JANUARY 23, 2016 : SATURDAY OF THE SECOND WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

Saturday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 316

Reading 12 SM 1:1-4, 11-12, 19, 23-27

David returned from his defeat of the Amalekites 
and spent two days in Ziklag.
On the third day a man came from Saul’s camp, 
with his clothes torn and dirt on his head.
Going to David, he fell to the ground in homage.
David asked him, “Where do you come from?”
He replied, “I have escaped from the camp of the children of Israel.”
“Tell me what happened,” David bade him.
He answered that many of the soldiers had fled the battle 
and that many of them had fallen and were dead, 
among them Saul and his son Jonathan.

David seized his garments and rent them, 
and all the men who were with him did likewise.
They mourned and wept and fasted until evening 
for Saul and his son Jonathan, 
and for the soldiers of the LORD of the clans of Israel, 
because they had fallen by the sword.

“Alas! the glory of Israel, Saul, 
slain upon your heights;
how can the warriors have fallen!

“Saul and Jonathan, beloved and cherished,
separated neither in life nor in death,
swifter than eagles, stronger than lions!
Women of Israel, weep over Saul,
who clothed you in scarlet and in finery,
who decked your attire with ornaments of gold.

“How can the warriors have fallen– 
in the thick of the battle,
slain upon your heights!

“I grieve for you, Jonathan my brother!
most dear have you been to me;
more precious have I held love for you than love for women.

“How can the warriors have fallen,
the weapons of war have perished!”

Responsorial PsalmPS 80:2-3, 5-7

R. (4b) Let us see your face, Lord, and we shall be saved.
O shepherd of Israel, hearken,
O guide of the flock of Joseph!
From your throne upon the cherubim, shine forth
before Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh.
Rouse your power, 
and come to save us.
R. Let us see your face, Lord, and we shall be saved.
O LORD of hosts, how long will you burn with anger
while your people pray?
You have fed them with the bread of tears
and given them tears to drink in ample measure.
You have left us to be fought over by our neighbors, 
and our enemies mock us.
R. Let us see your face, Lord, and we shall be saved.

AlleluiaSEE ACTS 16:14B

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Open our hearts, O Lord,
to listen to the words of your Son.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

GospelMK 3:20-21

Jesus came with his disciples into the house.
Again the crowd gathered,
making it impossible for them even to eat.
When his relatives heard of this they set out to seize him, 
for they said, “He is out of his mind.”

www.usccb.org

Meditation: "People were saying of Jesus, 'He is beside himself' "

Is the Lord Jesus honored in your home? Why would Jesus' relatives be so upset with him when he began his public ministry? On one occasion Jesus remarked that a man's enemies will be the members of his own household (Matthew 10:36). The Gospel of Mark records the reaction of Jesus' relatives when he went home: they came to seize him. They, no doubt, thought that Jesus must have gone mad or become a religious fanatic. How could a good home-body from Nazareth leave his carpentry trade and go off to become a traveling preacher? To their way of thinking, Jesus had thrown away the security and safety of a quiet and respectable life close to his family and relatives. 
Jesus probably expected to meet opposition from the highest religious authorities in Jerusalem. For him to meet opposition from his own relatives must have been even harder. When we choose to be disciples of the Lord Jesus and to follow his will for our lives, we can expect to meet opposition from those who are opposed to the Gospel message and Christian way of life. But the hardest opposition may actually come from someone close to us, a family member or close friend who doesn't want us to take the Gospel message too seriously. Jesus met opposition - whether from family, friend, or foe - with grace and determination to fulfill his Father's will. Are you ready to obey and follow the Lord Jesus even if others oppose your doing so?
"Lord Jesus, may I always put you first and find joy in doing your will. May your love and charity grow in me, especially in the face of opposition and adversity."
Daily Quote from the early church fathers: Jesus' worried kinfolk, by Jerome (347-420 AD)
"In the Gospel we read that even his kinsfolk desired to bind him as one of weak mind (Mark 3:21). His opponents also reviled him saying, 'You are a Samaritan and have a devil' (John 8:48)." (excerpt fromLETTER 108, TO EUSTOCHIUM)

