Today, 22nd of February, we celebrate
The Chair of Saint Peter the Apostle
In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth,
the earth was a formless wasteland, and darkness covered the abyss,
while a mighty wind swept over the waters.
Then God said,
“Let there be light,” and there was light.
God saw how good the light was.
God then separated the light from the darkness.
God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.”
Thus evening came, and morning followed–the first day.
Then God said,
“Let there be a dome in the middle of the waters,
to separate one body of water from the other.”
And so it happened:
God made the dome,
and it separated the water above the dome from the water below it.
God called the dome “the sky.”
Evening came, and morning followed–the second day.
Then God said,
“Let the water under the sky be gathered into a single basin,
so that the dry land may appear.”
And so it happened:
the water under the sky was gathered into its basin,
and the dry land appeared.
God called the dry land “the earth,”
and the basin of the water he called “the sea.”
God saw how good it was.
Then God said,
“Let the earth bring forth vegetation:
every kind of plant that bears seed
and every kind of fruit tree on earth
that bears fruit with its seed in it.”
And so it happened:
the earth brought forth every kind of plant that bears seed
and every kind of fruit tree on earth that
bears fruit with its seed in it.
God saw how good it was.
Evening came, and morning followed–the third day.
Then God said:
“Let there be lights in the dome of the sky,
to separate day from night.
Let them mark the fixed times, the days and the years,
and serve as luminaries in the dome of the sky,
to shed light upon the earth.”
And so it happened:
God made the two great lights,
the greater one to govern the day,
and the lesser one to govern the night;
and he made the stars.
God set them in the dome of the sky,
to shed light upon the earth,
to govern the day and the night,
and to separate the light from the darkness.
God saw how good it was.
Evening came, and morning followed–the fourth day
R./ May the Lord be glad in his works.
Bless the Lord, O my soul!
O Lord, my God, you are great indeed!
You are clothed with majesty and glory,
robed in light as with a cloak.
R./ May the Lord be glad in his works.
You fixed the earth upon its foundation,
not to be moved forever;
With the ocean, as with a garment, you covered it;
above the mountains the waters stood.
R./ May the Lord be glad in his works.
You send forth springs into the watercourses
that wind among the mountains.
Beside them the birds of heaven dwell;
from among the branches they send forth their song.
R./ May the Lord be glad in his works.
How manifold are your works, O Lord!
In wisdom you have wrought them all–
the earth is full of your creatures;
Bless the Lord, O my soul! Alleluia.
R./ May the Lord be glad in his works.
After making the crossing to the other side of the sea,
Jesus and his disciples came to land at Gennesaret
and tied up there.
As they were leaving the boat, people immediately recognized him.
They scurried about the surrounding country
and began to bring in the sick on mats
to wherever they heard he was.
Whatever villages or towns or countryside he entered,
they laid the sick in the marketplaces
and begged him that they might touch only the tassel on his cloak;
and as many as touched it were healed
I have had the opportunity many times to assist people at Caritas. Those who come to Caritas are in need, seeking help. They can’t afford rent or electricity bills, they don’t have enough for food, medicine, or for their children to be properly dressed for school. The needs are many, and the resources are few. For many people—sometimes entire families—making it to the end of the month is a struggle that repeats itself every single month. It’s as if they are running an endless obstacle course, never reaching the finish line.
That’s why, as soon as they see a helping hand, someone who can assist them, they go to it—because their needs are urgent. And if conditions are placed on them, they will agree to anything. And if, in the process of getting help, they feel they have to lie, they will lie. Because what is at stake is survival. I dare to say that the poor have the right to lie in order to receive help.
Jesus, through His preaching, His closeness to the poor and needy, and His healings, had a similar effect. The poor and the sick in those towns saw in Him a source of hope, a chance to move forward, to be freed from their pain, to find relief from the near-constant hunger that so many people lived with in those times (and also in ours—though from our privileged environments, we might find that hard to believe).
As always, the purists will say that these people did not come to Jesus with the best intentions, that they were simply looking to satisfy their own needs—to be free from the gnawing pain of hunger or the suffering of their illness. And that’s true. But that’s how the poor are. They have the right to seek relief precisely because of their poverty. Jesus understood this perfectly, which is why He was always so close to them—without demanding that they recite the Creed, or prove their doctrinal purity, or even demonstrate perfect moral integrity.
And we should do the same if we truly want to follow Jesus.
Fernando Torres, CMFNot much is known about St. Scholastica (480—547), the sister of the great St. Benedict, in whose shadow she hived. Dedicating her virginity to God, she first hived a life of prayer at home, then stayed near her brother at Subiaco, then Monte Cassino, unti! Benedictputher in charge ofacommunity of women. We know from history how Benedictine monasteries of men and women not only radiated peace, but were in many regions the civilizers and the main witnesses to Christ’s presence in the world.
God our Father,
we thank you for saints
like St. Scholastica;
they remind us that a life
of prayer and community
bears witness to your presence in this wor!d.
Make us too, see c!early
that it is ultimately you who count
and you who are the meaning of our !ives
and that the bond that unites us
with people anywhere
is Jesus Christ, our Lord.
God our Fathei
by the signs of food and drink,
your Son Jesus, gives himself to us
and gathers us together as a community
of love and service.
Make the communities
of religious men and wornen
a sign for al! to see,
that yod want us to be one
as the people you have liberated
and bound to you in a covenant
through the death and risen life
of Jesus Christ, our Lord.
God our Father,
we give you thanks for this Eucharist
and for al! the good done
in the Church and for the world
by religious men and women.
Let them be living witnesses
that the Gospel is worth !iving for.
Through the body and blood of your Son,
strengthen them to be to everyon
