DAILY GOSPEL FOR SUNDAY, 16 FEBRUARY 2014

DAILY GOSPEL FOR SUNDAY, 16 FEBRUARY 2014
"Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life." John 6:68
Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year A
SAINT OF THE DAY:
SAINT ONESIMUS
Disciple of St. Paul
(1st century)
He was a Phrygian by birth, slave to Philemon, a person of note of the city of Colossæ, converted to the faith by St. Paul. Having robbed his master and being obliged to fly, he providentially met with St. Paul, then a prisoner for the faith at Rome, who there converted and baptized him, and sent him with his canonical letter of recommendation to Philemon, by whom he was pardoned, set at liberty, and sent back to his spiritual father, whom he afterwards faithfully served.
That apostle made him, with Tychicus, the bearer of his Epistle to the Colossians, and afterwards, as St. Jerome and other Fathers witness, a preacher of the Gospel and a bishop. He was crowned with martyrdom under Domitian in the year 95.
Lives of the Saints, by Alban Butler, Benziger Bros. ed. [1894]
BLESSED JOHN DE BRITTO
Martyr
(+ 1693)
Don Pedro II. of Portugal, when a child, had among his little pages a modest boy of rich and princely parents. Much had John de Britto—for so was he called—to bear from his careless-living companions, to whom his holy life was a reproach. A terrible illness made him turn for aid to St. Francis Xavier, a Saint so well loved by the Portuguese; and when, in answer to his prayers, he recovered, his mother vested him for a year in the dress worn in those days by the Jesuit Fathers. From that time John's heart burned to follow the example of the Apostle of the Indies. He gained his wish.
On December 17, 1662, he entered the novitiate of the Society at Lisbon; and eleven years later, in spite of the most determined opposition of his family and of the court, he left all to go to convert the Hindus of Madura. When Blessed John's mother knew that her son was going to the Indies, she used all her influence to prevent him leaving his own country, and persuaded the Papal Nuncio to interfere. "God, Who called me from the world into religious life, now calls me from Portugal to India," was the reply of the future martyr. "Not to answer the vocation as I ought, would be to provoke the justice of God. As long as I live, I shall never cease striving to gain a passage to India."
For fourteen years he toiled, preaching, converting, baptizing multitudes, at the cost of privations, hardships, and persecutions. At last, after being seized, tortured, and nearly massacred by the heathens, he was banished from the country. Forced to return to Portugal, John once more broke through every obstacle, and went back again to his labor of love.
Like St. John the Baptist, he died a victim to the anger of a guilty woman, whom a convert king had put aside, and, like the Precursor, he was beheaded after a painful imprisonment.
Lives of the Saints, by Alban Butler, Benziger Bros. ed. [1894]
Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year A
Sirach 15:15 If you will, you can keep the commandments,
    and to act faithfully is a matter of your own choice.
16 He has placed before you fire and water:
    stretch out your hand for whichever you wish.
17 Before a man[a] are life and death,
    and whichever he chooses will be given to him.
18 For great is the wisdom of the Lord;
    he is mighty in power and sees everything;
19 his eyes are on those who fear him,
    and he knows every deed of man.
20 He has not commanded any one to be ungodly,
    and he has not given any one permission to sin.
Footnotes:
a. Sirach 15:17 Gk men
Psalm 119: The Glories of God’s Law
1 [a]Blessed are those whose way is blameless,
    who walk in the law of the Lord!
2 Blessed are those who keep his testimonies,
    who seek him with their whole heart,
Footnotes:
a. 119 This great hymn of praise for the Torah, the law of God, is typical of the best Jewish piety after the Exile.
4 Thou hast commanded thy precepts
    to be kept diligently.
5 O that my ways may be steadfast
    in keeping thy statutes!
17 Deal bountifully with thy servant,
    that I may live and observe thy word.
18 Open my eyes, that I may behold
    wondrous things out of thy law.
33 Teach me, O Lord, the way of thy statutes;
    and I will keep it to the end.
34 Give me understanding, that I may keep thy law
    and observe it with my whole heart.
