Mystery of the day: Glorious
Saint of the day
St. Gilbert of Sempringham
He was the son of a wealthy Norman Knight Jocelyn and was born in Sempringham in England in the year 1083. He became a clerk in the household of Bishop of Lincoln, Robert Bloet in 1120. He was ordained a deacon and then as a priest in 1130 by Bishop Alexander of Lincoln. But after the death of his father, Gilbert returned to Sempringham and became the Lord of Manor inheriting large properties of his father. He served as the parish priest of Sempringham and lived a very simple and pious life sharing as much as with the poor. He became the advisor to a group of young women living with lay sisters and brothers as a community. The community later became known as the Gilbertine Order, the only English religious order originated in the medieval period with twenty six monasteries. He requested the help of the Cistercians for his Order but they refused since he admitted women into the Order. Then with the approval of Pope Eugene-II, Gilbert continued the community with the addition of Cannons Regular as its spiritual directors. Some lay brothers in the Order revolted against him and pope Alexander-III freed him from the suspicions created and raised by the lay brothers against Gilbert. There was a special custom in the Houses of the Order of Gilbert which was called the plate of the Lord Jesus. The best portions of the dinner were put on a special plate kept on the dining table and the contents shared with poor people. This practice reflected the lifelong concern of Gilbert for the poor people. He died on February 4, 1190.
He was canonized by pope Innocent-III in the year 1202.
Reflection for the day
Theme: He took him by the hand
"And he took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the village; and when he had spit on his eyes and laid his hands upon him, ..." (Mark 8:23)
Beloved in Christ Jesus, warm greetings!
Naturally, man by no means can survive on his own; no matter how equip one could think he is. Every survival depends on a leaning shoulder either to survive or for the sustenance of the survival.
In today's Gospel pericope, Evangelist Mark presents before us the event of the healing of the blind man. The most striking point of the healing was not the healing itself, but the holding by the hand and leading him out of the village. This scenario, calls to mind a paradigm shift from the crowd to a lonely place.
Quite alright, the healing would have still taken place even in the village, but Christ needed to leave us with a message. A message of leaving where we think it is a comfort zone, to where we can be what He wants us to be.
Most often, we turned our situation to our comfort zone, thinking that nothing could be done any longer. That every door has been shut, and the key thrown away. Yes! It might be true, but let us not loose sight of Jesus as the master key to every situation.
No matter the situation, we need Him to hold our hands and lead us away from the crowd to where there will be no distraction. So that we can understand the mystery of our salvation.
Finally, in our busy life, let us make a move away from the crowd, comfort zone, to a place where we can encounter Him as He really is; remembering Abraham our patriarch in faith who also made a move away from his town for the will of God to be done. Let us therefore, take the lead and move to where He will lead us for our healing of blindness for us to see the effect of our redemption.
Peace! Be with you.
Let us pray
Almighty and merciful God we are thankful to You for the wonders of Your Being. For You think of us every now and then, even when we don't think about ourselves, grant we pray the courage to move away from our situation to meet You for our healing. Through Cbrist our Lord. Amen.
© The ARCHIVE 17022022
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