The Daily Gospel for Wednesday, December 2, 2015

The Daily Gospel for Wednesday, December 2, 2015
"Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life."[John 6:68]
Wednesday of the First week of Advent
Saints of the day:

St. Bibiana, Virgin and Martyr (4th century)

SAINT BIBIANA
Virgin and Martyr
(4th century)

St. Bibiana was a native of Rome. Flavian, her father, was apprehended, burned in the face with a hot iron, and banished to Aequapendente, where he died of his wounds a few days after; and her mother, Dafrosa, was some time after beheaded.

Bibiana and her sister Demetria, after the death of their parents, were stripped of all they had in the world and suffered much from poverty. Apronianus, Governor of Rome, summoned them to appear before him. Demetria, having made confession of her faith, fell down and expired at the foot of the tribunal, in the presence of the judge.

Apronianus gave orders that Bibiana should be put into the hands of a wicked woman named Rufina, who was to bring her to another way of thinking; but Bibiana, making prayer her shield, remained invincible. Apronianus, enraged at the courage and perseverance of a tender virgin, ordered her to be tied to a pillar and whipped with scourges loaded with leaden plummets till she expired.

The Saint underwent this punishment cheerfully, and died in the hands of the executioners.

Lives of the Saints, by Alban Butler, Benziger Bros. ed. [1894]
Bl. Ivan Slezyuk, Bishop (1896-1973) 

Blessed Ivan Slezyuk
Bishop of the "clandestine" Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church
(1896-1973)

The Blessed Bishop was born on 14 January 1896 in the village of Zhyvachiv, Stanislaviv (now Ivano-Frankivsk) Region. After graduating from the seminary in 1923, he was ordained to the priesthood. In April 1945 Bishop Hryhory Khomyshyn ordained him as his Co-adjutor with the right of succession as a precaution in case Bishop Khomyshyn should be arrested.

However, shortly thereafter on 2 June 1945, Bishop Ivan was arrested and deported for ten years to the labour camps in Vorkuta, Russia. In 1950 he was transferred to the labour camps in Mordovia, Russia. After his release on 15 November 1954, he returned to Ivano-Frankivsk.

In 1962, he was arrested for the second time and imprisoned for five years in a camp of strict regiment. After his release on 30 November 1968, he had to often go to the KGB for regular "talks." 
The last visit was two weeks before his death, which was on 2 December 1973 in Ivano-Frankivsk.
He was beatified on 27 June 2001 by pope John Paul II.

© Copyright - Libreria Editrice Vaticana
Wednesday of the First week of Advent
The Book of Isaiah 25:6 On this mountain Adonai-Tzva’ot

will make for all peoples

a feast of rich food and superb wines,

delicious, rich food and superb, elegant wines.

7 On this mountain he will destroy

the veil which covers the face of all peoples,

the veil enshrouding all the nations.

8 He will swallow up death forever.

Adonai Elohim will wipe away

the tears from every face,

and he will remove from all the earth

the disgrace his people suffer.

For Adonai has spoken.

9 On that day they will say,

“See! This is our God!

We waited for him to save us.

This is Adonai ; we put our hope in him.

We are full of joy, so glad he saved us!”

10 For on this mountain

the hand of Adonai will rest.

But Mo’av will be trampled down where they are,

like straw trampled into a pile of manure.

Psalm 23:(0) A psalm of David:

(1) Adonai is my shepherd; I lack nothing.

2 He has me lie down in grassy pastures,

he leads me by quiet water,

3 he restores my inner person.

He guides me in right paths

for the sake of his own name.

4 Even if I pass through death-dark ravines,

I will fear no disaster; for you are with me;

your rod and staff reassure me.

5 You prepare a table for me,

even as my enemies watch;

you anoint my head with oil

from an overflowing cup.

6 Goodness and grace will pursue me

every day of my life;

and I will live in the house of Adonai

for years and years to come.

The Holy Gospel of Yeshua the Messiah according to Saint Matthew 15:29 Yeshua left there and went along the shore of Lake Kinneret. He climbed a hill and sat down; 30 and large crowds came to him, bringing with them the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute and many others. They laid them at his feet, and he healed them. 31 The people were amazed as they saw mute people speaking, crippled people cured, lame people walking and blind people seeing; and they said a b’rakhah to the God of Isra’el.

32 Yeshua called his talmidim to him and said, “I feel sorry for these people, because they have been with me three days, and now they have nothing to eat. I don’t want to send them away hungry, because they might collapse on the way home.” 33 The talmidim said to him, “Where will we find enough loaves of bread in this remote place to satisfy so big a crowd?” 34 Yeshua asked them, “How many loaves do you have?” They said, “Seven, and a few fish.” 35 After telling the crowd to sit down on the ground, 36 he took the seven loaves and the fish, made a b’rakhah, broke the loaves and gave them to the talmidim, who gave them to the people. 37 Everyone ate his fill, and they took seven large baskets full of the leftover pieces.

Wednesday of the First week of Advent

Commentary of the day:
Catechism of the Catholic Church 
§1402-1405 - Copyright © Libreria Editrice Vaticana  Our bread in the desert: the Eucharist - "Pledge of the Glory To Come"

If the Eucharist is the memorial of the Passover of the Lord Jesus, if by our communion at the altar we are filled "with every heavenly blessing and grace,"( Roman Canon) then the Eucharist is also an anticipation of the heavenly glory. At the Last Supper the Lord himself directed his disciples' attention toward the fulfillment of the Passover in the kingdom of God: "I tell you I shall not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom."'(Matthew 26:29) Whenever the Church celebrates the Eucharist she remembers this promise and turns her gaze "to him who is to come."(Revelation 1:4) In her prayer she calls for his coming: "Marana tha!"(1 Corinthians 16 22) "Come, Lord Jesus!"(Revelation 22:20) "May your grace come and this world pass away!"(Didache 10, 6) 
The Church knows that the Lord comes even now in his Eucharist and that he is there in our midst. However, his presence is veiled. Therefore we celebrate the Eucharist "awaiting the blessed hope and the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ," (Titus 2:13) asking "to share in your glory when every tear will be wiped away. On that day we shall see you, our God, as you are. We shall become like you and praise you for ever through Christ our Lord." (EP III) 
There is no surer pledge or dearer sign of this great hope in the new heavens and new earth "in which righteousness dwells," (2 Peter 3:13) than the Eucharist. Every time this mystery is celebrated, "the work of our redemption is carried on" (LG 3) and we "break the one bread that provides the medicine of immortality, the antidote for death, and the food that makes us live for ever in Jesus Christ." (St. Ignatius of Antioch) 

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