Daily Gospel for Monday, 30 December 2013
“Peter replied, “Master, to whom would we go? You have the words
of real life, eternal life.”(John 6:68, The Message).
The 6th Day in the Octave of Christmas
Saint of the Day:
SAINT SABINUS
Bishop
and his Companions
Martyrs
(† c. 303)
The cruel edicts of Diocletian and Maximin against the
Christians being published in the year 303, Sabinus, Bishop of Assisium, and
several of his clergy, were apprehended and kept in custody till Venustianus,
the Governor of Etruria and Umbria, came thither. Upon his arrival in that city
he caused the hands of Sabinus, who had made a glorious confession of his Faith
before him, to be cut off; and his two deacons, Marcellus and Exuperantius, to
be scourged, beaten with clubs, and torn with iron nails, under which torments
they both expired.
Sabinus is said to have cured a blind boy, and a weakness in the
eyes of Venustianus himself, who was thereupon converted, and afterward
beheaded for the Faith. Lucius, his successor, commanded Sabinus to be beaten
to death with clubs at Spoleto. The martyr was buried a mile from that city,
but his relics have been since translated to Faënza.
Lives of the Saints, by Alban Butler, Benziger Bros. ed. [1894]
Saint Anysius
Feastday: December 30
Died: 407
Bishop successor of St. Ascolus in the see of Salonika, in Greece.
A friend of St. Ambrose, Anysius was appointed bishop in 383. Pope Damasus also
named him vicar apostolic of Illyricum. A loyal defender of St. John
Chrysostom, Anysius was one of the sixteen Macedonian bishops to appeal to Pope
Innocent in 404 on St. John's behalf.
The 6th Day in the Octave of Christmas
First Letter of John 2: 12 I am writing to you, little
children,
because your sins are
forgiven on account of his name.
13 I am writing to you, fathers,
because you know him
who is from the beginning.
I am writing to you, young people,
because you have
conquered the evil one.
14 I write to you, children,
because you know the
Father.
I write to you, fathers,
because you know him
who is from the beginning.
I write to you, young people,
because you are strong
and the word of God
abides in you,
and you have
overcome the evil one.
15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. The love of
the Father is not in those who love the world; 16 for all that is in the world—the
desire of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, the pride in riches—comes not from
the Father but from the world. 17 And the world and its desire[a] are passing
away, but those who do the will of God live forever.
Footnotes:
a. 1 John 2:17 Or the desire for it
Psalms 96: 7 Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples,
ascribe to the Lord
glory and strength.
8 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;
bring an offering, and
come into his courts.
9 Worship the Lord in holy splendor;
tremble before him,
all the earth.
10 Say among the nations, “The Lord is king!
The world is firmly
established; it shall never be moved.
He will judge the
peoples with equity.”
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 2: 36 There was
also a prophet, Anna[a] the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was
of a great age, having lived with her husband seven years after her marriage,
37 then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple but
worshiped there with fasting and prayer night and day. 38 At that moment she
came, and began to praise God and to speak about the child[b] to all who were
looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.
The Return to Nazareth
39 When they had finished everything required by the law of the
Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. 40 The child
grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him.
Footnotes:
a. Luke 2:36 Gk Hanna
b. Luke 2:38 Gk him
The 6th Day in the Octave of Christmas
Commentary of the Day:
Pope Francis
Encyclical « Lumen fidei / The Light of faith », §50-51 (trans.
© Libreria Editrice Vaticana)
"She spoke about the child to all who were awaiting the
redemption of Jerusalem"
“God prepares a city for them” (Heb 11,16). Faith and the common
good. In presenting the story of the patriarchs and the righteous men and women
of the Old Testament, the Letter to the Hebrews highlights an essential aspect
of their faith. That faith is not only presented as a journey, but also as a
process of building, the preparing of a place in which human beings can dwell
together with one another... If the man of faith finds support in the God of
fidelity, the God who is Amen (Is 65,16), and thus becomes firm himself, we can
now also say that firmness of faith marks the city which God is preparing for
mankind. Faith reveals just how firm the bonds between people can be when God
is present in their midst. Faith does not merely grant interior firmness, a
steadfast conviction on the part of the believer; it also sheds light on every
human relationship because it is born of love and reflects God’s own love. The
God who is himself reliable gives us a city which is reliable.
Precisely because it is linked to love (Gal 5,6), the light of
faith is concretely placed at the service of justice, law and peace. Faith is
born of an encounter with God’s primordial love, wherein the meaning and
goodness of our life become evident... The light of faith is capable of
enhancing the richness of human relations, their ability to endure, to be
trustworthy, to enrich our life together. Faith does not draw us away from the
world or prove irrelevant to the concrete concerns of the men and women of our
time.
Without a love which is trustworthy, nothing could truly keep
men and women united. Human unity would be conceivable only on the basis of
utility, on a calculus of conflicting interests or on fear, but not on the
goodness of living together, not on the joy which the mere presence of others
can give... Faith is truly a good for everyone; it is a common good. Its light
does not simply brighten the interior of the Church, nor does it serve solely
to build an eternal city in the hereafter; it helps us build our societies in
such a way that they can journey towards a future of hope.
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