Greetings (See Second Reading)
Jesus shared the same flesh and blood than we So that he
could become completely Like his brothers and sisters And, compassionate and
trustworthy, Atone for our human sins.
May this Lord Jesus be always with you.
Feb 2: Presentation of our Lord - Liturgy
4th Week: Feb 1-6 - Reflections
Feb 1 Monday: Mk 5: 1-20: 1 They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of Gerasenes. 2 And when he had come out of the boat, there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, 3 who lived among the tombs; and no one could bind him anymore, even with a chain; 4 for he had often been bound with fetters and chains, but the chains he wrenched apart, and the fetters he broke in pieces; and no one had the strength to subdue him. 5 Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains, he was always crying out, and bruising himself with stones. 6 And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and worshiped him; 7 and crying out with a loud voice, he said, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.”
4 Sunday B: Liturgical Prayers
Greeting
Jesus spoke to people
the Good News of healing and life.
He speaks this same Good News to us
here in this assembly.
May his words stir our hearts
and bring us healing and life.
May the Lord Jesus be always with you.
R/ And also with you.
Introduction by the Celebrant
5 Sunday B: Action and Contemplation
Jesus' mission is Church's mission: Preaching, teaching and healing. That's why we have churches, schools and hospitals. These ministries seem to be our primary mission. This might get us busy, tired, stressed and can get us out of our wits. That's when we need that space to recharge our spirits and bodies. That's what the Lord did. However, he doesn't seem to complain when "they" came to "disturb" him out of his "space". For Jesus the "action-contemplation" space was seamlessly woven into his mission-presence space. -Tony Kayala, c.s.c.
3rd Week, Wednesday, Jan 27
Hebrews 10:11-18 / Mark 4:1-20
The Lord speaks; “Their sins I will remember no more.”
Years ago, This Week magazine carried a moving story about a 17-year-old Dutch boy. He was a prisoner who was sentenced to death for trying to escape from a Nazi concentration camp. Before his execution he wrote to his father: “Read this letter alone, and then tell mother carefully....In a little while at five o’clock it is going to happen I feel so strongly my nearness to God. I am fully prepared to die....I have confessed all my sins ... and have become very quiet.”
4 Sunday B: Zeal and Authority for the Mission
Tony Kayala, c.s.c.:
Zeal: The components for right motivation, they say, are
a) Passion (zeal, intensity, enthusiasm),
b) Direction (remember even the terrorists and ISIS have passion, but not the right direction. St. Paul had a great passion as a persecutor until the Damascus experience)
c) Perseverance (persistence, never give up. Abraham Lincoln faced every sort of setback, adversity and failure from 1832 to 1856 but was elected President in 1860)
3rd Week, Jan 25-30 - Reflections
Jan 25-30: Jan 25 Monday: (Conversion of the Apostle Paul): Mk 16:15-20: (The feast of the conversion St. Paul) https://www.franciscanmedia.org/conversion-of-saint-paul/ Paul, the “Apostle to the Gentiles” and the greatest missionary of the Apostolic age, was a Roman citizen by his birth in Tarsus (in Cilicia), and a Jew born to the tribe of Benjamin. His Hebrew name was Saul. Since he was a Pharisee, Saul was sent to Jerusalem by his parents to study the Mosaic Law under the great rabbi Gamaliel. As a student, he also learned the trade of tent-making.
3 Sunday B - Liturgical Prayers
Greeting (see the gospel)
Our Lord is here in our midst and tells us:
“The time has come,
and the kingdom of God is close at hand.
Repent and believe the Good News.”
May you heed his words
and may the Lord be always with you. R/ And also with you.
2nd Week, Jan 18-23
Jan 18 Monday: Mk 2:18-22: 18 Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting; and people came and said to him, “Why do John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” 19 And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. 20 The days will come, when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day. 21 No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; if he does, the patch tears away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. 22 And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; if he does, the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost, and so are the skins; but new wine is for fresh skins.” USCCB reflections: https://youtu.be/pUaqaUN24Uo https://catholic-daily-reflections.com/daily-reflections/
2nd Week, Tuesday, Jan 19
Hebrews 6:10-20 / Mark 2:23-28
Take heart; God will not forget your work and love.
A hospital doctor used to prescribe “memory breaks” for his patients. Before leaving a room, he’d say, “I’ve one more important prescription for you. I want you to take a ‘memory break’: one at ten o’clock and another at four o’clock. “Close your eyes. Relax your body.
2 Sunday B: Liturgical Prayers
Greeting (See Second Reading)
Your bodies are members making up the body of Christ.
Anyone who is joined to the Lord
is one spirit with him.
Use your body for the glory of God.
May the Lord Jesus be always with you. R/ And also with you.
Your bodies are members making up the body of Christ.
Anyone who is joined to the Lord
is one spirit with him.
Use your body for the glory of God.
May the Lord Jesus be always with you. R/ And also with you.
