Feb 08, Night Prayer for Wednesday of the 5th week of Ordinary Time

Ribbon Placement:
Liturgy of the Hours:
Vol I, page 1180
Vol II, Page 1638
Vol III, Page 1280
Vol IV, Page 1244

Christian Prayer:
Page 1047

General instruction:
Please pray with us actively, especially by joining with us in saying antiphons and responses, most of which are indicated in this highlight.

Consider an examination of your own conscience before beginning to best make use of our time together in prayer.

Night Prayer for Wednesday

God, come to my assistance.
– Lord, make haste to help me.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
– as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen. Alleluia.

Examination of conscience:

We are called to have a clear conscience toward God and toward men, in our hearts and in our minds, in our actions and inactions. To do so, it is vital that we examine our conscience daily and to ask for God’s mercy as we fall short and to ask for His strength to do better.

I confess to almighty God,
and to you, my brothers and sisters,
that I have sinned through my own fault
in my thoughts and in my words,
in what I have done,
and in what I have failed to do;
and I ask blessed Mary, ever virgin,
all the angels and saints,
and you, my brothers and sisters,
to pray for me to the Lord our God.

HYMN

Maker of this heart of mine
You know me very well
You understand my deepest part
More than I know myself
So when I face the darkness
When I need to find my way
I’ll trust in You
Shepherd of my heart

Keeper of this heart of mine
Your patience has no end
You’ve loved me back into Your arms
Time and time again
So if I start to wander
Like a lamb that’s gone astray
I’ll trust in You
Shepherd of my heart

You’re the beacon of my nights
You’re the sunlight of my days
I can rest within Your arms
I can know Your loving ways
So let the cold winds blow
Let the storms rage all around
I’ll trust in You
Shepherd of my heart

Giver of this life in me
You’re what I’m living for
For all my deepest gratitude
You love me even more
So as I walk through valleys
Listening for the Master’s call
I’ll trust in you
Shepherd of my heart

You’re the beacon of my nights
You’re the sunlight of my days
I can rest within Your arms
I can know Your loving ways
So as I walk through valleys
Listening for my Master’s call
I’ll trust in You
Shepherd of my heart

I’ll trust in You
Shepherd of my heart

“Shepherd of my heart” song performed by Melinda Kirigin-Voss on her album “Yesterday, Today, and Forever”
“Shepherd of my heart” by Melinda Kirigin-Voss is available from Amazon.com

PSALMODY

Ant. 1 Lord God, be my refuge and my strength.

Psalm 31:1-6
Trustful prayer in adversity
Father, into your hands I commend my spirit (Luke 23:46).

In you, O Lord, I take refuge.
Let me never be put to shame.
In your justice, set me free,
hear me and speedily rescue me.

Be a rock of refuge for me,
a mighty stronghold to save me,
for you are my rock, my stronghold.
For your name’s sake, lead me and guide me.

Release me from the snares they have hidden
for you are my refuge, Lord.
Into your hands I commend my spirit.
It is you who will redeem me, Lord.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son,
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now,
and will be for ever. Amen.

Ant. Lord God, be my refuge and my strength.

Ant. 2 Out of the depths I cry to you, Lord.

Psalm 130
A cry from the depths
He will save his people from their sins (Matthew 1:21).

Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord,
Lord, hear my voice!
O let your ears be attentive
to the voice of my pleading.

If you, O Lord, should mark our guilt,
Lord, who would survive?
But with you is found forgiveness:
for this we revere you.

My soul is waiting for the Lord,
I count on his word.
My soul is longing for the Lord
more than watchman for daybreak.
Let the watchman count on daybreak
and Israel on the Lord.

Because with the Lord there is mercy
and fullness of redemption,
Israel indeed he will redeem
from all its iniquity.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son,
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now,
and will be for ever. Amen.

Ant. Out of the depths I cry to you, Lord.

READING Ephesians 4:26-27

If you are angry, let it be without sin. The sun must not go down on your wrath; do not give the devil a chance to work on you.

RESPONSORY

Into your hands, Lord, I commend my spirit.
– Into your hands, Lord, I commend my spirit.

You have redeemed us, Lord God of truth.
– I commend my spirit.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,
– Into your hands, Lord, I commend my spirit.

Gospel Canticle

Ant. Protect us, Lord, as we stay awake; watch over us as we sleep, that awake, we may keep watch with Christ, and asleep, rest in his peace.

Luke 2:29-32
Christ is the light of the nations and the glory of Israel

Lord, now you let your servant go in peace;
your word has been fulfilled:

my own eyes have seen the salvation
which you have prepared in the sight of every people:

a light to reveal you to the nations
and the glory of your people Israel.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son,
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now,
and will be for ever. Amen.

Ant. Protect us, Lord, as we stay awake; watch over us as we sleep, that awake, we may keep watch with Christ, and asleep, rest in his peace.

Concluding Prayer

Lord Jesus Christ,
you have given your followers
an example of gentleness and humility,
a task that is easy, a burden that is light.
Accept the prayers and work of this day,
and give us the rest that will strengthen us
to render more faithful service to you
who live and reign for ever and ever.
– Amen.

Blessing

May the all-powerful Lord grant us a restful night and a peaceful death.
– Amen.

Antiphon or song in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Hail Mary full of grace the Lord is with you.
Blessed are you among women and
Blessed is the fruit of your womb Jesus.
Holy Mary Mother of God pray for us sinners
now and at the hour of our death.

Saint Jerome Emiliani, Priest

Saint Jerome Emiliani, Priest
Optional Memorial
February 8th

from a traditional prayer card

St. Jerome Emiliani was born in Venice and, after a rather dissolute youth, he dedicated himself to the service of the poor, the sick, and abandoned children. He founded a congregation (Somaschi) which looked after the education of children, especially orphans. He died of the plague while serving the afflicted.

