Month: January 2021

Thursday of the First Week of Ordinary Time

Reading I Heb 3:7-14

The Holy Spirit says:
    Oh, that today you would hear his voice,
        “Harden not your hearts as at the rebellion
        in the day of testing in the desert,
    where your ancestors tested and tried me
        and saw my works for forty years.
    Because of this I was provoked with that generation
        and I said, ‘They have always been of erring heart,
        and they do not know my ways.’
    As I swore in my wrath,
        ‘They shall not enter into my rest.’”
Take care, brothers and sisters,
that none of you may have an evil and unfaithful heart,
so as to forsake the living God.
Encourage yourselves daily while it is still “today,”
so that none of you may grow hardened by the deceit of sin.
We have become partners of Christ
if only we hold the beginning of the reality firm until the end.

Responsorial Psalm 95:6-7c, 8-9, 10-11

R.    (8)  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.
Forty years I was wearied of that generation;
    I said: “This people’s heart goes astray,
    they do not know my ways.”
Therefore I swore in my anger:
    “They shall never enter my rest.”
R.    If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.

Alleluia See Mt 4:23

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Jesus preached the Gospel of the Kingdom
and cured every disease among the people.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel Mk 1:40-45

A leper came to him and kneeling down begged him and said,
“If you wish, you can make me clean.”
Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand,
touched the leper, and said to him, 
“I do will it. Be made clean.”
The leprosy left him immediately, and he was made clean.
Then, warning him sternly, he dismissed him at once.
Then he said to him, “See that you tell no one anything,
but go, show yourself to the priest
and offer for your cleansing what Moses prescribed;
that will be proof for them.”
The man went away and began to publicize the whole matter.
He spread the report abroad
so that it was impossible for Jesus to enter a town openly.
He remained outside in deserted places,
and people kept coming to him from everywhere.

– – –

Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States, second typical edition, Copyright © 2001, 1998, 1997, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine; Psalm refrain © 1968, 1981, 1997, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved. Neither this work nor any part of it may be reproduced, distributed, performed or displayed in any medium, including electronic or digital, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Forgiveness

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“Sorrow for sin is indeed necessary, but it should not be an endless preoccupation. You must dwell also on the glad remembrance of God’s loving-kindness; otherwise, sadness will harden the heart and lead it more deeply into despair”  ~St. Bernard~

In today’s Gospel we hear of Christ’s miracle of the healing of a leper. Lepers were outcasts; they were seen as unclean and were often not treated with the dignity due a human being. Jesus, despite how lepers were normally treated, touches the man in order to heal him. In the same way that Christ heals the leper out of compassion, so too does He heal us from our sins. God’s love is freely given to us. As part of his ultimate plan for us to share in His eternal life, God the Father offered His only begotten Son as ransom for our sins. The same eyes that looked at the leper’s disease with compassion and saw human dignity looks at our lowliness and sees our worth as sons and daughters of God. However, like the leper, we must ask God to cleanse us. By participating in the Sacraments, most especially by receiving our Lord in the Eucharist and by seeking absolution through Reconciliation, we unite ourselves to Him in love. 

Paul’s exhortation to the Hebrews to persevere in faith in the First Reading urges us to do the same. He writes, “Encourage yourselves daily while it is still ‘today’ so that none of you may grow hardened by the deceit of sin”. He reminds us of a warning against hardening our hearts against the love of God and follows with a plea to encourage one another in faith. When we harden our hearts, when we do not seek Him in the Sacraments, we turn away from His love and we distance ourselves from His salvation.  By living the Christian life devoutly, we inspire and motivate others to do the same. Our love for and encouragement of one another is a witness to the love that God has for each of us. By bringing one another to Christ, we open, rather than harden, our hearts and “become partners of Christ”. 

May we live our lives with hearts that are open to God’s love. May we rejoice in the knowledge that Christ’s love covers a multitude of sins.

