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Miracle!
Listen to the Sunday Readings! |
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Second week of Ordinary Time ~ use your green candle
Friday, January 22, 2010 is the 37th anniversary of Roe v Wade,
the U.S. Supreme Court decision which legalized abortion.
Why not consider participating in a Right to Life March or
learn more about Project Rachel, the Catholic response to Roe v Wade?
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Please add Coming Home Catholic to your safe senders list.
| Prayer of the Week |
Day of Prayer for Violations to the Dignity of the Human Person
Friday, January 22nd, the anniversay of legalized abortion in the United States, is a day of prayer for violations to the dignity of the human person. The U.S. Council of Catholic Bishops has a series of prayers, including rosaries, meditations, and litanies, to help us pray this week. (Learn more)
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| Living our Faith |
It is time to get back to basics, so we'll review the Precepts of the Catholic Church. These are the minimum activities expected of every practicing Catholic. We'll go over one each week for the next five weeks. Don't worry, they're very easy, and they will continually nourish your faith.
First, you shall attend Mass on Sundays and holy days...
Our family attends Mass on Sundays, holy days,and weekdays when able. This practice has become the center of our family, our lives, and our Catholicism. Thanks to regularly celebrating Mass our family tends to focus on the glories of God's creation all week long. We are rminded of our shortcomings, of course, but we are also inspired to be better people and a family whose focus is on God.
...and rest from servile labor.
 For many years we did not observe the Sabbath rest. After Mass we shopped, cleaned the house, did all the chores we had not finish all week long, etc. Little did we know how foolish that was.
Ten years ago we started our weekly family night on Sunday evenings. We started saying "no" to all other activities and committed the time to being together as a family. That was one of the best decisions we ever made. At the time we did not realize we were being guided by the Holy Spirit.
Eight years ago we volunteered to administer the Eucharist to the sick and homebound after Mass. All of a sudden the time we used to spend shopping and cleaning was spent visiting a few people whose needs were much greater than our own. We visited the elderly, the infirm, many who were terminally ill, and others who just needed some company. Every person we met affected our lives. In every person, no matter the circumstances, we witnessed love, caring, and, surprisingly for us, the inherent dignity of suffering. This experience has opened up many opportunities for discussions of life, death, faith, and love that we never would have considered otherwise.
Now our Sabbath days are filled with Mass, family, friends, and community. We have found other times to shop and clean, and it has not been all that difficult. We realized that God gave us the Sabbath to replenish ourselves in His Light. Silly us. The Church has been teaching that all along.
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| Saints to Celebrate |
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Use your green candle Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday to celebrate Ordinary Time.
- Thursday, January 21 use a red candle for the memorial of St. Agnes, the 13 year-old virgin and martyr who is still commemorated in our First Eucharistic prayer. She was beheaded around 304 A.D.
- Friday, January 22 we have the option of using a violet candle for the day of penance for violations to the dignity of the human person through acts of abortion.
A solemnity is a day of greatest importance. The celebration starts the evening before the actual solemnity. Easter is our most important solemnity. A feast is the next most important day. It commemorates Mary, the apostles, martyrs and other saints, and the events associated with them. Mass readings often reflect the special feast day. A memorial is a special day, but often an optional celebration. The scripture readings for Mass may or may not be specially selected for the memorial.
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| Devotion of the Month |
Prepare to celebrate the Conversion of St. Paul!
January 25th is the feast of the Conversion of St. Paul.
Thanks to the recent Jubilee Year to the Apostle Paul, we learned to cherish his life and writings.
There is a lovely novena to St. Paul in preparation for the great feast.
Begin the novena on Friday, January 15 and end on the eve of the feast, January 24.
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| Start the Week off Right (prepare for the Sunday Scriptures) |
| 2nd Sunday of Ordinary Time |
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Miracle!