Source: Daily Roman Missal, Edited by Rev. James Socías, Midwest Theological Forum, Chicago, Illinois ©2003

Collect:
O God, Father of mercies,
who sent Saint Jerome Emiliani as a helper and father to orphans,
grant, through his intercession,
that we may preserve faithfully the spirit of adoption,
by which we are called, and truly are, your children.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. +Amen.
First Reading: Tobit 12:6-13
Then the angel[Raphael] called the two of them[Tobit & Tobias] privately and said to them: "Praise God and give thanks to Him; exalt Him and give thanks to Him in the presence of all the living for what He has done for you. It is good to praise God and to exalt His name, worthily declaring the works of God. Do not be slow to give Him thanks. It is good to guard the secret of a king, but gloriously to reveal the works of God. Do good, and evil will not overtake you. Prayer is good when accompanied by fasting, almsgiving, and righteousness. A little with righteousness is better than much with wrongdoing. It is better to give alms than to treasure up gold. For almsgiving delivers from death, and it will purge away every sin. Those who perform deeds of charity and of righteousness will have fulness of life; but those who commit sin are the enemies of their own lives.

I will not conceal anything from you. I have said, 'It is good to guard the secret of a king, but gloriously to reveal the works of God.' And so, when you and your daughter-in-law Sarah prayed, I brought a reminder of your prayer before the Holy One; and when you buried the dead, I was likewise present with you. When you did not hesitate to rise and leave your dinner in order to go and lay out the dead, your good deed was not hidden from me, but I was with you."

Gospel Reading: Mark 10:17-30 [or Mark 10:17-27]
And as Jesus was setting out on His journey, a man ran up and knelt before Him, and asked Him, "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" And Jesus said to him, "Why do you call Me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments: 'Do not kill, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.'" And he said to Him, "Teacher, all these I have observed from my youth." And Jesus looking upon him loved him, and said to him, "You lack one thing; go, sell what you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me." At that saying his countenance fell, and he went away sorrowful; for he had great possessions.

And Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, "How hard it will be for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God!" And the disciples were amazed at His words. But Jesus said to them again, "Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." And they were exceedingly astonished, and said to Him, "Then who can be saved?" Jesus looked at them and said, "With men it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God." [Peter began to say to Him, "Lo, we have left everything and followed You." Jesus said, "Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for My sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life.]

Saint Jerome Emiliani
July 20, St Jerome Emiliani, Confessor (1962 Breviary and Kalendar)

Saint Josephine Bakhita, Virgin

Saint Josephine Bakhita, Virgin
Optional Memorial
February 8th

Vatican Website

Mother Josephine Bakhita was born in Sudan in 1869 and died in Schio (Vicenza) in 1947.
This African flower, who knew the anguish of kidnapping and slavery, bloomed marvelously in Italy, in response to God's grace, with the Daughters of Charity.
Mother "Moretta"
In Schio (Vicenza), where she spent many years of her life, everyone still calls her "our Black Mother". The process for the cause of canonization began twelve years after her death and on December 1, 1978 the Church proclaimed the decree of the heroic practice of all virtues.
Divine Providence, which "cares for the flowers of the fields and the birds of the air", guided the Sudanese slave through innumerable and unspeakable sufferings to human freedom and to the freedom of faith and finally to the consecration of her whole life to God for the coming of His Kingdom.
In Slavery
Bakhita was not the name she received from her parents at birth. The fright and the terrible experiences she went through made her forget the name she was given by her parents. Bakhita, which means "fortunate", was the name given to her by her kidnappers.
Sold and resold in the markets of El Obeid and of Khartoum, she experienced the humiliations and sufferings of slavery, both physical and moral.
Toward freedom
In the capital of Sudan, Bakhita was bought by an Italian consul, Callisto Legnani . For the first time since the day she was kidnapped, she realized with pleasant surprise, that no one used the lash when giving her orders; instead, she was treated in a loving and cordial way. In the consul's residence, Bakhita experienced peace, warmth and moments of joy, even though veiled by nostalgia for her own family, whom, perhaps, she had lost forever.
Political situations forced the consul to leave for Italy. Bakhita asked and obtained permission to go with him and with a friend of his, a certain Mr. Augusto Michieli.
In Italy
On arrival in Genoa, Mr. Legnani, pressured by the request of Mr. Michieli's wife, consented to leave Bakhita with them. She followed the new "family", which settled in Zianigo (near Mirano Veneto). When their daughter Mimmina was born, Bakhita became her babysitter and friend.
The acquisition and management of a big hotel in Suakin, on the Red Sea, forced Mrs. Michieli to move to Suakin to help her husband. Meanwhile, on the advice of their administrator, Illuminato Checchini, Mimmina and Bakhita were entrusted to the Canossian Sisters of the Institute of the Catechumens in Venice. It was there that Bakhita came to know about God whom "she had experienced in her heart without knowing who He was" ever since she was a child. "Seeing the sun, the moon and the stars, I said to myself: Who could be the Master of these beautiful things? And I felt a great desire to see Him, to know Him and to pay Him homage..."
Daughter of God
After several months in the catechumenate, Bakhita received the sacraments of Christian initiation and was given the new name, Josephine. It was January 9, 1890. She did not know how to express her joy that day. Her big and expressive eyes sparkled, revealing deep emotions. From then on, she was often seen kissing the baptismal font and saying: "Here, I became a daughter of God!"
With each new day, she became more aware of who this God was, whom she now knew and loved, who had led her to Him through mysterious ways, holding her by the hand.
When Mrs. Michieli returned from Africa to take back her daughter and Bakhita, the latter, with unusual firmness and courage, expressed her desire to remain with the Canossian Sisters and to serve that God who had shown her so many proofs of His love.
The young African, who by then had come of age, enjoyed the freedom of choice that the Italian law ensured.
Daughter of St. Magdalene
Bakhita remained in the catechumenate where she experienced the call to be a religious, and to give herself to the Lord in the Institute of St. Magdalene of Canossa.
On December 8, 1896 Josephine Bakhita was consecrated forever to God whom she called with the sweet expression "the Master!"
For another 50 years, this humble Daughter of Charity, a true witness of the love of God, lived in the community in Schio, engaged in various services: cooking, sewing, embroidery and attending to the door.
When she was on duty at the door, she would gently lay her hands on the heads of the children who daily attended the Canossian schools and caress them. Her amiable voice, which had the inflection and rhythm of the music of her country, was pleasing to the little ones, comforting to the poor and suffering and encouraging for those who knocked at the door of the Institute.
Witness of love
Her humility, her simplicity and her constant smile won the hearts of all the citizens. Her sisters in the community esteemed her for her inalterable sweet nature, her exquisite goodness and her deep desire to make the Lord known.
"Be good, love the Lord, pray for those who do not know Him. What a great grace it is to know God!"
As she grew older she experienced long, painful years of sickness. Mother Bakhita continued to witness to faith, goodness and Christian hope. To those who visited her and asked how she was, she would respond with a smile: "As the Master desires."
Final test
During her agony, she re-lived the terrible days of her slavery and more then once she begged the nurse who assisted her: "Please, loosen the chains... they are heavy!"
It was Mary Most Holy who freed her from all pain. Her last words were: "Our Lady! Our Lady!", and her final smile testified to her encounter with the Mother of the Lord.
Mother Bakhita breathed her last on February 8, 1947 at the Canossian Convent, Schio, surrounded by the Sisters. A crowd quickly gathered at the Convent to have a last look at their «Mother Moretta» and to ask for her protection from heaven. The fame of her sanctity has spread to all the continents and many are those who receive graces through her intercession.

