St. Scholastica, sister of St. Benedict, consecrated her life to God from her earliest youth. After her brother went to Monte Cassino, where he established his famous monastery, she took up her abode in the neighborhood at Plombariola, where she founded and governed a monastery of nuns, about five miles from that of St. Benedict, who, it appears, also directed his sister and her nuns. She visited her brother once a year, and as she was not allowed to enter his monastery, he went in company with …
Month: February 2021
Prayer of the Church Concerning St. Gabriel: Prayer of the Day for Wednesday, February 10, 2021
May the offering of our service and the prayer of the blessed Archangel Gabriel be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord; that he whom we venerate on earth, may be our advocate before Thee in heaven. Through Our Lord. Amen.
Empty Rituals
In today’s Gospel, Jesus reprimands the Pharisees for their criticism of the Apostles not properly washing their hands before their meal. Jesus is not necessarily saying that the rituals the Pharisees practice are bad in and of themselves. What He is truly criticizing is the emptiness of their rituals. He references Isaiah’s prophecy that, “This people honor me with their lips but their hearts are far from me.” Christ calls the Pharisees hypocrites because, while they follow the ritual, they do so without love in their hearts for God. They merely go through the actions rather than doing so with love and honor for the Father.
How often do we fall into the same pattern as the Pharisees in today’s Gospel? Do we go to Mass and spend more time internally criticizing the young man in a football jersey and jeans than we do contemplating the Word of God? Do we truly meditate on the words of the Eucharistic prayer or are we thinking about our brunch order?
This is what I find myself doing (especially during the Eucharistic prayer). I’ve heard it so many times that I often allow it to just wash over me rather than giving my all to Christ in that moment. Then, when I look at the words that are being said it hits me how important it is to not allow ourselves to fall into empty rituals: “We give you praise, Father most holy, for you are great, and you have fashioned all your works in wisdom and in love. You formed man in your own image and entrusted the whole world to his care, so that in serving you alone, the Creator, he might have dominion over all creatures.” This is what we might hear during the Eucharist prayer. What beautiful words that come directly from the Creation story in Genesis that we hear as today’s First Reading. When I go to Mass merely going through the motions, I don’t notice those connections; I take for granted the love with which these rituals were made and the love that God has for each and every one of us. The purpose of our rituals–the sacraments and our prayers–is to demonstrate our love, true devotion, and gratitude for God who is our Creator and Savior.
May we go about our devotions with great intentionality and allow the love of God to permeate all that we do.
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.
Feature Image Credit: Jacob Bentzinger, https://unsplash.com/photos/jYQ-QxkrFpc
St. Apollonia: Saint of the Day for Tuesday, February 09, 2021
St. Apollonia, who died in the year 249, was martyred for not renouncing her faith during the reign of Emperor Philip. The account of the life of St. Apollonia was written by St. Dionysius to Fabian, Bishop of Antioch. Apollonia had all her teeth knocked out after being hit in the face by a Christian persecutor under the reign of Emperor Philip. After she was threatened with fire unless she renounced her faith, Apollonia jumped into the flames voluntarily. She is considered the patron of dental …
Act of Hope: Prayer of the Day for Tuesday, February 09, 2021
O my God, relying on your infinite goodness and promises, I hope to obtain pardon of my sins, the help of your grace, and life everlasting, through the merits of Jesus Christ, my Lord and Redeemer.
Monday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time
Reading I Gn 1:1-19
In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth,
the earth was a formless wasteland, and darkness covered the abyss,
while a mighty wind swept over the waters.
Then God said,
“Let there be light,” and there was light.
God saw how good the light was.
God then separated the light from the darkness.
God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.”
Thus evening came, and morning followed–the first day.
Then God said,
“Let there be a dome in the middle of the waters,
to separate one body of water from the other.”
And so it happened:
God made the dome,
and it separated the water above the dome from the water below it.
God called the dome “the sky.”
Evening came, and morning followed–the second day.
Then God said,
“Let the water under the sky be gathered into a single basin,
so that the dry land may appear.”
And so it happened:
the water under the sky was gathered into its basin,
and the dry land appeared.
