Read: 2 Sm 15: 13-14, 30; 16: 5-13 Mk 5: 1-20

DAILY PRAYER

“As Jesus got out of the boat, he was immediately met by a man from the tombs who had an unclean spirit. The man had taken refuge among the tombs; he could no longer be restrained even with a chain.” (Mk 5: 2-3)

The man was possessed by a demon and could not be detained, even by chains, and wandered about the tombs shouting and gashing himself with stones. Jesus freed the man from his diabolic possession and made the entire legion of demons leave the man.

Many modern theologians and biblical scholars take these stories in a different light. They smile at these Gospel narrations and explain, with clarity, that that which the Evangelists called demonic possession was, in reality, nothing more than simple illnesses, fevers, organic chemical imbalances, neuro-psycho type disorders, epilepsy…

If that were truly the case, then Jesus Himself would have been rather ignorant, or a trickster, a liar, or worse. If this be true, then so falls to earth all the other miracles of Jesus recounted to us in the Gospel, because they would not be able to withstand this subjective criticism put forth by these scholars. Under these circumstances, whom would the Evangelists be? Bedazzled writers? Fools? Ignorant men?

We cannot, as followers of the Master negate the existence of “unclean spirits” —rational beings without matter or body, and truly filled with evil— who are in rebellion with their God. They influence our existence, spread their hate and frustration, and seek the ruin of souls.

Reflection and commentary

Psalm 119:165 “Those that love your law have great peace, and for them there is no stumbling block. I keep your decrees and love them deeply.”

RELEXIÓN EN ESPAÑOL

Enero 29, 2024, Lunes

Leer: 2 Sm 15, 13-14. 30; 16, 5-13 Mc 5, 1-20

Oración diaria

“Apenas desembarcó Jesús, vino corriendo desde el cementerio un hombre poseído por un espíritu inmundo, que vivía en los sepulcros. Ya ni con cadenas podían sujetarlo” (Mc 5,2-3).

Ni con cadenas podían sujetar al pobre endemoniado, que vagaba entre las tumbas y se hería con las piedras. Jesús lo liberó al expulsar a la legión de demonios que lo poseía.

Muchos teólogos y biblistas modernos se toman estos relatos de otra manera. Sonríen ante estas narraciones evangélicas y explican, con claridad, que aquello que los evangelistas llamaban posesión demoníaca no era, en realidad, más que simples enfermedades, fiebres, desequilibrios químicos orgánicos, trastornos de tipo neuropsíquico, epilepsia…

Si fuera cierto, entonces el mismo Jesús no pasaría de ser un simple ignorante, un mentiroso, embaucador, o algo peor. Si fuera cierto, caerían por tierra todos Sus milagros, ante el criticismo subjetivo de los tales estudiosos. Y entonces, ¿dónde quedan los evangelistas? ¿Simples idiotas, ignorantes, escritores deslumbrados?

Como seguidores del Maestro, no podemos negar la existencia de los espíritus inmundos: seres racionales sin materia o cuerpo, pero llenos de odio, en rebeldía contra Dios, capaces de influenciarnos, desparramando su odio y frustración, y buscando la perdición de las almas.

Reflexión y Comentario

Salmo 119,165: “Los que aman tu ley gozan de una gran paz, nada los hace tropezar. Yo espero tu salvación, Señor, y cumplo tus mandamientos”

Read: Dt 18:15-20 1 Cor 7:32-35 Mk 1:21-28 Pss IV

“The people were spellbound by his teaching because he taught with authority, and not like the scribes.” (Mk 1:22)

To gain great knowledge, it takes a great teacher and an open eager student.

Instinctively, we seek out Divinity. Even those who want to negate the very existence of a personal caring God, have a longing to know Him. If a person gives ear to misconceptions and outright false statements about God to justify their behavior, they will still be tormented internally by the truth (for it is God Himself) who directs the conscience.

The teachings of Jesus are profoundly simple and they impart security and knowledge about our relationship with God. “He taught with authority.”

We are the ones who often try so hard to interpret the teachings of Jesus to justify ourselves and our actions. Thus, I remake God in my image and likeness, rather than my becoming more and more in His image and likeness.

