Wednesday of the First Week in Ordinary Time

The Month of January Dedicated to the Holy Name of Jesus

Saint: Saint Theodosius (423-528); Blessed Bernard Scammacca OP (1430-1487)

Readings of the Day

Rule of Saint Benedict: Ch 2:11-15 Qualities of the Abbot

Mass: Heb 2:14-18; Resp Ps 105; Mk 1:29-39  

Sing to Him, sing His praise.

MARY, QUEEN OF PEACE,

SAINT MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL,

PRAY FOR US.

JESUS, DIVINE PHYSICIAN,

HAVE MERCY ON US.

Because He Himself was tested through what He suffered, He is able to help those who are being tested.

(Heb 2:18)

Jesus has a busy day in today's Gospel. First, he goes to Simon's mother-in-law who lay sick with a fever, approaches her, grasps her hand, and the fever leaves her. In haste, the mother-in-law (what do you suppose her name was?) waits on her visitors. Later in the evening, when the whole town gathers at the door of the Divine Physician, He gets busy and cures those with various diseases not without driving out demons. After a night's rest, Jesus goes off to deserted place to pray. Not surprisingly, everyone is looking for Him. So, Jesus keeps going and preaches and drives out more demons. May we get busy and keep going too, inspired by Jesus, and also by Pope Francis who began a new cycle of catechesis at today's General Audience. The Holy Father calls us to renew the passion for evangelization, that is, apostolic zeal. Pope Francis tells us that "when Christian life loses sight of the horizon of evangelization, horizon of proclamation, it grows sick: it closes in on itself, becomes self-referential, it becomes atrophied. Without apostolic zeal, faith withers. Mission, on the other hand, is the oxygen of Christian life: it invigorates and purifies us. Let us embark, then, on a process of rediscovering the evangelizing passion, starting with the Gospel and the Church's teaching, to draw apostolic zeal from its sources." We go forth, then, and turn to today's Gospel so as to steer clear of atrophy; to be invigorated and purified.  Keep going.

The Father's purpose is revealing the Son to make Himself known to us all and so to welcome into eternal rest those who believe in Him, establishing them in justice, preserving them from death. To believe in Him means to do His will.

From the treatise "Against the Heresies" by Saint Irenaeus, in Office of Readings, 

Wednesday, First Week in Ordinary Time)

SAINT THEODOSIUS,

BLESSED BERNARD SCAMMACCA,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: Welcome to Windsor, CA, where with the rain there are flowers. Proclaim all His wondrous deeds.

© Gertrude Feick 2023