Source: http://www.vatican.va/news_services/liturgy/saints/ns_lit_doc_20001001_giuseppina-bakhita_en.html
See related Document: Encyclical Letter, SPE SALVI of the Supreme Pontiff, Benedict XVI to the Bishops, Priests and Deacons, Men and Women Religious and All the Lay Faithful, On Christian Hope, November 30, 2007 -- Paragraphs 3 - 5 the Pope mentions St. Josephine Bakhita.

Collect:
O God, who led Saint Josephine Bakhita from abject slavery
to the dignity of being your daughter and a bride of Christ,
grant, we pray, that by her example
we may show constant love for the Lord Jesus crucified,
remaining steadfast in charity
and prompt to show compassion.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. +Amen.
First Reading: 1 Corinthians 7: 23-35
You were bought with a price; do not become slaves of men. So, brethren, in whatever state each was called, there let him remain with God.

Now concerning the unmarried, I have no command of the Lord, but I give my opinion as one who by the Lord's mercy is trustworthy. I think that in view of the present distress it is well for a person to remain as he is. Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be free. Are you free from a wife? Do not seek marriage. But if you marry, you do not sin, and if a girl marries she does not sin. Yet those who marry will have worldly troubles, and I would spare you that. I mean, brethren, the appointed time has grown very short; from now on, let those who have wives live as though they had none, and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no goods, and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the form of this world is passing away.

I want you to be free from anxieties. The unmarried man is anxious about the affairs of the Lord, how to please the Lord; but the married man is anxious about worldly affairs, how to please his wife, and his interests are divided. And the unmarried woman or girl is anxious about the affairs of the Lord, how to be holy in body and spirit; but the married woman is anxious about worldly affairs, how to please her husband. I say this for your own benefit, not to lay any restraint upon you, but to promote good order and to secure your undivided devotion to the Lord.

Gospel: Matthew 25: 1-13
"Then the kingdom of heaven shall be compared to ten maidens who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them; but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. As the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. But at midnight there was a cry, 'Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.' Then all those maidens rose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.' But the wise replied, 'Perhaps there will not be enough for us and for you; go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.' And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast; and the door was shut. Afterward the other maidens came also, saying, 'Lord, lord, open to us.' But he replied, 'Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.' Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.

Josephine Bakhita - an African Saint [from Sudan]
From Slave to Saint: The Story of St. Josephine Bakhita
A Saint For Those Who Are Prisoners of Their Past [St. Josephine Bakhita] (Catholic Caucus)
St. Josephine Bakhita Was a Humble Witness to God's Love

Information: St. Jerome Emiliani

Feast Day:	February 8
Born:	1481, Venice
Died:	8 February 1537, Somasca
Canonized:	1767 by Pope Clement XIII
Patron of:	orphans

Interactive Saints for Kids

St. Jerome Emiliani

Feast Day: February 08
Born:1486 :: Died:1537

Jerome was born to a noble family of Venice, Italy. He loved the good life and spent his youth carelessly enjoying the pleasures of this world. When he grew up he became a soldier and was put in command of a fortress high in the mountains.

One day, his post was attacked by troops of Maximilian I. Jerome was taken prisoner and thrown into a dungeon. Chained in that miserable prison, he had time to think about his life. He began to regret the careless way he had been living. He was sorry that he had thought so little about God. He was sorry for wasting so many years living a wicked life.

Jerome promised the Blessed Mother that he would change his life if she would help him. His prayers were answered and by a miracle he was able to escape to safety. Jerome, with a grateful heart, went straight to a church. He hung his prison chains in front of Mary's altar.

After returning to Venice, he took charge of the education of his young nephews while he studied to be a priest. When he finally became a priest he was devoted to works of charity.

Plague and famine struck northern Italy. Jerome began feeding the sick and the hungry with whatever money he had. He was especially concerned about the many homeless orphan children he found in the streets. He rented a house for them, and gave them clothes and food. He taught them about Jesus and the Catholic faith.

St. Jerome started a religious congregation of men called the Company of the Servants of the Poor. They would care for the poor, especially orphans, and would teach youth.

He did all he could for the peasants, too. St. Jerome would work with them in the fields and would talk to them of God's goodness while he worked by their side. He died while caring for plague victims in 1537.

St. Jerome Emiliani was a gift to the people of his time and to all the Church. By totally turning his life around, he became an image of the love of God. He gave hope to those who were poor and abandoned. He is the patron saint of orphans and homeless children.

Catholic

Almanac:

Wednesday, February 8
Liturgical Color: Green
St. Josephine Bakhita died this day in 1947. Abducted as a young girl and sold as a slave in Sudan, she was badly abused. Never losing her faith, she gained her freedom and became a nun. She lived her remaining life in humble service to God.

Catholic Culture

Daily Readings for: February 08, 2012
(Readings on USCCB website)

Collect: O God, Father of mercies, who sent Saint Jerome Emiliani as a helper and father to orphans, grant through his intercession, that we may preserve faithfully the spirit of adoption, by which we are called, and truly are, your children. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

O God, who led Saint Josephine Bakhita from abject slavery to the dignity of being your daughter and a bride of Christ, grant, we pray, that by her example we may show constant love for the Lord Jesus crucified, remaining steadfast in charity and prompt to show compassion. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

RECIPES

Mafé

ACTIVITIES

PRAYERS

LIBRARY

Ordinary Time: February 8th

Optional Memorials of St. Jerome Emiliani, priest; St. Josephine Bakhita, virgin Old Calendar: St. John of Matha, confessor

St. Jerome Emiliani was born in Venice in 1486. He converted to Christianity after a rather dissolute youth, and dedicated himself to the service of the poor, the sick, and abandoned children. He founded a congregation (Somaschi) which looked after the education of children, especially orphans. He died of the plague while serving the afflicted.

