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5th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C, 6 February 2022 Liturgical Colour: Green. Note: Homilies & Angelus / Regina Caeli of Pope Saint John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI & Pope Francis I had been compiled for you after the Mass Readings below. Happy Reading!
Readings at Mass See our extracts with pictures in Encouragements-195-196 or here, EWTN, USCCB. 8-)
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Homilies, Angelus / Regina Caeli
See our extracts in Encouragements-196. 8-)
Next Wednesday, 11 February, we will celebrate the Sixth World Day of the Sick, which has been placed under the spiritual patronage of Our Lady of Lourdes, whose liturgical memorial occurs on that day…
World Day of the Sick invites everyone to reflect on the meaning and value of suffering, in the light of the Good News of Christ, of Revelation, that is, that God is not indifferent to human tragedies and trials, but on the contrary, has taken them upon himself to open for us the way to salvation. In his earthly life Christ approached suffering persons with special love. He healed the sick, consoled the afflicted, fed the hungry, freed people from deafness, blindness, leprosy and the devil, and restored the dead to life. At the height of his mission, he went to his passion and death in the awareness that precisely through the Cross he had to reach the roots of evil and carry out the work of salvation. Spurred by love, Christ suffered willingly and as an innocent man, thus proving the truth of love through the truth of suffering, a suffering that he, the God-Man, experienced with incomparable intensity. But precisely through this sacrifice, he joined suffering to love once and for all, and in this way redeemed it.
The first and foremost to be associated with Jesus in this mystery of suffering and love is his Mother Mary. Her sorrow is united with that of her Son. On Calvary she became a perfect model of participation in Christ’s Crucifixion. Every person is called to suffer; every person, imitating Mary, can become a co-operator in Christ’s suffering, and thus in his Redemption. This is the Good News which the Church constantly proclaims, especially through the splendid witness of so many men and women who accept with faith and live with love the physical and spiritual trials of life. I entrust all the sick and suffering to the Blessed Virgin Mary, Salus infirmorum. May her maternal intercession obtain for everyone the consoling experience of the love of God, who infuses the light of hope even into the dark night of pain. Pope Saint John Paul II (Angelus, 8 February 1998)
"Duc in altum! - Put out into the deep!" (Luke 5: 4). Jesus' invitation to the Apostle Peter is the dominant theme of today's liturgy for the Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time.
I used these same words in the Apostolic Letter Novo millennio ineunte, which I signed during the closing celebration of the Holy Year. In it, after having reviewed the fundamental elements that marked the Jubilee experience, I indicated the guidelines for the Church's life and her evangelizing mission in the third millennium. "Master ... at your word I will let down the nets" (Luke 5: 5). This is how Simon Peter responds to Christ's invitation. He does not hide his disappointment over the unsuccessful labour of a whole night; yet he obeys the Master: he sets aside his own beliefs as a fisherman who knows his job well, and trusts in him. We know what happens next. Seeing the nets full of fish, Peter realizes the distance between him, "a sinful man", and the one he now recognizes as "Lord". He feels interiorly transformed, and at the Master's invitation he leaves his nets and follows him. The fisherman of Galilee thus becomes an apostle of Christ, the rock on which Christ will found his Church.
Today I have the joy of making my first pastoral visit to a Roman parish since the extraordinary event of grace of the Great Jubilee. Your Church is not located far from the place called Saxa Rubra, where in the year 312, according to tradition, the Cross mysteriously appeared. "In hoc signo vinces": these words, well known to you, are linked to those we heard today: "Duc in altum - Put out into the deep". Trusting in Christ leads to sharing the journey of suffering and death with him. But what humanly appears to be a defeat, significantly expressed in the mystery of the Cross, becomes the guarantee of sure and definitive victory. These considerations call to mind Fr Eulogio Carballido Diaz, the generous and beloved pastor who guided this community for 25 years. He loved to make a pilgrimage every year to Saxa Rubra accompanied by many of you to venerate the image of the Immaculate Virgin, Mother of God, which I myself had the joy of crowning. May the Lord, who one year ago suddenly called him to himself, grant him the heavenly reward prepared for his good and faithful servants.
