reflections, updates and homilies from Deacon Mike Talbot inspired by the following words from my ordination: Receive the Gospel of Christ whose herald you have become. Believe what you read, teach what you believe and practice what you teach...
Taking a few moments in contemplative prayer and keeping one's gazed fixed on Christ will "make hope grow."
This was the reflection given by Pope Francis this morning during his homily at Casa Santa Marta. According to Vatican Radio, the Holy Father reflected on today's reading from the Letter to the Hebrews, which calls on Christians to "persevere in running the race that lies before us while keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the leader and perfecter of faith."
Referring also the Gospel from St. Mark, the Holy Father reflected on the importance of contemplating Jesus' life and works in order to find peace and hope.
"How should I contemplate with the Gospel today?" he asked. "I see that Jesus was in the midst of a crowd, around him there was a large crowd. This passage says the word 'crowd'" five times. But did Jesus rest? I could think: 'He's always with the crowd.'"
"But a great part of Jesus life," he continued, "was passed on the road, with the crowd. But did he rest? Yes, one time, the Gospel says, he slept on the boat but a storm came and the disciples woke him up. Jesus was continuously among the people. And if I look at Jesus this way, I contemplate Jesus that way, I imagine Jesus that way. And I tell Jesus what comes to my mind."
The Holy Father went on to recall the Gospel, in which Jesus healed the daughter of a synagogue official, imagining how Jesus was in the midst of those who doubted the girl's healing. This imagining, the Pope said, is a prayer of contemplation, to read and imagine the scene in which Christ found himself in. He then invited the faithful to do the same.
"Make this prayer of contemplation.'But I have so much to do!' 'But in your home, 15 minutes, take the Gospel, a small passage, imagine what happened and speak with Jesus about it. Thus your gaze will be fixed on Jesus and not on soap operas, for example. Your ears will be fixed on the words of Jesus and not so much on the gossip of the neighbors," he said.
By praying with the Gospel, as well as prayers like the Rosary, the Pope went on to say, one's Christian life can move toward memory and hope.
Concluding his homily, Pope Francis once again invited the faithful to make this prayer of contemplation in their daily lives.
"Today, for example, look for 10 minutes -15, no more – read the Gospel, imagine and say something to Jesus. Nothing more; and in that way your knowledge of Jesus will be greater and your hope will grow. Do not forget, to have your gaze fixed on Jesus. And this is what the prayer of contemplation is for."
Many Catholics might remember Saint Blaise's feast day because of the Blessing of the Throats that took place on this day. Two candles are blessed, held slightly open, and pressed against the throat as the blessing is said. Saint Blaise's protection of those with throat troubles apparently comes from a legend that a boy was brought to him who had a fishbone stuck in his throat. The boy was about to die when Saint Blaise healed him.
Very few facts are known about Saint Blaise. We believe he was a bishop of Sebastea in Armenia who was martyred under the reign of Licinius in the early fourth century.
The legend of his life that sprang up in the eighth century tell us that he was born in to a rich and noble family who raised him as a Christian. After becoming a bishop, a new persecution of Christians began. He received a message from God to go into the hills to escape persecution. Men hunting in the mountains discovered a cave surrounded by wild animals who were sick. Among them Blaise walked unafraid, curing them of their illnesses. Recognizing Blaise as a bishop, they captured him to take him back for trial. On the way back, he talked a wolf into releasing a pig that belonged to a poor woman. When Blaise was sentenced to be starved to death, the woman, in gratitude, sneaked into the prison with food and candles. Finally Blaise was killed by the governor.
Blaise is the patron saint of wild animals because of his care for them and of those with throat maladies.
Here is a translation of the text of the Pope’s homily given today in St. Peter's Basilica at a Mass for the feast of the Presentation of the Lord, marking the World Day of Consecrated Life.
We have before our mind’s eye the icon of Mother Mary, who walks with the Child Jesus in her arms. She takes him to the Temple, introduces him to the people, carries him to encounter his people.