1 Corinthians 2: The True Wisdom of God
6 Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. 7 But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glorification. 8 None of the rulers of this age understood this; for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9 But, as it is written,
“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,
nor the heart of man conceived,
what God has prepared for those who love him,”
10 God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 5: The Law and the Prophets
17 “Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfil them.[a] 18 For truly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. 19 Whoever then relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but he who does them and teaches them shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
Concerning Anger
21 “You have heard that it was said to the men of old, ‘You shall not kill; and whoever kills shall be liable to judgment.’ 22 But I say to you that every one who is angry with his brother[b] shall be liable to judgment; whoever insults[c] his brother shall be liable to the council, and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be liable to the hell[d] of fire. 23 So if you are offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. 25 Make friends quickly with your accuser, while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison; 26 truly, I say to you, you will never get out till you have paid the last penny.
Concerning Adultery
27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I say to you that every one who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and throw it away; it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell.[e][f] 30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away; it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.[g]
Concerning Divorce
31 “It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ 32 But I say to you that every one who divorces his wife, except on the ground of unchastity,[h] makes her an adulteress; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
Concerning Oaths
33 “Again you have heard that it was said to the men of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’ 34 But I say to you, Do not swear at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, 35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36 And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. 37 Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.[i]
Footnotes:
a. 5.17 Jesus came to bring the old law to its natural fulfilment in the new, while discarding what had become obsolete; cf. Jn 4.21.
b. Matthew 5:22 Other ancient authorities insert without cause
c. Matthew 5:22 Greek says Raca to (an obscure term of abuse)
d. Matthew 5:22 Greek Gehenna
e. Matthew 5:29 Greek Gehenna
f. 5.29 An exaggeration to emphasize the need to avoid occasions of sin.
g. Matthew 5:30 Greek Gehenna
h. 5.32 unchastity: The Greek word used here appears to refer to marriages that were not legally marriages because they were either within the forbidden degrees of consanguinity (Lev 18.6-16) or contracted with a Gentile. The phrase except on the ground of unchastity does not occur in the parallel passage in Lk 16.18. See also Mt 19.9 (Mk 10.11-12), and especially 1 Cor 7.10-11 which shows that the prohibition is unconditional.
i. Matthew 5:37 Or the evil one
Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year A
COMMENTARY OF THE DAY:
Vatican Council II 
Constitution on the Church « Lumen gentium », § 9
«Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill"
At all times and in every race God has given welcome to whosoever fears Him and does what is right.(Acts 10,35) God, however, does not make men holy and save them merely as individuals, without bond or link between one another. Rather has it pleased Him to bring men together as one people, a people which acknowledges Him in truth and serves Him in holiness. He therefore chose the race of Israel as a people unto Himself. With it He set up a covenant. Step by step He taught and prepared this people, making known in its history both Himself and the decree of His will and making it holy unto Himself. 
All these things, however, were done by way of preparation and as a figure of that new and perfect covenant, which was to be ratified in Christ, and of that fuller revelation which was to be given through the Word of God Himself made flesh. "Behold the days shall come saith the Lord, and I will make a new covenant with the House of Israel, and with the house of Judah . . . I will give my law in their bowels, and I will write it in their heart, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people . . . For all of them shall know Me, from the least of them even to the greatest, saith the Lord” (Jer 31,31f) Christ instituted this new covenant, the new testament, that is to say, in His Blood,(1Cor 11,25) calling together a people made up of Jew and gentile, making them one, not according to the flesh but in the Spirit. This was to be the new People of God...: "a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation... the people of God" (1Pt 2,9). 
Israel according to the flesh, which wandered as an exile in the desert, was already called the Church of God.(2Esd 13,1; Nb 20,4; Dt 23,1f) So likewise the new Israel which while living in this present age goes in search of a future and abiding city (Heb 13,14) is called the Church of Christ.(Mt 16,18) For He has bought it for Himself with His blood,(Acts 20,28) has filled it with His Spirit and provided it with those means which befit it as a visible and social union.
~~~~~~~