Title: Meditation: Sunday, January 27, 2002
The Catholic Calendar for Sunday, January 27, 2002
The Third Sunday in Ordinary Time
Scripture from today's Liturgy of the Word:
Isaiah 8:23--9:3
Psalm 27:1,4,13-14
1 Corinthians 1:1-13,17
Matthew 4:12-23
A Reflection on today's Scripture:
What beautiful scriptures we read today! These are scriptures filled
with great hope and expectation for salvation. We learn that Jesus
was born into what was once a pagan land. Even at the time of his
birth, there was a mix of gentiles and Jews in the region. We recall
that Jesus came to heal those who were sick, those who were without
direction or hope for the future.
Scripture repeatedly reminds us of the joy and exultation of the
prophets as they foresaw the coming of the Messiah, the Savior, the
Christ our Redeemer! As our own current events unfold, with all their
repeated ugliness, both worldwide and close to home, we can see that
enlightenment and salvation doesn't happen automatically, but
requires us to beseech God in prayer and to make personal sacrifice
of our lives. This may partly explain why we're witnessing the
decline of Christianity in the more affluent parts of the world.
It will help us to understand that the easier and more lax life
becomes, the more difficult it will be to shun the glamorous
attractions of the material world. Surely, if we can't push away the
lure of these attractions and their inordinate desires, God's grace
and goodness will shrivel up and die within our hearts. It is
necessary for us to turn away from the comfortable life of ease and
instead, embrace a life of giving and loving -- not as the world
knows it, but as Jesus teaches. Today there is hope, for Jesus, the
Christ, has brought us the good news of salvation. Let us undertake
our personal conversion now!
- Joachim, ocds
YOU CAN HELP to evangelize the Word of God: Please recommend our website
to your friends and Catholic webmasters. The Daily Meditations appear online
in English & Spanish at: http://homepage.mac.com/ojoachim3/DailyMeds.html
ARCHIVED Meditations at: http://www.abcsoffaith.com/quiet/quietplace.html
and at: http://www.mail-archive.com/dailymed%40saturn.nibcomp.com
For ALL communications, including subscribe/unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
(c)2002 The Way, The Truth, The Life. Permission granted to make reprints
of the meditations or to post on any web page, except for profit.
All scripture quotes are from the Douay-Rheims edition of the Catholic Bible.
Full text from the New American Bible: http://www.nccbuscc.org/nab/index.htm
Lives of the Saints: http://www.christdesert.org/public_texts/martyrology/
