Daily Gospel for Friday, 15 January 2016

Daily Gospel for Friday, 15 January 2016
[John 6:68]
Friday of the First week in Ordinary Time
Saint(s) of the day : St. Paul, the first Hermit († 342)

SAINT PAUL 
The First Hermit
(c. 230-342)

St. Paul was born in Upper Egypt, about the year 230, and became an orphan at the age of fifteen. He was very rich and highly educated. Fearing lest the tortures of a terrible persecution might endanger his Christian perseverance, he retired into a remote village. But his pagan brother-in-law denounced him, and St. Paul, rather than remain where his faith was in danger, entered the barren desert, trusting that God would supply his wants. And his confidence was rewarded; for on the spot to which Providence led him he found the fruit of the palm-tree for food, and its leaves for clothing, and the water of a spring for drink. His first design was to return to the world when the persecution was over; but, tasting great delights in prayer and penance, he remained the rest of his life, ninety years, in penance, prayer, and contemplation.

God revealed his existence to St. Antony, who sought him for three days. Seeing a thirsty she-wolf run through an opening in the rocks, Antony followed her to look for water, and found Paul. They knew each other at once, and praised God together. When St. Antony visited him, a raven brought him a loaf, and St. Paul said, "See how good God is! For sixty years this bird has brought me half a loaf every day; now thou art come, Christ has doubled the provision for His servants." Having passed the night in prayer, at dawn of day Paul told Antony that he was about to die, and asked to be buried in the cloak given to Antony by St. Athanasius. Antony hastened to fetch it, and on his way back saw Paul rise to heaven in glory. He found his dead body kneeling as if in prayer, and two lions came and dug his grave.

Paul died in his one hundred and thirteenth year.[Lives of the Saints, by Alban Butler, Benziger Bros. ed. [1894]]

St. Remigius, Archbishop (438-533)

SAINT REMIGIUS
Archbishop 
(438-533)

Remigius, or Remi, was born of noble and pious parents. At the age of twenty-two, in spite of the canons and of his own reluctance, he was acclaimed Archbishop of Rheims. He was unusually tall, his face impressed with blended majesty and serenity, his bearing gentle, humble, and retiring. He was learned and eloquent, and had the gift of miracles. His pity and charity were boundless, and in toil he knew no weariness. His body was the outward expression of a noble and holy soul, breathing the spirit of meekness and compunction.

For so choice a workman God had fitting work. The South of France was in the hands of Arians, and the pagan Franks were wresting the North from the Romans. St. Remigius confronted Clovis, their king, and converted and baptized him at Christmas, in 496. With him he gained the whole Frank nation. He threw down the idol altars, built churches, and appointed bishops. He withstood and silenced the Arians, and converted so many that he left France a Catholic kingdom, its king the oldest and at the time the only crowned son of the Church.

He died in 533, after an episcopate of seventy-four years, the longest on record.[Lives of the Saints, by Alban Butler, Benziger Bros. ed. [1894]]

Friday of the First week in Ordinary Time
The First Book of Samuel 8:4 All the leaders of Isra’el gathered themselves together, approached Sh’mu’el in Ramah 5 and said to him, “Look, you have grown old, and your sons are not following your ways. Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.” 6 Sh’mu’el was not pleased to hear them say, “Give us a king to judge us”; so he prayed to Adonai. 7 Adonai said to Sh’mu’el, “Listen to the people, to everything they say to you; for it is not you they are rejecting; they are rejecting me; they don’t want me to be king over them.

10 Sh’mu’el reported everything Adonai had said to the people asking him for a king. 11 He said, “Here is the kind of rulings your king will make: he will draft your sons and assign them to take care of his chariots, be his horsemen and be bodyguards running ahead of his chariots. 12 He will appoint them to serve him as officers in charge of a thousand or of fifty, plowing his fields, gathering his harvest, and making his weapons and the equipment for his chariots. 13 He will take your daughters and have them be perfume-makers, cooks and bakers. 14 He will expropriate your fields, vineyards and olive groves — the very best of them! — and hand them over to his servants. 15 He will take the ten-percent tax of your crops and vineyards and give it to his officers and servants. 16 He will take your male and female servants, your best young men and your donkeys, and make them work for him. 17 He will take the ten-percent tax of your flocks, and you will become his servants. 18 When that happens, you will cry out on account of your king, whom you yourselves chose. But when that happens, Adonai will not answer you!”

19 However, the people refused to listen to what Sh’mu’el told them, and they said, “No! We want a king over us, 20 so that we can be like all the nations, with our king to judge us, lead us and fight our battles.” 21 Sh’mu’el heard everything the people said and repeated them for Adonai to hear. 22 Adonai said to Sh’mu’el, “Do what they ask, and set up a king for them.” So Sh’mu’el told the men of Isra’el, “Each of you, return to his city.”

Psalm 89:16 (15) How happy are the people who know the joyful shout!

They walk in the light of your presence, Adonai.

17 (16) They rejoice in your name all day

and are lifted up by your righteousness,

18 (17) for you yourself are the strength in which they glory.

Our power grows by pleasing you,

19 (18) for our shield comes from Adonai —

our king is from the Holy One of Isra’el.

Holy Gospel of Yeshua the Messiah according to Saint Mark 2:1 After a while, Yeshua returned to K’far-Nachum. The word spread that he was back, 2 and so many people gathered around the house that there was no longer any room, not even in front of the door. While he was preaching the message to them, 3 four men came to him carrying a paralyzed man. 4 They could not get near Yeshua because of the crowd, so they stripped the roof over the place where he was, made an opening, and lowered the stretcher with the paralytic lying on it. 5 Seeing their trust, Yeshua said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” 6 Some Torah-teachers sitting there thought to themselves, 7 “How can this fellow say such a thing? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins except God?” 8 But immediately Yeshua, perceiving in his spirit what they were thinking, said to them, “Why are you thinking these things? 9 Which is easier to say to the paralyzed man? ‘Your sins are forgiven’? or ‘Get up, pick up your stretcher and walk’? 10 But look! I will prove to you that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” He then said to the paralytic, 11 “I say to you: get up, pick up your stretcher and go home!” 12 In front of everyone the man got up, picked up his stretcher at once and left. They were all utterly amazed and praised God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”Friday of the First week in Ordinary Time
Commentary of the day:
Saint John Chrysostom (c.345-407), priest at Antioch then Bishop of Constantinople, Doctor of the Church
Homily 29 on St. Matthew, 29: 1-3

"Who but God alone can forgive sins?"

"They came bringing to him a paralytic." The evangelists say not only that they brought him, but that they also broke up the roof, and let him down. And they put the sick man before Christ, saying nothing, but committing everything to him. In the beginning of the ministry he himself went about, and did not require so much faith of those that came to him; but in this case they approached him, and faith was required on their part. For, "Seeing," it is said, "their faith;" that is, the faith of them that had let the man down... In this case the sick man too showed much faith; for he would not have let himself be let down through the roof, unless he had believed.
Since they had shown such great faith, Jesus also shows his own power, his authority to absolve sins, signifying that he is equal in honor with his Father. He implied it from the beginning, by his teaching, when he taught them "as one having authority"; by the leper, when he said, "I will do it. Be made clean"; by the sea, when he calmed it with a mere word; by the demons, when they acknowledged him as their judge… Here, he signifies his indifference to honor by not hastening to heal the visible body; he healed first that which is invisible, the soul, by forgiving his sins; which indeed saved the man, but brought no great glory to Christ. Then some people, in their malice, wanted to assail him; it only served to make the miracle even more evident, against their will.
---------------------