Catholic Church Readings for Tuesday, February 9, 2021: Tuesday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time

Catholic Church Readings for Tuesday, February 9, 2021: Tuesday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 330

Reading I

Gn 1:20—2:4a

God said,

“Let the water teem with an abundance of living creatures,

and on the earth let birds fly beneath the dome of the sky.”

And so it happened:

God created the great sea monsters

and all kinds of swimming creatures with which the water teems,

and all kinds of winged birds.

God saw how good it was, and God blessed them, saying,

“Be fertile, multiply, and fill the water of the seas;

and let the birds multiply on the earth.”

Evening came, and morning followed–the fifth day.

Then God said,

“Let the earth bring forth all kinds of living creatures:

cattle, creeping things, and wild animals of all kinds.”

And so it happened:

God made all kinds of wild animals, all kinds of cattle,

and all kinds of creeping things of the earth.

God saw how good it was.

Then God said:

“Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.

Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea,

the birds of the air, and the cattle,

and over all the wild animals

and all the creatures that crawl on the ground.”

    God created man in his image;

        in the divine image he created him;

        male and female he created them.

God blessed them, saying:

“Be fertile and multiply;

fill the earth and subdue it.

Have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air,

and all the living things that move on the earth.”

God also said:

“See, I give you every seed-bearing plant all over the earth

and every tree that has seed-bearing fruit on it to be your food;

and to all the animals of the land, all the birds of the air,

and all the living creatures that crawl on the ground,

I give all the green plants for food.”

And so it happened.

God looked at everything he had made, and he found it very good.

Evening came, and morning followed–the sixth day.

Thus the heavens and the earth and all their array were completed.

Since on the seventh day God was finished with the work he had been doing,

he rested on the seventh day from all the work he had undertaken.

So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy,

because on it he rested from all the work he had done in creation.

Such is the story of the heavens and the earth at their creation.

 

Responsorial Psalm

8:4-5, 6-7, 8-9

R.    (2ab)  O Lord, our God, how wonderful your name in all the earth!

When I behold your heavens, the work of your fingers,

    the moon and the stars which you set in place—

What is man that you should be mindful of him,

    or the son of man that you should care for him?

R.    O Lord, our God, how wonderful your name in all the earth!

You have made him little less than the angels,

    and crowned him with glory and honor.

You have given him rule over the works of your hands,

    putting all things under his feet.

R.    O Lord, our God, how wonderful your name in all the earth!

All sheep and oxen,

    yes, and the beasts of the field,

The birds of the air, the fishes of the sea,

    and whatever swims the paths of the seas.

R.    O Lord, our God, how wonderful your name in all the earth!

Alleluia

Ps 119:36, 29b

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Incline my heart, O God, to your decrees;

And favor me with your law.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel

Mk 7:1-13

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.” 

Virtue-Signaller-in-Chief Pope Francis Appoints Non-Ordained Woman as Undersecretary of Synod of Bishops

Pope Francis once again attempts to outdo himself on his "wokeness" by appointing a female to be undersecretary of the Synod of Bishops along with voting rights. This is the first time a woman or even an non-ordained person will have voting rights in this institution. Her name is Nathalie Becquart and she is a French Sister.

It seems to me this pope asks two questions when considering making a decision:

1) Is it technically possible?

2) Will it cause controversy for true Catholics and win brownie points from the secular media and those who hate the Church?

If the answer to both of these questions is yes, he will do it. The pope is really doing little if anything to protect and defend orthodox Catholicism. Instead, he is trying to appear hip and relevant - probably the last things we need from a pope in this time of confusion.

Isn't the pope supposed to be someone we can rally around rather than being the primary source of confusion and division for the Church, even when including those outside the Church? It's really sad.

So why am I so upset about all of this? Well, many will assume I am anti-woman, that's the standard go-to for those who don't understand Catholic teaching.

That simply is not the case. The truth is there is a basic Catholic understanding called Apostolic Succession, which was instituted by Jesus Christ Our Lord and Savior. He chose 12 apostles who were men to lead the Church. He could have chosen women as well, but he did not. Then for all the centuries of the Church since then, there has been male-only apostolic succession. All bishops are men because of this.

What Pope Francis is doing is weakening and causing confusion regarding apostolic succession and the male-only priesthood. Is he in direct violation and attempting to ordain women? No, he's not. But he's confusing the teachings of the Church. He is causing scandal. All for what? To score brownie points with his buddies in the secular media? Those people will never be happy. They understand nothing of the structure and history of the Church. They are just "woke" SJWs. Even if there were a female pope, they wouldn't be satisfied. They would want a female "person of color" pope, then someone with a disordered sexuality, and so on. They would never be satisfied.

