Hebrews 8:6-13 / Mark 3:13-19
We are under the new covenant; God forgives our past.
A Dutch soldier, stationed in Indonesia, bought a small monkey as a pet. After a few days he noticed the tiny animal was sensitive around its waist. Closer inspection showed that someone had put a wire around it when the monkey was a baby.
The wire was now embedding itself in the monkey’s flesh. Using a tiny wire cutter and a safety razor, the soldier carefully removed the wire. When it was off, the monkey leaped for joy.
He was free, at last, from the pain that had held him bound. In a similar way, God has released us from the sins of our past, which once held us bound and in pain. How sensitive are we to the pain
that binds other people, causing them to suffer? The greatest pain that many afflicted people bear is not their affliction, but the pain caused by people’s insensitivity to their affliction.
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To be able to put something into a container, there are two obvious requirements - the container must not be full, and there must be at least some space to put that something in. Similarly, to write something on a piece of paper, there must be a space in the paper to write, and also that the paper cannot have too many things written on it such that a new addition becomes lost in that overwhelming content. If that is the case, the same could be said of the mind and heart. To put something into the mind, it must be clear enough to receive it. And for the heart to accept something, it must be open to it.
In the 1st reading, the Lord said that He will make a new covenant with the House of Israel. He will put His laws into their minds and write them in their hearts. And that covenant is this - The Lord declared that He will be their God and they shall be His people.
That covenant is renewed everyday with us especially in the Eucharist. But we have to clear our minds in order to understand what the Lord wants of us and to cleanse our hearts in order to receive the love that He wants to fill us with. And just as Jesus called the twelve, Jesus is also calling us to offer to Him our minds and hearts. May our minds not be distracted, and may our hearts be pure, so that our faith in God will be strengthened and that others will see us as the people of God.
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The worship of the old regime of the Law was insufficient, for it had to be replaced. It had only led on the part of the people to legalistic observance. But now comes the new covenant, written in peoples’ hearts, with Jesus as the mediator. There Jesus will speak from the heart: “I came to do your will.”
Jesus summons those he wants to work with him. The Twelve, reminding us of the twelve tribes of Israel, were to be the leaders, his intimate companions, and they were to be the foundations, the pillars of his Church, except for Judas, the traitor. Today he summons us all, but to some he gives special tasks in his Church. Yet we all have the task of building up the Church.
Let us pray: Lord God our Father, you let your Son Jesus associate with him helpers to carrying out his work of bringing about a new world and a new humanity. We thank you for the men and the women you choose in the sacred history of your people to guide and lead and inspire us. We too wish to cooperate today toward this new world, and so we ask: Make us close companions of Jesus, inspire us through your Spirit to cooperate with those who shepherd us, and lead us to your future of joy. Grant this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Saint Sebastian
Feast day January 20Sebastian was the son a nobleman who was a Christian. He joined the Roman army in the year 283 and kept his Christian beliefs secret so he could be a spy in the army.
Some Christians who knew the truth about Sebastian brought a woman named Zoe to him. She had lost the power of speech. Sebastian prayed with her and she quickly recovered. As a result, many people who knew her became Christians.
Around the same time, Emperor Diocletian promoted Sebastian to be guard of the Praetorian Guard, a regimen that acted as the emperor’s own bodyguard. Diocletian hated all Christians and had no idea someone in his trusted office was leading a double life.
Some time later, the authorities discovered Zoe and some of her friends were Christians. They were arrested and sentenced to death. It was too much for Sebastian. He went to see the emperor and announced he was a Christian too. Diocletian was furious. He ordered that Sebastian be put to death in a terrible way.
Sebastian was stripped and tied to a tree. His fellow officers used him as a target for archery practice, and arrow after and arrow were shot into him. A Christian woman named Irene came to rescue his body and was amazed to discover that Sebastian was still alive. She cared for his many wounds and nursed him back to health.
As soon as he recovered, Sebastian went and hid in a passageway and approached Diocletian as he walked by. Sebastian told him what he thought of his cruelty.
Diocletian was shocked to see him alive and said nothing. But as soon as he recovered, he ordered Sebastian to be put to death. This time Sebastian was beaten to death with heavy clubs and his body was thrown into one of the city’s sewers.
BASIL MOREAU
Basil Moreau grew up amidst the turmoil of post-Revolution France, and as a young priest felt compelled to revitalize a Church devastated by years of civil upheaval. With nearly two-thirds of France’s clergy and religious exiled or killed, Father Moreau organized a group of Auxiliary Priests to preach, teach, and bring the message of Christ to those in neglected towns and villages.
A new association
In 1835, Father Moreau assumed leadership over the Brothers of Saint Joseph, a community of laymen founded by Rev. Jacques Dujarié to work as educators in rural parishes. Father Moreau merged the priests and the brothers in 1837. This new association took its name from the town where it was based – Sainte-Croix (Holy Cross).
Basil Moreau’s vision was to maximize the spiritual vigor of this association by modeling it after the Holy Family. He completed the Holy Cross family by founding a group of sisters, known as the Marianites, who collaborated with the priests and brothers in the mission of evangelization.
Father Moreau gave to each of the three societies a patron. He consecrated the priests to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the brothers to the pure heart of St. Joseph, and the sisters to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. He placed the entire family of Holy Cross under the patronage of Our Lady of Sorrows.
Growth and missions
Soon the Church outside of France began seeking the assistance of Moreau’s fledgling congregation. He sent priests, brothers, and sisters to other countries, including Italy, Algeria, Poland, the United States, Canada, and Bangladesh.
The Holy See officially declared Moreau’s institute to be a religious congregation – the Congregation of Holy Cross – in 1857 by approving the association’s Constitutions. The Holy See required that the sisters be recognized separately from the congregation of priests and brothers. The sisters later were approved as three separate congregations.
Moreau authored the Constitutions that were approved by the Holy See, as well as the set of Rules that accompanied them. He also composed Meditations, Spiritual Exercises, and a treatise on pedagogy entitled Christian Education. These were intended to aid in the spiritual and ministerial formation of his religious. In this way, Father Moreau, the founder, remained also the educator and teacher. He sought to bequeath to his Congregation a particular spirituality and charism to serve the Church and the world.
Challenges
While the Congregation of Holy Cross certainly enjoyed much growth and success, it also confronted severe challenges in the period shortly after its foundation. Father Moreau, who worked tirelessly for his Congregation of Holy Cross, himself suffered trials of various sorts, including abandonment by his own community. Nevertheless, placing his hope in the Cross of Christ and abandoning himself to Divine Providence, he continued to do the work of God, preaching missions until his health failed. The Marianites of Holy Cross cared for him to the end. He died in Le Mans on January 20, 1873.
Beatification
Basil Moreau was declared “venerable” by Pope John Paul II on April 12, 2003, and beatified by order of Pope Benedict XVI, on September 15, 2007, the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows. He remains an inspiration to the consecrated men and women who make up the family of Holy Cross today, as well as to the faithful who have come to know him through the witness and ministries of Holy Cross religious throughout the world. We continue to pray for the canonization of this holy man of God, whose zeal for souls knew no bounds and who still works for our salvation from heaven.
“At first [Father Moreau] seems like one of those country priests from whom you do not expect very much, and whose appearance is in no way belied by his Le Mans accent, which pares down even further his great simplicity of speech… After speaking with him for a while, you notice that he has discerning eyes, that his mind is direct, firm and fertile, and that his heart is consumed with love. He is a great man and a saint.”
