Sunday
February 5th

5th Sunday in Ordinary Time
St. Philip of Jesus
St. Agatha

1st Reading: Is 58:7-10:
Fast by sharing your food with the hungry, bring to your house the homeless, clothe the one you see naked and do not turn away from your own kin. Then will your light break forth as the dawn and your healing come in a flash. Your righteousness will be your vanguard, the glory of Yahweh your rearguard. Then you will call and Yahweh will answer, you will cry and he will say, I am here. If you remove from your midst the yoke, the clenched fist and the wicked word, if you share your food with the hungry and give relief to the oppressed, then your light will rise in the dark, your night will be like noon.

2nd Reading: 1 Cor 2:1-5:
When I came to reveal to you the mystery of God’s plan, I did not count on eloquence or on a show of learning. I was determined, not to know anything among you, but Jesus, the Messiah, and a crucified Messiah. I, myself, came; weak, fearful and trembling; my words, and preaching, were not brilliant, or clever to win listeners. It was, rather, a demonstration of spirit and power, so, that, your faith might be a matter, not of human wisdom, but of God’s power.

Gospel:
Jesus said to his disciples, “You are the salt of the earth. But if salt has lost its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It has become useless. It can only be thrown away and people will trample on it. “You are the light of the world. A city built on a mountain cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and covers it; instead, it is put on a lamp stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, your light must shine before others, so that they may see the good you do, and praise your Father in heaven.”

Reflection:
Care for the people on the margins of the society, and God will be pleased with you. Do not trust in human wisdom, but let God’s power work in and through you. Be salt and light to the world. We can become salt and light to the world only by engaging in acts that bring saltiness and light into the lives of others. The first reading tells us what such acts are: acts that must care for the people on the margins. The second reading tells us what attitude we must have in doing such acts: a virginal openness that trusts in God’s power to act through us. Lord, use me as salt and light for the world. Do one of the corporal acts of mercy today.

Monday
February 6th

St. Paul Miki and Companions

1st Reading: Gen 1:1-19:
In the beginning, when God began to create the heavens and the earth, the earth had no form and was void; darkness was over the deep and the spirit of God hovered over the waters. God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. God saw that the light was good and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light ‘Day’ and the darkness ‘Night’. There was evening and there was morning: the first day. God said, “Let there be a firm ceiling between the waters and let it separate waters from waters.” So God made the ceiling and separated the waters below it from the waters above it. And so it was. God called the firm ceiling ‘Sky’. There was evening and there was morning: the second day.

God said, “Let the waters below the sky be gathered together in one place and let dry land appear.” And so it was. God called the dry land ‘Earth’, and the waters gathered together he called ‘Seas’. God saw that it was good. God said, “Let the earth produce vegetation, seed-bearing plants, fruit trees bearing fruit with seed, each according to its kind, upon the earth.” And so it was. The earth produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kind and trees producing fruit which has seed, according to their kind. God saw that it was good. There was evening and there was morning: the third day.

God said, “Let there be lights in the ceiling of the sky to separate day from night and to serve as signs for the seasons, days and years; and let these lights in the sky shine above the earth.” And so it was. God therefore made two great lights, the greater light to govern the day and the smaller light to govern the night; and God made the stars as well. God placed them in the ceiling of the sky to give light on the earth and to separate the light from the darkness. God saw that it was good. There was evening and there was morning: the fourth day.

Gospel: Mk 6:53-56:
Having crossed the lake, they came ashore at Gennesaret, where they tied up the boat. As soon as they landed, people recognized Jesus, and ran to spread the news throughout the countryside. Wherever he was, they brought to him the sick lying on their mats; and wherever he went, to villages, towns or farms, they laid the sick in the marketplace, and begged him to let them touch just the fringe of his cloak. And all who touched him were cured.

Reflection:
The first readings of this week reveal to us the wonder of creation. The story of creation tells us that God is the author of all life–animate and inanimate! All life comes from God! All creatures are to give glory to God. Thus the Psalmist prays “Praise the Lord from the earth, sea creatures and all oceans, fire and hail, snow and mist, stormy winds that obey his word; all mountains and hills, all fruit trees and cedars, beasts, wild and tame. . .” (Ps 148)! Truly, St. Francis was right in speaking of “brother sun” and “sister moon!” All of creation is good! “God saw that it was good!”

