Monday, January 3, 2022

January 02, 2022

Monday, January 3, 2022

Monday After Epiphany

10^TH DAY OF CHRISTMAS

Psalm 2, verse 11

Serve the LORD with FEAR; exult with trembling, accept correction lest he become angry, and you perish along the way when his anger suddenly blazes up. Blessed are all who take refuge in him!

To fully understand this verse, we must know who the writer is referring to. In verse 10 the writer states “Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear. Our God is a just God and to “those who have been given much; much is required”; to quote the spider man movie. Kings (and the ONE percenter’s) to be wise must humble themselves. It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of the needle then for a rich man to get into heaven. The "Eye of the Needle" has been claimed to be a gate in Jerusalem, which opened after the main gate was closed at night. A camel could only pass through this smaller gate if it was stooped and had its baggage removed.[1]

I also with this verse picture Mary Magdalene. Mary who by many accounts was a very rich woman financed our Lord’s ministry. We see in this verse the shadowing of her kissing of His feet and at the same time the hardening of Judas’ heart: who on seeing her act of love and wanting riches refused to humble himself and died in his pride.

Does Christ desire us to serve with Fear and trembling?

I noticed the other day that my two dogs when I come in are so excited about seeing me that they tremble with excitement. I think our God wants our hearts and our desires. I think we should have the humble fear that a loved child has for his or her parents, full of love and respect and that we should be excited too. So, let us approach each day with the kind of excitement that makes us tremble ready to do the will of God?

Christmas Calendar[2]

Read "But the one name that contains everything is the one that the Son of God received in his incarnation: JESUS. The divine name may not be spoken by human lips, but by assuming humanity the Word of God hands it over to us and we can invoke it: "Jesus," "YHWAH saves." The name "Jesus" contains all: God and man and the whole economy of creation and salvation. To pray "Jesus" is to invoke him and to call him within us. His name is the only one that contains the presence it signifies. Jesus is the Risen One, and whoever invokes the name of Jesus is welcoming the Son of God who loved him and who gave himself up for him. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 2666)

Reflect "May he—who did not shrink from taking a beginning like ours—perfect in us his gifts, and may he also make us children of God, he who for our sakes wished to become a child of man." — St. Augustine, Sermons, 184

Pray Today we remember and honor the Most Holy Name of Jesus. Take time to read the Litany of the Holy Name of Jesus.

Act Make reading the daily readings a part of your New Year's habits this year.

Today is the tenth day of Christmas the 10 Lord’s a leaping are a sign for the Ten Commandments.