Son be made clean. Your sins are forgiven.

I do will it. Be made clean. 

"A leper came to Jesus and kneeling down begged him and said, “If you wish, you can make me clean.” Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand, touched him, and said to him, “I do will it. Be made clean.” The leprosy left him immediately, and he was made clean. Then, warning him sternly, he dismissed him at once.

He said to him, “See that you tell no one anything, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses prescribed; that will be proof for them.”

The man went away and began to publicize the whole matter. He spread the report abroad so that it was impossible for Jesus to enter a town openly. He remained outside in deserted places, and people kept coming to him from everywhere." (Mark 1: 40 - 45).

Sunday February 11th 2024 in the 6th Week in Ordinary Time. 

Our reflection is inspired from this beautiful words of Jesus:

"I do will it. Be made clean."

With these words, Jesus healed the leper and restored him to wholesomeness. One word by the Son of God. 

Jesus said to the Paralytic: "Son your sins are forgiven." The Pharisees were scandalized and reproached Jesus in their hearts. 

Wednesday February 14th begins the Season of Lent 2024.

Lent is first and foremost a Season of purification and cleansing. We shall be hearing a lot:  "I do will it. Be made clean." Do not miss this personal encounter with Jesus in the Sacrament of Reconciliation and the Eucharist. 

For Devotional prayer and prayer intentions to the Holy Family, click the link below:

http://seekfirst.blogspot.com/2024/01/the-holy-family-devotion.html

Daily Bible Verse @ SeekFirstcommunity.com 

FEAST OF ST SCHOLASTICA, VIRGIN AND RELIGIOUS AND FOUNDRESS.

FEAST OF ST SCHOLASTICA, VIRGIN AND & FOUNDRESS. 

"In those days when there again was a great crowd without anything to eat, Jesus summoned the disciples and said, “My heart is moved with pity for the crowd, because they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat. If I send them away hungry to their homes, they will collapse on the way, and some of them have come a great distance.” 

His disciples answered him, “Where can anyone get enough bread to satisfy them here in this deserted place?”

Still he asked them, “How many loaves do you have?” They replied, “Seven.”

He ordered the crowd to sit down on the ground. Then, taking the seven loaves he gave thanks, broke them, and gave them to his disciples to distribute, and they distributed them to the crowd. They also had a few fish. He said the blessing over them and ­ordered them ­distributed also. 

They ate and were satisfied. They picked up the fragments left over—seven baskets. There were about four thousand people.

He dismissed the crowd and got into the boat with his disciples and came to the region of Dalmanutha." (Mark 8: 1 - 10).

Saturday February 10, 2024 in the 5th Week of Ordinary Time is the feast of St Scholastica, Virgin and Foundress.

St Scholastica, Italian. Virgin and Religious and Foundress of the Benedictine Nuns was the twin sister of St Benedict.  She lived between . (480 - 547).  Religious nun.  She founded the Benedictine Nuns that continue to serve the Church for over 1500 years.  St Scholastica is the patron saint of education, convulsive children and  Benedictine Nuns.

In the Gospel of today, Mark 8: 1 - 10, we are not surprised by Jesus compassion for the hungry crowd around Him who follow Him to learn whatever they could of His teaching. Since Jesus is God and could relieve the hunger of the crowd, Jesus did just that.

Believe it or not, there is controversy in certain quarters as whether what happened was a true miracle or whether Jesus encouraged people in the crowd who brought food to share with others who had none.

What do you think?

The question I have is:

Is it impossible for Jesus to multiply seven loaves to feed a million people?

Is it too difficult for Jesus to do it? Too much work. Could take weeks or more time?

The answer to both questions are easy.

1. ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE FOR GOD.

2. ALL THINGS ARE EASY FOR GOD.

Tell the sceptics that 4000 people were fed. They all ate and they were all satisfied.

Protect yourselves from wolves and liars who want to corrupt your faith by daily:

Prayer.

Word of God. 

Frequent Confession and Eucharist. 

http://seekfirst.blogspot.com/2024/01/the-holy-family-devotion.html

Daily Bible Verse @ SeekFirstcommunity.com 

I AM THE LORD YOUR GOD HEAR MY VOICE.

I AM THE LORD YOUR GOD, HEAR MY VOICE. 

"Jesus left the district of Tyre and went by way of Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, into the district of the Decapolis.

"And people brought to him a deaf man who had a speech impediment and begged him to lay his hand on him. He took him off by himself away from the crowd.

"He put his finger into the man’s ears and, spitting, touched his tongue; then he looked up to heaven and groaned, and said to him, “Ephphatha!” (that is, “Be opened!”) And immediately the man’s ears were opened, his speech impediment was removed, and he spoke plainly.

"He ordered them not to tell anyone. But the more he ordered them not to, the more they proclaimed it. They were exceedingly astonished and they said, “He has done all things well. He makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.” (Mark 7: 31 - 37).

Friday 9th of February 2024 in the 5th Week in Ordinary Time. 

In the Gospel, Jesus heals a deaf and dumb man.

