Chiesa Della Sacra Famiglia, Santa Guiseppina Bakhita, Schio, Italy
Posted on 02/08/2021 5:17:42 AM PST by Cronos
| First reading | Job 7:1-4,6-7 © |
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| Genesis 1:1-19 © |
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| Responsorial Psalm |
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| Psalm 103(104):1-2,5-6,10,12,24,35 © |
| Gospel Acclamation | Jn8:12 |
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| Or: | cf.Mt4:23 |
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| Gospel | Mark 6:53-56 © |
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| Mark | ||||
| English: Douay-Rheims | Latin: Vulgata Clementina | Greek NT: Byzantine/Majority Text (2000) | Italian: Riveduta Bible (1927) | |
| 53. | And when they had passed over, they came into the land of Genezareth, and set to the shore. | Et cum transfretassent, venerunt in terram Genesareth, et applicuerunt. | και διαπερασαντες ηλθον επι την γην γεννησαρετ και προσωρμισθησαν | Passati all’altra riva, vennero a Gennesaret e vi presero terra. |
| 54. | And when they were gone out of the ship, immediately they knew him: | Cumque egressi essent de navi, continuo cognoverunt eum : | και εξελθοντων αυτων εκ του πλοιου ευθεως επιγνοντες αυτον | E come furono sbarcati, subito la gente, riconosciutolo, |
| 55. | And running through that whole country, they began to carry about in beds those that were sick, where they heard he was. | et percurrentes universam regionem illam, cœperunt in grabatis eos, qui se male habebant, circumferre, ubi audiebant eum esse. | περιδραμοντες ολην την περιχωρον εκεινην ηρξαντο επι τοις κραββατοις τους κακως εχοντας περιφερειν οπου ηκουον οτι εκει εστιν | corse per tutto il paese e cominciarono a portare qua e là i malati sui loro lettucci, dovunque sentivano dire ch’egli si trovasse. |
| 56. | And whithersoever he entered, into towns or into villages or cities, they laid the sick in the streets, and besought him that they might touch but the hem of his garment: and as many as touched him were made whole. | Et quocumque introibat, in vicos, vel in villas aut civitates, in plateis ponebant infirmos, et deprecabantur eum, ut vel fimbriam vestimenti ejus tangerent, et quotquot tangebant eum, salvi fiebant. | και οπου αν εισεπορευετο εις κωμας η πολεις η αγρους εν ταις αγοραις ετιθουν τους ασθενουντας και παρεκαλουν αυτον ινα καν του κρασπεδου του ιματιου αυτου αψωνται και οσοι αν ηπτοντο αυτου εσωζοντο | E da per tutto dov’egli entrava, ne’ villaggi, nelle città, e nelle campagne, posavano gl’infermi per le piazze e lo pregavano che li lasciasse toccare non foss’altro che il lembo del suo vestito. E tutti quelli che lo toccavano, erano guariti. |
6:53–56
53. And when they had passed over, they came into the land of Gennesaret, and drew to the shore.
54. And when they were come out of the ship, straightway they knew him,
55. And ran through that whole region round about, and began to carry about in beds those that were sick, where they heard he was.
56. And whithersoever he entered, into villages, or cities, or country, they laid the sick in the streets, and besought him that they might touch if it were but the border of his garment: and as many as touched him were made whole.
GLOSS. (non occ.) The Evangelist, having shewn the danger which the disciples had sustained in their passage, and their deliverance from it, now shews the place to which they sailed, saying, And when they had passed over, they came into the land of Gennesaret, and drew to the shore.
THEOPHYLACT. The Lord remained at the above-mentioned place for some time. Therefore the Evangelist subjoins, And when they had come out of the ship, straightway they knew him, that is, the inhabitants of the country.
BEDE. (ubi sup.) But they knew Him by report, not by His features; or through the greatness of His miracles, even His person was known to some. See too how great was the faith of the men of the land of Gennesaret, so that they were not content with the healing of those who were present, but sent to other towns round about, that all might hasten to the Physician; wherefore there follows, And ran through the whole region round about, and began to carry about in beds those that were sick, where they heard he was.
THEOPHYLACT. For they did not call Him to their houses that He might heal them, but rather the sick themselves were brought to Him. Wherefore it also follows, And whithersoever he entered into villages, or cities, or country, &c. For the miracle which had been wrought on the woman with an issue of blood, had reached the ears of many, and caused in them that great faith, by which they were healed. It goes on, And as many as touched him were made whole.
BEDE. (ubi sup.) Again, in a mystical sense, do thou understand by the hem of His garment the slightest of His commandments, for whosoever shall transgress it shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven, (Matt. 5:19) or else His assumption of our flesh, by which we have come to the Word of God, and afterwards, shall have the enjoyment of His majesty.