Saint Josephine was a young Sudanese girl sold into slavery and brought to Italy where, while serving as a nanny, she was sent to live with the Canossian Sisters of the Institute of the Catechumens in Venice. There she was baptized, and, having reached majority age, was granted her freedom by Italian law. In 1896 she joined the Canossian Daughters of Charity where she served humbly for the next twenty five years. She died after a long and painful illness, during which she would cry out to the Lord: "Please loosen the chains... they are so heavy!" Her dying words were "Our Lady! Our Lady!"

According to the 1962 Missal of Bl. John XXIII the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, today is the feast of St. John of Matha, who came from Provence, France and was ordained a priest in Paris. He retired to a solitary life conscious that God was calling him to a special mission, and spent three years in prayer and recollection. He then founded the Trinitarian Order for the ransom of Christians held by the Mohammedans. A great number of houses were founded and innumerable prisoners set free. St. John spent the last two years of his life in Rome, where he died.

St. Jerome Emiliani
A careless and irreligious soldier for the city-state of Venice, Jerome was captured in a skirmish at an outpost town and chained in a dungeon. In prison Jerome had a lot of time to think, and he gradually learned how to pray. When he escaped, he returned to Venice where he took charge of the education of his nephews—and began his own studies for the priesthood.

In the years after his ordination, events again called Jerome to a decision and a new lifestyle. Plague and famine swept northern Italy. Jerome began caring for the sick and feeding the hungry at his own expense. While serving the sick and the poor, he soon resolved to devote himself and his property solely to others, particularly to abandoned children. He founded three orphanages, a shelter for penitent prostitutes and a hospital.

Around 1532 Jerome and two other priests established a congregation dedicated to the care of orphans and the education of youth. Jerome died in 1537 from a disease he caught while tending the sick. He was canonized in 1767. In 1928 Pius XI named him the universal patron of orphans and abandoned children.

— Excerpted from Saint of the Day, Leonard Foley, O.F.M.

Patron: Abandoned people; orphans.

Symbols: Ball and chain; man shackled with a ball and chain who is attending the sick; man wearing a ball and chain, and receiving an apparition of Mary and the Child Jesus.

Things to Do:

Read more about St. Jerome: Life of St. Jerome
Meditate on these words: "Before dying, Jerome gives to his own a testament that is not only the synthesis of his spiritual experience, but also an itinerary of Christian life: Follow the way of the Crucified, despise the world, love one another, serve the poor. The life of love for the poor is born from a community of people who live the commandment of the reciprocal love, after having decided to have, as a goal, only God. The cross becomes the expression of this dedication and love, on the example of Jesus Christ."
We suggest you visit the Somascan Fathers and Brothers' website where you can read St. Jerome's letters written in 1535 as well as other documents and you can also learn more about this religious community.

St. Josephine Bakhita
For many years, Josephine Bakhita was a slave, but her spirit was always free and eventually that spirit prevailed. Born in Olgossa in the Darfur region of southern Sudan, Josephine was kidnapped at the age of seven, sold into slavery and given the name Bakhita, which means fortunate. She was resold several times, finally in 1883 to Callisto Legnani, Italian consul in Khartoum, Sudan.

Two years later he took Josephine to Italy and gave her to his friend Augusto Michieli. Soon Bakhita became babysitter to Mimmina Michieli, whom she accompanied to Venice's Institute of the Catechumens, run by the Canossian Sisters. While Mimmina was being instructed, Josephine felt drawn to the Catholic Church. She was baptized and confirmed in 1890, taking the name Josephine.

When the Michielis returned from Africa and wanted to take Mimmina and Josephine back with them, the future saint refused to go. During the ensuing court case, the Canossian sisters and the patriarch of Venice intervened on Josephine's behalf. The judge concluded that since slavery was illegal in Italy, she had actually been free since 1885.

Josephine entered the Institute of Saint Magdalene of Canossa in 1893 and made her profession three years later. In 1902, she was transferred to the city of Schio (northeast of Verona), where she assisted her religious community through cooking, sewing, embroidery and welcoming visitors at the door. She soon became well loved by the children attending the sisters' school and the local citizens. She once said, "Be good, love the Lord, pray for those who do not know Him. What a great grace it is to know God!"

The first steps toward her beatification began in 1959. She was beatified in 1992 and canonized eight years later.

— Excerpted from Saint of the Day, Leonard Foley, O.F.M.

"Be good, love the Lord, pray for those who do not know him. What a great grace it is to know God!". — St. Josephine Bakhita

Things to Do:

Visit these websites for more about the life of St. Josephine: Josephine Bakhita (Vatican's biography); Josephine Bakhita - an African Saint (Has links to information about the Faith in Africa and the persecution which continues); Black Catholics: Josephine Bakhita (Life Historical Timeline)
The Canossian Daughters of Charity are called to contemplate, experience and share God's love for every person and to participate in Christ's mission of salvation in a life of total dedication to God, communion and humble service with Mary, mother of love beneath the cross. Learn more about the Canossian Daughters of Charity, the order in which St. Josephine became a professed religious.
A Sister seeing St. Josephine so peaceful and always in prayer, asked, "Do you wish to go to heaven?" "I wish neither to go nor to stay. God knows where to find me, when He wants me." To another who asked how she was going on, she answered, "I am going slowly, step by step, because I have two heavy bags to carry - one containing my own sins, the other Christ's merits. When I get to the other side, I will open my bags and say, 'Eternal Father, now judge!' and to St Peter, 'You can close that door of yours, for I'm going to stay.'" More autobiographical excerpts from St. Josephine's wonderful story can be found here.
Pray for those suffering persecution in Sudan. Read what Bishop Macram Max Gassis says in this article, Sudan: Country of Terrorism, Religious Persecution, Slavery, Rape, Genocide, and Man-Made Starvation and this statement from the Sudan Catholic Bishops' Regional Conference.