The pope has said that women need a bigger role in the Church. I don't necessarily disagree with this. They can be researchers and professors and even Doctors of the Church. But I think it becomes a problem when they start taking over roles that were dedicated to bishops. The synods make major decisions regarding the Church and implementation and specification of Church teaching. This is a role proper to bishops.

The pope is either unaware of this or purposely looking to subvert this. He can go on and on writing lovely-sounding speaking points that sound like they were written by Hallmark, but that's not what we need right now. He's all about show. He's all about being in the headlines. He is terrified of being unpopular. These are not the qualities we need from a pope, especially not now in this time of confusion!

Why can't the pope just sit home and take a far more low-key approach. Why is he so thirsty for attention all the time? These are not the characteristics of someone who is qualified to be Supreme Pontiff. My advice to the Holy Father is to stop playing politics, stop trying to be popular, and start bringing together faithful Catholics and teaching the true beauty of the Faith given to us by Jesus Christ.

A Shocking Bible Verse about Demonic Possession (Mark 5: 1-20)

Mosaic of the exorcism of the Gerasene demoniac from the Basilica of Sant'Apollinare Nuovo in Ravenna, dating to the sixth century AD (Source: Wikipedia)

I was at Mass a few days ago, and heard what I found to be a rather shocking Bible passage. I had heard it before but perhaps I had not paid attention to all the details contained within it. It was about a man who was possessed by demons, more specifically "Legion". It is recounted in Mark 5. When I heard the details I was somewhat shocked. I knew there was a possessed man whom Jesus exorcised and the demons ran into some swine and into the ocean. That much I knew, but I wasn't aware of the entire back story. Let's break it down.

I will post the entire passage from the Bible down below. But I just want to summarize in my own words. First of all, there is a demon-possessed man from Gerasene.

Where is Gerasene?

I looked up the location of "Gerasene", i.e. where is someone from is they are a Gerasene. Wikipedia says the following:

[The] "country of the Gergesenes/Gadarenes/Gerasenes" in the New Testament Gospels refers to some location on the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee. The name is derived from either a lakeside village, Gergesa, the next larger city, Gadara, or the best-known city in the region, Gerasa.

It shows the following picture. Of note, it is in the region of the Decapolis (a group of ten cities on the eastern frontier of the Roman Empire in the southeastern Levant in the first centuries BC and AD.) 

So this is where the man was from.

"Lived among the tombs."
Wait, what? He "lived among the tombs."? What does this even mean? He just lived in a graveyard among tombs. Such a strange way to live. Just imagine for a moment a man living in a graveyard all day long. Where does he get food? Where does he sleep? It's so mysterious. Why was he there? I feel he is there because the demons liked to be there around all the death.

"No one could bind him any more, even with a chain."
Wow. "No one" could bind him? That's rather incredible. It seems they had put much effort into constraining this man. His demon-possession seems to have given him extra-human strength. It's another sign of possession. To have this kind of unhuman strength, to be able to break free of fetters and chains? Think about that, it would take physical power many times greater than even the strongest man possesses. Truly incredible strength. Again, this came from the demon possession, which goes to show the power of this type of Satanic interference. This was not mere mental illness. No mentally ill person just suddenly has the strength of 10 or 20 men. This definitely fits the criteria for possession. If you look into some indicators sought out by exorcists, one of them is super-human ability such as impossible strength or ability to know things that are essentially unknowable.

"Bruising himself with stones"

Without all the other factors, this part would seem to indicate some form of self-harm mental illness. However, given the totality of the situation, it is another indicator of Satan's power over this man and his actions. The devil caused him to injure himself. What could this mean? Well, we know evil does damage to us in general, and this is just a more direct and obvious example of it. It is also a sign of possession. God wants to restore and heal us, the Devil wants to harm us and especially wants us to harm ourselves.

"He ran and worshiped him"

Despite his possession, the man immediately recognized Jesus Christ and ran towards him. This was the action and will of the man, who was hidden by his possession, the interior person. Deep down this man sought liberation from this oppression, and upon recognizing Jesus Christ, could do nothing else but run to him like a trusting child. Never doubt or question the power of Our Lord, no matter how strong it seems evil influences are around you.

"My name is Legion"

What does this name indicate? Fr. Hardon, a renowned Catholic scholar, wrote "Some of the possessed were controlled by several demons (Mark 12:43). In one case so many devils possessed a man that their name was Legion."

In Rome, a "legion" was the largest army division. It numbered approximately 5000 men. A legion was further broken down as follows (thanks to http://www.primaryhomeworkhelp.co.uk/romans/legion.html):

Contubernium: consisted of 8 men.

