GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY : Monday - February 01, 2021

Monday - February 01, 2021

"God alone satisfies and infinitely surpasses man's desire, which for that reason is never at rest except in God."

--St. Thomas Aquinas

TODAY'S READINGS

Reading I

Heb 11:32-40

Brothers and sisters:
What more shall I say?
I have not time to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah,
of David and Samuel and the prophets,
who by faith conquered kingdoms, 
did what was righteous, obtained the promises;
they closed the mouths of lions, put out raging fires,
escaped the devouring sword;
out of weakness they were made powerful, became strong in battle,
and turned back foreign invaders.
Women received back their dead through resurrection.
Some were tortured and would not accept deliverance,
in order to obtain a better resurrection.
Others endured mockery, scourging, even chains and imprisonment.
They were stoned, sawed in two, put to death at sword’s point;
they went about in skins of sheep or goats,
needy, afflicted, tormented.
The world was not worthy of them.
They wandered about in deserts and on mountains,
in caves and in crevices in the earth.

Yet all these, though approved because of their faith,
did not receive what had been promised.
God had foreseen something better for us,
so that without us they should not be made perfect.

Responsorial Psalm

Ps 31:20, 21, 22, 23, 24

R.    (25)  Let your hearts take comfort, all who hope in the Lord.
How great is the goodness, O LORD,
    which you have in store for those who fear you,
And which, toward those who take refuge in you,
    you show in the sight of the children of men.
R.    Let your hearts take comfort, all who hope in the Lord.
You hide them in the shelter of your presence
    from the plottings of men;
You screen them within your abode
    from the strife of tongues.
R.    Let your hearts take comfort, all who hope in the Lord.
Blessed be the LORD whose wondrous mercy
    he has shown me in a fortified city. 
R.    Let your hearts take comfort, all who hope in the Lord.
Once I said in my anguish,
    “I am cut off from your sight”;
Yet you heard the sound of my pleading
    when I cried out to you.
R.    Let your hearts take comfort, all who hope in the Lord.
Love the LORD, all you his faithful ones!
    The LORD keeps those who are constant,
    but more than requites those who act proudly.
R.    Let your hearts take comfort, all who hope in the Lord.

Alleluia

Lk 7:16

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
A great prophet has arisen in our midst
and God has visited his people.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
 

Gospel

Mk 5:1-20

Jesus and his disciples came to the other side of the sea,
to the territory of the Gerasenes.
When he got out of the boat,
at once a man from the tombs who had an unclean spirit met him.
The man had been dwelling among the tombs,
and no one could restrain him any longer, even with a chain.
In fact, he had frequently been bound with shackles and chains,
but the chains had been pulled apart by him and the shackles smashed,
and no one was strong enough to subdue him.
Night and day among the tombs and on the hillsides
he was always crying out and bruising himself with stones.
Catching sight of Jesus from a distance,
he ran up and prostrated himself before him,
crying out in a loud voice,
“What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?
I adjure you by God, do not torment me!”
(He had been saying to him, “Unclean spirit, come out of the man!”)
He asked him, “What is your name?”

He  replied, “Legion is my name.  There are many of us.”
And he pleaded earnestly with him
not to drive them away from that territory.

Now a large herd of swine was feeding there on the hillside.
And they pleaded with him,
“Send us into the swine.  Let us enter them.”
And he let them, and the unclean spirits came out and entered the swine.
The herd of about two thousand rushed down a steep bank into the sea,
where they were drowned.
The swineherds ran away and reported the incident in the town
and throughout the countryside.
And people came out to see what had happened.
As they approached Jesus,
they caught sight of the man who had been possessed by Legion,
sitting there clothed and in his right mind.
And they were seized with fear.
Those who witnessed the incident explained to them what had happened
to the possessed man and to the swine.
Then they began to beg him to leave their district.
As he was getting into the boat,
the man who had been possessed pleaded to remain with him.
But Jesus would not permit him but told him instead,
“Go home to your family and announce to them 
all that the Lord in his pity has done for you.”
Then the man went off and began to proclaim in the Decapolis
what Jesus had done for him; and all were amazed.

