Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children
Lectionary: 313
Lectionary: 313
David spoke to Saul:
“Let your majesty not lose courage.
I am at your service to go and fight this Philistine.”
But Saul answered David,
“You cannot go up against this Philistine and fight with him,
for you are only a youth, while he has been a warrior from his youth.”
David continued:
“The LORD, who delivered me from the claws of the lion and the bear,
will also keep me safe from the clutches of this Philistine.”
Saul answered David, “Go! the LORD will be with you.”
Then, staff in hand, David selected five smooth stones from the wadi
and put them in the pocket of his shepherd’s bag.
With his sling also ready to hand, he approached the Philistine.
With his shield bearer marching before him,
the Philistine also advanced closer and closer to David.
When he had sized David up,
and seen that he was youthful, and ruddy, and handsome in appearance,
the Philistine held David in contempt.
The Philistine said to David,
“Am I a dog that you come against me with a staff?”
Then the Philistine cursed David by his gods
and said to him, “Come here to me,
and I will leave your flesh for the birds of the air
and the beasts of the field.”
David answered him:
“You come against me with sword and spear and scimitar,
but I come against you in the name of the LORD of hosts,
the God of the armies of Israel that you have insulted.
Today the LORD shall deliver you into my hand;
I will strike you down and cut off your head.
This very day I will leave your corpse
and the corpses of the Philistine army for the birds of the air
and the beasts of the field;
thus the whole land shall learn that Israel has a God.
All this multitude, too,
shall learn that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves.
For the battle is the LORD’s and he shall deliver you into our hands.”
The Philistine then moved to meet David at close quarters,
while David ran quickly toward the battle line
in the direction of the Philistine.
David put his hand into the bag and took out a stone,
hurled it with the sling,
and struck the Philistine on the forehead.
The stone embedded itself in his brow,
and he fell prostrate on the ground.
Thus David overcame the Philistine with sling and stone;
he struck the Philistine mortally, and did it without a sword.
Then David ran and stood over him;
with the Philistine’s own sword which he drew from its sheath
he dispatched him and cut off his head.
“Let your majesty not lose courage.
I am at your service to go and fight this Philistine.”
But Saul answered David,
“You cannot go up against this Philistine and fight with him,
for you are only a youth, while he has been a warrior from his youth.”
David continued:
“The LORD, who delivered me from the claws of the lion and the bear,
will also keep me safe from the clutches of this Philistine.”
Saul answered David, “Go! the LORD will be with you.”
Then, staff in hand, David selected five smooth stones from the wadi
and put them in the pocket of his shepherd’s bag.
With his sling also ready to hand, he approached the Philistine.
With his shield bearer marching before him,
the Philistine also advanced closer and closer to David.
When he had sized David up,
and seen that he was youthful, and ruddy, and handsome in appearance,
the Philistine held David in contempt.
The Philistine said to David,
“Am I a dog that you come against me with a staff?”
Then the Philistine cursed David by his gods
and said to him, “Come here to me,
and I will leave your flesh for the birds of the air
and the beasts of the field.”
David answered him:
“You come against me with sword and spear and scimitar,
but I come against you in the name of the LORD of hosts,
the God of the armies of Israel that you have insulted.
Today the LORD shall deliver you into my hand;
I will strike you down and cut off your head.
This very day I will leave your corpse
and the corpses of the Philistine army for the birds of the air
and the beasts of the field;
thus the whole land shall learn that Israel has a God.
All this multitude, too,
shall learn that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves.
For the battle is the LORD’s and he shall deliver you into our hands.”
The Philistine then moved to meet David at close quarters,
while David ran quickly toward the battle line
in the direction of the Philistine.
David put his hand into the bag and took out a stone,
hurled it with the sling,
and struck the Philistine on the forehead.
The stone embedded itself in his brow,
and he fell prostrate on the ground.
Thus David overcame the Philistine with sling and stone;
he struck the Philistine mortally, and did it without a sword.
Then David ran and stood over him;
with the Philistine’s own sword which he drew from its sheath
he dispatched him and cut off his head.
Responsorial Psalm PS 144:1B, 2, 9-10
R. (1) Blessed be the Lord, my Rock!
Blessed be the LORD, my rock,
who trains my hands for battle, my fingers for war.
R. Blessed be the Lord, my Rock!
My refuge and my fortress,
my stronghold, my deliverer,
My shield, in whom I trust,
who subdues my people under me.