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Dakota currently lives in Denver, CO and teaches English Language Development and Spanish to high schoolers. She is married to the love of her life, Ralph. In her spare time, she reads, goes to breweries, and watches baseball. Dakota’s favorite saints are St. John Paul II (how could it not be?) and St. José Luis Sánchez del Río. She is passionate about her faith and considers herself blessed at any opportunity to share that faith with others. Check out more of her writing at https://dakotaleonard16.blogspot.com.

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St. Felix of Nola: Saint of the Day for Thursday, January 14, 2021

Felix was the son of Hermias, a Syrian who had been a Roman soldier. He was born on his father’s estate at Nola near Naples, Italy. On the death of his father, Felix distributed his inheritance to the poor, was ordained by Bishop St. Maximus of Nola, and became his assistant. When Maximus fled to the desert at the beginning of Decius’ persecution of the Christians in 250, Felix was seized in his stead and imprisoned. He was reputedly released from prison by an angel, who directed him to the …

Come Holy Spirit: Prayer of the Day for Thursday, January 14, 2021

Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created. And You shall renew the face of the earth.

O, God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit, did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever enjoy His consolations, Through Christ Our Lord, Amen.

Driven By Desire…For What?

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What gets you out of bed before dawn?

We push ourselves beyond our superficial comforts for things that we value. Some people seem to focus on fun or competition and stay up late gaming. Some value their health or appearance, so they push themselves to get up early and exercise. Some prioritize learning and burn the midnight oil to read or study. Some people see their duty to family or friends as a value, so they push themselves beyond their need for rest or recreation to serve their needs. In each of these scenarios, a different value drives a person to stretch themselves.

What drives you?

What drives Jesus?

 “Rising very early before dawn, he left and went off to a deserted place, where he prayed.”

We are all busy, and prayer can seem like “one more thing” that we can’t find time to do. Can we be as busy as Jesus was? He had just taught in the synagogue, left (maybe hoping for some rest) and healed Simon’s mother-in-law, and found himself faced with many people in need – some ill, some possessed, no doubt some who just wanted a word of encouragement. This began after sunset, so it seems he did not get a full night’s sleep.

And yet, he rose before the sun to seek out some silence and solitude. Why?

Jesus is always driven by the same thing: the Father. He does the will of the Father (Jn 6:38). He says what the Father tells him to say (Jn 12:49). He does the works he sees the Father doing (Jn 5:17-19, 14:10). He needs to be in communication with the Father, in solitude, to know the Father’s will and to do it perfectly (Matt 14:23, 26:36; Mk 1:35, 6:46; Lk 3:21, 5:16, 9:18, 11:1) .

Surely, his whole life was prayer, because he was always seeking to please the Father. And yet it is recorded for us in the very Gospels that Jesus went away from the work in order to pray. It’s stunning, isn’t it? The Son of God, the Second Person of the Trinity, the Word Incarnate, as man, must seek out actual times of solitude to PRAY, to be in union with the Father, to listen to the Voice of God.

When do you pray? Before dawn? At mealtimes? When you can? Can you never?

Does seeking the loving Face of the Father drive us to set aside times of prayer each day? Each year, I resolve to be more faithful to my daily prayer, and this year is no different! How well will I keep this resolution this year? How about you? No matter how well you are able to walk with Jesus and spend time with him each day, it seems certain that this world would benefit from an even greater commitment to prayer in 2021.

May God bless you abundantly.

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Kathryn Mulderink, MA, is married to Robert, Station Manager for Holy Family Radio. Together they have seven children (including newly ordained Father Rob and seminarian Luke ;-), and two grandchildren. She is a Secular Discalced Carmelite and has published five books and many articles. Over the last 25 years, she has worked as a teacher, headmistress, catechist, Pastoral Associate, and DRE. Currently, she serves the Church as a writer and voice talent for Catholic Radio, by publishing and speaking, and by collaborating with the diocesan Office of Catechesis, various parishes, and other ministries to lead others to encounter Christ and engage their faith. Her website is https://www.kathryntherese.com/.