Centuria: (century) was made up of 10 contubernium with a total of 80 men commanded by a centurion.

Cohorts: (cohort) included 6 centurie, a total of 480 men.

Legio: (Legion) consisted of 10 cohorts, about 5,000 men.

    Eques Legionis: Each legio had a cavarly unit of 120 attached to them.

That was just a little side note there. But it shows the gravity of the situation. It's like saying he was possessed by 5,000 demons. But more important than showing the power of the demons, it shows the power of Christ to overcome evil. No amount is even a tiny blip to Christ. As some saint once put it, God's mercy is like a raging furnace into which a tiny drop of water is thrown. The tiny drop of water represents even the most serious sins.

"And he begged him eagerly not to send them out of the country."

I honestly do not know what is meant by this, I could not find anything on it. Who is begging him? Why is this being asked? If anyone knows, please comment below!

“Send us to the swine, let us enter them.”

The evil spirits are begging Jesus to send them into the swine. So, Jesus orders them to do so and 2,000 swine run into the sea and are drown. I believe the reason for this is that the demons cannot stand being in the presence of Jesus Christ. They would rather be anywhere else. This is why exorcisms are carried out in the name of Our Lord. The "legion" of demons is begging to be gone from the presence of Our Lord. See, although demons chose to oppose Christ, they are still subject to him, as the Bible says at the name of Jesus EVERY knee shall bend, including those on Earth, in Purgatory, in Heaven and in Hell. They may not want to, but they have no choice.

After this, the herdsmen who were there, ran to tell people from the city what had happened. They all came to see Jesus after this. It indicates they were "afraid". This is a common reaction in the Bible. Usually it's because the power of God is so great that people are overcome with righteous fear of the Lord. It's not a small thing which has occurred and people are enthralled.

However, the passage goes on to say the people demanded Jesus Christ leave their village. What a strange reaction. The only thing I can think of is that people seemed suspicious even when apparently good things happened, such as the casting out of demons. In one part of the Gospel, Jesus even addresses this by asking if God can act against himself, and whether a person who brings healing and miracles can be coming from a bad place? Later, he says those who are not against him are for him. He reminds us also that we will know a person by their fruit. Yet, people in this case are suspicious, with one exception.

The one exception to the suspicion is the man who was healed. He is now clothed and "in his right mind". He asks Jesus to be his follower. Jesus refuses and instead tells the man to go into the Decapolis (see above), and preach what Christ had done for him. They say "all men marveled".

This is a very interesting passage in the Bible. So many contrasts. It's interesting that people are suspicious and tell Christ to leave, but when the man goes into the major cities "all men marveled". What a difference in reaction. Perhaps the people were not willing to believe this man, whom they had known for so many years, was healed by this humble carpenter. It's kind of like when Jesus says a prophet is not accepted by those closest to him. Although the people closest to the possessed man were reluctant and suspicious, those outside the town were much more open to hearing about the miracle which had happened.

Overall, this is an interesting and very powerful part of the Gospel!

Here is the full verse in the Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (RSVCE):

Mark 5: 1-20

Jesus Heals the Gerasene Demoniac

5 They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Ger′asenes.[a] 2 And when he had come out of the boat, there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, 3 who lived among the tombs; and no one could bind him any more, even with a chain; 4 for he had often been bound with fetters and chains, but the chains he wrenched apart, and the fetters he broke in pieces; and no one had the strength to subdue him. 5 Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always crying out, and bruising himself with stones. 6 And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and worshiped him; 7 and crying out with a loud voice, he said, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.” 8 For he had said to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” 9 And Jesus[b] asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “My name is Legion; for we are many.” 10 And he begged him eagerly not to send them out of the country. 11 Now a great herd of swine was feeding there on the hillside; 12 and they begged him, “Send us to the swine, let us enter them.” 13 So he gave them leave. And the unclean spirits came out, and entered the swine; and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea, and were drowned in the sea.

14 The herdsmen fled, and told it in the city and in the country. And people came to see what it was that had happened. 15 And they came to Jesus, and saw the demoniac sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, the man who had had the legion; and they were afraid. 16 And those who had seen it told what had happened to the demoniac and to the swine. 17 And they began to beg Jesus[c] to depart from their neighborhood. 18 And as he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him. 19 But he refused, and said to him, “Go home to your friends, and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” 20 And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decap′olis how much Jesus had done for him; and all men marveled.

Catholic Church Readings for Monday, February 8, 2021: Monday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time

Catholic Church Readings for Monday, February 8, 2021: Monday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 329

Reading I

Gn 1:1-19

In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth,

the earth was a formless wasteland, and darkness covered the abyss,

while a mighty wind swept over the waters.

