Daily Readings, Reflections, and Prayers

May we who are merely inconvenienced, remember those whose lives are at stake. May we who have no risk factors, remember those most vulnerable. May we who have the luxury of working from home, remember those who must choose between preserving their health or making their rent. May we who have the flexibility to care for our children when their schools close, remember those who have no options. May we who have to cancel our trips, remember those that have no place to go. May we who are losing our margin money in the tumult of the economic market, remember those who have no margin at all. May we who settle in for a quarantine at home, remember those who have no home. During this time, when we cannot physically wrap our arms around each other, let us find ways to be the loving embrace of God to our neighbors.

WHAT’S SO GREAT ABOUT DISCIPLINE?
Freedom is one of our most cherished channels for happiness. Our preoccupation with freedom often leads us to believe that everything we have a taste for should be ours by right, and that everything we want should come to us easily. "Effort" and its companion "discipline" are falling out of use in our culture's vocabulary. However, life can be "a bowl of cherries," but, for the most part, only for those willing to pick them. To be physically fit, for instance, we have to work at it. To have a satisfying marriage or friendship will demand commitment, tact, flexibility, and endurance. Spiritual growth, also, requires discipline. Would you, or anyone you know, like to hear more about how to achieve spiritual growth through the "discipline" of the Catholic faith? We invite you to an RCIA Inquiry Session. For more info, call our RCIA contact at 732-764- 0264.

Heavenly Father, We give You thanks and praise for our fathers. We honor them and ask Your blessing upon them. We ask Saint Joseph, loving foster father of Jesus, to also bless our fathers. Give our fathers grace, wisdom and patience to balance faith, family and work. Bless too, all those fathers who have gone to their eternal rest. Grant them heavenly peace. Amen.

There are two upcoming days of prayer: 

January 16, 2022, at 10:45 am:  Join the Knights of Columbus as they pray the rosary for Respect for All Lives, including the Unborn. All are welcome to join.

Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children January 22, 2022:  In all the Dioceses of the United States of America, January 22 (or January 23, when January 22 falls on a Sunday) shall be observed as a particular day of prayer for the full restoration of the legal guarantee of the right to life and of penance for violations to the dignity of the human person committed through acts of abortion.

Join the many faithful from Christian denominations around the world for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, January 18—25, 2022. Our theme for 2022 is “We Saw the Star in the East, and We Came to Worship Him.” Unity Prayer Lord God, illumine our path by the light of Christ who moves us and leads us. Guide us to discover a small manger in our hearts where a great light still sleeps. Creator of light, we thank you for the gift of that unfading Star, Jesus Christ, our Lord, and Savior. Heal our divisions and draw us closer to the Light that we may find our unity in him. Amen.

Today’s Feast marks the conclusion of the Christmas Season and the beginning of Ordinary Time. It is a feast of transition from Jesus’ hidden life to that of his public ministry. It also echoes the theme of the Epiphany in that the Baptism of the Lord is another manifestation announcing Jesus’ divinity to all of His followers and to the disciples of John the Baptist. First of all, it needs to be pointed out that Jesus did not need the baptism of John. John was baptizing as a call to and sign of interior repentance. Jesus had no need to repent. But, nonetheless, He comes to John. John resists at first but Jesus insists. Why did He receive baptism? First, by accepting the baptism of John, Jesus affirms all that John has said and done and affirms his sacred role of preparing the way for Jesus and for a new era of grace. Therefore, the Baptism of Jesus acts as a bridge between the Old Testament prophets (of which John was the last) and the New Testament era of grace and truth. Second, it has been said that when Jesus entered the waters of baptism, He was not baptized by the waters, rather, His Baptism was one in which all the created waters of this world were, in a sense, “baptized” by Him. By entering into the water, Jesus sanctified water and poured forth His grace making all water the future source of salvation. Third, the Baptism of Jesus was an epiphany. It was a moment of manifestation. This manifestation of the divinity of Jesus took place in a physical, audible and visible form so that all present would know, without question, that Jesus was the Son of the Father. Thus, His baptism is a way in which the Father introduced His Son and His Son’s mission to the world. As we prepare to begin Ordinary Time, turn your eyes to Jesus and prepare yourself to follow Him. He was sent into this world to draw us to the Father, allow Him to fulfill that mission in your own life. Source: catholic-daily-reflections.com

Heavenly Father, we thank You '
for the year that has passed and
the many blessings You have
showered us in time.

We beg your pardon in our
many failings and trespasses
and we pray that the coming
year be a more fruitful one.

We earnestly pray for the gift of
the Holy Spirit and we call upon
our Lord Jesus Christ for His
intercessions. His guidance and
His light to shine our path.

Word of God Sunday In his Apostolic Letter motu proprio “Aperuit Illis”, dated September 30, 2019, Pope Francis instituted the Third Sunday of Ordinary Time each year as “Sunday of the Word of God”. According to his Apostolic Letter, it “is to be devoted to the celebration, study, and dissemination of the Word of God.”

After all Masses this weekend, please pick up a copy of “The Acts of the Apostles” as a gift from the parish (one per family, please).

“Acts is the only book in the New Testament that continues the story of Jesus into the early church. If it were not for Acts, we would have only isolated pieces of information about the beginnings of the church. We would have to dig these bits and pieces out of the New Testament letters, but would have no framework into which to put them… But Acts means more than this for Christians today. As is true of all biblical narratives, the stories in Acts act as models and examples of how God deals with his people. They give Christians of all ages something to imitate and exemplify how God acts in our lives...” (source: The Acts of the Apostles, p. 5)

We hope you will join us in celebrating the Word of God Sunday!