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St. Hilary of Poitiers: Saint of the Day for Wednesday, January 13, 2021

“They didn’t know who they were.” This is how Hilary summed up the problem with the Arian heretics of the fourth century. Hilary, on the other hand, knew very well who he was — a child of a loving God who had inherited eternal life through belief in the Son of God. He hadn’t been raised as a Christian but he had felt a wonder at the gift of life and a desire to find out the meaning of that gift. He first discarded the approach of many people who around him, who believed the purpose of life …

Childlike Awe

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As a working mom, I make it a point to spend individual time with each of my kids as often as I can. They take turns having mommy “dates” and treasure their time with me just as much as I do with them. And although our one-on-ones often include a trip to the grocery store or the thrift shop, they get to chatter away telling me about whatever suits their fancy. These days, it’s usually either Legos or soccer. 

It’s so refreshing amid life’s calamities to spend time with children. No matter what stresses are thrown your way, you can’t help but smile at their antics, their silliness and even their mischief. Just the other day, I was fretting about some ongoing issues we are dealing with and my son just started singing his own version of “Fa-La-La-La-La” in the back seat. His words were more like “Fa-La-La-La-La-Dah-Doo-Dee-DOWN!” After we sang that together for a while we changed it to “Fa-La-La-La-Dah-Doo-Dee-UP!” and had ourselves a good laugh.

I wonder if we saw things through the eyes of children we would be more astonished at Christ’s teachings as the people were in today’s Gospel… “for he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes.” As parents we have authority over our children, but do we truly comprehend the authority of God? I think many times we don’t or perhaps we simply don’t think about it. 

Where is that sense of awe and wonder at reading His word? Does His fame spread everywhere this day in age because we, those who believe in Him, are speaking with others about Him in sheer amazement? Do we believe that he can drive out any “unclean spirits” that might plague us, whether they be unfortunate events, impure thoughts or unkind words?  

I find it interesting that the unclean spirit was able to proclaim with such certainty that Jesus was the Holy One of God. What about us, those of us who try our best to live good lives and grow in our faith. Can we proclaim with certainty “I know who you are – the Holy One of God!”? Do we know who God is? Can we even fathom His holiness? 

With prayer and quiet time we can definitely experience glimpses of these concepts this side of heaven. When we allow child-like simplicity instead of adult complicatedness to enter our souls we can begin to grasp His grandeur. When we turn our hearts to praise and gratitude we can begin to know who He is. 

Today let us exclaim with the Psalmist: “O Lord, our Lord, how glorious is your name over all the earth!”

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Tami Urcia grew up in Western Michigan, a middle child in a large Catholic family. She spent early young adulthood as a missionary in Mexico, studying theology and philosophy, then worked and traveled extensively before finishing her Bachelor’s Degree in Western Kentucky. She loves tackling home improvement projects, finding fun ways to keep her four boys occupied, quiet conversation with the hubby and finding unique ways to love. She works at her parish, is a guest blogger on CatholicMom.com and BlessedIsShe.net, runs her own blog at https://togetherandalways.wordpress.com and has been doing Spanish translations on the side for almost 20 years.

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St. Marguerite Bourgeoys: Saint of the Day for Tuesday, January 12, 2021

Marguerite had survived many threats in the twenty-six years she had been in wilderness of Canada. She had lived through Iroquois attacks, a fire that destroyed her small village, plagues on the ships that she took back and forth to France, but nothing threatened her dreams and hopes more than what her own bishop said to her in 1679. He told her that she had to join her Congregation of Notre Dame with its teaching sisters to a cloistered religious order of Ursulines. This was not the first time …

Prayers at the Day’s Beginning: Prayer of the Day for Tuesday, January 12, 2021

Lord, one more day to love you!
Brother Charles de Foucauld

O Jesus, watch over me always, especially today, or I shall betray you like Judas.
St. Philip Neri

Lord, today is the day I begin!
St. Philip Neri

Jesus, shine through me and be so in me
that every person I come in contact with
may feel your presence in my soul.
John Henry Cardinal Newman

My God, send me thy Holy Spirit to teach me what I am and what thou art!
St. John Vianney

May the …