R. Blessed be the Lord, my Rock!
O God, I will sing a new song to you;
with a ten-stringed lyre I will chant your praise,
You who give victory to kings,
and deliver David, your servant from the evil sword.
R. Blessed be the Lord, my Rock!
Blessed be the LORD, my rock,
who trains my hands for battle, my fingers for war.
R. Blessed be the Lord, my Rock!
My refuge and my fortress,
my stronghold, my deliverer,
My shield, in whom I trust,
who subdues my people under me.
R. Blessed be the Lord, my Rock!
O God, I will sing a new song to you;
with a ten-stringed lyre I will chant your praise,
You who give victory to kings,
and deliver David, your servant from the evil sword.
R. Blessed be the Lord, my Rock!
Gospel MK 3:1-6
Jesus entered the synagogue.
There was a man there who had a withered hand.
They watched Jesus closely
to see if he would cure him on the sabbath
so that they might accuse him.
He said to the man with the withered hand,
“Come up here before us.”
Then he said to the Pharisees,
“Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath rather than to do evil,
to save life rather than to destroy it?”
But they remained silent.
Looking around at them with anger
and grieved at their hardness of heart,
Jesus said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.”
He stretched it out and his hand was restored.
The Pharisees went out and immediately took counsel
with the Herodians against him to put him to death.
There was a man there who had a withered hand.
They watched Jesus closely
to see if he would cure him on the sabbath
so that they might accuse him.
He said to the man with the withered hand,
“Come up here before us.”
Then he said to the Pharisees,
“Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath rather than to do evil,
to save life rather than to destroy it?”
But they remained silent.
Looking around at them with anger
and grieved at their hardness of heart,
Jesus said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.”
He stretched it out and his hand was restored.
The Pharisees went out and immediately took counsel
with the Herodians against him to put him to death.
Meditation: "Is it lawful... to save life or to kill?"
What is God's intention for the commandment, keep holy
the Sabbath (Exodus 20:8; Deuteronomy 5:12)? The scribes and Pharisees
wanted to catch Jesus in the act of breaking the Sabbath ritual so they might
accuse him of breaking God's law. In a few penetrating words Luke records that
Jesus knew their thoughts. They were filled with fury and contempt
for Jesus because they put their own thoughts of right and wrong above God.
They were ensnared in their own legalism because they did not understand or see
the purpose of God. Jesus shows their fallacy by pointing to God's intention
for the Sabbath: to do good and to save life rather than to do evil or
to destroy life.
Christians celebrate Sunday as the Lord's Day, to commemorate
God's work of redemption in Jesus Christ and the new work of creation he
accomplished through Christ's death and resurrection. Taking "our sabbath
rest" is a way of expressing honor to God for all that he has done for us.
Such "rest" however does not exempt us from our love for our
neighbor. If we truly love the Lord above all else, then the love of God will
overflow to love of neighbor as well. Do you honor the Lord in the way you
celebrate Sunday, the Lord's Day and in the way you treat you
neighbor?
"Lord Jesus, in your victory over sin and death on the
cross and in your resurrection you give us the assurance of sharing in the
eternal rest of heaven. Transform my heart with your love that I may freely
serve my neighbor for his good and find joy and refreshment in the celebration
of Sunday as the Lord's Day."
 To Do Good or Evil? |
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Wednesday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time
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Father Walter Schu, LC
Mark 3:1-6
Jesus entered the synagogue. There was a man there who had a
withered hand. They watched him closely to see if he would cure him on the
sabbath so that they might accuse him. He said to the man with the withered
hand, "Come up here before us." Then he said to them, "Is it
lawful to do good on the sabbath rather than to do evil, to save life rather
than to destroy it?" But they remained silent. Looking around at them
with anger and grieved at their hardness of heart, he said to the man,
"Stretch out your hand." He stretched it out and his hand was
restored. The Pharisees went out and immediately took counsel with the
Herodians against him to put him to death.
Introductory Prayer: Lord, I believe in you.
Thank you for the gift of faith, more precious than life itself. I hope in
you. May the dark waters of doubt never break through my dike of hope. I love
you. I want to let you purify me, so that my love for you may be more ardent
and more courageous.
Petition:Lord, help me to bear witness to you even in
adverse circumstances.