www.dailyscripture.net

SATURDAY, JANUARY 23, MARK 3:20-21

(2 Samuel 1:1-4, 11-12, 19, 23-27; Psalm 80)
KEY VERSE: "Then he went home; and the crowd came together again, so that they could not even eat" (v 20).
TO KNOW: Jesus returned to his home in Capernaum (probably Peter's house, Mk 1:29). The crowds who gathered outside became so demanding, that Jesus and his disciples did not even have time to eat. Jesus' family members had trouble comprehending the life-style of this ascetic, itinerant preacher with rag-tag followers. Among them were some fishermen, a tax-collector, and even a fanatical nationalist. These were not the kind of people with whom one would want to associate. His family feared that Jesus had lost his mind, and they decided to take charge of the matter since it seemed that he could not handle his own affairs. What appalled Jesus' family and friends was the risks he was taking -- he had given up security, safety and ambition, which, as they thought, no sensible man would ever do since it might cost him his reputation, and possibly his life. 
TO LOVE: How do I respond when others misunderstand my commitment to the Lord?
TO SERVE: Lord Jesus, strengthen me to endure any criticism as I follow you. 

Optional Memorial of Vincent, deacon and martyr 

Vincent is the earliest Spanish martyr whose name is known to us. Vincent was a deacon who was apprehended with his bishop Valerius during a persecution by the governor of Spain, Dacian. It is said that when he was brought to trial along with his bishop Valerius, and that since Valerius had a speech impediment, Vincent spoke for both, and that his fearless manner so angered the governor that Vincent was tortured and killed, though his aged bishop was only exiled. Vincent was submitted to the fiercest of tortures. His flesh was torn by iron hooks, he was placed on a red hot gridiron and roasted, he was thrown into a dungeon strewn with broken pottery—yet he still survived. At last his friends were allowed to visit him. They prepared a bed for him, and as they laid him on it he died.

Optional Memorial of Marianne Cope, virgin

Marianne Cope, O.S.F. was born in Germany on January 23, 1838. Just a year after her birth, her family emigrated to the United States. By the time she reached the eighth grade, her father had become an invalid and she went to work in a factory to support the family. Her father died in 1862, and this permitted her to leave the factory to pursue a religious life. She became a novitiate of the Sisters of the Third Order Regular of Saint Francis. By 1883, she had become the Superior General of her congregation. It was at this time she received a plea for help from leprosy sufferers in Hawaii. Mother Marianne, as she was then known, left Syracuse with six sisters to attend to the sick, and arrived on November 8, 1883. Soon, she was responsible for orphans of women as well who had contracted the disease. Eventually, Mother Marianne's work became a burden on her frail body and she was confined to a wheelchair. Despite this limitation, she continued to work tirelessly. Despite all her years of work she never contracted leprosy herself, which many regarded as a miracle in itself. Mother Marianne passed away on August 9, 1918. She was beautified in 2005 and declared a saint by Pope Benedict XVI in 2012.

www.togetherwithgodsword.com

Saturday 23 January, 2016

Sat 23rd. 2 Samuel 1:1-4, 11-12, 17, 19, 23-27. Let us see your face, Lord, and we shall be saved—Ps 79(80):2-3, 5-7. Mark 3:20-21.


Readings

His relatives were convinced he was out of his mind. 

Families who love one another are always concerned about its members. Why on earth did Jesus leave a perfectly good carpentry business to wander the highways and by-ways of Palestine? Families do odd things, but we have to love enough let go. Who knows, God may have other plans for them. But we still care about them, and hearing of dangers in places where we think they may be we still hasten to check on their well-being. The role for Jesus was the most wide-ranging mission ever envisioned.

The Spirit drove Jesus into the wilderness and often the Spirit drives us to wider horizons. Lord, help me allow those I love to move to where they feel drawn; places where, maybe, I dare not and cannot go.

www.pray.com.au

MINUTE MEDITATIONS 

Merciful God

We are sons and daughters who can rely upon our heavenly Father in all things. We have a merciful Father who is willing to take us by the hand and dust us off when we slip and fall.