Jesus said to the man:

“Ephphatha!”—that is, “Be opened!”—And immediately the man’s ears were opened, his speech impediment was removed, and he spoke plainly."

Isaiah prophesied:

 “Hear, you deaf; look, you blind, and see!" (Isaiah 42:18) 

Jesus is the Messiah who heals the wounds and illnesses inflicted on humanity by sin. Jesus Christ is still healing in the world today. He is healing through the Sacraments of Reconciliation and Eucharist.

Open our ears O Father that we hear the word of Your Son Jesus. 

For Devotional prayer and prayer intentions to the Holy Family, click the link below:

http://seekfirst.blogspot.com/2024/01/the-holy-family-devotion.html

Daily Bible Verse @ SeekFirstcommunity.com 

THE FEAST OF SAINTS JOSEPHINE BAKHITA AND JEROME EMILIANI.

Feast of Saints Josephine Bakhita and Jerome Emiliani. 

"Jesus went to the district of Tyre. He entered a house and wanted no one to know about it, but he could not escape notice.

"Soon a woman whose daughter had an unclean spirit heard about him. She came and fell at his feet. The woman was a Greek, a Syrophoenician by birth, and she begged him to drive the demon out of her daughter.

"He said to her, “Let the children be fed first. For it is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs.” 

"She replied and said to him, “Lord, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s scraps.”

"Then he said to her, “For saying this, you may go. The demon has gone out of your daughter.”

"When the woman went home, she found the child lying in bed and the demon gone." (Mark 7: 24 - 30).

Thursday 8th February 2024, in the 5th Week in Ordinary Time. We celebrate the feast of two saints today:

++ St Josephine Bakhita (1869 - 1947). Sudanese. Virgin and Religious. Josephine was brought to Italy as a slave. By Divine Providence, she became a sister of the Canossian order. Her exemplary and holy life was noticed. She bore patiently and heroically her last illness. Pope St John Paul II brought her relics to Sudan where she was canonized in 2000. St Josephine Bakhita is the patron saint of Sudan and victims of human trafficking.

++ St Jerome Emiliani. (1481 - 1537). Italian. Priest. Jerome was wayward as a young man. When he was surprised by grace, his life changed 180 degrees. He founded a religious congregation (Somaschi) which looked after the sick, the poor and orphans and abandoned children. St Jerome Emiliani died of the plague while ministering to the afflicted.

Our Gospel today from Mark 7: 24 - 30 turns my thoughts to healing. I pray for healing for myself every day. Healing for my siblings and families. Healing for friends, Pope Francis and others. Healing for those who leave prayer intentions on this website. 

Do you believe in healing? The answer is unqualified YES. Healing has been promised by Jesus in the Gospel. Healing confirms our faith. 

We do not listen to "fools who say: there is no God." (Cf Psalm 14: 1). We listen rather to the testimony of the Church and people who have been healed. I have been healed several times and I depend on the healing mercies of the Lord every day. When I cry out to the Lord with tears kneeling or lying on the bed, He hears me often and heals me. When He does not heal me, I ask Him to give me at once 10,000 times patience to bear my pain. 

http://seekfirst.blogspot.com/2024/01/the-holy-family-devotion.html

Daily Bible Verse @ SeekFirstcommunity.com

CREATE IN ME A PURE HEART O GOD.

CREATE IN ME A PURE HEART O GOD!

"Jesus summoned the crowd again and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand. Nothing that enters one from outside can defile that person; but the things that come out from within are what defile.”

"When he got home away from the crowd his disciples questioned him about the parable.

"He said to them, “Are even you likewise without understanding? Do you not realize that everything that goes into a person from outside cannot defile, since it enters not the heart but the stomach and passes out into the latrine?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.)

“But what comes out of the man, that is what defiles him. From within the man, from his heart, come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly. All these evils come from within and they defile.”  (Mark 7: 14... 23).

Wednesday 7th February 2024, in the 5th Week in Ordinary Time.

Jesus says that the source of all the sinful habits are from inside the mind. Thoughts, words and actions defile a person and food does not defile.

Psychologists have recognized the importance of the mind in behavior:

Sow a thought, you reap a deed.

Sow a deed, you reap a habit.

Sow a habit, you reap a character.

Sow a character, you reap a destiny. It is true that your character becomes your destiny.

David after his adultery prayed:

"A clean heart create for me, God; renew within me a steadfast spirit.

(Psalm 51: 12).

The Book of Proverbs teaches: Watch your heart carefully. From it comes the issues of life. (Cf Proverbs 4: 23).

What cleanses the heart?

The word of GOD, Prayer and Sacraments, especially Reconciliation and the Eucharist. 

"Intercession is not incompatible with adoration. The soul who adores Me present in the Sacrament of My love will be united to Me in My everlasting intercession before the Face of My Father.

My intercession is everlasting even in the glory of eternity because I chose to keep the wounds in My hands and in My feet and in My side. They constitute an uninterrupted pleading for the sake of all: for those in glory that they may go from light to light and from sweetness to sweetness; for those on earth that they may find in My wounds healing, purity, and holiness; and for the souls in purgatory that by the merits of My holy wounds they may be refreshed and delivered." (IN SINU JESU, Friday, March 28, 2008).

