Daily Gospel for Wednesday, 8 January 2014

Daily Gospel for Wednesday, 8 January 2014

“Peter replied, “Master, to whom would we go? You have the words of real life, eternal life.”(John 6:68, The Message).

Wednesday after Epiphany

Saint of the Day:

SAINT APOLLINARIS, THE APOLOGIST

Bishop

(2nd century)

Claudius Apollinaris, Bishop of Hierapolis in Phrygia, was one of the most illustrious prelates of the second age. Notwithstanding the great encomiums bestowed on him by Eusebius, St. Jerome, Theodoret, and ethers, but little is known of his actions; and his writings, which then were held in great esteem, seem now to be all lost.

He wrote many able treatises against the heretics, and pointed out, as St. Jerome testifies, from what philosophical sect each heresy derived its errors. Nothing rendered his name so illustrious, however, as his noble apology for the Christian religion which he addressed to the Emperor Marcus Aurelius, about the year 175, soon after the miraculous victory that prince had obtained over the Quadi by the prayers of the Christians.

St. Apollinaris reminded the emperor of the benefit he had received from God through the prayers of his Christian subjects, and implored protection for them against the persecution of the pagans. Marcus Aurelius published an edict in which he forbade any one, under pain of death, to accuse a Christian on account of his religion; by a strange inconsistency, he had not the courage to abolish the laws then in force against the Christians, and, as a consequence, many of them suffered martyrdom, though their accusers were also put to death.

The date of St. Apollinaris' death is not known; the Roman Martyrology mentions him on the 8th of January.

Lives of the Saints, by Alban Butler, Benziger Bros. ed. [1894]

St. Severin

Abbot

(410-482)

Among the inhabitants of Noricum (now Austria), the abbot St. Severin who propagated the Gospel in that country, and is called its apostle.

By divine power his body was carried to Lucullano, near Naples, and thence transferred to the monastery of St. Severin.

The Roman Martyrology

St. Thorfinn, Bishop († 1285)

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.

Wednesday after Epiphany

1 John 4: 11 Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us.

13 By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and do testify that the Father has sent his Son as the Savior of the world. 15 God abides in those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and they abide in God. 16 So we have known and believe the love that God has for us.

God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them. 17 Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness on the day of judgment, because as he is, so are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love.

Psalm 72: 1 Give the king your justice, O God,

    and your righteousness to a king’s son.

2 May he judge your people with righteousness,

    and your poor with justice.

10 May the kings of Tarshish and of the isles

    render him tribute,

may the kings of Sheba and Seba

    bring gifts.

12 For he delivers the needy when they call,

    the poor and those who have no helper.

13 He has pity on the weak and the needy,

    and saves the lives of the needy.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark 6: Jesus Walks on the Water

45 Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. 46 After saying farewell to them, he went up on the mountain to pray.

47 When evening came, the boat was out on the sea, and he was alone on the land. 48 When he saw that they were straining at the oars against an adverse wind, he came towards them early in the morning, walking on the sea. He intended to pass them by. 49 But when they saw him walking on the sea, they thought it was a ghost and cried out; 50 for they all saw him and were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.” 51 Then he got into the boat with them and the wind ceased. And they were utterly astounded, 52 for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened.

Wednesday after Epiphany

Commentary of the Day:

Saint Bernard (1091-1153), Cistercian monk and doctor of the Church

1st Sermon of the Epiphany

"About the fourth watch of the night he came towards them"

“Behold, goodness and kindness has appeared, the humanity of God our Savior” (Tit 3,4 Vg). Thanks be to God, through whose mercy in this our pilgrimage, in this our banishment, in this our state of misery, has also greatly increased our consolation... Before his humanity appeared, his goodness remained hidden too. Of course, it existed beforehand, for “the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting” (Ps 103[102]. But how could we have known its greatness? It was the object of a promise, not of an experience, which is why many people did not believe in it...

Now, however, people can believe in what they see, since: “The Lord's decrees are worthy of trust indeed”, and: “He has pitched his tent in the sun” (cf. Ps 93[92],5; 19[18],5). Now peace is no longer promised but sent, not reserved until later but given, not prophesied but set forth. Now God has sent the treasures of his mercy upon earth, treasures that are to be exposed by his Passion to pour forth the prize of our salvation concealed in them... For if it is only a tiny child that has been given to us (Is 9,5), yet “in him dwells the whole fulness of the godhead bodily” (Col 2,9). In the fullness of time it came in the flesh to be visible to our eyes of flesh, that seeing his humanity and his kindness we should recognize his goodness... Does anything better prove his mercy than to see him take on our misery? “What is man, O Lord, that you notice him; the son of man that you take thought of him?” (Ps 144[143],3; Jb 7,17 Vg).

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