Memorial of Saint Agnes, Virgin and Martyr
Lectionary: 312
Lectionary: 312
The LORD said to Samuel:
“How long will you grieve for Saul,
whom I have rejected as king of Israel?
Fill your horn with oil, and be on your way.
I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem,
for I have chosen my king from among his sons.”
But Samuel replied:
“How can I go?
Saul will hear of it and kill me.”
To this the LORD answered:
“Take a heifer along and say,
‘I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.’
Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I myself will tell you what to do;
you are to anoint for me the one I point out to you.”
Samuel did as the LORD had commanded him.
When he entered Bethlehem,
the elders of the city came trembling to meet him and inquired,
“Is your visit peaceful, O seer?”
He replied:
“Yes! I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.
So cleanse yourselves and join me today for the banquet.”
He also had Jesse and his sons cleanse themselves
and invited them to the sacrifice.
As they came, he looked at Eliab and thought,
“Surely the LORD’s anointed is here before him.”
But the LORD said to Samuel:
“Do not judge from his appearance or from his lofty stature,
because I have rejected him.
Not as man sees does God see,
because he sees the appearance
but the LORD looks into the heart.”
Then Jesse called Abinadab and presented him before Samuel,
who said, “The LORD has not chosen him.”
Next Jesse presented Shammah, but Samuel said,
“The LORD has not chosen this one either.”
In the same way Jesse presented seven sons before Samuel,
but Samuel said to Jesse,
“The LORD has not chosen any one of these.”
Then Samuel asked Jesse,
“Are these all the sons you have?”
Jesse replied,
“There is still the youngest, who is tending the sheep.”
Samuel said to Jesse,
“Send for him;
we will not begin the sacrificial banquet until he arrives here.”
Jesse sent and had the young man brought to them.
He was ruddy, a youth handsome to behold
and making a splendid appearance.
The LORD said,
“There–anoint him, for this is he!”
Then Samuel, with the horn of oil in hand,
anointed him in the midst of his brothers;
and from that day on, the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon David.
When Samuel took his leave, he went to Ramah.
“How long will you grieve for Saul,
whom I have rejected as king of Israel?
Fill your horn with oil, and be on your way.
I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem,
for I have chosen my king from among his sons.”
But Samuel replied:
“How can I go?
Saul will hear of it and kill me.”
To this the LORD answered:
“Take a heifer along and say,
‘I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.’
Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I myself will tell you what to do;
you are to anoint for me the one I point out to you.”
Samuel did as the LORD had commanded him.
When he entered Bethlehem,
the elders of the city came trembling to meet him and inquired,
“Is your visit peaceful, O seer?”
He replied:
“Yes! I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.
So cleanse yourselves and join me today for the banquet.”
He also had Jesse and his sons cleanse themselves
and invited them to the sacrifice.
As they came, he looked at Eliab and thought,
“Surely the LORD’s anointed is here before him.”
But the LORD said to Samuel:
“Do not judge from his appearance or from his lofty stature,
because I have rejected him.
Not as man sees does God see,
because he sees the appearance
but the LORD looks into the heart.”
Then Jesse called Abinadab and presented him before Samuel,
who said, “The LORD has not chosen him.”
Next Jesse presented Shammah, but Samuel said,
“The LORD has not chosen this one either.”
In the same way Jesse presented seven sons before Samuel,
but Samuel said to Jesse,
“The LORD has not chosen any one of these.”
Then Samuel asked Jesse,
“Are these all the sons you have?”
Jesse replied,
“There is still the youngest, who is tending the sheep.”
Samuel said to Jesse,
“Send for him;
we will not begin the sacrificial banquet until he arrives here.”
Jesse sent and had the young man brought to them.
He was ruddy, a youth handsome to behold
and making a splendid appearance.
The LORD said,
“There–anoint him, for this is he!”
Then Samuel, with the horn of oil in hand,
anointed him in the midst of his brothers;
and from that day on, the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon David.
When Samuel took his leave, he went to Ramah.
Responsorial Psalm PS 89:20, 21-22, 27-28
R. (21a) I have found David, my servant.
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. I have found David, my servant.
