St. Gildas

Feast Day: January 29
Born:516 :: Died:570

St. Gildas was born at Scotland in Britain and came from a family of English nobility. As a child, he was placed under the care of a nearby monastery where he was trained by Saint Illtyd.

When he grew up, he moved to Ireland to study and give his life over to God by leading a life of sacrifice and penance. Gildas was serious about his Christian commitment and did whatever he could to get closer to God. He felt it was his responsibility to pray and sacrifice for the sins committed by the people of his times.

He wrote sermons trying to convince people to give up wickedness. He encouraged them to stop their lives of shame. Because Gildas cared so much, he was very strict in his writings. Actually, he didn't mean to find fault with anyone. He was only begging people to turn to God.

After a pilgrimage to Rome Gildas became a hermit, living on the tiny island of Rhuys. He didn't choose a quiet, prayerful life because he wanted to stay away from the world around him. He chose his life to help him grow closer to God.

He was more aware than most people that some things were very wrong in society. Sadly, many people did not know enough of God and his law. They did not even realize the evils that were destroying them.

Gildas attracted many followers and his hermitage became a monastery. People in the Church - priests, bishops and laymen and women also went to Gildas for advice about deeply spiritual matters. His many writings were aimed at monks, encouraging them to holiness.

Toward the end of his life, Gildas lived his hermit's life on a tiny island in Houat, Brittany. Even though he wanted to be alone to prepare his soul for death, disciples followed him there. He welcomed them as a sign that the Lord wanted him to share his spiritual gifts with others.

Gildas was like the "conscience" of society. Sometimes we don't like to hear about sin, but sin is real. Sometimes we, too, are tempted to do wrong or are neglectful. Then we can say a little prayer to St. Gildas. We can ask him to obtain for us the will power to do the right thing.

Catholic

Almanac:

Tuesday, January 29
Liturgical Color: Green
Today the Church honors St. Constantius, a second century bishop in Perugia Italy. His simple lifestyle and great concern for the poor was an embarrassment to the ruling class. Because of this, he was tortured and beheaded.

Daily Readings for: January 29, 2013
(Readings on USCCB website)

Collect: Almighty ever-living God, direct our actions according to your good pleasure, that in the name of your beloved Son we may abound in good works. 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

Glowing Menorah Cake

ACTIVITIES

PRAYERS

Ordinary Time: January 29th

Tuesday of the Third Week of Ordinary Time

Old Calendar: St. Francis De Sales, bishop, confessor and doctor; St. Gildas the Wise, abbot (Hist)

According to the 1962 Missal of Bl. John XXIII the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, today is the feast of St. Francis de Sales. In the Ordinary Rite his feast is celebrated on January 24.

Historically today is the feast of St. Gildas the Wise, Scottish bishop and author and sometimes listed as Badonicus. He was born in the Clyde River area of Scotland. After becoming a disciple of St. Finnian, Gildas was a hermit for a time in Wales. He was also trained by St. Illtyd. He was famous for writing De Excidiio Britanniae, a Latin work describing moral decline in Britain.

St. Gildas the Wise
He was probably born about 517, in the North of England or Wales. His father's name was Cau (or Nau) and that he came from noble lineage.

He lived in a time when the glory of Rome was faded from Britain. The permanent legions had been withdrawn by Maximus, who used them to sack Rome itself and make himself Emperor.

Gildas noted for his piety was well educated, and was not afraid of publicly rebuking contemporary monarchs, at a time when libel was answered by a sword, rather than a Court order.

He lived for many years as an ascetic hermit on Flatholm Island in the Bristol Channel. Here he established his reputation for that peculiar Celtic sort of holiness that consists of extreme self-denial and isolation. At around this time, according to the Welsh, he also preached to Nemata, the mother of St David, while she was pregnant with the Saint.

In about 547 he wrote De Excidio Britanniae (The Ruin of Britain). In this he writes a brief tale of the island from pre-Roman times and criticizes the rulers of the island for their lax morals and blames their sins (and those that follow them) for the destruction of civilization in Britain. The book was avowedly written as a moral tale.

He also wrote a longer work, the Epistle. This is a series of sermons on the moral laxity of rulers and of the clergy. In these Gildas shows that he has a wide reading of the Bible and of some other classical works.

Gildas was an influential preacher, visiting Ireland and doing missionary work. He was responsible for the conversion of much of the island and may be the one who introduced anchorite customs to the monks of that land.

He retired from Llancarfan to Rhuys, in Brittany, where he founded a monastery. Of his work on the running of a monastery (one of the earliest known in the Christian Church), only the so-called Penitential, a guide for Abbots in setting punishment, survives.

