O God, we ponder your mercy
within your temple.
As your name, O God, so also your praise
reaches to the ends of the earth.
Of justice your right hand is full.
R. O God, we ponder your mercy within your temple.
AlleluiaMK 1:15
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The Kingdom of God is at hand;
repent and believe in the Gospel.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The Kingdom of God is at hand;
repent and believe in the Gospel.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
GospelMK 6:7-13
Jesus summoned the Twelve and began to send them out two by two
and gave them authority over unclean spirits.
He instructed them to take nothing for the journey but a walking stick
–no food, no sack, no money in their belts.
They were, however, to wear sandals but not a second tunic.
He said to them,
"Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave from there.
Whatever place does not welcome you or listen to you,
leave there and shake the dust off your feet
in testimony against them."
So they went off and preached repentance.
The Twelve drove out many demons,
and they anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.
and gave them authority over unclean spirits.
He instructed them to take nothing for the journey but a walking stick
–no food, no sack, no money in their belts.
They were, however, to wear sandals but not a second tunic.
He said to them,
"Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave from there.
Whatever place does not welcome you or listen to you,
leave there and shake the dust off your feet
in testimony against them."
So they went off and preached repentance.
The Twelve drove out many demons,
and they anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.
******************************
The Miraculous Power of Trust
The instructions of Jesus in today's Gospel reading don't exactly fit our modern culture of suitcases on wheels. Gone are the days when people in ministry could visit a home or parish wearing the same old, over-worn, smelly tunic, day after day.
But Jesus isn't really talking about our wardrobes. He's teaching us about trust. To spread the Good News, we must trust God and the resources that he provides through the people that he puts into our path. Rather than teaching us to be self-sufficient, he wants us to learn that only God is truly sufficient. He wants us to be generous givers of his blessings and to be humble recipients.
If we do the packing and decide what to take along when God gives us a task to do, we're only working with our natural, very limited abilities. We need to grow beyond ourselves. The supernatural is what changes people's hearts, but to reveal God's supernatural presence, what's needed first is trust. Look at the depth of trust that Jesus describes:
"Take no food" means we have to be totally at the mercy of the people we're called to evangelize. Their hearts will open up to the love of God when they choose to care about us and serve us. To avoid interfering with this heart-expanding paradigm, we have to cheerfully receive whatever they offer, even if it's not what we like.
"Take no traveling bag" means we carry with us only the simplest of necessities. For example, if we're asked to care for someone who is hurting and in need of a compassionate friend, we'd better not drag along the baggage of our own hurts, nor our prejudices nor the advice we think we should give, but we should instead rely on the Holy Spirit's inspirations.
"Take no money" does not mean "Mastercard: Don't leave home without it." Who is the true Master of our money? If it's Jesus, we trust that he's capable of obtaining what we need from a fish's mouth! Of course, if God has gifted us with an income, we should earn it worthily and use it, just as Saint Paul did when he made tents to sell while he traveled as an evangelist. However, if we're waiting for our bank account to get "big enough" before we serve God, it never will. It's a delay tactic; it's certainly not trust.
Trust is the cure for worry. We really have nothing to worry about, because God is worthy of our trust. We must trust him. Therein lies the miraculous power of evangelization.
Today's Prayer
Lord Jesus: Make my heart be always rooted in You. Deliver me from everything that might take away my freedom to follow You wherever you lead me. Amen.
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God Bless You.....
Rosary Family
The mother of Jesus promised St. Dominic that, “one day through the rosary & the scapular I shall save the world!”
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