February 6, 2025
Memorial of Saint Paul Miki and Companions, Martyrs
Lectionary: 326
Reading 1
Brothers and sisters:
You have not approached that which could be touched
and a blazing fire and gloomy darkness
and storm and a trumpet blast
and a voice speaking words such that those who heard
begged that no message be further addressed to them.
Indeed, so fearful was the spectacle that Moses said,
“I am terrified and trembling.”
No, you have approached Mount Zion
and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem,
and countless angels in festal gathering,
and the assembly of the firstborn enrolled in heaven,
and God the judge of all,
and the spirits of the just made perfect,
and Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant,
and the sprinkled Blood that speaks more eloquently
than that of Abel.
Responsorial Psalm
Psalm
48:2-3ab, 3cd-4, 9, 10-11
R. (see 10) O God, we ponder your
mercy within your temple.
Great is the LORD and wholly to be praised
in the city of our God.
His holy mountain, fairest of heights,
is the joy of all the earth.
R. O God, we ponder your mercy within your temple.
Mount Zion, “the recesses of the North,”
the city of the great King.
God is with her castles;
renowned is he as a stronghold.
R. O God, we ponder your mercy within your temple.
As we had heard, so have we seen
in the city of the LORD of hosts,
In the city of our God;
God makes it firm forever.
R. O God, we ponder your mercy within your temple.
O God, we ponder your mercy
within your temple.
As your name, O God, so also your praise
reaches to the ends of the earth.
Of justice your right hand is full.
R. O God, we ponder your mercy within your temple.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The Kingdom of God is at hand;
repent and believe in the Gospel.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
Jesus summoned the Twelve and began to send them out two by
two
and gave them authority over unclean spirits.
He instructed them to take nothing for the journey but a walking stick
–no food, no sack, no money in their belts.
They were, however, to wear sandals but not a second tunic.
He said to them,
“Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave from there.
Whatever place does not welcome you or listen to you,
leave there and shake the dust off your feet
in testimony against them.”
So they went off and preached repentance.
The Twelve drove out many demons,
and they anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/020625.cfm
Commentary on Hebrews 12:18-19,21-24
The reading gives a striking contrast between the appearance
of God on Mount Sinai and the God that comes to us in Jesus Christ. It is
another word of discouragement to the Hebrew Christians who want to go back to the
old dispensation. They are being reminded of just what they want to go back to
and what they want to leave.
According to the New American Bible:
“This remarkably beautiful passage contrasts two great
assemblies of people: that of the Israelites gathered at Mt Sinai for the
sealing of the old covenant and the promulgation of the Mosaic Law, and that of
the followers of Jesus gathered at ‘Mt Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem’, the
assembly of the ‘new covenant’. This latter scene, marked by the presence of ‘countless
angels’ and of ‘Jesus’ with his ‘redeeming blood’ is reminiscent of the
celestial liturgies of the Book of Revelation.”
The approach to God no longer occurs in an awe-inspiring
theophany as on Sinai, but in a city built by God—for which the Old Testament
saints yearned—the heavenly city. Together with the angels, they are assembled
round the triumphant Mediator for all Christians, whom he has sanctified and
made perfect.
In approaching God through Jesus, the Christians do not have
to go through the experience that the Israelites had at the foot of Mount
Sinai, where Moses received the Law from Yahweh and where the covenant between
Yahweh and his people was sealed. That was a truly awesome and frightening
theophany. Some of its features were:
…a blazing fire, and darkness, and gloom, and a tempest,
and the sound of a trumpet, and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that
not another word be spoken to them.
But impatient with Moses’ delay in coming back, the Hebrews
made the golden calf as an idol. And in a verse omitted from today’s reading,
we are told:
…they could not endure the order that was given, “If even
an animal touches the mountain, it shall be stoned to death.” (Heb
12:20)
In fact, so terrifying was the sight of this idolatrous
image that even Moses, who had spoken face to face with Yahweh, admitted that
he trembled with fear.
But the situation of Christ’s followers is completely
different. The author tells the Hebrew Christians (using very traditional
terms, but in a very different sense) that they:
…have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living
God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering…
The original Mount Zion was Jerusalem, the site of the
Temple in whose sanctuary Yahweh dwelt. Here the author speaks of the “heavenly
Jerusalem”.
They have come to the assembly of the first-born who are
enrolled in heaven. These are all those who have identified themselves with
Jesus as his disciples and identify with the New Covenant.
They come to God, the Judge of all, and to:
…the spirits of the righteous made perfect…
This last phrase would appear to apply to the “righteous” in
the Old Testament who are now given final deliverance and redemption through
the saving death of Christ on the Cross (see Matt 27:52).
