Monday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time
This Week’s Intention: For a deep and abiding respect among all people for the sanctity and dignity of life.
Today’s Gospel | Mark 2:18-22
The disciples of John and of the Pharisees were accustomed to fast. People came to Jesus and objected, “Why do the disciples of John and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” Jesus answered them, “Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast. But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast on that day. No one sews a piece of unshrunken cloth on an old cloak. If he does, its fullness pulls away, the new from the old, and the tear gets worse. Likewise, no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the skins are ruined. Rather, new wine is poured into fresh wineskins.”
From the Meditation on St. Sulpice | St. John Baptist de La Salle
When the archbishopric of Bourges became vacant, the king named Saint Sulpice to fill it. His piety caused him to be chosen in preference to all the others who were seeking this dignity. His piety also made him labor with zeal and success for the salvation of souls. Oh, how true it is, as Saint Paul says, that piety is useful for all things and produces great blessings, not only in those people who possess it but also in those who see them, speak with them, and receive their instructions. Everything in them preaches piety.
Can the same thing be said of you, who ought to communicate this spirit to the children whom you have to guide? Is it enough for them to see you to be well behaved themselves? Is your behavior sufficient to encourage them to practice virtue? Does everything you tell them produce in them the spirit of piety and religion? This is the main benefit that you must impart to them, the best gift you can give them when they leave you.
Prayer
Eternal Father, in the birth of your Son, we, too, experience a birth of new beginnings and the hope of renewal and redemption in our lives. But we must be open to this newness and to the change of heart to which it calls us. Help us to trust in your ways as we step toward new life and a better world in you. May we receive this gift with a gratefulness that we express through our service of others, especially through the care and vigilance that we show to those who are most in need of you. We ask this of you who lives and reigns with your Son and the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. Amen.
St. John Baptist de La Salle, pray for us.
Live Jesus in our hearts forever.