February 5, 2025
Memorial of Saint Agatha, Virgin and Martyr
Lectionary: 325
Reading 1
Brothers and sisters:
In your struggle against sin
you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood.
You have also forgotten the exhortation addressed to you as children:
My son, do not disdain the discipline
of the Lord
or lose heart when reproved by him;
for whom the Lord loves, he disciplines;
he scourges every son he acknowledges.
Endure your trials as “discipline”;
God treats you as his sons.
For what "son” is there whom his father does not discipline?
At the time, all discipline seems a cause not for joy but for pain,
yet later it brings the peaceful fruit of righteousness
to those who are trained by it.
So strengthen your drooping hands and your weak knees.
Make straight paths for your feet,
that what is lame may not be dislocated but healed.
Strive for peace with everyone,
and for that holiness without which no one will see the Lord.
See to it that no one be deprived of the grace of God,
that no bitter root spring up and cause trouble,
through which many may become defiled.
Responsorial Psalm
R. (see 17) The Lord’s kindness
is everlasting to those who fear him.
Bless the LORD, O my soul;
and all my being, bless his holy name.
Bless the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits.
R. The Lord’s kindness is everlasting to those who fear
him.
As a father has compassion on his children,
so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him,
For he knows how we are formed;
he remembers that we are dust.
R. The Lord’s kindness is everlasting to those who fear
him.
But the kindness of the LORD is from eternity
to eternity toward those who fear him,
And his justice toward children’s children
among those who keep his covenant.
R. The Lord’s kindness is everlasting to those who fear
him.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
My sheep hear my voice, says the Lord;
I know them, and they follow me.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
Jesus departed from there and came to his native place,
accompanied by his disciples.
When the sabbath came he began to teach in the synagogue,
and many who heard him were astonished.
They said, “Where did this man get all this?
What kind of wisdom has been given him?
What mighty deeds are wrought by his hands!
Is he not the carpenter, the son of Mary,
and the brother of James and Joseph and Judas and Simon?
And are not his sisters here with us?”
And they took offense at him.
Jesus said to them,
“A prophet is not without honor except in his native place
and among his own kin and in his own house.”
So he was not able to perform any mighty deed there,
apart from curing a few sick people by laying his hands on them.
He was amazed at their lack of faith.
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/020525.cfm
Commentary on Hebrews 12:4-7,11-15
Today Hebrews has a very important lesson. It tells us how
to look at the pains and sufferings that occur in our life. We should not be
discouraged by such experiences, nor should we take such things lightly.
The reading opens with the concluding verse of yesterday’s
reading, where the author reminds the Hebrew Christians that in their struggle
against sin, they have not yet been called on to shed their blood (as the
martyrs did). The ‘struggle’ evokes a boxing match or a military conflict.
He reminds them with an exhortation that is taken from the
Book of Proverbs (3:11-12, quoting from the Greek Septuagint text), in which
they are addressed lovingly as a “child”, but a child who needs correction.
Proverbs urges that any punishment that comes from the Lord
should not be taken lightly. At the same time, one should not become despondent
because of such punishment. The reason is clear:
…the Lord disciplines those whom he loves
and chastises every child whom he accepts.
Clearly, the Hebrews felt that their trials were a form of
punishment or rejection by God. On the contrary, they are urged to endure their
trials from God as a form of discipline or training.
They need to realise that the trials they are undergoing are
because God is treating them as children whom he dearly loves. Are there any
parents who do not discipline their children, especially when those children
are acting out of line? Not to discipline misbehaving children is to spoil them
and guarantee they will not turn out well. It is not a sign of real love.
Of course, discipline at the time seems painful and may be
resented, but later it is appreciated because of its formative effects:
…discipline always seems painful rather than pleasant at
the time, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who
have been trained by it.
So the Hebrew Christians are told to hold up their limp
arms, steady their trembling knees and smooth out the path they tread. They are
not to slump into a kind of despair and feeling of being abandoned. The phrase
comes from Isaiah:
Strengthen the weak hands
and make firm the feeble knees. (Is 35:3)
If they do accept the trials they are sent:
…what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be
healed.
It is exercise, not passivity, that restores strength to
damaged limbs.
God’s love is in fact present in every single experience,
both good and bad. At the time, it can be difficult to see this, but later on
we may be able to see a real good in what happened, e.g. a stint in hospital or
the loss of a loved person. A serious sickness can help one to re-evaluate the
quality and direction of one’s life. As Paul says:
We know that all things work together for good for those
who love God… (Rom 8:28)
The final lesson is wise advice:
Pursue peace with everyone and the holiness without which
no one will see the Lord.
It is an echo of the Beatitude:
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called
children of God. (Matt 5:9)
The reason for this is not just to have peace in one’s own
life, but to bring peace into the lives of others:
See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God,
that no root of bitterness springs up and causes trouble and through it many
become defiled.
A peace-filled person can be a source of much strength to
people in need of affirmation and support. We may not be able to avoid pain
coming into our own lives, but we should never be the source of pain in the
lives of other people.
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Commentary on Mark 6:1-6
Jesus returns to his home town in the company of his disciples.
On the Sabbath day, as was his right, he began teaching in the synagogue. His
listeners, who all knew him since he was a child, are staggered at the
authoritative way he speaks, and by what he says:
Where did this man get all this? What is this wisdom that
has been given to him? What deeds of power are being done by his hands!
He had no more education than any of his fellow-villagers.
But the point is that they do recognise his wisdom and his
power to perform miracles. Yet, he is ‘only’ the son of a carpenter and of
Mary, related to James and Joses and Jude and Simon, and with “sisters” as
well.
And because they knew him so well, because they were so
familiar with him, they could not accept him. They deliberately chose not to
see what was happening before their very eyes. This, of course, is the irony of
the whole situation—they did not know him at all. They were blinded by their
superficial familiarity.
This trap of familiarity is one we can all fall into very
easily. How many times have we failed to recognise the voice of Jesus speaking
to us because the person is someone we meet every day, a person we may not like
or may even despise? But God can and does talk to us through all kinds of
people, Catholic or not, relative, friend, colleague, our own children, total
stranger, educated, uneducated and many others.
Jesus says to them:
Prophets are not without honor, except in their hometown
and among their own kin and in their own house.
This is a saying known in other cultures and an experience
all too often repeated in our own day. In comparing himself to the Hebrew
prophets who went before him, Jesus foreshadows his ultimate rejection by many
of his own people. We have already seen his problems with his own family, and
now with his townspeople—and it is not the end.
As a result of the townspeople’s deliberate blindness, we
are told Jesus:
…could do no deed of power there, except that he laid his
hands on a few sick people and cured them. And he was amazed at their unbelief.
He could not help those who had no faith in him. Jesus never
forces himself on us. Jesus waits patiently and works only when we cooperate
and open ourselves to him. Mark often says how amazed the people are at Jesus’
teaching. Sadly now, as the last line reads, it is Jesus’ turn to be amazed at
his hometown’s lack of faith and trust in him.
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