Monday, Weekday in Ordinary Time
Lectionary:
317
All the tribes of Israel
came to David in Hebron
and said:
"Here we are, your bone and your flesh.
In days past, when Saul was our king,
it was you who led the children ofIsrael out and brought them back.
And the LORD said to you, 'You shall shepherd my peopleIsrael
and shall be commander ofIsrael .'"
When all the elders ofIsrael
came to David in Hebron ,
King David made an agreement with them there before the LORD,
and they anointed him king ofIsrael .
David was thirty years old when he became king,
and he reigned for forty years:
seven years and six months inHebron
over Judah ,
and thirty-three years inJerusalem
over allIsrael
and Judah .
Then the king and his men set out forJerusalem
against the Jebusites who inhabited the region.
David was told, "You cannot enter here:
the blind and the lame will drive you away!"
which was their way of saying, "David cannot enter here."
But David did take the stronghold ofZion ,
which is the City of David .
David grew steadily more powerful,
for the LORD of hosts was with him.
"Here we are, your bone and your flesh.
In days past, when Saul was our king,
it was you who led the children of
And the LORD said to you, 'You shall shepherd my people
and shall be commander of
When all the elders of
King David made an agreement with them there before the LORD,
and they anointed him king of
David was thirty years old when he became king,
and he reigned for forty years:
seven years and six months in
and thirty-three years in
over all
Then the king and his men set out for
against the Jebusites who inhabited the region.
David was told, "You cannot enter here:
the blind and the lame will drive you away!"
which was their way of saying, "David cannot enter here."
But David did take the stronghold of
David grew steadily more powerful,
for the LORD of hosts was with him.
Responsorial
Psalm Ps 89:20, 21-22, 25-26
R. (25a) My
faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him.
Once you spoke in a vision,
and to your faithful ones you said:
"On a champion I have placed a crown;
over the people I have set a youth."
R. My faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him.
"I have found David, my servant;
with my holy oil I have anointed him,
That my hand may be always with him,
and that my arm may make him strong."
R. My faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him.
"My faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him,
and through my name shall his horn be exalted.
I will set his hand upon the sea,
his right hand upon the rivers."
R. For they had said, "He has an unclean spirit."
Once you spoke in a vision,
and to your faithful ones you said:
"On a champion I have placed a crown;
over the people I have set a youth."
R. My faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him.
"I have found David, my servant;
with my holy oil I have anointed him,
That my hand may be always with him,
and that my arm may make him strong."
R. My faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him.
"My faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him,
and through my name shall his horn be exalted.
I will set his hand upon the sea,
his right hand upon the rivers."
R. For they had said, "He has an unclean spirit."
Gospel Mk
3:22-30
The scribes who had come from Jerusalem said of Jesus,
"He is possessed by Beelzebul," and
"By the prince of demons he drives out demons."
Summoning them, he began to speak to them in parables,
"How can Satan drive out Satan?
If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.
And if a house is divided against itself,
that house will not be able to stand.
And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided,
he cannot stand;
that is the end of him.
But no one can enter a strong man's house to plunder his property
unless he first ties up the strong man.
Then he can plunder his house.
Amen, I say to you, all sins and all blasphemies
that people utter will be forgiven them.
But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit
will never have forgiveness,
but is guilty of an everlasting sin."
For they had said, "He has an unclean spirit."
"He is possessed by Beelzebul," and
"By the prince of demons he drives out demons."
Summoning them, he began to speak to them in parables,
"How can Satan drive out Satan?
If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.
And if a house is divided against itself,
that house will not be able to stand.
And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided,
he cannot stand;
that is the end of him.
But no one can enter a strong man's house to plunder his property
unless he first ties up the strong man.
Then he can plunder his house.
Amen, I say to you, all sins and all blasphemies
that people utter will be forgiven them.
But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit
will never have forgiveness,
but is guilty of an everlasting sin."
For they had said, "He has an unclean spirit."
