Wednesday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary
Time
Lectionary: 331
Lectionary: 331
The queen of Sheba, having heard of Solomon's fame,
came to test him with subtle questions.
She arrived in Jerusalem with a very numerous retinue,
and with camels bearing spices,
a large amount of gold, and precious stones.
She came to Solomon and questioned him on every subject
in which she was interested.
King Solomon explained everything she asked about,
and there remained nothing hidden from him
that he could not explain to her.
When the queen of Sheba witnessed Solomon's great wisdom,
the palace he had built, the food at his table,
the seating of his ministers, the attendance and garb of his waiters,
his banquet service,
and the burnt offerings he offered in the temple of the LORD,
she was breathless.
"The report I heard in my country
about your deeds and your wisdom is true," she told the king.
"Though I did not believe the report until I came and saw with my own eyes,
I have discovered that they were not telling me the half.
Your wisdom and prosperity surpass the report I heard.
Blessed are your men, blessed these servants of yours,
who stand before you always and listen to your wisdom.
Blessed be the LORD, your God,
whom it has pleased to place you on the throne of Israel.
In his enduring love for Israel,
the LORD has made you king to carry out judgment and justice."
Then she gave the king one hundred and twenty gold talents,
a very large quantity of spices, and precious stones.
Never again did anyone bring such an abundance of spices
as the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.
came to test him with subtle questions.
She arrived in Jerusalem with a very numerous retinue,
and with camels bearing spices,
a large amount of gold, and precious stones.
She came to Solomon and questioned him on every subject
in which she was interested.
King Solomon explained everything she asked about,
and there remained nothing hidden from him
that he could not explain to her.
When the queen of Sheba witnessed Solomon's great wisdom,
the palace he had built, the food at his table,
the seating of his ministers, the attendance and garb of his waiters,
his banquet service,
and the burnt offerings he offered in the temple of the LORD,
she was breathless.
"The report I heard in my country
about your deeds and your wisdom is true," she told the king.
"Though I did not believe the report until I came and saw with my own eyes,
I have discovered that they were not telling me the half.
Your wisdom and prosperity surpass the report I heard.
Blessed are your men, blessed these servants of yours,
who stand before you always and listen to your wisdom.
Blessed be the LORD, your God,
whom it has pleased to place you on the throne of Israel.
In his enduring love for Israel,
the LORD has made you king to carry out judgment and justice."
Then she gave the king one hundred and twenty gold talents,
a very large quantity of spices, and precious stones.
Never again did anyone bring such an abundance of spices
as the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.
Responsorial
Psalm PS 37:5-6, 30-31, 39-40
R. (30a) The
mouth of the just murmurs wisdom.
Commit to the LORD your way;
trust in him, and he will act.
He will make justice dawn for you like the light;
bright as the noonday shall be your vindication.
R. The mouth of the just murmurs wisdom.
The mouth of the just man tells of wisdom
and his tongue utters what is right.
The law of his God is in his heart,
and his steps do not falter.
R. The mouth of the just murmurs wisdom.
The salvation of the just is from the LORD;
he is their refuge in time of distress.
And the LORD helps them and delivers them;
he delivers them from the wicked and saves them,
because they take refuge in him.
R. The mouth of the just murmurs wisdom.
Commit to the LORD your way;
trust in him, and he will act.
He will make justice dawn for you like the light;
bright as the noonday shall be your vindication.
R. The mouth of the just murmurs wisdom.
The mouth of the just man tells of wisdom
and his tongue utters what is right.
The law of his God is in his heart,
and his steps do not falter.
R. The mouth of the just murmurs wisdom.
The salvation of the just is from the LORD;
he is their refuge in time of distress.
And the LORD helps them and delivers them;
he delivers them from the wicked and saves them,
because they take refuge in him.
R. The mouth of the just murmurs wisdom.
AlleluiaSEE JN 17:17B, 17A
R. Alleluia,
alleluia.
Your word, O Lord, is truth:
consecrate us in the truth.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Your word, O Lord, is truth:
consecrate us in the truth.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
GospelMK 7:14-23
Jesus summoned the crowd again and said to them,
“Hear me, all of you, and understand.
Nothing that enters one from outside can defile that person;
but the things that come out from within are what defile.”
When he got home away from the crowd
his disciples questioned him about the parable.
He said to them,
“Are even you likewise without understanding?
Do you not realize that everything
that goes into a person from outside cannot defile,
since it enters not the heart but the stomach
and passes out into the latrine?”
(Thus he declared all foods clean.)
“But what comes out of the man, that is what defiles him.
From within the man, from his heart,
come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder,
adultery, greed, malice, deceit,
licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly.
All these evils come from within and they defile.”
“Hear me, all of you, and understand.