*****************************************************************************

The power of our interconnectedness

In today's first reading, we learn that none of the people of Old Testament times obtained salvation, not even the holy ones, until we of the New Testament era were saved by what Jesus did on the cross. This does not mean that they went to hell. Remember, eternity is not a clockwise movement through time the way we experience it in our temporal lives. Those who died embracing God's love immediately received the benefits of Christ's future victory over death.

 

The most interesting point of this scripture is everyone's interconnectedness. The greatest heroes of the Old Testament were not made perfect until Christ died for them and for us too. Although they were promised the eternal joy of union with God, they could not receive it without us. We are all united in the gift of eternal unity with God.

 

In our individualistic world, we've lost sight of our interconnectedness. We've forgotten what it means to believe in the communion of saints, despite professing it often as we recite the Creed of our Faith. In my opinion, individualism is the biggest sin of our age -- that is, the self-centered "me first" attitude that leads to abortions, many divorces, conflicts within parishes, greed, and you-name-it. The idolatry of self takes the goodness of our individual uniqueness to the opposite of what God intends, leading to crimes against our interconnectedness.

 

Throughout biblical times, people understood that they were part of a larger whole. In the Old Testament, when one person disobeyed God, the entire community was punished. Today, we think that was unfair. Why should all suffer on account of one? Jesus answered that question when he, as one man, suffered for all.

 

The fact is, we are all connected to each other. Everything we do creates ripples in the stream of life that reach much farther than we can see. Even our small deeds of kindness make a wide-spread difference. So too our sins. This is why we go to a priest for Confession: Through him, absolution comes not only from Christ but from the whole Body of Christ: the community on earth and in purgatory and in heaven.

 

In today's Gospel passage, Jesus gets rid of a legion of demons. As Christ's earthly Body now, we continue this ministry. Together, we can be a powerful, undefeatable, miracle-working unit of holy strength that overcomes evil. Together, we have all the power of Christ. But do we choose to actively work together?

 

The absence of those who are not active in Christian community and ministry is grievous, for this diminishes what the Body can do. The world suffers because of the disconnectedness of Christians, and because some of us are too preoccupied with our self-focused desires to provide our gifts and talents to the works of the Church, and because some clergy and lay leaders assert self-importance instead of imitating Christ's style of servant-leadership.

 

Do you feel worthless or lonely? The cure is in your connection to the community, which is a life of actively serving and being served.

 

Today's Prayer

 

Thank you, Lord, because You have delivered me from great and countless evils and gave me a new life, fully in Your love. Amen.

--------------------------------

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!”

SAINT QUOTE OF THE DAY : Sunday - January 31, 2021

Sunday - January 31, 2021

"Wherever you may find yourself, you can set up an altar to God in your mind by means of prayer."

--St. John Chrysostom

 

January 31, 2021

 

Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 71

 

Reading 1                             Dt 18:15-20

Moses spoke to all the people, saying:

“A prophet like me will the LORD, your God, raise up for you

from among your own kin;

to him you shall listen.

This is exactly what you requested of the LORD, your God, at Horeb

on the day of the assembly, when you said,

‘Let us not again hear the voice of the LORD, our God,

nor see this great fire any more, lest we die.’

And the LORD said to me, ‘This was well said.

I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their kin,

and will put my words into his mouth;

he shall tell them all that I command him.

Whoever will not listen to my words which he speaks in my name,

I myself will make him answer for it.

But if a prophet presumes to speak in my name

an oracle that I have not commanded him to speak,

or speaks in the name of other gods, he shall die.’”

 

Responsorial Psalm                                  Ps 95:1-2, 6-7, 7-9

R. (8) If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.

Come, let us sing joyfully to the LORD;

    let us acclaim the rock of our salvation.

Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;

    let us joyfully sing psalms to him.

R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.

Come, let us bow down in worship;

    let us kneel before the LORD who made us.

For he is our God,

    and we are the people he shepherds, the flock he guides.

R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.

Oh, that today you would hear his voice:

    “Harden not your hearts as at Meribah,

    as in the day of Massah in the desert,

Where your fathers tempted me;

    they tested me though they had seen my works.”

R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.

 

Reading 2                             1 Cor 7:32-35

Brothers and sisters:

I should like you to be free of anxieties.

An unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord,

how he may please the Lord.

But a married man is anxious about the things of the world,

how he may please his wife, and he is divided.

An unmarried woman or a virgin is anxious about the things of the Lord,

so that she may be holy in both body and spirit.

