Thursday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time

Year of the Family "Amoris Laetitia The Joy of Love"

Week of Prayer for Christian Unity: We saw the star in the East, and we came to worship Him (Mt 2:2)

Saints: Blessed Cyprian Michael Iwene Tansi, Cistercian monk and priest (1903-1964); Pope Saint Fabian, Martyr (-250); Saint Sebastian, early Christian martyr; Blessed Angelo Paoli (1642-1720)

Readings of the Day

Rule of Saint Benedict: Ch 4:44-62

Mass: 1 Sm 18:6-9; 19:1-7; Resp Ps 56; Mk 3:7-12

My wanderings you have counted.

EVERYDAY WITH TEARS AND SIGHS CONFESS YOUR PAST SINS TO GOD IN PRAYER AND CHANGE FROM THESE EVIL WAYS IN THE FUTURE.

(RB 4:57)

In today's Gospel, we find those with diseases pressing upon Jesus to touch Him (Mk 3:10). It appears that Jesus was in danger of being crushed! Not to worry, the disciples are on standby with a boat (Mk 3:9). Let's join the crowd and press upon Jesus. Divine Physician, have mercy on us.  

We must concretely and beyond all limits believe in the mercy of Jesus; we must give Him the gift of our nothingness each time our shortcomings and weaknesses give us the chance to do so, convinced that this gift-if accompanied by the decision to begin again-is not a superficial gesture, but an act of pure love that attracts His forgiveness and grace. Further, we must be convinced that this would be the most beautiful response we could give to His love ...

Wouldn't it be the case for all of us, sinner as we always are, to return over and over again into the arms of God's mercy? For a world so torn to pieces by thousands of evils and dangers, couldn't this be a way to draw down God's blessings?

(Servant of God Chiara Lubich, d. 2008, in Magnificat, "Meditation of the Day", January 20, 2022)

 BLESSED CYPRIAN MICHAEL IWENE TANSI,

POPE SAINT FABIAN,

SAINT SEBASTIAN,

BLESSED ANGELO PAOLI,

BLESSED MARIA GABRIELLA SAGHEDDU,

PRAY FOR US.

NB. Friendly reminder that during this week of Prayer for Christian Unity, we invoke Blessed Maria Gabriella Sagheddu (d. 1939), a Cistercian nun of our Order, who offered her life to the cause of Christian unity. Before her death, she prayed, "Lord Jesus, I love you, and I would like to love you very much, to love you for the whole world." I had the privilege of visiting her shrine at the Cistercian monastery at Vitorchiano in Italy.

Today's photo: "Web in the Light" says faithful reader LR, from one her walks at Redwoods.

© Gertrude Feick 2022