Tuesday of the Second Week in Ordinary
Time
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
PsalmPS 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.
AlleluiaSEE EPH 1:17-18
R. Alleluia,
alleluia.
May the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ
enlighten the eyes of our hearts,
that we may know what is the hope
that belongs to our call.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
May the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ
enlighten the eyes of our hearts,
that we may know what is the hope
that belongs to our call.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
GospelMK 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 Ahimelech
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."
Daily Quote from the early church fathers: The Lord of the Sabbath, by
John Chrysostom, 547-407 A.D.
"Doubtless he
speaks of himself when he mentions the 'Lord of the sabbath' (Mark 2:28,
Matthew 12:8, Luke 6:5). Mark relates a complementary saying about our
common human nature, that “the sabbath was made for humans, not humans for the
sabbath (Mark 2:27). Why then should someone who gathered sticks on the sabbath
be censured? The law that was established earlier could not be scorned without
jeopardizing the law to be given later.
"The sabbath did confer many benefits, great blessings in the earlier dispensation. It made people more gentle toward those close to them. It guided them toward being more sympathetic. It located them temporally within God's creation and providence, as Ezekiel knew (Ezekiel 20:19-20). The sabbath trained Israel by degrees to abstain from evil and disposed them to listen to the things of the Spirit.
"The sabbath did confer many benefits, great blessings in the earlier dispensation. It made people more gentle toward those close to them. It guided them toward being more sympathetic. It located them temporally within God's creation and providence, as Ezekiel knew (Ezekiel 20:19-20). The sabbath trained Israel by degrees to abstain from evil and disposed them to listen to the things of the Spirit.
"They would have
stretched the law out of shape if, when he was giving the law of the sabbath,
Jesus had said, 'You can work on the sabbath, but just do good works, do
nothing evil.' This would have brought out the worst in them. So he restrained
them from doing any works at all on the sabbath. And even this stricter
prohibition did not keep them in line. But he himself, in the very act of
giving the law of the sabbath, gave them a veiled sign of things to come. For
by saying, 'You must do no work, except what shall be done for your life'
(Exodus 12:16), he indicated that the intent of the law was to have them
refrain from evil works only, not all works. Even in the temple, much went on
during the sabbath, and with great diligence and double toil. Thus even by this
very shadowy saying Jesus was secretly opening the truth to them. Did Christ
then attempt to repeal a law so beneficial as the sabbath law? Far from it.
Rather, he greatly magnified the sabbath. For with Christ came the time for
everyone to be trained by a higher requirement." (excerpt from THE
GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 39.3)
TUESDAY, JANUARY 19, MARK 2:23-28
Weekday
(1 Samuel 16:1-13; Psalm 89)
Weekday
(1 Samuel 16:1-13; Psalm 89)
KEY VERSE: "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath" (v 27).
TO KNOW: Jesus and his disciples were going through the corn fields on the Sabbath day, and his hungry disciples began to pluck the ears of corn and to 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 pluck the corn. But this activity was done on the Sabbath, which was hedged around with hundreds of rules and regulations. The religious leaders classified a number of activities as work that was forbidden on the Sabbath. Among those labors that occurred 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 met with opposition from the Pharisees, he cited the precedence of David who fed his hungry men with the bread of offering, which had been 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 and rituals. As "Lord of the Sabbath" (v 28), Jesus correctly interpreted the Law to the benefit of all humankind.
TO LOVE: Have I allowed legalism to be a substitute for love of the Lord and his people?
TO SERVE: Lord Jesus, help me to keep the Sabbath by prayer and good works.
Tuesday 19 January, 2016
Tue 19th. 1 Samuel 16:1-13. I have found David, my
servant—Ps 88(89):20-22, 27-28. Mark 2:23-28.
The Sabbath was made for people, not people for the
Sabbath.
The Pharisees often sought to discredit the teaching
ministry of Jesus because he refused to make the Law as it applied to the
Sabbath an end in itself. For him human need always claimed precedence over
ritual observance or social mores. Among our most pressing needs today are
leisure and spiritual renewal. When Sunday is seen as just another day, it is
counter-cultural to suggest that we should reclaim and reemphasise those
practices, which once made it truly ‘the Lord’s Day’. As Saint John Paul II
wrote in an apostolic letter, Dies Domini, in 1998: ‘Unfortunately, when Sunday
loses its fundamental meaning and becomes merely part of a “weekend”, it can
happen that people stay locked within a horizon so limited that they can no
longer see “the heavens”.’
MINUTE
MEDITATIONS
|
Attitude of Respect
|
With little social status of the poor, we can quickly recognize
that their worth stems almost entirely from their very beings. They are created
by and beloved of God through no effort or achievement of their own. This might
be one of the most challenging concepts for us to recognize.
January
19
St. Fabian
(c. 250)
St. Fabian
(c. 250)
Fabian was a Roman layman who came into
the city from his farm one day as clergy and people were preparing to elect a
new pope. Eusebius, a Church historian, says a dove flew in and settled on the
head of Fabian. This sign united the votes of clergy and laity, and he was
chosen unanimously.
He led the Church for 14 years and died a martyr’s
death during the persecution of Decius in 250 A.D.. St. Cyprian wrote to
his successor that Fabian was an “incomparable” man whose glory in death
matched the holiness and purity of his life.
In the catacombs of St. Callistus, the stone that
covered Fabian’s grave may still be seen, broken into four pieces, bearing the
Greek words, “Fabian, bishop, martyr.”
Comment:
We can go confidently into the future and accept the change that growth demands only if we have firm roots in the past, in a living tradition. A few pieces of stone in Rome are a reminder to us that we are bearers of more than 20 centuries of a living tradition of faith and courage in living the life of Christ and showing it to the world. We have brothers and sisters who have “gone before us with the sign of faith,” as the First Eucharistic Prayer puts it, to light the way for us.
We can go confidently into the future and accept the change that growth demands only if we have firm roots in the past, in a living tradition. A few pieces of stone in Rome are a reminder to us that we are bearers of more than 20 centuries of a living tradition of faith and courage in living the life of Christ and showing it to the world. We have brothers and sisters who have “gone before us with the sign of faith,” as the First Eucharistic Prayer puts it, to light the way for us.
Quote:
“The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church” (Tertullian).
“The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church” (Tertullian).
LECTIO DIVINA: MARK 2,23-28
Lectio:
Tuesday, January 19, 2016
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,
God, for ever and
ever. Amen.
2) Gospel Reading -
Mark 2,23-28
It happened that on
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 on 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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