— from Zealous 

January 23
St. Marianne Cope
(1838-1918)

Though leprosy scared off most people in 19th-century Hawaii, that disease sparked great generosity in the woman who came to be known as Mother Marianne of Molokai. Her courage helped tremendously to improve the lives of its victims in Hawaii, a territory annexed to the United States during her lifetime (1898).

Mother Marianne’s generosity and courage were celebrated at her May 14, 2005, beatification in Rome. She was a woman who spoke “the language of truth and love” to the world, said Cardinal José Saraiva Martins, prefect of the Congregation for Saints’ Causes. Cardinal Martins, who presided at the beatification Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica, called her life “a wonderful work of divine grace.” Speaking of her special love for persons suffering from leprosy, he said, “She saw in them the suffering face of Jesus. Like the Good Samaritan, she became their mother.”

On January 23, 1838, a daughter was born to Peter and Barbara Cope of Hessen-Darmstadt, Germany. The girl was named after her mother. Two years later the Cope family emigrated to the United States and settled in Utica, New York. Young Barbara worked in a factory until August 1862, when she went to the Sisters of the Third Order of Saint Francis in Syracuse, New York. After profession in November of the next year, she began teaching at Assumption parish school.

Marianne held the post of superior in several places and was twice the novice mistress of her congregation. A natural leader, three different times she was superior of St. Joseph’s Hospital in Syracuse, where she learned much that would be useful during her years in Hawaii.

Elected provincial in 1877, Mother Marianne was unanimously re-elected in 1881. Two years later the Hawaiian government was searching for someone to run the Kakaako Receiving Station for people suspected of having leprosy. More than 50 religious communities in the United States and Canada were asked. When the request was put to the Syracuse sisters, 35 of them volunteered immediately. On October 22, 1883, Mother Marianne and six other sisters left for Hawaii where they took charge of the Kakaako Receiving Station outside Honolulu; on the island of Maui they also opened a hospital and a school for girls.

In 1888, Mother Marianne and two sisters went to Molokai to open a home for “unprotected women and girls” there. The Hawaiian government was quite hesitant to send women for this difficult assignment; they need not have worried about Mother Marianne! On Molokai she took charge of the home that St. Damien de Veuster [May 10, d. 1889] had established for men and boys. Mother Marianne changed life on Molokai by introducing cleanliness, pride and fun to the colony. Bright scarves and pretty dresses for the women were part of her approach.

Awarded the Royal Order of Kapiolani by the Hawaiian government and celebrated in a poem by Robert Louis Stevenson, Mother Marianne continued her work faithfully. Her sisters have attracted vocations among the Hawaiian people and still work on Molokai.

Mother Marianne died on August 9, 1918 and was beatified in 2005 and canonized seven years later.

Comment:

The government authorities were reluctant to allow Mother Marianne to be a mother on Molokai. Thirty years of dedication proved their fears unfounded. God grants gifts regardless of human short-sightedness and allows those gifts to flower for the sake of the kingdom.

Quote:

Soon after Mother Marianne died, Mrs. John F. Bowler wrote in the Honolulu Advertiser, “Seldom has the opportunity come to a woman to devote every hour of 30 years to the mothering of people isolated by law from the rest of the world. She risked her own life in all that time, faced everything with unflinching courage and smiled sweetly through it all.”

www.americancatholic.org

LECTIO DIVINA: MARK 3,20-21

Lectio: 

 Saturday, January 23, 2016

Ordinary Time

1) Opening prayer
Almighty God,
ruler of all things in heaven and on earth,
listen favourably to the prayer of your people,
and grant us your peace in our day.
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 3,20-21
Jesus went home again, and once more such a crowd collected that they could not even have a meal. 21 When his relations heard of this, they set out to take charge of him; they said, 'He is out of his mind.'

