JANUARY 07, 2013 : MONDAY AFTER EPIPHANY

Monday after Epiphany
Lectionary: 212

Reading 1 1 Jn 3:22–4:6

Beloved:
We receive from him whatever we ask,
because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him.
And his commandment is this:
we should believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ,
and love one another just as he commanded us.
Those who keep his commandments remain in him, and he in them,
and the way we know that he remains in us
is from the Spirit whom he gave us.

Beloved, do not trust every spirit
but test the spirits to see whether they belong to God,
because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
This is how you can know the Spirit of God:
every spirit that acknowledges Jesus Christ come in the flesh
belongs to God,
and every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus
does not belong to God.
This is the spirit of the antichrist
who, as you heard, is to come,
but in fact is already in the world.
You belong to God, children, and you have conquered them,
for the one who is in you
is greater than the one who is in the world.
They belong to the world;
accordingly, their teaching belongs to the world,
and the world listens to them.
We belong to God, and anyone who knows God listens to us,
while anyone who does not belong to God refuses to hear us.
This is how we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of deceit.

Responsorial Psalm Ps 2:7bc-8, 10-12a

R. (8ab) I will give you all the nations for an inheritance.
The LORD said to me, “You are my Son;
this day I have begotten you.
Ask of me and I will give you
the nations for an inheritance
and the ends of the earth for your possession.”
R. I will give you all the nations for an inheritance.
And now, O kings, give heed;
take warning, you rulers of the earth.
Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice before him;
with trembling rejoice.
R. I will give you all the nations for an inheritance.

Gospel Mt 4:12-17, 23-25

When Jesus heard that John had been arrested,
he withdrew to Galilee. 
He left Nazareth and went to live in Capernaum by the sea,
in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali,
that what had been said through Isaiah the prophet 
might be fulfilled:

Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali,
the way to the sea, beyond the Jordan,
Galilee of the Gentiles,
the people who sit in darkness
have seen a great light,
on those dwelling in a land overshadowed by death
light has arisen.

From that time on, Jesus began to preach and say,
“Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

He went around all of Galilee,
teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom,
and curing every disease and illness among the people. 
His fame spread to all of Syria,
and they brought to him all who were sick with various diseases
and racked with pain,
those who were possessed, lunatics, and paralytics,
and he cured them. 
And great crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, and Judea,
and from beyond the Jordan followed him.

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Meditation:“The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light”

