Saints Faustinus and Jovita, Martyrs, (unknown)
St. Agape, Virgin and Martyr, (unknown)
St. Walfrid, Abbot, (765)
St. Valentine, Martyr, (269)
St. Abraham of Carrhae, Bishop, (422)
St. Maro, Abbot, (433)
St. Polyeuctus, Martyr, (259)
St. Stephen of Rieti, Abbot, (560)
St. Martinian, Abbot, (unknown)
The Consular Division of the Embassy of the Republic of Poland and the Jan Karski Institute invite you to an evening of poetry
WHEN:
Saturday, February 24, 5 p.m.
Sunday, February 25, 5 p.m.
WHERE:
The Consular Division of the Embassy of the Republic of Poland
2224 Wyoming Ave., N.W.
Washington, DC 22008
TICKETS:
$20 per person
For ticket reservations, please call (301) 320-5688 or (301) 320-3668.
The distinguished cast of performers will include:
- Ms. Hanna Bondarewska,
- Ms. Kaya Mirecka-Ploss,
- Mr. Waldemar Izdebski
- Mr. Wieslaw Malachowski
The entire profit from the event will be distributed to the children who lost their fathers in the tragic explosion in the Halemba mine in Ruda Slaska in November 2006.
St. Meletius of Antioch, Bishop, (381)
St. Antony Kauleas, Bishop, (901)
St. Marina, Virgin, (unknown)
When they had done this, they caught a great number of fish
and their nets were tearing.
My brothers and sisters,
We are those fish. We are the people taken up in the nets of the Holy Church, the nets that pull us toward salvation.
While we’re sitting here in the nets, let’s consider what might happen to us.
Many are content to sit in the nets of the Church. They are protected, fed by the Church, and as long as they do not fight against the nets, they are drawn inexorably closer to the heavenly kingdom. They are models of content cooperation.
While that’s not a terribly bad way to live, it is a little passive.
Transformation occurs when the fish become the fishermen.
Each of today’s readings and the Gospel speak of the apprehension and the issues encountered before such a momentous transformation takes place.
Listen to Isaiah’s lament:
Then I said, —Woe is me, I am doomed!
For I am a man of unclean lips,
living among a people of unclean lips;
yet my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!—
Isaiah stood before the throne of God knowing that he was to be sent. Isaiah was to prophesy before Israel, encouraging them to follow in the way of God.
God asked from the throne:
—Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?—
To which Isaiah replied:
—Here I am,— I said; —send me!—
Isaiah started out in fear and trembling, and ended up affirming his willingness to take on the job God required.
Like some of us, Isaiah started out as fearful fish caught up in God’s net. He left the net to do God’s work and bring his people back.
Paul recognized his sinfulness in light of the hope and glory of salvation in Jesus Christ.
Paul says:
Last of all, as to one born abnormally,
He appeared to me.
For I am the least of the apostles,
not fit to be called an apostle,
because I persecuted the church of God.
…and he too affirms
But by the grace of God I am what I am,
and His grace to me has not been ineffective.
Paul, like many of the fish in the net, felt unworthy.
But Paul was born into new life in Christ. He recognized the most important thing. He could not do anything by himself. His preaching would be worthless, his message would fall like a stone, all except for the fact that he was reborn, regenerated in the Holy Spirit.
Like a fish, caught up in self loathing, Paul could have stayed down. But because he had faith, and because he saw what the Lord had accomplished, he was able to say:
Indeed, I have toiled harder than all of them;
not I, however, but the grace of God that is with me.
Paul was transformed from fish to fisherman by the grace of God. That grace is within all of us, calling us to be fishers of men.
Jesus put a very fine point on the whole matter.
The Apostles worked all night. They were exhausted. They, and their business partners, needed to get the nets clean and ready. They needed to get home, eat, rest, and prepare for the next day.
Along comes Jesus:
Getting into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon,
he asked him to put out a short distance from the shore.
Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat.
Can you imagine Peter’s thoughts? Maybe Peter was being polite, but inside he may have been aggravated. There’s this guy standing in my boat preaching and I need to get home. Jesus was like the guest who wouldn’t leave.
Then Jesus turns around and says:
—Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch.—
Ummmm, yup, ok… Peter must have been flabbergasted.
But the Holy Spirit was at work. Peter replies:
—Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing,
but at your command I will lower the nets.—
We know the rest, a huge draught of fish, almost too much for two boats.
Do you think Peter understood?