Then God said,

“Let there be light,” and there was light.

God saw how good the light was.

God then separated the light from the darkness.

God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.”

Thus evening came, and morning followed–the first day.

Then God said,

“Let there be a dome in the middle of the waters,

to separate one body of water from the other.”

And so it happened:

God made the dome,

and it separated the water above the dome from the water below it.

God called the dome “the sky.”

Evening came, and morning followed–the second day.

Then God said,

“Let the water under the sky be gathered into a single basin,

so that the dry land may appear.” 

And so it happened:

the water under the sky was gathered into its basin,

and the dry land appeared.

God called the dry land “the earth,”

and the basin of the water he called “the sea.”

God saw how good it was.

Then God said,

“Let the earth bring forth vegetation:

every kind of plant that bears seed

and every kind of fruit tree on earth

that bears fruit with its seed in it.”

And so it happened:

the earth brought forth every kind of plant that bears seed

and every kind of fruit tree on earth that

bears fruit with its seed in it.

God saw how good it was.

Evening came, and morning followed–the third day.

Then God said:

“Let there be lights in the dome of the sky,

to separate day from night.

Let them mark the fixed times, the days and the years,

and serve as luminaries in the dome of the sky,

to shed light upon the earth.”

And so it happened:

God made the two great lights,

the greater one to govern the day,

and the lesser one to govern the night;

and he made the stars.

God set them in the dome of the sky,

to shed light upon the earth,

to govern the day and the night,

and to separate the light from the darkness.

God saw how good it was.

Evening came, and morning followed–the fourth day.

Responsorial Psalm

104:1-2a, 5-6, 10 and 12, 24 and 35c

R.    (31b)  May the Lord be glad in his works.

Bless the LORD, O my soul!

    O LORD, my God, you are great indeed!

You are clothed with majesty and glory,

    robed in light as with a cloak.

R.    May the Lord be glad in his works.

You fixed the earth upon its foundation,

    not to be moved forever;

With the ocean, as with a garment, you covered it;

    above the mountains the waters stood.

R.    May the Lord be glad in his works.

You send forth springs into the watercourses

    that wind among the mountains.

Beside them the birds of heaven dwell;

    from among the branches they send forth their song.

R.    May the Lord be glad in his works.

How manifold are your works, O LORD!

    In wisdom you have wrought them all—

    the earth is full of your creatures;

Bless the LORD, O my soul! Alleluia. 

R.    May the Lord be glad in his works.

 

Alleluia

See Mt 4:23

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Jesus preached the Gospel of the Kingdom

and cured every disease among the people.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel

Mk 6:53-56

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.

Blog Post: "If the Catholic faith is to grow, these conditions must be met in the Mass" by Peter Kwasniewski [Link]

In a blog post titled "If the Catholic faith is to grow, these conditions must be met in the Mass", Peter Kwasniewski lays out some of the conditions he believes should be present at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. I tend to agree with him on these points. Some of the ideas he mentions are Mass in Latin, people facing ad orientem, and more reverence shown towards Our Lord in the Eucharist.

I believe some of his ideas can even be employed during vernacular Masses to great effect.

Check out his article to read what he has to say.

Catholic Church Readings for Sunday, February 7, 2021: Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Catholic Church Readings for Sunday, February 7, 2021: Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 74

Reading I

Jb 7:1-4, 6-7

Job spoke, saying:

Is not man’s life on earth a drudgery?

    Are not his days those of hirelings?

He is a slave who longs for the shade,

    a hireling who waits for his wages.

So I have been assigned months of misery,

    and troubled nights have been allotted to me.

If in bed I say, “When shall I arise?”

    then the night drags on;

    I am filled with restlessness until the dawn.

My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle;

    they come to an end without hope.

Remember that my life is like the wind;

    I shall not see happiness again.

Responsorial Psalm

Ps 147:1-2, 3-4, 5-6

R. (cf. 3a) Praise the Lord, who heals the brokenhearted.

or:

R. Alleluia.

Praise the LORD, for he is good;

    sing praise to our God, for he is gracious;

    it is fitting to praise him.

The LORD rebuilds Jerusalem;

    the dispersed of Israel he gathers.

R. Praise the Lord, who heals the brokenhearted.

or:

R. Alleluia.

He heals the brokenhearted

    and binds up their wounds.

He tells the number of the stars;

    he calls each by name.

R. Praise the Lord, who heals the brokenhearted.

or:

R. Alleluia.

Great is our Lord and mighty in power;

    to his wisdom there is no limit.

The LORD sustains the lowly;

    the wicked he casts to the ground.