The Mother’s arms are as the “stairs” on which the Son of God comes down to us, the stairs ofGod’s condescension. We heard this in the First Reading of the Letter to the Hebrews: Christ “had to be made like his brethren in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest” (2:17). It is the twofold way of Jesus: He came down, made himself like us, to ascend to the Father together with us, making us like Him.
We can contemplate in our heart this movement, imagining the Gospel scene of Mary who enters in the Temple with the Child in her arms. Our Lady walks, but it is the Son who walks before her. She carries him, but it is He who carries her in this way of God who comes to us so that we can go to Him.
Jesus followed our same path to indicate the new way to us, namely the “new and living way” (Cf. Hebrews 10:20), which is He himself. And for us, consecrated, this is the only way that, concretely and without alternative, we must follow with joy and perseverance.
The Gospel insists a good five times on Mary’s and Joseph’s obedience to the “Law of the Lord”: (Cf. Luke 2:22.23.24.27.39). Jesus did not come to do his will, but the will of the Father; and this – he said – was his “food” (Cf. John 4:34). Thus, one who follows Jesus puts himself in the way of obedience, imitating the “condescension” of the Lord; lowering himself and making his own the Father’s will, even to the annihilation and humiliation of himself (Cf. Philippians 2:7-8). For a Religious, to progress means to lower himself in service, that is, to follow the same way of Jesus, “who did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped” (Philippians 2:6). To lower himself, making himself a servant to serve.
And this way takes the form of the Rule, marked by the charism of the Founder, without forgetting that the irreplaceable Rule for all is always the Gospel. The Holy Spirit, then, in his infinite creativity, translates it also into the different Rules of consecrated life, all of which are born from the sequela Christi, namely of this way of lowering oneself by serving.
Through this “law” the Consecrated can attain wisdom, which is not an abstract attitude but is the work and gift of the Holy Spirit. And an evident sign of such wisdom is joy. Yes, the evangelical happiness of the Religious is the consequence of the way of lowering himself with Jesus. And when we are sad, it will do us good to ask ourselves: How are we living this kenotic dimension?
In the account of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple wisdom is represented by two elderly persons: Simon and Anna: persons docile to the Holy Spirit (this is mentioned three times), guided by Him, animated by Him. The Lord gave them wisdom through a long journey in the way of obedience to his law. Obedience that, on one hand, humiliates and annihilates, but, on the other, it lights and protects hope, making them creative, because they were full of the Holy Spirit. They also celebrated a sort of liturgy around the Child that entered the Temple: Simeon praises the Lord and Anna “preaches” salvation (Cf. Luke 2:28-32.38). As in Mary’s case, the elderly Simeon also takes the child in his arms but, in reality, it is the child that clasps and leads him. The liturgy of the First Vespers of today’s Feast expresses it in a clear and beautiful way: “senex puerum portabat, puer autem senem regebat.” Both Mary, young Mother, as well as Simeon, elderly “grandfather,” carry the Child in their arms, but it is the Child himself that leads both of them.
It is curious to note that in this event the creative are not the young but the elderly. The young, as Mary and Joseph, follow the law of the Lord on the way of obedience; the elderly, as Simeon and Anna, see in the Child the fulfilment of the Law and of God’s promises. And they are capable of celebrating: they are creative in joy, in wisdom.
However, the Lord transforms obedience into wisdom, with the action of his Holy Spirit.
Sometimes God can also lavish the gift of wisdom on an inexperienced youth, suffice it that he be willing to follow the way of obedience and of docility to the Spirit. This obedience and this docility are not a theoretic fact, but are under the logic of the Incarnation of the Word: docility and obedience to a Founder, docility and obedience to a concrete Rule, docility and obedience to a Superior, docility and obedience to the Church. It is about concrete docility and obedience.
Personal and community wisdom mature through the persevering way of obedience, and thus it also becomes possible to link the rules to the times: true “modernization” in fact is the work of wisdom, forged in docility and obedience.