1. “They Watched Him Closely” -At the
beginning of his public ministry, Christ already incurs the bitter opposition
of the Pharisees. Having reduced them to silence in a wheat field, Christ
bravely enters the synagogue to confront them once again. There the Pharisees
are in the first places of honor, and they watch his every move, hoping he
will cure against the laws of the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him. The
Pharisees were right about one thing. They did well to observe Christ
closely. If only they had done so with the right spirit: to learn from him
and to glorify God for the wonders he did through him. How closely do we
watch Christ in our own lives? How readily do we perceive his actions through
the circumstances of the day? How often do we glorify God for the great
things Christ does and longs to do in us?
2. To Do Good or Evil? Christ obliges the
Pharisees. With fearless courage he calls the man with the withered hand
forward, so that no one can mistake what he is about to do. Then he puts his
antagonists in a dilemma with two clear questions. First: “Is it lawful to do
good on the sabbath rather than to do evil?” “They are bound to admit that it
is lawful to do good; and it is a good thing he proposed to do. They are
bound to deny that it is lawful to do evil; and, yet, surely it is an evil
thing to leave a man in wretchedness when it is possible to help him.”
(William Barclay, The Gospel of Mark, pp. 68-69) Then Christ asks the second
question: “Is it lawful to save life rather than to destroy it?” “Here he is
driving the thing home. He is taking steps to save this wretched man’s life;
they are thinking out methods of killing Christ. On any reckoning it is
surely a better thing to be thinking about helping a man than it is to be
thinking of killing a man. No wonder they had nothing to say!” (Ibid.)
3. “Angered by Their Hardness of Heart” - Seldom
does the Gospel show Christ angry. Here his anger is provoked by the
hypocrisy of the Pharisees and their hardness of heart. They close themselves
off from his message of salvation. What happens when someone definitively
closes his heart to Christ? The Pharisees, the defenders of the law and
Jewish customs, were bitter enemies of the Herodians, who collaborated with
King Herod and the Romans. Yet this Gospel relates the chilling fact that
these two joined forces to plot to kill Jesus. They are united not by the
intrinsic force of goodness, but by the malignant power of evil. Do I at
times make small concessions to hypocrisy, envy or even hatred? These could
slowly harden my heart toward Christ. Am I willing to be courageous like
Christ and endure even bitter opposition for the sake of the Gospel?
Conversation with Christ: Thank you, Lord,
for your goodness and courage. How small I feel when I compare myself with
you in the Gospel. What an infinite distance separates us! Thank you for
calling me — with all of my weakness, sins, and limitations — to be your
apostle. Help me never to surrender to evil in my heart, but to grow in
goodness of heart in order to be more like you.
Resolution: I will do a good deed for
someone today, even if it is difficult, in order to bear witness to Christ.
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WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 22, MARK 3:1-6
(1 Samuel 17:32-33, 37, 40-51; Psalm 144)
(1 Samuel 17:32-33, 37, 40-51; Psalm 144)
KEY VERSE: "Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath rather than to do evil?" (v 4).
READING: Jesus was critical of those who used the Sabbath laws to avoid the care needed by others. One Sabbath, while Jesus was worshiping in the synagogue, he saw a man with a crippled hand. Jesus was just as concerned with the man's physical well-being as he was with his spiritual welfare. Since the man was unable to work with his hands, the future of his livelihood was in Jesus' hands. Knowing that the man dared not ask for healing on the Sabbath, Jesus called him to stand before the entire assembly. He asked those gathered whether it was preferable to heal on the Sabbath or to do evil by allowing the man's suffering to continue. When no one answered him, Jesus grew angry and was grieved by their cold-heartedness. Then he healed the man with a simple command. The irate religious leaders saw no violation of the Sabbath law when they went out to plot Jesus' death.
REFLECTING: Am I more concerned with keeping rules than with helping others?
PRAYING: Lord Jesus, give me the wisdom to respond with your love in each circumstance.
DAY OF PRAYER FOR THE LEGAL PROTECTION OF
UNBORN CHILDREN
On January 22, 2014 our nation will recall that day, in 1973, the Supreme Court of the United States handed down the infamous decision, Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion throughout all nine months of pregnancy. Since that time nearly 57 million babies have been lost, and countless women and men have suffered from the devastation of abortion. The US Bishops have designated that day as a day of prayer and penance for violations to the dignity of the human person committed through acts of abortion, and of prayer for the full restoration of the legal guarantee of the right to life.
