DAILY GOSPEL for Tuesday, 03 February 2015

DAILY GOSPEL for Tuesday, 03 February 2015
"Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life."[John 6:68]
Tuesday of the Fourth week in Ordinary Time
Saints of the day :

SAINT BLASE
Bishop and Martyr
(+ 316)
St. Blase devoted the earlier years of his life to the study of philosophy, and afterwards became a physician. In the practice of his profession he saw so much of the miseries of life and the hollowness of worldly pleasures, that he resolved to spend the rest of his days in the service of God, and from being a healer of bodily ailments to be- come a physician of souls.
The Bishop of Sebaste, in Armenia, having died, our Saint, much to the gratification of the inhabitants of that city, was appointed to succeed him. St. Blase at once began to instruct his people as much by his example as by his words, and the great virtues and sanctity of this servant of God were attested by many miracles. From all parts the people came flocking to him for the cure of bodily and spiritual ills.
Agricolaus, Governor of Cappadocia and the Lesser Armenia, having begun a persecution by order of the Emperor Licinius, our Saint was seized and hurried off to prison. While on his way there, a distracted mother, whose only child was dying of a throat disease, threw herself at the feet of St. Blase and implored his intercession. Touched at her grief, the Saint offered up his prayers, and the child was cured; and since that time his aid has often been effectually solicited in cases of a similar disease.
Refusing to worship the false gods of the heathens, St. Blase was first scourged; his body was then torn with hooks, and finally he was beheaded in the year 316.

Lives of the Saints, by Alban Butler, Benziger Bros. ed. [1894]
St. Ansgar
Feastday: February 3
Patron of Scandinavia
Birth: 801
Death: 865
Ansgar was born of a noble family near Amiens. He became a monk at Old Corbie monastery in Picardy and later at New Corbie in Westphalia. He accompanied King Harold to Denmark when the exiled King returned to his native land and engaged in missionary work there. Ansgar's success caused King Bjorn ofSweden to invite him to that country, and he built the first Christian Church in Sweden. He became Abbotof New Corbie and first Archbishop of Hamburg about 831, and Pope Gregory IV appointed him Legate to the Scandinavian countries. He labored at his missionary works for the next fourteen years but saw all he had accomplished destroyed when invading pagan Northmen in 845 destroyed Hamburg and overran the Scandinavian countries, which lapsed into paganism. He was appointed first Archbishop of Bremen about 848, and the See was united with that of Hamburg by Pope Nicholas I. Ansgar again returned to Denmarkand Sweden in 854 and resumed his missionary activities, converting Erik, King of Jutland. Ansgar's success was due to his great preaching ability, the austerity and holiness of his life, and the miracles he is reputed to have performed. Though called "the Apostle of the North" and the first Christian missionary in Scandinavia, the whole area lapsed into paganism again after his death at Bremen on February 3rd. His name is also spelled Anskar.Tuesday of the Fourth week in Ordinary Time
Letter to the Hebrews 12: Let’s also run the race

12 So then let’s also run the race that is laid out in front of us, since we have such a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us. Let’s throw off any extra baggage, get rid of the sin that trips us up, 2 and fix our eyes on Jesus, faith’s pioneer and perfecter. He endured the cross, ignoring the shame, for the sake of the joy that was laid out in front of him, and sat down at the right side of God’s throne.

Run the race with discipline

3 Think about the one who endured such opposition from sinners so that you won’t be discouraged and you won’t give up. 4 In your struggle against sin, you haven’t resisted yet to the point of shedding blood,

Psalms 22:26 Let all those who are suffering eat and be full!

    Let all who seek the Lord praise him!

        I pray your hearts live forever!

27 Every part of the earth

    will remember and come back to the Lord;

    every family among all the nations will worship you.

28 Because the right to rule belongs to the Lord,

    he rules all nations.

30 Future descendants will serve him;

    generations to come will be told about my Lord.

31 They will proclaim God’s righteousness

        to those not yet born,

        telling them what God has done.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark 5: Jesus heals two people

21 Jesus crossed the lake again, and on the other side a large crowd gathered around him on the shore. 22 Jairus, one of the synagogue leaders, came forward. When he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet 23 and pleaded with him, “My daughter is about to die. Please, come and place your hands on her so that she can be healed and live.” 24 So Jesus went with him.

A swarm of people were following Jesus, crowding in on him. 25 A woman was there who had been bleeding for twelve years. 26 She had suffered a lot under the care of many doctors, and had spent everything she had without getting any better. In fact, she had gotten worse. 27 Because she had heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his clothes. 28 She was thinking, If I can just touch his clothes, I’ll be healed. 29 Her bleeding stopped immediately, and she sensed in her body that her illness had been healed.

30 At that very moment, Jesus recognized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and said, “Who touched my clothes?”

31 His disciples said to him, “Don’t you see the crowd pressing against you? Yet you ask, ‘Who touched me?’” 32 But Jesus looked around carefully to see who had done it.

33 The woman, full of fear and trembling, came forward. Knowing what had happened to her, she fell down in front of Jesus and told him the whole truth. 34 He responded, “Daughter, your faith has healed you; go in peace, healed from your disease.”

35 While Jesus was still speaking with her, messengers came from the synagogue leader’s house, saying to Jairus, “Your daughter has died. Why bother the teacher any longer?”

36 But Jesus overheard their report and said to the synagogue leader, “Don’t be afraid; just keep trusting.” 37 He didn’t allow anyone to follow him except Peter, James, and John, James’ brother. 38 They came to the synagogue leader’s house, and he saw a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly. 39 He went in and said to them, “What’s all this commotion and crying about? The child isn’t dead. She’s only sleeping.” 40 They laughed at him, but he threw them all out. Then, taking the child’s parents and his disciples with him, he went to the room where the child was. 41 Taking her hand, he said to her, “Talitha koum,” which means, “Young woman, get up.” 42 Suddenly the young woman got up and began to walk around. She was 12 years old. They were shocked! 43 He gave them strict orders that no one should know what had happened. Then he told them to give her something to eat.

Commentary of the day :
Saint Ambrose (c.340-397), Bishop of Milan and Doctor of the Church Tuesday of the Fourth week in Ordinary Time

Commentary on St. Luke, 6, 57-59 ( SC 45)
"If I but touch his clothes, I shall be cured"
It is our faith that touches Christ; it is our faith that sees him. It isn't our body that touches him; the eyes of our nature cannot seize him. For seeing without perceiving is not seeing; hearing without understanding is not hearing, neither is touching if one doesn't touch with faith...
If we consider the size of our faith and if we understand the greatness of the Son of God, we realize that, in relation to him, we only touch the fringe; we cannot reach the top of his garment. Therefore, if we too want to be healed by him, let us touch in faith the fringe of Christ. He is aware of all those who touch his clothes, who touch him while he has his back turned. For God doesn't need eyes to see; he doesn't have physical senses, but he has in himself the knowledge of all things. Happy then those who are able to touch at least the borders of the Word: for who can seize it entirely? 

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