THE FEAST OF ST GREGORY NAREK, DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH.

THE FEAST OF ST GREGORY NAREK. 

ETERNAL REWARD FOR A CUP OF COLD WATER. 

THE GOSPEL:

"Jesus said to his disciples: “Anyone who gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ, amen, I say to you, will surely not lose his reward.

“Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were put around his neck and he were thrown into the sea. 

"If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed than with two hands to go into Gehenna, into the unquenchable fire. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut if off. It is better for you to enter into life crippled than with two feet to be thrown into Gehenna. And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. Better for you to enter into the Kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into Gehenna, where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.

“Everyone will be salted with fire. Salt is good, but if salt becomes insipid, with what will you restore its flavor? Keep salt in yourselves and you will have peace with one another.” (Mark 9: 41 - 50).

Thursday 27th February in the 7th Week in Ordinary Time is the feast of St Gregory Narek. Gregory was an Armenian priest and monk. He was born around 950 and died about 1003.

He is a Doctor of the Church who achieved fame through his writings on the role of the Blessed Virgin Mary in salvation history. 

Pope St John Paul II praised his writings. 

Tough talk in today's Gospel message. What caught your attention? 

This is what caught my attention:

"Jesus said to his disciples: “Anyone who gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ, amen, I say to you, will surely not lose his reward." 

A cup of water is not a very 

 expensive thing to procure. 

Jesus says to us that there are many things you can do everyday that have eternal consequences. This reminds me of the spirituality of St Therese of the Child Jesus, Doctor of the Church. 

Do not overlook small hospitalities. If you cannot be a missionary by traveling far from your home, be a missionary by contributing your widow's mite to mission work from your house. 

St Therese of the Child Jesus is the patron saint of missionaries. How? By praying for the success of mission work from her monastery. She offered up little sacrifices for the success of mission work. 

"May Nazareth teach us what family life is, its communion of love, its austere and simple beauty, and its sacred and inviolable character. Let us learn from Nazareth that the formation received at home is gentle and irreplaceable. Let us learn the prime importance of the role of the family in the social order." (Pope St Paul VI). 

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