That is the assessment of the Creator! Pope Francis in “Laudato si” exhorted us to respect the order God had set over creation. How truly sad it is that because of the irresponsibility of man, driven by inordinate greed, our common home has suffered much abuse! The phenomenon we call “climate change” is upon us because we have abused mother earth! Today would be a good time to beg God for forgiveness for our abuse of our natural resources. And today may also be a good time to make amends. How about getting some “cleaning operation” in our neighborhood? Or perhaps even planting a tree?

Tuesday
February 7th

Blessed Pius IX

1st Reading: Gen 1:20–2:4a:
In the beginning, when God began to create the heavens and the earth, the earth had no form and was void; darkness was over the deep and the spirit of God hovered over the waters. God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. God saw that the light was good and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light ‘Day’ and the darkness ‘Night’. There was evening and there was morning: the first day. God said, “Let there be a firm ceiling between the waters and let it separate waters from waters.” So God made the ceiling and separated the waters below it from the waters above it. And so it was. God called the firm ceiling ‘Sky’. There was evening and there was morning: the second day.

God said, “Let the waters below the sky be gathered together in one place and let dry land appear.” And so it was. God called the dry land ‘Earth’, and the waters gathered together he called ‘Seas’. God saw that it was good. God said, “Let the earth produce vegetation, seed-bearing plants, fruit trees bearing fruit with seed, each according to its kind, upon the earth.” And so it was. The earth produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kind and trees producing fruit which has seed, according to their kind. God saw that it was good. There was evening and there was morning: the third day. God said, “Let there be lights in the ceiling of the sky to separate day from night and to serve as signs for the seasons, days and years; and let these lights in the sky shine above the earth.” And so it was.

God therefore made two great lights, the greater light to govern the day and the smaller light to govern the night; and God made the stars as well. God placed them in the ceiling of the sky to give light on the earth and to separate the light from the darkness. God saw that it was good. There was evening and there was morning: the fourth day. God said, “Let the water teem with an abundance of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth under the ceiling of the sky.” God created the great monsters of the sea and all living animals, those that teem in the waters, according to their kind, and every winged bird, according to its kind. God saw that it was good. God blessed them saying, “Be fruitful and increase in number, fill the waters of the sea, and let the birds increase on the earth.”

There was evening and there was morning: the fifth day. God said, “Let the earth produce living animals according to their kind: cattle, creatures that move along the ground, wild animals according to their kind.” So it was. God created the wild animals according to their kind, and everything that creeps along the ground according to its kind. God saw that it was good. God said, “Let us make man in our image, to our likeness. Let them rule over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, over the cattle, over the wild animals, and over all creeping things that crawl along the ground.” So God created man in his image; in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number, fill the earth and subdue it, rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the sky, over every living creature that moves on the ground.” God said, “I have given you every seed-bearing plant which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree that bears fruit with seed. It will be for your food.

To every wild animal, to every bird of the sky, to everything that creeps along the ground, to everything that has the breath of life, I give every green plant for food.” So it was. God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. There was evening and there was morning: the sixth day. That was the way the sky and earth were created and all their vast array. By the seventh day the work God had done was completed, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work he had done. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on that day he rested from all the work he had done in his creation. These are the successive steps in the creation of the heavens and the earth.

Gospel: Mk 7:1-13:
One day, the Pharisees gathered around Jesus, and with them were some teachers of the law who had just come from Jerusalem. They noticed that some of his disciples were eating their meal with unclean hands, that is, without washing them. Now the Pharisees, and in fact all the Jews, never eat without washing their hands, for they follow the tradition received from their ancestors. Nor do they eat anything, when they come from the market, without first washing themselves. And there are many other traditions they observe; for example, the ritual washing of cups, pots and plates.

So the Pharisees and the teachers of the law asked him, “Why do your disciples not follow the tradition of the elders, but eat with unclean hands?” Jesus answered, “You shallow people! How well Isaiah prophesied of you when he wrote: This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. The worship they offer me is worthless, for what they teach are only human rules. You even put aside the commandment of God to hold fast to human tradition.”

