AD SENSE

1st Week, Monday, Jan 13: St. Hilary

 Hebrews 1:1-6 / Mark 1:14-20

God speaks to us through Jesus; Jesus is the imprint of God's being.

St. Ambrose was a fourth-century bishop in Milan. His eloquent preaching played a major role in St. Augustine's conversion to Christianity. In one of his famous homilies, Ambrose used this example to show how closely Jesus mirrors God the Father: "As the print of the seal on the wax is the express image of the seal itself, so Christ is the express image— the perfect representation of God." It is this same image that the author of the Letter to the Hebrews places before us in today's reading. In the love of Jesus, we glimpse God's love. In the mercy of Jesus, we glimpse God's mercy.

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How closely do we study Jesus to try to learn more about our heavenly Father? Jesus said to Philip, "Whoever has seen me has seen the Father." John 14:9

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Today we begin to read from Hebrews. God speaks to us in nature, in the people around us, in the events of life. Yet we are often deaf to his words and his silence. Few listened to his messengers, the prophets. Finally, he spoke through his Son Jesus. The Letter to the Hebrews stresses this point: in the Gospel we hear Jesus speak and proclaim his Good News. But is it good news to us today? Do we accept it as words and the language of his actions addressed to us personally?

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In the gospel, Jesus begins to preach the coming of the kingdom of God among people. He calls for penance and conversion and chooses his first disciples. These same words are addressed to us today: “Repent, be converted, be fishers of people for the kingdom.” 

Time is very important to us. Most of us have a watch or some kind of time piece and throughout the day we will take a look at it. We arrange our schedules according to the time. We see how much we can do with our time and our lives revolve around the time of the day. Even in the liturgy, we begin with the first week in Ordinary Time! 

And the readings of today also mention something about time, but it is not just about ordinary time. The 1st reading begins by saying that at various times in the past God spoke through the prophets, but in our own time, He has spoken through His Son. 

The time that is referred to is not about ordinary time or chronological time, but rather it is about the appointed time - it is about God's time. And in the gospel (of Mark), the first words of Jesus as He begins His mission is this: The time has come ...

Yes, the time has come, and the time is now. The kingdom of God has come and it is here. So what are we to do? Jesus tells us to repent and believe the Good News. 

With so much time ahead of us today, let each minute, each second, each moment be a Good News moment. Let us spend each minute, each second each moment giving thanks for the goodness and blessings that the Lord has blessed us with and may we share God's blessings with others and be a people of the Good News.

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Let us Pray: Lord our God, you invite us, disciples of your Son today, to be wholly converted to the gospel and to help extend your kingdom. Give us hearts open to the good news and the generosity to share it with people of our day. We ask you this through Jesus Christ, your Son and our Lord, who lives with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

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Saint Hilary

Feast day January 13

Hilary was born to pagan parents of Poitiers, France, in 315. After training in the classics and philosophy, Hilary married. He and his wife had one daughter, Afra. All who knew Hilary said he was a friendly, charitable, gentle man. Hilary’s studies led him to read Scripture. He became convinced that there was only one God, whose Son became man and died and rose to save all people. This led him to be baptized along with his wife and daughter.

The people of Poitiers chose Hilary to be their bishop in 353. He spoke out against Arianism, a heresy that denied the divinity of Christ. When Emperor Constantius II wanted him to sign a paper condemning Saint Athanasius, the great defender of the faith, he refused. The emperor was furious and exiled Hilary to Phrygia. In exile, he preached, wrote, and suffered, and even asked to debate the Arian bishops. Fearing Hilary’s arguments, Arian’s followers begged the emperor to send Hilary home. The emperor, believing Hilary was also undermining his authority, recalled him. Hilary’s writings show that he could be fierce in defending the faith, but in dealing with the bishops who had given in to the Arian heresy, he was charitable. He showed them their errors and helped them to defend their faith. Though the emperor called Hilary “disturber of the peace,” Saints Jerome and Augustine praised him as “teacher of the churches.”