Daily Gospel for Monday, 6 January 2014

Daily Gospel for Monday, 6 January 2014

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

Monday after Epiphany

Saint of the Day:

Saint Brother André Bessette

C.SC.

(1845-1937)

Brother André was born Alfred Bessette on August 9, 1845, in Quebec, Canada. By the age of twelve, André and his siblings were left orphans-their mother died of tuberculosis, and their father had died three years earlier in a lumbering accident. Though he was barely able to read or write, André was forced to leave school and learn a trade. For thirteen years he labored in various industries despite his own frail health.

In 1870, he entered the Congregation of Holy Cross and was assigned as the doorkeeper of the community's high school in Montreal. There he welcomed the sick and suffering of the city and encouraged them to pray to Saint Joseph, to whom the Holy Cross Brothers were dedicated by their founder, The Venerable Basil Moreau, C.S.C. Brother André's visitors often found that they had been healed of their illnesses and received other spiritual favors. Brother André became known as the "Miracle Man" of Montreal, but he always gave the credit to Saint Joseph.

So many people came to call on Brother André that he built a small chapel to Saint Joseph across the street from the school. Through André's determination and prayer, and the generosity of his many friends, the great Oratory of Saint Joseph began to rise on Mount Royal. Today millions of visitors still come to the Oratory to pray to Saint Joseph and to Blessed Brother André, and to seek physical and spiritual healing.

Brother André died on January 6, 1937 at the age of 92. This simple man of prayer was so beloved, that more than a million people attended his funeral in a blinding snowstorm. His body lies in the beautiful basilica he built in honor of St. Joseph.

He was beatified by Pope John Paul II on May 23, 1982. In his homily that day, The Holy Father said this of Brother André:

"A daily crowd of the sick, the afflicted, the poor of all kinds-those who were handicapped or wounded by life-came to him. They found in his presence a welcome ear, comfort and faith in God. Do not the poor of today have as much need of such love, of such hope, of such education in prayer?"

He was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI on October 17, 2010.

http://www.cscip.org/about-us/blessed-brother-andre/

Monday after Epiphany

First Letter of John 3: 22 and we receive from him whatever we ask, because we obey his commandments and do what pleases him.

23 And this is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. 24 All who obey his commandments abide in him, and he abides in them. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit that he has given us.

Testing the Spirits

4 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God; for many false prophets have gone out into the world. ² By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, ³ and every spirit that does not confess Jesus^[a] is not from God. And this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming; and now it is already in the world. ⁴ Little children, you are from God, and have conquered them; for the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. ⁵ They are from the world; therefore what they say is from the world, and the world listens to them. ⁶ We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us, and whoever is not from God does not listen to us. From this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

Footnotes:

1 John 4:3 Other ancient authorities read does away with Jesus (Gk dissolves Jesus)

Psalm 2: 7 I will tell of the decree of the Lord:
He said to me, “You are my son;
    today I have begotten you.
8 Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage,
    and the ends of the earth your possession.

¹⁰ Now therefore, O kings, be wise;
    be warned, O rulers of the earth.
¹¹ Serve the Lord with fear,
    with trembling ¹² kiss his feet,^[a]
or he will be angry, and you will perish in the way;
    for his wrath is quickly kindled.

Happy are all who take refuge in him.

Footnotes:

a. Psalm 2:12 Cn: Meaning of Heb of verses 11b and 12a is uncertain

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 4: Jesus Begins His Ministry in Galilee

¹² Now when Jesus^[a] heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee. ¹³ He left Nazareth and made his home in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, ¹⁴ so that what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:

¹⁵ “Land of Zebulun, land of Naphtali,
    on the road by the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—
¹⁶ the people who sat in darkness
    have seen a great light,
and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death
    light has dawned.”

¹⁷ From that time Jesus began to proclaim, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”^[b]

Footnotes:

a.  Matthew 4:12 Gk he

b. Matthew 4:17 Or is at hand

Jesus Ministers to Crowds of People

²³ Jesus^[a] went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news^[b] of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people.²⁴ So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought to him all the sick, those who were afflicted with various diseases and pains, demoniacs, epileptics, and paralytics, and he cured them. ²⁵ And great crowds followed him from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and from beyond the Jordan.

Footnotes:

a. Matthew 4:23 Gk He

b. Matthew 4:23 Gk gospel

Monday after Epiphany

Commentary of the Day:

Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross [Edith Stein] (1891-1942), Carmelite, martyr, co-patron of Europe

Hidden life and Epiphany

“Christ is our peace: he made of both, Israel and the Gentiles, one people and broke down the dividing wall of enmity” (Eph 2,14)

The people gathered around the crib offer us already an image of the Church and of its spreading. The representatives of the ancient royal line to whom the Savior of the world had been promised and the representatives of the faithful form the link between the Old and the New Alliance. The kings from the Far East represent the pagan people who were to receive the salvation of Judah. In this way, we already have here represented “the Church stemming from the Jews and the pagans”.

At the crib, the three Wise Men represent those who, from all countries and nations, seek God. Grace led them long before they belonged to the visible Church. They were inspired by a plain desire for truth that went past the limits of the teachings and traditions of their countries. Because God is truth and he wants to be found by those who seek him with all their heart (Jer 29,13), the star sooner or later had to shine at the eyes of these wise men to show them the way to truth. This is how they found themselves in front of Truth made man, they prostrated themselves before him to adore him and they laid down their crowns at his feet, because compared to him, all the riches of the world are just a bit of dust.

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