Friday of the Third Week of Ordinary Time Gospel: Mark 4:26-34 Mustard Seed: The Precursor of the Kingdom of Heaven
Today is Friday of the Third Week in Ordinary Time. In the liturgical calendars published by the Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong and the Catholic Diocese of Macau, as well as the one compiled by Chinese Regional Bishops’ Conference Commission for Liturgy and Sacraments, today is specially noted as the Memorial of Blessed Father Gabriele Allegra.
In today’s Gospel according to Saint Mark, Jesus compares the Kingdom of Heaven to a mustard seed. Indeed, the seed of God’s Word, like a mustard seed, is sown in our hearts. When we hear God’s Word from our neighbor or at some unexpected moment, this seed of God’s Word sprouts and grows in our hearts. When we resolve to follow Christ, the seed of God’s Word slowly bears ears. When we follow the teachings of the Savior and receive His instruction, offering to God the prayers that are due, this seed of the Word then yields fruit in our hearts. At the time of harvest, God Himself comes to reap, and gathers the wheat into His barn.
Here, I wish to make special mention of Blessed Father Gabriele Allegra. Vatican Radio (now Vatican News) in a program broadcast in September 2012, enthusiastically introduced this new blessed to its global audience: Born in 1907 in the Province of Catania, Sicily, Italy, Father Allegra was ordained a priest at the age of 23, becoming a Franciscan friar. During his missionary work in China, he founded the “Studium Biblicum Franciscanum” in Beijing, which was later moved to Hong Kong, where he remained until his death in 1976. Father Allegra also dedicated himself to assisting the poor, lepers, and other sick people. Cardinal Amato called him a “priest of outstanding virtue.” Cardinal Amato said: “Faith was the strength of the new blessed. In his memoirs, it shows his firm and ardent faith. His faith is also revealed in the spirit of compassion of his mercy. His visible examples were his fervent dialogue with the Most Holy Eucharist, his short prayers and the Rosary, and the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. His profound faith is even more evident in the way he venerated the Word of God. He worked with great effort in translating the Bible, striving for perfection, often discussing for days with his assistants to find the most appropriate translation for a single word.” Father Allegra’s work was accomplished under the impetus of a spirit of love for service to the Church. Cardinal Amato emphasized that Father Allegra was so humble, “Those who do deep work may not win fame like some contemporary theologians, but in my view, they are of greater benefit to the Church of God.”
Blessed Father Gabriele Allegra was like a mustard seed sown by God in the missionary region of China, enabling the Chinese mission to have an accessible Chinese Bible, namely, the Studium Biblicum Version. Today, let us imitate Blessed Father Gabriele Allegra, courageously accept the mission entrusted to each of us by God’s Word, generously fulfill God’s holy will, and become the chosen sowers whom God delights to select.
God, Father of light, you aroused in Blessed Gabriel Maria, priestly friar, an ardent dedication to the divine Scriptures, so that the Gospel of your Son could resound to the ends of the earth,grant us too, through his intercession, to nourish ourselves assiduously with the Word of life, and always testify to it in words and deeds. Through our Lord Jesus Christ your son, who lives and reigns with You in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever. Amen.
Thursday of the Third Week in Ordinary Time Gospel: Mark 4:21-25 Christians: Lamps Set on a Lampstand Reflecting the Light of Christ
We are often attracted by alluring things—such as delicious food crafted by human hands, social fame, or status—and become deeply entangled, unable to extricate ourselves. When we harbor such thoughts, we neglect God. We forget how He has guided us step by step, drawing us to Himself; we even forget that we were once Christians, sometimes overlooking how God called us. In truth, God constantly reveals His mercy in our lives. Through all that we encounter, He helps us discern His holy will and allows us to experience His infinite love at every moment, like the oxygen that sustains our life, the sunlight, and the clear spring water—always present.
We often experience God’s love as we listen to the Gospel proclaimed to us by our elders, relatives, friends, and even unknown brothers and sisters. Gradually gaining a deeper understanding and knowledge of faith, we develop a desire to establish a closer relationship with God. We wish to receive the Sacrament of Baptism instituted by Jesus Christ, being washed of original sin once and for all in the Most Precious Blood of Christ. Through anointing with the Holy Spirit, we are freed from sin and death, no longer called children of darkness or of the devil, but children of God. When we receive the initiation sacraments, the ministering priest (bishop, cardinal, or Pope) takes fire from the Paschal candle blessed for the celebration of the glorious Resurrection of the Lord. A candle lit from this sacred flame is passed to us through our godparents, so that through the light of Christ we receive, we become children of light. By these sacraments, we are consecrated and share in the triple ministry of king, priest, and prophet. Thus, we are called to proclaim all that Christ taught to the world, sharing the light of Christ with our neighbors, that they may live in the light as we do, through all that we do.
Today, let us pray to Jesus, asking Him to grant us wisdom and understanding, to fill our hearts with the Holy Spirit in communion with Him. May we bring the true light that enlightens everyone to those living in darkness, the love of Christ to those forgotten by all, and let the comforting light of Christ be present in every corner of the world. Amen.
Memorial of Saint Thomas Aquinas, Priest and Doctor of the Church Gospel: Mark 4:1-20 The Sower
Today the Church celebrates the memorial of Saint Thomas Aquinas. As we know, Saint Thomas Aquinas is known as the Angelic Doctor. He marvelously expounded the Divine Word and revealed the nature of God through his “Summa Theologiae.”
Today’s passage from the Gospel of Saint Mark recounts how Jesus told the Parable of the Sower to His followers and subsequently explained its meaning in conversation with the Apostles. From His narrative, we observe a frequently recurring word: seed. The seed represents the smallest form of life and, more profoundly, the relationship between the Divine Word of God and this world. For the Divine Word of God often appears among us in the most unobtrusive forms and, now deemed appropriate by God, opens the door for us to approach Him, enabling us to embark on a journey alongside Him toward our heavenly homeland.
All that God has bestowed upon us is holy and good, just as He once bestowed upon our first parents, allowing them to enjoy all blessings in the Garden of Eden. However, due to the disobedience of our first parents, we are stained with original sin at the moment of our birth. God, who loves us, desires that through His infinite mercy, we may regain the righteousness that was lost due to original sin, a righteousness that the adopted sons and daughters of God should originally possess. Therefore, He sent His only Son, our Lord, God, Jesus Christ, the incarnate Word of God. Through His proclamation, His personal practice, and His self-sacrifice on the cross to save us from the bondage of the devil and to reconcile us with the Heavenly Father, we are enabled, through all that He has done, to be reconciled with the Heavenly Father and the world He created.
Today, God calls upon us to emulate the virtuous example of Saint Thomas Aquinas, to sow the seeds of God’s Word throughout the world, and to nourish those seeds within our hearts through prayer and actions befitting God’s Word, so that they may bear abundant fruit. Therefore, let us pray to God, saying:
O God, who made Saint Thomas Aquinas outstanding in his zeal for holiness and his study of sacred doctrine, grant us, we pray, that we may understand what he taught and imitate what he accomplished. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.
全属于祢 
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