FOURTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
SAINTS OF THE DAY: FEAST DAY ~ JANUARY 29, 2024
Greetings, beloved family and Happy Monday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time!
On this day, please let us keep our beloved Bishop, Most Rev. Michael Olson, Bishop of Fort Worth Diocese, Texas, USA in our thoughts and prayers as we commemorate the 10th anniversary of his ordination to the episcopacy. We thank him for his dedicated, loving, and faithful leadership and service to the people of God. May God continue to bless him with many more years, good health of body and mind as he serves in the Lord’s Vineyard. Amen 🙏
Watch “Holy Mass and Holy Rosary on January 29, 2024 on EWTN” |
Watch “Holy Mass from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | January 29, 2024 |
Pray “Holy Rosary from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | January 29, 2024 |
Pray “Chaplet of the Divine Mercy from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | January 29, 2024 |
Pray “Holy Rosary Novena From Lourdes” | January 29, 2024 |
Pray “Holy Rosary ALL 20 Mysteries VIRTUAL🌹JOYFUL🌹LUMINOUS🌹SORROWFUL🌹GLORIOUS” on YouTube |
Today’s Bible Readings: Monday, January 29, 2024
Reading 1, Second Samuel 15:13-14, 30; 16:5-13
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 3:2-3, 4-5, 6-7
Gospel, Mark 5:1-20
DEVOTION OF THE MONTH OF JANUARY – MONTH OF THE HOLY NAME OF JESUS: The month of January is traditionally dedicated to the Holy Name of Jesus. After the Blessed Virgin Mary conceived by the Holy Spirit, the Angel Gabriel appeared to St. Joseph and told him that the Child’s name should be called Jesus, meaning “God Saves.” According to Jewish law, on the 8th day after his birth a male child was to be circumcised, receive his name, and become a full member of God’s covenant people. According to the old Roman liturgical calendar, the Feast of the Circumcision of Jesus was celebrated on January 1st, eight days after Christmas, the same day that He was given His sacred name. Currently we celebrate the Solemnity of the Mother of God on January 1st and honor the Holy Name of Jesus on January 3rd. For Catholics, Jesus’ sacred name is the object of a special devotion symbolized by the monogram “IHS,” (sometimes called a Christogram), which is the first three letters of the Greek spelling of His name.
On this special feast day, with special intention through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary, and the Saints, we pray for the sick and dying. We especially pray for our loved ones who have recently died and we continue to remember our beloved late Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI on the first memorial anniversary of his death. We pray for the repose of his gentle soul and the souls of all the faithful departed, may the Lord receive them into the light of Eternal Kingdom. Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord. And let perpetual light shine upon them. May the gentle soul of Pope Benedict XVI and souls of all the faithful departed through the mercy of God rest in perfect peace with our Lord Jesus Christ… Amen 🙏 ✝️🕯✝️🕯✝️🕯
Please let us continue to pray for peace all over the world, particularly in the Middle East, for an end to the current war in Israel-Palestine, and the Ukraine-Russia conflicts and for peace in our families and throughout our divided and conflicted World. Amen 🙏
PRAYER FOR THE DEAD: In your hands, O Lord, we humbly entrust our brothers and sisters. In this life, you embraced them with your tender love; deliver them now from every evil, and bid them eternal rest. The old order has passed away: welcome them into paradise, where there will be no sorrow, no weeping or pain, but fullness of peace and joy with your Son and the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen🙏
A PRAYER FOR PEACE: Lord Jesus Christ, You are the true King of peace. In You alone is found freedom. Please free our world from conflict. Bring unity to troubled nations. Let Your glorious peace reign in every heart. Dispel all darkness and evil. Protect the dignity of every human life. Replace hatred with Your love. Give wisdom to world leaders. Free them from selfish ambition. Eliminate all violence and war. Glorious Virgin Mary, Saint Michael the Archangel, Every Angel and Saint: Please pray for peace. Pray for unity amongst nations. Pray for unity amongst all people. Pray for the most vulnerable. Pray for those suffering. Pray for the fearful. Pray for those most in need. Pray for us all. Jesus, Son of the Living God, have mercy on us. Jesus, hear our prayers. Jesus, I trust in You! Amen 🙏
Prayers for Peace | https://mycatholic.life/catholic-prayers/prayers-for-peace/
SAINTS OF THE DAY: Today, we celebrate the Memorial of Saint Gildas the Wise, Abbot and Saint Aquilinus of Milan, Priest and Martyr.
