The Month of February Dedicated to the Holy Family
Catholic Schools Week
Saints: Saint Brigid (451?-525); Saint Henry Morse (1595-1645); Blessed Benedict Daswa (1946-1990); Saint Candelaria of Saint Joseph (1863-1940)
Readings of the Day
Rule of Saint Benedict: Ch 7:35-43 Humility
Mass: Heb 12:4-7, 11-15; Resp Ps 103; Mk 6:1-6
And His justice toward children's children.
MARY, QUEEN OF PEACE,
SAINT MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL,
PRAY FOR US.
JESUS, MARY, AND JOSEPH,
PRAY FOR US.
Endure your trials as "discipline."
(Heb 12:7)
Welcome to February, the month dedicated to the Holy Family, and now in the midst of Catholic Schools Week. We have much to be thankful for, including something Saint Theophane Venard said: "Happiness is to be found only in the home where God is loved and honored, where each one loves, and helps, and cares for others." In this month of the Holy Family, then, a Christian education in the faith begins in the home. Holy Family, tested by the greatest difficulties, pray for us.
Speaking of difficulties and trials, our readings for the day speak about them. We are disciplined by such things as the Letter to the Hebrews tells us. And discipline may seem a cause not for joy but for pain, yet later it brings the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who are trained by it (Heb 12:11). In the Gospel, Jesus is essentially dismissed as a nobody, a mere carpenter, the son of Mary and with brothers even. Who on earth does He think He is anyway? People took offense at Him when He walked the earth (see Mk 6:3); they take offense at Him now. There is nothing new under the sun. We have also been in the midst of Saint Benedict's Chapter 7 on humility and I've been waiting for today when we read about the fourth step of humility, my favorite. Our holy father Benedict begins this way: "The fourth step of humility is that in this obedience under difficult, unfavorable, or even unjust conditions, [my] heart quietly embraces suffering and endures it without weakening or seeking escape" (RB 7:35-36).
They are going to happen, these things that, yes, are painful. And trials will come in the home, at work, in the monastery, in social settings; wherever we find ourselves and even in places we least expect to find them. However, Jesus has been there; He leads the way. He was silent throughout. Remember, for Scripture has it: Anyone who perseveres to the end will be saved, and again, Be brave of heart and rely on the Lord. Another passage shows how the faithful must endure everything, even contradiction, for the Lord's sake, saying in the person of those who suffer, For your sake we are being put to death continually; we are regarded as sheep marked for slaughter" (RB 7:36-37). And why do we endure our trials? It is because we are so confident in our expectation of reward from God that we continue joyfully and say, But in all this we overcome because of Him who so greatly loved us (RB 7:39).
United in faith and prayer then, may we be patient amid hardships and unjust treatment and fulfill the Lord's command: When struck on one cheek, turn the other; when deprived of our coat, offer our cloak also; when pressed into service for one mile, go two. Bear with false brothers and sisters, endure persecution, and bless those who curse us. (RB 7:42-43). We can do it, faithful readers, let us strengthen our drooping hands and our weak knees (se Heb 12:12), for as Jesus told us last "Beatitude Sunday", Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you falsely because of me (Mt 5:11). Keep going, rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven (Mt 5:12a).
And we continue to pray for the Holy Father Pope Francis, who celebrated Mass today for more than a million people at the "Ndolo" airport in Kinshasa, the Democratic Republic of Congo. Praise God from Whom all blessing flow.
The presence of the Church in the field of education is wonderfully manifested in the vast and dynamic network of schools and educational programs extending from the preschool through adult years. The entire ecclesial community - bishops, priests, religious, the laity - the Church in all her parts, is called to value ever more deeply the importance of this task and mission, and to continue to give it full and enthusiastic support.
(Address of His Holiness John Paul II, "Meeting with the Representatives of Catholic Elementary and Secondary Schools and Leaders in Religious Education," Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, September 12, 1987)
SAINT BRIGID,
SAINT HENRY MORSE,
BLESSED BENEDICT DASWA,
SAINT BENEDICT OF NURSIA,
SAINT CANDELARIA OF SAINT JOSEPH,
SAINT THOMAS AQUINAS,
SAINT JOHN HENRY NEWMAN,
POPE SAINT JOHN PAUL II,
PRAY FOR US.
Today's photo: As promised, here is Father Cody, who not only looks great in a cassock, looks even more like his patron Saint John Bosco when wearing it. Front and center, Father Cody serves as chaplain for the students at Western Washington University's Newman Center, seen here all beautiful and beaming for the Lord. Again, they inspire us to remain faithful and strong in our respective vocations. Dear Father Cody and all the Newman students at Western Washington University, keep going! Thank you for being there with your courageous witness to the faith in a secular university, where, as your chaplain said, "These kids have to fight for it!". You certainly face your fair share of difficulties and trials. Jesus loves you!
© Gertrude Feick 2023
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