R. Praise the Lord, who heals the brokenhearted.

or:

R. Alleluia.

 

Reading II

1 Cor 9:16-19, 22-23

Brothers and sisters:

If I preach the gospel, this is no reason for me to boast,

for an obligation has been imposed on me,

and woe to me if I do not preach it!

If I do so willingly, I have a recompense,

but if unwillingly, then I have been entrusted with a stewardship.

What then is my recompense?

That, when I preach,

I offer the gospel free of charge

so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel.

Although I am free in regard to all,

I have made myself a slave to all

so as to win over as many as possible.

To the weak I became weak, to win over the weak.

I have become all things to all, to save at least some.

All this I do for the sake of the gospel,

so that I too may have a share in it.

Alleluia

Mt 8:17

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Christ took away our infirmities

and bore our diseases.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel

Mk 1:29-39

On leaving the synagogue

Jesus entered the house of Simon and Andrew with James and John.

Simon’s mother-in-law lay sick with a fever.

They immediately told him about her.

He approached, grasped her hand, and helped her up.

Then the fever left her and she waited on them.

When it was evening, after sunset,

they brought to him all who were ill or possessed by demons.

The whole town was gathered at the door.

He cured many who were sick with various diseases,

and he drove out many demons,

not permitting them to speak because they knew him.

Rising very early before dawn, he left 

and went off to a deserted place, where he prayed.

Simon and those who were with him pursued him

and on finding him said, “Everyone is looking for you.”

He told them, “Let us go on to the nearby villages

that I may preach there also.

For this purpose have I come.”

So he went into their synagogues,

preaching and driving out demons throughout the whole of Galilee.

Catholic Church Readings for Saturday, February 6, 2021: Memorial of Saint Paul Miki and Companions, Martyrs

Catholic Church Readings for Saturday, February 6, 2021: Memorial of Saint Paul Miki and Companions, Martyrs

Lectionary: 328

Reading I

Heb 13:15-17, 20-21

Brothers and sisters:

Through Jesus, let us continually offer God a sacrifice of praise,

that is, the fruit of lips that confess his name.

Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have;

God is pleased by sacrifices of that kind.

Obey your leaders and defer to them,

for they keep watch over you and will have to give an account,

that they may fulfill their task with joy and not with sorrow,

for that would be of no advantage to you.

May the God of peace, who brought up from the dead

the great shepherd of the sheep

by the Blood of the eternal covenant, 

furnish you with all that is good, that you may do his will.

May he carry out in you what is pleasing to him through Jesus Christ,

to whom be glory forever and ever.  Amen.

Responsorial Psalm

23:1-3a, 3b-4, 5, 6

R.    (1)  The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

    In verdant pastures he gives me repose.

Beside restful waters he leads me;

    he refreshes my soul.

R.    The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.

He guides me in right paths

    for his name’s sake.

Even though I walk in the dark valley

    I fear no evil; for you are at my side

With your rod and your staff

    that give me courage.

R.    The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.

You spread the table before me

    in the sight of my foes;

You anoint my head with oil;

    my cup overflows. 

R.    The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.

Only goodness and kindness follow me

    all the days of my life;

And I shall dwell in the house of the LORD

    for years to come.

R.    The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.

Alleluia

Jn 10:27

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

My sheep hear my voice, says the Lord;

I know them, and they follow me.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel

Mk 6:30-34

The Apostles gathered together with Jesus

and reported all they had done and taught.

He said to them,

“Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” 

People were coming and going in great numbers,

and they had no opportunity even to eat.

So they went off in the boat by themselves to a deserted place.

People saw them leaving and many came to know about it.

They hastened there on foot from all the towns

and arrived at the place before them.

When Jesus disembarked and saw the vast crowd,

his heart was moved with pity for them,

for they were like sheep without a shepherd;

and he began to teach them many things.

Catholic Church Readings for Friday, February 5, 2021: Memorial of Saint Agatha, Virgin and Martyr

Catholic Church Readings for Friday, February 5, 2021: Memorial of Saint Agatha, Virgin and Martyr

Lectionary: 327

Reading I

Heb 13:1-8

Let brotherly love continue.

Do not neglect hospitality,

for through it some have unknowingly entertained angels.

Be mindful of prisoners as if sharing their imprisonment,

and of the ill-treated as of yourselves,

for you also are in the body.

Let marriage be honored among all

and the marriage bed be kept undefiled,

for God will judge the immoral and adulterers.

Let your life be free from love of money

but be content with what you have,

for he has said, I will never forsake you or abandon you.

Thus we may say with confidence:

    The Lord is my helper,

    and I will not be afraid.