Nothing that enters one from outside can defile that person;
but the things that come out from within are what defile.”
When he got home away from the crowd
his disciples questioned him about the parable.
He said to them,
“Are even you likewise without understanding?
Do you not realize that everything
that goes into a person from outside cannot defile,
since it enters not the heart but the stomach
and passes out into the latrine?”
(Thus he declared all foods clean.)
“But what comes out of the man, that is what defiles him.
From within the man, from his heart,
come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder,
adultery, greed, malice, deceit,
licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly.
All these evils come from within and they defile.”
Meditation: "Out of the heart come
evil thoughts"
Where does evil come from and how can we eliminate it
from our personal lives? Jesus deals with this issue in response to the
religious leaders' concern with ritual defilement (uncleanness) - making
oneself unfit to offer acceptable worship and sacrifice to God. The religious
leaders were very concerned with avoiding ritual defilement, some no doubt out
of reverent fear of God, and others because they wanted to be seen as observant
Jews. Jesus points his listeners to the source of true defilement - evil
desires which come from inside a person's innermost being. Sin does not just
happen from external forces. It first springs from the innermost recesses of
our thoughts and intentions, from the secret desires which only the individual
mind and heart can conceive.
God gives us his strength to resist sinful thoughts
and desires
When Cain became jealous of his brother Abel, God warned him to guard his own heart: "Sin is couching at the door; it's desire is for you, but you must master it" (Genesis 4:7). Cain unfortunately did not take God's warning to heart. He allowed his jealousy to grow into spite and hatred for his brother, and he began to look for an opportunity to eliminate his brother all together. When jealously and other sinful desires come knocking at the door of your heart, how do you respond? Do you entertain them and allow them to overtake you? Fortunately God does not leave us alone in our struggle with hurtful desires and sinful tendencies. He gives us the grace and strength we need to resist and overcome sin when it couches at the door of our heart.
When Cain became jealous of his brother Abel, God warned him to guard his own heart: "Sin is couching at the door; it's desire is for you, but you must master it" (Genesis 4:7). Cain unfortunately did not take God's warning to heart. He allowed his jealousy to grow into spite and hatred for his brother, and he began to look for an opportunity to eliminate his brother all together. When jealously and other sinful desires come knocking at the door of your heart, how do you respond? Do you entertain them and allow them to overtake you? Fortunately God does not leave us alone in our struggle with hurtful desires and sinful tendencies. He gives us the grace and strength we need to resist and overcome sin when it couches at the door of our heart.
God's word has power to set us free to chose what is
good and reject what is wrong
The Lord Jesus wants to set us free from the burden of guilt and from the destructive force of sin and wrong-doing in our personal lives. He wants to purify our hearts and renew our minds so we can freely choose to love and do what is right, good, just, and wise. The Lord Jesus is ready to change and purify our hearts through the grace and help of the Holy Spirit who dwells within us. Like a physician who probes the wound before treating it, God through his Word and Spirit first brings sin into the light that we may recognize it for what it truly is and call upon his mercy and grace for pardon, healing, and restoration. The Spirit of truth is our Counselor and Helper. His power and grace enables us to choose what is good and to reject what is evil. Do you believe in the power of God's love to heal, change, and transform your heart and mind?
The Lord Jesus wants to set us free from the burden of guilt and from the destructive force of sin and wrong-doing in our personal lives. He wants to purify our hearts and renew our minds so we can freely choose to love and do what is right, good, just, and wise. The Lord Jesus is ready to change and purify our hearts through the grace and help of the Holy Spirit who dwells within us. Like a physician who probes the wound before treating it, God through his Word and Spirit first brings sin into the light that we may recognize it for what it truly is and call upon his mercy and grace for pardon, healing, and restoration. The Spirit of truth is our Counselor and Helper. His power and grace enables us to choose what is good and to reject what is evil. Do you believe in the power of God's love to heal, change, and transform your heart and mind?
"Lord Jesus, fill me with your Holy Spirit and
make my heart like yours. Strengthen my heart, mind, and my will that I may
freely choose to love what is good and to reject what is evil."
Daily Quote from the early church fathers: The cycle of bitterness broken by forbearance, by Tertullian, 160-225 A.D.
"Let us, then, his servants, follow our Lord and
patiently submit to denunciations that we may be blessed! If, with slight
forbearance, I hear some bitter or evil remark directed against me, I may
return it, and then I shall inevitably become bitter myself. Either that, or I
shall be tormented by unexpressed resentment. If I retaliate when cursed, how
shall I be found to have followed the teaching of our Lord? For his saying has
been handed down that one is defiled not by unclean dishes but by the words
which proceed from his mouth ( Mark 7:15)." (excerpt from ON PATIENCE 8)
[Tertullian (160-225 AD) was an early Christian writer
and theologian from Carthage in the Roman province of Africa. He was a noted
early Christian apologist who defended Christianity and the practice of Christians
against the reproaches of the pagans. He promoted the principle of freedom of
religion as an inalienable human right and demanded a fair trial for Christians
before they were condemned to death.]
