Before us is the first week of Ordinary Time. The feast of the Baptism of the Lord has indeed brought the Christmas season to a close. Nevertheless, we are invited to give value to this “weekday” season because, by progressively evoking Christ's life in deeds and words, it tells us above all that following Jesus does not require doing extraordinary things, but rather making the ordinary extraordinary. How can we succeed? By sowing small acts of love in the everyday circumstances of life, wherever the Lord calls us.
THURSDAY 14 JANUARY
Beginning of the novena to the Holy Spouses
On 23 January, the Church celebrates the feast of the marriage of Mary and Joseph. From today, we can prepare for this celebration by praying the novena and meditating on the marriage of Mary and Joseph through the words of John Paul II: «At the culminating moment of salvation history, when God reveals his love for humanity through the gift of the Word, it is precisely the marriage of Mary and Joseph that realizes in complete “freedom” the “nuptial gift of self” in accepting and expressing such love» (Redemptoris Custos, 7). In this special Year of Saint Joseph, the novena to the Holy Spouses takes on particular significance: it invites us to rediscover the fundamental role that Saint Joseph plays in the plan of salvation.
For further reading:
• The holy spouses Mary and Joseph
• With a Father's Heart
FRIDAY 15 JANUARY
Virgin of the Poor of Banneux
Banneux is a small Belgian village of farmers and miners. In January 1933, eleven-year-old Mariette Beco was looking out of the kitchen window when a beautiful Lady appeared to her. She was motionless and radiant, with her hands clasped and her head slightly tilted to the left. The child did not immediately recognize Mary in the beautiful Lady who had appeared to her, but instinctively began praying the Rosary before her. This was the first of eight apparitions officially recognized by the Church in 1949. During the subsequent encounters, Our Lady revealed to her: «I am the Virgin of the Poor». Then she led her to a spring of water, telling her: «This is reserved for me». «Why for me?», the girl naively asked. But Our Lady smiled, pointed to herself, and said: «It is for all nations… for the sick…». And she asked that a chapel be built, explaining: «I have come to alleviate suffering…». At Banneux, Our Lady alleviates human suffering by bringing healing to sick bodies and souls; the Mother of God thus becomes an evangelizer and fills hearts “poor” in love with joy.
For further reading:
• Our Lady's appeals
FRIDAY 15 JANUARY
Beginning of the novena to Saint Francis de Sales
On our journey through Ordinary Time, we encounter Saint Francis de Sales, a precious gift from God to the Church and the world, at a moment when we need to hear again the liberating proclamation of the Gospel as the path to holiness for everyone.
The heartfelt invitation that shaped the life and work of Saint Francis de Sales is to seek, in everyday life, in ordinary daily activities, and in the routine, an opportunity for sanctification. With the novena beginning today, we are offered the chance to follow a fascinating journey into the mystery of God’s love, the fullness of every life, responding abundantly to the longings of the human heart. So let us ask for the intercession of Saint Francis de Sales and commit ourselves to learning about his life and message! From the gentleness of his teachings, we will discover that we are all loved and called to holiness, each in the place and role the Lord has entrusted to us.
For further reading:
• Philothea
• Take your heart out into the open
• 24 steps in daily life
SUNDAY, JANUARY 17
Saint Anthony the Abbot
Saint Anthony was born in Egypt in 250 to a Christian family of wealthy landowners. After being orphaned, he began an eremitical life in the desert. He is considered the most famous hermit in the history of the Church and the father of monasticism. It was Jesus’ words to the rich young man, “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give it to the poor,” that convinced him to embrace a life of radical adherence to the Gospel and to give his considerable wealth to the poor.
A wise and balanced man, he brings hermits together in communities and exercises a certain authority over them. He fights the Arian heresy with perseverance, and thanks to his authority many heretics return to the true faith. Seeking a penitential, distraction-free way of life, he asks God to enlighten him. Not far away, he sees an anchorite like himself, sitting and working as he weaves a rope; then he stops, gets up, and prays, then works again and prays again: it is an angel of God showing him the path of work and prayer. Two centuries later, this would become the Benedictine rule “Ora et labora.” He dies in Alexandria in 356.
For further reading:
• On your word January-February 2021
• With living water January-February 2021
“All it takes is a pin picked up from the ground with love to save a soul,” Saint Thérèse of Lisieux loved to say! Inspired by these words of hers, starting today let us commit ourselves to living our ordinary lives in an extraordinary way, and we will feel true joy blossom in our hearts!
I’ll see you in the comments on the post!
Have a good journey of “extraordinary ordinariness”!