We're back in Ordinary Time, but these readings remind us of the preparations and celebrations we just completed. God came into our world and became man because of His incredible love for us. Signs of His divinity abound: Two weeks ago we celebrated Epiphany, in which even Gentiles recognized the Prince of Peace. Last week we celebrated the Baptism of Our Lord, the beginning of Jesus' mission as signaled by a dove and a voice from heaven. This Sunday of Ordinary Time Jesus performs His first miracle, turning water into wine. John sums it up pointedly at the end of the Gospel, "Jesus did this...and so revealed His glory..."
Isaiah is speaking in the voice of God in the first reading. He reveals the intimate love relationship between God and His people. God wants His people to return His embrace and live in complete love.
St. Paul tells us in his first letter to the Corinthians that each person has been given special gifts which are to be used to build the unity and love of the community. No gift is better than another gift; when they are all accepted and used to help others, not compete with others, we will truly be the Body of Christ.
St. John's writings are incredible. There is so much information packed into a few paragraphs! Jesus is participating in the relatively ordinary celebration of a wedding. His mother asks Him to arrange for more wine. The fact that He obeys Mary, even though it is not yet His time, supports our praying to Mary. He obviously listens when she intercedes on the behalf of others.
Jesus performs His first miracle; by doing so He initiates the new covenant between God and His people. Many people never realize what just happened, but the disciples begin to open their minds to the possibilities He offers.
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| Daily Dose of Scripture (our picks of the week) |
Lectionary readings for the 2nd Week of Ordinary Time: |
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First Reading |
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Gospel |
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Monday
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1 Sm 15:16-23
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Mk 2:18-22 |
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Tuesday |
1 Sm 16:1-13 |
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Mk 2:23-28 |
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Wednesday |
1 Sm 17:32-33, 37, 40-51 |
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Mk 3:1-6 |
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Thursday |
1 Sm 18:6-9, 19:1-7 |
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Mk 3:7-12 |
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Friday |
1 Sm 24:3-21 |
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Mk 3:13-19 |
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Saturday |
2 Sm 1:1-4, 11-12, 19, 23-27 |
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Mk 3:20-21 |
- 1 Sm 18:6-9, 19:1-7
We are reading the books of Samuel during these few weeks of Ordinary Time. Samuel is the leading person in Book 1; the history of David is the main story of Book 2. These books show the history of Israel's kingship and the promise of the royal Messiah from the family of David.
This reading came at a perfect time for our oldest daughter. She is in a class with another Catholic teen, and she thinks this other teen hates her. It is unlikely that "hate" is true, but there is definitely some tension in the air. Our daughter is very active in our parish, knowledgeable in her faith, and respected by her peers. She is a leader in youth ministry. This tension has been quite a challenge for her, though.
Our reading this week shows her that this situation is not foreign to anyone. Try as we might, not everyone will like us. Nevertheless, we are still called to love everyone and treat everyone with dignity. We can also pray for those people. Hopefully, in time, each person can better understand the other and peace can exist. This idea is a struggle for all of us. We are trying to support our daughter in her efforts. So far she is handling it better than most adults.
- Mk 3:1-6
We're reading the fast and furious Gospel of Mark. This week we'll go through the first half the third chapter. Our pick of the week goes right back to our first precept of the Catholic Church - keep holy the Sabbath. We do not have a set of laws to follow; however, we do need to make sure that our activities do good, not harm, to ourselves or others.
The question is, what is "doing harm?" Is it harmful to go shopping on Sunday? Does our shopping harm others?
Our friend is required to work on Sundays because that is a big day for business. She'd rather be home with her family, but is not given the choice at work, and is not currently in the position to change jobs.
Are there other things we take for granted that may be harmful? Can we make a few simple changes and make them holy instead?
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| Open that Catechism! |
In Sunday's readings we hear of a wedding feast, and the intimate love God has for us,
like a bridegroom for his bride.
Read about the characteristics of marital love in
paragraph #1643 of the
Catechism of the Catholic Church
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