GOD, THE TOUR GUIDE

St. Paul Miki, & Companions

1 Kings 2:1-4, 10-12, 1 Chronicles 29:10-12, Mark 6:7-13
Link to Readings --> http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/020614.cfm

"Jesus summoned the Twelve and began to send them out." -Mark 6:7

In Mark's gospel, Jesus sends us out with four things and without four things.
We are to go without taking:
   * food (Mk 6:8),
   * luggage (Mk 6:8),
   * money (Mk 6:8), and
   * clothes (Mk 6:9).

We are to go with:
   * another disciple (Mk 6:7),
   * authority over demons and diseases (Mk 6:7, 13),
   * a walking staff (Mk 6:8), and
   * sandals (Mk 6:9).

Walking sticks and sandals are ways of improving our transportation as we take the Gospel to the ends of the earth (see Acts 1:8).
When Jesus sends us out:
   * we go trusting in God for our daily bread (Mt 6:11),
   * we go as brothers and sisters in Him,
   * we go "to destroy the devil's works" (1 Jn 3:8), and
   * we keep moving (see Mk 6:11).

Most Christians have in abundance those things Jesus tells us we should do without, while lacking the community and the authority the Lord tells us we cannot do without.  If we are to go forth in Jesus' name, we need a re-structuring of our lives. Jesus is willing to do it. Will you let it be done? (see Lk 1:38)


Prayer: Father, may I do it Your way.

Promise: "Keep the mandate of the Lord, your God, following His ways and observing His statutes, commands, ordinances, and decrees as they are written in the law of Moses, that you may succeed in whatever you do, wherever you turn." -1 Kgs 2:3

Praise: At their martyrdom, St. Paul Miki and his twenty-five companions were pierced by a lance, as was their Savior.

THE DEBT OF SIN

St. Agatha

2 Samuel 24:2, 9-17, Psalm 32:1-2, 5-7, Mark 6:1-6
Link to Readings --> http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/020514.cfm

THE DEBT OF SIN

"Afterward, however, David regretted having numbered the people, and said to the Lord: 'I have sinned grievously in what I have done.' " -2 Samuel 24:10

David sinned by taking a census against God's will. This sin caused the deaths of 70,000 people in three days by pestilence (2 Sm 24:15). The wages of sin is death, in fact, thousands of deaths (Rm 6:23). Moreover, this was probably not David's worst sin.
This shows us the devastating effect of one sin, and why one sin is a tragedy much greater than the worst natural disasters. In this passage, we see the measurable results of one sin. This gives us some idea of the astronomical debt of sin amassed by the accumulated sins of all times.
This helps us understand how heavy was the cross Jesus carried. "He was pierced for our offenses, crushed for our sins, upon Him was the chastisement that makes us whole" (Is 53:5). "The Lord was pleased to crush Him in infirmity" (Is 53:10). The word "crushed" is a great understatement, but it's the best the English language can do.
We can see why Jesus screamed on Calvary: "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" (Mk 15:34) No one has ever suffered to a degree that was even remotely comparable to Jesus' suffering. Jesus says: "Come, all you who pass by the way, look and see whether there is any suffering like My suffering" (Lam 1:12).


Prayer: Jesus, I love You. Give me the grace to avoid sin and to lead others to become Your disciples.

Promise: Jesus "made the rounds of the neighboring villages instead, and spent His time teaching." -Mk 6:6

Praise: St. Peter denied Christ three times. St. Agatha, as she was being tortured, was asked three times to deny Christ. She held fast to Jesus each time and received the crown of life (see Rv 2:10).

AGED TO PERFECTION?

2 Samuel 18:9-10, 14, 24-25, 30-19:3, Psalm 86:1-6, Mark 5:21-43
Link to Readings --> http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/020414.cfm


"Keep my life, for I am devoted to You; save Your servant who trusts in You." -Psalm 86:2

David was probably in his forties when he committed adultery with Bathsheba and arranged for her husband to be murdered. You could call this a mid-life crisis of sin. Several years later when David was in his fifties or sixties, his son Absalom tried to take over the kingdom and kill his father. When Absalom was killed in battle, David lamented: "My son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! If only I had died instead of you, Absalom, my son, my son!" (2 Sm 19:1)
This is the same son with whom David wouldn't talk for five years (see 2 Sm 13:38 and 14:28). Yet, David truly forgave and kept forgiving Absalom. He loved him unconditionally. David grew from a lustful, murderous middle-age to a loving, forgiving, holy old age. David still needed much more purification and growth in holiness, but he allowed the Lord to change him significantly.
Jesus "progressed steadily in wisdom and age and grace before God and men" (Lk 2:52). How about you? We're all growing in age, but what about in wisdom and grace? Have you repented and forgiven? Have you left behind the sins of the past? Are you growing to "the full maturity of Christ" (Eph 4:15)? Grow; don't just grow old.


Prayer: Father, may my entire attention be on Jesus, as "I give no thought to what lies behind but push on to what is ahead" (Phil 3:13).

Promise: "Taking her hand, He said to her, 'Talitha, koum,' which means, 'Little girl, get up.' The girl, a child of twelve, stood up immediately and began to walk around." -Mk 5:41-42

Praise: Norm, a teenager, invited his father and grandfather to accompany him on a men's retreat. Together, they received Jesus in Word and Eucharist.