The fundamental message of Jesus is the Kingdom of God. This is nothing less than that of our God’s relationship with the human heart and His plan for the completion of the world—to bring all things to His Love. If all of our studies and religious preparation teach us little about and deprive us of experiencing the profound love of God in our hearts…then it is a useless science and completely in vain.

Are we realizing the Divine Love of the Lord in our daily lives…?

Reflection and commentary

Psalm 89:28 “Forever I will maintain my kindness toward him, and my covenant with him stands firm.”

St. Angela

Read: 2 Sm 12: 1-7, 10-17 Mk 4: 35-41

“It happened that a bad squall blew up. The waves were breaking over the boat and it began to ship water badly. Jesus was in the stern through it all, sound asleep on a cushion.” (Mk 4:37-38)

The Apostles, even though they were skilled seamen, were mortally afraid. They felt helpless, yet in their fear, they were astonished that Jesus was fast asleep! One of them blurted out: “Teacher, does it not matter to you that we are going to drown?” (38)

In frightening situations, we always desperately turn to the Lord. At times, He seems far away — and takes His time responding to our needs.

Jesus could say to us, as He said to His disciples: “Why are you so terrified? Why are you lacking in faith?” (40)

Our faith falls short because we know, deep in our hearts, that we are lacking in our fidelity to the Lord. Perhaps we think we don’t merit the Lord’s help; thus He is not helping.

Our faith is indeed lacking if we think God’s love depends on our goodness. God is not obliged to be good to us out of merit or for something done, earned, or otherwise, for that is silliness, haughtiness, and presumption.

God’s help comes only because He loves us and is so good to us. God’s generosity is not dependent on our good behavior.

It should be likened to a mother’s love for her frightened child.

Reflection and commentary

Psalm 59:9 “You, O God, are my stronghold, my gracious God.”

St. Angela Merici, d. 1540 at Brescia; orphaned at 10; foundress of the Ursulines, the first teaching order especially for poor young girls; sought re-evangelization of families through the education of future wives and mothers.

Saints Timothy and Titus

Read: 2 Tm 1: 1-8 Mk 4: 26-34

“This is how it is with the reign of God. A man scatters seed on the ground. He goes to bed and gets up day after day. Through it all the seed sprouts and grows without his knowing how it happens.” (Mk 4:26-27)

The unfolding of the Kingdom is the mysterious and hidden rhythm of Him who makes all things holy. “Through it all the seed sprouts and grows without his knowing how it happens.”

Jesus said: “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again. But whoever drinks the water I give him will never be thirsty; no, the water I give shall become a fountain within him, leaping up to provide eternal life.” (Jn 4: 13-14)

The Kingdom of God (which is the participation in the very life of God), seen with the eyes of faith is more spectacular and marvelous than creation and far greater than the greatest life we could imagine on Earth.

The divine life, the true Kingdom of God, has its harvest in eternal life.

As a seed carefully sown, so that the grain makes it to yield a rich harvest, it is required of our treatment of the divine life within us: The gestation in the heart must be nurtured, and its growth is silent, slow — yet infinitely profound.

“What profit would a man show if he were to gain the whole world and destroy himself in the process?” (Mt 16:26)

Reflection and commentary

Psalm 139:17 “How precious to me are your designs, O God; how vast the sum of them!”

Sts. Timothy and Titus, d. 1st c. companions of St. Paul, and overseers (bishops) of the churches of Ephesus and Crete, respectively; recipients of St. Paul’s pastoral epistles.

Conversion of St. Paul

Read Acts 22: 3-16 Mk 16: 15-18 (Pss Prop)

“Go into the whole world and proclaim the good news to all creation.” (Mk 16:15)

Saul, a pious and sincere Jew, had begun a furious persecution against the first Christians. To Saul, Jesus’ message was sacrilegious and dangerous to the established customs of the people of Israel and to the Law of Moses.

