RESPECT FOR HUMAN LIFE DAY.
RESPECT FOR HUMAN LIFE DAY OF PRAYER.
THE GOSPEL:
"Jesus entered the synagogue.
"There was a man there who had a withered hand.
They watched Jesus closely to see if he would cure him on the sabbath so that they might accuse him.
"He said to the man with the withered hand, “Come up here before us.”
"Then he said to the Pharisees,
“Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath rather than to do evil, to save life rather than to destroy it?”
"But they remained silent. Looking around at them with anger and grieved at their hardness of heart, Jesus said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.”
He stretched it out and his hand was restored." (Mark 3: 1- 6).
Wednesday 22nd January 2025, in the 2nd Week in Ordinary Time.
Today is the Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of the Unborn Children in the United States of America.
In Mark 2: 23 - 28, Jesus was entangled in a Sabbath controversy with the religious leaders. Jesus silenced them by saying: “The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath. That is why the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.” (Mark 2: 27 - 28).
We have today in Mark 3: 1 - 6, another Sabbath controversy. Here we see Jesus on the offensive: “Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath rather than to do evil, to save life rather than to destroy it?” (Mark 3: 4).
We know the answer to Jesus question from the previous Sabbath controversy quoted above. The adversaries of Jesus did not answer the question. They knew the answer but they had ill-will and hardness of heart and decided to keep silent.
The man with the withered hand represents all of us. What the Pharisees miss is that the great day of healing is the Sabbath, Lord's Day / Sunday and the Healer is still the same: Jesus Christ healing His ailing sisters and brothers through His word and through the Eucharist.
Jesus speaks to us every day through the Scriptures proclaimed in the Sacred Liturgy. The same Scripture, the same Liturgy all over the world. This is the beauty of Catholicism. One Faith. One Pope. One Liturgy. Worldwide.
The Church honors the Most Holy Name of Jesus in January.
“In the sixteenth century, Saint Ignatius of Loyola had such a strong devotion to the Most Holy Name of Jesus that he adopted it as his seal as general of his newly founded order of the Jesuits; that monogram remains the Jesuits' official seal today. There is great power in the spoken name of Jesus."
For the Litany of the Most Holy Name of Jesus and prayer intentions click the link below:
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