Daily Gospel for Thursday, 27 February 2014
"Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom would we go? You
have the words of eternal life." John 6:68
Thursday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time
Saint(s) of the day:
SAINT LEANDER
Bishop
(c. 540-596)
St. Leander was born of an illustrious family at Carthagena in
Spain. He was the eldest of five brothers, several of whom are numbered among
the Saints. He entered into a monastery very young, where he lived many years
and attained to an eminent degree of virtue and sacred learning.
These qualities occasioned his being promoted to the see of
Seville; but his change of condition made little or no alteration in his method
of life, though it brought on him a great increase of care and solicitude.
Spain at that time was in possession of the Visigoths. These
Goths, being infected with Arianism, established this heresy wherever they
came; so that when St. Leander was made bishop it had reigned in Spain a
hundred years. This was his great affliction; however, by his prayers to God,
and by his most zealous and unwearied endeavors, he became the happy instrument
of the conversion of that nation to the Catholic faith. Having converted, among
others, Hermenegild, the king's eldest son and heir apparent, Leander was
banished by King Leovigild. This pious prince was put to death by his unnatural
father, the year following, for refusing to receive Communion from the hands of
an Arian bishop. But, touched with remorse not long after, the king recalled
our Saint; and falling sick and finding himself past hopes of recovery, he sent
for St. Leander, and recommended to him his son Recared. This son, by listening
to St. Leander, soon became a Catholic, and finally converted the whole nation
of the Visigoths. He was no less successful with respect to the Suevi, a people
of Spain, whom his father Leovigild had perverted.
St. Leander was no less zealous in the reformation of manners
than in restoring the purity of faith; and he planted the seeds of that zeal
and fervor which afterwards produced so many martyrs and Saints.
This holy doctor of Spain died about the year 596, on the 27th
of February, as Mabillon proves from his epitaph.
The Church of Seville has been a metropolitan see ever since the
third century. The cathedral is the most magnificent, both as to structure and
ornament, of any in all Spain.
Lives of the Saints, by Alban Butler, Benziger Bros. ed. [1894]
Saint Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows (1838-1862 )
Born in Italy into a large family and baptized Francis, he lost
his mother when he was only four years old. He was educated by the Jesuits and,
having been cured twice of serious illnesses, came to believe that God was
calling him to the religious life. Young Francis wished to join the Jesuits but
was turned down, probably because of his age, not yet 17. Following the death
of a sister to cholera, his resolve to enter religious life became even
stronger and he was accepted by the Passionists. Upon entering the novitiate he
was given the name Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows.
Ever popular and cheerful, Gabriel quickly was successful in his
effort to be faithful in little things. His spirit of prayer, love for the
poor, consideration of the feelings of others, exact observance of the
Passionist Rule as well as his bodily penances—always subject to the will of
his wise superiors— made a deep impression on everyone.
His superiors had great expectations of Gabriel as he prepared
for the priesthood, but after only four years of religious life symptoms of
tuberculosis appeared. Ever obedient, he patiently bore the painful effects of
the disease and the restrictions it required, seeking no special notice. He
died peacefully on February 27, 1862, at age 24, having been an example to both
young and old.
Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows was canonized in 1920.
Thursday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time
James 5:1 Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries
that are coming on you. 2 Your riches are corrupted and your garments are
moth-eaten. 3 Your gold and your silver are corroded, and their corrosion will
be for a testimony against you, and will eat your flesh like fire. You have
laid up your treasure in the last days. 4 Behold, the wages of the laborers who
mowed your fields, which you have kept back by fraud, cry out, and the cries of
those who reaped have entered into the ears of the Lord of Armies.[a] 5 You
have lived delicately on the earth, and taken your pleasure. You have nourished
your hearts as in a day of slaughter. 6 You have condemned, you have murdered
the righteous one. He doesn’t resist you.
Footnotes:
a. James 5:4 Greek: Sabaoth (for Hebrew: Tze’va’ot)
Psalm 49: 14 They are appointed as a flock for Sheol.[a]
Death shall be their
shepherd.