St. John of Matha
John of Matha, the founder of the Trinitarian Order, was born at Faucon, on the borders of Provence, in France. He was trained as a young noble in horsemanship and the use of arms, decided to study for the priesthood, and was ordained in Paris. After some years in solitude, he conceived the idea of founding an order to ransom Christian captives from the Muslims and went to Rome to obtain the blessing of Pope Innocent III.

Houses of the order were established at Cerfroid and Rome and in Spain. He was very successful in the work of ransoming captives and his order spread. Very little is known for certain about his life, and in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, to bolster his reputation, certain members of his order fabricated stories about him, filled his life with miracles and amazing adventures, and connected the beginnings of his order with St. Felix of Valois.

The Trinitarian Order had not preserved any archives of their order and had little knowledge of the life of their founder. Another order, the Order of Mercy, was founded for the same reason as their own, and they compiled a fictitious record of the beginnings of their order. This takes nothing away from the achievements of St. John of Matha, but it does obscure the true story of his life and work.

We do know that he received approval of his order from Pope Innocent III in 1198 and that he died in Rome in 1213. His relics were taken to Madrid in 1655, and he was recognized as a saint in 1694. At his death, there were thirty-five houses of the order throughout Europe. The Trinitarians were one of the first religious orders to combine monastic discipline with pastoral work and one of the first to become international in its work. The order flourishes today in several countries and in 1906 made a foundation in the United States.

Excerpted from The One Year Book of Saints, Rev. Clifford Stevens

Patron: Against lightning; against pestilence; archers; automobile drivers; automobilists; bachelors; Baden, Germany; boatmen; bookbinders; Brunswick, Germany; bus drivers; cab drivers; epilepsy; epileptics; floods; fruit dealers; fullers; gardeners; hailstorms; holy death; lightning; lorry drivers; mariners; market carriers; Mecklenburg, Germany; motorists; pestilence; porters; Rab Croatia; sailors; Saint Christopher's Island; Saint Kitts; storms; sudden death; taxi drivers; toothache; Toses, Girona, Catalonia, Spain; transportation; transportation workers; travellers; truck drivers; truckers; watermen.

Symbols: Branch; giant; torrent; tree; man with Christ on his shoulders.

Things to Do:

Like Mother Teresa of Calcutta, St. John of Matha saw a critical need for the Church at the time and set about doing something about it. He devoted all of his time, his efforts, and his resources to ransom his fellow Christians from slavery, and his work continued into modern times, until slavery was abolished. Like him, we should look around us and see what good has to be done and then courageously put our hand to the task.
Read a longer biography of St. John.

Mark
	English: Douay-Rheims	Latin: Vulgata Clementina	Greek NT: Byzantine/Majority Text (2000)
	Mark 7
14.	And calling again the multitude unto him, he said to them: Hear ye me all, and understand.	Et advocans iterum turbam, dicebat illis : Audite me omnes, et intelligite.	και προσκαλεσαμενος παντα τον οχλον ελεγεν αυτοις ακουετε μου παντες και συνιετε
15.	There is nothing from without a man that entering into him, can defile him. But the things which come from a man, those are they that defile a man.	Nihil est extra hominem introiens in eum, quod possit eum coinquare, sed quæ de homine procedunt illa sunt quæ communicant hominem.	ουδεν εστιν εξωθεν του ανθρωπου εισπορευομενον εις αυτον ο δυναται αυτον κοινωσαι αλλα τα εκπορευομενα απ αυτου εκεινα εστιν τα κοινουντα τον ανθρωπον
16.	If any man have ears to hear, let him hear.	Si quis habet aures audiendi, audiat.	ει τις εχει ωτα ακουειν ακουετω
17.	And when he was come into the house from the multitude, his disciples asked him the parable.	Et cum introisset in domum a turba, interrogabant eum discipuli ejus parabolam.	και οτε εισηλθεν εις οικον απο του οχλου επηρωτων αυτον οι μαθηται αυτου περι της παραβολης
18.	And he saith to them: So are you also without knowledge? understand you not that every thing from without, entering into a man cannot defile him:	Et ait illis : Sic et vos imprudentes estis ? Non intelligitis quia omne extrinsecus introiens in hominem, non potest eum communicare :	και λεγει αυτοις ουτως και υμεις ασυνετοι εστε ου νοειτε οτι παν το εξωθεν εισπορευομενον εις τον ανθρωπον ου δυναται αυτον κοινωσαι
19.	Because it entereth not into his heart, but goeth into the belly, and goeth out into the privy, purging all meats?	quia non intrat in cor ejus, sed in ventrum vadit, et in secessum exit, purgans omnes escas ?	οτι ουκ εισπορευεται αυτου εις την καρδιαν αλλ εις την κοιλιαν και εις τον αφεδρωνα εκπορευεται καθαριζον παντα τα βρωματα
20.	But he said that the things which come out from a man, they defile a man.	Dicebat autem, quoniam quæ de homine exeunt, illa communicant hominem.	ελεγεν δε οτι το εκ του ανθρωπου εκπορευομενον εκεινο κοινοι τον ανθρωπον
21.	For from within out of the heart of men proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,	Ab intus enim de corde hominum malæ cogitationes procedunt, adulteria, fornicationes, homicidia,	εσωθεν γαρ εκ της καρδιας των ανθρωπων οι διαλογισμοι οι κακοι εκπορευονται μοιχειαι πορνειαι φονοι
22.	Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness.	furta, avaritiæ, nequitiæ, dolus, impudicitiæ, oculus malus, blasphemia, superbia, stultitia.	κλοπαι πλεονεξιαι πονηριαι δολος ασελγεια οφθαλμος πονηρος βλασφημια υπερηφανια αφροσυνη
23.	All these evil things come from within, and defile a man.	Omnia hæc mala ab intus procedunt, et communicant hominem.	παντα ταυτα τα πονηρα εσωθεν εκπορευεται και κοινοι τον ανθρωπον

14. And when he had called all the people to him, he said unto them, Hearken unto me every one of you, and understand:
15. There is nothing from without a man, that entering into him can defile him: but the things which come out of him, those are they that defile the man.
16. If any man have ears to hear, let him hear.
17. And when he was entered into the house from the people, his disciples asked him concerning the parable.
18. And he said to them, Are you so without understanding also? Do you not perceive, that whatever thing from without enters into the man, it cannot defile him;
19. Because it enters not into his heart, but into the belly, and goes out into the draught, purging all meats?
20. And he said, That which comes out of the man, that defiles the man.
21. For from within, out of time heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,
22. Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness:
23. All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.