Do you know the joy and freedom of the gospel? John the Baptist’s enemies had sought to silence him, but the gospel cannot be silenced. As soon as John had finished his testimony Jesus began his in Galilee. Galilee was at the crossroads of the world and much traffic passed through this little region. It had been assigned to the tribes of Asher, Naptali and Zebulum when the Israelites first came into the land (see Joshua 9). For a long time it had been under Gentile occupation. Isaiah foretold (see Isaiah 9) that the good news of salvation would be proclaimed in this land and reach to the Gentiles. Jesus begins the proclamation of the gospel here to fulfill the word of God. The Old Testament prophets spoke of God’s promise to send a Redeemer who would establish God’s rule. That time is now fulfilled in Jesus.
Jesus takes up John’s message of repentance and calls disciples to believe in the good news he has come to deliver. What is the good news which Jesus delivers? It is the good news of peace (restoration of relationship with God), of hope (the hope of resurrection and heaven), of truth (God's word is true and reliable), of promise (he rewards those who seek him), of immortality (God gives everlasting life), and the good news of salvation(liberty from sin and freedom to live as sons and daughters of God). The gospel is the power and wisdom of God: power to change and transform our lives and wisdom to show us how to live as sons and daughters of our Father in heaven. Through the gift of the Holy Spirit the Lord makes it possible for us to receive his word with faith and to act upon it with trust.
In announcing the good news, Jesus made two demands: repent and believe! Repentance requires a life-change and a transformation of heart and mind. The Holy Spirit gives us a repentant heart, a true sorrow and hatred for sin and its consequences, and a firm resolution to avoid it in the future. The Holy Spirit gives us grace to see our sin for what it is – rebellion and a rejection of the love of God.  God’s grace helps us to turn away from all that would keep us from his love.  Faith or belief is an entirely  free gift which God makes to us. Believing is only possible by grace and the help of the Holy Spirit who moves the heart and converts it to God.  The Holy Spirit opens the eyes of the mind and makes it easy for us to accept and believe the truth. To believe is to take Jesus at his word, to believe that God loved us so much that he sent his only begotten Son to redeem us from the slavery of sin and death. God made the supreme sacrifice of his Son on the cross to bring us back to himself. Do you know the love of God that surpasses all else and that impels us to give him our all? God wants to change our way of thinking and transform our lives by the power of his word.
"Lord Jesus, your ways are life and light! Let your word penetrate my heart and transform my mind that I may see your power and glory. Help me to choose your ways and to do what is pleasing to you".
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MONDAY, JANUARY 7
Christmas Weekday
MATTHEW 4:12-17, 23-25
(1 John 3:22―4:6; Psalm 2)
KEY VERSE: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (v 17).
READING: After Herod Antipas imprisoned John the Baptist, Jesus withdrew from Nazareth in the region of Zebulun, and moved north to Capernaum in the region of Naphtali. Matthew saw this move as fulfilling Isaiah's prophecy to the northern territories of Zebulun and Napthali, which were the first to be devastated at the time of the Assyrian conquest (733-32 BCE). This "land of the Gentiles" (v 15) had been in darkness, but would now see a "great light" (Is 8:23-9:1). Matthew observed that Jesus' fame "spread throughout all Syria" (v 24). Matthew may have written his gospel from Antioch in Syria, so this note would have been important to his readers. ThroughJesus' words and works, the restoration of all of God's people had begun. As he went about healing and teaching the people, Jesus continued the proclamation of John the Baptist: "Repent! God's kingdom has arrived!" Whoever heard his call for conversion were invited to change their lives by turning away (Hebrew, shub) from sin, and turning toward God.
REFLECTING: How can I bring the light of Christ to others today?
PRAYING: Lord Jesus, help me to turn from the darkness of sin toward your healing light.
Optional Memorial of Raymond of Pe�afort, priest

Raymond of Pe�afort joined the Dominicans in 1218 and became Master General, the second successor of St. Dominic himself. He was a much-revered canon (or church) lawyer, and met St. Dominic on his way to Bologna, the great university center for canon law. Raymond was summoned to Rome in 1230 by Pope Gregory IX, and assigned to organize in great part the church laws, then called decretals. He assembled the Dominican constitutions which even today follow his structure. After he reviewed the Order's Rule, he resigned his position in 1240 to dedicate himself to parish work. The pope wanted to make Raymond an archbishop, but he declined, instead returning to Spain and the parish life he loved. Raymond's compassion helped many people return to God through the Sacrament of Penance. During his years in Rome, Raymond heard of the difficulties missionaries faced trying to reach non-Christians of Northern Africa and Spain. Raymond started a school to teach the language and culture of the people to be evangelized. His great influence on Church law led to his patronage of lawyers. St Raymond is possibly the longest-lived Dominican, dying at the age of 100.
www.daily-word-of-life.com

 I will give you all the nations for your heritage 
I will give you all the nations for your heritage.
The spirit of God in us and in the world is celebrated in today’s readings. If we love one another, we are in God and God is in us. The promise of the psalm is that all nations are our heritage and the ends of the earth are our possession. But we are also told that those of us born to privilege must be wise and serve God with humility.

A model of humble service is found in the ministry of Jesus as he proclaims the Good News and cures the sick. Do we live a life of service, or do we enjoy a life of privilege? If all nations are our heritage, who is our neighbour? How might we live out the simple yet difficult commandment to love our neighbour?
www.churchresources.info

January 7
Blessed Angela of Foligno
(1248-1309)

Some saints show marks of holiness very early. Not Angela! Born of a leading family in Foligno, Italy, she became immersed in the quest for wealth and social position. As a wife and mother, she continued this life of distraction.

Around the age of 40 she recognized the emptiness of her life and sought God’s help in the Sacrament of Penance. Her Franciscan confessor helped Angela to seek God’s pardon for her previous life and to dedicate herself to prayer and the works of charity.