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, MARK 7:14-23
Weekday
(1 Kings 10:1-10; Psalm 37)
Weekday
(1 Kings 10:1-10; Psalm 37)
KEY VERSE: "Do you realize that everything that goes into a person from outside cannot defile" (v 18).
TO KNOW: The concept of "clean" and "unclean" in the ancient world had to do with one's worthiness before God. Most of the principles were related to the mysteries of life and death, areas that were considered to be under God's domain. Since food was necessary to sustain life, one's diet and hygiene were also regulated. Jesus criticized the scrupulous observance of the practices of religious leaders without authentic faith. External objects in themselves did not defile a person; it was the impurity of one's intentions. Moral defilement was the only thing that made one "unclean." By setting aside this Law, Jesus opened the door of unity with Gentiles, who were considered to be “unclean." a problem that the early Church later faced (Acts 11:17-18).
TO LOVE: Do I look down on others because of their race, religion, culture or lifestyle?
TO SERVE: Lord Jesus, make my intentions pure so I can serve you and my neighbor.
Wednesday 7
February 2018
1
Kings 10:1-10. Psalm 36(37):5-6, 30-31, 39-40. Mark 7:14-23.
The
mouths of the just murmur wisdom—Psalm 36(37):5-6, 30-31, 39-40.
Wisdom
comes from the lips of the upright.
The
Old Testament readings today speak of wisdom. Wisdom is something we carry
within, something we can foster and nurture, shape in the furnace of life’s
experiences. But how do we acquire wisdom? Joan Chittister says, ‘What we seed
in our souls grows in us, forms us … What I immerse myself in, down deep inside
of me where the soul is, I will become.’
So
let us foster good relationships, magnanimity of heart, willingness to
understand others and the gift of discernment to feed our wisdom. Let prayer
direct our lives towards the will of God as we pray for the wisdom to allow the
Spirit to take root within us and work through us so that we can in turn be God
to our world.
Saint Colette
Saint
of the Day for February 7
(January
13, 1381 – March 6, 1447)
Saint
Colette’s Story
Colette
did not seek the limelight, but in doing God’s will she certainly attracted a
lot of attention. Colette was born in Corbie, France. At 21, she began to
follow the Third Order Rule and became an anchoress, a woman walled into a room
whose only opening was a window into a church.
After
four years of prayer and penance in this cell, she left it. With the approval
and encouragement of the pope, she joined the Poor Clares and reintroduced the
primitive Rule of St. Clare in the 17 monasteries she established. Her sisters
were known for their poverty—they rejected any fixed income—and for their
perpetual fast. Colette’s reform movement spread to other countries and is
still thriving today. Colette was canonized in 1807.
Reflection
Colette
began her reform during the time of the Great Western Schism (1378-1417) when
three men claimed to be pope and thus divided Western Christianity. The 15th
century in general was a very difficult one for the Western Church. Abuses long
neglected cost the Church dearly in the following century. Colette’s reform
indicated the entire Church’s need to follow Christ more closely.
LECTIO DIVINA: MARK 7,14-23
Lectio Divina:
Wednesday, February 7, 2018
1) OPENING PRAYER
Father,
watch
over Your family
and
keep us safe in Your care,
for
all our hope is in You.
We
ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,
who
lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit,
One
God, forever and ever. Amen.
2) GOSPEL READING - MARK
7:14-23
Jesus
summoned the crowd again and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and
understand. Nothing that enters one from outside can defile that person; but
the things that come out from within are what defile.” When he got home away
from the crowd his disciples questioned him about the parable. He said to them,
“Are even you likewise without understanding? Do you not realize that
everything that goes into a person from outside cannot defile, since it enters
not the heart but the stomach and passes out into the latrine?” (Thus he
declared all foods clean.) “But what comes out of the man, that is what defiles
him. From within the man, from his heart, come evil thoughts, unchastity,
theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy,
blasphemy, arrogance, folly. All these evils come from within and they defile.”
3) REFLECTION
The
Gospel today is the continuation of the themes on which we meditated yesterday.
Jesus helps the people and the disciples to understand better the significance
of purity before God. For centuries, the Jews, in order not to contract
impurity, observed many norms and customs bound to food, to drink, to dress, to
hygiene of the body, to contact with persons of other races and religions, etc.
