Thursday, January 25 : Psalms 117(116),1.2.
Praise the LORD, all you nations; glorify him, all you peoples! For steadfast is his kindness for us, and the fidelity of the LORD endures forever.
Roman Catholic Ordinary Calendar – rosary,team
Roman Catholic Ordinary Calendar
Thursday, January 25 : Acts of the Apostles 22,3-16.
Paul addressed the people in these words: “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city. At the feet of Gamaliel I was educated strictly in our ancestral law and was zealous for God, just as all of you are today.
I persecuted this Way to death, binding both men and women and delivering them to prison.
Even the high priest and the whole council of elders can testify on my behalf. For from them I even received letters to the brothers and set out for Damascus to bring back to Jerusalem in chains for punishment there as well. “On that journey as I drew near to Damascus, about noon a great light from the sky suddenly shone around me.
I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’
I replied, ‘Who are you, sir?’ And he said to me, ‘I am Jesus the Nazorean whom you are persecuting.’
My companions saw the light but did not hear the voice of the one who spoke to me.
I asked, ‘What shall I do, sir?’ The Lord answered me, ‘Get up and go into Damascus, and there you will be told about everything appointed for you to do.’
Since I could see nothing because of the brightness of that light, I was led by hand by my companions and entered Damascus. “A certain Ananias, a devout observer of the law, and highly spoken of by all the Jews who lived there,
came to me and stood there and said, ‘Saul, my brother, regain your sight.’ And at that very moment I regained my sight and saw him.
Then he said, ‘The God of our ancestors designated you to know his will, to see the Righteous One, and to hear the sound of his voice;
for you will be his witness before all to what you have seen and heard.
Now, why delay? Get up and have yourself baptized and your sins washed away, calling upon his name.’
Roman Catholic Ordinary Calendar – rosary,team
Wednesday, January 24 : John Tauler
Now that our Head has ascended, it is fitting that the members (Col 2,19)… take the path which he has trodden so truly before us. For “it was needful for Christ to suffer thus, and so to enter into his glory” (Lk 24,26). We must follow this dear Champion who has borne the standard before us. Let everyone take up their cross and follow him and we shall come to the place where he is. You know how people will often follow the world in pursuit of empty honors; how they will despise their bodies, their comfort, their home, and friends, and go out to war, only to win treasure for themselves! We, too, must likewise renounce everything for the sake of the pure treasure which is God, and follow our blessed Lord, who is our Head… There are plenty of persons who would gladly be Christ’s witnesses in peace, when everything goes along just as they would wish. They would like to be holy, provided that their pious exercises and work never become irksome; they would be glad enough to enjoy, desire, or know the things of God, if there were no bitterness, labor, or tedium involved. But once they are assailed by strong temptations and spiritual darkness, as soon as they no longer feel or enjoy the nearness of God, and are left destitute inwardly and outwardly, they fall away and are not true witnesses at all… Oh, if we could only shake ourselves free from this tendency, and learn to seek peace in tribulation. Only there is true peace born, peace which will last and really endure.
Roman Catholic Ordinary Calendar – rosary,team
Wednesday, January 24 : Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark 4,1-20.
On another occasion, Jesus began to teach by the sea. A very large crowd gathered around him so that he got into a boat on the sea and sat down. And the whole crowd was beside the sea on land.
And he taught them at length in parables, and in the course of his instruction he said to them,
Hear this! A sower went out to sow.
And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and the birds came and ate it up.
Other seed fell on rocky ground where it had little soil. It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep.
And when the sun rose, it was scorched and it withered for lack of roots.
Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it and it produced no grain.
And some seed fell on rich soil and produced fruit. It came up and grew and yielded thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.”
He added, “Whoever has ears to hear ought to hear.”
And when he was alone, those present along with the Twelve questioned him about the parables.
He answered them, “The mystery of the kingdom of God has been granted to you. But to those outside everything comes in parables,
so that ‘they may look and see but not perceive, and hear and listen but not understand, in order that they may not be converted and be forgiven.'”
Jesus said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? Then how will you understand any of the parables?
The sower sows the word.
These are the ones on the path where the word is sown. As soon as they hear, Satan comes at once and takes away the word sown in them.
And these are the ones sown on rocky ground who, when they hear the word, receive it at once with joy.
But they have no root; they last only for a time. Then when tribulation or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.
Those sown among thorns are another sort. They are the people who hear the word,
but worldly anxiety, the lure of riches, and the craving for other things intrude and choke the word, and it bears no fruit.
But those sown on rich soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.”
Roman Catholic Ordinary Calendar – rosary,team
Wednesday, January 24 : Psalms 89(88),4-5.27-28.29-30.
“I have made a covenant with my chosen one, I have sworn to David my servant:
Forever will I confirm your posterity and establish your throne for all generations.” “He shall say of me, ‘You are my father, my God, the Rock, my savior.’