God called the dry land “the earth,”
and the basin of the water he called “the sea.”
God saw how good it was.
Then God said,
“Let the earth bring forth vegetation:
every kind of plant that bears seed
and every kind of fruit tree on earth
that bears fruit with its seed in it.”
And so it happened:
the earth brought forth every kind of plant that bears seed
and every kind of fruit tree on earth that
bears fruit with its seed in it.
God saw how good it was.
Evening came, and morning followed–the third day.
Then God said:
“Let there be lights in the dome of the sky,
to separate day from night.
Let them mark the fixed times, the days and the years,
and serve as luminaries in the dome of the sky,
to shed light upon the earth.”
And so it happened:
God made the two great lights,
the greater one to govern the day,
and the lesser one to govern the night;
and he made the stars.
God set them in the dome of the sky,
to shed light upon the earth,
to govern the day and the night,
and to separate the light from the darkness.
God saw how good it was.
Evening came, and morning followed–the fourth day.
Responsorial Psalm 104:1-2a, 5-6, 10 and 12, 24 and 35c
R. (31b) May the Lord be glad in his works.
Bless the LORD, O my soul!
O LORD, my God, you are great indeed!
You are clothed with majesty and glory,
robed in light as with a cloak.
R. May the Lord be glad in his works.
You fixed the earth upon its foundation,
not to be moved forever;
With the ocean, as with a garment, you covered it;
above the mountains the waters stood.
R. May the Lord be glad in his works.
You send forth springs into the watercourses
that wind among the mountains.
Beside them the birds of heaven dwell;
from among the branches they send forth their song.
R. May the Lord be glad in his works.
How manifold are your works, O LORD!
In wisdom you have wrought them all—
the earth is full of your creatures;
Bless the LORD, O my soul! Alleluia.
R. May the Lord be glad in his works.
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 6:53-56
After making the crossing to the other side of the sea,
Jesus and his disciples came to land at Gennesaret
and tied up there.
As they were leaving the boat, people immediately recognized him.
They scurried about the surrounding country
and began to bring in the sick on mats
to wherever they heard he was.
Whatever villages or towns or countryside he entered,
they laid the sick in the marketplaces
and begged him that they might touch only the tassel on his cloak;
and as many as touched it were healed.
- Readings for the Optional Memorial of Saint Josephine Bakhita, Virgin
- Readings for the Optional Memorial of Saint Jerome Emiliani, priest
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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.
How Good is the Good God
In today’s readings, I can almost feel the excitement and the joy of God as he created the heavens and the earth “in the beginning.” We feel pride and satisfaction when we create something as simple as a poem, a photo on our phones, a new dish to please a friend, or a wall in our home tastefully decorated with family photos. There is a warmth in our hearts as we share something beautiful and meaningful with others. Something we conceptualized and made ourselves.
“And God saw how good it was….” The world is beautiful, and it is God’s magnificence that is revealed in all that God has created, from the tallest mountain to the tiniest flower.
In the Gospel, Jesus is creating health, wholeness, goodness, healing. His touch is returning people to community. His touch is making sad faces smile, and filling burdened hearts with laughter. Gratitude is streaming through the people as they scurry about to share Jesus’ love with as many people as possible.
How good is the good God.
When you are creating, healing, holding, you are radiating the goodness of the God who creates, heals, and restores us to life and holds us in his love.
These days there is much reason for our eyes to be filled with tears and our hearts broken with sorrow. Let us be God-like and not allow the darkness to blind our eyes to the truth of the good God’s heart who is even now unfolding his giving love, bringing about the reign of his heart.
When I feel alone today, I think I will try to remember that God has personally walked this earth as Creator and Redeemer for me, for us. Today’s Gospel reminds me that Jesus personally reached into the lives of the broken in order to reassure them that their creation was no accident, and nothing can hinder the meaning of their lives. We are each created by the hand of God, saved by the life of Jesus, and sanctified by the breath of the Spirit.
How good the good God is.