A married woman, on the other hand,

is anxious about the things of the world,

how she may please her husband.

I am telling you this for your own benefit,

not to impose a restraint upon you,

but for the sake of propriety

and adherence to the Lord without distraction.

 

 

Alleluia                                                                                             

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The people who sit in darkness have seen a great light;

on those dwelling in a land overshadowed by death,
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

 

Gospel                                                                                               Mk 1:21-28

Then they came to Capernaum,

and on the sabbath Jesus 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.

*****************************************

The Authority of Jesus

This Sunday's Gospel reading illustrates the authority of Jesus. If we truly accept and understand his authority over our lives, we can rejoice in the Lord even when life hands us hardships.

 

Why? Because we know that Christ's authority is supreme, which means that everything we've placed under his authority will produce good fruits. Even bad situations will be transformed into blessings. Tragedies will be changed into triumphs. Sorrows will be transfigured into joy. Frustrations will lay the groundwork for new growth, new knowledge, and a greater ability to minister to others.

 

However, if we reject Christ's authority by acting as if we're the ones in charge, deciding for ourselves how to end a problem or how and when to escape from a hardship, our problems will only get worse. Pope Francis wrote in his Apostolic Exhortation on the Gospel of Joy (Evangelii Gaudium, paragraph 64) that this leads to a feeling of disorientation instead of joy. He noted: "We are living in an information-driven society which bombards us indiscriminately with data -- all treated as being of equal importance -- and which leads to remarkable superficiality in the area of moral discernment. In response, we need to provide an education which teaches critical thinking and encourages the development of mature moral values."

 

The path to joy has been forged by the footsteps of Jesus. To benefit from his authority over evil and over human sufferings, we have to follow his example and obey his teachings. This means choosing to trust him, realizing that his ways are the best ways even when they're unpleasant ways. It means that we're willing to reach resurrection glory by going through the cross with Jesus.

 

There are no successful shortcuts to the triumphant victory that awaits us. There is no easy way to overcome evil. If this were not true, Jesus wouldn't have needed to die on a cross.

 

The good news -- the reason why we can rejoice -- is that the most loving, most powerful, most wise One in the universe is using his supreme authority on our behalf. The question is: Will we submit to it?

 

In what ways are you still rejecting Christ's authority by trying to do things your own way? Which Church teachings have you been rejecting because you've decided to live by your own rules? Are you willing to ask the Holy Spirit to change your mind on these matters and teach you the value of Christ's ways?

 

In what ways do Christians often reject Christ's authority in favor of defining their own rules? Why? What are the apparent risks to living completely under Christ's strict authority? How can we replace these risks with a sense of safety?

 

Today's Prayer

 

Thank You, Jesus, for facing evil and defeating it on the Cross! I apologize for the times that, without knowing how much I hurt myself, I wrote my own laws and rejected Your Love. Amen.

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God Bless You.....

The Rosary Family

The mother of Jesus promised St. Dominic that, “one day through the rosary & the scapular I shall save the world!”

SAINT QUOTE OF THE DAY : Saturday - January 30, 2021

Saturday - January 30, 2021

"Await upon the Lord; be faithful to His commandments; He will elevate your hope"

--- St. Bernard of Clairvaux

 

January 30, 2021

 

Saturday of the Third Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 322

 

Reading 1                             Heb 11:1-2, 8-19

Brothers and sisters:

Faith is the realization of what is hoped for

and evidence of things not seen.

Because of it the ancients were well attested.

 

By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place

that he was to receive as an inheritance;

he went out, not knowing where he was to go.

By faith he sojourned in the promised land as in a foreign country,

dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs of the same promise;

for he was looking forward to the city with foundations,

whose architect and maker is God.

By faith he received power to generate,

even though he was past the normal age

and Sarah herself was sterile

for he thought that the one who had made the promise was trustworthy.

So it was that there came forth from one man,

himself as good as dead,

descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky

and as countless as the sands on the seashore.

 

All these died in faith.

They did not receive what had been promised

but saw it and greeted it from afar

and acknowledged themselves to be strangers and aliens on earth,

for those who speak thus show that they are seeking a homeland.

If they had been thinking of the land from which they had come,

they would have had opportunity to return.

But now they desire a better homeland, a heavenly one.

Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God,

for he has prepared a city for them.

 

By faith Abraham, when put to the test, offered up Isaac,

and he who had received the promises was ready to offer his only son,

of whom it was said,

Through Isaac descendants shall bear your name.

He reasoned that God was able to raise even from the dead,

and he received Isaac back as a symbol.

 

Responsorial Psalm                                  Luke 1:69-70, 71-72, 73-75

R. (see 68) Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel; he has come to his people.

He has raised up for us a mighty savior,

born of the house of his servant David.

R. Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel; he has come to his people.

Through his holy prophets he promised of old.

that he would save us from our sins

from the hands of all who hate us.

He promised to show mercy to our fathers

and to remember his holy covenant.

R. Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel; he has come to his people.

This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham:

to set us free from the bonds of our enemies,

free to worship him without fear,

holy and righteous in his sight

all the days of our life.

R. Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel; he has come to his people.

 

Alleluia                                                                                             

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son,

so that everyone who believes in him might have eternal life.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

 

Gospel                                                                                               Mk 4:35-41

On that day, as evening drew on, Jesus said to his disciples:

“Let us cross to the other side.”

Leaving the crowd, they took Jesus with them in the boat just as he was.

And other boats were with him.

A violent squall came up and waves were breaking over the boat,

so that it was already filling up.

Jesus was in the stern, asleep on a cushion.

They woke him and said to him,

“Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?”

He woke up,

rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Quiet! Be still!”

The wind ceased and there was great calm.

Then he asked them, “Why are you terrified?

Do you not yet have faith?”

They were filled with great awe and said to one another,

“Who then is this whom even wind and sea obey?”

*****************************************

Calming Storms with Jesus

Opening Prayer: Lord, as I reflect on these words of yours, help me to put my preoccupations aside and place myself in the boat with you.

 

Encountering Christ:

 

1. Jesus Always Initiates: It’s striking that Jesus, who is omniscient, urged the disciples to get into the boat to “cross over to the other side,” knowing that a storm was coming. Jesus seeks us out, knocks at the door of our heart, and sometimes invites us into “bad weather” because he loves us and wants to give us every spiritual gift. By calming the storm, Jesus revealed to his disciples his power and might. As a result, they “were filled with great awe,” which is a precursor to the spiritual gift called “fear of the Lord.” Our Lord was awakening in them virtues like obedience, docility, and reverence, which are foundational for even greater gifts, according to St. Gregory the Great: “Through the fear of the Lord, we rise to piety, from piety then to knowledge, from knowledge we derive strength, from strength counsel, with counsel we move toward understanding, and with intelligence toward wisdom and thus, by the sevenfold grace of the Spirit, there opens to us at the end of the ascent the entrance to the life of heaven” (“Homiliae in Hiezechihelem Prophetam,” II 7,7).

 

2. Jesus Always Accompanies: Jesus knew the storm was coming and he encouraged the boat’s crossing, but he didn’t intend for the Apostles to go into the storm alone. At their invitation, Jesus got into the boat. He accompanied them. How often do we sense an approaching storm, but fail to go to Jesus with our problem? Even though Jesus knows what’s ahead in our life, he won’t force us to rely on him. He waits to be invited. And when we reflect on his power, his willingness to accompany us, and his infinite love for each of us, why do we ever hesitate to meet him in our prayer and the sacraments?

 

3. Jesus Always Brings Peace: “The wind ceased and there was great calm.” When we invite Jesus into our life, he brings peace. “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid” (John 14:27). Although temporal sufferings may continue, we sense that we rest in Jesus’s pierced palm and feel safe. Everything seems more manageable by God’s grace. “So humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time. Cast all your worries upon him because he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:6-7).

 

Conversing with Christ: Lord, there have been many storms in my life. Some I lived without your presence. By your grace, I now know to invite you into my problems so that you can inspire me, send me wisdom, and bring me peace. I am always in awe of your power and presence in my life.

 

Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will intentionally seek your peace when I feel stressed or worried.

 

Today's Prayer

 

Praised be to You, Lord, because Your love wants to work wonders through our faith in You. Thank You for Your merciful power that restores us in body, soul and spirit. Amen.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

God Bless You.....

The Rosary Family

The mother of Jesus promised St. Dominic that, “one day through the rosary & the scapular I shall save the world!”