And Jesus commented, “You have a fine way of disregarding the commandments of God in order to enforce your own traditions! For example, Moses said: Do your duty to your father and your mother, and: Whoever curses his father or his mother is to be put to death. But according to you, someone could say to his father or mother, ‘I already declared Corban (which means “offered to God”) what you could have expected from me.’ In this case, you no longer require him to do anything for his father or mother; and so you nullify the word of God through the tradition you have handed on. And you do many other things like that.”

Reflection:
God kept the best of His creation for last! Only on the 6th day, as the book of Genesis reveals, did God create man. When the setting has been arranged man is created. And God gives all created reality to the care of the one created after the image and likeness of God. Of all creatures man alone is the image of God. Man alone has the gift of reason and is given the authority, the responsibility over creation. Man is God’s steward or care taker over creation. God had put his trust and confidence in man. Unfortunately, we have not always been responsible stewards of creation. We have been domineering over creation.

Pope Francis in “Laudato si” laments that in the last 200 years man has tended to simply treat all of created reality as objects to be used with a disregard for the unique order of nature God had designed for all of creation. The disruption of the rich biodiversity of our planet has caused the extinction of various species. Pope Francis reminds us that we must remember that when we harm creation we are bound to suffer dire consequences! Indiscriminate logging, for instance, not only affects our watersheds and the loss of habitat for various creatures. The loss of our watersheds leads to flooding.

In the end we all suffer the consequences of a “battered mother earth!” We ought to be more sensitive for our environment! We ought to ensure that we do not endanger the so many good God has created in the world. Pope Francis calls us in “Laudato si” to cut down on our consummeristic habits and learn to “reduce, reuse, recycle!” Do you really need a “new bag?” or a “new shirt?” Hold on to that piece of paper! You might still use its back page!

Wednesday
February 8th

St. Jerome Emiliani
St. Josephine Bakhita

1st Reading: Gen 2:4b-9, 15-17:
These are the successive steps in the creation of the heavens and the earth. On the day that Yahweh God made the earth and the heavens, there was not yet on the earth any shrub of the fields, nor had any plant yet sprung up, for Yahweh God had not made it rain on the earth, and there was no man to till the earth, but a mist went up from the earth and watered the surface of the earth. Then Yahweh God formed man, dust drawn from the clay, and breathed into his nostrils a breath of life and man became alive with breath.

God planted a garden in Eden in the east and there he placed man whom he had created. Yahweh God caused to grow from the ground every kind of tree that is pleasing to see and good to eat, also the tree of Life in the middle of the garden and the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Yahweh God took man and placed him in the garden of Eden to till it and take care of it. Then Yahweh God gave an order to man saying, “You may eat of every tree in the garden, but of the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, you will not eat, for on the day you eat of it, you will die.”

Gospel: Mk 7:14-23:
Jesus then called the people to him again and said to them, “Listen to me, all of you, and try to understand. Nothing that enters a person from the outside can make that person unclean. It is what comes from within that makes a person unclean. Let everyone who has ears listen.” When Jesus got home and was away from the crowd, his disciples asked him about this saying, and he replied, “So even you are dull? Do you not see that whatever comes from outside cannot make a person unclean, since it enters not the heart but the stomach, and is finally passed out?” Thus Jesus declared that all foods are clean. And he went on, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him, for evil designs come out of the heart: theft, murder, adultery, jealousy, greed, maliciousness, deceit, indecency, slander, pride and folly. All these evil things come from within and make a person unclean.”

Reflection:
The creation of man is the apex of the creation account. The second account of the creation of man in Genesis 2 underlines on the one hand man’s “creatureliness,” that man is dust; on the other hand man has an awesome dignity–the breath of life in man is from God! There is something “divine” in all men! Man alone has a “soul!” There is in each person a “spark of the divine” not present in other creatures! God has, in creating man, shared His own life with lowly man!  Unfortunately, the painful story of man is that many times man has marred the “shadow of the divine” in man.

The many inhumanities committed against the weak and vulnerable, women and children, offends the God who has his image in each and every human person. Any inhumanity is a disrespect to God who imprinted His image in every person! The Sudanese Saint Josephine Bakhita, whose memorial we celebrate today, is a statement of our Faith against the brutal history of slavery and any inhumanity! But this Saint became a Saint not because she suffered so much but because when she received the Faith she would be able to pray and forgive all who had made her suffer. Though wounded in her “creatureliness” she was able to make the “spark of the divine” in her to rise and mirror the face of our God who forgives!

