Trang

Thứ Ba, 8 tháng 1, 2013

JANUARY 08 : TUESDAY AFTER EPIPHANY


Tuesday after Epiphany
Lectionary: 213

Reading 1 1 Jn 4:7-10
Beloved, let us love one another,
because love is of God;
everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God.
Whoever is without love does not know God, for God is love.
In this way the love of God was revealed to us:
God sent his only-begotten Son into the world
so that we might have life through him.
In this is love:
not that we have loved God, but that he loved us
and sent his Son as expiation for our sins.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 72:1-2, 3-4, 7-8
R. (see 11) Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
O God, with your judgment endow the king,
and with your justice, the king’s son;
He shall govern your people with justice
and your afflicted ones with judgment.
R. Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
The mountains shall yield peace for the people,
and the hills justice.
He shall defend the afflicted among the people,
save the children of the poor.
R. Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
Justice shall flower in his days,
and profound peace, till the moon be no more.
May he rule from sea to sea,
and from the River to the ends of the earth.
R. Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
Gospel Mk 6:34-44
When Jesus saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them,
for they were like sheep without a shepherd;
and he began to teach them many things. 
By now it was already late and his disciples approached him and said,
“This is a deserted place and it is already very late. 
Dismiss them so that they can go 
to the surrounding farms and villages
and buy themselves something to eat.” 
He said to them in reply,
“Give them some food yourselves.” 
But they said to him,
“Are we to buy two hundred days’ wages worth of food
and give it to them to eat?” 
He asked them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.” 
And when they had found out they said,
“Five loaves and two fish.” 
So he gave orders to have them sit down in groups on the green grass. 
The people took their places in rows by hundreds and by fifties. 
Then, taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, 
he said the blessing, broke the loaves, and gave them to his disciples
to set before the people;
he also divided the two fish among them all. 
They all ate and were satisfied. 
And they picked up twelve wicker baskets full of fragments
and what was left of the fish. 
Those who ate of the loaves were five thousand men.
www.usccb.org


Meditation:"They all ate and were satisfied"
 What can satisfy the deepest hunger you experience? When Jesus saw people in hunger and want, he gave them more than they ever expected.  Do you approach the Lord with the expectation that he can satisfy you as well? Of all the miracles Jesus did, the miracle of the multiplication of loaves and fishes is the only one which is repeated in all four gospels. A great crowd of people had gathered to hear Jesus because they were hungry for God's word.  Jesus’disciples wanted to send the crowd away at the end of the day because they did not have the resources to feed them.  They even complained how much money it would take to feed such a crowd -- at least six month’s wages!  Jesus did the unthinkable.  He took the little food they had -- only five loaves and two fish -- and giving thanks to his heavenly Father, distributed this small portion to the whole crowd.  To the amazement of all, there was more than enough food for everyone present.  And they ate until there were satisfied of their hunger. The twelve disciples took up what was left over, twelve baskets full of fish and loaves, so that nothing would be wasted.
What is the significance of this miracle? The miraculous feeding of such a great multitude pointed to God's provision of manna in the wilderness for the people of Israel under Moses' leadership. This food foreshadowed the true heavenly bread which Jesus would offer his followers. Jesus makes a claim only God can make: He is the true bread of heaven that can satisfy the deepest hunger we experience. The feeding of the five thousand shows the remarkable generosity of God and his great kindness towards us. In the multiplication of the loaves and fishes we see a sign and a symbol of what God always does. When God gives, he gives abundantly. He gives more than we need for ourselves that we may have something to share with others, especially those who lack what they need. God takes the little we have and multiplies it for the good of others. Do you trust in God's provision for you and do you share freely with others, especially those who are in need or want?
"Lord Jesus Christ, you satisfy the deepest longings of our hearts and you feed us with the finest of wheat (Psalm 81:16). Fill me with gratitude for your blessings and give me a generous heart that I may freely share with others what you have given to me."
www.dailyscripture.net


TUESDAY, JANUARY 8
Christmas Weekday
MARK 6:34-44

(1 John 4:7-10; Psalm 72)
KEY VERSE: "They all ate and were satisfied" (v 42).
READING: The twelve apostles had been sent by Jesus to heal and preach, and to announce the coming of God's reign (vs 7-13). When they returned from their first mission they reported all that had occurred. Jesus took his exhausted apostles across the Sea of Galilee to rest in a quiet place. When they arrived, a great crowd was there to greet them. Jesus was not upset by this interruption to their privacy, but was moved with compassion because the people were spiritually hungry. After he taught them at length, his followers urged Jesus to dismiss the crowds so they could find something to eat. Jesus told his disciples to feed the people themselves. Where they saw only scarcity in the few loaves and fish available, Jesus saw an abundance. He blessed the offering and fed the multitude. The miracle looks back to the feeding of Israel in the desert, and anticipates the Eucharistic banquet where all are fed by Christ.
REFLECTING: In what ways do I feed hungry souls? 
PRAYING: Lord Jesus, help me to hunger for your presence in word and sacrament.
www.daily-word-of-life.com

