Thursday of the First Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 308
Lectionary: 308
The Holy Spirit
says:
Oh, that today you would hear his voice,
“Harden not your hearts as at the rebellion
in the day of testing in the desert,
where your ancestors tested and tried me
and saw my works for forty years.
Because of this I was provoked with that generation
and I said, ‘They have always been of erring heart,
and they do not know my ways.’
As I swore in my wrath,
‘They shall not enter into my rest.’”
Take care, brothers and sisters,
that none of you may have an evil and unfaithful heart,
so as to forsake the living God.
Encourage yourselves daily while it is still “today,”
so that none of you may grow hardened by the deceit of sin.
We have become partners of Christ
if only we hold the beginning of the reality firm until the end.
Oh, that today you would hear his voice,
“Harden not your hearts as at the rebellion
in the day of testing in the desert,
where your ancestors tested and tried me
and saw my works for forty years.
Because of this I was provoked with that generation
and I said, ‘They have always been of erring heart,
and they do not know my ways.’
As I swore in my wrath,
‘They shall not enter into my rest.’”
Take care, brothers and sisters,
that none of you may have an evil and unfaithful heart,
so as to forsake the living God.
Encourage yourselves daily while it is still “today,”
so that none of you may grow hardened by the deceit of sin.
We have become partners of Christ
if only we hold the beginning of the reality firm until the end.
Responsorial PsalmPS 95:6-7C, 8-9, 10-11
R. (8) If today you hear his voice, harden not your
hearts.
Come, let us bow down in worship;
let us kneel before the LORD who made us.
For he is our God,
and we are the people he shepherds, the flock he guides.
R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Oh, that today you would hear his voice:
“Harden not your hearts as at Meribah,
as in the day of Massah in the desert,
Where your fathers tempted me;
they tested me though they had seen my works.”
R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Forty years I was wearied of that generation;
I said: “This people’s heart goes astray,
they do not know my ways.”
Therefore I swore in my anger:
“They shall never enter my rest.”
R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Come, let us bow down in worship;
let us kneel before the LORD who made us.
For he is our God,
and we are the people he shepherds, the flock he guides.
R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Oh, that today you would hear his voice:
“Harden not your hearts as at Meribah,
as in the day of Massah in the desert,
Where your fathers tempted me;
they tested me though they had seen my works.”
R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Forty years I was wearied of that generation;
I said: “This people’s heart goes astray,
they do not know my ways.”
Therefore I swore in my anger:
“They shall never enter my rest.”
R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
AlleluiaSEE MT 4:23
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Jesus preached the Gospel of the Kingdom
and cured every disease among the people.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Jesus preached the Gospel of the Kingdom
and cured every disease among the people.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
GospelMK 1:40-45
A leper came to him
and kneeling down begged him and said,
“If you wish, you can make me clean.”
Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand,
touched the leper, and said to him,
“I do will it. Be made clean.”
The leprosy left him immediately, and he was made clean.
Then, warning him sternly, he dismissed him at once.
Then he said to him, “See that you tell no one anything,
but go, show yourself to the priest
and offer for your cleansing what Moses prescribed;
that will be proof for them.”
The man went away and began to publicize the whole matter.
He spread the report abroad
so that it was impossible for Jesus to enter a town openly.
He remained outside in deserted places,
and people kept coming to him from everywhere.
“If you wish, you can make me clean.”
Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand,
touched the leper, and said to him,
“I do will it. Be made clean.”
The leprosy left him immediately, and he was made clean.
Then, warning him sternly, he dismissed him at once.
Then he said to him, “See that you tell no one anything,
but go, show yourself to the priest
and offer for your cleansing what Moses prescribed;
that will be proof for them.”
The man went away and began to publicize the whole matter.
He spread the report abroad
so that it was impossible for Jesus to enter a town openly.
He remained outside in deserted places,
and people kept coming to him from everywhere.
Meditation: "People
came to Jesus from every quarter"
Do you seek the Lord
Jesus with expectant faith? No one who sought Jesus out was refused his help.
Even the untouchables and the outcasts of Jewish society found help in him.
Unlike the people of Jesus' time who fled at the sight of a leper, Jesus
touched the leper who approached him and he made him whole and clean. Why was
this so remarkable? Lepers were outcasts of society. They were driven from
their homes and communities and left to fend for themselves. Their physical
condition was terrible as they slowly lost the use of their limbs and withered
away. They were not only shunned but regarded as "already dead" even
by their relatives. The Jewish law forbade anyone from touching or approaching
a leper, lest ritual defilement occur.
