February is observed in many ways: as Black History Month, Catholic Press Month, even National Bird Feeding Month. A heightened appreciation of black contributions to our national story is an important corrective, including noteworthy Catholics like Pierre Toussaint, Daniel Rudd, Father Augustus Tolton, Julia Greeley, Mother Mary Elizabeth Lange, Mother Henriette DeLille, and Sister Thea Bowman.

In Job we see our world-weariness; in Paul our faithfulness; in Peter's mother our gratitude.

We see a lot of things advertised with that four-letter word these days: “Free!” And we’ve grown wisely skeptical of such claims. We’ve all learned by now, sometimes bitterly, that there’s no free lunch, no free subscriptions, and no free merchandise.

It was a scenario that is all too common. Routine tests to prepare me for simple cataract surgery found me sitting in a doctor’s office being told that cancer that I had been treated for had returned in the form of a tumor on my bladder.

As a young girl, she always tried to avoid getting drafted to work in her mother’s garden. She disliked the planting, the pruning, the watering. She disliked the weeding the most. And so she would rush off to play with her friends.

We pray, brothers and sisters, that our sacrifice may be acceptable to God, the almighty Father, the source of all hope. 

Small is how blessings, healing, progress and increase occur.

Browse our library for additional Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B material.

Click here to view the Take Five weekly for February 04, 2024.