"I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God which is with me" (1 Corinthians 15: 10). The words of the Apostle Paul, which we heard in the second reading, show us the right way to understand the value of our efforts: the achievement of what we propose certainly depends on our good will, but it depends above all on the grace of God. The pastoral journey of your parish, like that of the Diocese and of the entire Church, must therefore be essentially a journey of holiness, in the ever deeper following of the One who is thrice holy by antonomasia (cf. Isaiah 6: 3). May we be accompanied in this journey of faith, hope and love by the Blessed Virgin, the shining Dawn and sure Guide as we travel the roads of the world and of history. Let us imitate her in contemplation and meditate on the Mystery of Christ in our hearts (cf. Luke 2: 51). Let us follow her in persevering and united prayer, in communion with the Apostles and the entire Ecclesial Community (cf. Acts 1: 14). Let us welcome her invitation to trust in her Son: "Do whatever he tells you" (John 2: 5). And you, Mary, Star of the New Millennium, pray for us! Amen. Pope Saint John Paul II (Homily, 4 February 2001)
1. "Duc in altum - Put out into the deep" (Luke 5: 4): Christ spoke these words to Peter after he and his companions had toiled all night without catching anything. We heard them in the Gospel of this Sunday's liturgy: after preaching to the crowds precisely from Peter's boat, Jesus said to him: "Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch" (Luke 5: 4). Trusting in him, Simon and the other Apostles cast their nets and caught a great number of fish (cf. Luke 5: 5-6).
2. "Duc in altum - Put out into the deep". The Lord's invitation is the key phrase, almost the "motto" of the Apostolic Letter "Novo millennio ineunte - At the beginning of the new millennium", which, as you will recall, I signed on this past solemnity of the Epiphany, during the closing celebration of the Great Jubilee. As the Successor of Peter, I feel it my duty to echo these words of Christ to the whole Church. Christ, who "is the same yesterday and today and for ever" (Hebrews 13: 8), urges every Ecclesial Community to "put out into the deep", to go forward in hope into the new millennium, which opens before us like a vast ocean on which to venture (cf. Novo millennio ineunte, n. 58). Indeed, the immense wealth of grace received throughout the Jubilee now must be put into practice in resolutions and guidelines for action.
3. "Duc in altum - Put out into the deep" (Luke 5: 4): today I say this again to every Bishop and to each Diocesan Community. Now is the acceptable time for new spiritual and pastoral enthusiasm, not something unrealistic but based on the deep, powerful experience of grace we have had during the Jubilee year. Dear brothers and sisters, let us look to the Blessed Virgin, our model of indomitable hope. After receiving the Angel's message and conceiving the Word made flesh, she set out in haste to visit her elderly cousin Elizabeth, who needed her help (cf. Luke 1: 39). The Church, too, after intensely reliving the mystery of the Incarnation during the Jubilee, is now called to "put out into the deep", so that Christ can reach the individuals and peoples of every continent. She follows the example of Mary and counts on her support and intercession. We now confidently turn to her with the Angelus prayer. Pope Saint John Paul II (Angelus, 4 February 2001)
1. The World Day of the Sick will be celebrated next Wednesday, 11 February, Memorial of Our Lady of Lourdes. The principal events will take place precisely in Lourdes, where Mary Most Holy appeared to St Bernadette Soubirous, presenting herself as the "Immaculate Conception". Furthermore, this year is the 150th anniversary of the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception, proclaimed by my venerable Predecessor Bl. Pius IX, whose feast we celebrated yesterday.
2. The close connection between Our Lady of Lourdes and the world of suffering and illness is well known. The sick have always been the chief persons at the Shrine which came into being at the Grotto of Massabielle, and over the years Lourdes has become an authentic stronghold of life and hope. How could it be otherwise? The Immaculate Conception of Mary is, in fact, the first fruit of the Redemption brought about by Christ and the pledge of his victory over evil. The spring of water bubbling from the ground from which the Virgin asked Bernadette to drink is reminiscent of the power of Christ's Spirit who heals human beings completely and gives them eternal life.
3. May Our Lady watch over those who will be taking part in the forthcoming events scheduled at Lourdes: the meetings on pastoral health care in European countries and on the special relationship between Mary Immaculate and the sick. Let us entrust to the Blessed Virgin the solemn Eucharistic Celebration at which my Special Envoy, Cardinal Lozano Barragán, President of the Pontifical Council for Health Pastoral Care, will be presiding. Pope Saint John Paul II (Angelus, 8 February 2004)
Today, Pro-Life Day, organized by the Bishops' Conference on the theme: "Love and desire life", is being celebrated in Italy. I cordially greet all those who are gathered in St Peter's Square to witness their commitment in support of life, from its conception to its natural end. I join the Italian Bishops in renewing the appeal made several times by my venerable Predecessors to all men and women of good will to welcome the great and mysterious gift of life.