Shortly after her conversion, her husband and children died. Selling most of her possessions, she entered the Secular Franciscan Order. She was alternately absorbed by meditating on the crucified Christ and by serving the poor of Foligno as a nurse and beggar for their needs. Other women joined her in a religious community.

At her confessor’s advice, Angela wrote her Book of Visions and Instructions. In it she recalls some of the temptations she suffered after her conversion; she also expresses her thanks to God for the Incarnation of Jesus. This book and her life earned for Angela the title "Teacher of Theologians." She was beatified in 1693.

Comment:

People who live in the United States today can understand Blessed Angela’s temptation to increase her sense of self-worth by accumulating money, fame or power. Striving to possess more and more, she became more and more self-centered. When she realized she was priceless because she was created and loved by God, she became very penitential and very charitable to the poor. What had seemed foolish early in her life now became very important. The path of self-emptying she followed is the path all holy men and women must follow.

Quote:

Pope John Paul II writes: “Christ the Redeemer of the World is the one who penetrated in a unique, unrepeatable way into the mystery of the human person and entered our ‘hearts.’ Rightly therefore does the Second Vatican Council teach: ‘The truth is that only in the mystery of the Incarnate Word does the mystery of the human person take on light.... Christ the New Adam, in the very revelation of the mystery of the Father and his love, fully reveals human beings to themselves and brings to light their most high calling’” (Redemptor Hominis, 8).

January 7
St. Raymond of Peñafort
(1175-1275)

Since Raymond lived into his hundredth year, he had a chance to do many things. As a member of the Spanish nobility, he had the resources and the education to get a good start in life.

By the time he was 20, he was teaching philosophy. In his early 30s he earned a doctorate in both canon and civil law. At 41 he became a Dominican. Pope Gregory IX called him to Rome to work for him and to be his confessor. One of the things the pope asked him to do was to gather together all the decrees of popes and councils that had been made in 80 years since a similar collection by Gratian. Raymond compiled five books called the Decretals. They were looked upon as one of the best organized collections of Church law until the 1917 codification of canon law.

Earlier, Raymond had written for confessors a book of cases. It was called Summa de Casibus Poenitentiae. More than simply a list of sins and penances, it discussed pertinent doctrines and laws of the Church that pertained to the problem or case brought to the confessor.

At the age of 60, Raymond was appointed archbishop of Tarragona, the capital of Aragon. He didn’t like the honor at all and ended up getting sick and resigning in two years.

He didn’t get to enjoy his peace long, however, because when he was 63 he was elected by his fellow Dominicans to be the head of the whole Order, the successor of St. Dominic. Raymond worked hard, visited on foot all the Dominicans, reorganized their constitutions and managed to put through a provision that a master general be allowed to resign. When the new constitutions were accepted, Raymond, then 65, resigned.

He still had 35 years to oppose heresy and work for the conversion of the Moors in Spain. He convinced St. Thomas Aquinas to write his work Against the Gentiles.

In his 100th year the Lord let Raymond retire.

Comment:

Raymond was a lawyer, a canonist. Legalism can suck the life out of genuine religion if it becomes too great a preoccupation with the letter of the law to the neglect of the spirit and purpose of the law. The law can become an end in itself, so that the value the law was intended to promote is overlooked. But we must guard against going to the opposite extreme and seeing law as useless or something to be lightly regarded. Laws ideally state those things that are for the best interests of everyone and make sure the rights of all are safeguarded. From Raymond, we can learn a respect for law as a means of serving the common good.

Quote:

“He who hates the law is without wisdom,/and is tossed about like a boat in a storm” (Sirach 33:2).