Thursday
February 9th

1st Reading: Gen 2:18-25:
Yahweh God said, “It is not good for man to be alone; I will give him a helper who will be like him.” Then Yahweh God formed from the earth all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air and brought them to man to see what he would call them; and whatever man called every living creature, that was its name. So man gave names to all the cattle, the birds of the air and to every beast of the field. But he did not find among them a helper like himself.

Then Yahweh God caused a deep sleep to come over man and he fell asleep. He took one of his ribs and filled its place with flesh. The rib which Yahweh God had taken from man he formed into a woman and brought her to the man. The man then said, “Now this is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh. She shall be called woman because she was taken from man.” That is why man leaves his father and mother and is attached to his wife, and with her becomes one flesh. Both the man and his wife were naked and were not ashamed.

Gospel: Mk 7:24-30:
When Jesus left that place, he went to the border of the Tyrian country. There, he entered a house, and did not want anyone to know he was there; but he could not remain hidden. A woman, whose small daughter had an evil spirit, heard of him, and came and fell at his feet. Now this woman was a pagan, a Syrophoenician by birth, and she begged him to drive the demon out of her daughter. Jesus told her, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the puppies.” But she replied, “Sir, even the puppies under the table eat the crumbs from the children’s bread.” Then Jesus said to her, “You may go your way; because of such a response, the demon has gone out of your daughter.” And when the woman went home, she found her child lying in bed, and the demon gone.

Reflection:
St. John Paul II at the beginning of his pontificate developed a very beautiful catechesis on human sexuality known as the “Theology of the Body.” He plumbed the deep significance of the creation of Adam and Eve as recorded in Genesis 2, our reading of today. This particular section he refers to as the “original innocence” of man. Though man and woman are sexually different they are, however, equal in dignity. Man and woman found joy in their sexual difference and sexual complementarity as is conveyed by the verse “Both the man and his wife were naked and were not ashamed.” Human sexual relationship is beautiful; it is part of the good in God’s creation.

Friday
February 10th

St. Scholastica

1st Reading: Gen 3:1-8
Now the serpent was the craftiest of all the wild creatures that Yahweh God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say: You must not eat from any tree in the garden?” The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees in the garden, but of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden God said: You must not eat, and you must not touch it or you will die.” The serpent said to the woman, “You will not die, but God knows that the day you eat it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods, knowing good and evil.”

The woman saw that the fruit was good to eat, and pleasant to the eyes, and ideal for gaining knowledge. She took its fruit and ate it and gave some to her husband who was with her. He ate it. Then their eyes were opened and both of them knew they were naked. So they sewed leaves of a fig tree together and made themselves loincloths. They heard the voice of Yahweh God walking in the garden, in the cool of the day, and they, the man and his wife, hid from Yahweh God among the trees of the garden.

Gospel: Mk 7:31-37
Again, Jesus set out: from the country of Tyre he passed through Sidon and, skirting the sea of Galilee, he came to the territory of Decapolis. There, a deaf man, who also had difficulty in speaking, was brought to him. They asked Jesus to lay his hand upon him. Jesus took him apart from the crowd, put his fingers into the man’s ears, and touched his tongue with spittle. Then, looking up to heaven, he said with a deep sigh, “Ephphata!” that is, “Be opened!” And immediately, his ears were opened, his tongue was loosened, and he began to speak clearly. Jesus ordered them not to tell anyone about it; but the more he insisted, the more they proclaimed it. The people were completely astonished and said, “He has done all things well; he makes the deaf hear and the dumb speak.”

Reflection:
Man stands superior to all of God’s creations because man alone has reason. Man’s “likeness” to God is particularly manifested in the precious gift “freedom” given to man. Man alone knows the will of God. Man alone has the conscience–a knowledge of the order set by God, Creator–and the freedom to obey or disobey God’s will. And man clearly knows that there are consequences to disobedience! Adam and Eve knew the Divine command and the consequence of disobedience. There is great beauty in the freedom God gave to man. But there was equally great danger in it as well! Through this primordial trial of man God wanted to know whether man would exercise his freedom well in choosing to follow God’s command or also in freedom choose to disobey. Alas, Adam and Eve failed the test!