Life, which is a work of God, should not be denied to anyone, even the tiniest and most defenceless unborn child, and far less to a child with serious disabilities. At the same time, echoing the Pastors of the Church in Italy, I advise you not to fall into the deceptive trap of thinking that life can be disposed of, to the point of "legitimizing its interruption with euthanasia, even if it is masked by a veil of human compassion".
The "Week of life and of the family" begins in our Diocese of Rome today. It is an important opportunity to pray and reflect on the family, which is the "cradle" of life and of every vocation. We are well aware that the family founded on marriage is the natural environment in which to bear and raise children and thereby guarantee the future of all of humanity.
However, we also know that marriage is going through a deep crisis and today must face numerous challenges. It is consequently necessary to defend, help, safeguard and value it in its unrepeatable uniqueness.
If this commitment is in the first place the duty of spouses, it is also a priority duty of the Church and of every public institution to support the family by means of pastoral and political initiatives that take into account the real needs of married couples, of the elderly and of the new generations.
A peaceful family atmosphere, illumined by faith and the holy fear of God also nurtures the budding and blossoming of vocations to the service of the Gospel. I am referring in particular not only to those who are called to follow Christ on the path of the priesthood but also to all men and women religious, the consecrated people we remembered last Friday on the "World Day of Consecrated Life".
Dear brothers and sisters, let us pray that through a constant effort to promote life and the family institution, our communities may be places of communion and hope in which, despite the many difficulties, the great "yes" to authentic love and to the reality of the human being and the family is renewed in accordance with God's original plan. Let us ask the Lord, through the intercession of Mary Most Holy, to grant that respect for the sacredness of life will grow so that people will be ever more aware of the real needs of families and that the number of those who help to build the civilization of love in the world will increase. Pope Benedict XVI (Angelus, 4 February 2007)
See our extracts with pictures in Encouragements-197. 8-)
In today’s liturgy, the Gospel according to Luke presents the story of the call of the first disciples, with an original version that differs from that of the other two Synoptic Gospels, Matthew and Mark (cf. Matthew 4: 18-22; Mark 1:16-20) . The call, in fact, was preceded by the teaching of Jesus to the crowd and a miraculous catch of fish, carried out by the will of the Lord (Luke 5:1-6). In fact, while the crowd rushes to the shore of Lake Gennesaret to hear Jesus, he sees Simon discouraged because he has caught nothing all night. First Jesus asks to get into Simon’s boat in order to preach to the people standing a short distance from the shore; then, having finished preaching, he commands Simon to go out into the deep with his friends and cast their nets (cf. v. 5). Simon obeys, and they catch an incredible amount of fish. In this way, the evangelist shows how the first disciples followed Jesus, trusting him, relying on his Word, all the while accompanied by miraculous signs. We note that, before this sign, Simon addresses Jesus, calling him “Master” (v. 5), while afterwards he addresses him as “Lord” (v. 7). This is the pedagogy of God’s call, which does not consider the quality of those who are chosen so much as their faith, like that of Simon that says: “At your word, I will let down the nets” (v. 5).
The image of the fish refers to the Church’s mission. St Augustine says in this regard, “Twice the disciples went out to fish at the Lord’s command: once before the Passion and the other time after the Resurrection. In the two scenes of fishing, the entire Church is depicted: the Church as it is now and as it will be after the resurrection of the dead. Now it gathers together a multitude, impossible to number, comprising the good and the bad; after the resurrection, it will include only the good” (Homily 248.1). The experience of Peter, certainly unique, is nonetheless representative of the call of every apostle of the Gospel, who must never be discouraged in proclaiming Christ to all men, even to the ends of the world. However, today’s text is a reflection on the vocation to the priesthood and the consecrated life. It is the work of God. The human person is not the author of his own vocation but responds to the divine call. Human weakness should not be afraid if God calls. It is necessary to have confidence in his strength, which acts in our poverty; we must rely more and more on the power of his mercy, which transforms and renews.
