January 2013 Page 2
What is the
Liturgy of
the Hours?
Luke 1:1-4, 4:14-21;
Jesus teaches in the synagogue
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Holiness will help us to get to Heaven and
comes when we surrender to God's will and put
all of our trust in him.
Courage.
During the Sermon on the Mount
(Matthew 5), Jesus said, "
blessed are the poor in
spirit, blessed are they who mourn
," and
promised that when we turn to God in times
of trial, we will be comforted and cared for.
Trusting God in dif cult times takes courage.
Discipline.
Jesus makes it clear that we must
apply the correct principles to our habits and use
God’s laws as our standards. When he talked about
"the meek, the merciful, those who hunger and
thirst for righteousness," he was giving us a ruler.
We are to measure our behavior against these
standards to see if we are on the right path to
holiness.
Endurance.
Only a true follower of Christ can
put the Sermon on the Mount fully into
practice. It takes endurance to combine holy
inner attitudes with these outward actions and
keep it up for life.
The keys to holiness
The Liturgy of the Hours is a public and
common prayer of the Church
comprised of psalms, scripture texts,
canticles, hymns, writings from the
works of Church Fathers, and
other prayers. Ordained
clergy and religious are
required to pray the Liturgy
of the Hours daily, which
has components that are
prayed many times throughout the day
in order to sanctify it.
In the Middle Ages, monks gathered
for prayer seven times a day. The Liturgy
of the Hours is based on the prayer
formulas used by the monks. “The
traditional terms of ‘hours,’ familiar in
the daily breviary, namely, matins, lauds,
terce, sext, none, vespers, and compline,
have been replaced by with simpler
terms under the headings: Of ce of
readings, morning prayer, three daytime
prayers, evening pray, and night prayer”
(
The Catholic Encyclopedia
).
While the Liturgy of the Hours is
obligatory for the ordained, all Catholics
are encouraged to participate in one or
more of the Hours. Many do morning,
evening, or night prayer. Some parishes
have community evening prayer.
In January we celebrate the Holy
Name of Jesus.
“…at the name of Jesus
every knee should bend, of those in heaven
and on earth and under the earth”
(
Philippians 2:10).
January 1 – Solemnity of the
Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of
God.
When we celebrate this feast, we
honor Mary, but also Jesus as God. This
is a holy day of obligation and
Catholics are required to attend Mass.
January 13 – Baptism of Our Lord.
Celebrates the baptism of Jesus by his
cousin, St. John the Baptist. This also
marks the end of the Christmas Season.
This Gospel tells the beginning of Jesus’
teaching in the synagogues of Galilee. It
makes several points.
First, Jesus entered the
synagogue on the Sabbath
according to his custom. He
regularly took time to
worship, showing us the
importance of communal
worship.
Second, Jesus read the
scriptures, explained their
meaning, and nally applied the
scripture to a situation. In the process he
taught us how to approach the Bible.
Some Bible passages can be confusing so
explanation is important when we read
Scripture. Applying its lessons in our lives
is equally important. Jesus came into the
world to bring glad tidings to us.
Third, Jesus provided details of his
mission: “
to bring glad
tidings to the poor…to
proclaim liberty to
captives, and recovery
of sight to the blind
,
to let the oppressed
go free, and to
announce a year of
favor from the Lord
.”
This passage from Isaiah
is a prophecy of the
Messiah. When Jesus said, “
Today this
Scripture passage is ful lled in your
hearing
,” he con rmed for his listeners
that he was the awaited Messiah.
January 26 – Sts. Timothy and Titus
(1st century).
Timothy was a convert
of Paul’s and later became his trusted
friend joining him in apostolic work.
He was with Paul at the founding of
the Church in Corinth. Titus was also a
friend of Paul’s who served the early
Church as a
peacemaker and
as administrator
to a
community
on Crete.
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