The reinvigoration and renewal of consecrated life come about through a great love of the Rule, and also through the capacity to contemplate and to listen to the elderly of the Congregation. Thus the “deposit,” the charism of every Religious Family, is protected together with obedience and wisdom. And, through this way, we are preserved from living our consecration in a light way, in a disincarnate way, as if it were a gnosis, which would reduce religious life to a “caricature,” a caricature in which a following is acted without renunciation, prayer without encounter, fraternal life without communion, obedience without trust and charity without transcendence.
Like Mary and Simeon, we also want to take Jesus today in our arms so that He encounters his people, and we will certainly obtain this only if we let ourselves be gripped by the mystery of Christ. We guide the people to Jesus by letting ourselves, in turn, be guided by Him. This is what we must be: guided guides.
May the Lord, through the intercession of Mary our Mother, of Saint Joseph and of Saints Simeon and Anna, grant us all that we asked for in the Collect Prayer: to “be presented [to Him] fully renewed in the spirit.” So be it.
There has been a lot of talk lately about football, praying football players and does God care who wins the game. Sometimes we simply overthink things. Does anyone think God really cares who won the game, even the Super Bowl? But God does care about all of His children and God loves hearing our prayers, even if we pray for weird things from time to time. God does bless our work so I guess you could say God blesses every athlete who gives his all, does his best and gives glory to Him. I mean do we give God thanks and praise for a good day, or even a bad day, of work??
With the Super Bowl fresh in our minds, as we still wonder what the heck was Pete Carroll thinking, here are two great articles about two football players, one somewhat famous, one who became famous last night, with about 30 seconds left in the game.
Feast Day: February 02 Forty days after Jesus was born, Mary and Joseph brought him to the great Temple in Jerusalem. There they presented Baby Jesus to the Heavenly Father. That was the Jewish law. The Holy Family obeyed it with loving hearts. This was a very popular feast called Candlemas in past centuries and candles were blessed and carried in procession, to show the entry of Jesus as the light of the world. While they were in the Temple, Mary also attended the Purification ceremony which was another custom. After the birth of their children, all Jewish mothers were supposed to go to the Temple for this ceremony. Mary did her duty cheerfully. She teaches us to be humble and obedient as she was. A holy old priest of the Temple named Simeon learned from God that the Infant Jesus was truly the Savior. He held Mary's Son Jesus in his arms with joy and awe. "My own eyes are looking at my salvation," he exclaimed. God allowed him recognize Jesus as the Savior and Simeon put his trust in the little Child. Imagine what Mary and Joseph were thinking. Then, inspired by God, Simeon told Mary that she would have to suffer very much. He was talking about the terrible pain our Blessed Mother would feel when Jesus died on the cross. This feast of the Presentation reminds us that we belong to God first of all. Because he is our Father and Creator, and we owe him our loving obedience.
Steve Gleason: Watch NBC Sports profile his fight against ALS during Super Bowl 2015 pregame show
NBC Sports profiled former New Orleans Saints player Steve Gleason's continued fight against ALS during the Super Bowl 2015 pregame show. Gleason watched from the sideline when the Saints played the Green Bay Packers at the Superdome on Sunday, October 26, 2014. (Michael DeMocker, Nola.com / The Times-Picayune) (Michael DeMocker)
Tuesday in the Steve Gleason household is also known as "Dudes-day," as in the day the former New Orleans Saints special teamer spends with his son, Rivers.
"Rivers is an awesome kid," said Steve's wife, Michel. "He's a left-handed thrower like his dad. He's super-dramatic, like me. ... Most importantly he's a happy kid, and we're both so lucky for that." NBC Sports highlighted the Gleasons' continued fight against ALS during the Super Bowl 2015 pregame show Sunday. Gleason said during the segment he would not let ALS make him quietly fade away.
Watch the entire segment here:
Super Bowl Sunday; now presenting it's 49th version of what once was an important football game and now is such an incredible spectacle. Super Bowl's come and go and quite frankly, I am enjoying them less and less. Yes, I do remember February 2010 when my beloved New Orleans Saints beat the Colts and claimed that Super Bowl and the title world champs, but before that year and ever since that year, I could really care less.