He died around 571, at Rhuys. The monastery that he had founded became the center of his cult.

St. Gildas is regarded as being one of the most influential figures of the early English Church. The influence of his writing was felt until well into the Middle Ages, particularly in the Celtic Church.

Things to Do:

Read St. Gildas work The Ruin of Britain here.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2982951/posts?page=23#23

Source: Catholic Culture

The Word Among Us

Meditation: Hebrews 10:1-10

3rd Week in Ordinary Time

We have been consecrated by the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. (Hebrews 10:10)

What an amazing thing you have done for us, Jesus! By offering your own body on the cross, you have consecrated all of us. You have set us apart to be holy. You have given each and every one of us the chance to live in unity with your Father, filled with the divine life of your own Holy Spirit! Lord, how can I keep from praising and thanking you for such grace?

All glory to you, Lord, for all the good things that have indeed come through your offering! All humanity has been washed clean from sin and set free from its bondage—and that includes me! The deceptive, destructive, enslaving power of sin has been overcome, and I can now rise above the lure of temptation. You didn’t just forgive me; you have empowered me to live a new life!

Praise to you, Jesus, that you have washed me from the stain of original sin! Because of your cross, I am now white as snow. Even when I sin, you provide a remedy for me—Reconciliation—where I can rediscover my purity. Where it was impossible for the blood of sacrificial animals to forgive sins once and for all, your own precious blood has washed me and now speaks a powerful word of righteousness and reconciliation!

How glorious is the mystery of your cross! You made yourself so small, taking on my human nature, just so you could raise me up beyond my wildest dreams. Through my disobedience, the gates of heaven were locked, but you opened them up for me once again. Now, not only are the gates opened, you have even prepared me to enter. You have cleansed me, taught me, and even given me your Holy Spirit to help me stay faithful. Lord, your sacrifice has done everything for me!

Lord, I rejoice in your grace. I rejoice because I am yours, rescued by your cross and consecrated by your blood. Now, in gratitude I will step forth in faith to receive everything you have given me. You are my Redeemer, and I will bless you all the days of my life.

“Lord, you have redeemed me. Now I echo Jesus’ own words: ‘Behold, I come to do your will!’ ”

Psalm 40:2, 4, 7-8, 10-11; Mark 3:31-35

Marriage = One Man and One Woman

Til' Death Do Us Part

Daily Marriage Tip for January 29, 2013:

Are you a talker while your beloved is quieter – or vice-versa? Are you happy with the balance you have in this area of speech? If yes, count your blessings. If not, talk about it – but make sure the quieter one starts.

Regnum Christi

Stronger Than Blood

| SPIRITUAL LIFE | SPIRITUALITY

Tuesday of the Third Week in Ordinary Time

Mark 3:31-35

His mother and his brothers arrived. Standing outside they sent word to him and called him. A crowd seated around him told him, "Your mother and your brothers and your sisters are outside asking for you." But he said to them in reply, "Who are my mother and my brothers?" And looking around at those seated in the circle he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother."

Introductory Prayer: Today I want to encounter you as a friend and brother, Lord. I believe that you want to encounter me and transform me. Thank you for working in my heart, calling me to a deeper identification with you. I trust that you will lead me along paths of growth and fruitfulness.

Petition: Lord, help me to put my will in conformity with yours.

1. Maybe He Needs a Break: Jesus was very busy. Perhaps he was tired. Perhaps his mother arrived to give him a bit of food or a word of encouragement. But we find in today’s Gospel a Christ who is strong. He has strengthened himself through intimate contact with the Father. He has filled his heart with a love for souls. He finds nourishment in doing the Father’s will. Surely his mother was encouraged by what she found. Do I let the will of God be my strength? Does prayer transform me to the point where charity and evangelization become my natural way of being?

2. Closeness for the Right Reason: As Jesus taught and healed, people were naturally attracted to him. Yet simply being physically close to him did not count. One had to open one’s heart to receive his message of conversion. He was looking to transform people, to make them capable of living as sons and daughters of God. If I am willing to learn Jesus’ standards and act as he does, then I can be close to him. He will allow me into his intimacy if I make God’s will mine.

3. Accompanying Christ: There is a mysterious reality here. I can actually bring consolation to Christ’s heart. I can accompany him on his divine mission. I must be willing to renounce my will and do only the will of the Father. Can Christ point to me and say, “He is my brother; she is my sister; she is my mother”? I must look at my life and see what is not in conformity to his will. I must make a firm resolution to show my faith and love in the very thing that is most difficult for me.