PSEUD-CHRYS. The Jews regard and murmur about only the bodily purification of the law; our Lord wishes to bring in the contrary. Wherefore it is said, And when he had called all the people to him, he said to them. Hearken in unto me every one, and understand; there is nothing from without a man, that entering into sin can defile him but the things which come out of a man, those are they which defile a man; that is, which make him unclean. The things of Christ have relation to the inner man but those which are of the law are visible and external, to which, as being bodily, the cross of Christ was shortly to put an end.

THEOPHYL. But the intention of the Lord in saying this was to teach men, that the observing of meats, which the law commands, should not be taken in a carnal sense, and from this He began to unfold to them the intent of the law.

PSEUD-CHRYS. Again he subjoins, If any man have ears to hear, let him hear. For He had not clearly shown them, what those things are which proceed out of a man, and defile a man; and on account of this saying, the Apostles thought that the foregoing discourse of the Lord implied some other deep thing;

wherefore there follows: And when he was entered into the house from the people, his disciples asked him concerning the parable; they called it parable, because it was not clear.

THEOPHYL. The Lord begins by chiding them, wherefore there follows, Are you so without understanding also?

BEDE; For that man is a faulty hearer who considers what is obscure to be a clear speech, or what is clear to he obscurely spoken.

THEOPHYL. Then the Lord shows them what was hidden, saying, Do you not perceive, that whatever thing from without enters into the man, it cannot make him common?

BEDE; For the Jews, boasting themselves to be the portion of God, call common those meats which all men use, as shellfish, hares, and animals of that sort. Not even however what is offered to idols is unclean, in as far as it is food and God's creature; it is the invocation of devils which makes it unclean; and He adds the cause of it saying, Because it enters not into his heart. The principal seat of the soul according to Plato is time brain, hut according to Christ, it is in the heart.

GLOSS. It says therefore into his heart, that is, into his mind, which is the principal part of his soul, on which his whole life depends; wherefore it is necessary, that according to the state of his heart a man should be called clean or unclean, and thus whatsoever does not reach the soul, cannot bring pollution to the man. Meats therefore, since they do not reach the soul, cannot in their own nature defile a man; but an inordinate use of meats, which proceeds from a want of order in the mind, makes men unclean. But that meats cannot reach the mind, He shows by that which He adds, saying, But into the belly, and goes out into the draught, purging all meats. This however He says, without referring to what remains from the food in the body, for that which is necessary for the nourishment and growth of the body remains. But that which is superfluous goes out, and thus as it were purges the nourishment, which remains.

AUG. For some things are joined to others in such a way as both to change and be changed, just as food, losing its former appearance, is both itself turned into our body, and we too are changed, and our strength is refreshed by it. Further a most subtle liquid, after the food has been prepared and digested in our veins, and other arteries, by some hidden channels, called from a Greek word, pores, passes through us, and goes into the draught.

BEDE; Thus then it is not meat that makes men unclean, but wickedness, which works in us the passions which come from within; wherefore it goes on: And he said, That which comes out of a man, that defiles a man.

GLOSS. The meaning of which He points out, when He subjoins, from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts. And thus it appears that evil thoughts belong to the mind, which is lucre called the heart, and according to which a man is called good or bad, clean or unclean.

BEDE; From this passage are condemned those men who suppose that thoughts are put into them by the devil, and do not arise from their own evil will. The devil may excite and help on evil thoughts, he cannot be their author.

GLOSS. From evil thoughts, however, evil actions proceed to greater lengths, concerning which it is added, adulteries, that is acts which consist in the violation of another man's bed; fornications, which are unlawful connections between persons, not bound by marriage; murders, by which hurt is inflicted on the person of one's neighbor; thefts, by which his goods are taken from him; covetousness, by which things are unjustly kept; wickedness, which consists in calumniating others; deceit, in overreaching them; lasciviousness, to which belongs any corruption of mind or body.

THEOPHYL. An evil eye, that is, hatred and flattery, for he who hates turns an evil and envious eye on him who he hates, and a flatterer, looking askance at his neighbor's goods, leads him into evil; blasphemies, that is, faults committed against God; pride, that is, contempt of God, when man ascribes to God, which he does, not to God, for it to his own virtue; foolishness, that is, an injury against one's neighbor.

GLOSS. Or, foolishness consists in wrong thoughts concerning God; for it is opposed to wisdom, which is the knowledge of divine things. It goes on, All these evil things come from within inn, and defile the man. For whatever is in the power of a man, is imputed to him as a fault, because all such things proceed from the interior will, by which man is master of his own actions.

Catena Aurea Mark 7

Christ and the Woman Taken in Adultery

Lucas Cranach the Younger

after 1532

Marriage = One Man and One Woman

Til' Death Do Us Part

Daily Marriage Tip for February 8, 2012:

Fighting Fair Tip: Keep it current. One couple has the rule of thumb that any issue older than the milk in the refrigerator is no longer game. Recurring arguments usually mean that there’s something behind the presenting problem that irks the other.

Vultus Christi

A Saint For Those Who Are Prisoners of Their Past

By

Father Mark

on February 8, 2012 5:00 PM |

Saint Josephine Bakhita

I originally posted this homily five years ago. The message of Saint Josephine Bakhita is so compelling that I decided to post it again on the occasion of her liturgical memorial.

We celebrate today the memorial of Saint Josephine Bakhita as well as the sixty-second anniversary of her death. Born in Sudan, Africa in 1869, Madre Josephine died in Italy in 1947, and was canonized by Pope John Paul II on October 1, 2000. Her memorial, endowed with a magnificent new Collect, was inserted into the Third Typical Edition of the Roman Missal published in 2002.