Meditation: "All sins will be forgiven except blasphemy against the
Holy Spirit"
When
danger lurks what kind of protection do you seek? Jesus came to free us from the
greatest danger of all – the corrupting force of evil which destroys us from
within and makes us slaves to sin and Satan (John 8:34). Evil is not an
impersonal force that just happens. It has a name and a face and it seeks to
master every heart and soul on the face of the earth (1 Peter 5:8-9). Scripture
identifies the Evil One by many names, 'Satan', 'Be-el'zebul – the prince of
demons', the 'Devil', the 'Deceiver', the 'Father of Lies', and 'Lucifier', the
fallen angel who broke rank with God and established his own army and kingdom
in opposition to God. Jesus declared that he came to overthrow the power of
Satan and his kingdom (John 12:31). Jesus' numerous exorcisms brought freedom
to many who were troubled and oppressed by the work of evil spirits. Jesus
himself encountered personal opposition and battle with Satan when he was put
to the test in the wilderness just before his public ministry (Matthew 4:1;
Luke 4:1). He overcame the Evil One through his obedience to the will of his
Father.
Some of
the Jewish leaders reacted vehemently to Jesus' healings and exorcisms and they
opposed him with malicious slander. How could Jesus get the power and authority
to release individuals from Satan's influence and control? They assumed that he
had to be in league with Satan. They attributed his power to Satan rather than
to God. Jesus asserts that no kingdom divided against itself can survive for
long. We have witnessed enough civil wars in our own time to prove the
destructive force at work here for the annihilation of whole peoples and their
land. If Satan lends his power against his own forces then he is finished.
Cyril of Alexandria, a 5th century church father explains the force of Jesus'
argument:
Kingdoms are established by the fidelity of subjects and the
obedience of those under the royal scepter. Houses are established when those
who belong to them in no way whatsoever thwart one another but, on the
contrary, agree in will and deed. I suppose it would establish the kingdom too
of Beelzebub, had he determined to abstain from everything contrary to himself.
How then does Satan cast out Satan? It follows then that devils do not depart
from people on their own accord but retire unwillingly. “Satan,” he says, “does
not fight with himself.” He does not rebuke his own servants. He does not
permit himself to injure his own armorbearers. On the contrary, he helps his
kingdom. “It remains for you to understand that I crush Satan by divine power.”
[Commentary on Luke, Homily
80]
Jesus
asserted his authority to cast out demons as a clear demonstration of the reign
of God. God's power is clearly at work in the exorcisms which Jesus performed
and they give evidence that God's kingdom has come.
What
kind of spiritual danger or harm should we avoid at all costs? Jesus used the
illustration of a strong man whose house and possessions were kept secure. How
could such a person be overtaken and robbed of his goods except by someone who
is stronger than himself? Satan, who is our foe and the arch-enemy of God, is
stronger than us. Unless we are clothed in God's strength, we cannot withstand
Satan with our own human strength. What does Satan wish to take from us – our
faith and confidence in God and our allegiance to follow God's law. Satan is a rebel
and a liar. Satan can only have power or dominion over us if we listen to his
lies and succumb to his will which is contrary to the will of God. Jesus makes
it clear that there are no neutral parties in this world. We are either for
Jesus or against him, for the kingdom
of God or against it.
There are two kingdoms in opposition to one another – the kingdom of God 's
light and truth and the kingdom of darkness and deception under the rule of
Satan. If we disobey God's word, we open to door to the power of sin and
Satan's influence in our lives. If we want to live in true freedom from the
power of sin and Satan, then our "house" – our mind and heart and
whatever we allow to control our appetites and desires – must be occupied and
ruled by Jesus Christ where he is enthroned as Lord and Savior. Do you know the
peace and security of a life submitted to God and to his word?
What is
the unforgivable sin which Jesus warns us to avoid? Jesus knows that his
disciples will be tested and he assures them that the Holy Spirit will give
them whatever grace and help they need in their time of adversity. He warns
them, however, that it's possible to spurn the grace of God and to fall into
apostasy (giving up the faith) out of cowardice or disbelief. Why is blasphemy
against the Holy Spirit reprehensible? Blasphemy consists in uttering against
God, inwardly or outwardly, words of hatred, reproach, or defiance. It's
contrary to the respect due God and his holy name. Jesus speaks of blaspheming
against the Holy Spirit as the unforgivable sin. Jesus spoke about this sin
immediately after the scribes and Pharisees had attributed his miracles to the
work of the devil instead of to God. A sin can only be unforgivable if
repentance is impossible. If someone repeatedly closes their eyes to God, shuts
their ears to his voice, and reject his word, they bring themselves to a point
where they can no longer recognize God when he can be seen and heard. They
become spiritually blind-sighted and speak of "evil as good and good as
evil" (Isaiah 5:20).
To fear
such a state of sin and spiritual blindness, however, signals that one is not
dead to God and is conscious of the need for God's grace, mercy, and help.