“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. I have found David, my servant.
“He shall say of me, ‘You are my father,
my God, the Rock, my savior.’
And I will make him the first-born,
highest of the kings of the earth.”
R. I have found David, my servant.
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. I have found David, my servant.
“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. I have found David, my servant.
“He shall say of me, ‘You are my father,
my God, the Rock, my savior.’
And I will make him the first-born,
highest of the kings of the earth.”
R. I have found David, my servant.
Gospel MK 2:23-28
As Jesus was passing through a field of grain on the sabbath,
his disciples began to make a path while picking the heads of grain.
At this the Pharisees said to him,
“Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the sabbath?”
He said to them,
“Have you never read what David did
when he was in need and he and his companions were hungry?
How he went into the house of God when Abiathar was high priest
and ate the bread of offering that only the priests could lawfully eat,
and shared it with his companions?”
Then he said to them,
“The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath.
That is why the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.”
his disciples began to make a path while picking the heads of grain.
At this the Pharisees said to him,
“Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the sabbath?”
He said to them,
“Have you never read what David did
when he was in need and he and his companions were hungry?
How he went into the house of God when Abiathar was high priest
and ate the bread of offering that only the priests could lawfully eat,
and shared it with his companions?”
Then he said to them,
“The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath.
That is why the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.”
Meditation: "The Son of man is Lord of the Sabbath"
What does the commandment "keep holy the Sabbath"
require of us? Or better yet, what is the primary intention behind this
command? The religious leaders confronted Jesus on this issue. The
"Sabbath rest" was meant to be a time to remember and celebrate God's
goodness and the goodness of his work, both in creation and redemption. It was
a day set apart for the praise of God, his work of creation, and his saving
actions on our behalf. It was intended to bring everyday work to a halt and to
provide needed rest and refreshment. Jesus' disciples are scolded by the
scribes and Pharisees, not for plucking and eating corn from the fields, but
for doing so on the Sabbath. In defending his disciples, Jesus argues from the
scriptures that human need has precedence over ritual custom.
When David and his men were fleeing for their lives, they sought
food from Ahim'elech the priest (1 Samuel 21:1-6). The only bread he had was
the holy bread offered in the Temple. None but the priests were allowed to eat
it. In their hunger, David and his men ate of this bread. Jesus reminds the
Pharisees that the Sabbath was given for our benefit, to refresh and renew us
in living for God. It was intended for good and not for evil. Withholding mercy
and kindness in response to human need was not part of God’s intention that we
rest from unnecessary labor. Do you honor the Lord in the way you treat your
neighbor and celebrate the Lord’s Day?
"Lord Jesus, may I give you fitting honor in the way I live
my life and in the way I treat my neighbor. May I honor the Lord's Day as a day
holy to you. And may I always treat others with the same mercy and kindness
which you have shown to me. Free me from a critical and intolerant spirit that
I may always seek the good of my neighbor."
 Mankind in Dire Need |
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Memorial of Saint Agnes, virgin and martyr
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Father Walter Schu, LC
Mark 2:23-28
As Jesus was passing through a field of grain on the sabbath,
his disciples began to make a path while picking the heads of grain. At this
the Pharisees said to him, "Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on
the sabbath?" He said to them, "Have you never read what David did
when he was in need and he and his companions were hungry? How he went into
the house of God when Abiathar was high priest and ate the bread of offering
that only the priests could lawfully eat, and shared it with his
companions?" Then he said to them, "The sabbath was made for man,
not man for the sabbath. That is why the Son of Man is lord even of the
sabbath."
Introductory Prayer: Lord,
the most important moment of my day has arrived. I am alone with you for a
heart-to-heart talk. Who am I that you should want to spend this time with
me; that you should want to pour yourself out to me? What a joy, what an
honor, what a glory to be the follower of a king like you!
Petition: Lord, help me to
pray for and serve those who persecute me and to win them over to the
Gospel through love, just like you did.
