Saturday, December 27, 2014

Roman Catholic The Word Among Us Daily Mass Reading & Daily Meditation for Sunday, 28 December 2014

Catholic MeditationsRoman Catholic The Word Among Us Daily Mass Reading & Daily Meditation for Sunday, 28 December 2014
Meditation - Sirach 3:2 For the Lord sets a father in honor over his children
and confirms a mother’s authority over her sons.
Those who honor their father atone for sins;
they store up riches who respect their mother.
Those who honor their father will have joy in their own children,
and when they pray they are heard.
Those who respect their father will live a long life;
those who obey the Lord honor their mother.
12 My son, be steadfast in honoring your father;
do not grieve him as long as he lives.d
13 Even if his mind fails, be considerate of him;
do not revile him because you are in your prime.
14 Kindness to a father will not be forgotten;
it will serve as a sin offering—it will take lasting root.
The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph
My son, take care of your father. (Sirach 3:12)
Have you heard of the “sandwich generation?” It doesn’t have to do with food; it’s the situation many adults find themselves in, sandwiched between children and aging parents who need their care. In fact, a 2013 study found that in the United States, one in seven middle-aged adults provide financial support to their parents and their children, and almost three times that amount provide emotional support.
So how does God make us holy in the midst of these pressures? Don’t forget, our relationship with God, though personal, is meant to be lived out in community and not just individually. And the first and most important community is the family! It’s precisely through the ups and downs of family life that God forms his character in us. It’s a give-and-take; sometimes it’s our turn to give, and other times to receive.
If you’re on the receiving end, let people care for you! Chances are you’ve given much to your family over the years. Remember: as you receive, you are also giving a gift. You are giving them the chance to show their gratitude and to grow in becoming more like Christ. Taking care of your needs could be a pivotal experience in their relationship with God. It’s also a great way for you to grow in detachment and humility!
If you’re being called to give more, try to see in each needy family member the Christ child himself. How would you love him? What would you give to him? Believe that in loving and serving your family, you are loving and serving Jesus—and that he will bless you deeply for it.
On this feast day, God wants us to know that we can all become holy families. Through his grace, your family can become more of a living reflection of his love and life. Your actions in caring for each other and receiving that care will actually enflesh his love in the world.
“Father, pour out your grace and make every family a living icon of your love.” Amen!
Psalm 128: A Pilgrim Song
1-2 All you who fear God, how blessed you are!
    how happily you walk on his smooth straight road!
You worked hard and deserve all you’ve got coming.
    Enjoy the blessing! Revel in the goodness!
3-4 Your wife will bear children as a vine bears grapes,
    your household lush as a vineyard,
The children around your table
    as fresh and promising as young olive shoots.
Stand in awe of God’s Yes.
    Oh, how he blesses the one who fears God!
5-6 Enjoy the good life in Jerusalem
    every day of your life.
And enjoy your grandchildren.
    Peace to Israel!
Colossians 3:12-14 So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It’s your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it.
15-17 Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other. None of this going off and doing your own thing. And cultivate thankfulness. Let the Word of Christ—the Message—have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives. Instruct and direct one another using good common sense. And sing, sing your hearts out to God! Let every detail in your lives—words, actions, whatever—be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way.
18 Wives, understand and support your husbands by submitting to them in ways that honor the Master.
19 Husbands, go all out in love for your wives. Don’t take advantage of them.
20 Children, do what your parents tell you. This delights the Master no end.
21 Parents, don’t come down too hard on your children or you’ll crush their spirits.
Luke 2:22-24 Then when the days stipulated by Moses for purification were complete, they took him up to Jerusalem to offer him to God as commanded in God’s Law: “Every male who opens the womb shall be a holy offering to God,” and also to sacrifice the “pair of doves or two young pigeons” prescribed in God’s Law.
25-32 In Jerusalem at the time, there was a man, Simeon by name, a good man, a man who lived in the prayerful expectancy of help for Israel. And the Holy Spirit was on him. The Holy Spirit had shown him that he would see the Messiah of God before he died. Led by the Spirit, he entered the Temple. As the parents of the child Jesus brought him in to carry out the rituals of the Law, Simeon took him into his arms and blessed God:
God, you can now release your servant;
    release me in peace as you promised.
With my own eyes I’ve seen your salvation;
    it’s now out in the open for everyone to see:
A God-revealing light to the non-Jewish nations,
    and of glory for your people Israel.
33-35 Jesus’ father and mother were speechless with surprise at these words. Simeon went on to bless them, and said to Mary his mother,
This child marks both the failure and
    the recovery of many in Israel,
A figure misunderstood and contradicted—
    the pain of a sword-thrust through you—
But the rejection will force honesty,
    as God reveals who they really are.
36-38 Anna the prophetess was also there, a daughter of Phanuel from the tribe of Asher. She was by now a very old woman. She had been married seven years and a widow for eighty-four. She never left the Temple area, worshiping night and day with her fastings and prayers. At the very time Simeon was praying, she showed up, broke into an anthem of praise to God, and talked about the child to all who were waiting expectantly for the freeing of Jerusalem.
39-40 When they finished everything required by God in the Law, they returned to Galilee and their own town, Nazareth. There the child grew strong in body and wise in spirit. And the grace of God was on him.
Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion:
[Sirach 3:2 For the Lord sets a father in honor over his children
and confirms a mother’s authority over her sons.
3 Those who honor their father atone for sins;
4 they store up riches who respect their mother.