There are no limits to the mercy of God, but anyone who refuses to acknowledge
and confess their sins and to ask God for forgiveness, spurns God's generous
offer of mercy, pardon, grace, and healing. Through their own stubborn pride
and wilfullness, they reject God, refuse his grace and help to turn away from
sin, and reject the transforming power of the Holy Spirit to heal and restore
them to wholeness. God always gives sufficient grace and help to all who humbly
call upon him. Giving up on God and refusing to turn away from sin and
disbelief results from pride and the loss of hope in God.
What is
the basis of our hope and confidence in God? Through Jesus' death on the cross
and his victory over the grave when he rose again on the third day, Satan has
been defeated and death has been overcome. We now share in Christ's victory
over sin and Satan and receive adoption as God's sons and daughters. Through
the gift of the Holy Spirit, the Lord enables us to live a new life of love and
freedom from slavery to sin. The Lord Jesus is our refuge and strength because
he makes his home with us (John 15:4) and gives us the power and help of the
Holy Spirit. Do you take refuge in the Lord and allow him to be the Ruler of
your life?
"Lord
Jesus, you are my hope and salvation. Be the ruler of my heart and the master
of my home. May there be nothing in my life that is not under your
lordship."
This
reflection is courtesy of Don Schwager, whose website is located at:
http://www.rc.net/wcc/readings/
January 23
Blessed Mother Marianne Cope
(1838-1918)
Though leprosy scared off most people
in 19th-century Hawaii , that disease sparked
great generosity in the woman who came to be known as Mother Marianne of Molokai . Her courage helped tremendously to improve the
lives of its victims in Hawaii , a territory
annexed to the United States
during her lifetime (1898).
Mother
Marianne’s generosity and courage were celebrated at her May 14, 2005,
beatification in On January 23, 1838, a daughter was born to Peter and Barbara Cope of
Marianne held the post of superior in several places and was twice the novice mistress of her congregation. A natural leader, three different times she was superior of St. Joseph’s Hospital in Syracuse, where she learned much that would be useful during her years in Hawaii.
Elected provincial in 1877, Mother Marianne was unanimously re-elected in 1881. Two years later the Hawaiian government was searching for someone to run the Kakaako Receiving Station for people suspected of having leprosy. More than 50 religious communities in the
In 1888, Mother Marianne and two sisters went to
Awarded the Royal Order of Kapiolani by the Hawaiian government and celebrated in a poem by Robert Louis Stevenson, Mother Marianne continued her work faithfully. Her sisters have attracted vocations among the Hawaiian people and still work on
Mother Marianne died on August 9, 1918 and was beatified in 2005. A second miracle was officially confirmed in December 2011; to date, Mother Marianne's canonization has not yet been scheduled.
Comment:
The government authorities were reluctant to allow Mother Marianne to be a mother onMolokai . Thirty years of dedication proved their fears
unfounded. God grants gifts regardless of human short-sightedness and allows
those gifts to flower for the sake of the kingdom.
The government authorities were reluctant to allow Mother Marianne to be a mother on
Quote:
Soon after Mother Marianne died, Mrs. John F. Bowler wrote in the Honolulu Advertiser, “Seldom has the opportunity come to a woman to devote every hour of 30 years to the mothering of people isolated by law from the rest of the world. She risked her own life in all that time, faced everything with unflinching courage and smiled sweetly through it all.”
Soon after Mother Marianne died, Mrs. John F. Bowler wrote in the Honolulu Advertiser, “Seldom has the opportunity come to a woman to devote every hour of 30 years to the mothering of people isolated by law from the rest of the world. She risked her own life in all that time, faced everything with unflinching courage and smiled sweetly through it all.”
LOS ANGELES ,
CA (Catholic Online) (1/4/2012)
…Mother
Marianne Cope's roots in rural New York began
in 1840 after her family emigrated from Germany when she was a baby. A
factory worker until she joined the Franciscan sisters in the early 1860s, the
nun worked as a nurse and hospital administrator, helping to found two
hospitals - St. Joseph 's in Syracuse
and St. Elizabeth's in Utica ,
both still in operation. No one was denied medical care.
Marianne then answered a plea fromHawaii for help
providing care for leprosy patients. She died of natural causes and was buried
there. In 2005, her remains were brought to the St. Anthony Convent in Syracuse .
TheVatican
recognized Mother Marianne Cope's intercession for the unexplained cure of a New York girl dying of
multiple organ failure. The Vatican
recommended her canonization last month after a second recovery was attributed
to her intercession…
Marianne then answered a plea from
The
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