Conversation with Christ: Lord, you give me this short life in order to become part of your family. I want to make the Father’s will my own as you did. Help me to put God’s will above everything else, so that it becomes what I most deeply desire. Then I will truly be yours.

Resolution: Today I will make an act of charity towards someone with whom I find it difficult to get along.

Mark
	English: Douay-Rheims	Latin: Vulgata Clementina	Greek NT: Byzantine/Majority Text (2000)
	Mark 3
31.	And his mother and his bretheren came; and standing without, sent unto him, calling him.	Et veniunt mater ejus et fratres : et foris stantes miserunt ad eum vocantes eum,	ερχονται ουν οι αδελφοι και η μητηρ αυτου και εξω εστωτες απεστειλαν προς αυτον φωνουντες αυτον
32.	And the multitude sat about him; and they say to him: Behold thy mother and thy brethren without seek for thee.	et sedebat circa eum turba : et dicunt ei : Ecce mater tua et fratres tui foris quærunt te.	και εκαθητο οχλος περι αυτον ειπον δε αυτω ιδου η μητηρ σου και οι αδελφοι σου και αι αδελφαι σου εξω ζητουσιν σε
33.	And answering them, he said: Who is my mother and my brethren?	Et respondens eis, ait : Quæ est mater mea et fratres mei ?	και απεκριθη αυτοις λεγων τις εστιν η μητηρ μου η οι αδελφοι μου
34.	And looking round about on them who sat about him, he saith: Behold my mother and my brethren.	Et circumspiciens eos, qui in circuitu ejus sedebant, ait : Ecce mater mea et fratres mei.	και περιβλεψαμενος κυκλω τους περι αυτον καθημενους λεγει ιδε η μητηρ μου και οι αδελφοι μου
35.	For whosoever shall do the will of God, he is my brother, and my sister, and mother.	Qui enim fecerit voluntatem Dei, hic frater meus, et soror mea, et mater est.	ος γαρ αν ποιηση το θελημα του θεου ουτος αδελφος μου και αδελφη μου και μητηρ εστιν

31. There came then his brethren and his mother, and, standing without, sent to him, calling him.
32. And the multitude sat about him, and they said to him, Behold, your mother and your brethren without seek for you.
33. And he answered them, saying, Who is my mother, or my brethren?
34. And he looked round about on them which sat about him, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren!
35. For whoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother.

THEOPHYL. Because the relations of the Lord had come to seize upon Him, as if beside Himself, His mother, urged by the sympathy of her love, came to Him; wherefore it is said, And there came to him his mother, and, standing without, sent to him, calling him.

CHRYS. From this it is manifest that His brethren and His mother were not always with Him; but because He was beloved by them, they come from reverence and affection, waiting without. Wherefore it goes on, And the multitude sat about him, &c.

BEDE; The brothers of the Lord must not be thought to be the sons of the ever-virgin Mary, as Helvidius says, nor the sons of Joseph by a former marriage, as some think, but rather they must be understood to be His relations.

PSEUD-CHRYS. But another Evangelist says, that His brethren did not believe on Him. With which this agrees, which says, that they sought Him, waiting without, and with this meaning the Lord does not mention them as relations. Wherefore it follows, And he answered them, saying, Who is my mother. or my brethren? But He does not here mention His mother and His brethren altogether with reproof, but to show that a man must honor his own soul above all earthly kindred; wherefore this is fitly said to those who called Him to speak with His mother and relations, as if it were a more useful task than the teaching of salvation.

BEDE; Being asked therefore by a message to go out, He declines, not as though He refused the dutiful service of His mother, but to show that He owes more to His Father's mysteries than to His mother's feelings. Nor does He rudely despise His brothers, but, preferring His spiritual work to fleshly relationship, He teaches us that religion is the bond of the heart rather than that of the body. Wherefore it goes on, And looking round about on them which sat about him, he said, Behold my mother and my brethren.

CHRYS. By this, the Lord shows that we should honor those who are relations by faith rather than those who are relations by blood. A man indeed is made the mother of Jesus by preaching Him; for He, as it were, brings forth the Lord, when he pours Him into the heart of his hearers.

PSEUDO-JEROME; But let us be assured that we are His brethren and This sisters, if we do the will of the Father; that we may be joint-heirs with Him, for He discerns us not by sex but by our deeds. Wherefore it goes on: Whoever shall do the will of God, &c.

THEOPHYL. The does not therefore say this, as denying His mother, but as showing that He is worthy of honor, not only because she bore Christ, but on account of her possessing every other virtue.