Lord, every nation on earth will adore you 
In his days uprightness shall flourish and peace in plenty ...
A sense of abundance comes through the story of the loaves and fishes. Twelve baskets were filled with the scraps after the five thousand were satisfied. Does this suggest the generosity of God? Can we assume that our earth contains more than we need? Surely we should not selfishly hoard the earth’s resources but rather share them generously, ensuring they are distributed among all God’s people and trusting there will be sufficient for all.

Carrying this sense of abundance further into the spiritual realm, we can believe that peace and justice are possible for all if we rely on God’s word, not trusting in earthly laws but believing as the psalmist proclaims: ‘In his days uprightness shall flourish and peace in plenty, till the moon is no more.’

www.churchresources.info

St. Thorfinn


Feastday: January 8
In the year 1285, there died in the Cistercian monastery at TerDoest, near Bruges, a Norwegian bishop named Thorfinn. He had never attracted particular attention and was soon forgotten. But over fifty years later, in the course of some building operations, his tomb in the Church was opened and it was reported that the remains gave out a strong and pleasing spell. The Abbot made inquiries and found that one of his monks, and aged man named Walter de Muda, remembered Bishop Thorfinn staying in there monastery and the impression he had made of gentle goodness combined with strength. Father Walter had in fact, written a poem about him after his death and hung it up over his tomb. It was then found that the parchment was still there, none the worse for the passage of time. This was taken as a direction from on high that the Bishop's memory was to be perpetuated, and Father Walter was instructed to write down his recollections of him. For all that, there is little enough known about St. Thorfinn. He was a Trondhjem man and perhaps was a Canon of the Cathedral of Nidaros, since there was such a one named Thorfinn among those who witnessed the agreement of Tonsborg in 1277. This was an agreement between King Magnus VI and the Archbishop of Nidaros confirming certain privileges of the clergy, the freedom of episcopal elections and similar matters. Some years later, King Eric repudiated this agreement, and a fierce dispute between Church and state ensued. Eventually the King outlawed the Archbishop, John, and his two chief supporters, Bishop Andrew of Oslow and Bishop Thorfinn of Hamar. Bishop Thorfinn, after many hardships, including shipwreck, made his way to the Abbey of TerDoest in Flanders, which had a number of contacts with the Norwegian Church. It is possible that he had been there before, and there is some reason to suppose he was himself a Cistercian of the Abbey of Tautra, near Nidaros. After a visit to Rome he went to TerDoest, in bad health. Indeed, though probably still a youngish man, he saw death approaching and so made his will; he had little to leave, but what there was, he divided between his mother, his brothers and sisters, and certain monasteries, churches and charities in his dioceses. He died shortly after on January 8, 1285. After his recall to the memory of man as mentioned in the opening paragraph of this notice, miracles were reported at his tomb and St. Thorfinn was venerated by the Cistercians and around Bruges. In our own day, his memory has been revived among the few Catholics of Norway, and his feast is observed in his episcopal city of Hamar. The tradition of Thorfinn's holiness ultimately rests on the poem of Walter de Muda, where he appeared as a kind, patient, generous man, whose mild exterior covered a firm will against whatever he esteemed to be evil and ungodly. His feast day is January 8th.
www.catholic.org

ST. PETER THOMAS, BISHOP (FEAST)

Liturgy: 
 Tuesday, January 8, 2013
 Born in Perigod, France, around 1305, Saint Peter Thomas joined the Carmelite Order when twenty years of age. He was Procurator General of the Order at the Papal Curia at Avignon and also an official preacher to the Curia there. In 1354, he was appointed bishop of Patti and Lipari. He acted as papal legate to the kings and emperors of his time, seeking to promote peace and to re-establish unity with the Eastern Churches. He was translated to other episcopal sees: in 1359 to that of Corinth in the Pelopennese with the role of papal legate in the East; then to Crete as archbishop in 1363 and finally to Constantinople in 1364 as Latin Patriarch. His efforts for the unity of the Church make this fourteenth century saint a precursor of ecumenism. He died in 1366 at Famagusta in Cyprus.

www.ocarm.org


LECTIO: MARK 6,34-44

Lectio: 
 Tuesday, January 8, 2013  
Christmas Time

1) Opening prayer
Father, your Son became like us
when he revealed himself in our nature;
help us to become more like him,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