Dear brothers and sisters, may this Word of God revive in us and in our Christian communities courage, confidence and enthusiasm in proclaiming and witnessing to the Gospel. Do not let failures and difficulties lead to discouragement: it is our task to cast our nets in faith — the Lord will do the rest. We must trust, too, in the intercession of the Virgin Mary, the Queen of Apostles. Well aware of her own smallness, she answered the Lord’s call with total confidence: “Here I am”. With her maternal help, let us renew our willingness to follow Jesus, Master and Lord. Pope Benedict XVI (Angelus, 10 February 2013)
This Sunday’s Gospel tells us — in St Luke’s narrative — of the call of Jesus’ first disciples (5:1-11). The event takes place in the context of everyday life: there are several fishermen on the shore of the lake of Galilee, who, after working all night and catching nothing, are washing and arranging their nets. Jesus gets into one of the boats, that of Simon, called Peter, whom he asks to put out a little from the shore, and he starts to preach the Word of God to the crowd of people who had gathered. When he is finished speaking, he tells them to put out into the deep and cast the nets. Simon had previously met Jesus and felt the prodigious power of his word. Therefore, he responds: “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets” (v. 5). And this faith of his did not disappoint: indeed, the nets filled with so many fish that they nearly broke (cf. v. 6). Facing this extraordinary event, the fishermen are greatly astonished. Simon Peter throws himself at Jesus’ feet, saying: “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord” (v. 8). That prodigious sign convinces him that Jesus is not only a formidable master whose word is true and powerful, but he is the Lord, he is the manifestation of God. For Peter this close presence brings about a strong sense of his own pettiness and unworthiness. From a human point of view, he thinks that there should be distance between the sinner and the Holy One. In truth, his very condition as a sinner requires that the Lord not distance Himself from him, in the same way that a doctor cannot distance himself from those who are sick.
Jesus’ response to Simon Peter is reassuring and decisive: “Do not be afraid; henceforth you will be catching men” (v. 10). Once again the fisherman of Galilee, placing his trust in this word, leaves everything and follows the one who has become his Lord and Master. Simon’s workmates, James and John, do the same. This is the logic that guides Jesus’ mission and the mission of the Church: go in search, “fish” for men and women, not to proselytize, but to restore full dignity and freedom to all, through the forgiveness of sins. This is the essential point of Christianity: to spread the free and regenerative love of God, with a welcoming and merciful attitude toward everyone, so that each person can encounter God’s tenderness and have the fullness of life. Here, in a particular way, I think of confessors: they are the first who must give the Father’s mercy, following Jesus’ example, as did the two holy Brothers, Fr Leopold and Padre Pio.
Today’s Gospel challenges us: do we know how to truly trust in the Word of the Lord? Or do we let ourselves become discouraged by our failures? In this Holy Year of Mercy we are called to comfort those who feel they are sinners, unworthy before the Lord, defeated by their mistakes, by speaking to them the very words of Jesus: “Do not be afraid. The Father’s mercy is greater than your sins! It is greater, do not be afraid!”. May the Virgin Mary help us to ever better understand that being disciples means placing our feet in the footsteps left by the Master: they are the footprints of divine grace that restore life for all. Pope Francis I (Angelus, 7 February 2016)
Extracts: It is a miraculous catch, a sign of the power of Jesus’ word: when we place ourselves generously in his service, he accomplishes great things in us. This is what he does in each of us: he asks us to welcome him on the boat of our life, in order to set out anew with him and to sail a new sea, one which proves to be full of surprises. His call to go out into the open sea of the humanity of our time, in order to be witnesses to goodness and mercy, gives new meaning to our existence, which is often at risk of collapsing upon itself. At times we may be surprised and uncertain before the call that the divine Master addresses to us, and we may be tempted to reject it due to our inadequacy. Peter too, after this incredible catch, said to Jesus: “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord” (v. 8). This humble prayer is beautiful: ‘Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord’. But he says it on his knees before the One whom by this point he recognizes as ‘Lord’. And Jesus encourages him by saying: “Do not be afraid; henceforth you will be catching men” (v. 10); because God — if we trust in Him — frees us from our sin and opens a new horizon before us: to cooperate in his mission.
The greatest miracle that Jesus accomplished for Simon and the other tired and discouraged fishermen is not so much the net full of fish, as having helped them not to fall victim to disappointment and discouragement in the face of failure. He prepared them to become proclaimers of and witnesses to his word and the Kingdom of God. And the disciples’ response was immediate and unreserved: “when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him” (v. 11). May the Blessed Virgin, model of prompt adherence to God’s will, help us to feel the allure of the Lord’s call, and make us willing to cooperate with him to spread his word of salvation everywhere.
Daily Blessings to You from Emmanuel Goh & Friends
Note: This webpage has many hyperlinks to the Vatican Webpage. The above extracts were compiled for your easy reading. This Publication is aimed to encourage all of Goodwill around the World. It is not for business or profit purposes but it is our way to thank our Creator for His continuous blessings!
Compiled on 5 February 2019 (Singapore Public Holiday) Last updated: 5 February 2022, 21:12 SGT
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