So often too, like Adam and Eve, we use our gift of freedom in the wrong way. We choose to disobey God’s will. Our conscience shout to us telling us “Do not do evil! Do good!“ Immediately, our conscience accuses us of sin when we have not followed its promptings. Like Adam and Eve, who immediately saw that they were naked, we, too, know in the depths of our being when we have sinned! Before God we cannot hide; before God, like Adam and Eve, we stand naked! We are reminded today to be attentive to our conscience, that place in our depths where God speaks to us and reveals to us His Divine will. We know that we are subject to temptations always, and so we must always pray “Father, lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.”

Saturday
February 11th

Our Lady of Lourdes

1st Reading: Gen 3:9-24
Yahweh God called the man saying to him, “Where are you?” He said, “I heard your voice in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.” God said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree I ordered you not to eat?” The man answered, “The woman you put with me gave me fruit from the tree and I ate it.” God said to the woman, “What have you done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me and I ate.” Yahweh God said to the serpent, “Since you have done that, be cursed among all the cattle and wild beasts! You will crawl on your belly and eat dust all the days of your life. I will make you enemies, you and the woman, your offspring and her offspring. He will crush your head and you will strike his heel.”

To the woman, God said, “I will increase your suffering in childbearing, and you will give birth to your children in pain. You will be dependent on your husband and he will lord it over you.” To the man, He said, “Because you have listened to your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I forbade you to eat, cursed be the soil because of you! In suffering you will provide food for yourself from it, all the days of your life. It will produce thorn and thistle for you and you will eat the plants of the field. With sweat on your face you will eat your bread, until you return to clay, since it was from clay that you were taken, for you are dust and to dust you shall return.” The man called his wife by the name of Eve, because she was the mother of all the living.

Yahweh God made garments of skin for the man and his wife, and with these he clothed them. Then Yahweh God said, “Man has now become like one of us, making himself judge of good and evil. Let him not stretch out his hand to take and eat from the tree of Life as well, and live forever.“ So God cast him from the garden of Eden to till the soil from which he had been made. And after having driven the man out, God posted cherubim and a flaming sword that kept turning at the east of the garden of Eden to guard the way to the tree of Life.

Gospel: Mk 8:1-10
Soon afterward, Jesus was in the midst of another large crowd, that obviously had nothing to eat. So he called his disciples and said to them, “I feel sorry for these people, because they have been with me for three days and now have nothing to eat. If I send them to their homes hungry, they will faint on the way; some of them have come a long way.” His disciples replied, “Where, in a deserted place like this, could we get enough bread to feed these people?” He asked them, “How many loaves have you?” And they answered, “Seven.”

Then he ordered the crowd to sit down on the ground. Taking the seven loaves and giving thanks, he broke them, and handed them to his disciples to distribute. And they distributed them among the people. They also had some small fish. So Jesus said a blessing, and asked that these be shared as well. The people ate and were satisfied, and they picked up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full. Now those who had eaten were about four thousand in number. Jesus sent them away, and immediately got into the boat with his disciples, and went to the region of Dalmanutha.

Reflection:
“The woman said ‘The serpent deceived me and I ate.’” This was the defense of Eve when Yahweh spoke to Adam and Eve. Then God pronounced his judgment against the Serpent! To Adam and Eve, God makes known to them the painful consequences of their “original sin.” Yet even as Yahweh banishes Adam and Eve from paradise, the Good News is announced “I will make you enemies, you and the woman, your offspring and her offspring. He will crush your head and you will strike his heel.” (Gen 3:15)

From eternity the serpent would seek out that prophesied woman who would bear the offspring that would crush his head! The serpent or the dragon (see Rev. 12) would do all in his power to search and destroy that Woman who would be his nemesis! But the serpent was doomed from eternity!  When our Lady of Lourdes appeared to Bernadette she introduced herself as The Immaculate Conception! She was the woman, sinless from the womb!

Through this favored daughter, the Creator would offer to mankind the grace to reverse the mistake of EVA. Through the obedient handmaid whom the Archangel Gabriel addressed “AVE MARIA” the prophecy of Gen 3:15 would be fulfilled! In a marvelous twist the serpent that beguiled Eva would be overcome by the Woman! Oh how wonderful to celebrate the beautiful postscript to the “Paradise Lost” with the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes! Joyfully we pray: “O Ave Maria, blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus! Amen!”