2) Gospel Reading - Mark 6,34-44
So as he stepped ashore he saw a large crowd; and he took pity on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd, and he set himself to teach them at some length.
By now it was getting very late, and his disciples came up to him and said, 'This is a lonely place and it is getting very late, so send them away, and they can go to the farms and villages round about, to buy themselves something to eat.' He replied, 'Give them something to eat yourselves.' They answered, 'Are we to go and spend two hundred denarii on bread for them to eat?' He asked, 'How many loaves have you? Go and see.' And when they had found out they said, 'Five, and two fish.' Then he ordered them to get all the people to sit down in groups on the green grass, and they sat down on the ground in squares of hundreds and fifties. Then he took the five loaves and the two fish, raised his eyes to heaven and said the blessing; then he broke the loaves and began handing them to his disciples to distribute among the people. He also shared out the two fish among them all.
They all ate as much as they wanted. They collected twelve basketfuls of scraps of bread and pieces of fish. Those who had eaten the loaves numbered five thousand men.

3) Reflection
• It is always good to look at the context in which the text of the Gospel is found, because it enlightens us in order to discover better the sense of it. A bit before (Mk 6, 17-19), Mark narrates the banquet of death, organized by Herod with the great persons of Galilee, in the Palace of the Capital city, during which John the Baptist was killed. In today’s text, he describes the banquet of life , promoted by Jesus with the hungry crowds of Galilee, there in the desert. The contrast of this context is great and enlightens the text.
• In Mark’s Gospel, the multiplication of the loaves is very important. It is mentioned twice: here and in Mk 8, 1-9. And Jesus himself questions the disciples on the multiplication of the loaves (Mk 8, 14-21). This is why it is worth while to observe and to reflect up to the point of discovering in what exactly consists the importance of the multiplication of the loaves.
• Jesus had invited the disciples to rest a bit in a place in the desert (Mk 6, 31). The crowds perceived that Jesus had gone to the other side of the lake, and they followed him and arrived there before he did (Mk 6, 33). When Jesus, getting down from the boat, sees that large crowd waiting for him, he becomes sad “because they were like sheep without a shepherd”. This phrase recalls the Psalm of the Good Shepherd (Ps 23). Before the people without a shepherd, Jesus forgets to rest and begins to teach, he begins to be a Shepherd. With his words he orientates and guides the crowds in the desert of life; and in this way the crowd could sing: “The Lord is my Shepherd! There is nothing I shall want!” (Ps 23, 1).
• Time went by and it began to be late and dark. The disciples were concerned and asked Jesus to send the people away. They affirm that there in the desert it is not possible to find anything to eat for so many people. Jesus says: “You, yourselves give them to eat!” But they were afraid: “Do you want us to go and buy bread for 200 denarius?” (that is, the salary of 200 days!). The disciples seek a solution outside the crowds and for the crowds. Jesus does not seek the solution outside, but rather within the crowd and for the crowd and he asks: “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.” The answer is: “Five loaves and two fish!” It is very little for so many people! Jesus orders the crowd to sit down in groups and asks the disciples to distribute the bread and the fish. Everybody ate enough to be satisfied!
• It is important to observe how Mark describes this fact: Jesus took the five loaves and the two fish, raised his eyes to Heaven, pronounced the blessing, broke the bread and gave it to the disciples to distribute it”. This way of speaking makes the communities think about what? No doubt, this made them think about the Eucharist. Because these same words will be used (even now) in the celebration of the Supper of the Lord. Thus Mark suggests that the Eucharist has to lead us to share. It is the Bread of Life which gives us courage and leads us to face the problems of people in a different way, not from outside, but from inside.
• In the way of describing the facts, Mark recalls the Bible in order to enlighten the sense of the facts. To feed the hungry crowds in the desert, Moses was the first one to do it (cfr. Ex 16, 1-36). And to ask the people to organize themselves and sit down in groups of 50 or 100 reminds us of the census of the People in the desert after they left Egypt (cfr. Nb 1-4). In this way, Mark suggests that Jesus is the new Messiah. The people of the communities knew the Old Testament, and for one who understands well, few words suffice. In this way they discovered the mystery which surrounded the person of Jesus.

4) Personal questions
• Jesus forgets to rest in order to serve the people. Which is the message which I discover for myself?
• If today we would share what we have, there would be no hunger in the world. What can I do?

5) Concluding prayer
In his days uprightness shall flourish,
and peace in plenty till the moon is no more.
His empire shall stretch from sea to sea,
from the river to the limits of the earth. (Ps 72,7-8)

 

www.ocarm.org
Mark 6:34-44

Không có nhận xét nào:

Đăng nhận xét