His conversion to the Lord was a genuine encounter with Life: “I am the light of the world. No follower of mine shall ever walk in darkness; no, he shall possess the light of life.” (Jn 8:12)

St. Paul wrote: “As I was traveling along, approaching Damascus around noon, a great light from the sky suddenly flashed all about me. I fell to the ground and heard a voice say to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?’ I answered, ‘Who are you, sir?’ He said to me, ‘I am Jesus the Nazorean whom you are persecuting.’ My companions saw the light but did not hear the voice speaking to me. ‘What is it I must do, sir?’ I asked, and the Lord replied, ‘Get up and go into Damascus.’” (Acts 22:6-16)

St. Paul, now converted to the Lord, had no other reason to live except to carry the Good News of Jesus Christ to the distant lands.

The only thing that counts in life, and can indeed give life… is to appreciate, and help others know of, the love of God, through our commitment and goodness towards all those who have yet to discover Him.

Reflection and commentary

Psalm 65:4 “Happy the man you choose, and bring to dwell in your courts. May we be filled with the good things of your house, the holy things of your temple!”

St. Francis de Sales

Read: 2 Sm 7: 4-17 Mk 4: 1-20

“He said to them: ‘You do not understand this parable? How then are you going to understand other figures like it? What the sower is sowing is the word.’” (Mk 4:13-14)

This reading tells us a great deal about our response to the Lord (or lack thereof!).

The seed on the path that becomes frustrated and lost represents those that Satan has under his power. Almost no calling from God will be acceptable to their hearts.

The seed sown on rocky ground represents the superficial and inconsistent. They initially respond to the Lord with great fury, enthusiasm, and effusivity; but in time, with the contradictions of the world, their fire is extinguished.

The seed sown among thorns represents those who have the capacity and the maturity to respond to God’s call with generosity. But their enthusiasm has been misplaced in human concerns — often sinful concerns and passions that put God’s invitation behind a vale of darkness.

The seed sown on soil represents those who have responded with a resounding ‘yes’ to the love of the Lord in their hearts… and then generously give themselves completely over to God’s Holy Will.

Ask yourself! Look inward. How has my response been? If not to the fourth group… Have I turned away from the very salvific love of the Lord that will bring me to life everlasting?

Reflection and commentary

Psalm 17:8 “Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings.”

St. Francis de Sales, d. 1622; bishop of Geneva; exemplary Christian and writer; co-founder with St. Jane Frances de Chantal of the Visitation Order; patron of writers and the deaf.

St. Vincent

Read: 2 Sm 6: 12-19 Mk 3: 31-35

“Whoever does the will of God is brother and sister and mother to me.” (Mk 3: 35)

You may have encountered folks who are insistent on diminishing Mother Mary’s importance in the plan of salvation. They deny the perpetual virginity of Mary because this Gospel passage speaks of the mother and the brothers of Jesus.

The word brother, in the Gospel, could and did signify what we mean when we say “family” or relation — at times it was stretched to include people outside even this circle.

In John 20:17-18, Jesus, when He appeared to Mary Magdalene at the Resurrection, sent her with a message to His brothers… “Mary Magdalene went to the disciples and she reported what he had said to her.”

There are no references to any son of Mary or Joseph, apart from Jesus, which was the common way for distinguishing between people (see James and John, sons of Zebedee, Mt 4:31).

But the most illuminating part of today’s reading is that Jesus raises us to the level of being His family members through our obedience to Him. He came to us to raise our human dignity to the divine dignity as children of God. See St. Paul’s letters to the Romans (8:17) and Galatians (4:7).

“Anyone who loves me will be true to my word, and my Father will love him; we will come to him and make our dwelling place with him.” (Jn 14: 21-25)

Reflection and commentary

Psalm 27:10 “Even if my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will take me in.”

St. Vincent, d. early 4th century, at Valencia, Spain; deacon of the church of Zaragossa; protomartyr of Spain; patron of wine-growers.

DAY OF PRAYER FOR THE LEGAL PROTECTION OF UNBORN CHILDREN

Read: 2 Sm 5: 1-7, 10 Mk 3: 22-30

“The scribes who arrived from Jerusalem asserted, ‘He is possessed by Beelzebul,’ and ‘He expels demons with the help of the prince of demons.’” (Mk 3:22)

Faith depends more on the heart than on the intellect. The faithful heart has an open disposition that serenely accepts others without prejudice. The most brilliant minds are almost incapable of turning around to see the divine will and the divine plan for each of us.

