Daily Gospel for Monday, 19 January 2015

Daily Gospel for Monday, 19 January 2015
"Peter replied, 'Master, to whom would we go? You have the words of real life, eternal life. We’ve already committed ourselves, confident that you are the Holy One of God.'"(John 6:68-69)
Monday of the Second week in Ordinary Time
Feast of the Day: Week of prayer for Christian unity
Saint of the Day:
SAINT CANUTUS 
King of Denmark and Martyr 
(1040-1086)
St. Canutus, King of Denmark, was endowed with excellent qualities of both mind and body. It is hard to say whether he excelled more in courage or in conduct and skill in war; but his singular piety eclipsed all his other endowments. He cleared the seas of pirates, and subdued several neighboring provinces which infested Denmark with their incursions.
The kingdom of Denmark was elective till the year 1660, and, when the father of Canutus died, his eldest brother, Harold, was called to the throne. Harold died after reigning for two years, and Canutus was chosen to succeed him. He began his reign by a successful war against the troublesome, barbarous enemies of the state, and by planting the faith in the conquered provinces. Amid the glory of his victories he humbly prostrated himself at the foot of the crucifix, laying there his diadem, and offering himself and his kingdom to the King of kings.
After having provided for the peace and safety of his country, he married Eltha, daughter of Robert, Earl of Flanders, who proved a spouse worthy of him. His next concern was to reform abuses at home. For thus purpose he enacted severe but necessary laws for the strict administration of justice, and repressed the violence and tyranny of the great, without respect to persons. He countenanced and honored holy men, and granted many privileges and immunities to the clergy. His charity and tenderness towards his subjects made him study by all possible ways to make them a happy people. He showed a royal munificence in building and adorning churches, and gave the crown which he wore, of exceeding great value, to a church in his capital and place of residence, where the kings of Denmark are yet buried.
To the virtues which constitute a great king, Canutus added those which prove the great saint. A rebellion having sprung up in his kingdom, the king was surprised at church by the rebels. Perceiving his danger, he confessed his sins at the foot of the altar, and received Holy Communion. Stretching out his arms before the altar, the Saint fervently recommended his soul to his Creator; in this posture he was struck by a javelin thrown through a window, and fell a victim for Christ's sake.
Lives of the Saints, by Alban Butler, Benziger Bros. ed. [1894]
Saint Wulfstan
Feastday: January 19
Patron of vegetarians and dieters
Death: 1095
Wulfstan (1008-1095) + Bishop and reformer, also called Wulstan and Wolstan. Born at Long-Itch ington, Warwickshire, England, he studied at the abbeys of Evesham and Peterborough, received ordination, and joined the Benedictines at Worcester. Wulfstan served as treasurer of the church at Worcester, was prior of the monastery, and finally was named bishop of Worcester in 1062. After overcoming initial doubts about his ability to hold the office of bishop, he demonstrated such skill after the Norman Conquest that he was the lone bishop to be kept in his post by William the Conqueror (r. l066-l087). For the next three decades, Wulfstan rebuilt his cathedral, cared for the poor, and struggled to alleviate the harsh decrees of the Normans upon the vanquished Saxons. He was canonized in 1203. Feast day: January 19
Monday of the Second week in Ordinary Time
Letter to the Hebrews 5:1 Every high priest is appointed to help others by offering gifts and sacrifices to God because of their sins. 2 A high priest has weaknesses of his own, and he feels sorry for foolish and sinful people. 3 That is why he must offer sacrifices for his own sins and for the sins of others. 4 But no one can have the honor of being a high priest simply by wanting to be one. Only God can choose a priest, and God is the one who chose Aaron.
5 That is how it was with Christ. He became a high priest, but not just because he wanted the honor of being one. It was God who told him,
“You are my Son, because today
    I have become your Father!”
6 In another place, God says,
“You are a priest forever
    just like Melchizedek.”[a]
7 God had the power to save Jesus from death. And while Jesus was on earth, he begged God with loud crying and tears to save him. He truly worshiped God, and God listened to his prayers. 8 Jesus is God’s own Son, but still he had to suffer before he could learn what it really means to obey God. 9 Suffering made Jesus perfect, and now he can save forever all who obey him. 10 This is because God chose him to be a high priest like Melchizedek.[Footnotes:
5.6 Melchizedek: When Melchizedek is mentioned in the Old Testament, he is described as a priest who lived before Aaron. Nothing is said about his ancestors or his death (see 7.3 and Genesis 14.17-20).]
Psalms 110: (A psalm by David.)
The Lord Gives Victory
1 The Lord said to my Lord,
    “Sit at my right side,[a]
    until I make your enemies
    into a footstool for you.”
2 The Lord will let your power
    reach out from Zion,
    and you will rule
    over your enemies.
3 Your glorious power
will be seen
    on the day
    you begin to rule.
You will wear the sacred robes
    and shine like the morning sun
    in all of your strength.[b]
4 The Lord has made a promise
    that will never be broken:
“You will be a priest forever,
    just like Melchizedek.”[Footnotes:
110.1 right side: See the note at 16.11.
110.3 You will. . . strength: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.]
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark 2: People Ask about Going without Eating
18 The followers of John the Baptist and the Pharisees often went without eating.[a] Some people came and asked Jesus, “Why do the followers of John and those of the Pharisees often go without eating, while your disciples never do?”
19 Jesus answered:
The friends of a bridegroom don’t go without eating while he is still with them. 20 But the time will come when he will be taken from them. Then they will go without eating.
21 No one patches old clothes by sewing on a piece of new cloth. The new piece would shrink and tear a bigger hole.
22 No one pours new wine into old wineskins. The wine would swell and burst the old skins.[b] Then the wine would be lost, and t]he skins would be ruined. New wine must be put into new wineskins.[Footnotes:
2.18 without eating: The Jewish people sometimes went without eating (also called “fasting”) to show their love for God or to show sorrow for their sins.
2.22 swell and burst the old skins: While the juice from grapes was becoming wine, it would swell and stretch the skins in which it had been stored. If the skins were old and stiff, they would burst.]
Monday of the Second week in Ordinary Time
Commentary of the Day:
Blessed Jan van Ruusbroec (1293-1381), Canon Regular 
The Spiritual Espousals, prologue (©The Classics of Western Spirituality, 1985)
"The Bridegroom is with them"
“See, the bridegroom is coming. Go out to meet him" (Mt 25,6)… The Bridegroom is Christ and human nature is the bride, whom God created according to “his own image and likeness” (Gn 1,26). In the beginning he placed his bride in the noblest and most beautiful, the richest and most luxuriant place on earth, that is, in Paradise. God subordinated all other creatures to her, adorned her with grace, and gave her a commandment so that through obedience to it she might deserve to be made firm and steadfast with her Bridegroom in eternal faithfulness and so never fall into any adversity or any sin. 
But then came an evildoer, the enemy from hell, who in his jealousy assumed the form of a cunning serpent and deceived the woman. They both then deceived the man, in whom human nature existed in its entirety. Thus did the enemy seduce human nature, God's bride, through deceitful counsel. Poor and wretched, she was banished to a strange land and was there captured and oppressed… 
But when it seemed to God that the right time had come and he took pity on his beloved in her suffering, he sent his only-begotten Son to earth… into the body of the glorious Virgin Mary. There the Son wedded this bride, our nature, and united her with his own person.
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