This leper did
something quite remarkable. He approached Jesus confidently and humbly,
expecting that Jesus could and would heal him. Normally a leper would be stoned
or at least warded off if he tried to come near a rabbi. Jesus not only grants
the man his request, but he demonstrates the personal love, compassion, and
tenderness of God in his physical touch. The medical knowledge of his day would
have regarded such contact as grave risk for incurring infection. Jesus met the
man's misery with compassion and tender kindness. He communicated the love and
mercy of God in a sign that spoke more eloquently than words. He touched the
man and made him clean - not only physically but spiritually as well.
How do you approach
those who are difficult to love, or who are shunned by others because they are
deformed or have some defect? Do you show them kindness and offer them mercy
and help as Jesus did? The Lord is always ready to show us his mercy and to
free us from whatever makes us unclean, unapproachable, or unloving towards
others.
Lord Jesus, inflame my
heart with your love and make me clean and whole in body, mind, and spirit. May
I never doubt your love nor cease to tell others of your mercy and
compassion."
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To Be Free to Love |
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January 15, 2015.
Thursday of the First Week in Ordinary Time
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Mark 1:40-45
A leper came to him
begging him, and kneeling he said to him, "If you choose, you can make
me clean." Moved with pity, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched
him, and said to him, "I do choose. Be made clean!" Immediately the
leprosy left him, and he was made clean. After sternly warning him he sent
him away at once, saying to him, "See that you say nothing to anyone;
but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing what Moses
commanded, as a testimony to them." But he went out and began to
proclaim it freely, and to spread the word, so that Jesus could no longer go
into a town openly, but stayed out in the country; and people came to him
from every quarter.
Introductory
Prayer: Lord, thank you for this
time together. I need you in my life and the life of my family. It is easy to
let activities overwhelm me so that I lose track of you. You fade into the
distance, and sometimes sin grows closer. But I know you are always there for
me with your unconditional love. Thank you. I love you and long to put you
first in my life.
Petition: Lord, wash me from my sins and help me to be detached
from them.
1. If You
Choose: A leper approaches
and falls before Jesus. “If you choose, you can make me clean.” This leper
couldn’t free himself from his disease any more than we can free ourselves
from our sin. Leprosy was a fatal disease. It separated a man from his family
and drove him outside his village to lonely places. Leprosy is a symbol for
sin. Sin separates us from God and from others. We need to approach Jesus
with that same humility and trust we see in the leper. This story is for us,
to show us Christ’s heart. It reveals his love and his desire to free us from
sin. Am I convinced of the ugliness of all sin and how it defaces our souls?
2. I Do Choose: Jesus chose to heal the leper. Not only did he
heal him, he touched him. He reached out to the loneliness of that man, and
he touched his life to cure him of the disease. This reveals Christ’s heart
so beautifully. Our sin never drives him away from us. He is always ready and
willing to come to our aid if only we would cry out for his help. Am I
capable of opening all of the inner wounds of my sins to Our Lord so that he
can heal me, wash me clean and make me whole again?
3. Jesus Wants Us
Free: Sin keeps us from being who
we were meant to be. “Everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin” (John
8:34). Jesus was free from sin and so was free to love and serve others. He
wasn’t compelled by greed or anger. He wasn’t moved by pride or impeded by
laziness. He was free to love, and he loved to the extent of dying on a
cross. Sin closes us in on ourselves. We get absorbed in ourselves and others
take the back seat – or no seat at all. How often do we say “no” to others
and turn a blind eye to their needs? Isn’t it sin that blinds us and
selfishness that impedes us from loving others as Christ loves us? Christ can
free us from sin so that we are empowered to love as he loves.
Conversation with
Christ: Jesus, I want to be free,
but I need your help. Without you, I can do nothing. Help me to trust you and
to turn to you. Don’t let me go off on my own as if I could keep fighting
without you. Free me to love you. Free me to love others.
Resolution: I will pray Psalm 51 for myself and my loved
ones.
By Father Paul
Campbell, LC
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THURSDAY, JANUARY 15, MARK 1:40-45
(Hebrews 3:7-14; Psalm 95)
KEY VERSE: "Jesus could no longer go into a town openly, but stayed out in the country; and people came to him from every quarter" (v 45).