SAINT GILDAS THE WISE, ABBOT: St. Gildas (517-570) also known as Gildas Sapiens or Badonicus was a 6th-century British monk and author. St. Gildas was born in Scotland on the banks of the River Clyde. His father’s name was Cau (or Nau) and he came from a noble lineage. He lived in a time when the glory of Rome was faded from Britain. The permanent legions had been withdrawn by Maximus, who used them to sack Rome itself and make himself Emperor. St. Gildas was a celebrated teacher and the first British historian. He’s noted for his piety and was well educated. He was not afraid of publicly rebuking contemporary monarchs, at a time when libel was answered by a sword, rather than a Court order. According to legend, he was forced to flee to Wales, where he was married in his young but was later widowed. After his wife’s death, St. Gildas became a close disciple of St. Illtyd in South Wales in his famous Llanilltud Fawr Monastery in the Vale of Glamorgan, and it was there that St. Gildas was tonsured a monk. Such great saints as Sts. Samson and Paul Aurelian may have studied in Llanilltud together with him. After spending some time in Ireland, he made a pilgrimage to Rome about 520 and founded a religious house at Ruys in Brittany on his way back, reaching Wales in 527. He lived for many years as an ascetic hermit on Flatholm Island in the Bristol Channel. Here he established his reputation for that peculiar Celtic sort of holiness that consists of extreme self-denial and isolation. At around this time, according to the Welsh, he also preached to Nemata, the mother of St David, while she was pregnant with the Saint.
St. Gildas is noted not only as a prominent ascetic, preacher, founder of monasteries and teacher of monks, but also as a spiritual author. He was an outstanding historian and chronicler of the Britons, and his main work, which he was famous for writing is De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae (“On the Ruin and Conquest of Britain”), was written in c.540. This is a Latin work describing moral decline in Britain. In this he writes a brief tale of the island from pre-Roman times and criticizes the rulers of for their lax morals and blames their sins (and those that follow them) for the destruction of civilization in Britain. The book was avowedly written as a moral tale. He also wrote a longer work, the Epistle. This is a series of sermons on the moral laxity of rulers and of the clergy. In these St. Gildas shows that he has a wide reading of the Bible and of some other classical works. Gildas was an influential preacher, visiting Ireland and doing missionary work. He was responsible for the conversion of much of the island and may be the one who introduced anchorite customs to the monks of that land. He retired from Llancarfan to Rhuys, in Brittany, where he founded a monastery. Of his work on the running of a monastery (one of the earliest known in the Christian Church), only the so-called Penitential, a guide for Abbots in setting punishment, survives. Later he visited Ruys and Ireland again and died at Ruys on January 29, 570, surrounded by his disciples at the monastery that he had founded. The monastery became the center of his cult. St. Gildas is regarded as being one of the most influential figures of the early English Church. The influence of his writing was felt until well into the Middle Ages, particularly in the Celtic Church. He’s Patron Saint of Welsh historians and bell founders.
PRAYER: Lord, amid the things of this world, let us be wholeheartedly committed to heavenly things in imitation of the example of evangelical perfection that You have given us in St. Gildas. Amen🙏
SAINT AQUILINUS OF MILAN, PRIEST AND MARTYR: St. Aquilinus (d. 1015 A.D.), also known as St. Aquilinus of Cologne, was born to a noble family in Bavaria, Germany. He received his education in Cologne, Germany and was ordained to the priesthood. He was offered the bishopric of Cologne, but turned it down in order to be a missionary priest and itinerant preacher. He traveled through various European cities fighting against the dangerous and spreading heresies of the Cathars, Manichaeans, and Arians. He was also known to work miracles by healing people from disease, especially during a cholera epidemic. He traveled to Paris, where he miraculously cured some people of the cholera. As a result, he was offered the bishopric of Paris, but this he also refused. He traveled to Pavia, where he preached against Cathars, Manichaeans, and Arians there.
Early in the eleventh century, he eventually settled in Milan, Italy, and was so effective in his preaching against the Arian heretics that they stabbed him to death and threw his body in the city sewer. He was martyred along with his companion Constantius (Costanzo). His body was recovered by a group of porters who took him to the nearby oratory of the basilica of San Lorenzo and buried in the Chapel of the Queens in Milan. The chapel was later re-named to bear his name. The Cappella di Sant’Aquilino is dedicated to him and is decorated with 24 scenes from his life and his relics enshrined in an urn. He seems to have enjoyed a continuous cult, and he is honored by the churches of Cologne, Würzburg, and Milan and by the canons of the Lateran. Ancient Breviary lessons, the martyrologies, and the Bollandist critique of the sources all indicate that he was martyred in conflict with arianism and lived probably during the sixth century. He’s Patron Saint of hotel porters (facchini) in Milan.