1. “Unlawful on the Sabbath”:How dire
was mankind’s need for a Savior! The Jews were God’s chosen people; they had
received God’s own revelation in the Old Testament. The Pharisees were the
religious leaders of the Jewish people. Yet they buried God’s law so deeply
beneath layers of man-made precepts that hungry men were not allowed to pick
grain in order to eat on the Sabbath. The law had become an end in itself and
had taken precedence over persons in need. How could mankind ever be led
safely along the true path to salvation without becoming hopelessly entangled
in the thickets of false rituals and arbitrary precepts? The Son of God, the
Eternal Word of the Father, humbled himself to become the Son of Man in order
to bring us the fullness of truth. But Christ did much more than bring us the
fullness of God’s revelation. He gave us the strength, through his own life
of grace within us, to live out that truth in our lives. Am I sufficiently
tapped into that source of grace in my life?
2. Seeking to Win over Enemies: If we
were in Christ’s place, what would have been our reaction to the Pharisees?
Perhaps we would have yielded to their imposing presence. Maybe we would have
summoned up our courage and dismissed their intransigence without even
deigning to reply. Christ reveals both his fearlessness and his goodness of
heart by seeking to win them over. He quotes the Scriptures that they believe
in and cites 1 Samuel 21:1-6. David and his men, fleeing from Saul, eat the
holy bread of the Presence: twelve loaves placed each morning on the table in
the sanctuary, as homage to the Lord from the twelve tribes of Israel. When
they were withdrawn to make room for fresh ones, these loaves were reserved
for the Levitical priests. Christ seeks to reveal to the Pharisees, in a way
they can accept, that they have gone astray from true religion, in which love
of God and neighbor takes precedence over following rules. Christ sums up the
nature of true religion and points out the Pharisees’ error in one sublime
sentence: “The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath.” Do I
perceive the burden Christ has given me as light? That is what he intends and
promises. If I do not, why not?
3. Lord of the Sabbath: Christ
does not stop with revealing the nature and purpose of true religion. He
makes a bold proclamation, one which must have stunned the Pharisees, and
perhaps even widened the eyes of his own disciples: “The Son of Man is lord
even of the Sabbath.” Christ declares in no uncertain terms that his
authority is equal to that of God himself, who instituted the Sabbath at the
dawn of man’s creation. Christ wants from the Pharisees nothing less than an
act of faith in his own divine person. His heart longs to save them. Christ
yearns to bring to salvation everyone he encounters, including his enemies.
Does my own zeal for souls bring me to reflect something of Christ’s courage
and love when I am faced with opposition? Do I desire and seek what is good
for everyone regardless of their attitude towards me?
Conversation with Christ:Thank
you, Lord, for becoming a man to save us in our dire need for you. Thank you
for loving even your enemies and seeking to win them over to your new life.
Help me to love more like you did. Help me to realize the value of a single
soul.
Resolution: I
will pray and make sacrifices for someone who is persecuting me or the
Church. Forgetting about myself, I will look for ways to bring them to
experience the love of Christ.
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TUESDAY, JANUARY 21, MARK 2:23-28
(1 Samuel 16:1-13; Psalm 89)
(1 Samuel 16:1-13; Psalm 89)
KEY VERSE: "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath" (v 27).
READING: When Jesus and his disciples were walking through the corn fields one Sabbath day, his hungry disciples began to pluck ears of corn and eat them. On any ordinary day the disciples were doing what was permitted (Deut 23:25). So long as they did not put a sickle into the field they were free to pick the corn. But the disciples were doing this on the Sabbath, which was encircled with hundreds of rules and regulations. Among the activities forbidden on the Sabbath during the "seasons of plowing and harvesting" (Ex 34:21) were reaping, threshing, winnowing, and the preparation of a meal from raw ingredients. When Jesus was challenged by the Pharisees, saying that his disciples were violating the Sabbath law, he cited the precedence of David who fed his hungry men with the bread of offering that was reserved for the priests (1 Sm 21:4-7). Jesus said that the Sabbath was a gift from God, and that charity should prevail over rules. As "Lord of the Sabbath" (Mk 2:28), Jesus correctly interpreted the law for the benefit of all humankind.