MINUTE MEDITATIONS
Credible Witnesses
We need to be credible witnesses, willing to carry the crosses and burdens of our
faith that often make it difficult to be Catholic. We must embrace the
sometimes difficult tenets of the Church.
Blessed be the Lord, my Rock!
‘The Lord
will rescue me.’
Saul has
disobeyed God and God has withdrawn his help. The Philistine army is drawn up
to attack and Saul finds himself unable to lead the Jews confidently. David has
been anointed to lead the people. God is with him so he has the courage to face
the Philistine giant. Though David doesn’t have the armour of Goliath, he has
God’s help. ‘I come against you’, he said, ‘in the name of the Lord of hosts.
Today the Lord will deliver you into my hand and I shall kill you.’ With God’s
help, prophets and saints have done great things, and if we are faithful to God
and trust him we can truly say, with the psalmist, God is our shield, protector
and saviour.
January 22
St. Vincent
(d. 304)
St. Vincent
(d. 304)
When Jesus deliberately began his “journey” to death, Luke says
that he “set his face” to go to Jerusalem. It is this quality of rocklike
courage that distinguishes the martyrs.
Most of
what we know about this saint comes from the poet Prudentius. His Actshave
been rather freely colored by the imagination of their compiler. But St.
Augustine, in one of his sermons on St. Vincent, speaks of having the Acts of
his martyrdom before him. We are at least sure of his name, his being a deacon,
the place of his death and burial.
According
to the story we have (and as with some of the other early martyrs the unusual
devotion he inspired must have had a basis in a very heroic life), Vincent was
ordained deacon by his friend St. Valerius of Zaragossa in Spain. The Roman
emperors had published their edicts against the clergy in 303, and the
following year against the laity. Vincent and his bishop were imprisoned in
Valencia. Hunger and torture failed to break them. Like the youths in the fiery
furnace (Book of Daniel, chapter three), they seemed to thrive on suffering.
Valerius
was sent into exile, and Dacian, the Roman governor, now turned the full
force of his fury on Vincent. Tortures that sound very modern were tried. But
their main effect was the progressive disintegration of Dacian himself. He had
the torturers beaten because they failed.
Finally
he suggested a compromise: Would Vincent at least give up the sacred books to
be burned according to the emperor’s edict? He would not. Torture on the
gridiron continued, the prisoner remaining courageous, the torturer losing
control of himself. Vincent was thrown into a filthy prison cell—and converted
the jailer. Dacian wept with rage, but strangely enough, ordered the prisoner
to be given some rest.
Friends
among the faithful came to visit him, but he was to have no earthly rest. When
they finally settled him on a comfortable bed, he went to his eternal rest.
Comment:
The martyrs are heroic examples of what God’s power can do. It is humanly impossible, we realize, for someone to go through tortures such as Vincent had and remain faithful. But it is equally true that by human power alone no one can remain faithful even without torture or suffering. God does not come to our rescue at isolated, “special” moments. God is supporting the super-cruisers as well as children’s toy boats.
The martyrs are heroic examples of what God’s power can do. It is humanly impossible, we realize, for someone to go through tortures such as Vincent had and remain faithful. But it is equally true that by human power alone no one can remain faithful even without torture or suffering. God does not come to our rescue at isolated, “special” moments. God is supporting the super-cruisers as well as children’s toy boats.
Quote:
“Wherever it was that Christians were put to death, their executions did not bear the semblance of a triumph. Exteriorly they did not differ in the least from the executions of common criminals. But the moral grandeur of a martyr is essentially the same, whether he preserved his constancy in the arena before thousands of raving spectators or whether he perfected his martyrdom forsaken by all upon a pitiless flayer’s field” (The Roman Catacombs, Hertling-Kirschbaum).
“Wherever it was that Christians were put to death, their executions did not bear the semblance of a triumph. Exteriorly they did not differ in the least from the executions of common criminals. But the moral grandeur of a martyr is essentially the same, whether he preserved his constancy in the arena before thousands of raving spectators or whether he perfected his martyrdom forsaken by all upon a pitiless flayer’s field” (The Roman Catacombs, Hertling-Kirschbaum).