TO KNOW: In Jesus' day, a person afflicted with leprosy was an outcast, forced to live apart from the community. One such leper humbly begged Jesus to heal him. Jesus was filled with compassion as it was always his will that his people be made whole. Even though contact with a leper would render a person ritually unclean, Jesus did not hesitate to touch the man and heal him. Jesus then sent the man to the priest who had the authority to pronounce him cured and ready to return to society (Lv 14:1-32). Jesus admonished the man not to speak of the healing lest it be misinterpreted as mere wonder-working ("the Messianic Secret" is characteristic of Mark's gospel). But the man could not contain his joy and began to publicize his healing to everyone he met. Because so many people kept coming to Jesus, it was impossible for him to enter a town. Now it was Jesus who was forced to live in the deserted places on the town’s outskirts.
TO LOVE: Lord Jesus, heal me of all that separates me from God and my community.
TO SERVE: Do I show compassion to those who are afflicted by sickness and disease?
(Hebrews 3:7-14; Psalm 95)
KEY VERSE: "Jesus could no longer go into a town openly, but stayed out in the country; and people came to him from every quarter" (v 45).
TO KNOW: In Jesus' day, a person afflicted with leprosy was an outcast, forced to live apart from the community. One such leper humbly begged Jesus to heal him. Jesus was filled with compassion as it was always his will that his people be made whole. Even though contact with a leper would render a person ritually unclean, Jesus did not hesitate to touch the man and heal him. Jesus then sent the man to the priest who had the authority to pronounce him cured and ready to return to society (Lv 14:1-32). Jesus admonished the man not to speak of the healing lest it be misinterpreted as mere wonder-working ("the Messianic Secret" is characteristic of Mark's gospel). But the man could not contain his joy and began to publicize his healing to everyone he met. Because so many people kept coming to Jesus, it was impossible for him to enter a town. Now it was Jesus who was forced to live in the deserted places on the town’s outskirts.
TO LOVE: Lord Jesus, heal me of all that separates me from God and my community.
TO SERVE: Do I show compassion to those who are afflicted by sickness and disease?
Thursday 15 January 2015
Hebrews 3:7-14. If today
you hear his voice, harden not your hearts—Ps 94(95):6-11. Mark 1:40-45.
‘If you wish, you can make
me clean.’
Leprosy is relatively
unknown today in Australia, so, at first glance, we may find it difficult to
relate to this leper. Perhaps, on closer inspection, the feelings of this
diseased person are really familiar.
Sick, segregated, disliked,
frustrated, lonely and frightened are just some of the descriptions that come
to mind. Despite his situation, this man had some glimmer of hope that Jesus
could dramatically change his circumstances. ‘If you wish, you can make me
clean’ highlighted his willingness for Jesus to work a miracle in his life. No
hardness of heart here—instead, he reached out in faith.
Whatever our relationship
with Jesus is, this is our opportunity to reach out and ask to be made clean.
His healing love is available at all times and under all circumstances. Harden
not our hearts today!
MINUTE MEDITATIONS
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Be Joyful Daily
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We know that we aren’t always going to be happy. Sadness, even
tragedy, is going to cross our paths more than once. But if we strive to be
joyful on a daily basis, we seem to develop reserves upon which we can draw.
January
15
St. Paul the Hermit
(c. 233-345)
St. Paul the Hermit
(c. 233-345)
It is unclear what we really know of Paul's life, how much is
fable, how much fact.
Paul was
reportedly born in Egypt, where he was orphaned by age 15. He was also a
learned and devout young man. During the persecution of Decius in Egypt in the
year 250, Paul was forced to hide in the home of a friend. Fearing a
brother-in-law would betray him, he fled in a cave in the desert. His plan was
to return once the persecution ended, but the sweetness of solitude and
heavenly contemplation convinced him to stay.
He went
on to live in that cave for the next 90 years. A nearby spring gave him drink,
a palm tree furnished him clothing and nourishment. After 21 years of solitude
a bird began bringing him half of a loaf of bread each day. Without knowing
what was happening in the world, Paul prayed that the world would become a
better place.
St.
Anthony of Egypt [January 17] attests to his holy life and death. Tempted by
the thought that no one had served God in the wilderness longer than he,
Anthony was led by God to find Paul and acknowledge him as a man more perfect
than himself. The raven that day brought a whole loaf of bread instead of the
usual half. As Paul predicted, Anthony would return to bury his new friend.
Thought
to have been about 112 when he died, Paul is known as the "First
Hermit." His feast day is celebrated in the East; he is also commemorated
in the Coptic and Armenian rites of the Mass.
Comment:
The will and direction of God are seen in the circumstances of our lives. Led by the grace of God, we are free to respond with choices that bring us closer to and make us more dependent upon the God who created us. Those choices might at times seem to lead us away from our neighbor. But ultimately they lead us back both in prayer and in fellowship to one another.
