20 FEBRUARY – QUINQUAGESIMA MONDAY

Lesson – Genesis xiii. 1‒15

And Abram went up out of Egypt, he and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the south. And he was very rich in possession of gold and silver. And he returned by the way that he came, from the south to Bethel, to the place where before he had pitched his tent between Bethel and Hai: in the place of the altar which he had made before; and there he called upon the name of the Lord. But Lot also, who was with Abram, had flocks of sheep, and herds of beasts, and tents. Neither was the land able to bear them, that they might dwell together: for their substance was great, and they could not dwell together. Whereupon also there arose a strife between the herdsmen of Abram and of Lot. And at that time the Canaanite and the Pherezite dwelled in that country. Abram therefore said to Lot: “Let there be no quarrel, I beseech you, between me and you, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen: for we are brethren. Behold the whole land is before you: depart from me I pray you: if you will go to the left hand, I will take the right: if you choose the right hand, I will pass to the left.” And Lot, lifting up his eyes, saw all the country about the Jordan, which was watered throughout, before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrhah, as the paradise of the Lord, and like Egypt as one comes to Segor. And Lot chose to himself the country about the Jordan, and he departed from the east: and they were separated one brother from the other. Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan; and Lot abode in the towns that were about the Jordan, and dwelt in Sodom. And the men of Sodom were very wicked, and sinners before the face of the Lord, beyond measure. And the Lord said to Abram, after Lot was separated from him: “Lift up your eyes, and look from the place where you now are, to the north and to the south, to the east and to the west. All the land which you see, I will give to you and to your seed forever.”

Thanks be to God.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

The life of a faithful Christian, like that of the Patriarch Abraham, is neither more nor less than a courageous journeying onwards to the place destined for him by his Creator. He must put aside everything that could impede his progress, nor must he look back. This is undoubtedly hard doctrine, but if we reflect for a moment on the dangers which surround fallen man during his earthly pilgrimage and on what our own sad experience has taught us, we will not think it hard or strange that our Saviour has made the renouncing and denying ourselves an essential condition of our salvation. But, independently of this, is it not far better to put our life under God’s guidance than to keep it in our own? Are we so wise or so strong as to be able to guide ourselves? We may resist as we please, but God is our Sovereign Lord and Master, and by giving us free will by which we may either resist His will or follow it, He has not abdicated His own infinite rights to His creatures’ obedience. Our refusal to obey would not make Him the less our Master.

Had Abraham, after receiving the divine call, chosen to remain in Chaldea and refused to break up the home which God bade him leave, God would then have selected some other man to be the Patriarch of His chosen people, and Father of that very family which was to have the Messiah as one of its children. This substituting one for another in the order of grace is frequently forced upon Divine Justice: but what a terrible punishment it is for him that caused the substitution! When a soul refuses salvation, Heaven does not therefore lose one of its elect: God, finding that He is despised by the one he called, offers the grace to another until His call is followed.

The Christian life consists in this untiring unreserved obedience to God. The first effect of this spirit of submission is that it takes the soul from the region of sin and death in which she was wasting away her existence. It takes her from the dark Chaldea and places her in the promised land of light. Lest she should faint on her way along the narrow path and fall a victim to the dangers which never leave her, because they are in her own self, God asks her for sacrifices, and these brace her. Here again we have Abraham for our model. God loves Him and promises Him the richest of blessings. He gives him a son as pledge of the promise, and then shortly after tests the holy Patriarch’s devotedness by commanding him to slay with his own hand this dear child on whom he has been told to build his hopes!

Man’s path on earth is sacrifice. We cannot go out from evil except by the way of self-resistance, nor keep our footing on good ground but by constant combating. Let us imitate Abraham: fix our eye steadfastly on the eternal hills, and consider this world as a mere passing dwelling, a tent, put up for a few days. Our Jesus has said to us: “I came not to send peace, but the sword. For I came to separate” (Matthew x. 34, 35). Separation, then, and trials are sure to be sent us. But we are equally sure that they are for our good, since they are sent us by Him who so loved us that He became one of ourselves. But this same Jesus has also said: “Where thy treasure is, there too is your heart” (Matthew vi. 21). Christians! Can our treasure be in this wretched world? No, it must be in that fair Land above. There, then, must we be in desire and affection.