I think he understood very well, and tried one last time to stay with the fish.
—Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.—
I’m not worthy, like Paul, like Isaiah, I’m not worthy.
To which Jesus replied:
—Do not be afraid;
from now on you will be catching men.—
That’s our mission. We are to transform ourselves from faithful fish, being pulled along in the nets of the Church, to faithful fishers of men.
We are to be the priests, the deacons, the evangelists, the public witnesses to all that Jesus said and did. We are to fill the nets of the Church. Only we, inspired by the Holy Spirit, can do it.
St. Lucius of Adrianople, Bishop and Martyr, (350)
St. Gregory II of Rome, Bishop, (731)
St. Paschal I of Rome, Bishop, (824)
Since I found out about Anna Nicole Smith’s death, at the age of 39, I’ve been pondering what our response should be. How should people of faith react to the tragedy that was her life.
If we were to be just honest enough, and just sarcastic enough, we would declare a national day of mourning for Anna.
The old Frank Sinatra myopic Miracle of the Bells spoke of a nation called to mourning for an actress that embodied her humble roots, her faith, and the hope of her people.
We’ve been transported 59 years into the future and our nation should mourn for its symbolic princess.
Like the fictional Olga Treskovna, Vickie Lynn Hogan came from poor rural roots. Whatever her connection was to those roots, unlike Olga she left them in rapid succession, drinking her fill of the majority of the seven deadly sins.
Anna Nicole symbolizes much of what we have become. Gluttonous, lazy, imbibed with sex, drugs, and partying, living an I’m OK, you’re OK, no fault life. A life that left a wake of death behind it.
The press tries to dig in an find the witnesses who protest her sweetness, her simplicity. She was OK, things just happen. She was sad, it was the alcohol, or drugs, or men, or…
We need that national day of mourning, mourning for what we now produce. We once proclaimed our values, basic values, now we proclaim lives like Anna’s. We once produced steel, now we produce Anna and Brittney, and so many others, willing to sell themselves for what the American dream has become.
As people of faith we must pray for Anna. First for the repose of her soul. I offer that prayer.
We must also pray for all those on Anna’s path, on the great bling encrusted American production line. God save them.
And we must repent, for our desires, our pennies spent foolishly, make it all happen.
For more see the Daily Mail’s: Legacy of a gold-digger.
St. Scholastica, Virgin, (543)
St. Soteris, Virgin and Martyr, (304)
St. Austreberta, Virgin, (704)
Ref. Common of Martyrs: Romans 8:31-39, Psalm 34, John 12:24-26
Can any of you tell me how we show our love?
— One way, and what we consider a very important and essential way to show love, is that we give ourselves completely to the those we love.
Can any of you think of ways to do this?
— Today we celebrate the Commemoration of St. Valentine, a Christian who gave himself completely to his brothers and sisters and to God. He was a martyr, which means that even under tremendous pressure, even under tremendous torture, he refused to reject God, to reject God’s ways and teachings. He stood by Jesus always and forever.
He gave himself completely to God, out of love.
Now for another important question: Do you have to be perfect to love someone?
I can rephrase that: Do you have to try to be perfect around the people you love?
— The answer is no.
Have any of you ever heard the saying I’m ok, you’re ok?
— It’s a very popular saying. It comes from a book published in 1969 by Thomas Harris. It was one of the most successful self-help books ever published, selling over 15 million copies. People still buy it.
The phrase relates to the way we deal with other people. We’re supposed to think that everything about ourselves is OK and everything about everyone else is OK too.
Do you think that’s true?
–The honest answer is that I am not OK and you are not OK. We are all broken. We are all sinful. We are all imperfect.
The amazing thing about God, about Jesus, is that He loves us even though we are not OK. He loves us even though we sin, make mistakes, and are not perfect. He loves us no matter what.
God loves us so much that He died on a cross for us —“ to take our sins — our not being ok —“ away.
The message for St. Valentine’s Day is a message of love. God’s love overcomes our not being perfect. Once we realize that God loves us no matter what, we can set to doing what He asks of us.
In today’s Gospel Jesus tells us:
Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there also will my servant be.
Like St. Valentine we are to stand by Jesus, even when it gets very hard to stand by Him, even if it means giving ourselves completely.
Remember, Jesus told us:
This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
He asks us to love one another. He asks us to love each other even though we are not perfect and those around us are not perfect. He asks us to look past the imperfections, the annoying things, the way people look, act, talk, and think, to see that He loves them and that we must love them, no matter what.