[Salvation]

Catholic Culture

Daily Readings for: January 19, 2013
(Readings on USCCB website)

Collect: Attend to the pleas of your people with heavenly care, O Lord, we pray, that they may see what must be done and gain strength to do what they have seen. 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

• Danish Cinnamon Snails

ACTIVITIES

• St. Canute's Day

PRAYERS

• Novena for Church Unity
• Octave of Prayer for Christian Unity

Ordinary Time: January 19th

Saturday of the First Week of Ordinary Time

Old Calendar: Sts. Marius, Martha, Audifax, and Abachum, martyrs; St. Canute, martyr

According to the 1962 Missal of Bl. John XXIII the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, today is the feast of Sts. Marius, Martha, Audivax and Abachum, a group of Roman martyrs of the third century. St. Canute was king of Denmark; he was put to death out of hatred of his faith and his zeal in working for its extension in his kingdom. He was killed in St. Alban's Church in Odense.

The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

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St. Marius and Family
Their feast does not appear in the Roman calendar until the twelfth century. The Acts of these martyrs are wholly legendary. They give the following details. Marius was a Persian of noble extraction. With his wife, who was also noble-born, and his two sons, Audifax and Abachus, he came to Rome during the reign of Emperor Claudius II (268-270) to venerate the graves of the martyrs. They visited the Christians in prison, encouraged them by word and deed, and shared with them their goods. And like Tobias of old, they buried the bodies of the saints.

It was not long before they themselves were arrested; and when neither threats nor allurements could make them offer sacrifice to the idols, they were savagely flogged. Martha was the first to die, but not before she had fervently exhorted her husband and sons to endure steadfastly whatever tortures might be inflicted for the faith. All were beheaded in the same place and their bodies thrown into the fire. Felicitas, a saintly Roman woman, succeeded in recovering the half-burnt bodies and buried them on her estate.

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St. Canute
St. Canute, king of Denmark, was murdered in St. Alban's Church, Odense, July 10, 1086. The Martyrology confuses him with his nephew, St. Canute the Duke, who died on January 7, 1131, and was canonized November 8, 1169, by Pope Alexander III. St. Canute is also called Canute the holy, or Danish Knut, or Knud, Den Hellige, or Sankt Knut, or Knud.

The son of King Sweyn II Estrithson of Denmark, Canute succeeded his brother Harold Hen as king of Denmark. Canute opposed the aristocracy and kept a close association with the church in an attempt to create a powerful and centralized monarchy.

In ecclesiastical matters, Canute generously patronized several churches, including the Cathedral of Lund, Denmark's archbishopric; established a Benedictine abbey at Odense; and supported apostolic preaching throughout Denmark. In temporal matters, he attempted an administrative reform, particularly an enforced levying of tithes that incurred the wrath of the rural aristocracy. In 1085 he reasserted the Danish claims to England and, with the count of Flanders and King Olaf III of Norway, prepared a massive invasion fleet that alarmed the Norman-English king William I the Conqueror.

Canute's plan, however, had to be abandoned suddenly, for those aristocrats who opposed his tax policy revolted as he was preparing to embark for England. He fled from the rebels, led by his brother Prince Olaf, to St. Alban's Church, Odense, which he had founded, and was assassinated there with the entire royal party.

Canute was buried in St. Alban's, renamed c. 1300 St. Canute's Cathedral. Miracles were recorded at his tomb, and, at the request (1099) of King Erik III Evergood of Denmark, he was canonized (1101) by Pope Paschal II.

Patron: Zeeland, Denmark.

Symbols: Knight with a wreath, lance, and ciborium.

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The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

Day Two: Walking with the Broken Body of Christ

Recognising the solidarity between Christ crucified, and the “broken peoples” of the world, such as the Dalits, we seek as Christians together to learn to be more deeply a part of this solidarity ourselves. In particular, the relation of eucharist and justice is opened up, and Christians invited to discover practical ways of eucharistic living in the world.

Vatican Resources

[Salvation]

The Word Among Us

Meditation: Hebrews 4:12-16

Common of the Blessed Virgin Mary

The word of God is living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword … able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12)

That can be a pretty intimidating idea, can’t it? Does any one of us really want God judging our secret thoughts? Well, the answer to that question depends to a large degree on who God is and what he thinks about us. And for that answer, we can look at today’s Gospel passage. Evidently, our Father looks on us with compassion and not condemnation. Where some Pharisees saw Levi and his friends as sinners and outcasts, Jesus saw children of God who were hungering for the salvation he had come to bring.

How often do you have unkind thoughts toward other people? Probably more frequently than any of us would want to admit. We dismiss someone’s interests as boring. We envy the co-worker who gets a promotion. We dislike a neighbor’s clothes, her hairstyle, her mannerisms. We may not express such unkind thoughts in public, but they are still there, lingering in the back of our minds, casting a shadow over our hearts.

If you want to become more like Jesus, you have to let his Holy Spirit shape your thoughts. Like the psalmist, you can pray, “Probe me, God, know my heart; try me; know my concerns. See if my way is crooked, then lead me in the ancient paths” (Psalm 139:23-24). But you also have to cooperate with the Lord when negative thoughts crop up. That’s when the real changes begin. That’s when you find a new compassion, a deeper joy, and a new freedom to love.

So when your first thought is “That is so boring!” try to ask your friend to explain his enthusiasm more fully. When your first thought is “I hate seeing so many good things come his way,” ask God to open your eyes to the ways he has blessed you. When your first thought is “Will this person never stop talking?” thank God that your friend trusts you so much, and sit back to enjoy the tale.

God really can change your heart!

“Holy Spirit, I want to grow in your love. So come and reveal my secret thoughts! Come and refine my inner conversations, suffusing them with your kindness and compassion.”

Psalm 19:8-10, 15; Mark 2:13-17