LECTIO DIVINA:
MARK 3,1-6
Lectio:
Wednesday, January 22, 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 3,1-6
Another time he went into the synagogue, and
there was a man present whose hand was withered. And they were watching him to
see if he would cure him on the Sabbath day, hoping for something to charge him
with. He said to the man with the withered hand, 'Get up and stand in the
middle!' Then he said to them, 'Is it permitted on the Sabbath day to do good,
or to do evil; to save life, or to kill?' But they said nothing.
Then he looked angrily round at them, grieved
to find them so obstinate, and said to the man, 'Stretch out your hand.' He
stretched it out and his hand was restored. The Pharisees went out and began at
once to plot with the Herodians against him, discussing how to destroy him.
3) Reflection
• In today’s Gospel we meditate on the last of
the five conflicts which Mark presents at the beginning of his Gospel (Mk 2, 1
to 3, 6). The four previous conflicts were provoked by the enemies of Jesus.
This last one is provoked by Jesus himself and reveals the seriousness of the
conflict between him and the religious authority of his time. It is a conflict
of life or death. It is important to note the category of enemies which has
arisen in this conflict. It is a question of the Pharisees and the Herodians,
that is of the religious and the civil authority. When Mark wrote his Gospel in
the year 70, many of them still remembered very well the terrible persecution
of the 60’s, perpetuated by Nero against the Christian communities. In hearing
that Jesus himself had been threatened to death and how he behaved in the midst
of these dangerous conflicts, the Christians found a source of courage and
orientation so as not to be discouraged along the journey.
• Jesus in the synagogue on the Sabbath. Jesus
enters into the Synagogue. He had the habit of participating in the
celebrations of the people. A man was there who had a withered hand. A
physically disabled person who could not participate fully, because he was
considered to be impure. Even if he was present in the community, he was
marginalized. He had to remain far away from the rest.
• The concern of the enemies of Jesus. The
enemies were observing him to see if Jesus would cure on Saturday. They wanted
to accuse him. The second commandment of the Law of God ordered to “sanctify
the Sabbath”. It was prohibited to work on that day (Ex 20, 8-20). The
Pharisees said that to cure a sick person was the same as working. And for this
reason they taught: “It is prohibited to cure on the Sabbath!” They placed the
law above the well-being of persons. Jesus was an uncomfortable person for them,
because he placed the well-being of persons above the norms and the laws. The
concern of the Pharisees and of the Herodians was not the zeal for the Law, but
rather the will, the desire to accuse and get rid of Jesus.
• Get up and stand in the middle! Jesus asks
two things of the physically disabled person: Get up and stand in the middle!
The word “get up” is the same one which the communities of Mark also used to
say “rise, resurrect”. The disabled person has to “resurrect”, to get up, to
live in the middle and to take his place in the centre of the community! The
marginalized, the excluded, have to live in the middle! They cannot be
excluded. They must be together with the others! Jesus calls the excluded one
to stand in the middle.
• The question of Jesus leaves the others
without knowing what to say. Jesus asks: Is it permitted on the Sabbath to do
good or to do bad? To save life or to kill? He could have asked: “On the
Sabbath is it permitted to cure: yes or no?! And in this way all would have
answered: “No, it is not permitted!” But Jesus changed the question. For him,
in that concrete case, “to cure” was the same as “to do good” or “to save a
life”, and not “to kill!” . With his question Jesus put the finger on the
wound. He denounced the prohibition of curing on the Sabbath considering this
to be a system of death. A wise question! The enemies remain without knowing
what to answer.
• Jesus looked angrily around at them, grieved
to find them so obstinate. Jesus reacts with indignation and sadness before the
attitude of the Pharisees and the Herodians. He orders the man to stretch out
his hand, and he cures him. By curing the disabled man, Jesus shows that he
does not agree with the system which places the law above life. In response to
the action of Jesus, the Pharisees and the Herodians decide to kill him. With
this decision they confirm that, in fact, they are defenders of a system of
death! They are not afraid to kill in order to defend the system against Jesus
who attacks and criticizes it in the name of life.
4) Personal questions
• The disabled man was called to stand in the
centre of the community. In our community, do the poor and the excluded have a
privileged place?
• Have you already confronted yourself,
sometimes, with persons such as the Herodians and the Pharisees who place the
law above the well-being of persons? What did you feel at that moment? Have you
agreed with them or have you criticized them?
5) Concluding prayer
Yet you are merciful to all,
and nothing that you have made disgusts you,
Lord, lover of life! (Wis 11,23-26)
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