REFLECTING: Have I allowed rules to be a substitute for love of the Lord's people?
PRAYING: Lord Jesus, help me to keep the Sabbath by prayer and good works.
Memorial of Agnes, virgin and martyr
Agnes, whose name means "chaste lamb," was the daughter of a noble Roman family who had become a Christian and martyred for her belief. During the persecution of Diocletian in 304, or possibly earlier, Agnes was ordered to sacrifice to pagan gods. She was taken to a Roman temple to Minerva (Athena), and when led to the altar, she made the Sign of the Cross. She was threatened, and then tortured when she refused to turn against God. Several young men presented themselves, offering to marry her (whether from lust or pity is not known). She said that to she would keep her consecrated virginity intact, accept death, and see Christ in Heaven. According to very early accounts, her enraged persecutors attempted to burn Agnes, and when this failed, they decapitated her. Testimony to her courageous witness was given in an account written by St Ambrose (340-387) in "De Virginibus." Pope Damasus (ca. 304-384) extolled the heroism and virtue of the young girl, reportedly telling in a poem how she bravely faced fire, concerned only that her stripped body be covered by her long hair. Since the early middle-ages, Saint Agnes is usually depicted holding a lamb as a symbol of her purity.
MINUTE MEDITATIONS
Prayer for Grace
Lord, please give me more grace, strengthen my faith, and increase
my knowledge of you and your Church, so that I will be full of faith and full
of joy in my proclamation and witness of Jesus Christ to those around me. Amen.
I have found David, my servant
The Lord does not see as we see. The Lord looks on the heart.Sometimes we are confused by appearances. Samuel did not choose the strongest of Jesse’s sons but the weakest, David, to fulfil God’s plans for Israel because he had read his steadfast heart. We can also get distracted from what the Lord is wanting from us by laws and traditions to which we cling. Jesus broke many rules he counted as trivial to heal on a Sabbath or to feed the hungry apostles. Lord, help us to see into peoples’ hearts and not to judge by appearances, especially that of the disabled, the poor, the outcast, the stranger.
January
21
St. Agnes
(d. 258?)
St. Agnes
(d. 258?)
Almost nothing is known of this saint except that she was very
young—12 or 13—when she was martyred in the last half of the third century.
Various modes of death have been suggested—beheading, burning, strangling.
Legend
has it that Agnes was a beautiful girl whom many young men wanted to marry.
Among those she refused, one reported her to the authorities for being a
Christian. She was arrested and confined to a house of prostitution. The legend
continues that a man who looked upon her lustfully lost his sight and had it
restored by her prayer. Agnes was condemned, executed and buried near Rome
in a catacomb that eventually was named after her. The daughter of Constantine
built a basilica in her honor.
Comment:
Like that of modern Maria Goretti (July 6), the martyrdom of a virginal young girl made a deep impression on a society enslaved to a materialistic outlook. Like Agatha, who died in similar circumstances, Agnes is a symbol that holiness does not depend on length of years, experience or human effort. It is a gift God offers to all.
Like that of modern Maria Goretti (July 6), the martyrdom of a virginal young girl made a deep impression on a society enslaved to a materialistic outlook. Like Agatha, who died in similar circumstances, Agnes is a symbol that holiness does not depend on length of years, experience or human effort. It is a gift God offers to all.
Quote:
"This is a
virgin's birthday; let us follow the example of her chastity. It is a martyr's
birthday; let us offer sacrifices; it is the birthday of holy Agnes: let men be
filled with wonder, little ones with hope, married women with awe, and the
unmarried with emulation. It seems to me that this child, holy beyond her years
and courageous beyond human nature, receives thename of Agnes [Greek: pure] not
as an earthly designation but as a revelation from God of what she was to
be" (from Saint Ambrose's discourse on virginity).
Patron Saint of:
Girls
Girls
LECTIO DIVINA:
MARK 2,23-28
Lectio:
Tuesday, January 21, 2014
Ordinary Time
1) Opening prayer
Father of heaven and earth,
hear our prayers,
and show us the way to your peace in the
world.