This year we have two teams that I have little to no interest in. At least the Patriots have had some good LSU alumni to cheer on over the past 15 years or so and they do have one today. The Patriots though are not an easy team to love if you live outside New England. Then we have those Seattle Seahawks. Not much to like there, especially if you are a Saints fan. Don't get me wrong, these teams are very talented and have some incredible athletes, but I'm just saying: who cares?
I for one don't. So I have a sleepy, rainy Sunday and no enthusiasm for the big game. I'm sure I'll watch from time to time, catch up on the score and maybe catch a cool commercial or two, but I do so with little to no real interest.
You know the Super Bowl has become such a spectacle that no average football fan can afford to go to the game. Yet millions after millions will put everything aside this afternoon and invest a lot of time, treasure and effort, not to mention money into Super Bowl parties, intense TV watching and clinging to every play, statistic and human interest angle presented on the broadcast.
You know even many church going Christians cannot escape the allure of the Church of the NFL and will make excuses and justifications for missing Mass on Sundays. No way can I have time for God when there is a game. Think about today alone, how many folks will blow off Mass and other services because it is Super Bowl Sunday.
One would think that we would want to get our priorities right. Do the masses today see no value in giving due and proper worship to God, to praying in community and placing God truly first in their lives? If the answer is yes, than where is the witness? Today at my church parish, we were shy about 300 worshippers based on normal headcounts for the past few years. How in the world can football take priority over God?
Today indeed is Super Bowl Sunday but every Sunday, every Lord's Day is super and beyond! Being in community worship, and for us Catholics that means Mass, is something that should solicit great excitement, the likes of which would make a Super Bowl pale in comparison. At Holy Mass, each and every day and especially on Sunday, we meet Jesus up close and personal. Jesus is present in the Church; in the Word proclaimed and broken open for us, in the liturgy, on the altar, in the person of the Priest, most excellently in the Eucharist, and even in the folks who have come to Mass to worship beside us. This, for me and many I pray, is more important, more special, more exciting than football; even a Super Bowl Sunday.
It's not just football; folks conjure up all kind of reasons they can't bother to make it to Mass on Sunday; golfing, camping, running, shopping, going to this convention and that attraction. All great things right; but why at the expense of thanking God and giving worship. Then there are those who proclaim I am a Christian but do not need Sunday worship. Oh, I see, you are right and God is wrong. Cool. Nope, wrong. But God loves all the above, so do I. Yet Sunday Mass or services is something en masse we can't make time for. Even if I allocate 3 hours for Mass, including getting dressed, driving to and driving from and actually worshipping, that amount of time equates to 1.8% of your week. That's right, if you do good by God, at least in the category of Sunday worship, God leaves you with 98.2% of your week to do everything else. Incredible.
So yes, I could care less about Super Bowl Sunday, the Pats or the Seahawks. I've celebrated my Super Sunday already at Holy Mass and will do so again and again and again. Get pumped up about what's really important! Get thee to Holy Mass!
"Always remember that the Gospel has the power to change life! Do not forget this! That is the good news that transforms us only when we allow ourselves to be transformed by it."
Here is the translation of the Holy Father's address before and after the recitation of the Angelus today to the faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square:
Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!
This Sunday's Gospel reading (cfr Mk. 1, 21-28) presents Jesus, who, with his little community of disciples, enters Capernaum, the city where Peter lived and which in that time was the biggest city of Galilee. And he entered the city.
Mark the Evangelist tells us that Jesus, being that day the Sabbath, went quickly to the synagogue and He began to teach (cfr v.21). This makes us think of the primacy of the Word of God, a word to listen, to receive and to announce.