JESUS RESTORES FAMILIES

St. Blase, St. Ansgar

2 Samuel 15:13-14, 30; 16:5-13, Psalm 3:2-7, Mark 5:1-20
Link to Readings --> http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/020314.cfm

JESUS RESTORES FAMILIES

"Go home to your family and make it clear to them how much the Lord in His mercy has done for you." -Mark 5:19

David's family was a disaster. His son Absalom became his rival, overthrew his government, and was seeking his father's life (2 Sm 15:1ff; 17:3). Instead of seeking a reconciliation with Absalom, David fled. He had no doubt that Absalom was deadly serious about defeating him (2 Sm 15:14).
David believed the worst of his son. Many of you have likewise experienced serious family ruptures. Like David, when you hear that a certain family member is set against you, immediately you believe the worst about that family member and act upon that belief.
Jesus bluntly stated that He came to divide families (Lk 12:51-53). When Jesus delivered the Gerasene demoniac, this man pressed Jesus to accompany Him (Mk 5:18). Far too many of us can relate; the spiritual warfare of accompanying Jesus on deliverance ministry is preferable to the ridicule and rejection you expect to receive from your family if you told them all that Jesus has mercifully done for you.
However, Jesus sent the delivered man straight home to his family to announce God's mercy (Mk 5:19). He might be calling you to do the same. May Jesus use your conversion, prayers, obedience, words, and witness to heal and restore your family.


Prayer: Father, use my fasting, obedience, and prayer to restore any ruined areas in my family (Is 58:12). May I love my family with Your heart of love.

Promise: "When I lie down in sleep, I wake again, for the Lord sustains me. I fear not the myriads of people arrayed against me on every side." -Ps 3:6-7

Praise: St. Ansgar evangelized Scandinavia and was instrumental in converting the King of Sweden to Christianity.

THE LAST DAY OF CHRISTMAS

Presentation of the Lord

Malachi 3:1-4, Hebrews 2:14-18, Psalm 24:7-10, Luke 2:22-40
Link to Readings --> http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/020214.cfm

"When the day came to purify them according to the law of Moses, the couple brought Him up to Jerusalem so that He could be presented to the Lord." -Luke 2:22

According to Jewish law, forty days after their baby boys were born, parents were obliged to present them to the Lord (Lv 12:3-4). Therefore, we celebrate the Lord's Presentation forty days after Christmas, His birthday. So today's feast day is connected with the number "40" and with Christmas.

The number "40" indicates a period of great change, hopefully ending in fulfillment. For instance, the Israelites wandered in the desert for forty years before entering the promised land. Noah's flood lasted forty days. Moses was in God's presence on Mount Sinai for forty days. Nineveh had forty days to repent. Jesus fasted for forty days and ascended forty days after His resurrection. Today, the Lord is offering us the grace of a "40," that is, the grace of transformation and fulfillment.

Did you "have a good Christmas"? Is your life transformed by what the Lord did this past Christmas? If not, you can be transformed by the graces of today. Today may be your last chance for Christmas. Give your life to the Christ of Christmas. Jesus is a Sign of contradiction and your "Downfall" if you reject Him. He is your "Rise" if you accept Him  (Lk 2:34). Give your life to Jesus today and have Christmas.

Prayer: Father, may this be the best Christmas ever - all that You want it to be.

Promise: "Since He was Himself tested through what He suffered, He is able to help those who are tempted."  -Heb 2:18

Praise: Alleluia! Praise Jesus, the Light to the nations and the glory of Israel! (Lk 2:32)

CONFIDENT-IAL

2 Samuel 12:1-7, 10-17, Psalm 51:12-17, Mark 4:35-41
Link to Readings --> http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/020114.cfm

Jesus "said to them, 'Why are you so terrified? Why are you lacking in faith?' " -Mark 4:40

Do you have confidence in the Lord? (see Mt 9:28) Can you proclaim: "This great confidence in God is ours, through Christ" (2 Cor 3:4) and "Our hope being such, we act with full confidence" (2 Cor 3:12)? We are tempted to think that Jesus is sleeping and doesn't care if we're about to drown (see Mk 4:38). However, Jesus is in control. He is Lord. Therefore, "let us draw near" to Him "in utter sincerity and absolute confidence" (Heb 10:22).

Life is "a great contest of suffering" (Heb 10:32), a battle centering on our faith and confidence in the Lord. The Lord wants to increase and deepen our confidence in Him (see Lk 17:5). The evil one pressures us into surrendering our confidence in the Lord (see Heb 10:35). However, "we are not among those who draw back and perish, but among those who have faith and live" (Heb 10:39).

The Lord calls us to cry out to Him in the battles and storms of life. As we come to know Him, we should no longer cry out in doubt and confusion but in great, full, unyielding, absolute confidence. We know that our Redeemer lives (Jb 19:25, RSV-CE). We know the Lord is faithful to His promises (see 1 Thes 5:24). We know He will never leave us orphans (Jn 14:18). We know He has conquered the world (Jn 16:33). Be confident in Him.

Prayer: Father, may I know that I know Your love and power. May I project confidence in You.

Promise: "The Lord on His part has forgiven your sin: you shall not die." -2 Sm 12:13

Praise: After ten years of stubbornness, Thomas repented and went back to Confession.