The upright shall have dominion over them in the morning.
Their beauty shall
decay in Sheol,[b]
far from their
mansion.
15 But God will redeem my soul from the power of Sheol,[c]
for he will receive
me.
Selah.
16 Don’t be afraid when a man is made rich,
when the glory of his
house is increased.
17 For when he dies he shall carry nothing away.
His glory shall not
descend after him.
18 Though while he lived he blessed his soul—
and men praise you
when you do well for yourself—
19 he shall go to the
generation of his fathers.
They shall never see
the light.
20 A man who has riches without understanding,
is like the animals
that perish.
Footnotes:
a. Psalm 49:14 Sheol is the place of the dead.
b. Psalm 49:14 Sheol is the place of the dead.
c. Psalm 49:15 Sheol is the place of the dead.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark 9: 41 For whoever
will give you a cup of water to drink in my name, because you are Christ’s,
most certainly I tell you, he will in no way lose his reward. 42 Whoever will
cause one of these little ones who believe in me to stumble, it would be better
for him if he were thrown into the sea with a millstone hung around his neck.
43 If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to
enter into life maimed, rather than having your two hands to go into
Gehenna,[a] into the unquenchable fire, 44 ‘where their worm doesn’t die, and
the fire is not quenched.’[b] 45 If your foot causes you to stumble, cut it
off. It is better for you to enter into life lame, rather than having your two
feet to be cast into Gehenna,[c] into the fire that will never be quenched— 46
‘where their worm doesn’t die, and the fire is not quenched.’ 47 If your eye
causes you to stumble, cast it out. It is better for you to enter into God’s
Kingdom with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into the
Gehenna[d] of fire, 48 ‘where their worm doesn’t die, and the fire is not
quenched.’[e] 49 For everyone will be salted with fire, and every sacrifice
will be seasoned with salt. 50 Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its
saltiness, with what will you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and be at
peace with one another.”
Footnotes:
a. Mark 9:43 or, Hell
b. Mark 9:44 Isaiah 66:24
c. Mark 9:45 or, Hell
d. Mark 9:47 or, Hell
e. Mark 9:48 Isaiah 66:24
Thursday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time
Commentary of the Day:
Pope Francis
General Audience of 12/06/2013 (trans. © copyright Libreria
Editrice Vaticana)
"Keep salt in yourselves and you will have peace with one
another"
What is the law of the People of God? It is the law of love,
love for God and love for neighbour according to the new commandment that the
Lord left to us (cf. Jn 13:34). It is a love, however, that is not sterile
sentimentality or something vague, but the acknowledgment of God as the one
Lord of life and, at the same time, the acceptance of the other as my true
brother, overcoming division, rivalry, misunderstanding, selfishness; these two
things go together.
What is this people’s mission? It is to bring the hope and
salvation of God to the world: to be a sign of the love of God who calls
everyone to friendship with Him; to be the leaven that makes the dough rise,
the salt that gives flavor and preserves from corruption, to be a light that
enlightens. Look around us — it is enough to open a newspaper, as I said — we
see the presence of evil, the Devil is acting. However, I would like to say out
loud: God is stronger! Do you believe this, that God is stronger? Let us say it
together, let us say it all together: God is stronger! And do you know why he
is stronger? Because He is Lord, the only Lord. And I would like to add that
reality, at times dark and marked by evil, can change, if we first bring the
light of the Gospel especially through our lives.
Dear brothers and sisters, being the Church, to be the People of
God, in accordance with the Father’s great design of love, means to be the
leaven of God in this humanity of ours. It means to proclaim and to bring the
God’s salvation to this world of ours, so often led astray, in need of answers
that give courage, hope and new vigor for the journey. May the Church be a
place of God’s mercy and hope, where all feel welcomed, loved, forgiven and
encouraged to live according to the good life of the Gospel. And to make others
feel welcomed, loved, forgiven and encouraged, the Church must be with doors
wide open so that all may enter. And we must go out through these doors and
proclaim the Gospel.
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