And, most of all, they have come:
…to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the
sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
When Abel was killed by his brother Cain, his blood cried
out to God for vengeance (Gen 4:10). His was the first recorded murder in the
Bible and, in addition, was the blood of a good and innocent man. But the
innocent blood of Jesus, poured out on the Cross, is far more powerful. Abel’s
blood cried out from the earth for vengeance, but the blood of Jesus has opened
the way for everyone, providing cleansing and access to God. The blood of Jesus
brings not vengeance, but forgiveness and reconciliation.
The awesomeness of Sinai was one that overpowered the
senses. The awesomeness of our Christian faith is in the radical change it can
bring about in our lives when we surrender ourselves totally to the Way to God
that Jesus has shown. Our Saviour is “meek and humble of heart” and intimately
accessible at all times. Some of his favourite words are: “Do not be afraid.”
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Commentary on Mark 6:7-13
We now reach a new stage in the formation of Jesus’
disciples. There was a calling of the first disciples to be “fishers of
people”, then the choosing of twelve who would share in the very work of Jesus.
Now the Twelve, the foundation of the future community, are being sent out to
do exactly the same work that Jesus has been doing.
They have been given authority over unclean spirits, they
preach repentance—that radical conversion (Greek, metanoia) to the
vision of the Kingdom—and they anoint the sick with oil and heal them. Notice
that these three activities cover the whole person: spiritual, mental and
physical; healing and wholeness; health and holiness—to be holy is to be whole.
They are instructed to travel lightly, bringing only what
they absolutely need—no food or money or even a change of clothes. They will
not need these things because they will be taken care of by the people they
serve. They are to stay in the first house that takes them in. Overall, they
are to show total dependence on and trust in God.
This is freedom at its best. It is a model repeated by many
saints and founders of religious congregations. Do we really need all the
baggage we carry through life? Even the ancient Greeks said: “Those are really
rich whose needs are the least”. That is what Jesus is teaching us. And, of
course, he was a living example.
The disciples went off and did the three central works of
Jesus:
- They
proclaimed the Kingdom and called for a radical change of heart from
people, so that they might see life in the way that Jesus, the Son of God,
was proclaiming.
- They
liberated many people from evil influences and compulsions. Freedom is the
essence of Christian discipleship.
- They
anointed the sick with soothing oil and brought them healing and
wholeness.
They not only preached the Kingdom; they made it a reality
in people’s lives. This is what we too are all called to do within the
circumstances of our life. Even having little, we are to give much.
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LECTIO DIVINA
Thursday, February 6, 2025
Ordinary Time
Opening Prayer
Lord our God, help us to love you with all our hearts and to
love all men as you love them.
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.
Gospel Reading - Mark 6: 7-13
Jesus summoned the Twelve and began to send them out in
pairs, giving them authority over unclean spirits. And he
instructed them to take nothing for the journey except a staff -- no bread, no haversack,
no coppers for their purses. They
were to wear sandals but, he added, 'Don't take a spare tunic.' And he said to
them, 'If you enter a house anywhere, stay there until you leave the district. And if any place does not welcome you and
people refuse to listen to you, as you walk away shake off the dust under
your feet as evidence to them.' So they set off to proclaim repentance; and
they cast out many devils, and anointed many sick people with oil and cured them.
Reflection
Today’s Gospel continues what we have already seen in the
Gospel yesterday. The passage through Nazareth was painful for Jesus. He was
rejected by his own people (Mk 6: 1-5). The community which before had been his
community, now, it is no longer such. Something has changed. Beginning at that
moment, as today’s Gospel says, Jesus began to go round the villages of Galilee
to announce the Good News (Mk 6: 6) and to send the Twelve on mission. In the years
70’s, the time when Mark wrote his Gospel, the Christian communities lived in a
difficult situation, without any horizon. Humanly speaking, here was no future
for them. In the year 64, Nero began to
persecute the Christians. In the year 65, the revolt or uprising of the Jews in
Palestine against Rome broke out. In the year 70, Jerusalem was destroyed by
the Romans. Therefore, the description of the sending out of the disciples,
after the conflict in Nazareth, was a source of light and of courage for the
Christians.
• Mark 6: 7. The
objective of the Mission. The conflict grew and closely affected Jesus. How
does he react? In two ways:
• Before the mental obstinacy of the people of his
community, Jesus leaves Nazareth and began to go round the neighboring villages
(Mk 6: 6).