Arriving in Capernaum, Jesus does not send the announcement of the Gospel, He does not think of the logistical planning, while surely necessary, of his little community. He does not linger in prganizing. His main concern is that of communicating the Word of God with the strength of the Holy Spirit. And the people in the synagogue are struck, because Jesus "taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes." (v. 22)
What does "with authority" mean? It means that in the human word of Jesus the strength of the Word of God was felt, the same authoritativeness of God was felt, inspirer of the Holy Scripture. And one of the characteristics of the Word of God is that it carries out that which it says. Because the word of God corresponds with His will. Instead, we often pronounce empty words, without roots or superfluous words, words that do not correspond with the truth. The Word of God, instead, corresponds to the truth and is united to His will and does what He says. In fact, Jesus, after having preached, quickly demonstrates His authority by freeing a man, present in the synagogue, who was possessed by a demon (cfr Mk. 1,23-26). It was precisely the divine authority of Christ that brought out Satan's reaction, hidden within that man; Jesus, for his part, immediately recognizes the voice of evil and "rebuked him and said, 'Quiet! Come out of him!'" (v.25) With only the strength of His word, Jesus frees the person from evil. And once again those present were astonished. "But this man, where does He come from? He commands even the unclean spirits and they obey him." The word of God astonishes us with that strength. It astonishes us well.
The Gospel is the word of life: it does not oppress people, on the contrary, it frees those who are enslaved by so many evil spirits in this world: vanity, the attachment to money, pride, sensuality…The Gospel changes the heart, the Gospel changes the heart! It changes life; it transforms the inclination to evil to resolutions of good. The Gospel is capable of changing the hearts of the people. Therefore it is the duty of Christians to spread everywhere the redeeming power, becoming missionaries and heralds of the Word of God. It is suggested by the very passage from today's reading which closes with a missionary aperture: "His fame – Jesus' fame - spread everywhere throughout the whole region of Galilee." (v. 28) The new doctrine taught with authority by Jesus is that which the Church brings to the world, together with the effective signs of His presence: the authoritative teaching and the liberating action of the Son of God becomes the words of salvation and the gestures of love of the missionary Church. Always remember that the Gospel has the power to change life! Do not forget this! That is the good news that transforms us only when we allow ourselves to be transformed by it. That is why I ask you always to have daily contact with the Gospel. To read it every day; a passage. To meditate upon it and also, to carry it with you everywhere, in your pocket, in your purse. That is, to nourish yourselves every day from this inexhaustible source of salvation. Do not forget, read a passage from the Gospel every day. It is the power that changes us, that transforms us, it changes life and it changes the heart.
Let us invoke the maternal intercession of the Virgin Mary, with Her who received the word and generated it for the world, for all mankind. May She teach us to be assiduous listeners and authoritative announcers of the Gospel of God. Following the Angelus prayer, the Pope said:
Dear brothers and sisters,
I would like to announce that on Saturday, June 6th, God-willing, I will go to Sarajevo, capital of Bosnia Herzegovina. I ask today that you pray so that my visit to that dear population be an encouragement for the Catholic faithful, arouse ferments of good and contribute to the consolidation of brotherhood and peace, of interreligious dialogue and friendship. I greet the families, the parishes, the associations and all those who have come from Italy and from so many parts of the world. In particular, the pilgrims from Lebanon and Egypt, the student of Zafra and Badajoz (Spain); the faithful of Sassari, Salerno, Verona, Modena, Scano Montiferro and Taranto.
Today in Italy we celebrate the Day for Life, which has as its theme "Solidarity for life". I extend my appreciation to the associations, the movements and to all those who defend human life. I unite myself with the Italian bishops in calling for "a renewed recognition of the human person and a more adequate care for life, from conception to its natural end." (Message for the 37th National Day for Life). When we open ourselves to life and life is served, we come to believe once again in the revolutionary nature of love and tenderness. (cfr Evangelii Gaudium, 288), beginning a new humanism: the humanism of solidarity. I greet the Cardinal Vicar, the university professors of Rome and all those who are dedicated to promoting a culture of life.
To all I wish a good Sunday. Please do not forget to pray for me. Have a good lunch and goodbye!