PSEUDO-JEROME. Furthermore that which is said, And as many as touched him were made whole, shall be fulfilled, when grief and mourning shall fly away.
Josephine Margaret Bakhita, F.D.C.C. (ca. 1869 – 8 February 1947), was a Sudanese-Italian Canossian religious sister who lived in Italy for 45 years, after having been a slave in Sudan. In 2000 she was declared a saint by the Catholic Church.
Saint Josephine Margaret Bakhita was born around 1869 in the village of Olgossa in the Darfur region of Sudan. She was a member of the Daju people and her uncle was a tribal chief. Due to her family lineage, she grew up happy and relatively prosperous, saying that as a child, she did not know suffering.
Historians believe that sometime in February 1877, Josephine was kidnapped by Arab slave traders. Although she was just a child, she was forced to walk barefoot over 600 miles to a slave market in El Obeid. She was bought and sold at least twice during the grueling journey.
For the next 12 years she would be bought, sold and given away over a dozen times. She spent so much time in captivity that she forgot her original name.
As a slave, her experiences varied from fair treatment to cruel. Her first owner, a wealthy Arab, gave her to his daughters as a maid. The assignment was easy until she offended her owner's son, possibly for the crime of breaking a vase. As punishment, she was beaten so severely she was incapacitated for a month. After that, she was sold.
One of her owners was a Turkish general who gave her to his wife and mother-in-law who both beat her daily. Josephine wrote that as soon as one wound would heal, they would inflict another.
She told about how the general's wife ordered her to be scarred. As her mistress watched, ready with a whip, another woman drew patterns on her skin with flour, then cut into her flesh with a blade. She rubbed the wounds with salt to make the scars permanent. She would suffer a total of 114 scars from this abuse.
In 1883, the Turkish general sold her to the Italian Vice Consul, Callisto Legani. He was a much kinder master and he did not beat her. When it was time for him to return to Italy, she begged to be taken with him, and he agreed.
After a long and dangerous journey across Sudan, the Red Sea, and the Mediterranean, they arrived in Italy. She was given away to another family as a gift and she served them as a nanny.
Her new family also had dealings in Sudan had when her mistress decided to travel to Sudan without Josephine, she placed her in the custody of the Canossian Sisters in Venice.
While she was in the custody of the sisters, she came to learn about God. According to Josephine, she had always known about God, who created all things, but she did not know who He was. The sisters answered her questions. She was deeply moved by her time with the sisters and discerned a call to follow Christ.
When her mistress returned from Sudan, Josephine refused to leave. Her mistress spent three days trying to persuade her to leave the sisters, but Josephine remained steadfast. This caused the superior of the institute for baptismal candidates among the sisters to complain to Italian authorities on Josephine's behalf.
The case went to court, and the court found that slavery had been outlawed in Sudan before Josephine was born, so she could not be lawfully made slave. She was declared free.
For the first time in her life, Josephine was free and could choose what to do with her life. She chose to remain with the Canossian Sisters.
She was baptized on January 9, 1890 and took the name Josephine Margaret and Fortunata. (Fortunata is the Latin translation for her Arabic name, Bakhita). She also received the sacraments of her first holy communion and confirmation on the same day. These three sacraments are the sacraments of initiation into the Church and were always given together in the early Church. The Archbishop who gave her the sacraments was none other than Giusseppe Sarto, the Cardinal Patriarch of Venice, who would later become Pope Pius X.
Josephine became a novice with the CanossianDaughters of Charity religious order on December 7, 1893, and took her final vows on December 8, 1896. She was eventually assigned to a convent in Schio, Vicenza.
For the next 42 years of her life, she worked as a cook and a doorkeeper at the convent. She also traveled and visited other convents telling her story to other sisters and preparing them for work in Africa.
She was known for her gentle voice and smile. She was gentle and charismatic, and was often referred to lovingly as the "little brown sister" or honorably as the "black mother."
When speaking of her enslavement, she often professed she would thank her kidnappers. For had she not been kidnapped, she might never have come to know Jesus Christ and entered His Church.
During World War II, the people of the village of Schio regarded her as their protector. And although bombs fell on their village, not one citizen died.
In her later years, she began to suffer physical pain and was forced to use a wheelchair. But she always remained cheerful. If anyone asked her how she was, she would reply, "As the master desires."
On the evening of February 8, 1947, Josephine spoke her last words, "Our Lady, Our Lady!" She then died. Her body lay on display for three days afterwards.
In 1958, the process of canonization began for Josephine under Pope John XXIII. On December 1st, 1978, Pope John Paul II declared her venerable. Sadly, the news of her beatification in 1992 was censored in Sudan. But just nine months later, Pope John Paul II visited Sudan and honored her publicly. He canonized her on October 1, 2000.