    What can anyone do to me?

Remember your leaders who spoke the word of God to you.

Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Responsorial Psalm

27:1, 3, 5, 8b-9abc

R.    (1a)  The Lord is my light and my salvation.

The LORD is my light and my salvation;

    whom should I fear?

The LORD is my life’s refuge;

    of whom should I be afraid? 

R.    The Lord is my light and my salvation.

Though an army encamp against me,

    my heart will not fear;

Though war be waged upon me,

    even then will I trust.

R.    The Lord is my light and my salvation.

For he will hide me in his abode

    in the day of trouble;

He will conceal me in the shelter of his tent,

    he will set me high upon a rock.

R.    The Lord is my light and my salvation.

Your presence, O LORD, I seek.

Hide not your face from me;

    do not in anger repel your servant.

You are my helper: cast me not off.

R.    The Lord is my light and my salvation.

Alleluia

See Lk 8:15

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Blessed are they who have kept the word with a generous heart,

and yield a harvest through perseverance.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel

Mk 6:14-29

King Herod heard about Jesus, for his fame had become widespread,

and people were saying,

“John the Baptist has been raised from the dead;

That is why mighty powers are at work in him.”

Others were saying, “He is Elijah”;

still others, “He is a prophet like any of the prophets.”

But when Herod learned of it, he said,

“It is John whom I beheaded. He has been raised up.”

Herod was the one who had John arrested and bound in prison

on account of Herodias, 

the wife of his brother Philip, whom he had married.

John had said to Herod,

“It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.”

Herodias harbored a grudge against him

and wanted to kill him but was unable to do so.

Herod feared John, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man,

and kept him in custody.

When he heard him speak he was very much perplexed,

yet he liked to listen to him.

Herodias had an opportunity one day when Herod, on his birthday,

gave a banquet for his courtiers, his military officers,

and the leading men of Galilee.

His own daughter came in and performed a dance

that delighted Herod and his guests.

The king said to the girl,

“Ask of me whatever you wish and I will grant it to you.” 

He even swore many things to her,

“I will grant you whatever you ask of me,

even to half of my kingdom.”

She went out and said to her mother,

“What shall I ask for?”

Her mother replied, “The head of John the Baptist.”

The girl hurried back to the king’s presence and made her request,

“I want you to give me at once on a platter

the head of John the Baptist.”

The king was deeply distressed,

but because of his oaths and the guests

he did not wish to break his word to her.

So he promptly dispatched an executioner

with orders to bring back his head.

He went off and beheaded him in the prison.

He brought in the head on a platter

and gave it to the girl.

The girl in turn gave it to her mother.

When his disciples heard about it,

they came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.

Scary Moments During Communion

Have you ever been to Mass during the distribution of Communion and been concerned about the worthy reception of the Eucharist? I know I have been on many occasions. I would like to recount an event which took place yesterday which I found very strange.

It was daily Mass and people were going up to receive communion as per usual. A gentleman came forward whom I have never seen. Instead of placing one hand under another and making a sort of "table" with his hands upon which to receive the sacred species, he instead took the host with his index finger and thumb. The strangest part was that upon receiving the Eucharist, he leaned over and for several seconds whispered something to the priest. I have no idea what he whispered. Perhaps I am somewhat imagining it, but the priest seemed concerned after that. The prayers at the end of Mass seemed a little more rushed than usual.

I believe he did consume the Eucharist, which is the main thing. After receiving, also strangely, this person walked down the middle aisle of the church (where no one was sitting). Later, when Mass was over, he stuck around and was taking photos of the church while others were leaving.

I have no idea who this person was. I cannot say anything about the state of his soul or whether or not he was a practicing Catholic. However, these situations give me pause and I wonder how they should be properly addressed.

I always have a concern about someone who may be unstable receiving communion and then doing something like desecrating it or treating it with irreverence. It got me to wondering: how should priests address such situations? I searched for the topic of denying communion and under what circumstances that should be done. I found some interesting things.

The main people to whom Eucharist should be denied are those in persistent obstinate sin. One of the prime examples of this is politicians who publicly campaign on behalf of immoral things such as abortion. It's important to note that the Church says denial is only to those in public, persistent, obstinate sin. It cannot simply be a person who the priest believes lives as sinful life or is in a state of mortal sin.

A priest does not have certainty that a person is in a state of mortal sin. Perhaps they confessed their sin to another priest. Even if the priest has inside information, he is told to err on the side of caution. In fact, if a priest denies communion to a person who is committing a private sin (not known publicly), the priest could be committing a form of scandal. This form of scandal involves exposing someone's sins unnecessarily.