• He extends the mission and
intensifies the announcement of the Good News calling
other persons to involve them in
the mission. “He summoned the Twelve, and began to send them out in pairs,
giving them authority over unclean spirits.” The objective of the mission is
simple and profound. The disciples participate in the mission of Jesus. They
cannot go alone, they must
go in pairs, two by two, because
two persons represent the community better than one alone and they can mutually help one another. They
receive authority over unclean spirits, that is, they must be
a help for
others in suffering
and, through purification,
and they must open the door for direct access to God.
• Mark 6: 8-11. The attitudes which they should have in
the Mission. The recommendations are simple: “And he instructed them to take
nothing for the journey except a staff; no bread, no haversack, no coppers for
their purses; they were to wear sandals and not to take a spare tunic. And he
told them: If you enter a house anywhere, stay there until you leave the
district. And if any place does not welcome you and people refuse to listen to
you, as you walk away, shake off the dust under your feet, as evidence to
them.” So they set off. It is the beginning of a new stage. Now, not only
Jesus, but the whole group will announce the Good News of God to the people. If
the preaching of Jesus caused conflict, much more now, there will be
conflict with the preaching ofthe whole
group. If the mystery was already great, now it will be greater since the
mission has been intensified.
• Mark 6: 12-13. The
result of the mission. “So they set off to proclaim repentance, and they cast
out many devils, and anointed many sick people with oil and cured them.” To
announce the Good News, produces conversion or a change in persons, it
alleviates persons in their suffering;
it cures illnesses and casts out devils.
The sending out of the disciples on Mission. At the time of Jesus there were several other movements of renewal. For example, the Essenes and the Pharisees. They also sought a new way of living in community and they had their own missionaries (cf. Mt 23: 15). But these, when they went on mission, they had prejudices. They took with them a haversack and money to take care of their own meals, because they did not trust the food that people would give them, which was not always ritually “pure.” On the contrary to other missionaries, the disciples of Jesus received diverserecommendations which helped to understand the fundamental points of the mission of announcing the Good News, which they received from Jesus and which is also our mission:
• They should go without taking anything. They should take
nothing, no haversack, no money, no staff, no bread, no sandals, not two
tunics. That meant that Jesus obliged them to trust in hospitality. Because one
who goes without taking anything, goes because he trusts people and thinks that
he will be well received. With this attitude they criticized the laws of exclusion,
taught by the official religion, and showed, by means of the new practice, that
they in the community had other criteria.
• They should eat what people ate or what the people gave
them. They could not live separated providing their own food, but they should
accept to sit at the same table (Lk 10: 8).
This means that in contact with the people, they should not be afraid of
losing the purity as it was taught at that time. With this attitude they
criticized the laws of purity which were in force and showed, by means of the
new practice, that they had another type of access to purity, that is, intimacy
with God.
• They should remain in the first house that welcomed them.
They should live together in a stable way and not go from house to house. They
should work like everybody else and live from what they received in exchange, “because
the laborer deserves his wages” (Lk 10: 7). In
other words, they
should participate in
the life and
in the work
of the people,
and the people would have accepted them in the community and would have shared
the food with them. This means that they had to have trust in sharing.
• They should take care of the sick, cure the lepers and
cast out devils (Lk 10: 9; Mc 6: 7, 13; Mt 10: 8). They had to carry out the
function of “Defender” (goêl) and accept within the clan, in the community, those who were excluded. With
this attitude they criticized the situation of disintegration
of the community life of the clan and they aimed at concrete
ways of getting out. These were the four fundamental points which had to give impulse
to the attitude of the missionaries who announced the Good News of God, in the
name of Jesus: hospitality, communion,
sharing andacceptance of the
excluded (defender, goêl). If these
four requirements were respected, they could and should cry out to the
four ends of the world: “The Kingdom of God has come!” (cf. Lk 10: 1-12; 9:
1-6; Mk 6: 7-13; Mt 10: 6-16). Because the Kingdom of God revealed by Jesus is
not a doctrine, nor a catechism, nor a law.
The Kingdom of God comes and becomes present when persons, motivated by
their faith in Jesus, decide to live in community to give witness and to
manifest to all that God is Father and Mother and that, therefore, we human
beings are brothers and sisters among us. Jesus wanted that the local community
would again be an expression of the Covenant, of the Kingdom, of the love of
God the Father, who makes all of us brothers and sisters.
Personal Questions
• Do you participate in the mission as a disciple of Jesus?
• Which point of the mission of the apostles is more important for us today? Why?
Concluding Prayer
Great is Yahweh and most worthy of praise in the city of our
God, the holy mountain, towering in
beauty, the joy of the whole world. (Ps 48: 1-2)
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