Wisdom 1:13-15; 2:23-24; 2 Corinthians 8:7, 9, 13-15; Mark 5:21-43

Faith. When I read today’s Gospel, it made me think about how the people who followed Jesus at that time were lucky to see him in the flesh. I wonder at their faith in this man. I fear I might have been more like Thomas of another Gospel and doubted. Yet we read of the woman who knew she only had to touch his clothes and she might be made whole.  We hear Jesus say to the family of the young girl who they believed had died: “Do not be afraid. Just have faith.” 

In Ekaterinburg, in the parish of St. Anna, on the Solemnity of Corpus Christi, the First Holy Communion of children took place. 11 young candidates received communion. After an interruption due to the pandemic, it was a much-anticipated event.

Children were prepared for this great event by S.M. Irina Chicherova. For the last 2 years, the children had weekly activities in the common room. While meetings were restricted due to the lockdown, the classes were held at home and led by parents who received materials from Sr. Irina to conduct the meeting.

"As good as bread"

Project "St. Brother Albert Chmielowski" in the Diocese of Doumé / Cameroon

Working for a long time in Caritas in the Doumé Abong-Mbang diocese, I notice how many needs there are, as people experience poverty, hunger and sickness. How many people suffer because of the lack of money necessary for surgeries, for treatments, for the repair of their homes which, for example, have lost their roofs due to high winds, which often occur in our region. Seeing the great demand and necessity of "every penny", as well as the helplessness of the local population and the powerlessness of the world affected by the pandemic - I decided to use the local natural resources at the disposal of the local population. Having been in Cameroon for many years, I realized that  the "treasure" of this area are the ARACHIDS – (peanuts). The harvest is generally once a year but, often enough we harvest up to several 100 kg bags. The problem is that people have no place to sell them and really do not know what to do with them. With this commodity they pay, for example, school fees.

5. COMMUNITY OF DISCIPLES OF JESUS - COMMUNION

Patroness of the month   -  Mary, Mother of the Church, pray for us

Unity in diversity: the nature, gift and task of the Church community. How to be together and to live together, one with the other and one for the other? We need Mary’s trust and openness to what is new, different, unknown. The Church needs to discover Her maternal heart which beats for unity.

Intention of the month

Let us pray for the Pope and all the clergy of the Church, so that God would keep them healthy, safe, and faithful to the Gospel.

Genesis 8:1-15; Matthew 8:5-17

All of today’s readings deal with faith in some way. In the first reading Sarah does not really have faith, although she should.  In the gospel the soldier has complete and unquestioning faith.  Even in the psalm reading, the psalm is the magnificat.  This is the song of Mary’s faith and acceptance of her role.

Mt 8:1-4

"Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him"

The greatest disease in the West today is not tuberculosis or leprosy; it is being unwanted, unloved and uncared for. We can cure physical diseases with medicine, but the only cure for loneliness, despair and hopelessness is love. There are many in the world who are dying for a piece of bread, but there are many more dying for a little love. The poverty in the West is a different kind of poverty – it is not only a poverty of loneliness bu also of spirituality. There's a hunger for love as there is a hunger for God.

Teresa of Calcutta (1910-1997), founder of the Missionary Sisters of Charity

Painted by Lyn Deutsch

Isaiah 49:1-6; Acts 13:22-26; Luke 1:57-66, 80

Today is known as “Little Christmas”. It is the birth of the sixth-month older cousin of Jesus. There were some who believed John to be the Christ, but the Gospels make it quite clear that his destiny was to be the forerunner and baptizer of the Christ.

There is nothing known or written about any friendship they enjoyed after their womb-to-womb meeting during Mary’s visitation to John’s mother, Elizabeth. John is pictured as having a light to shine toward and upon Jesus, but as the Evangelist John writes in his first chapter, “He was not the light, but came to bear witness to the light.” John 1, 8

Matthew 7:15-20

Generally when I try to heed the warning to beware of the false prophet I remind myself to be cautious around political leaders and church hierarchy and other power brokers.  And of course there are many times when such individuals fit the bill.  But this seems too easy.  It is so much more comfortable to identify the faults of others. The attribution of power, greed, and vanity to another person can help us feel safe.  It is easier to diagnose the shortcomings of another than to explore the actions and thoughts and choices of ourselves.

Matthew 7:6, 12-14

In today’s gospel Our Lord advises we “enter through the narrow gate,” not the “wide one.”   Both are unlocked, and each gives access to a way with its own destination.  One has “Death” blazed across it and the way it opens up leads to a dead end:  it gradually leads to death.  The sign on the other says “Life,” and the way it opens leads to eternal life in the Kingdom of God.  Our Lord leaves it up to us to choose which one to enter.