(Mk 7: 3-4). For them it was forbidden to have contact with
gentiles and to eat with them. In the 70’s, the time of Mark, some converted
Jews said, “Now that we are Christians we have to abandon these ancient customs
which separate us from converted gentiles!” But others thought that they
had to continue with the observance of these laws of purity (cf. Col 2:
16,20-22). The attitude of Jesus, described in today’s Gospel, helps us to
overcome this problem.
Mark
7: 14-16: Jesus opens a new way to try to bring people closer to God. He says
to the crowds, “Nothing that goes into someone from outside can make that
person unclean; it is the things that come out of someone that make that person
unclean (Mk 7: 15). Jesus overturns things: what is impure does not come from
outside to the inside, as the Doctors of the Law taught, but what comes from
inside to the outside. Thus, nobody ever needs to ask himself if this or that
food is pure or impure. Jesus places what is pure and impure on another level,
not on the level of ethical behavior. He opens a new way to reach God, and in
this way realizes the most profound design of the people. .
Mark
7: 17-23: In the house, the disciples asked for an explanation. The disciples
did not understand what Jesus wanted to say with that affirmation. When they
reached the house, they ask for an explanation. The disciples’ question
surprises Jesus. He thought that they had understood the parable. In His
explanation to the disciples He goes to the very bottom of the question of
impurity. He declares that all food is pure! In other words, no food which
enters into the human being from outside can make him become impure, because it
does not go to the heart, but to the stomach and ends in the septic tank, but
what makes one become impure, according to Jesus, is what comes out from within
the heart to poison human relationships. And then He enumerates some of them:
prostitution, murder, adultery, ambition, theft, etc. Thus in many ways, by
means of the word, of life together, of living close to one another,
Jesus helps people to attain purity in another way. By means of the word He
purified the lepers (Mk 1: 40-44), cast out unclean spirits (Mk 1: 26,39; 3:
15,22, etc.), and overcame death, which was the source of all impurity.
Thanks to Jesus, who touches her, the woman who was excluded and considered
impure is cured (Mk 5: 25-34). Without fear of being contaminated, Jesus eats
together with people who were considered impure (Mk 2: 15-17).
The
laws of purity at the time of Jesus. The people of that time were concerned
very much about purity. The laws and the norms of purity indicated the
necessary conditions to be able to place oneself before God and to feel well in
His presence. One could not approach God in just any way, because God is holy.
The Law stated, “Be holy because I am holy!” (Lv 19: 2). One who was not pure
could not get close to God to receive the blessings promised to Abraham. The
laws of what was pure and impure (Lv 11 to 16) were written after the time of
slavery in Babylon, around the year 800 after the Exodus, but had its origin in
the ancient mentality and customs of the people of the Bible. A religious and
mystical vision of the world led people to appreciate things, people and
animals, beginning from the category of purity (Gn 7: 2; Dt 14: 13-21; Nm 12: 10-15;
Dt 24: 8-9).
In
the context of the Persian domination, the fifth and fourth centuries before
Christ, before the difficulties of reconstructing the Temple of Jerusalem and
of the survival of the clergy, the priests who governed the people of the Bible
increased the laws relative to poverty and obliged the people to offer
sacrifices of purification for sin. Thus, after child birth (Lv 12: 1-8),
menstruation (Lv 15: 19-24) the cure of a hemorrhage (Lv 15: 25-30), women had
to offer sacrifices to recover purity. Lepers (Lv 13) or people who had contact
with impure things or animals (Lv 5:1-13) also had to offer sacrifices. Part of
this offering remained for the priests (Lv 5: 13).
At
the time of Jesus, to touch a leper, to eat with a tax collector or publican,
to eat without washing your hands, and so many other activities rendered the
person impure, and any contact with this person contaminated the others. For
this reason, it was necessary to avoid an impure person. People lived with
fear, always threatened by so many impure things which threatened life. They
were obliged to live without trust, not trusting anything or anybody. Now, all
of a sudden, everything changes! Through faith in Jesus, it was possible to
have purity and to feel good before God without having to observe all those
laws and those norms of the ancient tradition . It was liberation! The Good
News announced by Jesus took away all fear from the people, and they no longer
had to be in a defensive situation all the time, and He gives them back the
desire to live, and the joy of being children of God, without fear of being
happy!
4) PERSONAL QUESTIONS
In
your life, are there any traditions which you consider sacred and others which
you do not? Which ones? Why?
In
the name of the tradition of the ancients, the Pharisees refused the
Commandment of Jesus. Does this happen today? Where and when? Does it also
happen in my life?
5) CONCLUDING PRAYER
The
upright have Yahweh for their Savior,
their
refuge in times of trouble;
Yahweh
helps them and rescues them,
He
will rescue them from the wicked,
and
save them because they take refuge in Him. (Ps 37:39-40)
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