The Holy Spirit Interceding for Us in the Liturgy

I have had occasion to say this many times before, but it bears repetition: the Collect prescribed by the liturgy on any given day is a pure distillation of the Church's prayer. The Collect of the day is nothing less than the Holy Spirit "helping us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought" (Rom 8:26). The Collect of the day is the Church articulating for us those "sighs too deep for words" (Rom 8:26) by which the Holy Spirit himself intercedes for us, filling us with the prayer of Christ.

Every line of the Collect for Saint Bakhita merits attention; every phrase needs to be repeated in meditation.

O God, who led Saint Josephine Bakhita
from abject slavery
to the dignity of being your daughter and the bride of Christ,
give us, we beseech you, by her example,
to follow after Jesus the Crucified Lord with unremitting love
and, in charity, to persevere in a ready mercy.

Called by a New Name

As a result of the trauma she endured when she was kidnapped and sold into slavery as a little girl, Saint Josephine Bakhita could not remember the name her parents had given her. Her captors called her Bakhita, meaning "fortunate" or "lucky." "thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord shall name. And thou shalt be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God" (Is 62:2-3). Years later, at her baptism, Bakhita received the name Giuseppina or Josephine.

A Saint Sold and Resold

Bakhita's life was marked by indescribable emotional, moral, and physical suffering. After her kidnapping, she was sold and resold in the slave markets of El Obeidh and Khartoum. In the capital of Sudan, Bakhita was bought -- yes, bought -- by the Italian Consul, one Callisto Legnani. Bakhita was surprised that her new owner didn't use the lash on her when giving orders; he treated her with kindness and affection. When the political situation obliged him to return to Italy, he took Bakhita with him. There Bakhita entered the service of another family. These good people, in turn, entrusted Bakhita to the Canossian Daughters of Charity in Venice.

Daughter of God

Bakhita became a catechumen and was baptized on January 9th, 1890. From then on, she would kiss the baptismal font, saying, "Here I became a daughter of God." The Collect echoes this: O God, who led Saint Josephine Bakhita from abject slavery to the dignity of being your daughter. . . .

Christ, the Gentle Master

Protected by Italian law, Bakhita chose to remain among the Canossians. The psalmist expresses her choice: "Better is one day in thy courts above thousands. I have chosen to be an abject in the house of my God, rather than to dwell in the tabernacles of sinners" (Ps 83:10). She who had been bought and sold by a series of human masters discovered the tender love of Christ, the gentle Master. Sweet paradox. Bakhita called God, "Master."

La Madre Moretta

On December 8th, 1896, Bakhita was consecrated forever to God as a Canossian Daughter of Charity, becoming Mother Josephine. The local people and school children called her affectionately la Madre Moretta, "the little Black Mother." Daughter of God, Bride of Christ, Mother of the little and the poor, Bakhita became the complete consecrated woman: free, loved, fruitful, fully realized. "Thou shalt no more be called Forsaken: and thy land shall no more be called Desolate: but thou shalt be called My pleasure in her, and thy land inhabited. Because the Lord hath been well pleased with thee: and thy land shall be inhabited" (Is 62:4).

No Trace of Bitterness

Mother Josephine Bakhita served her Master for almost fifty years. The Collect speaks of her following Jesus the Crucified Lord with unremitting love. In charity, it says, she persevered in a ready mercy. This is the miracle of Saint Bakhita. There was no trace of bitterness in her. The cruel degradations and unspeakable moral outrages suffered as a slave, though never forgotten, had no hold on her. She to whom men had refused mercy persevered to the end in a ready mercy for others. She was not a prisoner of her past. We who are so often prisoners of the past, unable to let go, unable to forgive, unable to move beyond old hurts, do well today to seek her intercession.

Set Free by Love

Looking to the future does not mean forgetting the past; it means transfiguring it. It means re-reading it with eyes of mercy in the light of faith. We need not remain slaves of our own histories, chained to the evil things, the hurtful things, the unjust things that happened ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty, or seventy-five years ago. There is another way: the way of those set free by love.

Two Suitcases

Toward the end of her life, Mother Bakhita used to smile and say: "I travel slowly, one step at a time, because I am carrying two big suitcases. One of them contains my sins, and in the other, which is much heavier, are the infinite merits of Jesus. When I reach heaven I will open the suitcases and say to God: 'Eternal Father, now you can judge.' And to St. Peter: 'Close the door, because I'm staying.'"

La Madonna

In her final agony Bakhita relived the horrors of her enslavement. "Loosen the chains," she said to her nurse, "they are so heavy." The Mother of God herself came to loosen the chains. Bakhita died smiling, saying, la Madonna, la Madonna. It was February 8th, 1947.

The Eucharist, Mystery of Liberation

Saint Josephine Bakhita, intercede for us that, freed from the chains that bind us to the past, we may go forward into freedom. For each of us the path forward is the Communion procession to the altar. The Most Holy Eucharist is the mystery of our liberation, the healing of memories, the Bread to children given, the Chalice of undying love lifted daily to the lips of the Bride.

Regnum Christi

The Kingdom Within

U. S. A. | SPIRITUAL LIFE | SPIRITUALITY

February 8, 2012

Wednesday of the Fifth Week of Ordinary Time

Mark 7:14-23

He summoned the crowd again and said to them, "Hear me, all of you, and understand. Nothing that enters one from outside can defile that person; but the things that come out from within are what defile." When he got home away from the crowd his disciples questioned him about the parable. He said to them, "Are even you likewise without understanding? Do you not realize that everything that goes into a person from outside cannot defile, since it enters not the heart but the stomach and passes out into the latrine?" (Thus he declared all foods clean.) "But what comes out of a person, that is what defiles. From within people, from their hearts, come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly. All these evils come from within and they defile."

Introductory Prayer: Lord, I believe that you are my Creator and Redeemer and that you know all things. Though none of my sins are hidden from you, I know that you still love me unconditionally and are waiting for me to repent and turn to you so that you can forgive me and wash me clean once more. Thank you for loving me infinitely. I offer you my weak love in return.

Petition: Lord, help me to overcome my fallen nature and to put you first in my life.