An interesting example of denying communion to someone in persistent sin is someone wearing an emblem announcing their support for a sin, such as wearing a gay pride sash. This sash would be a symbol indicating this person's current and ongoing support of gay pride, thus support for homosexual actions which are contrary to Church teaching.

However, ordinarily, the priest could not use a person's private sin as a reason to exclude them from communion.

So, what about a case involving an erratic person or someone just behaving strangely? Should communion be denied that person? The answer is yes. In an article by Fr. Edward McNamara on EWTN.com, he writes:

There might be some other cases when a priest has to decide on the spur of the moment, for example, when a person is in an obviously altered state and is clearly not fully aware of what he is doing. Such cases have more to do with public order and respect for the Eucharistic species than making a judgment as to a person's interior state.

This would be a tough judgment call in many cases. A person acting a little strange would not necessary mean they are in an altered state or do not understand the Eucharist. In the story I gave above, was the person in an altered state? I have no idea. I think if a person is acting in a truly strange way, it would be a valid assumption to think the person may receive unworthily or perhaps even desecrate Our Lord in the Eucharist. That would be the worst case scenario.

Where I attend Mass, there was a guy who seemed a little "out there". I'm not judging him or whether he's in a state of grace, but his behavior was unusual. He would wave his arms, sometimes with great speed, during the Mass. However, when he went to receive communion, he did so very reverently. He would kneel down and put his hands up for the Eucharist to be placed there. He would then immediately consume the host.

A priest could not legitimately refuse communion to this man, even if he was acting a little differently during the Liturgy. His comportment during reception of communion would certainly qualify him, barring any publicly-known mortal sin, to receive Our Lord under the appearance of bread and wine.

Any time the Body, Blood, Soul, & Divinity of Our Lord is at risk, it is scary and concerning. We must pray for all who receive communion that they do so in a worthy way, as spoken of by St. Paul. I believe reception on the tongue is an added guarantee of worthy reception and hopefully it will return soon.

Catholic Church Readings for Thursday, February 4, 2021: Thursday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time

Catholic Church Readings for Thursday, February 4, 2021: Thursday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 326

Reading I

Heb 12:18-19, 21-24

Brothers and sisters:

You have not approached that which could be touched

and a blazing fire and gloomy darkness

and storm and a trumpet blast

and a voice speaking words such that those who heard

begged that no message be further addressed to them.

Indeed, so fearful was the spectacle that Moses said,

“I am terrified and trembling.”

No, you have approached Mount Zion

and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem,

and countless angels in festal gathering,

and the assembly of the firstborn enrolled in heaven,

and God the judge of all,

and the spirits of the just made perfect,

and Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant,

and the sprinkled Blood that speaks more eloquently

than that of Abel.

Responsorial Psalm

48:2-3ab, 3cd-4, 9, 10-11

R.    (see 10)  O God, we ponder your mercy within your temple.

Great is the LORD and wholly to be praised

    in the city of our God.

His holy mountain, fairest of heights,

    is the joy of all the earth. 

R.    O God, we ponder your mercy within your temple.

Mount Zion, “the recesses of the North,”

    the city of the great King.

God is with her castles;

    renowned is he as a stronghold.

R.    O God, we ponder your mercy within your temple.

As we had heard, so have we seen

    in the city of the LORD of hosts,

In the city of our God;

    God makes it firm forever.

R.    O God, we ponder your mercy within your temple.

O God, we ponder your mercy

    within your temple.

As your name, O God, so also your praise

    reaches to the ends of the earth.

Of justice your right hand is full.

R.    O God, we ponder your mercy within your temple.

Alleluia

Mk 1:15

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

The Kingdom of God is at hand;

repent and believe in the Gospel.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel

Mk 6:7-13

Jesus summoned the Twelve and began to send them out two by two

and gave them authority over unclean spirits.

He instructed them to take nothing for the journey but a walking stick

–no food, no sack, no money in their belts.

They were, however, to wear sandals but not a second tunic.

He said to them,

“Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave from there.

Whatever place does not welcome you or listen to you,

leave there and shake the dust off your feet

in testimony against them.”

So they went off and preached repentance.

The Twelve drove out many demons,

and they anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.

NBC's Superstore Sitcom Review: Where anti-Christian attacks are "comedy".

I started watching the NBC sitcom "Superstore" with my wife a couple of weeks ago. It's about employees who work in a supermarket called Cloud 9. There isn't any major plot, it's your standard sitcom format. There is obviously plenty of good potential in a show based in a store similar to Walmart. Unfortunately instead of taking advantage of hundreds of possible comedic situations which could arise, the show has become more and more anti-Christian, devolving into unfunny but vicious attacks on Christians. Of course, there is absolutely no balance whatsoever. Christians and Christianity in the show are always made to look bad. I guess this is why it was picked up by Netflix. I will stop watching the show. It has no value to me anymore. Let me get into some detail.

