Thursday, 07 January 2010

Thursday after Epiphany

Today the Church celebrates : St. Raymond of Peñafort, Priest (c. 1175-1275),  St. Lucian, Priest and Martyr (+ 312)

See commentary below or click here
Catechism of the Catholic Church: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me”

First Letter of John 4:19-21.5:1-4.

We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, “I love God,” but hates his brother, he is a liar; for whoever does not love a brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. This is the commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother. Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is begotten by God, and everyone who loves the father loves (also) the one begotten by him. In this way we know that we love the children of God when we love God and obey his commandments. For the love of God is this, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome, for whoever is begotten by God conquers the world. And the victory that conquers the world is our faith.

Psalms 72:2.14-15.17.

O God, give your judgment to the king; your justice to the son of kings; That he may govern your people with justice, your oppressed with right judgment,
From extortion and violence he frees them, for precious is their blood in his sight.
Long may he live, receiving gold from Arabia, prayed for without cease, blessed day by day.
May his name be blessed forever; as long as the sun, may his name endure. May the tribes of the earth give blessings with his name; may all the nations regard him as favored.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 4:14-22.

Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news of him spread throughout the whole region. He taught in their synagogues and was praised by all. He came to Nazareth, where he had grown up, and went according to his custom into the synagogue on the sabbath day. He stood up to read and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.” Rolling up the scroll, he handed it back to the attendant and sat down, and the eyes of all in the synagogue looked intently at him. He said to them, “Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.” And all spoke highly of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They also asked, “Isn’t this the son of Joseph?”

Copyright © Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, USCCB

Commentary of the day :

Catechism of the Catholic Church
§ 695

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me”

Symbols of the Holy Spirit: Anointing. The symbolism of anointing with oil signifies the Holy Spirit, to the point of becoming a synonym for the Holy Spirit. In Christian initiation, anointing is the sacramental sign of Confirmation, called ‘chrismation’ in the Churches of the East. Its full force can be grasped only in relation to the primary anointing accomplished by the Holy Spirit, that of Jesus. Christ (in Hebrew ‘messiah’) means the one ‘anointed’ by God’s Spirit.

There were several anointed ones of the Lord in the Old Covenant,  pre-eminently King David. But Jesus is God’s Anointed in a unique way: the humanity the Son assumed was entirely anointed by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit established him as ‘Christ’. The Virgin Mary conceived Christ by the Holy Spirit who, through the angel, proclaimed him the Christ at his birth and prompted Simeon to come to the Temple to see Christ the Lord. The Spirit filled Christ and the power of the Spirit went out from him in his acts of healing and saving.

Finally, it was the Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead. Now fully established as ‘Christ’ in his humanity victorious over death, Jesus pours out the Holy Spirit abundantly until the ‘saints’ constitute, in their union with the humanity of the Son of God, the perfect man «to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ»: «the whole Christ», in St Augustine’s expression.

(Biblical references: 1Jn 2,20.27; 2Cor 1,21; Ex 30,22-32; 1Sm 16,13; Lk 4,18-19; 1,35; 2,11; 2,26-27; 4,1; 6,19; Rom 1,4; 8,11; Acts 2,36; Eph 4,13)

Wednesday after Epiphany First Letter of John 4:11-18. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also must love one another. No one has ever seen God. Yet, if we love one another, God remains in us, and his love is brought to perfection in us. This is how we know that we remain in him and he in us, that he has given us of his Spirit. Moreover, we have seen and testify that the Father sent his Son as savior of the world. Whoever acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God remains in him and he in God. We have come to know and to believe in the love God has for us. God is love, and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him. In this is love brought to perfection among us, that we have confidence on the day of judgment because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear because fear has to do with punishment, and so one who fears is not yet perfect in love. Psalms 72:2.10-13. O God, give your judgment to the king; your justice to the son of kings; That he may govern your people with justice, your oppressed with right judgment, May the kings of Tarshish and the islands bring tribute, the kings of Arabia and Seba offer gifts. May all kings bow before him, all nations serve him. For he rescues the poor when they cry out, the oppressed who have no one to help. He shows pity to the needy and the poor and saves the lives of the poor. Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark 6:45-52. Then he made his disciples get into the boat and precede him to the other side toward Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. And when he had taken leave of them, he went off to the mountain to pray. When it was evening, the boat was far out on the sea and he was alone on shore. Then he saw that they were tossed about while rowing, for the wind was against them. About the fourth watch of the night, he came toward them walking on the sea. He meant to pass by them. But when they saw him walking on the sea, they thought it was a ghost and cried out. They had all seen him and were terrified. But at once he spoke with them, “Take courage, it is I, do not be afraid!” He got into the boat with them and the wind died down. They were (completely) astounded. They had not understood the incident of the loaves. On the contrary, their hearts were hardened. Commentary of the day : Saint Hilary “About the fourth watch of the night, he came toward them” //

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Tuesday after Epiphany
First Letter of John 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 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.

Psalms 72:2.3-4.7-8.
O God, give your judgment to the king; your justice to the son of kings; That he may govern your people with justice, your oppressed with right judgment,
That the mountains may yield their bounty for the people, and the hills great abundance,
That he may defend the oppressed among the people, save the poor and crush the oppressor.
That abundance may flourish in his days, great bounty, till the moon be no more.
May he rule from sea to sea, from the river to the ends of the earth.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark 6:34-44.
When he disembarked and 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.
Commentary of the day : Saint John Chrysostom
« He took the bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them saying: ‘This is my body’ » (Lk 22,19)