And I will make him the first-born, highest of the kings of the earth.” Forever I will maintain my kindness toward him, and my covenant with him stands firm.”
I will make his posterity endure forever and his throne as the days of heaven.”
Roman Catholic Ordinary Calendar – rosary,team
Wednesday, January 24 : 2nd book of Samuel 7,4-17.
That night the LORD spoke to Nathan and said: “Go, tell my servant David, ‘Thus says the LORD: Should you build me a house to dwell in?
I have not dwelt in a house from the day on which I led the Israelites out of Egypt to the present, but I have been going about in a tent under cloth.
In all my wanderings everywhere among the Israelites, did I ever utter a word to any one of the judges whom I charged to tend my people Israel, to ask: Why have you not built me a house of cedar?’ “Now then, speak thus to my servant David, ‘The LORD of hosts has this to say: It was I who took you from the pasture and from the care of the flock to be commander of my people Israel.
I have been with you wherever you went, and I have destroyed all your enemies before you. And I will make you famous like the great ones of the earth.
I will fix a place for my people Israel; I will plant them so that they may dwell in their place without further disturbance. Neither shall the wicked continue to afflict them as they did of old,
since the time I first appointed judges over my people Israel. I will give you rest from all your enemies. The LORD also reveals to you that he will establish a house for you.
And when your time comes and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your heir after you, sprung from your loins, and I will make his kingdom firm.
It is he who shall build a house for my name. And I will make his royal throne firm forever.
I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me. And if he does wrong, I will correct him with the rod of men and with human chastisements;
but I will not withdraw my favor from him as I withdrew it from your predecessor Saul, whom I removed from my presence.
Your house and your kingdom shall endure forever before me; your throne shall stand firm forever.'”
Nathan reported all these words and this entire vision to David.
Roman Catholic Ordinary Calendar – rosary,team
Tuesday, January 23 : The Imitation of Christ
“The Kingdom of God is within you,” says the Lord (…). Up, faithful soul, prepare your heart for this bridegroom; that he may deign to come and dwell within you. For so he proclaimed: “Whoever loves me will keep my word; and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him,” (Jn 14:23). Make room for Christ, and then bar the door against all comers. When you have Christ, you have all the riches you need. He will be your purveyor and your faithful manager in all things; you will have no need to hope in men. For men are quick to change and speedily die; but Christ “remains forever” (Jn 12:34), standing firm to the very end. Not much reliance should be placed upon man, be he never so beloved or so useful; for he goes to pieces and he dies. And not much sadness should be felt if he sometimes turns against you: with you to-day, against you to-morrow; and fickle as the breeze to return to you again. Put all your trust in God; let him be your fear and him your love. He will answer for you, and do that good thing that is best for you. “Here we have no lasting city” (Heb 13:14); wherever you are, you are “a stranger and an alien” (Heb 11:13); you will never at any time have peace until you are intimately one with Christ.
Roman Catholic Ordinary Calendar – rosary,team
Tuesday, January 23 : Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark 3,31-35.
The mother of Jesus and his brothers arrived at the house. Standing outside, they sent word to Jesus and called him.
A crowd seated around him told him, “Your mother and your brothers (and your sisters) are outside asking for you.”
But he said to them in reply, “Who are my mother and (my) brothers?”
And looking around at those seated in the circle he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers.
(For) whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”
Roman Catholic Ordinary Calendar – rosary,team
Tuesday, January 23 : Psalms 24(23),7.8.9.10.
Lift up, O gates, your lintels; reach up, you ancient portals, that the king of glory may come in! Who is this king of glory? The LORD, strong and mighty, the LORD, mighty in battle. Lift up, O gates, your lintels; reach up, you ancient portals, that the king of glory may come in! Who is this king of glory? The LORD of hosts; he is the king of glory.
Roman Catholic Ordinary Calendar – rosary,team
Tuesday, January 23 : 2nd book of Samuel 6,12-15.17-19.
When it was reported to King David that the LORD had blessed the family of Obed-edom and all that belonged to him, David went to bring up the ark of God from the house of Obed-edom into the City of David amid festivities.
As soon as the bearers of the ark of the LORD had advanced six steps, he sacrificed an ox and a fatling.
Then David, girt with a linen apron, came dancing before the LORD with abandon,
as he and all the Israelites were bringing up the ark of the LORD with shouts of joy and to the sound of the horn.
The ark of the LORD was brought in and set in its place within the tent David had pitched for it. Then David offered holocausts and peace offerings before the LORD.
When he finished making these offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the LORD of hosts.
He then distributed among all the people, to each man and each woman in the entire multitude of Israel, a loaf of bread, a cut of roast meat, and a raisin cake. With this, all the people left for their homes.
Roman Catholic Ordinary Calendar – rosary,team