The will and direction of God are seen in the circumstances of our lives. Led by the grace of God, we are free to respond with choices that bring us closer to and make us more dependent upon the God who created us. Those choices might at times seem to lead us away from our neighbor. But ultimately they lead us back both in prayer and in fellowship to one another.
LECTIO DIVINA:
MARK 1,40-45
Lectio:
Thursday, January 15, 2015
Ordinary Time
1) Opening prayer
Father of love, hear our prayers.
Help us to know your will
and to do it with courage and faith.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Father of love, hear our prayers.
Help us to know your will
and to do it with courage and faith.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
2) Gospel Reading - Mark 1,40-45
A man suffering from a virulent skin-disease came to him and pleaded on his knees saying, 'If you are willing, you can cleanse me.'
Feeling sorry for him, Jesus stretched out his hand, touched him and said to him, 'I am willing. Be cleansed.' And at once the skin-disease left him and he was cleansed. And at once Jesus sternly sent him away and said to him, 'Mind you tell no one anything, but go and show yourself to the priest, and make the offering for your cleansing prescribed by Moses as evidence to them.'
The man went away, but then started freely proclaiming and telling the story everywhere, so that Jesus could no longer go openly into any town, but stayed outside in deserted places. Even so, people from all around kept coming to him.
A man suffering from a virulent skin-disease came to him and pleaded on his knees saying, 'If you are willing, you can cleanse me.'
Feeling sorry for him, Jesus stretched out his hand, touched him and said to him, 'I am willing. Be cleansed.' And at once the skin-disease left him and he was cleansed. And at once Jesus sternly sent him away and said to him, 'Mind you tell no one anything, but go and show yourself to the priest, and make the offering for your cleansing prescribed by Moses as evidence to them.'
The man went away, but then started freely proclaiming and telling the story everywhere, so that Jesus could no longer go openly into any town, but stayed outside in deserted places. Even so, people from all around kept coming to him.
3) Reflection
• Accepting and curing the leper, Jesus reveals a new face of God. A leper came near Jesus. He was an excluded, an impure person. He should be far away. Anybody who touched him, would also become impure! But that leper had great courage. He transgresses the norms of religion in order to be able to get near Jesus. And he calls out: If you want, you can heal me. You need not touch me! It suffices that you want, and I will be healed!. This phrase reveals two evils: a) the evil of leprosy which made him impure; b) the evil of solitude to which he was condemned by society and by religion . It also reveals the great faith of the man in the power of Jesus. And Jesus profoundly moved, cures both evils. In the first place, in order to cure solitude, he touches the leper. It is as if he said: “For me, you are not an excluded one. I accept you as a brother!” And then he cures the leper saying: I want it! Be cured! The leper, in order to enter into contact with Jesus, had transgressed the norms of the Law. Jesus also, in order to be able to help that excluded person and therefore, reveal a new face of God, transgresses the norms of his religion and touches the leper. At that time, whoever touched a leper became impure according to the religious authority and by the law of that time.
• He integrated anew the excluded person in the fraternal living together. Jesus, not only cures, but also wants the cured person to be able to live with the others. He once again inserts the person in society to live with others. At that time for a leper to be accepted again in the community, it was necessary to get a certificate from the priest that he had been cured. It is like today. A sick person leaves the hospital with a document signed by the doctor of the department where he had been hospitalized. Jesus obliges the person to look for that document, in such a way that he will be able to live normally with others. He obliges the authority to recognize that this man has been cured.
• The leper announces the good that Jesus has done to him and Jesus becomes an excluded person. Jesus forbids the leper to speak about the cure. The Gospel of Mark informs that this prohibition does not serve. The leper, walking away, began to diffuse the fact, to the point that Jesus could no longer enter publicly into a city, but remained outside, in a deserted place (Mk 1, 45). Why? Because Jesus had touched the leper. Because of this, according to the opinion of the religion of that time, now he himself was impure and should live far away from all others. He could no longer enter the city. And Mark says that people did not care about these official norms, in fact, people came to him from everywhere (Mk 1, 45). Total subversion!