BEDE; But mystically, the mother and brother of Jesus means the synagogue, (from which according to the flesh He sprung,) and the Jewish people who, while the Savior is teaching within, come to Him, and are not able to enter, because they cannot understand spiritual things. But the crowd eagerly enter, because when the Jews delayed, the Gentiles flocked to Christ; but His kindred, who stand without wishing to see the Lord, are the Jews who obstinately remained without, guarding the letter, and would rather compel the Lord to go forth to them to teach carnal things, than consent to enter in to learn spiritual things of Him. If therefore not even His parents when standing without are acknowledged, how shall we be acknowledged, if we stand without? For the word is within and the light within.

Catena Aurea Mark 3

Communion of all saints of Russia

The Right Priorities

by Food For Thought on January 29, 2013 ·

There is another gospel that helps us to understand this gospel better. The gospel of Luke says: “If any man comes to me and hates not his father and mother and wife and children and brethren and sisters and his own life, he cannot be my disciple.” There is danger that sometimes because of our affections and family ties, this “love” or affection may get in the way of doing the will of God. Sometimes, these people can become gods of our lives. A god is something or someone that we worship, idolize, give priority to in order to get life out of them. We may be mistaken in thinking that we can get life out of people. And when we do, we start to treat them like gods. And we may start not to love God above all other gods. That is why the condition of being a disciple requires that we set our priorities right; that we set our sights first on the kingdom of God and all the rest will be given to us as well, and not the other way around. From this we see that it is not easy to become a disciple of Christ, and Christ knows this very well. He knows what is most important, what is going to be the real food, and that is to do the will of God and not the will of his mother or brothers and certainly not his own will.

This gospel is invaluable when we are confronted with certain decisions in life where we compromise the will of God with our own will, with our affections that may get in the way of following God. What helps us to have a clear discernment and determination to put God first is to realize and be filled with love for God in all things. Being a disciple is a radical choice. To love is a radical choice. But the reward is peace and joy in the heavenly kingdom.

One Bread, One Body

<< Tuesday, January 29, 2013 >>

Hebrews 10:1-10
View Readings

Psalm 40:2, 4, 7-8, 10-11

Mark 3:31-35

WHERE THERE'S GOD'S WILL,THERE'S THE WAY

"I have come to do Your will." —Hebrews 10:9

Jesus' relatives "came to take charge of Him, saying, 'He is out of His mind' " (Mk 3:21). Because His relatives thought He was crazy, you might think Jesus would "mind His manners." Jesus, however, was not one to succumb to pressure in even the slightest way. Jesus then said something He knew would make Him look crazy. When told that His mother, brothers, and sisters were outside, Jesus asked the "crazy" question: "Who are My mother and My brothers?" (Mk 3:33)

Imagine someone telling you your wife was on the phone. What if you said: "Who is my wife?" Wouldn't it make people doubt your sanity, especially if you were already being described as insane? Obviously, Jesus didn't care how He sounded or what people thought. Jesus' concern was not to protect Himself or please people; His total concern was to do the will of His Father (see Mk 3:35). To do the Father's will was Jesus' food (Jn 4:34). He delighted to do the Father's will (see Ps 40:9). When God's will became bitterly painful, Jesus did it anyway. He said and lived: "Not My will, but Thy (the Father's) will be done" (Mt 26:39, our transl.). Jesus did the Father's will, even to death on the cross (see Phil 2:8).

Prayer: Father, I decide to do Your will, especially in the situations where I am tempted to be self-willed.

Promise: "By this 'will,' we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all." —Heb 10:10

Praise: Sarah has devoted her life to teaching men and women the beauty of chastity and holiness, writing articles and blogs, and directing educational programs.

Every Child Born Is a Sign

Hope is indelibly engraved in the human heart because God our Father is life, and for eternal life and beatitude we are made.

Every child born is a sign of trust in God and man and a confirmation, at least implicit, of the hope in a future open to God’s eternity that is nourished by men and women. God has responded to this human hope, concealing Himself in time as a tiny human being.

Saint Augustine wrote: “We might have thought that your Word was far distant from union with man, if this Word had not become flesh and dwelt among us” (Conf. X, 43, 69, cited in Spe Salvi, n. 29).

Thus, let us allow ourselves to be guided by the One who in her heart and in her womb bore the Incarnate Word.

O Mary, Virgin of expectation and Mother of hope, revive the spirit of Advent in your entire Church, so that all humanity may start out anew on the journey towards Bethlehem, from which it came, and that the Sun that dawns upon us from on high will come once again to visit us (cf. Lk 1: 78), Christ our God. Amen.

Pope Benedict XVI
From his homily for the first vespers
of the first Sunday of Advent,
December 1, 2007 - St. Peter’s Basilica