Memorial of Saint Anthony, Abbot
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.
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.
www.usccb.org
Meditation: "You can make me clean"
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 disease? 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 great mercy and compassionate care."
www.dailyscripture.net
 To Be Free to Love |
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Memorial of Saint Anthony, Abbot
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Father Paul Campbell, LC
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. |
THURSDAY, JANUARY 17
MARK 1:40-45
(Hebrews 3:7-14; Psalm 95)
KEY VERSE: "If you choose, you can make me clean" (v 40).
READING: The Hebrew word for "leprosy" used in Leviticus13:47 is tsarath. In the New Testament times the term leprosy included both the deadly incurable form (Hanson's Disease) and the comparatively harmless varietysuch as psoriasis, ring-worm, mould or fungus on a garment and dry-rot in a house. Any kind of skin disease forced the person afflicted to live apart from the community as an unclean outcast. 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 rendered a person ritually unclean, Jesus did not hesitate to touch the man and heal him. Then he sent the man to the priest who had the authority to pronounce him cured and return him 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 outskirts of the town.
REFLECTING: Do I show compassion to those who are afflicted by sickness and disease?
PRAYING: Lord Jesus, heal me of all that separates me from God and my community.
Memorial of Anthony, abbot
Anthony was born in Lower Egypt in 251 to wealthy landowner parents. When he was about 18 years old, his parents died and left him with the care of his unmarried sister. In 285, at the age of 34, he decided to follow the words of Jesus, who had said: "If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasures in heaven; and come, follow Me." [Mt 19:21]. Taking these words literally, Anthony gave away some of the family estate, sold the remaining property, and donated the funds to the poor. Anthony placed his sister with a group of Christian virgins, a sort of proto-nunnery at the time, and became the disciple of a local hermit, miraculously healing people and acting as spiritual counselor of others. His example led many to take up the monastic life, and to follow his way. So many disciples arrived that Anthony founded other monasteries. Anthony briefly left his seclusion in 311, going to Alexandria to comfort the victims of the Emperor Maximinus' persecution and to fight the Arian heresy (named for the Alexandrian presbyter Arius who proposed that Christ was not truly divine but a created being). Anthony retired to the desert again, living in a cave on Mount Colzim. The biography of Anthony's life written by his friend Athanasius of Alexandria helped to spread the concept of monasticism, particularly in Western Europe through Latin translations. Anthony is known as the Father of Western Monasticism.
www.daily-word-of-life.com
If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts
‘You can
cure me!’Perhaps the leprosy of our day is the social sin of greed or avarice that seems to have snared us all in one way or another. Sometimes it’s so subtle we fail to recognise it. At other times it’s just too hard to break away from the social ‘norms’ taking root in our country. At high levels decisions are often made purely in terms of economic viability. We may be appalled, but gradually that mindset seeps into our culture and into each one of us.
Paul says we become hardened by the lure of sin, and need the encouragement of one another to resist selfish trends. Today, let us come before the Lord with the confidence of the leper, asking for healing. Let us also come as a community, a community of Madonna readers, praying for one another and praying for our world.
www.churchresources.info
January 17
St. Anthony of Egypt
(251-356)
St. Anthony of Egypt
(251-356)
The life of Anthony will remind many
people of St. Francis of Assisi. At 20, Anthony was so moved by the Gospel
message, “Go, sell what you have, and give to [the] poor” (Mark 10:21b), that
he actually did just that with his large inheritance. He is different from
Francis in that most of Anthony’s life was spent in solitude. He saw the world
completely covered with snares, and gave the Church and the world the witness
of solitary asceticism, great personal mortification and prayer. But no saint
is antisocial, and Anthony drew many people to himself for spiritual healing and
guidance.
At 54, he
responded to many requests and founded a sort of monastery of scattered cells.
Again like Francis, he had great fear of “stately buildings and well-laden
tables.”
At 60, he hoped
to be a martyr in the renewed Roman persecution of 311, fearlessly exposing
himself to danger while giving moral and material support to those in prison.
At 88, he was fighting the Arian heresy, that massive trauma from which it took
the Church centuries to recover. “The mule kicking over the altar” denied the
divinity of Christ.
Anthony is
associated in art with a T-shaped cross, a pig and a book. The pig and the
cross are symbols of his valiant warfare with the devil—the cross his constant
means of power over evil spirits, the pig a symbol of the devil himself. The
book recalls his preference for “the book of nature” over the printed word.
Anthony died in solitude at 105.
Comment:
In an age that smiles at the notion of devils and angels, a person known for having power over evil spirits must at least make us pause. And in a day when people speak of life as a “rat race,” one who devotes a whole life to solitude and prayer points to an essential of the Christian life in all ages. Anthony’s hermit life reminds us of the absoluteness of our break with sin and the totality of our commitment to Christ. Even in God’s good world, there is another world whose false values constantly tempt us.
In an age that smiles at the notion of devils and angels, a person known for having power over evil spirits must at least make us pause. And in a day when people speak of life as a “rat race,” one who devotes a whole life to solitude and prayer points to an essential of the Christian life in all ages. Anthony’s hermit life reminds us of the absoluteness of our break with sin and the totality of our commitment to Christ. Even in God’s good world, there is another world whose false values constantly tempt us.
www.americancatholic.org
LECTIO: MARK 1,40-45
Lectio:
Thursday,
January 17, 2013
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)
www.ocarm.org
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