From that time Jesus began to proclaim,
“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near”

In this way, according to St. Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus began His public ministry. He started proclaiming the good news of salvation with a call to repentance. Later this very first appeal of the Lord became an essential part of His Church’s preaching. The Word of God always calls upon us to repent, which means, to tune our minds and hearts to the Lord’s voice. This happened to Simon, Andrew, James and John when Jesus invited them to follow Him. They at once left everything and followed the Lord. We, as Jesus’ disciples, ought to do the same. The Lord’s call is always urgent because it is inflamed by the fire of His love.

Pope Francis on the liturgical memorial of St. Jerome, which falls on September 30th, declared the third Sunday in Ordinary Time Sunday of the Word of God. Therefore, today we celebrate the Biblical Sunday for the very first time as the Universal Church. In his document “Aperuit illis”, the Pope emphasizes that salvation, faith, unity and mercy all depend on knowing Christ and sacred Scripture. In conclusion, the Holy Father expresses his desire for this Sunday: “May the Sunday of the Word of God help his people to grow in religious and intimate familiarity with the sacred Scriptures. For as the sacred author taught of old: “This word is very near to you: it is in your mouth and in your heart for your observance” (Dt 30:14).”

This liturgical year we read on Sundays the Gospel of St. Matthew (with some exceptions). Some copies of a study guide to that Gospel are available in the back of the church.

This Tuesday, January 28th, we celebrate the memorial of St. Thomas Aquinas, Priest and Doctor of the Church. St. Thomas lived in the 13th century. He was an Italian Dominican friar. He was an immensely influential philosopher, theologian and jurist in the tradition of scholasticism. He is also called the Doctor Angelicus. The Catholic Church honours Thomas as a saint and regards him as the model teacher for those studying for the priesthood, and indeed the highest expression of both natural reason and speculative theology.

St. John Bosco who’s memorial we celebrate on Friday lived in the 19th century. He was also an Italian priest. He was an outstanding confessor and educator of the youth. Following the examples of St. Francis de Sales, whose memorial we held last week, and the Blessed Virgin under the title of Mary Help of Christians, he developed the teaching methods based on love rather than punishment which was later named the Salesian Preventive System. He founded the Congregation of Salesians and together with Maria Domenica Mazzarello, the Institute of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians as a congregation of nuns dedicated to the care and education of poor girls. He taught Dominic Savio who’s biography he wrote. The biography eventually helped in Dominic’s canonization. In our church, in the sanctuary, there is a stained glass dedicated to St. Dominic Savio.

St. Thomas Aquinas and St. John Bosco – pray for us!

God bless,
Fr. Peter