3) Reflection
• The Gospel today is very short. There are only two verses. It speaks about two things: (a) about the great activity of Jesus up to the point of not even having time to eat, and (b) the contrary reaction of the family of Jesus up to the point of thinking that he was out of his mind. Jesus had problems with his family. Sometimes, the family helps, and other times it constitutes an obstacle. This is what happened with Jesus, and this is what happens with us also.
• Mark 3, 20: The activity of Jesus. Jesus returned home. His home is now in Capernaum (Mk 2, 1). He is no longer living with his family in Nazareth. People knowing that Jesus was in the house, they went there. Such a crowd of people gathered there that He and his disciples did not even have time to eat calmly (Mk 6, 31)
• Mark 3, 20: Conflict with his family. When Jesus’ relatives knew this, they said: “He has lost his mind!” Perhaps, this was so because Jesus did not seem to be behaving normally. Perhaps, because they thought that with this he jeopardized the name of the family. Whatever it was, the relatives decided to take him back to Nazareth. This is a sign that the relationship of Jesus with his family was suffering. This must have been a source of suffering, for him as well as for Mary, his Mother. Later on (Mk 3, 31-35) Mark tells how the encounter of Jesus with his relatives was. They arrived to the house where Jesus was staying. Probably they had gone there from Nazareth. There is a distance of about 40 km. from there to Capernaum. His mother was with them. They could not enter the house because there were many people there at the entrance. This is the reason why they sent him a message: “Your mother and your brothers and sisters are outside asking for you!” The reaction of Jesus was firm and he asked: “Who are my mother and my brothers?” And he himself answers pointing out to the crowd gather there around him: “Here are my mother and my brothers. Anyone who does the will of God, that person is my brother and sister and mother”. He extended the family! Jesus does not allow the family to draw him away from the mission.
• The situation of the family at the time of Jesus. In the ancient Israel, the clan, that is, the large family (the community) was the basis of social living together. This was the protection of the small families and of the persons, the guarantee of the possession of the land, the principal channel of tradition, the defence of identity. That was the concrete way in which the people of that time had to incarnate the love of God in the love toward neighbour. To defend the clan, the community it was the same as to defend the Covenant. In Galilee at the time of Jesus, because of the Roman system, introduced and imposed during the long years of government of Herod the Great (37 BC to 4 BC) and of his son Herod Antipas (4 BC to 39 AD), all this had ceased to exist, or existed every day less. The clan (community) was becoming weaker. The taxes that had to be paid to the government and to the Temple, the increasing getting into debt, the individualist mentality of the Hellenistic ideology, the frequent threats of the violent repression on the part of the Romans, the obligation to accept the soldiers and to give them lodging, the always greater problems for survival, all this led the families to close up in themselves and in their own needs. Hospitality was no longer practiced; neither was sharing, nor communion around the table, the acceptance of the excluded. This closing up was strengthened by the religion of the time. The observance of the norms of purity was a factor of marginalization for many people: women, children Samaritans, foreigners, lepers, possessed, publicans or tax collectors, the sick, mutilated persons, the paraplegics. These norms, instead of helping and favouring acceptance, sharing and communion, favoured separation and exclusion.
Thus, the political, social and economic situation as well as the religious ideology of the time, everything was against and contributed to weaken the central values of the clan, of the community. Therefore, in order that the Kingdom of God could manifest itself, once again, in the community living of the people, persons had to overcome the narrow limits of the small family and open themselves up once again to the large family, the Community.
Jesus gives the example. When his relatives get to Capernaum and try to take hold of him to take him back home, he reacts. Instead of remaining closed up in his small family, he extends the family (Mk 3, 33-35). He creates the community. He asks the same thing to those who want to follow him. Families cannot close up in themselves. The excluded and the marginalized should be accepted, once again, into the community, and in this way feel accepted by God (cf. Lk 14, 12-14). This is the path to be followed in order to attain the objective of the Law which said: “Let there be no poor among you” (Dt 15, 4). Just like the great prophets, Jesus tries to strengthen and affirm community life in the villages of Galilee. He takes the profound sense or significance of the clan, of the family, of the community, like an expression of the incarnation of the love of God in the love toward neighbour.

4) Personal questions
• Does the family help participation in the Christian community or does it make it difficult? How do you assume your commitment in the Christian community?
• What can all this tell us concerning our relationships in the family and in the community?

5) Concluding prayer
Clap your hands, all peoples,
acclaim God with shouts of joy.
For Yahweh, the Most High, is glorious,
the great king over all the earth. (Ps 47,1-2)

www.ocarm.org