Kathryn James Hermes, FSP, is the author of the newly released title: Reclaim Regret: How God Heals Life’s Disappointments, by Pauline Books and Media. An author and spiritual mentor, she offers spiritual accompaniment for the contemporary Christian’s journey towards spiritual growth and inner healing. She is the director of My Sisters, where people can find spiritual accompaniment from the Daughters of St. Paul on their journey. Website: www.touchingthesunrise.com Public Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/srkathrynhermes/ For monthly spiritual journaling guides, weekly podcasts and over 50 conferences and retreat programs join my Patreon community: https://www.patreon.com/srkathryn.
Feature Image Credit: dae jeung kim, https://pixabay.com/photos/egret-flying-fog-dawn-sunrise-5937499/
St. Jerome Emiliani: Saint of the Day for Monday, February 08, 2021
Jerome Emiliani lay chained in the dark dirty dungeon. Only a short time before he had been a military commander for Venice in charge of a fortress. He didn’t care much about God because he didn’t need him — he had his own strength and the strength of his soldiers and weapons. When Venice’s enemies, the League of Cambrai, captured the fortress, he was dragged off and imprisoned. There in the dungeon, Jerome decided to get rid of the chains that bound him. He let go of his worldly attachments …
A Prayer For a Family: Prayer of the Day for Monday, February 08, 2021
O dear Jesus,
I humbly implore You to grant Your special graces to our family.
May our home be the shrine of peace, purity, love, labor and faith.
I beg You, dear Jesus, to protect and bless all of us, absent and present, living
and dead.
O Mary,
loving Mother of Jesus,
and our Mother,
pray to Jesus for our family,
for all the families of the world,
to guard the cradle of the newborn,
the schools of the young and their vocations.
Blessed Saint Joseph,
holy guardian …
Life is a Drudgery
Wow, so the First Reading from today is pretty depressing, huh? Just the words we need to shock us out of any sadness or anxiety that we may be dealing with. As a classic optimist, I was tempted to go right past the First Reading and focus on something else, but I kept getting drawn back to it.
The following is the optimist’s take on one of the most depressing passages in Scripture. First, what is drudgery? I had to look up the word, because I knew it sounded bad. Scripture is comparing our lives on earth to hard, menial or dull work. At first glance this just sounds negative, but put it in relation to all of existence, and it makes sense.
Sometimes we wander through this life, or I know that I do, thinking that this is the best of the best. We try to make this earthly life as amazing as possible because it is what we know, and it’s hard to imagine anything else. But the good news is that this is just the beginning. God had so much planned for us, we screwed it up, he fixed it, and promises even more than the original plan.
What a loving God we have. Now all of this is hard to realize because all we know right now is our experience, but I have found it very helpful to take moments throughout the day to realize the place God has made for us in heaven. This life can be amazing, it doesn’t all have to be hard, menial or dull work, but even the best of moments is nothing compared to what God has in store for us. We are eating the scraps when God promises the feast. This reminds me of one of my favorite quotes from C.S. Lewis.
“It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.” -C.S. Lewis
If we are offered infinite joy, then that should shape everything we do. Even the mundane and boring times in this life become meaningful to us because they are one step closer to our ultimate destiny, eternal life. We have a tradition in the Catholic Church of remembering that we will die someday. We are reminded of this on Ash Wednesday. The First Reading clearly points to this. But I say we should remember that someday we will fully live. That should shape everything we do and how we treat others. From all of us here at Rodzinka Ministry, God bless!
Tommy Shultz is the Founder/Director of Rodzinka Ministry and the Director of Faith Formation for the North Allegan Catholic Collaborative. In these roles, he is committed to bringing all those he meets into a deeper relationship with Christ. Tommy has a heart and flair for inspiring people to live their faith every day. He has worked in various youth ministry, adult ministry, and diocesan roles. He has been a featured speaker at retreats and events across the country. With a degree in Theology from Franciscan University, Tommy hopes to use his knowledge to help all people understand the beauty of The Faith. Contact Tommy at tommy@rodzinkaministry.com or check out his website at rodzinkaministry.com.
Feature Image Credit: Pedro Gabriel Miziara, https://unsplash.com/photos/HVwLvZYw6O4