For Devotional prayer and prayer intentions to the Holy Family, click the link below:

http://seekfirst.blogspot.com/2024/01/the-holy-family-devotion.html

Daily Bible Verse @ SeekFirstcommunity.com 

FEAST OF SAINTS PAUL MIKI AND COMPANION MARTYRS.

FEAST OF SAINTS PAUL MIKI SJ & COMPANIONS  

"When the Pharisees with some scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus, they observed that some of his disciples ate their meals with unclean, that is, unwashed, hands. (For the Pharisees and, in fact, all Jews, do not eat without carefully washing their hands, keeping the tradition of the elders. And on coming from the marketplace they do not eat without purifying themselves. And there are many other things that they have traditionally observed, the purification of cups and jugs and kettles and beds.) 

"So the Pharisees and scribes questioned him, “Why do your disciples not follow the tradition of the elders but instead eat a meal with unclean hands?” 

"He responded, “Well did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites, as it is written:

"This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines human precepts.

"You disregard God’s commandment but cling to human tradition.” He went on to say, “How well you have set aside the commandment of God in order to uphold your tradition! For Moses said, Honor your father and your mother, and Whoever curses father or mother shall die. 

"Yet you say, ‘If someone says to father or mother, “Any support you might have had from me is qorban”’ (meaning, dedicated to God), you allow him to do nothing more for his father or mother. You nullify the word of God in favor of your tradition that you have handed on. And you do many such things.” (Mark 7: 1 - 13).

Tuesday February 6th 2024 in the 5th Week in Ordinary Time. 

The confrontation of Jesus in today's Gospel with the Pharisees and scribes is an opportunity for frank talk with His adversaries. 

The issue today is: “Why do your disciples not follow the tradition of the elders but instead eat a meal with unclean hands?” 

Washing your hands before meals is a symbol of purification. For us, we consider it equivalent to the Examination of Conscience and the Sacrament of Reconciliation. 

Have no doubt about it, these are very important rituals of our faith. 

Jesus calls His adversaries: You are hypocrites.

What is hypocrisy? How can a baptized Christian avoid hypocrisy?

Renew your Baptismal Promises weekly or daily if you can. It takes only a minute or two at the most. How? For example:

O MY GOD, I JOHN DECLARE THAT I AM YOUR SON AND THE BROTHER OF YOUR SON JESUS. I RENOUNCE SINS. I RENOUNCE SATAN AND HIS LIES AND FALSE PROMISES. HELP ME TO LIVE MY BAPTISMAL PROMISES IN JESUS NAME. AMEN! 

That is all you need to do. Watch for the results after a couple of months. You will be surprised by joy! 

Prepare yourself to live fully your Baptismal commitment and the grace of Confirmation by activating the Holy Spirit in you. 

http://seekfirst.blogspot.com/2024/01/the-holy-family-devotion.html

Daily Bible Verse @ SeekFirstcommunity.com

FEAST OF ST AGATHA, VIRGIN AND MARTYR.

FEAST OF ST AGATHA, VIRGIN AND MARTYR. 

"After making the crossing to the other side of the sea, Jesus and his disciples came to land at Gennesaret and tied up there. As they were leaving the boat, people immediately recognized him. They scurried about the surrounding country and began to bring in the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was.

Whatever villages or towns or countryside he entered, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and begged him that they might touch only the tassel on his cloak; and as many as touched it were healed." (Mark 6: 53 - 56).

Monday 5th February 2024, in the 5th Week in Ordinary Time.  Today is the Feast of St Agatha, Virgin and Martyr.  Agatha died at the age of 20 in 251 AD under the persecution of Emperor Decius.

Along with Saints Agnes and Lucy, she is mentioned in the Roman Canon in Eucharistic Prayer 1.

Agatha is the patron saint for these causes and more:

Breast cancer, sterility, nurses, rape victims, single lay women and so on. (Source: Laudate).

In our Gospel today, Jesus and His disciples landed at Gennesaret. Mark the Evangelist informs us that the sick begged Jesus that they might touch only the tassel on his cloak; and as many as touched it were healed." Those who touched Jesus were those who recognized Jesus. 

What type of recognition are we talking about? Is it the recognition of the physical attributes of Jesus? For example: 5 feet and nine inches, small beard and mustache, white robe with red cape with no hat?

I don't think so. We think it is those who recognize Jesus as a Prophet from God who has the power to heal. 

Do you recognize the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist and in the Blessed Sacrament? If you do not recognize the special Presence of Jesus Christ in these Sacramental manifestations, how do you honestly expect to be healed or to have Jesus bless you in a special way? 

Fear is useless. All you need is Faith. 

The Gospel today may be for you. Before praying for healing or alleviation of any of your needs, ask Jesus for the gift of faith. 

http://seekfirst.blogspot.com/2024/01/the-holy-family-devotion.html

Daily Bible Verse @ 

Seekfirstcommunity.com