[Warning: contains spoilers up to Season 2: Episode 2. I haven't watched beyond that.]

So I was watching the show and from the start I noticed that the overtly Christian store manager Glenn Phillip Sturgis (played by Mark McKinney) comes across as very stupid. He has a high-pitched ridiculous voice and he just seems extremely naïve about the world. I wasn't surprised to see this though. Many sitcoms now feature an extremely naïve Christian character such as Shirley Bennett in Community (played by Yvette Nicole Brown) or the assistant on 30 Rock Kenneth Ellen Parcell played by Jack McBrayer.

It has become a tired and pathetic trope. "Haha, look at the stupid, naïve Christian. No need to take that person seriously." These characters seem to know nothing of the "real world". They have been sheltered their entire lives from the reality and grittiness of the world. They are essentially portrayed as adult children with no street knowledge. Yet, the other "woke" characters have such a nuanced and compassionate, non-judgmental view of people. That's because they've seen things and know the world is a complicated place, unlike Christians who think it's just all black and white.

So enough talking in general. How exactly does the show Superstore push its left-wing secular agenda while vilifying people of faith?

First of all, in general, there is really only one overt Christian. Not a single other person on the show ever mentions their faith or that they are Christian. Plus from their opinions and words it would certainly seem they are not Christian.

The show seems to take issues one and a time and show why the conservative opinion on that topic is outdated, immoral, and offensive. It's no longer subtly worked into the plot, it's shoved in your face and rammed down your throat. They have completely sacrificed all comedic value in order to simply bash Christians. It's like shock humor. The audience laughs simply because of sheer surprise.

In one episode, Glenn, the Christian manager, finds out that they sell the morning-after pill in the pharmacy. To be clear, the morning-after pill is an abortifacient - it causes an abortion. Of course, as a Christian, he opposes these pills. Is his view that abortion is wrong because you are killing an innocent human being ever shown? Nope! He's just this outdated dinosaur who believes things for no particular reason but because that's just what his religion told him. Of course, the others are so much more relatable and down-to-earth. They get that life is messy and that they don't let arbitrary morals get in their way of helping people.

I'm actually not doing a good job of describing it, because they make him look even worse. In fact, the show was not satisfied to show Glenn as being opposed to these pills, they went further and portrayed him as a hypocrite. After he attempts to stop others from buying the pills by buying them all himself, he realizes how much it costs. He tries to immediately return them but the pharmacist stubbornly refuses to let him (they never leave the sight of the pharmacist who actually brags about getting women pregnant then giving them these pills). When Glenn is not allowed to return the pills, he goes from person to person trying to sell them. When a couple tries to tell him why they want them (they had "unprotected" sex), he stops them from speaking and makes up the dumbest other "reasons" why they might want these pills (plates for a dollhouse, etc.).

In another straight-from-the-headlines "joke", there is a woman campaigning against allowing men into women's bathrooms. What opinion should we have about this NBC? Well, apparently people who think this are backward bigots, irredeemably evil people, so much so, that the character who is interested in her in a sexual way, can hardly bring himself to pursue her, even though he has absolutely no qualms about doing so in any other situation. No, her evil thought that men should stick to men's washrooms is beyond the pale, it makes her irredeemable.

Other non-specifically moral issues arise as well such as gun control. One of the workers is assigned to work at the firearms counter against his will. He continually indicates why he thinks selling firearms is evil and wrong. The people buying the firearms are portrayed as unreasonable crazy people. Because one of them could not buy a gun on the spot despite implying he would do something violent, the store is besieged by dozens of rifle-totting men and women fighting for their rights. They are portrayed as over-the-top and completely unreasonable, while the voice of reason emanates from the anti-gunners.

Glenn, the manager, will often bring up Bible verses or sing hymns. He tries to read the Bible in a break room one day. But he's always mocked, derided or otherwise portrayed in a negative light for doing so or attempting to do so.

Other issues also arise in the show which highlight various left-wing causes and points of view: white people are racist, free universal healthcare is a human right, capitalism is bad, etc, etc.

It's just become pathetic and boring at this point. There is no more subtlety left at all. So I will be not watching any more. Unfortunately this isn't just something that's happening in this show. Pushing a left-wing agenda has become a mainstay of shows on Netflix. They have a clear agenda. I may cancel the service but my wife still watches it so I have to consult with her on it.

To any Christian who has considered watching Superstore. My advice quite simply is to not bother.