PRAYER: Loving Father, Saint Aquilinus of Milan became a traveling preacher instead of accepting a high church office. Serving God’s people was more important to him than status and power. I accept the position in life to which You have called me. Help me to be content with doing Your work in my home, my current job, my volunteer work at church and in the community, and take from me every restless desire for wanting recognition and control. Help me to go only where You direct me. If it is Your will that I work in a high position, teach me to grow in humility, each and every day. Saint Aquilinus of Milan intercede for us before the Holy Spirit as we pray for protection against the Coronavirus disease and other diseases plaguing the world. Amen🙏
PRAYER INTENTIONS: We thank God for blessing us all with the gift of His precious son, may we be saved by the name of our Savior Jesus Christ! May the Lord grant us His grace as we continue to serve Him in spirit and in truth. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary, St. Thomas Aquinas and all the Saints on this feast day, we humbly pray for the safety and well-being of all students, for all universities, for philosophers, theologians, apologists, scholars and teachers. We continue to pray for all those who are sick and dying, especially sick children, those who are mentally and physically ill, strokes, heart diseases, and those suffering from cancers and other terminal diseases. May God restore them to good health and grant them His Divine healing and intervention. May our Mother Mary comfort them, may the Angels and Saints watch over them and may the Holy Spirit guide them in peace and comfort during this challenging time. We pray for an end to wars, political and religious unrest. We pray for the safety and well-being of us all and our families, for those affected directly or indirectly, for all Healthcare workers and for an end to the coronavirus disease.. Amen. We pray for God’s deliverance from impossible causes or situations. We pray for torture victims, the poor, the needy and the most vulnerable in our communities and around the world. We pray for the souls in Purgatory and the repose of the souls of the faithful departed and for all widows and widowers. And we continue to pray for our Holy Father, Pope Francis, the Bishops, the Clergy and all those who preach the Gospel. We pray for vocations to the priesthood and religious life, for the Church, for persecuted christians, for all the innocent who suffer violence due to political or religious unrest, for the conversion of sinners, and Christians all over the world… Amen🙏
SCRIPTURE REFLECTIONS
Bible Readings for today, Monday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time | USCCB | https://bible.usccb.org/daily-bible-reading
Gospel Reading ~ Mark 5:1-20
“Unclean spirit, come out of the man!”
“Jesus and His disciples came to the other side of the sea, to the territory of the Gerasenes. When he got out of the boat, at once a man from the tombs who had an unclean spirit met him. The man had been dwelling among the tombs, and no one could restrain him any longer, even with a chain. In fact, he had frequently been bound with shackles and chains, but the chains had been pulled apart by him and the shackles smashed, and no one was strong enough to subdue him. Night and day among the tombs and on the hillsides he was always crying out and bruising himself with stones. Catching sight of Jesus from a distance, he ran up and prostrated himself before him, crying out in a loud voice, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me!” (He had been saying to him, “Unclean spirit, come out of the man!”) He asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “Legion is my name. There are many of us.” And he pleaded earnestly with him not to drive them away from that territory. Now a large herd of swine was feeding there on the hillside. And they pleaded with him, “Send us into the swine. Let us enter them.” And he let them, and the unclean spirits came out and entered the swine. The herd of about two thousand rushed down a steep bank into the sea, where they were drowned. The swineherds ran away and reported the incident in the town and throughout the countryside. And people came out to see what had happened. As they approached Jesus, they caught sight of the man who had been possessed by Legion, sitting there clothed and in his right mind. And they were seized with fear. Those who witnessed the incident explained to them what had happened to the possessed man and to the swine. Then they began to beg him to leave their district. As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed pleaded to remain with him. But Jesus would not permit him but told him instead, “Go home to your family and announce to them all that the Lord in his pity has done for you.” Then the man went off and began to proclaim in the Decapolis what Jesus had done for him; and all were amazed.”
In today’s Gospel reading, our Lord Jesus cast out many evil spirits and demons from a possessed man in the wilderness in the region of the Gerasenes, which was the region beyond the Jordan River on the other side from Jerusalem and Judea. The possessed man is portrayed as the living dead. He lived among the tombs, far from the community of the living. He was inflicting bodily harm on himself on a regular basis. That man had suffered for a long time and had been ostracised from the community due to his affliction and condition, and he had wandered off in the wilderness until that time when the Lord Jesus was passing by with His disciples. The evil spirits, aptly named Legion for their great numbers, who had tormented the man, recognised the Lord and asked Him what He wanted to do with them. Certainly the Lord would not have let those wicked spirits have their way and torment the man any longer. He ordered them all to go out from the man and freed him from their dominion and power. The man was healed and was completely restored, and while the local populace was terrified of what they had just witnessed and what happened, the man believed in God and wanted to follow Him. The Lord told the man to go back to his community and tell everyone all that the Lord in His mercy had done for him. Whenever we open ourselves to the Lord’s healing and calming presence, He sends us out to share what we have received, to bring His healing and calming presence to all who need it.