These are the thoughts the Church would have us meditate upon during these days which immediately precede the Forty of Lent. They will help to purify our hearts and make them long to be with their God. The noise of the world’s sins and scandals reaches our ears: let us pray that the Kingdom of God may come to us and to those poor sinners, for God’s infinite mercy can change them, if He will, into children of Abraham. Not a day passes but He so changes many a sinner. He has, perhaps, shown that miracle of His mercy to us, and those words of the Apostle may be applied to us: “You, who some time were afar off, are now made near (to God) by the blood of Christ” (Ephesians ii. 13).

17 FEBRUARY – FERIA

On this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Rome, the passion of St. Faustinus, whom forty-four others followed to receive the crown of martyrdom.

In Persia, during the persecution of Decius, the birthday of blessed Polychronius, bishop of Babylon, who, being struck in the mouth with stones, stretched out his hands, lifted up his eyes to heaven and expired.

At Concordia, the holy martyrs Donatus, Secundian, and Romulus, with eighty-six others, partakers of the same crown.

At Caesarea in Palestine, St. Theodulus, an aged man, in the service of the governor Firmilian. Moved by the example of the martyrs, he confessed Christ with constancy, was fastened to a cross, and thus by a noble victory merited the palm of martyrdom.

In the same place, St. Julian, a Cappadocian, who, because he had kissed the relics of the martyrs, was denounced as a Christian and led to the governor who had him consumed with a slow fire.

In the territory of Terouanne, St. Silvinus, bishop of Toulouse.

In Ireland, St. Fintan, priest and confessor.

At Florence, blessed Alexius Falconieri, confessor, one of the seven Founders of the Order of the Servites of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who, in the one hundred and tenth year of his age, terminated his blessed career in the consoling presence of Jesus Christ and the angels.

And in other places, many other holy martyrs, confessors and virgins.

Thanks be to God.

16 FEBRUARY – FERIA

On this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

The birthday of blessed Onesimus, concerning whom the blessed Apostle St. Paul wrote to Philemon. He made him bishop of Ephesus after St. Timothy, and committed to him the office of preaching. Being led a prisoner to Rome, and stoned to death for the faith of Christ, he was buried in that city, but his body was afterwards carried to the place where he had been bishop.

At Cumae in Campania, the Translation of St. Juliana, virgin and martyr. Under the emperor Maximian she was first severely scourged by her own father, Africanus, then made to suffer many torments by the prefect, Evilasius, whom she had refused to marry. Later being thrown into prison, she encountered the evil spirit in a visible manner. Finally, as a fiery furnace and a cauldron of boiling oil could do her no injury, she terminated her martyrdom by decapitation.

In Egypt, St. Julian, martyr, with five thousand other Christians.

At Caesarea in Palestine, the holy martyrs Elias, Jeremias, Isaias, Samuel and Daniel, Egyptians, who of their own accord served the confessors of Christ condemned to labour in the mines of Cilicia, but were arrested on their return, and after being cruelly tortured by the governor Firmilian under the emperor Galerius Maximian, were put to the sword. After them, St. Porphyry, servant of the martyr Pamphilus, and St. Seleucus, a Cappadocian, who had been victorious in several combats, being again exposed to torments, won the crown of martyrdom, the one by fire, the other by the sword.

At Arezzo in Tuscany, blessed Pope Gregory X, a native of Piacenza, who was elected Sovereign Pontiff while he was archdeacon of Liege. He held the second Council of Lyons, received the Greeks into the unity of the Church, appeased discords among Christians, made generous efforts for the recovery of the Holy Land, and governed the Church in the most holy manner.

At Brescia, St. Faustinus, bishop and confessor.

And in other places, many other holy martyrs, confessors and virgins.

Thanks be to God.