Saint Josephine Bakhita is the patron saint of Sudan and her feast day is celebrated on February 8.
For: Monday, February 8, 2021
5th Week in Ordinary Time
Optional Memorial: St Jerome Emiliani, Priest
Optional Memorial: St Josephine Bakhita, Virgin
From: Genesis 1:1-19
The Creation Account
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[1] In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. [2] The earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters.
[3] And God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light. [4] And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. [5] God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day.
[6] And God said, "Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters." [7] And God made the firmament and separated the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament. And it was so. [8] And God called the firmament Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day.
[9] And God said, "Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear." And it was so. [10] God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good. [11] And God said, "Let the earth put forth vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, upon the earth." And it was so. [12] The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. [13] And there was evening and there was morning, a third day.
[14] And God said, "Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to separate the day from the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years, [15] and let them be lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light upon the earth." And it was so. [16] And God made the two great lights, the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night; he made the stars also. [17] And God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light upon the earth, [18] to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. [19] And there was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.
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Commentary:
1:1-2:4a. Creation is the beginning of salvation history and the foundation on which are built God's salvific plans, which reach their climax in Jesus Christ. The biblical accounts of creation focus on the action of God; it is he who sets the scene and he is the creator, too, of those who will act out the drama and with whom he will enter into dialogue.
The sacred text incorporates ancient traditions about the origin of the world; scholars identify two separate accounts in the early chapters of Genesis. The first of these emphasizes God's transcendence over all created things, and is written in a very schematic style; this account (1:1-2:4a) is attributed to the "Priestly" tradition. The second, which also covers the fall and the expulsion from paradise, speaks of God in an anthropomorphic way; this more vivid, more popular account (2:4b-4:26) is considered to belong to the "Yahwistic" tradition. Here we have two different ways in which the Word of God (not intending to provide a scientific explanation of the origin of the world and of man) expounds the basic facts and truths on the subject in a way people can readily understand, inviting us to see the greatness and love of God manifested first in creation and then in the history of mankind. "Our faith teaches us," St. Josemaria Escriva writes, "that all creation, the movement of the earth and the other heavenly bodies, the good actions of creatures and all the good that has been achieved in history, in short everything, comes from God and directed toward him" ( Christ Is Passing B", 130).
In the first account the Bible offers profound teaching about God, about man and about the world. About God, who is the only God, creator of all things and man in particular; he transcends the created world and is its supreme master. About man, who is the image and likeness of God, above all other created beings and placed in the world to rule all creation. About the world, which is something good and is at the service of man.
1.1. "Three things are affirmed in these first words of Scripture: the eternal God gave a beginning to all that exists outside of himself; he alone is Creator (the verb 'create' -- Hebrew bara -- always has God for its subject). The totality of what exists (expressed by the formula 'the heavens and the earth') depends on the One who gives it being" (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 290).
"In the beginning" means that creation marks the start of time and the course of history. Time and history have a beginning and they are headed towards a final goal, which the Bible will tell us more about, especially in its last book, Revelation. At the end, we are told: 'Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more" (Rev 21:1).
God the Creator is the same God as will manifest himself to the patriarchs, to Moses and to the prophets and make himself known to as through Jesus Christ. In the light of the New Testament we know that God created all things through his eternal Word, his beloved Son (cf. Jn 1:1; Col 1:16-17). God the Creator is Father and Son and (the relationship of love between them) the Holy Spirit. Creation is the work of the Blessed Trinity, and all of creation (particularly man, created in the image and likeness of God) in some way bears their seal. Some Fathers of the Church (Augustine, Ambrose and Basil, for example), in the light of the New Testament, saw the words "in the beginning" as having a deeper meaning -- namely, "in the Son".
The "action of creating" belongs exclusively to God; man cannot create; he can only "change" or "develop" something that already exists. In the creation ac- counts of other Near East religions the world and gods developed out of preexistent matter. The Bible, however, records gradual revelation of the mystery of creation interpreted in the light of God's choice of Israel and his covenant with mankind; it roundly asserts that everything was made by God. Later on it will draw the conclusion that everything was created out of nothing: "I beseech you, my child, to look at the heavens and the earth and see everything that is in them, and to recognize that God did not make them out of things that existed" (2 Mac 7:28). This creative power of God is also able to give sinful man a pure heart (cf. Ps 51:12), to restore the dead to life and to give the light of faith to those who do not know him (cf. 2 Cor 4:6).
It was God's love and wisdom that moved him to create the world, thereby communicating his goodness and making his glory manifest. The world, therefore, "is not the product of any necessity whatever, nor of blind fate or chance. We believe that it proceeds from God's free will; he wanted to make his creatures share in his being, wisdom and goodness" (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 295).