• Summarizing. In the year 70, when Mark wrote, as well as today, the time in which we live, it was and continues to be important to have before our eyes models of how to live and how to proclaim the Good News of God and of how to evaluate our mission. In verses 16 to 45 of the first chapter of his Gospel, Mark describes the mission of the community and presents eight criteria in order that the communities of his time could evaluate their mission. The following is the outline:
• Accepting and curing the leper, Jesus reveals a new face of God. A leper came near Jesus. He was an excluded, an impure person. He should be far away. Anybody who touched him, would also become impure! But that leper had great courage. He transgresses the norms of religion in order to be able to get near Jesus. And he calls out: If you want, you can heal me. You need not touch me! It suffices that you want, and I will be healed!. This phrase reveals two evils: a) the evil of leprosy which made him impure; b) the evil of solitude to which he was condemned by society and by religion . It also reveals the great faith of the man in the power of Jesus. And Jesus profoundly moved, cures both evils. In the first place, in order to cure solitude, he touches the leper. It is as if he said: “For me, you are not an excluded one. I accept you as a brother!” And then he cures the leper saying: I want it! Be cured! The leper, in order to enter into contact with Jesus, had transgressed the norms of the Law. Jesus also, in order to be able to help that excluded person and therefore, reveal a new face of God, transgresses the norms of his religion and touches the leper. At that time, whoever touched a leper became impure according to the religious authority and by the law of that time.
• He integrated anew the excluded person in the fraternal living together. Jesus, not only cures, but also wants the cured person to be able to live with the others. He once again inserts the person in society to live with others. At that time for a leper to be accepted again in the community, it was necessary to get a certificate from the priest that he had been cured. It is like today. A sick person leaves the hospital with a document signed by the doctor of the department where he had been hospitalized. Jesus obliges the person to look for that document, in such a way that he will be able to live normally with others. He obliges the authority to recognize that this man has been cured.
• The leper announces the good that Jesus has done to him and Jesus becomes an excluded person. Jesus forbids the leper to speak about the cure. The Gospel of Mark informs that this prohibition does not serve. The leper, walking away, began to diffuse the fact, to the point that Jesus could no longer enter publicly into a city, but remained outside, in a deserted place (Mk 1, 45). Why? Because Jesus had touched the leper. Because of this, according to the opinion of the religion of that time, now he himself was impure and should live far away from all others. He could no longer enter the city. And Mark says that people did not care about these official norms, in fact, people came to him from everywhere (Mk 1, 45). Total subversion!
• Summarizing. In the year 70, when Mark wrote, as well as today, the time in which we live, it was and continues to be important to have before our eyes models of how to live and how to proclaim the Good News of God and of how to evaluate our mission. In verses 16 to 45 of the first chapter of his Gospel, Mark describes the mission of the community and presents eight criteria in order that the communities of his time could evaluate their mission. The following is the outline:
Text Activity of
Jesus Objective of the mission
Mark 1,16-20
Jesus calls his first disciples
To form the community
Mark 1,21-22
The people were admired at his teaching
To create a critical conscience
Mark 1,23-28
Jesus expels a devil
To overcome the force of evil
Mark 1,29-31
He cures Peter’s mother-in-law
To give life back so as to serve
Mark 1,32-34
He cures the sick and the possessed
To accept the marginalized
Mark 1,35
Jesus rises early to pray
To remain united with the Father
Mark 1,36-39
Jesus continues the announcement
Not to stop at the results
Mark 1,40-45
He cures a leper
To integrate anew the excluded
Mark 1,16-20
Jesus calls his first disciples
To form the community
Mark 1,21-22
The people were admired at his teaching
To create a critical conscience
Mark 1,23-28
Jesus expels a devil
To overcome the force of evil
Mark 1,29-31
He cures Peter’s mother-in-law
To give life back so as to serve
Mark 1,32-34
He cures the sick and the possessed
To accept the marginalized
Mark 1,35
Jesus rises early to pray
To remain united with the Father
Mark 1,36-39
Jesus continues the announcement
Not to stop at the results
Mark 1,40-45
He cures a leper
To integrate anew the excluded
4) Personal questions
• To proclaim the Good News means to give witness of the
concrete experience of Jesus that one has. What does the leper announce? He
tells others the good that Jesus has done to him. Only this! And this witness
leads others to accept the Good News of God which Jesus brings to us. Which is
the witness that you give?
• To take the Good News to the people, it is not necessary to be afraid to transgress the religious norms which are contrary to God’s project and which make communication, dialogue and the living out of love difficult. Even if this causes difficulty for the people, as it caused difficulty for Jesus. Do I have this courage?
• To take the Good News to the people, it is not necessary to be afraid to transgress the religious norms which are contrary to God’s project and which make communication, dialogue and the living out of love difficult. Even if this causes difficulty for the people, as it caused difficulty for Jesus. Do I have this courage?
5) Concluding prayer
Come, let us bow low and do reverence;
kneel before Yahweh who made us!
For he is our God,
and we the people of his sheepfold,
the flock of his hand. (Ps 95,6-7)
kneel before Yahweh who made us!
For he is our God,
and we the people of his sheepfold,
the flock of his hand. (Ps 95,6-7)
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