Patron Saint of:

Attorneys
Lawyers

www.americancatholic.org

LECTIO: MATTHEW 4,12-17.23-25

Lectio: 

 Monday, January 7, 2013  

Christmas Time

1) Opening prayer
Lord, let the light of your glory shine within us,
and lead us through the darkness of this world
to the radiant joy of our eternal home.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

2) Gospel Reading - Matthew 4,12-17.23-25
Hearing that John had been arrested he withdrew to Galilee, and leaving Nazareth he went and settled in Capernaum, beside the lake, on the borders of Zebulun and Naphtali. This was to fulfil what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: Land of Zebulun! Land of Naphtali! Way of the sea beyond Jordan. Galilee of the nations! The people that lived in darkness have seen a great light; on those who lived in a country of shadow dark as death a light has dawned. 
From then onwards Jesus began his proclamation with the message, 'Repent, for the kingdom of Heaven is close at hand.'
He went round the whole of Galilee teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing all kinds of disease and illness among the people.
His fame spread throughout Syria, and those who were suffering from diseases and painful complaints of one kind or another, the possessed, epileptics, the paralysed, were all brought to him, and he cured them. Large crowds followed him, coming from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judaea and Transjordan.

3) Reflection
• A brief information on the objective of the Gospel of Matthew. The Gospel of Matthew was written during the second half of the first century in order to encourage the small and fragile community of the converted Jews who lived in the region of Galilee and Syria. They suffered persecution and threats on the part of the Jewish brothers because they had accepted Jesus as the Messiah and for having received the Pagans. In order to strengthen them in their faith, the Gospel of Matthew insists in saying that Jesus is really the Messiah and that the salvation which Jesus comes to bring is not only for the Jews, but for all of humanity. At the beginning of his Gospel, in the genealogy, Matthew already indicates this universal vocation of Jesus, because being “son of Abraham” (Mt 1, 1.17) he will be a source of blessings for all the nations of the world” (cfr. Gen 12, 3). In the visit of the Magi, who came from the East, he suggests once again that the salvation is addressed to the Pagans (Mt 2, 1-12). In the text of today’s Gospel, he shows that the light which shines in the Galilee of the Gentiles” shines also outside the frontiers of Israel, in the Decapolis and beyond the Jordan (Mt 4, 12-25). Further on, in the Sermon on the Mountain, Jesus will say that the vocation of the Christian community is that of being “salt of the earth and light of the world” (Mt 5, 13-14) and he asks to love the enemies (Mt 5, 43-48). Jesus is the servant of God who announces the rights of the nations (Mt 12, 18). Helped by the Canaanite woman, Jesus himself overcomes the barriers of races (Mt 15, 21-28). He also overcomes the laws of purity which prevented the Gospel to be opened to the Pagans (Mt 15, 1-20). And finally, when Jesus sends his disciples to all Nations, the universality of salvation is even clearer (Mt 28, 19-20). In the same way, the communities are called to open themselves to all, without excluding anyone, because all are called to live as sons and daughters of God.

 
• Today’s Gospel describes how this universal mission is an initiative. The news of the imprisonment of John the Baptist impels Jesus to begin his preaching. John had said: “Repent, because the Kingdom of God is at hand!” (Mt 4, 17). This was the reason why he was imprisoned by Herod. When Jesus knew that John had been imprisoned, he returned to Galilee proclaiming the same message: “Repent, because the Kingdom of God is at hand!” (Mt 4, 17). In other words, from the beginning, the preaching of the Gospel had risks, but Jesus did not allow himself to be frightened. In this way, Matthew encourages the communities which were running the same risks of persecution. He quotes the text of Isaiah: “The people who lived in darkness have seen a great light!” Like Jesus, the communities are also called to be “the light of nations!”
• Jesus began the announcement of the Good News going through the whole of Galilee. He does not stop, waiting for the people to arrive, but he goes toward the people. He himself participates in the meetings, in the Synagogues, to announce his message. The people bring the sick, the possessed, and Jesus accepts all, and cures them. This service to the sick forms part of the Good News and reveals to the people the presence of the Kingdom. 
• Thus, the fame of Jesus is diffused in all the region, goes beyond the frontier of Galilee, penetrates Judah, and reaches Jerusalem, goes beyond the Jordan and reaches Syria and the Decapolis. In this region there are also some communities for whom Matthew was writing his Gospel. Now they know that, in spite of all the difficulties and the risks, there is already the light which shines in the darkness.

4) Personal questions
• Some times, are you also light for others?
• Today, many close themselves up in the Catholic Religion. How can we live today the universality of salvation?

5) Concluding prayer
I will proclaim the decree of Yahweh: 
He said to me, "You are my son, 
today have I fathered you." (Ps 2,7)

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