Our first reading from the Book of the prophet Samuel, details the state of affairs in the kingdom of Israel during the middle period of David’s reign as King, when Absalom, one of his many sons, rebelled against him and attempted to seize the kingship from David. Absalom, according to the Scriptures, had always been a proud and ambitious man, and he clearly had pretensions and desires to be a king, to succeed his own father as ruler over the people and the land of Israel. He has often presented himself to the leading figures of the kingdom and to the people as the one who would succeed his father as the ruler over Israel, and had made his moves, winning over the hearts and minds of the people, and it was at this time then, that Absalom, swayed and tempted with power, decided to launch a coup effort against his own father. Thus, as many people sided with Absalom, David had to flee from the city of Jerusalem, his capital, abandoning the city and his palace to Absalom and his forces, as he and his supporters sought for a better place from which to carry out the next plan to counter the coup by Absalom and those who supported him. There was a Benjaminite named Shimei, who cursed David along the way, harassed him verbally and mocked him. Shimei, being a fellow tribesman of Saul, the former king who David had replaced, clearly did not approve of David, and he launched that tirade of curses and attacks against David. That man likely only had the courage to do so because he saw an opportunity when David’s star and fortune seemingly waned, and at that time, it was indeed true that David’s situation was rather dire, abandoned and betrayed by many among his own family and people. Yet, David trusted in the Lord and completely had faith in Him. He did not despair or seek to overcome his predicaments by depending on worldly means, plans and methods. Like when he was faced with the great predicament of facing Goliath earlier in his life, he placed his trust in God, and did not despair amidst the challenges, trials and difficulties that he had to face. He let God guide his path, and eventually, while at the time no one would have considered it likely, David managed to weather this round of coup and attempt to overthrow him, and the traitor Absalom lost his life in the process. Shimei himself eventually also faced justice during the reign of David’s son, Solomon, after his misdeeds and wicked words were eventually taken into account for. This shows how if we have faith and trust in the Lord, we truly should not be afraid or fearful.
As we reflect on the words of the Sacred Scriptures today, we are all reminded that no matter what hardships, challenges and difficulties that we may have to face in our lives, we will always have that assurance from the Lord, that He will always be with us, and He will continue to guide and protect us, and help us in His own ways throughout our journey in life. As long as we continue to hold on to our faith in the Lord and place our trust in Him, we will not be disappointed in the end, unlike if we trust in all the worldly matters and means instead. We must not be easily swayed and tempted by all of these distractions in life, which can bring us to our downfall and destruction, unless we strive to resist those temptations and remain firmly faithful in God at all times. Let us all therefore ponder these words from the Scriptures and remind ourselves that we should not easily allow ourselves to be swayed and tempted by the wickedness of this world. We should remind ourselves that like Absalom, our ambitions and desires can lead us down the path of ruin and destruction if we are not careful. We must always be vigilant that we are not dragged down into the path of evil and sin, and hence, we should always be faithful to God, and place Him at the centre of our lives. Let us all truly live righteously and worthily according to our faith in God and do our part so that, in everything that we do, we will always be worthy of the Lord, and that by our examples, many more will come to follow our footsteps in following the Lord, our God. May the Lord be with us all and may He strengthen us in our resolve and commitment to do what He has asked us all to do. May He bless our every efforts, good works and endeavours, our every moments in life. May God in His infinite grace and mercy, grant us His grace and bless our lives, and help us to be His better disciples and followers, now and always. Amen 🙏
Let us pray:
My most powerful Lord, I offer to You, this day, the person whom I call to mind who is most in need of Your redeeming grace. May I never lose hope in Your ability to transform their life, to forgive their sins and to bring them back to You. Use me, dear Lord, to be an instrument of Your mercy, so that they will come to know You and experience the freedom You so deeply desire that they receive. Jesus, I trust in You ~ Amen!🙏
Save Us, Savior of the World. Our Mother Mary, Saint Gildas the Wise and Saint Aquilinus of Milan ~ Pray for us🙏
Thanking God for the gift of this new year and praying for justice, peace, love and unity in our families and our world and for God’s Divine Mercy and Grace upon us all as we begin this Ordinary Time. Wishing all of us a most blessed, safe, healthy, prosperous and grace-filled New Year and fruitful week ~ Amen🙏
Blessings and Love always, Philomena 💖
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