1. “Nothing that goes into a man from the outside can make him unclean.” “The Kingdom of God,” as Christ tells us in the Gospel, “is within you.” Consequently, all that wars against the Kingdom is also within us. Number 405 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us that original sin is a “deprivation of original holiness and justice.” It states that human nature has been “wounded in the natural powers proper to it,” and that it is subject to “ignorance, suffering and the dominion of death; and inclined to sin – an inclination to evil that is called ‘concupiscence.’” This concupiscence causes all sorts of disordered tendencies to surface from within us. These disordered tendencies—if accepted—are, as our Lord tells us, what defiles a man. Our holiness and purification must start from within (in ordering our thoughts and desires according to the Gospel standard), and rise to the surface in concrete deeds of goodness (in words and actions). Where does concupiscence do the most damage in my life?

2. “It is the things that come out of a man that make him unclean." Sin and death entered the world through the disobedience of the Adam. But, “if death came to reign through that one, how much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of justification come to reign in life through the one person Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:15). It is true that death and sin strive to reign in us due to our concupiscence, but it is not less true that we have at our disposal all the means necessary to root sin out from our hearts and live a new life in Christ. Christ has already conquered sin and death. With his grace we can conquer them within our hearts. Without ever looking back we must start out on this path, the path of the reign of Christ within us. Am I sincerely striving to overcome concupiscence in my life?

3. “If anyone has ears to hear, let him listen to this.” “If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.” This is a familiar theme in the Liturgy due to the fact that throughout the centuries, people have often closed their hearts to the message of the Gospel and to their own greatest good. In the parable of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31), the rich man petitions Abraham to send Lazarus from the dead so that he can warn his brothers about the fate that awaits them due to their materialistic, self-centered way of life. The rich man is told that they have the Law and the Prophets, to which he replies that if only someone would return from the dead, the brothers would believe. He is told that even then people would not believe. I cannot permit my heart to be hardened against God’s saving Word! But to remain open, my heart needs to be detached from the pleasures and easy way of living that make me deaf to Christ’s gentle instructions.

Conversation with Christ: Lord, open my ears and lift the veil from my eyes so that I will allow your Kingdom to reign in my heart. Free me from loving anything more than you. Free me to allow you to make demands in my life, demands which are proof of your love. Help me, Lord, to live Christian charity so that I will not be caught off guard on the Day of Judgment.

Resolution: I will foster goodness in my thoughts and desires, and I will deny entrance to anything that would drive Jesus away.

Homily of the Day

In Our Hearts

February 8th, 2012 by Food For Thought

First Reading: 1 Kg 10:1-10
Psalms: Ps 37:5-6, 30-31, 39-40
Gospel: Mk 7:14-23

“Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men?” So goes that
famous line from the comic book character The Shadow and how apt a
summary for today’s Gospel passage.

The Pharisees emphasized much on rituals and rules more than they
taught principle and meaning of what those rituals and rules meant.
They and the people they preached to were so caught up with these
rituals and rules that they neglected the spiritual sustenance of
their own souls.

We can go to Mass and pray the same prayers everyday but Jesus
reminds us that we should not depend on the Mass and the prayers we
recite to cure us from sin or should we recite them to make us
become holier, righteous people. The real us depends on what we
think and what we really value. It is from our hearts that we
achieve who we really are and how we influence those around us.

In the first reading we read how the Queen of Sheba was so impressed
by Solomon’s wisdom that she praised him and gave him expensive
presents. However the story ends with the queen returning to her
own country without really saying how she applied what she has
learned.

Let us ask ourselves today, how do we apply to action what we hear
from the mass and from the prayers we recite? Do we reflect and
seek the message and true meaning of Jesus’ words? Do we pray to
our Blessed Mother not because it is our habit to pray the Rosary or
because we ask for her intercession but because we want to feel her
presence and the love of her Son within us?

Finally, let us be reminded not to allow evil to lurk in our hearts
but rather to allow the goodness and purity of God’s love to grow
within us.

One Bread, One Body

<< Wednesday, February 8, 2012 >>

St. Jerome Emiliani
St. Josephine Bakhita
Saint of the Day

1 Kings 10:1-10
View Readings

Psalm 37:5-6, 30-31, 39-40

Mark 7:14-23

SUCCESS IS SPELLED C-R-O-S-S

"Blessed be the Lord, your God, Whom it has pleased to place you on the throne of Israel." —1 Kings 10:9

Solomon was the wisest person who had ever lived or will ever live (1 Kgs 3:12). He was amazingly rich and lived in such majesty as to leave even the sophisticated queen of Sheba breathless (1 Kgs 10:5).

The Lord made Solomon so awesome to confirm His promise that the Davidic dynasty would last forever (2 Sm 7:16) and bring forth the Messiah (1 Sm 16:1; Mi 5:1). The success of David, Solomon, and their descendants was seen as proof they were God's chosen ones.

Today, many people think prosperity indicates God's approval of their life. However, the "prosperity gospel" is only true if we look at prosperity in the long run, and if we define it by Biblical standards. For instance, Jesus was the ultimate Chosen One, yet He appeared a failure. He underwent adversity rather than prosperity for much of His life. Nevertheless, after His crucifixion, when He rose from the dead and ascended to the right hand of the Father, He was certainly more than prosperous (see Is 52:13; 53:12).

Success or prosperity, by Biblical standards, is centered on the wisdom, power (1 Cor 1:24), and glory of the cross (see Gal 6:14). God's chosen ones are chosen for the glory of the resurrection only because they are chosen for the apparent failure of the cross.

Prayer: Father, may I boast of nothing but the cross of Jesus (Gal 6:14).

Promise: "Commit to the Lord your way; trust in Him, and He will act." —Ps 37:5

Praise: St. Jerome Emiliani, who learned prayer while chained in a dungeon, was the first to teach children the faith using questions and answers. Surely Jerome had many questions that God answered during his imprisonment.

Help stop the HHS proposal through prayer.

St. Jerome Emiliani

Daily Readings for: February 08, 2012(Readings on USCCB website)

RECIPES

ACTIVITIES

PRAYERS

LIBRARY

Ordinary Time: February 8th

Optional Memorials of St. Jerome Emiliani, priest; St. Josephine Bakhita, virgin Old Calendar: St. John of Matha, confessor

A Saint For Those Who Are Prisoners of Their Past

Homily of the Day

In Our Hearts

One Bread, One Body

SUCCESS IS SPELLED C-R-O-S-S

Daily Readings for: February 08, 2012
(Readings on USCCB website)