5 Those who honor their father will have joy in their own children,
and when they pray they are heard.
6 Those who respect their father will live a long life;
those who obey the Lord honor their mother.
12 My son, be steadfast in honoring your father;
do not grieve him as long as he lives.d
13 Even if his mind fails, be considerate of him;
do not revile him because you are in your prime.
14 Kindness to a father will not be forgotten;
it will serve as a sin offering—it will take lasting root.
Psalm 128: A Pilgrim Song
1-2 All you who fear God, how blessed you are!
    how happily you walk on his smooth straight road!
You worked hard and deserve all you’ve got coming.
    Enjoy the blessing! Revel in the goodness!
3-4 Your wife will bear children as a vine bears grapes,
    your household lush as a vineyard,
The children around your table
    as fresh and promising as young olive shoots.
Stand in awe of God’s Yes.
    Oh, how he blesses the one who fears God!
5-6 Enjoy the good life in Jerusalem
    every day of your life.
And enjoy your grandchildren.
    Peace to Israel!
Colossians 3:12-14 So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It’s your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it.
15-17 Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other. None of this going off and doing your own thing. And cultivate thankfulness. Let the Word of Christ—the Message—have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives. Instruct and direct one another using good common sense. And sing, sing your hearts out to God! Let every detail in your lives—words, actions, whatever—be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way.
18 Wives, understand and support your husbands by submitting to them in ways that honor the Master.
19 Husbands, go all out in love for your wives. Don’t take advantage of them.
20 Children, do what your parents tell you. This delights the Master no end.
21 Parents, don’t come down too hard on your children or you’ll crush their spirits.
Luke 2:22-24 Then when the days stipulated by Moses for purification were complete, they took him up to Jerusalem to offer him to God as commanded in God’s Law: “Every male who opens the womb shall be a holy offering to God,” and also to sacrifice the “pair of doves or two young pigeons” prescribed in God’s Law.
25-32 In Jerusalem at the time, there was a man, Simeon by name, a good man, a man who lived in the prayerful expectancy of help for Israel. And the Holy Spirit was on him. The Holy Spirit had shown him that he would see the Messiah of God before he died. Led by the Spirit, he entered the Temple. As the parents of the child Jesus brought him in to carry out the rituals of the Law, Simeon took him into his arms and blessed God:
God, you can now release your servant;
    release me in peace as you promised.
With my own eyes I’ve seen your salvation;
    it’s now out in the open for everyone to see:
A God-revealing light to the non-Jewish nations,
    and of glory for your people Israel.
33-35 Jesus’ father and mother were speechless with surprise at these words. Simeon went on to bless them, and said to Mary his mother,
This child marks both the failure and
    the recovery of many in Israel,
A figure misunderstood and contradicted—
    the pain of a sword-thrust through you—
But the rejection will force honesty,
    as God reveals who they really are.
36-38 Anna the prophetess was also there, a daughter of Phanuel from the tribe of Asher. She was by now a very old woman. She had been married seven years and a widow for eighty-four. She never left the Temple area, worshiping night and day with her fastings and prayers. At the very time Simeon was praying, she showed up, broke into an anthem of praise to God, and talked about the child to all who were waiting expectantly for the freeing of Jerusalem.
39-40 When they finished everything required by God in the Law, they returned to Galilee and their own town, Nazareth. There the child grew strong in body and wise in spirit. And the grace of God was on him.]
1. In the first reading, the book of Sirach teaches us of our responsibilities to our father and mother, with special focus on our fathers—and the rewards that go along with honoring them (e.g., forgiveness of sins, answered prayers, length of days, and delightful children). How do you (or did you) stack up against the responsibilities described in the first reading?
2. In what way has your relationship with your earthly father helped or hindered your relationship with your Heavenly Father, and your experience of his great love for you? If it has hindered your relationship, what steps can you take to change this?
3. The responsorial psalm tells of the blessings for those who “fear” the Lord? What does “fear of the Lord” mean in your life? What are the positive and negative sides of this fear?
4. The second reading presents the authentic atmosphere of a Christian family where kindness, love, mutual understanding, prayer, thanksgiving and joy in the Holy Spirit should be present. Which of these elements is the Lord asking you to bring more deeply into your home environment?
5. In the second reading, St. Paul also reminds us that forgiveness is a gift we have received from the Lord, and “that as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do.” This means we must give this gift to others. To whom is the Lord asking you to give the gift of forgiveness to?
6. The Gospel reading describes the events surrounding the Holy Family’s trip to Jerusalem with Jesus “to present him to the Lord.” Trying to relate our own lives to the Holy Family’s life is a challenge. Theirs originated in crisis and prevailed through many challenges and hardships, including the final crisis—Jesus’ crucifixion. However, by looking to them as our example, we can find the strength to persevere, no what hardships come our way. What can you learn from the lives of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph and how they lived as a holy, faith-filled family that you can apply to your own family?
7. The meditation ends with these words: “On this feast day, God wants us to know that we can all become holy families. Through his grace, your family can become more of a living reflection of his love and life. Your actions in caring for each other and receiving that care will actually enflesh his love in the world.” Do you believe that you are called to be part of a faith-filled, holy family, no matter what your situation or what are the challenges of your life? What are one or two steps you can take to make your own family more faith-filled and holy?
8. Take some time now to pray that your family, and all Christian families, would receive the grace to reflect our heavenly Father’s love to one another and to others. Use the prayer at the end of the meditation as the starting point.
Father, pour out your grace and make every family a living icon of your love.” Amen!
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