This is what happened in Jesus’ case. In His human intellect, He was somehow in contact with His divine and eternal intellect. The religious leaders came expressly to observe Jesus… with an attitude filled with preconceived notions and prejudices against Him.

In their closed-mindedness, they would not recognize Jesus’ miracles as the very action of God. Instead, they preferred to try to convince the people that Jesus was an instrument of the devil, who was giving Him the power to do the miraculous actions; actions that they could not negate.

This goes on among us as well. We encounter people who are against the Lord, who are unable to accept His goodness or His teachings… People who have poisoned their intelligence and have closed off any ability to reason for the faith… They reject outright the things of the Lord and cannot see with good judgment. They accept every reason to reject the faith… but will not allow the faith any room for growth.

Jesus calls us to recognize the opportunity before us. He calls us to see!

Reflection and commentary

Psalm 47:8 “God reigns over the nations, God sits upon his holy throne.”

Read: Jon 3:1-5, 10 1 Cor 7:29-31 Mk 1:14-20 (Pss III)

“As he made his way along the Sea of Galilee, he observed Simon and his brother Andrew casting their nets into the sea; they were fishermen. Jesus said to them, ‘Come after me; I will make you fishers of men.’” (Mk 1: 16-17)

Jesus’ call came with great grace. Their enthusiastic response is a strong indication of their willingness to abandon all to follow the Lord — while not understanding the implications.

Jesus said: “You are my friends if you do what I command you.” (Jn 14:21) When the rich young man asked Jesus how to attain eternal life, the man claimed he had lived in accord with the commandments, then Jesus responded: “There is one thing further you must do. Sell all you have and give to the poor. You will have treasure in heaven. Then come and follow me.” (Lk 18:22)

But that young man had many possessions and was incapable of abandoning all to follow Jesus. Jesus lamented the youth’s intransigence. We do not even know his name.

It is a great responsibility to have received an evident and powerful call from the Lord, a vocation to service for our God. It is a calling for us to participate in the work that the Father assigned to His Son: to carry the reign of God to His people.

Today, we have no lack of vocations: He is calling many hearts of so many people — especially the young. But human, earthly concerns, riches, carnal desires, etc., hold them back from responding wholeheartedly.

Reflection and commentary

Psalm 47:1 “All you peoples, clap your hands, shout to God with cries of gladness, for the Lord is the great king over all the earth.”

Sts. Fabian, Sebastian, Martyrs

Read: 2 Sm 1: 1-4, 11-12, 19, 23-27 Mk 3: 20-21

“He came home. Again the crowd gathered, making it impossible for them even to eat. When his relatives heard of this, they set out to seize him, for they said, ‘He is out of his mind.’” (Mk 3:20-21)

Jesus never manifested His miracles in His hometown of Nazareth. Understandably, the people did not acknowledge Him for who He was.

Through his fame, preaching, and presence, He managed to elicit so much hostility with His words that they yanked Him from the Synagogue intending to kill Him. Jesus then said: “No prophet gains acceptance in his native place.” (Lk 4:24)

Jesus had admirers and multitudes of sincere people who accepted His teachings and thanked Him for His miracles, yet He also had many powerful detractors.

“It is by Beelzebul, the prince of devils, that he casts out devils.” (Lk 11:14)

Jesus “is destined to be the downfall and rise of many in Israel, a sign that will be opposed.” (Lk 2:34)

Today, Jesus is ignored and rejected (nothing new), just as He was in times past. Many respond as did His family members: “He is out of his mind.” His great vindication comes on the day of the Resurrection.

Reflection and commentary

Psalm 139: 1-3 “O LORD, you have probed me and you know me; you understand my thoughts from afar.

St. Fabian, d. 250 under Decius; a layman elected bishop of Rome in 236; an “incomparable man” (St. Cyprian to Pope St. Cornelius).

St. Sebastian, d. 288 at Rome under Diocletian; a Christian soldier whose “Acta” tells of his being pierced by arrows, and later being clubbed to death.