Jan 11-16: 1st Week of Ordinary Time
Jan 11-16: Jan 11 Monday: Mk 1: 14-20: 14 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, 15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe in the gospel.” 16 And passing along by the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net in the sea; for they were fishermen. 17 And Jesus said to them, “Follow me and I will make you become fishers of men.” 18 And immediately they left their nets and followed him.19 And going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets. 20 And immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him. USCCB video reflections: http://www.usccb.org/bible/reflections/index.cfm ; https://catholic-daily-reflections.com/daily-reflections/
1st Week, Monday, Jan 11
Hebrews 1:1-6 / Mark 1:14-20
God
speaks to us through Jesus; Jesus is the imprint of God's being.
St. Ambrose was a fourth-century bishop in Milan. His eloquent preaching played a major role in St. Augustine's conversion to Christianity. In one of his famous homilies, Ambrose used this example to show how closely Jesus mirrors God the Father: "As the print of the seal on the wax is the express image of the seal itself, so Christ is the express image— the perfect representation of God." It is this same image that the author of the Letter to the Hebrews places before us in today's reading. In the love of Jesus, we glimpse God's love. In the mercy of Jesus, we glimpse God's mercy.
2nd Sunday B: Come and See - Discipleship
Gospel reading: John 1:35-42
Tony Kayala, c.s.c.
As much as Jesus had to leave Nazareth (home and comfort, familiarity and family) to come to the Jordan (last Sunday) to be baptized, the disciples too have got to "leave" in order to "come" (No arrival without a departure). We are used to checking out a product before buying or a person before hiring or we "see" and choose (come). We check it out before stepping out. Abraham and other prophets have to leave for an uncertain task and territory; Abraham must first accept to sacrifice his only son, then he will see God's plan. He didn't doubt in God's promise of progenies like the sands and the stars even though the only son was going to be sacrificed! Joseph had to first accept Mary pregnant as she was and then he will see God's plan. Come so that you may see. Step in, walk in, follow me, leave behind ....so that you may see plans, actions, results for you. "Come" is an invitation and "see" is the promise. You can trust the Lord for his promises.
Then the uncertain, doubtful, denying Simons will have to become Cephases and solid rocks on which the Lord can build his Church.
Saturday after Epiphany, Jan 9
Saturday after Epiphany, Jan 9
1 John
5:14-21 / John 3:22-30
A minister was once extremely popular. His church was always full. As the years passed and he grew older, his vitality decreased—and so did his flock.
Friday after Epiphany, Jan 8
1 John 5: 5-13; Luke 5: 12-16
Jesus went to deserted places; There he prayed.
Among his many scientific achievements, George Washington Carver produced useful products from the lowly peanut. Among these were shampoo and printer's ink. Author James Childers once asked Carver how he found time to do so much research.
Thursday after Epiphany, Jan 7
1 John 4:19 - 5:4 / Luke 4:14-22
Jesus
worships with the community; He went to the synagogue, as usual.
Wednesday after Epiphany, Jan 6
1 John 4:11-18 / Mark 6:45-52
Jesus walks
on the water; The disciples were utterly confused.
Mark, Matthew, and John describe Jesus' walking on water right after the miracle of the loaves and fishes. These two back-to-back events leave the disciples totally confused, They are amazed by both events, but they aren't absolutely sure what they means. This much is certain. After these two events, things were never the same for Jesus' disciples. Something beyond their wildest dreams was happening. Only time would tell what it was and how they fitted into it all. For the present, all they could do was to be patient.
Tuesday after Epiphany, Jan 5
1 John
4:7-10 / Mark 6:34-44
Jesus feeds the crowd: Twelve
baskets of leftovers remained.
There's only one miracle of Jesus that is reported by all four evangelists. It is the miracle of the loaves and fishes. Mark's description of the miracle is especially vivid. He describes the hungry people sitting "on the green grass in groups or parties" and "neatly arranged like flower beds." (NAB. 1970)
Jan 4-9, Week After Epiphany
Jan 4-9: Jan 4 Monday (St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, Religious (U. S. A.) (https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/saint-elizabeth-ann-seton) : Mt 4: 12-17, 23-25: 12 Now when he heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee; 13 and leaving Nazareth he went and dwelt in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulon and Naphtali, 14 that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:
Monday after Epiphany, Jan 4
1 John 3:33 - 4:6 / Matthew 4: 12-17, 23-25
Jesus begins to preach; "Reform your lives. "
One Sunday night a young man knelt down alone at his bedside. It was not a sudden impulse on his part but the result of some serious soul-searching. He decided that the time had finally come for him to open himself totally to Jesus Christ. There in the darkness of his room, the young man examined his conscience and thanked Jesus for making it possible to have his sins forgiven.
Baptism of the Lord - 2021
Thomas O’Loughlin
Introduction to the Celebration
Today marks the beginning of the public life and ministry of Jesus Christ as he set out to do the Father’s will and announce the arrival of the kingdom of God. And the moment of the beginning of the messianic work of Jesus is marked by the moment of his baptism in the Jordan. He is acclaimed on earth by the prophet John and links himself to John by being baptised by him. He is acclaimed from heaven by the voice of the Father and the presence of the Spirit. As the people who have heard his preaching and accepted his call, who have confessed him as the Christ, and set out to follow his way, let us pause and consider the words addressed to Jesus: ‘Thou art my beloved Son, with thee I am well pleased.’
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