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 2,23-28
It happened that one Sabbath day he was taking
a walk through the cornfields, and his disciples began to make a path by
plucking ears of corn.
And the Pharisees said to him, 'Look, why are
they doing something on the Sabbath day that is forbidden?' And he replied,
'Have you never read what David did in his time of need when he and his followers
were hungry - how he went into the house of God when Abiathar was high priest,
and ate the loaves of the offering which only the priests are allowed to eat,
and how he also gave some to the men with him?'
And he said to them, 'The Sabbath was made for
man, not man for the Sabbath; so the Son of man is master even of the Sabbath.'
3) Reflection
• The Law exists for the good of persons. One
day on the Sabbath, the disciples passed by a cornfield and they opened a path
by plucking ears of corn. In Matthew 12, 1 it is said that they were hungry.
Quoting the Bible, the Pharisees criticized the attitude of the disciples. It
would be a transgression of the law of the Sabbath (cf. Ex 20, 8-11). Jesus
responded quoting the Bible also to indicate that the arguments of the others
have no meaning, no reason for being. He recalls that David himself did
something which was prohibited, because he took the sacred bread of the temple
and gave it to the soldiers to eat because they were hungry (I Sam 21, 2-7).
And Jesus ends with two important phrases (a) the Sabbath is made for man and
not man for the Sabbath, (b)) The Son of Man is the Lord of the Sabbath!
• The Sabbath is made for man and not man for
the Sabbath. For more than five-hundred years, since the time of the Babylonian
captivity to the time of Jesus, the Jews had observed the law of the Sabbath.
This secular observance became for them a strong sign of identity. The Sabbath
was rigorously observed. At the time of the Maccabees, toward the end of the
second century before Christ, this observance had reached a critical point.
Attacked by the Greeks one Sabbath, the rebellious Maccabees preferred to allow
themselves to be killed rather than to transgress the law of the Sabbath using
arms to defend their own life. For this, one thousand persons died (I Mac 2,
32-38). Reflecting on the massacre the Maccabee leaders concluded that they
should resist and defend their own life, even on the Sabbath (I Mac 2, 39-41)
Jesus used the same attitude: to consider the law of the Sabbath in a relative
way in favour of the human life, because the law exists for the good of human
life, and not vice-versa!
• The Son of Man is also the Lord of the
Sabbath! The new experience of God as Father/Mother makes Jesus, the Son of
Man, to have the key to discover the intention of God who is at the origin of
the Law of the Old Testament. For this reason, the Son of Man is also the Lord
of the Sabbath. Living with the people of Galilee during thirty years and
feeling in his own person the oppression and the exclusion to which so many
brothers and sisters were condemned in the name of the Law of God, Jesus
perceives that this could not be the significance of that law. If God is
Father, then he accepts all as sons and daughters. If God is Father, then we
should be brothers and sisters to others. And this is what Jesus lived and
preached, from the beginning to the end. The Law of the Sabbath must be at the
service of life and of fraternity. If was precisely because of his fidelity to
this message that Jesus was condemned to death. He disturbed the system, he was
uncomfortable for them, and the system defended itself, using force against
Jesus, because he wanted the Law itself to be at the service of life and not
vice-versa.
• Jesus and the Bible. The Pharisees
criticized Jesus in the name of the Bible. Jesus responds and criticizes the
Pharisees using the Bible. He knew the Bible by heart. At that time, there were
no printed Bibles as we have today! In every community there was only one
Bible, hand written which remained in the Synagogue. If Jesus knew the Bible so
well, it means that during 30 years of his life in Nazareth, he participated
intensely in the life of the community, where the Scripture was read every
Saturday. We still lack very much in order to have the same familiarity with
the Bible and the same participation in the community!
4) Personal questions
• Saturday is for the human being and not
vice-versa. Which are the points in my life which I have to change?
• Even without having the Bible at home, Jesus
knew it by heart. And I?
5) Concluding prayer
I give thanks to Yahweh with all my heart,
in the meeting-place of honest people, in the
assembly.
Great are the deeds of Yahweh,
to be pondered by all who delight in them. (Ps
111,1-2)
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