The expression "the heavens and the earth" means everything that exists. The earth is the world of men; the sky (or the heavens) can mean the firmament or the divine world, God's own "place", his glory and all spiritual (non-material) creatures -- the angels.
1:2. The Bible teaches not just that God created all things, but also that the separation and ordering of the elements of nature is something established by God once and for all. The presence of the loving power of God, symbolized by a gentle breeze or a breath (the text refers to it as a spirit; "ruah" in Hebrew) which hovers and keeps watch over the world when it is still in chaos, shows that, as the text will go on to say, the Word of God and his Breath are present in the origin of being and in the origin of every creature's life. That is why many Fathers of the Church (Jerome and Athanasius, for example) saw this passage as reflecting the presence of the Holy Spirit as a divine Person who, along with the Father and the Son, is at work in the creation of the world, "This biblical concept of creation", St. John Paul II explains, "includes not only the call to existence of the very being of the cosmos, that is to say, "the giving of existence", but also the presence of the Spirit of God in creation, that is to say, the beginning of God's salvific self-communication to the things he creates. This is true "first of all concerning man", who has been created in the image and likeness of God" (Dominum Et Vivificantem, 12).
1:3-5. At this point strictly speaking begins the description of the creation, which, according to the literary plan of this account, is going to take place over six days. These six days are meant to indicate the orderliness with which God went about his work, and to show a rhythm of work and rest: the Jewish Law laid down Saturday, the sabbath, as a day of rest and a day dedicated to the Lord. In the Christian Church this day was shifted to Sunday, because Sunday was the day on which our Lord rose from the dead, thereby inaugurating the new Creation: Sunday, the dies dominica (Latin), the Lord's day.
On the first day God creates light and separates light from darkness (the latter, being something negative--the absence of light--cannot be created). Light is seen here as being a thing in its own right (without reference to the fact that daylight comes from the sun, which will not be created until the fourth day). The fact that God puts names on things (or in this case on situations caused by some elements being separated from others) indicates that he wields absolute power over them. God is in authority, whether it be day or night.
Here we meet for the first time a phrase which is going to be used seven times over the course of the narrative: "And God saw that it was good." This means that everything that God creates is good because in some way it bears his seal and shares in his own goodness, for it has come from divine goodness. The goodness of the world proclaimed here by Holy Scripture has important consequences for the Christian: "We must love the world and work and all human things. For the world is good. Adam's sin destroyed the divine balance of creation; but God the Father sent his only Son to re-establish peace, so that we, his children by adoption, might free creation from disorder and reconcile all things to God" (St. J. Escriva, Christ Is Passing By, 112).
1:6-8. In line with the culture of their time, the early Hebrews thought that rain came from huge containers of water in the vault of heaven; when trapdoors were opened, the rain poured down. When it says here that God separated the water which were above the firmament from those below, what is really being taught is that God imposed order on the natural world and is responsible for the phenomenon of rain. It is also making it clear from the outset that the firmament must not be thought to involve any divinity (as was believed in the nations roundabout Israel); the firmament is part of the created world.
1:11. As the inspired author depicts here, a distinction is made between God's action in separating and ordering the elements (creating the vast spaces of sky, sea and land) and his action of filling or adorning these spaces with different kinds of creatures. These creatures introduced in an increasing order of dignity (in line with the thinking of the time)--first the vegetable kingdom, then the stellar kingdom, and, lastly, the animal kingdom. Everything is perfectly arranged; the world of Creation invites to contemplate the Creator.
1:14-17. Against the neighboring religions, which regarded the heavenly bodies as divinities exerting influence over human life, the biblical author, enlightened by inspiration, teaches that the sun, moon and stars are simply created things; their purpose is to serve man by giving him light by day and night, and to be a way of measuring time. Put in their proper, natural place heavenly bodies (like all the rest of creation) lead man to appreciate the greatness of God, and to praise him for his awesome works: "The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork..." (Ps 19:1; cf. Ps 104). It follows that all forms of divination are to be rejected--consulting horoscopes, astrology, clairvoyance etc. (cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2116).
Cures at Gennesaret
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[53] And when they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret, and moored to the shore. [54] And when they got out of the boat, immediately the people recognized Him (Jesus), [55] and ran about the whole neighborhood and began to bring sick people on their pallets to any place where they heard He was. [56] And wherever He came in, in villages, cities, or country, they laid the sick in the market places, and besought Him that they might touch even the fringe of His garment; and as many as touched it were made well.
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Commentary:
The Navarre has no commentary for this reading. Please reflect on God's word and invite the Holy Spirit to enter your heart with His inspiration.
St. Josephine, pray for us.
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